Rock Steady

by Dawn Ryder

  She had no idea the paparazzi were hunting her.

  It was his fault for not cluing her in, too. He’d been too distracted to focus on the business and personal details of having her on tour. In short, he’d dropped the ball the second his cock got hard. He dressed and went down the hall in the hopes she was still in the hotel. He pounded on her door, but there was no response. He laid his fist on it again, and kept at it long enough that a couple of doors farther down the hall opened to investigate the racket.

  “Come on, Jewel,” he said.

  Brenton appeared in the hallway, a little less polished looking than normal. He’d clearly rolled straight out of his rack. “Problem?”

  “A picture of Syon on top of Jewel is plastered across the Internet,” Ramsey said.

  Brenton stared at Ramsey in disbelief.

  “They will eat her alive,” Ramsey growled. “Give me that override key.”

  Brenton was already digging into his pocket before he decided what he wanted to say. “I can handle this.”

  “As soon as I find her, I expect you to.” Ramsey pushed past Brenton when the door to Jewel’s room was open. It took him exactly thirty seconds to confirm she wasn’t inside. He paused for a moment, distracted by the sketch pad on the table. Damn, her art was spellbinding, just like her, and he needed to find her fast, before some of their more unstable fans cornered her. It had been a hell of a long time since he’d cared about anyone except his teammates. Sure, they were bandmates now, but they’d forged a bond in Afghanistan; that was the foundation of their relationship.

  Jewel was merging across that line, doing something no one else ever had, and he wasn’t sure what he thought about it.

  Bullshit. It’s got you off balance.

  Fine, whatever.

  Brenton was waiting for him at the door, his expression blank, but Ramsey caught the hint of disgruntlement in the man’s eyes.

  “Sorry,” Ramsey said. “I’m a little charged. When I find her, let’s discuss security details.”

  Brenton nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

  Taz was leaning against the wall in the hallway when Ramsey started toward the elevators. There was a look on his face that stung when Ramsey passed him. But Ramsey only made it a couple of steps before he turned on his bandmate.

  “I just don’t want the paparazzi to rattle her,” he said. “I haven’t explained their piranha personality to her yet.”

  Ramsey flipped his phone up, showing off a snapshot of Syon lying on top of Jewel in the hotel entrance. Taz straightened.

  “That’s not good,” Taz said. “Did you try calling her?”

  Ramsey rolled his eyes as he walked into an elevator and Taz followed. “No, I decided to try the bloodhound approach first, because I’ve always wanted to be a hound dog.”

  “You do act like a dog…sometimes…well…to be honest…a lot of the time.” Taz shrugged when Ramsey flipped him the bird.

  The elevator doors opened, and Ramsey headed toward the security desk. The manager stood up inside the glass-enclosed office and came out when he recognized the hotel’s VIPs. Ramsey changed the picture on his phone to one of Jewel. “She left sometime in the last few hours…give me details.”

  * * *

  Portland was a lot like San Francisco. Jewel stopped at a corner and considered the gray clouds keeping the city wet with a soft sprinkle of rain. Instead of a bay, there were hills covered in tall trees. What helped make the city seem like San Francisco was all the bicycles. People were happily pedaling their way through the streets, making the cars stick to the center lanes. All along the inner-city sidewalks were bike racks. The hotel even had bikes for their guests, an amenity she’d happily taken advantage of.

  A distraction was a distraction. Besides, life was short. Any day, she might have to pack it in and start toeing the line in a more…stable career. The nine-to-five grind, complete with boring wardrobe and a nice little cubicle. She cringed at the mental image. Until then, she was going to enjoy every moment of her wild, carefree days. Or at least she’d decided that the opportunity to see Portland was one she wasn’t going to squander. Ramsey might wake up and decide she was way more trouble than she was worth.

  You’re totally worth it.

  She smiled at her own comment. At least her confidence was still holding up. Considering the guy reeked sex appeal, she was going to score a point for herself for not folding under the pressure of being in contact with his very decadent body.

  Contact? He’d been naked…

  Yeah, he had been, and honestly, worthy of being in the buff. So, make that two points. He was an extreme circumstance. She deserved bonus points for not jumping his oh-so-delectable bones.

  Her cheeks heated, but she enjoyed the sting. If nothing else, it warmed her face. Her nose felt like an ice cube.

  Jewel looked at the street signs at the intersection and waited for the light to change. When it was green, she pushed off the curb and joined the bike traffic. A car buzzed by too close, spraying her with water. She recoiled, her grip on the handlebars of the bike tightening as she tried to control it. The wet conditions of the road made it impossible. The bike slipped and tilted, dumping her. At least she landed on the sidewalk. It was a hard landing, sending a jolt of pain through her hip, but it beat becoming roadkill.

  The car pulled over, skidding to a halt in front of her.

  “Are you okay?”

  Jewel struggled to her feet, feeling clumsy while trying to pull the bike off the street as other bikes rang their bells and shouted at the car blocking the way.

  “Stellar,” Jewel said. “Better move your car before—”

  A flash went off about a foot from her face. It was so bright, it blinded her. She blinked as another couple of flashes went off.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded.

  “How long have you been Syon Braden’s lover?” the driver of the car asked, holding a recording device in her face. “The fans want to know if his wife is letting him have an open marriage.”

  “You’re…wrong…” Jewel said. She wanted to say “sick” but dug deep for professionalism. She stepped around her bike and used it as a barricade. “Leave me alone, please.”

  The woman only pressed forward, the bike little protection as she shoved the recording device closer to Jewel’s lips.

  “Tell us about the tattoo you did. Does Ramsey have a mega cock?”

  The hell with polite, politically correct comments, she needed space.

  “Get away.” Jewel released the bike in favor of scrambling back across the sidewalk. There were cars in the road and businesses open all around her, but no one seemed to notice she was being attacked. It was surreal and more than a little frightening. The camera was still flashing away, two of them circling her, caging her between them and the woman asking questions.

  “Please…leave me alone…” Jewel said.

  “You heard the lady.” A man slid up to her and pointed her toward an open coffeehouse door.

  Jewel went for it, letting out a sigh of relief as she stepped into the warm air of the shop and heard her rescuer warning the camera crew that he’d call the cops if they didn’t clear out.

  The shop smelled like rich, fresh coffee and scones. She drew in a deep breath and turned to watch the camera crew crawling back into their car and taking off. She was a hairbreadth away from panic, and gulped down a bunch of deep breaths as she tried to regain her composure.

  “Coffee?” her rescuer asked kindly. “Looks like you could use a cup. Me too.”

  The guy was middle-aged, with silver hair that had only hints of black left in it. When he smiled, there were wrinkles around his eyes, making him look like her grandfather. He took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with a napkin before putting them back on.

  “Actually, I think I should be offering to buy you coffee,” Jewel said. “Thanks for the rescue.”

  He extended a card. “Bryan Thompson.” He gestured toward the counter where a young wo
man was waiting to take their order. Jewel tried to pay, but Bryan had cash in hand, and the woman made change before Jewel finished protesting. Her hand was shaking anyway, so she stuffed it into her jacket pocket.

  “Let’s have a seat. Your friends are back.” Bryan gestured toward a booth on the other side of the store, away from the window. Through the front of the store, Jewel gained a glimpse of the camera-wielding dude and his driver/reporter. They were eyeing the door of the coffee shop, but a pair of uniformed police officers stood on the sidewalk, sipping hot java as they talked.

  Jewel slid into the booth. The espresso machine was going in the background, and a moment later, a woman delivered their coffees.

  “Thank you, Ronda,” Bryan said.

  “Thank you,” Jewel said before she took a sip from her coffee.

  Bryan left his on the table. “I’m glad we could meet today, Ms. Ryan. My employer is interested in making you an offer for exclusive rights to your artwork.” He pushed something across the table to her. “A very lucrative offer.”

  She’d been taking another sip from her cappuccino, and it went down the wrong tube. She ended up sputtering as she put the cup back on the table.

  “What kind of setup is this?” Jewel demanded. Her cheeks turned red as she gestured with her thumb toward the two paparazzi on the street. “Did you arrange for them?”

  He shook his head.

  “Then how are you here?” she asked, feeling like the seat she was on had just turned to stone.

  “I was waiting in the lobby of the Hyatt for you to come down.”

  Her mouth went dry. It was a surreal moment that froze her brain, because things like being sought and stalked just didn’t happen to her.

  Except that the camera dudes and the reporter were still eyeing her from outside the shop.

  “When I noticed you leaving without an escort, I decided to follow. I hope you’ll consider it a good thing,” Bryan said smoothly. He took a moment to lift his coffee up and take a sip. At least it gave her time to grab her composure.

  “Okay,” Jewel said. Her heart felt like it was going to burst through her breastbone. “Okay…”

  Bryan lifted an eyebrow.

  “Just fine,” she sputtered before realizing he hadn’t asked the question. “I mean—” She’d started to lift her coffee but put it back on the table. She so didn’t need any caffeine at the moment.

  “Thank you for the help,” she managed to get out in a tone that was somewhat collected. “I shouldn’t have needed it.”

  Bryan offered her a soft smile, the sort you gave a child when you knew they had no fucking clue. “If I might be so bold, Ms. Ryan, your life has changed dramatically in the last few days. I suspected you might be unaware of that fact when you departed the Hyatt alone. On a bicycle.”

  He was wearing a kind expression, but all that did was drive home the feeling that she’d acted like a Twinkie-brain. Fresh from a backwater, three-horse town in North Dakota.

  “Morcant Industries can take you to the top of the art world. Mr. Morcant has a unique interest in your talents,” Bryan continued. “Mr. Morcant is committed to signing you as an exclusive artist.”

  “Except that she’s under contract with Toxsin.”

  Jewel jumped. Ramsey was suddenly there, his expression dark. “Tell Morcant to back off.”

  “Toxsin was a good launching pad, but they can’t do for your career what Morcant Industries can,” Bryan went on. He pushed his business card right under her hand resting on the tabletop.

  “She’s mine,” Ramsey declared. His tone was hard, and more than one female in the store glanced their way. When they took in Ramsey, they sent her withering looks.

  “Take a meeting with us, Ms. Ryan. You won’t regret it.”

  Ramsey hooked her bicep and pulled her out of the booth. She let him, only because Bryan had stalked her. Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. The camera jockeys lifted their hardware when she neared the door of the coffee shop, surrounding her with flashes as the reporter moved in.

  “Ramsey, could you tell us more about your fight with Taz?”

  “That’s Toxsin-style play,” Ramsey replied smoothly. “My bandmates are my brothers.”

  “Is that why Syon Braden was on top of your new girlfriend?” The woman followed them toward the curb and the car that was sliding up smoothly. “Brotherly love? Sharing all around?”

  Taz opened the door of the car for her as Ramsey turned and blocked her with his body, shielding her from the paparazzi.

  “Wait…the bike…I have to return it.” Jewel pointed at the bike where it was leaning against the coffee shop. Without missing a beat, the man in the passenger-side front seat was out and striding toward the bike. He hopped onto it and started away.

  “That’s not a good idea—” she called out to him.

  The damaged front wheel wobbled, and he ended up crashing into a tree.

  “How did you ride that thing?” Ramsey demanded.

  “It worked fine until she almost hit me with her van,” Jewel defended herself. Ramsey had turned to look at her. His expression darkened, rage flickering in his eyes. He spun around, but the reporter was scrambling backward, stumbling into people who had stopped to watch.

  “It was an accident,” she claimed.

  The two police officers had taken notice of the bike hitting the tree. They frowned at the reporter as Jewel reached out to stop Ramsey.

  “Let’s just go,” she said. “It’s only a bike. I’ll pay for it.”

  Ramsey snapped his attention back to her. “I don’t give a shit about the bike.”

  That much was true. She slid into the car, mostly in an effort to get away from the smoldering glare coming from him. Ramsey ended up following her, but not before Taz gave him a shove. The door slammed shut before she realized Taz had taken up a seat in the front with the driver and copilot. There was a soft whine as a privacy window slid up to seal her in the back with Ramsey.

  “You don’t fucking need this…” He reached out and plucked the business card from her fingers. He crushed it in one hard motion before chucking it across the car.

  “That’s not for you to decide,” she countered. “I thought the idea was for me to find another position.”

  Her words brought him up short. She watched them sink in as he bit back a word of profanity.

  “Not with Morcant. He’s looking to use you against us.”

  “Why would he do something like that?” she asked.

  Ramsey looked like he didn’t want to tell her but his resolve weakened under her glare. “Because we didn’t sign with him.” He blew out a breath and shook his head. “Look, I know I sound like a colossal jerk.”

  “You’re acting like one too. Why are you so hot on my tail? Did I miss clock-in time or something?”

  “I forgot to tell you about the paparazzi,” he answered her sharply. “There are pictures of you and Syon all over the tabloids today. I should have warned you last night about them. Why did you go out so early? And what’s up with your cell phone? The location chip doesn’t work.”

  “It was noon,” she said. “And what do you mean about my cell phone?”

  He gave her a bored expression. “EOD. I can hack a civilian phone in moments.”

  The information was unsettling. Hell, it should have pissed her off, except she discovered herself battling that respect she’d felt for him on the night of the concert.

  Get a grip, Jewel!

  “I wanted to find Voodoo Doughnut. They’re a Portland-area highlight.”

  Jewel realized her head was spinning. She lifted her hand and suddenly felt like her right hip was on fire. Obviously her landing had left a mark.

  “Shit.” He shot to the end of the bench seat they were on and turned so he was facing her. Her chin was suddenly cradled in his hand as he held her head level and studied her. “They ran you off the road? And Bryan sat there pushing Morcant’s offer on you instead of getting you checked out?”r />
  There was raw fury in his tone.

  “I’m fine,” she said as she tried to lift her chin out of his grip.

  “Your eyes are dilated,” he said as he reached down and clasped her hands. “And your hands are like ice. You’re in shock.”

  He leaned forward and banged on the privacy window. It lowered instantly. “Those pricks ran her off the road. She needs treatment.”

  “I do not,” Jewel protested. “I just landed hard.”

  “You hit something too,” Ramsey said. “Or the bike wouldn’t have been damaged.”

  His tone was softer now. Caring. That freaked her out when she coupled it with the mental image of the bike as the Toxsin crew member tried to ride it.

  “I don’t remember hitting anything.” But she did feel like she was ready to hurl. The few sips of coffee she’d swallowed felt like they were ripping the lining of her stomach off. “This is stupid. I was fine. Just…really…fine.”

  Ramsey still had her hands. He was rubbing them, the heat from his fingers making her sigh.

  Taz held up his cell phone for the driver to see.

  “I’m not going to an emergency room,” Jewel insisted.

  Taz cast a look over his shoulder, but at Ramsey, not her. She pulled her hands from his grip. “I mean it.”

  “Private clinic,” Ramsey countered.

  “Voodoo Doughnut,” she demanded.

  Ramsey’s lips twitched, betraying how much he enjoyed her stubbornness. She pointed at him. “You smiled. I win.”

  She leaned back against the seat. She was still cold, but her thin jacket was already zipped up. She tucked her hands into the pockets and tried to will herself to warm up.

  “Come here.”

  Ramsey, Metal Rock God, was suddenly folding her into his embrace as though she were a fragile baby bird. He had on a T-shirt to cover up his tattoo, the thin jersey warm from his body.

  “Put your hands between us,” he whispered from where he was resting his chin against her head. She thought she heard him inhale against her hair, his solid frame shuddering.

  “On my chest…”

  She wiggled as she pulled her hands free of her pockets and flattened them on his chest. Her senses were full of him, setting off the mind-numbing intoxication he always seemed to knock her into.