Page 47 of Reckless
I stiffened. A primal need to run gripped me. But my limbs felt made of lead as the man fired pictures and questions as if he had the right to.
“People want to know if you’re done with Gaged now? Are you going to have a solo career? Do you want to apologize to all the fans who bought tickets to see you and were left disappointed?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Gage’s car come flying through the parking lot, his bodyguard at the wheel. It was easy to see how things could spiral out of control. People could focus on an action or behavior and change it into something very different than what had actually occurred. I had a brand-new sympathy for anyone in the public eye.
“Are you going to get married?”Click, click, click. Gage’s arm around my shoulders stiffened, his whole body tensing as the car stopped in front of us. “This is your childhood sweetheart, right? Have you come home to marry her? Why now? Is there a Gage Jr on the way?”
Gage opened the passenger side door and helped me in, shutting it firmly before pivoting and facing the reporter.
“I have already asked you to leave us alone. My visit to New Hope is for personal reasons, which have nothing to do with you or anyone else.”
“This isn’t about me. It’s about all the devoted fans you’re letting down while you hide away in this dead-end town.”
Through the car window, I could see Gage’s muscles stiffen further. I might not know much about his world, but I was pretty sure punching a paparazzi guy wasn’t the best idea. I put my hand on the door handle, but Gage was already stepping closer to the reporter. The bodyguard was already opening his door, ready to assist.
“I strongly suggest,” Gage growled, towering above the guy, “that you leave me, and especially her, the fuck alone before I lose my shit with you. You don’t have any right to interfere with my personal life. Nothing I do is any of your business.”
The man grinned and half shrugged, but his eyes widened as the bodyguard closed in on him. “I have what I need anyway.” He must’ve sensed that he was more than likely about to lose what he had because he practically ran to his car.
It wasn’t until Gage had gotten in the car and slammed the door that I realized I was shaking.
Gage pressed his back into the seat and sighed, looking straight ahead. “Those pictures will be online soon. There isn’t anything I can do to stop him short of smashing his camera, and that won’t help. I’ve done it before.” His mouth changed from grimace to half grin.
“There’s no chance people might not care that much…” He shot a scathing look my way, as if to burn that idea from my brain. “Well, okay. But no matter what is going to be plastered all over the Internet in a few hours, we shouldn’t let it ruin today.”
“Ron’s going to shit.”
“Ron?”
“My manager.” When I raised my eyebrows, he explained. “It’s better for the band’s image to appear to be single. I got my ass chewed for the last pics.”
My stomach constricted. “Does the rest of the band live this way?”
“Yes and no. As lead singer, I get the brunt of it, so it’s my image that’s most important.”
A tight feeling I didn’t like settled into my chest. This was his life, he’d learned to be protective over his image a long time ago. For me though, I wasn’t sure I could just adapt to that. It wouldn’t be easy to give up my privacy. I needed to remember this was just for fun. “So, flings are okay, but not girlfriends?”
“Let’s go.” The guard started the engine. “I don’t want to be out in public anymore.”
“Will there be more?” My eyes darted over the parking lot, trying to sniff out reporters from everyday tourists.
“Trust me, they travel in packs. We’ll just find somewhere more private. I still want George’s. I won’t let that asshole photographer ruin our day.”
“Alright, the food sounds good. We can order, and a friend of mine works there. I’ll have her run it out to us.”
He smiled, leaned over and kissed me on the lips. “Perfect.”
My heart skipped a beat, and I tried to wrangle it into a normal rhythm again.
I didn’t know if I could live with the type of scrutiny he was accustomed to. One thing I did know, my heart had already decided it wanted this to be more than a fling. Which wasn’t the smart thing.
As we pulled out of the lot, my heart was already planning to go full swing ahead, and it was taking a lot of persuasion from my brain to convince it that it didn’t want more than a fling.
