CLASS ACT (A BRITISH ROCKSTAR BAD BOY ROMANCE) (23 page)

“Does Heath know about this?”

I knew the answer before she spoke. “He’d go berserk if he found out the orphans weren’t getting his money. No, let’s keep him out of this until I find out more information. He has enough on his mind with the tour and private tutoring.”

“How about Jared?” I asked. “I think he’s in charge of Heath’s accounts.”

“No, it could be someone hacking his accounts or a screw up with the bank,” Megan answered. “If I made a blunder or it was an honest mistake by the bank, then I don’t want Heath doing something stupid to his manager on account of me. If someone is deliberately delaying the funding, then I don’t want to tip my hand too soon.”

“I see…”

“Sorry to lay this one your lap,” she began. “But I had to tell someone about this and you were the only other person than Heath that knew about the delayed funding.”

“Understood, do you need any help?”

“No, just keep me posted if anything strange happens to Heath’s finances on your end,” she requested. “I’ll do the same for you. Goodbye Charlotte.”

“Goodbye, Megan.”

This job just got stranger and stranger. I hoped it was just a screw up with the paperwork. Otherwise, I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into.

Whatever tension between Charlotte and me didn’t affect the last leg of the tour. Maybe it was the stress of juggling the touring with the studying and romance but I just didn’t have the energy to be a bad boy. Jared seemed to like the lack of drama well enough.

My academic performance had increased as well. I had done much better on the practice tests. It was still up in the air whether or not I’d pass the first exam that was due out in less than five months. Nevertheless, I now knew that I had a fighting chance.

I stared at the mirror in my dressing room.

For the first time in many years, I felt like a normal human being.

I heard a woman clear her throat. I turned around to see the woman who dominated my every waking thought. “Charlotte?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to spook you,” she said with a small smile. “That was the best performance yet, Heath. You and others have really outdone yourselves.”

“We usually work out the bugs in this leg of the tour,” I answered. By this point, the band found its rhythm and technical difficulties were kept to a minimum. “You want to talk about my coursework?”

She took a seat beside me. “No, to talk about us.”

I shrugged. “What’s there to talk about? Round peg goes in hole. That’s all there is to us.”

“Is it?” Charlotte asked, her eyes seemingly peeling back layers of my emotional armor. “It’s been so weird between us for the past few weeks. Heath, did I do something to upset you?”

My eyes narrowed. “Well, have you?”

“I’ve been keeping secrets from you,” she whispered, her beautiful eyes glistening in the bright lights of the dressing room. “About how I’m talking to management about your grades. They say it’s for your own good… but I can’t help feeling that they’re doing it for themselves.”

The cat was out of the bag. “I’m glad that’s now in the open. What do you want me to do about it?”

She looked on the verge of tears. “I just don’t know. Ever since I met you, I’ve been torn between my duty and my desire.”

“Then pick one,” I said bitterly. “I’ve made my choice.”

If I was angry at anyone, then it had to be at myself. Charlotte only followed orders from people far above her pay grade. She didn’t deserve to be shut down and given the silent treatment. She didn’t deserve to be the recipient of my spite.

Charlotte sucked in her lower lip before speaking. “I just want us to go back to the way we used to be.”

“Was there anything real between us?” I asked. “I figured it was just as much of a good fuck to you as it was to me.”

“It was more than that,” she stated, confidence in her tone. “Don’t tell me there was nothing real between us!”

I glanced to side towards the mirror. “Maybe, it’s better this way. It’ll hurt less once this is all over.”

“If it happens, it happens,” Charlotte whispered. “It’s the same thing with studying. You have to endure failure before you can succeed. We have to try to make this work. No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you, Heath.”

I let out a cynical laugh. “Why stay with a guy like me? You’re intelligent, have a wonderful smile, and a thousand other things. Why degrade yourself by being with a hopeless bastard like me?”

I was an unlikeable prick that should’ve died along with his drunken parents. The only reason anyone gave a damn about me was my ability to make money. I was a living, breathing bank machine for Sterling Records. When my music and merchandising sales dried up, I’d probably be kicked to the curb.

It felt like I was on an endless treadmill. If I wasn’t making music, then I was touring all across the globe. This job was simply draining. I’d sooner die of exhaustion before the treadmill stropped.

Charlotte had been a breath of fresh air and I had now fucked up one of the few good things in my life. No matter of a smartass I acted in class, she’d still help me study the material. No matter how pathetic I acted, she was always there to patch me up. She asked nothing in return except for me to give a damn about studying.

“I want to be with you, Heath.”

I looked up at Charlotte. Tears twinkled in her eyes. “Your funeral.”

She laughed. “Heath, you’re not a hopeless bastard. You’re not some unwanted orphan. You’re not some trademarked product of Sterling Records. You’re whoever you want to be.”

I folded my arms. “Is that from some self-help book?”

“No, it’s from my heart.”

The woman could make me feel like a sorry bastard with just one sentence. “I’m not worth the effort.”

Charlotte touched my cheek. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

I placed my hand over hers. “Fuck it. Let’s give this a shot.”

She smiled. “Let’s do it.”

“Before this, I thought learning trigonometry would be the hardest thing I’d ever do.”

“Trust me, trigonometry can be pretty hard.”

I gave Charlotte my signature boyish grin. “Not as hard as how you’re making my prick.”

She rolled her eyes. “God, you’re a real handful… and don’t make a joke about how your cock is a bigger handful!”

I sealed our pact with a kiss. It was slow and sensual. Just the way she liked it.

After locking the door, Charlotte straddled me as I sat on the chair. I quickly undressed her as she did the same for me. She had learned how to get my briefs off in record time. Likewise, I could peel off her dress like the wrapper off of a Cadbury chocolate bar.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. “Heath, are in there? Party starts in ten minutes!”

I cursed under my breath as my lover got off of me. “Son of a bitch…”

Charlotte laughed and gathered her clothing. “That’s what we get for getting frisky at a time like this. Well, I suppose we should head to the party.”

I gave her a mischievous look. “Want to play hokey?”

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “What are you up to, Mr. Lawrence?”

“Let’s ditch the party,” I said, taking her hand. “I know a place where no one will ever bother us.”

Heath lifted up my nude body and pressed it against the hard wall of the unfinished room. I locked my heels behind his back for additional stability. Nonetheless, the man was more than capable of fucking me while standing up.

I slid up and down his erection. My back rasped against the flat texture of the wall. His hips gyrated as he pumped into me.

Our lips became locked in a sizzling kiss. A delicious friction began between our bodies. Soon, we found our rhythm.

It went beyond the mere physical. We were sharing our deepest secrets through this erotic coupling. We found both solace and release in this act.

I whispered his name as though it were a powerful incantation. His presence warded away all of my doubts and insecurities. We could make this romance work.

The amazing sex was just a bonus.