by Terry Towers
Finishing the line he'd been snorting, Anthony wiped his nose and smiled. "Two mill or Jeremy's cock," he leaned back on the sofa, his grin widening. "That must have been a no brainer." He turned his attention to Bo. "Which makes me wonder what you're doing for Hanna to get her to pass it up."
Bo gave his head a shake and pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to fend off a developing headache. "Can we just get back to the reason we're all here?"
Trevor jabbed Anthony in the ribs and muttered something under his breath that
caused Anthony to snicker.
"I was thinking we should get hold of Nadine Vessy," Tipp offered, his suggestion quickly approved by all the guys in the group but Bo.
"Geez, I don't know about her, guys..."
"She's already the promotions manager. Why not?" Tipp defended, accompanied by a number of nods from the others.
Bo cringed.
A grin spread across Jeremy's face. "'Cause he's scared Hanna will get pissed since he fucked her."
"Man, we all fucked her," Trevor butt in.
"What? All you fuckers fucked her?" Anthony exclaimed, his dark eyes narrowing. "I only got a blowie." The men began chattering among themselves, the conversation moving from Nadine to other women they'd scored with recently.
Bo let out an exasperated sigh, taking a swig from his beer and reclining back into his chair. This was going nowhere. Hanna would be home from her little sightseeing trip with Tyson and they'd still not have this resolved. He had to admit Nadine seemed to be the logical choice. She was already working with the band, just in a different capacity.
She'd been in the industry since she was a child. Her father had been a tour manager all of his life, so she learned the business at an early age.
Well shit fuck, he groaned inwardly. The guys were right. But there was the slight problem of his little fling with her a little over a year ago. It hadn't meant anything to him. He'd simply seen her as a hot, sexy and kinky-as-hell chick who he had some fun with. Her allure wore off quickly and he walked away, but he knew she still carried a slight hope he'd restart things with her. She'd fucked every guy in the band hoping to get a rise out of him. It hadn't worked, only made him glad he'd ended it when he did.
Bo sighed, thrusting a hand into his hair in agitation. He had to think about what was best for the band and that was Nadine, whether he liked it or not.
*****
"I really like this." Hanna held out her wrist with her brand new fake Rolex on it for Tyson's inspection.
Tyson laughed. "Whatever you say."
Over the course of the afternoon Hanna had finally managed to get Tyson to open up and she felt she was safe to assume she'd found a friend in him. Despite Jackie only being gone a week, she'd been missing having her around to confide in. Sure, Jackie hadn't been the best of friends all of the time and had thrown her under the bus a time or two, but still...
"Seriously." She moved her wrist closer to his eyes. "Looks good, right? And only fifty bucks."
Tyson stopped walking and she stopped with him, in the center of Times Square.
Taking her wrist in his massive hand he took a better look at her watch. "Not bad. You know, I could have taken you into Brooklyn and gotten you a much better fake one for thirty."
Hanna huffed, pulling her wrist from his grasp and narrowing her green eyes at him.
"Then why didn't you mention it? We could have gone to Brooklyn."
Tyson crossed his massive arms over his equally massive chest and raised a brow at her. "Yeah, and then when Bo asks us what we did and you tell him I took you into Brooklyn, he'd fire my black ass."
Hanna rolled her eyes at him. "He would not."
Tyson's gave her a look that said he had no doubt in his mind that Bo would.
"That's silly. It would've been my choice."
"Yeah, but if you haven't noticed he's become pretty protective of you."
Hanna crinkled her nose up, not sure how to respond. Truth was, she hadn't. She'd been with him practically every moment of every day. She'd been by his side virtually every second since he rescued her the night at the coffee shop when the paparazzi ambushed her.
"I haven't noticed." She was about to change the topic, but the question of his past women came to her mind. If anyone would know about Bo's past lovers it would be his head of security. "So is he like that with all his girlfriends?"
Tyson laughed. "There haven't been any that I know of."
"No women at all? He must have at least had some sort of brief relationship with someone..." Bo had said previously that he'd had a pretty limited love and sex life over the past couple of years, but it just seemed hard for her to believe. She saw with her own eyes how the other guys partied hard with the groupies, who were not in the least bit shy about flaunting themselves to the guys in the hopes of a night with them. Hell, most of the time they barely got a night, normally it was an hour or two. In the case of the lead guitarist, Tipp, he usually took them two and three at a time.
Tyson grimaced, suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable with the line of
conversation. "I really shouldn't be discussing this with you, Hanna. It's not my place."
Hanna sighed, giving in. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to put you on the spot."
He let out a loud huff of air, clearly relieved.
Hanna's eyes caught sight of a convenience store and she motioned to Tyson to follow her across the street. The afternoon was giving way to night and the lights of the square began to illuminate and cast an assortment of colors through the darkening sky – it was a magical sight to her.
"We really should get back, Hanna," Tyson protested, but followed behind anyhow.
"We'll only be a minute. If Bo was done with his meeting with the guys then he would have sent me a text anyhow," she reasoned. Looking over her shoulder at Tyson, she laughed at the stern expression on his face, the expression he usually had when "on duty."
Entering the store with Tyson in tow, she immediately made her way to the slushie machine. She hadn't had one of those for years, so long she couldn't even remember the last time. "Want one?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him while grabbing a clear plastic cup and pouring herself a cherry slushie.
"Nah, thanks. I'm good."
Once the cup was full she pressed the clear plastic dome cover onto it, adding a straw and, bringing the neon pink straw to her lips and taking a big gulp. The cold, cherry-flavoured slushie was like a flavour explosion. So good. She was in the process of marvelling in how damned good it was and wondering why it had been years since she'd had one when a sharp pain sliced across her forehead, making her groan out load, double over and press her palm to her forehead.
"Ouch! Dammit!"
Tyson's laughter had her lifting her eyes to meet his. "Brain freeze is not funny! Like a jackhammer to the brain! It frackin' hurts!"
Tyson's deep laughter grew louder. "Frackin' hurts?"
"Yes! Frackin' is a word."
"I don't think so," he challenged, his laughter subsiding slightly.
She thrust the cup of pleasure and pain towards him. "Go on... try it!"
"Hell to the no."
She groaned once more and gave her head a little shake. Straightening up she tossed a glare at the still snickering Tyson as they made their way to the checkout. As she waited in line with four other customers in front of her, her eyes caught sight of one of the tabloids. It featured a picture of her and Bo on the cover, taken at the coffee shop, when he'd kissed her for the world to see. The picture wasn't halfway bad, and she was reaching out to grab the magazine when she read the headline.
"Hanna, don't..." Tyson attempted to block her view of the magazine, but it was too late.
"Is rocker Bo Savage a chubby chaser?" she whispered the headline.
"They're a bunch of blood-sucking assholes, Hanna. Don't pay attention to that."
Grabbing the stack of offensive magazines Tyson pulled them from the slot and stuffed them behind a bunch
of newspapers.
The line moved forward and he pushed her forward with it. "Don't pay them any mind, you hear me?"
She nodded, trying to push it to the back of her mind. But it was hard. She frowned, her brow creasing as she looked up into his sympathetic dark eyes. "Am I really chubby chasing material?"
The hint of a smile tugged at the corners of Tyson's lips at her comment. "Hanna, anyone over a size two is chubby in the eyes of those assholes. There's a reason Bo chose you over millions of women. Keep that in mind."
She nodded. He was right. "It still stings," she muttered.
To her surprise, Tyson placed an arm around her shoulders and hugged her to him.
Slipping an arm around his waist she hugged him back. "Thank you."
He leaned back and caught her gaze. "What for?"
Hanna gave him a sheepish grin. "For being my friend. I could really use one about now."
*****
"...Of course. I think we'll be a perfect fit. We can contact the lawyers and have a contract drawn up tomorrow." Nadine smiled down at Bo from her perch on the arm of his chair. Her green eyes told him that there was a double meaning to her words. He'd pointed out to her that there were a number of vacant chairs in the room, but she'd insisted that she was fine where she was.
She leaned back on the arm of the chair and into Bo, her silver skirt hiking up her thighs. Across the room Anthony and Trevor's eyes were glued to her legs, no doubt mentally willing the skirt to lift higher and if she was anything like she was a couple of years ago, she'd be minus underwear.
Bo shifted in the chair, attempting to put as much distance between himself and Nadine as possible, and forcing himself not to look in her direction. The last thing he wanted was to encourage her. It wasn't that she wasn't an attractive woman — she was.
She was the North American ideal of beauty: long, shapely legs, perfect breasts, slender frame, bright green eyes and long sleek red hair that fell past her shoulder blades. But she was as high maintenance as they came and superficial to the core. She'd grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth and would accept nothing less than the best. Her attitude and sense of entitlement drove him batshit crazy.
Bo sighed inwardly. But she was one of the best and the guys wanted her — in more ways than one. He was one voice out of five and as it was he was the reason they were looking for a new manager to begin with... So he'd endure.
"As much as I respected Victor as a manager and valued him as a friend, he was losing his edge. It was only a matter of time before he self-destructed anyhow." She glanced down at Bo, forcing him to catch her gaze. "So what's with this groupie he gave a smackin' to? I was planning on discussing this with you next week when we all met to go over some PR ideas I've had in mind. She's not the image you want to project, Bo." She flipped her hair over her shoulder as she waited for him to respond.
Bo's body tensed, jaw clenching. " Hanna is not open to discussion. Not now or ever.
And don't ever refer to her as a groupie again... Are we clear?"
Nadine flinched at the venom in his tone, opened her mouth to respond and snapped it shut. Giving him a smile that would turn most men to blabbering fools she shrugged.
"Touchy subject. All right."
A couple of the guys cringed, as all eyes fell on Bo, awaiting his response.
"It's an off-limits subject."
"Fine." A hint of angered fire flared in her emerald eyes and there was a noticeable sharpness to her tone, but it quickly died as she turned her attention to the other guys in the group. "In that case, Victor and I had something in the works with one of the television networks. It's a date the fans kinda promotional thing. I promised them Bo, but," she huffed and glanced over at him out of the corner of her eyes, "since he's unavailable I'm going to need a replacement." She shifted her gaze to Jeremy. "If we can't have one Savage then I know the women would be more than happy with the
available one.”
"Hey, what about me!" Anthony protested, standing to give her a view of the "goods."
"I can give a girl a good time."
Nadine rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you kept your nose out of the powder once in a while."
Oh fuck me, here we go, Bo groaned inwardly, grabbing his beer and taking a long swig.
"Oh, please bitch, you gave me my first snort of blow," Anthony growled, flopping back on the sofa.
Nadine leaned forward, her eyes blazing. "There's a difference between recreational use and snorting so much that it's just a matter of time before you're ODing in an alley behind a dumpster with some groupie's lips on your cock!"
What have we got ourselves into?
Chapter 3
"You know Tyson, this has been one of the funnest days ever," Hanna commented as they rode up the elevator to Bo's floor. "I told Bo I wouldn't get recognized."
"Still, it's better safe than sorry."
Hanna nudged him in the ribs with her elbow. "And it was fun to actually get to know you. You're always so —"
He cocked a brow up at her waiting for her to finish.
"— serious."
"I don't think I'd have a job long if I wasn't."
The elevator dinged and the door slid open, revealing a hallway leading to a steel security door. Hanna pulled her key from her replica Louis Vuitton monogram purse that she'd bought from a street vendor on her first date with Bo. He'd wanted to purchase her a new genuine one, but she'd insisted on this — for now. He'd bought her too much already when he'd taken her clothes shopping just a few weeks prior. She was unemployed and had to make do. Which reminded her, she needed to find a way to make some money; mooching off of Bo wasn't something she wanted to do or was proud of.
The door beeped, signalling it was unlocking as she swiped the card and input her code. Opening the door, she and Tyson were greeted by the sound of heated arguing.
Frowning, she looked up at Tyson and he shrugged.
She made her way through the two-story penthouse toward the living room, stopping short at the entrance, out of sight of the group arguing in the other room. Tyson stopped behind her, not saying a word, but she could feel his massive frame at her back.
Her eyes widened as she leaned forward slightly and caught sight of a woman draped across the chair Bo was sitting on, looking very comfortable around him. Too
comfortable in her mind. What was even more shocking than the woman next to Bo was how much she looked like her, only slimmer and taller — hotter. A surge of jealousy rushed through her, darkening her mood.
"Who's the fucking doppelganger?" she whispered over her shoulder to Tyson.
"Nadine Vessy," Tyson whispered back, grabbing her arm and pulling her back and out of the line of view of those sitting within the room.
"Nadine Vessy..." She tossed the name around in her mind. She knew that name, Bo had mentioned her before.
"She's the promotions manager," Tyson offered.
The light bulb lit in her head. "Well, what is she doing here?"
Tyson shrugged. "You'd know better than me."
"And she looked just like me, only..."
Tyson gave her a stern look and shook his head. "Don't go there, Hanna."
How could she not? Bo had a fetish for redheads that was no secret. Nadine was a Hanna 2.0 — physically speaking anyhow. She had a queen bitch demeanour to her, a vibe that attracted men and repelled females. Hanna hadn't even met her and immediately developed a dislike for her.
"Did he sleep with her?" The question was out of her mouth before she could stop it.
Tyson sighed, and rubbed the back of his neck, avoiding her gaze. "I... I don't know, Hanna. I really don't. And you know I can't be talking about this, I need this job."
Closing her eyes, Hanna took a deep breath in and slowly released it, opening her eyes. "I'm sorry. It's just..." She ran a shaky hand through her long crimson curls.
Tyson looked around her and peered into the living room. The heated conversation was still going strong. Grabbing her ar
m he pulled her a few more feet away from the doorway, lowered his voice even further and leaned into her. "If he wanted her, he'd be with her. He's with you." A worried expression crossed his features as if he was deciding whether to tell her more. He sighed. "She gets around, Hanna. She's the best at what she does, but no one takes her seriously when it comes to..."
Hanna felt a little bit better, but noted that he never did really answer her question.
"Okay. I get it."
"Keep that to yourself, Hanna. All right?" A worried look crossed his eyes.
She gave him a reassuring smile. "I promise."
*****
Finally, Bo sighed as the group finished up. Hours bickering among them with Nadine at the helm had been exhausting, but they finally had things worked out and settled. The contracts would be drawn up and signed in the morning. Nadine was to take over and everyone seemed happy with the arrangement.
Once the contracts were signed in the afternoon the next day, he could finally take some much needed fun and relaxation time with Hanna. He was actually looking forward to the house hunting trip he had arranged for her in Jersey in a couple of days. It would give them a chance to play the role of a normal couple — even if that wasn't the case.
"All right, boys. I'm outta here. See you in the morning." Nadine slid from the arm of Bo's chair and made her way toward the exit, her hips swaying suggestively with each step. The rest of the group also stood and made their way to the exit, muttering quick goodbyes.
Blowing out a loud puff of air, Bo stood and looked down at his watch. 8pm. Damn!
They'd run the meeting much later than he'd wanted, due mostly to the bickering.
Nadine's lecture of Anthony easily ate up a half an hour, but maybe if anyone could get through to him, it was her.
Just as he realized the time, it occurred to him that Hanna was due back two hours ago. Pulling his Smartphone from his jeans pocket he turned it on. No messages. He was about to begin worrying when he heard her voice, followed by Nadine's. The words being said were not loud enough for him to make out, but the tone in their voices was confrontational.
