33. Nash
33
NASH
I ’m not the kind of man who lies awake for hours watching a woman sleep because I’m enraptured by the way the morning sunlight dances across her smooth skin and the way her loose blonde hair tickles the inside of her nostrils every so often, making her nose scrunch in annoyance as if that’ll stop it from happening again.
I’m certainly not the type of man who has to stop myself from running my knuckles along a woman’s cheek because I can’t get enough of her soft, supple skin, and smile like a goddamn idiot at the soft snores she makes with each breath. I certainly don’t spend far too long counting every freckle on her face, committing the number to memory.
Fifty-two. That’s how many covers the bridge of her nose and across her cheekbones.
What the fuck has Kinsley May done to me because I’m that fucking man now.
I swallow hard, my eyes dancing across the little devil’s delicate face as the sun rises higher in the sky. I should’ve closed the curtains hours ago to allow her to sleep longer without the sun getting in her eyes, but she looks too damn beautiful at this moment that I’m willing to chance the risk of her waking up annoyed.
Kinsley stirs quietly in her sleep and all I can do is watch as she rolls to her left side, facing me, and blinks slowly. It takes her a minute to get her bearings, her soft blue eyes squinting as she fights against the sleep threatening to consume her once more, before she finally looks at me. She stares at me for a moment, blinking slowly.
I’m not ashamed to admit I could get lost in those blue pools forever, not caring if I were to drown. I would gladly welcome it.
“How long have you been watching me for?” Kin asks quietly, her voice thick with sleep.
“Not long enough.” And that’s the goddamn truth. I could have watched her sleep for many more hours if given the chance. “I couldn’t sleep because you snore so loudly.”
Kinsley snorts and chuckles, her shoulders shaking softly with the movement. “You’re such a liar. If anything, your snoring kept me awake.”
Now I know she’s lying, because I didn’t sleep a wink last night. “Yeah, whatever you say.”
A loud ringtone cuts the conversation short. Kinsley shoots up into a seated position and reaches over to grab her phone off the nightstand. The black sheet covering her body pools around her waist, offering a wonderful view of her perky tits covered in bruises from my mouth. I grin at the sight.
“Hello?” she answers, pressing the device against her ear. “Hey, Adam. Is everything okay?”
I watch Kinsley as she nods along with whatever her manager is saying. She absentmindedly twirls a lock of hair around her finger—a nervous habit, I’m sure.
Somehow, I manage to tear my eyes away from her face to get out of bed. I feel her eyes on my naked body as I walk across the room to the closet beside the bathroom. Her intake of breath makes me chuckle.
I throw on a pair of ripped black jeans and a plain-back T-shirt, not bothered to dress up for the day. When I enter the room, Kinsley hangs up the call with Adam, her eyes on me.
“What did he want?” I grab my thick silver rings from the nightstand and slip them on, waiting for a response.
Kinsley clears her throat and pulls the sheet up to cover her chest. “Well, he wants us to come in for a meeting.”
“Why?” I question with a frown. “It’s Saturday morning.”
“To discuss the scandal situation and how to get the deal back on track. He said your manager will be present too.”
“Ah, yes, the scandal.” I lift my eyes to meet hers. “What you saw in those photos… it isn’t what you’re thinking.”
Kinsley tears her eyes away from mine. “How can I believe you, Nash? You’re a known womanizer, so why would I think you could have suddenly changed?”
I exhale sharply as my hands flex at my sides. “You want to know what I think? I think you do believe that what you saw in those photos is not the truth. Why? Because you’re scared to admit you care about me just as much as I care about you. You have this idea in your head that I’m just fucking around with you and everything that has happened between us is just so I could get my fix. But you’re wrong.”
The words I want to say get caught in my throat. I’m not one to lay my emotions out on a silver platter for anyone, but it’s especially hard with Kinsley because I find myself caring what she thinks about me more and more as the days pass. I don’t want her to see me as some asshole rockstar who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but himself like she did the first day she barged into my bedroom, a fire lit in her eyes.
I want to be… better.
You don’t deserve her. She’s too good for you.
You’re going to be alone for the rest of your days, Nash .
“Nash,” Kinsley calls, her voice barely above a whisper.
I shake my head, unable to continue speaking for fear I might reveal too much of my soul. “Look, believe what you want, little devil, but as much as you think I’m out to hurt you, that’s the last thing I want to do.” Before she can say anything, I turn to leave the room, allowing her some privacy to get dressed and to shield my hurt heart. “I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
I feel her eyes burning holes in the back of my head as I walk out of the room.
Kinsley and I walk into the building of her agency and ride the elevator up to Adam’s office. The silence that befell us when we left the house is fucking suffocating, to say the least. The unspoken words about what happened last night hang in the air like a bad smell, neither of us wanting to comment on it first.
I’m fairly certain I know where Kinsley’s head is at with the whole thing because she told me after I made her come for the third time last night that it couldn’t happen again. And then I made her come a fourth time and the topic wasn’t mentioned anymore, especially because my cock was buried deep in her throat. But now I’m not sure what she’s thinking and it’s driving me insane.
The elevator doors ding open and I follow Kinsley out of the small metal box and down the hallway to her manager’s office. When we step inside, James is already seated next to Adam on one of the couches in front of a large mahogany desk, leaving the other couch free for us.
“I know it’s the weekend, so we appreciate you joining us,” Adam says as we sit opposite them. His eyes flick between us, suspicion swirling in them. “How did you arrive at the same time?”
Kinsley’s eyes widen before she shifts her frame to gaze at me. She’s silently pleading with me not to mention her spending the night at my house, and as much as I would find enjoyment in telling our managers we hooked up last night, I don’t want to start an unnecessary fight with the little devil.
I shrug and lean back against the leather cushion. I’m itching for a fucking cigarette, but Kinsley hates the cancer sticks, so I’ll wait until after the meeting. “Perfect timing, I guess.”
Adam nods, but the crease in his forehead tells me he wants to say more. Thankfully, James beats him to it.
“So, I was speaking with Adam just now about the photos of Nash and that woman circulating the media,” James begins. “After some major damage control, we think we’ve managed to defuse the situation by making sure everyone believes the story we spun about the woman being a crazed fan who made her way onto the property to meet Nash. The photos snapped of you both leaving Limelight last night certainly give credit to said story. But now we need to get you two together in public again to show the media and fans that you’re a united front and stronger than ever. The sooner the better.”
When I eventually answered James’s call the day the photos were leaked, I made sure he understood my side of the story and how I had nothing to do with Kitty showing up at my house like that. He had the same uncertain tone in his voice that Kinsley had this morning, but after a long conversation, he believed me and instantly got to work rectifying the situation.
I hate that this is even an issue, but this isn’t my first scandal and it certainly won’t be the last. I just hate that Kinsley got dragged into it.
“What do you have in mind?” I lift my ankle to rest on my knee, my eyes flicking between Adam and James.
Adam clears his throat and focuses his attention on Kinsley instead of me. “We thought either of you might have an idea in mind. It needs to be something other than going out for dinner or to a bar. We want everyone to see you both having fun with each other.”
Kinsley taps her chin thoughtfully, her tongue poking out between her lips. I bite back a smile, not even remotely caring about coming up with an idea when the little devil is more entertaining to watch.
After a moment, her eyes brighten as if a light bulb just switched on inside her head. “I have an idea. Why don’t we go to a drive-in?” She poses the question to me more so than our managers.
I raise a brow at her. “A drive-in?”
She nods eagerly, like a little kid who just received candy. “It’ll be a lot of fun, trust me. And it’s a public outing that will show us having fun. It couldn’t be more perfect.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s do it,” I agree. Not because I think it’s a good idea at all, but because she’s so excited about the idea. I can’t find it in me to say no. “I get to choose the movie though.”
Kinsley opens her mouth to disagree but instead snaps it shut when I shoot her a pointed look. If she gets to choose the activity, then I get to pick what movie we see. “Okay, you have yourself a deal.”
Adam and James are staring at us with confused expressions on their faces, but they recover quickly.
James claps his hands together. “Okay, wonderful. Make sure you visit the drive-in next Saturday night, and I’ll make sure the information is tipped to the paps to ensure some are there waiting to snap photos.”
Adam and James go on to discuss other details about the drive-in, but I’m no longer listening. The need to have a cigarette between my lips and to feel the burn of nicotine in my lungs is all-consuming. I can’t focus on anything right now.
When the meeting concludes, I all but jump off the couch and rush out of the building to have a fucking goddamn smoke.
As soon as I step foot on the sidewalk, I lean against the building and bring a cherry to my lips. My skin prickles with heat as the sun bares down on my skin, but I welcome the warmth.
A sense of calm washes over me after the first drag. The tension in my shoulders dissipates and my mind clears ever-so-slightly as smoke billows out from between my lips.
Oh yeah, that’s what I fucking needed.
I close my eyes and slow my breathing. This may be the longest I’ve ever gone without smoking and it makes me wonder how people who have been doing this longer than I have go cold turkey.
I know for a fact I wouldn’t last an entire day before I had one between my lips, inhaling the smoke like a goddamn chimney.
“How did I know you would be out here smoking.”
The little devil’s floral scent hits me almost immediately. It’s a smell I’ve come to enjoy over the past couple of months.
My eyes snap open to find Kinsley standing in front of me with her arms folded over her chest. Because she didn’t have any extra clothes with her, I let her borrow my Queen graphic shirt. She has the fabric tucked into the waistband of the black denim skirt she wore to the bar last night. I offered to go out and buy her new shoes to wear, but she didn’t mind wearing the thigh-high boots that make her legs look amazing.
I must admit I also didn’t mind.
I shrug a shoulder and gaze down at her. “I held off long enough. Besides, I needed a little pick me up after that meeting.”
Kinsley snorts and leans against the building beside me. “You’re right, they’re so boring.” She turns to face me, her eyes boring into the side of my face. “I believe you, Nash.”
I raise a brow at her. “Believe me about what?”
She exhales slowly, pressing her back against the building. The sunlight beaming down on her smooth skin reminds me how much I want to feel it beneath my fingertips, revelling in the goosebumps they leave in their wake.
“The scandal… I believe you.”
I turn my body to face her, drinking in the warmth in her ocean eyes. “Good, because I have no intention of ever hurting you, unless you ask me, of course.”
Kinsley bites back a smile. “I know.”
The words hold so much weight to them without her having to elaborate. A mutual understanding, if you will.
“I’m glad we’re finally back on the same page, little devil.”
Kin clears her throat. “So, you’re okay with going to a drive-in?”
I take a hit from the cheery and blow the smoke away before turning to look at her. “As long as you’re okay with me choosing the movie.”
She rolls her eyes playfully. “Fine. Just as long as you promise to keep your hands to yourself.”
I roll my tongue against my cheek, a smirk forming on my lips. “Oh, little devil, I will only touch you if you beg me to. You know I love it when you beg.”
Her cheeks turn a light pink color before she snaps her head forward, refusing to meet my gaze. “I’m not going to beg you for anything.”
“We both know you’re a liar because, by the end of the night, I’ll have you begging for my touch. That’s a promise I’m willing to make.”