HERO (The Complete Series)

by Bella Love-Wins

  Sebastian had been working with his regular guy since he started these physio sessions. They had built a friendly rapport. Now he wasn’t sure what to make of this switch. He just hoped this woman wouldn’t let the past influence his treatment today. He was sure that if she wanted to, she could make it feel like hell on earth.

  She smiled back at him for his well wishes, her long red hair spread across her back in spirally curls. “I’ll try to get you out of here on time today. So, are you ready to get started? Just to warn you, today’s circuit of exercises is going to hurt a bit. I want to prepare you for it.”

  Exactly what I was trying to avoid.

  A physical therapist with a grudge.

  Half groaning, he looked over at her. She was laughing. This did not look good.

  “By the time I’m done with you, you’ll be running marathons, Bash. Just don’t hate the therapist…hate the therapy, all right?”

  He nodded and had a seat where she instructed him to. She took away his crutch and placed a hand on his leg to position it so it lined up with the equipment. Sebastian jumped slightly. It might have been his imagination, but it sure felt like she was touching him more intimately than necessary. Her fingertips slid slightly up his thigh and he froze. Then again, maybe it wasn’t his imagination.

  Thankfully it was over as soon as it began. “You’re all set to go, Bash,” she told him. Her green eyes meet his, and her lips parted slightly, but the rest of her body language maintained professionalism, despite her obvious game. Okay maybe it wasn’t that obvious, but Sebastian was sure he was on to something. He hoped it would be over soon.

  Bracing himself, he got started with the painful yet necessary exercises. Every one of them was designed to strengthen the muscles supporting the tendons and cartilage in his knee. He needed to focus on each as though his life depended on it—because it did, where his career was concerned.

  As he moved to do his round of cycling on a stationary bike, Kennedy drifted away in the direction of the whirlpool at the back. Sebastian wasn’t lucky enough to require water therapy like some of the others, but he passed it on his way to the larger change rooms at the back. In any case, she was gone for a few minutes, and Sebastian could focus on cycling, sweating and gritting his teeth as he worked through the pain.

  “Whew! Gets a little easier every time, don’t it?” a chatty older man chuckled from his bench nearby. The man lifted a medicine ball over his head and slowly set it back down, repeating the exercise over and over. “Shoulder injury,” he added by way of explanation.

  Sebastian nodded. “Banged up knee.”

  “You don’t say? Car accident?”

  “No. House fire. I’m a firefighter. Ran into something in a burning house a couple of months back.”

  Sebastian wanted to be as brief as possible. He had to stick to the script. The popular topic of conversation in the center was how patients got hurt. For him, talking at a time like this made the workout more difficult. It pulled him from his focus. For what he was trying to accomplish for the firefighter fit test, he needed a lot of that. The old man smiled politely and looked off.

  “What about you? How’d you hurt your shoulder?” Bash asked respectfully, not wanting to be too antisocial with the older man.

  The man launched into a tale about throwing his shoulder out while playing with his grandkids. Sebastian finished on the bike and continued working his knee with sliders on the bench next to the man. After he finished listening to the story, he wished the man well in his recovery and moved on to the next exercise. Restlessly, he got back to focusing on it. Back an inch, forward an inch.

  Fuck, why does something this simple hurt so much?

  Someone lightly placed a hand on Sebastian’s back in the middle of a set and he jump, startled.

  It was Kennedy.

  Mike never does that.

  “How are you doing over here, Mr. Sullivan?” Her voice was extra-chipper, the way nurses speak to patients when they’re sorry to stab them with a needle, but it’s their job so they do it anyway.

  Sebastian groaned, still breathing heavily. “I’m fine. What’s up?”

  She waved for him to follow her to the next station.

  “I’m not finished with these sets yet,” he explained.

  “All right. Wrap it up on the next three reps if you can.”

  “Sure.” He finished off, grabbing his towel to wipe the sweat off his face before following her.

  “I’m glad to see you getting around with just one crutch this time,” she mentioned as she slowed down to walk beside him. “Your charts note that you were using two up to last week.”

  “Yes. It’s been all right.”

  “Do you feel like the physical therapy is helping?”

  “Anything this uncomfortable has to be doing something, doesn’t it?”

  Kennedy laughed pleasantly—too pleasantly—as she showed him what to do on the next machine. “It gets better,” she assured him.

  Now that makes sense. Torture’s coming.

  She stuck around to make sure he used proper form, and very briefly her pillowy breasts brushed against his arm as she leaned closer. He made nothing of it, but Kennedy hurriedly stammered a shy apology for invading his space. He followed her with his eyes when she dashed away. She coyly glanced back, a bit of a blush across her cheeks.

  Sebastian thought about Alexandra just then. He missed her. He missed their chemistry. Without even trying, Alexandra commanded his attention. Everything between them was so natural. He was pretty sure Alexandra was the one. If they could just get over this distance.

  Kennedy returned after five minutes. She told him to wrap up on the machine, and led him to get his pulse and blood pressure checked in a room that was closed off from the main physical therapy floor. “Your first half is almost over,” she said when he made it inside.

  Sebastian sighed and sat down. “Yep.”

  She wrapped the blood pressure sleeve around his lower bicep. “You’ve been my easiest patient today, Bash.”

  “Good to hear.”

  “Your appointment today is the last one for my shift. As soon as you leave, I can gear up and go.” Her soprano laughter chimed when she finished.

  He nodded. “That’s nice.”

  “Hey. Maybe we can go have a drink after. For old time’s sake?”

  She’s married and hitting on me?

  What is it with me and married women?

  Trying to keep it professional, he answered with, “I wish I could, but I have a few errands to run after this.”

  “Sure. Okay.”

  “Sorry to disappoint.”

  “It’s no problem.” She removed the sleeve and held his wrist to take a timed pulse.

  Their eyes met. Bash studied her face, wishing the session could end so he could get out of this woman’s grasp.

  Thankfully, Kennedy became all business again. “All right. You’re all set to finish the second round, Bash. You’ll have fifteen minutes of sets, and for the last fifteen minutes, you’ll be in the second room on the left for the electronic pulse massager.”

  “Great.”

  He hoped she wouldn’t cross the line again, but sadly, she went all in.

  “Can I ask you something?” she said in a soft tone.

  “Sure.”

  “That thing you did to me…with your tongue. It was—”

  No no no. This can’t be happening.

  He held up his hand to stop her. “Kennedy. Let’s not go there.”

  “I just want to know how you did that.”

  “It’s best to let it go.”

  She pressed her hands on his chest to keep him in the seat. “I just want to know how. I swear you made me come three times from that one move that night.”

  Sebastian wrapped his hands around both her wrists to dislodge her palms from his chest. Moving her back slightly, he stood up and took a long stride to his left so he was closer to the door. “This is not the time or place, Kennedy. Plus y
ou’re married.”

  “No I’m not.”

  “So what’s that ring you were flashing at me?”

  “Oh this? It’s nothing.”

  “Oh. Well, I’m not looking at the moment. It’s best you try to forget it ever happened, Kennedy.”

  “But—”

  “Not here. Time and place, Kennedy. Time and place.” With that, he quickly headed for his next workout.

  Chapter 6

  ALEXANDRA looked over at Rita Sage as she stood at the head of the large conference table for the Artist & Repertoire team meeting. Today she looked the same. Powerful. Confident. No nonsense. Yet to Alexandra, something had changed and she didn’t seem as ominous.

  Maybe it’s me.

  Maybe I’ve changed.

  “This album is dropping in three weeks, people,” Rita started. “What can we do to make Lexxi Rock a household name in time for that release?”

  Suggestions flew from all directions. Alexandra sat there, bored, watching other people run the show. She wondered how come no one mentioned what had happened during her appearance on the Sammy P. Higgins Live show. It was quite the surprise that twelve hours could have passed by since she was on the show, and now no one here said a word?

  “Exclusivity,” Rita shouted, getting Alexandra’s attention again. “Let’s ensure the subscription music apps and free streaming audio and video sites have no access to the content until a few weeks after the album drops. That’ll boost the first week sales. Everyone will be salivating to get a listen somehow.”

  Her Director of Online Promotions added, “Also, once we get to the streaming sites, we push it forward with the ones willing to compensate best. Nobody likes free shit.”

  “Nobody in business, that is,” Rita quipped, and only the two of them chuckled. Everyone else seemed to be their usual uptight and anxious selves.

  Alexandra looked around at familiar faces she still couldn’t put names to, as well as a few new people. The turnover on the corporate side was not too high, but high enough that she rarely took the time to get to know the incoming staff. An intern brought her a flute of champagne while she nibbled on sliced cucumbers from the catering trays of food. Right now her job was to sit and be present. She didn’t like that.

  When this meeting ended, she would head over to the studio. That was what excited her today. She was dying to record the song she had started writing on her first day back in Los Angeles. There was an appointment with a photographer for an album shoot right after that. There was so much to do. She had barely been back home a couple of days, but Rick and the label made sure she hit the ground running.

  The question of how come they didn’t mention the wig fiasco started to niggle at the corner of her mind now. She wanted to know.

  Another employee slid his tablet across the table. It was lit up with several blog mockups. “Exposure, exposure, exposure! Lexxi needs to be on the cover of every popular print magazine and online blog that targets the same demographic we target.”

  “I’m already on top of that!” another guy said.

  “What about radio interviews?” someone suggested.

  Rita snorted. “Radio is dead.”

  Alexandra rolled her eyes. If that was the case, why did she still have a shitload of radio interviews lined up?

  This meeting was trying her patience.

  Someone else suggested, “Hit social media. Hard. We need Lexxi tweets, Instagram and Pinterest photos, Facebook posts. And those YouTube ads too. Not just her videos, but where we can layer over those ten-second sponsored video teasers.”

  “Good,” Rita agreed. “What else are kids using these days?”

  Alexandra did not need to be here. Social media was another area where she had a love-hate relationship. She loved connecting to her fans and hearing some of their ideas and stories, but it was impossible to keep up. What was worse was having to deal with the way the team Rita hired portrayed her with their planted tweets. She would be so much better off if they didn’t manage her account, but doing it herself would create a new avalanche of work.

  Alexandra glanced at her smartphone when it buzzed with a message from Bash. It simply read, Missing you in this big old house. God she missed him too. Smiling down at the message, she put the phone on the table, and was about to send him a reply when Rita cleared her throat.

  “Put that thing away, Lexxi. This next part is important.”

  Uh oh.

  She slid the purse off the table and into her bag. “Great. I’m listening.”

  “All right, so let’s get to a few media management related issues. First, the little situation with bad press after your father became ill, Lexxi. That will likely work in your favor. It put you on the radar way before the release date, which will keep a steady buzz going. People might hate you, but as long as they buy you, it doesn’t matter.”

  Alexandra blew out a breath. Rita called up someone from the PR team and whispered something in her ear. The young woman hurried out of the room. Alexandra eyes her as she walked out, wondering what that was about.

  Rita continued. “Next, Lexxi, is that stunt you pulled on the Sammy P. Higgins Live show. What are we, twelve now? That whole walking on stage with the wig in your hand instead of on your head…all I can say is…bravo!”

  She liked it?

  Here I thought I was liberating myself and revealing the new me, and Rita thinks it was all fun and games for the album?

  Go figure.

  Rita then walked over to Alexandra, placed a hand on her shoulder as she looked down into her eyes. After a beat she said, “We have one more trick up our sleeves that will really get them talking. Send him in.”

  She turned around when the conference room door opened. In walked Wilkes with an apologetic smile and his hands up in surrender. “Let the record show I had nothing to do with this.”

  Awwww hell no.

  “What’s going on?” Alexandra asked, sitting forward.

  Rita smiled tightly and pointed at the display screen where graphics for Lexxi’s album pre-sales were still on display. Up popped a proposal labeled ‘Operation Wexxi’.

  Operation what?

  As Wilkes plopped down in a seat across from her, she got a crystal clear idea of what Rita and her team had in mind.

  “Oh no. No no no no no no no. Absolutely not,” she protested, shaking her head with her eyes closed. “No way in hell, Rita. This is where I have to put my foot down.”

  “You don’t like the blend of Lexxi and Wilkes, right? I know, it’s terrible, but we tried ‘Wilexxi’ and ‘Lewi’ and a combination of other tie-ins. None of them work.”

  “No! It’s not the hybridized name that bothers me. It’s the very idea!” she said in vain.

  Rita chortled and others joined in with her laughter. “Don’t be childish, Lexxi. This is marketing. It will be great for both of your careers. The two of you already had a very public, very amorous relationship, then you split unexpectedly, leaving your fans heartbroken. Wilkes has an album coming out soon, just like you do. What better way to ring in the new music season than with some fireworks? All you have to do is play up the idea that you two hooked back up. A few strategic appearances together should do the trick.”

  Alexandra’s eyebrows clashed together, and her eyes narrowed. “That’s dishonest. I’m not doing it.” The rebuttal sucked, and did sound quite infantile, but it was the best she could come up with under the circumstances. They couldn’t have given her a heads up about this, because they probably knew she’d never have shown up for the meeting.

  She glanced over at Wilkes. After the talk they had, he was sitting back looking equally out of his element. Still, he didn’t seem to be taking things as hard as she was. In fact, she would hazard a guess he was liking the whole situation.

  Damn him.

  It was the music industry. She knew folks in the business who did this kind of thing all the time, but she scowled thinking about being an even bigger fake, this time in her public relatio
nship. It would be so unfair to Bash. If anyone should have been at her side now it was Bash.

  This idea of Wilkes and Lexxi faking it for a few extra sales stank like five-day old summer socks. She couldn’t stand doing it. Not to mention she would be obligated to show up to functions and other places with Wilkes. Sure, they had patched things up somewhat, but that did not mean they were on good terms. For all Rita knew, Alexandra still wanted to smash his face in. Their pseudo-reconciliation was private. This craziness just showed it didn’t matter what was real or fake in show business.

  “Oh, for God’s sake!” She threw her hands up, aggravated.

  “Wait. Wait, now. Hold up, Lexxi. I can see the benefits here. Can’t you?” Wilkes asked.

  Of course he’d see the benefits. Wilkes had an album he’d been trying to finish and get out for nearly a year, and the label had not shown much faith in him. He had one big hit single around the time they first started dating, but Wilkes was a pretty face and a nice voice. He didn’t seem ready to connect to his love for the music, and without that, he lacked staying power.

  This whole thing seems messed up.

  Why would Blaze want to align us?

  What’s really going on here?

  Could it be they think the only way to get their ROI from signing Wilkes is to have him ride on my coattails?

  This is bullshit!

  “Did you put them up to this, Wilkes?” she asked, deeply suspicious now.

  “No! I didn’t do anything,” Wilkes said, vehemently denying it. “Baby, I told you when I came in here I had nothing to do with this, but listening to their pitch, I can see the benefits. Hey, we’re friends now. No hard feelings about the past. Nobody’s asking us to run around making out. We just need to be seen on a few red carpets together, and get some candid photos taken. How hard is that?”

  Rita chimed in. “Look at other power couples. One celebrity is gold, but when you combine two hot celebrities, it’s platinum!”

  The PR woman beside her nodded her head ecstatically. She was gushing, and the truth was they were right. It had been done time and time again.