Rock Hard: A Bad Boy Rock Star Romance Read online

  Mia rolled her eyes. “So do lines like that actually work on groupies or something? Because you’re going to have to try harder with me since I’m not dazzled by the whole rock star thing.

  I moved a hand to the small of her back. Just above her ass. It felt nice resting my hand there. It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. It seemed to be doing something for Mia as well judging from the way her eyes squeezed shut and her lips quirked up in a goofy grin.

  "Okay, I guess I could go to the after party and have some fun."

  "Sounds great," I said. "I'd like to have some fun with you."

  "So where is this party?"

  "Well it turns out this arena has one hell of a nice lounge up top that gives you a nice view of the whole place…"

  The lounge was really fucking impressive. It was the first impressive thing I’d seen since we got to the arena considering how they stiffed us in the green room. They called it the Quarterback Lounge. I suppose that was because this was normally a football stadium in addition to being a concert venue for acts who were big enough to warrant booking the place.

  The lounge did indeed have a very nice view of the concert floor down below. Though I suppose usually when people were up here spectating it would be a view of the football field down below. I never had time to watch football so I really wouldn't know.

  There was also a giant window on the opposite end that had a nice view of the skyline. All in all it was a pretty damn impressive experience even if you weren't the kind of person to be wowed by a football stadium, and I’d been in plenty of football stadiums over the years.

  "So then he keeps staring at me like he's expecting something," Mia said.

  Mia was giggly. I figured it was a combination of standing next to Grant Thompson for most of the night, much to the chagrin of the wannabe groupies I saw giving us a wide berth which was just another advantage of having her around as far as I was concerned, and the alcohol in her hand. Okay, so maybe it had more to do with the alcohol than with standing next to me, but a guy could dream. She’d been surprised to find out the stuff was free. Or at least it was free for party attendees. I'm sure we were paying for it somewhere down the line.

  "And I'm expecting her to recognize me any minute, but she just keeps looking at me like I'm some sort of crazy dude!" I continued, picking up where she left off.

  "Okay, so I was looking at him like he was a hot crazy dude," Mia said. "But still. The way he was staring at me was kind of weird."

  "It's at that point I realize I've run into the one girl within a ten mile radius of the stadium who has absolutely no idea who I was. It was actually kind of refreshing as well as funny," I said.

  Kayla shook her head and rolled her eyes. She reached out and poked Mia in the chest. My eyes followed that motion and lingered for just a moment on her chest. Mia noticed me noticing her friend’s finger between her tits and she blushed. Damn that outfit was so hot! After talking with them for a bit I understood that I owed that outfit to Kayla, and boy was I glad she talked Mia into dressing up a little sexier than she'd originally intended. That was a body that begged to be shown off!

  "I can’t believe you Mia!” Kayla exploded. “How many times did I expose you to their album covers? How many times did I show you pictures of the guys? Their poster was hanging over my bed where we'd have sleepovers every other weekend! I'm so disappointed in you! I can't believe you're my friend. I'm so embarrassed that you didn't recognize Grant!"

  Mia rolled her eyes. "Hey, give me a break. The guy was a teenager when you showed me all that stuff. He's a changed little since then. Besides, I did my best to ignore all of that whenever possible. You know this."

  "Those changes were all for the better, I hope?" I asked. It was so weird hearing them talk about how I’d been on posters in their bedrooms. Well, in Kayla’s bedroom at least. The fact that I’d been such an important part of so many girls’ lives was something I tried not to think about too often. That path led to madness. Or a raging ego. Either way it was something I tried not to think about too terribly often.

  Mia fixed me with a steady glare that had me taking a step back.

  "You're still considered one of the hottest guys in one of the hottest bands in history," she said. "Do you really need to go fishing for compliments?"

  "Mia!" Kayla said, sounding scandalized.

  I shook my head and chuckled. "It's nice that I have you around to give me a reality check right along with your compliments."

  Blake cleared his throat and Kayla looked over to him and smiled. “Getting bored with the party?”

  “Well I was wondering what you’d think of…”

  I never did get to hear what he was wondering about because he leaned in and whispered, though I noticed that he had his eyes on mine as he whispered. A huge smile spread across Kayla’s face at whatever he whispered, and I could make a pretty good guess what he was asking.

  “That sounds perfect!” she said, and then they were walking off hand in hand. Mia followed them until they walked out the door.

  “Well that was fast,” she said. “I wonder what he said?”

  “Oh you know, the usual star stuff. Asking the girl to go back to his bus for a tour.”

  Mia turned back to me and smiled. “Really? Does that actually work?”

  “Worked on your friend, didn’t it?”

  “Fair enough,” Mia said.

  I figured I was never going to have a more opportune moment, so why not go for it? After all, Blake wasn’t the only one who could give a girl the star treatment. The only problem was I had no idea if Mia was going to go for it. She was an enigma. Completely unlike any girl I’d ever met at a concert, and because of that I was in unfamiliar territory.

  "So what would you say to a tour of my bus?"

  Even as I asked it I could feel my pulse picking up. Damn. It had been a hell of a long time since I’d felt this nervous about propositioning a girl. Still, the die was cast and now all I could do was wait for her answer and hope for the best.

  13: Tour Bus Tour

  This was it. This was a moment of truth. There was no more lying to myself about what this was. About what I was doing. I couldn't tell myself this was just a bit of innocent flirting if I was going back to his tour bus. That was crossing a line squarely into groupie territory.

  “I don’t know,” I said.

  Grant moved in close. His arms wrapped around me and I saw a couple of girls roll their eyes and storm off. Obviously they’d been waiting for an opportunity to swoop in and take Grant from me. An opportunity that wasn’t going to come now.

  Eat your heart out bitches.

  “Are you sure? It’s just a tour bus. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Just spending time with you is enough for me.”

  Damn did he know just the right words to get a girl going. Of course I imagine he had lots of practice at getting girls on his bus. Still, I had a feeling he’d never used a line that started with telling a girl how much sex we weren’t going to have once we got to his bus. I had a feeling that line was just for me.

  Every part of my body was screaming for me to say yes. Still, I wondered how far I could push him by playing hard to get. I got a thrill at playing hard to get with a man who was widely acknowledge as one of the sexiest men in the world. At least if you polled women in my age group plus or minus five years. I got the distinct feeling that “hard to get” wasn’t a game many women played with the great sexy Grant Thompson.

  "What if you’re just trying to get me on that bus so you can give me the same sort of tour you give every other girl? How am I going to get away from my pop star encounter with my honor intact?”

  Grant sighed. He looked down at me and his eyes were positively hypnotizing. I could drown in those eyes.

  “I promise you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to Mia. I’m telling the truth when I say that all I want is to spend more time with you. I need to spend more time with you even if we’re playing Go Fish.�
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  Damn it. How could he do this to me? How could he make me feel so giddy, so turned on, just by being near me? This was like the thrill of a new crush. Add in the fact that he was a huge star, for certain definitions of “huge star” a decade ago, and it just made the feeling that much more intense. I was starting to care for the man even if I still didn’t care for their music.

  My body was a mass of contradictions. I was shaking as though I had a chill. I was sweating as though I was running a fever. I was weak in the knees, and yet all I want to do was lean forward and use him for support. I felt so confident, so sexy, knowing Grant Thompson wanted me. I wasn’t a fan, but a girl could appreciate beating out thousands of other girls in a competition I didn’t even know I was entering when I met him at that diner.

  Then again I never really thought of it as a competition. Maybe that’s why he was talking to me instead of any of a dozen girls milling around staring at him so intensely that I almost thought he needed a cigarette when they were finished looking at him.

  Grant moved a hand up and ran it along my shoulder causing me to shiver. "One night to prove myself is all I ask."

  His hand ran down my shoulder until he was cupping my hand.

  I looked up at him and arched an eyebrow. I came to a decision. I wanted to spend more time with him. Grant obviously wanted to spend more time with me. Maybe I was more under his spell than I would’ve liked to admit, but I decided I would go with him. Maybe I was being stupid, maybe I was letting a player take advantage of me, but I didn’t think so. If anything I was more worried about losing control than I was worried about Grant trying to press his advantage once we were on his home territory.

  Of course he didn’t have to know how completely he’d won.

  "So does that line usually work on your fans?"

  He blinked and then he laughed. "Usually it does. I take it it's not working now?"

  I wagged a finger at him. "You're being naughty."

  That wasn't a yes and it wasn't a no. I wanted to keep him guessing. I wanted to keep making this a game because he seemed to be enjoying the chase and it was so fucking sexy pretending I was still playing hard to get even if I knew he'd won and I was giving in.

  Grant held up his hands as though he was admitting defeat, though he had a grin on his face. "Okay, so you've got me. That used to work most of the time, but the reason I’m still here asking you this is because it’s so nice to meet a girl who isn't so star struck that she gives in right away."

  "Well the night's not over yet," I said. “Plenty of time to dazzle me.”

  "Oh really? So does that mean I could still interest you in a tour of my bus?"

  "That could be fun," I said. He grinned and I decided to turn the screws just a little. "Besides, it's not like I'm going anywhere until my friend gets back with your buddy."

  His smile faltered for a moment but he recovered quickly. He laughed, a surprisingly genuine laugh as he wrapped his arm around mine and led me out of the room.

  "Don’t worry. She’s with Blake so you won’t have too long to wait if you don’t want to. Of course in the meantime I just so happen to have a full bar on my bus."

  I grinned. "Why Mr. Thompson. If I didn't know any better I'd think you were trying to get a girl drunk to have your way with her!"

  “So what if I am?”

  My head was positively swimming as we left and I wondered what I was getting myself into.

  Grant's tour bus was pretty damn nice. And why wouldn't it be? He was probably incredibly rich. Rich enough that he had a bus all to himself. There were several others that stretched on behind his, presumably for the rest of the band. One of the guys was walking towards his bus with a pretty girl who looked to be about the same age which was a good ten years older than me. I didn’t think she was a groupie though since she’d been in the meeting room before the crowds arrived. The way she held herself had wife or significant other written all over it.

  An older looking dark-skinned gentleman who was nevertheless built like a brick house with beefy arms and broad shoulders sat in a comically undersized folding chair with an ereader glowing and illuminating his face. He looked up and smiled at Grant, nodded to me, then went back to his book.

  The engine was running as he opened the door and gestured for me to follow him up. I took his hand and felt an electric charge as our bodies made contact, even if it was just the short contact of a handhold as he pulled me up.

  The thing was damn impressive. Like I'm talking it looked nicer than my own living room at the apartment I shared with Kayla. He had a huge flat-panel TV on one wall and the promised fully stocked bar adjacent to the TV. It was all very nice, if very narrow. I suppose that was the one limitation of being on a bus.

  "So you have this whole thing all to yourself?" I asked.

  "Most of the time."

  Grant frowned for a moment, forgetting himself, then shook his head and a grin was back on his face. "Occasionally the driver will come back and shoot the shit with me if it's been a long drive. Sometimes one of the other guys from the band will ride with me if I'm in the mood for a game or something, but the ones I want to hang out with are all settled down so it’s hard for me to tear them away from their women. Sometimes Jake comes in and I school him in Mario Kart."

  “Jake?”

  “My security guy. You just saw him. The one sitting in that chair securing his book.”

  “Oh…”

  Nice work if you could get it, I guess.

  “The company tonight is much better than hanging out with any of the guys.”

  Grant looked me up and down. His eyes ran over my body like a lover's caress and it sent a thrill running through me just as intensely as that lover's caress would on any other occasion. I felt goose bumps rise all over my body. I felt my breathing pick up, and my nipples were straining out. There was no doubt in my mind that he could see them against the thin material of my top even through my bra. I was that turned on!

  And sure enough he was staring. But just for a moment, and then his eyes were back on my own and he had a smile on his face. I'm sure part of that smile was for the show I was giving him, but I didn't give a fuck. Let him stare. He could eye fuck me all night long and the only thing I'd ask for was a cigarette when he was done because his gaze was that fucking intense.

  I didn’t know what was coming over me, but I kind of liked it. Still, I couldn’t help but ask the question that was on the tip of my tongue.

  “So what about all the girls you meet at these concerts?”

  Grant laughed and shook his head. “None of that on this tour.”

  I cocked an eyebrow and put my hands on my hips. “Do you really expect me to believe that?”

  “Nope, but it’s the truth.”

  “So what about back when you were touring the first time around?”

  “Damn. When I said I wanted to be around you no matter what I wasn’t expecting an interrogation,” he muttered.

  I looked down, a blush coming to my face. He hadn’t been anything but nice and still I felt like I was trying to push him away. That wasn’t fair to him, damn it.

  “You’re right, I shouldn’t…”

  Grant held a hand up. “No, you’re perfectly justified. It’s a fair question. Back then I tore it up wherever we went. I entertained on a bus very like this one in every city we stopped at, but I’ve left that life behind.”

  He locked eyes with me and I was taken aback at the sudden burning intensity there as he looked me up and down. That was the same sort of look he’d given me back in the diner that dispelled any thoughts that he might be gay. That was the look of a man staring at a woman he desperately wanted. It didn’t hurt that I desperately wanted him too.

  “Of course there’s been one exception so far on this tour,” he said, his voice sounding suddenly gravelly as though he was having trouble getting that out.

  I couldn’t maintain that gaze so I glanced around the living area thinking about how much fun it would be
to continue being the one exception on this tour, though something told me this living area wasn't where he would have entertained his lady guests. No, the only place that looked convenient for that sort of thing in this area was a surprisingly comfortable looking couch, but it was small enough that it would be difficult for two people to really have a good time.

  I tried to sound as nonchalant, as a noncommittal as possible as I said at my next words. I suddenly felt like I was walking in a minefield after the way he’d reacted to my “interrogation.” Plus I was still enjoying playing hard to get with the rock star who was used to women falling onto his cock when he flashed that winning smile that had graced so many posters.

  "So where would you take the second kind of company? Hypothetically speaking, of course."

  I wanted to make sure to get in that last bit. Hard to get and all that, even though my body was screaming at me to just give in and let this happen. My lizard brain was screaming at me to give into the delicious warmth that was building between my legs and spreading through my body. My rational brain, though, was still calling the shots. Barely. And that part of me was fucking turned on by stringing along a hot guy who was used to getting his way.

  Not that the rational part of my brain was going to be in control much longer. I was so close to losing out to the more visceral parts of my mind that were begging to be taken by this delicious man. I stomped down on those voices, but even mentally stomping down on them didn't do much. They were still there, they were still insistent, and the animal part of my brain, the part of my body that was motivated by pure lust, was definitely starting to win the battle the rational part of my brain had been putting up all night long. Desire was winning out over the part of me that was offended that I would be throwing myself at the lead singer of Twenty Promises.

  Grant seemed to get the hint. He walked over to me, put an arm around me and led me over to the small bar.

  "Well of course we wouldn't start any hypothetical festivities by going to the back of the bus.”