“It’s late.” She was looking everywhere but at him. “Really late. I should get to bed now. And I’m sure you must be exhausted, since you were the one doing all the work tonight on stage.”
Her words came out in a breathless rush, tumbling over one another as she moved to put as much space between them as she possibly could on the narrow bus. So even though it was the very last thing in the world he wanted to do, and hating that he was clearly making her feel uncomfortable, Drew made himself nod and say, “If you need anything tonight—”
“I’ll be fine!”
She turned away and started unzipping one of her bags. He knew he had to go or risk being the one acting stalkery. But even after he had closed the door to his private quarters at the back of the bus, he could still hear her moving around.
What was she doing now? Was she stripping down to her bra and panties? Was she sliding beneath the covers and thinking of him the way he was thinking of her? Was she as disappointed as he was that they hadn’t kissed? And was she still replaying the feel of his arms around her the way he was reliving the feel of her in his arms?
Two hours later, still lying in bed staring at the ceiling, Drew knew two things for sure. There wasn’t enough freezing cold water in all the tour buses in the world to cool him down.
And it was going to be hell trying to survive this tour if he wanted to send Ashley home to her father as pure as when she’d arrived…
Chapter Three
Las Vegas, Nevada
Five a.m. came really early the next morning. Ashley had always been a fairly early riser, but this was pushing it even for her. Especially since she’d set her alarm for four so that she could shower in the tiny little bus shower stall and make sure her clothes were on straight and her hair was brushed.
She hadn’t had the best night’s sleep either. How could she, when Drew Morrison was only one thin door away? For a while there last night, she’d sworn she could hear him turning over in the bed, could practically hear him breathing. And that was when it had finally occurred to her—could he hear her, too? Just in case, she lay as still as possible in the bunk, but that only made it harder to fall asleep. Finally, exhaustion had taken its toll, but she couldn’t have had more than a handful of hours of rest.
She hadn’t brought much with her, just a few pairs of jeans and T-shirts, a denim skirt, and one just-in-case summer dress. Looking pretty had never mattered to her before—why would it, when she’d always had her nose buried in a book or computer? But as she went to grab the clothes she’d brought into the shower with her from the counter above the sink, she suddenly found herself wishing she knew something about fashion. Her mother had tried to get her interested in shopping plenty of times over the years, would even bring home clothes for her to try on, but Ashley always felt like an impostor in dresses and heels. It was so much more comfortable to go into her father’s office on campus to help him with whatever research project he was working on than to try on the too-colorful clothes her mother favored or let her drag Ashley to a makeup counter.
In any case, it was just as well that she hadn’t brought anything special to wear since so many of the girls and women who had been freaking out over Drew yesterday were beautiful. Stunningly so, in some cases. He could have his pick of any of them, so there wasn’t even the slightest chance that he’d want her.
Besides, whether or not Drew would ever be attracted to her was utterly irrelevant. She was here to do research for her business school application. Period.
Speaking of putting her clothes on straight, however, as Ashley went to get dressed, she was dismayed to realize she’d brought in her jeans and T-shirt, but had forgotten her bra and panties. It looked like she was actually going to have to walk out of the bathroom naked. Nearly naked, anyway, with only one of the towels hanging on the rack wrapped around her. It was still well before five a.m., though, so she figured if she was quick, odds were pretty much nil that Drew would catch her making a mad dash over the handful of feet between the bathroom and where she’d stashed her bags in the little closet behind her bunk.
The mirror over the sink wasn’t quite long enough for her to make sure the towel actually covered her breasts and hips, but she was pretty certain it did. She opened the door a crack and peered out, confirming the coast was clear. A moment later, she flung the door open, went racing across the bus to her suitcase...
...and ran straight into Drew.
His chest was so hard it was like running into a brick wall. The air whooshed from her lungs as she started to ricochet back from him.
“Whoa.” He put his hands on her shoulders to steady her. “I’ve got you.”
But by then she was also working to steady herself by putting her hands on his chest. Which meant that she wasn’t holding on to her towel any longer. A towel that had fallen.
All the way to the ground.
Oh God. I’m naked in Drew Morrison’s arms.