Maid for the Rock Star(13)

Audra fought to find the right words. "Rock stars like Jay aren't worth your time, Sam. He wouldn't notice normal people like us over his enormous ego." Even as she spoke, she knew it was a lie. Jay had poured out his heart to her, read her a story and even ordered her breakfast. He was worth her time, and not just because she got paid for it. "Don't pin your hopes on something that'll never happen," she finished lamely.

"One day it will. Ooh, they announced concert dates for Chaya's next tour. Jay's coming to Perth for their farewell tour next year. Guess that means he won't be a rock star any more and I'll have even more of a chance. Do you think if I..." Sam continued, but Audra stopped listening.

Chaya's farewell tour.

The missing pieces fell into place. No wonder he kept insisting he was a rock star – when Chaya broke up, he'd be just an ordinary bloke again. No longer rock royalty. He was running out of time to impress this girl with his rock star charms. Poor Jay. Audra hoped the fondue she'd left would help. To lose your identity and the girl you loved all in one hit would be quite a blow to anyone. If he needed help with anything...

Audra's eyes darted to her ID, but the display was still dark. She wasn't wanted in Maxima tonight.

"So what d'you think?"

Audra blinked. "Um, sure," she replied, hoping it was the right thing to say.

Sam cheered. "Awesome. I'll pay you back, I promise. Tickets go on sale for the concert tomorrow and if you're coming, then you can drive us."

"The Chaya concert? Yeah, okay." Standing in the audience, watching Jay and his band perform for the last time. As long as he didn't spot her in the crowd, it would be fine. The tickets wouldn't come cheap, though. There goes this week's pay, she thought.

After a few more minutes of small talk, Audra ended the call and closed her ageing laptop.

She could ask Jay for tickets. Maybe even the chance to go backstage. She wouldn't ask for herself, but she'd do almost anything for Sam. The worst he could say was no, and then she'd just buy them like she'd planned. But she'd have to do it tonight, before tickets went on sale in the morning, because if it was anything like other Chaya concerts, they sold out fast.

Audra slipped on her shoes and headed for Villa Maxima.





TWENTY-TWO



How were you supposed to see the road when it was the same red dirt as the bush on either side and there weren't any street lights? Every road should have fucking street lights, Jason fumed as his car bounced over another rut. So much for the best four-wheel-drive the dealership had to offer. The suspension on this was shit. He may as well have been driving the little shitbrick of a hatchback he'd owned before Chaya made it big. And where was the damn hotel, anyway? The helicopter flight hadn't taken half this long and he couldn't see a single building anywhere.

Jason floored the accelerator, trying to get the stupid car to go faster, but all it did was bump harder down the unsealed road. Maybe he should call the helicopter to come and pick him up. It couldn't be that hard for it to find him – the headlights of his car had to be the only lights for miles. He fished around in his pocket and withdrew his phone, glancing between the screen and the road as he searched for the pilot's number. Or the hotel's. He didn't care as long as he got back.

Jo's number came up. That'd do. She could fix anything. He hit the call button and held the phone to his ear.

It emitted an irritating beep, followed by silence. Why wasn't it calling?

He glared at the screen. "No mobile access – emergency calls only," he read, then punched the dashboard. "It is a fucking emergency! I need to get back to the hotel so I can...can..." Tits. Something about tits. Scooping them out of a skimpy French maid's uniform and...

No, there weren't any frills. He didn't want her in her maid's uniform, French or Aussie or fucking Chinese. He wanted her naked. Wanted to see if her arse was as sweet as her tits.

Wondered what she'd taste like – salty like the sea around the island, or sweet like the mango beer? Fuck. If it wasn't an emergency before, it was now. His pants were too tight. He needed her now.

He tried, but the phone only beeped and beeped again, until he threw the stupid thing into the back seat. Fuck the phone. Fuck the helicopter. No, wait. He wanted to fuck a woman. Sweet and sassy and sympathetic and on call...

He'd never gone without sex so long in his life. Not since high school, anyway.

What the fuck was that in the middle of the road?

Jason squinted at the tall shape. Was some fat bloke standing in the middle of the road? Nah, no one'd be that stupid. Or that huge.

Jason found himself staring at the biggest cow he'd ever seen, lowering its horns and charging his car. Fuck.

Jason wrenched the steering wheel right, taking the car to the other side of the track. Lights blinded him and the deafening blare of a horn sliced into his head. It sounded like a car, not a cow.

There was a jarring crunch, accompanied by the sound of a million tinkling bells before he was in flight, spinning like a skydiver in freefall. Only what skydiver took their car with them and opened their parachute in the car? Parachute everywhere. In front of him. Beside him. Sticking out of the dash like a big balloon. Holding him in his seat so he couldn't move.

Upside down. Sideways. Right way up. No, sideways again. Fuck. Upside down in a car full of parachute, but the landing was gentler than he expected. Skydiving in a car was awesome. Jason unclipped the straps holding him upside down and slid to the roof of the car. Pain flared in his hand, but he ignored it. Adventure sports came with a bit of pain, didn't they? And chicks dig scars.

Ooh, there's one.

A moving blue blur outside resolved into a woman bent double so she could see into the car window. Purple. No, blue. Purple again. Why was her shirt changing colour? She looked concerned. "Can you hear me? You hit me with your car! You could've killed me!"

He'd landed on a hot chick? Cool. Jason grinned lazily, hoping she looked as hot as she sounded. He couldn't see so clearly right now. There was something in his eye. Probably his hair. He reached up to casually flick it away in the sexy way he knew melted any woman's underwear, and tried to catch the niggling thought in his head about car crashes. Car crashes and rock stars. Numbers! That's what he had to get. Give. Whatever.

"Get me out of here and I'll give you my number, babe," he said.

Lights were flashing. Why were they flashing? They made it hard to think. Lights only flashed at concerts and he couldn't see his guitar, or the rest of the band. And why did his hand hurt?

Jason held up his fingers so he could see them better. Something black was oozing over his hand. Like tar, with sparkling diamonds in it. The light flashed red and the ooze wasn't black any more. It was ruby red. Like...blood. Fuck. It couldn't be. When he saw blood, he...

"Sir! Can you hear me? Are you all right?"

All the lights at the rock concert in Jason's head went out.





TWENTY-THREE



One of the path lights flickered. First it was blazing white, then off, then blue before brightening to white once more. The solar panel or the batteries must be on the blink again. Audra tapped her ID and knelt by the path beside the light until her display read LOGGED. Maintenance would receive her report in the morning and hopefully do something to fix it.

Rising, Audra shivered in a night breeze. Back home, she wouldn't dare walk outside this late after dark. Here, the only low-lifes who'd attack a lone woman were the rats rustling in the palm fronds above. No matter how much baiting the resort did, wherever there were people, there were rats.

Maybe they were seabirds getting comfortable, she told herself. That's what she usually told the tourists, but she didn't believe it. She'd only seen a handful of rats in her time here, but for every one she saw, she knew there were a dozen more watching. So much for paradise.

She took the long way round, circling Maxima to see which lights were on, but the whole villa was dark. Even with the blinds drawn in every room, some light should've leaked out the edges. Unless Jay and all his guests were asleep...or they were only using the romantic tealights she'd left in the house.

Audra stopped dead. What if the romantic lighting and all the other stuff she'd arranged had worked for him? What if Jay and his lady love were getting it on in the villa right now? She didn't dare interrupt them.

She forced herself up the steps to the door. The scanner wouldn't allow her entry if he was inside, and there were protocols in place if the guests were in bed: if all the guests' wristbands stayed in bedrooms for more than ten minutes, they triggered the electronic version of a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. The guests could set that manually, too, though none of hers ever had. She'd expected the hotel to be full of couples having kinky sex, but she'd never encountered the signs in use. Maybe the time for kinky sex was the wet season, not the dry. She'd find out when she got the permanent job here.

Gritting her teeth, Audra scanned her ID at the door, rocking on her feet as she waited to be told to go away or alert the guests that housekeeping was at the door.

The door hissed open. No one was home.

Audra hesitated on the threshold. Entering the house now, when she was off-duty and he hadn't called for maid service, smacked of an invasion of Jay's privacy. What if he was out for a night-time walk on the beach with someone and he brought her back here, only to find a maid he hadn't called for in his villa? Talk about killing the mood. She'd gone to so much trouble to help him, too.