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“I was planning on it. I wonder what Aiden will say when he sees me, though.” Aiden has no idea that I’ve been staying with Derek.
“I told you; we’ll go get coffee beforehand, and I’ll just tell him I ran into you at the coffee shop. Easy peasy.”
“You don’t think he’s smarter than that?”
“Nah, I don’t think we’ve given him any cause for concern. Brent might be suspicious, but I don’t think he wants to rock the boat. So, we should be good.” Derek gets up and discards the condom. “Come on, pretty girl, let’s get you cleaned up.” He stretches his hand out to me, his big brown eyes shining back at me.
A sexy little smile is stretched across his lips. He looks so alluring when he’s like this. His walls are down, and he’s not putting on a show. Not being Derek from Crave. Stage Derek’s voice would be a few octaves deeper. His smile would be more guarded, and he would be choosing his words very carefully. But not when we’re here. In the safety of his apartment, he’s relaxed and more himself. I see peeks of the Derek I grew up with running in the surf.
We shower and get ourselves ready for the day. I choose some light and casual clothes, while he goes for an all-black ensemble, with his hat down low.
“Are you sure this is going to work?” I ask him, when we get out of the car and head into the Starbucks close to his studio.
“Yes, trust me. You worry too much.” Before we enter, he gives me a kiss on the lips. The angle of his head makes his hat ride up.
His face is on full display, but I think he’s too caught up in the moment to notice. I know I am. My arms come up and pull him closer. I moan into his mouth, hungry for more. Hungry for more of what we did this morning.
We break apart when a throat behind us clears. “Mind if I pop in here, guys?” the man in the suit asks.
“Sorry,” we say at the same time. We move out of the way so he can enter.
I pull Derek’s hat back down over his eyes. “We gotta hide you, Walsh. Wouldn’t want the world to catch wind of us.”
Oh, but they did. That was the end of our secret, and my life would never be the same.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
It doesn’t take long before we’re called into his manager’s office. It feels a little like being called into the principal’s office. They send a car for us, and Derek and I rush from that car into the back entrance of the building. Derek’s dressed in black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a gray hooded zip-up sweatshirt. The hood is pulled tightly across his face. He’s trying to hide from the press and hope that no one sees him. He tells me to do the same. I don’t have a whole lot, but I make do with one of his hoodies and dark jeans. The hood does help to hide my face. I also put on a ball cap because I can’t bear to be caught.
The things that are being said about me online are harsh. I thought it might come to this if anyone ever found out about us. He’s supposed to be with Serena, after all. Now it looks like he cheated on her. One of the headlines I saw said Rock Princess Cheated on by Dark Rocker. I’m not sure why they were referring to Derek as the “dark rocker,” but I didn’t like it.
“Think we’re in trouble?” I ask him as we wait for the elevator.
He looks over at me, smirking. “How can this be good?”
The hoods have come down, and we’re safe going the back way into his office. I’ve only ever heard Dale’s voice on the phone, but he doesn’t sound like a friendly man. He’s always very short and direct on the phone. In all the times I’ve heard him speaking to the guys, I’ve never heard him laugh. The only time I saw him smile was when Crave hit number one.
This is a conversation I’m not looking forward to.
“We’re gonna be fine,” he says. He’s trying to reassure me, but it’s not working. I can’t relax. My toe is bouncing. “Really want the elevator to hurry, do you?”
I look over at him and sigh. “What is going to happen in there? How bad is this going to be for us?”
He sighs and pulls me into him. Our faces are inches apart, and I can feel the heat coming off him. “Don’t worry about a thing. That’s going to be the easy part. You forget your brother is probably on his way here. We’re going to have a come-to-Jesus moment with him at some point.”
My mouth makes an O shape. I hadn’t thought about the fact that Aiden would have been called. Brent will be here too. But they’ll both be hopping mad at us. I check my phone for the millionth time, wondering if anyone from Beachbody is going to reach out to me. There’s been several references to where I work in the articles that I quickly scanned on the way over here.
“But don’t you worry. It’s you and me in there. I’m not backing down. We will figure this out. Dale will yell and be all big and bad, but I’ll smooth that over. Aiden will kick my ass and I’ll probably let him. But eventually they’ll calm down.” He leans in and kisses my lips quickly. “Especially when they see that I have no intentions of giving you up.”
I gasp at his words. I thought he would eventually just tell everyone that it was a fling, and we would be history. I would just be some girl he used to date or had a fling with. Things would be fixed with Serena and life would go on.
“Don’t worry, Aud,” he continues. “I’m not giving you up. It’s you and me.” He kisses me again and pulls me onto the elevator when it arrives.
“Okay,” I mumble.
“Unless you want it to be different.”
“No,” I stammer. “I’m glad to hear that you’re going to stand with me.”
