Lexie played around with the sliders, explaining to Connor what she was doing and why. She always enjoyed teaching people about photography, especially when they seemed as interested as Connor did.
She worked on the photo for a couple of minutes, until she was happy with the deep green of the cornfields and the dramatic purple-gray of the clouds overhead. “What do you think now?” She turned to Connor and couldn’t help the smile that bloomed across her face as he looked at the photo and then at her, admiration clear in his gaze.
“Stunning,” was all he said, keeping his eyes locked on hers.
Lexie looked back down at the screen so he wouldn’t see her blush. He was talking about the photo, not her, she reminded herself.
She could still feel his gaze on her as she went about saving her edited photo. His attention made her breathless, which was why it sounded even worse when she said without thinking, “Do you want me to do you now?”
She closed her eyes when she realized how suggestive her words were, particularly coming out all breathy the way they had. His low laugh ensured she knew he’d heard it too.
“I thought you’d never ask.” His eyes sparkled with barely contained amusement.
Oh God, why did this keep happening to her? What was it about him that wrecked her ability to control her physical reactions?
She shook her head at her own stupidity and then had to laugh. “Obviously, what I meant to say was how about I do your photo now?”
She peeked up at him and her heart rate accelerated at the smile that was curling his gorgeous lips. His eyes were warm as they did a slow perusal of her face, seeming to pay particular attention to her mouth, before landing back on her eyes.
“I think I liked it better the way it sounded the first time. But either way, I’d like to see how it turns out.”
She rolled her eyes but smiled at him. He was way too sure of himself, a total flirt, and far too sexy for her peace of mind. She was a grown woman though, and she could handle his teasing. Even enjoy it. It had been a long time since she’d felt the flush of attraction. Although she’d rather it hadn’t been Connor that caused it, it was probably a good sign for her that she was able to feel it again.
She took his phone and loaded the photos onto her computer, then pushed the laptop toward him. “Actually, why don’t you give it a go.”
He didn’t hesitate, and when he started playing with the different sliders, it was obvious he’d been paying attention to what she’d been showing him.
While he was making adjustments, Noah strolled up and peered over his shoulder. “Hey, that’s pretty good. Don’t tell me you’re planning on a career change. There might be one or two fans who’d be a bit disappointed if you give it all up to run off and be a photographer.”
Connor shot him a look Lexie couldn’t interpret but then went straight back to editing the photo without replying. At Noah’s words, Tex and Zac wandered over to watch as well. They all started commenting and making suggestions, but Connor seemed to tune them out, concentrating on the task at hand. She liked that about him. He knew his own mind; no bowing to peer pressure for him. Eventually, the others wandered off again, leaving him to it.
He was doing a good job. It wasn’t quite how she would have done it herself, but that was the point. Art was subjective. It was about how it made you feel, not what other people thought of it.
When he was done, he sat back. “It’s better than it was, but not as good as yours.”
“Well, you did take it with a cell phone. As good as they are these days, they’re still not as good as a DSLR camera, particularly in low-light conditions like today. A DSLR has better resolution, better focusing, a bigger sensor, and a manual zoom instead of a digital zoom, among other things. All of which give better image quality.”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’ll concede, you won.” His mock grumbling tone shouldn’t be sexy, but it was. Unfortunately, everything he did seemed to be sexy.
She was about to respond when his cell phone sitting on the table rang, and she saw Drew’s name flash up. Drew was in one of the other buses traveling ahead of them. He didn’t often call while they were in transit, preferring to talk to the guys in person once they got to the venue.
Connor reclined against the bench seat as he answered, casually resting his arm along the back behind her and accidentally brushing the nape of her neck with his hand. She shivered. The urge to stay still and enjoy his inadvertent touch was almost overwhelming, but she knew it wasn’t a good idea. Instead, she leaned forward to save his photo and close the editing program. She couldn’t help but overhear Connor’s side of the conversation as she did so.
“Why can’t he make it?”
“That fucking sucks.”
“How far away is the hospital?”
“I don’t want him to miss out—we’ll make time before the show to go. We’re almost there now, so bring the schedule forward, and we’ll take a car. We’ll make it back in time.”
“Hang on a minute.”
He covered the phone with his hand and called out to the others. “Hey, one of the kids can’t make it to the show tonight; he’s in hospital with a broken arm. Are you guys happy for us to head to the hospital before the show and see him? It’ll be a little tight, but we should make it in time.”
Tex, Noah, and Zac agreed, and Connor was straight back on the phone to Drew to let him know.
Lexie stared at him with wide eyes, a warmth in her chest which had nothing to do with how good-looking he was, and everything to do with the kind of man he was turning out to be. Physical attraction was one thing, but an emotional connection was something altogether different. She didn’t want to start thinking of him as anything more than a rock star client who was easy on the eyes and fun to be around. She definitely did not want to start developing anything like feelings for him. She was still trying to get back on her feet when it came to men, and the last thing she needed was to develop an inappropriate crush. Her heart had been broken enough; she wasn’t willing to have it happen again. And if there was one man in the world that was guaranteed to break a woman’s heart, and had likely done so a thousand times before, it was Connor.
She closed her laptop with a snap while he was still talking to Drew. His eyes met hers, and he gave her a questioning look. Trying not to show how unsettled she felt, she flashed him a bright smile, then slid out from the seat and headed back to her room.
Chapter 13
Three weeks into the tour, and usually by this time Connor was starting to struggle with it all. Over the last few years, tours had started to become one big blur: concert after concert, city after city, interviews, and PR events. As much as he loved the music, he hadn’t been able to shake his restlessness. The band had reached the peak of success, the kind of fame he’d always dreamed of, he just couldn’t figure out why he felt so unsatisfied.
So far this tour, he hadn’t felt anywhere near as frustrated as he had on previous tours. A soft laugh caught his attention, and he glanced across the bus to where Lexie was talking to Zac. And there was the reason. One very attractive, very off-limits photographer.
Her presence was effectively distracting him from his thoughts, and he was genuinely enjoying having her around. She was like a breath of fresh air and was amazingly tolerant of being stuck in a confined space with a bunch of arrogant and, he’d admit it, occasionally childish rock stars.
She could chat for hours with Tex about books, trade surprisingly inappropriate jokes with Noah, and sit in contented silence with Zac while he played his bass guitar and she edited photos on her laptop. Sometimes she’d go up to the front of the bus and curl up in the chair across from Maggie, keeping her company while miles of road passed under the wheels of the bus.
Unfortunately, he was finding himself more and more fascinated by her. He kept finding excuses to be near her, to talk to her, and increasingly he was finding excuses to touch her. Innocent touches, for the most part, an arm slung across the back of her chair, hi
s fingers lingering on hers when she passed him something or sitting closer to her than strictly necessary.
He liked being around her. And it wasn’t just how fucking sexy she was, or the way her smile lit up the room, it was also how smart and talented and compassionate she was. Lexie was one of those rare people that radiated warmth like sunshine wherever she went. But he was thinking about her way too much, spending far too much time imagining the things he’d like to do to her, how she’d feel naked underneath him, what would make her call out his name as she came.
Connor raked a hand through his hair and frowned as he watched Lexie standing next to Zac, chatting to him as he tuned his bass. She was wearing a flirty green sundress that showed off her long, toned legs and dipped down across the top of her full breasts. She laughed at something Zac was telling her, before raising her camera and snapping a photo of him as he grinned lazily up at her. Unreasonably jealous, Connor gritted his teeth as Zac stood up and gave Lexie a one-armed hug.
Fuck.
This attraction was getting out of hand. He needed to get laid, and soon. Maybe then he’d stop thinking about her. It had been a while since he’d gone this long without sex, and it was doing his head in. While they’d stayed at hotels several times over the last few weeks, something had held him back from taking up the offers he’d received from fans and groupies. That something being this ridiculous infatuation with Lexie, which had so far been a huge mental cockblock.
He couldn’t have her, but that didn’t mean he had to be celibate for the rest of the tour. Maybe if he could release some sexual tension, it would reduce the lust he felt constantly when she was around. He forced his eyes away from Lexie and Zac. They were staying at a hotel the next night, and this time he was going to get laid.
* * *
Connor turned off the water, ending his post-concert shower. The buzz of conversation from the room next door told him it was already full of fans. And Lexie, his mind whispered, knowing she’d be out there with her camera in hand, distracting him and making him want what he couldn’t have.
He wrapped a towel around his waist, then wiped the condensation off the mirror over the sink and studied himself. He looked tired. He felt tired. And there were still two months of this to go. Well, time to get dressed and find someone to screw, he thought cynically.
Quickly dressing in jeans and a black shirt, he left the dressing room and headed next door. It was packed as always, and he stopped to grab a beer before making his way over to where Tex was standing next to the food table, a half-naked red-haired woman hanging off him. A ripple of excitement washed through the room as he passed. Fans that had been waiting to see him jostled for position to approach or tried to maneuver into his line of sight.
“Hey, man.” He stopped next to Tex and took a swig of his beer.
“Hey, dude. You’re fashionably late. Did you just want to make a grand entrance?”
He shrugged. “Got to keep the fans waiting.”
“Hi, I’m Amanda.” The red-haired woman next to Tex held her hand out to him while she fluttered her fake lashes. He shook her hand but didn’t introduce himself. She knew who he was; the way she held on to his hand a little too long proved that.
It was another thing he was starting to dislike about this life. Most of these women didn’t care which band member they ended up with, as long as they got to tell their friends they’d fucked someone famous. If they couldn’t get one of the band into bed, they’d go for the crew next. He knew he was a hypocrite because he took advantage of their willingness to be used, but there wasn’t really much of an alternative, particularly when they were on the road.
As various fans sidled up to him to ask for his signature, his eyes scanned the room. He deliberately didn’t look for Lexie, which had sadly become a habit when he entered any room these days. Now he was just looking for someone hot enough to take his mind off her.
A dark-haired woman was standing off to the side and giving him serious eye. Hmm, maybe she’d do. Noticing his interest, she smiled seductively, but he averted his gaze when he realized she vaguely resembled Lexie. Okay, looking for a blonde woman now. Someone who looked nothing like Lexie.
His green eyes met a pair of sultry brown ones at the other end of the room. The woman was tall and stacked, with long blonde hair that tumbled over her shoulders and draped over her considerable cleavage. She stared him straight in the eye and skimmed her tongue across her lips in a blatant invitation. Excusing himself from Tex and Amanda, who apparently saw his departure as the signal to start getting hot and heavy, Connor moved purposefully through the room toward the blonde.
By the time he arrived in front of her, she was almost hyperventilating in excitement, her breasts heaving with every breath. He kept his eyes firmly on her brown ones, trying not to stare at all the jiggling going on below her neck.
Up close, he could see she was quite pretty—if heavily made up. Her red dress was so tight it left absolutely nothing to the imagination. That wasn’t something he’d ever thought he’d have a problem with, but images of flirty sundresses and slender, toned legs kept flitting through his mind.
“I’m Tiffany,” she said breathily, holding out her hand.
He took it and squeezed. “Hi, Tiffany, how’s it going?” Not the best pickup line he’d ever come out with, but she didn’t seem to care. Her lashes fluttered, and she wet her lips with her tongue again before answering.
“It’s going great now.” She smiled flirtatiously.
“Did you like the show?”
“It was great. You were so fucking hot, if I’d been closer to the stage, I would have thrown my panties at you.”
Connor gritted his teeth. This wasn’t going quite as he’d hoped. He wouldn’t normally have a problem with this kind of inane conversation, knowing they both knew where it was heading. But tonight, it wasn’t quite doing the trick of getting his mind off a certain photographer. Who he still hadn’t spotted in the crowd, though that was probably because he was forcing himself not to look for her.
He’d need to figure out the logistics of getting Tiffany back to the hotel with him too. Usually, the guys all got a limo back to the hotel together, along with any women they were bringing with them. They’d all been fairly restrained so far on this tour, with only Noah and Zac bringing women back the first time they’d stayed in one place overnight.
Having Lexie in the limo with them hadn’t been great. In fact, it’d been embarrassing for everyone, except the two girls apparently, who’d been practically climbing all over Noah and Zac. Lexie had put the lens cap on her camera and looked resolutely out the window for the whole ride back. Which had been great for Connor, because he’d been able to stare at her pretty profile; until he noticed Tex looking at him with raised eyebrows and had quickly turned his attention elsewhere.
The next hotel stay, Lexie had suggested she could get a lift with Drew, but since none of them had ended up taking anyone back, they’d insisted she ride in the limo with them. No one had hooked up since, which must be some kind of record for all of them.
Well, the way Tex and Amanda were going at it in the corner, he might not be the only one breaking that dry spell tonight. Connor would have to have a word with Drew before they left to make sure he could give Lexie a ride back because he didn’t want to have Tiffany climbing all over him while Lexie was sitting opposite.
Part of him didn’t want Tiffany climbing all over him at all. But that part needed to shut the fuck up.
Okay, so he needed to get things moving here. He grabbed a chair that had become vacant next to him and pulled Tiffany down to sit on his lap. She giggled and nuzzled up against his throat. He ran his hand up her leg, skimming it under the hem of her skirt. She inhaled sharply and then reached down and grabbed his cock through his jeans, rubbing and kneading enthusiastically.
Christ. He gritted his teeth. The manual stimulation was doing the job, but it was hardly the most erotic experience he’d ever had.
Suddenly,
the crowd in front of him parted, and he saw Lexie for the first time that night. She was standing next to Noah, who had his arm draped over her shoulders. She was mid-laugh at something he’d said to her, her eyes shining, and her camera held halfway up to her face as if she’d been about to take a photo when he’d made her laugh.
Connor should have looked away, but he didn’t, and as she turned her head slightly, their eyes met. Her laugh started to morph into one of her heart-stopping smiles when she suddenly noticed what was happening on his lap.
Her smile faltered as her eyes dropped down to where his hand was currently located under Tiffany’s skirt, and then to where Tiffany’s hand was. Lexie’s eyes widened and shot back up to his, a flash of what looked suspiciously like hurt crossing her delicate features. She quickly plastered a smile back on her face, then turned away, raising her camera and taking a photo of what appeared from his angle to be some random person’s back.
Connor froze after seeing the expression on Lexie’s face. She had looked hurt; he wasn’t imagining it. There was only one reason for her to be hurt by what he was doing—she wanted him too. His mind started to race.
Fuck it. He didn’t want to go through with this plan anymore. Didn’t want to try to distract himself from Lexie. Screw doing the right thing. Screw his agreement with the other guys. That’d been before he’d started wanting her so much. If he explained the situation to her—if she knew they could only have one night—then maybe he could actually have her.
His cock, which had reluctantly risen to half-mast under Tiffany’s ministrations, surged to rock hard in an instant at the thought.
He’d have to do some damage control after what she’d seen, but he figured Lexie wouldn’t be too upset as long as he didn’t take Tiffany back to the hotel. After all, having fans and groupies all over you was one of those things you couldn’t avoid, right?
He yanked his hand out from underneath Tiffany’s skirt, then grabbed her hand where it was wedged between them and pulled it away. “I’m so sorry, gorgeous, I’ve just seen my manager waving me over. He probably needs to talk business, so I’ve got to go. You understand, don’t you?” It was times like this he purposefully made his accent stronger. Women seemed to find it irresistible, and as much as he’d lost any interest he’d had in Tiffany, he also didn’t want to hurt or embarrass her.
Fractured Hearts: A Fractured Rock Star Romance Page 8
