by Joanna Blake
You win. My room. Twenty minutes.
His heart started pounding. Had she just-
Dear god. She had.
But they were stuck in traffic.
He practically lunged forward to knock on the glass partition.
Marley looked alarmed as the driver rolled down the glass and looked backward at him.
"I'll give you a thousand pounds if you can get us to the hotel in fifteen minutes."
Chapter 28
Sabrina
It was exactly twenty minutes later when Sabrina heard the knocking on the door. She'd just showered again and changed into leggings and an oversized shirt. She thought briefly that she must have lost her mind. She didn't care anymore though.
Her mind was made up. It was time to get this over with so they could move on.
"It's open."
The door opened and Nick stood there. He looked so handsome in his interview suit. He looked a bit nervous. She smiled to herself.
Rock stars did get nervous after all.
"Come in."
"Nobody saw me."
She shrugged. What did it matter anyway? She locked the door behind him.
"Do you want some water?"
He nodded breathlessly, staring at her. He looked hopeful… and ravenous. For her.
She poured a glass of mineral water and handed it to him.
"I want to be clear. This is just for tonight, Nick. And then it's back to business as usual. We'll both feel better if we get this out of the way."
"Get what out of the way?"
"What we are both thinking about doing. Unless, I'm misreading the situation?”
"You mean… you want to…”
"Sleep together."
His mouth dropped open.
"But that's it. Just once and we never speak about it again. You go your way. I go mine. No dinner. That's not really what you want anyway, is it Nick?”
He looked pained suddenly.
No, he looked pissed.
"Let me get this straight. You want to sleep with me once and never talk about it again?"
She nodded. That is what she wanted, right? What they both wanted.
He was on her in an instant, pulling her against him. Hard.
His mouth crashed down on hers. She was shocked by the electricity that passed between them as he kissed her. He nudged her mouth open and their tongues tangled in an explosion of heat.
Dear God, the man could kiss.
The kiss was full of promise and raw desire. But as soon as she lifted her hands to touch him, he stopped.
He lifted his head, his eyes blazing with heat. She stared up at him in amazement as his fingertips traced her jaw. She hadn’t been expecting that eruption of passion. She’d never been kissed like that in her life.
His expression was fierce. And possessive. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and walked away.
He. Walked. Away.
Nick had his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. He turned back to look at her. The determined look on his face sent shivers down her spine.
"I'm sorry, love. I want more than a one-night stand."
And then he left her standing there. Wanting him.
Her whole body was tingling with pent up desire.
Damn him. What did he want anyway? A relationship?
She shook her head. That was absurd.
Either way, the unthinkable had happened.
Nick Falcon had just turned down sex.
Chapter 29
Nick
"Oh God. What have I done?"
Nick was out on the balcony of his suite, nursing a beer. He had just done what was possibly the most difficult thing he'd ever done in his life. The hardest thing anyone had ever done, as far as he was concerned.
Climbing Everest.
Swimming the English Channel.
Pulling his hands off her hot little body.
Tearing his lips from hers.
Walking out of Miss Sabrina Newton's hotel room.
On the other hand, now that his anger had subsided he realized something important.
She did want him. Nearly as badly as he wanted her. He hadn’t been imagining things. This particular electricity went two ways.
But he wanted more, dammit.
Getting her to admit that it was more than just an attraction was going to be the tricky part. He shook his head. At some point in the past few weeks he'd gone from wanting to strangle her, to wanting to bed her to wanting- what exactly? He wanted more than a passing affair.
He wanted her to be his.
He stared down into the street below. The paparazzi had finally figured out which hotel he was in. He hoped Sabrina wouldn't be too upset when she realized they weren't just there for him.
They were there for her too.
"Got them!"
Nick turned and saw Marley holding a huge stack of newspapers and magazines. He felt his stomach clench, hoping his plan would work.
"Let's have a look then."
He picked up a magazine, flipping through it. It was mostly pictures of starlets and people he didn't recognize.
"Who are these people?"
Marley peeked over his shoulder.
"Reality TV stars, mate."
Nick rolled his eyes and flipped back to the cover. It was spilt down the middle with two large photos on either side. On the right there was a picture of Sabrina at some event she must have gone to for the record label. She was wearing a black dress with those impossibly high heels she wore sometimes.
She looked stunning. Professional. Beautiful. Cold.
But that coldness was a lie. She was full of heat. A facade meant to protect her from all the pain the world could dole out.
The other side of the cover was a picture of Nick accepting an MTV award a few years back. He frowned. He'd forgotten about that night. What had the award been for anyway?
Ah yes. He smiled as he remembered.
Biggest cock in rock.
Somewhere, in one of his houses, he had a box of those Moonman awards. A couple of Grammys too.
He used one of those as a door stop.
Maybe if he settled down, he could put that sort of thing on a mantle. That sounded nice. Of course, in his mind, she would be there too. Baking cookies. Hanging stockings at Christmas. Helping him polish his gold records.
And his knob.
He tossed the magazine back into the pile. He stared down at it and smiled grimly. Splashed across their pictures were the words "DATE NICK!"
In fact, most of the magazines had some sort of entreaty on his behalf. It was just the beginning though. He was going to war against the woman he was falling in love with. She was a worthy adversary but it didn't matter.
Soon she'd learn. He was playing for keeps. And he'd do anything to win.
Chapter 30
Sabrina
Sabrina reached over her legs with a groan.
Air travel and hotel beds made her stiff. And tossing and turning all night. Wondering what the hell Nick had up his sleeve.
She was stretching in her room after using the hotel gym. She'd pounded the treadmill for almost an hour, trying to clear her head.
It didn't work.
Her mind was full of recriminations, confusion, and conflicting desires. On one hand, she was embarrassed that she'd been rejected. On the other, she was starting to suspect that Nick's feelings for her were sincere.
She wasn't sure if she wanted to let him in after the fiasco last night. It had been an unmitigated disaster. But she had a strong suspicion that he wasn't going to give up.
Never mind that she'd further jeopardized her career by even inviting him to her hotel room.
Her mother would not be pleased.
She felt nice and loose at least, for the first time since she'd found out she was going on this tour. If only it was just a regular scouting trip, or Nick was just a regular client… maybe she would be less tense. Maybe if he'd actually needed her there, instead of just wantin
g her there.
He did want her though. That much was certain. If he'd turned down a quick roll in the hay then he probably wanted more than she'd initially thought. Right?
Three knocks sounded on the door.
She pushed her hair out of her face and opened it, half expecting to see Nick. Marley stood there with a basket in his hands. He held it toward her.
"Special delivery."
He grinned cheekily as she took the basket. Then he tipped his hat and left.
She carried it inside and set it down on the table. There was a folded note on top. She opened it.
Good morning, love. I thought you would enjoy some reading material. I expect you to join me at Galvin at Windows after the show for a late dinner. So rest up, relax, and most importantly, read.
Yours,
Nick
Christ, did he think that was funny? Even she knew that Galvin’s was on the twenty-eighth floor of the London Hilton. He already knew she was not a fan of heights. And besides, she hadn't agreed to dinner.
She shook her head at his persistence and pulled off the napkin that was covering the contents of the basket.
And froze.
There were dozens of magazines and newspapers inside the basket. From what she could tell, they all had one thing in common.
Her.
Her face was on the cover. With his. Not small this time. Her face was ‘bloody huge’, as Nick would say.
Dear God.
She sank to the chair and flipped through the stack, feeling suddenly weak. Every single one had a picture of them separately, or together. There were even some photos of him helping her out of the limo the day before. He had a warm look in his eyes, while she looked utterly preoccupied.
Oh dear.
She chewed her lip. Had he really been looking at her like that the whole time? He must have been. He was wearing his heart on his sleeve in every single shot.
This was far worse than she could have imagined. It took her a few minutes of staring blindly at the basket before she realized that all the headlines were nearly identical. It was the same message, listed over and over again. The message was for her.
DATE NICK!
She choked back a hysterical laugh. What on Earth was he playing at? And how had he pulled this off?
She picked up a copy of the Daily Mirror. It was a rag in the true sense of the word; pure sensationalism. Not surprisingly, they had used half the front page to cover the story. After all, this was Nick's home territory.
Lord knows, they adored their prodigal son.
There was a picture of a younger Nick smoking a cigarette and looking wild and rangy. Inset inside the image was a close up of her. She was staring straight forward with a slightly aggravated smile, like she was busy and didn’t have time to pose for a picture. The picture looked familiar somehow. She gasped and ran for her purse, yanking out her wallet.
She fished through it until she found it. Her work ID.
My God.
They must have gotten it from someone at the label. Wow. Thanks guys.
This was bad. This was very, very bad.
She walked back to the table and sat down again. She picked up the paper and read.
Who is Sabrina Newton? This lucky girl is the object of gorgeous rocker Nick Falcon's affection. Only it seems, she doesn't want him! Nick was very candid last night on The Graham Norton Show, stating that despite being unsuccessfully married three times in the past, he was ready to turn over a new leaf. If only Sabrina will let him!
Come on, London! Let's convince the lovely lady to give Nick a shot!
She strangled back a laugh. He'd done it. He'd really done it. He had her good and trapped. She was almost ready to give in to him. But this also smacked of bullying, didn't it? She'd been told what to do her whole life. For once, she wanted to make her own decision.
Just then there was another knock at the door.
She opened it, expecting to see Marley again. But it was a waiter with an enormous cart.
"Room service!"
"But I didn't order anything."
"Mr. Falcon thought you might need sustenance."
She stepped aside as he rolled the cart into the room. He lifted tray after tray, revealing an absurd number of breakfast dishes.
"It's too much!"
The waiter nodded proudly.
"He ordered the whole menu."
Her mouth opened as the waiter bowed and headed for the door.
"Wait- your tip!"
"It's been taken care of Ms. Newton. Oh, and if I may be so bold, date Nick!"
She stared at the door after he closed it behind him, then back at the food. This was just the start of it, she was certain.
She picked up a fork and started lifting trays. She better eat something. She was going to need her strength.
It was going to be a long day.
Chapter 31
Nick
"You want another one!“
The crowd roared.
"I said, DO YOU WANT ANOTHER ONE!”
The screams from the Wembley Stadium were so loud you could hear them straight across town. Hell, you could probably hear them in Liverpool.
He grinned and signaled to the band. They were the regular blokes he toured with, mostly the same he’d been with for years. Not a studio band, but a get up on your fucking feet and scream kind of band.
Nick was on fire tonight. All the pent up frustrations of the past few weeks were fueling an aggressive performance. It was exceeding anything he'd ever done before. He had the crowd eating out of his sweaty, callused hand.
"Alright, but just ONE FUCKING MORE!"
They launched into one of his old songs, one of the best songs. The one about finally getting your hands on the woman you wanted. This was one song he could really relate to. He unleashed his sexual energy through the song and out onto the crowd.
He knew she was waiting in the wings. It was giving him an incredible boost, knowing she was there. Watching. Wanting him. Whether she wanted to admit it or not.
It's a good thing Sabrina hadn't asked him to stay the night with her tonight, because he would have taken her up on it. Oh yes, he would have gladly spent the night in her bed. And then he'd just have to convince her to let him stay in it.
This way was easier. They would have dinner together. They would eat, and talk. He wanted to know more about her. And then he would lay down his ground rules. She was going to be his. She would be going on the extended tour to Asia, as well. She would make herself bloody available to him whenever he bloody well wanted!
He sang his heart out. When the song was over he ripped his sweaty shirt off and threw it into the crowd. Then he left the stage to collect his prize.
But she wasn't there.
Marley was smiling at him, clasping his sweaty shoulder as they walked to the dressing room. A throng of decidedly young looking girls stood outside, preening for him. He ignored them.
"Send them home."
Marley nodded and whispered to the security guard in the hallway. Nick leaned over the makeup counter and stared into the mirror.
"Where is she?"
"She already went back to the hotel."
"When?"
"The minute it was over, mate."
So she had stayed. She had been there to watch at least. That had to count for something, right?
Marley shifted on his feet uncomfortably.
"So, do you want me to get the girls back?"
"No, mate. Let's just call it a night."
Chapter 32
Sabrina
Sabrina opened her eyes slowly. It was only 5 AM. Why was she up? It must be nerves, she decided. She had to do prep work for Paris. They left in thirty-six hours. She sat up and screamed.
A strange man was in her room.
No- it wasn't a stranger. It was Nick.
"Jesus!"
"Shhhhh… do you want the hotel security to show up?” His eyes twinkled. “The paper would have a lot of f
un with this.”
She shook her head vehemently.
"What are you doing here, Nick?"
He grinned at her.
"I'm abducting you."
She just stared at him, not sure what to think. He'd broken into her room. Then again, he hadn't actually done anything once he was in there.
Apparetly, he’d just… watched her sleep.
"What time is it?"
"It's early. I can never sleep after a show. It's too bad you didn't make your offer last night. I would have taken you up on it."
He smiled at her sensually.
"But I would have ignored your silly rules."
"Nick, I'm tired. How did you get in here anyway?"
He lifted an eyebrow.
"A good pirate never tells."
She giggled and clasped her hand over her mouth. He was ridiculous. A force of nature really.
"Pirate? So wait, you’re a pirate now?”
He nodded and climbed onto the foot of the bed, fishing around under the sheets for her ankle.
"Arrrrr!"
She kicked at him as he grabbed her feet, tickling them.
"Stop! Eeek! Nick!"
He lifted his hands and she glared at him. He was sitting on her bed, grinning at her roguishly.
"You're very ticklish, aren't you? That's a good sign."
"Sign for what?"
He just wiggled his eyebrows at her suggestively. She glared at him.
"It's 'Yar'"
"What?"
She sighed and sat up.
"Pirates say 'yar' and 'ahoy'. Zombies and mummies say 'arrrr.'"
"You're quite the authority on this, aren't you?"
"I babysat in high school."
He grinned at her.
"I wish you would have babysat me. I was such a bad boy. I could’ve used a right spanking.”
She pushed herself out of bed and padded into the bathroom, ignoring him. He was craning his neck to see as she shut the door.