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“You’re not,” he said, smiling. “Whatever you were going to fill in that blank with. You’re fine.”
He reached for her hand and then went back to looking out the car window. This wasn’t the first time that he held her hand, but each time felt new and exciting and sent her whole body into some kind of high alert, like her cells were screaming: YOU ARE BEING TOUCHED BY STERLING JAMES! YOU ARE BEING TOUCHED BY STERLING JAMES! She hoped the driver didn’t notice.
Reese tried to play it cool and turned her head to look out the window so he wouldn’t see her smile. “Thank you,” she said.
This was her first time in California and she wanted to pay attention outside but was distracted by the feel of his fingers linked through hers. He traced his thumb over the back of her hand and that tiny motion was perhaps the most insanely sensuous touch. The touch shot straight up her arms and over her shoulders, up her neck to her lips, which were aching to kiss him. It was a completely extreme and unrealistic reaction to what could have been a sweet and innocent touch.
If you were going by the old bases analogy, holding hands was like somewhere in the dugout. Yet holding hands with Sterling was more like being held up on the shoulders of all the players after you just won the whole game. It was no small thing to her.
Reese didn’t hold hands with guy friends. But she didn’t want to assume anything either. Plenty of times in her life, she had assumed a guy felt a certain way about her only to be wrong. Like the guy in college who kept asking her out to coffee. She thought they were dating. He had a girlfriend and thought they were just friends.
But that guy hadn’t held her hand. He hadn’t linked their fingers, using his thumb to stroke the skin on the back of her hand … Reese shuddered at Sterling’s touch. He had been holding her hand for five minutes and she just couldn’t calm down.
“Cold?” Sterling looked over. She tried to shake her head, but he was already leaning toward the Uber driver. “Can you turn the air down a bit? Down, as in make it less cold.”
“That’s really okay,” Reese said.
“I don’t want you freezing over there. Here,” Sterling said, unclipping his seatbelt. He slid across to the middle seat and put his arm around her, crowding her space and pulling her into him. She caught the eyes of the guy in front, who seemed shocked.
Did Sterling not realize that the guy recognized him? He was paying attention to everything going on in the back seat. She should probably tell Sterling to get his seatbelt on and move back over, but he smelled so good. And he was so warm against her. Maybe she had been a little cold. Either way, she wasn’t moving now. Settling into Sterling with a sigh, Reese couldn’t get over how right it felt to be this close to him and how safe he made her feel. Not that she had felt unsafe; the Uber driver seemed to be driving under the speed limit, but it was a general sense of security and protection that Sterling seemed to exude.
“I probably should have rented a car,” he murmured, close to her ear. She shivered at the way his breath teased the skin on his neck. He pulled her in closer.
“Why didn’t you?” Reese asked, feeling the driver’s eyes flicking back to her.
“See all this traffic? Driving in L.A. is the absolute worst. I figured we could just Uber everywhere. But maybe this was a mistake.”
“I do feel a little bit like we’re on display or something,” Reese whispered. Then again, if he was driving, they wouldn’t be snuggling this close and she definitely didn’t want to give that up. “I think the driver recognizes you.”
Sterling leaned forward. “Change of plans. Instead of the hotel, can you take us to the closest car rental place?”
“Sterling, you don’t need to do that,” Reese said.
He turned toward her so that the driver wouldn’t hear them. “I don’t like feeling as though people are watching us. I want to be off the grid, under the radar. All those metaphors.”
Did that mean he wanted privacy? With her?
The thought thrilled Reese, but he probably just meant that he didn’t want to end up in the tabloids or celebrity gossip blogs. Especially considering the budding fake relationship with Morgan that was already all over the headlines yesterday. That had been one of Reese’s fears about coming on this trip with him, but since they were coming for the intervention and not really doing big public things, it should be fine. He had assured her that L.A. was better than most places about understanding the need for privacy, so they could pretty easily go in through VIP entrances and things like that.
“Plus, it’s not like I’m Brad Pitt or something,” Sterling had said when she brought it up before they left.
You’re hotter, Reese had thought but did not say. He truly was. But what he likely meant was that as a rock star, he didn’t quite have the same notoriety as some of the big-time A-listers in Hollywood. Most of the tabloids were focused on them. And even though Sterling had been in the press more with the whole baby-daddy scare, it died out relatively quickly.
The woman claiming to be pregnant with his child didn’t have the money or the power to keep the story resurfacing once it was out there and he suspected most people didn’t believe it. There hadn’t been too much about him and Morgan made public, though photos had emerged publicly, and stories ran that he was now dating his childhood sweetheart.
There were a few new scandals that broke this week and some Kardashian batted an eyelash or something, so Sterling could go back to mostly being invisible. Reese was glad. He and Morgan both had seemed increasingly uncomfortable with the fake relationship thing even after a single day. She wished she had listened to her gut instead of Kevin and Morgan. They could probably let that go when they got back as long as things calmed down.
Reese was surprised when Sterling said he generally was able to keep a low profile, but he told her that he avoided big public events or places that tended to get celebrities noticed. It wasn’t about the fame for him, but the music. That made a difference. And made her realize how so many celebs must have worked hard to actually be in the public eye as much as they were.
The Uber driver pulled over briefly to use GPS to find a car rental place and ten minutes later, they were standing at the counter of an Avis rental place while the young woman behind the counter tried not to fall to pieces.
Reese hung back, keeping a little bit away from Sterling. She only came forward when the woman wanted a photo with Sterling. Reese took a few photos of them together, where Sterling tried to smile, but she could read the strain on his face. Okay, so clearly, he couldn’t fly under the radar everywhere.
Once they were in a smaller black Lexus SUV, Sterling sighed. “This was definitely a better choice.”
Reese had to agree. The windows were tinted and the car engine was quiet. She didn’t realize how tense she had been with the Uber drive constantly looking at them in the rearview mirror. She had been kind of surprised that he didn’t ask for photos or for Sterling to sign something when he dropped them off. But he practically peeled away from the curb, which was interesting considering that he had driven so slowly while they were in the car. She did, however, miss cuddling in the backseat with Sterling.
“Where are we staying?” Reese asked.
