Sweet Temptation: A Players Rockstar Romance (Players, Book 3) Page 7

  Oh, was I looking.

  In the broad daylight, I took a moment sizing him up. And as it turned out, I’d seriously underestimated his handsome.

  Wasn’t just a middle-of-the-night hysteria thing. The man was hot.

  It wasn’t just his body or his size. The strong lines of his face were only made sexier by that lush mouth and the gorgeous eyes as he kinda squinted at me in the sun.

  He definitely had the manly-as-fuck thing down.

  Physically, the man standing in front of me checked off all the boxes on my hot dude wish list.

  And he seemed to be looming just a little too close for someone who barely knew me.

  Maybe after all this bullshit was over, in a day or two, I’d invite him to one of my shows and consider fucking him backstage.

  If we could get through this meeting without him becoming so damn annoying that even his abundant rugged-and-handsome couldn’t save him.

  “Well, let’s not keep my bandmates waiting. After all, they must’ve gotten here early. We sure did.” I smiled, happy to remind him of my fabulous driving.

  He frowned a little.

  “They must be really keen,” I went on. “Maybe Brody promised them beer.” With that, I turned and strode up to the house.

  I wondered if he was looking at my ass. I wore a cropped jacket over my sweater, and it was a known fact that my ass looked juicy as hell in these leggings.

  I didn’t even have to knock before Brody opened the door.

  “Summer.” He reached to pull me into a quick, tight hug, which caught me by surprise. Brody was usually more of a firm handshake type of guy. At least, he was with me. Two hugs from him in less than seven hours was kinda freaking me out.

  He looked me over like he was making sure I hadn’t broken since he last saw me, his deep-blue eyes crinkling in his handsome, tired face—like a worried dad. Seriously; he was two years older than me.

  “Good morning,” I said breezily, stepping into the house.

  He greeted Ronan, shaking hands. “Let’s go on into my office.”

  Ronan removed his leather jacket and his shoes. I pointedly left my ass-kicking boots on as I shrugged off my jacket. I tossed it on the coat rack and followed Brody without another glance at Ronan.

  When we walked into Brody’s office, Ash and Xander were sitting in chairs facing the desk. Just a couple of gorgeous, tattooed rock stars in ripped jeans… with nothing better to do on a fine Saturday morning than worry about me.

  I stifled a sigh.

  Whatever they’d been muttering about had abruptly stopped. Ash jumped to his feet and gave me a hug. Xander got up and waited until I was free, then gave me a hug, too.

  “Here, sit down,” Ash said, guiding me to the couch, like my bones were made of glass.

  “Thanks. I’m good.” I sat down, and after Brody introduced Ronan to the guys, he sat down somewhat next to me.

  The rest of them all took their seats, Brody behind his desk. And that’s when I noticed Jude—Dirty’s head of security, on the screen on Brody’s computer, via FaceTime or whatever… his tall-dark-and-handsome marred by the same expression of concern they were all wearing today. I was fucking surrounded by handsome, frowning men.

  It was gonna start bumming me out.

  “Hey, Jude,” I said.

  “Summer,” he said. “Good to see you.”

  “Is it?”

  Jude chuckled. So at least someone here still had a sense of humor. Everyone else looked ridiculously morose.

  But if Brody was looping Jude in on this, from the road, it was serious. At least, Brody sure seemed to think so.

  “So, let’s get right to it,” Brody said. He cranked up the bossy manager routine, staring us down—kinda like a school principal addressing a bunch of delinquents. “Jude and I have asked Ronan to do a security assessment for the Players. He’s gonna help us expedite putting a security team in place for the band, due to the recent… security breach.”

  Oh, no. No. He did not just look at me when he said that.

  Security breech? That’s what I’d become overnight?

  My mouth floated open to say something, when Xander spoke up. “So what the fuck happened, exactly?”

  “Nothing,” I said, automatically. “A guy tried to break into my house last night.”

  “That’s what Brody told us,” Ash said, leaning forward in his chair. His black eyebrows knit together, and that’s when I knew. I was not getting out of this gracefully. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I tried to call you last night. You didn’t answer.”

  “Shit. The guy was breaking in when you called me?”

  “No,” I said calmly, “the police were there when I called you. It was no big deal, you guys. The police arrested him.”

  “Ronan?” Brody said, cueing Ronan to jump in.

  “He was arrested,” Ronan confirmed. Because apparently they all needed to hear it from a man to believe it. “But we don’t know what’ll happen from there.”

  I looked at him. In profile, and when he wasn’t staring me down, I had a chance to check him out more. He had his elbows resting on his knees, and his hands loosely clasped together, those damn sexy forearms showing again.

  “Brody and Jude and I have discussed it,” he went on, “and our most logical course of action now is for Summer to get a restraining order against this guy, and meanwhile we tighten security around all of you.”

  “Who is this guy?” Ash asked me.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “He was just some guy who started hanging around. I barely knew him.”

  “His name is Blair Sanchuk,” Ronan supplied.

  “Blair?” Xander scowled. “You mean that asshole who’s been creeping around your shows?”

  “You know this guy?” Jude asked.

  “I don’t know him,” Xander said. “He tried to hit on Courteney a few times. Fuck, I should’ve said something. I knew that guy was no fucking good.”

  “Yeah. I guess I did, too,” I said. “But I didn’t think he was gonna try to break into my house.”

  The scowl fell off Xander’s face. “No, of course not. That’s not what I meant.”

  “I know,” I said. “It’s fine.”

  It wasn’t fine. This whole conversation was just overblowing things.

  Why did we need to relive the details anyway? It was fucked-up, but it was over.

  The guys didn’t seem to want to let it die, though.

  “You saw this guy at Summer’s shows?” Ash asked Xander.

  “Yeah. Real piece of shit. Cheap tats, light-brown hair… Kinda looked like a biker or something. I dunno. He bought Courteney a drink and I didn’t like it. He just looked dirty as shit.”

  I couldn’t help it. I rolled my eyes.

  “He doesn’t look ‘dirty.’” Christ. Maybe Blair was no rock star, but Xander was just pissed that he tried to buy his girlfriend a drink.

  “Why are you defending him?” Ash asked me.

  “I’m not defending him. Let’s just not get carried away here, and let’s stick to the facts.”

  “Okay,” Ash said. “The fact is he tried to break into your house and the police had to get a dog to drag him away.”

  “The dog didn’t drag him away. Jesus, Ashley.”

  “I don’t care what the fuck the dog did. Why was this guy climbing your fucking house?”

  “Alright,” Jude cut in. “Let’s talk security.”

  “Let’s do that,” Brody said.

  “Since I’m away and we haven’t yet put someone in place as Players head of security,” Jude said, “Ronan will be assigning one of his guys to you, Summer. Full-time.”

  “What?” I gaped at him. At Brody, too. “Security team, fine. But I don’t need a full-time bodyguard.”

  “Are you kidding me?” Ash said.

  “It was one incident,” I insisted. “I’ve been a touring musician for years. Jude. Come on. I’m nowhere near as famous as Ash or Xander. I’m just a DJ.
”

  “You can spare us the ‘I’m just a DJ’ argument,” Ash said. “All you ever talk about is this band, and becoming a rock star. Well, this is part of being a rock star.”

  “You’re a star to all of us, darlin’,” Jude said, a little more gently. “Afraid this one’s not up for negotiation.”

  “Are you all serious?” I demanded.

  Obviously, they were.

  “Nothing has to change here,” Brody informed me, lying through his teeth. “Except we make sure you’ve got someone looking out for you. That’s all it is.”

  Yeah, right.

  I looked at them all. Ash shook his head at me. His eyebrows were still all twisted up.

  “For now,” Jude went on, “Haz will stay on you, Ash. But we’re talking full-time. Every time you leave home, he’s with you.”

  “Fine with me,”Ash said.

  “We can bring on Lucas for you, Xander, but same deal,” Jude said. “You use him every time you go out.”

  “Sure,” Xander said.

  Neither of them offered a shred of resistance to this plan. Why would they? Xander’s bodyguard, Lucas, was a buddy of his. Ash and Haz had become friends, too. This situation hardly changed anything for either of my bandmates. All they’d gained was a full-time wingman.

  “So, Ronan,” Brody said. “Do you have someone in mind for Summer’s security detail?”

  “Yeah,” Ronan said, clearing his throat. “For the time being, I’ll be Summer’s bodyguard.”

  I turned to stare at him.

  “That’s great, brother,” Jude said. He sounded surprised. “You sure you don’t want to put someone else on it?”

  “I’m sure. I’d like to monitor things on the front lines for a bit. At the greatest point of… vulnerability.”

  Vulnerability?

  Oh, I did not like that word choice. Sounded way too much like weakness.

  If any of them referred to me as a delicate or damsel anything, I was out of here.

  “That’s great,” Brody agreed. He and Jude definitely seemed a lot happier about this arrangement than I did.

  Actually, all of them did. Ronan was the only one who didn’t seem pleased. Just… neutral.

  I met Brody’s eyes, and he definitely noticed I wasn’t swooning with delight. “Ronan is the best there is,” he assured me. “Like I told you last night. You couldn’t be in better hands.”

  “Fabulous,” I forced out, and got to my feet. “Are we done here? I’ve got stuff and things.”

  Brody nodded. “Sure. We’re done, for now.” He got up, and I left the room before I strangled the nearest one of them. Would’ve been Ronan, and I probably would’ve just pulled something trying to get a grip on his muscular neck.

  I threw him a displeased side-eye as I left. And he fucking nodded at me, completely unruffled.

  “You can shove my vulnerability right up your goddamn asses,” I muttered, heading for the foyer. I heard a little laugh and turned to find Jessa in the kitchen. “Oh. You heard that?”

  She smiled at me sympathetically. “Yeah. I also heard about what happened. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Really.”

  “I’m glad,” she said, and gave me a hug. “It must’ve been scary.”

  “Sure, I guess,” I said, distracted by the small human toddling out of the kitchen past us.

  “Ah, there he goes.” Jessa followed her little boy, Nicholas, into the foyer, and I went with them. “Do you want to talk about it?” she offered, keeping one eye on her kid as he wobbled along with determination on his chubby little legs.

  “Not really.” I was already tired of everyone asking about it. I felt weirdly defensive, like I’d done something wrong and gotten in trouble for it.

  Irrational, yes.

  Last night, I’d overheard Ronan telling Brody, when he walked him out to his car—yes, I’d been eavesdropping from my window upstairs—something about how I might be in “flight mode” for a while.

  Fuck him for being right.

  I wanted as much distance between myself and this shit as I could get. Unfortunately, it seemed to be coming right along with me.

  Jessa was eying me with concern. Nick was still toddling around in the foyer, and she caught him right before he put Ash’s shoe in his mouth.

  “How’s the little cutie?” I asked, looking to deflect. “I see he’s walking.”

  “Oh, he’s a handful,” she said, picking him up. “It’s so amazing when they start walking. But then the reality sinks in. He’s a lot more work now that he’s mobile.” She bounced him on her hip and fixed me with that concerned look again.

  I really couldn’t get away from it. Everyone was looking at me that way today.

  Everyone but Ronan, who seemed so totally calm and cool that it was both calming and irritating to behold. The man had this controlled, efficiency-under-pressure thing going on that was really fucking annoying me right now.

  Maybe because it was so damn hot.

  Kinda almost made me want to keep him around, even though I really didn’t. I did not fucking need a bodyguard.

  “You know what?” I told Jessa. “I refuse to allow one crazy person with severe boundary issues to have the power to change my entire way of life.”

  “Uh, are you talking about Brody? Or one of the other guys?”

  “I’m talking about the guy who tried to break into my house,” I said dryly.

  “Oh.” She laughed a little. I could definitely see how she’d misinterpreted that one. “Are you really okay, Summer?”

  I sighed. “Do they treat you like that, too? Like a child who needs to be bubble-wrapped so she doesn’t get any bumps and bruises?”

  Surely, the woman standing in front of me had been through these kinds of conversations with her husband. Jessa was a lingerie model—or at least, she had been—and she was a songwriter for Dirty. Maybe she wasn’t as famous as some of his clients, but Brody was protective as hell about his wife.

  “Well, they treat me like someone who’s important to them,” she said thoughtfully, “and who sometimes needs protecting. And these days, I’m thankful for it. Believe me, if you have to have someone watching your back, you want it to be the men in that room. They know what they’re doing, Summer, and all they want is for you to be safe. You’re important to them.”

  I made an annoyed sound under my breath.

  But then I wondered… Maybe I could get some intel off her?

  “Do you know this Ronan guy?”

  “Only by name,” she said. “But I can tell you, Brody wouldn’t have him here, in our house, with Nicky here, if he didn’t totally trust him.”

  I looked at Brody’s son in her arms, and I knew that had to be true. I brushed my knuckle gently on his soft, pudgy cheek.

  “Thanks, Jessa. I think I need some air. Let them know I’m in the driveway before they panic and call in the search-and-rescue team.”

  “Will do,” she said, but she gave me that concerned look again. “Stay close, okay?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I pulled on my jacket, stepped outside and took a fresh breath of air. It was a cool, crisp October morning, but the sun was out.

  I’d barely even exhaled when the door opened behind me. I turned to see who was hovering now.

  Ashley.

  He sauntered out, closing the door behind himself. I sighed a little.

  My ex-boyfriend was easy enough to read, for me. Usually, he didn’t give a rat’s ass what anyone told him to do, including me. The black T-shirt he was wearing right now under his leather jacket said: Shut your mouth before I fuck it.

  Pretty much said it all.

  But I knew, on this, he was listening carefully to what everyone said in Brody’s office.

  He pulled out a joint and lit up, offering it to me. I took a little puff, then passed it back.

  “Whatever you’re gearing up to say,” I told him, “don’t.”

  Of course, he didn’t listen.

  �
��I agree with them,” he informed me. “You need security—”

  “Ugh. Don’t start. I got enough from Elle already. She was all, ‘take all the love you’re offered today,’ and ‘do it for me.’”

  “Fuck love. I’d take the big dudes with guns and a hard-on for playing bodyguard.”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “You need a bodyguard, Summer. Some asshole broke into your house.”

  “He didn’t actually break in. Why is everyone exaggerating the facts?”

  “He climbed onto the balcony outside your bedroom. If people seem to be exaggerating facts, it’s because they’re fucking appalled and they’re worried about you.”

  “Who told you all that? Brody?”

  “Summer. Forget about everyone else. I know you don’t like being strong-armed, especially by a bunch of dudes. And I know you’ve got your girls and your entourage, but you need someone who isn’t drinking or drugging watching your back.”

  “Says the dude smoking a joint right now.”

  He stared at me, undeterred. “I’d like to know that someone whose only concern is your safety, no ulterior motives and no distractions, is looking out for you. We all want that.”

  I knew he was saying all this because he meant it. He cared.

  They all cared.

  I just really wasn’t used to this many people teaming up to tell me what to do. And I loathed other people making decisions for me.

  “What if he’d gotten into the house?” Ash’s blue eyes held mine. And I hated seeing that concerned look on his face the most. “That can’t happen.”

  He was right. I got that.

  I looked away. I could feel the prick of tears in my eyes, totally unwelcome. I blinked them back quickly and said, “Do you think this Ronan guy carries a gun?”

  “Don’t ask if you don’t want to know.”

  “Of course I want to know.”

  “Then ask him.”

  I sighed again. “How are you the rational one now? This is un-fucking-precedented. What the hell is happening to my life?”

  He smirked and took a drag off his joint. “You might as well give up, sweetheart. You know you’re outnumbered on this one.”

  Chapter Six

  Ronan

  When I stepped out of Brody’s house, I found Summer in the driveway with Ashley Player. I approached them slowly, watching them talking.