Then I realized that I had to tell Alice before that photo hit the social media sites. She'd get totally the wrong idea. It looked like I was with Fiona. That the two of us were trashed at a club together.
Fiona slumped in the passenger side of my car. I got out my phone and left Alice a message.
I just had to hope that Fi's address hadn't changed. She had no bag with her, nothing with ID on it or even a key. She could have moved in the last few years and I wouldn't know.
Screw it. I took her back to my place. She needed to be put to bed and I wasn't dealing with getting her into her own building.
I took her shoes off her and left her in the dirty dress. I didn't want to even touch her body. It wouldn't be that uncomfortable for her to sleep in, anyway.
"Stay the night, Ash," she said, throwing her arms around me.
I peeled those arms off. She reeked of perfume and booze. Not even an ounce of temptation in her stick figure body. No comfort there. No joy.
There was only one body I wanted next to mine and I needed to get Fiona settled so I could get to her. I wouldn't risk the thing I had with Alice for anyone, let alone Fiona.
"Next time, call someone else," I told her.
I got her a bucket in case she needed to vomit and a glass of water, then headed back out.
Hopefully Alice would be home, and hopefully, she'd listen.
Alice
THE BANGING AT MY DOOR wasn't going to stop any time soon. I'd dozed off at the computer and my neck ached like crazy when the noise woke me up.
"Who's there?"
"Me. Savage."
I opened the door. I'd suspected it was him but I wasn't about to open my door to a random stranger.
He walked in, looking ruggedly weary. It was a look that suited him.
"Do you want a drink?" I asked. He looked like he needed a drink, really needed one.
"A beer, if you have it."
I got him a beer. I got myself one too.
He sat on the sofa, his head rolled back.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Everything."
I waited for him to continue.
"First up, there are going to be photos. Online. In the media. Photos of me."
Well, yeah, that was normal. But this was obviously more than that.
"I had to rescue a friend. A female friend. She was at a club, they took them as we left. It's going to look bad."
He buried his face, not looking up at me.
The suspicious part of my mind said that he could be making all that up, trying to cover his tracks. But then, why would he bother? He'd left the club but he was here now. It couldn't have been that long ago. He was sober and alone. I had the proof in front of me.
"Are they bad?"
He nodded.
"I tripped as we left the club. I sprawled forward. It'll look like I was totally trashed."
Shit. Not good.
"Eleanor is going to kill me."
"Eleanor?"
"My editor. I'm supposed to stick with you so don't get into any scandals while I'm on this assignment. Shit, that's a really selfish thing to say. You have all this to deal with and I'm just pissy that I didn't get to take the photos."
He moved closer to me.
"It's not selfish. It's your job. And hey, if that's the main worry you have, it means you believe me."
He finally looked at me with a grin that shot straight to my heart.
I put my arm around him.
"It's a real fucking worry. Here I am, trying to clean up my act and I get caught out like that. I can't even tell the truth, not without making Fiona look bad."
Fiona Bagley? That was the friend. Fiona Bagley, the internationally famous model. Known for being stunningly gorgeous. Jealousy stabbed at my heart, even if he was here beside me, telling me it was nothing. I couldn't compete with a woman like that. It would be like comparing a drab moth to a rare butterfly.
"You should tell the truth," I said. "It's not like you were doing anything wrong."
He shook his head.
"It's not like that. It's like a code of honor. You don't throw your friends under the bus. Not with the press. The circle has to stay tight."
I couldn't argue with that but it seemed stupid that he'd have to look bad for this. She obviously hadn't cared or she'd have not called him. I wondered if this happened often.
The question I needed answered was why he'd thought it so important to come and warn me about it. I got out my phone to check social media.
"Why is your phone in the kitchen drawer?" Savage asked.
Savage
I DON'T KNOW IF I WOULD ever understand this woman. She'd put her phone away so I couldn't call her? Yet she didn't seem angry or upset.
I still had more to tell her. The whole mother thing. But I wanted another drink before I went into all that.
"Any more beers?"
"Nope, they were my last two," she said. "I can run to the convenience store though."
"I'll go," I said.
"Yeah, right. That would attract a bit too much attention in this neighbourhood. It's better that you stay here."
She was probably right, although having my photo taken at a regular neighbourhood store might offset those other photos. It was tempting but then it might cause problems for Alice.
She grabbed her wallet and ran out. I sat on the sofa, resisting the urge to snoop around the place. I never resisted temptation easily though. I got up and walked around. She'd been working on something on her computer. I tapped the mouse, hoping the screensaver wasn't password protected.
Whoa, that was one handsome bugger that came up on the screen. I reeled back with the force of my own good looks. Then realized that wasn't funny when I was alone.
I hadn't seen any of the photos Alice had taken. She said I could see them when the assignment was over. But there was no way to resist the temptation to look through them.
As I clicked from photo to photo, I realized that Alice was more amazing than I'd ever thought. Some of those photos embarrassed me. She'd laid my soul bare for the world to see. The mask I put up had been stripped away. Was I ready for the world to see that?
I looked so vulnerable. Is that how she saw me? I wasn't sure if I liked that. It wasn't at all sexy.
I got near to the end, to the photos from earlier today in the rehearsal studio. Hell, they were hot. I looked like I wanted to fuck the camera, when the truth was I wanted to fuck the person behind it.
How obvious would that be to anyone else? I wasn't sure if I wanted our relationship being that known.
Of course, I wanted to shout about it from the tops of buildings. I wanted to proudly tell the world we were together, but I didn't want Alice to deal with the fallout from that. She wasn't a celebrity. She didn't have a team of publicists to take all the heat. She lived in a building that didn't even have a security entrance.
Maybe being with me would destroy her life.
As if on cue, I heard a commotion outside. I went to the window, hoping Alice was okay. I stayed back so I couldn't be seen. Still, on the street below, I saw them circling around. Damn them.
Paparazzi.
They must've followed me here. Hopefully, Alice would get back without any problems. There is no way they would associate her with me. She'd just be a regular chick coming back from the convenience store with some beers.
I sent her a text to let her know.
Then I slumped back on the sofa. Even if they ignored her this time, it only took one bastard to get a shot of the two of us together and that would change.
I'd protect her. I'd protect her with my life.
Without even realizing, she'd become the center of my life. The one I wanted to turn to when things went wrong, the one I wanted beside me in the good times.
Hell, I was in love with her.
I was in love with her and that might destroy everything.
Alice
A BUNCH OF REPORTERS surrounded the door of my buildin
g.
"What the hell's going on here?" I asked one of them.
I think his name was Jim. I knew him from around.
"Heard reports that Ashby Savage was in this building. Know anything about it?"
I forced a laugh.
"Savage? Like he'd be hanging around here. You might not realize to look at the place, but we don't get celebrities hanging around that often."
Jim winked at me.
"Even celebrities like to slum it sometimes."
He meant it as a joke but that comment really hit home. That's what he was doing. He was slumming it. Everybody likes a change now and then. Even if you eat at the finest restaurants every night, sometimes you get a hankering for a burger.
That's what I was. The burger. The greasy spoon girlfriend.
When I walked inside, the spring had left my step. When this day had started, my biggest concern was getting through a few hours of shooting without having sex with Savage. Now things had become a lot more complicated.
When I got inside, I handed Savage a beer and put the rest in the fridge.
"Paparazzi?"
"Nothing I couldn't handle. They'll get bored and leave."
"You think? Those guys have a huge threshold for boredom. I've sat in clubs for hours waiting for them to leave at times and they cling on like limpets."
I sat down beside him.
"That's true. There's a way out through the basement if you need to use it."
"I'd rather stay here with you," he said. "I'm in no hurry."
He put his arm around me and pulled me to him. I didn't resist but I didn't exactly jump him either.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I said.
We needed to talk about things but it was late. I let him kiss me. As much as I didn't want to get drawn into him, I couldn't control my body's response to him. Soon, any thoughts of talking got lost in the need for us to be together.
He picked me up and carried me to the bedroom. Then he laid me down on the bed.
"Screw the photographers. I'm happy to outwait them if I've got you."
He grinned. I had to smile back even if I didn't feel it. Then he kissed my stomach and all the negative thoughts left my head. I didn't want to think about the future or what I meant to him, I just wanted to enjoy the way he made me feel.
"You're so beautiful," he said.
I scoffed. "Hardly."
"Your problem is that you don't know how special you are."
God, that was a line if ever I heard one. I wasn't special. I wasn't an international model or anything like it. I was a just a hamburger.
Savage
SINCE ALICE GOT BACK from the store, she'd been in a strange mood. She didn't want to talk about it, and I understood that. Sometimes it's better not to force things. Instead, we screwed. We screwed for hours, until the morning light came through the blinds.
"Are the photographers still outside?" she asked when she woke up.
I checked the window. Yep. They'd spent the night out there. A much less comfortable night than I had. I had to get out of the place and get home before starting the business of the day though. And I couldn't leave with Alice.
"I've got to get changed."
"Yep, the stadium photos are today."
My show was tomorrow. I had to get things set up. Alice would be there to take the shots. She'd be there tomorrow for my performance too. The first of the tour and a sneak preview of the album.
Then she wouldn't work with me after that.
She got up to make coffee.
Hell, that would suck balls. Maybe she could. I'd talk to my manager. I needed someone on staff to deal with publicity and all that.
I wasn't sure how she'd feel about it though.
Fuck.
I'd totally forgotten.
Kit Molloy.
She would go straight from this job to working with him. The one thing I needed to do was stop that. I wouldn't lose to him. Never.
I'm sure that when I told Alice how I felt about her, she'd give up that job. It wasn't like she couldn't get plenty of other work. He was just one rocker. He'd even stood her up when we went to meet him.
I'd get her another job. A better job. She could come on tour with me. That would be perfect. We'd be together. It'd make the tour a whole lot less boring. Now that I thought about it, I pretty much did not want to go on tour without her.
If she was on staff then, if we were seen together, we'd have an excuse. She was my photographer. We needed to be together. I hoped that would work.
This needed to be sorted out as quickly as possible. I sent a message to my manager, getting him to organise things.
Alice came back into the bedroom with the two coffee mugs, handing me one. She looked so perfectly rumpled in the mornings. I could wake up every morning next to her.
"I love your morning face," I said.
"What? All squished up with my hair everywhere?"
"Yep. It's perfect."
"Ha, not likely."
Her bad mood from the night before had gone. A night of good sex will do that. I set my coffee mug down and pulled her to me. Once she was on top of me, my hands crept under the hem of her sleep shorts, cupping the wonderful curve of her butt.
She'd be wet for me already. I bet she'd been thinking about this the whole time she'd made the coffee. Her head rested on my chest but her pussy rubbed against my cock. I moved my hands and pulled those shorts down. My fingers traced her belly, teasing her so her breathing hitched.
Then my phone rang.
Shit. Bad timing.
It was my manager. I took the call while she pursed her lips with impatience. The way she rolled her hips over my cock made it hard to focus on the conversation but it was all just a formality anyway. If I wanted her on tour, as my photographer, Gary was happy to set that up.
I grinned as I finished the call.
"Good news," I said.
She really needed to get those shorts off. They interfered with what I really wanted to do.
"Yes?"
She'd be so happy to know she was going on tour with me. Maybe I should finger her as I told her, add an extra level of pleasure to the news. Or maybe not. It might distract her.
"You're coming on tour with me. I've set it all up. You'll be the official tour photographer. Gary will be in touch with you to set up the contract but it'll be all very generous."
That look on her face wasn't happiness though. She moved off me. Not a good sign.
"You did what? You did that without even discussing it with me?"
Hell. She wasn't happy?
Alice
I WALKED INTO THE KITCHEN before I punched him. He'd organised my future without even asking me. I didn't want to talk to him. I didn't want to look at him. The arrogant pig.
I began unpacking the dishwasher, slamming dishes into the cupboard. It wasn't their fault but, since I couldn't punch Savage, I'd take my temper out on them instead.
The water started running in the bathroom. He must've got in the shower. I was so tempted to turn on the hot water so his shower went cold. That would teach him.
But I didn't want to hurt him. What I wanted was to rewind back to what we had. I wanted to have his arms wrapped around me, without all this horrible stuff churning up in my stomach. He'd crossed a line and no matter how much I wanted to join him in the shower, I wouldn't.
He wanted me to join him on tour? Great. Wonderful. How hard would it have been to ask me if that's what I wanted too? It was a one sentence conversation.
I just wanted him out of my space. Jeez, I had to spend the day with him. Today and tomorrow. There was no way I'd back down on this, though. If word got out that I'd quit an assignment at the last minute to go on tour with my - not even boyfriend, just a casual fling - it could ruin my career.
Maybe he was used to women who just threw in everything they had to go on tour with him. Those women probably didn't have much of a career anyway, if they could give it all up just like
that. But I had a business to run. I had commitments.
Even if I wanted to go on tour with him, I couldn't.
"I'm heading off now, love," he said.
He tried grabbing my waist and drawing me into a hug. I side-stepped. I didn't want to give in to him, not even a little bit. I didn't trust him and I didn't trust myself. He had to know where I stood.
Maybe this meant our fling was over but I had to wear that. Better to suffer the misery soon than later.
"This is my life, my career," I said. "You can't just play with that."
"I know. I'm not. You're talented and I'm offering you a job -"
He tried grinning at me again, as though that grin would fix everything. There was a whole lot it couldn't fix though. This was a line I couldn't let him cross.
"Not offering. You organised the whole thing behind my back. You didn't even ask me if that's what I wanted."
He glared at me for a minute. Did he even understand what I was saying?
"I get it. You don't want to go on tour with me. You've had your fun and are moving on the next thing and that thing is Kit Molloy. I just wish you'd told me that up front."
He did that puppy dog thing, the vulnerable eyes turned up to maximum. I wouldn't fall for it. He understood nothing. I couldn't let him control my life.
"Is that what you think of me? That I'm just some groupie? It's not like that at all."
I clenched my jaw, wanting to punch him or throw something at him, but not wanting to give in to the anger welling up inside of me.
"Isn't it?" he said.
"Maybe if you understood the most basic stuff about women, you'd be able to sustain a relationship instead of just fooling around all the time."
Savage
I COULDN'T STICK AROUND and talk with Alice. If I stayed, I'd say things I'd regret.
Hell, I'd forgotten to ask her how to get out through the basement. I'd go out the front door and the paps be damned.
Of course, they jumped on me as soon as I got outside.
"What are you doing here?" they asked. "Where's Fiona?"
Fuck, I'd forgotten Fiona asleep in the spare room at home. I hoped she was gone before I got home. One more thing I didn't want to do was deal with her.
Rock Mayhem: 8 Complete Rock Star Romance Novels Page 11
