“Confident.” I straightened my shoulders, half wondering what she’d do or say next. She was like some sort of goddess right now.
And then she placed her hand on her hip and stuck it out a little as she adjusted her pose.
“Unlike you, I’m not here for a second chance,” she said. “I’m here for my first one, and I’m not going to lose that.”
Direct wasn’t something I was used to anymore. So the challenge was on the table. But I had always found that I had the ability to charm people and make them laugh as a means to get what I wanted. And I might just want this woman.
My skin still had goosebumps from that contact, and I reveled in sensations I’d not had in years. I said, “I get it. I screwed up my life and lost everything once, but I don’t intend to do that again. And I’m not the one looking to break the chains of parental oppression.”
“Your choice of words is extreme.”
“It’s better to live dangerously than to die without ever following your own desires.”
She pivoted on her shoes and her long, dowdy dress swooshed with her as she said, “Well, it was nice talking to you.”
I’d been rude. She clearly had different parents than my own. I probably should apologize. Then, like the sun coming out of the sky on a cloudy day, I remembered and called out, “Carrigan?”
“Yes?” she asked, and moved a little closer. I could smell her perfume that reminded me of early morning dew on roses.
And that smile of hers was brilliant. Seriously. She could melt hearts over her cereal, including mine at the moment. Though mine was broken and still on ice.
I just wanted a few more minutes with her as this was probably our only chance to talk as friends.
Once the competition started, I had to find her weakness, expose it and make myself seem like a good guy in the process.
But that was how reality TV was played. And we’d both agreed to the game. For now, though, it was just us. So I pointed to the door and asked, “Want to get something to eat?”
Her gaze narrowed as she asked, “With you?”
Fair. I wouldn’t trust me either. But I stood in front of the door and said, “Why not? You just told the televised world that you’re single, and you didn’t join your parents at your hotel.”
“In a few hours we report to living right here, on this stage. My parents will bring my bags to me,” she answered quickly, like I’d insulted her. She then coughed and said, “I didn’t want to get in a car, drive all the way to the hotel, and then just have to turn around and come back in a few hours.”
My hunger for her was palpable as I said, “My driver will take us to the local pub and back.”
Her gaze went up. “You have a driver?”
Yes. Songwriting had been my one saving grace, and a decent source of income. I ignored how my muscles were tense from her nearness and said, “It’s faster than walking. And, for the record, I want to be here for the end too.”
She sucked in her bottom lip and let it out as she nodded, “I am hungry.”
I offered my arm like I was some fucking gentleman and said, “Then let’s go.”
“No touching,” she said, staring at my arm.
I lowered it, but winked as I walked beside her. “Only where you tell me to.”
As I opened the door, she asked, “And you swear you’ll listen?”
I placed my hand on my heart as my car came toward us. “I’ll be a good boy, if that’s what you want.”
“I doubt you know how,” she said, but she slid into the backseat of my car.
I followed her, wondering why I was so intoxicated with her. Women never had me this wound up. But I craved Carrigan tonight. Maybe it was her goodness. I hoped a quick bite and seeing more of her might unwind the desire she stirred in me.
Order Legendary Rock Star now.