Bad Boy Romance: Nick (Romantic Suspense Alpha Male Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Contemporary Short Stories) (Hard Rock Star Series Book 2) (49 page)

****

"Where are we?" Daniel asked, scanning the already
bustling auditorium.

"It's general seating. We’ll sit wherever we can get a
seat," Ariel told him, gripping the hem at the back of his shirt to make
sure she didn't lose him in the relative chaos of the convention’s opening day.

"So run like hell is what you're telling me?"

"Yes."

Daniel took off running down the aisle, shoving past other
attendees, and Ariel scurried after him, still holding onto his hem and sending
up a prayer that Max Grimsley was not in the room at the time to see her
completely undignified display of seat snagging.

"That felt vaguely unethical," Daniel panted as he
dropped into one of the two remaining seats in the front row.

"But we got amazing seats."

"You are such a nerd," he muttered.

"I don't want to hear it, medieval history major."

Ariel shifted impatiently in her seat for the next half an
hour waiting while others filtered in and filled the rest of the seats around
them. There was an excited, electrified buzz through the room as people
whispered and flipped through the books, brochures, and other swag tucked in
their welcome bags. Daniel stared directly ahead at the empty stage and Ariel
felt a wave of thankfulness roll over her. He would not be one to identify as
part of the fandom, but he had come along with her so she wouldn't have to
attend alone.

Silence moved through the room like a wave, settling people
from the back forward and Ariel turned to the stage to see a silver-haired man
approach the podium. There were a few scattered applause and Ariel knew most of
the people didn't know who this man was, but she recognized him as Max
Grimsley's agent. He smiled out at the crowd, watching them silently as if
reveling in their anticipation. Finally he started speaking.

"It's good to see so many fans out here today," he
said, scanning the full seats. There were a few more claps and he chuckled,
obviously accustomed to being the lackluster lead-in that few had any
excitement to see, "I guess it's still a little early in the morning for
enthusiasm."

"It's 9:30," Daniel whispered and Ariel shushed
him.

"He's trying to break the ice."

"Consider me still frozen."

Ariel shushed him again and Daniel complied, sitting back
sullenly and looking up at the speaker with an expression on his face that
dared him to become charming and entertaining.

"I know that all of you are excited to get the
convention underway and we are all just as excited to introduce our keynote
speaker, who is also one of the panelists and will be signing books at this
evening's literacy gala." Out of the corner of her eye Ariel could see
Daniel cover his face with his hands and shake his head, but her heart was
beating too hard from the nervousness rolling through her to pay attention to
him, "How many of you have read his most recent book?"

There were shouts and cheers from the crowd and the agent
looked pleased to have finally gotten a bit of a rise out of them. He grinned
wider.

"Excellent. Well, there isn't really anything else for
me to say other than let's welcome Max Grimsley."

He stepped aside and held out a hand dramatically. The green
velvet curtains fluttered and a darkly clad form strode out onto the stage. Max
stepped behind the podium and looked out over the crowd. His eyes swept the
rows and then fell on Ariel, meeting her gaze and holding it intensely. There
was a moment of strange, suspended stillness. Though the audience around her
erupted in screams and applause, it was as though Ariel couldn't register the
sound.

She didn't know how long they had been staring at each other
when Max broke the connection, leaving her feeling slightly breathless and
gripping the arms of her seats so hard her knuckles hurt. Daniel squeezed her
thigh and she looked over at him. He lifted his eyebrows and she nodded, trying
to smile but so taken aback by Max that she couldn't seem to control her
expressions.

Max spoke with the reserved confidence and calm she had
expected from him, never glancing down at his notes. Instead, he looked out
over the audience and spoke as if he was just having a conversation. Every few
moments his eyes fell back to Ariel and held her. Each time, his voice dropped
slightly and he seemed to lean subtly forward. It made her breath catch in her
throat and she wondered if she was just imagining the connection, if every
woman in the audience was envisioning the same looks and cues.

The picture that had fueled countless fantasies had in no
way done him justice. She had avoided looking up other pictures of him,
contented by the sexy black and white picture that graced every book, his
website, and the advertisements for every appearance he made. Now as he looked
at her, his lips soft and full as he spoke, she wished she had put forth a
little more effort.

His hair looked thick and silky as it fell just to his collar
and the eyes she had expected to be dark were actually the color of her caramel
sauce. She licked her lips when he glanced away from her, feeling her body
respond exactly how she had anticipated it would. It was never a good idea to
tempt a curvy girl with caramel.

****

"What exactly is a literary gala?" Daniel asked
later as he walked beside Ariel down the distressingly cold hallway toward the
elevator, pulling at his tie.

Ariel swatted his hands away from the knot and hooked her
thumbs into the low bodice of her gown to adjust it.

"It's essentially a charity fundraiser to benefit
literacy programs. We go, we eat, we buy books…"

"We seek out beautiful authors."

"Yes, and they donate the proceeds after the
convention."

Daniel pressed the elevator button and sighed.

"It just seems strange to me that the same group of
people who will happily parade around in loin cloths and steam punk alien
saloon girl costumes during the day feel the need to put on formalwear at night
to spend time with the exact same people."

"Steam punk alien saloon girls?" she asked
incredulously.

"It's a thing. I saw it happen."

"It's not about the formalwear. It's about the money
going toward literacy."

The elevator door opened and Ariel and Daniel stepped
inside. When the door slid closed and she realized they were the only ones in
the car, she turned her back to the small camera positioned judgmentally in the
corner and reached down into her bodice to lift her breasts higher in the
dress.

"That was classy," Daniel said when she turned
back around.

"Thank you."

"Alright," Daniel said, stepping out of the
elevator when the doors slid open and presenting his arm to her, "Let's do
this."

Ariel took Daniel's arm and smiled at him as she let him
guide her across the lobby toward the ballroom that had been set up for the
gala. Music streamed from the open door and she could hear blended voices
rising over the notes. As they stepped inside her eyes scanned across the room,
taking in the elevated tables set up with appetizers around the perimeter, the
bar on the far end, and the live band playing on the opposite side of the
dancefloor.

At that moment, no one was dancing. Instead, those in
attendance were a glitter and organza flock around several long tables laden
with books. As soon as she saw them, Ariel's heart fluttered a little. Just
seeing the books made her think of Max and remember that he was there, likely
in the room although she couldn't see him. Daniel led her over to the books and
she examined them carefully, trying to decide which to buy. She already owned
nearly every title available and those she didn't have were by authors whose
names she didn't recognize.

Ariel reached forward and picked up a copy of her favorite
of Max's series.

"I thought you already had that one," Daniel said,
poking at the books with one finger to sift through them in hopes of finding
something that interested him.

"I do. I already have everything that he has written.
This one, however, will be special. He's going to sign it."

Daniel finally picked up a book, skimmed over the cover
copy, and gave a little sound like he was surprised he had found something
appealing. When he looked up at her Ariel saw his eyes land on the book she
held to her chest.

"Oh, lord. You're going to sleep with that thing under
your pillow, aren't you?"

"Absolutely. If I can't have him in my bed, at least I
can have his name there."

Daniel put his hand over his mouth to muffle a laugh and
Ariel turned around. She hadn't been paying attention as she talked to Daniel
and didn't realize that the crowd of people who were around the table choosing
books were then walking directly from that table to the row of smaller,
individual tables where the authors sat to sign the copies. Now she was
standing at the first table, staring down at Max Grimsley.

He looked at her with the same focused intensity that he had
at the keynote speech. She stumbled over her words, unable to come up with
anything that could possibly make up for what he had just heard her say. Daniel
gave her a gentle shove from behind, jolting her out of her humiliated trance.
She handed the book to Max in a jerky movement and he took it from her slowly,
letting the tips of his fingers graze hers as he pulled it from her hand.

"What's your name?" he asked softly, his voice as
luscious as the caramel of his eyes, but low as though he only wanted her to
hear him speak.

"Ariel," she managed to force out through the
tightness of her throat.

"Ariel," he repeated, tasting the name on his
tongue as he wrote in the front of the book, then closed it and held it out to
her again, "It's very nice to meet you, Ariel."

"You, too," she nearly whispered back, taking the
book from his hand.

She continued to stare at him, their eyes fused to each
other as if they couldn't bear to look anywhere else. Finally she felt Daniel's
hand touch her lower back and gently push her away from the edge of the table
so that the woman behind her could step up into place in front of Max.

"Oh my god, what just happened?" she asked when
she got past all of the author tables and was standing in line to pay for her
book.

She felt like she had stepped out of Max's orbit and could
suddenly think straight again. Her face burned as she went over the interaction
again, starting with him hearing her say that she wanted him in her bed. She
covered her face with the book and let out a long, shuddering sigh.

"That's it, Daniel. I'm done. I'm going to die right
here. Just roll me into one of the room service carts and let them recycle
me."

Daniel took the book from her, paid for it, and handed it
back to her, again guiding her away from the table and out onto the dancefloor.

"What would they make you into? A purse? A notebook? A
tin can?"

The music swelled around them and Daniel's face lit up, he
pulled her into his arms to dance.

"No, let's go back to the room," she said.

Daniel's hands dropped to his sides and he gaped at her in
exasperation.

"Are you serious? That's it? We have gala-ed?"

Ariel stepped up close to him.

"Max Grimsley just heard me tell you that I am going to
sleep with the signed copy of his book under my pillow because I don't have him
in my bed. Then I just stared at him. I am not even entirely positive I spoke
to him. I think that’s enough for one gala."

Daniel nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. They
walked out of the room together, but when Ariel turned back, she saw Max
staring at her from his table, the look in his eyes intense and thrilling in a
way that she couldn't explain.

****

"I still can't believe that I just stood there. I've
been thinking about that moment for months and I just --- and you're
asleep."

Ariel stopped rubbing her wet hair with the towel and stared
at Daniel, who was sprawled across one of the beds still in his suit, snoring.
She sighed and yanked his shoes off, tossing them into the closet so he didn't
trip on them in the middle of the night when he inevitably woke up and shuffled
off to the bathroom.

She glanced at the clock and realized it was only eleven
o'clock. Daniel’s finals might have sucked the life out of him, but Ariel
wasn't ready to go to bed yet. She saw the book on the nightstand and picked it
up, flipping it open for the first time to see the inscription Max had written.

You are beautiful. Max Grimsley.

Ariel's breath caught in her throat. Even more restless now,
she dressed as quickly as she could, put on more makeup despite having just
washed it all off in the shower, and headed down to the hotel lounge. She had
only taken a few steps in when she saw Max sitting at the bar, staring down at
his drink contemplatively.

She drew in a deep breath, taking a moment just to
appreciate the curve of his body beneath his dark clothing. This was her chance
to fix the awkwardness of their first encounter, even though she dreaded even
getting near him for fear of how she would react. Today had not been a stellar
day for her self-control.

Ariel took an arced path to approach him so that she came up
behind him rather to his side. This gave her a few more seconds to come up with
what she wanted to say to him. His back rose and fell, the broad muscles across
his shoulders shifting beneath the black fabric of his shirt making her mind
wander back to tucking the book with his name inside under her pillow and the
alternative she had suggested to Daniel. Max suddenly straightened as if she
had spoken and turned to her. His eyes caught hers and she saw his lips part
slightly.

"Thank you for signing my book," she said, forcing
out the only words she could come up with under the entrancing power of his
stare.

"Of course," he said back, "Would you like to
join me?"

Ariel nodded and went to step toward the barstool beside
him, but Max stood up and took a step away from the bar.

"Not here?" she asked and he shook his head.

"Come for a walk with me."

Max started for the door to the bar and Ariel followed,
intrigued and slightly overwhelmed by what was happening. They stepped outside
into the crisp air of an autumn evening and walked in silence away from the
hotel until they reached a black gate.

"What's this?" she asked and Max pulled a
card-shaped key out of his pocket.

"My private beach," he replied, opening the gate
and stepping aside so that she could walk past him, "It's connected to my
suite and for some reason the hotel decided they needed to treat it like a
convict and close it away from everyone else."

Ariel watched him close the gate behind himself and come
toward her. A shiver rippled across her arms and she rubbed them.

"I'll never understand why they host these conventions
at beaches during the cold weather."

"No tourists to get in the way?" he offered. There
was a pause and he tilted his head down slightly. "I hope I didn't get you
into any trouble with your boyfriend."

"Who?" she asked, confused.

"The man that was with you at the gala."

Ariel laughed.

"That's Daniel. He's most certainly not my
boyfriend."

"I'm glad to hear that."

Her breath grew more shallow as she saw Max coming toward
her.

"Why would you get me into trouble?" she asked
quietly.

"My inscription. I felt a little silly writing that,
but I couldn't bring myself to say it to you, even though I had been thinking
it since the moment I saw you at my speech."

By this point he was only a few feet away and Ariel could
see the luscious color of his eyes and the plush softness of his lips. She took
a breath to try to settle her trembling. Her body felt drawn to him in a way
that she had never experienced. It was as though it knew something that she
didn't.

"Would it make you feel better to know that I think you
are incredibly beautiful?" she whispered.

He stepped even closer and for the first time Ariel realized
that he had one sleeve of his shirt rolled up to his elbow and the other kept
buttoned at his wrist. She ventured to touch the sleeve, feeling the warmth of
the skin and the strength of the muscles beneath the fabric.

"What's with the sleeve?" she asked and saw a
flash of darkness flicker across his eyes.

"How well do you know my books?" he asked.

Ariel looked at him quizzically.

"Extremely. Why?"

Max looked faintly pained, but something in his expression
told her that his words and his gestures held meaning well beyond what she
understood of them and pled her to be patient. He released the buttons on the
cuff of the sleeve he wore full-length and slowly pushed the fabric up,
revealing his forearm and a long, jagged scar in his skin.

Her hand flew to her mouth and Ariel rested her fingertips
tenderly against the smooth scar. Words streamed through her head in a
continuous ribbon, appearing typed against a white background as she remembered
the detailed description of that exact scar. She knew the weapon that had
created it and what shifter wielded that weapon. It was, to its every feature,
exactly like the scar on borne by Lazar in Max's books.

"It's just like…" she trailed off, not sure
exactly what this meant.

Max nodded.

"It is."

She lifted her eyes to him sharply, processing the words,
trying to decipher their meaning. Was he only affirming that the scar on his
arm was like the one of his main character; that perhaps it was the inspiration
for the brutal battle wound the shifter suffered while in wolf form?

Or could he possibly be telling her that it was, in fact,
that scar?