Page 75 of Reckless
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She pinched my side, smiling at the old game. “I’m coming now, too late.”
My damned heart leaped. I sent it a mental message that getting back to New York would be a much needed break. And that was all.
“I didn’t fly all the way here just to hookup for one night and go back home again. I’m sticking around for a bit.” She nestled against me once more.
“Fair enough, I suppose I can’t take my invite back now. You’ll just have to be kind in your review, know that as the front man for a rock band, my ego is fragile.” Good, now I had time to decide what to do about Kelly Cavendish. Time to decide whether I was going to chance my heart again. And hers.
“Are you wanting me to become another ‘yes-man,’ telling you what you want to hear?”
“Yes-man! I don’t have yes-men, and I’ll prove it by ordering us breakfast. They’ll bring it cold and rubbery, and the coffee will taste like melted tires.” I kissed her cheek.
Her stomach growled as she laughed. “Breakfast in bed?” She snuggled closer, pulling the sheets up over us. “Now I really am living the dream!”
Prying myself out of bed, I dragged on last night’s clothes and went out to the living room to hunt down a phone. I always had them removed from the bedroom. I went to push the button for room service but knew that my prediction would probably come true, and I wanted Kelly to have a nice breakfast, especially after the morning delight she’d given me. Could I make it down to the restaurant and back without drawing attention?
Putting on a ballcap, I snagged my key card, catching my reflection in the mirror with a smile so wide it looked like I’d had sunshine blown straight up my ass. No way I could keep the joy to a minimum. Like a ray of sunshine in my neverending storm, the woman who had been my always had come to drag me from the pit.
Downstairs, after ordering and being served, I had two takeout containers heavy with breakfast and was in the hallway to the elevator when a shriek went up.
“Gage! Oh my god, it’s Gage Strickland!”
Shit.
The shrill sound was all too familiar. The excitement. The ownership. No matter how many times I heard it, it still made my skin crawl.
I continued to the elevator, pulling the cap lower. Sometimes that worked. If I ignored the commotion, there was a chance the person would think they were mistaken and leave me alone.
Another wail went up, closer this time. No such luck.
I lifted my hand in a half-wave and grinned at the stranger. A blonde woman, just blooming into her early twenties, flew at me with the excitement of a toddler. When she grabbed me around the torso, she almost knocked the breath right out of me, and I caught the containers of food just before they went hurtling to the floor.
Fans were always overly excited at our gigs, we often got manhandled then and in the bars afterward. But unexpected confrontations like this always left me stunned.
The boys and I had been coached on things like…what to do if a fan was crazy. If she had a knife or another weapon. In hotels, we didn’t bother with round-the-clock security, but the need for it had been growing stronger by the day.
The best thing to do was smile and talk for a second then make a quick escape. “Hello, I—”
She screamed, “It is him!” alerting the rest of the hotel patrons who didn’t hear her the first time.
When she pulled on my arm, I tried to pull back, extract myself and create a little distance, but this woman had other ideas.
She took full advantage of having this alone moment with me, slinging her arms around my neck. She cupped my cheeks, pulled me toward her, and kissed me with everything she had, fixing me in place. With my hands full of food, it wasn’t easy for me to escape. I gave a shocked laugh, stunned for a beat. When her tongue touched my lips and tried to snake into my mouth, I snapped my head back, breaking the kiss. I didn’t hear the clicks of her friend’s camera phone until it was too late.
“Well, thank you,” I said as I tried to remember where the stairs were. Forty-two flights would be hell, but maybe I could ditch her and grab another elevator. “But I really have to go now.”
“Don’t leave.” Her bottom lip pouted out. “I love you. Given half the chance you could love me too. You just need to get to know me.”
This was exactly why Ron’s bullshit rule that we appear single for the fans was dangerous. I hadn’t experienced the horror of a full-fledged stalker, but it could happen. Easily.
“I’m glad you like the music of Gaged.” I pulled the hand gripping my arm off finger by finger. “But unfortunately, I do really need to be somewhere. We’re headed out to our next tour date.”
“New York?” Her eyes lit up. “I can come to New York.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea. But, thank you.” It was so hard to find the right words. Firm without being rude. I couldn’t say something that would spark more online hate for Gaged. We were just about back to the point we’d been…it couldn’t be my fault if it went wrong again. “I have to go now.”
“I’m coming to New York.” She grabbed a business card and stuffed it into my hand. “And you will call me. We’re going to go on a date. Youwillfall in love with me, just you wait and see.” She took a step back. “You might have to go now, but this isn’t the last time you’ll see me.”
I shook my head, about to argue when it hit me that she’d just given me an escape route. When I was safely on the elevator, the door closed, and I could breathe, I looked down at the card. This woman was a CEO of a technology company. Intelligent, with a lot going for her. She was pretty too, she didn’t need to act like a crazy freak.
