The Rock Star And The Girl From The Coffee Shop (4 page)

"No, you don't understand." She fought back laughter as he waved off her explanation, while fighting back a grin she could see threatening to emerge.

"No. No." He placed a hand at the small of her back and urged her back to her seat. "I have a feeling that I may have to redeem myself and I'm not even sure what for."

"It wasn't that bad, really." Hanna protested laughing.

"That so?"

"Yup." Grabbing her wine glass she took a sip and watched him take his place across from her.

Taking a long drink and emptying his glass Bo clucked his tongue off of the roof of his mouth. "Well, might as well tell me. What did you find?"

Hanna grimaced. "Well, it was mostly relationship stuff."

Grabbing the wine bottle from the ice bucket he filled his glass and topped up hers. "Like what? What was the worst of it?"

Hanna chewed at her lower lip, considering what she should divulge. "Well, from what I read..."

Bo waved his hand at her. "No. No. Give it to me." Breaking open a lobster claw, he pulled out a piece of meat and plopped it into his mouth.

Hanna cringed. With a loud huff, she decided to just tell him so they could get past it. "Well, they portrayed you as a bit of a man-whore."

Chapter 4

Bo froze for a span of a couple beats, not sure if he'd heard correctly. Swallowing the mouthful of lobster, he raised his eyes to look at her.
Man-whore? Him?
He hadn't even had sex for close to a year! Jeremy, sure. But him?

"You asked." She gave him a sympathetic smile and a shallow shrug.

Dropping his fork onto the plate he leaned back onto his chair and eyed her. This was something he had to clear up with her. "Hanna... That's not even close to the truth. It's all the image the PR people and paparazzi put together."

By the expression on her face, he could tell she was mulling it over.

"This past year, I finished recording the latest album. Once that was done we immediately hit the road. It's just one city after another with barely time to sleep."

Hanna leaned forward in her chair, bracing her elbows on the table. "What about the groupies. Don't all rock bands have their choice of women in the audience?"

Bo rolled his eyes at her. "Trust me - groupies are
not
appealing to me. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate them coming to the concerts and following my work, but that's the extent of it."

He could see her continue to mull it over. "Why? There must be thousands of beautiful young women throwing themselves at you. How could any man resist that?"

"Well, think of it this way. Men like a bit of a challenge. I do anyhow. Women who throw themselves at me have little appeal."

"What about the celebrities?"

"Okay. Well, I've been with a few in my day. Not as a PR gimmick, but because there was a connection of some sort." He blew out a huff of air. "Like any other relationship, it never worked." He waved to their lavish surroundings. "All this comes with a price Hanna. Every new person that comes into your life, you second guess their intentions."

"That's sad."

"It's the price that we pay. So when I met you at the coffee shop and you were a little nervous, but not over the top enthusiastic over who I was, it appealed to me." He leaned across the table and fingered a strand of her red curls. "And I
love
these beautiful red curls."

Hanna closed her eyes and sighed softly enjoying the feel his fingers stroking her hair, reminding him of her soft sigh when he was kissing her. He gritted his teeth when his cock jerked alive, pushing his desire for her to the back of his mind. The way that her body had reacted to him during the kiss he was confident that if he wanted her, she could be his. But that's not what he wanted. He'd gone a year without sex, so he had no issues, aside from the throbbing of his cock, with holding off.

Hanna opened her emerald green eyes, satisfaction and arousal gleaming in them. "What if I'm a closet groupie?"

Laughing, he pulled back and raised an inquisitive brow at her. "Closet groupie huh?"

"You never know."

"Hmmmm. In that case maybe I can make an exception and try dating a groupie after all."

A smile broke out on Hanna's face, lighting up her features. "So back to the original question... Is this a date?"

"Then let me counter with my original question. Are you opposed to dating musicians?"

Hanna giggled and shook her head, her red curls swaying around her head. "I guess not."

"In that case... This would be a date."

*****

"I swear every room I see is more incredible than the next." After one of the best dinners she'd ever experienced, Bo gave her a tour of the remainder of his penthouse. Thanks to the kiss, his confession and a tad too much wine, virtually all nervousness and insecurity was gone and they'd been able to enjoy a steady stream of conversation.

It didn't take her long to determine, he was easily one of the most fascinating men she'd ever met. There was much more to him than what was portrayed by the media. She felt somewhat guilty for pre-judging him.

"We're about to enter my favourite part of this place."

"Oh?" She grinned up at him, and he gave her a wink that sent her pulse racing and then gave her hand a tug, leading her through his massive, elegantly styled bedroom. Hanna paused, her eyes landing on the king sized bed in the center of the room.

His eyes followed hers to the bed and he laughed. "Well, second favourite."

Her face grew warm and he gave his eyebrows a little wiggle, which only increased her embarrassment, but he managed to get a laugh out of her. Bo parted the maroon satin curtains to reveal a set of glass double doors that led onto the balcony.

Excitement rushed through Hanna. At their height, she knew without seeing that the view would be nothing short of spectacular. Bo released her hand, and she immediately felt the loss of contact. Bo seemed to be a very touchy guy, nothing inappropriate, but sweet touches such as holding her hand, or a hand at the small of her back, or a light touch to brush a strand of hair from her eyes. She loved it. Each touch felt like a tease and left her yearning for more.

As Bo opened the double doors, a gust of cool air greeted her and she immediately felt the effects of the alcohol. The conversation had been so enjoyable during dinner that she hadn't paid any attention to the amount of wine she'd been consuming. She gave herself a moment to catch her breath and steady herself.

"Whoa. You okay?" Bo slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her tight, helping to steady her.

Hanna nodded. "Oh yes. I'm fine." She gave him a sheepish grin. "New shoes." The look he gave her told her he seriously doubted it was the shoes that were causing her unsteadiness.

"If you say so."

"I'm not the one who kept topping up my glass, mister."

He chuckled softly. "I suppose you're right. In that case, you have my apologies."

They approached the railing and his arm tightened around her waist, as if scared that she'd go toppling over the rail if he wasn't holding onto her.

"This view is amazing Bo," she gasped as she leaned against the rail and looked out onto Central Park. "I swear I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be here right now." She looked over at him and caught his eyes, "Thank you."

He gave his head a shake, and smiled. "Nothing to thank me for, it's my pleasure."

Bo leaned into her, his lips mere inches from hers. Hanna waited with baited breath for his lips to touch hers. Seconds before their lips connected a sharp and insistent beeping broke the moment and Bo quickly straightened, clearing his throat.

"Sorry. Give me a second." Reaching into the front pocket of his jeans he produced his Smartphone and pressed a couple of buttons as Hanna pretended to be uninterested in what he was doing.

"It's for you." He passed the phone to her and she immediately saw Jackie's number on the screen followed by a text message.

Oh God, I can't believe she texted him!
Hanna groaned inwardly, slightly embarrassed.

Jackie: Can I talk to Hanna a minute. Jeremy gave me your number to text.

"I'm so sorry," she said, giving Bo an apologetic look.

"No worries." Bo shrugged and turned his attention towards the view.

Hanna: Why are you texting me on Bo's phone?!? I'm so embarrassed!

Jackie: Jeremy said it was OK. Geez. You didn't answer yours.

Hanna: What do you want?

Jackie: How's it going with Bo ;)

Hanna: You do know this is his phone, right?

Jackie: Whateva'. Jeremy asked if I wanted to spend the night at his place.

Hanna frowned. Jackie was abandoning her? Hanna's jaw clenched, it was so like Jackie to do this.

Hanna: If you do I'm going to have to spend the night alone at the hotel :(

Jackie: I'm sorry. It's just he's soooooo... Mmmm.

"Oh-dear-God," Hanna rolled her eyes, as she spoke the words out loud, not meaning to.

"Something the matter?"

Hanna's eyes lifted from the small screen to Bo. She frowned. "Jackie is going to stay with Jeremy tonight. She's asking if it's okay with me. She knows I'd never say no."

"I see. And you don't want to go back to the hotel alone?"

The heat rushed to her cheeks. It sounded so silly when he said it. She was twenty-two years old, for heaven's sakes, fully capable of spending a night alone at the high end hotel. It wasn't as though she was going to the Bates motel or anything of the sort.

"Well, I mean... It's just..." She straightened her shoulders and lifted her chin. "It's the principal of the matter."

Amusement danced in his grey eyes. "For sure." He reached out and took the phone from her hand and then typed a message.

Confused, Hanna's frown deepened. "I... Ummmm."

"You can stay here tonight. I have a number of guest rooms. I'll send someone for your luggage in the morning and in the meantime, if you want to borrow some of my clothes, they may be a bit large on you, but they'll do."

Hanna's eyes widened in surprise. "Stay here? But, you don't even know me!"

"I think it'll be fine." He shrugged. "Or I can take you back to the hotel..."

She didn't want to leave and go back to the hotel. But should she stay? They barely knew each other.

"I won't bite. I promise. No expectations for anything, just friendship," Bo offered.

That didn't make her feel any better. The attraction she had to him was undeniable. But, the friendship comment threw her off. Was he interested? Wasn't he? She ran her fingers through her auburn curls.

Bo captured her chin in his hand and lowered his lips to hers, kissing her softly. "Don't over think this, Hanna. I can see the wheels turning in that pretty like head of yours, tearing apart and examining every word and action. You don't have to filter everything you do or say around me. Without thinking, what do you want?"

"To stay with you."

"Good then." He focused his attention to the phone and then took a moment to send off a couple of text messages. Once done he shoved the phone back into his pocket. "Alright, in that case we have a couple of options. Either we stay here and find something to occupy ourselves with, or..."

A wide grin spread across his lips and she couldn't help but smile back. A mischievous gleam danced in his eyes making her wonder what he had in mind. She had no idea and couldn't wait to find out.

"Well," she prompted, "what do you want to do?"

*****

It wasn't the most sensible thing for him to be doing, especially the night before a concert, but the excited look on Hanna's face at his absentminded and arguably insensible suggestion made it seem like a good idea at the time.

"I really love this city!" Hanna gushed as they stood in the center of Times Square and her eyes scanned the lights, billboards and banners around them - all lighting up the darkened sky. One of the billboards featured his face, promoting his concert.

"Oh wow!" She pointed to his billboard. "So cool. It's you!"

"Shhhhh." Bo looked around them nervously and lowered his voice. "People might hear you."

She cringed and looked up at him apologetically. "Sorry."

If I don't get recognized it'll be a fucking miracle
, he mused as he looked around them, ensuring the six body guards he'd called to walk with them were in the vicinity, but merging into the crowds rushing around them. He pulled his ballcap a little lower on his head, the bill nearly covering his eyes.

"Oh, look over there!" She pulled him down Broadway towards a group of fire-eaters, performing on the sideway. No one was paying attention to the couple; all eyes were on the performers as large puffs of fire rose into the air. "It's so cool!"

The crowd surrounding the performers was dense, so Bo stood behind Hanna, wrapping his arms around her waist and nuzzling her neck.

She looked back over her shoulder and smiled at him briefly, before redirecting her attention back to the performers. It occurred to him then, as her eyes lit up with child-like wonder that she'd been leading a very sheltered life. Definitely innocent and naive for her years.