FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (14 page)

And if he kissed her again, he was certain that it wouldn’t
stop there.

The passenger door swung open and Savannah slipped into the
seat.

“Coast was clear. I guess the paps aren’t checking for
celebs at the Courtyard Marriott.”

“Probably because we have enough sense to stay outta Times
Square in the summer. Don’t gotta be from here to know a tourist trap when you
see one.”

Savannah looked at Cash out of the corner of her eye. “I
love your accent. It’s so…”

“Boston?” he guessed. “What about you? You don’t sound like
a New Yorker.”

“I can turn it on and off,” Savannah shrugged. “One of my
communications professors told me that I needed to learn how to speak in a
neutral accent.” She broke into her New York accent. “But I’m still from
Harlem, son!”

“I like Cali better,” Cash teased. “Boston and New York don’t
mix. Fuck the Yankees.”

Savannah reached across the gearshift. Cash tensed a little,
thinking she was reaching for his crotch. Without properly taking care of the
situation, his erection was still a problem. She touched his knee.

Close enough.

“Can I trust you with a secret?”

 “Of course,” Cash nodded.

“I like the Red Sox.”

Cash burst out laughing. “You better not ever say that
outside of this car. You’re gonna get kicked out of your home state!”

When their laughter died down, the car was filled with an awkward
silence that Cash didn’t expect. Savannah stared out of the tinted windows at
the big, gaudy Times Square billboards like she’d never seen them before.

Cash didn’t understand what had happened. He was usually
great with girls. He never experienced that awkward
how do I know she likes
me
thing that most men had experienced at one time or another.

His was one of the most recognizable faces in America. Girls
would do just about anything to be in Savannah’s position at that every moment.
Before he met Victoria, he hadn’t been shy about letting them.

When they got close to Sylvia’s, Savannah directed him to
the restaurant. When he pulled to the curb, he expected her to jump out of his
car, never to be heard from again. But she didn’t. She had her hand on the door
handle and on her purse – the one he’d given her – but she wasn’t moving. They
both spoke at the same time.

“No,” Savannah said. “Your car. You go first.”

“You got so quiet,” Cash started. “Are you uncomfortable
with me now?”

“No! No!” Savannah quickly reassured him. “That’s not it. It’s
the fact that I feel so comfortable with you that makes this whole thing feel
so…” she paused. “Like a dream. This doesn’t happen to people in real life.”

“But this is real life,” Cash stated. “I’m real. You’re
real. What happened in your room was real.”

Savannah slowly moved her head from side to side. She was
smiling; a smile that touched the deepest part of Cash’s soul.

“Real or not, this has been the best day of my life. Thank
you, Cash.”

“Give me your number,” was his reply. “We still have to plan
that thing I want to do for the book people. Maybe we can hook up before you
leave town?”

Even Cash could hear the desperate hope in his voice. He had
to see her again. He had to finish what he’d started.

Savannah told him her phone number and stepped out of the
car. Cash watched as she approached a well-dressed young woman who looked just
like her as they walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. She looked over
her shoulder and gave a quick wave of her fingers in his direction. He pulled
away from the curb thinking one thing…

Savannah Ford was everything he thought she’d be and so much
more. He wanted her in more ways than he ever wanted any woman before.

He was going to have her.

****

Brittany and Cash’s mom were sitting in the living room
sipping tea when he walked into the house after dropping Savannah off. There
was no television in the living room so the only reason they were in there was
because they were waiting on him. They pounced as soon as he stepped into the
living room.

“Where have you been?” Brittany said in singsong voice.

“What’s she like?” said his mom.

“Where’d you go?”

“Did you kiss her? Or more?”

Cash held up his hands in surrender from the onslaught of
questions. “Stop! I can’t do this with you two tonight.”

“Oh, but you will,” Jennifer replied and patted the sofa
cushion next to her. “You whisked her out of Bryan’s office so fast that I didn’t
get a chance to meet her so now you have to tell me about her.”

“So where is she now?” Brittany asked. “From the way you’ve
been cyber stalking her, I didn’t know if I should call Dateline or fix up the
guest bedroom.”

Cash sat next to his mom and tossed his hat on the coffee
table. They weren’t going to let the matter go or give him a minute to take in
what had happened over the last few hours.

“First,” he started. “I don’t know where she is. I wasn’t
with her all night. And Mom, she’s pretty great.”

“She’s gorgeous,” Jennifer nodded. “If her personality
matches that body, you’ve got a winner.”

“I don’t have anything,” Cash retorted. “She’s not mine to
have.”

Cash rested his head against the back of the sofa. Gorgeous
did Savannah no justice and beautiful wasn’t descriptive enough. Beethoven
could have written symphonies about her beauty. Shakespeare could have written
sonnets about her eyes and they still wouldn’t be good enough.

“Well,” Brittany spoke up. “If you weren’t with her, why’d
you leave the office? Mom called me and said she was at your new manager’s
office. I went all the way to Manhattan and didn’t get to meet Savannah.”

Cash shrugged. “I was with her for a little while. I took
her to lunch.”

Brittany laughed. “Did you take her to some expensive 5-Star
restaurant? Are you spoiling her already?”

“I took her to BareBurger. We ate and had a few beers. That’s
it.”

“Really?” Brittany’s voice teemed with disappointment. “I
waited all day for that? Burgers and beer? You’ve been obsessing over that girl
for weeks and all I get is burgers and beer? Come on, brother. You’re Cash
Myers. You were supposed to make her fantasy come true!”

Cash stood up. “That’s what happened. Deal with it. I’m
going to catch the last few innings of the Sox game.”

As he was walking the family room, Cash knew that his mother
and sister wanted more juicy details, but he couldn’t give them what they
wanted this time. He wanted to keep a little part of Savannah to himself. He
refused to give them any ammo to speculate on, especially when he hadn’t even
wrapped his head around what happened in her hotel room.

He really liked Savannah. He wanted to know her, mentally
and biblically. He had to tread carefully with her though. She was a unique
situation…a gossip blogger and a fan.

The two types of people he vowed to NEVER get involved with.

But her lips. Goddamn, her lips were like silk and honey.
When he kissed her, he hadn’t wanted to stop. He should have left her room when
she drifted off to sleep.

He wasn’t even paying attention to the baseball game. It was
the top of the ninth and the Red Sox were up by three runs so it didn’t matter.
Only the ringing of his cell made him stop agonizing over Savannah Ford.

“What’s up, Jimmie?”

Cash had a few good friends in New York. His closest friends
were in Boston or Los Angles, of course. Jimmie, Shawn, and Johnny were cousins
that he’d met through Victoria. Jimmie was the realtor that sold him the condo.
Each was quite successful at what they did. That particular quality was
important to Cash when it came to letting people get close to him. He didn’t
need anyone mooching off his name. No one was riding his coattails. He made
sure of it.

“There’s a party at Finale tonight,” Jimmie said. “Get
dressed. We’re goin’.”

“What time?”

“Now. Get dressed.”

“No,” Cash replied. “I’m not going to Finale before
midnight. I have a reputation to uphold.”

“Dude, it’s eleven thirty. By the time you get dressed and
drive to the damn Bronx, it’s gonna be after midnight.”

Cash hadn’t realized that it was that late. As Jimmie gave
him the updated list of chicks that would probably be at the club and why he should
avoid them, Cash looked through his closet for something to wear.

“Saundra is just a groupie. Word is she slept with that
Maroon 5 dude the other night.”

“Kelly has a nice rack but she’s crazy as hell. Like
Fatal Attraction crazy.”

“Melanie is cute. Her ex is nuts. Bashed out my car
windows just for saying hello to her.”

After hanging up with Jimmie, Cash got ready for his shower.

“Britt!” he called from his bathroom.

“What?” she shouted.

“I’m goin’ out!”

“So!”

He turned the shower off and walked down the hall in just
his boxers. He stopped in the doorway to Brittany’s room.

“So? What do you mean so?”

“You’re always goin’ somewhere,” Brittany replied without
looking up from her Macbook. “What am I supposed to do with that information?”

“What’s with you?” he asked. “You’ve been giving me major ‘tude
these last few days.”

“I’m bored. All my friends are in L.A., remember? We just
had to move here because of Victoria. Now she’s screwin’ the co-star of her
crappy show and we’re stuck with a condo in Tribeca where I don’t know anybody.”

Cash leaned against the doorframe and shook his head. His
mom had warned him about sixteen year old girls. Brittany would rather bitch
and complain than ask for what she really wanted.

“If you want to hang with your friend this summer, ask. If Jill’s
mom says you can stay with them when I’m not in L.A., get your ass on a plane
and go. Don’t sit around here and bitch about it all summer.”

“Yeah,” Brittany said doubtfully. “You say that now but-”

“But nothing, Britt. I don’t have a summer vacation like
you. I’m working. And I’m not going to spend the next three months trying to
entertain you. You’re sixteen. You have a car and credit card. You know the
rules so do what you want.”

Brittany shrugged her shoulders as if she still didn’t
believe what Cash was saying, like she couldn’t care less. Cash knew she was
trying not to jump for joy. She always tried to act like things didn’t directly
affect her, but he knew better.

“I’ll see you in the morning,” he said as he walked away.

“So, this effing d-bag tells me he’s not going to give me
the listing if I can’t get ten million for it!” Jimmie yelled loudly and threw
back another shot of Don Julio.

“Ten million? In my building? That’s bullshit!”

“I know! No one’s going to get that much in your building.
Celebrities man,” Jimmie scoffed. “They’re a fuckin’ piece of work. So freaking
messed up in the head.”

“Present company excluded,” Johnny threw in. “So whose party
is this?”

Cash shrugged. The large club was filled with people
obviously celebrating something but neither Jimmie, Johnny, or Cash had a clue.
They’d bypassed the “red carpet.” There was a banner outside for some new
champagne so they guessed it was a launch party of some sort. They’d find out tomorrow
when Cash’s picture was plastered all over the Internet as usual.

Cash poured another shot. The dance floor was packed as a
popular DJ spun the latest pop hits. He bobbed his head to the music and threw
back his shot. The club was full of scantily clad cute girls and he wasn’t one
to sit in VIP all night having a sausage fest with his friends, especially
since he was back on the market.

“Dude, what happened with you and Vic?” Jimmie slurred. “Are
you guys really done?”

Cash nodded. “I am. She cheated. There’s no comin’ back from
that.”

“Yeah, but you’ve cheated before,” Jimmie graciously
reminded him.

“Not on her and that’s all that matters. I gave her a ring.
She doesn’t get to cheat after she gets the ring. I don’t roll like that.”

Johnny drunkenly threw his arm around Cash’s shoulders. “I
told you actresses and models can’t be trusted. Didn’t I tell you that?”

Cash pushed Johnny’s arm off and stood up. The last thing he
wanted to hear was
I told you so
from his drunk and single friends. He
scanned the crowd to see if he could spot a cutie to dance with.

“There’s that look!” Johnny howled. “He’s back, ladies and
gentlemen! Cash is on the prowl again! Go make some girl’s dream come true!”

I already did,
he thought to himself as he eased down
the steps into what he referred to as General Population. He wasn’t a great dancer
but occasionally he felt the urge. He spotted two girls gyrating against each
other. Their sexy moves were completely deliberate. They were putting out the
bait, bouncing their bodies and swaying their hips in that awkward way girls
danced when their heels were too high.

The dark-haired one in an alarmingly short and tight red
dress danced closer to the Hispanic one when she noticed many of Finale’s male
patrons had their eyes glued to the girls’ asses, including Cash.

A tap on his shoulder broke his gaze. He turned around and
met the blue eyes of his ex. Victoria looked sexy as hell in her white
mini-dress and her long chestnut hair cascading down her back. The diamonds he’d
given her for her birthday sparkled around her neck.

“Like what you see out there?” Victoria asked.

“Bye Vic,” he replied and began to walk away.

They
would just love seeing him and his ex-fiancée
talking in the crowded club.

“Cash!” Victoria called after him, attracting the attention
of a few clubbers that hadn’t noticed him before.

Cash stopped walking. He couldn’t maneuver through the
bodies unrecognized now, which was probably why Victoria called his name. She
knew he’d get upset. She needed him to get mad and yell or something in a
public place. She needed him to be the bad guy because she was getting slammed
in the tabloids.