Not Your Groupie: A Second Chance Rock Star Romance Read online

  The security head grinned. “Sure thing Grant, though I’d prefer an autographed picture if you don’t mind. My daughter is a big fan. Says you guys are retro and all that.”

  “I think I can arrange that,” I said.

  I didn’t make a sour face until I turned away from the guy. Retro? I know he meant well, but yeesh. We’d only been out of the spotlight for ten years.

  That explained why some of the girls coming to our shows were so young. I wasn’t going to knock being retro if it put paying butts in seats, but it still stung just a little.

  This tour made me feel old. I longed for Malibu where I could live quietly off the small fortune I made during our first brush with fame.

  I looked at my phone. The map said this place was just around the corner so I started walking. I kept my head down at first, but soon enough it was back up because why bother?

  This side of the arena was strangely deserted, mostly business stuff and businesses built to cater to business types. Definitely not the sort of place where you’d find concert-goers.

  It was nice going for a walk without worrying about paparazzi or crazy fans trying to chase me down. Not that I’d had to worry about the first all that much in recent years. At least not before the tour.

  Now that we were sort of back in the news people were interested again, but I was even less inclined to play along these days since most of the stories were of the “let’s all laugh at the aging wannabes on tour” variety.

  Yeah, fuck those guys.

  The diner was pretty nice. It had an old time feel to it, though whether that was because it had been sitting here for fifty years or because they deliberately made it up to have an old-timey feel was anyone’s guess.

  I stopped at the front counter wondering if I was about to run into someone who might call the press. I breathed a sigh of relief when an older lady who looked like she hadn’t been in the Twenty Promises target demographic for at least the fifty years came out from the back.

  She looked like she could’ve been working here since the diner opened.

  “Can I help you?”

  “Do I need to sit at the counter here or can I take a seat at a booth?”

  “Whatever floats your boat hon,” she said in a raspy voice that said she’d maybe had one too many cigarettes over the years.

  I decided it would be a good idea to take a seat at one of the booths running along the front of the diner. Sure there were big picture windows along that side and anyone walking past could look in and see me or take a picture, but the area was so deserted that I wasn’t particularly worried.

  I’d long ago learned that it paid to sit in a nice quiet corner where I was less likely to be noticed even if the coast did seem to be mostly clear.

  My instincts served me well tonight. No sooner had the elderly waitress taken my order, a simple burger and some fries, than I heard the bell ring over the door and a girl walked in who was unmistakably dressed to go to a concert. She looked over in my direction and instinctively I put my head down.

  Damn it. I’d gone to all this trouble to find a nice out of the way place to have a quick meal and now a fan managed to find me anyway despite my best efforts. There really was no escape.

  I looked up once I figured enough time had passed that the coast was clear. Got a really good look at this girl for the first time, and…

  Damn.

  Like, seriously. Damn.

  This girl was hot. Sure I was only catching glimpses. She sparkled. Almost like there was an unspoken dress code for women at our concerts that included dressing up as a disco ball. Aside from that, though, damn.

  Long hair flowed down past her shoulders, a killer body that filled out that sparkly disco ball outfit that was also somehow see-through in all the right places, and when she turned in my direction I saw a pair of stunning blue eyes to go along with the shiny dark hair and a smile that immediately had my cock standing up and taking notice.

  That was new for this tour. Sure I’d seen girls and thought they were hot, but I’d never gotten a hard on looking at any of them. No, that was the sort of thing that led to problems, and problems were the last thing I wanted on this tour.

  I just wanted to make some money, have some fun reliving old memories, and go back to my nice house on the coast where I could enjoy all the advantages of hitting it big young and having the good sense to come up with a nice investment portfolio rather than blowing it all on parties and cars and drugs or whatever the hell it was people did to spiral out of control and provide some drama for the VH1 documentary.

  Still. I’d only gotten one look at her but already there was something different about this girl. I knew it was a bad idea, but I found myself wanting to go over and introduce myself. I always loved the look girls got when they realized who I was, but that wasn’t a look I’d enjoyed in quite some time.

  Here was an opportunity to have that fun considering this was a girl who was here for the concert. Yeah, she’d know exactly who I was. It didn’t hurt that she was hot.

  Besides, she seemed to be here by herself. I could have a quick conversation and duck back to the arena. I’d be gone before whatever she posted to social media had a chance to get very far, assuming anyone believed her in the first place.

  There was a voice in the back of my head whispering that this was a bad idea. I ignored that voice. I was just going up to say hi. That’s all this was.

  Even if she was getting me turned on in a way that a fan hadn’t in a good long while, it’s not like anything was going to come of a brief meeting in some diner. I’d have some fun with a fan, she’d get a thrill, and we’d part friends.

  Nothing like what happened the last time I fell for a fan.

  I didn’t care what that little voice was whispering. I was compelled by a more powerful force. Whether that more powerful force was the universe trying to push me towards this girl or just my cock noticing a pretty girl and short circuiting the more rational thinking parts of my brain was anyone’s guess, but I was a slave to that force.

  So I stood and made my way over to give one lucky fan the concert experience of a lifetime.

  This was going to be fun.

  4

  Mia

  "This is spooky."

  "Tell me about it," Kayla said.

  "It's never like this during the day."

  "No way," Kayla said. "The whole place is packed with people."

  Downtown looked like a ghost town now. The only people around were a couple of homeless people packing it up for the night. My stomach grumbled and I looked around.

  "Is there any place we could eat that's open this late?" I asked.

  "Sure! There's plenty of restaurants around here," Kayla said. "Like…"

  Only I didn't see anything that looked like it was remotely close to being open. We were on the financial side of the big arena rather than the night life side. Not that I came to the night life side of things that often these days.

  Most of the restaurants around here were a breakfast and lunch type of deal. Everything in this part of downtown shut down around 5 o'clock. Except for the arena when there was a concert or a game. Why the hell would any of the restaurants bother to stay open if there were no customers?

  "Maybe if we went to the other side of the arena?" Kayla said.

  "Maybe there's something behind the arena? Surely places right there would stay open for games and stuff."

  "I really kind of wanted to get to our seats. Can't you just eat there?" Kayla asked.

  "And pay an arm and a leg for my food? No thanks. I'm not made of money!"

  Kayla sighed. "Fine."

  I looked around again. It really was spooky how deserted this part of town got after 5 o'clock. It was almost enough to send a chill down my spine.

  I could almost imagine people lurking in the shadows, lurking in the alleys, but there probably weren't even criminals down here. Criminals needed people to prey on. Even the muggers were probably off in another part of town
where there were people to rob.

  "How about this?" I said. "You want to get to the arena. I want to have dinner without paying fifty dollars for a cheap hot dog. Why don't you go ahead and I'll catch up after I've found a diner or something and grabbed a quick bite to eat."

  Kayla regarded me skeptically. "This isn't some attempt to get out of this? You're not going to turn around and go back to our apartment the instant I lose sight of you, are you?"

  I laughed and pulled Kayla into a hug. A hug that seemed to surprise her from the way her eyes went wide. Then she wrapped her arms around me.

  "Don't worry," I said. "I'll be there. I just need food. I had to skip lunch at work today."

  Kayla pulled back. "Fine. Have fun with your greasy food!"

  "And you have fun with all those older women trying to recapture their youth. Be sure to let me know how many forty-something women you see trying to squeeze into outfits they haven't been able to fit into for twenty years!"

  Kayla rolled her eyes. "Watch it."

  I held up my hands. "I know, I know. That was the last one tonight. Promise."

  Kayla went on her merry way and I turned and looked around. There wasn't anything open. There were no lights to be seen on the first level of any building. Sure there were lights twinkling in some of the towers, but I was pretty sure none of the lights up there were hiding a diner or a restaurant or anything like that.

  Maybe a break room with some popcorn, but I needed dinner. I pulled out my phone and tapped, tried to find something that was actually open this time of night in this part of town.

  My face lit up. There was a small diner that was pretty close to the arena. More importantly it looked like the only place on this side of the arena that was still open.

  So with phone in hand I navigated towards it.

  I stepped inside and the smell of burgers and fries hit me. That wasn't normally the kind of thing I'd go for, I had a figure to watch after all, but as far as I was concerned it was manna from the heavens tonight. I sidled up to the counter. An actual honest to God counter where you could order and eat.

  The only other person in the place was some guy in a booth at the far end with his head down chowing down on a burger and fries. This seemed like a very burger and fries type of place.

  I put in my order with an older waitress with a sweet smile and a voice that sounded like she’d enjoyed one cigarette too many over the years.

  The waitress had just put my meal down and I was about to bite into when a shadow fell across me. I looked up and blinked.

  It was the guy who'd been sitting in the corner with his head down eating. At least I assumed this was the same guy. The hair color was the same and it's not like there was anybody else in here.

  And holy shit. Good goddamn.

  I'd said I didn't have a chance of meeting a hot guy at the concert, but I guess I'd never taken into account meeting a hot guy somewhat adjacent to the concert. This guy was built without necessarily being huge. He looked like a guy who took care of himself. Spent time on the weights. Had the sort of six pack abs that showed through a tight T-shirt and made me want to lick him.

  Well then. Where the hell did that thought come from? I gave myself a mental shake. Tried to come out of this funk. Only his six pack, his toned chest, his broad shoulders, that cocky confident smile on his face.

  He was the full package.

  I went weak in the knees. It was a damn good thing I was sitting on a stool because otherwise I’d be falling on my ass, and it wouldn't be a good first impression to fall on my ass right in front of this incredibly hot guy, now would it?

  Talk about your all time terrible first impressions. That would probably beat out the time I went up to ask Grant Thomas to dance with me at a seventh grade dance. Incidentally it was a Twenty Promises song playing which wasn't winning any points for the group let me tell you.

  I'd tripped on my formal dress, ripping it in several places and also face planting in the process. Enough blood came pouring out of my nose that night that anyone who saw probably worried I was about to pass out from the blood loss.

  Only they were all wrong. I knew what was really going to kill me that night. That was the night that I very nearly had the world's very first case of a clinically proven death from embarrassment.

  Of course I wasn't even asking the good questions here. Like why did this guy decide to come over from where he was sitting and obviously trying to avoid being seen? Why was he smiling down at me with that expectant grin on his face?

  What was he expecting?

  Oh no. It had to be the way I was dressed. I blushed. And at the same time I could've killed Kayla. He probably thought I was a hooker. I wasn't sure if hookers hung out in the financial district at this time of night when there weren’t many customers around, but all that was really needed was for him to assume that's what I was.

  And of course there was also another reason for that blush. A thought that ashamed me even as it excited me. I was thinking about how nice it would be to maybe play that role for a little while. Have a little fun with this guy. Even if he was the kind of guy to approach a hooker in the middle of a diner.

  It was completely out of character for me and it might be saying something about the dry spell I'd been in that the idea of living up to my outfit and completely slutting it up was giving me a thrill.

  "Can I help you?" I asked.

  “You're going to the concert?"

  I looked down at my outfit and laughed. "Am I that obvious?"

  “Let's just say I've been to a few of these and you kind of look the part."

  A laugh and a pregnant pause where it seemed like he was waiting for me to say something. Waiting for me to do something. What the hell he was expecting was beyond me, but whatever.

  This guy was obviously a little weird. Incredibly hot, but a little weird.

  "Wait a minute," I said. "Did you just say you've been to a few of these concerts?"

  There was that laugh again. Followed by that same look. Only this time there was something else there as well. Confusion. He was expecting me to react in some way, but I didn't know what the hell he was looking for.

  "Well yeah," he said. "I kind of follow the group around…"

  And then a light went off in my head. "Oh that's so sweet! You have a crush on one of the guys in the band or something? Do you go with your boyfriend?"

  Whatever it was he thought I was going to say it was plain from the look of confusion on his face that what I said was the last thing he expected. And then he laughed that easy sexy laugh.

  "No," he said. "No boyfriend. I'm sort of unattached at the moment."

  I reached out and put my hand on his. I felt an electric shock. Damn. Why were all the good ones either taken or gay? Especially with the way his touch made me feel. Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly his touch. I was touching him. But whatever.

  Close enough.

  "I'm sorry," I said. "Was it a bad breakup?"

  He took a seat at the stool next to me and leaned against the counter. He smiled again. That mysterious smile. "You might say that."

  "Well whoever he was, he doesn't deserve you!"

  "You could say that. So I take it you're not a big fan of the band?"

  I blushed again. Damn, this guy had a way of making me blush. He had a way of making me feel like that schoolgirl going up to ask Grant for that dance. It wasn't an entirely unpleasant feeling.

  "Am I that obvious?"

  “It's pretty obvious to me when somebody isn't a fan of the group."

  I sighed. "What can I say? They came along at a time when I was rebelling against anything popular. And they were the most ridiculously popular thing out there when I was in high school."

  He blinked. “High school?"

  "Yeah? Why?"

  "Nothing," he said. "Just suddenly feeling kind of old."

  I laughed. "Are you serious? You don't look like you could be more than…"

  It suddenly occurred to me that th
is could be a sensitive subject. Still, he didn't look like he was any older than maybe his late twenties or early thirties.

  Not much older than me at all, in the grand scheme of things. Sure a few years ago it would've been an eternity, but now that I was out in the real world my sense of scale when it came to age and relationships had adjusted.

  Not that I'd had much chance to put that revised scale into practice.

  "You can't be older than your early thirties," I said.

  "Younger than that, actually," he said. "I just hit the big thirty, and it's been hitting me pretty hard. You're making me feel my age saying you were in high school when the band first hit."

  "You're being ridiculous. Besides, I'd kill to look as good as you when I'm getting to thirty. Most of the people I work with that age have really let themselves go."

  He arched an eyebrow. "As good as me? You really think I look that good, huh?”

  There was a mischievous twinkle to his eyes. A twinkle that would've sent a chill running down my spine if I didn't know he was interested in the gentlemen.

  Not that there was anything wrong with that particular choice, far from it. It was just frustrating knowing that particular choice was keeping me away from what seemed to be one hell of a catch at first glance.

  "You know what I mean," I said. "Obviously you keep in shape. Besides, I work with a lot of people your age, not that your age is that old. You're only like seven years older than me…"

  I was babbling. I needed to get control of myself. "The point I'm trying to make is you look damn good!"

  I wanted to put my hand over my mouth. Why the hell was I acting like this? I had the same feeling I got tripping and falling in front of Grant, the only difference being that in this case I was tripping and falling all over myself metaphorically rather than literally. Which was less painful, physically at least, but I still wanted to curl up and die.

  Only he had that easy laugh. He had that easy look. "Well thanks for the compliment. Though I have to admit I have a question for you."

  "Shoot," I said.