Page 7 of Rock Me

Make things right.

Talk to him.

Maybe it is time.

***

Ben

I am tossingand turning when Summer walks out of her room.It isn’t the bed that is the problem.I’ve slept in more awkward accommodations on assignment.It is the woman in the next room and how uncomfortable things are between us.Not to mention the fact that I find her as desirable now as I did then, more so because she’s developed an air of confidence as she matured, and I find it fucking sexy.

She turns on the light in the kitchen, and one glimpse through the pass-through window reveals her ample, braless breasts, visible through the thin cotton.I press a hand against my aching dick.

“I called you, you know.More than once,” she says as she goes through the preparations of making her tea, turning on the stove top and putting a bag in a mug.

I don’t pretend not to know what she is referring to.I saw her calls.Ignored them.I’m not proud of it, but I was humiliated by the experience and furious with myself for knowingly putting myself in a position to be fired.

I don’t want to have the conversation now, but she deserves an answer.“I wasn’t in a good mental place to take your call or talk about what happened.”

She walks out of the kitchen and sits on the edge of the bed.“I’m sorry.”She looks down at her hands, which are clasped tightly together.“You were angry, and you had a right to be, but I need you to know something.I had nothing to do with the producers finding out about us.I have my suspicions who snitched, but that doesn’t matter now.”

She lifts her head, raises her shoulders, and meets my gaze.“What matters is you knowing that I begged them not to fire you.I told them what happened between us was mutual.I even said that I seduced you and offered to leave the show myself.”

She surprises me, and not much does these days.“It was a long time ago, and I learned a valuable lesson.It’s fine,” I say in a gruff voice.But it isn’t good enough, and I know it.“I could have handled it better.”I shrug.“Answered your calls.”

“Can we be more… civil to each other now?”she asks.

I’m not sure I can handle civil with her and not cross that line again.Especially with the attraction between us still hot as ever.

“Distance lets me do my job.”

She places a hand on my foot, covered by a blanket… which I feel all the way to my cock.“I’ll take that as a yes,” she says with a cheeky grin, squeezing my toes once before the teakettle begins to whistle.

She rises to shut off the stove top, and I can’t tear my gaze away from the sway of her hips or the curve of her ass in those shorts.I watch her pour the water into her mug before adding some milk and sugar, her movements lighter and happier than they were before, lightening the heaviness that was in my chest.

I refuse to consider why.

Chapter Three

Summer

Iwake up,a bundle of nerves in my stomach.Today is my first national appearance since my days onStar Power, and so much is on the line.This is the break I’ve been waiting for my entire life.If I lose out on the opportunity to open for Jade Glow, I will have to reevaluate everything I’ve worked and strived for since I was a little girl.

I was onStar Powerwhen I was twenty-two, and now I am twenty-six years old, doing voice-overs and making a very nice living but not living my dream or doing something I am passionate about.I push off the thoughts of the crossroads I’ll be at if this opportunity falls through and focus on today’s performance.The Morning Showwill do an interview with both Tawny and me, then each of us will sing individually.I have a song I wrote and am excited to perform live.My pre-audience nerves always disappear once the music takes over my entire being.

I blow out a deep breath and ready myself in my bedroom, snapping selfies and posting pre-appearance photos on my various social media sites.I underwent many hair and makeup lessons in an effort to save myself money in the days before I began doing voice-overs, and I have no problem pulling myself together.I knowThe Morning Showhas makeup artists who will make sure I am television ready before I go live.

I make myself a protein shake while Ben showers, and I keep my mind off the hot naked man a room away, whose rock-hard body I vividly remember and I am dying to see again.

Instead, I focus on the song I am going to sing.Which isn’t easy when the bathroom door opens, and he steps out with a towel wrapped around his waist, his hair damp from the shower, his muscles flexing, his tanned skin glowing.

I pause with my drink halfway to my mouth and swallow over the sudden arousal pulsing through my body.

“Umm… good morning.”

“I thought you were in your room,” he says in a gruff voice.

“I figured I needed something in my stomach so I don’t pass out in front of an audience.”I lift my glass with my breakfast blended inside.