Just a Fan (31 page)

Quickly, I ran as silently as I could back to the bedroom before he could come up the stairs, and lay down, acting as if I had been there all along and had not been listening to him telling his mother about our little holiday plan.

Ten minutes later, Connor came in, flinging his shirt and jeans onto the bedside chair and then climbing into bed boxer-clad, pausing to switch off the lights. I kept still, lying where I was and allowing him to snuggle up close himself. In the dark I smiled to myself, savouring the familiar but just as breathtaking sensation of his warm skin against me as he moved nearer. He smelled heavenly, even though he hadn't taken a shower tonight...I heard his light sigh as he settled himself beside me, his curls mingling with my own hair on the pillow.

After a short, peaceful silence, he most ungallantly poked me in the ribs and murmured: 'Hey. You asleep?'

I turned over and pressed my face against his bare chest. 'Yes,' I groaned. He laughed.

'Just checking,' he replied, putting an arm around me. It was a very smooth and firm arm. Distracted from my sleep, I put both hands around it. 'What're you doing?' he asked.

'Checking out your biceps,' I told him. 'You been working these out, too?'

Connor laughed, with a hint of pride. 'Have I hell.' I felt him clench his fist, tensing his arm, and the muscle under my fingers suddenly turned to stone.

'That is pretty impressive,' I remarked, trying in vain to squeeze down on it. Connor chuckled.

'Now I can really beat up anyone who upsets you,' he quipped, and pulled me close to him with those steely arms.

'Ooh, yeah,' I laughed rather breathlessly.

'Go back to sleep now, there's the premiere in about a week's time,' Connor ordered me gently, patting my hair. I decided not to argue with him - especially not now I had seen those muscles of his.

'Goodnight, then,' I replied, then added: 'Love you.'

I felt his smile against the top of my head.

'Love ye too.'

When the evening of the premiere finally came, Connor and I got ready at home several hours in advance. I had been nervous about this for the past six days, but Connor himself was remarkably cool and calm, having already been through this countless times. I dressed myself in one of the formal dresses Michaela had helped me pick a while back, and took a very long time to do my hair. There were already butterflies in my stomach; I knew that premieres were always big events, and I was nervous about the sheer amount of people that would probably be there...

I picked up my bag, checking for the hundredth time whether I had everything in it. This would be a night to remember, for sure...

'Are you dressed yet?' Connor called from the other room.

'Yes,' I replied. 'Are you?'

'Of course. So...what do you think?' he asked, appearing in the doorway as I turned around.

The bag I was holding slipped right out of my slack hands, and I stared wide-eyed at him. I was struck dumb - I had never seen anything so decadently attractive in my
life
.

Connor was dressed in a devilishly smart black suit, with shiny black lapels and straight, creaseless trousers. He wore a black tie, casually loose against his white shirt, which had the top few buttons undone. He had also taken the time to shave himself more closely, which gave him a less familiar but still very sexy well-groomed look. He raised his dark eyebrows at me with a handsome half-smile.

'Well?'

I kept staring. 'You look so gorgeous it's dirty.'

Connor laughed, straightening his shirt collar. 'I'm glad you appreciate,' he told me archly, then gave me a look of admiration as he studied my dress. 'I think I can say that you yourself are looking more bonny than usual tonight.'

'Oh, thank you,' I said modestly, feeling myself glow with pride at this. He went over to the mirror, and adjusted his artistically loose tie. I found my gaze locked on his beautiful reflection once again, unable to look away.

'What?' he asked, giving my stare an amused frown. My eyes lingered as if hypnotised upon those luxuriant curls and that clean-shaven chin.

'You're making me have nasty thoughts,' I told him breathlessly.

'Oh?' He gave a flirtatious grin, interest sparking in his eyes. I came towards him and stopped just short of his chest before he drew me closer, pressing me right up against him. 'Well, you
always
make me have nasty thoughts.'

God, his aftershave smelled good -
and
he looked good, too! I let my lips attack his, standing on tiptoe to reach that luscious mouth. His firm jawline felt unusually smooth under my fingers, and his lovely curls were so soft and warm against my hand...

I felt something under the fingers of my other hand, and I frowned, pulling away slightly.

'What is it?' asked Connor impatiently, trying to lean forwards and resume the kissing. I frowned at his jaw.

'You've missed a bit.' I plucked at the offending hairs.

'
Ow
!'

'Don't be such a baby,' I chided him. 'It was only a few little hairs.'

'But it
hurt
!' He put a hand to his face to protect it from my plucking.

'You'll live,' I assured him, and he sighed, shaking his head.

'You'll be the death of me, you know that?' he grumbled. 'Snogging me senseless one minute then tearing out my stray hairs the next...I'll never work you out.'

I gave him a bright smile. 'Never mind...let's go back to where we were
before
the plucking.'

'Aye, but if you think you're gonnae get me out of this suit before the chauffeur comes, you've got another think coming,' Connor told me firmly. 'It took me ages to put it all on, so I'm not taking anything off.'

I rolled my eyes at him. 'I wasn't
gonna
,' I assured him wearily. 'Now shut up and give me a kiss - I'd like to savour that clean shave of yours a little longer.'

I was perfectly right when I had anticipated great crowds. The screaming that went up when Connor and I got out of the car was unbelievable - I had never thought that average women could make so much noise.

Cameras flashed more or less non-stop, lighting up the whole façade of the venue building. There was, of course, the customary carpeting spread over the ground, and there were barriers all around, from which were hung huge movie posters.

'Look, it's you!' I murmured happily to Connor, gesturing towards a poster with his rugged features on it, but it was impossible for him to hear me above the noise - especially since someone had just announced his arrival over some big speakers, eliciting a fresh wave of cries.

'Right, there's press photos first, then I'll have to go off and take cast photos in front of those posters over there,' Connor explained to me loudly. 'Then I'll be with all the people behind those barriers there.' I nodded, seeing that most of the members of public were further down, and around here there were mostly professionals with their lighting and cameras. 'Look - I can see Jess Carlston over there, so you can talk with her,' Connor said. I envied him; he had no trouble whatsoever speaking over the commotion. Presumably this talent had been developed by his distant ancestors over centuries of yelling into Highland gales...

'OK!' I shouted back, only just making myself heard. Connor grinned and winked, then we proceeded down the carpet arm-in-arm to the excitement of the photographers.

When Connor finally had to go off and mingle with the cast and public, I managed to find Jess, who was talking with another group of people. She was surprised and very happy to see me indeed, and as we got talking I found her to be really quite a nice person. She herself had been invited to the premiere by one of the other cast members who happened to be very good friends with her, and she told me some rather interesting things about the movie itself.

'Even though it's a small movie, people have been waiting for it for a long time,' she told me. 'That's why this is such a big event, I suppose!
And
there's also a lot of backup from Connor's fans, who're all over there somewhere...' She gestured towards the cheering hordes behind the barriers further down. 'Apparently Connor did his very best in this movie - going off to work out, rehearsing all the time...'

'He was certainly very tired when he came home,' I replied, and she laughed.

'Not surprising,' she said. 'He's a very hard worker.'

I smiled, and searched for him, spotting him not far from where we were, posing in front of one of the really big posters with a few members of cast and direction. There were at least thirty people yelling his name, but he seemed very cool and collected, giving off a sense of calm and charm with his smooth shave and casual suit. I felt my knees go weak.

'I'm quite looking forward to seeing this film,' Jess said with a smile. 'It's been very highly rated.'

I was about to agree when abruptly I noticed Connor coming forward.

'Hi, Jess,' he said hurriedly, a big smile on his face. 'I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to borrow Lilly for a moment.' With that, he took my hand and pulled me away.

'Where're you taking me?' I asked, confused.

'They want some pictures of us,' Connor told me, and before I knew it we were in front of one of the big posters, faced with a huge group of photographers. I fortunately managed to smile like a normal person, keeping close to Connor with my arm firmly around him. The cameras flashed and we had to stand still for a full twenty seconds before we were allowed to move on.

I blinked a little from the bright lights, and Connor took me along with him. 'This is fun, isn't it?' he said excitedly. 'I think I should take you out to events like this more often! It's quite a change to be able to show you off.'

'Thanks...' I said, feeling radiant at his remark. 'I suppose I'd better go find Jess again - you've got a good hour of signing to do, haven't you?'

Connor grimaced at me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek that was met with a surge of flashes and cheers. 'I'll try and be quick,' he promised me, and went in the direction of the screaming army of fans.

* * *

A few hours later, my legs were really starting to hurt. I had talked to Jess, and I had also been introduced to a great number of other people as well, talking for so long I thought I was going to lose my voice. Connor had done a big tour of all the barriers, stopping to talk to his fans like the generous man he was, and had signed endless photos and posters. He had even allowed a hug or two, and a few photos with his fans. I couldn't help but admire him...and remind myself how lucky I was to be on
this
side of the barrier.

At last, the time came for everybody to go inside and to see the actual film. The fans all groaned collectively in disappointment as Connor cheerily waved them goodbye, and came to join me. His eyes were bright and his forehead was a little shiny from his long hours of signing and talking, but he looked very happy indeed.