The Rock Star and the Girl From the Coffee Shop 2: Under Pressure (6 page)

"Hey, Bo."

"I'm looking for Hanna, have you —" His sentence was cut off as he noticed Hanna in the living room. Brushing past Tyson, not waiting for an invitation, Bo entered the apartment and made his way to Hanna, as she stood.

"What are you doing here? I've been worried sick." Standing before her, he pulled her into him, kissing the top of her head. "Have you been here the whole time?"

Hanna slid her arms around his waist, looked up to meet his questioning gaze and nodded. "Yeah. I needed to get out. I'm sorry."

"Why did you take off like that?"

"I just..." Hanna pulled out of his embrace and glanced down at the floor. "I just needed some time to think so —" she shrugged. "Tyson's the only person I could think of to talk to."

Bo frowned. It hadn't occurred to him how lonely she must be with Jackie gone. He'd assumed that he was enough. She was enough for him. But then again, he had his music, his brother who was the bass guitarist with the band and the rest of the guys. He glanced over his shoulder at Tyson who was standing by the open door, looking severely

uncomfortable.

Maybe her request for a job would do her good. Perhaps he shouldn’t have brushed off the idea. Or maybe some type of occupation, or school, or something would be good for her. Aside from spending time with him her time was occupied with what... Obsessing over those fucking tabloid headlines, that’s what.

With a sigh, he kept his arm securely around her waist and urged her forward, toward the door. "Let's go back up to our place and discuss this, in private."

"I didn't mean to worry you, Bo," Hanna murmured as they left Tyson's apartment and waited for the elevator to take them back up to Bo's floor.

Bo thrust a hand though his hair and sighed. "I just don't get why you got so defensive this morning. I'm just concerned about you. That's all."

“It’s not that I don’t trust you. That’s not it. There’s just some things that you don’t know —” She looked as though she was about to open up, he could see in her eyes that there was a story she wanted to share. Why wouldn’t she? It made no sense. Didn’t she trust him? He sighed. The idea that she didn’t trust him enough to share what was bothering her hurt.

The elevator dinged and they stepped inside. He swiped his door card and punched in his code, the elevator doors slid shut with a soft whooshing sound and they began their ascension of the shaft.

“So what don’t I know?” He slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her tight to him. “You can tell me anything, Hanna. You know that.” He turned to face her, looking directly into her eyes.

She slid her arms around his waist and lowered her head to his shoulder. Her hair was like satin under his chin as he pulled her tight. Feeling the tension begin to leave her, he pressed the stop button on the elevator control panel. He didn’t want anything to interrupt them, not when he was coming so close to having her open up.

“It’s not you, Bo. Being with you is a dream come true. Everything about you is so wonderful…”

“Then what is it?”

“Well…” She pulled back and looked up at him. He could see the hesitation

crumbling before his eyes as her features softened. Her lips parted as she was about to continue, when the moment was interrupted by the buzzing of his phone.

Shit! He reached into his pocket and pulled out the phone. She looked down at the face with him to see the name NADINE flashing on the screen. He was about to reject the call when she placed her hand on his, stopping him.

“Answer it. Might be important.” Not waiting for a reply Hanna pulled out of his embrace and restarted the elevator.

Damn, and double damn
. Knowing the moment was broken, he pressed the ACCEPT

button and brought the phone to his ear. “Yeah.”

His frown deepened as his greeting was answered by Nadine’s voice. Yup, dealing with her was just what he needed.

Hanna had turned back to him, her eyes beginning to narrow at him as Nadine

continued on with her spiel – something about there being an error in the paperwork. The guys all had to go back in and sign a new agreement. He opened his mouth to tell her to shove off, that they’d do it in the morning, but quickly remembered the appointments with the realtor. That was one thing he didn’t want to put off. Tomorrow was the beginning of his exclusive time with Hanna; the last thing he wanted was Nadine dampening his mood or putting a cloud over their time together.

He sighed in defeat. “Yeah, I’ll be right over.”

As if knowing what the conversation was all about, Hanna’s green eyes grew stormy and she turned her back to him, watching the numbers flash above their heads until they reached their floor.

“Hanna, I…”

The doors slid open with a whoosh and without waiting for him, she exited and

marched toward the door to their penthouse. “I know,” she called over her shoulder. “Just go. I’ll be here when you get home.”

I’ll make this right when I get back
, he promised her silently as he jabbed at the button for the lobby with his index finger. Damn Nadine.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Bo let out a long, loud sigh as he checked in with the front desk clerk of the hotel where Nadine was staying. After confirmation that he was indeed being expected he was given directions to her room. His plan was to get in and out as quickly as possible and back to Hanna.

Arriving at her door, he hesitated, surprised at how quiet it seemed inside. Normally you’d be able to hear the guys down the hall. Especially Anthony. Anthony took the term loudmouth to a whole new level, especially when he was high – which Bo knew for a fact he would be.

“Ahhh, fuck it,” he grumbled, knocking lightly on the door.

Movement sounded within the room and less than a minute later the door was slowly opened to reveal Nadine.

“Hey Nadine, are the guys…” Bo’s eyes lowered from her eyes to take in her attire.

Or lack thereof. A semi-sheer red nightgown covered her slender body, the hem of the skirt dropping to just above the knee.

“Come on in,” she said, stepping back into the room to usher him in.

Chuckling softly, feeling foolish for what was becoming apparent was a setup, Bo gave his head a shake. “The guys aren’t coming, are they?” he asked, not taking a single step into the hotel room, already knowing the answer.

She shrugged, giving him a guilty smile. “I just wanted a minute to talk to you –

alone. I didn’t want to do it in front of the guys.”

“And you felt it necessary to meet with me in your hotel room wearing that.” He motioned toward her scantily dressed body without lowering his gaze.

Can’t believe I fell for it. Fell for it, hook, line and sinker
. He shook his head in disgust with himself as he turned to leave.

Stepping forward she placed a hand on his upper arm, stopping him. “Bo! Wait!

We’re going to be working together. I just want to make things right between us. That’s all.”

He pulled his arm from her grasp, not believing her for a second. “There’s nothing to make right, Nadine. Nothing at all. We had a brief thing, broke up; that is, if you could ever consider us together to begin with, and then you fucked the whole band. End of story.”

She cringed, but within seconds a soft seductive smile touched her lips and she moved out into the hallway, inching closer to him. “Oh, come on, Bo. Don’t be like that. There was something between us. We both know it. We could be the perfect power couple in the music industry. It’s so perfect.”

Bo softened slightly, not because he was buying a thing she was selling, but because of how desperate she was appearing, standing in the hallway of the Ritz Carlton hotel, wearing barely anything, attempting to seduce him.

Mistaking his softening for something more, Nadine moved closer, placing her hands on his chest and pressing herself against him, her eyes locking with his, determination glimmering in them. “I’m telling you Bo, she’s hiding something. I know it. Drop her, and give us another chance.”

Bo froze for a moment. Was it that apparent that Hanna was holding something back or was Nadine just saying whatever she could think of to get him second guessing his relationship with Hanna? His moment of pondering left him unaware of Nadine for a moment too long as she stretched up against him in an attempt to kiss him.

The feeling of someone watching them and the faint click of… what? A camera? Oh fuck! Pushing Nadine away he spun around to see the elevator doors closing with what was undoubtedly a photographer inside.

Fuck, fuck, fuck!
A stream of curses rushed through his mind as he raced to the elevator pushing the down button, though he was never going to catch the other man.

He heard Nadine call out behind him, but didn’t pay her any mind.

What if he hadn’t been mistaken and it had been a reporter? Dear God! He and

Nadine plastered all over the tabloids, her dressed and looking like she’d just been fucked and him… Well, considering she was pressed up against him, it would be hard to

convince anyone that there was nothing going on.

Hanna. Oh Hanna. I am so sorry baby
, he murmured to himself as he pressed the button for reception.

Taking a deep breath in, he slowly released it. First thing was first. He needed to get to the security office and see if that was indeed a reporter taking a picture of them. If it wasn’t someone taking a picture then it was all good. He could put the incident behind him and move on. But if it was… If it was then he was going to have to have a long talk with her. Maybe he could convince the hotel security to allow her to see the video. If she saw the video then she’d know nothing was going on.

But that still wouldn’t stop the pictures and gossip from circulating. It wouldn’t stop people from thinking he was cheating on Hanna. He groaned; he didn’t even want to think about the cruel headlines that would rise up out of this.

A rock star with two women fighting over him wouldn’t be all that out of the

ordinary, but for Hanna it would be hurtful. It might even be the final straw. No. He refused for that to happen.

Arriving at the first floor, he rushed to the reception desk and requested to speak with the manager. Within ten minutes he was in the security room having his fear confirmed.

It was a reporter. And that was a camera he heard clicking.

“Would you like us to call the police and you can file a report, Mr. Savage?” asked the hotel manager, a stout balding man who appeared to be in his late 50s.

Bo shook his head. “Not a fucking lot of good it would do me,” he growled with a little more anger than intended, making the hotel manager wince.

Tabloid reporters were like cockroaches – they were afraid of nothing and would stop at nothing to get what they wanted. A visit from the police was commonplace for them.

The picture would still be posted and the shitstorm the picture was going to cause would still happen.

Hanna fingered the neck of the unopened wine bottle, contemplating whether she was going to open it or not. Her willpower was being tested, worse than ever at that moment.

She’d been having too much wine lately. She’d even gotten tipsy her first night with Bo.

She was walking a dangerous road.

It’s not worth it,
she told herself, opening the door of the wine cooler and placing the bottle back inside. Drinking casually with Bo was one thing, but drinking alone to numb the feelings of uncertainty and anxiety within her was quite another and she knew it. It was a good part of the reason she’d spent six months trying to get herself back in control of her life. She wasn’t going back.

Feeling a small sense of pride for denying herself the wine, she moved from the kitchen and made her way upstairs to get ready for bed.

She was in the process of pulling one of Bo’s t-shirts over her head when she heard the front door opening. A smile crept onto her face, despite the foul mood she’d been in all evening.

“Hanna, babes. You home?”

Her grin widened. “Where else would I be,” she teased as she exited the bedroom wearing only his t-shirt with his name written across the front and a pair of black lace boy-short panties.

“Don’t know. Maybe you decided to leave me for Tyson,” he yelled back, his voice carrying a teasing note.

Laughing, she rolled her eyes as she raced down the winding staircase, her mood lifting when she noticed him at the bottom, smiling up at her, but despite his smile she could see worry in his eyes.

“What’s wrong?” Upon reaching the final stair of the white marble staircase she leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist as he held her tight against him.

Slipping her arms around his neck, she brushed her lips across him. Any smidge of anger she may have had evaporated as concern filled her.

He hesitated as she pulled back in his arms to look him dead in the eye, her green eyes searching his grey ones for a clue to what was bothering him. “Bo?”

Keeping her secure in his arms, he began walking toward the living room, his

expression grave. “We need to talk.”

Hanna could swear her heart stopped beating for a moment. Talk?
The
talk? Her body stiffened as she unwrapped herself from him to stand before him.

“About what?” Wasn’t the talk reserved for breakups? A lump caught in her throat and the bottle of wine came to her mind as her frown deepened. She shook the image loose. Wanting to talk could mean a million different things.

Chuckling softly, he brushed a lock of red curls from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Nothing like that, babes.” Taking her hand he led her further into the living room and sat down on the sofa, pulling her onto his lap.

“But, it’s not good.”

He cringed. “Yeah, it’s not great. But, just listen. Okay?”

Hanna nodded. “What’s going on?” Her eyes narrowed at him. “What did
she
do?”

She could hear the contempt dripping from her voice and didn’t give a damn. Bo already knew she hated the woman, nothing new there.

He thrust a hand through his dark hair in agitation, as if gathering his thoughts. “Well, as you know I went to Nadine’s hotel to sign some contracts.”