But he did. Because he wanted her to respect him the way he respected her. “I want to. No lies, remember?”
She nodded. “No lies.” She took a deep breath, one that he knew was going to precede an admission of her own. “First of all, the truth is that my father isn’t the only one who assumed there was a stereotype of what a rock star’s life is like. How they think and act. But even though I haven’t known you that long, I don’t think you fit the stereotype at all. And also...” She scrunched up her face as if she really didn’t want to tell him anything more. “I was a huge fan of yours. In high school. Way back to when you put out your first demo. And I—” She was really flushing now, her eyes squeezing shut for a second before she said, “I’ve had a crush on you for just as long.”
When she opened her eyes, she was looking at him in that wary way he’d noticed she often looked at things. As if she didn’t yet know enough about them, hadn’t done enough analysis, to be totally sure that she could trust them to turn out okay.
Neither of them said anything for a while. They both just stared at each other as attraction pulsed hotter and higher than ever. She was clasping her hands so tightly in front of her that her knuckles were white as she finally said, “This isn’t going to be easy, is it?”
“No.” There was no other answer, no way to get around the truth. “It isn’t.”
She bit her lip. “Maybe I shouldn’t stay.”
“No.” The single word came out borderline panicked. “I need you to stay. Not just because I want you. But because I feel like I can talk to you. Really talk in a way I haven’t been able to in a long time.”
“I feel the same way with you.”
“Good.” Relief was washing over him in a major way. “Then you’ll stay.”
“This has been the best twenty-four hours of my life. I don’t want to go. But...” She bit her lip again, and he nearly lost it at the sight of the soft, wet flesh moving between her teeth. Flesh he wanted against his mouth, between his teeth. “Maybe I should move to one of the other buses.”
“No.” It seemed to be the only thing he could say to her tonight. The only thing he could say to himself. “The guy tonight at the venue who asked you out—he’s only the tip of the iceberg. I know it isn’t fair when we can’t be together, but I can’t stand the thought of you with anyone else.”
“I don’t want anyone else, Drew.”
That nearly did it, nearly snapped the final thread of his self-control. “I don’t either.”
She started moving toward him, her hands coming apart to reach for him, and he knew that if she touched him, he wouldn’t stop her. Wouldn’t stop himself. Even if it meant that both of them would break their promise to her father.
But then, at the last second, she stopped. Inhaled a shaky breath. And said, “I had an idea about the VIP room. If it’s okay to share it with you.”
She was right to change the subject. To talk about the business she’d come here to learn rather than the fact that they wanted to jump each other. Nonetheless, the thought of moving away from her was physically painful. But he had to do it. And he also had to shift his focus away from kissing her beautiful lips to the intelligent idea he was certain was going to come out of them.
“Of course I want to hear your idea. Tell me what it is.”
“That first night when the woman took off her shirt, even though it was pretty shocking, I just figured that was how things were after your shows. But then, tonight, when that little girl was there with her mom...honestly, it totally freaked me out that she’d see another woman behaving like that.”
“It wasn’t how things used to be after my shows. Lately, things have been getting more and more out of hand.” And he’d been letting them go, because he’d been distracted. As if he were watching everything happen from a distance, even while trying to fight his way back to the front lines. Trying and failing. “We really need to screen people before they get into the VIP room.”
But how were they going to do that? Make his fans all fill out a questionnaire? Are you planning to strip off your clothes so that Drew can sign a naked body part? If so, please step into line B.
As though she could read his mind, she said, “I don’t know how you could do that, exactly. Especially because I’m not even sure most of those women are planning to do anything. They just see you and get excited.” She flushed as though she understood that excitement, and he loved seeing it despite knowing neither of them could do anything about it. “But maybe you could just divide your VIP area so that there’s a special area for kids. Anyone under eighteen can go in one section so you know for sure they won’t see anything they shouldn’t.”