Rock Solid (Rock Hard #3) Seduced By The Rockstar - BBW Erotic Romance (7 page)

“And then yesterday, thinking we were
together. I guess hearing you’d be gone so soon was more than I
could handle. I flipped out, I guess.”

Gage stood, pulling Kate up to him. “Well,
we’re together now. I expect there will be more calls from my
manager, from the band probably, and maybe some press wanting
interviews.” He kissed her forehead.

“But for now, it’s just you and me. And I
meant it, Kate. You’re everything I want…need…you’re my future.” He
bent to kiss her lips.

The cell phone rang. Gage reached down,
flipping the phone open. He frowned, sent the call to voice mail
and then turned the phone off. He dropped it back on the table.

“I’m sure there’ll be messages from everyone.
I’ll deal with it all tomorrow. But for now, it’s just us.” Gage
pulled Kate closer, her breasts pressed against his chest. As he
held her, he felt himself grow hard, the soft skin of her body hot
against his cock. He rubbed himself slowly against her, sliding his
hands down her back, cupping her ass in his hands.

“Oh, god, Kate. You make me so hot, just
touching you turns me on.” He moved one hand up to her breast,
still covered by her bra. He looked down, watching his hand slide
across the full globe, his thumb rubbing the nipple, seeing it grow
hard at his touch. Kate shuddered beneath his hand, a sensation
that turned him on every time it happened.

Kate was rubbing against him, her body
calling to him. It didn’t take him long to answer that call. Taking
her by the hand, he led her to the bedroom, to the place where he
felt they communicated the best. It might not be with words, but it
made sense to Gage.

The next hour passed in sensual abandonment.
Gage explored every inch of Kate’s body with his tongue and hands,
rediscovering her as she lay moaning beneath him. He finally
focused on licking and sucking her clit until she was crying out,
her body shaking with the force of her orgasm.

He’d turned her on her stomach, slowly
sliding into her, the soft fullness of her ass pressing against his
body as he thrust into her, nibbling on her ear, licking the curve
of her neck, taking her on another ride, both of them finally
peaking, bodies intertwined in passion, in love.

Gage held her for a long time, dozing off,
cradling her body in his arms. He was jolted awake as she pulled
away from him.

“Oh, god, Gage. I’ve got to get back to work.
Ursula is going to have my head.” He watched as she ran out of the
bedroom, heard her searching for her clothes in the other room. She
came back in, dumping her clothes on the bed.

“I’m taking a shower and then leaving. And
no, you’re not buying me new clothes today.” She smiled at him and
then disappeared into the bathroom. He heard the shower start and
the scent of the soap and shampoo drifted out. Laying back on the
pillows he thought about what he’d done, what he and Kate would do
next.

He was still musing over his decision when
she came back into the bedroom, a towel wrapped around her head. He
watched as she pulled on her panties and bra, caught her looking at
him as she pulled the towel from her damp hair, the brilliant red
deepened to dark auburn.

“What’s so funny?” Kate was standing at the
foot of the bed, looking lush and utterly gorgeous in her
underwear, her tangled hair framing her face. She started drying
her hair with the towel.

“Nothing’s funny. Didn’t know I was laughing.
But…” he sat up in bed, resting his forearms on his knees “…I was
thinking, we need to start looking for some place to live.”

Kate stopped, the towel hanging limp in her
hands.

“Oh. Well, yeah. I hadn’t really thought
about that.” She dropped the towel, rummaging in her purse for a
comb. “I guess we can’t live at the W forever.”

“We could, but I don’t want to. I want a real
apartment, not a hotel. It would seem like perpetual tour if we
stayed here.”

Kate scowled. “My apartment is about the size
of a closet.”

“I think we should look for a place,
something big enough for us and with enough space.” He swung his
legs over the slide of the bed.

“I think, while you’re at work, I’ll make
some calls, see what’s available.” He walked to the end of the bed,
wrapping his arms around Kate. “How does that sound?”

“I think it sounds wonderful. As much as I
adore the soap here, I’d rather have our own place.” She kissed him
quickly. “But I have to go. Really. Can you call me a car?”

Gage nodded, and let Kate go, slipping on his
jeans and shirt, and called down to the concierge. Kate finished
getting dressed and he rode in the elevator with her down to the
lobby.

“Call me later, or come back here.” Gage
fished a key card out of his pocket. “Here, you can just let
yourself in.” He kissed her forehead, held the car door for her as
she slid into the backseat.

He closed the door, watching her drive off
down Lexington Avenue. Turning back to the hotel he started
whistling softly. A song was bubbling up inside of him, something
soft and quiet, full of hope and passion. He wondered if there was
paper and pens in the desk in his room.

***

Kate sat at her desk, the first interview of
the series almost halfway done and the sidebar article well
underway. She’d had a burst of creative energy after she’d left
Gage at the W. It seemed like everything in her brain worked, the
words were there, her notes giving her the background to show the
reader exactly what it was like to be at the concert, the sights,
the sounds, what it felt like to be in the audience while Gage
Stevens sang his heart out for them.

Ursula had asked to see her at the end of the
day. Kate had emailed her the first draft of the article and the
interview, along with the schedule of interviews and sidebars. She
felt more than ready to meet with Ursula, felt she was really on
the right track.

Glancing at the clock, she printed extra
copies of the stories for making notes, gathered her notebook and
digital recorder and headed to Ursula’s office. The door was closed
and she knocked, hearing a muffled ‘enter’.

Balancing her stack of papers, she pushed the
door open. Ursula was behind her desk, scanning an open document on
her laptop, her reading glasses perched on the end of her nose.
Kate recognized it as the draft of her interview. Ursula spoke over
her shoulder as Kate slid into a chair.

“Kate, I’m just going over this interview and
sidebar article. They’re good, for a first draft. But there’s
something missing, they’re falling a bit flat in my opinion.”

Ursula turned to Kate, taking off her
glasses. She tapped the stem on her desk. “I want something else in
these stories, more…balance, maybe, or more realism. You’re
painting Gage Stevens in such a way that he’s one-dimensional. And
while our readers will eat up anything with Gage’s name on it, I
want to give them more, something unexpected.”

Kate frowned. “More? I have interviews with
everyone involved in the tour, from the roadies up to Gage’s
manager, and with Gage himself, of course. I can’t think of anyone
I haven’t interviewed.”

“That’s not what I mean. What I’m talking
about is the other side of Gage Stevens, the personal side.” Ursula
leaned forward, her elbows on the desk.

“I want your side of the story, Kate. I want
to know what happened after the lights went down, after the roadies
cleared the stage. After the after-party.” Ursula smiled, but it
held no warmth.
She looks like a piranha and I’m lunch.

“You want me to divulge personal details?”
Kate felt the blood drain from her face.
How much did Ursula
know?

“Kate, don’t play coy. We both know you have
a relationship of some kind with Gage Stevens. It’s obvious, it was
the reason you were given this assignment. I thought you
understood; we’re looking for a side of Gage Stevens that hasn’t
been exposed before, the side that he might not want known.

“And you, my dear, are in the perfect
position to write those articles. You know Gage better than anyone.
You’re the person to write these articles the way I…the way this
company needs them to be written. The way the fans want to read
them.”

“But that’s not what I want…I don’t want to
focus on Gage’s personal life. I thought the idea was to focus on
the concert and tour experience, for those who didn’t get to be
there, to know what it’s like to watch Gage perform.”

“Don’t be naïve, Kate. Any press is good
press, even bad press. It’ll send sales of his music through the
roof. Stuff like that always does.”

Ursula came around her desk, perching on the
edge. She leaned down, looking at Kate.

“Do you think you can re-write these? Write
them the way I want?”

“I’m not writing a tell-all expose on Gage’s
personal life, if that’s what you’re asking.”

Ursula looked at Kate for a long moment. She
sighed, stood and moved the few steps to the door, her hand on the
door knob. She looked back at Kate.

“Well, in that case, I believe your
relationship with this magazine is over. Please feel free to clean
out your desk. Someone will contact you about your last
paycheck.”

Kate stood, shock taking over, leaving her
speechless. Without a word she walked on numb legs as Ursula held
the door open. She heard the snick of the latch behind her as she
walked to her cubicle.

Sinking into her desk chair, Kate rummaged
through her desk. There weren’t many personal items; a photo of her
parents and a paperback book she’d never read. She jammed them into
her purse, picked up her laptop and grabbed the cables and cords
that were tangled beneath the desk. All of it she crammed into her
bag, slinging it over her shoulder, heading for the lobby and the
sidewalk beyond.

All she really wanted now was Gage. They had
their future but it no longer included her job at the magazine. It
brought her to a dead stop on the sidewalk. She was unemployed,
with an apartment lease.
What would Gage think?

A cab pulled to the curb and she gave the
driver the address of the W. She tried not to think about what
she’d done, but instead she focused on the future, on being with
Gage. Anything else was just too hard to handle.

***

Gage was happy, truly happy, for the first
time in days, maybe longer. He’d spent the time after Kate left
calling real estate agencies, checking on apartments. There were
quite a few he thought Kate would like, ones that included office
space, had great views and had space that could be made into a
music studio.

He was just ending a phone call with Rachel,
the agent with the most promising listings, when he heard the door
to the suite open and saw Kate in the doorway. Frowning, he glanced
at his watch.

“Hey, babe. It’s early…you’re here
early.”

Kate dumped her bags in a chair without
speaking. He took one look at her face and quickly walked across
the room, folding her into his arms. Her body shook with sobs as he
sat her down on the couch.

“What is it? What happened?” Gage stroked her
hair, rocking her against his body.

Eventually she lifted her head, turning her
tear-stained face up to him.

“Ursula let me go. I was fired.”

“Fired? What the hell for?”

“She wanted me to write personal things,
negative things, about what happened on the tour. I told her I
wouldn’t do that. And so she said I was done, I wasn’t writing for
the magazine anymore.”

“What kind of details? About us?” Gage was
shocked. Not that he cared that people knew he was with Kate, but
it crossed a line. Tabloids had published all kinds of stories
about him with starlets, models, actresses and he’d never really
paid much attention, or really cared.

But with Kate it was different. She wasn’t a
personality; she was just a girl,
his girl.
He hadn’t cared
about the other women he was linked with; they had press agents and
managers and being seen with him only made them shine in the
spotlight, even if briefly.

“It’s okay, baby. It’s not going to matter. I
know it feels like crap now, but it gives us time to be together
now, all the time in the world.” He sat up, scooping up his cell
phone.

“Here…look.” He held the phone, scrolling
through a series of photos Rachel had sent him. “Some of these are
really great…office space, studio space…enough room to have some
friends over, nice sized bedrooms.”

Kate took the phone, looking at the different
images. She pointed out a few places she liked and he made a few
mental notes. Soon she was smiling, talking about paint colors and
wallpaper. Gage smiled to himself.
Paint and paper…and Kate’s
happy.

“Are you hungry? Let’s get room service for a
late lunch, spend the night in and relax. I think we both deserve
it, right? You want anything special? Or should I just order for
us?”

Kate nodded, mumbling something under her
breath, still absorbed in the images on the phone. He rose, smiling
at her distracted reply, as he picked up the hotel phone, punching
in the number for room service. There were enough choices he was
pretty sure he’d find something she liked. After he’d ordered, he
walked behind Kate, leaning on the back of the couch, his hands on
her shoulders. Closing his eyes, he buried his nose in her hair,
inhaling the scent of shampoo and beneath that, the scent of Kate,
a scent he would never grow tired of.

Kate held up the phone, pointing to one of
the images.

“Do you think some of these are kind of big?
What are leases like on these?” She was frowning, twisting around
to look at him.

“Kate. It’s okay. I have enough to take care
of us, many times over.” He leaned down and kissed her.

“This is probably going to be one of those
things that’s going to take time for you to get used to, but don’t
worry about the financial stuff, okay? It’ll be fine. Trust me.” He
kissed her again, softly and gently, his hand resting on her
cheek.