Page 21 of Too Little Too Soon
And he never, ever wanted to be alone with the woman who had become his first stalker.
“Shit!” He should have called someone to escort him from the bus.
Grasping the handle of the luggage containing Maria’s party favors, he kicked into a run, reached the door, and flashed his creds before she could do something crazy like scale the fence.
She’d done it before.
“You all right, man?” the security guy asked when Travis burst through the door.
“Yeah, fine, just, ah, need to get up to the meet ’n greet.” No idea why he didn’t tell the guy who he saw, other than maybe a little bit of male pride. He’d totally looked like a wimp running scared like that.
A second security guard didn’t ask questions either, just fell into step with Travis, which Travis appreciated. Sometimes, having someone dogging his steps pretty much everywhere was annoying.
Not today.
When he reached the meet and greet, he kept his head down and barreled straight toward the roped off area where the rest of the band was hanging out, mingling with fans in small clusters.
A murmur went up in the crowd, which he was pretty sure was due to his unexpected presence. Panic Station hadn’t yet left the stage, so it wouldn’t be any of their members. He ignored it too; he just wanted to hand over this stupid bag and—hell, he didn’t even know what he wanted after that.
He didn’t want to go back to the bus, not until the rest of the band was heading that way. Which he knew wouldn’t be anytime soon. They’d stay until the Panic Station show was over. They’d probably celebrate the new year right here in this room. And that was almost two hours away.
“Hey, thanks,” Maria said, tugging the bag out of his grip. She frowned. “You okay? You look freaked. What happened?” She scanned the room. “Oh no, is that stalker here after all? Security assured me—”
“She’s out in the parking lot. Don’t tell Lacey, but I didn’t have an escort when I came back, and she caught me unawares just before I walked inside.”
Maria had done a whole lot of damage control during those two months when that chick wouldn’t leave him alone. First, to counteract all the crazy stories the woman had posted on social media about her and Travis, including the one insisting he’d knocked her up. Then, after Travis secured a Personal Protection Order against her, after she’d gone a little nuts and publicly blamed it all on him.
So yeah, he was perfectly fine admitting to Maria what had happened, because she’d been there with him every step of the way.
“Okay, sit here.” She guided him to one of the couches. “I’ll go grab you a drink. Ava, can you make sure no one approaches him, just for a little while? He needs a minute to breathe.”
Ah hell, he hadn’t even realized she’d seated him right next to the only other woman he wanted to avoid.
“Sure,” Ava said from his right.
He didn’t look at her. He couldn’t. His eyes probably reflected his fear right now, and what kind of image would that portray?
Not that he should care what sort of image he portrayed to a woman he never intended to talk to again after tonight.
A fan got brave enough to approach him, and before Travis could remotely attempt to put his game face on, Ava stood, smoothly guided the guy away, promising that the drummer would come to him as soon as he was ready. The kid didn’t even look disappointed.
Huh. Guess the PR gene ran in the family.
She came back and sat next to him again, a champagne flute in her hand. “Want some?” she asked, offering it to him.
He did, but Maria would be back in a minute with something much stronger, so he shook his head. “I’m good.”
“I don’t mean to argue, but you sure don’t look good.”
He snorted. “Gee, thanks.”
“Not like that. I mean, you look…terrified.”
He swiped a hand over his face. Where the hell was Maria with that drink? “I, uh, yeah, it’s pretty fucked up.”
“If you want to talk about it, I promise not to say anything to anyone else.”
“It’s actually public knowledge, although your sister’s so good at her job that it’s pretty much disappeared from the news now.” He sucked in a breath. She offered the champagne again.
