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“Vance,” she replied breathlessly. Alaric could feel her body stiffen as she stepped back against his chest. “Good to see you, too. Have you met…?” She gestured over her shoulder, her voice trailing off.
“Your boyfriend?” Vance broke into a toothy grin. “Of course. We’re best buds now, aren’t we fella?”
“Best of friends,” Alaric said coolly, running his hands up Georgia’s arms and squeezing her shoulders. He wished he could comfort her. That he could kick Vance from the room and tell her she deserved better. “Vance was just leaving.”
“I’ll see you two kids at the Marina Music Awards,” he said with a deep chuckle, making his way out the door. Pausing, he sent Georgia a pointed look. “You really do look great, Gigi.”
“Thanks,” she replied in a low mumble.
A shudder went through her. Alaric swallowed hard, hoping she wasn’t thinking about getting back together with that tool. He might not have been the best judge of character, but he knew that guy was no winner.
“Forget him,” he said, leaning down to whisper in her ear. He felt another shudder go through her. “You can do so much better than him.”
A soft sigh sounded from her lips. She stared at the empty space Vance had once possessed, but her hand found its way to Alaric’s left hand and squeezed.
“There’s no one around, Alaric,” she said, looking up over her shoulder at him. Her long lashes brushed against her skin. “You can stop pretending.”
He dropped his hands, feeling a stinging sensation in his chest. Of course, the rules. He’d agreed to no physical contact in private. She’d been very clear about that. She didn’t want him near her. Not if it didn’t serve a purpose.
“Understood.” He swallowed down the bitter taste of disappointment and tried to steady his voice. “Save it for the a
wards show, right?”
“Right.”
She turned to look at him, confusion crossing her face for a moment. But that dissolved as soon as her band came rushing into the green room, yelling and hugging. Georgia joined in the merriment, gushing over the interview and the performance, while Alaric took a step back. He allowed himself to watch her, willing the wave of unsettling feelings to wash away.
It was clear that Georgia didn’t need a boyfriend. She needed an uncomplicated business arrangement. That was all.
He was just a means to an end.
Chapter Eight
“You will smile for all the cameras. Closed-mouth smiles only. This isn’t a school picture. I need a suave, sophisticated woman at the award show.”
Georgia slumped in her hotel suite’s armchair and glanced at the screen of her phone as Sally paced in front of her, beginning an assault on proper behavior for the Marina Music Awards show tomorrow night. It had been exactly forty-three minutes since Sally had pulled her from bed, requesting a girl-to-girl chat. She wished she’d listened to her gut instead, and hid beneath the plush hotel comforter.
When Sally got on a roll, there was no stopping her. The tiny little blue vein popping out on her temple was a sure sign that this lecture still had miles to go before Georgia was a free woman again.
The door to the suite opened up and in walked a few members of the crew, followed by Alaric. Georgia sat up straighter in her chair, wishing she’d done something with her hair other than throw it up into a messy bun. Then, she remembered she was still wearing her Hello Kitty pink flannel pajamas, so she slunk back down with her cheeks burning.
Alaric looked unbelievably handsome for this early morning hour. It wasn’t fair. He’d gone down to get a few laps in the hotel’s pool and then took a shower. His hair was still wet and swept to one side in an effortlessly cool style. The white t-shirt clinging to his damp abdomen left little to the imagination about the state of his chiseled torso.
His eyes took in Sally and then flicked to Georgia. He’d been around Sally enough this past week and a half to know a lecture when he saw one. A knowing, sympathetic smile tugged at his lips and he went to help himself to the tray of breakfast pastries the hotel had just sent up.
“Are you listening to a word I’m saying?” Sally asked, snapping Georgia’s attention back to her. “If you run into Beyoncé or Lady Gaga at the awards tomorrow night, I want you to be thinking about future collaborations. Plant the seed in their minds. Something like that would go a long way toward legitimizing your long-term career.”
Georgia nodded dutifully and tried her best to listen to Sally’s advice. After all, despite the cold outer shell, she only had her best interests at heart. If Georgia had a career, Sally had a job. They all did.
“Cream cheese danish?” a low voice whispered at her side. “You’d better take in sustenance. I don’t see an end in sight to this lecture.”
Sally began to pace again, getting into a lecture about how they should approach other celebrities on the carpet. Georgia turned her head just enough to see Alaric kneeling next to her chair, holding out a pastry on a dainty plate. She felt her stomach do a little flip as the scent of his shampoo wafted over her — strong, masculine, and slightly minty.
“Thank you, I’m starving,” she mouthed, taking the plate from his hand.
Their fingers brushed and a tingle went up her arm. He smiled at her, his eyes crinkling into a soft expression, and once again she was thankful he’d come along for this trip. The affection he showed her might all be part of the business deal, but she couldn’t deny that she enjoyed the attention.
The breakup with Vance had placed a barrier around her heart and she had been unsure if she’d ever be able to trust another man again. But spending time with Alaric had shown her she wasn’t permanently broken. He was solid. Not a person who made her constantly question her sanity. There were good guys out there and someday, she might even find one. There was hope for the future.
