Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (2 page)

****

An hour later we were all still chatting; for a minor
miracle, Olivia had even managed to get Jules to open up a bit. “Guys.” We all
turned to look at the door; Katie was there, looking a little concerned.
“Time’s up.”

“No it isn’t!” Mark jumped up. “If our interview sessions
are over, then we’re free, right? So we can decide how we want to spend the
rest of the day.”

“I’m down to keep talking,” Dan said.

“Me too,” I agreed. “We could always head to Lost Weekend,
see if they’ve opened up yet.”

“What time is it?” Olivia looked at the watch on her wrist
at Jules’s question.

“It’s just after four,” she said. “They should be open.
Barely.”

“Then let’s head over there. Katie—is the van still in the
back?” We’d somehow managed to hold onto the huge van we’d used for our last
tour of the state before Alex had had his little “adventure.”

“It’s still back there,” Katie replied with a shrug. “I
can’t promise it still works.”

“So let’s all pile into the van and make Alex drive since
he’s the default DD anyway,” Mark suggested.

“I can follow you over,” Olivia said, closing the notebook
she’d taken out somewhere along the way; I’d barely even noticed, everything
had flowed so naturally.

“You could come with in the van,” Dan pointed out. “We’d
drop you off here to get your car after.” Olivia half-shrugged.

“I need to get to work on the article at some point
tonight,” she said.

“Oh fine.” Jules stood up.

“I need to grab Mary if we’re going out,” Alex said. I
rolled my eyes to myself silently. I should have known he’d want to pick up his
girlfriend—and Mary was a pretty good time. But there was that little part of
me that couldn’t help resenting the fact that Alex almost never felt like going
out without his girlfriend.

“So you go get Mary, and meet us there,” Jules said with a
shrug. “Let’s hit the road.”

“I’ll walk you to your car,” I told Olivia as Dan and Mark
practically scampered out of the control room, shoving each other to try and
get outside to be able to call shotgun first.

“You’re not going to try for shotgun?” Olivia asked me with
a quick up-and-down look. I snorted.

“I never get shotgun. I’ve given up on it.” I shrugged.
“Besides, there’s lots of room in the back of the van without the gear in it.”
Olivia bit her bottom lip, carefully winding up the cords to the microphones
and shoving them into her bag.
Fuck, do women even know how it looks when
they do that?
A fast, hot jolt shot through me, and in my head I could see
what she’d look like if she was riding me, taking me deep.

“Okay,” Olivia said finally. She combed her fingers through
her short, soft-looking hair and looked around. “You can walk me out to my car
if you want.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic,” I told her, gesturing for her
to go through the door first. “I might start thinking you’re into me.” Olivia
laughed.

“Have you ever met a woman who doesn’t immediately want to
fall into your big blue eyes and hear you whisper sweet nothings in her ear?”
She raised a dark eyebrow. I grinned.

“Not often,” I replied. “But I do enjoy a challenge.” Olivia
rolled her eyes and shook her head, though she didn’t try to get away from me
or even put any distance between us as we walked through the winding hallways
leading out to the parking lot behind the studio.

“I’m not actually a challenge,” Olivia said, looking up at
me through her eyelashes. “I’m just not interested in being another number on
someone’s scorecard.”

“I’m offended by that,” I said, bringing one hand up to my
chest as if my heart had been crushed. “I don’t keep a scorecard; that would
require keeping count.” Olivia snorted.

“So what you’re saying is that you’ve lost count,” she said.
“Not exactly a winning endorsement of yourself there, Nick.”

“Hey—I’m just being honest with you,” I said, holding my
hands up and widening my eyes. “I would hope you would value my honesty.”

“Valuing your honesty doesn’t mean I’m going to sleep with
you,” Olivia told me sweetly. She stopped, and I realized we were next to an
old, beat-up Ford Focus. “Here’s my car!” Olivia turned to face me fully and I
got the full advantage of her tight tee shirt. My hands practically itched to
cup her full, heavy tits; for a fraction of a second they might have actually
twitched at my sides.

“You’re not going to bail just because I hit on you, right?”
I crossed my arms over my chest to resist the urge to try and make a move; it
wasn’t the right time—that was for damn sure. Olivia laughed out loud, the
sound almost glittery, her eyes shining with amusement.

“Trust me, that little bit of flirting was
not
enough
to keep me from hanging out with the rest of you. There is a reason I started
working with a music magazine as soon as I could get my degree finished.”

“What’s that?” Olivia shrugged, digging her keys out of her
bag.

“I like musicians,” she said. “Always fun, usually interesting,
and you generally know where the best parties are.” I chuckled.

“Fair enough. See you at the bar.” I leaned in and Olivia
stiffened—just slightly. I resisted the urge to laugh again as I kissed one
cheek and then the other before immediately turning to get to the van where
everyone else but Alex was waiting for me.

****

“Three ball, corner pocket,” Jules called out from one of
the pool tables. I had no idea how long we’d been at Lost Weekend, but it was
just starting to pick up for the night. When we’d all gotten there, it was just
about dead; of course, it wasn’t even five yet then. Jules and Alex were
holding down the pool table, one or the other of them switching places with
Mark or Dan at the arcade machines.

“What time is it?” I’d finally managed to corner Olivia at
the table; she’d been doing a good job of keeping herself occupied with one
person or the other—I’d seen her talking to one of the bartenders, chatting up
a few of the regulars.
If she knows people here, she’s here all the time.
How could I have never seen her before?

Olivia looked at her watch, brining a PBR up to her mouth
with the other hand. She took a sip and then turned her attention back onto me.
“Almost midnight.”

“Jesus fuck, we’ve been here seven hours?” Olivia shrugged,
and for a second—just an instant—we both just sort of stared at each other in
shock. Then at the same time we both giggled like teenaged girls. “Fuck, man.”
I shook my head. I grinned at Olivia, a thought jumping into my head. “Well at
least you know you can hang with a band when it comes to partying.”

“Oh I never doubted that,” Olivia said, smirking. “I’m good
for another three hours. Maybe four.”

“I thought you had to start writing the article?” Olivia
shrugged.

“I texted my editor and told him I got invited to hang out,
and wanted to add some color to the article. He’s totally game.”

“Jules and Alex arguing over whether or not the other one
broke right is color?”

“It is,” Olivia said, nodding. “And so is Mark’s epic battle
to get the top three spots on the game he’s playing.” I laughed, shaking my
head. Olivia yawned. “Fuck! Why did you have to ask me what time it was? Now my
brain’s catching up to how tired it should be.”

“Hey—I’ve been up since like…seven or some shit like that,
and I’m still going strong,” I said, right before yawning. “That was your
fault. Everyone knows yawning is contagious.” Olivia rolled her eyes at me and
knocked back the last of her PBR.

“If I’m starting to yawn I should probably get home and
start at least pretending to work on the article for the magazine,” she said.

“Aw, come on. You’re having a good time. Getting loads of
color. Don’t go home so soon or I’ll have to tell everyone you can’t hang.”
Olivia gave me a little half-smile with a raised eyebrow.

“We’ve been talking for like an hour, Nick. Haven’t you had
enough of me?” she looked around the bar. “There are at least a dozen women in
here right this second who are imagining what you look like naked, and you’re
sitting here shooting the breeze with me.” It was true; as soon as I’d seen
Olivia at a table by herself, I’d made my move, sitting down across from her.

“Maybe I like shooting the breeze with you,” I said with a
little shrug. It was actually true. Even during the actual interview, Olivia
had been kind of amazing; she’d completely stuck with her plan of making it
like a conversation, and she hadn’t asked a single question that we’d been
asked by the rest of the reporters. She had wanted to know things like what we
liked the best about touring versus the least, what books we were reading,
where a particular riff had come from.

“You like getting laid,” Olivia said, giving me the most
direct look I’ve ever gotten from a woman. “And I can just about promise you
that no amount of shooting the breeze with me is going to get you laid
tonight.”

“I don’t have to get laid
every
night,” I protested.
“I’ve got a hand if I get an itch.”

“Cute,” Olivia said sarcastically. She licked her lips,
glancing around the room again. “Alex is doing a good job staying sober.” I
shrugged.

“For now he is,” I said. “I probably shouldn’t say this but
we’re all kind of...no one is going to like, sabotage his recovery or anything,
and we don’t
want
him to go back to being the mess he was, but you know
how it is.” Olivia nodded.

“I can see it,” she agreed. “Mary’s a good influence then?”
Some look must have crossed over my face without me realizing it; in an instant
Olivia got a look on
her
face like a wolf that caught a scent. “She’s
not a good influence?”

“No—no, she’s totally a good influence,” I said, remembering
at the last second that Olivia was, after all, a journalist. “It’s one of those
things; one of your friends starts seeing a girl seriously and it changes the
dynamic. I don’t resent him for it—or her—but it’s an adjustment.”

“Things change when something like that happens,” Olivia
agreed with a nod. She looked at the time again. “I’m going to close my tab and
head back. My editor will kill me if I don’t at least have something in his
inbox tomorrow—well, technically today.”

“Can I tag along?” Olivia gave me a disbelieving look.
“Seriously! I’m not going to try and put the moves on you or something. I just
want to hang out and talk. You can work.”

“You want to sit in my living room and talk while I’m
putting together notes for the article? It’s going to be really boring.”

“With you? I doubt it.” Olivia laughed, shaking her head and
rolling her eyes.

“Stop it, Nick. I am not going to get all mushy from you
flattering me.”

“You’re blushing though,” I pointed out. “You like it, even
if you don’t want to like it.”

“It’s the alcohol,” Olivia insisted.

“Come on. Let me tag along. I promise I’ll be a perfect
gentleman.” I put my hand over my heart and raised my other hand with my first
two fingers up in a Boy Scout salute.

“I really doubt you were ever a scout, or that you have much
honor,” Olivia said, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. “But fine.
If nothing else I can give you a ride home later.” She stood and I watched her
walk over to the bar.
Fuck. God, she has no idea how hot she is.
Olivia
leaned over a bit on the bar, waiting for someone to bring her the bill for her
drinks, and of course that gave me a picture-perfect view of her ass pushed
back, full and rounded, filling out her jeans like the person who’d made her
clothes had had Olivia in mind at the time.
I could walk up behind her right
now, pull her jeans down and just fuck her like that. Grab her hips and just
plow. Jesus fuck. I wouldn’t even care if the whole damn room watched.
I
knocked back the last of my beer and took a deep breath to try and push down
the burn I could feel building up inside of me. I had to keep cool. Just
getting Olivia to agree to let me come over—even if she wasn’t going to have
sex with me—was a big deal, I could tell that much. If I pushed her too hard, I
was going to fuck it up; and if I gave into that tingle of electric heat
flowing through my veins, I was definitely going to push her too hard.

I got up from the table and walked over to Dan, who was
watching the game between Jules and Alex, taking a break from one of the arcade
machines. “Hey.”

“You talk her into going back to your place?” I shook my
head.

“I’m going back to hers,” I said. I grinned; I wasn’t about
to tell Danny that I knew I wasn’t going to get laid. I took my wallet out and
handed him a couple of bills out of it to cover my part of the tab. God only
knew when the rest of the guys would roll out of the bar; they might actually
manage to hang in until it closed at four.

“Text me if you need a fast getaway,” Dan said, taking the
money and shoving it in his pocket. I nodded and looked around. I spotted
Olivia walking away from the bar slowly; I could almost read her mind as she
looked around.
She’s thinking she could take this chance and ditch me. She
sees I’m not at the table waiting for her; she could just slip out and go home
and not even have to worry about me—except that then she’d be the asshole that
went back on her word.

I saved her the trouble of deciding, picking my way through
the crowd and popping up at her side. “All paid up?” Olivia jumped, turning and
looking at me with slightly wide eyes. I hesitated for a second. “Look, if you
really just hate the idea of spending any more time with me tonight, you don’t
have to feel like you have to humor me.” I held her gaze. “I’m a grown-ass man,
and like you said there are plenty of other girls here who would take me home
if I wanted to just go fuck someone.” Olivia’s cheeks lit up with that pink-red
color and she glanced at the rest of my band mates. She caught her bottom lip
between her teeth and I saw her chest rise and fall with a deep breath as she
came to a decision.

“Come on,” she said, reaching into her bag.

We walked out of the bar together, almost completely silent.
I nodded to the doorman, giving him the little half-grin that would maintain my
reputation. It was one thing to be okay with not getting laid; it was a
completely different thing to let it get out that I was following some chick
who didn’t want to have sex with me like a lost puppy.
Why am I even doing this?
We started up the street to where Olivia had parked.
She’s totally right.
There were at least a dozen girls in there who would have come running to the
table if I so much as crooked my finger. The hell am I trailing after the one
woman in the room I
know
has no intention of having sex with me for?

“You’ve gone quiet all of a sudden,” Olivia said, taking her
keys out of her bag and unlocking the Focus. I shrugged.

“So have you,” I pointed out. I walked around to the
passenger side and opened the door, looking over the roof of the car at Olivia.
“Having second thoughts about inviting me into your home?”

“Oh I had those fifteen minutes ago,” she said, opening her
own door and ducking in on the driver’s side. I followed her example, pushing
the seat back until at least my knees weren’t right up against the glove
compartment. “I’m on third or fourth thoughts about it now.”

“I’m serious,” I told her. “If you don’t want me over, tell
me no. I’ll kiss you on the cheek, tell you to get home safely and text me to
let me know you haven’t died, and I’ll find someone else to shoot the breeze
with.” Olivia stared at me for a long moment in silence and I waited to hear
her say that she would prefer it if that was exactly the way things went down.

“If you don’t close your door I can’t drive,” she said
instead. I suppressed the grin that threatened to break out over my face and
did as I was told, closing the door behind me.