Page 5 of Our Deceptive Heat

“You said that,” Locke says calmly. He puts an arm over the back of the seat and tilts his head, closing his eyes and basking in the sunlight that’s filtering through his tinted windows. “I’m so tired.”

“Maybe if you weren’t up teasing all those women.”

“I wasn’t teasing all those women!”

“What were you doing, then?”

Locke lifts his head and grins. “It was exceptional. I have this model train, and-”

“You disgust me,” I say, not believing him. I’ve seen all the tabloids. Even if most aren’t all true, there are some that are just too graphic not to be.

A flicker of something crosses his face, but it’s gone before I understand it.

“And you horrify me. This is insane, by the way. Entrapment and all that,” he throws back at me with a raised brow and pointed look.

“I’m not trapping them. I’m working with them.”

“Under false pretenses.”

“They know everything they need to know,” I say tartly.

“Sure,” Locke drawls out.

I look out at the hotel we’re about to walk into. I’ve stayed here a time or two, but right now, the thought of walking inside is giving me full body shivers that I can’t control.

“Come on, let’s get this done. My dearest manager Jason is waiting to rip me a new one.”

“That guy is strangely obsessed with you. Not in a good way, either.”

“Yeah, but when you sell your soul to the devil, you take what you get.”

“Perhaps, next time, read your contract before you decide it will do to piss off Aunt Cara.”

“Yeah, well, that went really well for me, didn’t it?” Locke says bitterly. “Ah, well, everyone loves me. It will be fine.”

I scoff and shake my head. “I feel sorry for those girls.”

“Don’t. They don’t care about me, either. All they care about is Locke, superstar lead singer of Derision.”

I pause for a moment and then do something I never do. I throw myself across the backseat and into his arms, squeezing him hard enough that he makes a strange oof sound.

“What’s this for?”

“I just hate to see you sad, Locke, and I hope you know that I would do anything to help you.”

“I know you would, Ryn. It’s fine. I brought this on myself with my stupidity.”

“It's sad to think we’re all so desperate to escape our mothers that we keep ending up in these situations,” I murmur.

“Uh-uh. Cut that crap off before it turns into something that’s going to get us in trouble. Focus on the goal. You’re almost there. On the other side of those hotel doors is a band in desperate need of your skills.”

I straighten my shoulders. I do have mad skills. Locke’s songs that I wrote him all became hits.

“Now, get your ass out of my limo, and go find your destiny.”

I lift a hand to him and slide out of the car. He follows, but as soon as he steps out, people start screaming, and that’s my cue. I disappear unnoticed by the crowd of adoring fans and melt into obscurity.

I slip inside the hotel, barely taking in the huge water feature that takes up a giant part of the lobby or the luxury marble floors and gold trim.

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