Rock Your Body: A BWWM Romance (21 page)

Colin put his arm around her and she took their picture with her phone.

“What’s your name?”

“Kendra.”

“Nice to meet you, Kendra.”

Tamra’s eyes darted around, but no one appeared threatening. Colin chatted with the woman for a few minutes, then he took her hand again.

“You’re really good with your fans,” she said.

“They buy my music. If I didn’t have fans I wouldn’t have success.”

*

Kelly sat and enjoyed the last place Larry took her, Midtown East’s Greenacre Park.

“Who knew there was a waterfall in Manhattan,” she said, sitting on a bench.

“We keep these things secret to most people. We don’t need any more tourists than we already get.”

“I bet this isn’t in most tourist guides.”

They’d spent a great afternoon together.  She’d gotten to know another side of Larry and she had to say she enjoyed the time with him. Was there a future? Maybe too soon to tell.

“We have about a half an hour before we need to meet Colin and Tamra.”

“We should bring wine or something.”

“We’ll get wine, but Colin doesn’t drink,” Larry said.

“No?”

“Diet Soda is his vice.”

“Wow.”

“You need to be in good shape to keep up his schedule. He puts his all into any show he performs.”

“I guess if we don’t sort this out before he tours, I’ll get to see it.”

“You’ll be backstage I hope. I have an investment in him that I need to protect.”

“Why did you sign him? What did you see in him?”

“He was hungry. He had a determination and I knew he’d succeed. And his energy level is so high I was sure he could make it,” Larry said.

“Interesting. He does have an energy about him. He gives it off even while sitting still.”

“It comes through in everything he does. I saw some of the initial pictures for that magazine shoot he did. You can see the energy in him there also.”

“Has Colin seen them?”

“No, but the magazine is going to combust with the sexual tension between Colin and Tamra.”

“Yeah, I know. I’ve been afraid I’d catch on fire being in the room with them.”

Larry laughed and Kelly had to join in. Then they stopped, their gazes locked on each other. She leaned in and tilted her head. She wanted to kiss him more than anything. He obliged and it was a tentative and sweet kiss. The tone of it surprised her. She didn’t think Larry was tentative about anything.

“That was nice.”

“Yeah, it was,” he said.

                                                                         ***

“They’re on their way up,” Colin said.

Tamra sat at the kitchen island, sipping a glass of wine. She was hungry from their afternoon of shopping. Colin hung up the wall phone, then went back to his chopping.

“Can I do anything?”

“No sweetie, just sit there.”

“Okay, but I’m not one for sitting around,” Tamra said.

“Yeah, I know, but I know you’re tired.”

“Gee, I wonder why?”

“Was that last lovemaking session too much after a few hours of shopping?”

“Might have done me in,” she said.

He leaned across the counter and kissed her on the nose. “I’ll be gentler next time.”

She laughed.

“Get a room, guys,” Larry said from the doorway. He put flowers in front of Tamra. “These are for you.”

“Thanks.”

“There’s a vase in the closet in the hallway,” Colin said.

When Tamra returned with the vase, Kelly was sitting with a glass of wine. “What’d you guys do today?”

“Larry showed me some places in New York that most people don’t get to see. How did your shopping trip go?”

“Okay. I haven’t looked at anything yet since I’ve been home,” Tamra said.

Colin had dropped the bags, then dragged her into the bedroom. She walked over to one of her bags and noticed a piece of paper in it. “What is this?”

Kelly rose. “What?”

“Holy shit.”

On the piece of paper was written, “Are you safe?”

“Where’d that come from?” Larry said. He stood close to Kelly.

“The only time I was the least bit distracted was when one of Colin’s fans accosted us,” Tamra said. “That was the only time someone could have slipped that into there.”

“We need to get this to the police,” Kelly said.  “You have a bag we can put it in?”

Colin found a plastic bag and Tamra put the note in it. Kelly dialed the local police station. The four didn’t say much until the cop arrived.

                                                                    ***

Colin didn’t know what to think after the police left. Tamra filled them in on what had been happening and who to contact at the apartment where he’d been renting. Someone had been following them. He didn’t see it, but that was hard to do in Manhattan.

Now he was truly spooked. The person was close enough to put their hand into one of the shopping bags he was holding.

“It had to be when I was talking to that woman, Kendra,” he said.

They were gathered around a table by the floor to ceiling windows. The tone of the meal had been subdued and each was trying to avoid the topic at hand. Of course, Colin would be the one to bring it up.

He hated dancing around the subject.

“That’s the only place I can figure it happened,” Tamra said.

“Did you get the woman’s name? Maybe she was a set-up,” Kelly asked.

“Only her first name. I consider most fans innocuous,” Colin said.

He rubbed the back of Tamra’s neck. He could feel the tension in her muscles. He knew she was beating herself up internally for this happening.

“No more trips out,” she said.

“I can’t hole up here. I have an album to record. Songs to write.”

“Then you’ll do that from whatever place I find you, but that’s it,” Larry said.

Colin looked around the table, then to Kelly. “You adding your two cents?”

“I’m with Larry and Tamra. We can’t protect you if you’re gallivanting around the city.”

He sighed. He was outnumbered, but their concern warmed him. “Okay. I’ll do whatever you ask.”

“You’ll have to decline that benefit that Carie wants you to perform. A high school will not have enough security to make it worth the risk,” Tamra said.

“I promised I would do it.”

“Then blame it on me. I don’t care. You’re not doing it.”

“You all forget that this is my career. These are my fans. I have to do what they want.”

He’d always felt an obligation to his fans. They made him.

“Desperate times, Colin,” Tamra said.

“I’m with Tam, here,” observed Larry. “You need to keep safe and stay out of the public eye for a while.”

Colin frowned. He might go stir crazy.

***

She wondered if they’d found it yet. Paying that woman to be a groupie had been genius. Neither Colin nor his new girlfriend saw her.

She wouldn’t be the girlfriend for much longer. She just needed to find some dirt to blackmail her.

Colin would be hers. No matter what.

***

Larry held Kelly’s hand as they descended in the elevator.

“Do you have to go back to New Jersey tonight?”

Kelly looked at him as if trying to figure out what he was asking. “I don’t have to be anywhere until tomorrow at five in the evening.”

“I know this is short notice and I understand if you don’t want to, but I wish you would stay tonight.”

Larry held his breath as she decided. He really wanted to see more of Kelly. Not just naked, but spend more time with her. He’d be happy if she slept in another room and had breakfast with him in the morning.

Just so he didn’t have to say goodnight and leave her presence.

He was enjoying himself a lot. He didn’t want the date to end.

“I don’t have any clothes with me.”

“Is that the only obstacle?” Larry said. He hoped. He could remedy that.

“Well, a toothbrush.”

“We can buy all that stuff. This is Manhattan, after all.”

She laughed. “Then I guess I can stay.”

“You guess? I was hoping you’d want to stay.”

She kissed him, lightly. “I want to stay.”

“Okay, one toothbrush and an outfit coming right up. My treat, since I didn’t tell you that you staying overnight might be on the agenda.”

“I can’t ask you to do that.”

“You’re not asking. I’m telling,” Larry said. “Unless you want it as a business expense.”

“No, I can’t justify that. I doubt we’ll be talking business.”

He laughed “No, I don’t think I’ll even be thinking about business.”

“I hope not.”

“No, Kelly, when I get you naked that will be all I’m thinking about.”

***

Tamra lazed on the couch, her
wineglass
in hand. “Nice that Kelly and Larry are getting along.”

Colin had her feet on his lap and was rubbing them. Her eyes would fall closed and she’d let out a moan worthy of an orgasm once in a while. Th
e sound
made his dick twitch, but he was not going to think about that for a moment.

She clearly  needed to talk. That was okay with him. If that’s what she needed he’d give it to her. She’d been quiet for a lot of dinner and he’d bet she was thinking about missing his stalker.

“You know how Larry is,” Colin said.

“Yes, I know and I’ve warned Kelly. It’s her decision.”

“What does she want?”

“Probably nothing serious or permanent, so it’ll all be fine,” Tamra said.

“Guess so.” He kept rubbing. “You were pretty quiet at dinner.”

“Mm.”

“Something on your mind?”

She put her wine glass on the coffee table then tucked her feet under her. “What if that person had a gun or a knife instead of a piece of paper?”

“You would have dealt with it.”

“That person could have injured you before I even knew it.”

Her face was twisted in a grimace and he could see that her eyes had glazed over a little. Tamra looked like she was going to cry. He reached and took her hand in both of his. “Nothing bad happened.  I’ve promised that I’ll behave and not be in public too much. Nothing’s going to happen.”

“You don’t know that. I wasn’t a very good bodyguard. I was too busy being a lover.”

He didn’t know how to answer that. What he said could make or break their future. The longer he knew Tamra, the more he wanted a future with her.

“Tamra, nothing happened. I won’t put myself in the situation again. Relax.”

“I can’t relax. What if something had happened to you?”

He took her into his arms and whispered in her ear. “I’m fine. You’re fine. No one is going to get to me as long as you’re here.”

“I don’t know if I should be here.”

She can’t leave. He wouldn’t let her. “Don’t think that.”

“Why not? I’ve put you in danger.”

“No, Tamra, I put me in danger. It’s a hazard of the job.”

He had to convince her to stay. His heart would go with her if she left and he didn’t want to deal with that. He couldn’t stand the thought of her being with anyone else.

***

Larry unlocked the front door to his apartment. It wasn’t a penthouse like Colin’s, but pretty close. He switched on the lights to his living room and held his breath as he waited for Kelly to say something.

He wanted her to like it. The place reflected him. He wanted her to like him. How odd that he’d found someone like her when he really wasn’t looking.

Kelly walked around this living room that had just as good a view of Manhattan as Colin’s did. “This place is great. Homey.”

He grabbed a remote and turned on the gas fireplace. It was still a bachelor pad.

She dropped her bag on the floor next to his sofa and stood by the fire. “Nice.”

“I like it. The fireplace was optional, but it reminds me of something I’d always wanted.”

“I see.”

“Wine?”

“Yes, actually. I’d love a glass,” Kelly said.

He opened a bottle in the kitchen that was open to his living room. He wasn’t much of a cook, but if he was going to do it, he wanted to in a well-stocked kitchen. He poured both of them glasses of wine.

“I opted to not have the bear skin rug in front of the fireplace,” he said as he handed her the wine. “Too cliché.”

“Yes, that might have been overkill. This way, it’s classy.”

“Wait,” he said.