Chapter 5
Two hours passed in a blink. Tana couldn’t believe it when the bus stopped behind the venue.
“Oh my God. We’re here.”
Mick winked at her. “Sure are, sweetheart.”
They’d played and sung together the whole time. He hadn’t said another word about the whole publicity stunt relationship. Nothing about Ronnie. Nothing about … any of it.
That deep, smooth, amazing voice of his had just sung the most beautiful love song to her over and over again as he taught it to her. He’d stared into her eyes while he did it.
Like he meant those lyrics he had written.
And Tana knew she was well and truly fucked.
“So, want me to tell Jimmy it’s off?”
“When did you write that song?” she finally asked him.
Mick smiled that devastating trademark smile of his. “Right after your interview. I wrote it through your whole performance. It was done in less than ten minutes. Second-fastest song of my life. My lips to God’s ears, that’s the truth.”
“Why?” she whispered.
“I wrote it to sing with you.”
The lyrics were burned into her mind.
You weren’t my first. But you’ll be my last.
I’ve been around. I’ve run fast.
But with you, girl, I want slow now.
Forever in your arms won’t be long enough.
But I’ll try, girl. Won’t make you cry, girl.
You’ll be forever in my arms, and I won’t lie, girl.
It’s our time, girl.
Forever won’t be long enough, but we’ll try, girl.
“Because of one thing I said in a late-night TV interview?”
“Because I saw what I needed to see, and God is writing the rest of this story as we speak.” He laid his beautiful guitar in its case. “So, you in or you out?”
Tana dropped her head back against the plush quilted leather couch that was more comfortable than any bed she’d ever slept on.
“In for what? Help me understand what the fuck is going on here, Mick. My head is spinning. My life … I don’t recognize it anymore. It’s like this is all happening to someone else.”
She slumped down and stared up at the shiny wood ceiling above her.
The couch depressed beside her.
“Hey. Look at me.”
Tana’s gaze found his stunning baby blues as they looked down at her.
“I get what you’re going through. More than damn near anyone else in the world does. Okay? It happens like that. One day, you’re living the life you’ve always known. And then a moment later, you’re on a rocket-ship ride, living your dreams as they come true right in front of your face.”
“Yeah.”
“I get you, Tana. I get your life. I get the parts that still feel scary and foreign. You’re living in a world I know well. I can help you navigate this—even protect you and keep you on a path to avoid the traps and the detours—but only if you let me.”
“By fake dating you.” It wasn’t a question.
His smile was so beautiful. It lit his eyes from within. “I was trying the real thing, and you dodged me.”
“You’ll fuck anything with tits and a pulse, Mick, if the gossip rags can be believed.”
“One, the gossip rags are not fucking true, and two, I have standards.”
“You had two women arguing over who was gonna blow you. And then some dude said, of course, you could handle them both.”
“And if you’d stuck around, you’d have heard guys talking about fucking you.”
Tana’s eyes felt like they were going to bug out. “What?”
“Welcome to the club. It’s called Life as a Sex Symbol, and you joined it with that sweet little ‘Sugar Pie’ number that put you on the map.”
The possibility had never occurred to Tana. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. And they’ll try. Trust me, there will be men lining up to nail you faster than you can believe. Unless you got Big Daddy Mick for a shield. Ain’t no one touching my girl. You got my word on that.”
She took a deep breath and let out a sigh. She dropped her head back again and stared at the wood as two things occurred to her. One, Big Daddy Mick was hot as fuck. And two, when was the last time anyone wanted to shield her from anything?
Tana glanced over at his face once more. “I still have a boyfriend.”
“I hate to break it to you, sweetheart, but if he said he wasn’t ready to settle down before sending you off into this life, he ain’t much of anything anymore.”
“Still, I owe him the decency to explain before he hears about us from someone else.”
Mick’s eyes gleamed, and Tana knew that he knew she was going to agree. His smile was too damn sexy for her own good.
“Good. Call him from your bus. Tell him you met someone. Tell him you’re sorry, but it’s over because he had his shot and your new man ain’t about to miss his.”
“I can’t say that.”
“Then let me do it.”
“No! Not happening.”
“Then say whatever you want. But if he doesn’t hear about it from you today, he’ll hear about it tomorrow from someone else. Jimmy and Bill are gonna spread this far and wide.”
Tana bit her lip. “Fake dating. That’s it. For now. Okay? I’m not jumping out of a relationship with the guy I’ve been with since I was seventeen to jump into something new with you the same day.”
“Seventeen? Damn, girl. How old are you now?”
“How old are you, Big Daddy Mick?” She couldn’t help herself.
“Honey, when you say it like that … fuck. Fake for how long? Because you … you’re it for me, Tana. You’ll see. I’ll wait. We’ll make it good for the press. Boost your career to the moon. But, sweetheart, you’d better know I’m in this for real.”
“Keep it in your pants for the whole tour, and then we’ll talk about it.”
Heat blazed from his blue eyes. “You’re insane if you think …”
“You just said you’d wait,” she said with a sweet smile.
“You’re gonna fucking kill me, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know, Mick. But some restraint might do you good. How long’s it been since you had to wait for more than a few hours to get inside a woman you wanted?”
His nostrils flared, and Tana wondered where this boldness was coming from.
“You gonna let me get inside you, sweet thing? If I keep my hands off and pants zipped?”
Tana bit down on her lip as heat bloomed between her legs. She squeezed her thighs together ever so slightly, and Mick didn’t miss it.
“I got a comfy-ass bed right back there. I promise you won’t regret it.”
She shook her head. “I ain’t the cheating type. And no matter what my body might say, I gotta call Ronnie first.”
“Tonight. You and me, Tana.”
She shook her head again. “Not yet. I want to be romanced, Mick. Give me the fake. Make me want the real. Deal?”
Mick knew she was going to change his life. Now and forever. For no one else would he ever have agreed to such a thing.
The choice was easy. He’d romance this little filly until she was begging for him. And then … then he’d show her real. So fucking real that she’d be on his bus, in his bed, his ring on her finger, his songs coming from her lips, before she even knew what happened.
Mick held out a hand, and she slid her smaller one into it.
He closed his bigger fingers around hers. “Deal.”