Page 29 of Reckless

He’d pulled her to his side after returning to bed, so he continued to twirl a lock of her hair around his fingertip.

“You did work very hard. Bound to wake up your appetite. I’ll order room service.”

She sat and looked down at him. “You are so fucking handsome. Providing food and orgasms is pretty irresistible. And, that ring in the head of your cock? Well, it certainly woke up all sorts of places in my pussy that I might have thought imaginary until you and your magic wiener.”

“Pleased to serve all your voracious appetites.” Snorting, he rolled to his feet and went in search of the room service menu.

She dragged a French fry through ranch dressing and ate it, thinking before she asked, “Did you always know you wanted to make music?”

“I liked music from an early age. Started playing bass and loved it. Had a garage band with my friends, Silas is one of them,” he said of his drummer. “I’ve known him since middle school. But I figured it’d be something I did on the side while I did, well, some other job that could pay my rent, you know?”

She nodded.

“And then I met my dad.” He shrugged. “That was a big turning point. Because my mum plays piano so I figured I got my musical talent from her side of my DNA. And then when my dad came into my life it made sense to me. I got it from both of them. He was so great, you know? He would jam with us, a bunch of kids in a garage playing covers. And then he and my mum got together, married and all that, and I started going out on tour with him. Which is where I met you.”

She lifted her half-eaten cheeseburger in cheers.

“I saw that it could be a career. More than a hobby on the side. But the center of my life. It obviously helps when your dad is a rock star, and I know you get that part.”

Did she ever.

“Anyway, you know the other parts of the story. We started out at small clubs and worked up to larger ones. Made an EP which got us picked up by the label, like you did. Erin and my dad served as producers. I still use them to this day because they’re so smart about all this stuff. We gained traction from the EP and then our first full length album. Then the follow up. Lots of touring. And now this new album is doing great and the ticket sales for this tour are, I’m told, outstanding. So I guess I’ll get to keep doing this as my job. Thankfully. I love music. I love making music. I even love the chaotic energy of touring, though I have to admit, I do wish this tour had a break between North America and Europe so I can recover a bit.”

He looked over to her and winced. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. I guess maybe we should have gotten that over with before we jumped into bed.”

There’d been a push for two other European based bands to open for Earthquakes on their Europe leg and Jeremy had come to Harlow in person to talk with her about it. She hadn’t been angry at all. The US leg would give them a lot of exposure, but they had their own tour to run, and they’d actually be in Europe at the same time toward the end of Earthquakes’s tour, just playing far smaller venues.

“I’m not fucking you for a spot on your Europe leg,” she told him and tried not to wince at the emotion behind her words.

“Uh…I didn’t think you were. It’s just that the possibility of a spot for that part of the tour had been spoken about and then it went in a different direction.” He shrugged.

Harlow rolled her eyes at him. “Do you think I’m unaware of the differences between our spot and yours? We aren’t ignorant of the process. Earthquakes is a much bigger, hotter property. You need to make decisions that align with that. European tour, British and Dutch bands make sense.” She took another bite because cold cheeseburgers weren’t as good as hot ones. “Jeremy already spoke to us about it. If I had a problem, you’d know. And I wouldn’t be riding your dick. That’s a good sign that I’m mad at you. Not riding your dick, I mean.”

“Okay, okay. I just remember what it was like trying to break to the next level.” He tucked her reaction away for future reference. He didn’t want to hurt or offend her. He just wanted to be careful of her feelings.

“You can pay for the room service,” she said easily.

“Deal.”

She finished up her meal still naked, but once she finished, she got out of bed and began to reassemble her clothes, putting them back on in order.

“Going somewhere?”

“It’s nearly three. I need to get some sleep since I got all tired from sexercize with you.” She grinned.

He frowned. “You can stay here. I’m not kicking you out or anything.”

“Well, that’s good, because that would be terrible manners after I let you touch my boobs.”

A laugh burst from him, satisfying her in a way she didn’t want to look at too closely just then.

“I do have very good manners. And a king-sized bed. I even have a breakfast order coming. I’ll share my bacon with you or order you more.”

“Are you attempting to bribe me with bacon, sir?”

“Whatever it takes.”

“As much as I do love breakfast cooked by someone else, especially when it includes bacon, I need to go back to my own room. I’ve seen fans in this hotel looking for you. And I’ve seen plenty of gossip mag fodder about you in the past. Getting snapped sneaking back to my room in the morning wearing what I had on last night seems like daring trouble.”

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