Terri Browning - The Rocker That Loves Me

He cleared his throat. “Hey, beautiful. We’re here.”

I frowned. “Here?” Turning my head, I found that the taxi had stopped in front of my apartment building. “Oh… Oh!” I pulled away, realizing that I had been asleep on Shane’s shoulder…and embarrassingly enough, I’d actually been drooling. Perfect!

With a chuckle, he opened the door and stepped out before offering me his hand to help me. When the taxi pulled away he didn’t release my hand, but instead linked our fingers as he walked me inside.

“Do you want to come up?” I asked, reluctant to leave him. He had been so much fun to hang out with tonight, so worth the bitching I was going to hear when I finally turned my phone on and answered my mother’s calls.

“I want to...” his fingers tightened around mine, giving them a gentle squeeze before releasing me “...but I don’t think I should.”

“Oh, okay.” I wasn’t disappointed. I wasn’t!

“Can I see you tomorrow?”

My heart leapt and I had to bite my lip to keep from answering too quickly and sounding like some idiot obsessed and unable to go a day without seeing her crush. Nope, I wasn’t crushing on Shane Stevenson. Nope. Nope… Not even a little.

Liar!

“Sounds like fun. Call me and we can make plans… Or you could just come over and hang out?” Maybe he wanted to spend some time with Lana. Damn, there went that pinprick pain to the heart again.

“We can do whatever you want.” His smile was adorable, almost shy and a little sweet. Neither of those things were something that I thought I would ever use to describe a tatted up rock star, but they fit nonetheless.

“Okay.” I pulled my keys from my purse before taking a step away from him. “See you tomorrow, Shane.”

“Harper..?” He paused and I turned back around to face him. His gaze went over my shoulder to where the night doorman was sitting before shaking his head. “Goodnight, beautiful.”

The endearment made something tighten around my heart, and I couldn’t help the involuntary smile as I pushed the call button for the elevator. It opened immediately and I stepped inside. Shane stood watching until the doors closed between us.

As the elevator ascended to my floor, I beat my head back against the wall of the elevator. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Crushing on a guy so far out of my league had to be the most stupid, idiotic thing I had ever done in my life.

Linc and Dallas were still up when I unlocked the front door. They sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn sitting between them. Since it was a Saturday night, I had been expecting them to be out at a club or some party. As I closed the door behind me, Lana came from down the hall with a phone pressed to her ear.

When she saw me she looked both relieved and concerned. I bit my lip and pushed my glasses up my nose. “What?”

“Nothing,” Lana rushed to say. “Nothing… I just wasn’t expecting you to come home…so early.”

She hadn’t expected me to come home at all. “Shane and I are just friends.”

“Of course.” She nodded. “Sure.” She sounded a little confused, but instead of saying anything else, she turned and went back the way she had just came, the phone still pressed firmly to her ear. “Sorry, Layla. Yes, everything’s fine…”

I rolled my eyes at my friend as I dropped down on the arm of the couch beside Linc. “What are we watching?”

“Your phone is off,” Linc scolded.

I sighed and reached down to pull my shoes off. “Sorry. Mother was annoying the crap out of me so I switched it off. Did you need anything?”

“No. We were just worried.” Linc pulled me down beside him and I snuggled close, pillowing my head on his shoulder much the way I had Shane’s just a little while ago. His shoulder was wider, more muscular, but it felt uncomfortable. And while Linc smelled deliciously male, it wasn’t the scent that I wanted filling my nose. It wasn’t Shane’s scent…

Well hell!

Harper

I groaned when my phone buzzed on the nightstand beside my bed.

I cracked open one eye to glance at my alarm clock and groaned again when I saw that it was only a little after ten. It was Sunday. I had nowhere to be. No one had a good enough reason to bother me so early!

Ignoring the annoying ringtone, I turned over in bed and used my extra pillow to cover my head until the thing quieted down. When it did I snuggled under my covers and relaxed…

Five minutes later it started ringing again!

Muttering a curse, I blindly reached for the thing to turn it off when I saw that it was from Shane. I shot up in bed, letting the covers fall to my waist. When he said he wanted to do something today I thought it would be later in the day. Rockers liked to sleep until noon, right? With the rumored lifestyle Shane supposedly lived, I was sure he wouldn’t call until later tonight. Pushing my sleep tousled hair out of my face, I hit accept and put my phone to my ear.

“Hey.”

“Hey, beautiful.” His voice was slightly throaty, and I bit my lip to keep from smiling like an idiot. “I’m downstairs. Ready to go?”

“I…Umm….” I grimaced. “I’m still in bed.”

“At noon?” He sounded amused.

“No it’s not.” It couldn’t be. Glancing at my alarm clock, I yelped. I guess I had fallen back to sleep and hadn’t even realized it! “Oh, it is.”

“I tried to call earlier, but it went to voicemail. I can come back later if you would rather.” Now he sounded kind of disappointed.

“No!” I jumped out of bed, already pulling fresh underwear out of my dresser. “Give me ten minutes and I’ll be ready. Come on up.”

“Okay.” Was that excitement I heard now?

As soon as he hung up, I tossed my phone on my bed and stripped off my sleep shirt. Tugging on panties, I opened my closet and grabbed the first shirt I saw—a lavender camisole with a built in bra, one of my favorites. Perfect. Reaching for my white skirt, I stepped into it and then added my favorite flip-flops. I rushed through my bathroom routine, brushed my teeth, and smoothed on some moisturizer.

Finally, I snapped my watch into place and left the bedroom I shared with Lana. When I entered the living room it was completely empty. No one was home, not even Lana, and I had to assume she was on campus studying. There was a knock on the door and I saw that it hadn’t even taken me five minutes to get ready.

I pulled my hair into a high ponytail as I crossed the messy looking living room to answer the door. Linc and Dallas didn’t know how to clean up after themselves on Sunday mornings. Any other day the apartment was spotless, but Sundays? Not so much.

I wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted me on the other side of the door. It wasn’t like it was the first time I had seen him for God’s sakes. I had spent hours with him just the day before. So why did my breath catch at the sight of sexy as sin Shane Stevenson leaning against the door frame of my apartment? Inked up arms crossed over a lean, muscled chest. He wore a tight white T-shirt, and his jeans hung off of his hips in a way that made my mouth unsure if it was going to fill with saliva or go completely dry.

It wasn’t fair that he was so hot. Why couldn’t he have been more average looking? Maybe then I would have at least stood half a chance with this guy.

“Like what you see, beautiful?” His voice was still throaty and full of desire. “Because I sure as fuck like what I see.”

Heat filled my cheeks and I stepped back, inviting him in while ignoring his question. “Can I get you something to drink? I think there might be some beer in the fridge, unless Linc and Dallas drank it all last night.”