The Album: What happens when you fall in love with a rock star? (Cruise Control Book 1)

by Sian Ceinwen

  “Wow,” Ariana repeated, “now, this is what I call a bathroom.”

  “Maybe you could join me for a spa later,” Gabriel suggested while playing with a strand of her hair.

  “I may just take you up on that offer.”

  For a moment, the air sizzled around them as they stared into each other’s eyes.

  “Anyway,” Gabriel coughed, “what are your plans for today?”

  They’d checked in to the hotel in the morning, and it was a free day for the entire crew. Tomorrow the band would be doing interviews while everyone else had a second free day to sightsee until it was all hands on deck preparing for the concert the day after that.

  “I didn’t have anything planned. I was going to see if you wanted to do something…or someone,” she finished suggestively.

  “Well, I thought we could tour New York City by way of doing some shopping. There are a few things I need to pick up, and I thought you’d probably love to visit some of the shops here, but I definitely like your idea better.”

  He dropped his hand from her hair to her waist and pulled her roughly against him, lowering his head to claim her lips.

  “So, do you want to go shopping or stay here, sweetheart?”

  Ariana felt dizzy from his kiss. As much as she wanted to take him up on the offer of staying here in the hotel room all day, she knew he only had one free day here to get anything done, and if he had things he needed to do, she didn’t want to be the reason he didn’t get them done.

  “I guess we should go shopping. They won’t be open all night, but this bed will still be here when we get back.”

  He put his right hand under her chin, raised her face to him, and kissed her again. He used his left hand to explore her body, rubbing a thumb across her nipples, which were jutting out and clearly visible against her top. He then reached down and began rubbing her crotch until she started to get wet before stopping his ministrations on her abruptly.

  “Okay, you’re right. Sightseeing it is!”

  “I take it back!” She replied, laughing.

  “Oh no, baby, no take-backs. Besides, this way, I can tease you all day and make sure that you’re wet and begging for it by the time we get back,” he said with an evil smile.

  They headed down to the hotel lobby and asked the concierge to have a car brought around. Their record company, Sierra Capitol Music, had organized limousines for each of the guys to use while they were on tour.

  They got into the limo with no trouble; apparently, the paparazzi had only really been interested in their arrival. Gabriel asked the driver to take them to Saks Fifth Avenue, and they were on their way.

  “We’re going to Saks?” Ariana asked Gabriel as she relaxed in the back seat next to him.

  He had his arm around her shoulders, and she rested her head against his chest.

  “I thought it would probably be best, I need a suit for an awards night, and there will be plenty of clothes there for you to try on as well.”

  Ariana did some mental math. Her parents weren’t anywhere near as wealthy as her aunt and uncle were. While her relatives might drive Porsches and Bentleys, her parents made do with their Toyota. They got by well enough and had taught Ariana to save, which she’d done all through college while she worked part-time.

  She’d had enough in the bank to not have to worry about finding a job immediately, in fact, that’s what had allowed her to come on this tour, but she would be in trouble pretty quickly if she started going on spending sprees and buying designer clothes at New York City department stores.

  “I don’t really need any new clothes,” she told him.

  “There’s need, and then there’s want. Don’t worry; I bet you’ll see something you like.”

  Ariana didn’t think there was much point in arguing the matter. Perhaps she’d given Gabriel the wrong idea about her. The night they’d met, she had been attending a fancy charity event hosted by the über wealthy. How had they never talked about something as fundamental as money?

  She supposed it hadn’t come up, he’d always generously offered to pay for her when they went out to a restaurant, and she hadn’t given it a second thought. There was no way she could possibly bring it up now, not without making both of them uncomfortable. She would have to find a way to discuss it later.

  They arrived at Saks and thanked the driver as they got out of the limousine. Ariana was completely in awe of the building with its ornate grandeur. They walked through the glass doors and into the department store. It had a sense of hushed luxury, and Ariana felt as though she were in a library, not wanting to raise her voice above a whisper.

  She followed Gabriel to the menswear department, he explained to the assistant what he was looking for, and she headed off to get some suits for him to try on. Ariana noticed that the assistant was incredibly flustered when talking to Gabriel and pegged her for a fan. Ariana was careful to stay a discreet distance from Gabriel so as not to arouse suspicions that she might be anything more than a friend or acquaintance.

  The assistant came back with three suits for Gabriel to try on. All three of them headed to the fitting room, and as they were waiting for Gabriel to come out in the first suit, the assistant made idle chitchat with Ariana.

  “So, how do you know Gabriel?” The woman asked her, a little too casually for Ariana’s liking. It was obvious she was fishing for information.

  “I’m helping out with the tour,” she told her.

  Ariana had lost count of how many times she had told this lie over the past month. She knew that it made Gabriel mildly uncomfortable, but she justified it to herself that she wanted to keep their relationship private, and it wasn’t overly far from the truth. She did try to help out when she could.

  “That’s so awesome, do you get to go backstage?”

  “Yeah, I do, but it’s not as much fun as you might think. You can’t see the stage properly from backstage, so it’s not like you can watch the show that well.”

  “Hey, I’d never thought about that before. Gabriel is so hot, do you know if he’s seeing anyone?”

  She adjusted her top, so it showed more cleavage and hiked up her skirt a couple of inches. Ariana cringed internally; she really hated watching people throw themselves at Gabriel in front of her.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t really know what his romantic situation is, and I’m not really game enough to ask,” Ariana told her.

  The woman had no idea exactly how truthful Ariana was being right then. She longed to tell Gabriel that she was falling in love with him but wanted to be sure of his feelings first. At that point, their conversation was cut off as Gabriel appeared in front of them in a well-cut Versace suit. Ariana almost gasped, she had never seen him in anything so formal, but he looked so elegant that she was astonished.

  Never before had Gabriel looked so utterly unobtainable, so far beyond mortal reach that he couldn’t be touched. When he smiled, he was dazzling, and Ariana found herself dumbstruck.

  “What do you think?” He asked both women, neither of whom could answer sufficiently at the time, “does it look that bad?”

  “No, no, it looks fantastic!” Ariana regained some of her composure.

  “Do you think I should get it or should I try on the other ones first?”

  “Go ahead and try on the other ones, we’ve got all day.”

  Gabriel tried on both of the other suits, and while they each looked great on him, the first was by far Ariana’s favorite. Gabriel must have valued her opinion because he went with her choice over the salesperson’s favorite, which was the last one, a gray Gucci suit. They headed over to womenswear, and Ariana almost cried with glee at some of the clothes there. There were so many gorgeous designer clothes that she didn’t know where to look or what to do.

  Glance in one direction and you could see beautiful Prada cashmere coats, turn your head the other way, and you could see a collection of Versace dresses and skirts. Further back, she could see handbags, including the Burberry bag she kne
w a lot of women would’ve given their left arm for.

  Ariana had never really owned any designer clothes except for ones that her aunt had gifted her. She had her own style that consisted entirely of clothes bought cheaply, and she was okay with that. A sales assistant came over to help them, this one also recognized Gabriel and completely ignored Ariana to address Gabriel instead.

  “Hi there,” she said with a suggestive note to her voice, “is there anything I can help you with?”

  “Sure, could you please get some pieces that my friend might like?”

  The assistant gave Ariana the once-over and then walked off without saying another word.

  “Wow, rude,” Ariana said.

  Sometimes it felt as though people ignored her unless they were trying to get information from her about Gabriel.

  “I can’t stand people in customer service who are rude. If you don’t want to serve customers, don’t get a job in customer service.”

  “Yeah, it could’ve been that, or it could’ve been that she was flirting with you, and you weren’t paying her any attention.” Ariana shrugged at him.

  “You’re nuts,” he responded.

  “If you say so.”

  The sales assistant came back and, to her credit, she had brought some really gorgeous clothes with her that would all look great on Ariana. Even if she had no intention of buying anything, Ariana couldn’t resist trying the clothes on.

  “Could you point us in the direction of the fitting rooms?” Gabriel asked the sales assistant.

  “Over there,” she jerked a thumb towards the corner where the fitting rooms were.

  “Thanks.”

  They walked side by side, Gabriel holding the clothes for her. When they got to the fitting rooms, they were shown inside by an older lady who didn’t seem to recognize Gabriel. She had been sitting flicking through a magazine and didn’t really pay much attention to them as they passed her. They walked to the end of a hallway with changing rooms coming off either side of it. When they reached the end of the hall, Ariana expected Gabriel to take a seat on the chair provided, but instead, he walked into the room after her.

  “What are you doing?” Ariana exclaimed.

  “It’ll be easier this way than you coming out and in all the time.”

  Ariana’s inner rebel came out, and she turned and locked the changing room door behind him.

  The changing room was quite large, probably as big as Ariana’s bathroom in her apartment. There was a chair in the corner, and she pushed Gabriel over to it and made him sit down. She took the clothes out of his hands and hung them up on the hook provided.

  The first item she was going to try on was a flowing, blue silk dress. She turned away from Gabriel, pulled her top over her head, kicked off her shoes, and unzipped her jeans before stepping out of them and kicking them to the side of the room. She stood there in her underwear as she pulled the blue dress off its hanger.

  “God damn, I am loving this view,” he murmured huskily behind her.

  Ariana felt heat come over her as she caught his eyes in the mirror while she unzipped the dress and stepped into it, then turned to Gabriel, holding it up, so it didn’t fall down.

  “Can you zip me up?” she asked him.

  He looked at her, his eyes hooded with lust. She turned her back to him and shivered as his fingers brushed against her lower back when he searched for the zip. He zipped up the dress slowly, and it felt like a caress. Once it was done up, she faced him again.

  “What do you think?” she asked.

  “Gorgeous,” he told her. “You have to get it.”

  “Maybe,” she said. “Now, unzip me.”

  Once again, it felt like a caress as he unzipped her. Perhaps on purpose, he let his fingers brush her back as he unzipped the dress and then dutifully sat back in his chair to wait as she got the next outfit on. Ariana pulled the dress off, placed it back on its hanger, and hung it on a different hook.

  She pulled on a black skirt that came to a few inches above her knee and a cream cashmere top. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she could see that the skirt highlighted her long, lithe legs, and the top clung to her curves. She ran her fingers through her hair to give it some more body and assessed her reflection. This looked really good on her, and she liked it. She turned to ask Gabriel for his opinion.

  “Stunning,” was all he said.

  “Do you like it?”

  “I do, absolutely I do.” Gabriel couldn’t take his eyes off her, and she loved his eagerness.

  “Okay, last item. It’s just a top, so I guess I’ll try it on with this skirt.”

  She pulled the top she was wearing off over her head and hung it carefully on the hanger, making sure that she didn’t stretch the delicate fabric. The last top was probably the most daring one she had to try on. It was a vibrant red with buttons running up the middle, coming to a stop low enough to show a decent amount of cleavage. That wasn’t what made it daring, however—it was completely backless, meaning that wearing a bra wasn’t an option. She unclipped her bra and dropped it on top of the rest of her clothes.

  As she did, Gabriel stood up quickly and moved behind her. Her breath caught as he reached around to place his hands on her breasts and softly rub her nipples. She turned her head to meet his, and they kissed deeply as he continued to knead her breasts. She moaned as quietly as she could as they broke their kiss, her pulse racing.

  He moved around in front of her and lowered his head to her right breast, softly licking it and gently biting at her nipple. She moaned a little louder as he repeated the same thing on her left breast before standing up and stepping back from her.

  “Sorry, couldn’t resist,” he said with a wicked grin as he went to sit back down again.

  “You are the biggest fucking tease,” she pouted at him.

  “I told you that I want you wet and begging for it when we get back, and I meant it.”

  She groaned dramatically to indicate her frustration, then turned and removed the red top from its hanger, put it on, and faced him.

  “Thoughts?”

  “Well, I mean, I definitely preferred it without the top at all but va-va-voom!” He grinned widely, “now, that top, you absolutely have to get.”

  “It’s pretty hot, isn’t it,” she agreed.

  “Turn around so I can see it all,” he requested.

  “I feel so raunchy in this,” she spun so he could see the back.

  “You look so raunchy in that,” he said, smiling mischievously, “is it cold in here?”

  Ariana glanced in the mirror and understood immediately what he was referring to—her nipples were clearly visible through the top.

  He stood up and walked over to her. He grabbed each of her hands in his and held them to her sides as he ran his gaze slowly over her from head to toe. She felt the heat rising in her from the intensity of the moment. She could feel sparks of electricity shooting from the place where his hands held her wrists and darting all throughout her body.

  “You know,” he said casually, “my suite has two bedrooms.”

  “Does it?” She swallowed heavily.

  “It does,” he replied, “I think our luggage would easily fit in the second bedroom, don’t you?”

  “I think you’re right,” she whispered.

  “I know I’m right.”

  He dipped his head to hers and kissed her fully on the mouth; she instinctively tried to put her hands around him, but he was still holding them firmly at her sides. He broke their kiss and smirked at her attempt to move her arms.

  He leaned down and began to kiss and lick her neck, slowly he moved up and then softly said in her ear.

  “All right, time to go.”

  Grinning widely, he let go of her hands and went to sit back down in the chair again.

  “Gaaaaabe,” she whined at him, “that’s not fair!”

  He just laughed at her frustration, and she poked her tongue out at him. He was tormenting her, and secretly she was l
oving it. She was so deeply aroused that everything felt erotic to her. If he even touched her clit for a second, she thought that she’d probably come for him immediately.

  “Soon, baby. I promise.”

  With his words hanging in the air, she took the red top and black skirt off and hung them both up. As nice as it had been trying on the clothes, she had spotted the price labels on them as she was hanging them up and knew that she could never afford them.

  Ariana faced Gabriel and made a show of putting her bra back on as he jokingly made disappointed faces, followed by her jeans and T-shirt, then slipped her shoes on. When she was dressed, he pulled her into a hug and kissed her head.

  “Where to now?” she asked him after he let her go.

  “We have to buy you those clothes,” he told her, seeming confused.

  “Oh, no, I wasn’t really that interested in buying anything. I just wanted to try stuff on.”

  “But you looked amazing in them,” Gabriel was frowning now.

  “I know, I just wasn’t too sure about them.”

  “What do you have to lose?” He asked her.

  Half her savings account, she wanted to reply, but instead, she just shrugged. Gabriel grabbed the clothes off the hook and strode out of the changing room. Ariana scurried after him.

  “What are you doing?” She asked him.

  “Buying you a present,” he replied and headed towards the sales desk.

  Ariana did some mental calculations in her head; he was holding thousands of dollars of merchandise all in less than three outfits.

  “You can’t.”

  “Sure, I can. Watch me.”

  They were almost at the sales desk now.

  “Those clothes are ridiculously overpriced,” she hissed at him.

  “Money isn’t an issue,” he grinned at her, “I’ve got plenty to spare.”

  He placed the items on the desk and turned his charming smile on the girl in front of him.

  “Hi, we’d like to buy these.”

  “Absolutely, sir,” she replied as she began scanning the clothes.