Heavy Metal (A Badboy Rockstar Romance) (26 page)

It was an exciting night.

It was my first time visiting New York City, and I had been blown away by the Big Apple.  Of course, Brandon and I hadn’t been able to see the sights the way we would have had he not been famous.  That had been a minor disappointment.  But we’d still had the opportunity to do a few touristy things under the close supervision of his security team. 

Then we had returned to the hotel to freshen up – and have a quickie in the shower – before Brandon’s live television appearance. 

He had a spot on one of the hottest late night talk shows out there.  It was a show everyone wanted to be on, and Brandon was going to be sitting up there on a couch with a bunch of other huge celebrities.  I was insanely proud of him.

When we had pulled up outside the studio – in a limo, no less – I had been stunned to realize the traffic was so heavy on account of Brandon.  Well, on account of him and the other celebrities scheduled to make appearances that night.

“Should I be jealous of Ryan Wright right now?” Brandon grumbled good-naturedly as we made our way into the backstage area.  “I see the way you keep looking around like you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of him.”

“Maybe you should be a little jealous,” I teased.  “He
is
my favorite movie star ever,” I admitted, remembering the way Carl had always scoffed and refused to watch any of the handsome movie star’s films. 

“You’ve mentioned that,” Brandon said wryly.  “You’ve mentioned it several times, in fact.”

“I still can’t believe you’re going to be on the show the same night as him!  I mean, you’re going to be sitting on the same couch as him, right beside him!  I’m slightly star struck right now,” I admitted sheepishly.

“Sure, sure, get star struck over the movie star but not over the musician,” Brandon laughed.  Then he leaned over and kissed me.  “Actually, I take all my complaining back.  I wouldn’t change a thing about you – even your giant crush on Ryan Wright is cute.  I’ll see if I can introduce you to him after the show.”

“You really think I’ll get to meet him?” I asked eagerly.

Brandon laughed.  “Yes.  Apparently he’s a nice guy – Steve worked as his bodyguard for a while and only has good things to say about him.  I’m sure he won’t mind taking a minute or two out of his night to say hi to you.  But,” he added, “I should warn you right now that you’re still coming home with me.”

I smirked.  “You’re sexy when you’re jealous, you know that?  But for the record, you have nothing to worry about.  He’s married...and besides, all I want to do is ask for a hug and blurt out something stupid and embarrassing about how I think he’s brilliant.  Once I’ve gotten that out of my system, I’m all yours.”

“Deal,” Brandon chuckled.

“Hey, speaking of Steve, where is he tonight anyway?” I asked curiously.   There was a flurry of activity around us, as there always was when Brandon stepped out in public without concealing his identity.  But I didn’t see Brandon’s trusted bodyguard anywhere.

“He’s out sick with the stomach flu,” Brandon told me with a grimace.  “Actually, it’s put nearly the entire security team out of commission.  Talk about terrible timing.”

“Whoa, that sucks.  So what happens when you have no security team?” I asked curiously.

“Good question...it’s actually never happened before.  My assistant got in touch with a temp agency here in the city, so they sent a few guys over to keep an eye on things.  But I mean, I probably don’t even need them,” he added, trailing off rather deliberately.

“What do you mean?” I asked even though it felt like I was walking into a trap.

“Well, I mean, no one’s going to pay any attention to me.  You’ve already made it quite apparent that compared to Ryan ‘Pretty Boy’ Wright I’m chopped liver,” he winked.  “Thanks for that, by the way.”

“Oh I did not,” I groaned.  “You are such a drama queen.”

“No, but seriously, it’s a good thing,” Brandon insisted cheerfully.  “He’s the bigger celebrity, so all the attention will be on him tonight.  That means I get to be invisible!  Well, as close to invisible as one can be in this industry, I mean.  I’m quite looking forward to it.”

“You won’t be invisible to me,” I promised dutifully, linking my arm through Brandon’s.  “I won’t be able to take my eyes off you while you’re up there being interviewed.” 

“What if Ryan is sitting next to me?”

“Well okay, fine, I won’t take my eyes off for you
for very long
,” I conceded.  “I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t sneak a glance or two at him, but can you blame me?  That man is the very definition of eye candy, oh my God.”

Brandon snorted.  “Well, at least you’re honest.”

“Love you,” I said sweetly, offering up a big smile.

He deliberately bumped into me in a flirtatious, playful way.  “Love you too,” he replied as we reached his dressing room. 

When we stepped inside I whistled in disbelief.  Brandon wasn’t the type to make outrageous demands, but it looked like the studio had gone all out when it came to furnishing the dressing room.  The place was pretty damn cushy.  I suspected I would never quite get used to the life Brandon led.

The makeup artist was already in there, ready and waiting.  I knew a thing or two about stage lighting.  For whatever reason, being under those bright lights had a way of making a person look completely washed out on camera...which was where stage makeup came in.

Brandon dutifully took a seat in front of the mirror so the woman could get to work.

“Do you really want to sit here watching me get my makeup done?” Brandon asked me.

“Yes,” I replied, planting myself right in front of him. 

From that moment on, every time the makeup artist moved to the side, my eyes locked with Brandon’s and we both ended up with the giggles.  It was difficult to even say what, exactly, was so funny – but we were cracking ourselves up. 

It was clear the makeup artist wasn’t amused...and that seemed to set us off all over again.

“I should wait outside,” I finally decided, not wanting to get in the way.  “Maybe I will go hunting for Ryan Wright,” I added slyly.

“Take one of the bodyguards with you,” Brandon advised, looking downright silly in the heavy makeup that was used to make sure he wouldn’t look washed out on camera.  “A few of them should be waiting in the hallway.”

“Okay.”

I stepped out into the hallway and saw a few big, muscular guys loitering around outside the dressing room, talking and laughing amongst themselves.  I walked over and tapped one of them on the shoulder.

“Excuse me, are you Brandon’s bodyguard?” I asked him.

“Nah, I work for Ryan Wright,” he replied.

“Oh!  Is he here?” I asked, feeling myself go into fangirl mode all over again.

The guy hesitated, clearly uncomfortable with telling some random woman the whereabouts of his very famous client.  Then one of the other guys in the group spoke up.

“It’s cool, man.”  He looked over at me and then asked, “You’re Brandon’s wife, aren’t you?”

“Yeah...I mean his girlfriend.  Yeah, I am.”  Flustered, I found myself a bit tongue tied at being called Brandon’s wife.  I quite liked the sound of it, to be honest.  Then, coming to my senses, I added, “My name is Hayley.  And you are...?”

“I’m Chad.  I’m from the temp agency,” he replied.  “Brandon’s assistant hired me last minute.”

“Ah,” I nodded.  “Good to know.”

“Do you need something?” he asked.

“I uh...no,” I decided, making up my mind that I simply wouldn’t stray very far.  “I just wanted to stretch my legs,” I explained, figuring that was easier – and more dignified – than admitting Brandon and I were unable to stop laughing when we were in the same room together. 

Trying to look purposeful, I held my head high and made my way down the hall. 

I figured the backstage area was pretty secure in and of itself – and besides, those in the celebrity gossip world had only very recently begun to realize I was Brandon’s girlfriend.  He’d kept me under wraps, not because he was ashamed of me but because he was trying to protect me from the viciousness of the media for as long as possible. 

He had cautioned me that pretty soon the paparazzi would start to hound me, but so far that hadn’t really happened.  I was relieved.  I could only imagine what the headlines would say when the world realized a famous,
gorgeous
musician was dating a woman who wasn’t a size zero...not that I much cared.

I had made up my mind to enjoy the relative anonymity while it lasted.  After that, well, I would take whatever was thrown at me.  Even if the tabloids were rude or late night comedians made jokes about me, it didn’t really matter.  What mattered was that I’d gotten the guy! 

Meandering down the hall, I turned a corner and spotted a door with a large sign hanging on the wall next to it.  The sign had a name written on it.  And it wasn’t just any name.  It was Ryan Wright’s name!  I had found his dressing room!

Pausing outside his door, I contemplated what to do next.  Having seen fame from Brandon’s perspective, I knew I didn’t want to be one of those annoying fans who imposed herself on a celebrity.  But on the other hand, I was standing right outside Ryan Wright’s dressing room door!  How could I not take advantage of that opportunity?

As Brandon had pointed out, Ryan had a reputation for being a nice guy.  I figured a quick little meet and greet wouldn’t be asking too much as long as I was polite about it.  So I took a step forward and knocked on the door.

There was no answer.

“Too bad,” I whispered under my breath, turning to head back to Brandon’s dressing room.

I nearly bumped into a pale, dark haired young woman wearing a black strapless top and skinny jeans.  She had piercing, steely grey eyes and three small stars tattooed slightly above her collarbone.  She was practically standing right on my heels, and yet I hadn’t even heard her come up behind me. 

I let out a gasp, took a step back and then laughed at my reaction.

“Whoa!  You startled me!” I told her with a smile.

She didn’t smile back.  Instead she looked me up and down with one of those sneers that only bitchy, judgmental skinny girls could get away with.  It had taken me a long time to finally feel good about my curves, and I didn’t appreciate someone like her trying to shame me. 

Crossing my arms, I stared back at her coolly. 

“You’re Hayley,” she said, almost accusingly.

“Uh yes, that’s right,” I replied, a bit taken aback by her abrupt demeanor.  “And you are..?”

“I’m Brandon’s girlfriend.”

Raising an eyebrow, I said nothing.  Maybe the old Hayley would have freaked out about that, but I felt secure in my relationship.  And perhaps even more importantly, I trusted Brandon.  Since we had been spending pretty much all our free time together, I was confident he wasn’t seeing anyone on the side.  Besides, he wasn’t the type of guy to do that.

So what the hell was going on?

“Stay away from him,” the woman hissed menacingly.  “He belongs to me.”

Something about her demeanor was so bone chilling that I found myself momentarily rendered speechless.  By the time I thought of a response, she had already made a hasty exit, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared.  Though I couldn’t quite put my finger on the reason why, the hair on the back of my neck was standing straight up.

When I arrived back at Brandon’s dressing room, the bodyguards were still all standing around outside chatting with one another.  I walked past them and found Brandon alone inside, flipping idly through a magazine. 

“Oh, there you are,” he said, looking up at me with a smile.

“The strangest thing happened,” I told him, still feeling a bit shaken up.

“What is it?” he asked, tossing the magazine aside.  “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I think so,” I replied with a shrug.  “It’s just that I had a bizarre run in with a strange woman.  She knew who I was – most people don’t, but she called me by name.  Then she told me she’s your girlfriend and warned me to stay away from you.”

Brandon’s face fell.  In fact, all the color drained right out of his face.

“Don’t worry, I know she’s full of shit,” I quickly assured him when I saw how distraught he was.  “You don’t have to look so worried, Brandon.  I didn’t believe her for a single second, so relax, okay?”

“What did she look like?” he demanded, still as white as a ghost.

“Thin, dark hair, really intense eyes...oh, and she had tattoos on her neck.”

“Stars,” he said, and it wasn’t a question.  He quickly pulled out his phone and hammered out a text, firing it off as though his life depended on it.

“You know her?” I asked, wondering what on earth was going on.  “Who are you texting?”

“Remember I told you there was a security breach in Germany?” he asked.

I nodded.

“She’s a fan,” he told me.  “At first we thought she seemed harmless enough, if not a bit obsessed.  But she got really fixated on me.  She started showing up everywhere I went, making me feel like I was being hunted.  One night I went out to a party.  But when I got back to my hotel room...”