Code red, p.16
Code Red, page 16
It was the kind of smile that made me wonder just how much of Maddox’s and my conversations he heard in the car. We were pretty well hidden in the backseat, so I don’t know how much he could see . . . it wasn’t like I paid a great deal of attention to anything but Maddox.
We were shown to our rooms, with reassurances our luggage would be brought up as soon as it arrived. While everyone took a quick break in their rooms, I asked if anyone needed anything, then armed with a list—and Steve and Ivan—I went shopping.
I, at least, had the foresight to change my shirt and put on a cap, not that it made much difference, but having two bodyguards made me hard to miss. Steve was more casual and relaxed, but Ivan was a huge guy that normally got noticed anywhere he went. The fact that he stood like a drill sergeant didn’t help much either.
No paparazzi thankfully, but a few people looked twice. It was ridiculous. I was certain they were trying to figure out who I was. Important enough to have a security detail but not immediately recognizable. I was just really freaking grateful no one had noticed me buying condoms and lube.
If Steve noticed or even cared, he never let on. It certainly wasn’t uncommon for me, or Amber or Ryan, to run to the nearest store and grab a whole list of things, especially on tour.
Hell, even in LA.
It was what we did for them.
Toothpaste, deodorant, face creams, lip balms, sunscreen, dental floss, ibuprofen, multivitamins, condoms . . . Five guys traveling around the world, someone was bound to forget something or run out of something.
We made it through the store and were almost out the door when two people came up to us. It was a guy and a girl. They looked kinda young, friendly enough. “Hey, you’re with Atrous. Roscoe, Maddox’s manager, right? Can we have a photo?”
Ivan stepped in. “No photos,” he said, his voice deep and final. They barely came up to his shoulders.
I had both hands full. What did they want me to do? Put the bags down and pose with them? For fuck’s sake.
“We just want a photo,” the girl cried. Other people had stopped and were looking at us, and it was all happening in the doorway of the store.
Now Steve stepped in. There was something about him, the fact that he was shorter than most security, but there was a scary edge to him, and his gaze could cut glass. The young couple backed off and we managed to get into the van and leave without incident, even though I knew, without a doubt, there would be photos or footage somewhere.
Steve took the front seat, as per usual, and Ivan climbed into the back with me. I dumped the shopping bags onto the seat next to me. “Do you think they were a plant?”
Steve answered, “Probably.”
A plant was someone or someones paid by a media outlet to cause a scene with a celebrity. A photographer lay in wait and took all the damning photos that earned them a shit ton of money. Basically, the kind of garbage you see sprayed all over cheap tabloid papers and websites.
Thank god it hadn’t turned ugly.
Still, someone was going to be pissed when I got back to the hotel.
And I wasn’t wrong.
“What do you mean a fucking plant?” Maddox said. “Someone tried to start something with you?” I’d been back at the hotel for all of twenty minutes and was in my room when Maddox had come banging on my door after overhearing Ivan telling someone about our trip.
“We don’t know for sure. Probably. They were too aware, too perfect, ready-to-cry-victim type of people.”
“Did they get to you? Touch you?” His eyes were wide and fierce. “If they fucking touched you . . .”
I put my hand to his cheek. “No. Ivan and Steve were with me. They didn’t get near me.” I kissed him softly, trying to calm him down. His concern for me was sweet and his want to protect me played a squeezy game with my heart. “I’m fine.”
He growled, still not convinced. “I should have gone with you.”
I snorted. “And made everything ten times worse.”
He snarled and then pouted. “Fucking fuck.”
“Oh. Speaking of that.” I picked up the bag from the store that I’d kept aside and turned it over in my hand. “I believe you requested these.”
A smile won out. “Do we have to go to that promo tonight? Can’t we stay here? Alone. All night?” He took the box of condoms out of the bag. “With these?”
“We have to go. It’s a corporate sponsorship thing. It’s at some fancy upmarket place on the river. It used to be a warehouse. There’s a gallery. There’s expensive food, expensive booze. You and the boys can have a few drinks while the sponsors schmooze up to you. You like that kind of thing.”
Maddox stared at me like I’d lost my mind. “No, I hate every single thing about that.”
I grinned at him because I knew he’d hate every minute. “It’ll be fun.”
“It’d be much more fun if we stayed in.”
I laughed. “True. But still, you’re expected to be there.”
He sighed, then tossed the condoms onto my suitcase, where I’d made some kind of attempt to unpack a few things. He ran both hands through his black hair, his long black earrings swaying with the movement. “I still can’t believe you got harassed at a freaking store. That shit pisses me off.”
“I’m fine. Though I must say, you being pissed off on my behalf is kinda hot.”
“Fuck off,” he said, but he smiled in the end. “And what the hell am I supposed to wear tonight?”
I shrugged as I walked to him. “Whatever’s easy for me to get you out of. Keep the earrings though.” I lifted his chin and kissed him. “Now go get cleaned up. We leave in forty-five minutes.”
We were all in the common room waiting for Maddox, of course. Everyone was standing around an iPad watching the footage of me leaving the store, how Ivan intervened and how Steve ended it. It was actually kinda funny to watch Steve step in and see the couple both take a step back.
“It was definitely a set up,” Luke said. “Look at how well-positioned the guy with the camera is.”
“And it was uploaded right after,” Blake added.
It certainly seemed like it.
“Look at how quick they back up when Steve gets involved,” Wes said with a laugh. “He must have given them the just-fucking-try-it eyes.”
Jeremy laughed too. “Yep. The fuck-around-and-find-out eyes. My mother can stop people with that look.”
“What are we watching?” Maddox asked. I hadn’t noticed him walk in. But holy hell, I noticed him now.
He wore tight black jeans with more rips in them than denim, and a black V-neck T-shirt that looked so soft, I wanted to touch it. It was half-tucked in at the front, his belt buckle was black and shiny, matching his boots. He wore his usual black cap that was hotter than it had any right to be. He’d kept the long black earrings, four in each ear, just like I’d asked him to.
He was so fucking hot, all I could do was stare. Until Jeremy nudged me.
Fuck.
I shook my head and pretended my phone was the most important thing I’d ever seen.
“About time you showed up,” Blake said, giving Maddox a shove.
He shoved him back with a laugh. “Fuck off. It takes time to look this good.”
“Oh, please,” Wes scoffed. “You wake up like that.”
Jeremy was still staring at me.
He knew. I was certain of it.
I pretended not to notice. “Vehicles are waiting. Let’s go.”
Maddox was now staring at the iPad. He watched the footage, then he stared at me. I pretended not to notice that either.
Ryan walked in and clapped his hands. “Come on. Chariots are waiting.”
I held the door as everyone filed out and made their way to the elevators. “You said it was nothing,” Maddox said, apparently not caring who heard.
“Because it was nothing,” I replied, cutting him a glance that told him to shut it.
“When I asked that you have your own detail, I thought it was precautionary. Not a necessity.”
“Steve and Ivan had it handled,” Jeremy said.
“So no one gives a shit that Roscoe now needs his own security? What’s next? Our families? Your ex-girlfriends? Grandparents? That’ll be nice.”
Jeremy, Wes, Blake, and Luke all looked at him, then at each other. He had a point, and when he put it like that, they knew it.
Steve, who had stood silently by the elevator doors, said, “I’ve already spoken to Mr. Ambrose.” He looked at the boys. “Maddox is right.”
The elevator doors opened and everyone piled in . . . except for Maddox. So I stopped, and so did Steve. “We’ll take the next one,” Maddox said as the doors slid closed.
The elevator next to it dinged and the doors opened. Steve held the doors and thankfully it was empty. I swiped my card and pressed the basement button before I turned to face him. “Maddox,” I said calmly. “I said I was fine.”
“This time,” he said, his eyes full of fire. “You were fine this time. She was close enough to touch you, Roscoe. And close enough to touch you is close enough to hurt you. She could have had a gun or—”
The elevator came to a stop at a floor halfway down, and as the doors opened, Steve casually stepped in front of us. A middle-aged couple stepped in and gave us a smile, though Maddox pulled his cap down and stared at the floor.
Our conversation was over, for now. A conversation in front of Steve. A conversation between a band member and their manager.
Except it wasn’t. We weren’t just that anymore.
Maddox’s anger at the situation was born from concern, which meant he cared. So, considering Steve had his back to us, I put my hand on Maddox’s back and rubbed gentle circles. His shirt was as soft as it looked.
The elevator stopped at the lobby and the couple got out. Steve quickly hit the close-door button and he leaned against the wall. I didn’t move my hand from Maddox’s back . . . not fast enough, anyway. Somehow reassuring Maddox meant more than letting Steve see.
“We’re increasing security,” Steve said. “I’m meeting a team tomorrow to stay with us for the South American leg. The venue tonight has its own security. As part of the promotional deal, they have to secure the clientele.”
Maddox gave a nod. “Thanks.”
The doors opened to the basement, Steve ushered us into the last van and closed the door behind us, and the three cars rolled out. I understood Maddox’s concern. I really did.
A few years before, in the middle of a red-carpet event, a celebrity was hit with a water bomb. It made the news all over the world for the simple fact that it could have so easily been not-water. What if it had been some kind of acid or a poison? Or some disgusting bodily fluid, or something that person was deadly allergic to? They’d been lucky . . . it had been water.
But it was a bit of a wake-up call. It changed a lot of security standards, for very good reason.
And Maddox was right. That couple at the store had got close enough to touch me, close enough to harm me. They could have hurt Ivan or Steve too. They were trained to know how to handle that, but I wasn’t.
I never thought I’d have to deal with this shit.
“You okay?” I asked Maddox.
He nodded. Kind of. “Better, now that I know they’re increasing security. Christ, Roscoe . . . seeing how close they got to you . . .”
I put my hand on his thigh. “I know. And I appreciate your concern. I do.”
He slid his hand over mine and slung his leg over mine. “No one touches you but me.”
I rubbed my hand up his leg. “Is that right?”
He smirked with an edge in his eye. “Yes.”
“And this outfit you chose to wear tonight,” I murmured. “Is it not a little sexy for a promotional photo event? Were you sewn into these jeans?”
His grin widened. “Consider it foreplay.”
I laughed. “Foreplay?”
“Yep. You’ll be thinking about taking me out of these jeans all night, so when we get back to the hotel, you won’t want to do anything else.”
Goddammit.
He chuckled. “You thinking about it already?”
I laughed and shifted in my seat. “You play a savage game.”
He smirked, but not for long. “Is this a game for you, Roscoe?”
Well, shit.
“No. Is this a game to you, Maddox?”
“No.” He played with my fingers that were resting on his thigh. “No, it’s not.”
Christ. Was this some kind of admission of his feelings?
“How long do we have to be here tonight?” he asked, changing the topic.
“It officially ends at ten.”
“So we leave at ten, right?”
I chuckled. “You’re the boss.”
The event dragged. Yes, the telecom company paid a fortune to have Atrous be the face of their product. Yes, it was a huge deal. Yes, this had been planned for almost a year. And yes, the food was lovely, the venue was gorgeous, the service was exceptional. Neil Ambrose worked the crowd and sponsors like the pied piper, and there really was no wonder why he was the one in charge.
But watching Maddox smile and laugh, pose for photoshoots, watching him charm every man and woman in the place, watching people vying for his attention, his affection, made me want to walk up to him in front of everyone, take a hold of his beautiful face, and kiss him like I knew he liked.
And knowing it was very likely that when we got back to the hotel, I was going to take him to bed, that I would be inside him, made me want to leave.
I’d stayed with Amber and Ryan most of the night, making sure none of the boys needed anything, of course. But it was well managed. These sorts of functions were extremely well catered for, no one wanted for anything. They also had professional photographers who were the only ones allowed so we didn’t need to run interference. Our own security stuck to the wings, and all in all it was a pleasant evening.
But by God, I wanted to take Maddox and leave. It was almost ten o’clock, but every minute felt like thirty.
“Hey,” Jeremy said, bumping shoulders with me. I was leaning against the wall, staying out of the way with Ryan and Amber while keeping an eye on everyone. I hadn’t seen him come over, and I hadn’t noticed Ryan and Amber leave. They were talking to Wes and Luke, smiling about something, and I’d been standing there watching Maddox talk to some exec.
“Oh, hey,” I replied, giving Jeremy my full attention. “Wassup?”
“Was going to ask you the same thing.”
I was confused for a second. “About what?”
“About what’s going on between you and Maddox.”
Oh.
I felt blood drain from my face. “What do you mean?”
Jeremy laughed quietly and turned to where Maddox stood. “I know my boy,” he replied coolly. “And I know when he’s getting some. Now tonight, he keeps searching the room for you and you can’t take your eyes off him. It doesn’t take Picasso to paint this picture, Roscoe.”
I tried to swallow and couldn’t.
“Jeremy, I—”
“Hey,” Maddox interrupted us. He gave us a cautious smile. “What’s going on here?”
Jeremy clapped his hand on Maddox’s shoulder. “Roscoe here was just about to tell me how long you two have been a thing.” He grinned at Maddox. “And then you’re going to tell me why you never told me.”
Chapter Eleven
Maddox shot me a wild look, shocked, then he looked at Jeremy and he sighed like he was relieved. “I’ll tell you everything,” he said. “But not here.”
Considering where we were, that was a very good idea.
“So I’m right?” Jeremy asked.
Maddox’s reply was quick and definite. “Yes.”
“And you never told me because . . .”
“Because I asked him not to,” I answered.
Jeremy met my eyes and nodded slowly. Someone walked past us and Jeremy gave them a bright, albeit fake, smile before turning back to Maddox. “So the others were just talking to Ryan and Amber about hitting a club. Steve’s gonna flip his shit, but whatever. Don’t suppose you want to join us?”
Maddox shook his head. “Jer, I’m peopled out.”
Jeremy nodded. He knew three hours was about Maddox’s quota of being his public persona. “Didn’t think so.”
“If you want me to go, I’ll go,” Maddox amended.
Jeremy sighed and put his hand on Maddox’s arm. “Nah, it’s okay. I get it. But I’ll tell you what,” he said. “I’m riding with you and Roscoe to the nightclub. You can drop me off and it will give you fifteen minutes to tell me everything.”
Maddox nodded. “Deal.”
Jeremy clapped his hands together and grinned. “Good. I’ll go let them know.” And he wandered back to the others, leaving me alone with Maddox.
Maddox shrugged. “Well, I wanted to tell him.”
So that was that.
Ten minutes later, after Steve had organized what needed organizing, the promotional evening was over and it was announced that Atrous was leaving. With security tight, we made our way from the gallery through the restaurant and bar to the waiting vans. The crowd was actually great, very respectful and polite. Though I doubted the nightclub would be the same.
We filed into the van. Maddox climbed straight into the backseat and Jeremy followed, sitting beside him. I sat near the door but turned to face them the best I could.
Jeremy waited for the door to close. He looked at both of us in turn. “You’ve got fifteen minutes.”
“I wanted to tell you,” Maddox began.
“How long?”
“Since this tour.”
Jeremy nodded slowly. “I thought so. Something was different between you. There’s been more staring than usual, more private conversations.”
“It is different,” Maddox answered quietly.
“And it’s complicated,” I added. “Obviously people can’t know.”
Jeremy stared at me like I was stupid. “Well, it might help if you don’t spend every waking minute staring at him like it’s the first time you’ve seen him. Because anyone in that room tonight could have seen it. Or earlier tonight when he first came into the common room and I had to nudge you to pick your tongue up off the floor. And, I might add, the way you’ve been looking at him isn’t exactly PG.”
