by Raine Thomas
She didn’t want him to stop.
“We’re nearly to the hotel, sir.”
Barney’s voice issuing through the car’s intercom had Lily pulling away from Dane with a soft gasp. They sat for a stunned moment, catching their breath and staring at each other in mutual bemusement over the interruption. Lily slowly moved from his lap back over to her side of the back seat and instinctively straightened her appearance.
Dane took a deep breath and pressed the intercom button. “Thanks, Barney,” he said.
Then he looked at Lily with such residual lust that she almost sprang back across the car. It took all of her willpower—and the guilt-inducing reminder that she was technically still engaged—to keep her rooted in her spot.
“I’m not going to let you marry him,” Dane said.
She moistened her lips and tasted him. “I’m not going to marry Johnathan. I’ve admitted that was a huge mistake. But, Dane...I’m afraid.”
“About what?”
“About us.” If she was going to be honest, she had to be thorough about it. “You know how I feel about your lifestyle. I don’t know if I can handle being in a relationship with a celebrity that half the country hungers over. I’m afraid of what it will mean to have my love life out there for the public to see and judge. I’m afraid of how it will impact my career, such as it is. I’m afraid of my family finding out about our feelings for each other and trying to take advantage of you, which they inevitably will. I’m afraid of how my screwed up life will reflect on you and the band. And most of all, I’m afraid of losing my best friend if I screw this up, too.”
The car stopped at their hotel, but neither of them moved. Dane pressed the intercom button again and told Barney to give them another minute before he turned to face her.
“Lily, do you trust me?”
She didn’t even have to think about that. “Of course I do.”
“Then put aside your fears and put your trust in me. You’re the most important thing in my life. Do you understand that?”
She considered everything he had going for him and realized what he was saying by putting her above it all. “Yes,” she whispered.
He reached over and ran his thumb along her cheekbone. “That won’t change. Please give this a chance.”
His expression, so filled with hope, finally swayed her. “All right. But nothing else can happen between us before I talk to Johnathan.”
The look in his eye transitioned back to sinful. “Then talk to him soon.”
* * *
While Aria and Sydney napped at the hotel after they checked in, Lily sat at the room’s desk and typed up the interview she had done with Brewer Street on the flight. Thoughts about Dane and Johnathan kept disrupting her but she did her best to shove those thoughts aside. She had left a voicemail for Johnathan asking him to call her, and Dane was off with the band doing some public appearances before they headed to the venue for that night’s concert. Now she needed to focus on writing.
She really wanted this piece to shine. That morning had made her determination to advance her writing career even more paramount. She knew Dane. Once his mind was set on something, he didn’t give up until he had accomplished it. That meant she would be in a relationship with him sooner rather than later.
And whether she wanted it or not, their relationship was bound to open doors for her writing career. Some might consider that a big benefit, but she didn’t. She never wanted to look back and wonder if she was really good enough at writing to succeed on her own or if people were only humoring her because of her connection to a celebrity. In short, this article had a lot riding on it.
The story about Brewer Street’s beginnings had been told before by other writers, but she included some of that in the feature. It helped set the stage for the real meat of the piece, which was the band’s commitment to raising money for the Terry Fox Foundation. She did some research before she began writing the story to familiarize herself more with Terry Fox’s legacy and learned that he had attempted to run across Canada in 1980. He had lost part of his right leg to bone cancer when he was only eighteen and had trained for what became the Marathon of Hope in an effort to help raise money and awareness for cancer research. The sad ending of his tale, passing away at only twenty-two years old before completing his run, had impacted the entire nation.
The foundation had significant meaning to Brewer Street, as their member, Gregg Hoover, had been diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin lymphoma just over a year before. While the band was vocal about the Terry Fox Foundation so they could direct their fans to it, they hadn’t made a formal announcement about Gregg’s battle because he hadn’t wanted his condition made public. Just before this tour, though, he had been declared cancer-free.
And Lily got to announce that to the world.
It took her over two hours to get the article where she was ready to have Sydney read it. She valued Sydney’s eye for spelling and grammar as well as her willingness to be honest about her reaction to the piece. By then, Sydney and Aria had gotten up from their naps and headed down to the lobby to scope out the lunch options, so Lily would have to wait on the article.
As she picked up her phone to text her friends and ask them to bring her some food, there was a knock at the door. She rose from the desk chair and almost groaned from the stiffness in her back and neck from sitting in one position for so long. When she reached the door, she glanced through the peephole to see who it was.
“Hi, Christopher,” she said as she opened the door. “I thought you were with the band.”
“I was. They’re at lunch now, so I thought I’d drop by. Do you have a minute?”
“Sure.”
She stepped aside to let him pass and winced when she saw the lacy bra hanging over the closet handle. Oh, well. One of the hazards of a room filled with females. Besides, Christopher had a teenage daughter. It surely wasn’t unfamiliar territory for him.
Her mind immediately switched to why The Void’s manager was visiting her. It had to be because of Dane. Did he know about their conversation in the car? Why would he want to talk to her about that? How would he possibly know about it?
But what else could this be about if not that?
In the span of the ten seconds it took Christopher to walk over to the desk chair and sit down, Lily had worked up a healthy dose of anxiety. A faint sheen of sweat broke out on her upper lip and there was an uncomfortable tingling in her armpits.
She mentally slapped herself. If she was serious about considering a relationship with Dane, Christopher Donahue would be the least of her worries.
“Writing an article about Brewer Street?” Christopher asked, his gaze on her open laptop. Turning to her and seeing her expression, he smiled ruefully. “Sorry. The screen was right here and I couldn’t help myself.”
His smile helped ease the tension. Something about him had always reminded her of an attractive leprechaun, though he wasn’t a particularly short or rotund man. She supposed it was something about his curly auburn hair, often mischievous green eyes, and charming smile that gave her that impression. He looked harmless.
Those in the business world who made that assumption quickly learned otherwise. Lily had learned while helping Dane in The Void’s early years that Christopher was a force to be reckoned with when it came to his clients. He knew that successful clients meant success for him. As he was currently dressed in a tailored gray suit that she was sure cost more than she made in three months, he was highly successful indeed.
“It’s fine,” she said, waving away his comment. “Yes, I’ve just finished the first draft of the story.”
“I’m glad you’re finding some solid content. Actually, your writing is the reason I’m here.”
“My writing?”
“Yes. We’ve recently had to let a key member of our PR team go. She’s been handling the band’s social media streams, doing things like posting updates on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat, writing blogs, recording vlogs...well, you know the d
rill.”
Lily nodded. She knew exactly who he was talking about, as she followed all of the band’s social media. The woman’s name was Victoria Rucker. Lily had been questioning the content Victoria was putting out for months and had mentioned it to Dane several times. Victoria took a rather factual approach to social media, sharing news without much of a personal connection. Lily thought if Victoria incorporated more live footage and interactions between her and the band that it would help pull in more followers.
Lily had hoped Dane would share her suggestions with Christopher, who could pass them along to Victoria to implement. Up until now, that hadn’t happened. The reporter in Lily was dying to know why Victoria had been let go, but she didn’t dare ask.
“Anyway,” Christopher continued, “since you’re a writer and you’ve mentioned The Void’s social media to Archer, I thought I’d see if you might want to fill this role over the summer while you’re on the tour. It would earn you some cash and save me from having to screen potential new candidates mid-tour.”
It was a real shame that Christopher had taken the only chair in the room, as Lily really could have used it right then. She eased down onto one of the beds instead. Her mind raced with the possibilities this opportunity could open up for her. The Void had thousands of fans and an extensive reach in the entertainment world. Having her writing in front of them on a regular basis would give her more exposure than she could ever dream.
Was it too good to be true?
“Did Dane put you up to this?” she asked.
Christopher lifted his hands in an innocent gesture. “He doesn’t even know I’m here. I figured if you weren’t interested, no harm, no foul.”
“Are you only asking me because of my friendship with him?”
“I hope you think better of yourself than that, Lily. I sure do.”
She couldn’t meet his gaze, not because he was complimenting her but because she felt foolish. He was right that she should give herself more credit. This kind of luck just wasn’t something she usually experienced.
“I’ll admit that your connection with Archer and the band is convenient for me,” he continued, once again drawing her attention. “But I also think you’re a great writer and you’ll do a wonderful job. Just don’t expect it to pay much.”
She returned his smile. “We writers don’t get into it for the money. I’d love to fill in over the summer. Sounds like fun.”
“We’ll see if you still feel that way at the end of the tour,” he said good-naturedly as he got to his feet. “You can start at tonight’s show. I’ll have Sandra get the social media logins to you and give you some pointers on content.”
“Thanks, Christopher,” she said as she followed him to the door. “I appreciate you thinking of me.”
“You’re as much a part of the band as I am,” he said, surprising her again. “I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but you being here has inspired them. They have an energy now that I haven’t seen in a while. I hope it leads to some amazing things.”
Seeing the intensity in his eyes, she couldn’t help but wonder if he was talking about the band’s success or her relationship with Dane. As insightful as Christopher was, it really could have been either.
“I hope so, too,” she said at last.
Chapter Sixteen
The concert that night went much better than the one the night before. Archer knew that was in large part thanks to his great mood. He was close to beginning a romantic relationship with Lily. Everything else paled in significance.
Brandon even behaved himself during their duet, which took place during The Void’s set this time. Archer imagined Regina had talked to Brandon about it. Either that or Brandon had just learned the previous day that Archer wasn’t going to accept being stepped on like he used to. In either case, the crowd ate it up.
“That was solid,” Noelle enthused as they exited the stage following their final encore.
It was high praise and the guys all agreed with her. “Great work,” Archer said. “Let’s shoot for that or better on the rest of the tour.”
They all exchanged fist taps and high fives to seal their agreement as they reached the aisle of fans separated from their path by metal security barricades. They all stopped to sign autographs and interact with the fans for about ten minutes, then Christopher called it a wrap and had the band escorted by security to their green room. There wasn’t an after-party that night but they did have a fan meet-n-greet in one of the venue’s meeting rooms. They only had about twenty minutes to clean up and change before that started.
Archer headed straight to his phone when he entered the green room. He had a text from Lily letting him know that she was going back to the hotel with Aria and Sydney. His excitement dimmed at that. She would have been bored at the meet-n-greet, though. He texted her a response to let her know he would miss her.
Going soft on me? she texted back as he yanked off his sweaty shirt.
I’ve actually been quite hard thinking about you, he replied, grinning as he imagined her reaction to reading it.
He put his phone down to clean up as best he could in the short span of time they had. He had just finished combing his hair back into place when Christopher came to get them. Although Christopher didn’t like it when they brought their phones to fan events, Archer palmed his and shoved it into his pocket.
The room for the meet-n-greet was no bigger than a standard hotel room. The other acts on the tour were hosting similar events in meeting rooms much like this one. There were a couple of sofas and coffee tables in the room and a table with some beverages on it. Archer grabbed a bottle of water before he got engaged in a conversation, knowing he probably wouldn’t get a break to do so once someone approached him.
As Christopher welcomed the fans and explained how the meet-n-greet would work, Archer pulled out his phone to give it a quick scan. Lily’s last text was front and center.
Nothing wrong with a little hard work, it read. There was a winking emoticon next to the text.
He snorted. Let’s finish what we started. You’ll know it’s not so little.
“What’s up?” Xander asked him, nudging him in the side. “You’ve been acting strange all day.”
Archer glanced up and realized the fans were closing in. Christopher must have finished his spiel. Archer pressed the power button on his phone to darken the screen.
“Nothing,” he said.
He started to shove his phone back into his pocket. When another text chimed through, he couldn’t resist glancing at it. Xander grabbed his phone before he could read it.
“Hey,” Archer protested, trying unsuccessfully to get the phone from the huge guitarist.
“‘Going to prove to me that size matters after all?’” Xander read.
Archer almost laughed as five different responses popped into his head. His humor died at the quelling look Xander gave him.
“Lily?” Xander asked in a low voice, giving the phone a little shake. “Have you lost your mind?”
Christopher approached them with a small herd of excited fans and two camera operators from the House of Archer crew. “Archer, Xander, there are some folks here I’d like you to meet.”
Archer watched as Christopher deftly took his cell phone from Xander and put it in his own pocket, his smile never wavering. So much for texting Lily back.
Knowing that the conversation with Xander wasn’t over, Archer tried to put it to the side and give his attention to the fans. He felt Xander’s stare and the weight of the cameras on him as he maneuvered through the room.
He did his best to be friendly and polite without encouraging the fans who flirted with him. It was the first time he could ever remember feeling like a phony. He wasn’t sure if that was because he was consciously not returning the flirtations or because he really wanted to be anywhere else right then rather than with his fans. Neither option sat quite right with him.
It felt like an eternity before Christopher finally announced that the
event was concluded and the security team ushered out the fans. Archer started to head to the door as the last fan departed, only to be stopped by Christopher.
“Just a minute, Archer.”
Christopher nodded at Trey, who stepped outside the room and closed the door behind him. The only people left in the room were the band, Christopher, and the remaining members of the House of Archer crew. Archer exchanged puzzled glances with Keith and Sage before moving over to a sofa and sitting down.
“What’s up, Chris?” Noelle asked around a piece of gum. She was the only one who called Christopher by the nickname. Archer had no idea why their manager allowed it from her when he abhorred it from anyone else.
“I’d like to talk about this,” Christopher said, pulling Archer’s phone out of his pocket.
Archer cleared his throat. “Sorry about that. I know you don’t like it when we bring phones to these things. I won’t do it again.”
Christopher tapped the edge of the phone against his palm and gave Archer a steady look. “You’re right about that, but that isn’t what I want to discuss. I’d like to talk about these texts you were exchanging with Lily.”
Archer’s jaw loosened in disbelief and he pushed himself to his feet. “Are you kidding me right now? That’s my business, not—”
“Don’t say this isn’t band business,” Christopher interrupted, his voice as calm as a sleeping lake. “Lily is like family to all of us, so it affects all of us.”
“What is he talking about, Archer?” Noelle asked.
“He’s talking about some sexting Archer was doing with Lily earlier,” Xander answered from his position leaning against the wall. His arms were crossed over his broad chest in a way that conveyed how he felt.
“It wasn’t sexting,” Archer objected. “We were just joking around, that’s all.”
“So you’re telling me that you haven’t done anything of an intimate nature with Lily?” Christopher asked.