Harlequin E Contemporary Romance Box Set Volume 2: Maid to CraveAll I HaveThe Last First DateLight My Fire

by Rebecca M. Avery

  He wasn’t the same kid, afraid his school friends would find out where he lived. Afraid he wouldn’t have dinner that night or lunch the next day.

  He had changed.

  Okay, maybe it was time for the tough rock star to grow some balls and go after what he’d wanted for more than fifteen years.

  Lily MacIntyre.

  Chapter Four

  In her sunny kitchen, Lily unloaded two plates, two wine glasses and two sets of silverware from the industrial dishwasher. All of that representing two solo dinners. Typical. She had lived in this house for three years and she used all of three rooms—her bedroom, the living room and the eat-in kitchen. Since the formal dining room had been set up, she had entered the room exactly twice—once to show the room off to her parents and once because she thought she saw a mouse scurry under the door.

  Her parents had been impressed with the room. With the house, in general, she remembered. And the mouse…was just a figment of her overactive and possibly lonely imagination.

  Her cell phone buzzed in her purse and Lily lunged for it. Not because she hoped it was Nate calling. Not at all.

  But she couldn’t hide the spike of disappointment when Kat’s number flashed across the screen. Lily hit the ignore button and dropped the phone back into her bag. She and Kat were supposed to shop for a few more stage-worthy outfits this afternoon, but Lily didn’t have the heart.

  She also needed all the time she could get to shore up her reserves so she didn’t melt into a puddle of love goo on the stage tonight. At most they had twenty-four hours before the photographer sold his shots to a tabloid. Then it would be constant questions—were they a couple? Had Nate seduced her? What about the image she’d worked so hard to create?

  That one was simple: she’d never wanted the Rayna image, but she’d been so excited she signed the contract before her parents could talk her out of it. Too late, she’d realized she had signed not only a contract to act on the show, but signed away quite a bit of her off-show freedom because she had been too eager to read all the fine print. The producers had wanted a wholesome, family image for the show and Lily was contract-bound to make sure her private life also remained wholesome.

  Not an easy feat in Hollywood.

  Lily didn’t have any other answers, save one: No, Nate didn’t seduce her.

  Her phone bleeped once, signaling a voicemail. Then, a minute later her instant messenger pinged.

  If you’re hiding out because you think I don’t know about Nate, check ‘Hollywood Today.’ And then call me already, I need details ~ Kat

  Lily’s stomach clenched. The photographer worked more quickly than she had imagined. She had hoped for a day. Just one little day in which she could pretend that last night was more than it was. More than the start of a fling with a bad boy. One day when she could figure out what it was that was growing between them.

  Now her time was up.

  Reluctantly, she opened her tablet and brought up the website and there, in glaring color, was a picture of her leaving Nate’s hotel cottage looking bedraggled and…happy. A half smile twisted her lips. Despite the questions that had been rolling around in her mind all morning, when she woke up, she was happy.

  Happy because last night was amazing.

  Happy because she’d finally done something without a thought to the consequences.

  Happy to be with Nate.

  Guess who’s sleeping in Nate Lansford’s bed? Read the headline and the half smile turned to a frown. That picture was followed up with five more—several of them kissing on the porch, one of Nate alone on the porch and another of her pulling out of the parking garage.

  It seems Nate Lansford is taking the rock and roll nature of his new show to heart, and starting the season off with a ‘bang.’ The rocker and new gal-pal Lily MacIntyre, of ‘Rayna’ fame, were caught on camera this morning—just one day after they started working together.

  Nate isn’t known for his long-term relationships, but then, the show only shoots for three months. That should be enough time for him to work this latest Hollywood starlet out of his system.

  Don’t worry, fans, we’ll let you know if things turn from hot-n-heavy fun to wedding-bell serious.

  Take our poll below—are Nate and Lily darling or dud?—and sound off in the comments.

  Lily couldn’t help herself and clicked the poll. So far 75 percent of readers thought she and Nate were “dudtastic.” Great. The comment section had over one hundred comments already, but before she could get sucked into that vortex of doom, Lily closed the browser window, cleaned out her cache and turned off the tablet.

  She drummed her fingers on the kitchen counter. Public opinion didn’t matter, she reminded herself. How many headlines had she seen, condemning one star or another? And a few months later, all was right with their world and the papers were printing congratulatory articles instead of trash. As long as she knew the truth.…

  The doorbell rang and Lily peeked out the window to see who was there. Her heart gave a little jolt in her chest. Nate stood on her doorstep, wearing jeans and a white tee. Had he seen the online piece?

  She hurried to the door, explanations running through her mind.

  “I guess you saw the article?” He stepped inside without invitation. “I just wanted to make sure you were okay with this. We set it up, but it’s happening more quickly than I imagined.”

  Lily shrugged. “Kat texted me a while ago. I don’t think your fans like me much.” She kept her voice light, but Nate knew her too well.

  He reached an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. “Sometimes I don’t like my fans much. But I’ve always liked you.”

  She hugged him back, trying to find that friend equilibrium, but all she felt was attraction. Hot, zinging attraction that kept her pulse racing even when she knew she needed to get a grip. “I know better than to take tabloid reporting seriously.”

  “And you’re sweet enough that it bugs you when people think badly of you.”

  “Like you said, I need to toughen up a little.”

  “When did I say that?”

  Lily led him into the kitchen, filled two glasses with ice, lemon slices and tea. They sat across from one another at her island. “That night in the limo. You basically told me to ignore what the reporters had to say and that I should use them to fight back against Trey.”

  “You didn’t fight back.”

  “But I did my best to avoid the websites and newspapers and, until last night, I thought I had my plans back on track.”

  Nate sipped his drink. “Until last night.”

  She nodded. “I kind of insinuated that I could use your reputation to make people forget about my show.” Lily drummed her nails against the granite countertop. Nate’s long fingers were laced around his glass, tapping against the condensation. No wonder his drink was heating up, he wasn’t even touching her and she felt twitchy. Again. “I think we should seriously consider that alternative.” She paused, not for dramatic effect, but to gather up her nerve. “Last night wasn’t about using you. It was about the feelings we’ve, well, I’ve been having since that night in your limo.”

  “Mmm.” The humming sound sent chills down Lily’s spine. “It’s a ‘we.’ That night changed things, for both of us.” He was quiet for a long minute. “You’re a lot of things, Lil, but a user isn’t one of them. I never thought last night was about using me, not for a quick lay and not to send your old image coasting into the Pacific. But I also know you have a plan in mind because you’ve always got a plan or twelve in that pretty little head of yours.”

  “I do have a plan, actually. Keep this hosting job, maybe start an online show focusing on new and indie bands.” She was quiet for a long moment and finally looked up at Nate through her lashes. “I liked acting, and I might take a role here or there. But I think I’m finally finding my footing with this show. I’d like to focus on hosting for a while. See where that leads.”

  “That might be the most plan
-less plan I’ve ever heard from you.”

  She held her hands out, palms up. “What can I say? I’ve matured over the past twelve, say, eighteen hours. But my image does need a little bit of an overhaul and as long as we’re seeing each other, I thought…” Shit, but this sounded callous. Lily hated the words coming out of her mouth.

  “As long as the press is on the hunt for us, let them find us a time or two?”

  She nodded. “If that’s alright with you?”

  Nate finished his tea and rose to put his glass in the sink. “I didn’t actually come here to talk to you about the story or the fifteen phone calls I’ve fielded from reporters this morning.”

  “You didn’t?”

  He shook his head. “I came here because we set up that kiss and the photographer, and I said I’d call you, but I never told you why.”

  Lily opened and closed her mouth. “I kind of figured you’d be calling to set up our next intentional-accidental run-in with the paparazzi.”

  “Nope. But since you look so cute, standing there with a big question mark on your face, I’m fine if we let them find us now and then. I can handle the headlines. Hell, you’re squeaky clean image might help clean up my rocker persona a little bit.” He stuck his hands in his jeans pockets and leaned his hips against his kitchen counter. “You said last night wasn’t about using my reputation to solidify your own. For me, last night wasn’t about helping my friend out of a jam. Like you, it was about what we started in my limo.” Hope blossomed in Lily’s chest. “I like you, Lil, and I want to see if this thing has enough stamina to stand up to the intense pressure of a Hollywood microscope. But at the end of it, I still want us to be friends, and I don’t know how to make that happen.”

  “Me either.” The words were whispered from her lips. Lily swallowed hard. “I’m not sure—”

  Nate cut her off. “What I’m asking, Lily MacIntyre, is if you’ll take a big risk and go out on a date with me. A real date, without the paparazzi tagging along. Not a single dance after a crew party. Not another one night stand. A date. Dinner and a movie, maybe a walk along the shore. And we’ll figure the rest out as we go along.”

  “I don’t know that this is a very good idea.” She shook her head. “But yes.”

  * * *

  Nate closed the front door softly behind him and didn’t look back. Lily was there, in the window. He knew it without looking because he could feel her. He’d never felt this way about a woman.

  Not even when he’d dated that supermodel last year. The most beautiful woman in the world, according to multiple magazines, and it had been easy to keep her separate from his real life.

  Lily was so intertwined with him that he wasn’t sure where life without Lily began and ended. She was afraid.

  Hell, so was he.

  He pulled onto the 101 and headed for Chase’s house in Calabasas. This thing with Lily was starting fast. Chase didn’t read the tabloids, but sooner or later he would hear about their little escapade last night. Nate needed him to know this was serious. At least, he hoped it was serious.

  A half hour later Nate pulled his Porsche into the drive and powered off the engine. He knew what he needed to tell Chase. The question was, how to do it?

  Suck it up, Lansford, and give it to him straight.

  Nate made his way to the front door, nervous tension deep in his belly. He wasn’t going to stop this thing with Lily, not for the tabloids. Not even if Chase asked him to back off, which was a distinct possibility. He’d never told Chase about that night in the limo or the feelings that had been building toward Lily for the past few years. She was under his skin, and the muse behind several of the songs they’d been cutting, but Chase, who was usually Nate’s sounding board for everything, didn’t know any of that.

  Nate blew out a breath and hit the doorbell.

  Chase ushered him inside a few minutes later, wearing a pair of the gaudiest gold pants Nate had ever seen.

  “I see Jonas has had you out on the links today.”

  “What can I say? The old man has his faults, but loving golf isn’t one of them.”

  “His taste in golf duds isn’t hereditary.”

  Chase shrugged, grabbed two Buds from the kitchen fridge and handed one to Nate. “It’s awful, but awful in golf is something different than awful in real life. What’s on your mind? And shouldn’t you be getting ready for the show?”

  “We’re shooting tonight at seven, it’s all still background pieces. The live shows don’t start for another week.” Nate downed half the bottle, looking for liquid courage. It didn’t come. What did come was a certainty that whatever Chase’s reaction, Nate would do whatever it took to make sure Lily was happy. Secure in their decision. “I’m dating Lily.”

  Chase spewed beer all over the kitchen counter. Nate handed him a towel from the counter. “My sister Lily?”

  Nate nodded. “The Lily you share a birthday with. The third in our musketeer circle. That Lily.”

  “This isn’t some weird rebound thing because of that model last year, is it?” Chase held his hands palms up, confused. “You haven’t really dated anyone since her, and I didn’t think it was all that serious, but…Lily?”

  “It’s not a rebound, and the model wasn’t serious. She was a distraction. From your sister.” Nate waited while his words sank in. Chase cocked his head to one side, took another pull from his beer and settled his hips against the counter top. Now or never, Nate told himself. “It’s been Lily for a long time now, but I didn’t want to admit it. She was doing her thing and I thought it would pass. It didn’t. I’m not gonna hurt her, man.”

  “Sure you are.” Chase twisted his mouth. “Not intentionally, but Lily’s growing up in L.A. didn’t jade her like it did us. And that’s not a slam, it’s just a fact. I’m not sure what you want me to do with this information.”

  Nate clenched his jaw. He almost wished Chase would take a swing at him. Anything but the dark void in his friend’s green gaze. Eyes so similar to Lily’s, Nate might be looking at her. “Nothing. I just didn’t want you to hear it from someone else. Thought I owed it to you to tell you right off that my intentions toward her are…Well, my intentions are never pure. But they’re real.”

  Chase pushed off the counter. “Look, I know your reputation is mostly smoke and mirrors. You don’t like to let people close because of your parents, so letting the tabloids make more out of your dating life was a way to keep all that in the past. Lily won’t let you do that. If you’re going to be with her, it’s going to be one hundred percent commitment. Openness. You can’t tell her just the things you want her to know.”

  He nodded. Deciding to date Lily was a big step. Nate understood what Chase was saying. She had never asked about his parents so he assumed she knew life back then hadn’t been easy. But he’d also never offered up anything more than the bare-bones information.

  Having any kind of heart-to-heart, demon-facing chat with Lily scared the bejesus out of him. But he’d have to do it. Maybe not on the first date. Maybe that could wait, just a little while longer.

  At least past the first date.

  “I’m not going to ask if you love my sister.”

  Thank God. Because Nate wasn’t sure how to answer that question. He’d loved Lily most of his life. But did friendship-love translate to passion and fire and being in love? He had no clue.

  “I am going to ask you to keep her out of the papers, as much as possible. And to go slow. She’s a grown up, you’re a grown up. But go slow, dude.”

  Nate finished his beer and nodded. He clapped a hand on Chase’s shoulder and started for the door. “Thanks, man.”

  “Any time. And by that, I mean never. I like our guy friendship. Making music, going on tour. This sister-dating stuff is just too weird.”

  Nate laughed. “Tell me about it.”

  “She’s going to fall in love with you, you know.”

  That’s what he was counting on.

  * * *

  Lily ign
ored the flashbulbs popping outside the car window. She’d asked for it. He’d agreed. Now they were dealing with the craziness they voluntarily signed up for.

  Nate pulled into the parking lot of a swanky, beachside restaurant just north of Los Angeles. He handed the keys to the valet and hurried around to help Lily from the car. Tonight he wore jeans, an Oxford shirt with a blue stripe and a Fedora. When he picked her up and she gave him the raised eyebrow look, he’d just smiled.

  “I give them something odd to write about so they don’t ask questions about anything else. Tonight, it’s the Fedora.”

  Lily looked at her own outfit—mint green mini-dress and sparkly heels—and wished she knew that little trick before dressing for the night. Even her bag matched.

  So much for the rock-and-roll image.

  But now she was stuck, sitting in the car outside the restaurant where a gaggle of photographers waited to catch her on Nate’s arm. Lily plastered on a smile, took his hand and started for the door.

  They were seated at a quiet table in a back corner, away from the crowd. Nate ordered a Prosecco and a shrimp appetizer, and the waiter faded into the background.

  She glanced out the window, but didn’t see any photographers waiting in the bushes or beside the road. Somehow that didn’t make sitting across the table from Nate any easier.

  “Do you remember your Sweet Sixteen?”

  “Hmm…big party. I wore a god-awful pink prom dress with floppy armbands and a pair of silver sandals that were a size too small because I thought they were cuter than the right-sized pair. Yeah, I remember that night.”

  Nate grinned from across the table. “What you probably don’t remember is that I was sweating like a one of the three hundred Spartans before that last charge.” The waiter brought the wine and filled their glasses. Nate sniffed, and then tasted and nodded his head. Lily followed suit.

  “Why were you nervous? It was a birthday party.”

  “A party in the Hollywood Hills where everyone who was anyone showed because of your parents’ connections. I stuck close to you and Chase that night because I was certain everyone at that party knew I was a scholarship kid from the edge of the Malibu district.”