by Lily LaVae
6
When Morgan had found Eloise in his room, sitting at his desk and looking through the log book his last assistants had left behind, she acted like he’d caught her digging through his drawers. It had both set him off and turned him on. Then she’d glanced him over slowly, like she was on the prowl. He hadn’t taken the time to find a romantic interlude in a while. It was hard to believe with her hungry stare she hadn’t been inviting him. He’d have to learn to read her better, or not. It wasn’t like she’d leave. She as much as said she wouldn’t. His money was keeping her there, just as he’d hoped it would. But that angered him. For once, his money had provided something his face couldn’t. Eloise wanted nothing to do with him, and in the moment, he’d wanted everything to do with her.
It was very cold, the way the arrangement had to be set up to work. Though he’d planned it that way, now that she was in place, it bothered him that she wouldn’t stay just to work with him. She was only staying because of the crazy sum he promised at the end. And, he couldn’t touch her. Not that there wouldn’t be a multitude of other women to choose from, but his PA had always been there. At the beginning, they were always willing. Of course, that could be why they all turned sour on him. Maybe it was less that he was a demanding asshole, and more that the sex had ruined what little business relationship they had. Maybe Eloise was smarter than all his other assistants combined.
She could just be a lot less star-struck. But he hated to think about that. Her reaction to finding out who he was at the agency didn’t match that theory.
After he’d left her to finish reading everything the other assistants had left behind, he picked up his guitar and got comfortable on the leather couch in the main meeting area at the front of the bus. He always used the acoustic guitar he’d written his first song on, not that he believed in luck. It just had this feel, this sound, he needed to create good music.
Kent came in and sat across from him. “I heard you strumming. Thought I could come in and talk you through it.”
Morgan nodded, but didn’t say anything. The cords were on the tips of his fingers, like a forgotten word stuck on the tip of the tongue. He tried a few variations and Kent nodded along with him, but it wasn’t quite right yet. He tried again, changing a few cords. Better.
Kent picked up the other acoustic and strummed the base note, catching the tune easily. It wasn’t the same as his base, but Kent was a talented musician, and could pick up about any stringed instrument and play it. Kent reacted as Morgan played. It hadn’t been like that in a long time.
He noticed the moment she walked down the hall and entered the room. His concentration evaporated, and his fingers refused to respond, all he could think about was her. The last cord hung in the air and Kent stared first at him, then at the intruder.
“Uh, hello?” Kent stood and put the guitar away.
Eloise hung by the door, the anger she’d shown earlier gone. She stepped forward and held out her hand. The moment Kent’s fingers touched Eloise, something primal burned inside Morgan and he stood, leaving the guitar on the sofa.
“Kent, this is my new assistant—”
“Eloise.” Recognition dawned on Kent’s face.
“Marcus?” She squinted at him.
Kent laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Not for a long time.”
Morgan cleared his throat and Eloise startled, staring at him as if she’d forgotten he was even there. That fact bothered him. No one ever forgot him. “Is someone going to clue me in to what just happened here?”
Kent laughed and focused back on Eloise. “Morgan, if you think back real hard, you’ll remember Eloise. She’s Jordan’s younger sister. From school.”
Eloise glanced at him and then at Kent, then back to him. Her eye raked him, but she wouldn’t find any resemblance to the boy he’d been in high school. That kid was long gone.
“No way,” she breathed. “Clyde?” Her jaw dropped and it was all he could do to keep from groaning. He’d worked hard to keep that bit of history private.
Kent laughed and thwacked her on the back so hard he thought she’d end up on her knees. “Now you know a secret Morgan’s been keeping since we signed our first record deal. You can’t leave now, he’ll never let you. How is Jordan, anyway?”
Morgan hadn’t thought about any of the people from home in a very long time, and how had he missed the fact that he’d hired Eloise, the little sister of one of his former close friends? She’d aged quite well and even now, knowing who she was, he couldn’t see it. Eloise had been a pre-teen when he’d left town. Her brother had often joked she was “the little accident that could”, but he just couldn’t see it.
Eloise’s pretty mouth turned down. “I haven’t talked to him in over a year. Not since I moved to Texas. He still lives in Nashville. I’m sure if you really want to know, you can look him up.” She crossed her arms and her lips tightened, holding back whatever else she wanted to say. He’d never been good at that and he didn’t want her to have to, either.
“Kent, I think I’m done for a few. I’ll catch up with you later.” Hopefully, his friend would take the hint.
The base player nodded. “Good to see you again, squirt. I’m sorry we tormented you so bad and I hope it doesn’t mean you’ll leave.”
She shook her head, but didn’t say more. She still appeared to be literally biting her tongue. When the door bounced shut behind Kent he turned back to look at her. “Did you recognize either of us before today? We’ve both tried hard to maintain who our label says we are.”
She shook her head and turned away from him. “I didn’t, not until…what did you call him?”
“Kent.”
“Right, Kent. I didn’t even think you were familiar until he said something.”
“I didn’t recognize you, either. Didn’t see any resemblance to the little blonde with pig tails who used to be in our business.” He laughed. She didn’t. What would it take to get her to tell him what he wanted to know, to open up and get angry if that’s what had to happen. Without the freedom to say what she wanted, she’d be just like the others who built pressure until the burst.
“You going to just sit there smoldering, or are you going to talk about it?” He could see the tension build in her shoulders as she faced him, ready to explode just as he suspected.
She turned on him, her face contorted in rage. “My brother is an ass from hell. I was doing just fine, moving on. Now, I’m not so sure I can stay. I don’t know if I can look at Kent and not see my brother.” Her whole body rose and fell with the force of her breath.
“Just Kent? Because I was just as close to Jordan as he was.”
She scowled and wrapped her arms around her, protecting herself from him. “As much as you like to think you’re the best at everything, no. Jordan and Kent were far closer. They were together without you all the time. It’s probably why you didn’t recognize me and he did. He practically lived at our house. He was my first crush for crying out loud.”
Morgan crossed his arms to match hers and took a step back. They were delving into feelings and he always avoided those, not to mention the thought of her having a crush—especially on Kent—was just as foreign and disturbing to his mind as her sleeping with someone.
He didn’t have a family, but hers had always been welcoming. His own mother had treated him like dirt and he’d never known his father. Ma had him singing in bars by the time he was nine. It was possible Eloise told the truth and didn’t recognize him. He’d had to work more often than not.
“What happened? Why haven’t you talked to Jordan in over a year?” So many secrets hidden in one woman. He stepped closer to her and she backed away, her eyes narrowing at him.
“I told you not to touch me.”
Touch was the one and only thing that kept him from being angry all the time. Maybe it would be the same for her. “Why? What’s your story? You keep throwing me little bits, but then bite when I ask for more.”
“You keep asking
questions that make me want to kick you in the balls.” She was coiled in her corner, ready to strike. But he had the distinct feeling that if this cobra bit him, he’d only catch a fever from her venom.
He strode closer and she tensed even more. “I mean it. Don’t touch me.”
He rested his hands on her shoulders, intentionally keeping his touch heavy and not the least bit intimate. If she did have a kid and another man had custody, she wouldn’t want anything intimate from him. “I’m not your brother. I’m not your lover. I’m not the guy who was such an ass to you that he turned you from a sweet little pig-tailed girl into a viper.” Every other PA had turned into a bitch on wheels because of him—full on anger worse than Eloise. The difference was they’d treated him like shit and he’d dealt it right back. Eloise didn’t. She didn’t want to be angry at him. Maybe didn’t even want to be angry at all. And this was about as intrigued as he’d ever been by a woman.
The little viper’s eyes misted over. “He sided with Liam and walked out of my life. I’ve been on my own ever since.”
He wasn’t a tender man. Never had been. But he suddenly felt protective as hell and he pulled her into his chest, cradling her head to his heart. She didn’t fight like he’d thought she would, instead she clung to him.
“I don’t know why Jordan would’ve done such a thing. But I can promise you that I won’t go looking him up while you’re here.”
She backed away and wouldn’t look him in the eye, laughing nervously as she wiped her nose. “You just want to keep me for a year. Otherwise you’d be doing it to tick me off.”
Maybe he would. He had gone out of his way to rile up her predecessors.
“I’m sorry I fell apart. I’m usually strong, but realizing who you both were and my past…it all came flooding back.” She wiped her eyes with the sleeve of her tee.
“It’s okay to be angry. Hell, I do it all the time. What’s not okay is living in it.” He chucked her under the chin so she looked up at him. “Are we good? We can go back to work?”
She nodded and closed her eyes for a moment. The image slammed into him. She was trusting him, just a little… and with her head tilted up at him like that, and her eyes closed. He lowered his head just a bit and as her eyes fluttered open she stepped away. From viper to rabbit in an instant.
“I’ll go back to studying those books. I’m sorry I interrupted you.” She backed toward the hallway, keeping her eyes on him.
“Yeah, it’s best if you don’t bother us when we’re playing.” Why wasn’t he angry? If anyone else had disturbed him, he’d have torn them a new one.
“Sorry, again.” She backed through his door and shut it.
The bus door swung back open loudly and Kent was there in a second. “So, when were you planning to tell me you had a new assistant?”
Maybe never. Not if Kent knew her better than he did. For some reason, it mattered.
“I’m sure I would’ve gotten around to it, eventually.”
7
Eloise growled to herself as she threw the old papers off the desk so she could go through everything to decide what needed to stay and what could go. She kept rubbing her lips together, trying to forget the feeling of his breath brushing over her mouth. Liam had done that too, had made her excited. He’d gotten her pregnant and then left her in the birthing room, saying she was an unfit mother. He must have been right because the baby never made it out alive. Not that Liam ever came back to find out.
And then she’d proved him right because she couldn’t control herself after that. She’d been so furious with him, with her brother, with her family, with everyone. She’d carried baby Tristan for nine months—quit drinking for him. She’d been so good. But then she’d gone a whole day without feeling him. Liam said it was stupid, there was no way she was that tuned-in to the baby.
At least she never married a man who thought so little of her, but Jordan too? A huge tear rolled down her cheek and she swiped it away. She hadn’t allowed herself to cry over the loss of her family. Not after they’d given up on her. For precious Liam a thousand times, but not for those who’d abandoned her. There were no excuses for Jordan or parents.
Back in the main room of the bus, she could hear the strumming of the guitars again and they soothed her a little. This was slower than his usual, almost a ballad. Morgan’s music always had smoothed her jagged edges and the mellow strumming did its work. What few friends she had left always wondered how such hard, angry music could sooth her, but it did.
The music did its job and she returned to her task. The leather bound book of secrets sat where she had left it when Morgan walked in earlier. It detailed his every tattoo—practically every inch of him with specifics that left her warm. She reached for the book and thumbed through the pages until she found a particularly juicy passage.
Reading romance novels was one thing. Knowing the person who’d been written about was another. She could easily imagine his part in the action and putting herself in the place of the female was natural. She didn’t have a clue what the author looked like. It was far too tempting to ignore after his mouth had been so close to hers and he’d been so curious about her, far more curious than any man had been in a long time.
She shifted positions in her chair, an ach building deep within her as she kept reading. It was compelling, almost bestseller material. She found herself wondering about the man behind the pages of the diary. The music played and her mind wandered to the bed right behind her. What would it be like to have what her predecessor had? Would he be as amazing as the author made him sound? She rubbed her neck and shifted again, unable to stifle a moan.
A whisper soft kiss on her neck made her gasp. “You don’t have to just read about it.” He barely held in the amusement as he kissed her a little closer to her ear.
Part of her wanted to shove him away, but both the book and the deep desire forming for her boss wove a spell over her. He kissed her again.
“I should make you stop.” Her words came out on a sigh, losing all meaning.
“You can pretend for the next hour that I really did ask you to be my wife,” he mumbled into her neck.
For the next hour. That would be it. She would be emotionally invested, and he would treat her just like he had every other PA—he’d tasted for a time and throw her away. Just like Liam. Eloise shoved away from the desk and stood up to be apart from him. “I’m okay with just the fantasy. Reality is a little too real, thanks.” She took a deep breath, her body far too attuned to his to let him get any closer. Desire had gotten her in so much hurt, how could she let herself fall? She’d been so good at keeping men away, until now.
“I’ve yet to hire an assistant who didn’t give in eventually.” He smirked and stared at her.
“You’ve never hired anyone like me.” She hoped that was true, because it would be far too easy to let her guard down with Morgan. He’d already chipped away more of her wall than she’d ever planned to lose. “I’m going to burn those pages.”
He laughed. “Don’t bother, they aren’t half as good as it really was.”
Where she’d been hot with passion a moment before, now something close to jealously popped to life. He enjoyed sex. She’d always thought Liam would be the one. Her only one. But there, on that bus, it was so easy to let herself go. To be who he wanted her to be. What would it matter if she let herself enjoy a few minutes with Morgan? Wouldn’t she then be just like ever woman who had come before her? He would forget her two days later just like he had all the others.
If that was true, he’d never be satisfied with her. Liam had tried, but she just couldn’t climax and it got to the point where he didn’t even try. “I…didn’t know.” Her cheeks burned with the admission. A woman her age should’ve realized that an amazing diary entry, wasn’t true. Though she would’ve expected him to say that it wasn’t as good as she made it sound. Had she really missed out on that much, or did men just always enjoy sex more? She bit her lip and glanced at him.
&nbs
p; “Are you surprised? Reality is sometimes better than fiction.”
Eloise couldn’t let that slide. Hadn’t he just said that what had really occurred was better? “How can it be fiction, you just said it happened.”
He advanced on her until she was up against the wall next to the bed. “Want me to show you just how fictional that account is?”
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. Part of her desperately wanted what the author had, but she couldn’t let her heart get attached again. “No.” But please, yes. She was so confused. Was it just his star power, or did she really feel something for him—if even after such a short time?
He didn’t touch her, but his hand braced the wall near her waist to one side and by her head on the other. She was completely free to leave, yet trapped at the same time. He lowered his mouth over hers, so close. “I’d bet all that emotion you keep bottled up inside would come out kicking and screaming…” His breath fanned over her face.
It probably would. He’d have scratches down his back from her nails. He’d probably have to hold her down, but she’d love every second of it. And so would he.
He stooped closer. “I’m waiting for you to run.” His eyes bored into hers, but she didn’t see anything there. No emotion, not even lust. Was he so good at hiding it, or didn’t he care? She ducked under his arm and made for the door.
“There, you got your wish.”
He’d only been reading over Eloise’s shoulder for a minute before he realized she was reading Amanda’s version of what had happened one of the two nights he’d seduced her. That had been a mistake. There was something about sharing his trailer, his space, with a woman that made him need her.
If he didn’t keep reminding himself that Eloise was off limits, he’d drive her away. He couldn’t do that just yet. There was too much about her he wanted to know, needed to know. Just thinking about her was driving him to distraction. There was almost a kinship he felt with her, something close—like home. But not his own home, hers. The place where he’d been accepted and loved. When she’d spoken about her brother, a need had built in him for something tangible. Something like what he’d had in her house so many years before. Jordan had been a good friend. His parents had been more to Morgan than his own mother. But he had to base his current relationship with his assistant on more than just a shared past. Especially since neither of them wanted to revisit that past.
