Trouble in Disguise

by Sonia Stanizzo

  “It’s okay. I could’ve taken him on. Mr. Gym-Junkie wasn’t so scary. But did you have to fire him? Maybe he’s got a family to provide for, or pets to feed. I bet he has rabbits. He looks like a rabbit kind of guy.”

  Nathan’s lips twitched, then he flashed a white smile so hot it shot into her chest like a lightning bolt. The term killer smile was created for one like that, because for a second, she could have sworn her heart stopped beating.

  “Rabbits?” He grinned, not realizing her chest problems might be critical and he would’ve had to give her CPR. Actually, those full lips on her mouth and his hands on her chest would be worth the cardiac arrest. God, where were these thoughts sprouting from?

  “Okay, not rabbits, he’d probably eat them, but someone might depend on him,” she said.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll set him up someplace else so he can feed his…rabbits.”

  This time Nathan didn’t hold back, and the smile turned into a laugh. The deep, husky sound sent a warm flush over her skin like she’d stepped too close to a fire. Moving away, she mentally shook herself. She needed to find Liz and get the hell out of there.

  “Thanks for helping me out with Mr. Gym-Junkie, but I better find my cousin. She might get worried and call Brimland Police Department to report a homicide.” She pointed in the direction they’d come from. “And what I saw back there…I promise not to say a word.”

  The smile that was still playing on his lips dropped into a flat line. The muscles tensed around his jaw, and his face looked hard as stone. “No one can know about that. I wasn’t joking about suing you.” His tone matched the cold expression on his face.

  Wow, could this be a case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? “I don’t need you to threaten me with a lawsuit to keep quiet.”

  “It wasn’t a threat.”

  Trying not to explode, she inhaled deeply and mentally counted to five like she did when she was in a classroom of rowdy six-year-old children. “You’re a jerk. You accuse me of stalking you like a horny groupie, you try to come onto me for who knows what reason, and then threaten me—no, not threaten, warn me you’ll sue if I tell anyone your dirty little secret. Well, I’m sorry to break it to you, Mr. Rock Star, but I don’t care who you are and have no interest in telling anyone about your Hannah Montana secret.” With that, she spun on her heels and stormed away, the deep breathing and counting exercise failing miserably.

  At the end of the corridor, instead of turning left—the direction she needed to take to get the hell out of there—she turned right and realized her mistake a second too late. She stopped, spun around, and with her head held high, continued past the corridor entrance where she’d left Nathan, and in her peripheral vision she saw him laughing. Probably at her terrible sense of direction. Jerk.

  Chapter 3

  Two nights later, Nathan Harvey sat in a booth at Jovi’s Pub without his disguise. Nate Miller was the person he really was. The one that felt most comfortable—where he could breathe in peace without the attention and scrutiny of the public.

  “Man, we spent many Saturday nights here when we were younger,” Nate’s childhood friend Toby said, sitting opposite him with a beer tilted to his lips. “Although, I was the one doing the drinking while you sang on that wooden stage to an uninterested crowd. How times have changed.” He chuckled before taking a swig.

  “They sure have,” Nate agreed.

  Now he grabbed the attention of thousands of people before he even opened his mouth. And as he looked at the small, empty spot where musicians came in the hope of the success Nate had achieved, he missed the simplicity.

  “Happy to be back home?” Toby asked. “It’s been what, two, three years?”

  “Three, and yeah, I’ve missed the place.”

  “Just missed the place?” his friend said with a raised eyebrow.

  Nate grinned, knowing what Toby was getting at. “Missed my grandmother too.”

  “Whatever,” Toby grumbled, causing Nate to laugh.

  “You know I missed you, mate. But you just flew out to see me two months ago.”

  “Big shot rock star didn’t have much time for me,” Toby mumbled into his bottle.

  “God, you’re sounding like a girlfriend. Maybe if I buy you something pretty it will make you happy?” Nate snickered.

  “Whatever.” Toby flipped him the bird. Then dropping all pretense, he said, “It must be nice to stop touring for a few weeks.”

  It felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from his shoulders. “Yeah, I needed a break.”

  “Can’t be easy living in your disguise for so long without messing it up and revealing who you really are.”

  With a heavy sigh, Nate slouched in the seat. Toby was the only friend he trusted with the secret. And he’d kept it for over ten years. “I did mess it up.”

  “What?” Toby almost jumped out of his chair. “What the hell did you do?”

  “I got too close to a groupie. Well, I thought she was one, but I’m not so sure what she was.” When Toby stared at him wide-eyed with confusion, Nate continued. “Like I said, I got too close to this girl, and my wig got tangled in her fingers and it fell off.”

  Toby blew out a long breath, slouched over the table, and leaned closer to Nate, whispering, “This makes no sense. No one gets that close to you. How did this happen? I’ve seen nothing in the media about it. Shit…” He pulled out his phone from his jean’s pocket and tapped at the screen. “Surely I would have seen something by now?”

  “There’s nothing there.” Nate had already checked. For two days he’d checked on the hour, every hour. And he’d seen nothing.

  “She’s keeping quiet? I find that hard to believe. Do you realize how much money she’d make from exposing you?”

  “I threatened to sue if she said anything. It must’ve worked.”

  “Man, if this were to get out, you’d never have peace again,” Toby pointed out.

  It was exhausting living a double life. The reason for the disguise was so he could have a normal one. Not fall into the rock star lifestyle that killed his parents. It was hard work but worth the anonymity. Still, sometimes he wondered if it would be so bad if he gave up the secret.

  “I think I’m safe,” Nate said.

  Toby blew out a breath. “You must be slipping. You’re never that careless.”

  A tiny redhead who had the temper of someone twice her size had distracted him, making him forget the rules he’d set in place. “Don’t worry, I won’t make that mistake again.”

  “For your sake, I hope you don’t,” Toby said as he signaled to the waiter for another two beers. “Any plans while you’re home?”

  “Not much. I’ll be spending time with my grandmother, help her around the house.”

  Toby laughed. “Fiona would spit fire at the suggestion. That woman has never needed help a day in her life. I’ve never seen anyone so independent.”

  “Or damn stubborn.” His grandmother, the woman who raised him from the age of twelve, was the toughest yet most loving woman he’d ever known. But Toby was right, she’d have a fit if she knew he wanted to help. “Looks like I’m gonna have a lot of time on my hands.”

  The waiter arrived with their drinks and set them on the table. Sipping on his Corona, Toby looked at Nate intensely.

  “Mate, first you’re bitching that I’m not seeing you enough, now you’re looking at me like I’m your next meal,” Nate said. “I love ya, man, but I’m not on that side of the fence. Didn’t think you were either.”

  “You’d be fucking lucky to have me.”

  Nate snickered, and Toby flipped him the bird again.

  “I was thinking you might help me out while you’re in town. I have a teacher at my primary school who’s been on my back about wanting a music program for the kids. Parents have showed an interest in putting them in after-school lessons but can’t afford them. And she wants to help.”

  “Doesn’t the school have a program in their curriculum?”

&nbs
p; “Yes, we do, but according to Jade, my teacher, she wants the kids to learn more than tapping a triangle and clapping their hands to a beat. We don’t have extra time during school hours, so she’s planning on lessons after school for those kids who are interested.”

  “Sounds like a great idea. What is it you need me to do?”

  Toby twisted the beer bottle in his hands. “I want you to teach the kids.”

  “You want me to teach kids?” His voice rose with surprise.

  “Yep, and for free.”

  He loved the idea, but he wasn’t the right guy for the job. “I have no idea how to teach kids. I’m not even sure I know how to teach music. I can play with my eyes closed, but helping someone else learn, especially children, is another story.”

  “Jade will always be there to help keep them in line. All you have to do is show them the basics. Teach them a simple song. We’ve got access to a few guitars, a keyboard, drums, and a few other instruments, but if you have anything we could borrow, it would help.”

  His grandmother’s garage was filled with equipment he’d learned to play over the years.

  “Surely you could find someone else?” he asked hopefully.

  “At the moment we can’t find anyone to do it for free, and we don’t have the funds in our budget to pay someone. So, you’ve come home at a perfect time, and you’re free.” Toby smiled sweetly. It looked ridiculous on a grown arsed man.

  “And if I say no?”

  “Then you’re an arsehole.”

  “When do I start?”

  “Give me a couple of days to run things past Jade,” Toby said.

  Nate’s stomach clenched. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

  Chapter 4

  Jade sat in the teacher staff room eating last night’s spaghetti marinara, annoyed because a drop of red sauce had splashed onto her cream-colored blouse. Rubbing it with a napkin had only made it worse, and now it looked like she’d been stabbed in the heart.

  Toby entered the room, and his gaze went straight to the crime scene. “You really need to keep spare clothes at work or wear a hazmat suit.”

  Crumpling her napkin, she aimed it at his head, but it didn’t have enough force to hit its mark. He chuckled.

  “What are you doing here anyway?” she asked. “I thought you had a meeting with the education department.”

  “They postponed it, so decided I’d have lunch with my favorite teacher.” He pulled out a seat, sat next to her, and unwrapped his sandwich.

  “Don’t let Simone hear you say that. How many times today has she needed you in her classroom to help with a problem?”

  Toby sighed then ran a hand through his golden-brown hair which had a tenancy to fall over his forehead. “Twice.”

  “You need to tell her you’re not interested.”

  Taking off his black-framed glasses, he put them on the table and rubbed his eyes. “I’ve tried, she’s not listening. I don’t want to talk about Simone, I’ve got good news for you.”

  Jade sat up straight in her chair. “You do?”

  “Yes. I found a teacher for your music program.”

  Slapping her hands over her heart, she bounded off the chair. “That’s fantastic, Toby. How did you manage it? I really thought we’d have so much trouble finding someone who’d do it for free.”

  “An old friend of mine, who’s a music genius, is staying in town for a few weeks. But don’t get too excited, once he leaves, we’re going to have to find a replacement.”

  “That will give us time to work something out,” she said as she paced the small room. “I need to get the hall ready, the instruments will need tuning, I’ll send out a newsletter notifying families…” Dropping back in the seat, she placed her elbows on the table and plonked her chin in her hands. “This guy is awesome for doing this. I love him already. In fact, I’ll give him my first-born child for doing such a wonderful thing for these kids. No one wants to give their time to us for nothing. I owe him a huge kiss. When do I get to meet him?”

  Toby nodded in the direction of the door behind her. “Right now. Jade, meet Nate Miller.”

  A flush of heat crept up her neck and over her face. She wanted to slide under the table, but it was too late to hide and pretend the music teacher hadn’t heard her. She turned slowly in the chair.

  “Hello, Freckles.” A smirk played on his lips.

  Tilting her head to the side, her eyes narrowed as she took in the tall stranger with dark, sandy blond hair in Toby’s office. But why had he called her Freckles? No one except the nasty singer from the concert called her… Wait…could it be?

  She looked at the sexy, crooked grin on his face then gasped. “It’s you!”

  Toby eyed them both. “You know each other?”

  “Yes,” Nate answered.

  “No,” Jade responded.

  “Hmm, that really clears things up.”

  “We’ve met—kind of—but we don’t know each other,” Jade explained.

  Toby put his glasses back on and slid them up his nose, looking at Nate with a raised eyebrow like he was asking him for a better explanation.

  “Remember what I told you the other night about the wig incident?”

  Toby’s mouth opened and closed, then he slapped the table and laughed. “Jade was the groupie you got too close to?”

  “Hey! I’m not a damn groupie.” She pointed a finger at Nate. “And will never be one, especially yours.”

  The smirk on Nate’s lips grew into a huge smile, and once again a shot of electricity hit her chest. Did she need to start carrying around a portable defibrillator now that they would be working together?

  Working together! How could she work with him? He was rude, and his moods changed quicker than her underwear.

  “Why would a big rock star want to waste his time teaching a bunch of kids music? You must have better things to do with your time like…sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll.”

  Jade couldn’t believe how effective Nate’s disguise was as her gaze traveled over him. If he hadn’t called her Freckles, she never would have guessed even though she’d seen him without the wig.

  He crossed his arms over his chest. She couldn’t help noticing the lean, toned muscles defined under his dark blue t-shirt, and her belly did a little flip-flop. And his smile, along with his good mood, dropped.

  “I’ve put that on hold for a few weeks.”

  She averted her gaze, feeling a stab of guilt for hitting what must be a sore spot, then focused her attention on Toby, whose shoulders were shaking from laughter. “Do you find this situation amusing? He threatened to sue my arse off, and you want him around our young kids?” She was judging Nate’s character before she got to know him, but hey, he’d judged her for some skanky groupie first. “And how the hell do you know about his disguise?”

  “Shhh,” they both said as they threw a panicked glance at the open door.

  Nate stuck his head out into the corridor and glanced up and down the hallway. When he turned back around looking relieved, Jade assumed it was empty of eavesdroppers, but he still closed the door.

  “I told you we’re old friends. I’ve known from the beginning. And Nate, Jade’s trustworthy, your secret won’t get out.”

  Thank God someone had a high opinion of her, not like the brooding man she would have to spend her afternoons with for the next few weeks.

  “I’d love to see how this meeting between you two progresses, but there are reports waiting on my desk to sign.” He got up, shook Nate’s hand, and whispered, “Good luck.”

  “I heard that!” Jade took offense.

  Toby shrugged. “Actually, you both might need it.” And he walked out of the room.

  With Toby gone, Jade had a better look at Nate. The other night she’d been flustered and confused by what she saw, but she could have sworn his eyes were dark and dangerous. Now as she stared at him, they were a light hazel with flecks of gold.

  “Your eyes are a different color. That night we met, t
hey looked almost black.” As black as his heart she’d thought. But if Toby was friends with him, he couldn’t be that bad, right?

  Nate nodded. “I’m not wearing contacts.”

  And when she’d felt his tattooed arm, his skin wasn’t smooth or even hairy, it was like he’d stuck his arms into pantyhose. Now they were bare of any ink. He didn’t wear a nose ring nor were there studs in his ears.

  “Why go through this much trouble to change your appearance? Isn’t being rich and famous something many people covet?”

  “I have my reasons,” he snapped.

  “Well then…” She pushed her chair back and rose. Working with him was going to be a bunch of belly laughs. “I’ll show you where the lessons will take place.”

  As she started to walk past him, he stopped her by grasping her arm. She sucked in a startled breath as heat zapped her skin and traveled through her body. He dropped her arm as if he also felt the effects.

  “It’s a long, boring story. You wouldn’t be interested.” This time he’d softened his tone.

  Wouldn’t be interested. Wanna make a bet? But it was his story, and if he didn’t want to share with the class, that was his business.

  They stood almost chest to chest, staring at each other. She swore Nate’s gaze dropped to her lips, and she thought he might kiss her. Then he opened the door as if the moment had never happened.

  But as she made to pass, Nate’s gaze traveled to her chest. Wow, if he was trying to turn up the sexual attraction, he had another thing coming. They were in a primary school!

  “You like a bit of sauce?”

  She frowned. What the hell did that mean? “If this is some new term for sexual favors I haven’t heard of before, you’re out of luck. Do you even know where we are? I suppose women give you sex no matter the location. Well, not me, buddy.”

  For a moment Nate’s eyes widened, then he pointed to her top and chuckled. “There’s sauce on your shirt.”

  She looked down at the stain and mentally gave herself a forehead slap. How could she forget about the stab wound?

  “Freckles, for a primary school teacher, you sure have a dirty mind.” He snickered and walked out of the room.