Beside me, Shane Stevenson, aka Hot Rocker Man, bounced off his own torture machine like he had another two hours of workout in him. For some strange reason he made me smile.
“So where to next?” he asked, taking his Boston Red Sox cap off and messing with his hair before putting it back on.
“I’m done.” An hour was my limit, about enough to work off the desserts I seemed to be addicted to. “I’m hitting the showers.”
His face fell and he actually gave me a little pout. “Ah, come on, Harper. Don’t leave now.”
That pout drew me in and I found myself relenting. “What do you want to do?”
Blue-gray eyes darkened and I saw firsthand the look that Lana had warned me about. Shane was supposed to be some bad ass womanizer that could melt the panties of every female with a working libido. I just couldn’t figure out why he was flirting with me…
“A few things come to mind.” His voice was lower, husky.
If I said it didn’t affect me I would be a liar. It seemed that my libido worked just fine because I was sure that my panties did melt a little, but I knew better than to take him seriously. Guys as hot as Shane didn’t go for girls like me.
I grinned and pushed at his shoulder. “I’m starving. Let’s shower and go get some breakfast.”
“Or we could do that.” He winked and walked with me toward the locker rooms. “I didn’t bring anything with me to change into.”
“Okay, I’ll hurry then. Do you want to go back to your place to change?” I glanced at his shirt drenched in sweat that clung to his hard chest. “Or I could get you something from Linc’s locker?”
“Do you think he would mind?” Shane frowned.
I shrugged. “I’m sure he won’t, but if you want we can run upstairs to the private rooms and ask him. He and Lana should be close to done by now.”
Blue-gray eyes narrowed at my words. “Lana is with Linc this morning?”
“Yeah, didn’t she tell you? She and Linc are doing some kind of dance competition. They practice two to three times a week, if not more. Linc pushes her really hard. He has a thing about winning.”
Actually, I was sure that Lana was starting to dislike dancing on some levels because of Linc’s drive. She wasn’t enjoying it like she had a few months ago.
Or maybe it was because Drake Stevenson was in town. Lana had told me about her relationship with the older Stevenson brother, or lack of one if you looked at it that way, so I knew she had to be hurting and conflicted about his sudden relocation to the East Coast.
“Let’s go ask Linc.” Shane gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, and I had a sudden crazy thought that maybe Drake wasn’t the only Stevenson brother with a thing for my friend.
Why that thought bothered me, I couldn’t say. It was almost startling the way my heart felt like it was being stabbed with a stickpin, but I ignored the dull ache and led him over to the stairs. Music was still playing behind the door. Normally, the room was used for the Zumba classes that I sometimes climbed out of bed for.
Shane opened the door and let me go in before him. My roommates were dancing to some Michael Bublé song. It was the first time I actually saw them like this, and I had to say they were pretty amazing. Linc was a big guy, in height and muscle mass, but he looked like he belonged on the dance floor the way he controlled Lana. And Lana looked enthralled as Linc swung her around. The excitement, the happiness I saw on her beautiful face, told me she wasn’t completely fed up with dancing just yet.
The couple didn’t even notice that they had an audience until the music finally came to an end. When it did Linc started critiquing Lana. “Your leg needs to come up a little more on that last spin, Lana.”
“Okay.”
“So this is what you blew me off for, sis?” Shane shook his head. “I feel cheated!”
Lana’s head snapped up and her face lit up when she saw him standing beside me. “You’ll get over it. Wow, three days in a row. I don’t think I saw this much of you back in Cali.”
“I was bored.” He stepped forward and pulled her into a hug.
I watched my friend but there wasn’t anything different about the way she looked at Shane than the way she would look at Linc. I shrugged off the idea that the two might possibly be into each other.
“I see you decided to actually get out of bed before noon,” Linc commented dryly as he uncapped his protein shake and chugged it.
I grinned up at the man that was my closest friend in the world, second only to Dallas and now Lana. “I thought I would be productive today since I ate half a cheesecake last night. My ass was begging for some help after all those calories.”
He rolled his eyes. “You have the best ass in the state, girl.”
I rolled my eyes at him, not taking his compliment to heart in the least. Linc was as hot as the surface of the sun, but he was also as gay as they came. “You want to come grab some breakfast with us?”
“I already ate.” He tossed his shake back into his gym bag. “And I have a private training session in ten minutes.”
What he meant was that he had a private session with some cougar that wanted to look at something pretty while they worked off the lettuce leaves they had forced down the day before. It took hard work to maintain what expensive doctors created. Linc got paid really well for just standing around flirting. The extra tips the cougars slipped him were appreciated as well.
“Have fun.” I hugged him before turning back to Lana and Shane, who seemed to be half teasing and half arguing.
“I shouldn’t have gone back to your place last night,” Lana huffed. “Don’t expect it to happen again.”
“Don’t you like me anymore, sis?” He pouted and I had the sudden vision of sucking on that full bottom lip.
That thought completely tossed me sideways. What the hell was the matter with me? I didn’t have random thoughts like that, especially about sex addict rock star playboys. I knew what guys like that were all about, and I didn’t need them complicating my life. So of course I did what I do best.
I ran like the hounds of Hell were behind me!
Pulling out my cellphone, I scrolled through the contact list and pulled up Dallas’ number. If anyone could understand my reasons for not wanting to even admit to having a crazy attraction for the rocker bad boy it would be Dallas. We had grown up together in the world of modeling, her in front of the camera and me on the sidelines watching my stepsister.
I punched in a quick text for her to call me and get me out of the breakfast I had stupidly invited Shane to.
Chapter 2
Shane
I knew she was running as soon as I saw the look in her eyes.
Something about her told me not to let her get away. Maybe I was so bored I needed the challenge. Or perhaps it was because no chick had ever ran from me, like ever. Not once since I had turned fourteen had a female turned me down.
The hottie with the startling purple eyes attempting to turn me down made me smile. I took a step toward her as she answered her phone…
Lana smacked me on the back of the head hard enough to make me stop. I turned around to find the girl I was sure was going to be my sister one day glowering at me.
“No.”
I couldn’t help raising a brow at her. Lord, she was gorgeous when she was serious. “No?”
“Don’t even think about it Shane Mason Stevenson!” she growled low enough that only I could hear her. “She’s isn’t your type.”
I flinched at the use of my middle name. Not even Emmie pulled that particular card on me. I never should have told her my full name! “I don’t have a type, sweetheart.”
Her brow furrowed even more. “Exactly! So keep your paws off my friend. Or I swear to all those freaking gods that Emmie prays to that I will rip off your man parts.”
Sighing, I pulled out my cellphone. “Let’s see what Drake has to say about it. Maybe he thinks I should go for it.”
I knew I was playing dirty, and the darken
ing of her amber eyes told me that I had scored one or two this round. “I’ll call Emmie,” she shot back.
“Emmie?” I snickered. “That all you got, sis? You telling Emmie on me?”
She glared at me for a long moment before her lips twitched and a giggle escaped her. “Okay, I guess that sounded about as mature as a six year old.” She poked me in the chest with her finger. It was hard enough to make me grimace. “Be good to Harper, mister.”
Oh, I planned on it. I was going to be very good to that mysteriously beautiful female.
Twenty minutes later found me sitting across from Harper at a diner close to her apartment. I had somehow gotten her to agree to still going to breakfast with me. She hadn’t wanted to; I’d seen the struggle in those hypnotic eyes of hers as she tried to come up with a better excuse to bail than Dallas needed her to pick up some girl products.
It was score one for me when she had finally given in. It was score one for her when she picked a place closer to her apartment than mine. Still, I found myself content to just be in her company as the morning wore on. I wasn’t bored when I was talking to her, which was strange because having a conversation with a female that wasn’t in my family just didn’t happen with me. There was only one thing that I wanted to be doing with a girl that I was attracted to, and sitting down for a chat and a meal wasn’t one of them.
It kind of felt like a date, and I was finding it hard to remember the last time I had actually been on one. It might have been when I was seventeen with some girl that I couldn’t even remember the name of. She had been particularly easy, and I had scored an hour into the date.
But this was different. I knew I was going to have to pull every trick known to man to get into this girl’s panties, and I was actually looking forward to it. For once I wanted the thrill of the chase.
Yeah, I was sure the boredom had fried my brain…
I watched her lick whipped cream off of her thumb and my brain actually shut down for a moment. Note to self: don’t let her eat anything with whipped topping unless I want an aneurysm! I could actually feel myself panting a little as I continued to watch her eat the waffles topped with the sinful cream and fruit.
She made eating look like a sexy art form. The way she cut her food into small little pieces… The way her eyes went all kinds of dreamy as she took the first bite and savored the taste on her tongue. Even the way her jaw moved in an almost seductive up and down motion as she chewed… Ah, damn!
I had to force my eyes away before she took the third bite or I was sure I was going to pull her under the table and have her then and there! I cut into my steak and eggs with jerky movements in an attempt to take my mind off her and her food. I wasn’t even sure if the food I had ordered was actually any good because I was so turned on I couldn’t taste any of it.
“So…” I took a deep swallow of my orange juice and attempted to get my body under some kind of control, half fearing I was going to come in the clothes I borrowed from Linc if I didn’t. “What made you want to become a photographer?”
“It’s something I have always been interested in. I grew up with some of the most talented photographers being a constant in my life. I would sit and watch while they worked their magic behind the lenses, taking the pictures of some really beautiful girls and making them exquisite. I knew that I was never going to be one of those girls in front of the camera, so I thought being the one behind it would be better for me.”
She spoke with such enthusiasm that I almost missed it, that soft note of hurt and the pain that darkened her purple eyes. I sat my fork and knife down and just sat there staring at the hauntingly beautiful woman in her faded cutoff shorts, plain tank, and messy bun. How in the fuck did she not know that she was beautiful enough to be in front of the camera? Why would she think something that ridiculous?
It was something I really wanted to find out, but something told me that if I asked she wouldn’t tell me. So I stored it for a later time. “You grew up with photographers? Why was that?”
“My stepsister is Ariana Calloway.”
I raised a brow because the name sounded vaguely familiar to me. “Should I be impressed?” I asked, not sure if that was the reaction she had been expecting from me.
Harper grinned. “I guess it depends on who you ask. Ariana is still a pretty big deal in Paris and Italy, but not so much here in the states anymore. She’s burned too many bridges for anyone to want to work with her. But she is…was…is a supermodel. She was the face for some top names five years ago.”
“Ah… Sorry, I still don’t know who you are talking about.” I opened the internet on my phone and typed in Ariana Calloway. There were a handful of pictures that popped up in the image search, and I clicked on the first one to enlarge it for a better look.
Shoulder length dark blonde hair. Cool, almost emotionless blue eyes. Her face was beautiful, but it was a fake kind of beautiful. I wasn’t sure if she was still that good to look at under all that makeup. She didn’t hold a candle to the beauty sitting across from me destroying my sanity by biting into a cream covered strawberry.
Harper had no makeup on, but she didn’t need it. With her purple eyes and crazy long caramel lashes, the Cupid’s bow shaped mouth, and striking cheekbones, she had me mesmerized without trying. She had captured my attention the instant I had seen her a few days ago, and she continued to hold it in a way thousands of girls hadn’t been able to.
“Beautiful, isn’t she?”
I shrugged. “She’s pretty.”
Harper frowned. “That’s it? Just pretty?”
“Okay, she’s beautiful. But any decent makeup artist can make anyone beautiful. She isn’t all that great to look at.” I grimaced. “Sorry if that offends you.” I didn’t want to push her away by insulting her sister.
“No, that doesn’t offend me,” she murmured. “I’m just not sure if you are for real. Most guys trip over their tongues when they see Ariana.”
“I’m not most guys. I would trip over my tongue to get a taste of you, but I really couldn’t care less about your sister.”
“Stepsister,” she corrected, her tone cool. “And now I know you are not for real.” She pushed her nearly empty plate away and reached for her water. “You must have a vision problem.”
“No, but now I know why you have to wear glasses.” Her brows rose. “Because you’re legally blind if you can’t see what I see.”
She snorted. “Wow, do lines like that really get you laid?”
I couldn’t help it. I threw my head back and laughed out loud. “No, sweetness. I don’t have to use lines to get laid.” They lined up for a chance to warm my bed for an hour or two, but I wasn’t going to tell her that. “But with you it’s different.”
Violet eyes rolled at me, and I swear my dick actually twitched. Fuck. Me.
This was going to be so much fun!
Harper
I had to give it to him. Shane Stevenson was a smooth talker. If I were more naïve I would fall for his sweet talk, but I wasn’t naïve. I knew he was playing me.
“So you met Lana at NYU.” Shane changed the subject. “What’s your major?”
“It was journalism, but I graduated last semester.” I was hoping to get a job with a magazine or newspaper, something that was more dependable than the freelance work I was currently doing. At the moment no one was hiring. If anything they were letting people go, so I was lucky to have at least the part-time work.
Shane nodded when I told him this. “I know a few people. Maybe I could help you out.”
“No!” I shook my head. “I don’t want you to do that. If I wanted an easy in, I could be at Vogue right now. That isn’t how I want to start my career off. I want to do this on my own.” It was important to me that I do this myself. I needed to know I could do it on my own or all my hard work would be pointless.
And I needed to prove to myself that I didn’t need my stepfather’s name—or anyone’s name but my own—to succeed.
His phone chime
d and his lips lifted in a grin as he glanced down at the screen. My eyes were drawn to it and I saw was the name Lulu before he started typing a reply to the text. Another pinprick of pain stabbed my heart and I glanced away.
“One of your adoring fans?” I nearly slapped my hands over my mouth as soon as the words left it. I sounded almost jealous!
Shane continued to grin as he continued to text. “I wouldn’t say she is a fan. I doubt her parents let her listen to Demon’s Wings music just yet.”
My eyes widened. “You have an underage girlfriend?”
“What?” He looked shocked by my question. “No! Of course not. Lucy is only seven! She’s Lana’s little sister.”
I bit my lip, trying not to laugh at his comically stunned expression. “Sorry. I assumed it was one of the many groupies that salivate at your feet.”
The way he threw his head back and laughed sent delicious chills down my spine, and I had to avert my eyes from the way his Adam’s apple bobbed because it was so damn sexy. As I looked to my left, I found our waitress staring at Shane too. She was eating him alive with her eyes. I realized few women would be immune to this man, and I was starting to think I wouldn’t be among those few.
His phone chimed again but I didn’t dare look until he grumbled a curse under his breath. I glanced back at him, seeing him pulling his wallet out of the basketball shorts that he had borrowed from Linc. “What’s wrong?”
“My brother wants me to come by the studio.” All he had to do was glance the waitress’s way and she started moving like a moth drawn to a flame. She batted her fake eyelashes at him as he handed her his card. Really? Fake lashes this early? “Thanks, sweetheart.”
That was my cue to get going. I should have already been home, maybe even hop back in bed for a few more hours of sleep. But part of me was torn. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him yet.
“I need to get home. I have a few pictures I need to edit before I send them to The Morning Global.” I pulled my wallet from my gym bag sitting at my feet and tossed a few bills on the table for a tip. If he was paying for our food, I was at least covering that much.