AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Everything
That life threw in my way
And forced me to climb…”
He opens his mouth to keep going, then frowns and groans in frustration, striking out lines on his paper and dropping his pencil with annoyance evident in his eyes before replacing his fingers on the strings.
Realizing I really am intruding on a private moment, I resign to sneak out. Just as I turn to tiptoe away, the door swings open, and Ricardo “Rig” Romero walks in with a broad smile on his ruggedly handsome, stubble covered face. He isn’t as tall as Michael, but he’s still a good head taller than me, and his shoulders are broader, muscles more pronounced, which makes him catch just as much space as Michael does.
“Ah, you must be Lauren.” He beams and approaches with an outstretched hand, which I try to take without too much enthusiasm.
“That’s me,” I exclaim with a bit of an excited tone, huffing when Michael chooses that moment to walk out and roll his eyes with a smile. “I see you’ve told everyone about me, Cupcake. I wasn’t aware we were getting that serious.”
“We live together. We were always that serious.” He winks, clapping Rig on the back.
“So cozy,” Rig teases, turning to Michael with a wide, white-toothed grin that I’ve seen a million times on billboards and magazines but is even more devastating in person. “Was that a new song you were playing for Lauren?”
Michael’s eyes grow wide as they turn to me, and I cast my gaze down, fingers swiping through my bangs.
“I was just playing around with some ideas,” he replies, eyes still on me.
“Well, if Lauren’s expression was any indication, you’ve got yourself a double platinum at least.” Rig laughs, and I still can’t bring myself to look at Michael. “So, I’m calling dibs.”
Michael grumbles something about the song refusing to get written as he steps toward me, and Rig keeps chuckling as he heads into the live room.
“Hey.” Michael gently hooks a finger under my chin and lifts my face, his gaze full of warm tenderness.
“I didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I walked in, and you were sitting there, and I couldn’t walk away,” I explain with a whisper. “It was a private moment; I shouldn’t have stayed, and I’m sorry.”
Michael smiles at me before bowing his head, stopping at the light touch of our lips.
“Did you like it?” he murmurs against my mouth, and I nod, my palm coming to rest on his chest as I close the distance of our kiss.
A loud tap startles us apart, and we turn to see Rig grinning at us from inside the live room. “You know this is a window, not a one-sided mirror, right?”
“Jealous?” Michael shoots.
“A bit, yeah,” Rig replies with a smile that’s tainted with sadness, rubbing a palm over his buzz cut black hair.
Michael looks at me and winks. “I’m glad you liked my stubbornly-refusing-to-get-written song, Rockstar.” He steals another soft kiss before following Rig into the live room. “You saidyouhave a new song?”
“Yeah.” Rig pulls some rolled-up paper from his back pocket, and Michael takes it, looking over the notes and words with grave seriousness, and then he breaks into a wide grin.
“Fire-haired love?” Michael turns to Rig with amusement playing in his bright brown eyes, and my brow creases because something just clicked in my head. “Is this about me?”
“Nah, it’s about the one that got away, the same girl all my songs are about, you asshole,” Rig chides with an entertained smile and snatches his lyrics from Michael’s hands. “You want to record it or not?”
“It’s a really good song, Rig.” Michael’s smile turns soft and understanding. “Let’s do a test recording with what you have and work our way up from there.”
I pop my head into the recording room and look at Rig. “It’s okay that I’m here, right?”
“Absolutely,” Rig replies with that devastatingly sexy grin and a wink,swoon, and Michael frowns when a blush creeps up my cheeks.
“Let’s go to the control room.” Michael ushers me out, shooting a dirty look at Rig, who just laughs and wiggles his eyebrows in mock suggestiveness. Before I can even register what’s happening, Michael pulls me to him and claims my mouth with such burning passion that I’m reduced to a moaning needy puddle in seconds.
“Jesus, Michael, I was just teasing.” Rig sounds as surprised as I feel from that intense kiss. “No need to publicly stake a claim like a dumbass caveman.”
“I like cavemen,” I pant out, and Michel flashes me that boyish grin that comes with a raised eyebrow and twinkling eyes. “But I want to hear Rig’s song.”
