Rock Me

by Phillips, Carly

Hours later, Summer felt like she was ready to collapse in exhaustion. Her last interview had just ended. There wasn’t a reporter she hadn’t spoken to or a question she hadn’t answered. But she had to admit her romp with Ben had given her the emotional boost she’d needed to push through the rest of the day.

  Every time she’d looked up, he’d been there, not just watching over her as part of his job but playing the part of passionate supporter. A thumbs-up, a wink, a smile had all let her know he was there, in her corner, paying attention. She didn’t think she could love him more.

  What to do about that love?

  “What’s your plan?” he asked her, joining her and interrupting her thoughts.

  “Jade said to be back downstairs at eight. I thought I’d lie down for an hour. I’m wiped out.”

  Sympathy flashed in his expression. “Let’s get you to bed.”

  Memories of their earlier time upstairs flashed through her mind, him making love to her—and she refused to think they’d shared anything less—his big body filling hers, causing her to tremble.

  He met her gaze, a knowing grin on his handsome face. “No, princess. Not for that. You need to rest this time.”

  She pretended to pout and he laughed.

  “Come on.” Ben escorted her upstairs and literally tucked her into bed.

  She set her phone alarm just in case she fell asleep, and placed it on the nightstand.

  “All set?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “Good.” He braced a hand above her head, leaned down, and kissed her softly on the lips, lingering … and she thought maybe he’d be crawling in beside her, but his phone rang.

  He pulled his cell out and answered. “Hollander.” He listened and nodded. “I’ll be right there.” He disconnected the call. “That was someone on Jade’s security detail. They want to give me a quick recon of the area Jade requested for her press conference. Since I’ve been all over them about details, I guess they’re being proactive. Can’t say I’m complaining. Though I’ve been pleased with how they’ve handled things so far.”

  Summer smiled at his professional tone. “Jade’s not going to take her own safety for granted.”

  “And I’m not going to take yours,” he said, dead serious.

  She hooked her arms around his neck. “I always feel safe when you’re around.”

  “Good. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  “Okay.” She closed her eyes and heard the hotel room door slam shut behind him.

  She sighed, allowing her body to relax and meld into the mattress. She refused to think ahead to tonight’s decision. Jade, in calling for the special gathering after the junket, had obviously decided to announce her choice in opening act. Despite her flipping stomach, nerves, and anticipation, for now, all Summer wanted to do was just be.

  She was so relaxed beneath the covers that she almost didn’t hear the knock on her room door until it became a persistent banging that interrupted her tranquility. Ben had a key card, so she kept her eyes closed, hoping whoever it was would go away.

  When the noise didn’t stop, she shoved the heavenly covers off herself and padded in her bare feet to the door, glancing into the peephole, finding Michael there.

  She frowned. Anna, she knew, would be here tonight, now that the decision was imminent, but until she arrived, Michael might have information Summer needed.

  Still annoyed at the interruption of her rest, she opened the door and leaned on the frame, not letting him into her private space.

  “Summer! What took you so long?” he asked, sounding frantic.

  “I was resting. What’s wrong?”

  “Jade. Jade wants to meet with you and Tawny before her announcement tonight. I’m assuming she’s going to tell you her choice before the rest of the world. I need you to come with me.”

  Summer’s stomach flipped in excitement. “Where is Tawny?”

  “She’s already downstairs. Come on. Let’s go!” He moved in closer, but she didn’t open her door for him to step through.

  “Ben’s not back yet,” she said. “I can’t just leave.”

  “Do you want to blow your possible chances? The bodyguard will understand. You’re with your agent. Well, closest thing to your agent until Anna shows up later. Now move it!”

  She jumped into action. “Let me grab my shoes.” She shut the door in his face and slipped back into her high heels, rushing back to meet Michael in the hallway, where he continued to pace back and forth, his nerves worse than her own. “I’m ready.”

  “It’s about time,” he muttered, grasping her elbow and turning the opposite direction from the bank of elevators.

  “Where are you going?” She tugged her arm out of his grasp.

  “The paparazzi are all over downstairs, waiting for a glimpse of Jade or you and Tawny. I’ve been using the service elevator. It’s safer.”

  Summer frowned but she agreed, having been through the crush of photographers and reporters earlier. He held on to her arm, walking her to the far end of the hall and the single elevator there. A housekeeper joined them, waiting for the lift, which seemed to take forever. Probably because many people had the same idea to avoid the press in the lobby.

  Michael was practically hopping from foot to foot, his nerves driving her crazy.

  “I can’t believe I’m telling you to relax,” she said, taking in the irony. It was her life about to change, one way or another.

  “It’s a huge day,” he muttered, staring at the housekeeper’s back. “Let’s just take the stairs.”

  “What?”

  He pulled her by the arm, and she teetered on her heels before righting herself. “Michael, chill out! We’ll get there.” She followed him across the hall, into the stairwell, and down a flight of steps.

  Her feet hurt and her ankles wobbled in the too high heels.

  “Michael, let’s just go wait for the service elevator. I can’t do stairs in these shoes.

  He held on to her tightly. “No. Here’s fine.”

  “What are you doing! Let go of me!”

  “We’re alone now and we need to talk,” he said. “I need your help. You have to do something for me and I’ll pay you well.” He was talking fast, rambling.

  “What is it?” she asked, nervous because he was in her personal space, his big fingers digging into her bare forearms.

  “Drop out of the competition. I’ll pay you a hundred grand. Just say you’re overwhelmed and it’s too much for you so you’re giving it up to Tawny. Use the money to rent a studio. Go indie. Do something, anything with the cash,” he said, shooting out ideas in an obvious panic.

  She looked into his wild eyes and saw real desperation, which, along with his hold on her arm and her proximity to the edge of the stairs in her ridiculously high heels, scared her. “What’s this about?” she asked quietly, hoping to calm him.

  “My life. Life as I know it. Tawny’s threatening to tell my wife about our affair if I don’t secure her this opportunity. I have a prenup. Cheating means I get nothing. Nothing!” he shouted at her.

  He was sleeping with Tawny? And she was blackmailing him? “Michael, were you behind everything that’s happened to me? The trashing of my dressing room, attempting to drug me?”

  Regret flashed in his eyes. “I had no choice. You didn’t take any hint. When you performed on The Morning Show, you should have bombed and slipped away in disgrace. Instead you pulled out a win.” He ran a shaking hand through his hair. “You didn’t scare off after I warned you to drop out. I thought if you took that drink you’d get so sexually aggressive with your bodyguard I could film you and it’d go viral. I never thought he’d be one step ahead of me. I have no choice. Please. Take the money,” he all but begged her.

  She should have been shocked, but hadn’t Ben had a bad feeling about him? But she couldn’t just walk away from Jade’s competition. She’d invested her entire life to have this one chance at stardom.

  She glanced at Michael, who watched her an
xiously.

  “I can’t,” she said. “Don’t you see? This opportunity is everything to me. Maybe if you talk to your wife, apologize…”

  “Shut up! Just be quiet. I can’t lose everything. My kids. The money. My reputation.” He punctuated every word with a near violent shake. Her heel slipped and she nearly fell down the stairs. Only his grasp kept her upright.

  Her heart pounded hard in her chest, real fear taking hold. He wasn’t at all rational in his panic. Jade’s deadline had made him crazy.

  “All you need to do is say you changed your mind. Say you can’t handle the pressure of opening for such a big star.” He repeated his earlier words. “And I’ll wire money into your account today.” He pulled his phone from his pocket, never releasing his grip on her with his other hand. “Here. I’ll record.” He held up the video camera on his phone.

  “Michael, this is ridiculous. No one will believe—”

  “Say it!” he shouted, shaking her hard as he punched a button on his phone and turned the camera to face her.

  She didn’t want to tumble headfirst down the stairs in her designer heels courtesy of a clearly unhinged man. So when his fingers pinched her skin, she spoke, repeating words she never thought she’d say.

  To her shock, after getting what he wanted, Michael released her arm and took off downstairs, running to the press to release the video and ruin her life.

  * * *

  Ben returned to Summer’s room pissed off. He’d gone downstairs only to be told that no one on the security detail had called him for a walk-through. They didn’t know what he was talking about, and Ben hated wasting his time. The more he thought about the fake call, the warier he became, and he picked up his pace, rushing back to Summer.

  He let himself into the room. In case she was sleeping, he didn’t call out, but he headed straight back to the bedroom, where he’d left her a few minutes earlier.

  The bed was rumpled … and empty.

  “Summer!” He called out her name but already knew she wouldn’t answer. Someone had distracted him long enough to lure her away.

  He pulled out his phone. No calls from her. No messages.

  He dialed her number, but her phone rang uselessly on the nightstand, where she’d left the device earlier.

  “Fuck.” He strode out through the suite and into the hallway, glancing in either direction, seeing no one.

  Suddenly the exit door burst open, and Summer ran into the hall, tripping on her heels. She caught sight of him immediately.

  “Ben!” She kicked off her heels so she could run to him.

  He caught her in his arms, taking a needed few seconds to hold her tight, breathe in her scent, and know she was safe.

  “What the hell happened?” he asked, pulling her back, his gaze taking her in to make sure she was visibly okay.

  She gestured to the stairwell with shaking hands. “You were right. It was Michael. He came to my room and said Jade wanted an immediate meeting with me and Tawny,” she explained in a rush. “He said Tawny was already there and I needed to hurry. I rushed out with him and forgot my phone.”

  He swallowed over his urge to yell at her because he knew Michael had chosen the one thing that would coax her out of the safety of her room. “What did he really want?”

  “You won’t believe this, but he’s sleeping with Tawny, and she threatened to tell his wife about their affair if he didn’t secure her the opening act. He’s been behind everything that’s happened because his wife has a prenup and he’s afraid of losing everything.” She swallowed hard. “He offered me a fortune to drop out, and when I said no, he started shaking me on the stairs, and I was in these heels and petrified I’d go flying down. I mean he’s totally crazy. He made me say I was dropping out on a video recording, and he’s downstairs right now playing it for the media.”

  Ben glanced at her stilettos and groaned, imagining her toppling down headfirst. “That stupid fuck. All you have to do is go down there and explain why you said those things.” And he’d get the cops to arrest Gold as soon as possible.

  Summer shook her head. “I told you he’s insane. He’s not thinking clearly or else he’d know that.”

  “But you’re okay? He didn’t hurt you?” he asked, hating that she’d been alone with him, even for a short amount of time.

  “I’m fine.”

  He inclined his head, forcing himself to breathe calmly and believe her. “Then let’s go fix this mess.”

  He pulled out his phone and hit the stored number he had for Jade Glow’s security, quickly relaying what he knew about Michael Gold. “Coming down now,” Ben said and shoved his phone into his pocket. “Come on.” He grabbed her hand and led her to the main set of elevators. “You need to recant that video.”

  She bit down on her lower lip. “I hope you’re right. And what about Tawny? She was blackmailing him!”

  “We’ll get it sorted.” He met her gaze and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, hoping to reassure her.

  She retrieved her shoes and they waited until the elevator doors opened. They stepped onto the level where the press junket had taken place. Photographers and reporters were gathered in a group, lights flashing, as they surrounded someone Ben assumed was Michael.

  “Come on. Let’s sneak up on him.” They started to walk around the group of people when a voice called out.

  “It’s her!” All eyes turned back, finding Summer, and the crowd started toward her.

  Ben kept a firm lock on her waist, standing by her side as she was surrounded by reporters.

  “Summer!”

  “Summer! Is it true? You dropped out? You’re handing the opening act to Tawny Renee?”

  She squeezed Ben’s hand and released it, then drew a deep breath and spoke. “What’s true is that I made that tape under duress. Michael Gold, Tawny’s agent, lured me to a solitary stairwell and offered me a huge amount of money to drop out, and when I refused, he nearly pushed me down the stairs while demanding I make that video.”

  “Liar!” Michael lunged forward but security grabbed him, holding him in place.

  The crowd erupted, shouting more questions, the predominant one being why Michael would go to those extremes.

  Summer glanced at Ben, and he gave her a subtle nod, encouraging her to tell everything to the press.

  “Mr. Gold is having an affair with Tawny Renee. According to him, she was blackmailing him, threatening to tell his wife about the affair unless he did whatever he had to in order to get me to drop out of the competition. I’ve been the victim of quite a few incidents, including an attempted drugging—all documented by the police.”

  “You lying bitch!” Michael would have gone after her if two men weren’t already holding him tight, but Summer eased closer to Ben.

  “She’s not lying.” Tawny pushed through the throng of reporters and faced Michael. “You had one job and you couldn’t do it right. I didn’t ask you to hurt her; I just asked you to get me this position.”

  “You threatened to reveal everything to my wife! What did you think I’d do?” Michael shouted back.

  “Do they not realize they have an audience?” Summer whispered to Ben as reporters captured every word between them, as did the police, who’d arrived and surrounded Michael and the security holding him.

  “Let me go!”

  “We’re bringing you down for questioning. You, too, Ms. Renee.”

  Tawny appeared horrified. “What? No. I had nothing to do with this crazy scheme of his!”

  “From what I understand, Mr. Gold is being accused of false imprisonment, he’s accused you of blackmailing him, and according to police reports on file, we have numerous other offenses that potentially involve you both. So you can come willingly or we can do this the hard way.” The officer pulled out handcuffs, giving Tawny a choice as to how she wanted to proceed.

  “Fine. I’ll come. But you’re going to realize I’m innocent. And I want my lawyer,” she said, stomping off with the officer in charge. />
  Michael was already being taken away by the police, photographers and reporters documenting the entire humiliating thing.

  Summer turned to Ben, looking up at him, gratitude and what he wanted to believe was something more in her eyes. “Thank you. I don’t know how I would have gotten through this without you by my side.”

  He didn’t want to say he was just doing his job, because although that’s how this had begun, it was by no means how it was ending.

  She placed her hand in his. “I don’t know what’s going to happen next but—”

  “Summer!” At the sound of her name, Summer turned.

  Ben glanced over to see Jade Glow approach, surrounded by security of her own. With her long, flowing red hair, green eyes, and heavily done makeup, she stood out in any crowd. But once she drew closer, Ben realized she looked younger than the persona she liked to project to the world.

  “Summer, I can’t believe everything I just heard! I’m so sorry I set you up for a competition that led to something like this,” the pop star said. “Let’s talk.”

  Summer shot Ben a regret-filled glance. He understood she felt pulled in two directions, wanting to finish her conversation with him and needing to see what Jade wanted to discuss.

  Knowing what he had to do, for her sake, he stepped back and let Jade take Summer’s attention. Summer’s agent joined them soon after. Summer kept glancing over her shoulder to see if he was there, guilt and worry in her expression. He couldn’t have that. As much as Ben wanted to wait around, all that would accomplish was pulling Summer’s concentration away from where it needed to be.

  He headed up to her room to wait, but after an hour, he realized she wasn’t coming back anytime soon. He had his duffel with all his things because he packed light and they’d talked about staying over depending on how late today’s event ran. If he walked out of here now, he had no reason to go back to her place except to talk. And he didn’t know if or even when she’d arrive there, tonight or tomorrow.

  And she no longer needed a bodyguard, which meant he had no choice but to go home.

  Chapter Twelve

  Summer appreciated the fact that she’d be opening for Jade, although she would have liked to have achieved her goal with a lot less angst and drama. At first she’d kept looking over at Ben, hoping to convey that she hated that she’d had to cut their conversation short. She didn’t even know what, exactly, she wanted to say to him, but she wasn’t ready to lose him just because his assignment had come to an abrupt end.