Light My Fire (Rock Royalty Book 1) by Christie Ridgway Read Free Book Online

hip-skimming seams. An elastic waistband. A hem that hit right where she wanted.
    Mid-thigh, damn it.
    And the design was engineered so that the silk-screened image of an open, full-lipped red mouth dripping multi-colored flowers was on the front. The list of the band's 1978 tour dates stamped over with "SOLD OUT" lovingly cupped the curve of her butt.
    She wore it with a black tank top and a pair of strappy spike heels. Her blond hair was a mass of waves and half-curls and her lips were painted a ripe raspberry.
    His libido had taken one look at the whole package and declared, Yeah, desperate to tap that .
    He'd sicced his good intentions on the impulse and the two had wrestled during the short drive from the compound to the club. But no matter which ended up on top, Ren was determined to keep his hands off the titillating blend of innocence and sex appeal that was Cilla Maddox. To that end, he was planning to do just as he'd told her.
    Find some other woman on whom to focus his attention.
    He had some early luck. Once he'd paid their cover and they'd made their way inside, it was to find Jewel sitting with Ren's half-sister, Campbell "Cami" Colson at a four-top near the small stage.
    She jumped up to hug Cilla, then stood back, her gaze sliding over him. He sized her up too, shaking his head as he took in her slight figure wearing a loose white blouse dripping delicate lace tucked into torn jeans with motorcycle boots. Even though the lights were somewhat low, he could see her eyes were still the same grayish-green as his own. Her hair, though, was a combination of auburn and gold and brown. She self-consciously fussed with the long, side-sweeping bangs and the blouse's cuff slid to reveal a tooled leather cuff on her wrist and the beginning of a trailing vine tattoo on her inner arm.
    "Looking good, Cam," he said.
    "It's been five years." There wasn't a shred of condemnation in her words.
    He nodded. "You and Payne met me in Paris for your twenty-first birthday."
    She grinned. "Bean sent us a case of champagne and that dance troupe as entertainment."
    "'Dance troupe'." Ren winced. "It was a handful of male and female strippers who weren't averse to offering extras after the music ended."
    Her eyes bugged. "I didn't know that! You and Payne hustled them out before a single zipper came down." She looked a little miffed.
    "One of the few times we were good brothers to you, Cam."
    A smile lifted a corner of her mouth and he recalled that sweet lopsided grin from her babyhood. Something moved in his chest and he reached out to pat her awkwardly on the shoulder. "It's music for you now, huh?"
    She glanced toward the stage. "Yeah, and I gotta get to it. Maybe we can talk between sets?"
    "Sure. Look for me by the bar..." But she was already gone.
    He was about to do the same, his gaze roaming over the single women milling about, when a cocktail waitress came by with a loaded tray of drinks that she set on the table. "From the talent," she said, nodding toward where Cami was setting up.
    So what could Ren do but sit between lovely Jewel and his sexual nemesis Cilla?
    He sipped at the whisky with beer chaser his sister had bought and kicked out his feet as he surveyed the club. A good crowd for a weeknight, he decided. Lots of men dressed in jeans and tails-out button downs like he was. The women were in everything from do-me heels to sheepskin boots. His gaze wandered to a table of females in short silky dresses who were also looking his way. With a smile, he toasted them with his glass. Two returned friendly waves.
    On the verge of shoving back his chair to test his chances with them, Cilla leaned close, her citrus sweetness tickling his nose. "They look nice," she said, her whisper blowing warm air against his ear. "Perhaps even lucky."
    Brat. To put distance between him and her, he twined his fingers in the back of her hair in order to draw her off. Mistake. The fine strands clung to his skin like cobwebs, trapping his touch.