by Joanna Blake
She just shook her head and then winced. Ouch, that hurt.
He frowned.
"Fine. Let's just review the schedule then."
The schedule- oh god. Where was her brain at? She was failing miserably at handling her first A list client. The whole scenario literally could not be going any worse. She'd probably lose her job over this.
She probably deserved to.
"I- I forgot my copy."
He stared at her for a moment, as if deciding what to do with her next. Which way to twist her emotions.
"No worries doll, I have it right here."
Apparently he had decided to be kind. This time. Who knew what he would try next. The next thing she knew he was sitting next to her, with his arm around her shoulders. She held her head and moaned.
"I think I'm going to throw up."
"Come on now love, you're hurting my feelings!"
He smiled at her entreatingly. He thought he was being charming. She blinked and tried to focus.
"I'm sorry- I- I think I need to go back to my room now."
He held her arm tightly and leaned toward her.
"Ah, but only if you promise to have dinner with me after the Graham Norton show tomorrow."
"I- oh god- I can't. Have to - stay professional."
She sounded absurd talking about being professional while she slouched on his couch in hungover misery. He was making slow circles with his palm on her back. It felt heavenly. But she knew she should make him stop.
"It is professional to keep your clients happy. I need a moral boost before we launch. It's vital to the success of the tour."
She peeked at him over her hand. He was making puppy dog eyes at her. She moaned and lowered her head again.
"Please Mr. Falcon-"
"Nick. You promised to call me Nick, remember?"
"Please- Nick- I really should not be seen with you after-"
She closed her eyes and forced herself to stand up. To move away from the slow sensuous touch of his hand. He caught her hand and stopped her.
"After what?"
"After what you said. About me. And you."
She turned to face him, sitting below her. It was odd, but there was something in his face that gave her pause. He looked sincere.
He looked remorseful.
"I'm sorry about that love. I didn't mean it the way it sounded. I meant it as a compliment."
Her mouth opened a bit. Nick Falcon was full of surprises. He had caught her off guard. Again.
"It's alright. Just forget it."
It wasn't really alright, but there was no point in torturing him with it. He really did seem to feel bad about it.
"I swear that I had no idea- didn't realize it would be in all the papers."
The floor dropped out from under her. She was on her feet in seconds.
"What did you say?"
He looked utterly panicked as he stood and grabbed her shoulders.
"It's not a big deal love. It's just one of those silly things. It will all blow over in no time, you'll see."
She tore herself away from him. Her hangover was washed away in the force of the righteous indignation that flooded her body.
"Show me."
"You don't need to see this love. Please-"
"Show me."
Very slowly he stood up and reached for a stack of newspapers. He handed them to her. She flipped through them, seeing her face on the front page of each. They all said something asinine like 'Nick's New Girl' or 'Lady Falcon.' She felt even sicker than she had a moment ago.
He smiled at her.
"At least it's good publicity?"
She stood up straight despite feeling as if the world was crumbling around her.
"It's good publicity for you. It will go away for you. It won't matter for you. I have worked my ass off to get where I am today. I am good at my job. You have no idea what I've given up and now it's all fucking GONE."
Nick had stepped back a few paces. She realized she had followed him, matching him step for step. To her horror she felt hot tears welling up in the back of her eyes.
She was yelling at her client. Oh god. Now she'd really done it.
She covered her mouth and ran out of the room to the hallway. She wiped her face with the backs of her hands and pressed the elevator button frantically.
He had made her cry again.
So why didn't she hate him?
Why was he the one she wanted to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright?
For someone with an MBA from Harvard, she was a real idiot.
**********
"Yeah hi Harvey, it's Nick Falcon."
"Hey Nick how are you?
"I'm good mate. I was hoping you could help me with a little problem. It's about those rumors making the rounds."
"About your A&R girl?"
"Yeah that's the one."
"Okay. Don't you have a PR person to do that sort of thing?"
"Nah, don't have one of those. Never needed one."
"But you do now?"
"Yeah well, you see the bird this whole thing is about- Miss Newton- she's not sleeping with me. She won't even go to bloody dinner with me! And now I think my chances are less than nil."
"She's pissed huh?"
"The whole bloody thing was a misunderstanding. I only meant that I would do anything the bloody woman told me to! She's got my bullocks in her god damned pocketbook."
Harvey laughed.
"Okay so if we tell the true story, you think you might have a chance with her?"
"God, I hope so. Otherwise I'm going to be taking cold showers for the rest of my natural life."
"Wait, let me get this straight. The legendary Nick Falcon is swearing off groupies?"
"Yeah mate. I am."
"Super models? Actresses?"
"Yeah, the lot of them don't hold a candle to her."
"Well, that is a scoop. Okay Nick let me see what I can do."
"Thank mate. I owe you one."
Nick hung up the phone and glanced at Marley by the door.
"Great, we've got TMZ on board. That's a big one. How many is that now?"
"Twenty five. Mate, I think you've done enough. She might not appreciate this you know."
Nick ran his hands through his hair. He'd never felt so guilty in his life. The feeling was entirely foreign to him.
He didn't like it at all.
He liked that he'd hurt Sabrina even less.
"Go and check on her, would you?"
"Again? She sounded annoyed the last two times."
"Tell her- tell her I need to go over the talking points. Tell her I'm nervous."
He was bloody nervous! But not about the show.
Nick watched as Marley left the room, hoping to God that Sabrina would be more responsive this time. He couldn't have blown it with her out of spite. It just wouldn't be fair.
The first bloody woman he'd ever wanted this badly was slipping through his fingers.
All because of his big mouth. Well, if she wouldn't talk to him he'd make sure to put his mouth to better use.
He'd talk to the rest of the world instead.
**********
"Not now Marley, okay? I'll see you downstairs in an hour to go to the taping."
"He's really nervous up there."
"Have you ever seen Nick Falcon nervous Marley?"
He stared at her through the crack in the door. She was wrapped in her bathrobe. She'd been lying in bed all day, contemplating a move to Sri Lanka.
Anyplace other than LA. Or London. Or home.
Marley shrugged and mumbled "Couple 'a times."
She shook her head.
"He'll be fine. Tell Nick-"
Marley looked at her hopefully. She felt a bit like kicking a puppy when she shook her head again. He was just so sweet. She had trouble believing he was related to Nick.
"Yeah?"
"Tell him I have every faith in his abilities."
She gently clo
sed the door in Marley's face and crawled back into bed. She'd checked her email twice already. No one had mentioned the scandal. But that didn't surprise her.
Nobody ever brought up gossip to the subjects face.
Maybe if she had a close girlfriend, they would be on the phone right now hashing it all out. But she didn't really have anyone to talk to. She'd never made a lot of time for socializing and this was the result. She was alone in this.
Besides it always seemed like other women found her intimidating. She wasn't sure if it was her ambition or the way she looked. Either way she hadn't gotten a lot of invites to hang out with the girls since- well, ever.
She'd always told herself she didn't mind. But that was a lie. She did mind.
She was tired of being alone, of always standing on her own two feet. Her parents had taught her early that she had to be strong. They knew when she was very young that they wouldn't be around to protect her for long. But every now and then it would be nice to lean on someone else, even if only for a little while.
She sighed. If she got out of this situation with her career and sanity intact, she was going to make a change. She'd say yes to the next person who asked her for a date. Or the next woman who asked her for coffee. It didn't matter who it was. She had to let go of control a little bit. She had to unwind, open up.
If she could find the courage.
Sabrina finally pushed herself off the bed and slipped the robed off her shoulders. She turned on the shower and inhaled the steam, letting it wash over her face. She'd never spent an entire day in bed before. Not even when she got the flu as a child.
There was something wicked about it.
She smiled suddenly, lathering herself up.
It would be more wicked if there was someone in the bed with her.
For just a minute she imagined it was Nick there with her. But that would just lead to more trouble. Then again, everyone already thought she'd slept with him already…
Nine
Nick had tried repeatedly to draw Sabrina into conversation during the limo ride over to the studio. She had smiled at him politely and become immediately absorbed in her blackberry, tap tapping away with her perfectly manicured nails. They were buffed and neatly trimmed but without polish.
"You don't like lacquer?"
"I'm sorry?"
"You don't wear a lot of makeup or nail lacquer."
"Oh."
She stared at her hand briefly.
"It doesn't seem worth the bother. Or time."
This was killing him. He wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss the complacent look off her face. He knew now that he had made a serious miscalculation on Conan. Worse yet, he'd hurt her. Why didn't she just yell at him some more and get it over with?
Then he could get around to making it up to her.
But she'd just gone back to what she was doing, not even looking out the window to check out the sights.
"Have you been to London before?"
She shook her head without looking up. Damn it. Obviously she was determined to hold him at arms length.
They rode the rest of the way in silence. She didn't say a word as she followed him into the studio.
When he went on he was ready. He'd made sure to tell Graham ahead of time to bring up the new girlfriend angle. Now he was starting to wonder if it had been a mistake.
He walked onto the set with a big smile.
Too late now.
Graham didn't waste a lot of time before getting to the point. Nick had already plugged the tour, mentally ticking off all of Sabrina's talking points. Now it was time to lob the ball back into her court.
"So, I hear you have a new lady. Tell us Nick, is it true?"
He shook his head sadly. "No, mate. I wish that were the case. The lady in question is not interested in me."
Graham laughed.
"Are you serious? I can't believe that the great Nick Falcon has woman problems."
"That's just it mate. She doesn't believe that a guy like me could be a good bet."
"A good bet for what- boyfriend? Husband?" "If I could be so lucky."
Graham shook his head.
"You've been down that road before Nick. Three times to be exact."
"Yeah but this is different. Those were just long one night stands. This girl- she's the real thing. Besides I've finally got- what do you call it? Oh right. I've got maturity."
The audience laughed. He sighed in relief when they went to break. It had gone well. Surely Sabrina would be impressed with him now. He walked to the wings expecting to see a smile on her face. Instead she looked pale and tired.
"I fixed it."
She just shook her head.
"What is it love? Aren't you glad I set the record straight?"
"No Nick, you just made it worse. It doesn't matter anyway. Just focus on the music. This is about you, not me."
"Of course it matters. You are a great rep. I've never had better."
"That's nice of you to say."
She didn't believe a word of it. Not that he blamed her. He couldn't give up though.
"So does that mean you'll have dinner with me?
She shook her head.
"Come on love, I promise to get us a tour bus instead of flying all over Europe."
That had her attention.
"Really?"
He leaned in close and smiled at her. She looked so adorably hopeful.
"IF you have dinner with me. We can even take the bloody boat back to NY. A private train car back to LA. No more flying sweetheart, I promise. Just have dinner with me."
She smiled at him sadly.
"Another time Mr. Falcon."
"Nick."
"Alright. Nick. I'm just going to get a cab back to the hotel. I'll see you later."
She looked so defeated. His sexy little spitfire was gone. He felt a knife twisting in his gut. It was his fault. All his fault.
As usual.
"But you will have dinner with me. Another time. After the concert."
She smiled but it looked painful.
Her voice was soft as she murmured "Whatever you want."
A few days ago that answer would have made him ecstatic. Now it just made him sad.
And then she was gone.
He was staring blindly out the window of the limo when he got the text.
"You win. My room. Twenty minutes."
His heart started pounding. Had she just-
Dear god. She had.
But they were stuck in traffic.
He practically lunged forward to knock on the glass partition.
Marley looked alarmed as the driver rolled down the glass and looked backward at him.
"I'll give you a thousand dollars if you can get us to the hotel in fifteen minutes."
**********
It was exactly twenty minutes later when Sabrina heard the knocking on the door. She'd just showered again and changed into leggings and an oversized shirt. She thought briefly that she must have lost her mind. She didn't care anymore though. Her mind was made up.
"It's open."
The door opened and Nick stood there. He looked handsome in his interview suit. And nervous. She smiled to herself. Rock stars did get nervous after all.
"Come in."
"Nobody saw me."
She shrugged. What did it matter anyway? She locked the door behind him.
"Do you want some water?"
He nodded breathlessly, staring at her. He looked hopeful… and ravenous. For her.
She poured him a glass of mineral water and handed it to him.
"I want to be clear. This is just for tonight Nick. And then it's back to business as usual. We'll both feel better if we get this out of the way."
"Get what out of the way?"
"What we are both thinking about doing. Unless I'm misreading the situation."
"You want to-"
"Sleep together."
His mouth dropped open.
"But that's it. Just on
ce and we never speak about it again. You go your way. I go mine. No dinner. That's not really what you want anyway, is it?"
He looked pained suddenly.
No, he looked pissed.
"Let me get this straight. You want to sleep with me once and never talk about it again?"
She nodded. That is what she wanted, right? What they both wanted.
He was on her in an instant, pulling her against him. Hard.
His mouth crashed down on hers. She was shocked by the electricity that passed between them as he kissed her. He nudged her mouth open and their tongues tangled in an explosion of heat.
Dear God the man could kiss.
The kiss was full of promise and raw desire. But as soon as she lifted her hands to touch him, he stopped.
He lifted his head and she stared up at him in amazement. His expression was fierce. And possessive. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and walked away.
He. Walked. Away.
Nick had his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. He turned back to look at her. The determined look on his face sent shivers down her spine.
"I'm sorry love but I want more than a one night stand."
And then he left her standing there. Wanting him.
Her whole body was tingling with pent up desire.
Damn him. What did he want anyway? A relationship?
She shook her head. That was absurd.
Either way, the unthinkable had happened.
Nick Falcon had just turned down sex.
**********
"Oh god. What have I done?"
Nick was out on the balcony of his suite, nursing a beer. He had just done what was possibly the most difficult thing he'd ever done in his life.
Walking out of Miss Sabrina Newton's hotel room.
Pulling his hands of her her hot little body.
Tearing his lips from hers.
On the other hand, now that his anger had subsided he realized something important.
She wanted him. Getting her to admit that it was more than just lust was going to be the tricky part. He shook his head. At some point in the past few weeks he'd gone from wanting to strangle her, to wanting to bed her to wanting- what exactly? He wanted more than a passing affair.
