Wicked Beat

“Don’t f**kin’ tell me how to do my job,” Marcus grumbled.

She handed him the drive, and he stalked away. He offered her no “thank you.” No “kiss my ass.” Nothing. She understood why Marcus was angry, but taking it out on her wasn’t benefiting him, unless his goal was to look like an ass**le. She wasn’t sure how to get him to understand that. The tension between them was affecting the entire crew as Marcus prodded them into picking sides. Because she rode on the bus with the band instead of the roadies, Marcus had plenty of opportunity to badmouth her.

“Sound check,” Rebekah announced to the sound crew.

When they had Sinners’ equipment sounding perfect, she assisted with the opening bands’ sound checks as well. The three bands played in succession. The first band’s equipment was at the front of the stage, with the second’s setup behind theirs, and Kickstart’s equipment behind theirs. Sinners’ equipment was at the far back. By setting up the stage this way, after each band played, their equipment could be removed from the stage to reveal the next band’s setup. It saved a lot of time in switching between bands during the concert, but there was a lot of prep work before a show.

Near the end of the final sound check someone moved behind her and slid something cool around her throat. She started and jerked to the side. Eric grinned at her, fastening a clasp at the back of her neck. Her hand flew to the cool, slender object around her throat. It felt suspiciously like a necklace. She strained her neck to look at the strand of sapphires in butterfly-shaped settings. Each sapphire butterfly was spaced from the next with large, round, clear stones—she hoped they were cubic zirconium, not real diamonds.

“What’s this?” she asked, her heart hammering.

“A present for you,” Eric said. “The blue stones reminded me of your hair, so I had to get it. The jewelry lady said they were sapphires. And the butterflies… well, you can probably guess why butterflies remind me of you. Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful, baby, but I can’t accept this. It must have cost you a fortune.”

She reached for the clasp to remove it, but hesitated when she saw the devastated look on his face. He looked like a little kid who had just been told his crayon-drawn stick figures sucked. How was she supposed to refuse his thoughtful gift when he looked at her like that?

“I mean, I love it!” she screamed and jumped into his arms, kissing him excitedly. She burrowed her fingers into his hair and clung to his scalp as she deepened their kiss. His arms wrapped around her to draw her securely against his chest. Her feet were suspended at least a foot off the ground.

When they drew apart at last, he laughed. “Do you really like it?”

“Of course I like it. It’s beautiful.”

“Like you.” Eric pecked her on the lips and set her on her feet. He dug around in the pocket of his jeans until he pulled out a matching bracelet and took her arm to fasten it around her wrist.

“Please tell me these are fakes,” she whispered. She had a sinking sensation that he’d spent more on these two items of jewelry than she’d paid for her college education.

“Fake?” Now he looked offended. “Of course I wouldn’t buy you fake jewelry.”

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to buy me anything.”

“But I wanted to.”

“Why?”

His brow furrowed. “I don’t know. When I saw it in the window it reminded me of you, and I thought you would like it, so I bought it.”

“You don’t have to buy my affection,” she said.

“That’s not why…” The crease in his brow deepened.

“Don’t frown, baby. I really do love it.”

“Are you sure?”

She grinned. “It’s the most beautiful gift I’ve ever received.”

He released a breath of relief.

“But you know what means more?”

He pointed at her with a figurative lightbulb glowing over his head. “A ring?”

She chuckled and hugged him. “No, not a ring. That you thought of me.”

“Well, I do that all the time,” he said.

She tilted her head to look up at him. “And that’s enough. I don’t need jewelry, Eric. Just you.”

“Oh.” He grinned. “But you already have me.”

“It’s hard to buy for a girl who has everything, isn’t it?”

His grin widened. “I do love you, woman. Are you almost done with your work?”

“I think I can take a little break.”

She turned back to the soundboard and removed her thumb drive. She wasn’t going to risk someone deleting an important file again. She never did find out who had done it before the last show. Better safe than sorry.

As they walked, Eric draped an arm around her shoulders. His strong fingers massaged her shoulder with that perfect touch. Her body was already responding to his on an instinctual level, her nerves humming in anticipation of the delights to come.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

“I suppose we don’t have time to fly to a tropical beach and make love in the surf.”

“No, but I do have that mermaid costume. And you can be my lost pirate, seduced by my magnificent singing voice.” She winked at him suggestively.

“You have a magnificent singing voice?”

She realized she couldn’t lie because he’d heard her sing in the shower. “No, actually, but you do.”

“I don’t think I’d look good in a coconut bra.” Eric ran his hands down his chest. “I’m sorely lacking in cle**age.”

“Pirates don’t wear coconut bras. They have eye patches and hooks and peg legs.”

“Hooks, peg legs, and no depth perception. Sounds dangerous.”

“You just need to focus on your booty and leave the moves to me.”

“I’d rather focus on your booty as it moves against me.”

She groaned at his corny joke. She’d walked right into that one.

“So how am I supposed to get between your legs if you have a tail, little mermaid?”

She stroked her new bracelet and watched the gemstones sparkle in the light while she contemplated his question. “Good point. Maybe mermaids just give blow jobs to the pirates they seduce.”

“Lucky pirates.”

Rebekah scowled. “Wait a minute. You won’t even be able to reciprocate if I’m with tail.”