Klement turned away from Kat, digging his nails into his palms. Hopefully the pain would make his raging erection go away. God, she’d felt so good in his arms. So soft and sweet-smelling, like honeysuckle. It was all he could do not to pick her up, lay her across the hood of one of his cars, and tear her clothes off with his teeth.
The savage urge surprised him and made him feel guilty. Kat was vulnerable and clearly under a lot of stress. The last thing she needed was for him to add to it by complicating their working relationship. He could feel her presence behind him, a tangible heat that ever tempted him to draw closer.
“You should head on inside. I’ll help Rod with the groceries.”
She nodded. He had to fight not to watch her walk away—or worse, follow her.
By the time he met Rod in the driveway, he had a measure of his lust under control.
“So, what’s the verdict on her car?” the drummer asked as they unloaded the groceries.
Klement kicked a pinecone. “Sugar in the gas tank.”
Rod’s brows rose. “No shit?” A million questions danced in his eyes, but Klement silenced him with a minute shake of his head.
“Yeah, and her tire wasn’t a normal flat. It’s got an obvious knife puncture. I’m on my way in to call the cops.”
“Again?”
“Damn straight.”
He chewed on the inside of his lip. First Cliff had gotten roadkill delivered to him, and now someone tampered with Kat’s car at the studio? Had the culprit somehow mistaken her vehicle for Cliff’s? Looking at the old Subaru wagon, it was doubtful. Then again, Cliff had been riding with Roderick because he was too much of a city boy to be able to handle the road up to Klement’s house. Regardless, Klem was determined to keep a close eye on both of them for the time being.
Kat would be easy since she was now relatively safe under his roof and would be riding with him. Cliff was a different story. He wouldn’t want to stay put here, and Klement had no inclination to follow him like a babysitter. But at least he could check out his security camera footage and find out who’d delivered the dead cat. And Rod could probably help.
“Hey, Rod?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you keep an eye on Cliff when he’s going out drinking, see if it looks like anyone’s following him or anything suspicious?”
“Sure thing.” Flicking a toothpick around with his tongue, the drummer gave Klement a look. “You don’t think there’s a connection between him and Kat, do you?”
“No,” Klem said vehemently.
Roderick gave him an odd look. “How do you know?”
Klement couldn’t tell him that he’d been chatting with her as his alternate identity and thus knew she’d stayed in both nights. His tech relationship with Kat was his secret. “Because Cliff would have been bragging about it non-stop.”
“Oh yeah. It looks like he owes me ten bucks.” The drummer grinned. “I’d be more cheerful about it, but it seems like she’s not interested in me either. What about you?”
“What about me?” Klement forced a nonchalant tone.
“You got to spend some time with her…” Rod trailed off with a wink.
Klement’s feelings about Kat were none of anyone’s business. He forced a derisive laugh. “Dude, her car was broken down.”
“Right.” Roderick paused. “Do you think maybe she let the word get out that she’s our new recording musician? Maybe some hardcore fan is pissed and taking it out on her—and on Cliff, too. Because he’s the front man, they could be blaming him for your decision to hire her.”
“That might be what’s going on,” Klement allowed. There had been nothing on Kat and Kinley’s blog about it, but she might have spilled to the wrong person. Or others might have. “I’ll ask her about it later tonight.”
Arms laden with shopping bags and steaming pizza boxes, they headed into the house. While Cliff and Rod put away the groceries, Klement called the police. Then all of them dug into the pizza.
Klement couldn’t hold back a smile at Kat’s blissful expression. Angelo’s made the best.
The gate buzzer sounded just as he finished his last slice. Klement checked the camera to verify that it was indeed the cops and not the stalker before he pushed the button to let them in.
“Mr. Burke, we meet again.”
Officer Shaw, the silver-haired cop he’d met last night, surveyed Klement with those steely eyes that only longtime veterans on the job seemed to have, and Klement fought back a sense of instinctive guilt. His younger troublemaking days were long since over.
“Yes.” He extended his hand and they shook. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”
Shaw inclined his head to his colleague, who looked to be fresh out of the academy. “This is Officer Tyson.”
Tyson didn’t shake hands because he was too busy gaping at Klement’s garage. Shaw frowned and subtly nudged him.
“Oh, yes. It is a pleasure to meet you. Where is the car that was tampered with?”
Klement beckoned Kat and led the group out to the garage. As he showed them the sticky fuel filter and the punctured tire, he noticed that Kat was huddled at the edge of the garage door, looking like she was ready to dart at any moment. When the police questioned her on possible motives and suspects, her face was chalk-white and she stuttered a few times.
Why was she so nervous? If he hadn’t seen how much she valued that old car, he might have wondered if she’d done it herself.
Officer Shaw also noticed her apprehension. “Are you all right, Miss James?”
She took a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry, I’m just terrified at the idea that someone would do this, and I don’t know who. I’ve never been to Denver before. I don’t know anyone here. It could be anyone.”
It was all Klement could do not to pull her into his arms when her voice broke.
Officer Shaw eyed her closely. “Mr. Burke told me over the phone that he thinks it might be a crazed fan, upset with your new position with their band. What do you think?”
Kat nodded. “A ton of people would be pissed if they knew. Lefty Swanson was one of the greatest guitar players who ever lived. I’m a nobody. Even worse, I’m a girl.”
Her casual dismissal of her value infuriated Klement. “You are not a nobody, Katana.” He turned back to the cops. “If you heard her play, you’d understand why I hired her.”
Officer Tyson perked up, but his partner stuck to the matter at hand. “Do you have any sexual or romantic involvement with Cliff Tracey?”
“Hell, no.” Kat shook her head so vigorously that Klement couldn’t help but smile. “For one thing, I’m here on business. For another, he stole my solo.”
Tyson laughed, and even Shaw cracked a smile before continuing. “The reason I ask is that Mr. Tracey has had some vindictive exes. Do you have one of those?”
“I haven’t been in a relationship in over six months, and I haven’t heard from him in four,” Kat answered. “I highly doubt I meant enough to Richard to follow me over a thousand miles. I’m sure he’s moved on.” She crossed her arms and finally met the policeman’s gaze. “I’m more inclined to believe that some overzealous fan found out about me and got angry.”
Officer Shaw nodded. “The problem with crazed fans is that there’s so many.” He looked back at Klement and pulled out his card. “We’ll have a patrol car drive through the neighborhood and by the studio for the time being. If you can think of any other suspects, don’t hesitate to call me.”
Before he left, he asked a few more questions and took the contaminated fuel filter and Kat’s punctured tire as evidence. When the pair was gone, Kat visibly relaxed.
“You okay?” Klement asked.
“Yeah, I just had a bad experience with cops a long time ago.”
Without elaborating, she headed back to the house. Klement followed with a frown. Kat lived in a small town in Idaho, hardly a place known for police brutality or anything.
She, Klem, Cliff and Roderick all headed up to the music room and practiced the next day’s songs, and he saw Kat’s mood improve. She was clearly more confident and relaxed than the first time, and it brought a wealth of improvement to their joined music.
For the first time in over a year, they felt like a band again. The dynamic didn’t feel like it had with Lefty. It was different but no less powerful, and so, as Cliff sang the last note of “Reckoning,” Klement made up his mind. Tomorrow, he would tell Kat about his decision to have her join them for Thrashfest. His resolve was bittersweet. While he was glad to see her succeed and wanted her talent to help shape the band, he also knew the rest of the ramifications of the decision. But he didn’t want to dwell on them now.
Clearing his throat, he addressed Kat and the guys. “I want to try ‘Yesterday’s Angst’ with that tune you were playing during our first talks back in February.”
Her head cocked to the side as she scratched his cat, Flea, behind the ears. “Which one?”
“I don’t think you named it, but it went like this.”
Klement played the hypnotic melody on his bass, and her eyes lit up with comprehension. “Oh! I didn’t remember playing that one for you.”
A jolt of unease crawled up his spine. Had he misremembered? What if she’d only played that tune when he was talking to her as IT Guy? Well, it was too late now.
“Cliff,” he said, “start the rhythm, and Kat, come in with it in three measures.”
It sounded even better than when he’d toyed around with it and the rough tracks. From the looks on Cliff and Rod’s faces, they thought the same.
“Okay,” Klement said. “I want you to do that tomorrow in the studio.”
Kat gasped and looked at him like he’d just offered her the moon. “You’re putting one of my riffs on the album?”
He just nodded and went back to plucking at his bass before she could see the way he was affected by the wonder in her eyes.
Rod saluted her with his drumstick. “Congrats, love.”
Cliff nodded. “It is a killer riff, and it fits like it was made for this song.” He smirked. “Better than the one Klement wrote.”
“Yes,” Klement admitted. “It is.”
He smiled at his bandmates’ approval. Kat was working out better every day. For some reason he felt a burst of pride, as if she were his own protégé. But she wasn’t. All he’d done was given her some songs to learn. She’d done the rest on her own.
Even though he could have kept playing for hours, the other guys became restless and detached themselves from their instruments to go downstairs and watch a movie. Klement loved movies, but right now his massive ADHD was acting up so there was no way he’d be able to sit still and focus. When he was this way, if he wasn’t doing something, he got twitchy and his mind raced like a hamster in a wheel.
Kat went down to put away her clothes and take a shower. So, to distract himself from imagining hot water cascading on her naked body, Klement went to his office and checked out the last night’s security footage, which he’d been meaning to do for some time. Unfortunately, Cliff was right. It had been too dark to discern much detail on the delivery guy. And the man had left his car at the bottom of the driveway, too far from the gate to get more than a fuzzy image.
Muttering under his breath, Klement pulled up some video editing software. He wasn’t going to be defeated so easily.
Two hours and three cups of coffee later, he’d managed to get a better outline of the guy and the car. The guy was fairly hopeless. Aside from getting a better perspective on his height and build, there were no other details to be taken. It was like the son of a bitch expected cameras and had managed to avert his face from each. But Klement had better luck with the car. With a little more sharpening and adjusting the contrast, he was able to make out an emblem.
A Kia.
Something nagged at his subconscious then drifted away.
Klement rubbed his eyes. He nearly had a plate number, and he’d formed a strategy to focus in on it using another program, but staring at the grainy images was making him dizzy. No wonder, since it was one in the morning. So, making a few notes, he closed down his computer and resolved to work on it tomorrow.
Leaving his office, he walked through his quiet house. Everyone but the cats had gone to bed, and now they were rubbing at his ankles, eager for him to lie down with them. He was happy to comply, but once he was under the covers with the somnolent rhythm of purring felines, the realization that Kat was in the next room tugged at his mind, making sleep impossible. Unable to stop his meandering thoughts, he relived the feel of her embrace, the sweet smell of her hair.
The memories quickly progressed to fantasies. Visions of him pulling off her shirt, sinking down to his knees and nuzzling her breasts tormented him. Visions of them naked and tangled together had him hard and aching.
Klement threw off the covers, whispering a quick apology to his irate cats as they jumped off the bed. He’d drunk too much coffee, that was all. Though he could write code like no one’s business when he was baked, looking at the security footage required a different sort of focus, so he’d refrained from smoking. He’d just have to work off the caffeine.
Padding down to the kitchen, he decided to bake some cupcakes. The guys loved his secret ingredient. And licking the batter would help him sleep.
***
Kat woke to a soft knock on her door. She groaned and buried her face in the soft, clean-smelling pillows. Flea meowed in protest and thumped his tail on her arm. She vaguely remembered him following her into her room after she got up to use the bathroom.
“It’s almost time to head to the studio.”
Klement’s voice made her sit up, and she blinked and rubbed her eyes. That’s not what he’d been saying to her in her dream. She much preferred the sweet nothings he’d been whispering while he—
“How do you like your coffee?” he asked, cutting off her dangerous reminiscence.
Struggling to get a hold on herself, she replied, “Half coffee, half hot chocolate—if you have any.”
“Hey, me too!” Klement’s voice rang with surprise before his footsteps faded off down the hall.
Flea jumped down and scratched at the door. Kat’s lips curved into a smile. “Aww, Klement has a sweet tooth like mine.” The realization made a goofy grin spread across her face. She wondered what else they had in common. At any rate, maybe she could bake him some cookies for helping her with the car.
Climbing out of the bed, which had felt like heaven with its fancy Posturepedic mattress, she opened the dresser to find something to wear—something that would be casual enough for the studio but flattering to her figure. Settling on a navy blue peasant top and boot-cut jeans, she then headed to the bathroom, washed her face and did a light touch of lilac eyeshadow and lip gloss before emerging.
To her disappointment, Klement wasn’t in the kitchen with the rest of the guys.
Roderick handed her a mug painted with cavorting kittens. “Here’s your coffee. Klem will be down to take you to the studio in a few. He said he had some computer work to finish up.”
“Computer work?”
Cliff nodded. “Yeah, I told you he has like six jobs. One of them is a software development company. He also grows weed for medical dispensaries, fixes up classic cars and sells them—though these days he seems to be keeping the cars more often than not—invents crazy shit and makes bank off the patents, and even still does some computer work on the side.”
The singer ticked off the list on his fingers, and Kat gaped in astonishment at Klement’s resume. “Why does he keep so busy? I mean, the band is doing really well.”
Cliff shrugged. “Dunno. Maybe he’s sexually frustrated.”
The thought came unbidden to Kat. I’d like to help him with that.
Roderick leaned his elbows on the counter. “No, it’s a lot simpler.”
Kat and Cliff looked at him expectantly.
“He’s crazier than a shithouse rat.”
All three of them burst out laughing.
Klement strode into the kitchen, making a beeline for the coffeepot. “I’m what?”
“Nothing you don’t know already.” Rod set his nearly empty cereal bowl on the floor so the cats could finish the milk.
Klem raised his mug in acceptance. “True. I know everything.” He turned to Kat. “You ready to go?”
On the drive down the hill, her thoughts chased each other like cats with laser-pointers. All of those side jobs, and he’d still made time to help her? Warm fuzzies engulfed her all the way until he pulled into the studio parking lot.
As he grabbed their guitars out of the back of the truck, he gave her a heart-stopping smile. “We’re only doing one song, so get your part right and we’ll be able to have a half day.”
“Oh.” The prospect of spending more off-time with him gave her a little thrill. “Why?”
“For one thing, I don’t want you guys getting burnt out. For another, we need to get your car fixed.” Casually he added, “And I have some news we’ll want to celebrate.”
“Ooh.” She perked up with curiosity. “What?”
Klement put a finger to his lips. “I want to wait until we’re done.”
She pouted. “All right.”
Unfortunately, the anticipation had her almost too distracted to play her riffs right. What was the news that called for celebration by a workaholic like Klement? Had the guys gotten a song on the charts? Had their last album gone platinum? Were they nominated for an award? After Klement made her start over for the third time, she sucked in a breath and forced the speculations from her mind. If she didn’t do her job, she wouldn’t prove herself worthy of continuing with them.
Finally she got her shit together and started playing better. Another wave of awe nearly overcame her. They were using something she wrote! Biting her lip, she regained her focus, and after two more takes Klement nodded in satisfaction and gestured for her to pack her gear.
“So what’s the news?” She forced herself to sound casual, even though she was bursting with curiosity.
He laughed. “Not yet.”
They met Cliff and Rod in the little break room. Both men had conspiratorial grins plastered on their faces. Kat’s pulse quickened. Whatever it was, they already knew. Dared she hope—?
“…decided we want you to do Thrashfest with us.”
Klement was talking. Too late she realized that she’d been spacing out and hadn’t caught all of what he said. Thrashfest? Really?
“Wait, what?” she choked out.
His lips curved into an amused grin. “I said, after observing your performance, we’ve decided we’re definitely going to do Thrashfest and we want you to join us. It’s in three weeks, so hopefully we’ll be done with the album by then.”
Truly? His words echoed in her ears, making her dizzy. She swayed on her feet.
Roderick cocked his head to the side. “You alright, love?”
“Yeah,” Kat whispered. “I just can’t believe it. You don’t know how long I’ve dreamed…” She trailed off and shook her head. “Sorry, I don’t mean to sound like a dork.”
“Yes, we do know.” Cliff’s brown eyes were full of understanding. “That’s why we’re in this business.”
A sense of belonging washed over her, and Kat smiled at him. Even though the singer was a solo-stealing man-whore, he truly wasn’t a bad guy.
He reached out and patted her on the head, ruining the moment. “Just don’t try to turn us into a chick band, okay?”
She bristled, about to retort, but Roderick smacked the singer on the back of the head. “Congratulations, and welcome to Bleeding Vengeance. We were thinking of going out to The Hellion to celebrate. It’s a really badass club.”
“I’d love to!”
She resisted the urge to look back at Klement and ask if he was coming too, but it was as if he sensed she was thinking about him, and he stepped around to face her. “Now, Thrashfest is your trial. If you do well there, you’ll be hired as a full-time band member.”
The reverse was also clear. If she screwed up on stage, that was it.
Swallowing her trepidation, Kat allowed the glow of her success and optimism for the future seep in. She barely managed not to skip as she followed the band outside.
“We’ll head to my place, get a few things done and have a bite to eat before we go out,” Klement said as he loaded her guitar into his Suburban. Kat nodded, a thrill of excitement running from her head to her toes. He was going out with them tonight! What would she wear?
She smiled at the view as they drove out of Denver and headed back toward the secluded village of Dark Score. With her joy, the sun seemed brighter, the foliage greener.
“What songs are we doing tomorrow?”
“We’re not going in for the weekend,” Klement answered. “Besides, we gotta work on your car.”
A measure of Kat’s elation ebbed away. Her shoulders slumped. “Oh.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll get it going again. And, if worse comes to worst, you’ll be making enough money from this gig to buy a new one.”
“I don’t want to buy a new one.” Her voice came out more pitiful than she intended. “It was my dad’s car.” Actually it had been her stepdad’s, her only real dad, and she almost clarified, but then her face flushed in embarrassment. What was it about Klem that made her want to pour out all of her baggage?
Instead of looking at her with scorn, he nodded with understanding. “It’ll be fine. We might have trouble tracking down the injector, and if the gas tank is rusted out we’re in for a whole new level of hell, but we’ll fix it.”
We. The word did funny things to Kat’s insides. He spoke as if they were a team.
Closing her eyes, she brushed off the sentimental musing. Of course he was used to talking like that; he was in a band.
When they pulled up in the driveway, he hopped out and unloaded her case. “Go on in, I’m going to the garage to get a list of what we’ll need before I call the parts stores.”
“Cool,” Kat agreed. “I’m going to take a shower.”
Something flickered in his eyes before they hardened. “Lock the door,” he said.
She couldn’t help a dopey smile at his protectiveness. “I will.”
After her shower, Kat tried to call Kinley to tell her the good news, but her friend didn’t answer. She thought about calling IT Guy to tell him, but decided to hold off until their next support call. He might think it was weird for her to call him for social reasons. She’d never done so before, and she wasn’t sure why she wanted to do so now.
Focusing on the here and now, Kat opened her closet. She wanted to wear a dress tonight. Nothing too slutty, just cute. Grinning, she settled on a black A-line with skulls all over. They’d go great with her knee-high boots.
When she met the guys in the kitchen, they whistled. Her cheeks pinkened as she sat on one of the stools at the island counter next to Klement, and Roderick served some sautéed shrimp to die for, along with a crisp salad and delicious rolls. As they ate, Klement talked about the parts he’d located for her car and how long it would take for the stores to get them in.
“Let’s smoke a bowl before we head out,” he told the guys after wiping his plate with the last bite of his bread. “You can come upstairs, too,” he told her. “You don’t have to smoke.”
Kat shook her head. “That’s okay, I wanted to text Kinley. She’s on the road with Viciӧus, so I haven’t been able to tell her the good news about Thrashfest. Also, I want to take a look at the site and make sure everything’s running fine.”
When they left her, she sent Kinley a text. While waiting for her friend to reply, she spotted a plate of chocolate cupcakes on a plate by the microwave. The plastic wrap was lifted, and it looked like a few had been eaten. Kat licked her lips. She hadn’t had chocolate in days. And if they were going out drinking, it would be good to eat something absorbent.
Unable to resist the temptation, she grabbed one.