Under Her Skin (13 page)

"What the hell was that for?" Marlo asked, feeling a little cross at being pushed the whole way there without an explanation.

"That woman is a snake!" He told her, his body involuntarily shuddering.

"What'd she do?" Marlo was getting madder by the minute.

"The little slut was all over me. She said she heard I was the playboy of the group and that she and I could have a lot of fun together. I told her I wasn't interested and that I was seeing someone. She had the nerve to tell me that no one had to know, and in fact she preferred it that way." The angrier Tobias got, the louder his voice got.

Marlo felt the steam rising inside of her. It was bad enough that the bimbo was playing her brother…again. But to make it worse, Carly knew there was something going on with Marlo and Tobias, but that didn't stop the cow from flirting with her man. 'Not that I have any stake on him, but…' Marlo thought to herself. "And just when I told Dusty I'd give her the benefit of the doubt." She shook her head unbelieving.

"She'll hang herself soon enough." Tobias told Marlo. Dusty was his best friend, and he didn't want to see him hurt, but first of all, he didn't want to get involved, and second, he knew that Dusty had to see things on his own or else he would never get rid of the girl. He shook his head. "You know what, I've had enough of this party." He said pulling Marlo closer to his body. He instantly felt her relax. "How about you and me go inside, get away from these people, and have wild, crazy, dirty sex all night long."

Marlo blushed as she looked into Tobias's eyes. She wanted nothing more than to take him up on his offer, but she still wasn't sure if he was really into their 'relationship'. "Or…" She smiled.

"Or we could go make out until I am so sexually frustrated that I pass out." He offered the alternative.

"I like the way you think. I'll settle for the latter." She led him into the house, making sure to put a little extra wiggle in her hips since she knew where his eyes were focused.

"Uh, you're killing me. But what a sweet, sweet death."

Chapter 14

Annie was walking down the hall from her bedroom to the kitchen the morning after the party, when she saw Marlo and Tobias come out of Marlo's room together, holding hands. It was very apparent that they had spent the night together, having just woken up.

Marlo blushed as she met Annie's eyes. Tobias looked between the two women and told Marlo that he'd go start breakfast. He leaned in and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek before leaving the two women to talk.

Annie smiled, sensing Marlo's nervousness. "Seems like you two are getting rather close. I thought you weren't going to rush into anything." She asked quietly, with care in her voice.

Marlo nodded. "I know what I said, but we've spent so much time together since they got back from the tour, and for some reason, it just feels so right to be with him. It's like when he's not with me, I feel all scattered. He's constantly in my head, and nothing I do gets him out of there." She sighed. "While it's a great feeling, it worries me too."

"Why is that?" Annie asked. "I've listened to everything you've said to me about him, and I've been keeping my eye on him. He seems to have only honest intentions, and he seems to really care about you. I see that in your eyes too."

"But what will happen when they go back on the road? What happens when there's girls throwing themselves at him? Will he still want to be with me, or will he just up and leave me to be with them?" Marlo voiced her concerns a little louder than she had realized.

"Why don't you ask him?" A deep voice interrupted the conversation.

Marlo froze. Her eyes widened, and finally understood what it must feel like to be a deer in the path of a car, flying down the road. She opened her mouth a few times, trying to get something, some sort of explanation out of her mouth, but nothing would come. Just because she had voiced her trepidation to Annie, it didn't mean she was nearly ready to talk to Tobias about it.

Tobias looked to Annie, asking for some privacy without words. She in turn gave Marlo a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and left the two alone for their long overdue conversation.

Tobias pushed Marlo back into her room, and shut the door to give them some privacy. This was obviously not a conversation that he wanted to have interrupted. It looked like he was finally going to get Marlo to talk to him about their 'relationship'. Just the thought of that word would have made him shutter months ago, now it was something he was welcoming.

Marlo looked to the floor, refusing to look into his eyes. "Look, it's not that big of a deal. I mean, what you do is none of my business, especially once you go back on tour in a few months. I don't even know why I said something so stupid." She stammered.

Tobias grabbed her by the upper arms, and jerked her toward him. For the first time, her eyes met his, and he saw the uncertainty that she was hiding. "Marlo, it is a big deal, and it is your business." He said forcefully. "Listen, I like you a lot, more than I wanted to or expected to, and that is a big deal, at least to me. I'm not messing with you in any way, shape or form, so get that out of your head. I want to be with you, not just for a day, or for a week. I care about you. I thought you understood that." He was trying not to let his frustration get the best of him. Tobias had never had to talk about his feelings like this with anyone before, so he wasn't sure of the right words to get his point across. Everything was new to him, and he didn't want to screw it up.

"I do understand that, but do you really think you can give up all the other women just to be with me?" She asked, unbelievingly.

Tobias sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I'm not going to lie to you and say that it's going to be a piece of cake. Will there be temptation? I'm sure there will be, but I think I'm a strong enough person to resist it. You'll never know unless you give me a chance."

"And I'll never get my heart broken if I don't give you the chance." Marlo yelled back. She glared at him, angry more at herself for having these feelings, but also angry at Tobias for making her feel this way about him.

Tobias shook his head at her. He wasn't going to get mad. He needed to be the calm one for once. "Do you honestly think you can walk away from me right now and not have it hurt?" He smirked when he saw the answer in Marlo's eyes. He grabbed her hand and sat her on the edge of the bed next to him. "I know I've hurt you in the past, but something's changed between us. All I've wanted to do lately is make sure that no one hurts you, and that includes me. How many times do I have to tell you that I like you and that I want to be with you, before it sinks in? Can't you just give me, give us, a chance to see where this leads?"

Marlo looked into his eyes. Where she expected to see teasing, she only saw care. But she had to know… "How do I know I'm not some conquest? 'Let's see who can take her virginity?'"

Tobias jumped up. "Come on, do you really think that?" He was starting to get angry and let his frustration show. "Have I ever once tried to go further than you're ready for?"

"No." She said, ashamed that she had even made that suggestion. She knew that wasn't what Tobias wanted from her, but her mind wouldn't let her give up that easily to him. "I just don't see what I have to offer, compared to the girls you're used to. I don't want to sit here, constantly wondering when you're going to get bored with me and what I'm giving you."

"Well, when are you going to get bored with what I have to offer?" Tobias countered. "Nothing in this world is certain, Marlo. Sometimes you just have to let go and see where the wind takes you."

Marlo was blown away with how eloquent Tobias was. "When did you get so smart?" She asked, a smile spread across her face for the first time since their discussion began.

"I listen to a lot of song lyrics." Tobias said proudly and smirked. They both laughed, sucking all the tension out of the air. "So we're cool?"

"Yeah, we're cool." Marlo said without hesitation.

"Good, now can I go make my girlfriend breakfast.?" He asked. Marlo gave him an odd look and he scolded her. "Don't give me that look, and don't deny it! Besides, you know how many women would kill to hear me say that to them?" He asked smugly.

Marlo back handed is shoulder and shook her head at him. She knew what he said was the truth, but he still sounded funny saying it. "Keep talking like that and they won't have to kill. I'll gladly step out of their way." She warned playfully.

Tobias answered her threat by taking her hand in his an softly kissing it. "Come on, let's eat."

Dusty was already in the kitchen when they got there, showered and ready to go. "Morning you two." He said, giving them both a knowing look. He handed them each a plate of French toast and bacon.

"Well, aren't you up early." Marlo said, surprised that breakfast was ready and so was her brother.

"That's because he's taking me shopping." Carly told her as she breezed into the kitchen. "He promised to buy me whatever I wanted."

Marlo thought her jaw was going to hit the floor. Not only did Carly spend the night in their house last night, but now Dusty was taking her shopping? No way! "What happened Carly, lose your job and go broke?"

"Nope, I'm still working and I have plenty of money saved up, thank you. But hey, he was dumb enough to offer, so why should I say no." Carly said haughtily.

Marlo saw red, and Tobias knew it. He wasn't happy about the situation either. He put his hand on Marlo's arm, hoping to calm her down a little so that she didn't go after Carly.

Dusty's eyes flashed a momentary pain, but he snapped out of it quick when he saw how mad his sister was. He shook his head at her, telling her it would be alright and not to worry. "Come on then, let's get this over with." Dusty pulled on Carly's arm.

"See you at the studio later, man." Tobias called to Dusty as he was walking out the door.

Carly turned around to answer him. "Oh, right. I don't think he'll be there today. We hardly ever get to see each other, so while I'm here, Dusty can't come out to play." She threw out a self-satisfied smirk, then disappeared through the door.

"Looks like we have another Yoko on our hands." Annie said, walking into the kitchen from the living room.

"You heard?" Marlo asked her. She hadn't known that Annie was in the next room.

"I heard it all. You know I try not to interfere in your love lives too much, but that girl has to go." Annie told her, shaking her head.

"I agree." Tobias said, not sure what to do about their recording session. "Looks like I better call the guys and tell them what's going on. Dusty can't be missing things like this, especially when we have to pay to use the studio. It's not like we have a whole lot of time to get out next record out either."

Marlo watched him sympathetically as he walked out of the room. She had to do something before this woman ruined not only her brother, but also the band and the band members that she care so much about.

Chapter 15

Two days later, Tobias, AJ, Sammy, and Marlo sat in the recording studio with the band's manager, Pete. Emotions were running rampant, with no clear plan in sight. If only they knew if or when Dusty was coming back.

"This is the third session in a row that he's missed and it's all because of that hooker he's seeing." Marlo spat. She was taking his absence the hardest. "I've been doing everything I can to try to make him see the damage this woman is doing, but it's almost like he's blind to her evilness."

"He is blind to it, but we're not." Tobias sighed. "I just wish that there was something we could do to get him back on track. He needs to regain his focus on the band. We're losing a lot of money, and wasting studio time."

Pete agreed. "The record company isn't going to wait forever for the new album. We really need to get this started, with or without Dusty."

"How do you expect us to do that?" Sammy asked, irritated with the whole thing. Sure, sometimes there were things that he would rather be doing than sitting in the studio for hours on end, day after day, but he had made a commitment to the band, and at the end of the day, that was all that mattered.

"Well, I think I know someone else who can help." Pete explained. "Who knows how long it's going to take for Dusty to get his priorities back in order. We can't keep waiting on him."

"Then let's do it. No point in talking this matter to death." AJ said, getting up from his chair and walking over to his bass guitar. Sammy followed him and got situated behind the drum set.

"Marlo, how's your shoulder?" Pete asked, hoping that he got the answer he was looking for.

"It's getting better. I'm able to use it a lot more now. Why?" She wasn't sure she knew what he was getting at.

"Well, I know that you know how to play guitar…"

Marlo's eyes bulged. "No, don't even think of asking me that. First of all, I'm not that good, Dusty just messes around with teaching me the songs. Second of all, I doubt I can even hold a guitar for very long with my shoulder the way it is, and third…just… no."

"Come on Marlo, please? We really need you right now. We'll start off with some easy songs, and I'll get a chair and pillow in there to help you hold the guitar up. There's a few ballads that we can record, so you won't really need to rock out very hard." His eyes pleaded with her.

Marlo looked at Tobias, who was somewhat stunned. He didn't know that Dusty had taught Marlo how to play. He thought that she had no musical ability whatsoever.

"What if I'm horrible and mess everything up?" She asked, not removing her eyes from Tobias. "I don't want to waste any more of your time or money by my crappy playing."

"Hey, if you help us get even part of a song recorded, it would be more than if we waited around for Dusty." Pete told her. "Give it a try. If it doesn't work, it's no big deal, and we're no further worse off than before, right?"

"Fine, I'll try." Marlo gave up. She walked into the sound booth, followed by Tobias.

"I had no idea." He whispered in her ear from behind her.