Knowing how the woman would react if she found out Ashley was on tour with Drew, she simply said, “I just really need a place to stay tonight. Are there any other options? Maybe a B&B or—”
She stopped when the woman gasped. “Those models were with him earlier. I think he must be about to come this way.”
Ashley shoved away from the front desk so fast she nearly fell. She needed to get on the bus, grab her things, and then figure out where to go from there. Anything but trying to fake it with Drew and the models.
So much for the big night she’d been expecting. Looked like she was going to keep being the good girl her father expected her to be...and that everything made perfect sense after all.
Because the rock star wasn’t going to end up with the normal girl.
Chapter Nineteen
Drew hadn’t wanted to tighten his grip around the stranger’s waist, especially after she’d pressed her mouth to his in a sloppy approximation of a kiss he really didn’t want. But she’d been so drunk it had been nearly impossible to keep her upright.
“Let’s get you somewhere you can sit down.”
“Don’t wanna sit down.” Her words slurred together. “Wanna be with you.”
He helped the woman into a seat and texted James to let him know there was a problem he needed help with. A big one, considering that one moment Ashley had been smiling at him, and the next, when the model had draped herself around him like an octopus, she’d gone completely pale. And then had turned and left the party.
The next text he sent was to Ashley.
Can we talk now? I’ll be on the bus in five minutes.
He stared at his phone, waiting for her response. But there was none. He knew he shouldn’t have let the damned circus take over. The label had already gotten enough from him today.
And now he needed to find her right away. Needed to explain what had just happened. But most of all, he needed to talk with her about what they were doing. About where their attraction and friendship were taking them.
He’d never wanted anyone as badly as he wanted her—never liked anyone as much either—but having a fling while on tour with her still didn’t feel right. Not just because of her father. Of course, he wanted to respect his former professor’s wishes. But if there was one thing that Drew had learned from his mother, it was that the most important thing was to follow his own heart, no matter the sacrifice, regardless of how difficult.
And Drew’s heart had been leading him toward Ashley since the moment he’d met her.
Ashley deserved more than a fling while they were on the road. They both did. Drew was ready to take the next step, not just into bed with each other, but toward having a real relationship. She’d be his girlfriend, he’d be her boyfriend, and the whole world would know they were together.
But would she want that, too? Or had she meant what she’d said to him out on the beach in Los Angeles? “No one needs to know. Just you and me here on the tour bus having a good time for as long as we’re both enjoying ourselves.”
If he’d seen the woman coming toward him, he might have been able to sidestep her lunge into his arms. But he’d taken one look at Ashley in that pretty pink dress and had been stunned stupid. Her dress wasn’t anywhere near as revealing as the ones the models were wearing, but to Drew it was the sexiest damn thing he’d ever seen. The kind of dress that made a guy wonder about the secrets she had hidden beneath.
Secrets he’d only just begun to learn that afternoon.
Secrets he was dying to uncover completely tonight.
A night that he had been ready to begin hours ago, rather than being here at another party in what felt like a long string of them over the past few years. It was a stereotype that he’d played into for way too long.
He liked hanging out with his family, his friends, his crew. But he didn’t need the big flashy parties. Didn’t need to see his face and name plastered on walls as some sort of stroke to his ego. It was yet another thing that Ashley had helped him see.
Only, had he realized it too late?
James appeared at Drew’s side and looked down at the girl, who was now holding her head and moaning. “Too much to drink?”
“At the very least,” he told his bodyguard. “Can you take care of getting her some help? I’ve got to find Ashley. I’m afraid she has the wrong idea about what just happened here.”
“Go find your girl, Drew. I’ll make sure this one gets the help she needs to make it home in one piece.”
Your girl. He was glad James realized just what Ashley meant to him, even without anything being spelled out publicly.