Her fingers hovered over the keyboard as she tried to make sense of the notes in front of her. It was the final piece of work in her inbox and there was just ten minutes until she could head home.
“Miss Thomas.”
Her eyes moved from the document she was working on to the doorway. “Yes, Bryan?”
It was a shame he was such a beast, because standing there with the late afternoon sun on his face, his shirtsleeves rolled up and his tie loosened, he looked like every woman’s dream.
“I need you to go home and pack a bag.”
She frowned. “A bag…for what?”
“There’s a problem with one of our clients.” He arched an eyebrow. “One you seem to have a particular interest in.” He wandered towards her and picked up the water globe sitting on her desk and turned it upside down, watching as the glitter drifted downwards. “I need to head on up to Detroit to check up on things but I also need to finish the Rawlinson report. I need you close by to handle any of the typing and correspondence that comes up.”
“Can’t you do that over the telephone or by e-mail?” Or by yourself?, she added silently.
He shook his head defiantly. “I need someone there in person. It will only be a couple of days.”
“What about Shannon?”
“She left an hour ago to visit her brother in California.”
“I can’t leave just like that.”
“Natalia,” he said firmly, “I need to be on the seven-thirty flight to Detroit. Now I suggest you be there or you might as well pack your things up now.”
“But-” Her words were cut off as the door banged closed. She sighed, pulling her fingers through her hair. “Since when has he been so work-orientated,” she huffed, opening her desk drawer to retrieve her keys, then slamming it shut forcefully.
She closed down her computer, grabbed her coat and bag and stalked out into the open-plan area of the office, clutching the unfinished letter in her hand.
“Barbara, could you do me a favour and type this up? I need to get home, pack and catch a flight.” Her head pounded as she thought about her schedule for the rest of the night.
The silver-haired woman smiled as she took the letter, scanning it quickly. “No problem. Going anywhere nice?”
“Up north—business reasons.”
“Well don’t work too hard.”
“I won’t.” With any luck she’d be able to catch up with Justin. That was the silver-lining in all this. All she had to do now was tell her brother he was going to be playing house for the next few days. He was sure to be thrilled.
Natalia followed Bryan into the hotel lobby, heading for the nearest couch as he approached the desk. Looking around she noticed a few young girls—almost certainly using their last dime to sleep under the same roof as their idols. There hadn’t been a huge crowd of girls outside like she’d anticipated and she could only guess they’d be back in the morning.
She stood as Bryan approached. “They’re bringing up our bags.”
“That’s fine. Can I have my key, I’m pretty tired.” That was partly true, but it was more a case of her getting to her room so she could make a few phone calls and hunt Justin down; the hotel staff were not likely to be forthcoming with information.
“I’m right behind you.”
She turned and rolled her eyes as she headed towards the elevators. They stepped into the first free one and her finger hovered over the panel of buttons. “What floor?”
“Sixteen.”
Natalia pressed the appropriate number and stepped back to lean against the wall. As they climbed floors she closed her eyes—the ache between her temples growing by the minute. Tiredness, tension and agitation not proving a good combination.
When the doors finally opened and they stepped out into the red-carpeted hallway, Natalia silently held her arm out, palm open.
Bryan lifted an eyebrow. “What?”
She sighed impatiently and dropped her arm. “Key, please. Come on, Bryan, I’m really tired.”
“I can open it.”
“I think I can open my own door.”
“Our door, you mean.”
“Whoa, back up! What did you say?” She could have sworn he’d insinuated they were sharing a room.
“Our door,” he repeated, confirming her suspicions.
“No way.” She was adamant. That was not going to happen. Uh-uh. No way, no how.
“Jeez, Natalia, it’s only a place to sleep. There are two beds. And besides, it’s not my fault. Company cutbacks and all, you know.” He looked just a little too smug for her liking when he delivered the words.
She looked him dead in the eye for a good thirty seconds before simply shrugging. “Then I guess I’ll make my own sleeping arrangements.” She flashed a completely false smile and bid him goodnight. “Sleep tight.” She turned and headed straight back to the elevators. “And I hope the God damn bed bugs bite you in the ass,” she muttered.
“Where are you going? We’re here to work, remember?” he shouted after her.
Well that was debatable. She was still sure he had a few tricks up his sleeve.
“Surely not even Devlin employees are expected to work at this time of night. I’ll be in touch tomorrow morning.” She wiggled her fingers at him as the doors closed and she was met with her own reflection. “Asshole.”
“Someone certainly pissed you off for words like that to come out of such a pretty mouth.”
Natalia spun. She had thought she were alone—apparently not. How she had missed the hulk in the corner was almost laughable.
She clapped her hands together. “You are my guardian angel.”
The man chuckled, “Now I’ve been called many things, but never that.”
“Do you remember me?” she asked hopefully. It was a possibility, but then he encountered hundreds, if not thousands of girls every day. Still, he was a familiar face.
“Oh I know who you are,” he replied with certainty.
Her face lit up. “You do?”
“Oh yeah. In fact I think I know too much. Damn kid never shuts up,” he mumbled.
She ducked her head in embarrassment, willing her cheeks not to flame. “Um yeah, sorry about that.”
“I’m Mike.”
She had recognised him as soon as she’d turned, remembering him from the night of the charity/business function. “Natalia.”
“Yes, I know. Like I said, kid’s got a mouth that runs and runs,” he explained, rolling his eyes. “Now back to this guardian angel stuff.”
“Oh right! Justin doesn’t know I’m here.”
“And you want to know which room he’s in?” he responded knowingly.
She bit her lip sheepishly. “Pretty common request, huh?”
“You could say that,” he grinned. “I’ve a feeling the little runt would attempt to kick my ass if I sent you on your way, though. Head on back up—eighteenth floor.”
The doors opened behind her and she only then realised they were back at the lobby.
“I’ll radio up and someone will point you in the right direction. Where are your things?”
Damn, she’d forgotten about them. “They were being sent up to the sixteenth floor. I think the room was booked in the name Devlin.”
“I’ll find them and have them sent up.”
“Thank you so much, Mike.”
He patted her on the shoulder as he walked past. “No problem.”
That was a weight off her mind, and now that she actually had somewhere to sleep for the night—providing Justin didn’t turn her away—things were looking up.
When she stepped out onto the eighteenth floor she was met by an even more familiar face.
“Someone’s gonna be happy tonight,” he smiled.
“Hey, Lonnie,” she smiled shyly.
“J’s in room 1812—at the end of the hall. You might want to knock loudly, I think he was heading straight to bed.”
“Really?” She hoped he wouldn’t be mad.
As if he read her thoughts he started to chuckle. “Kid’s got a face like a wet weekend; there’s no way he’s going to be anything but ecstatic to be woken up on this occasion.”
He pushed her in the direction of Justin’s room and when she reached the door she knocked tentatively. When there was no reply she turned her head and caught Lonnie rolling his eyes. He lifted his hand and motioned for her to knock louder. Her shoulders sagged with disappointment when there was still no sound of movement from the other side of the door.
A fist appeared from over her shoulder and pounded on the door. Her eyes widened in surprise, hoping Justin would appear before Lonnie beat the door down.
“J, get up!” Lonnie paused for a second before adding to his request. “NOW!”
The door cracked open and a sleepy Justin appeared before them. “What, Lonnie? I’m trying to…” His eyes went from tiny, squinting slits, to almost popping out of his head in a heartbeat when he saw who stood before him.
His mouth opened and closed several times, searching for the right words before deciding words were overrated anyway and scooped her up into his arms, lifting her off the ground in the process.
“What did I say?” Lonnie muttered behind them. “Practically pissing his pants he’s so excited,” he continued as he set off down the hall to give them some privacy.
Justin buried his face in her shoulder as he stumbled back into the dark room, kicking the door shut behind him.
He closed his eyes tightly, taking in everything—the smell of her hair, the scent of her light perfume, the softness of her skin, the sensations her fingers caused as they travelled over the back of his neck.
He squeezed once more, tightly, before he swung her around in a little circle—not an easy thing to do in the dark—and smiled as she shrieked. He set her down and flicked the light switch, bathing the room in light and allowing them to see each other properly.
He took her face in his hands, bringing his own face close and looking deep into her eyes before he finally allowed his lips to touch hers. It was in no sense passionate, just a gentle touch of the lips, relishing in the familiarity.
“God I missed you.” His voice was still scratchy from sleep.
A slow smile appeared on her lips and she touched his cheek tenderly, brushing a finger across the stubble on his jaw line. The smiled soon faded as she took in his appearance.
His eyes were dark and his complexion sallow. She frowned. He looked exhausted. She ran the pad oh her thumb under his eyes, across the dark ring that had formed from lack of sleep.
“I missed you too,” she said softly.
There was a knock at the door. “That’ll be my bags; Mike said he’d get them sent up. It’s okay if I stay, right?”
He rolled his eyes. “No.”
She smirked as she watched him turn and open the door. Lonnie passed her bags through and Justin thanked him. “Thanks, Lon.”
“No problem.” He looked over Justin’s shoulder and grinned at the girl sitting on the bed. His young charge still looked tired, but there was a new light in his eyes which could only have been put there by her. “Get some rest, okay?”
“I will,” he promised.
Justin slowly closed the door as Lonnie headed back down the hall.
Natalia could see that he was ready to drop. In fact he would probably have been passed out until morning had it not been for her arrival. As he placed her bags at the foot of the bed he appeared to be using his last ounce of strength to keep his eyes pried open. She noticed this and kicked her shoes off, patting the mattress beside her. “So you’ve had the night off?” He nodded as he collapsed onto the bed. “Yeah. The guys went out but I couldn’t hack it.” She smiled softly as his eyes flickered shut, before forcing them open again. “Go to sleep, Justin.”
His fingers threaded through hers and rested their clasped hands on his stomach.
Natalia stood and pulled back the covers and Justin let out a groan of disapproval as she left his side. His protest was soon interrupted by the yawn that escaped his mouth.
She smiled knowingly. “Can I borrow a shirt?”
He nodded, always willing to see her in his clothes—something he found extremely sexy.
She grabbed a random tee-shirt and slipped into the bathroom, shedding her clothes and replacing them with the baggy top.
Justin was still awake when she came out. She drew the curtains that he had failed to close before and slipped into the bed beside him. “Go.” She touched his eyelids gently, closing them. “To,” Her head dipped to touch her lips to each eyelid softly. “Sleep,” she finished, settling down next to him and throwing an arm across his stomach.
“Night, Nat.”
“Goodnight.”
“Well looky who we have here!” Chris hooted as Justin and Natalia entered the breakfast room.
The people present couldn’t help but grin along with Justin, despite the early hour, as he strolled into the room swinging his hand with Natalia’s.
“Hey, Chris.” She looked around the room, keeping close to Justin. Chris could tell she was taking in her surroundings, not quite sure what to expect..
“Pull up a seat.”
Justin did a quick scan of the room and saw only a few record company representatives and Lance on the far side of the room. “Where are the others?”
“JC’s probably still dead to the world, even though someone is pounding down his door as we speak. As for Joey, who knows, probably trying to make himself less frightening.”
“Hey!” Joey had caught the end of the comment as he entered the room, shuffling a pile of letters and stuffed animals in his hands. “Miss Ballerina!”
Natalia chuckled and lifted her hand in a small wave. “Morning, Joey.”
“When did you get here?”
“Last night.”
“Cool,” he grinned. “Justin…Helen, Courtney, and Julie said hi.”
“Who are they?”
“Fans outside loaded with messages, gifts,” he emptied his hands of the collection onto the table, “And I think a few phone numbers. That thing that vaguely resembles a Pug is yours, Chris.”
Chris reached across the table and snagged the animal from the pile. “The dogs will be thrilled—another humpable object.”
Natalia looked at the three men strangely as they sorted through the assortment of gifts. Apparently this was just a normal morning for them.
Joey pulled the chair out beside her and sat down, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “What’s shakin’?”
“Not much,” she chuckled.
“You come out here to surprise the kid?”
She shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. I got dragged out here on business. My boss is sorting a problem out with your record company and I got to tag along as his personal slave…oh sorry, I mean assistant.” She rolled her eyes.
“Is he bothering you?” Joey asked in concern.
“He better not be,” Justin grunted.
“It’s fine. Besides, I got to come visit you guys, didn’t I?”
“So I guess this means you aren’t hanging out with us today,” Chris said.
“Nope. I’ve got to go find Bryan first and foremost and then I’ll probably be working on this report the rest of the day,” she sighed. She perked up suddenly. “Justin did invite me to the show tonight, though, so you guys better put on your best performance.”
“Oh man, the first time his girl sees him on stage. You know what this means don’t you, Joe?”
“What’s that, Chris?”
“Justin’s gonna barf!” Chris shouted, drawing attention from people around the room.
Natalia chuckled as Justin glared at Chris. “I thought you didn’t get nervous, honey?” she grinned.
“I don’t,” Justin insisted.
“Oh man who are you kidding?” Chris cried. He turned to Natalia. “Tonight, eight o’clock, he’ll be in the bathroom, I guarantee it.”
“Whatever, Chris.”
“Hey, Justin?” Natalia bit her lip, trying not to laugh.
“Yeah?”
“I’m a pop superstar, I don’t get nervous.” She lifted a finger to his lips and grinned. “But shhh, don’t tell anyone.” She winked and the table fell into hysterics at the shocked look on Justin's face.
Chapter 32
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