Page 11 of The Music of Love

But not right now. Not tonight. I have other things planned for tonight.

Wisely, the two of them back off. But I can see they’re not happy about it—Kathleen especially. “I’m getting out of here,” I tell them. “Now will you two do your jobs and make sure my gear gets where it needs to go? Thanks.”

Without waiting for a response, I simply keep moving down the hall, Reese’s hand in mine, brushing past the crowds of people all looking to get in my way about something. I keep my rockstar smile on for everybody until we’re in the elevator and the doors are shut, at which point I finally let it slip and breathe a sigh of relief.

“What was all that about?” Reese asks.

“Oh, that?” I thumb the button for the garage. “Nothing. Just some publicity shit they want me to do that I’m not going to do.”

“Something with Jenni Hinderman?” she asks.

“That’s the one,” I reply. “Why, you a fan?”

I can tell by the way she’s suppressing a smile that she is. But she just shrugs and says, “Maybe.”

“Well, I’m not doing what they want me to do,” I say.

Reese is looking at me differently as the elevator begins to go down. It’s a new look in her eyes that I haven’t seen before. A look of maybe…understanding? Instead of blatant dislike or the teasing she was giving me was giving me backstage a few minutes ago.

“I guess there’s more to this whole rockstar thing than I realized,” she says.

“Oh, yeah?” I step closer, look down on her, into her, this defiant girl who has been quickly winning over my heart. “More to me than what you see in the media?”

She looks back at me with something close to submission, like she’s finally letting her walls come down. Like her opinion of me is finally starting to change.

I reach out and slip my hands slowly around her waist, letting my eyes slide down from her eyes to her lips, which open just slightly.

And that’s when the elevator dings, shattering the moment like a splash of ice water to the face.

“Maybe,” she replies with a smile, stepping past me into the garage.

8

Cal

I wishI had a photographer with me. Not for long—only a couple of minutes or so. Just long enough so they could take a few pictures of how gorgeous Reese looks in the back of my car right now as we drive. A beauty like her deserves a lot better than whatever crappy cellphone snapshots I could take of her.

She’s in a blouse and jeans too. Not a skirt, not a dress, not lingerie. She’s a stunner who can clearly make anything work.

“So this isn’t the way to my apartment,” she says as the driver takes a turn.

“Are you sure?” I tease. “My driver’s got a built-in GPS in his brain.”

Reese leans on one elbow and half-glares at me. It’s more of a playful frown, and she actually looks sexy as hell when she does it. I can feel the blood rushing to my cock as I return the look.

“Built-in GPS, huh?”

“That’s right,” I reply.

“And let me guess. That GPS is taking us straight to your hotel?”

God, she’s so fucking hot. Nobody talks to me like this anymore. It’s exciting. She’s giving me something I didn’t even realize was missing from my life until I met her.

I scoot across the seat so I can get closer to her. “You’re pretty sharp, you know that?”

She laughs. “Hey, it didn’t take a brain surgeon to figure that one out.”

“That’s actually my side job,” I tease, running a hand up her calf. She doesn’t do anything to move back or push it away. That’s a good sign.

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