Cover Me (Rock Gods #3) (8 page)

12

              Bruce woke up with a throbbing head. He rolled over and stared at the clock. It was 2 pm. He groaned. He'd drank himself stupid last night, staying up practically until dawn.

             
Then he remembered why.

             
Kat was gone. She’d left without a word. And then he'd fired her.

             
He frowned. Why had she run away? It didn't really matter why though, did it? There was a show to do and you couldn't just leave. What she'd done was unprofessional. It had nothing to do with how angry and hurt he was.

             
He forced himself to down a glass of mineral water before stepping into the shower. He brought another glass bottle of water in with him, sipping periodically as the hot water sluiced over his tired body.

             
When he finally got out he felt a lot better. His body anyway. His mood was still foul.

             
If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was take care of a hangover.

             
He was getting dressed when the phone rang. He answered it quickly, almost hoping that it was her. Maybe she'd call to explain, or better yet, to beg for his forgiveness. His shoulders drooped when he realized it was Harry.

             
"Hey Bruce. We need to run through the duet with Betsy. You want to do that now or just before the show?"

             
"Now is fine. Just bring some aspirin."

             
"You okay man? You sound rough."

             
"I'll be fine."

             
He wore dark sunglasses when he went into the theater, leaving them on during the rehearsal. Betsy was a fine singer and sounded great. His voice was the one that was lacking any passion. When they got to the end of the song however he turned to her and said roughly, "The kiss is out."

             
"Yeah, I figured."

             
She was staring at him shrewdly. So he hadn't been as circumspect as he thought. It didn't matter now.

             
"Did you really fire her?"

             
He stared at her face. She had a disapproving look that reminded him of his mother's face when he'd done something bad. He nodded sharply.

             
"Seems harsh, considering the circumstances."

             
"What circumstances? She left without telling anyone why. After one performance."

             
Betsy snorted.

             
"It's not her fault her kid has cancer. Girl has enough to worry about. And now I doubt she'll be able to get another gig. Not once word gets out."

             
"What did you say?"

             
He grabbed Betsy's shoulders.

             
"Her kid. He's in the hospital. Something about the Leukemia coming back. She's scared shitless if you want to know the truth."

             
Bruce closed his eyes. So that was why… oh God. That poor kid. Kat must be beside herself with worry.

             
"You didn't know?"

             
Betsy shook her head and made a tsking sound.

             
"And here I thought you cared about the girl."

             
He watched as Betsy walked off the stage. Harry came down from the booth.

             
"We all good?"

             
Bruce nodded.

             
"Wait- no- Harry I need you to come up to my suite. We need to call my lawyer."

             
He strode out of the theater, his hangover forgotten.

             
Bruce thought about what she'd said about the kid's medicine. About needing this job. About how Tommy had been wearing a baseball cap over his shaved head.

             
How could he have been so blind?

He
felt sick when he thought about his selfish behavior. He'd practically thrown himself at her. Hell, he had. He’d told himself he wanted to take care of her. But when she needed help he had let her down.

             
He had to do something though. Something to help her kid. Never mind making it up to Kat. He wasn't sure if he could ever do that.

             
Once the kid was okay though, he was sure going to try.             

**********

              Katrina was huddled over the help wanted ads in the newspaper. Her mother was back home, gathering clean clothes for Kat. She refused to leave Tommy, even to shower. The nurses had taken pity on her and rolled in a cot after the third day of watching Kat sleep in the chair.

             
"Are you the mother?"

             
Kat nodded and stepped forward. She was terrified that they had somehow figured out that she couldn't pay and were going to kick her out. Kick Tommy out...

             
"Hello I'm Dr. Patrick from Children's Hospital. These are my associates, Doctors Lever and Joseph. Our speciality is childhood leukemia. We are here to take a look at this young man."

             
Kat nodded dumbly and stepped away as the Doctors examined Tommy and looked over his chart. Then they huddled for a moment.

             
"You are going to be fine Tommy. We just need to nip this in the bud. Okay?"

             
Tommy nodded eagerly, smiling at Kat where she stood in the corner, feeling like she was holding up the wall. Finally the doctors stepped into the hallway, gesturing for Kat to follow them.

             
"They are doing a good job of treating the infection here. In about seven days we will start him on a new round of chemo with mistletoe shots to mitigate the side effects. He should stay in our facilities during treatment. As soon as infection is gone they will transfer him to CHLA."

             
Kat's mouth dropped open. That was one of the best pediatric hospitals in the world, let alone Los Angeles. It was also one the most expensive.

             
"Wait- I'm sorry but we can't afford this. We don't have insurance."

             
He glanced at her chart, frowning.

             
"Yes you do."

             
"I do?"

             
"Really good insurance actually. It's private, a single family plan. You and your mother are covered as well. Plus a fifty thousand dollar retainer to our hospital to cover any extras."

             
"But I didn't register for new insurance."

             
"Well, somebody did."

             
One by one the doctors shook her hand and left. Kat walked back into the room and slowly sank down into the chair by the window. Her head was spinning. How had this happened?

             
But she knew how.

             
Moments later huge bunch of balloons were brought into the room. And behind it a huge fruit basket. And behind that a huge bouquet of peach roses.

             
She pulled out the card, knowing what it was going to say before she even opened it.

              Your job is waiting for you whenever you are ready to come back.

             
No more funny business I swear.

             
-Bruce

              Tears of relief sprang into her eyes. She closed them to keep Tommy from seeing her cry.

             
Bruce had unfired her. And somehow he'd found out about Tommy. And he'd wanted to help.

Betsy
and Linda must have told Bruce the truth. And he’d done this extraordinarily generous, life saving thing. God knows why after how many times she’d pushed him away. But apparently, he still cared.

             
A little bit anyway. Beyond that, she was afraid to think about.

             
She didn't even care that he'd been so high handed, swooping in and taking care of her and Tommy like a couple of of lost puppies.

             
It didn't matter right now.

             
All that mattered was that everything was going to be okay.

13

             
Bruce sipped his iced tea as he slowly ate a nicoise salad at the restaurant overlooking the pool. He was feeling good again. It'd been two weeks since he fell off the wagon and made a mess of things. Two weeks of getting daily reports of Tommy's progress through his lawyer and Harry.

             
Two weeks of worry.

             
He'd done little except for his daily workout routine and the show five nights a week. It had given him a lot of time for regrets. And a lot of time to plan.

             
His phone buzzed on the table beside him. It was a text from Harry.

             
'She should be back later today.'

             
Bruce smiled slightly. He didn't need to ask Harry who he was talking about. Harry knew how he felt about Kat, even if he hadn't told him quite how badly he'd bungled it.

             
But he'd spent the past two weeks setting things to rights.

             
He was also getting reports on Tommy and Kat from her mother, Janice. They had formed an alliance of sorts, after he'd apologized for leaving that repellant message on her answering machine. She'd just clucked her tongue and said that Kat had driven her to drink a few times herself.

             
After that he had her full support for everything he did and everything he planned to do.

             
Step one was to make Kat feel safe and comfortable.

             
Step two was to make her realize what she was missing out on.

             
Step three was to make her jealous.

             
He grinned. Judging from her reaction to his fans on opening night, that shouldn't be too hard.

             
Step four though, that was the part he was most looking forward too.

             
Step four was to make her his.

             
Bruce stood up and tossed a tip on the table. He had a few hours to kill before the show. Maybe he'd call Janice and check in. He liked talking to her. And he could go toy shopping for his nieces and nephews.

             
And Tommy. From everything he'd heard from his lawyer, the kid was remarkably brave. Bruce smiled. Of course he was. Just like his mother.

             
Bruce started whistling as he slid into the back of the hotel limo.

             
"What's the best toy store in town?"

             
"There's an FAO Schwartz on the strip."

             
"Let's go there then."

             
"You got it.

**********

              "Hey."

             
Kat felt like a schoolgirl as she approached Bruce backstage before the show. Apparently she was taking all her parts back, even the big duet. The girls had welcomed her warmly so she knew there were no hard feelings about that.

             
He turned and smiled at her. But there was no heat in it this time.

             
"Welcome back Kat."

             
"Thanks. I wanted to- thank you for everything you did for Tommy. And me."

             
He just smiled blandly.

             
"It's no trouble. I just have friends in the right places."

             
"It was more than that."

             
He shrugged.

             
"I'm sorry I just ran off like that. I ws going to call in the morning but I should have left you a message…"

             
She trailed off as he shrugged again.

             
"Betsy filled in for you. She did a great job."

             
"Oh. That's great. I was worried that I'd make things difficult for you."

             
"Not at all."

             
Kat felt a little disappointed by his lukewarm reception. He'd been perfectly polite of course, he just hadn't fawned all over her like usual.

             
It was weird.

             
No, it was more than that.

             
It was professional.

             
That's what she wanted right?

             
Except that it wasn't.

             
A dull feeling came over her. He'd backed off like she'd asked him too. Now she got to realize what she was missing.

             
Once the lights came on though, she forgot everything and lost herself in the thrill of performing. When they broke for intermission she was smiling as she caught her breath and drank a cup of green tea. Bruce was nowhere to be found. But when they went on stage again, it was nearly time to do their duet.

             
Finally it was time. She sang her heart out, loving the sound of their voices together. She had promised her mother a recording of the song. The sound guy had promised to tape it for her tonight.

             
As the song ended she turned to face Bruce. Tenderly he cupped her cheek and pressed his lips to hers. The same electricity jumped between them. The lights went out and he stepped away abruptly, making her feel bereft.

             
It was like that the next night too. And the next.

             
Bruce was polite to her, friendly even. But the hungry look in his eyes was gone, replaced with mild interest.

             
It should have been a relief.

             
She hated it.

             
In fact, he was slowly driving her insane. She had no reason to be upset at all. Tommy was doing great according to her mother who called at least twice each and every day with a detailed report. The hotel had strict orders to track her down if she got another urgent message. The show was going great. The crew and band were getting along really well. She even had friends for the first time in a long time.

             
Everything was great.

             
Kat was miserable.

             
It was Saturday night. They had Sundays off which usually meant that everyone went out on the town after the show. The girls had asked her to but she declined, saying she wanted to watch a movie in her hotel room instead.

             
The show was packed as usual. The crowd was especially wild tonight. There must have been something in the air because when it came time for the kiss, Bruce did something unexpected.

             
He really kissed her.

             
She moaned as he pressed her body against his, her nipples instantly hard. His mouth slanted over hers, urging her lips to part breathlessly. The lights went out but he kept kissing her for a moment. Then he shook his head and pushed her away.

             
"Sorry."

             
"It's- okay."

             
She stood there for a second staring at him before she realized she needed to get back off stage. She was barely there in time for the next number when the lights went up. It was his solo, the sad song he did the acoustic for.

             
She watched in the wings, feeling a very strange emotion as his heart seemed to pour out into the audience.

             
Into her.

             
After the show Kat watched as Bruce signed autographs. Some of the crew and band were going dancing and Bruce invited a few of the more attractive girls to go with them. He threw his arm around one and left without a backward glance.

             
Kat's stomach dropped. He was going to take her advice apparently. He probably already had.

             
He certainly didn't seem frustrated anymore.

             
Betsy and Linda came up on either side of her.

             
"Ooooh, is that the sound of a heart breaking?"

             
"No. No! I just- I don't know."

             
"You got it bad girl. I know the signs."

             
Kat sighed.

             
"Maybe I do. But it's hopeless. He doesn't even like me anymore. I knew this would happen. He's probably been banging a different girl every night."

             
"From what I can tell he goes back to his room every night. Alone. But I can't say for certain."

             
"He hasn't been going out?"

             
Linda shook her head slowly.

             
"We could always go dancing ourselves. Get you all dolled up, go and get your man…"

             
Kat shook her head.

             
"I couldn't. I'd feel ridiculous. Besides, what if he doesn't want me anymore?"

             
Betsy looked at Linda and laughed.

             
"That man looks like he's ready to jump out of his skin whenever you are around. Just… not when you're looking."

             
Butterflies seemed to be flying around her insides all the sudden.

             
"Really?"

             
"Yes really. But I think you're going to have to make the first move honey."

             
She squared her shoulders.

             
"Okay. Let's do it."