She held me closer and everything about her made me feel happier. I put my arm over her belly, my head on her shoulder. That was it. That was the comfort. This woman filled a need in me that I never even knew I had.
At that moment, I was almost ready to say I’d forget Julie. I’d put the past behind me. Anything. I was in a state. But I didn’t speak, and woke up in that same position without realising I’d even fallen asleep.
When she stirred in her sleep, I got up and had a cold shower, then got back into my own bed. It’d been tempting though. It’d been so damn tempting.
Chapter 28.Devon
Pete had booked us in for dinner at one of those really on-trend places. Not my kind of thing. I’d much prefer a pizza at home. Or one of Daisy’s omelettes. That had been great. I’d not been lying when I told her that.
He wanted the full “rock star date experience” though. It was like Pete had his own ideas of what a rock star date was and I had to play out his fantasy. I was a rock star, so any date I went on was automatically a rock star date. That’s the way I looked at it.
Actually, I had no idea what a rock star date was. I’d never actually dated a chick for years. I’d never gotten dressed up and sat down over a meal while we talked. Maybe a few drinks before hitting the sack, that was as far as it went.
The last thing I wanted to do was go on a date with Daisy. She scared me. She scared the bejesus out of me. What kind of magic did she use that had me so confused and upside down? I’d come so close to saying those things to her.
I didn’t need her and I didn’t want her. I loved Julie. I would not give up on that. It was just that we had to spend so much time together. I probably talked to her more than I’d talked to any other woman in years. The last woman I’d spent that much time with without screwing was Hannah, our old manager.
But, with Daisy, I wanted her, that much was true. I had the worst case of blue balls a man could have. Having her live with me but not being able to screw her, that was the cause. No wonder I was messed up. A man can get mighty messed up in the head when he only has his own hand. He could start imagining he was in love pretty damn easily. He could have all kinds of fantasies and ideas. But that wasn’t love. It was just sexual frustration.
I’d been right when I’d tried to keep distance between us. I’d do that tonight. It might be a date for publicity purposes but I had my own agenda. Distance. Distance was awesome.
I put on my snappy pinstripe suit, the one that made me look like a pimp but in a good way, and then waited for Daisy.
When Daisy finally came out of her room, she looked amazing. She wasn’t all changed like she’d been last time. She was still 100% Daisy. But she was her in the best possible way. She wore a dress that hugged her curves. Really low cut too. I’d have to make sure I put things out of her reach so she had to lean low over the table. My stomach clenched in a way that went right to my cock.
“Wow,” I said.
She blushed. I didn’t want dinner and I didn’t want distance. I wanted to bury my head between her breasts. I wanted to lick every inch of her creamy skin. I wanted to hear her moan until those moans become screams. I wanted to fuck her every way I could. And then I’d…
“We should get to dinner,” she said. “You look like you are starving.”
“You aren’t wrong there.”
The driver buzzed and we headed down to the car.
That dress was a trap. It was all a trap. I had to stop thinking with my cock. My cock had never ever made a good decision in its life. I sat in one corner of the limo and she sat in the other. She played with her phone. I bet she was uploading photos again. I knew Pete told her to do that but she was getting a bit obsessed with it. It seemed there wasn’t a moment she wasn’t on her phone. My private life got less and less private.
“Pete picked this place,” I told her. “It’s probably horrible and sceney. We don’t have to stick around long.”
“Yeah, he told me about it.”
I didn’t know that. The two of them planned a lot of things without telling me though.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
I laughed. “I’m not a schoolboy,” I told her.
“I can always tell. You to that thing with your hands.”
I did have my hands clutched around my knees. I hated that she picked up on things like that. She was right though, I was nervous. Not just because of the dating thing but because of her.
We arrived at the restaurant. There were a bunch of people waiting around outside. So many that we had to push our way through them. At first I wondered why the entrance was so teeming, then a few of the girls started yelling out.
“Devon, Devon. Look this way.”
Phones got held up for photos. Daisy put her arm around me and posed.
“That’s the way, Daisy. Grab his butt while you’re at it.”
She’d tipped them off? I guess that would add to her popularity online but I hated shit like this. There was that line and I’d warned her about crossing it before. It was a side of her I didn’t like. At first it’d been kind of funny and cute. I totally didn’t approve of her posting my jocks for the whole world to see but, after a while, I saw the humour in it. But lately she’d been constantly checking the numbers. How many followers, how many likes.
My mood turned even blacker. It was shitty for her to leak where we were going for dinner without checking with me first. She got too carried away with her own popularity.
The place was buzzing but we got taken to a table in a quiet corner. It was one of those places where the staff didn’t stare when I came in. They were far too cool for that, with a “we see celebrities every day” attitude. That suited me fine.
A waitress came over and we ordered cocktails. She gave us a menu.
“We could just take some photos of us with our drinks, then get out of here,” I said. “That’s what this is, isn’t it? Just a photo op.”
She gave a strange laugh. “We need all the photos. Eating dinner. Clowning around. That’s what my followers want. We can’t disappoint them.”
I noticed they were now “my” followers not “ours”.
“Can’t we fake it?” I said. “Since your fan club got enough of us walking in the place.”
She screwed up her face. “They’re your fans, not mine.”
At least she got that right.
Cheers and yells came from the back somewhere.
“Sorry about that,” the waitress said when she returned with our drinks. “There’s an event on in the back room. If you like, I can move you somewhere quieter?”
I shook my head. “Here’s fine.”
Daisy smiled back at me. “It’s not too loud.”
We got the waitress to take photos. I was getting damn sick of these photos for social media all the time. Sure, it was nice for the fans to get a glimpse into my life but it seemed like everything I did had to be photographed.
We were alone together again.
“How’s the album going?” she asked.
“Fine,” I said.
I picked up my drink, wondering if we could leave now. The last thing I wanted to talk about was that damn album. Just another thing on my list of things not going right in my life. She should know that. If she got off her phone for five minutes, she might realise that I needed to talk about something else.
“Wow, I’ve got a heap more followers since we arrived. That’s amazing.”
Was this relationship even about me or just the social media fame?
Chapter 29.Daisy
This fake girlfriend thing was hard work sometimes. There was no way in hell I’d be uploading photos of us at dinner if I was his real girlfriend. Our private life would be private. It was nice having all those followers though. I’d been getting even more offers of sponsorship and my assistant would be starting soon.
I put my phone away though. Devon was in a grumpy mood and I had get him out of that. He didn’t want to talk about the album, that’s for s
ure.
“How’s Brett getting on?”
Usually, he loved to tell me stories about what an idiot Brett was but this time he only frowned. His mood made my brain freeze up with small talk. I kept silent, searching for a topic that wouldn’t make him crankier.
He’d been so lovely the other night. I knew he’d been drunk but lying in bed with him in my arms had felt so right. He’d fallen asleep like that and I didn’t move him, even though it meant I had to sleep in an awkward position. It was lucky he’d gotten into bed fully-dressed because if his flesh had been touching mine, my resolve would’ve crumpled completely. I could smell him and I could touch him. I could watch the way that lock of his fringe flickered as he breathed. I could listen to the little sleep noises he made but I could go no further.
My hand had ached to sneak under his t-shirt and caress the contours of his abs. My lips ached to kiss him.
The whole time, my heart had sung. He’d needed comfort and he’d turned to me. We were on the cusp of something, our hearts connecting. I just knew it.
The next morning though, he’d gone. I thought I’d dreamed the whole thing. It wouldn’t have been the first time I’d had a dream like that, not by a long shot. But his boots were still in my room.
I waited for him to say something but he acted like nothing had happened. He just needed time. It’d take a while and I could wait.
The party in the back room had become louder. It sounded like fun. Devon turned his head and I wondered if he’d be happier in there, a room full of people drinking and having fun, than trying to have a fake date.
Our food came out. Well, some of it. It was all tiny little plates of things. They looked lovely but they weren’t filling at all. With the cocktail and the wine, I was getting a little tipsy.
“Food’s good,” I said.
“Huh?” was his reply.
“These little green things are really delicious.” I offered him the plate.
He waved it away without even looking. He’d served himself some food but didn’t attempt to eat it. This was so not what I’d imagined on all those nights before I met Devon. That Dream Devon would’ve gazed into my eyes, knowing exactly what I wanted to hear. He’d have hung off every word I said. Dream Devon never grunted at me.
I started to say something but a shriek from the back room stopped me.
“Let’s finish our food and scram,” Devon said. “I need an early night.”
I couldn’t agree more. I don’t think I’d ever eaten faster. We paid the check, took a few more photos for good measure, then got up to walk out.
“Devon,” someone yelled across the room. “Devon.”
She ran over and launched herself at him. She didn’t look like one of his usual groupies. She was older and a bit more sophisticated. But then, I had no knowledge of his range of groupies. Maybe he liked older women sometimes. Maybe she was a friend of his mother’s.
She put hand on his arm and leaned in toward him, as though she was saying something so intimate that no one else should hear. She wanted a piece of him, that much was certain.
My stomach clenched. What did I expect? That every other woman in the world would be hands off because we were together? Still, it took a lot of front when I stood right here beside him. Acting like a jealous girlfriend wasn’t part of the fake girlfriend deal. Or was it? The whole point was to act like a real girlfriend and, as his real girlfriend, I’d definitely be giving her the stink eyes.
“You have to come have a drink with me. It’s my birthday. If I’d known you were in town, I’d have invited you.” She tugged on his arm.
I expected Devon to give her the brush off but he let her drag him away. I cleared my throat to remind them that I existed.
She turned back to me. “Oh, of course, you’re welcome too.”
The sweeping glance she gave me let me know that I was anything but welcome.
When we got into the back room, she grabbed drinks for us. She chatted to Devon and he answered her in more than grunts. His whole attitude changed. The glint came back into his eyes when he talked to her. I’d become a useless attachment.
When someone called her off, he actually spoke to me. “Sorry. She’s the editor of one of the big magazines in town. I couldn’t really say no.” He grimaced but he’d seemed full of enthusiasm when she’d asked.
“That’s okay.” I had been really looking forward to getting a burger on the way home though. Instead, I got out my camera and took some more photos. A couple of people came over to say hello to Devon and slap him on the arm. I knew no one and stood beside him, watching on.
The drink the woman had given me was bright red, in one of those fancy martini-style glasses that was just full of spillage potential. It took all of my focus to make sure I didn’t end up with big red stains down the front of myself.
“I’ve got to go say hello to someone,” Devon said.
“I’ll stay here.” I’d spotted a table, one of those high tables you stand at, nearby. At least I could sit this drink down. I’m not sure how other people handled those glasses but it just spelled danger to me.
“Won’t be long.”
This wasn’t a celebrity-studded party like the awards night. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how many celebrities lived in my city. It was the kind of town most people wanted to get out of. The people around me acted like they were famous though. In an obnoxious kind of way.
I’d kind of backed myself into a little nook, with the table on one side of me and a pillar on the other. That was okay, it gave me something to lean against, since there was nowhere to sit. I was bored shitless. I scrolled through the photos of us arriving at the restaurant. I didn’t know who’d told them we were going there. That was something I was so careful about. Unless I’d been told to post our location details, I kept it really vague. Maybe that’d been something Devon and Pete had planned but Devon had seemed really annoyed about it.
I’d zoned out, when someone sat their drink down on the table. I guess they had every right to do that but I sensed them move in closer to me.
If I kept my eyes on my phone, they’d probably wander off without talking to me. Shit, I’d not realised but now, looking at my photos of this room, I spotted someone in the background. That journo. Brandon. Did Devon know he was here? If the woman was an editor, then it made sense he’d be here. I wasn’t sure if I should warn Devon or not. He might get snappy if I said anything.
My heart raced. I did not trust that guy at all.
Instead, I turned to the person beside me. Things got worse. It was that guy from the awards night. Devon hated him but I had no idea why. He didn’t even need to warn me off him though. The guy repulsed me.
“How are things? We didn’t finish our conversation the other night.”
Without me noticing, he’d moved around the table in a way that had me blocked in.
“I think there’s someone I need to talk to,” I said, trying to get out.
He gave me a reptilian grin. “You seem like a party girl but you’re not having much fun.”
“A party girl? Huh?”
“There are things you need to know about Devon. He’s a dangerous man. Have you noticed how violent he is? What do you think is going to happen to a sweet girl like you around a guy like him?”
I shouldn’t have stayed there talking to him. I wanted to escape but I couldn’t get out. Just a tiny part of me wanted to stay. Not because I wanted to talk to the creep but because I wanted Devon to pay me some attention. He’d acted like I was a burden all night. I didn’t believe for one minute Devon would ever be violent to me but the guy kept on with his warnings.
“He’s going to screw your life up. I’m only telling you this because I care. I don’t want to see a pretty girl like you getting mucked around by the likes of him.”
Strangely, he kept glancing around as though he expected something to happen. I had no idea what his game was. Even his warnings sounded forced, as though he needed an excuse to talk to me.
He grabbed my arm, pulling me closer to him and that’s when all hell broke loss.
Chapter 30.Devon
You’d think I’d be able to leave her alone for five minutes but when I looked across the room, she was talking to that sleazy dealer again. What was he even doing here? Did he just follow me around?
I tensed and stopped talking in mid-sentence. I needed to get across the room, to get him away from her. Why didn’t Daisy get away herself away? Why did she let him stand so close to her? She knew my feelings.
The room wasn’t very crowded but it seemed everyone was determined to get in my way. I shoved some guy. He yelled at me, I’d spilt his drink. Teach him to be an obstacle. Someone grabbed my arm, wanting to talk. I brushed them off. All these people, so annoying.
Finally, I got to her.
“Daisy, let’s go.” She looked relieved to see me but didn’t move.
“We have things to talk about,” the dealer said. “Things that don’t involve you.”
The blood went to my head. I remembered what the lawyer had said after the court case but this was different. This guy was evil.
“Anything that involves her, involves me.”
I tried to grab her arm but he blocked me. “She’s a sweet little thing. You want to be careful she doesn’t get corrupted, being around someone like you.”
The way he said it, the implication in his words, that he’d be the one to corrupt her, got my blood boiling. He’d do what?
I had to settle down. I had to take Daisy and leave. Guys like him, they wormed their way into people’s space, acted all nice, but that was just a front. Daisy was too naïve. She’d be conned.
I reached for her again. “Come on, Daisy.”
She wouldn’t really want to stay talking to that guy? He knocked me aside. What did he want with her anyway? There were a few hundred people at the party, most of them only too happy to hand over their money for the shit he peddled. This wasn’t about that though.
Bad for You (Fallen Star Book 4) Page 13
