by Lydia Cole
“Nothing fancy,” I decided, ignoring that last comment. If I thought too much on it, I’d probably take him right there. “I’m not in the mood to get dressed up.”
“Okay,” he agreed easily. “What’s this shoot you were talking about?”
I cringed. I hated photo shoots. “For my album cover.”
“Oh, can I come?”
I pulled back and smiled at him. “I guess. If you want.”
“Of course I want,” he assured me. “I can help you get dressed. Oh, and I was playing with those tabs for the duet. I wanted to run something past you.”
“Sure.” I stood and wrapped myself in his arm, letting him lead me into the studio. “Please give me something to do with my brain.”
He chuckled. “I could give you something to do with other body parts, too,” he whispered as we walked into the building.
My whole body tingled. I giggled, then led him into an empty sound proof room. “Save that for later, lover boy.”
Chapter Eight
We lost track of time, of course. And I’d managed to leave my phone in the outside room, so I didn’t hear it ringing off the hook. Hayden and I were working diligently on the song, both of us equipped with guitars and lots of scratch paper. It was tough to not mount him against the wall and have my wicked way with him. But it was fun, working with him. He kept me laughing with his antics.
“Lucy!” A voice yelled from the outside, wrenching open the door. “What the hell is your problem?”
Rage very quickly ran though me. Then, I turned and saw Maya’s tan face in the doorway, and I went a little pale. “Oh, shit.”
“You’re twenty-minutes late, already! Why don’t you have you phone? You know what? It doesn’t matter.” She grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room. “Let’s go! You’re lucky you’re so damn famous or Gregory would have given up on you a half-hour ago!”
I was practically running. I totally forgot about Hayden wanting to come. I didn’t even pull my purse over my head. I made it to the car that had probably been waiting for a while and put my face in my hands. Maya fell in behind me, then reached out to close the door. A hand stopped her, though.
Hayden stuck his face in with a wide smile and handed me my purse. “Sorry, ladies. Call me when you’re done, Lu-Lu.”
I nodded, and we sped off.
Maya was still mad, but equally stunned. “Damn. He’s hotter in person.”
I turned with a smile, then burst into laughter and gave her a long hug. “I missed you, Maya.”
“Yeah, yeah. Someone’s got to keep you in line.”
“How was Florida?”
“Hot.” She sat back and put her hand on her forehead. “He dumped me.”
“Oh, Maya.” I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to me. “Fuck him.”
“I did,” she said with a small smile. “And he sucked.”
I tried to hold it back, but I ended up giggling a little. Maya had met a guy from Florida on my last tour. They’d had some sort of weird long distance relationship that I couldn’t begin to comprehend. She finally took time off, for the first time in the five years since she’d been working for me, and went to see him.
I never did understand Maya’s trouble attracting men. She had gorgeous dark skin, long, brown hair and deep brown eyes. She was a workaholic, though, like me. Maybe that was why we got along so well. She was only a few years older than me. Johnny had hired her young because he thought I needed someone close to my age. He was thoughtful like that.
“So, I haven’t gotten to meet them, yet. Tell me about them.”
“I’ve talked about them enough…” I laughed when she narrowed her eyes at me. “All right. Fine. Sheesh. Ben is adorable. His voice makes me weak, I swear. Deep and passionate. This duet sounds amazing with the two of us. Blonde hair, blue eyes. Total Abercrombie look. Hayden’s a little more rugged. He’s got one of those tumultuous childhood stories. Nate’s his brother, I don’t know if I told you that. He’s really quiet. I haven’t broken him just yet. And then Grant. He looks like a little angel. A little baby fat around the cheeks.” I smiled and pinched my own cheeks for emphasis.
“How old are they?”
“Um…I think Hayden’s the oldest. Mid-twenties. I’m not really sure. That wasn’t a priority question for me.”
Maya threw her hands in the air. “You miss the important things, Lucy, I swear!”
It was all a rush, until we stopped when we got to our destination. I sprinted to my chair, then sat for a half-hour while I was painted and done up. Then, I did my best to do the poses Gregory wanted. He was the best, after all. When he told me to act natural, I just raised an eyebrow at him. Then, he had someone turn on some music, my music, and handed me a prop microphone. Did he know me or what? The pictures came out awesome, if I do say so myself.
It was after three when we were done and I sort of felt like I’d given a concert. I was on a little high. I took my phone from Maya and dialed Hayden as we walked back to the car.
“Miss me already, Angel?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. But I changed my mind. I’m all made up already, so you’re taking me somewhere nice.”
He chuckled. “All right. What are you wearing?”
I had to look down. I’d gotten lost at the second wardrobe change. I started from the foot and went up. “Um…leather boots, tight blue jeans, and a white top with a very visible black bra.”
“Damn. You just made me hard.”
Maya chuckled. “And hooker makeup!” She added beside me, carting the bags of clothes she’d bought for the shoot.
“I do not have on hooker makeup.”
She dug through her purse when we sat in the car, producing a mirror that she shoved in my face.
“Holy crap. I do have on hooker makeup. I look filthy.”
Hayden laughed in my ear. “Good. Just the way I want you. You wanna drive or do you want to get a car? Or maybe I could drive one of your kick ass cars.”
“Hmm…” I tapped my chin. “I’ll drive. You have to earn my trust to drive one of my babies and I’ve yet to see you drive.”
“Okay. But I’m unbeatable at Mario Kart. Just saying…”
“I’m sure you are. And after dinner, we’re going to a club. I feel like dancing.”
“I like a woman that takes charge,” Hayden said with a laugh.
“I’ll pick you up in a few.” I turned to Maya. “I’m going on a date.”
She gave me a small smile. “Sounds like fun.”
“And then after,” I grabbed her face in my hands, “you’re going to collect all the guys and meet us at the club.”
Her smile widened. “All right.”
I pulled up to the hotel where the guys were staying an hour later. I vaguely recognized the guy behind the front desk from my frequent trips there and waved to him as I made my way to the elevator. They had the top floor to themselves, courtesy of Johnny. It was actually only two very big rooms, anyway. Ben and Hayden had the one to the right of the elevator, and Nate and Grant shared the one across the hall. Since I was super cool, I had access to the penthouse. Permanently.
I knocked on the door and smiled when Ben answered. “Hey, hot stuff.”
He looked me up and down. “I’m jealous.”
“You should be.” I hugged his neck and walked into the sitting room. “Is he like a girl or what?”
“A little,” Ben agreed, joining me on the couch. “He tends to take awhile to get ready.”
“Ugh. I knew it was too good to be true for him to be super hot, naturally.” I rolled my eyes and clicked on the television. Just my luck, they were playing a recap of my morning interview. I turned up the volume and watched myself. There definitely was a flicker of death in my eyes when Gina turned the picture of Hayden and me, toward me. I was surprised she didn’t scamper away in fear.
“Damn,” Ben commented beside me. “What a bitch.”
I snorted in agreement. “I take it you didn
’t watch this morning?”
“No. I was…uh…”
I turned with a wide smile. “Did you go home with her? Did you screw the new girl?”
“No!” His cheeks turned an adorable pink color. “We just…talked…awhile.”
“Aw,” I cooed and pinched his red cheeks. “You’re so cute, Benny!”
“Benny?” Hayden walked into the room with a wide smile. “Why are you so cute, Benny?”
Ben sent a pair of evil eyes to Hayden. “Shut up, man.”
I was too busy drooling to take part in the conversation. Hayden had on plain blue jeans and a tight black shirt that showed off every part of his hard body. It was simple, and it made me hot immediately. He smiled at me slowly and I resisted the urge to jump him right there, when his dimples teased me. It had been a long time since a man had set me off with just a look.
I stood and walked toward him. “Did you make reservations somewhere?”
He winked at me and my knees went weak. “Of course, doll. Let’s go.” He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and directed me out of the room. “It’s going to be hell watching you all night in that shirt and imaging all the ways I can tear it off,” he whispered in my ear. His cologne forced a long breath in and out. He smelled like heavenly sex.
Something escaped my mouth that sounded like a whimper. It was exhilarating and horrifying that he could do that with such little effort. I managed to make it back out to the parking lot without ripping his clothes off. He directed me to the passenger side of the ‘Vette and pushed me gently against the door.
“I swear to God, I’m the luckiest guy on Earth. You look so fucking hot.” He leaned down and kissed me hungrily. With great effort, he pulled away. “Now get in the car before I change my mind about taking you out.”
I was so flustered. I climbed into the passenger seat. It didn’t even occur to me until he slid into the driver’s seat and held his hand out for the keys. And even then, my brain wasn’t processing enough to argue. I just handed over the keys and clicked my seat belt absently.
“Are you going to be this talkative all night?” Hayden asked with a smug smile. “Because if you are, I’m gonna have to restrain you.â€�
That sufficiently pulled me out of my stupor. “You’re an asshole.”
The smile widened. “I know.”
“Seriously.”
“Yup. So my mom told me,” he agreed. “Wanna know where we’re going?”
“No.” I crossed my arms over my chest and tried to be mad. It didn’t last long. “Where?”
“Now you want to know?” He glanced over at me with an amused smile. “Hensley.”
My eyes widened. Even I had trouble getting a reservation at Hensley. “How did you manage that?”
He shrugged. “I think the girl had a crush on me.”
“Of course.” I sat back and sighed. “If you get one scratch on my car, I’ll kill you.”
“I look forward to it.”
As it turned out, the entire world had watched that stupid morning show. Hayden had made the mistake of giving his real name when he made the reservation. We were the talk of the restaurant. But, they did give us a nice, private table in the back. He had his arm wrapped loosely around my neck as we followed the girl. I liked that everyone knew I was his tonight.
Dinner was rushed to us and the service was amazing. It usually was, though.
“So, tell me if this is too personal,” Hayden looked up at me as he took a bite of steak. “What happened to your mom?”
It caught me off guard for a second, but I took a breath and dove in. After all, he had opened up to me about his dark past. “She died in a plane accident when I was three. I never even got to know her.”
He frowned and reached across the table to put his hand over mine. “I’m sorry, Angel. I shouldn’t have brought it up.”
I shook my head. “Her name was Julia. Johnny used to talk about her all the time, but I guess we sort of both went on with life. He says I have her smile.” I toyed with the noodles on my plate. “Sometimes I wish I’d have been able to know her. I mean, I guess it might have been harder if I’d actually known her, but when people tell me that she was so amazing, I could agree.”
“At least you have Johnny. It seems like he did a good job of taking both roles.”
A smile spread across my face. “Yeah. He’s great. He’s dated a lot of women, but never for long. He says no one could replace Mom.”
“Well, I can’t blame him. From what I know, your mom pretty much made Johnny who he is.”
“That’s what I’m told.” I shook my head and took a deep breath. “Brighter subject, please.”
He took another bite, watching me intently. “Ben spent the night with the porn star.”
I laughed quietly. “Don’t say that too loud in public, Hay.” I glanced around to make sure no one was listening. “He said they were up late talking. He claims that’s it.”
“Right,” Hayden said slowly. “She’s hot. I can’t blame him.”
My face fell slightly. She was hot. Anyone with working eyes could see that she was hot. When Connor and Ben had said it, I didn’t really care. But I didn’t like hearing it come out of Hayden’s mouth. “Yeah.”
“You have got to be kidding me.”
I looked up at his amused eyes. “What?”
“You’re jealous? You. Lucy Gold. Little Miss Cool and Hot.” He shook his head in disbelief.
“What? I have real boobs that need support and my hair is always a mess.” I shrugged, as if it didn’t matter. “I’ve come to accept that.”
“Babe,” Hayden shook his head, then reached around and pulled my chair closer to his. “Did you miss that whole episode in the parking lot where I was barely controlling myself?” He leaned over when I shrugged. “Jesus Christ, Lucy. You drive me crazy, you’re so hot. I actually had a semi when I first saw you. And, I’ll admit, I’ve masturbated plenty of times to your image over the years, and I’m pretty sure the whole of Reluctant Angel has.â€�
“Lovely, Hayden…Let’s not share everything, shall we…�
“You’re fucking gorgeous, babe. How can you possibly doubt that?”
I shrugged again. “Because I’m a twenty-one-year-old girl.”
He pulled back slightly. “Really? You’re only twenty-one?”
My eyes wandered to his, a chuckle in my throat. That was what he got out of that conversation. “Yes.”
“I thought you were older…”
My eyes narrowed. “Why? And why does it matter? Maya said I always forgot the important stuff because I couldn’t tell her how old you guys were.”
“It doesn’t matter. You just seem older.” He shrugged, returning to his food. “I’m twenty-four. Nate’s twenty-three. Ben and Grant are twenty.”
I nodded. “See, that’s not important to me. Why does Maya think that’s important?”
We finished our dinner, skipped on dessert, and headed out. We didn’t make it to the door, though. A brave girl stepped forward and asked for an autograph. I smiled and scribbled a message on a napkin. That one opened the floodgates. They all looked at Hayden curiously, but no one recognized him. I had to politely excuse myself after a few pictures.
“Don’t worry, lover boy. Soon, that’ll be you, too.” I smiled when he opened my door for me.
“I’m in no hurry,” he assured me. That made me frown, which he noticed when he sat down beside me. “What?”
“You aren’t in a hurry?”
His eyebrows came down in confusion. “To be bombarded everywhere I go? Not particularly.”
“But you’re with me.”
He smiled slightly. “I like the way that sounds.”
“But, Hayden.” I turned and gave him my serious eyes. The same look I had given my dad over the years. “You’re rushing it by being with me. Get it?”
“Oh, that…” He shrugged. “Oh, well. Maybe I am in a hurry,
then.”
I strummed my fingers across my thigh.
Hayden put his hand over mine. “Relax. Stop thinking so damn much.”
“I’m not.”
“Liar. You’re doing the strumming thing. I still haven’t figured out what song it is, yet, but I will.”
I smiled slightly. “I don’t know. It’s one of those subconscious things.” I shifted in my seat. “Did you know Tiffany Tully plays the piano? Johnny was talking about it. That she could play in her music. A piano in rock music. What is the world coming to?”
“I think it would be cool. Different. I’ve always thought the piano is beautiful.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’re supposed to agree with me no matter what.”
“Uh, how about no. I’m supposed to be behind you no matter what. I’m not supposed to engage in group thinking.”
“You’re behind me no matter what?” I turned to look at him with wide eyes.
“Babe, I’ll gladly always be behind you giving you the good stuff.� He winked.
“Hayden! Be serious, please.�
He shrugged. “Within reason. I mean, if you decide you want to commit mass murder, I might have to disagree.”
“What about if I get in a fight with Ben? Would you take my side?”
His bottom lip went between his teeth. “I guess that depends on what the argument is about. Because, let’s face it, you can be pretty insufferable when it comes to the music.”
I started to argue, but he was right. “What if I decide I don’t like the porn star?”
“It wouldn’t kill me not to talk to her.” He looked over at me with a small smile.
“What about if I go psycho and decide to move to some secluded island somewhere and give up music altogether?”
Hayden’s smile widened. “That will never happen.”
“But what if?” I raised my voice frantically.
“Well, then I guess I’d have to check out this secluded island.”
My heart literally stopped in my chest. “Seriously?”
He looked down at me with dark green eyes. “I can think of a few things we can do on a secluded island. Many of which are illegal in some states.”