Rock With Me

  Rock With Me

  Book Four in the With Me In Seattle Series

  By

  Kristen Proby

  ROCK WITH ME

  Book Four in the With Me In Seattle Series

  Kristen Proby

  Copyright © 2013 by Kristen Proby

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations. It is intended for adult readers.

  Cover Art:

  Photographer: Linus Pettersson of Photo by Linus

  Models: Sulan Von Zoomlander and Katerina Lotus

  Graphic Artist: Renae Porter of Social Butterfly Creative

  Sunshine © 2013 by Kristen Proby and Nicole Brightman, co-writers.

  Dedication:

  This book is for the readers. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

  Prologue

  “You know,” Meg announces to the room at large. “You didn’t all need to come help. I don’t have that much stuff. Leo and Will could have handled the big stuff.”

  We are gathered at Will Montgomery’s house, helping him move his girlfriend, Megan in with him. I’ve grown to love these people. My brother marrying into the Montgomery family might have been the best thing he ever did.

  Damn Luke, for always getting it right. I glance across Will’s impressive living room where I’m trying to decide where one of Meg’s brightly colored paintings should be hung and eye my brother as he kisses his pretty brunette wife on the cheek. Natalie is the best, and I’m so happy that she’s forgiven me for being a bitch to her when I first met her. Not that I’m all that sorry for it. I had my reasons. But Nat is fantastic.

  She’s my best friend.

  “Thanks so much for volunteering me,” Leo, Meg’s brother, mutters. “Why didn’t we hire a company again?”

  I grin to myself and turn my back on the room, focusing on the wall and the artwork in my hands. I’m in a room with Leo Nash. The Leo Nash. He’s only the hottest rock star in the country. And he’s sexy as hell.

  And he’s been watching me all day.

  Will and Leo continue to grumble about doing all the heavy lifting, earning glares from Meg. God, she’s funny.

  And I guarantee not one of us girls is going to complain about watching Leo, Nate and the Montgomery brothers lift heavy objects. Holy hot men.

  “So, Sam,” Leo saunters over to me. I can feel him move up behind me, just a few feet away, and damn if I can’t smell his musky sweat and the soap from his shower. “What are you doing later?”

  I take a deep breath and keep my face blank. I learned a long time ago to keep my emotions in check.

  “I won’t be doing you,” I mutter and hammer a nail into the wall. As attracted as I am to him, and really, who wouldn’t be, Leo is off limits. He’s Meg’s brother.

  He’s famous.

  He’s cocky as hell.

  “Uh, I wasn’t offering, honey.” I turn around to see Leo smiling smugly. “I was wondering if you’d like me to take you to have that stick pulled out of your ass.”

  The girls gasp, and Luke’s eyes go hard as stone.

  Okay, that hurt.

  Don’t touch the stick in my ass, you jerk.

  Before my brother can rip Leo to shreds, and despite his usual sweet demeanor I have no doubt that he would in a heartbeat, I paste a smile on my face and laugh.

  “Nope, I like my stick right where it is.”

  “Let me know if you change your mind.” Leo grins and shoves his hands in the pockets of the worn jeans that sit low on his hips.

  “You’ll be the first to know.” I turn back to the wall and hang the painting. “But just so you know,” I turn back to him, “I don’t date famous people.”

  “Neither do I.” He winks and saunters into the kitchen, pulls a beer out of the fridge and takes a sip. His biceps flex under those amazing tattoos covering his skin as he lifts and lowers the bottle to his lips. He swallows and smiles over at me, his eyes shining with interest, and for the first time in five years I regret my no celebrity rule.

  Damn him.

  Chapter One

  “You okay?” Luke murmurs in my ear as he hugs me before we leave Will’s house.

  “Of course, why wouldn’t I be?” I smirk as I look defiantly into Luke’s happy blue eyes.

  “Leo’s not really an asshole.” He frowns and glances back at the house.

  “He was being funny, Luke. I can take a joke.” I wave him off and sink into my little white Mercedes. “I’ll see you at mom and dad’s on Sunday?”

  “Yeah, we’ll see you there.” He waves and joins Nat in their car and drives away. Everyone has left except Leo who hung back to help Will lift a few more boxes, and I’m relieved to get away from him.

  He’s too good looking for my comfort level.

  Okay, that’s not it. I pull out of the driveway and toward my downtown condo.

  I see something in Leo that disturbs me. Not in a creepy, what the hell is he thinking way, but because he’s so… virile. He pulls to me in a way no one ever has before. It has nothing to do with his band or his money, and everything to do with those gray eyes and sweet smile.

  He’s got baggage, and he’s probably a bit of a rock star jerk. I don’t have time to deal with an arrogant attitude.

  I have my own to deal with.

  Suddenly, a couple miles away from Will and Meg’s house, my car jerks and drops in the front.

  Fuck, I have a flat.

  I pull to the side of the road and jump out of the car. It’s started to rain, that thick, cold, biting rain that Seattle is famous for in the winter. Thank God I was dressed for unpacking, in my jeans and sneakers and a hoodie.

  Not my every day attire.

  I stand in the rain, my red hoodie over my hair, and stare at the tire. This is the perfect end to the week from hell. I sigh and look up and down the street around me and then give the tire a quick kick, managing to stub my toe in the process.

  Shit! I hop around in a circle and then scowl at the tire again.

  Fucking tire.

  Well, I could call roadside assistance, but it’s just a flat tire, and I could have it changed before the guy got here to help.

  I open the tiny trunk of the car and remove the small donut spare, jack and lug-nut-removal-thingie. I don’t know what the tools are called, but I’m sure as hell thankful that my dad made me learn how to use them.

  Just as I lean the spare against the car and set the jack under the axle, a familiar car pulls up behind me, and I sigh deeply.

  Leo.

  Sonofabitch.

  He unfolds his lean body from his black muscle car and walks to me, black Converse crunching over the gravel, seemingly unfazed by the rain. He’s wearing a leather jacket, open in the front, over his white t-shirt and loose jeans. He’s covered his head with a black knit beanie.

  “Problem?” He asks with a half-smile, that lip piercing catching my eye.

  Why am I attracted to a lip piercing?

  I don’t know, but I am.

 
; “Just a flat. I’m gonna change it. You don’t have to stay.” I start working on the lug nuts.

  Leo hasn’t moved.

  “You don’t have to stay,” I repeat more firmly and look up into his handsome face.

  “Do you honestly think I’m going to leave you here, at the side of the road, to change out a flat by yourself?” He asks, his eyes have gone colder, and I frown.

  “I have this handled.”

  Instead of stalking back to his car and driving off, he leans his ass on my car, crosses his arms over his chest, and watches me with those stormy eyes the same color as the clouds currently dumping cold water on us.

  “Suit yourself.” I shrug and return to the task at hand. God, the rain is cold and the wind has picked up now, making my hands throb and I wish for gloves, but refuse to let Leo see my discomfort. The nuts come off smoothly until I get to the last one, which is on too tight.

  I struggle with it, grunting, and fall on my ass with the effort.

  The nut didn’t move.

  “Damn,” I mutter and glare at the tire.

  Strong hands wrap around my upper arms and lift me to my feet. “God, you’re a tiny thing,” he mutters and moves me aside. He squats beside the tire and easily loosens the stubborn nut.

  “I loosened it for you,” I tell him with a stubborn set to my chin.

  “Of course,” he chuckles and pulls the flat tire off the axis. “Are you always this stubborn?”

  I cross my arms over my chest, burying my hands against my ribs to warm them up. “Pretty much.”

  He laughs and shakes his head, his tattooed fingers mounting the new tire and tightening the lug nuts. I can’t look away from his hands, the vivid colors of the ink.

  His body art is gorgeous.

  I wonder what he’s got under his clothes? He’s typically shirtless in publicity shots, so I know he has sleeves on his arms, a tat across his chest, stars on his hips, but I’d love to see under his pants.

  I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and force the shirtless image out of my head just as he lowers the jack and gathers my tools and replaces them in the trunk with the flat tire.

  “You didn’t have to do that you know.” I offer him a half-smile and then laugh out loud when he scowls at me.

  “Sam, I’m not about to leave you here at the side of the road by yourself to change a tire in the rain. Your brother would put his foot up my ass.”

  Of course. He’s only being nice because of Luke. Just like everyone else.

  I systematically school my features, blank canvas, straighten my shoulders and put the walls back up.

  People can’t hurt me if I don’t let them.

  “You’re probably right.” I back away and move to walk around the white car to climb inside and escape. “I’ll be sure to tell him you were a big help. Thank you.”

  “What the fuck just happened?” His eyes are narrowed on my face, his thumbs tucked in the loops of his jeans.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Yes you do. You’d loosened up a bit, and then suddenly you turned back into the ice queen.”

  I’m not an ice queen! I’m a fucking human being, but I’ll never let you or people like you see me as vulnerable ever again!

  “Have a good day, Leo.”

  “Hey.” He blocks my path to the driver’s door, and tips my chin up to look him in the eye. “What did I say?”

  I shake my head and back away, needing the space. God, he’s like an effing magnet.

  He watches me closely for a moment and then shrugs. “Okay. Drive safe. Take that in to the shop tomorrow.” He walks back to his car, lowers himself gracefully behind the wheel and waits for me to drive off ahead of him.

  Who knew that a rock star as famous as he is could be a gentleman?

  Weird.

  I offer him a wave and drive away, exhaling for the first time in thirty minutes. That is one sexually potent man. No wonder he’s so damn famous.

  And I am never going down that path again.

  * * *

  Olivia is perhaps the most perfect baby ever born, and she gets all her charm, intelligence and good looks from her auntie Sammie.

  And no one else on the face of the Earth had better ever call me Sammie.

  I’m not usually one to cuddle babies, but oh how I adore this little girl. We are all gathered at my mom and dad’s house, and by all, I mean the whole crew. All of the Montgomerys are here with their kids, Luke and Nat and Livie, my youngest brother, Mark. Even Brynna is here with her girls.

  Will has tugged Meg into his lap on the couch and they’re laughing intimately. He glances up at me and winks and I feel a glow in the pit of my stomach. To think that just two years ago family dinners consisted of just the five of us. How boring! Now we have this beautiful extended family. I wouldn’t change a thing, even if it did lose me my job last week.

  “Livie, you’re the most beautiful girl in the room. Yes, you are.” The sweet nine-month-old giggles as I blow raspberries on her neck and clutches my hair in her tiny fist. “Uh oh… let go of my hair, sweetie.”

  She giggles some more and tugs my blonde strands into her mouth. “Ew. Do you know how much product is in my hair, girlfriend? It’s definitely not edible.”

  “Everything is going in her mouth these days,” Nat mutters and sits next to me on the floor, our backs are resting against the love seat. “She’s also slobbering like it’s going out of style. I think she’s cutting more teeth.”

  As if on cue, Livie offers us a big grin, proudly showing us her four front teeth and we laugh at her.

  “She’s so sweet.” I kiss her cheek.

  “Yeah, she is.” Nat’s green eyes shine as she looks from her daughter to me. “I hope the next one is too,” she whispers.

  What? I gasp and almost drop the baby. “You’re not…?” I whisper back to her and she offers me a small smile and a tiny nod, and then smiles lovingly over at Luke who has been watching us.

  “When are you going to announce it?” I ask. Another baby!

  “After dinner, I think,” she replies as Luke sits next to me on my other side and takes Livie from my arms.

  “Hi baby girl,” he kisses her forehead and Livie lights up from the inside at seeing her daddy. “So, did she tell you?” he asks softly so only I can hear.

  “Yeah. Luke, I’m so happy for you.”

  His soft blue eyes turn to mine, and I can read his thoughts. He waited so long for this kind of happiness. He deserves every smile, every wonderful moment his family brings him.

  “Thank you,” he murmurs and kisses Liv’s head again. “I can’t wait anymore, baby.”

  Natalie giggles. “Go ahead then.”

  “Everyone, I have news.” Luke stands easily, the baby propped on his forearm and addresses the room. Everyone quiets and turn their attention to him.

  My gaze catches Leo’s from across the room. This is the first family event Meg has talked him into attending. I wonder how he’s coping.

  He winks at me, but I can see tension around his eyes.

  We are one overwhelming group, even if you’re used to big, loud families, and I know he isn’t.

  My mom has already started to cry, anticipating what the news is. She’s right, as usual.

  “Natalie and I,” he pulls on Nat’s hand so she’s tucked into his side. “Are expecting again.”

  “Holy shit!” Caleb exclaims first, and the room explodes into activity of voices and hugs and cheers.

  “Jesus, what are you, a baby factory?” Jules asks with tears in her eyes as she jumps up to hug Nat. “This is what happens when you keep doing all that gross stuff.”

  “Yeah, well, we want a lot of kids,” Natalie murmurs with a grin, her eyes happy. Luke laughs at Jules and kisses Nat square on, no-holds-barred, just for her benefit.

  “Ew,” she scowls and backs away.

  As everyone continues to celebrate the good news, I decide to slip out back and get a breath of fresh air
.

  I love them all, but they are seriously a lot to take in, and I spend ninety percent of my time alone, so the noise starts to get to me.

  I grab a sweater from the mud room and slip out onto the covered back porch on my parents’ house, take a deep breath, and lean on the railing looking out into the woods at the back of their property.

  “You needed a break too?”

  ***

  ~Leo~

  “Holy shit!” She jumps and spins to look up at me, hand pressed against her chest, bright blue eyes wide, and I have to grip the railing at my hips to keep myself from crossing to her and kissing the hell out of her.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” I smile at her and watch the dialogue of decisions running through that sexy head of hers. Should she smile? Scowl? Straighten those shoulders?

  I would love to try to knock that chip off her shoulder.

  “I just needed a minute away from the noise.” She swallows and looks back out at the trees. “Are you having fun?”

  I smirk and cross my arms over my chest. “You have a great family, but it’s a lot of activity for me.”

  “You’re used to fifty thousand screaming fans in one room, Leo. I can’t imagine this is too much activity for you.”

  “That’s different. It’s my job.” It’s my life.

  “Well, this group is a lot to handle. Especially at one time.” She smiles softly at me and then seems to remember to gather herself and look away.

  Interesting.

  “Meg wanted me to come, so here I am.” It’s the truth, and I’d do it again. Meg belongs to this family now, so I’ll do what I can to fit in and make her happy.

  Aside from my band, Meg-pie is my only family.

  “That was nice of you.” She sneers over the word nice and I can’t help but laugh out right and cross to her.

  “Believe it or not, doll, I can be nice.”

  She shrugs and watches my hands as I grip the railing again. She watched my hands the other day too, and I can’t help but wonder if the tats turn her on, or turn her off.