Page 41 of Hard Rock Temptation
I paused, wanting to put my thoughts into careful words. There was something that had been bugging me all day. I’d thought I’d put the worry away, but every so often it popped up, haunting me.
“Do you think it’s a bad sign that Micah wants to go slow?” I finally asked.
Anya waited a beat.
“Do you?” she asked, turning back on me.
“I didn’t think so at first,” I told her. “But I keep thinking about it. I know Micah was scared to get into a relationship with me. He had half a dozen excuses, half a dozen worries. I thought he’d gotten over them. But—” I lifted my eyes to meet Anya’s, seeing concern there. “What if going slow just means he’s still not sure about the two of us being together?”
“I think that’s a conversation you need to have with him,” Anya said gently.
I sighed, and this time itwasabout Micah.
“I will,” I said. “After the interview. I’ll sit down and talk to him about it.”
If Micah was still scared to move forward in our relationship, I would just have to make sure he knew it was safe.
EIGHTEEN
MICAH
Ishould have expected it.
I’d been so distracted by the list of interview questions the podcast staff had emailed me ahead of time that I hadn’t taken the time to mentally prepare. I knew they’d be filming so I’d made sure to clean up nice, but I’d forgotten that meant Kay would be doing the same.
The difference was, Kay’s version of ‘cleaned up nice’ was vastly different from mine. I’d made sure to run a comb through my hair and put on a clean, dark t-shirt that would show off my tattoos.
My girlfriend, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to step off a magazine cover. Perfect red curls, plump shiny lips, green eyes rimmed with black, and a mini-dress that showed off enough thigh to make my mouth turn dry. The confident way she threw back her hair and gave the podcast host a cheeky grin was enough to make my cock stiffen in my jeans.
Kay was always beautiful, whether she was wearing ratty pajama pants and comfy hoodies at home, or combat boots and tank tops on stage. I thought I’d gotten used to every side of her.
But when she went into glamorous model mode I always floundered.
I’d expected her to show up looking nice, but I wasn’t prepared for this. I groaned silently. Fuck, she was so sexy, it took every ounce of self-control to stop myself from pulling her into the darkest corner I could find to ravish her.
“Micah!” Kay looked my way and flagged me down with a wave and a smile.
I steadied myself and ambled over, feigning an ease I didn’t feel inside.
“Hey Kay.” I stuck my hands in my pockets, unsure of what to do with myself. Usually Kay would take my arm, or I would put an arm around her shoulder, or some other sign of physical affection as a greeting.
But now that we were together, those little actions had a different meaning. Would people notice there was something different about those touches? Would something in my expression give me away? Would everyone know just how desperate I was to put my hands on her?
“How do you want to play this?” I asked her under my breath. “Our relationship, I mean. The last thing we want is the media nosing into our private lives.”
“I don’t mind if people find out about us,” she began quietly, “but I know that once they do, all the attention is going to be focused on our relationship, not on the music.” Her expression wentthoughtful. “If we just act normal, I doubt anyone will notice a difference, right?”
“I don’t know if I can act normal around you now,” I admitted. “But if we keep our distance, that will draw attention to us as well.”
“I guess this interview is going to be our first test,” she said. “We’ll have to pretend everything is the same when everything has changed.” She shrugged. “Let’s not worry about it,” she said with a grin, entirely unruffled. “I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
I had always loved Kay’s optimism. I’d try to be just as optimistic, for her sake. And I’d try to keep my hands to myself, no matter how much of a struggle it was.
“So are we doing this thing, or what?” Finn came up behind me and threw an arm over my shoulder with a smirk. “Let’s get the party started.”
“It’s an interview, not a party,” Chris said, amused, following behind Finn. Anyone else would have sounded exasperated, but Chris was too good-natured for that.
“Try to keep your usual hijinks to a minimum,” I told Finn.
