Snatching her arm out of my grasp, she scoffs. “Not that it’s any of your business, but maybe I am.”
Now, I’m the one who’s irritated.
She goes to leave again, but I’m not finished with her. “You can’t date him.”
A snort rings out, filling the small room. “Why is that?”
Because she belongs to me while she’s on this tour. Not that jackass.
“It’s a conflict of interest.” When her eyes narrow, I lean in. “It’s your job to be there for me when I need you. You can’t do that if you’re running around with him.”
A hint of challenge flickers in her baby browns. “Then I’ll hang out with George whenever you don’t need me. Problem solved.”
The need I have for her sends a surge of lust straight to my groin, so no. Problem not solved.
Far from it.
I move closer, so close she has nowhere else to go because she’s pinned between me and the wall.
So close, I know she feels every inch thickening in my jeans. “No.”
“No?” She purses her lips. “Last I checked, Chandler is my boss. He specifically told me I was free to hook up with anyone I wanted to as long as it wasn’t you…which obviously isn’t a concern.”
I make a mental note to talk to him later because that’s bullshit.
“He might be your boss, but I’m the one who pays most of his salary. I’m also your client.” Placing my hands on the wall on either side of her head, I brush my lips over her ear. I want her to hear me loud and fucking clear. “Sleep with him and you’re fired.”
She’s so full of rage she practically vibrates with it. “Let me get this straight. I’m not allowed to fuck George, but fucking you is fine?”
I run my nose down the column of her throat, inhaling her. “Since you’re offering…”
“I’m not.” Pure contempt fills her voice. “Let me put it this way. If I was on fire, and the only way to extinguish it was to have sex with you…I’d beg someone to pour gasoline on me.”
I highly doubt it.
She may hate me, but I’m positive there’s still a part of me she wants.
Wrapping that long, silky ponytail around my fist, I tug her head back. “You used to love my cock, Groupie.” Her breath hitches when my teeth graze the long line of her neck. “You sucked it like it was the best thing you ever tasted and swallowed every drop of my cum like you couldn’t get enough of it.”
Fuck knows I still think about that night, because what Lennon lacked in experience, she made up for in enthusiasm and revere…making it one of the best blow jobs I’ve ever received. Despite the interruption.
I’m about to push her on her knees so I can give her a thorough reminder, but her next words stop me dead in my tracks.
“That was before you betrayed me, and I found out what kind of person you really were.”
I try to ignore the twinge of guilt now warring with my lust, but it’s impossible. “Lennon—”
“Admit it,” she whispers. The sorrow in her voice has me releasing my hold on her. “Fess up to what you did, and we can go back to being friends.” I swallow a groan when she rubs my erection through my sweatpants. “Say it and I’ll do anything you want.”
The temptation, her offer, and the sexy way she’s looking at me goes straight to my cock, inciting me to give in. “I—”
A peculiar feeling slams into me, and the admission gets stuck in my throat.
Something’s off. Not only is she effortlessly offering herself up on a silver platter…there’s a trace of eagerness in her tone.
Her stare peevishly darts over my face as I slide my hands up her thighs, and the intuitive feeling brewing in the pit of my stomach grows.
A tiny squeal of surprise leaves her when I grab her ass, grinding my dick against her. “That so, huh?”
My hands slither under her shirt and smooth, buttery skin meets my fingertips. It takes every ounce of willpower I have not to tear those leggings off, bend her over the couch, and fuck her senseless.
Continuing my journey, I caress her waist.
Uneasiness crosses over her features.
Which tells me I’m getting closer.
Attempting to elude me, she crushes her mouth against mine.
The move almost works because the second our tongues touch, I lose my focus.
Then I feel it.
Biting her lip so hard she hisses, I snatch the phone cradled in her bra.
Lennon goes rigid, but the beating black hole in my chest doesn’t want to believe she’d do this to me.
My gut coils with dread when I look at it.
Just like I suspected, she’s been recording everything.
While I didn’t think she was joking about wanting to ruin me, I didn’t think her heart—or our truce—would let her go through with it.
Because deep down she still gave a shit about me and we were friends.
But I was wrong.
Lennon’s out for blood.
I won’t give her a drop of it, though.
She tries to take her phone back, but I put several feet of distance between us and hold it out of her reach.
I pin her with a warning glare as I press the delete button and hand it back to her. “Safe to say our truce is over, Groupie.”
Scathing, her upper lip curls in a cute little snarl. “You’re a fucking fraud. Everything you have is because of me.”
Lennon helped me get my foot in the door, but everything I have is because I worked my ass off for it.
I’m the one who put their blood, sweat, and tears into every part of this career that was once nothing but an ambitious dream too far from the trailer-park kid’s reach.
I’m the one who defied all odds and crawled out of the shithole the world thought I was destined to stay in.
I’m the one who’s given up parts of myself that she could never understand in order to preserve and experience those fleeting moments of magic I live and breathe for.
Even though deep down she wishes it was her.
Because just like back then, Lennon wants to be me so bad I can fucking taste it.
Which is the real reason she’s standing here.
Wrath, and my craving for her, strengthen as I edge closer. “You’re not here for revenge. Despite how hard you try to convince yourself that’s your motive.” She glares hate fire at me as I skate my palm up the length of her neck. “You’re here because you want what I have. Because you want to know what it’s like.” I grip her chin, forcing her to look into my eyes. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
She can’t.
I gesture to the phone she’s holding. “Attempt to fuck me over again and I’ll send you back to that strip club so fast your pretty head will spin.” I can practically see smoke coming out of her ears as I sweep my thumb along her parted lips. “And stay away from George.”
Her eyes narrow. “You don’t scare me, Phoenix.”
I palm her cheek. “That may be true, but we both know the hand you’re threatening to play isn’t a strong one.”
She can’t prove shit. Ergo it’s her word against mine.
And I have millions of fans around the world who’d unquestionably believe she’s nothing more than a high school stalker trying to get her five minutes of fame.