Hope Falls_Seeing Stars

by Jennifer Bernard

  His cock pulsed in fierce reaction. Asshole, he scolded himself. The poor girl was half dead with exhaustion and he was ready to spread her out on the couch and ravage her. “I’ll get your bedroom ready,” he said gruffly, whisking himself into the room in question. A few moments later, he heard the shower running. He busied himself with bringing in the luggage and making up the couch for him to sleep on.

  He tried to ignore the images that flashed through his mind as Starly showered. He’d seen her in her skimpy performance clothes and knew how toned and sexy her body was. When people met Starly in person, they were always surprised by how small she was, because she was such a vibrant, joyous presence onstage. Even though her typical outfit involved bustiers and thigh-high boots and Lord knew what, she could wear a potato sack on stage and still draw every single eye.

  Finally the flow of water stopped. Starly appeared in the bathroom doorway, wrapped in a terrycloth robe with a towel turban on her head, a giant yawn stretching her face. He steered her toward the bed. At the edge, she paused.

  “I’m going to drop the robe,” she warned him drowsily. “I like to sleep naked.”

  Struck speechless, he slapped a hand across his eyes—not quite in time to avoid the sight of her curvy form, all pink and tender from the steamy shower as she climbed into the bed. His eyes registered every line and curve. The slope of her back indented gracefully at her slim waist. The globes of her ass formed a perfect, pouty heart. Desire grabbed him by the balls and squeezed like a freaking vise.

  He wanted this woman the way he’d never wanted anything in his life.

  He wrestled his lust into submission as he pulled the covers over her. “Sleep as long as you want,” he told her. “Tomorrow we’ll find a real breakfast.”

  “Thank you, Hunter.” Her eyelids quivered, trying to close. “You’re amazing.”

  “Just an ordinary guy.”

  “Oh no, you’re not. Not at all.” Her voice was fading away now as she snuggled into the pillows. “You’re the best person I know. That’s why I’m on this mission. Well, one of the reasons.”

  “Mission?” Right, she’d mentioned something about a mission before, but never explained it.

  “Karina Black,” she murmured. “First thing tomorrow...find Karina Black.”

  And she was out.

  Find Karina Black? Oh hell. What if Coyle was right and Starly had come to Hope Falls to make trouble?

  Whatever she was doing here, he’d stick to her like glue. But for now, he needed a long, hot shower. Not to mention a little manual assistance to relieve the pressure cooker building inside him thanks to the innocent-looking girl now drooling on the pillow.

  Starly woke to sunshine streaming in the window of the cozy little apartment. Delicious smells wafted from the café below. She stretched, feeling ridiculously happy. Even though everything after the granola bar was a little hazy, she remembered the important thing.

  Hunter was here with her.

  A delicious anticipation filled her up like champagne. Hunter had kissed her. Kissed her like he’d wanted her forever. Kissed her like no one ever had before. She couldn’t wait to see him again. And he was right in the other room! That fact felt more satisfying than any luxury car, diamond necklace or yacht ever could.

  Her suitcase was next to her bed. She flung it open and rummaged around for a clean, pink vee-neck t-shirt and a pair of worn jeans. She twisted her hair into a long braid and jammed a pair of sunglasses on top of her head. This particular disguise had worked well for her in the past.

  In the living room, she stopped short. Hunter, still asleep, was flat on his back on the couch, one arm flung above his head, his t-shirt pulled tight against the rippling expanse of his chest. His position exposed a mouthwatering strip of skin along the edge of his loose cotton sweats. An arrow of hair that pointed down below his waistband.

  She wanted to go where it pointed. Oh yes, she definitely did. But first she owed him. He deserved sleep too. And he deserved someone to take care of him for once. She tiptoed out of the apartment, making sure to leave the door unlocked, and skipped downstairs to the café.

  The place bustled with customers picking up their morning coffee and breakfast sandwiches. An older woman wearing a long flowered skirt caught sight of her and beamed. “You must be our upstairs guest. I’m Sue Ann.”

  “Nice to meet you. I’m...Beatrice.” Saying her real name out loud was the strangest thing. It made her feel light and free.

  “Beatrice, what a pretty name. Is the apartment okay for you two? That was quite a storm we had last night. I was worried you might have trouble on the road.”

  Really? This woman had been worried about a total stranger she’d never met before? Huh.

  “It was pretty scary for a while there. But we’re here now, and yes, the place is wonderful.” It contained Hunter, so that made it wonderful in her eyes. “I mean, we won’t be staying long.” That thought made her face fall. “Probably at most another night.”

  Sue Ann smiled cheerfully. “Well, it’s yours as long as you need it. You never know, maybe Hope Falls will grow on you.”

  “I’m—we’re—just passing through. Can I get two coffees to go? I’m going to take them upstairs, then we’ll come back down for breakfast when my—friend wakes up.”

  “That sounds like a fine plan.” Sue Ann went behind the counter and picked up the coffee pot. “What brings you to town, dear?”

  “Well …” Starly figured this was probably as good a time as any to launch her mission. “I’m looking for Karina Black. Do you happen to know where I could find her?”

  Sue Ann tilted her head as she poured the steaming, tempting brown elixir into the first cup. “Well, I suppose that depends. Are you a friend of hers?”

  “Um …” Starly twisted her face. “Not exactly.”

  “Are you with her record company?”

  “No.”

  “You’re not with the media, are you? We certainly don’t need another press invasion around here.”

  Starly winced. If anyone knew she was here on Karina Black’s home turf, there would be a press invasion of epic proportions. “I’m not with the media.”

  Sue Ann was examining her more closely now, the coffee carafe poised over the second to-go cup. “Are you sure? You look a little familiar, now that I think of it.”

  “I get that a lot,” Starly assured her. That much was certainly true. “I have one of those faces.”

  “No, I don’t think it’s that,” Sue Ann mused, tapping her finger on her lower lip. If only she would just pour the coffee and let Starly escape upstairs. But she seemed to be frozen in place, the coffee just millimeters away from the edge of the carafe as she stared at Starly.

  Starly bit her lip, trying to look inconspicuous and forgettable. This was a big mistake. She never should have mentioned Karina. What were the chances that a café owner would personally know one of the biggest pop stars on the planet? Karina probably kept out of sight, even here in this tiny town. She probably had an estate surrounded by guards and walls and security cameras and...

  “Good morning, Sue Ann. Are you posing for a painting? I think we should call it ‘Delayed Gratification’.”

  Starly froze. She knew that throaty, deep, vibrant voice as well as she knew her own. Everyone knew that voice.

  And there was the star herself, skipping around the counter. Karina’s long ebony hair swung over her shoulder as she planted a kiss on Sue Ann’s cheek.

  Starly couldn’t move. It was like watching a disaster in slow motion, like the reenactment of a train crash or something. She saw Karina glance across the counter at her. Saw the instant recognition flash in her eyes. Saw her straighten up in shock. Saw her mouth open and the word “Starly?” come out. Saw Sue Ann finally put it together. Saw the coffee carafe slip out of her grasp.

  Crash.

  The glass shattered on the floor behind the counter. Karina pulled the still-stunned Sue Ann away from the disaster zone. Other
customers gasped and jumped up to help. Starly glanced around the café in a panic. With everyone beelining it toward the counter, she didn’t see a way out.

  “Is that Starly Minx?” Sue Ann was asking Karina. “She said her name was Beatrice. And why would she want to see you? You and she never got along, did you?”

  “You could say that,” Karina answered grimly. She rounded the counter and stalked up to Starly. With her hands planted on her hips, she towered over her. “What do you think you’re doing here?”

  Starly raised her chin. Everyone in the café was staring at them. She definitely wasn’t ready to get into anything personal while half the town of Hope Falls was watching. “Ordering coffee.”

  Karina’s stunning black eyes narrowed. “Planning to puke it up afterwards?”

  Now that was a low blow. Starly’s issues around food were a tabloid staple. “No, I thought I’d spill it all over a few strangers.”

  Another low blow. Karina was a great singer, but at first she’d had to train hard to get her dance moves down. During one rehearsal, she’d knocked over a coffee urn onto a bunch of stagehands on break.

  “Everyone here is a stranger to you. So what do you want?”

  “Geez, I must be in the wrong place. I thought Hope Falls was a warm and welcoming town.”

  “We are, honey.” Sue Ann hurried around the counter with two cups of coffee. She was joined by three young, attractive women who gathered around Karina like some kind of posse. “Karina, this is no way to behave to an old friend,” Sue Ann scolded.

  “Believe me, she is no friend of mine. Do you know who this is?”

  The cute redhead backing up Karina answered the question. “More like a frenemy, right? Starly Minx?” She turned to Karina. “I couldn’t believe when you told Rolling Stone she had the voice of a malnourished parrot.”

  Karina flushed. “I was very young then, Sam,” she muttered.

  The angelic curly-haired blonde on Karina’s other side laughed. “But then Starly went on the Today Show and said you danced like a marionette learning how to twerk.”

  Starly felt her own face heat. “I had to defend myself.”

  “Yeah, but did you have to push her into the pool at that party?” A leggy blonde who looked familiar—was she married to a politician?—frowned at Starly. “Not cool.”

  Geez, did everyone at this little café know everything about her and Karina’s feud? “I didn’t push her. That’s an urban legend.”

  “Oh really?” Karina shook off her friends and took a step closer. “I was there, Fluff-ball. You’re going to lie to my face just like you did to everyone else?”

  Starly hated that name, Fluff-ball. At first Karina had used it affectionately because of Starly’s frizzy wig from when she starred in Annie. Then it became an insult about her songs.

  Starly stepped forward until she was nearly face-to-face with her onyx-haired nemesis. “If you hadn’t worn a floor-length Ukrainian prom dress, maybe you wouldn’t have tripped over your own hem, Bigfoot.”

  “Better floor-length than coochie-length,” shot back Karina.

  “Coochie? I see your lyrics are still stuck in the fifties.”

  (Okay, very low blow. Starly loved Karina’s lyrics.)

  “Much like your contract. You really need to find yourself a better manager. Did I see you headlining in Laughlin, Nevada?”

  Karina’s friends were exchanging worried glances with each other. With one part of her brain, Starly realized they were putting on quite a show. Another part, like a shy student in the back of the class, was trying to remind her that she’d come here to apologize to Karina.

  But the biggest part, quite honestly, was having a blast. Karina Black was a worthy adversary.

  “Keeping an eye on my shows, are you? For your scrapbook of artists who outrank you on Billboard?”

  “Try artists who outrank me in bee-yotch.”

  “Well, that would be a short book. Exactly zero pages long.”

  “Kind of like your Grammy list.”

  By now, the two of them were chin-to-chin—or would have been if Karina hadn’t been so much taller than her.

  “Okay, okay. Let’s eat our breakfast and let Starly drink her coffee in peace.”

  A handsome brown-haired man who Starly recognized as Ryan Perkins, the singer married to Karina, wrapped an arm around the pop star’s shoulders and steered her away. Karina kept her glare fixed on Starly the entire time.

  Sue Ann, looking a little shell-shocked, tried to pass the cardboard tray of coffees to Starly.

  Starly stared at the two cups. What had she just done? This was totally not how she’d planned that encounter. In fact, it was pretty much the exact opposite of what she’d intended.

  To sum up what had just happened, Karina hated her more than ever. The entire town probably hated her by now. And her days of being on the down low were definitely over. The paparazzi would soon be swarming over Hope Falls.

  Worst of all, she was bitterly disappointed in herself. How was she ever going to start her life over if she couldn’t accomplish step number one?

  Tears gathered in her eyes. Her vision went blurry, like the time her driver had taken the limo through a car wash. She whirled around, away from Karina, her friends, Sue Ann and the coffee. The other customers gave way as she ran for the exit. She had to get away, away from everything, even herself...

  She dashed upstairs, burst through the door and hit a solid wall of muscle. Strong arms came around her and clamped her against a chest that felt like chiseled marble, except warm and comforting. Hunter.

  She sobbed against him, her tears soaking his t-shirt. He didn’t say anything, just held her. The beat of his heart, steady as a bass drum, took the edge off her distress. His intoxicating scent went to her head, totally distracting her. Most people might smell sweaty and gross after rescuing someone from a car crash.

  Not Hunter.

  Hunter smelled like pine needles and clean laundry. Like a pine-needle pillow. She soaked in the comfort of his embrace, greedy for every second she had with him. Because as soon as she explained why she was sobbing her heart out against his fine, fine chest, he’d hate her just like the rest of the town did.

  Chapter Four

  Protectiveness. Check. Lust. Triple check. Irritation. God yes. Hunter kept his fury at bay until Starly’s tears ran out.

  After the storm had passed, he drew back, keeping his hands firmly on her shoulders. “Why the hell did you leave the apartment without me? That’s what I’m here for, to keep you out of trouble. Don’t you understand that the entire world is looking for you? You can’t just waltz out of here like you’re a regular person.”

  “It’s not that.” She sniffed loudly. He couldn’t help himself, and used his thumb to wipe the tears from the delicate skin under her eyes. “Believe me, Hope Falls is used to celebrities.”

  “So what happened down there? I heard a big ruckus and nearly had a heart attack, thinking you were in trouble.”

  She drew in a deep, shaky breath, and stepped out of his grasp. His palms tingled with the need to hold her again. Actually, his entire body was screaming at him with that same message. But obviously she didn’t want that right now. So he kept his distance.

  “I came to Hope Falls to find Karina Black. Well, it turns out all I had to do was go downstairs for coffee. Mission accomplished. Except it wasn’t accomplished. The total opposite.”

  He frowned. Her record label had been right after all. “So you really did come here to revive that old feud.”

  “What? Who said that?”

  “Coyle. Honestly, he thought it was a great idea. He hoped there would be cameras.”

  She groaned and clapped a hand to her forehead. “Of course he would. Because that’s what I am, just a publicity whore who can’t get enough attention. That’s what you think too, isn’t it?” She turned her back to him and fled to the window, as if she wanted to hide more tears.

  Did she really care that much wh
at he thought of her? A warm pool of hope formed inside his heart.

  “Starly—”

  “Beatrice,” she interrupted in a muffled voice.

  “Beatrice. That’s not what I think of you. Not even close.” He wanted to say more, but this wasn’t the right time. She needed to get this off her chest, whatever it was. “So you came here to see Karina Black, but not to stir up drama. What, then?”

  She turned to face him, hugging her arms around her middle. “I came to apologize to her. To make amends. It came to me onstage in Cincinnati. I can’t sing another word until I clear my conscience. Then I can start over.”

  “Maybe you should start at the beginning. Why do you want to apologize to Karina?” From what he’d heard, the feud went both ways.

  “When my career was just starting to take off, I—” She broke off and crossed to her burgundy suitcase, the one that weighed about as much as a car. She unzipped it and threw open the top with a dramatic gesture. “I stole these awards from Karina.”

  About a dozen statues packed the suitcase. Hunter crouched down to look at them. He recognized a Kids’ Choice Award, and even an Oscar for Best Song. “I don’t get it. You stole her statues?”

  “No. I stole the song that won all these statues. Stars in My Eyes. She was supposed to record the song. Her label really wanted it for her, even though she writes most of her songs herself. I heard bits of it at the studio and it gave me chills. I knew it would be a mega-hit and I wanted it. The deal wasn’t done yet, so I secretly went behind Karina’s back and sweet-talked the songwriter into selling it to me instead.”

  “Sweet-talked?”

  “Okay, bribed. Basically.” Her face was bright red now. “That song made me a superstar. And it was supposed to be Karina’s. My entire career is based on theft. I can’t live like that anymore. I came here to confess to Karina and apologize and give her all these awards that she should have had, not me. After I talk to her, I’ll go public as well. I want to make amends in whatever way I can. I don’t want to be a star if it’s based on a lie. I don’t want to be that person anymore, I want to be someone who’s honest and has integrity and doesn’t go behind people’s backs.”