“Well, I didn’t ask for your help, little man, now did I?” Eric said.
Jace pursed his lips and nodded slightly. He left the bus without a word. Outside his Harley roared to life and the motorcycle’s rumble faded into the distance.
“Why do you always torment him, Eric?” Sed asked.
Eric shrugged.
“He didn’t hesitate to jump into your fight when you were outnumbered.”
Eric rubbed a hand over his pursed lips and then squeezed his cleft chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Yeah, I know. It’s just… He’s not Jon, you know?”
Thank God for small favors. Sed knew that Eric and their previous bassist, Jon, had been close friends, but the guy had been bad news. They were much better off with Jace in the band.
Trey licked at the blood at the corner of his mouth. “Did you see the way Jace fought? I’ve never seen him fight before. I was like, holy shit. He pounded the crap out of three bouncers all by himself. I’m pretty sure little man could kick your ass if he wanted to, Eric.”
“Shut up, Trey.” Eric scowled.
Trey shrugged and glanced up at Sed, who stood leaning against the back of the booth. “So what are you going to do about Jessica?”
Sed’s heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name. “Nothing. Obviously.”
“Obviously?” Trey turned over his towel of ice, pressed it to the back of his head, and winced. “You pulled her offstage at a strip club. There’s no obviously about that.”
“I was just… surprised. I don’t give a shit what she does with her life.”
“Uh-huh.” Trey sounded almost as convinced as Sed felt.
Chapter 7
Jessica’s heart sank. “Fired? You can’t fire me over this. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Roy, the club owner, cleared his throat, refusing to look at her. He reminded Jessica of a bloated Elvis, minus The King’s good looks. Men should not wear white spandex or sequins—separately or in combination. Especially not hairy, overweight men. “Have you seen the condition of my bouncers? Your friends—”
“They aren’t my friends.”
“Then why are you protecting them?”
Jessica shook her head, her eyes wide with feigned innocence. “I’m not.”
“By the time the cops got here last night, they were long gone. If you’re not protecting them, tell me their names and where to find them, so I can press charges.”
“I don’t know them.”
“I don’t believe you.” He considered her for a long moment. “Clear out your dressing table, Feather. I don’t want to see you in my club again.”
“But I need this job.” She’d only been working for three weeks. She didn’t have enough saved up for school yet. Not by a long shot. “It’s just for the summer.”
“Sorry, babe. I don’t need your kind of trouble. You’re beautiful and sexy, but I’ve got a long line of applicants who want your job and they don’t bring their thugs into my club.”
“They’re not thugs.”
“I thought you didn’t know them.”
“I don’t.”
He slid an envelope across his desk toward her. “Your pay.”
She snatched the envelope off the desk and stormed from Roy’s office.
Sed never ceased to fuck up her life.
Jessica burst into the dressing room and tossed all of her crap into a bag. She almost ran into Aggie on her way out. The black-haired beauty grabbed her by both arms to steady her.
“Hey, kitten, what’s the rush?”
“Roy just fired me.” She needed to get out of the place. Her throat ached with unshed tears and she didn’t want anyone to know how upset she was. It was just a stupid job. Just another failure.
“What? How could he fire you? You’re already a local favorite.”
“This is all Sed’s fault,” she said. “When I see him, I’m going to rip him a new asshole.”
“I think he’s already got a corner on the asshole market, sugar.”
Jessica tried not to smile. Failed at that, too.
“You said he was in the band Sinners, right?” Aggie asked.
“Yeah, so?”
“So they’re opening for Exodus End tonight at Mandalay Bay.”
“How do you know that?”
Aggie shrugged. “I saw a flyer tacked up somewhere.”
“Perfect,” Jessica said, starting to feel marginally better. “Now I can tell him where he can stuff his money. Better yet, I can show him where he can stuff his money.”
“If you happen to run into that blond guy who was with them last night… the fine-looking one with the tight little ass… and the hard bod… and that face… and those…” Aggie’s hands clenched and she shuddered in undisguised delight.
Blond? Jessica’s brow furrowed. “Do you mean Jace Seymour?”
“Jace.” Aggie smiled, her ruby red lips parting to reveal a perfect set of teeth. “Tell him I still owe him a dance. He paid, but ran off to fight bouncers before I could treat him to my special brand of pain.”
Jessica chuckled. “Soft spot for him, Aggie? It’s not like you to worry about pocketing some easy cash.”
Aggie winked. “Maybe.”
“I’ll try to remember to give him your message when I go kick Sed’s ass.” Her hands clenched into fists. Sedric Lionheart would regret getting her fired. Oh yes, he would.
Chapter 8
Sed took a long draw from his beer and gazed down at the picture in the palm of his hand. Jessica had given it to him a couple of years ago. He remembered that smile. Doubted she’d ever share it with him again. She fuckin’ hated his guts. So why was he sitting in the dark, staring at her picture, and drinking by himself again? Tradition, he supposed.
He set her picture beside his beer can and opened the journal he used to write songs. He couldn’t concentrate well enough to write actual lyrics, but words kept popping into his head. He pictured them, but mostly he felt them. He scrawled words on separate lines with blank spaces between so he could add phrases later.
Eyes of jade. A heart betrayed.
Anguish. Languish.
Pain. Insane.
Heart of stone. Alone.
Alone.
He took a ragged breath.
Alone.
The song would come later. He didn’t want to forget the feelings, though. He closed the journal, stuck it back in its hiding place under the bench seat cushion and picked up Jessica’s picture, fingering its worn edges.
The bedroom door at the back of the tour bus opened, and then the bathroom door slid shut. Sed tossed the picture on the table and took another sip of his beer. A few minutes later, a gentle hand touched his shoulder.
“Are you out here by yourself again?” Myrna asked.
Sed glanced up at her. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Can I sit?”
When he shrugged, she slid into the bench across the table from him.
“I’m sorry I didn’t take better care of Brian last night,” he said.
“He told me what happened and I don’t blame you. He’s the idiot who got involved.” Myrna picked up Jessica’s picture and examined it. “She’s stunning, Sed. Is this Jessica?”
She glanced up at him and he nodded.
“How are you doing?” she asked.
She handed the picture to him and he slid it into his pocket with the crummy engagement ring Jessica had flung at him one devastating afternoon two years before.
“Me?” He shrugged. “By the time I got out there, everyone was fleeing the scene. I didn’t even get to throw a punch. I just grabbed Trey off the sidewalk, stuffed him in the car with Brian, and we took off.”