Rock Me: Sexy (New Adult Rockstar Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Erotic Romance) (11 page)

He told himself that he liked to go over to
her bus so much because of the food, but he knew the truth. He genuinely liked
to be around Katie. As frustrating as it was that she had shot him down cold,
he respected her for that. Whoever her boyfriend was, he was a lucky bastard. But
that didn’t mean that if the opportunity ever arose, he wouldn’t jump her bones
for sure.

He knocked on the bus door and waited. A
few moments later, Michael opened the door. “Hi Tyler. C’mon in. Katie got
called away on some emergency at tonight’s location, but she should be back
soon if you want to wait.”

Stifling the disappointment he felt that
she wasn’t there, he stepped onto the bus, just to get out of the bitter cold wind.
“Do you mind if I grab a cup of coffee?”

“Sure, go ahead. There are some banana
nut muffins on the counter, too. Help yourself. Katie told me you like to get a
break from all the cameras every once in a while. I don’t blame you; hang out
as long as you like. I’ve got to go finish some work in the back. Yell if you
need anything.” Michael grabbed his laptop from the table and headed to the
back of the bus.

Tyler found a mug in the cabinet and
poured himself a cup of coffee. He grabbed a muffin and a paper towel and
settled in at the table. He’d wait about ten minutes and see if Katie showed
up.

Just the day before, Katie had showed him
video on the large screen mounted to his left of the Rock Star Diary
commercials that were currently being splashed all over television and social
media. The package, as she called it, had looked really sophisticated. He had
seen concert footage of their band before, but whatever effects Katie’s team
had used had made it look outstanding. Then, interspersed with concert footage
were scenes from their shoot in Texas. The shoot had seemed kind of corny at
the time, but the editing had been phenomenal.

It was all so surreal. But the end result
had been impressive as hell. When he had watched the finished commercial and a
few teasers, he had felt that unmistakable pull. It was an incredible mix of
pride and power and the adrenaline rush of invincibility. He was sure the show
was going to be a success and the band had made the right choice.

Tyler placed his mug gently on the table,
careful not to disturb the piles of papers littered across its surface. Two
laptops were open and displaying the screen savers. It looked like Katie had
been called away while she was busy working.

He sat down on the bench seat by the
table and his eyes were immediately drawn to the thick blue binder in front of
him. It was labeled with ‘Rock Star Diaries’ printed in the same grungy font he
had seen in the advertising pieces. Underneath, the word ‘Bible’ was written in
bold black ink.

Curious, he opened the binder to the
bookmarked page. The page was labeled “Kansas City, Missouri” which was the
destination of their upcoming show the next night.

The first entry read:
bus leaves 6 AM
from Minneapolis en route to Kansas City. Bus breaks down – Lamoni, Iowa
(~10:45 AM).
Casting: 23E mechanic and 24E mechanic’s girlfriend.
Conflicts: getting to venue late. Mechanic accuses one of band members of
hitting on his girlfriend.
The page went on to describe times and locations
related to their Kansas City concert.

Tyler started feeling uneasy. Was this
stuff supposed to actually happen? He turned the page. This page described the
location of the after party at a place called Grayson Hall. He read through
some notes about the location wondering how they could know where he and the
band would end up if they hadn’t even decided yet. Then something caught his
eye.
Karina (18P) plays Nick off Tyler for the genesis of our love triangle.

Was Karina part of the show? She was an
actress?
What the fuck!
He noticed the orange tab towards the back of
the binder that read ‘Cast’ and flipped to that section. The first few pages
were fact sheets on the members of Cold Fusion. He glanced at Nick’s photo and
then skimmed through his brief bio. The more detailed information came from Nick’s
family. They had been extensively researched. The information included employment
records, financial information, even traffic tickets. A complete dossier on
each family member.

Hands sweating, Tyler quickly turned the
page to find his own section. He read the brief bio mentioning that his parents
were deceased and very scant information on his sister. He sighed in relief
that his family had been mostly left untouched. Curiously, there was exhaustive
research done on an ex-girlfriend of his from high school and from one of the
band’s groupies, Cassie.
Why was Cassie listed in his section?

He flipped some more pages, curious to
see the rest of the cast. Each additional cast member outside of the band had a
single page with their photo that listed their acting or modeling experience.
The bottom paragraph summarized their ‘role’ on Rock Star Diaries.

Page after page, he vaguely recognized
faces and names. Brian Fielding from First Stop Agency, the guy from the bar in
New York who almost started a fight with Nick. Celia Lowe from A1 talent, the
girl he had sex with early in the tour. Kristy Park from Talent to Go, the
crazy fan in Ohio. Brynn Smith from RP Talent Managers, another girl he had sex
with.

He turned the pages with a dawning sense
of horror. Just about every girl he had hooked up with on this tour had been
cast by the show as an extra, including last night’s hook-up, Karina. Who was apparently
scheduled to start fucking Nick that very night to create a love triangle.

Tyler felt like he had gotten the wind
knocked out of him. The past five weeks had been like living a lie. Nothing was
real anymore. Katie had dangled women in front of his face like candy and he
had fucked them all. He felt betrayed, enraged, ashamed and lost all at the
same time.

Tyler carefully closed the Rock Star
Diaries ‘Bible’ and returned it to its original place. He grabbed his uneaten muffin
and coffee mug and stood up. Disillusioned, he walked off the production bus,
feeling utterly shell-shocked.
He needed time to think
.

I shimmied into the long slinky dress and
studied my reflection in the full-length mirror of the hotel suite’s elegant
bathroom. I hadn’t slept in a real bed in ages and I couldn’t wait to sink into
the luxurious-looking bed later that night.
And wouldn’t it be nice if I
weren’t alone?
I knew it was an insane thought, but of course it was Tyler that
I was imagining with me.

The silky black dress was red carpet
worthy; sexy as hell, but it could only be considered classy. My back was fully
exposed and I felt confident going braless because of the crisscross design of
the halter-top that clasped around my neck. Under certain conditions, I was
sure that I would be ‘flashing the headlights’, but that thought only had my
imagination running even wilder.

I imagined Tyler’s hand slipping so
easily underneath the clingy fabric of my dress and teasing my nipples, or
slipping down my back and inside the loose draping of material covering my ass.
Shivering at the naughty thoughts, I slipped on my black stilettos and
practiced exposing my leg casually through the long side slit of the dress
until I was satisfied that I was ready.

While the rest of the crew had enjoyed
their time off, I had spent two hours getting my hair and nails done. Instead
of an elegant up-do, I opted to leave my long hair down, but I asked the stylist
to vamp it up with soft curls and big volume. It was less sophisticated, more sexpot.

I had gone all out because I was
desperate to get Tyler to notice me again. We had gotten close over our first
few weeks together. Despite my intentions to steer clear of the man, I had
looked forward to his visits to the production bus every day. And just what I
knew would ultimately happen, happened. My crush grew to near bursting levels, but
I kept it under wraps. All while he behaved just the way I wanted him to for
the show. Sleeping with a new girl every night. It was exactly what I expected
of him. I always knew this was his nature, but it still made my heart ache with
jealousy and confusion.

I wasn’t sure why, but something happened
to our easygoing relationship. Tyler stopped visiting me in the production bus.
He barely acknowledged my presence. He no longer watched me when he thought I
wasn’t looking. And if I was jealous of the attention he paid to other girls before,
now I was ten times worse because his behavior towards me had inexplicably
changed.

For the past several weeks, Tyler had
been living up to the bad boy rocker image. He was obnoxious around women. He
welcomed all of their sexual advances, further encouraging their raunchy
behavior, and he was drinking and doing drugs to excess every single night.

Watching him had become torturous for me.
Although I was sure this was the real Tyler, I had gotten a brief glimpse of
something else at the beginning of the tour. Something that had snared my
heart. But now, despite all the debauchery surrounding him and the throngs of
people mobbing him wherever he went, he didn’t seem completely happy.

Maybe that was why I was hoping to catch
his eye this night, away from the legions of fans. I missed him. I wanted some of
the attention that he threw around to every woman in sight except for me. It
was a mistake to have pushed him away. I knew Tyler wasn’t the type to give his
whole self to any one woman, but I didn’t care anymore. Tonight, I was hoping
to claim my little piece of him.

I stepped back from the mirror satisfied
that I looked my best. I was excited for the night ahead. We hadn’t had a break
since Cold Fusion’s brutal touring schedule had started. Tonight was just the
break I needed, even though I suspected that the pre-launch party was just an
excuse for the Vibe’s executives to party in Las Vegas.

Rock Star Diaries had worked on a
severely compressed schedule to meet the network’s demands that the first show
air while Cold Fusion was still on tour. Since the Rock Star Diaries’ crew and
the band would miss the premiere viewing party because of a concert scheduled
that night, The Vibe graciously decided to throw us a party early. I had
already heard buzz that The Vibe was planning to extend us another contract
based on prelaunch data indicating the show would be a huge success. If so, the
schmoozing and flattery tonight would be delectable and I would enjoy every
last minute of it.

I snatched my fuchsia clutch from the bed
and started making my way down to the ballroom. I ran into my assistant,
Michael James, in the elevator.

Michael looked up from his phone. “Oh,
good. I’m not the last one to arrive. I just got off the phone with Darren
Reynolds. Everything is set for tomorrow.”

Hugo had been right. Michael had turned
out to be an extremely competent and efficient assistant, but in this job, you
needed to possess social savvy, too.

“Great, but no more working for tonight!
We need to socialize and rub elbows with the bigwigs while we get this chance.
Network. Get your name out there. This is a great opportunity for both of us.
And try to enjoy yourself a little on the side, too.”

Michael groaned. “I hate these things. I
suck at making small talk. I always end up just standing around feeling stupid.”

I smiled in sympathy. “At least you don’t
have to make a speech tonight. My advice, do a couple of shots as soon as you
get there to take the edge off. And if you find yourself feeling awkward any
time, come find me. I’ll introduce you to whoever I’m with.”

“Thanks Katie. I wish I had your
confidence. You look, er, very pretty, by the way.” He looked as if he just
remembered to compliment me.

“Remember, confidence can be faked.” I
winked conspiratorially at him. “And you look quite handsome yourself.”

It reminded me that virtually any man
looked good in black tie when the normally pasty faced and ever serious Michael
James looked handsome. I couldn’t wait to see my rock stars all dressed up.
My
rock stars.

In my enthusiasm for the night, I had
forgotten that the media would inevitably be invited to cover the event. When I
stepped into the ballroom, several voices called my name, “Ms. Winston, over
here.” I automatically smiled and posed as flashbulbs went off all around me.
Michael quickly left my side to beat a hasty retreat.

The ballroom was already crowded. Even in
a room full of executives who probably hadn’t attended a rock concert in over
two decades, Cold Fusion was still the center of attention. I worked my way
through the crowd towards them, greeting and stopping to chat with a few people
along the way.

When he saw me approaching, Nick pulled away
from the crowd with a girl on his arm. I recognized the girl from the tabloids that
I had so salaciously read when the scandal had broken. The girl was Nick’s
step-sister, Allison.

“Hey, Katie. This is my girlfriend,
Allie.” Nick had his arm around her waist, holding her close to his body. His
eyes burned with defiance, like he was daring me to object.

I smiled warmly. “Hi, Allie. It’s nice to
meet you. I hope you’re planning to stick around for a while. It would be nice
to see the sour look disappear from Nick’s face for once.”

Allison laughed. “I just got here. Give
me a bit more time.”

I glanced at Nick; relieved to see the
tense lines of his shoulders relax slightly. “Just be careful; don’t give the
media too much fodder.”

He looked at Allie. “Oh we plan to give
them tons.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Okay. In that case,
have fun tonight.”

Nick looked pleased as I departed. I was
sure that photos of the two of them would turn up all over the entertainment
media outlets tomorrow, but the saying about ‘no bad publicity’ really held absolute
truth. This would only cause more people to tune into Rock Star Diaries. I would
sit down with the two of them and find out how long Allie was sticking around,
and if we would film around her or embrace her presence fully. It seemed that
every once in a while a little reality would actually inject itself into the
show. I just had to run with it.

Tommy and Tyler were captivating a large
crowd of people with funny stories, if the crowd’s constant laughter was any
indication. Alex was off to the side seemingly trapped by The Vibe’s marketing
director, Bruce.

As soon as he saw me, Alex used the
excuse to step away from Bruce. “Hey Katie. Thanks for saving me from that guy.
He’s been talking about his guitar lessons for the past five minutes.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Glad to be of help.
I just ran into Nick and his girlfriend. I take it that Lena couldn’t be here
tonight?”

Alex shrugged. “No, and it’s too bad. She
would have liked this party. It’s too corporate for me though.”

“Me too. But, I’ll take any excuse to
dress up. Speaking of dressing up, I’m glad the band didn’t go black tie like
everyone else here. You look very edgy, but still polished. It’ll work well for
the photos.”

Alex looked down at his clothes as if he
were just noticing them for the first time. “Yeah, good thing we have Debbie.
She’s our image consultant or whatever it’s called. She makes sure we don’t dress
like fools for public appearances and stuff.”

I was wondering where these guys got
their fashion sense. “Well, Debbie does a great job. Sorry you had to put in an
appearance here on your night off. You can probably sneak out of here safely in
another hour or so.”

Alex took a long drink of his beer. “I
dunno. I am fucking
terrible
at gambling. And once I get recognized,
I’ll be mobbed by people all night. At least the people here aren’t grabbing my
junk.”

I had seen crowds descend upon the band
over the last couple of months. Sometimes it happened so quickly that it was
frightening. The security team around them had kept some semblance of control,
but situations had spun up so unexpectedly in the strangest of places. It was
crazy now, but I knew once the show aired, these guys were in for even more
insanity. Hopefully, they would be able to handle it. I didn’t envy them.

I sighed. “They aren’t yet. Just wait.
Give them a couple of hours - especially the men. They’ll get real grabby.”

Alex looked around. “Huh. I guess I’ll
keep away from Bruce then. Maybe it’s a good thing that Lena couldn’t come
tonight. She’s going to stay with us for a week on tour though, when we hit the
California stops.”

That was coming up soon. It was more
reality to deal with. “Thanks for letting me know. We need to discuss how you
want to play this, with respect to the show. Stop by my bus tomorrow before the
concert.”

Alex shook his head. “I already know. I
don’t want her involved in it.”

If Lena was around for a whole week it
was going to be difficult shooting around her. “We’ll talk about it tomorrow,
but I have a few ideas that I think will work for both of us.”

As I left Alex, my head was already
spinning with ideas on how to use the Lena situation to my best advantage. The
crowd surrounding Tyler and Tommy had thinned while I had been talking to Alex.

Tommy saw me and called me over. “Katie.
Get over here. The party’s half over and you finally decide to show up?”

A few people peeled away as I finally
made it over to Tommy. I kept my eyes on Tommy as I responded, but my whole
body was fully attuned to the man standing next to him, Tyler. “Half over? I’m
just fashionably late.”

“Well, you’re forgiven, because look at
you. Damn, you’re looking hot! Isn’t she, Tyler?” Tommy elbowed Tyler.

My heart was beating like crazy in my
chest as my eyes slid over to Tyler. I held my breath waiting for his response.

Tyler’s tone was pretty flat. “Yeah. You
look good.”

I couldn’t help but feel disappointed by
Tyler’s mediocre reply.
Jesus
. My socially awkward assistant had given
me a more enthusiastic compliment than that.

I forced myself to smile. “Thanks.”

Tommy continued enthusiastically, “You’re
already three shots behind. And I don’t want to hear any excuses from you
tonight since you’re not working. I’ll go get some, so you can catch up.”

I held up my hand. “Whoa. I don’t think I
need three shots. I still have a speech to give.”

“Okay. Two it is. Don’t go anywhere.”
Tommy headed towards the bar leaving me alone with Tyler.

My stomach was knotted with nerves. “So,
how are you doing? We haven’t talked in a while.”

His tone was almost hostile. “I’ve been
busy, but I guess you already know that. You know
everything
we do,
right?”

My eyes narrowed. “Is there a reason
you’re suddenly acting like a prick to me?

Tyler folded his arms. “How do you want
me to act? You want me to jump through your every goddamn hoop?”

“Well it would be preferable to this.
What the hell is wrong with you anyway?” I was getting frustrated with his
perplexing behavior.

Before he could answer, I heard a booming
voice calling my name. Heads turned to watch when Hugo descended on me;
everyone recognized him.

“Ahh. Kaitlyn. You look gorgeous! You
take my breath away.” He lifted my hand and kissed it. Only Hugo could get away
with doing that without looking completely ridiculous.