Chapter 7

Molly called to say she could not make it to the concert. She’d made other plans when Chelsea told her she could not get her in. Chelsea was disappointed. After all, she had been looking forward to the company of another female.

The concert, which was three blocks away from the hotel, was scheduled to begin at eight. At six o’clock, she slipped away to go take a shower, allowing Colt alone time to mentally prepare himself. Reid had mentioned that’s what he did before every concert, requesting time alone.

The manager had been out all day seeing to the final touches of the night’s event, dealing with the promoters and the press. She could see now why he’d hired an assistant. Colt seemed to require constant attention, and Reid could not always be at hand.

She had no clue what to wear to a concert. Reid had promised to give her a change of wardrobe but that hadn’t happened yet. She showered and put on the plush hotel robe, brushed her hair and pulled it back in a ponytail.

Next, she extracted a pair of jeans and cotton blouse from her suitcase. It was a new pair of jeans given her by her aunt. It seemed small, but the woman had told her it would stretch. She was about to get dressed when a knock sounded at the door.

She pulled the robe tightly around her and went to answer, wondering if Molly had changed her mind. She pulled opened the door with a smile, which faded the instant she saw Colt standing there.

He stretched his hand out with a small paper bag package. She took the bag, taking a look inside. There was a tube of antibiotic ointment and bandage in it. Her mouth opened a crack, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Thank you,” she breathed, shocked at the gesture.

“Don’t read too much into it. If you’re not well, it affects my flow,” he grunted and walked away. “Be ready in twenty minutes,” he added as he crossed the hall.

Chelsea dressed the wound. It was not as bad as it looked. The area was a little swollen and tender. She put some of the ointment on and wrapped the bandage around it. Next, she dressed in the pair of jeans, which fitted her like a second skin. She was ready in ten minutes, at which time she returned to the suite to wait for Colt.

He could kick himself. Colt had no idea what came over him. He’d watched her as she pulled her skirt up to take a look at her shin, at which time, his heart had stopped beating for a few seconds. She certainly had pretty legs. He had to tear his mind away from wandering about the rest of her in order to look at her wound. The things looked bad. Without thinking, he called the front desk and requested the items. Like a fool, he had them deliver it to him instead of directly to her.

His mood had suddenly soured. This was all her doing. Chelsea had the ability to dampen his mood. How could he allow himself to be affected by her? As he re-entered the suite, he kicked the edge of the sofa. First, it was her dawdling with Tony, and now this. This wasn’t good. He liked relaxing before a show, and now she was constantly rattling his nerves.

Someone knocked the door, which further irritated him. He yanked it open, thinking it was she. He stared into the chocolate-colored face of one of the guards Reid hired to escort him to the stadium a couple blocks away. He looked past the solid expression of the one in front and met a similar face of the dude behind.

“We’re ready when you are,” the one in front stated thickly.

“Yeah,” he replied and closed the door.

He didn’t need any damn guards. If he boarded the limo from the hotel emergency exit and disembarked right behind the stage at the stadium, he’d be fine. He couldn’t understand why Reid was so over protective.

“Where the hell is she?” he grumbled eight minutes after handing her the package.

As if on cue, she quietly entered the suite, and his fracking heart stopped again. What the hell was she doing? She was wearing tight jeans and properly fitted mint shirt that buttoned down at the front. For the second time since they’d met, he was seeing her full figure. Her outfit showed off her curves and accents. The only problem was, she looked devastatingly terrified.

“I’m ready,” she said in a shaky voice.

Something curled within his belly, and his mood began to lift. He wanted to tell her that she looked great, but that wasn’t his style. He grunted with a nod and opened the door, giving her a grave stare. She followed him out, and immediately the two bouncers flanked them.

“We’ll take the back. There’s a large crowd out front,” the leader said.

“Yeah,” he returned sourly.

They took the staircase that led to the back door where hotel supplies were delivered. The limo pulled up, followed by a throng of screaming fans. Colt gave a small wave and showed some teeth. The women rushed forward as the bodyguards fended them off and made a path to the passenger door.

Chelsea was almost trampled as she tried to keep behind the star. One of the guards gripped her arm, pushing her in behind Colt, then slammed the door shut. As the vehicle rolled out, she could still hear the deafening screams blocking her ear canal.

When she looked over at Colt, he had a pleased smirk on his face. He glanced back several times, and it dawned on her that he loved the attention. There were mostly females in the crowd that she saw, but something odd had caught her eye as she stumbled.

She glanced behind them and saw the crowd waving. She scanned the throng to see if she had been correct about what she saw. Off to the side stood a man. He had his hands buried in his pockets, and he seemed unhappy, angry even. The limo disappeared around the side of the building where it met another throng out front. That prevented her from seeing if he was still there.

She wished she’d had enough time to get a good look at the man. Who was he? she wondered. He didn’t look like a fan to her. He was just standing there as if watching. He had been looking at Colt, and the look in his slate-colored eyes was that of hatred. She could be wrong. She’d only seen him a few seconds.

Within ten minutes, they were pulling up behind the stage, and Reid was there to greet them. Chelsea scanned the place. It was a football stadium with a stage in the middle of the field. Reid told her that it was an old stadium, now used for concerts and other events.

She looked up at the stands, observing how full the seats were. The noise was also ear-splitting. Several security guards made a barrier around the stage. A few feet behind the stage were five tiny tents, each one no larger than a cubicle. She assumed these were dressing rooms. The area was well secured with the barriers extending to about a hundred feet behind the tents.

Reid pulled Colt to one of the tents. She made out Tony with the other band members off to one side of the stage. They didn’t spend much time in the hotel, so she knew little about them except for their names. It seemed they spent most of their time in rehearsals while Colt evaded it as much as possible. Tony looked over and saw her. Immediately his face lit up, and he excused himself, coming over to her.

“Thanks for the lunch today.” He grinned. She’d asked the driver to drop his food off since he was not in the hotel when she came back.

“You’re welcome.” She smiled.

“You look great,” he said in a soft voice.

She blushed, casting her eyes down, shuffling uncomfortably. He was looking at her in a strange way that made her self-conscious. His eyes wandered her physique, and she cringed with the scrutiny. She stepped back and stumbled.

“Be careful,” Tony said.

“I’m sorry, I need to find Reid,” she mumbled and stumbled away.

She heard him chuckle as she moved off and expelled a breath. She glanced back to see him watching her when she bumped into a brick wall. Then the wall reached out and gripped her, steadying her. Her eyes flicked up to connect with hazel ones. For a moment, they stood unmoving. His eyes changed shades, becoming darker and the golden flecks in them flickered.

Her heart stopped for just a split second, and then it began with a single thud. Then another thud … and another thud. It picked up speed and started racing like Usain Bolt doing the hundred meters. She could feel the pulse at the base of her neck tick, her entire body flushing from head to toe. Colt pushed her away from him but let his hands linger on her arms until she was steady. The place on her arm where he had touched felt like he had branded her.

“Thanks,” she said, her voice squeaky. She absently rubber her arms.

He grunted, walking toward the back of the stage. There he sat in a chair, and Reid handed him a bottle of water. The crowd was now cheering while the band mates were taking their places. From what Reid told her, Colt would go on after the band played a few songs and the crowd started calling for him. That would increase the excitement, drawing maximum attention to the main character.

Chelsea couldn’t take her eyes off Colt. He’d changed into a pair of white jeans, shoes to match and white vest with no shirt. His entire torso was bare for the world to see. Her eyes traveled from his angular face with day old stubble to his Adam’s apple. Her emerald eyes sparkled as they cruised his defined chest and landed on his abs. Her heart started racing again, and her body felt strange like a drum was beating inside of her.

He stood, pacing for a few minutes, and she counted every step he made. Occasionally, he lifted his arm, running his fingers through his shimmering hair, making his biceps bulge. As her eyes followed his every move, she found she’d stop breathing. When he walked, his thighs also swelled with his strides. She could see the muscles move inside his pants.

As if he knew she was looking, he paused and turned. Their eyes locked as they did before. However, something happened at that moment. An electrical charge connected them, and she felt his eyes pull her towards him. His eyes flickered, changing color once more. She saw the light in them from the twenty or so feet away. She had to look away from the intense gaze he gave her, willing her heart to stop galloping like a wild horse.

Colt wasn’t as relaxed as he wanted to be. The minute Chelsea stumbled into his arms, he felt unsure of himself. He’d never been unsure of anything. He thrived on being cocky, that was the only way to survive in this world. With all his past demons, he needed all the confidence he could get.

He was about to hit the stage, but all he could think about was the nerd girl and her breasts as they hit his chest a few minutes before. He’d stepped out of the hot humidity of the tent to get some fresh air. That’s when he noticed the way Tony was looking at her. She seemed scared like she knew what Tony was thinking. She had bumped into him, and he found himself staring into her big green eyes. At that moment, a burning sensation dropped into the pit of his stomach.

He ground his teeth together, closing his eyes, trying to take deep breaths to cool his heated body. The night seemed unusually warm, and he wasn’t sure if the heat was inside or outside his body.

The moment their eyes met across the twenty meters was the moment he became unsure of himself. He felt like she’d stripped him of his reserve. She broke down his defense, and he was standing vulnerable for her to see. That’s how he felt at that moment in time. Her eyes had drawn him to her with a current he’d never experienced.

The crowd was cheering; therefore, he turned his attention back to the stage. He needed to rid his mind of her and concentrate on performing. He needed to shine tonight and forget about Chelsea Downing.