Manipulated: a Rockstar Romantic Comedy (Hammered Book 3) Read Online Free

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    “Don’t forget to check in with the Houdini box!” Kennedy yelled after me.
    I turned and waggled my eyebrows at her. “Yes, ma.”
    She gave me a very unladylike gesture. Obviously she’d been spending far too much time with us animals.
    I flitted from angel to devil, and then finally to Sinderella who definitely deserved the alternate spelling. My Disney movies never included that kind of dress.
    Finally I climbed the stairs to the cage with the lights bleeding purple and white from the bottom. A delightfully wicked skull covered the banister railings at the bottom and top of the stairs. I trailed my fingers over the winding purple lights as I climbed.
    I nodded to one of my label mates, Gray Duffy, who was lifting his wife to the cash box. The ever adorable Jazz Duffy was dressed as Tinkerbell. She was dumping her bit of money into the glittering Houdini box.
    “This is freaking awesome,” she said with a grin over her shoulder. Her eyes widened when she saw me. “Oh, let me down!”
    “Finish dumping the money in,” Gray said patiently.
    “Oh, right.” Jazz stuffed in the rest of her money, then wiggled.
    I laughed.
    “All right. Lord, woman.”
    She narrowed her eyes at Gray.
    “You know that doesn’t really work when your eyes are more glitter than anything else.”
    “The evil eye always works, buddy.” She hopped down and rushed over to me.
    “I guess I can’t call you Purple Pixie tonight, hey?”
    “Green Pixie thank you very much.” She laid a gentle hand at my shoulder and brushed a kiss over my cheek. “That was for the hand drawn art you sent me for the kids shirts we’ve been designing.”
    I hugged her close. “How could I resist?” Jazz had been working on baby lines for food and clothing with her bandmate’s wife, Harper McCoy. When she’d asked me to draw ‘something Irish’ for her, I’d been happy to comply.
    I had a stash of Irish knots for rings and it had been easy enough to doodle one up for her. Sitting on a plane or a bus with a bunch of animals left me plenty of time to sketch in my lyric book.
    Keys had started coloring on the plane, and because wherever Keys was I tended to follow, I’d ended up playing with the manly colors to appease her.
    She’d grown tired of the fad, but it had stuck for me.
    Gray stepped off the stool and brushed his hands on his…skinny jeans? That didn’t seem like him. He tugged at a wig and I snickered. “How’s it hanging, Mick?”
    Gray gave me a Mick Jagger snarl and draped an arm around Jazz’s shoulder. “Nice to see you again, Blackwell. Quite the party.”
    I shrugged. “We like Halloween.” I turned to the room at large. Twirling dancers, a handful of photographers that Kennedy had vetted, and a whole lot of alcohol induced frivolity seemed to be a key factor to our annual charity Halloween party.
    My gaze locked on a woman with high waisted black pants and a white shirt. Her black hair was coiled in the old pinup style. She raised a professional camera, but didn’t seem to be focused on us.
    She scanned up and down the stairs, her quick fingers playing with dials as she crouched and twisted for whatever shot she deemed important.
    I wasn’t sure why she’d stood out to me. Maybe it was that she was the exact opposite of the overdone and glammed up women in the room, or maybe it was the way she was utterly focused on her job.
    Men approached her, but she didn’t seem to notice.
    Jazz snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Hello in there.”
    I blinked. “Sorry.”
    Jazz looked down into the crowd. “Some saucy wench catch your eye, Hook?”
    I laughed. “Many have tried to tonight. Before I let one debauch me, I have to do the money thing.”
    Her huge blue eyes sparkled. “You’re too stinkin’ adorable.”
    “Not nearly as adorable as you, love.” I looked over my shoulder again, but she was gone. I gave my complete attention to Jazz and Gray, clasping each of their hands. “I saw many bills