I glanced over at Parker as he drove us across town, back to my place.

“Have you had a proper girlfriend since you, you know… got famous?” I asked cautiously. I wanted to know, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure how I would handle hearing about an ex of Parkers, especially if I found he wasn’t really over her or something stupid like that. He’d made it clear that he’d always give me the truth, so it was up to me to decide if I could handle the truth.

“One,” he answered curtly, not saying anymore.

He obviously didn’t know me as well as he thought, if he thought I’d be content to leave it at that.

“And…” I prompted.

He groaned and shook his head. “I knew I wouldn’t get away with that one.”

So, he does know me after all.

He sighed in defeat. “Her name was Katie, I knew her from before I hit the big time, we’d sort of grown up together. At school she was the pretty, popular girl that I’d secretly been in love with for years. She’d never shown any interest in me back then, so I don’t know what possessed me to think she was genuinely interested in me all of a sudden.”

I was surprised by this. Parker was gorgeous, talented and kind. I couldn’t imagine that he ever would have gone unnoticed by the opposite sex – rock star status or not. But I did know one thing for sure, I was definitely searching Google for this Katie chick the minute I was alone.

“Anyway, we got together, she lapped up the attention and I made myself believe she really cared about me… long story short, I broke it off after six months and it was messy… real messy.”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

“I caught her fucking around with another guy. Literally caught the two of them red handed… and she had the nerve to look me in the eye and tell me it wasn’t how it looked.” He rolled his eyes. “He was balls-deep inside her, so I’m pretty confident it was how it looked.”

I’d felt like I might have been going to cry, right up until he used the phrase ‘balls-deep’. Now the tears forming in my eyes were tears of laughter.

“I’m so sorry.” I choked out, trying to keep the giggles at bay. ‘But balls-deep?” I lost it. Laughter exploded out of me.

“He was balls-deep,” he insisted before laughing himself.

“Sorry.” I giggled. “It’s terrible really.”

He nodded. “It should have been, but I didn’t even give a fuck when I found them backstage, ya know? She’d shown me her true colours on more than one occasion by this point, and that’s why I knew I had to end it, it was almost a relief.”

“Did you know the guy?”

He nodded. “My publicist. I was more gutted to lose him than I was to lose her.”

Shit.

“I’ve really had a bad run with those,” he joked “I’ll have to remind Jasper that the last ‘straight dude’ I hired for the job ending up fucking my girlfriend.”

I probably shouldn’t have been teasing him, but it was obvious he wasn’t actually in the least bit phased by the ending of that relationship, so I figured there was no real harm done.

“Well I’ve suddenly got a thing for men with tattoos, so if you could take that into account when hiring the new guy, I’d really appreciate it.”

“I knew that you were a sucker for my ink.” He grinned triumphantly.

I rolled my eyes at him. “That would be the stand out piece of information for you, wouldn’t it?”

“Damn straight.” He winked. “And besides, you’re at least one thousand times smarter and more real than Katie ever was. You’re not going to go banging the minions when you’ve got the king waiting at home.” He had a shit-eating grin on his face, and I knew he was intentionally acting like a cocky bastard.

I made a fake gagging motion and he laughed loudly.

“All hail the King,” I deadpanned.

Parker flicked the radio on as he chuckled at my reaction.

“Speak of the devil…” I giggled as one of my very own rock star’s songs came on.

“Oh my god!” I swooned like a fan girl. “I loooove this song.”

He groaned.

“Sing it for me?” I pleaded, batting my eyelashes at him.

“Nope,” he replied without missing a beat. “I’ll pass.”

I reached for the dial and turned it up louder.

Parker shook his head in amusement as I belted out the chorus of his hit song ‘Touched’.

His hand snaked out in an attempt to turn it down, or maybe even off, but I caught it and clasped it in mine.

“You’re a terrible singer,” he yelled over the music.

He wasn’t wrong – I was awful. But I didn’t care.

“You sing it for me then,” I yelled back with a wink.

“Anything to make you stop,” he teased before launching into the verse with all of his vocal perfection.

I sighed as I leaned my head back against the leather seat of his Range Rover and watched him.

I don’t know what it was about that husky voice of his, but it got under my skin like nothing ever had before.

There was something special about watching Parker sing… he felt it deep down in his bones, and it was obvious for everyone to see that he was doing exactly what he was put on this earth to do.

His talent was incredible.

And sexy as hell…

 

 

“Is that you Han?” I called as I heard the clatter of keys on the hall table.

“Who else would it be, you little nut bar?” she called back from the living room.

I pulled my hair up into a bun as I strolled out to give her an interrogation about her whereabouts, just like any good friend would.

“You didn’t sleep here last night.” I pointed an accusatory finger at her the moment I laid eyes on her – still in last night’s clothes.

“Neither did you.” She pointed right back at me.

“You know where I was.” I winked at her. “Question is… where were you?”

She narrowed her eyes at me. “You’re awfully chipper for someone who drank their body weight in vodka last night.”

“That…” I pointed at her again. “Would be thanks to all the vomiting.” I grimaced. “And you’re changing the subject.”

“You vomited in front of Parker?” She gaped, apparently outraged with my behaviour.

“Not just in front of him.” I shrugged.

Hannah’s eyes bulged.

“On him too,” I added with a grin.

She let out a small whimper. “Well… it was good while it lasted.” She sighed.

I tilted my head to the side and watched her with amusement. “He’s in my room right now, Han.”

She gaped again. “You threw up on a freakin’ millionaire, celebrity rock star and he didn’t run a mile?”

I shook my head and smirked. “He even rubbed my back and held my hair for me,” I bragged.

“Some kind of sorcery,” she muttered in an accusatory tone as she headed for the kitchen. “At least that explains the flash-ass car out front and the bulky dude dressed in the ‘I blend right in’ suit,” she called out sarcastically.

I’d forgotten Sammy had followed us over here. I absently wondered just how long he would stay out the front of my building for.

He’s committed.

I flopped down on the couch. “Han?” I called after her. “You will tell me where you were.”

“I think we all know the answer to that question,” she called back after a few beats.

No way.

I leapt up out of my seat and followed after her into the kitchen.

“Hannah Montgomery,” I hissed. “Did you, or did you not, bone a certain rock star’s manager?”

She winced.

“Well?” I demanded.

“Technically he boned me,” she offered with a grimace.

I happy danced for a few moments. Hannah didn’t join me.

“Was he bad in the sack?” I asked when I noticed the subdued look on her face.

She swirled the cup of coffee she’d made and shook her head slowly.

“Was he a prick to you?” I demanded, suddenly feeling like I needed to kick Jasper Jones’ ass.

She shook her head again. “No. He was a gentleman.” She sighed in a dreamy way. “He was… perfect.”

What the hell is the problem then?

I raised my brows at her in question.

“I guess I’m kinda sad to see it end. We both agreed it was a one-time thing,” she explained with a quiet, longing tone that I wasn’t accustomed to hearing from her.

I was about to start giving her a hard time about the stupid agreement they’d made when I got distracted by the sight of Parker.

He was still pulling his black t-shirt over his head, giving me a perfect view of his toned chest and abdomen. His tan chinos were slung low on his hips, and his hair was damp like mine from our shared shower.

The thought of that shower had me squirming.

“Tell him to put it away. It’s hurting my eyes.” Hannah groaned dramatically.

I laughed at her teasing. “We’ll talk about you and Mr. Jones later,” I hissed as I headed for the sex on a stick that was wandering around my living room.

“I wasn’t expecting an audience.” He chuckled as he pulled his shirt the rest of the way down. “I hope she hasn’t been here long.” He winked at me.

I blushed. Thankfully Hannah had only just arrived home; things had gotten a little heated… and loud.

Very, very loud…

Parker’s performance in the car had got me all hot and bothered and I hadn’t been able to hold back when we’d walked through the door and found ourselves alone.

Not that Parker was complaining.

“I only just arrived,” Hannah called from the kitchen where she was apparently eavesdropping on our conversation. “But the ‘I just took an after sex shower’ look doesn’t leave much to the imagination to be honest with you.”