Dex (Kinky Shine #1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Epilogue

  Author’s Babbling

  About the author

  Copyright

  DEX (Kinky Shine #1)

  Copyright © 2016

  Stephanie Witter

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  All Rights Reserved.

  No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical without express permission from the author, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes.

  Cover Design: Stephanie Witter

  Photography: yekophotostudio (Depositphoto)

  Editor: Ellie (Love N. Books)

  Formatted by Stephanie Witter

  HARLEY

  I glanced down at my plaid shirt and my boring black knee length skirt. I toyed with the hem of my left sleeve and cleared my throat for what felt like the hundredth time. I still couldn’t believe I was about to meet Dex Bowers. The Dex Bowers.

  I glanced at the closed door again and then checked my phone for the fifth time. He was almost twenty minutes late. Of course, he was. I rolled my eyes and adjusted the black thick-framed glasses on my nose. Not that I needed them when I wasn’t reading, but it gave me a feeling of professionalism and usually people took me more seriously. That was very dumb but as a young woman, fairly new in this business, I did what I could to be respected.

  Twenty-five minutes late.

  I pursed my lips and glanced down at my bouncing knee. I was way too nervous. Actually, it was rather embarrassing, but meeting someone like Dex Bowers would drive anyone bonkers. After all, it wasn’t every day one could say they had a one-on-one interview with the frontman of the number one rock band, Kinky Shine. Obviously, I was here for work but that didn’t mean I was cool as a cucumber. Kinky Shine was one of my favorite bands if not my all-time favorite band.

  But even though Dex Bowers was one you’d damn yourself to meet and interview, I wasn’t the kind of girl who enjoyed waiting around in a small room in the label’s building with which Kinky Shine signed with over four years ago. I started to stand, ready to leave when the door suddenly crashed open.

  I whimpered and lost my grip on my phone. I didn’t know by which miracle, but I caught it right between my thighs, thighs now exposed by my skirt that had ridden up in my surprise at the loud intruder.

  Speaking of…

  I looked up, all the while keeping my phone between my thighs and met the darkest, most intense eyes I had ever seen in my twenty-three years of life. Dex Bowers was standing there, his eyes narrowed on my hunched form on the very uncomfortable plastic forest green chair. Standing tall at six foot four, clad in an old t-shirt with the blue and white Kinky Shine’s logo washed away stretching over his broad shoulders and his low riding jeans showcasing powerful thighs and a tapered waist, he made a comfy outfit look perfect.

  I gulped and kept on looking. He seemed even more muscular, taller and basically more impressive in person. The one time I went to see Kinky Shine play live at the Metlife Stadium, I had been too far from the scene to catch much of the bandmates’ faces. Not that I didn’t already know what they looked like with all the photo shoots they had done over the years.

  “You are?’’ he asked with his distinctive smoky voice that made millions of women melt all over the world. But the cold tone of his voice had me frowning at him as he took the chair on the other side of the simple desk. Once folded in it, he leaned back and crossed his heavily tattooed and nicely muscled arms over his chest. I let my eyes wander on the dark lines decorating his pale skin for a minute before quickly recovering, grabbing my phone from between my thighs discreetly and putting it back on top of the desk.

  I extended my hand and prayed that my palm wasn’t sweaty like the back of my neck. “Harley from the One Track blog.’’ My voice wavered a little, but he didn’t know me so he must not have caught it.

  He looked at my hand a second longer, making me wonder if he would shake it or not. Was he a germaphobe or something? But no, eventually and with a not so veiled sigh, he grabbed my hand in his big one and shook once before re-crossing his big arms.

  I didn’t have enough time to feel the weight of his hand in mine or the heat of his skin, but I supposed a handshake wasn’t something you dragged out. Unless you’re a shameless groupie and while I loved the music this guy and his buddies made, I had never been known to act like a groupie around musicians. Even good looking and intense ones like Dex Bowers. So I straightened up with all the poise I could muster and offered him a small smile before I grabbed my pen and opened my notebook in front of me on the desk.

  “Fine,’’ I said and cleared my throat before adjusting my fake glasses. “Thank you for affording me this interview.’’

  He shook his head and arched a pierced eyebrow at me. “I was told to get here. I have someone who books interviews and apparently yours couldn’t wait, so go ahead.’’

  My weak smile left my face. Sometimes it was best to keep a made up opinion of someone you appreciate for their work because the real deal wasn’t as thrilling. I gripped my pen tighter and nodded. “Hm…’’ I glanced down at my list of questions. He sighed again. What a jerk! “Here we go, Mr. Bowers. I’ve read on Kinky Shine’s website that you’re currently working on the songs that will be on Kinky Shine’s next album. What can you tell your fans about it? Is it going to follow the lead of the rock bands delving more into electro-rock or are you keeping your pure sultry rock sound?’’

  “We haven’t stepped foot in the recording studio yet.’’ He looked away from me and back to the closed door. The guy couldn’t muster a modicum of interest. Or be respectful.

  I bit on my lip and put down my pen. It was obvious how this interview would go and he wouldn’t give me any real material. This had disaster written all over it. “But you must have an idea of what you’re going for. You, Maxen, Otis, and Beckett must have been going through some ideas.’’

  “Nothing is set in stone and I’d rather keep it to myself and the band what type of things we’re going to do next.’’

  I wanted to take off my fake glasses and throw them at his closed off face. “Alright.’’ I sighed and briefly glanced at my questions. “I saw your summer tour schedule and it’s pretty hectic with back to back concerts. How is it for you and the other guys in the band to be in such close quarters for weeks? It must be exhausting and sometimes difficult considering you all have a very different personalities.’’

  He shook his head again and ran a hand through his freshly cut hair. The last pictures I had seen of him in a gossip rag while he was with the other band members of Kinky Shine coming out of a bar showed him with
hair falling to his eyes and curling over his ears. He pursed his lips, lips deemed as the most kissable three times in a row in some magazine or another. When he wasn’t pursing them, I had to agree.

  “Tell me something,’’ he said slowly, his eyes taking in every inch of my face thoroughly before he eyed my conservative looking top and went back to my eyes mostly hidden by my ugly-ass fake glasses. “Who’re you fucking?’’

  I blinked. “Huh?’’

  He smirked at me, the left side of his mouth curving upward, carving in his cheek a very sexy dimple. “Who. Are. You. Fucking. Is that clearer for ya?’’ He leaned his elbows on the desk and entwined his thick fingers together, flashing the letters tatted on his knuckles forming the words ‘good luck’ when both hands were held next to each other. I knew this like any self-respecting fan out there. But I saw my fan status fast disappearing as the seconds passed by.

  “Who do you think you’re talking to?’’ My voice went all high and cringe worthy, but I couldn’t help it. My throat was starting to close up and usually is the first sign of an impending huge blow up on my part. Anything could happen then. I was known to have punched the windpipe of some asshole once in a bar because he called me a cock tease when I refused to kiss him as a thank you after he had bought me a drink.

  “A young woman who’s working for some unknown blog. Seriously, how else could you have landed this interview, huh?’’ His smirk was still firmly planted on his smug face.

  “I’ll have you know One Track has over five hundred thousand followers, Mr. Bowers. I don’t need to…to…’’

  “Open your thighs? Doubt it, sweetheart.’’

  I clenched my jaw. “It’s Harley, Dex. And for your information—‘’

  “Please, don’t play the affronted card on me.’’ He rolled his eyes and his smirk finally vanished. “I’ve heard it all. I hope he promised you something good for this interview, that’s all I’m sayin’.’’ He shrugged and leaned back in his chair again and scratched his jaw covered by a thick dark five o’clock shadow.

  I was fuming. Downright fuming. If I was in some cartoon right now I’d have smoke coming out of my nose and my ears. I closed my hands into tight fists and held my breath for a few seconds, trying to keep calm. But my heart hammered in my chest and while before he walked in this small room it had been from my nerves upon meeting a very talented rockstar, now it was because I wanted to bash said rockstar’s head in.

  I didn’t know how to proceed, what to say or do at this point, but I was saved by a knock at the door and someone walking in without waiting for the invitation to do so. I looked away from the asshole and saw my savior. I immediately relaxed and the first real smile of the day appeared on my face. That would teach that ass right. I waved sweetly at the older man with a receding hairline and slender build that stepped in. His smile widened and he put his clipboard under his arm before walking to me. “Harley, honey, I didn’t know you were already here.’’

  I glanced back at the famous Dex Bowers whose smugness knew no boundaries right now. My smile went up another notch. “You know me, I don’t like to slack off.’’

  He laughed and it accentuated the thin lines around his eyes. “That I know.’’ He looked at Dex and then back at me, questions in his green eyes. It wasn’t hard to pick up on the tense vibes between the rocker and me. “Are you two finished with the interview?’’

  “Well—‘’ I started, but Dex beat me to it.

  “I’m sure you have something better planned for her, Floyd.’’

  I shook my head and cleared my throat sweetly. Both men’s attention went back to me and I wrapped an arm around the older man’s waist and squeezed once with familiarity. “Just five more minutes if you don’t mind.’’

  “Of course, honey,’’ Floyd said without checking with Dex if it was alright. He turned around and checked his expensive watch before leaving us alone again in the tiny room and the desk between me and Dex who smirked knowingly at me again.

  “I knew it, but I’m still surprised you’re banging good ol’ Floyd. I hadn’t seen the man hook up in the four years we’ve been working with him. I guess there’re still surprises out there.’’

  I gathered my notebook and pen in my purse and stood up. I put my hands on the top of the desk and leaned on them, getting a little bit closer to Dex who eyed me suspiciously. “Good, because I don’t think his wife would like knowing he’s fucking on the side.’’ I locked eyes with the dark eyes of this man who was now on my shit list. “David Floyd, or Floyd as you call him, is no other than my father.’’

  He opened his mouth and closed it without making a sound. His eyes darted to the door my father had walked through and then glanced back at me. Recognition slowly changed the expression of his face. He must now see my big green eyes behind my equally big glasses, same eyes as my father and the overall shape of my face very similar to my old man’s.

  “As I said, I didn’t have to sleep around to get an interview with the deemed mysterious frontman of Kinky Shine, but I think mysterious doesn’t suit you that well. What do you think?’’

  “You’re Harley Floyd.’’

  “In the flesh.’’ I straightened up and took off my fake glasses and threw them in my big purse without care. “And before you say I landed that interview because of whom is my father…well, you’ll have to wait and see. That’s not the only or even the main reason for my presence here.’’ I turned around and took a step toward the door before I stopped again and looked back at him over my shoulder. “I can’t really say it was a pleasure meeting you. Good thing you make amazing music because you’re one huge jerk.’’ On these last words, I stomped to the door and left the room in search of my father.

  Now I understood why my dad, Kinky Shine’s manager, and the label offered me this job.

  *

  DEX

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  I walked out of the small room and sighed. It had been a while since I had last felt ashamed of myself. I could fuck around with my bandmates and think nothing of it, probably because they gave back as hard as they got, but right about now…I wanted to punch my own face.

  “Dex, hey!’’

  I stopped walking and looked up from the ground. Further down the hall Maxen Walton, my best friend since high school, strolled toward me. He was also Kinky Shine’s drummer and a well-known womanizer without a qualm. He jogged to me and playfully punched my arm.

  “What’s with the long face?’’

  I shook my head. “I fucked up.’’ I couldn’t believe how I treated Floyd’s daughter. He had always been secretive about his private life and we had never bothered asking. We worked together and while he was a great dude and was the best manager out there, I didn’t give a flying fuck of what his private life was like. Yet, as a proud father, he told us when his daughter graduated college a year ago, or maybe it was two years ago. It was the first and last time we had heard about her, but I was pretty sure it had a lot to do with how Maxen asked him if she was hot.

  “Shit.’’ Maxen toyed with the barbell in his eyebrow and looked around us nervously. “I know it’s not fun, but we have to play nice, Dex. We don’t have any new material coming up for the next album. They can make our life hell. This is tame in comparison.’’

  I frowned more deeply and crossed my arms. “What the fuck are you talking about? I was doing an interview with a blogger.’’

  He whistled and blinked at me before barking out a short laugh. He brought a hand to the barbell in his eyebrow matching mine and toyed with it again. His fingers were shaking. “Don’t you know who that woman is?’’

  I groaned and closed my eyes, leaning heavily against the neon green wall. “You knew? Why didn’t you tell me before I went in there? Fuck!’’

  “Calm the fuck down. It’s not like having a babysitter is that big a deal. I bet ya we can charm her a bit to get her off our asses.’’

  I re-opened my eyes and looked firmly in Maxen’s green eyes, the same e
yes many fans had been praising over the last five years. “What the fuck are you talking about?’’

  He shrugged and cocked his head at me. “Uh…the woman that interviewed you. She is our new babysitter or some bullshit like that. Floyd told us while you were with her.’’

  “Oh shit. Fuck.’’ I banged the back of my head against the wall and muttered another curse under my breath.

  “Dex?’’

  “I asked her who she’s fucking to land an interview with me.’’

  “Really?’’ Maxen said in a strangled laugh. I glared at him and he held up both hands showing me the tattoos on his knuckles saying ‘fuck you’. “It’s not really like you.’’

  I groaned. “I don’t know what the fuck happened. I was in a piss poor mood and I…lashed out. The girl was shocked.’’

  “What’s she like?’’

  “Off-limits, fucker.’’ I glanced over Maxen’s broad shoulder and couldn’t find the other two Kinky Shine members. “Otis and Beckett?’’

  He pointed down with his hand. “They went to get some coffee. Otis has a motherfucker hangover and you know how Beckett is with his coffee.’’ He brushed a lock of blond hair away from his forehead. A young blond woman passing by eyed Maxen’s arms that are as heavily tattooed as mine, but I wasn’t like him, an attention whore who was showing off his muscles every chance he got. “Why is she off-limits? It’s not like you’re going to fuck her anytime soon.’’

  I tensed and closed my hands into tight fists and put them in my pockets. I felt off-kilter as everything started to fall into place. I was royally fucked and with that realization my tightly held control was slipping. “She’s Floyd’s daughter.’’