Sex, Gossip and Rock & Roll

Disappointingly he didn’t retaliate, the loaded silence only serving to notch up the intimacy, and she silently swore. This car was her pride and joy, a symbol of how hard she’d worked, how far she’d come but right now the interior she usually found comfortingly cosy seemed stifling.

It was him, of course, with his big chest and big shoulders and big head.

‘Care to lay a wager on that?’

She bit back her first response of where he could stick his wager.

‘Because from where I’m sitting, the two of us getting together by the end of this tour is inevitable.’

This time, her cursing wasn’t so silent and she clenched the steering wheel, not risking a glance in his direction and catching the smug grin that had to be plastered across his too-handsome face.

The guy was infuriating.

The guy was annoying.

The guy was only verbalising what she’d already envisaged in her mixed-up head, making her mad as hell.

She cranked up the music and he wisely shut up. If only he’d stay mute for the rest of the tour.

The road trip from hell got worse the moment Charli approached the front desk of the apartments where they were staying.

‘Welcome to Ballarat, Miss Chambers.’

‘Thanks. Do you have our room keys?’

The receptionist’s smile faded. ‘We do but there’s been a problem.’

Charli didn’t need any more problems. Bad enough she had one big problem tagging along for the tour.

‘What’s up?’

The receptionist’s eyes widened and her jaw sagged as Luca strode into the small reception area.

The woman had to be fiftysomething but she had a pulse and any woman would’ve drooled over Luca—including her, sadly, considering she couldn’t stop thinking about that kiss the entire drive.

‘I thought I told you to wait in the car,’ she muttered, shooting him a frown that only served to widen his permanent grin.

Leaning down, he murmured in her ear, ‘Heads-up. I’m a big boy now. I don’t always do as I’m told.’

She gulped at the hint of danger tinged with promise in his smoother-than-honey tone, grateful when the receptionist held out a pair of key cards.

‘Management’s apologies, but due to the construction work next door and burst water mains we’ve had to put you both in the same apartment. It’s a two-bedroom, far end of the corridor. If you need anything—’

‘But I made this booking a month ago. You must have another apartment.’

Her voice had risen to an embarrassing squeak and she clamped her lips shut as the receptionist shook her head.

‘I’m sorry, Miss Chambers, this is all we’ve got.’

Her brusque tone held a distinct undercurrent of ‘take it or leave it’ and, considering this had been her last resort due to some folk festival coinciding with Storm’s first gig in town booking up every last room, she had no choice.

‘We’ll take it,’ Luca said, swiping the key cards from the receptionist with a dazzling smile that had the older woman practically purring. ‘Thanks.’

‘You’re welcome, sir.’

Charli slumped, her heart sinking as Luca draped an arm over her shoulders and drawled, ‘Let’s go, roomie. I’m looking forward to bunking down.’

She elbowed him in the ribs, hard.

As Luca opened the door to their apartment and gestured her in Charli realised things could be worse. The apartment complex might’ve shoved them into a one-bedroom. But as she stepped into the apartment, only slightly larger than a shoebox, her relief was short-lived.

In a place this size she’d be forced to interact with Luca whether she liked it or not.

Either that or spend every spare second when she wasn’t working in her bedroom and, considering that consisted of a narrow bed and little else, it’d get mighty uncomfortable mighty fast.

With her blood pressure spiking along with her temper, she snatched up her overnight bag and strode into the closest bedroom, flinging it onto the bed and bumping her elbow on the door in the process.

Luca watching her in silent amusement didn’t help and she stalked towards him, every step bringing her closer to slugging him. He must’ve caught the maniacal gleam in her eyes for he quickly shut the door and held up his hands in surrender.

‘Hey, I’m not the bad guy here. You made the bookings. I’m just tagging along as your new finance manager, remember?’

‘How could I forget? ‘

She stood toe to toe with him, wanting to hit him for no other reason than he was convenient and she had to take her temper out on someone. She wasn’t the fiery type usually, had learned to master her emotions and hide them beneath a veneer of indifference, the only way to cope with her manic mother’s mood swings and total disregard for her only child.

But her temper had been building the entire trip and she had to find a release before she exploded. Temper or something else? She banished the thought in an instant, not willing to acknowledge that this wild, out-of-control feeling had more to do with sexual tension than anger.

But it was there, simmering between them, and when she locked gazes with his the air between them shimmered and coalesced into something bigger than the both of them.

Her heart stalled when he reached for her, the crackle of electricity zapping her into reality.

She had a job to do, he had his. That was it.

She’d manage Storm, he’d manage the money. Co-workers, that was what they were for the next fortnight. That was all. And if her momentary reality flash wasn’t enough, the fact he was Hector’s grandson, the man she owed everything to, should be enough of a wake-up call.

Dragging in several shaky breaths, she placed a hand on his chest to stall him.

‘Ignoring this isn’t going to make it go away,’ he said, his heat burning her through the cotton of his shirt.

‘Maybe not, but I have to try.’

With a reluctant sigh, she patted his chest and walked away, his gaze burning her back until she shut the door on her stupidity and quite possibly the best offer she’d had in a long time.

Charli was going stir crazy.

She’d holed up in her room for half an hour: unpacking, unravelling, unhinged.

If she couldn’t spend two nights in the same apartment as Luca what chance did she have surviving the rest of the week? Storm had several gigs scattered through country Victoria over the next seven days, a warm-up for his big Melbourne debut in a fortnight.