FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (31 page)

“Yup,” I said after the bottle was empty. “You can send them
and the invoices. I’m done for the next two days.”

“Do I have to come in to work since you’re going to be with
Cash?” Nicole asked.

“Nope. You can have the next few days off. I’ll call you
when he goes back to New York.”

“Awesomesauce!” Nicole sang. “I love that you’re together!”

“Shut up and get out of here. I gotta go get my man.”

I didn’t even bother to change out of my dress. It was hot
out and I had an hour drive to Lancaster to pick up Cash. He was flying private
while his crew and his gear flew back to the States tomorrow. I honestly can’t
believe a man so obsessed with his guitars would let them fly solo, but I’m
glad he’s arriving a day early.

****

I leaned against my Camaro and waited patiently for the
doors of the private plane to open. Brittany was standing on my right side
waiting also.

“I don’t know what you did to my brother,” Brittany
chuckled, “but in all the years that he’s been touring, he has never flown
private from overseas, and he has never been happy about his tour being over.
Whatever it is you’re doing, please keep doing it. I may be able to get a new
car for my birthday if he stays this happy.”

If someone had told me six months ago that I’d be waiting on
the tarmac at a private airfield for Cash Myers to deboard a private jet, I
would have bet my mortgage that I was having one of my Cash Myers dreams. But
it’s happening and I’m so excited to see him that my hands are shaking.

Finally, the door swung open and there he was, in dire need
of a haircut. The wind whipped his chin length brown waves around his face. His
gray t-shirt and shorts were wrinkled from having sat and slept all the way
from Amsterdam. He had a large messenger bag slung over one shoulder while he
carried his treasured guitar case in the other. His aviator shades hid his eyes
but I could tell by his smile that his eyes were shining as bright as the
midday sun.

I couldn’t move. While Brittany ran over to the plane to
greet her brother and his mom, I stood by my car completely fascinated by the
idea that the man descending down the stairs belonged to me.

Mine
. Cash Myers is my man. He’s my boyfriend and
people actually know this.

I pushed myself away from my car and approached Cash with an
eager grin. He sat his guitar case down and raised his shades. Inexplicably, my
cheeks began to warm and I know they turned a shade of red.

Cash placed both hands on the sides of my face. “I love it
when you blush,” he said before pressing his lips fervently against mine.

I practically collapsed against him as I usually do when
Cash kisses me.

“I missed you so much,” I said unafraid that I was going to
scare off the man who said he loved me three months into our relationship.

“We talked almost every day,” Cash grinned.

I shook my head. “Not the same.”

I said hello to Jennifer as Cash’s security loaded his and
Jennifer’s bags into the back of his G-Class.

“You missed a great tour, Savannah. Maybe next year, you and
Brittany will come with us.”

I was excited that Jennifer was thinking about me being
around next year. It’s always a good feeling when the mother of the man you
love wants you around.

Cash and I got into my car and followed behind Brittany as
she drove out of the hangar. Two other cars followed behind us. I recognized
them as the two photographers that were snapping pictures of Cash’s arrival.

“Baby, I don’t know how you deal with them,” I commented. “Don’t
they drive you crazy?”

Unbemused, Cash placed his hand on my thigh. My skin lit on
fire at his touch. The thin cotton of my summer dress did nothing to diffuse
the situation.

“They don’t bother me anymore,” he answered.

Cash’s fingers played at the hem of my short dress. His
fingers tickled the inside of my thigh.

I kept my eyes on the road as the obvious click of his
seatbelt unfastening was as loud as gunshot. Cash leaned over the center
console and kissed my bare shoulder.

“Pull over at that In-N-Out,” Cash said in a deep throaty
growl. “I’m starving.”

My thighs quivered and heat rushed throughout my body. I was
starving too. I took one hand off the steering wheel and rubbed Cash’s crotch
through his shorts.

“I’m starving too.”

Even though it was early in the afternoon, the parking lot
of In-N-Out was surprisingly empty. We definitely weren’t in Los Angeles. I
pulled the Camaro to the back of the restaurant and cut the engine. I made sure
that the coast was clear before opening the driver’s side door and hopping into
the backseat. I swept some shoeboxes and miscellaneous junk from my mobile
closet. Cash climbed into the backseat with a devilish grin.

“When’s the last time you made out in the backseat of a car?”

“Never, but this one’s certainly big enough.”

“Good.”

Cash grabbed my hips and pulled me towards him. I wrapped my
legs around him as he lowered his body onto mine. Cash began to kiss my neck
and shoulders. He pulled down the top of my strapless dress. His rough hands
fondled my bare breasts before his tongue flicked across my piercings. My hands
fumbled around his jeans until I had unfastened them and slid them down over
his slim hips. I pushed down his boxers and stroked his rock hard length. It
felt like silk wrapped steel and I wanted -needed- him inside me more than I
needed air.

****

“Where have you been?” Brittany yelled when we walked into
Cash’s condo. “You guys were right behind me!”

“I had to teach my girl how to duck the paparazzi,” Cash
grinned. “She’s not too keen on them following her car.”

Brittany wrinkled her nose with doubt while Jennifer and I
snickered. The paparazzi in the Honda Accord were the least of my concerns and
Jennifer knew it.

“Don’t you have cheerleading practice or something to do?”

A wave of sadness mixed with anger and disappointment washed
across Brittany’s face.

“No, she pouted. “ I haven’t been going to practice because
you said New York is home now. I’m waiting until we get back to find an
All-Star competition squad out there.”

“See Mom!” Cash groaned. “This is precisely why I asked you
to stay with her. I never told you that you weren’t going back to Palm Valley
for your senior year. I was wondering why your coach emailed me about you not
showing up to practice. Go to practice, Brittany. You better pray that she didn’t
give some freshman your spot on top of the pyramid.”

Cash said all of that with the biggest, most devious grin on
his face. When Brittany yelled and punched his shoulder, he rightfully deserved
it.

“You knew I wouldn’t have to change schools and you waited
all summer to tell me? You’re such a jerk!”

“That was mean, Cash,” Jennifer scolded her son. “You should
have told her.”

“She’s been a brat all summer,” Cash defended his meanness. “She
deserved it.”

“Ugh!” Brittany grunted as she ran to her room. She returned
a few minutes later dressed in workout shorts and a t-shirt and carrying a gym
bag.

“I’ll be back. Do not go out to eat without me.”

I stifled a giggle. Cash’s family is so different from mine.
At sixteen, I wasn’t giving my parents orders. I slammed a door once when I was
eleven. My father put the fear of God into me and I’ve never done it again.

Ashley threw a hissy fit about being left behind once when
my parents and I went out to dinner. My mother’s threat to slap her into next
week had ended that temper tantrum. It’s quite obvious that Cash and I were
raised differently. A small giggle tickled the back of my throat when I thought
about how we’d raise our children.

“What time did you make our reservation for?” Cash asked me.

“It’s at 8:30. Troy is meeting us at the restaurant.”

“Good. Let’s go lie down for a few hours.”

“Yeah,” Jennifer laughed. “Go lie down. I’m your mother,
Cash, but I’m not stupid.”

****

Cash’s arm was wrapped firmly around my waist as we walked
into Wolfgang Puck’s WP24 behind Jennifer and Brittany. The paparazzi were
camped out in front of the Ritz Carlton in droves. There was probably a Kardashian
or two in the building. However, I’m not here on business. I don’t care if the
entire Kardashian family including Mr. West is seated at the table next to us.

This is fifth or sixth time Cash and I have been seen out in
public since our first date a month ago. In the land of celebrity news, we
should be announcing our engagement any day now. At least, that’s what people
are going to be saying tomorrow when the pictures hit the web.

I try not to read what people are saying about our
relationship, but it’s difficult. I try though. I deleted all of my Google
alerts and blacklisted my name and Cash’s from tumblr, but there’s really no
way to completely escape the rumor mill. Besides, I have my own fans. It feels
funny to say that, but I do. People have been reading my site and following me
on social media for eight years. So far, they’ve been incredibly supportive.
They ask a lot of questions on Twitter and Facebook. I don’t answer the vulgar
questions or the ones that are way too personal. I try to appease them with a
picture or a tweet about us though. It’s easy because I just have to retweet or
repost the stuff that Cash puts online. When it comes to Twitter and Instagram,
I have found my match.

“Aww, look at the happy couple!” Brandon and Troy squealed
like they’d been rehearsing for his moment for weeks.

“All out and about, looking like you’re about to walk
somebody’s red carpet,” Brandon added.

“Y’all look so in love, all glowing and shit,” Troy laughed.
“We better hurry up and eat so the love birds can get back to,” he made air
quotes, “catching up.”

Ignoring Troy, I hugged Brandon tightly and introduced him
to Brittany and Jennifer. I had no idea he was flying in and I’m so happy that
he finally gets to meet Cash in person. Besides my grandparents and Ashley, he’s
the last one meet my man.

As we sat around our six top which was full of food and too
many drinks for any of us to be driving, I felt like we are a big happy family.
There wasn’t any tension and no bickering. No one complained about how far
apart we live or talked about the tragic news going on in the world. It was
pleasant.

I love my family of activists and intellectuals, but
sometimes, I’d like to sit down to a meal without having to talk about the
injustices that black people face every day. I’d like to laugh and joke with my
family like I can do with Cash and Troy.

About two hours into dinner, there was still a mound of food
on the table. Brittany and I were drooling over the dessert menu and the others
were talking about baseball. Troy was enjoying his fourth Highlander cocktail
when he checked his phone.

“Who is Olivia Stone?” he asked as he glanced at me and
Cash.

“That’s my manager,” Cash answered. “Why?”

Troy rolled his eyes and handed Cash his phone. I leaned
over to read the text from Troy’s cousin Trina, a hairstylist in Manhattan.

Some broad named Olivia Stone was in the salon talkin mad
shit about ur BFF. She was talkin to the Aubrey chick we don’t like. Said ur
girl ain’t doin nothing but tryin to get her 15mins

Cash’s shoulders tensed. He slid the phone across the table.
He wasn’t just mad, he was furious. His usually bright blue eyes were ice cold
and at least two shades darker.

“This fuckin’ broad,” Cash muttered. He slid his chair away
from the table and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”

I jumped out of my chair and followed him through the crowed
restaurant. Even though he was walking fast and his long strides made it
practically impossible for me to catch him, I found him. We were on the
twenty-fourth floor of the Ritz Carlton. There weren’t many places he could go.
I grabbed his arm before he reached the elevator.

“Baby, it’s not that serious.”

Even though I was pissed that his manager had something to
say about me, I was more upset that she was saying it to a certified gossip
blogger. As far as I know, she and Cash share the same opinion in regards to
gossip bloggers. Talking to Aubrey James makes no sense at all.

“It is a big deal,” Cash seethed. “I’m not paying her to
gossip about me.”

I stepped as close to him as I could until he backed up
against the wall. I wrapped my arms around him and stood on my tiptoes just so
I could reach his lips.

“Baby,” I whispered as I placed quick kisses along his
collarbone and jaw. “You’ve been gone for a month. You wanna be mad at your
manager all night or…” I let my voice trail off when the tension in Cash’s
shoulders eased and he tucked his bottom lip between his teeth.

Cash lowered his eyes to the V of my shirt and marveled at
my cleavage. I pressed my breasts against him.

“Or what?” he asked hungrily.

“Or, we get a room here and finish what we started in my
Camaro.”

I ran my hand along the zipper of his Seven jeans. “Let me
properly show you how much I’ve missed you.”

“I’ll get the room. You go tell our dinner dates goodnight.”

Cash pulled out this wallet and handed me his platinum
SkyMiles card. I shook my head.

“I have one of those too. I got it, babe.”

“No, Savannah,” he replied sternly. “My mom will strangle me
if I let you pay for dinner. This is one of those non-negotiable things that we
talked about. I pay for our dates. You do not. Ever.”

My parents are going to love him for that, I laughed to
myself. My father hates to see a woman coming out of her pocket when she has an
able-bodied man beside her. Ashley and I were taught to make our own money and
never depend on a man, but my father made it clear that we had to learn how to
let a man be a man and force them to, if applicable. This is one of the few
traditional things about my parents that I really don’t have a problem with.