Page 15 of Rock Star

Oh, God.

I could definitely feel it.

His hardness against my stomach.

I took a step back from him. I had to be sensible. If I let myself become one of his ‘women’ he’d lose all respect for me.

“I’m not gonna have sex with you, Axel,” I said with determination in my voice. “Remember what you said about not shitting where you eat?” I pushed my hand against his rock-hard chest. “Well, the same goes for me. I have my career to think about…”

He’d just drunk a ton of beer; if I gave in and we broke the rules, he’d regret it later. He might even decide to fire me, and what would happen to Mom then?

He laughed… a belly laugh that reverberated between us. “You are a breath of fresh air.” He lifted me up like I weighed nothing, then whirled me around. “Women never say no to me. It’s never happened. Ever.” His laughter rang between us again as he set me back on my feet. “I love a challenge. Want to bet that by the end of the tour we’ll be having sex? And not just any old sex. But such incredible sex you’ll be shrieking my name. Not once. Not twice. Not even three times. But over, and over again.”

I spat on my hand and held it out to him. “Challenge accepted,” I said. “The bet is on.”

And I would win it, so help me God.

We shook hands and I caught him chuckling, “Something for the notebook,” but I had no clue what he meant so I merely asked if he’d mind if I went home.

He agreed readily, which annoyed me somewhat. I was giving him room to hook up with a willing woman, I reminded myself. I would simply have to get used to it.

Either that or risk losing everything.7I was sitting next to Hayley in a plush armchair in the cabin of ChiMera’s Gulfstream G650ER private jet, flying high above the Atlantic, halfway through our thirteen-and-a-half-hour flight to Milan, Italy. There were fourteen of us on board… the guys, their instrument technicians—‘backline boys’ as I’d discovered they were called—Joe and Mike their personal security team, as well as Camila, Hayley and me.

We’d made a brief refueling stop and a crew change at JFK, eaten dinner, and now everyone was trying to get some shuteye. Hayley had reclined her seat to lie down flat and was snoring softly, but I couldn’t drop off. Axel was on the other side of the aisle; he was also wide awake, shooting brooding looks in my direction.

Oh, God.

He was pissed at me… I knew he was. But he’d been drunk on beer and the success of the show when he’d said he wanted to have sex last week. I doubted that he’d meant it… and, even if he had, there was no way I would jeopardize my position in the band. I’d worked years for this and wasn’t about to give it up for a one-night stand, which is all Axel would want.

It was his MO.

So, I’d come up with excuse after excuse not to go to his place for a final practice before we left LA. Excuses like fittings for dresses, taking Mom to her hospital appointments, shopping for groceries. I’d said I wanted to practice on my own and watch the videos Jake had given me of Ella’s performances at stadium shows. Basically, she simply stood behind the mic and moved her body in time to the music. I could do that, no problem, but could I stand on stage in front of eighty thousand people? Merely the thought of it was giving me jitters in the pit of my stomach.

CM’s chartered Boeing 747-400… a beast of an aircraft, big enough to carry their crew, plus over twenty thousand tons of equipment, had left LAX last week, and I was only just now realizing the size of this operation.

Stadium tours didn’t involve going from place to place with everything and everybody. So much more shit needed setting up for each concert that if the whole production travelled here and there like a circus we’d have ended up with a week or more between venues instead of a few days.

I’d been surprised to learn that three main stages had been shipped to Europe… one to be used for the Milan gigs, one simultaneously being put up in Barcelona, and one waiting to go up in Paris. The stage in Milan would eventually be torn down and transported to our fourth stadium, the MCH Outdoor Arena in Heming, Denmark.

The stages would then rotate between Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and England, each with its own power generators and full advance crews— including caterers, production and IT experts—transported in fifteen massive articulated trucks. Added to that the band’s travelling kit—the PA, lights, video gear, backline, front of house and everything that would stay with us for each show, meant around fifty trucks in total would be parked outside the venues at any one time—plus eight tour buses for the roadies.

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