I bite my lip. “But that’s what I normally do.”
“And why aren’t you doing it then?”
I want to say, it’s because you’re watching me, you asshole. I want to tell him that I can’t get him off of my mind.
Instead, I just smile. “No reason.” I stand closer to him and get up on my tiptoes. “Thanks for what you did before there.”
I kiss him on the cheek, and for a second, I swear the whole room goes quiet. He turns toward me and our lips brush together, not quite a kiss, but almost, so close, so deliciously close. His skin is rough with stubble and he smells perfect, like wood and charcoal. I want to linger there longer, close against him, feeling his body tight.
But the sound in the room resumes and I have to move away. He grins at me, and I can tell he’s about to make some joke, when I hear my name called out.
I turn to spot Jasper waving.
“The old ball and chain is calling,” Graham grunts at me.
“I guess so.” I glance back at him. “See you later.”
“See you, princess.”
I turn and hurry back over to Jasper. I don’t want to leave, but I know I can’t just linger next to my bodyguard all night. People would talk.
Oh, hell, people are going to talk no matter what. It doesn’t matter what I say or do. They’ll find some reason to talk.6GrahamGod damn, that little kiss on the cheek.
What the fucking hell. I’ve never felt something like that before in my whole goddamn life and the girl just kissed my cheek.
Almost makes getting chewed out by Norah worth it. Pretty damn close, at least.
I mean, shit, it was just a kiss on the cheek.
But it was so much more than that.
The girl isn’t really dating that stupid-looking junkie loser. I guess I should call him an actor or whatever, but that seems too dignified. She just came out and spilled it, which makes me think she wanted me to know.
She’s available. She’s single.
Women like her, they don’t do shit like that without purpose. I can tell, everything she does, she thinks about it. The total opposite of me. I’m a big, dumb moron that needs to follow orders. She’s a thinker, she’s the brass in this situation.
Which means, she wants to do more than just kiss me on the cheek.
God damn, I have a taste for my girl now.
After the party, we head back to the hotel. Nothing much happens from there, we go to bed, all that shit, and the day starts over again. She sleeps in and heads to soundcheck around three, a few hours before the second show starts.
I hang around in the back, dodging glares from Norah. She was pretty goddamn pissed that I tackled that stupid kid. I can’t blame her, though.
“I’m guessing you didn’t see?” Norah says to me as Katie practices up on stage, going through the check.
“See what?”
She sighs. “Of course not.” She raises up her phone, this big glass monstrosity. It’s a news article, I guess, or maybe a blog, but the headline is clear.
New Bouncer Tackles Jasper!
“I’m not a fucking bouncer,” I say.
“That’s what you got from that?”
I just shrug and look away from the phone. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Kid looked like a threat.”
“He’s a famous actor, Graham. How out of touch are you out there?”
“I’m too busy to give a shit about some little punk fuck actor, I’ll tell you that much.”
She sighs. “Look, you’re home now, okay? You can’t just tackle people.”
“I was doing my job,” I say through clenched teeth.
“I know, I know. We don’t have to get into it again. I’m just saying, everything you do around Katie is going to become news, okay? She’s…” Norah hesitates a second, watching our girl move on stage. “She’s special.”
“Yeah,” I grunt.
Norah glances at me with a frown. “Did you watch the show last night?”
“Nah,” I admit. “Stayed backstage. They had Dr. Pepper.”
She rolls her eyes. “Watch it tonight.”
“Why? It’s just the same old pop music. I heard her sing, she’s good.”
“Watch her, okay?” Norah sighs and checks her phone again. “Gotta go. Be good.”
“Yeah, yeah. Later.”
Norah storms off, phone to her ear, probably yelling at some poor vendor.
I frown, watching Katie again. I love the way she moves, the way she sounds, but I don’t know why Norah wants me to watch the show so badly. I mean, it’s just not really my thing.
But as the day wears on, I can’t help myself. I’m a curious guy, it’s just in my nature, and when I’m interested in something, I always follow through. So when the show starts, I find myself a nice spot standing toward the back, away from the screaming fucking fans and the bored-looking dads, and I watch.