Rock With Me(29)

“Are you feeling well enough for that?” I ask and frown down at her, but she just nudges me with her elbow.

“I’m fine. A few blocks won’t kill me.”

“Lead on then.”

The Seattle sky is bright blue today, treating us to a rare winter sunny day. I twine Sam’s fingers in mine and kiss them, and follow her into a little shop called Succulent Sweets. It smells like coffee and sugar inside, and Sam’s pretty blue eyes light up as they fall on the glass case full of baked goods.

Damn, she’s cute.

“What do you want?” I ask.

“Chocolate, of course,” she laughs and my gut clenches. I love her laugh.

She orders her chocolate cupcake and a hot tea, and I place my order and the little brat reaches for her wallet.

“What are you doing?”

“Buying you a cupcake.”

“Right, ‘cause I’m going to let a woman buy me breakfast.” I roll my eyes and push her aside and pull my wallet out of my back pocket.

The redheaded cashier glances up at me casually and then does a double take.

“Holy shit, are you Leo Nash?” she asks and I scowl at her as if she’s nuts.

“I get that all the time,” I laugh. “No, I’m not. That band sucks.”

“I like them,” the redhead shrugs and I instantly like her. “But yeah, sorry, I can see now that you’re not him.”

“I’m better looking, right?” I wink at her and she laughs and hands us our drinks and cakes and we find a table.

Sam is smirking and trying not to laugh out-right.

“What?”

“That’s seriously how you thwart unwelcome recognition? By dissing your own band?”

“It worked.” I chuckle and take a bite. “Damn, that’s good.”

“You got lemon! Can I have a bite? It’s my second favorite.”

I hold the cake up to her lips and she takes a tiny bite and closes her eyes as she moans in happiness, and I have to readjust myself on my chair.

Jesus, I’m like a randy teenager with her. I thought I had better control over my dick than this.

“Can I have a bite of yours?” I ask.

“Hell no, get your own,” she pulls her cupcake closer to her and scowls at me.

“Selfish brat. I shared mine.”

“Sucker,” she smirks and continues eating her chocolate.

I glance across the street and grin. “Do you know what that building is across the street?”

She follows my gaze and shrugs. “Just a red brick building.”

There is no signage, and it’s non-descript.

“Nope, it’s a recording studio. It’s owned by a famous female duo from Seattle. They’ve owned it since the early eighties.” Excited, I lean forward and cup my coffee in my hands. “Sam, Johnny Cash recorded there. Nirvana, Sound Garden, Pearl Jam. God, too many to count.” I look at the building again, an idea forming in my head.

“Have you recorded there?” she asks, staring at the building.

“No,” I shake my head. “I have been inside, though. When I first moved to Seattle, I won a radio contest and got to go to a private Pearl Jam concert there. There were only twelve of us in the audience, all sitting in a semi-circle. It was the coolest thing I’d ever been to.”

“Wow, that’s awesome. You guys should do that.”

I nod, the idea taking more shape. “I wonder if we could record the next album there,” I murmur and Sam’s eyes widen.

“Really?” she asks.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. I don’t know how far they’re booked out for studio time, but that way I wouldn’t have to go back to L.A. to record. Most of us live up here anyway.”

I grin at her, excited to start making calls and she grins back.

“Could I come listen?” she asks.

“Of course. Anytime.” The thought of having Sam in the studio with us as we lay tracks makes my stomach clench.

The thought of f*cking her in the studio is even better. I’ve never done that before because work and personal shit have always been separate for me, but damn, I’ve already blurred all my lines for her, why not this one too?

“How many songs do you have written?” she asks and licks her fork.

“I’ve written three by myself and two with Meg. Some of the other guys have written a few. I’m working on one more now. We have a list of songs that the studio wants us to consider. I figure we’ll start pulling it together in a few weeks.” Her big eyes are on me, listening intently. It makes me proud that she’s so interested, and she asks intelligent questions, not the typical fan questions.