Rock Hard: A Bad Boy Rock Star Romance (22 page)

At least that's what I told myself. I knew the real reason she was probably looking for me was the same reason most women tended to look at me. It's not like I could help it, though I sure as hell took advantage of my good looks when I was younger. Something that I felt ashamed of now every time I thought about it. No, that girl was wondering where I was because she wanted to get another look.

What can I say? My good looks were a curse as much as they were a blessing sometimes. They'd made my career, but they also made it impossible for me to go out in public.

"And where did your friend disappear to?"

"He's around," Mia said.

"But I didn't see him…"

"I said he's around. He'll probably be back, now could you please leave me alone?"

"Fine," the girl said.

A definite hint of iciness had entered into her voice. No, she didn't seem at all pleased to have Mia talking to her like that. Fine. Sticking her nose in where it wasn't wanted? Having Mia get a little snippy with her was the least she deserved, even if she was just doing her job.

Mia closed the door and turned back to me. She was breathing heavily, and I couldn't tell whether she was breathing heavily because of the makeout session or because she didn't like confronting that girl. Either way I was so in love with her in that moment. She'd handled that masterfully.

"You're a natural at this," I said. "I should invite you on tour to run security. You're much better than most of those assholes were at getting rid of inquiring eyes, with the exception of Jake."

"So?" Mia asked, looking me up and down with a slightly confrontational look, her arms crossing under her breasts which only served to draw my attention to that most distracting bit of her anatomy.

So my cock was throbbing as I looked at her. It was straining for her. I was in a mood where I wanted to wheel her around, pull that dress up, and have my way with her right here and now in the changing room.

Only that would definitely give things away to the girl we’d just managed to get rid of. That would definitely cause her to bring the cameras. Probably call the cops as well, and that would be one hell of a news story. Not only would I be caught on camera, but there'd be an arrest record to go along with it.

No, as much fun as it might be to bend her over, to see if she was up for a little fun like last night, I’d control myself. I could wait and hope she’d be in a mood later when the moment was more opportune.

"Shouldn't you be going?" she asked. "Before that girl comes back?"

She was asking if I should be going, but there was a hitch in her voice. It seemed like she was having trouble backing up her desire to get me out of here.

Yeah, that hitch in her voice said it all.

"I don't want to leave," I said, my desire overcoming my better judgment.

I advanced on her, and once more I put my hands out. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath, inhaling the intoxicating perfume that was her. Enjoyed the soft and yet so firm sensation that was her body pressing against mine again. God damn she was so hot. She got me so worked up!

I opened my eyes and looked down at her. Leaned in. I noticed that for all her attempts to seem like she wasn't interested, to act like the ice queen, she melted as my lips brushed against hers. She even opened her mouth and I thought I detected her tongue moving out, but I pulled away.

I grinned. Now it was my turn it to be the tease. It was my turn to get her worked up and leave her wanting more. Hopefully that more would come later tonight if things went well and we found a hotel. I didn't want to take her back to my tour bus. Not again. There was something about it that seemed slightly sleazy. It reminded me of all of the other women I'd had in the back of a tour bus over the years, and I wanted Mia to be different. I wanted her to be something more. The way I felt about her… I had a hard time putting it into words. I had a hard time even thinking about it. She drove me that crazy!

"I'm leaving, but you go ahead and leave that dress on."

Mia cocked an eyebrow at me. "Why would I do that?"

I grinned. "Because that's the one and I’m buying it for you."

She turned and looked at herself in the mirror, then turned back and smiled at me. "If you say so, but I'd…" She hesitated. She smiled and then she frowned and then she fixed her eyes on me. It was a laser focus that had me paralyzed in place.

Finally she seemed to come to a decision and a huge grin split her face. "Of course I'm not done with my date night outfit yet."

"What are you talking about?"

Mia suddenly looked innocent. Or at least she looked like she was trying to look innocent. I'm not sure she was necessarily doing a great job of it considering she also had a naughty grin that made it obvious I was going to like whatever it was she was about to say.

23: Retail Escape

I couldn't believe I was about to say this. I took a deep breath. I let it out. "I was thinking maybe we could stop by the lingerie store…"

I looked up at him and almost expected him to laugh. But instead he raised an eyebrow and fixed me with a sexy look. A look that very nearly had me melting against the wall. Damn.

"That sounds just fine Mia," he said.

We breezed to the front where he quickly paid for the dress. The girl looked like she was going to say something about me wearing it out, but his credit card went through even as my eyes bugged out at the price and then we were making our way out. I tossed my work clothes into the bag, though I felt like an idiot walking around the mall in a dress this nice.

It wasn't exactly formal wear, but it was the closest thing the store had to formal wear, and this was by far the nicest store in the mall. I felt like people's eyes were on me. I felt ridiculous. All the more so because I'd just made an offer to go to the lingerie store.

Once we got there I went to pick some things out, but he held up a hand. He grinned.

"Will you indulge me?"

I took a deep breath. I licked my lips. I looked at him, and then I looked over my shoulder to a couple of girls dressed in some pretty nice clothes working behind the counter. Only from the way one elbowed the other it seemed like they definitely recognized one of us.

Damn it. I figured it was only a matter of time before word got out that Grant was here shopping for underwear with some random girl. And so I nodded my head and agreed as much to get him in and out of here as quickly as possible as for any desire to have him pick out my underwear.

That did seem kind of hot though.

"Go back to the changing area," he said. "I'll toss something over the door for you to try on."

I shook my head. I couldn't believe I was doing this. I just hoped he didn't decide to go for a repeat performance of what he'd done in the last changing room.

I'd been weak in the knees. I'd been so damn wet. I was ready to let him flip me around, bend me over, and take me right there. The poor girl working there probably would've called the cops, but I couldn't help myself. I was that turned on! I was surprised when I got out of there without giving into temptation!

I found a changing room and let myself in. It seemed the girls who were supposed to be helping me out weren't anywhere in sight. I imagined they were probably so caught up with the idea of finding Grant in their store that they couldn't be bothered with me. I wondered if this sort of thing would start to happen a lot if I spent more time with him.

I shook my head. I kept having this debate. Thinking of spending more time with Grant would make me smile, and then I'd remember who he was. I'd remember who I was. I'd remember how completely different our lives were, and that would inevitably send me crashing back down to reality. I had to keep reminding myself that this was just one night.

I figured that was all the more reason to be as crazy as possible and really enjoy myself though. And so I waited in the changing room until I heard a familiar voice on the other side.

"I'm in here," I said.

Something flew over the door.

"You might want to hurry up," he said. "I'm pretty sure those girls recognized me.”

I needed to talk to somebody about this. I pulled out my phone and started tapping to Kayla. Granted she probably wasn’t the best person to talk to considering how she got about the band, but she was also the only person who was in on the secret which put me in a bind.

"Are you around?" I tapped.

"Sure as hell am! Is what I heard true?"

I grinned and shook my head. Of course she’d know about the strange circumstances surrounding how I left work today. Every woman at the company who still retained some love of Twenty Promises probably knew all about it at this point. That she'd heard all about it even when she worked on another floor was proof enough of that. Usually people didn't talk between different parts of the company unless the gossip was really good.

Then again I suppose the head of one of the world's most successful bands, even if it was the most successful band a decade prior, would be worth a lot of gossip. Particularly when he showed up and swept away one of the girls working at the company.

I was never going to live this down.

"I'm with Grant right now at the mall," I said. I paused for a moment. Hesitated and wondered whether or not I should send the next bit. "We've already been dress shopping for a date tonight, and now we're at the lingerie shop."

There was a pause. Finally a message came back. "Slut ;)"

I laughed. "Guilty as charged. Though I'm kind of conflicted here…"

"What's the conflict? He came looking for you, I’d say that's a pretty big deal. Especially after he acted last night!"

I bit my lip. I thought about how I hadn't been entirely truthful with Kayla last night when I was making my escape.

"I might not have been telling the entire truth last night when I said he kicked me out…"

"What?"

"I might have snuck out because I was afraid."

"Are you crazy! What could you possibly be afraid of?"

What was I afraid of? It was a damn good question. Was I afraid of having my middle school reputation for hating Twenty Promises ruined amongst the few friends I had who still remembered those days? Was I afraid of being a one night stand? Was I afraid of falling for a man from a completely different world? A man who'd lived a rock star lifestyle for the past decade and might be out of touch with reality, might hurt me without even meaning to?

I think we had a bingo there. I was terrified. So far he'd seemed sincere enough, but there were those glimpses of the world he lived in. Those two girls up at the front of the store mooning over him and making me wonder if we needed to get the hell out of here as quickly as possible were a good example. And don’t even get me started on the crazy women snapping pictures at lunch.

Just going out on one date with him was enough to pull me into a strange world where people were watching my every move. Watching my every move because of who I was dating, and not because of anything inherently interesting about me.

Could I deal with a romance under those circumstances? I just didn't know. The thought of living in that world terrified me even as the thought of being with Grant sent butterflies dancing through my stomach. The thought of what we might be doing later tonight with some of this lingerie I was purchasing was doing that as well.

Though I guess Grant would be the one doing the buying. I heard somebody out in the hallway and I tapped out a quick message.

"No time to talk right now," I said. "Someone's coming."

I put my phone back in my pocket, though I could hear it buzzing. Buzzing several times, actually. I had a feeling I was going to have as many messages waiting for me when I pulled it out again as I had the night before when I disappeared with Grant. I'm sure Kayla had all sorts of questions, but she wasn't going to get answers anytime soon.

Not if this date night went as well as it seemed like it was going to go considering where I was and what I was trying on!

I sighed even as I pulled the outfit down and started to take the dress off. This wasn't the kind of dress that you got in and out of quickly. I definitely should've kept my work clothes on if I was going to come over here and try something on.

It didn’t help that I felt hurried by those girls.

I distracted myself by looking down at the outfit he'd bought for me. My eyes went wide. Damn. This is what I got for letting a man pick lingerie!

Up top it was a strapless black bra. At least he had that much of an eye. Straps wouldn't work with a strapless dress. The thing was practically see-through. As I took my work bra off, a plain white number that was pretty boring, I realized I could see everything. My nipples were straining out. I might as well not be wearing a bra at all!

I shook my head. I suppose that was the point of wearing lingerie like this.

I looked at the underwear and it was the same. And for a surprise I felt a thrill running through me as I looked at that. It was so sheer in the front, and it was basically a thong in the back. I could tell immediately that I was sold and I hadn’t even tried them on yet. I looked over to the door.