“Ruin him?” Candy caught her breath. Ronnie could do it. He’d made Touchstone. He could ruin a career as easily and Frankie’s career was in its infancy.
“I told him I would buy his contract just to break it and I’d make sure no other record company would pick him up. He would never record another note or show up on another short-lived sitcom as long as he lived. Believe you me, Tanya will make sure my wishes are carried out in the event of my death. If you’d let me, I’d destroy him now.”
Distantly, Candy heard Tyler catch his breath. Her head pounded again. She wasn’t sure if what he’d done pleased or horrified her. Putting her hand over her mouth, Candy sat back down. Ronnie and Tyler stood on either side of the table staring at her. “It was a mistake. I made a mistake and it all went out of control.”
Ronnie sat down beside her and took her hands in his. “Candy, I know you wanted to let it lie, but I couldn’t. When you got out of the car the other night, I wanted to go to his house and bash his fucking face in. He crossed a line, sweetheart. I had to shove him back over.”
Candy glanced at Tyler. He was still standing and looked pissed. She turned back to Ronnie. What was done was done and no matter how she felt about it, she couldn’t change it. Besides, Ronnie did it out of a misguided desire to protect her. How could she fault him? She nodded.
“I want to know what happened and I want to know right fucking now,” Tyler snarled.
“Sit down, please.” She used the moment that took him to take a deep breath. Yesterday she’d thought she could keep it together for a couple of hours and she’d managed all of fifteen minutes. “Frankie and I had a fight. Things were said and he grabbed my arm. I pulled away and fell into the end table, cutting my head. I called Ronnie to ask if I could come here. I didn’t know I was bleeding until I got here, but it was from hitting my head. You know how head wounds bleed.”
“He’s not working with Jerry again, I promise you that.” Tyler dug in his pocket.
“Don’t. Let it go.”
“Candy, I’m not going to let some bully go around beating up girls. I sic security on guys who are rough at shows. I’m not going to stand around with my thumb up my ass while some jackass beats you up again.”
“It was an argument between a couple. It has nothing to do with you.”
“It does too!”
Candy slammed her hand on the table. “I can take care of myself.”
“By running to Ronnie.”
“Who was I supposed to run to? You? I probably would have interrupted you with your current mattress.”
Tyler pursed his lips.
“Okay, enough.” Ronnie stood up and put his hands between them. “We don’t need to make this personal. Candy, we want to protect you. You protect us. You’ve been fretting for two days about Jason.”
“What about Jason?” Tyler still looked pissed, but she could see the distraction from the subject change in his eyes. He’d never been good at hanging onto things, topics of conversation, grudges, women.
Candy sunk back into her chair. Damn Ronnie. He knew where to catch her every time. “I’ve gotten conflicting calls from some of my sources. That he’s shopping for other women and for rings and that Stella has been getting cozy with a couple of B-listers. They’re either breaking up or getting hitched and nobody wants either.”
“One way or the other, he’s going to be a total asshole on tour.” Tyler had sat down, too. For a minute, she’d been deluded into thinking he cared for her as more than a friend. No, he’d made his choice years ago, and it hadn’t been her.
* * * *
Tyler sat at the conference table waiting. The sooner this meeting ended, the better. He had his assignments.
“Jason, how are things with Stella?”
“Fine.” Jason gave her a blank look, which absolutely meant he was up to something.
“I can’t do my job if you aren’t straight with me.”
“I’m straight with you. Things are fine.”
Candy put her fists on her hips, glaring at him.
“What about you, Candy?” Bear asked. “You still living at Ronnie’s?”
“I’m fine.”
“Great.” Bear stood and put his hands flat on the table. “Now that we’ve determined everyone is fine, we can go.”
“Don’t be a dick, Bear,” Brian muttered, picking at his calluses.
Bear sat back down.
“No, he’s right. We’re done here.” Candy shook her head, shuffling papers into her briefcase. “Everybody remember to smile, smile, smile. The last album was great. This album is greater. Yada yada. Jason, wear a watch so you don’t miss your flights. You know radio gofers don’t get paid enough to keep track of the time.”
“Yep.” Jason strolled out, whistling.
“He’s up to something,” Candy grumbled. “Brian, what is he up to?”
“How should I know?”
Marc laughed.
“Shut up. It’s not like we show up in matching outfits.”
“Anymore.” Marc rolled his eyes toward Brian.
“That was so cute.” Bear pouted. “Why did you ever stop?”
“Fuck off.” Brian looked at his watch. “I have to get home.”
“Yeah, I’m sure Bonnie had some really important shopping she needs to get done.”
Brian walked out. Candy scooped up her bag and followed him, hopefully, only going down the hall to Tessa’s office. After sitting through that whole boring meeting, he didn’t want to lose her now. Bear and Marc stared at him. Naturally, today the band hung around after the meeting. Most times they had these little gatherings he expected them to all get stuck in the door trying to get out.
“What?” Tyler asked.
“What are you waiting for?” Marc leaned forward.
“Nothing. What are you waiting for?”
Marc arched an eyebrow. “We see.”
“You see what?”
“Come on.” Bear stood up. “I don’t want to hang around here too long or Sandy will come up with a reason to lecture us about something. Tony sent me pictures of the Plymouth Satellite he found. It’s a ‘72. It’s gonna be sweet when I get done with it.”
Tyler followed them out of the room trying to look interested in Bear’s newest car, but he couldn’t summon the will. Bear had about six of them now and he only drove the two.
“… hate it when he gets sneaky,” Tessa was saying as he passed her office. “It’s always a flaming disaster.”
That seemed like a plausible opening to duck in on.
Tessa knelt on the floor surrounded by piles of paper. “How is it that we have to spend so much time mopping up their love lives?”
Candy leaned on the wall inside the door. “Tell me about it. I went to law school for this. You need something, Tyler?”
“No, just didn’t have any place else to be right away and I’m going to get to hear all about Bear’s car on tour.” He smiled at them trying to look harmless and bored. Five minutes with Candy and he could convince her to go to dinner with him. Over dinner, he could lay the groundwork on his new master plan.
She’d just broken up with Frankie so she wouldn’t be looking for anything permanent right away. Besides, he was going on tour, so he wasn’t looking to start anything until after anyway.
They could take it easy, keep it quiet, and after the tour maybe explore getting back together. Sounded like a perfectly good plan. Didn’t it?
“Well, I’ll see you. Call me if you hear anything.” Candy straightened from the wall and stretched.
They must have been talking while he stood there daydreaming about getting back together with her. He followed her down the hall. When they passed Helen’s open office door, Candy waved. “So you wanna catch some lunch or something?” he asked.
“Dinner.”
“Yeah.” He looked at his wrist before he remembered he never wore a watch. “It’s time to eat, isn’t it? Or
do you have more meetings today?”
“No, I’m clear after this. Why do you want to have dinner?”
“Just to talk. Is there something wrong with that?”
“I guess not. Hi, Jody.”
“What is going on with Jason?” Jody demanded from behind the reception desk.
Candy smirked at her.
“It’s not like that.” But Jody went instantly red. “I’m trying to put together the blog and if there’s news, I need it. How much can I write about Bear’s new car? It’s a car for Christ sake. He’s already got like ten of them.”
“But it’s something the fans may be interested in. And don’t forget to thank everyone who sent presents to Brian’s son for his birthday. The poor kid is going to drown in stuffed animals.” Candy reminded her.
“Brian said they were going to put them into a room like a ball pit.” Tyler tapped on the reception desk.
“Don’t put that in the blog.” Candy adjusted her jacket over her shoulders.
“I’m not an idiot.” Jody rolled her eyes. “What is going on with Jason?”
“I’m trying to find that out myself. He’s being sneaky again.”
“I hate that.”
“Everybody does.”
“Where are you two going?”
Candy glanced back at Tyler, but he couldn’t read her expression to tell how she felt about being paired with him again. “Apparently we’re going to dinner because we’re old friends. Are you going to put that in the blog?”
Tyler wondered if he was blushing now. He should have called her at home, or better, gone over to her house and ambushed her there. No, she was staying at Ronnie’s, and Ronnie, Ricky and Tanya were all there. He’d have been the one ambushed.
“You’re hilarious. Have fun and tell me as soon as you know anything about Jason.”
“Pinky swear.” Candy pushed out the doors. “Your car or mine?”
“I’ll drive.” This was too easy. It was going to come unglued. It had to.
“You know, we could skip dinner and go to your place.” She gave in a sweet, sly smile and for a second they were kids again in her father’s house as she led him down the hall to her bedroom for the first time. “Nah, I’m starved. Take me to dinner.”
* * * *
Inside the door, he let go of her long enough to lock it. When he turned back, she was standing there with her arms behind her, thrusting her breasts forward. She looked damned adorable and incredibly sexy. He pressed her against the closed door, kissing her. The way she tasted. The way her eyes shone. Why had he ever left her? She wrapped her arms around his neck pulling herself up his body. Tyler shuddered. “I miss you. I miss you more than I’ve ever missed anyone.”
“Tyler,” she murmured. “Let’s go to bed.”
Dinner had been really nice. Really, really nice. He’d never gotten to lay out his master plan, but it didn’t matter. For the first time in years, she was talking to him as someone she liked instead of someone she tolerated. It was beautiful. Like getting back into Eden after camping at the gates for decades.
And now she was in his house leading him down the hall to his bedroom. Hell, why wait until after the tour? Groupies were boring. They all wanted to make him feel better, but they had an extremely limited bag of tricks.
She cupped his cheek and kissed him. The heavy link between them wrapping around him like a blanket on a cold day. He took a breath, drawing it down to his soul. He laid her on her back, letting his hand run down her side. Candy arched, smiling at him. “Just like old times.”
“I like old times.”
“You do?”
“I like them way better than I like the new times.” He traced her lower lip. “Remember back when we were together, you would look at me across the room and I could tell by the look on your face I was the only one in the room for you?”
She put her hands on his cheeks. They were so warm and real. “You were the only one in the room for me.”
He kissed her. When he touched her warm lips, she closed her eyes. Every moment she spent with him, she made him feel like the center of the universe. The whole time they’d been apart, he’d felt half there. Now, the desperate longing to be with her every second nearly destroyed him. What was he going to do on tour?
Candy straightened and pulled her shirt off. “I want you.”
“You’re a bad girl.”
“But in all the right places.”
He crawled over her. The heady, flowery scent of her heated skin made him crazy. He’d forgotten the amazing scent coming from her. Delicious. It made his skin ache and tingle. He trailed kisses down her neck and between her breasts. “You’re such a lovely girl.”
“I thought I was a bad girl.”
“You’re a lovely bad girl.” He traced one of her nipples with the tip of his tongue.
She gasped, arching.
“I missed you,” he murmured
Writhing, she moaned. “That feels so good.”
He trailed further down her body searching for all those remembered places. She had been his first and no one had ever measured up.
“The way your mouth feels…” Her words were lost in a pleasured sigh as he licked the crease at the top of her thigh. “Oh, Tyler.” Candy dug her fingers into the sheets as he spread her legs. Her muscles shivered like overstrung rubber bands. He ran his fingers up the back of her thigh to her knee and stayed there, nestled in the crook behind her knee without moving. She was glorious. Staring at her laying on his bed, he realized she was his first in more ways than sex. She believed in him, challenged him, fought for him. If only he could tell her how much she meant to him. Trying to articulate a thought took too much effort. She opened her eyes and he thought he saw understanding in them. Like she wanted to say so much, but couldn’t. Then she held out her arms.
Smiling, he stretched out on top of her, angling his leg under hers to spread her wider open. She moaned, burying her hands in his hair as he kissed her. Nothing was like this. Nothing had ever been like this. She wrapped her legs around his hips. “Please, please.” She whimpered.
He started riding against her. Through his jeans, his cock strained for her. “This works better without pants.”
She laughed breathlessly.
He got back up on his knees and pulled off his shirt before reaching for his jeans. “I planned to tease you a little more. I underestimated you.” He pushed down his jeans and fell on her, thrusting.
When he buried himself in her, Candy cried out. He lost himself to the endless rhythm of their bodies moving together. Distantly, he heard delighted cries. It could always be like this. Open. Wide open and vulnerable. Ecstasy gathered in him and uncoiled. Candy’s arms tightened around him as her body shuddered with his.
It could always be like this. Forever.
Chapter 8
Candy opened her eyes. The ceiling was painted a pale, soothing blue. She had found the house and had it decorated for Tyler while he was on tour. All he’d had to do was walk through the front door and unpack his suitcase.
Rebound sex with a previous ex. This had to be the dumbest stunt ever perpetrated by a woman. She could already hear Tessa and Tanya berating her for her amazing stupidity. She was going to suffer for this. Not because of Tyler. The man hadn’t invented the term casual sex, but he had certainly taken it to heart. No, she was going to suffer the slings and arrows of fantasy, late at night remembering how good the relationship had been back then and how good the sex had been tonight.
Candy disentangled herself from Tyler who was still sound asleep. They’d ended up upside down on the bed. As generous and athletic as Tyler was, she was a little surprised they weren’t hanging from the ceiling. She hobbled to the bathroom and searched for aspirin before she even looked in the mirror. Yeah, it had been unwise.
It had been just like old times. She’d always been able to talk to him and trust him, within his limits. He was a best friend she could
have sex with, and he was a wonderful lover. Always gentle and attentive.
But he was her ex and her client and a whole swampy mess of emotional baggage she couldn’t afford to unpack, ever. She had to get back to the Touchstone office and collect her car before anybody else got there. If it was still there when any of the office staff got in, she’d be neck deep in overbearing concern. First Sandy’s office, then Tessa’s, a brief stop at Helen’s door where Helen would talk about anything and everything but Tyler while expressing her deep concern for Candy’s sanity with her eyes, and finally a grilling from Jody.
She had a meeting at ten she couldn’t afford to show up for groggy. Glinda Dare was set to become the next super-starlet and they were meeting with Tanya at her boutique to go through potential outfits for the junket for her summer movie. Candy stepped into the shower.
“You didn’t wake me.” Tyler climbed in behind her, and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“I thought you might be tired.” She scrubbed the washcloth over her face trying to remove the smeared make up. What a disaster. Her skin was going to be screwed up for days from sleeping with makeup on. She’d have to call Tori to see if she could get in for an emergency facial. “I need to get to the office to pick up my car. I have an appointment this morning and I need to go home and change.”
“After we get out of the shower.” Tyler nuzzled her neck. “It’s not even seven yet. What time is your appointment?”
“Ten, but I have to go home and change.”
“You’ve got time, relax.”
“Tyler, don’t.” Candy pulled his arms apart so she could escape him. “Do you know what I did with my phone?”
“Pretty sure you left it in the car. We were kinda busy when we got in last night.” He grinned, following her out of the shower.
Candy pulled on her blouse. Ronnie would notice that she hadn’t come home last night. So would Tanya and Ricky. Damn, Jorge was probably going to be giving her side eye when he opened the gate. “Yes, we were. And it was fun, but I really have to get to work. I have a lot of irons in the fire.” That wasn’t true. She’d been flinging all of Frankie’s stuff straight to him until he got a new publicist. Touchstone’s campaign was set in stone. SendDown was on tour so all their stuff was either done or damn near. Glinda was ahead of the curve looking for junket outfits before her film got out of post. None of her other acting clients were there yet. Technically Ronnie was her client, but he hardly required any attention.
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