Book3: SERENADE ME
“I came to tell you that you make me believe that the universe has plans for us all, and that everything leading up to this moment was to make sure that right now, right at this very second, I would be standing here. And you sitting there. And for us to be finally meeting, face to face. And for me to tell you, that my life starts now.”
There is ONE rule above ALL ELSE – the BROS IN THE BAND before everything.
Especially women. But what if the ONLY woman you’ve ever wanted, is the exact one you can never have?
Would you give up lifelong loyalties to be with her?
Or give her up for all the fame, friendship and fortune?
Anca is battling the demons in her past when she joins the Rock Chamber Boys tour.
But what is supposed to be a return to the stage, becomes a battle between the two men who she can never live without.
But there always comes a time when you have to make a choice – family?
Or the love of your life?
Or will the past return, to ruin everything she’s worked for, And the sacrifice of the band be too late to save her?
Serenade me is the explosive, sexy, roller coaster, enemies to lovers, third book in the Rock Chamber Boys series, starring Marius, their viola player. It has a to-die-for happy ending and no cliffhanger. Rock Chamber Boys is a rock star romance series with a twist. DON”T MISS OUT!!
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Marius
“Ohhhhhmmmmm. Ohhhmmmm. Feel the air pass through every portal of your body, collecting the toxins and negativity, and then slowly release them in a long slow exhale. Ohhhmmm.”
“Ohhhhm. Ohhhmmmm,” I chant along with the recording, taking a long deep breath, feeling the air fill my lungs and then slowly breathe out.
In the back of my mind I hear the sound of footsteps, but I ignore them, trying to concentrate on my morning meditation.
“Ooogey boogey woogeeey,” speaks up a familiar, decidedly non-meditative voice. “Feel the rotten egg smell pass through me and into Marius’ nostrils.”
My serenity vanishes in a second and I snap my eyes open, only to see two perfectly round, bright blue pupils, barely two inches from my face.
“AHHHHHH!” I scream, jumping to my feet and taking five steps back, tripping over the coffee table and ending up in an awkward somersault, head over heels, crashing against the base of one of the leather recliners.
“Bloody Titbiscuit!!!” I yell at Jez, my band mate, glaring at him as I rub the back of my neck.
“‘Titbiscuit’?!” Sebastian, our band’s other cellist, repeats. It sounds even more ridiculous in his French accent. “That’s a new one, any other pastry themed nicknames you want to teach me before Cadence leaves? “Honey” and “Sweetie” are getting old.”
“Honeysweetums, I call you other things as well,” Cadey, his fiancee, clarifies while winking at him.
“Yes, but nothing the boys can hear, Sugarcakes,” Seb gushes, returning the wink and reaching out his hand to her.
“Well, we hear you calling her ‘the ol’ ball and chain’ all the time,” Brad, our violinist, contributes, returning Seb’s glare with a wide, innocent smile.
“Oh, you do, do you?” Cadey turns to her fiance who starts to squirm in his seat. “Let me tell you then, there won’t be any sort of ball action going on tonight, my love.”
“Thanks, fuckers! She’s leaving in a few days, too.” He throws his fiancee a pitiful look and she only grins in reply before straddling him and giving him a deep kiss.
“Ugh, guys. Gross.” I scrunch up my face at their public display of affection. “Some of us are still digesting our lunch, you know.”
“Your body’s not digesting that vegan not-dog you had, it’s trying to propel it from your stomach,” Brad says, chewing on a stick of beef jerky, then opening his mouth to display the masticated contents to me.
“Hey, my body’s a temple,” I tell him, pulling my sleeve up and flexing my bicep.
“That’s where you’re going wrong, what you want is for your body to be a liquor store. Six-packs galore, baby.” Jez pulls his t-shirt up and pats his bare stomach. I have to admit, his symmetrical lines of rippling muscles look good. I wonder, not for the first time, where all the beer and chicken wings he inhales goes. Even cutting meat out of my diet, I have to work twice as hard to keep myself in shape.
I grab the remote and shut off the meditation YouTube video still playing on the TV.
“Hey,” I say to Brad, trying to get his attention. I roll my eyes and gesture to the loved-up scene on the couch, Cadence in Sebastian’s lap and their foreheads pressed against each other’s.
“What?” Brad asks, his mouth still full of cured meatstick.
I frown at his response. I’d expected him to make a loud gagging noise, but then I remember. “Oh, yeah, I forgot, you’re one of THEM now,” referring to his recent engagement to his high school sweetheart, Emily.
Brad grins and shrugs. “What can I say, when it’s love, it’s love.” He comes over and nudges my shoulder. “Or in your case, ‘love-love’ as in big ol’ noughts when it comes to wins against women. I mean, have you ever even had a relationship that lasted longer than a plane ride?”
I elbow him back and he squeals in mock pain. “Hey! I’m looking for spiritual connections, okay? It’s not just about bra-size and skirt length for me, like for you manslutsticles”
“I’m pretty sure Jez is the only “Slutsticle” around here these days.” Sebastian grins at his fellow cellist bandmate who bows at the accolade.
“Someone’s gotta do your dirty work, boys. You think our fans like that you two are strapped into chastity belts now? Gotta take care of the fans that got us here.”
“Speaking of chastity belts. Hey, Cadence…?”
“Whoa, flattering segue. Thanks, Marius,” Cadence snorts.
I wink at her and she rolls her eyes before I continue. “Cadence, are you really going to leave us in the lurch?”
Her face falls when I ask the question and I almost wish I hadn’t said it. I hate to make her feel bad. Before we’d lured her to come on our European CD launch tour with us, Cadence was a high school music teacher in Sydney, Australia. She’d always made it clear that come the school year, she’d be going to go back, leaving us without a pianist for the French leg of our tour.
“I’m sorry, babe, the school year starts up in Australia, and well, some of these kids are coming into their senior year. They’re going to need a lot of support and I just can’t abandon them after working with them all these years. I guess… maybe I can organize to come for some of the weekend shows? And take a few days off, here and there? I mean, the tour’s only got about a month left, right?
She looks at Seb who just shrugs. I know if he could, he’d be begging her to stay. For him as much as for the band. And the fans. She’s easily been the favorite of all the guest musicians that have played with us.
But it’s obvious she doesn’t want to leave her students. And I wouldn’t want her to. As much as she’s been a big sister to me while she’s been with us, as much as she and I have formed a pretty special bond, I wouldn’t want to take her away from what gives her the most joy, just as I wouldn’t want anyone to do that to me, or any of us for that matter.
“We’re really going to miss you,” I say, as I walk over to her. She climbs off her fiance’s lap and pulls me into a big hug.
“I know. I’m going to miss your dumb-ass, smug faces and your brilliant music and your weird looking brown salads and late nights and early mornings and finding bras that aren’t my own in my laundry and…BED…” She turns and scowls at Jez who just grins.
“Speaking of other women,” Jez says as he pulls Cadence from my hug and slings his own arm tight around her shoulders, before pulling back when Sebastian growls, “I think I know someone who might just be able to take Cadence’s spot.”