Rocked (Rock & Romance II.)

Chapter 45. - Allured

"If you don't want temptation to follow you, don't act as if you're interested"

A/N: If you follow me on Twitter, you've already seen a sneak peek of this chapter & you probably already know that I wanted this to be up on Ash Wednesday - but I suck. So here we go!

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*Gia*

"Did your invitation get lost in the mail too?" I asked Jesse as we stepped out of the car.

He held his arm out and I laced mine through it. "No, mine came on time." He smirked, looking smug. "With the warning not to dare tell the evil temptress that has lead my brother down the path of sin!"

I snorted. "Some friends we have here."

We made our way up to London and Lukas' house, the place already buzzing with the sound of music as lights danced in the sky above it. I wasn't sure if the neighbors on the street were oblivious, invited or simply did not have the common sense to dare defy their rockstar neighbor, but no one called the cops in this part of town. Back in my old, silent college apartment complex though... I swallowed the thought bitterly. There was no use reminiscing now.

"For someone who had to get herself together last minute, you cleaned up nice!" Jesse complimented, chasing away the bitter thoughts of the past I could not change.

I glanced down at my long-sleeved, black dress and black ankle boots. My new clothes - courtesy of Callie from back in my birthday - were stylish, yet simple. The boots, although high heeled, were fairly comfortable, and the dress was made of a stretchy material that didn't suffocate me. I found a slim, golden belt to accessorize, straightened my wavy, red hair and called it a night.

I was hardly as fabulous or fashionable as the rest of the party crowd was going to be, but compared to my everyday attire, I did put in an effort.

"I think you should save your compliments for your special lady friend," I teased, referring to the crush Jesse had been harboring. "She's coming tonight, isn't she?"

For a moment, he looked nervous as he glanced from side to side, scanning the crowd that gathered before the front door. "I have no idea, Ging!"

I grinned. "Liar, liar!" I whispered to him as we passed the people standing around the front door and entered the house.

"The party is in the back garden! Please migrate out this way!" A bored-looking man in a suit greeted us, ushering the crowd toward said garden in a flat tone. "Refreshments and appetizers are being served by our first-class waitresses-"

His voice cut off as we headed further away and walked right next to a giant pile of wrapped boxes. "Were we supposed to bring a gift?!" I wondered out loud, shocked that I wouldn't have thought of such a thing. This was Lukas LaBelle's birthday party after all!

But then again, what does one give to a legendary guitarist, who probably had more zeroes in his bank account than pi decimals I could name off the top of my head?! "Sweetheart, you in that dress is all the gift you needed to bring to this party!" Jesse flirted, making me roll my eyes in exaggeration. "Besides, I doubt he is going to look through and compare the number of presents he got to the list of attendees."

Knowing what I did about Lukas LaBelle, I wouldn't have put doing that very thing below him, but I didn't feel like bursting Jesse's bubble. "Are you giving him anything?"

"Already did. He took it out for a ride this morning. It's probably standing in his garage now, under a million locks."

I lifted a brow at him. "You got him a car for his birthday?!"