Page 35 of Stuck with a Billionaire Rockstar

That has me smirking, but I don’t let it take over too much as I make my way outside onto the sidewalk. Mallory is whispering things to Brent I can’t hear when they come out behind me, but it goes silent as soon as they come to a stop next to me. A sleek, blacked-out Escalade comes to a stop in front of us, and Brent places his hand on the small of my back to lead me toward the back doors.

I do the stupid thing by leaning into the touch but remember the things everyone said about me and flinch away from him with a frown. Although hurt flashes across his face, he doesn’t say anything and allows me to get in first before climbing in behind me. Mallory gives me a pleading stare, silently begging me to calm down, and I roll my eyes in response.

Why should I calm down? He made me look like a fool, and now everyone has the chance to say something about it.

I give them a week. That’s what one of the comments said. She’s too innocent for him. The nerve of some people is amazing, truly, and I hate it.

“Julia,” Brent whispers beside me, but I act as though I can’t hear him. He gives it a few minutes, then sighs loudly. “I didn’t want to do it like this, but you’re leaving me no choice. You’ve got everything wrong,” he says softly. “Nothing I did was arranged, and I know you don’t believe that, but it’s true. I’ve got the proof.”

That catches my attention and I glance over, finding his phone held out and shining brightly in my face. There’s an email resting there, and I glance at the words. He clears his throat while I continue reading. “The photographer at the botanical garden took the picture after being asked to by the staff, which is being mentioned to them now as we speak. I didn’t mean for this to happen, Julia.”

How could I possibly be mad about that? I can’t believe I overreacted about it, even going as far as crying on Mallory’s shoulder when I got back to the room. She stormed out of the room once I calmed down and I feel sick knowing it was over nothing, he’s not the reason our picture was posted for the entire world to see.

“I see that,” I whisper, then give him a sad smile. “And I’m sorry I thought the worst of you.” Those comments continue coming back into my head, and I sigh. “Could you possibly have it taken down?”

Brent frowns and cocks his head. “Is there a reason?”

“It’s just,” I say, then shake my head. “Never mind.”

He’s about to say something else, but we come to a stop in a parking lot bathed in neon lights that let us know we have arrived at the spot. There’s already a large group of people a few cars down who are also heading to the concert by the looks of it, so it makes me feel better that we are so early.

Mallory gets out on her side, and I move to follow after her, but Brent places his hand over mine to stop me. She shuts the door, walks around the car, and stands to wait for us on the sidewalk while I give Brent a questioning look. His eyes move to my lips, then back to my eyes, and he leans forward to press his lips against mine softly before pulling away with a smile. “I’ve been wanting to do that since you got out of the elevator.”

Why must he give me butterflies?

When we step out of the large SUV, there’s a woman standing at the far end of the lot who looks at Brent with hunger in her eyes and she gives me an evil smile before following her friends.

Nothing good can come of that.

18

Brent

I’m feeling better now that I’ve got my truth out in the open, but Julia still looks as though she’d rather be anywhere else and her gaze has been focused on whoever is in front of us. When the woman turns around, she looks at me and flashes a flirtatious wink that results in Julia tensing beside me. Is that her problem?

Mallory keeps looking between me and Julia, her eyebrows jumping in the air dramatically to tell me to make a move on Julia, but I don’t know what I should do. I’m lost right now. When we get closer to the commotion around the drink carts, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, Mallory clears her throat. “I’m going ahead…” she says, trailing off before pointing at a random cart. “That way. Catch you guys in a minute!”

As soon as she disappears through the crowd, the tension between me and Julia swarms through the air and it forces me to grab her hand. Julia’s breath hitches, but luckily, she doesn’t try to pull away from my grip and lets me lead her behind a shadowed area away from prying eyes. This could get me a bunch of shit from Mack and the guys if someone were to catch us, but I don’t care.

Julia’s breathes heavily as she asks, “Brent, what are you doing?”

“Something I’ve been wanting to since I saw you tonight, Buttercup,” I rasp, then lean down to do exactly as I fantasized and trace the curve of her breasts with my tongue. The air in St. Croix is humid, leaving her chest slick with sweat, and the saltiness mixes in with her sweetness like a drug I can’t ignore. She arches her back into me, one leg lifting and circling around my waist, and I shake my head against her before pulling away. “I just wanted a taste of you, but this is not the place.”.

Even though it’s dark out, I can see the pink hue to her cheeks as the lights in the distance shine on her face. She smirks and nods in agreement. “Right,” she says, then looks out toward the sea of people heading toward the large stage a small distance away. “One more thing first.”.

Before I can even blink, she crashes her lips against mine and runs her tongue along my bottom lip before pulling away. I stare at her in disbelief, but also in awe that she took a moment to take what she wanted. She darts her gaze away from me for a moment, clearly nervous about my reaction, then shrugs. “Maybe I wanted a taste of you, too.”

The urge to push her up against the tree behind us is insane, but Julia deserves better than some kind of public display. I clear my throat and thread my fingers through hers. “Let’s, uh, get to the concert, yeah?”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

When we get closer to the lights, Julia takes a minute to readjust her outfit, then pulls her phone out to text Mallory – likely to find out where she went. I’m not sure how much time passed, but there’s already bass pumping along the beach as we get closer to the stage and I’m guessing we’ve been gone a while. Julia darts her attention ahead, looking between the crowd with her eyes squeezed slightly shut, and points to the left while tugging me along with her.

That woman who winked at me as we made our way through a little while ago catches sight of me again and gives me a finger wave before leaning forward to run her hand over my arm. Luckily, Julia is pulling too fast for me to figure out where she was going with that. I only have eyes for one woman.

Julia gasps beside me and taps a woman on the shoulder. I almost reach out to stop her, until the woman turns around and I notice it’s Mallory. She smiles and jumps up in the air, hollering, then throws a wink my way before throwing her arm around Julia’s shoulders.

I wrap an arm around Julia, stealing her from my sister, and pull her in front of me with a smile before nuzzling my head into her neck. “Thanks for coming tonight,” I whisper into her ear.

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