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Her thoughts were moving too fast for her mouth to catch up, even if she wanted to respond. It was a tiny touch. Not an inherently romantic one, though Reese couldn’t remember the last time she had touched someone else’s foot at all, in a friendly way or otherwise.
Did this mean something to him? Probably not. Even though Morgan said he had changed, he had a history that involved probably a lot of women and a lot more than foot touching. This meant something to Reese, even though it was such a tiny thing. She tried to push through the fuzziness that had settled into her brain and ignore the tingling in her limbs. It was just a touch. From Sterling James.
She had to stop thinking about him like that. Like Sterling James, the famous rock star. Most of the time now she didn’t. He was simply Sterling, the incredibly handsome, sometimes moody guy who happened to have a job playing music in front of thousands of screaming fans. But every so often the realization hit her of exactly who he was and she had to reconcile the guy across from her with the guy whose music she knew by heart. It was more than a little disconcerting, even though she was starting to feel more comfortable around him. Especially now that he didn’t think of her as some rabid fan.
How did he think of her? Yesterday he had told her that she wasn’t his type. Had that only been yesterday? Morgan was right in saying that time on tour moved differently.
Her thoughts moved from what he had said to how he had been standing when he said it. So close that all she could think about was what it might feel like to bridge that distance and feel her lips against his. Thinking about that now while his foot sat on top of hers was dangerous. He had said she wasn’t his type. He was a client. This should be a non-issue.
And then there was Morgan. They hadn’t known each other long, but Reese really liked her. And was going to spend the next two months with her as well as Sterling. Maybe she hadn’t spoken her feelings out loud, but Reese could see them very clearly. What would happen to their friendship if Reese and Sterling started dating? How did you even date on a tour bus?
What would happen to her job if the public got wind that Sterling was dating her? Kevin would fire her in an instant. Even if she didn’t want to stay with Azul long-term, she needed to do a good enough job that Sterling would recommend her so that she could freelance and get clients by word of mouth.
Reese considered pulling her foot away. But how harmful could it be to just let her foot stay where it was? It’s not like he was holding her hand or something overtly romantic. She knew that she was justifying, but in that moment, she just didn’t care. She craved his touch.
His phone buzzed to life on the table and he checked the screen, his lips turning down. “I’ve got to take this.” He stood and her skin was screaming at the loss of contact as he made his way out to the balcony. “Hey, Mom.”
Sterling hadn’t mentioned his family at all. Because she knew basically all Sterling James facts and trivia, Reese remembered that his mom lived somewhere near L.A. with his younger sister, who might be high school age. Morgan had mentioned that his dad was an alcoholic and had left them when Sterling was younger, but Reese didn’t know details.
He was probably a great older brother. She remembered seeing the sweet way he interacted with the younger fan at the meet-and-greet last weekend. He had made her feel special, focusing all his attention just on her. That was part of the reason she had made him write what he did on her photo. Because in her glass-of-wine-haze, her ovaries had been working overtime as she had watched the interaction. It had her thinking only of Sterling holding a little girl with his hazel eyes and brown hair like hers.
Reese closed her eyes. She probably needed to get out of this room. She needed space from Sterling. His magnetism on its own pulled her tightly to him. But the smiles and the joking banter and the way he’d put his foot on hers—it was too overwhelming for her heart to handle. Unless she wanted to lose it all to him.
Chapter Eleven
Sterling stepped out onto the balcony, wanting to put as much distance as possible between this conversation with his mother and whatever he had been feeling in there with Reese. The giddy lightness that had descended over him just being around her crashed to the ground as soon as he saw his mother’s name on the phone screen.
“James, how are you?”
His mother likely had no idea where he was on tour. They didn’t get into specifics about his life anymore. That had stopped after this first year in the business, when she used to ask about his songs, his shows, and how he was really doing. Sterling didn’t know if the shift had to do with May or something else, but the distance between them was cavernous. It shouldn’t still hurt. To be fair, he didn’t know what was going on in her life either.
“Fine. How’s May?”
She sighed. “The same. But we have a date for the intervention. We’re doing it in ten days.”
“Why wait? Why not right away?”
“We were waiting for a spot to open up at Calm Springs. It’s a rehab facility nearby that specializes in addiction in young people. They have a very high success rate. We were on the waiting list and they called today that they’ll have a spot open for May then.”
Her words got faster as she went, a sign of nerves. More specifically, a sign that the place was expensive, and she was about to give the big ask. He could at least make that easier on her.
“Just let me know who to call to set it up.”
“There’s a reservation fee—”
“It’s fine. I’ll cover it. Where is the intervention?”
“We’re having it at home.”
“Who is involved in this?” Sterling didn’t even know who his family was close to now. May’s friends were obviously worthless if they were helping or watching her go down this path. But as far as family friends and adults or people that might be involved in an intervention like this, he had no idea. The thought made him realize how long it had been since he went home.
“Your Aunt Rebeeca and May’s old art teacher and her best friend Sara.”
“They’re still close?” Sterling remembered Sara, a sweet, awkward girl with braces and legs that had looked too long for her body when she had been thirteen.
“Not so much anymore. But Sara has always been a faithful friend and she cares about May.”
It seemed like such a small group of support for something so consequential. He should be there too.
