"Yeah, a lot of women tell me that."
I blushed and my heart pounded. I'd forgotten all that man whore stuff. When did he find time to rescue me from cab drivers and pick up my car in between all that bedroom activity?"
I sat at the counter and he dished me up a huge plate of bacon and eggs. Enough to satisfy my empty belly. He also made coffee and had a bunch of other side dishes. Amazing. This was the way to win a woman's heart. Not all that sexy stuff with the tight clothes and the posturing. Not the singing. Definitely not the money.
"This is the best gift a man's ever given me," I said.
He waggled his eyebrows. "Really? Some bacon?"
"Yes, awesome bacon, with coffee included. I've never dated a guy who could cook." Then I realized how that sounded. "Not that we're dating. Not even close to dating. Hell, you know what I mean. Had breakfast with, that kind of thing."
He laughed and sat down beside me with a smoothie.
"That's all you're having?"
"Yep, the management have laid down the law. I need to lose a few pounds. You can't parade around shirtless in photo spreads if you're carrying extra weight. Being a sex god takes a serious commitment."
"I am so glad I'm not a sex god. I get the bacon."
He gave me a sideways look that I couldn't interpret. I hoped it didn't mean he wanted to kill me for the bacon. That bacon wouldn't even last that long.
"How did you cook this up without eating the lot? You must have insane self-control."
"Yeah, I'd be living in the gutter now if I didn't."
Weird, I'd thought of Savage as being this crazy, out of control party animal. I'd never seen him as controlled. But I guess you didn't get to be a top star in the pop world without hard work. All that dancing and singing. I bet it wasn't as easy as it looked.
"Thanks for last night," I said.
"Again, a lot of women say that to me." He shot me that roguish grin.
"I mean it. I was so stupid, leaving my car behind. Well, stupid getting so drunk when I had all the gear with me. I don't normally do stuff like that."
He got up and took his smoothie glass to rinse in the sink.
"Seems you had a wild night with Kit Molloy."
"Molloy? Oh, he didn't turn up." What was with Savage's face? Why would that make him so happy? "I ran into an old friend and we got chatting, then one thing led to another... mainly another cocktail. I'm never drinking again."
"I've said that enough myself. I bet you don't let your hair down like that often."
"Not anymore. I've outgrown all that kind of thing. It wouldn't have been so bad if I'd planned it. Impulsive decisions aren't my thing."
I'd finished all the bacon. That was one impulsive decision I could get behind.
"I'm totally grateful for you being my knight in shining armor last night but what were you doing at my place? It's not the sort of neighbourhood I expected to see you hanging out in."
"I found your wallet under the counter here. It must've fallen out of your bag. Since I didn't have your number, I figured I should drop it around to you. Lucky timing that I got there just as you got home."
I nodded. "It sure was lucky."
Although that meant he was home on his own the night before. Not something I'd have expected.
As he got up to take the plates to the sink, his arm brushed against mine. Not an actual touch, just the hair on his arms tickling against me. That should not have caused the flood of heat through my body.
I watched him rinse the plates and stack them in the dishwasher. There was something so incredibly sexy about the way he moved around the kitchen. Or maybe I just had a "men doing housework" fetish. Either way, I had to cross my legs and even that didn't help the uncomfortable ache going on down there.
I'd kissed him. That thought ricocheted through me. I'd been trying to hold it back in the interest of my sanity and Savage had obviously decided to be a gentleman and not mention it.
Maybe it'd be better if he had. He could tease me about it. I'd get embarrassed and blame the booze and we could go back to how things had been.
But that would never happen.
"What are your plans for today?" he asked.
"I've got a ton of photos to edit. Boring but it needs to be done."
"That had better not be photos of me you're calling boring."
I yawned just to taunt him.
"I don't think I want my photos edited while you're hungover. It's a gorgeous day, way too good to sit inside. Let's get out and enjoy it."
I really didn't need to edit those photos that urgently but a whole day with Savage? Is that what I wanted?
Surprisingly, before I could stop myself, I'd agreed.
Savage
I HAD TO MAKE THIS the best day ever. Sure, she'd agreed to spend it with me but I didn't want it to be just a normal day of hanging out. I wanted her to remember it forever. That set the bar pretty damn high. I had an idea though.
"What are you wearing on your feet?"
I looked down to check. Sturdy boots. That made things easier.
"Perfect. Finish up eating and we'll head off."
"That sounds scary."
"Nothing scary. I just want to get out of the city for the day. Go somewhere nice." I knew exactly where, since I had a cabin. While Alice got ready, I messaged my people. They'd have everything set for lunch before we arrived.
"Are you taking your camera?" I asked her.
"Of course."
"How about leaving it at home for the day?"
The look on her face was priceless. You'd think I'd asked her to leave her arm behind. I was serious though.
"Just enjoy the day. Live in the moment. You're off the clock, so why not have some fun."
"Fun, huh? I'm not sure about this undocumented fun. My camera goes everywhere with me. But hey, I'll give it a try."
She might've said it through gritted teeth but at least she agreed with what I'd said.
I didn't put music on in the car. I figured that was one less thing to argue over. Instead, we talked.
"So, how did you get into this whole photography thing?" I asked her.
"I started in high school, taking photos of friend's bands. One of the bands got a bit of attention and I sold my photos to a few magazines. Then I got more work. I couldn't go to bars but I worked at festivals and things like that. I wasn't sure what I was doing, it was just a bit of fun, but I was earning a full-time wage by the time I finished high school."
"Nice."
"Yep, I intended heading to university. No idea what I wanted to study or any of that, but then decided to do a tech course in photography instead. I've been making a living at it since."
I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel.
"Was it tough, working through high school?"
"Not so much." She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. "I'd have been going out to see bands anyway so I just did it with my camera. It never felt like work. I might not be rich but I'm doing what I enjoy."
"Lucky."
"What about you? You must've worked through high school too. Did you even go to a regular school or did you have tutors or something like that?"
My grip on the wheel tightened. High school, what a crock.
"I did to start with. I was just a regular guy for the first year, after all. Then I auditioned for the group and things got out of control real quick. Kids can be fuckers. Half of them wanted to kill me, the other half wanted to fuck me. People who never noticed me before got full of death threats. I got punched a few times but mostly it was subtle. Friends stopped talking to me, stopped inviting me to things. Other kids, mostly girls, wouldn't leave me alone."
I sighed. It wasn't that tough compared to some people's lives but it was not that easy either.
"I ended up quitting and yeah, we had tutors and the works. It wasn't like we could tour and keep up with classes any other way. And the rehearsals and training. We worked longer hours than most adults on top of studying, you
know. God, I'd be in the studio until the early hours trying to learn that bloody choreography. The others would have it down pat and I'd still be trying and trying."
She laughed. "That must've been hard."
"Hell yeah. And it wasn't just dance training. We had to work with the publicists and staff. Five hundred variations on 'what kind of girl do you want to date?' Hell, I didn't want to date most of the time. I wanted them to leave me alone to sleep."
"Not many teenage boys worry about having too many girls hanging around them."
"True but I wasn't sure what to do with them at that age."
I'd been swimming in everything any teenage boy dreamed of. Money, chicks, anything else I could name. I didn't tell her the rest of it though. No point ruining a perfectly nice drive with dark tales.
The truth was, I'd never wanted to audition. Back then, I hadn't wanted any of it. But that wasn't my mother's intention. The press have always loved the stories. Single mother raising a kid on her own, who becomes a pop sensation. I'd bought her a house, given her things, and each time the story resurfaced.
It wasn't quite so nice though.
From the time I started, I'd come home from rehearsals exhausted and wanting to collapse into bed. But she'd wait up for me. And then she'd start. Why was I home so late? Why wasn't I as good as the others? Why?
All she'd cared about was the money. I'd had to nag to stay in school as long as I did. She wanted me to drop out so I could take on more product sponsorship and do more acting. If an opportunity came up, she'd accept it on my behalf.
"This isn't going to last forever," she'd say. "Make the most of it while you can."
I knew it wouldn't last, but then neither could other things. I wouldn't be 15 years old forever. I wouldn't have another first kiss or another first date.
As I got older, the nagging became worse. She'd tell me I was nothing, that I'd never make it. No matter how much I earnt, it wasn't enough. She'd scream and cry. I'd have to promise to try harder.
Even if I wanted to spend time with the few friends I had left, she'd phone or turn up causing such a scene that I stopped contacting her.
When I bought the house for her, it wasn't out of gratitude or love. I wanted her out of my life and well away from me. I gave her a generous allowance and called her once a month. That way, she stayed out of my life.
For some reason, she wanted to come over to my house and tend the plants. I had no idea why. I just made sure the doors between the conservatory and the rest of the house were locked and bolted.
"This looks very remote. Should I be worried?" Alice said. "You aren't planning to off me and leave my body in a shallow grave?"
"I'm way too famous to do that, love. If I wanted you dead, I'd hire someone else to do the dirty work." Then I gave a laugh that I hoped was humorously evil and not just creepy.
Anyway, we'd reached my cabin. Time to go hiking.
Alice
WHEN I STEPPED OUT of the car and took in a lungful of that fresh air, I felt a hundred times better. He wasn't so bad, really. Even if he was an irritating, cocky bastard, he was easy to get along with most of the time. And he'd cooked me breakfast. He'd taken a day off from drinking and man-whoring to bring me to the mountains. That didn't fit in with his image at all. Neither had the concern about me last night.
Savage wasn't that shallow party animal I'd thought he was but I still wasn't sure about him. I guess it wasn't my problem. He'd made it clear he wasn't interested in me.
"Drop your stuff off at the cabin and we'll go for a hike."
"Cabin? You call that a cabin?"
That place was so far from being a cabin. It wasn't nearly as huge as his place in the city but it sure as hell wasn't rustic either. I dropped my handbag inside the door, taking out a few things I might need.
"You're planning to take photos with that phone, aren't you?" Savage said.
"Maybe."
"Leave it."
"What if I get lost out there? I need some way to communicate with the outside world."
"Good luck getting phone coverage. You don't get out of the city often, do you?"
"Not really."
Not ever was more like it. I couldn't even remember the last time I had a day off work. There was always something. If I wasn't on an assignment, I had admin work to get done or hunting up clients or just going to gigs to take photos on spec. Taking a day off to go wandering around the countryside wasn't something I planned for.
"You'd better stick close to me then. I know my way around."
I prayed he wasn't bullshitting me because being lost in the woods was not something I wanted.
"Don't worry," he said. "I'm a celebrity. If I get lost, some groupie will find us. They can track me down anywhere."
He probably wasn't wrong about that. I inhaled more of that fresh air.
"Okay, I'll leave the phone behind but it seems a waste to have all this beauty and no camera."
He stood close to me, way too close.
"You've got the photos of me, that's beauty enough."
I punched his arm.
Savage
THINGS HAD BEEN GOING well. We hiked and chatted until we got to a hill and Alice became out of breath.
"You need to get fitter."
"Shut up," she huffed. "Do we need to climb this hill?"
"Yep."
She followed me up. When we got to the top, she'd agree it was worth it or she wasn't the person I thought she was.
As I climbed, I held back branches for her. This track wasn't as worn as some of the others. I didn't want her getting whacked in the face.
We were almost to the top when I had to clamber up a big boulder.
She looked at me, then at the boulder, then back at me. I hadn't considered that her legs were a lot shorter than mine.
I reached down and offered her my hand.
She stared at it.
"Come on. You weren't that reluctant to touch me last night."
As soon as I said the words, I regretted it. I knew bringing that up would turn her off. Her face crumpled and she bit her lip.
"Hey, I didn't mean it as a bad thing."
But that didn't even help. She stared around her as though weighing up her options. There were no options though. She'd never find her way on this trail without me.
She obviously didn't realize that though, as she stormed back down the hill.
I jumped off the boulder and ran after her.
"Wait up," I called, my voice echoing around and bouncing off the hills.
She didn't stop though; she kept on marching down.
It didn't take long for me to catch up to her. I grabbed her arm. She tried to shake me off but I needed to have this out with her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned it."
She didn't look at me.
"I made a fool of myself. I'm the one who's sorry. I threw myself at you and you obviously weren't interested. I won't do it again."
I moved in closer to her, her back against a tree, my body pressing against hers.
"You can do it again anytime," I said. "Don't think I'm not interested. I'm just not into taking advantage when you're drunk and not rational. I want you, but I want you fully functional."
She turned her face to me then, her green eyes glowing. Her mouth so close to mine, I could taste her breath.
I heard her gulp.
"Really?"
I wanted to answer her but those plump lips were just too close and inviting. Rather than use words, my lips on hers said so much more.
Alice
SAVAGE KISSED ME, AND I liked it. I liked it a lot. He kissed me gently, caressing my hair. He kissed me skillfully, not like that drunken fumble last night. I wanted more, so much more, but he pulled away.
"See, that wasn't so bad."
I couldn't talk. I didn't even trust myself to look at him. Where did we go from here?
Instead of kissing me again, he took my hand and led me back up to the boulder.<
br />
This time, he put his hands around my waist and lifted me up, as though I was a small child. No chance of escaping from him.
He climbed up after me.
"So, we're at the top of the hill," I said. That was much easier than saying, "kiss me again".
Even though he'd said I could kiss him anytime, I wasn't ready to initiate anything. That was way too high risk. He was used to kissing women without it meaning a thing but I was a hesitant kisser.
He grabbed hold of me and turned my body, his arms around my waist.
Wow, the view. I had not been expecting it. It took my breath away. I felt like I was on top of the world, with everything spread at my feet. The city was just a blur in the distance. Birds swooped around, their cries breaking the silence.
Savage hadn't moved his arms from my waist.
"This is amazing," I said.
"Worth the climb?"
"Definitely."
He rested his chin on my shoulder. I became so very aware of him. The heat of his body pressed against mine, the wisps of his hair against my face.
My body fluttered as he spun me around and kissed me again.
I pulled away.
"Not here. We might fall..."
Seriously, the minute my body relaxed, we'd fall off this peak, and it was quite a drop. It was as dangerous as hell. My heart pounded. Well, part of that, a big part was the kissing and stuff but the danger also came into it.
"Don't worry," he said. "I have hold of you."
I wanted to believe him. I wanted so badly that I gave in, my body yielding to his. So, we stood on the top of the world, igniting our passion. All caution disappeared in the mountain breeze, flying away with the birds.
I wrapped my arms tight around him, trusting he was steady and safe. I wouldn't stumble. My mouth pressed hard against his. I couldn't deny that I wanted him.
Savage
HER HEART POUNDED AGAINST me. It was more than just fear, although she did have a point. This was not the best place to kiss. I needed to get her back to the cabin. On sure ground where our kisses could lengthen into the afternoon. But that meant breaking away from her and I wasn't ready for that yet.
Rock Mayhem: 8 Complete Rock Star Romance Novels Page 7