The Album: What happens when you fall in love with a rock star? (Cruise Control Book 1)

by Sian Ceinwen

  Ariana hovered behind him, her previous state of arousal had completely vanished, and she began nervously twisting a strand of hair around her fingers, then braiding and re-braiding it. How could she accept such an extravagant gift from Gabriel? Now that she thought about it, this past month she’d spent on tour, she hadn’t actually paid for anything.

  The hotels she assumed were being paid for by the record label, but what about her room service? Did they pay that? Every time they ate out at a restaurant, Gabriel had paid, and she hadn’t thought anything of it.

  She was living the life of a lady of leisure, and all he was getting in return from her was sex. Ariana was horrified by this realization. She felt like a leech, as though she were using him for his money. Perhaps she’d never intended to do it, but it’s what was happening.

  Now she was going to take thousands of dollars from him, and he wouldn’t take no for an answer. The cashier had rung up the purchases, and Gabriel was searching in his wallet for his credit card. He pulled out a black American Express card.

  “Gabriel,” she whispered in his ear, “you don’t have to do this.”

  “Of course I don’t have to, I want to,” he replied, “you looked great in the clothes; you should have them. You’re just being silly.”

  Ariana was hurt by his dismissal of her feelings as silly. He swiped his card, and as he was waiting for the transaction to process, he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and called the limousine company to say that they would be ready to leave in a few minutes.

  Gabriel signed the slip that printed from the register and thanked the salesgirl. He grabbed the bag of clothes and took Ariana’s hand in his as they walked away.

  She was seething. She already felt like a parasite, and he had completely ridden roughshod over her in buying the clothes against her wishes. No matter how amazing they were, it didn’t make up for the fact that she could live without them, and he hadn’t needed to spend a bucketload of cash on her.

  They walked out of the shop in silence. Ariana didn’t know if Gabriel was aware that she was angry with him, but he was keeping his mouth wisely shut either way. They got into the waiting limousine, and he turned to her.

  “Where do you want to go now?” He asked her.

  Ariana stayed silent and gave a tiny shrug of her shoulders.

  “I thought that maybe we could have lunch at one of the restaurants in Manhattan.”

  “No, thank you,” Ariana said coldly, “I’d rather just go back to the hotel if you don’t mind.”

  “Okay,” Gabriel replied and instructed the driver to take them back to the hotel.

  Gabriel wasn’t stupid enough to think that she wanted to go back to the hotel for the same reason he had invited her to stay in his hotel room. He gave Ariana a confused look, clearly unable to decipher exactly what he’d done to piss her off.

  Ariana knew that she was perhaps overreacting, but she couldn’t help herself. Any time she thought about him buying her things, she got angrier. She wondered if he ever felt like she was just using him.

  Sure, he was the one who offered to buy her the clothes, but maybe that was because deep down he thought that the only reason she was with him was for his fame and money. She needed time away from him to regroup her thoughts so she could discuss this rationally with him later.

  They arrived at the hotel, and Gabriel thanked the driver as they got out of the limousine. Ariana kept her silence as they headed into one of the lifts. He swiped his card and pressed the button for the tenth floor. Ariana leaned around him and pressed the button for the third floor.

  Gabriel didn’t say anything, but he gave her a quizzical look. The elevator doors opened, and she strode out towards her room, mumbling goodbye to him as she did. She couldn’t look at him; she thought that she might start crying if she did.

  Ariana swiped her card to get into her room and opened the door. She walked to the bed, flopped onto it face down and began crying into the pillow. What was she doing here? She’d left her entire life behind on a whim to come on tour with a rock star.

  She didn’t belong here in this life of luxury, she belonged at home in her modest apartment and getting a career off the ground. She missed home. She had family and friends there, and while the people on tour were nice and the comforts of living in luxury hotels were great, it just wasn’t the same as having the surrounds of your home around you.

  Ariana heard a knock on the door, she walked over and opened it to find Gabriel standing on the other side. He was wearing the same jeans and T-shirt that he had been for their shopping trip, and his blue eyes were piercing as he looked at her with a good-natured smile.

  “Can we talk, Ari?” he asked simply.

  “Sure,” Ariana replied and moved aside so that he could enter the room.

  Gabriel sat down in an armchair facing the bed, and Ariana sat down on the bed facing him. She crossed her legs under her and returned Gabriel’s gaze.

  “What’s going on?” he asked her.

  “I don’t think I want to be here anymore,” she told him truthfully.

  Gabriel looked stunned. Ariana didn’t think he was expecting her to say anything like that, but he needed to know.

  “Why?”

  “I’m not contributing anything here. I’m just lazing about and wasting everyone’s time and money,” she said with a shrug.

  “What? Where on earth did you get that idea?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  She couldn’t look him in the eyes anymore, and her gaze shifted to her lap. She began fiddling with the duvet cover.

  “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

  “You pay for everything. I don’t have money like you do, and I’m okay with that. What I’m not okay with is leeching off other people for their money.” She frowned.

  “You’re not ‘leeching’ off me. I have never had money before. Until Cruise Control hit it big, I was pretty much on the bare bones of my ass. So forgive me for wanting to be generous with what I’ve now got.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she told him, “it’s my fault. I hate feeling this way, and I don’t want to be here anymore.”

  “So what you’re saying is ‘it’s not you, it’s me’?” he said acidly.

  “That’s kind of what I’m saying. I didn’t want you to buy those clothes for me today, but you did it anyway, and it only made me feel more worthless.”

  “I bought you those as a gift, Ari, I was trying to be nice. I didn’t realize that you would turn it into something that was bigger than Ben-Hur, or I wouldn’t have bothered.” He had raised his voice at her, it was something he had never done before, and Ariana could feel tears welling in her eyes.

  “Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have done it. Just go. It’s for the best.”

  For a moment, Ariana thought he was going to argue further, but he didn’t. He simply glared at her for a few seconds and then proceeded to get up and walk to the door.

  As soon as he had left the room, Ariana broke down into tears again. So this was how her brief love affair with a rock star would end—an argument in a New York hotel room over a few outfits bought at Saks Fifth Avenue. Ariana could barely fathom at that moment that she would never see Gabriel again.

  She lay on her bed and cried for a long time. Her inner voice was telling her how unworthy she was of Gabriel, how everyone thought that she was nothing but a gold digger. Her rational mind knew that she was being stupid, but she couldn’t stop the thoughts from taking hold. She got up, wiped her tears away, and started packing her belongings.

  As she began placing her clothing in her suitcase, she knew that she couldn’t leave this way. She got a glass of water and took some deep breaths, pushing away the dark thoughts that she’d been indulging in. Of course, Gabriel didn’t think that she was using him for his fame and money.

  Hadn’t she shown time and again that it was that side of his life that she feared the most? She had grown up with close relatives who had that,
and if it was something that she wanted, she could certainly have chased after people who had it long before she met him.

  Sighing, she grabbed the key card that he had given to her earlier, left her room, and headed to the tenth floor. Her stomach was churning as she knocked on his door. He opened it and stood in the doorway, looking as magnificent as ever.

  “I’m sorry.”

  It was all she managed to croak out before she gave in to the tears that started to fall again. He stood aside to let her into the room and then led her to his bed. He lay down next to her and held her in his arms, rubbing her back as she cried.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” he whispered soothingly.

  “I’m just so sorry. I was such a bitch.”

  “You’re not a bitch, Ari, don’t say that about yourself. I was out of line. You said you didn’t want me to buy the clothes, and I should have listened.”

  She wiped the tears from her eyes as she sat up next to him. There were so many things that she wanted to say. She wanted to explain everything, she wanted to tell him that she loved him and she was terrified that he would tire of her.

  She wanted to hear his reassurance that he didn’t think she was a gold digger. She wanted so many things, but she was just so scared right then that, instead of saying anything, she just kissed him.

  The Seventh Song

  The next morning she woke up in Gabriel’s bed. He had his arms around her, his chest to her back, and she felt so safe and secure there. Her eyes were puffy and sore from crying, and she felt physically drained from all of the drama the day before, but, all in all, she felt better about everything.

  Gabriel had calmed some of her fears, and though she still had a part of her screaming that she didn’t really belong here, the voice was quieter at the moment.

  Slipping carefully out from Gabriel’s grasp, she moved quickly into the adjoining bathroom. Ariana caught her reflection in the mirror as she entered the room and saw she looked an absolute mess. She turned on the shower, waited for the water to heat up, stripped off, and got in.

  The hot water was blissful on her aching muscles. She washed herself, then got out of the shower, dried off, and put on a hotel bathrobe that was hanging on a hook near the door. By the time she left the bathroom, Gabriel was awake and sitting up in bed.

  “Good morning,” she said, smiling shyly at him.

  “Morning, Ari,” he replied with a grin and patted the bed next to him.

  Ariana walked over and sat down on the bed next to him. He placed his arm around her and hugged her to him. She rested her head on his chest and felt a calm spread over her. She could hear the methodical beating of his heart, and this moment felt so precious to her.

  “I have interviews to do today,” he sighed, “I wish I could spend the day with you instead.”

  “Me too,” she told him.

  “Will you be okay on your own?” He asked her.

  “Yeah, I’ll be fine, I might actually see what Heather’s up to.”

  “That’s a great idea. She really likes you, you know. She told me the other day.”

  “That’s good because I like her too, she’s awesome,” Ariana smiled up at him.

  “Fantastic, well, I guess I’d better get dressed.”

  Gabriel quickly kissed her upturned face and stood up from the bed. He walked into the bathroom but left the door open. Ariana wasn’t sure if this was some kind of invitation, but now was not the time for her to take him up on the offer.

  It felt intimate, though, that open door. Something that long-time couples do, not needing the privacy of a closed-door between them as they perform their ablutions. A small part of her wanted to peek through the door, but she maintained her decorum, knowing exactly how much time they could easily waste if she joined him.

  She lay back down on the pillow where his scent lingered and closed her eyes for a minute or two. She was just starting to drift off when Gabriel walked back into the room, and she jerked awake. He had a towel slung low around his hips, and Ariana couldn’t help herself, but to stare at him, he seemed to be nothing but muscles.

  His blond hair was wet and slicked back. His face was the kind of handsome, chiseled face of Hollywood actors of yore, but his body was the body of a god.

  His upper body made a V, with large shoulders and arms coming to down to a tapered waist and abs that would make hardcore bodybuilders jealous. The towel allowed him some modesty, but she could still see his muscled thighs, and a million dirty thoughts ran through her mind at the sight of him.

  “I forgot to take clothes in with me,” Gabriel explained with a mischievous smile, “are you okay there, Ari?”

  “I’m fine,” she was completely flustered, and it came out at a lot higher tone than she meant it to.

  “Yes, you are,” he said meaningfully, and Ariana became exceedingly aware that they were both naked, barring a couple of pieces of terry toweling.

  He walked over to the closet where she could see his clothes were hanging up. He chose an outfit, grabbed a pair of boxers from a drawer, and headed back into the bathroom with a wink aimed at Ariana. This time, he closed the door between them.

  Ariana released a breath that she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Part of her had been expecting him to drop the towel and change in front of her, and she felt herself grow wet imagining where that would’ve led. He came out of the bathroom, fully clothed and affixing a TAG Heuer watch to his wrist.

  “I have to get going,” he said, looking at the watch, “we’re doing some breakfast radio show. God, I hope they have food. I’m starving!”

  “Have a good day,” Ariana said as she stood up from the bed and walked over to give him a hug and a kiss.

  “Do me a favor,” Gabriel said to her, still with his arms around her but leaning back so that he could look her in the eyes.

  “What’s that?”

  “If you think about leaving today—” he bent down to kiss her quickly on the lips “—just don’t.”

  “I’ll do my best,” she said with a weak smile.

  “I won’t be able to concentrate if I’m worrying all day that you’re going to run out on me without saying goodbye,” he said with a frown.

  “I promise that I will never do that to you,” she said sincerely.

  “Good,” he said, and she felt him actually physically relax, “but don’t ever leave.”

  He kissed her a final time, fully on the mouth, and it was the most passionate kiss they’d shared yet, there was a feeling of desperation between them. He pulled her impossibly closer to him and explored her mouth with his tongue while his hands explored her body.

  After a minute, he ended the kiss and pulled away from her slowly. They were both a bit breathless, and Gabriel looked at Ariana with such a searing intensity that it was almost painful to resist grabbing him again.

  “Don’t leave,” he repeated. “If you do, at least this is how you’ll remember me.”

  They stood there looking at each other for another minute. Ariana struggled within herself. She wanted to reassure him that she had fallen in love with him and that there was no way she could leave now because she wasn’t that masochistic, but the words wouldn’t come out of her mouth.

  She was just too vulnerable to tell him how she was feeling because she couldn’t run the risk of him not telling her he loved her back. So she let him walk out of the door without saying anything.

  Ariana stood in place for a few minutes before she moved back to the bed. She dozed off for a while, her dreams filled with Gabriel. When she woke, she picked up the phone and was about to dial Heather when she realized she didn’t know which room she and Harrison were staying in. Ariana dialed the front desk instead.

  “Hi, I was wondering if I could be put through to Harrison Fletcher’s room, please?” she asked politely.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, we don’t have a guest in the hotel by that name.”

  “Yes, you do,” Ariana said, confused.

  “No ma�
��am, I’m afraid we don’t.”

  “Yes, actually, you do,” Ariana was frustrated now, “I should know, I checked in with his group last night, so could you please put me through to his room?”

  “No ma’am, I can’t. We don’t have a guest by that name.”

  “I’m calling you from Gabriel Knight’s room, can you see that?” Ariana was seething, and she took a deep breath before continuing, “I suppose you don’t have Gabriel as a registered guest either.”

  “No ma’am, we don’t.”

  Ariana rubbed her forehead. If she continued this conversation any longer, she might just develop a migraine.

  “Fine, thanks so much for your lack of help.”

  She dropped the phone in its cradle and tried not to kick something. She knew the man was just doing his job and he probably got phone calls like that all the time.

  She’d been unfair to him, she knew that, but it was so annoying that she could call them from Gabriel’s room and not be told where Harrison was staying. Ariana picked the phone back up and dialed Gabriel’s cell phone.

  “Hello?” Gabriel’s voice came quietly through the phone line.

  “Hi, Gabriel,” she said.

  “Ari? We’re about to go on-air, what’s up?” he asked her, still speaking quietly.

  “What’s Harrison’s room number? The front desk won’t tell me, and I want to call Heather.”

  “Oh sure, hey Harrison, what’s your room number?”

  Gabriel’s question was followed by mumbling in the background.

  “One-thousand and thirty-two,” he said to Ariana.

  “Excellent, thanks, Gabe.”

  “No problem, I’ll see you later.” His voice softened as he said it and in that Ariana could hear everything that he wouldn’t dare say while sitting in front of some radio DJs who would love nothing more than a scoop.

  “I can’t wait. Bye,” she said as she hung up.

  For a moment, she visualized Gabriel sitting in a radio booth ready to talk to the people of NYC, and she wished he was here with her instead. Finally, she picked up the phone a third time and called room one-thousand and thirty-two.