Too Many Rock Stars: Violet's Story (Access All Areas #1) Page 4

  There was a decent crowd already. I had a fan base in this town, it was one of the reasons I'd chosen it. A few girls ran over and asked for autographs. One of them slipped me her phone number. I gave her a wink but had no intention of ever calling her. She wore too much makeup and her t-shirt had a stain on it as though she'd spilled her drink.

  Anyway, banging groupies was not in my plan. Even if I didn't have Violet in my sights, flirting and the hint of a promise did much more than straight-up sex. Sex with groupies just got messy and emotional. I wanted to be admired, not attached.

  I sipped on another whiskey and listened to the opening act. They weren't the type of band I'd have chosen to follow, far too much uncontained rage, but I wasn't in a position to be picky. I had to establish myself first.

  A lanky guy with unkempt hair approached me just as I was about to go backstage.

  "Alex? I emailed you. I'm Fabian, the bass player..."

  "Cool. I'm about to get up but stick around. We can chat after I play." I gave him a nod and went to set up. With just me, it wouldn't take long.

  Violet came over before I hit the stage. She looked even better than I'd remembered. Her short dress and boots were almost as sexy as those skimpy shorts. Some girls just look good no matter what they do and she was that type. With her hair in a thick braid and barely any makeup on, she still was as sexy as hell. A bit tired, though. I’d heard about the bastard who owned this place. I bet he worked her into the ground.

  "You ready?" Violet grinned and all the tiredness dropped from her face.

  "Yep, pretty much. Just me and my guitar. Are you sticking around for the set?" I tried to look like I didn't care but I sure as hell wanted to impress her. Without that, I'd not have a chance in this town and I'd sure as hell not have a chance with her.

  She nodded. "I'll be watching. You've got a good crowd in tonight. That's going to impress Chucklehead Chuck. He's all about the money at the moment."

  She was checking me out. She tried to hide it but her gaze was all over my body. The thought of her thinking about me warmed me up. It gave me an extra edge. This would be a good night.

  I walked out onto the stage, fully aware of the cheers going up for me. I'd have them eating out of my hand before I was done. I didn't look around until I got to the center of the stage, though, then I gave a short salute.

  I sat down on a stool and got out my guitar, scanning the room before starting into my first song so I could fix Violet in my sights. The combination of a slow love song and a meaningful look had gotten me a long way in life.

  I started with a slow number, getting into the groove of the place. In the chorus, I caught Violet's eye and slowly smiled.

  She was watching, not talking to anyone. I had her full attention and I meant to keep it.

  I followed that up with a faster number, hoping to get a few more people crowding up to the front.

  I'd waited too long to play again. I’d missed that rush from the crowd. With each song, the hollow part inside me filled up.

  I finished my set to massive cheers and grinned, knowing I'd done it. She hadn't taken her eyes off me all night.

  I gave the room another salute before picking up my guitar and heading off stage. I wanted to go running to her for her opinion but I'd make her wait.

  Chapter 8 VIOLET

  I’D KNEW ALEX WOULD be good when I listened to his demo but I had no idea how that would translate to playing live. It'd been a bit of a risk putting booking a solo act on a Saturday night but he'd won the crowd over. He didn't just play guitar, he used it to manipulate the emotions of everyone in the room.

  And he had a big enough fan base to make Chuck happy. All in all, a successful night.

  The final band of the night tried to follow Alex’s performance but they fell flat. The audience had spent all their emotions on Alex and had nothing left to give. I guess that meant more bar takings, so Chuck would be even happier.

  It bugged me that I had to even consider Chuck's feelings but if it meant the difference between him selling the club or keeping it going, I'd do just that.

  I headed downstairs, planning to get the cash safe then go back upstairs but, as I walked through the dimly lit storeroom, something grabbed my arm.

  I screamed.

  "Shhh, it's only me."

  "Alex? What the fuck are you doing?" My heart pounded and anger rushed to the very surface of my being. He'd scared the bejesus out of me. I hated walking through that storeroom. The light was always broken.

  "I was looking for you. You disappeared."

  "You shouldn't be here. It's off-limits."

  But Alex had his arms around me, pulling me closer. My heart still pounded but it wasn't just with fear this time. His breath brushed my neck and his body pressed against mine.

  "Is this off-limits too?"

  I wanted to say yes and push him away but I could barely breathe. That buzzing in my lady bits grew more intense. I didn’t relax but I didn’t resist either. I just let him hold me for a while.

  He put his hand on my chest and felt the pounding of my heart.

  "I really did give you a fright," he said. His voice purred with a smugness at my reaction.

  As he moved his face closer to mine, I smelled it. In his hair and on his body. Subtle but pervasive, that rocker smell.

  I broke away.

  "I need to get back to work," I said. "I'm not here to play around."

  I walked into my office and shut the door behind me. My brain screamed to stay away from Alex. He was temptation wrapped up in a creamy package. Smooth as silk and totally tasty. Temptation was something I didn’t need. What I needed was a job.

  Then Carlie came in for her break. She leaned on the desk, lighting a cigarette.

  "How was Alex?" she asked.

  "Amazing. Beyond amazing."

  She punched my arm. "Whoa, you like him. You have a big thing for him."

  "I have no big thing. Nothing. I just thought he performed well."

  "Yeah, he'd perform well in the sack too, I reckon. He's packing a nice bit of man meat in those tight pants."

  I glared at her.

  "Come on,” she said. “He has that leather-wrapped so tight you can't help but notice. If you like him, Violet, go for it. Don't be a damn scaredy-cat."

  I’d noticed but I wasn't going to admit it to Carlie.

  "What's wrong?" she asked. "Are you saving yourself for Razer instead? You've strung him along for long enough, don't you think?"

  "I'm not stringing him along. I'm not interested in either of them." I folded my arms.

  "Yeah, right.”

  Maybe she was right. Maybe I should go for it. It’d been a long, long time and Alex wasn’t your typical rocker, no matter how he smelled. Under that hot exterior, he had a lot of common sense. He sure wouldn’t be the type to go blabbing around the place.

  But something in Alex’s music worried me. Sure, he was good. Brilliant, even. But it was a bit too masterful. Calculating. At times it had felt like he was playing a joke on the world and laughing to himself but then he'd turn on those soulful eyes and you'd feel like you were falling.

  Those eyes would drive a girl mad. They made my body zing like no one had made me zing in a long time. A buzz that pulsated more in my body than in my heart. Still, pushing him away was the right thing to do.

  I'd get nowhere thinking too much. I had to run back upstairs and get to work.

  I sat at the bar and Babs got me a drink.

  When the band packed up, I went backstage and congratulated them on a top performance. I hoped it was top since I honestly couldn’t recall much about it. What had I been doing? Thinking about Alex, that’s what. I had to keep my mind on my job.

  I walked out of the backstage area, casting my gaze around the room. I wasn't looking for Alex. He was the furthest thing from my mind. I just wanted to do a mental headcount of numbers for Chuck, that was all.

  The room was still packed but there was definitely no Alex in sigh
t. I tightened my lips. I wasn't disappointed. Nope. Nothing like that at all. I didn't want to deal with his attention. Maybe he'd gone home with someone else. I could almost guarantee it. That's how rockers worked – they played the numbers game and someone like Alex wouldn't even need to hit up many numbers before he found someone to share his bed.

  I shrugged. It was good that he'd showed his true colors before I got too involved with him.

  The band room would be open all night with the resident DJ playing but my work was done so I went downstairs to drink with Carlie. Downstairs was much quieter. It'd gotten to the point in the night when most of the customers had paired off and were looking for dark corners to grope in. There were a few desperate souls cruising the room and the hardcore drinkers at the bar.

  Carlie argued with a customer over his drink order. The guy would want to shut up and put up because Carlie had that look in her eye that meant she was about to call security and have him bounced.

  Alex. He hadn’t gone home. He said in the corner with Jackson. He actually had Jackson laughing. Nobody made Jackson laugh.

  I turned my body away from them. Instead, I watched a drunk guy trying his hardest to pick up a girl in the corner. He tried way too hard. She wasn't interested but she strung him along.

  As I watched, someone slipped into the seat beside me. I wouldn't turn. I wouldn't check if it was Alex. I wouldn't even glance over to the corner to see if he'd moved.

  I just turned to pick up my drink, that was all. I waited for Alex to speak but it wasn’t Alex. It was Razer.

  I’d barely said hello when Alex joined us.

  Razer finished his beer and set his glass on the bar so Alex finished his and called for a whiskey.

  "Make it two," said Razer, a glint of rivalry in his eyes.

  I wasn’t sure if Razer could afford the expensive whiskey that Alex drank but hey, it was his money.

  “Enjoy the set?” Alex asked him.

  Razer had been watching? I hadn’t seen him in the band room. He must’ve been in a dark corner somewhere because he wasn’t an easy guy to hide.

  "It's shite, isn't it?” Razer asked. “You seem all grandiose but it's toying around. There's nothing real behind it. No raw emotion."

  Razer wasn’t known for holding his punches.

  Alex rolled his eyes. "Not caveman enough for you, you mean?"

  And so the argument went. They'd gone from trying to impress me to forgetting me altogether in their attempts to outdo each other. Fine by me.

  "What do you think, Violet?" Alex asked.

  "Huh?" I’d tuned them out.

  "Who do you pick? You've heard us both play. You must have a preference."

  I held up my hands like stop signs. "Keep me out of this. I have no preference. I just work here and, with the way things are at the moment, my preference is for the band who brings the most punters in through that door. I need to keep my job and keep the place open."

  Razer kept on with his reasons for being the best.

  “Have you had anyone cry, genuinely cry because the song you are playing reminded them of the sweetest moment of their childhood? Have you ever had someone lose control? Jumping around like a crazy thing because the music makes them realize that today is all they have? It’s not just about playing chords, mate. It’s not about manufacturing emotion. You can fool people with that but you can’t fool their hearts. You have to get your hands dirty and you have to turn nasty. If there’s something within you, a part you hate or you are scared of, or that embarrasses the absolute shit out of you, if that’s not in the music then it’s nothing.”

  Razer surprisingly made a few articulate points. I’d never thought of Razer as being an articulate type of guy.

  Alex didn't respond. He seemed to be miles away with his face twisted in thought.

  Suddenly, he slammed his glass down on the bar. "Listen up. This is what we do."

  I looked at him and even Razer stopped talking.

  Alex called Carlie over. "We need witnesses for this."

  Carlie raised her brows in curiosity and left the customers she was serving to come down our end of the bar.

  "We can argue all night and well into tomorrow over who is the better rocker," Alex said. "It proves nothing. We have to do this scientifically. It's like Violet says. The one who brings the most punters into the club is the best band. That is the way to prove it."

  My tired brain ticked that over.

  "Wait, that's balls," said Razer. "The one who brings the most people in is the best band? But what if One Direction played here? They'd bring in more people than either of us could. You saying that we’re more shit than One Direction? Because those are fighting words."

  "Well, since One Direction isn't about to play here, it's a non-issue. It'll take me a month or so to get a band together and get them up to speed. So how about it? We take one Saturday night each and the one with the greatest numbers gets the prize."

  Razer scratched his head.

  "Works for me, but hey, what's the prize? Some lame 'best band' trophy? I don't need that shite."

  So that's how this whole stupid thing started. And it was stupid, on the scale of stupid ideas in this world, their dumb idea would’ve been Nobel Prize winning stupid, if there was a Nobel Prize for stupid ideas.

  "The prize is a date with Violet. She breaks her 'no rockers' rule for one night,” Alex said.

  I jumped off my barstool, backing away.

  "No. That is bad. That is really bad. I'm not some trophy for you guys to fight over. I'm not an object that can be won in a competition. I'm staying well out of it. Do it for the kudos. Do it for the glory. Hell, I might even get Chuck to throw in a drink card or something. But leave me well out of it."

  I folded my arms and glared from one to the other, daring them to challenge me. If they couldn’t read the anger in my face, they had to be illiterate.

  "Wow, she really doesn't want to date you," Razer said to Alex. "She hates you."

  Alex laughed. "More like you, mate."

  I didn't even want to stick around and catch stupid disease off the pair of them but then Carlie spoke.

  "You want to save the club, don't you, Violet? It seems like this would be the best way to do that. Even if you don't want to date either of these bozos, do it for the club."

  "It's not going to happen. You guys figure this out but keep me out of it. I will NOT be your prize."

  Chapter 9 VIOLET

  I WAS BEGINNING TO hate the sight of Chuck. Every time he came into my office it was bad news. He wasn't my favorite person in the world before but I'd mainly been Chuck-neutral.

  He stood in the doorway, not entering my space.

  "So Violet, I heard about this competition. I think it'd be a really good thing for the club."

  "You do?"

  Of course, it was a good thing for the club but it would not be a good thing for me.

  "We need the money. We need to get out of debt."

  Suddenly it was "we". But it wasn't "we" who'd gotten into this trouble.

  "You made the rules, remember. No dating the guys who play here. If I agree to this stupid thing, it will go against everything I promised you."

  He scratched his head. "I think we can loosen up the rules a little in this case. Jesus, Violet, there is no need to be totally uptight. Think about someone other than yourself."

  I couldn't believe he'd said that. Chuck, the most self-centered man in the world. The one who constantly reminded me of my stupid mistake and made sure I never repeated it. I couldn't speak. The hate for him boiled my blood.

  “Shit, Violet, it’s not like you’ve never done it before. You were damn quick to get into that other guy’s pants. Think of it as me giving you the green light. God, if I had a band, I’d go in the running myself. I’d love to find out what’s at the top of those sexy legs of yours.”

  I wanted to lash out at him but my head pounded too much for me to form words.

  “I mean,” he continued, “yo
u’re doing a bit to help out but you aren’t really doing enough.”

  I couldn’t believe he was laying this all on me. The office walls closed in around me and I didn’t even want to breathe the same air as him. I had to get out of there. I had to get away from this club before I said things to Chuck I’d regret later.

  I bolted out of the club and hit the street before I realized it was raining. One of those summer showers that make the world into a steamy sauna. I huddled under a shop awning, wondering where I was headed anyway. Home was an option but it wasn't an option that would comfort me. And I needed comfort after that talk.

  My apartment was just a place to sleep. I spent more time at the club than I ever did at home. I had a bed and some other furniture left over from the previous tenant. I think there was a stove there too.

  What did other people do? Go to the movies? I hadn't seen a movie in years. I had no idea what I'd even watch. Go shopping? With no money in my wallet?

  People rushed past. Peak hour, the time when normal people knocked off work and headed for the train. I watched them scurry by, all looking like they had important things to do and places to go. They seemed so alien. Going home to families or meeting friends for drinks.

  I wanted to put distance between Chuck and me but all I could do was huddle under that shop awning.

  I sensed a presence beside me before I saw him. Then I looked up and laughed.

  "What's up?" Razer asked.

  "Your umbrella," I snapped back. "What's with the pink florals?"

  He looked up at the pink umbrella he held, pink with a daisy pattern covering it. "I saw you rush out of the bar so grabbed this from the lost property box. Not the best choice, huh."

  Even in my utter despair, I had to giggle at the combination of his bulk with that girlie umbrella.

  “You look like an idiot.”

  "Yeah, I do. But if it keeps the rain off, that's the main thing."

  We both stood there in the rain looking at each, as though not sure what to do next. Should I just take the umbrella from Razer and head off? That seemed a bit rude when he’d actually tried to help. I should thank him but being nice to Razer just seemed weird. The way we played things was that he’d do something annoying and then I’d hurl insults. If he didn’t do the annoying thing, I had no precedent of how to deal with him.