Page 19 of Taming His Rockstar

Chapter 8

He isn’t in bed when I wake, and I sit up to look for him. I immediately see him in the kitchen. He has earbuds in, and so can’t hear me, and it seems he’s too focused on whatever he’s doing to notice I have woken. That means I’m free to ogle him to my heart’s content, and there’s a lot to ogle. He’s naked save for a pair of briefs, and the first thing I want to do is drag him back to bed and ravish him yet again. A twinge in my lower back tells me I might have to wait for some other time to do that. Then I realize I’m making plans as if we’re going to see each other again. This was a one-night stand, I think. To tell the truth, I can’t really be sure. It was supposed to be when Jane and I left the house yesterday. But one-night stands don’t have long conversations, make each other laugh, and stand up in the middle of the night to get me a glass of water between orgasm four and five. Or maybe they do. It’s been so long since I’ve done this, I’m not sure of the rules anymore.

Thinking of Jane makes me remember I’m supposed to check up with her again this morning. I sent her a text last night to tell her all was fine on my end. Like I expected, she replied to my message with a dozen of her own, all asking the same thing, some of them with and abundance of emojis. I simply texted back to tell her I was still fine and would be back home soon. When I look up, it’s to find Jake standing in front of me. I jolt in surprise.

“You have this habit of surprising people?”

“Is that a compliment for last night?”

It isn’t, but I can’t blame him for thinking it is though. The man literally made me beg for his cock. He has a right to feel smug. I watch as he hands me a mug of coffee, and this time, I don’t collect it from him.

“You also have this habit of handing me drinks. Are you poisoning me?”

He chuckles. “You seem too alive for someone who is getting poisoned.”

“You don’t only poison people to kill them. There are love poisons, mind control poison . . .”

“So, which one is it then?” he asks, dropping my coffee on the small table beside me and wrapping both hands around his. “Am I trying to control you or make you fall in love with me?”

“Do you know who I am?” I blurt out, asking the question I’ve wanted to since the moment I walked into his apartment.

He goes still before slowly lifting his mug to his lips and taking a sip of his coffee. “Do you want me to?”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

He shrugs again in that sexy way of his, powerful shoulders rising up before settling down. “You seemed to be looking for an escape. I had no problem with that.”

I feel my own shoulders slump. “So, you know.”

“I’d be both blind, deaf, and living in the middle of the Amazon not to know who you are.” He sets his coffee down and stares at me. “Still, I don’t see why that is a problem. I don’t plan on telling anyone, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“It’s not.” I shake my head and get down from the bed and begin to fumble around for my clothes.

As I dress, I feel Jake’s eyes on me. When I’m done, I turn and face him.

“I guess I need to get going.”

He opens his mouth seemingly to complain. Then he changes his mind because he keeps quiet and gets to his feet.

“Let me get you a travel mug for that coffee then,” he says as he shrugs on jeans and grabs a hoodie from his closet.

I nod. “I’ll call an Uber.”

“No.” He shakes his head as he returns with my coffee. “I’ll drive you instead. We don’t want anyone recognizing you and putting two and two together.”

I hadn’t thought about that, and I realize he’s right. Then I wonder if he thinks I don’t want to be seen with him because I’m a celebrity and all. Which is kind of true, but not in that way. By the time I’m in his car, I’m now wondering if he hasn’t just been protecting his privacy. Which would make him right. I still don’t like how it makes me feel though.

I tell him when to turn onto my streets even though I’ve already given him the address. The entire drive has been silent, and even though he seems at ease, I feel uncomfortable.

“Thanks,” I say nervously. “For last night,” I add when he turns to me.

“You realize I have half a pack of used condoms that says that you don’t need to thank me.”

I smile. I can’t help myself. He’s so damn funny and sexy and perfect, and this will never work. It’s just a one-night stand.

“Sorry,” I reply a while later. “It’s just I’ve had some really disappointing one-night stands in the past.” I point to the front of my house, not surprised when I find Jane waiting outside the gate for me. I texted her to tell her I would be home in a few minutes, and she texted back to tell me she would be waiting for me outside.

“One-night stand?” He sounds surprised. “Oh, I see.”

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