Hot wired series box set, p.93
Hot Wired Series Box Set, page 93
part #1 of Hot Wired Series
“I’ve read some of your wild accounts,” Sugar teased. “You are no angel, Derr.”
His sisters hooted and hollered over Sugar calling him out. “Hey, now, you’re supposed to be on my side, not theirs.”
“Pfft...” Jill punched his shoulder, nearly knocking it out of socket. “Suck it up, buttercup, girls always stick together.”
“My life story,” he agreed, shaking his head dramatically. “Bullied by the mean girls.”
That incited a bunch of smacks and whacks from his siblings. To his surprise Sugar defended him, stepping between him and his sisters, easily dodging their hits before they caught on that their target had been squirreled to safety and they cut it out. Hitting him was one thing but beating on a stranger went against their low principles.
“We’re still on our honeymoon, so no beating on my sexy husband,” Sugar demanded, and he wished he could see her face because Patti’s lips twitched with a smile.
Jill, however, made gagging noises.
“Sexy?” Michelle grimaced. “Gross. Don’t ruin dinner, Sugar.”
Patti smirked. “Hiding behind your wife...” she tsked him. “That’s a pussy move.”
“I’m not too proud to hide behind a woman.”
“Yeah...” Sugar mocked. “If anyone is going to abuse my husband, it’ll be me.”
He rolled his eyes as his sisters laughed.
“You picked a good one,” Patti gave her seal of approval first, surprising him because she was the toughest sell among the trio.
“She’s going to fit right in with us,” Michelle agreed.
“Where are the boys?”
“Let me have your jacket, hon.” Patti held her hand out for Sugar’s biker jacket. “They’re with Paul. They had football practice today.”
Michelle hooked her arm through Sugar’s and tugged her along with her. “You have to meet Momma.”
Derr tossed his jacket on the sofa and scrambled to join his sister and his temporary wife. No way was he going to let Michelle have the pleasure of showing Sugar off to their mom.
“Momma’s nervous,” Michelle said in a stage whisper. “I don’t know why. I told her you are the one who should be nervous, not her but you’re clearly not nervous either.”
“In case you can’t tell Michelle babbles,” he said.
“I would tell you to fuck off but we’re in Momma’s house, so...”
“Sooo you told me anyway?” He stepped between them, retrieving possession of his wife. “I hope she heard you.”
Derr stuck his tongue out at Michelle and she narrowed her eyes at him. “I’ll get you—Momma, look who I found.”
“Derringer!” His Mom hugged him and kissed his cheek. “And you must be Harriet?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“This is my mom, Eve Bennett.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Bennett.”
“Call me Eve or Momma Eve. ‘Mrs. Bennett’ makes me sound like a fuddy-duddy.”
Smiling, Sugar took his mother’s hands in hers while leaning in to give her a cheek-hug. “Please feel free to call me Sugar. All my family and friends do.”
“This big guy,”—Derr slapped his hand on his step-dad’s shoulder. At six-two it felt like the other man towered over him, but he’d never minded being short—“is my step-dad, Neal Bennett.”
Neal nodded at Sugar. “I bet you’d like a drink?”
Sugar flashed him a mega-watt smile. “You’d be a godsend if you had one.”
Eve halted Derr before he could follow Neal and Sugar into the kitchen. “She’s beautiful, Derringer.”
“She’s amazing.” At least he wasn’t forced to lie to his mother about that.
“I won’t fuss at you about the suddenness of the marriage.”
“But you want to?” He hugged her to his side. She was platinum in his eyes, the most wonderful woman alive, but in the span of less than a day Sugar beat out his favorite sister and took a close second to his mother.
Fuck. He was doing what he’d promised Sugar he wouldn’t do, which was getting too close emotionally to her. He couldn’t deny there was something special about Sugar, she was different than other women.
“Yeah, I want to nag you for making that rash decision.” She squeezed his forearm, a reassuring gesture by his mom to take away the sting of what she considered harsh words. If she thought her nagging was harsh, she really should listen to Tab for half a minute. “It’s unlike you but I won’t fuss. You’re a grown man. All I want to know is if she makes you happy?”
“More than I ever thought a woman could.” Fuck. Fuck. Fuuuuck. That was the goddamn truth and he went from happy to scared shitless in a nanosecond.
His mother smiled. “That’s how you know they’re the right one.”
The entire conversation served as ice water thrown in his face. Regardless of his mother’s intent to offer support, his parent’s track record with marriages worried him, and he’d never put much into her relationship advice.
Taking a mental step back, he wondered if he was more like his mom than he realized when it came to romance. Meet one woman that he was attracted to and he was head over heels. Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic, but he was smitten with Sugar and he barely knew her. Sugar was right, they needed to be practical about their relationship. Take their friendship slow but going slow was harder than anticipated when he was expected to stuff all their adventures into a few days.
Sugar returned from the kitchen with a tumbler of hard liquor over rocks. The night he’d met her she’d been drinking the hard stuff then too.
“Dinner’s almost finished, Derringer.”
“Okay, Momma. Thanks,” Derr said to Neal when his step-dad handed him a glass of scotch. “Want to step outside for a breather, Sugar?”
“Sure.”
They went through the doors to the back porch that spanned the length of the house.
“Wow!” Sugar leaned against the railing. “Are there any bad views?”
“Not in Malibu. Sorry that my sisters tackled you like linebackers.”
She turned her head and smiled. “I like them. They obviously adore you.”
“The feeling is mutual,” he lowered his voice, “but don’t tell them.”
“You’re pretty close in age.”
“Yeah. The parents evidently didn’t know what condoms were.” He winked at her, letting her know he joked.
“What’s the age difference between all of you?”
“Patti is three years older, Michelle is two, and as I said earlier Jill and I are eleven months apart. I like that we’re so close in age, made us closer. Probably led to some of our vicious fights too.”
“Of course.” She agreed much too fast. “All siblings should argue.”
“We fought, didn’t argue. Patti used to sit on me, so Jill and Michelle could punch and pinch me.”
“What’d you do to deserve it.”
Derr chuckled. “Who said I deserved it?”
She gave him a look that implied she knew the truth and he couldn’t fool her.
He’d been a brat. As the baby they’d all spoiled him and when he didn’t get his way, he’d been an asshole. Especially in high school when he’d had something to prove.
“We were all in high school together and were dubbed the Mexican Cartel.”
“But you’re Spanish.”
“I am. Half anyway. Dad’s first generation American. His parents came from Spain. Mom’s family comes from Italy.”
“The kids were being assholes then.” Not a question but a statement from Sugar. “We had kids like that in school. Luc—that’s my sister—and I were raised in the bayou. The only way in or out was by boat. Kids thought I was trash because of the way we lived. Our parents could’ve afforded different, but... well you gotta know my dad. He’s his own person and is the local pain the ass. I didn’t care what people thought, I loved the freedom of it.”
“Look at you now. Bet a bunch of those assholes are envious of your fame.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, I suppose. Same as you. You’re a famous rock star most of them listen to. They probably brag about knowing you when but are too embarrassed to admit they bullied you in school. Secretly they’re so envious of you they just about can’t stand it.”
“It’s a good message that high school ends and who you were then doesn’t define your future.”
In the muted lighting her green eyes lit up. “I like that, Derr. You should use that line in a song, give your youthful fans hope.”
“Maybe.” He thought about the three boys he served as a big brother to a couple of times a month when he wasn’t on tour. He was always in contact with them. There when they needed him no matter what went on, he’d even shown up to court to support one in a divorce battle. They had a hard time with life and the teasing of kids in high school. “Is your sister’s name, Luc, short for something?”
“Lucille.”
“Harriet and Lucille. Interesting choices.” Those were terribly old-fashioned names, made them sound like they were ninety-nine years old instead of mid-twenties. Good thing they went by nicknames. “What’s your age differences?”
“We’re twins. I’m three minutes older.”
“Wow. Okay.”
“Yep.”
“Identical?”
“Yeah. Although you couldn’t tell it now. She’s dyed her hair black and has gone goth.” Derr tried to picture Sugar in goth garb and decided she’d wear it as good as she had blonde and her natural locks. “Don’t get me wrong,” Sugar went on, “She’s gorgeous like that.”
“I bet.”
“But we look nothing alike now. We used to trick family and friends pretending to be one another.”
“So, you were a mischievous girl?”
“In my dad’s words, I was a handful.”
Knowing the little he did about her, he could see her as a handful. It wasn’t just the tattoos she’d hidden beneath her long sleeves that told her story, but the way she looked at life. “What does Luc do for a living?”
“She owns Voodoo Melting Pot, which is a candy store. She models too. Sometimes we’re shoot together. Identical twins are a hot commodity.”
“Okay, wait. You’re a model on top of everything else?”
She pinched his chin. He caught her hand before she could lower her arm and pressed her palm to cover his heart.
“Yeah, I’m a tattoo model.” Shocked by this admission, he could only stare at her in awe. He’d read about her tattoo career. That was impressive. This showed how much more ambitious she was. “I have a shoot the day after tomorrow. I texted Jack while I was in the kitchen with Neal to move it to El Matador Beach. It’s the perfect spot. We’re meeting at sunrise. You should join us, and I’ll take pictures with you.”
“I might do that.” The idea of being at the beach by sunrise left his gut clenching and his brain groaning. The idea of seeing Sugar again would be worth his lack of sleep.
“The press would eat up the official photos,” she said as if enticing him to join her.
“So, you want me there just to benefit your career.”
“What other reason would I want you there? It’s not like you’re easy on the eyes or fun to be around.”
“Ouch.” He dropped her hand and clutched his chest, stumbling back a step. “Arrows straight into my heart.”
The sound of her laughter sent desire through him where it settled in his crotch. Damn downstairs brain insisted on complicating their relationship.
TWENTY-TWO
“WE’VE BEEN READING UP about you, little lady.” Derr choked on his step-dad’s statement.
For a moment, panic hit Sugar’s face before she managed to hide it and pass off her worry with a flippant, “Oh, Lawd, I hope you didn’t read the wrong tabloid.”
“Thanks to this hellion,” his mom pointed at Derr with her fork, “nothing can surprise me anymore.”
“Nah... I ignore the racy bullshit,” Neal chimed in. “It’s usually nothing more than rumors mixed with lies or wishful thinking. But if I’m reading your career right, you’ve done a lot in a short time. You have a bright future ahead of you.”
“Yes, sir, I’m proud of where I’ve gotten in a short time.”
“Your parents must be proud,” his mom said.
“I hope so. My dad thought I was in a weird phase when I started tattooing at sixteen. He thought I’d grow out of it. Probably hoped I would.” She smiled. “But he supports my choices. He was my first real client. I tattooed my mom’s name on him.”
“That’s so sweet.” Eve sent a hopeful look in Neal’s direction. “We should do that, Neal. Get matching tattoos.”
Jill rolled her eyes and Derr winked at her. “I thought you didn’t like tattoos?”
“There’s something romantic about getting a tattoo of the love of your life on your body.” A dreamy look entered his mom’s eyes.
Derr could see the panic on Neal’s face, his mom’s suggestion not going over so well with her husband. Chances were Neal wouldn’t last like the rest of her husbands. Putting his name on her body wasn’t a wise, or romantic decision in Derr’s opinion.
He glanced at his sisters, wondering if they were thinking the same as him. Yep, he could see each of them cringing at the idea too.
“I’ll tattoo whatever my client wants, but I always recommend an alternative to putting someone’s name on you besides the ‘love of your life’.” Sugar sipped on her water. “I’ve seen people regret that decision more times than not. I’ve done some killer cover ups on them though.”
“Momma, I think you should take a breath before you jump into such a rash decision,” Jill said.
“Dear,” Neal patted her hand resting on the table. “I think we should discuss this later in private.”
Jill planted her forearms on the table and leaned over her plate. “Did Derringer tell you he was a ballerina in high school?”
He’d have thanked her for changing the subject if she hadn’t picked that particular one to go with. “I was not a ballerina.” Sugar glanced between them. When he caught her eyes, he shook his head. “She’s overdramatizing what I did. I took dance and musical drama in high school. I wanted to be an actor.”
“You also did all that girly flipping stuff,” Michelle chimed in.
“Gymnastics is a manly sport.” Why did he always have to defend his manhood with his sisters?
“Let me get this straight.” Sugar ran her finger along the water droplets of her glass. “You took dance, musical drama, and you could tumble?”
“Yeah. I wasn’t athletic like most boys. Not built for sports and didn’t like most of them.”
“What he’s dancing around is that he’s short.” Patti winked at him.
“I liked dancing and doing backflips and handstands. I can still do them.”
“He was given a gymnastics scholarship to UCLA.” His mom beamed. She was still proud of that moment.
“That’s great.” Sugar seemed impressed now. “What degree did you get?”
“I didn’t go. I picked up guitar my senior year of high school—”
“In musical drama,” Jill added.
“—Yeah. It was pretend for the play we were doing, but I started watching online videos on how to play, and quickly learned I had a knack for the instrument.”
“After that, all he pretty much wanted to be was a rock star.” Michelle smiled at their mother. “Mom said he was either going to be a forty-year-old living in her basement or he’d make it.”
“I’m still in awe that my baby brother made it big with Hot Wired.” Patti shook her head. “I’m sometimes shocked that he’s my brother.”
“Why?” Puzzlement entered Sugar’s eyes. “I’ve listened to a few of their songs. They’re not bad.”
“You’re not a fan of them?” Michelle gave Sugar a puzzled expression.
“I’d never heard of them when I met Derr.”
“I’d never heard of Sugar, so we were even.” He held her gaze, her eyes smiling back at him.
“Fuck me—sorry mom. You two need to get a room.” Jill fidgeted with her napkin.
“Cut him a break,” Patti said.
“I think it’s sweet the way they look at each other,” Michelle disagreed.
“Are you blind?” Jill asked. “It’s hot as hell and they’re fucking each other with their eyes. Sorry again mom.”
“Watch your language, Jill. It’s coarse and unbecoming of a lady.” Momma was old-fashioned. She loathed cursing from ladies, but men had the privilege of saying whatever they wanted.
“Were you under the impression I was a lady, Momma?” Jill asked deadpan.
Sugar laughed. “I love your crazy family.”
“Never a dull moment,” Derr agreed. “Wait until you meet my band family. They’re crazier.”
“Amen to that.” Jill lifted her glass in the air as if toasting the comment.
***
They said their goodbyes and outside his mom’s home, he halted to wave to his mother when she yelled that she loved him.
“That was fun.” Sugar watched as his parent shut the front door, finally leaving them alone.
“They’re the best.” They were family and he adored them, but his band family meant as much to him as his blood relatives. By nature of the music business, he also spent more time with his band mates. “Back to the hotel then?”
“Yeah, I really should. I have an early morning interview.”
Disappointed at ending the night with her, he hoped he hid it. “Interview for what?”
“Tattoo artists. I’ll meet four tomorrow.”
He handed her the leather jacket he’d bought her. “Do you want to hike to the Hollywood Hills sign later tomorrow, if you have time after the interviews?”
“Can we play it by ear?”
“Yeah, sure.” He hoped she wasn’t being vague because she contemplated not seeing him again. Derr would prefer she break his heart now rather than later. Wincing on the inside at that description, he asked, “What excuse are we telling the press when I drop you off at the hotel instead of bringing you home with me?”
