Reckless (21 page)

As the five of us watched the chaos in stunned silence, a tiny man in skinny jeans and a turtleneck pointed our way. “Ah, the talent arrives.” I couldn’t tell by his voice if
he was being complimentary or condescending.

Loosely holding a camera in one hand, he snapped his fingers with the other; a buxom blonde was instantly at his side. Staring at our group through slim rectangle glasses, he waggled his fingers
and told her, “Fix them.”

The blonde glanced over at a group of women hovering around the makeup stations. As if they were all silently being commanded by their queen, they instantly turned from their beauty supplies and
started swarming our way. Kellan frowned. Griffin grinned.

As the busty blonde strode up to him, Kellan murmured, “I don’t think we need—”

She thrust out her hand, silencing him. “Name’s Bridgette. I’ll be taking care of you today.” Grabbing his hand, she yanked him toward the vanity.

“I really don’t think we need—” he tried again.

Shoving him into the seat, she had her fingers through his hair before he could finish his second objection. Even though a gorgeous woman tangling her fingers through his locks wasn’t my
most favorite thing in the world, I had to smile at the look of petulance on his face. The photographer walked over to us while Bridgette debated how best to beautify my husband.

Running his finger and thumb along his goatee, the photographer told her, “Not too much on this one. He’s fine as he is.” His gray eyes traveled down Kellan’s body.
“Have him see wardrobe first, though.”

With that, he shuffled off to inspect the rest of the band. Kellan sighed.

By the time Bridgette and her merry maids were finished with the D-Bags, I had to admit that they looked good. Every single one of them was stunning, even Griffin. But Kellan . . . was drop-dead
gorgeous. Smoldering. My jaw dropped when he stepped in front of the plain backdrop. He’d come into the studio wearing loose, faded blue jeans and a white T-shirt. They’d dressed him in
slim jeans that were frayed in all the right places, and they’d layered his basic white shirt with a dark brown leather jacket. It was tight to his body, so it looked more like a fitted
shirt, and it was zipped open to his mid-chest. It stopped right above his waist, so that his entire studded belt was visible; a trace amount of skin was visible too. It was . . . hot. His hair was
usually a rumpled, sexy mess, but Bridgette had flawlessly styled it so that every strand was in the most appealing place possible. There was this one strand hanging down by his eye that just about
did me in.

He looked the part of the sexy, bad boy rock star that worried my father on a daily basis, but he was frowning as he walked over to me.

“You look great. What’s wrong?”

“I’m wearing makeup. I feel like an idiot.”

I examined his skin, but I couldn’t really tell that he was wearing anything, maybe just some definition around his eyes; the blueness was popping out at me so much that my heart was
beating a little faster. “I can’t even tell. You’re fine.”

He started to run a hand through his hair, then stopped himself. I couldn’t help but notice that his ring was gone. “I’m wearing eyeliner . . . and I’m pretty sure she
put lipstick on me.”

My smile was impossible to hide. “You look incredible . . . darn near delectable.”

Cocking his head, Kellan wrapped his arms around me. “Yeah? Would you like a bite?” As I felt heat staining my cheeks, Kellan glanced around, then leaned down to my ear; the smell of
the leather jacket mixing with his scent was intoxicating. “We could disappear for a few minutes.”

His grin was decidedly inappropriate when I pushed him away from me. “I think Bridgette would have my head if I messed up her handiwork.”

Probably ruining whatever Bridgette had done to his lips, Kellan sucked on his bottom one as his eyes roved over my body. “Yeah, but just think about it . . . every time you see the album
cover, you would know, without a doubt, that
you
put that smile on my face.”

His hands ran over my backside, gently squeezing, and as my eyes rolled back into my head, I briefly considered ducking into a vacant room . . . somewhere . . . but I heard the photographer snap
his fingers, and my eyes flashed open.

“Let’s do this, people!” he called out.

Kellan let out a low laugh as he separated from me. As he moved away, his hand trailed down my arm. I grabbed his fingers, leaned forward, and planted a kiss on his makeup-covered cheek. Feeling
the absence of his wedding band, I asked him, “Where is your ring?”

He patted his pocket as he frowned. “Label doesn’t want us to advertise that we’re not single.” He rolled his eyes. “Apparently sales drop twenty percent if
we’re off the market. Or so Frank says.” He pointed at the photographer, who was tinkering with something on his camera.

Kellan hesitated a minute, then looked around. Giving me a devilish grin, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his ring. Glancing around like he was breaking the law, he quickly slipped it
on his finger. “What the fuck do I care what people think, right?” His face sobered. “I do care about that photo with Sienna, though. I’ll take care of it, Kiera.”

I shook my head and was about to tell him that it didn’t matter, when he was suddenly pulled from behind by one of Frank’s “helpers.” Once Kellan was manhandled into
position, Frank started snapping away. It made me smile that in every shot, Kellan’s ring glimmered just a little bit. It was his small display of rebellion against the system.

After about three dozen photos, the session was done. I was glad I didn’t have to pick which one was going to grace the final cover; I was sure they were all going to be breathtaking.
Looking relieved that it was done, Kellan kissed my cheek and murmured, “I’m gonna go change and wash this shit off my face.”

As I was giggling at him, Griffin stepped into our circle. Smoothing down his leather jacket, he asked Kellan, “Hey, you think they’ll let us keep these clothes?” He smiled
over at me; my skin crawled. “I am
so
getting laid tonight.”

The irritation inside me quickly boiled over into righteous indignation. Narrowing my eyes to pinpoints that would surely pierce his unfeeling heart, I bit out, “You make me
sick!”

Griffin blinked; he looked both confused and annoyed. “What’s your problem?”

Balling my hands into fists, I resisted the urge to clock him. “You’re about to have a baby with my sister, and you’re still putting your . . . Hulk . . . into anything that
lies still long enough. It’s disgusting!”

Hands on his hips, Griffin stepped in front of me. “I’m a rock star. I’ll fuck anything I want to fuck. It’s what we do.”

Shaking my head, I looked from Matt, to Evan, and finally to Kellan. None of them acted like Griffin did.“No, it’s not.”

Griffin looked over his shoulder at Kellan and rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. Just because you pussy-whipped him doesn’t mean you can pussy-whip me.” He swung his gaze back to
mine. “Besides, it’s not like Anna isn’t out banging every guy that she wants to. And do you see me getting all bent out of shape about it?”

I knew he had a point, and I knew I had no business saying anything, but he was just so . . . ugh! “She’s not like that anymore. She hasn’t been with anyone but you since she
got pregnant. You’re the only man she talks about now.”

Griffin looked surprisingly astonished by that. “Really?” He seemed to mull it over for a second as he looked around at everyone staring at us. Then he returned his eyes to mine and
tossed his hands in the air. “It’s just fucking. What’s the big deal?”

I could only shake my head at him. “You’re both going to be parents, Griffin. That’s a life-changing event, one that Anna is scared to death about. And here you are, living it
up, still banging babes left and right. Do you even care about what she’s going through? You enjoy having sex with Anna, but do you care about my sister at all?”

Griffin stared at me blankly, his face expressionless. After another pause he gave me a derisive snort. “I was just joking. Relax the fuck up, Kiera.” With that, he stormed off to
the changing rooms.

Matt, Evan, and Kellan all watched him leave, then Matt turned back to me with wide eyes. “I can’t be sure, but I think you just gave him food for thought.” He held his hand
out to me, and I shook it with a laugh. “Nicely played, Mrs. Kyle.” Matt winked at me then clapped Evan’s back. Lightly chuckling, the pair strode off after Griffin.

After everyone was gone, Kellan slung his arm around me. “It’s adorable that you still try.”

I smirked up at him, then glanced down at his jacket. “Griffin did ask a good question. Think they’ll let you keep the clothes?”

I let my gaze wander down to his strategically torn jeans. Breath warm in my ear, Kellan muttered, “I don’t need to keep them . . . they’re just in the way.”

I closed my eyes, instantly picturing warm skin, light moans, and soft lips. When I opened them, Kellan was walking away from me, but still watching me. His eyes simmered with heated promise,
and when I inhaled, my breath was shaky. God, he was attractive.

The release date of the album was set for the thirteenth of September. The first single was going to be the song they recorded with Sienna. There was already a huge buzz about
it, especially once word got out that the mysterious man in the photograph was the lead singer of the band featured on Sienna’s new song. I wasn’t sure how it happened, but the tabloids
figured out who Kellan was and ran with the story of two young musicians falling in love while recording their duet. Rumors of their relationship popped up everywhere. Now that it had been brought
to my attention, I couldn’t seem to escape it—TV, grocery store magazine racks, the radio. I’d seen or heard about the damn photo fifty million times already. Okay, it was an
attractive photo. They’d captured the moment right when Kellan had been politely smiling down at Sienna, and she was smiling back up at him. I couldn’t successfully pull off a profile
shot, but Kellan and Sienna looked just as good from the side as they did straight on; it really wasn’t fair.

For some reason, everyone was excited about this imaginary blossoming romance. And everyone was eager to hear what sound these two impossibly attractive people would produce, which instantly
made me think that the label was the one that leaked Kellan’s name. Hell, it wouldn’t surprise me if they’d been the ones to tell the photographers where we’d been going to
dinner that night. Anything to drive up interest.

Kellan had tried his best to squelch the rumors. After the photo shoot, he’d called Sienna on the drive home. It floored me that Kellan had Sienna Sexton’s number in his cell phone.
Weird. Even weirder, Sienna had Kellan’s name in her phone; she instantly knew who he was when he called her.

“Hi, Sienna, this is Kell—” He paused. “Yeah, it’s me. Hi.” While he laughed, I tried in vain to hear her side of the conversation. All I got was
Kellan’s, though. “Have you seen that photo of us? Yeah, that one. Have you said anything yet? Made a statement or something?” He frowned as he listened. “People are linking
us . . . romantically.” His brows drew together. “Well, I think it’s a big deal.” He splayed his hand like she was in front of him. “Because I’m married, and I
don’t want this perception out there that you and I are—”

Kellan glanced over at me and shook his head. “No, not officially, but we still consider ourselves husband and—” His frown returning, he swung his eyes back to the road.
“Look, can you just say that we’re only working together, and our relationship is purely professional?” He smiled. “Okay, thank you.”

Once he hung up, he told me, “She said she’d take care of it.”

“And you think that she will?”

He looked over at me, his sunglasses hiding his expression. “Of course. Why wouldn’t she?”

I didn’t want to tell him, but we’d agreed to honesty, so, sighing, I did. “Because I think she’s interested in you. Because I think she
wants
the two of you to
be linked. Because I think it creates a stronger buzz for the single if the two of you are together. And because I think she is very good at manipulating public perception to get what she
wants.”

Kellan was silent after I said that, which made me think he, at least in part, agreed. After a long moment he said, “And you think what she wants . . . is me?”

Leaning my head back on the seat, I closed my eyes.
Who wouldn’t want you?

Surprising me, Sienna did release a statement shortly after Kellan’s phone call, explaining that she was currently single and loving it, and that the man in question was “Merely a
close friend who is working on a project with me that the fans are going to love!”

While she’d done what Kellan asked, I wasn’t sure if that explanation helped anything or not. No one seemed to believe that “close friend” really meant “close
friend.” They all assumed it was code for “we don’t want to announce our relationship yet.” It certainly fueled the hype for the single. I’d known Kellan’s first
album would be exciting, but I had no idea there’d be so much energy around the release, energy fueled by rumors and speculation about Kellan and Sienna’s personal life.

Jenny, Kate, and Cheyenne listened to my concerns with sympathetic ears. My sister told me not to worry about it. When I’d asked her if she’d seen the photo yet, she told me,
“That? Oh, yeah, I saw it a week or so after I got back. Kellan looks superhot in that pic, by the way!” She sighed. “Too bad he’s not turned more toward the camera. They
really should have waited to get an exit shot.”

Remembering that Thing 1 had cleared the sidewalk before we left the restaurant, I snapped, “Why didn’t you tell me the minute you saw it?”

Anna let out a long, low exhale. “Because I knew you’d freak out, and I knew the picture was nothing.”

“They’re linking them as a couple, Anna.” Lying on my bed, I stared at the chandelier above my head. “That’s not nothing.”

“Yes, it is. What do you care what the public thinks? You and I both know that he’s not with her. Hell, I was there the entire time that she was there, and I know for a fact that
nothing happened between them. This isn’t a big deal, Kiera.”