Saved by the Rockstar (Rich and Famous Romance Book 1)

by Michelle Pennington

  The band came on, and then Ryland held his arm out to introduce Marvi, who walked on like she was queen of the world. Of course, Julie realized her assessment might be a bit skewed. But there was no doubt that Ryland and Marvi sounded great together. Even listening in as they recorded the track earlier didn’t prepare her for the experience of hearing it live. Power and passion emanated from Ryland, who owned the stage and the audience. Every note amped up the electric current that resounded through the auditorium.

  Julie didn’t want the song to end, but it did. The band came out for one call-back where they played one of their most popular songs, but then another band came out. Gracie stood and put her phone in her pocket. “That was awesome. We’re supposed to wait downstairs for Ryland to come and get us. Since this was an impromptu performance, they’re heading straight out.”

  Excited to see Ryland again, Julie smiled. “Perfect. I’m ready to go.”

  But as they waited downstairs in the dim hallway, Gracie asked the question Julie had been dreading. “So, um, when are we going home?”

  Julie pressed her lips together. “When do you need to get back?”

  “I can arrange for someone to feed my cat for a few more days, but my boyfriend is asking me how much longer. It would be nice to be able to give him a day. And we should probably book our flight back.”

  “I’ll talk it over with Ryland and let you know in the morning. I really appreciate you coming with me.”

  “Well, it’s part of my job, but you don’t have to worry. It’s been fun.”

  Ryland came around the corner then, his stride quick and his phone clenched in his hand. “We’ve got a problem.”

  “What?” Julie asked, stepping toward him.

  His arms went around her. “Someone tipped off the press that you’re with me. We’re okay backstage, but I’m not sure how to get you out of here yet.”

  “Oh.” Julie thought about trying to make it through a crowFd of paparazzi and blanched.

  “I’ll take care of you,” Ryland promised. “You don’t need to worry.”

  “Okay,” Julie said. But her brain didn’t agree with her.

  “We’re pulling in some extra security, and Andy is trying to get the car as close as he can. I deal with this a lot, but I know it’s not ideal for you.”

  Ryland took her hand and led her and Gracie back to his dressing room. The whole way, Julie couldn’t help but think of how much trouble she was causing him just because of her anxiety. How much more would she cause him if she became a bigger part of his life?

  Chapter Fourteen

  Marvi and his brothers were waiting in his dressing room. The rest of their crew was still packing up equipment, but when they were done, they’d be able to leave without any harassment. Really, the only ones likely to have many problems were himself and Julie. He’d been trying to decide for the last ten minutes, ever since he’d learned about the problem, how to get her out in the least stressful way. Part of him thought that if they split up, it might help, but he wanted to make sure that if Julie had problems, he was there to help her.

  “Got a plan yet?” Tate asked as he came in.

  He leaned against the counter, pulling Julie against him with her back to his chest, maintaining contact between them to help both of them keep calm. “Elijah, can you walk out with Marvi?”

  “Sure can.” Elijah flashed a smile at Marvi.

  “Tate, Julie needs a bubble around her so she doesn’t feel pressed in. Right, Julie?”

  She nodded and turned her head to look up at him. “That would help.”

  “Okay, then. Tate and Gracie, you’ll follow Elijah and Marvi with a couple of security guards on either side of you and we’ll put Julie behind you. I’ll be right behind her. That way we can give her space. Sound good to everyone?”

  They nodded. Marvi pouted and looked down at her phone. “Who told them she was here anyway?”

  Ryland raised his eyebrows. “The thought had crossed my mind that you had.”

  Marvi looked up with genuine confusion in her eyes. “Me? Why would I do that? I don’t want people to see you together until I’ve had time to arrange for some other hot guy to fall for me. I think I’ve decided who.” She winked at Elijah. “Drummers are always hot.”

  Elijah nodded. “Always.”

  Marvi sounded sincere enough that Ryland had to believe her. So, who had done it?

  A few minutes later, Andy texted him that the car was outside the door. It came with the warning: They’re swarming like flies out here.

  “Great,” Ryland said. He clenched his teeth to bite back a few choice curse words. “Let’s roll, everyone.”

  They collected their gear and Ryland gripped Julie’s hand as they walked down the hall. Looking ahead, he saw Charlie and his band mates waiting next to the exit. And then it all made sense. Charlie, no doubt, was glad for the chance at some free publicity—especially being seen with Sterling House.

  “I don’t suppose you’d either head out now or step aside so we can go to our car?” Ryland asked.

  “What? With all these cameras here trying to catch a picture of you and your girl? Not a chance.”

  Ryland glared at him as all of his muscles tensed. “If you get in her way, I’ll knock you over and leave you to be trampled.”

  Charlie laughed, a croaky, shrill sound that reminded him strongly of an irate donkey. “That would be something for the cameras, wouldn’t it?”

  “Do you think I care about that?”

  “No. But you care about it for her sake.”

  Glancing down at Julie, he saw that she was pale and tense. “Stay out of our way. Elijah, go.”

  Elijah nodded and walked to the door, holding it open for Marvi. An explosion of voices calling their names and cameras flashing hit them full force.

  “Let’s go, Julie,” Tate said. He waited until she was behind him, then stepped out. Ryland put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to shield her as much as he could. Two security guards waited outside the door. He motioned for them to walk ahead with Tate. Fortunately, Andy had gotten the car only twenty feet from the door, and Charlie and his band were actually serving as a buffer as they posed and tried to get attention.

  Ryland was tall enough to see over the heads of the crowd to where Andy waited next to the open door of the car. They were almost there. Ahead, Elijah and Marvi slipped into the back of the limo.

  A particularly big guy pushed his way forward, poking his camera toward Julie over the security guard’s shoulder. As Julie shrank away and turned her head, Ryland stepped away from her long enough to shove the camera backward.

  Tate helped Gracie in and then stood by the limo with Andy. With the help of the security guards, they made a tunnel of sorts for Julie to disappear into. As soon as she was in the car, Ryland motioned for Tate to get in. “Andy, let’s get going.”

  Ryland got in and moved immediately to sit by Julie on the back seat. Andy closed the door and jumped into the front seat. The paparazzi weren’t done with them yet. They surrounded the car on all sides, slapping their hand against the windows and yelling. Fortunately, Andy was a pro at driving through a pressing crowd at a slow but determined speed that encouraged people to move or be run over.

  Within a matter of moments after they were all in the car, Andy got them out of the crowd and headed away from the chaos. Ryland sighed and let his head drop back. He pulled Julie closer to him on the seat. “There. We got through that pretty well.”

  Julie was still pale and quiet. “You took good care of me. Thanks.”

  His eyebrows drew together. “You don’t look like you’re having a panic attack. There will be a lot of pictures flying around the internet tomorrow though.”

  “I’m okay, Ryland. Don’t worry about me. I just feel bad that I caused so much trouble.”

  “Well, don’t be. I’d do anything for you.”

  Julie nodded and pressed her face into his shoulder.

  She was quiet on the
long drive back, even though everyone else joked and laughed about it now that it was over. Julie just held tightly to his arm and stared out the window.

  ***

  When Ryland woke up the next morning, it was with a niggling thought that something was wrong. Even after they’d gotten home the night before, Julie had been down about something. Even more alarming, ironically, had been the way she’d clung to him, kissed him, and reluctantly said goodnight to him on the porch of the guest house. He wasn’t sure what was troubling her, but he knew it was something he needed to fix at the first opportunity.

  He grabbed his phone off his night stand and texted her to see if she was awake. When he got no answer, he decided to go work out his aggression in the gym. He had given his trainer the week off, but he could work out on his own. His gym was over the garage. To his surprise, just as he reached the garage, he ran into Andy coming around the corner of the building

  “Good morning. What are you doing up so early?”

  “I was driving Julie to the airport. Didn’t you know?”

  Ryland froze. “I did not.”

  Andy looked guilty. “I’m sorry, boss. I didn’t know she hadn’t told you.”

  “No,” Ryland said automatically. His mind was far away, trying to figure out why she was gone. “Thanks for taking her when she needed you.”

  Ryland walked away, feeling stunned and stupid. And hurt. Why would she just leave like that? Had last night just been too much for her—enough to overwhelm her feelings for him?

  Okay. Think about her—what she needs.

  While walking over the guesthouse, he tried to call Julie, but the phone went straight to voicemail. Taking the steps two at a time, he burst through the front door and scared Marvi as she poured herself a cup of coffee.

  “Dang it, Ryland. I burned myself.”

  “Did Julie leave this morning?”

  “I don’t know. I just got up. I did hear her and that assistant of hers moving around earlier though. It woke me up for a while.”

  Ryland was already running up the stairs. He went over straight to Julie’s room and knocked on the door. There wasn’t an answer, but by now he wasn’t expecting one. How did a room sound vacant, even from knocking on the door? Sure enough, when he opened it, it was empty. Emptier than usual because he felt the loss of her presence. The only thing in the room was a piece of paper propped up on the window sill. His heart felt as if it was pumping mud, painful and hard.

  His grabbed the paper and opened it so forcefully the edge of it ripped in a crooked tear.

  Ryland,

  I’m so sorry to leave without talking to you, but I know you’d try to talk me out of it. And would let you because I don’t want to leave. But I know it’s best. I know how much you care about me, and if we let this go any further, it’s just going to get more painful. I realized last night how wrong I would be for you. I’ve always dreaded the thought of my anxiety being a burden to anybody I loved. For you, it would be so much worse even than most men. I can’t do that to you. But know that I’m leaving out of love.

  Julie

  Ryland crushed the paper in his fist and then stared out the window. The morning sun glinted off the lake, looking far too cheerful for a morning like this. But if she left out of love, that meant…

  He smoothed out the paper and read the words over again. She wanted to be with him. That at least gave him hope. Somehow, he had to convince her that the only way he’d ever be happy was if she was part of his life—even if her anxiety caused them difficulties. He wanted nothing more than to help her through it, to help her heal and enjoy her life to the fullest. And he knew he could give that to her.

  Determined now that this was far from over, he shoved the note in his pocket and ran back down stairs. She was probably on a plane. He’d give her a few hours to get settled in at home and recover from what he knew would have been a trying experience for her. And then he would call her again. And if she didn’t answer, he’d be on a plane right behind her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Julie didn’t want to talk to anybody or see anybody or even remember there were other people in the world.

  Unfortunately, both Gracie and Heath had other ideas. And Ryland, of course. She was going to have to find the courage to talk to him soon, but she didn’t know how. She still felt too weak. And too ashamed. If only she’d listened to her gut on this one. She’d known that getting involved with someone would be a stupid idea, as broken as she was.

  Gracie got into Julie’s house early Friday morning because she had a key.

  “I needed to make sure you were okay,” she said, sitting on the edge of Julie’s bed. “You barely said a word the whole way home yesterday, and I know you are ignoring all his calls.”

  Julie sat up and brushed her hair out of her face. She smoothed it down over her shoulder and held onto the ends. The tension helped ease her headache. “How do you know that?”

  “Because he’s been calling me too.”

  Julie closed her eyes. She hadn’t realized they’d exchanged numbers. “I promise I’ll call him later. I just can’t yet.”

  Gracie got up and began straightening Julie’s room, which was currently scattered with debris from her suitcase. It wasn’t part of Gracie’s job to clean up after her, but Julie wasn’t going to argue with her.

  After putting away Julie’s shoes and hair dryer, Gracie spun around. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened? The last time I saw you two together, you were wrapped around each other so tight the air couldn’t get between you.”

  The memory of their last kiss burned like a hot iron in Julie’s heart. She’d known then that she needed to leave, so it had nearly killed her to let go. “I decided that I couldn’t do that to him.”

  “Do what?”

  “Be such a burden in his life. He deserves a woman who can go on the road with him if she wants to. Fly around the world. Go to his concerts. I mean, can you imagine him attending music awards with me on his arm, the whole time trying to make sure I’m not going to have a panic attack? I can’t do that to him!”

  Gracie pressed her lips together and shook her head. “Don’t you think you should let him make that decision? You know you hurt him by running away, right?”

  Julie’s eyes filled with tears. “But surely it would have been worse later. What if he’d fallen in love with me as much I love him?”

  “What makes you think he hasn’t? Darling, even Marvi Dunlap—who thinks any man is hers for the taking—knew Ryland was officially off the market. Until you walked out on him that is.”

  “Gracie, just… please—I just want to be alone today.”

  “Okay. I understand. I won’t be back for the weekend, so I brought you some groceries. You can hide out all you want. And it’s probably a good thing, because there are a few paparazzi hiding in the bushes across the street.” She held up her hands in a soothing gesture. “Not to freak you out. I just wanted you to know. Oh, and don’t go looking around on social media. Your troll has been making his presence known, and he is not being pleasant. If you ask me, he’s jealous about you getting together with Ryland.”

  Julie closed her eyes and flopped back onto her pillow. “Well, at least there will be one person in the world who is happy about this.”

  “Yeah. Not the marketing people for the movie though. They’re loving all the extra press. They’ve even talked about using some Sterling House songs on the soundtrack.”

  “Gracie?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I can’t take any more just now.”

  “Gotcha. Call me if you need me. I’ll go let Ryland know how you’re doing.”

  “Don’t you dare talk to him about me.”

  Gracie walked out but called back, “What else would I talk to him about?”

  Heath came at noon. Julie groaned when the doorbell rang. She knew it was him, and she didn’t want to see him right now. Normally, he was such a laid-back guy, but lately he had only brought negativity i
nto her life. Maybe after Heath got a chance to gloat about being right, things would get back to normal.

  “Why didn’t you call and let me know you were coming back? I only knew because Gracie told me I didn’t need to come by and get your mail anymore.”

  Julie walked into the kitchen for coffee. “I knew you’d come by, and I don’t feel like talking to anybody.”

  “He dumped you, huh? I told you he would.”

  Spinning around, Julie poked him in the chest. “No, he didn’t. Neither of us dumped the other. Not exactly.” She frowned. “Well, I guess I sort of dumped him.”

  “Yeah?”

  Julie hated the happy tone in his voice. She watched as Heath went to the fridge and grabbed a soda. He popped the table and sat at her breakfast able.

  “But I don’t feel like talking about it,” she said. Especially to Heath.

  “Fine with me. I’m just glad you got over the guy.”

  Angry tears pricked at Julie’s aching eyes. “I’m not over him,” she yelled. “I’m in love with him, and in case you can’t tell, I’m hurting right now.”

  Heath’s expression darkened. Julie’s stomach knotted, and she felt herself shift away from him.

  “You’re in love with him, huh? Why, because he’s got a great body? Or because he’s rich and famous?”

  “I don’t want to talk about this, Heath. I think you should go home.”

  “You’re kicking me out? After I’ve been your friend all these years?”

  “Just for now. You’re angry with me, and I don’t know why.” But she did know why. She knew it with a sharp perception that needed no words. Ryland was right. Heath didn’t want to just be friends.

  “You know what?” Heath asked, standing up so fast his chair slid back and hit the wall. He looked as if something inside him had snapped. “I’ve waited all these years for you to want me. You were perfectly happy hanging out with me, going to dinner with me. You would have wanted more in time, Julie. I just needed to be patient. But then he came along.”