Candy J Starr - Wilde Freak (Rock Stars on Tour, #4)

Chapter 1: Matty

S HIT, LOOK AT THE TIME , I said.

Fiona and I had been so entranced by sightseeing in Paris, that Id totally lost track. It was our last day here on the tour before we moved on, and we both had lists a mile long of things we wanted to see. Wed been to art galleries and to museums and all around, but it still seemed wed hardly make a dent in that list. I guessed that meant wed have to come back to Paris some other time.

Were not going to make it to the hotel in time, Fiona said. Maybe you should meet them at the arena.

I considered that for a moment. All my gear was at the arena, but I wanted to get changed. Going onstage in casual sightseeing clothes wouldnt cut it. These khaki shorts definitely didnt say rocker .

Well grab a cab, I said. Well be cutting it fine, but thats going to be the fastest way back to the hotel.

I can cab it back to the hotel and grab what you need, Fiona said. That might be the best option.

She was right, of course, but I wanted to enjoy every last minute of our time together in Paris. It was only a cab ride, but itd be the two of us alone in the back of that cab, riding through one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

I jumped out onto the road and had no trouble flagging down a cab. Itd take thirty minutes to get to the hotel, at the most. Id have time to grab a change of clothes and meet the others to go to the arena.

Were in a hurry, I told the driver. Theres an extra fifty in it if you make good time.

I wasnt sure if he understood English, but he nodded and shot out into traffic. The guy definitely understood money.

I put my arm around Fiona and pulled her close to me. She rested her head on my shoulder. Then I got out my phone and went through the pictures wed taken during the day.

This one is great, I said, holding up a shot of her in front of the Eiffel Tower. I might make it my phone background.

She took my phone and zoomed the photo. Erk, no. I look terrible. Delete it.

She said that about every photo. Not just the photos I took, but professional modeling shoots too. She could never see her beauty.

You look gorgeous, I said. I looked at the photo again. Everything about her in that photo made my heart buzz. The way the wind blew her hair across her face, the crinkles around her eyes as she laughed, the way she leaned forward as though something slightly off-camera held her interest. Id seen a million of her modeling shoots, but she always looked unapproachable and distant in them. I much preferred my snapshot with her looking real.

The city sped by. The way this guy drove, Id get the hotel with time to spare. He cut down a narrow back street, totally avoiding a jammed intersection.

Fiona kept staring at the photo. My face looks a bit blotchy, and that angle makes my shoulders look broad.

I laughed. Its a snapshot, not a professional shoot. You look like youre having fun, and thats what I want to remember. I love the way you laugh.

I have wrinkles. Look at them. She slumped back against the seat. My modeling days are over.

I thought they were over anyway.

She sighed. I dont want to go back to it, but still, itd be nice to have the option if ever I needed to.

My chest tightened. I was sure she meant nothing by it, but saying she wanted the option seemed like she wanted a backup plan in case things didnt work out between us. That could just be my paranoia, though. Things between us had been perfect, and theyd keep being perfect if I had anything to do with it.

Ill keep the photo, I said. And in ten years time, Ill show it to you again. See what you think then.

She smiled. Ill think the same. You could at least put a filter on it.

Nope. This is our life, plain and unfiltered.

I grabbed the seat in front of me as the cab driver took a sharp turn.

I guess youre right, Fiona said. Ive spent so much of my life needing to be perfect, then having that perfection airbrushed and Photoshopped. I cant even remember what I really look like.

I pulled her tighter. You look fantastic, no matter what, I told her. You look fantastic first thing in the morning, and you look fantastic fresh out the shower. Even when you drool in your sleep, you look fantastic. Because being you is what fantastic is about.

She smiled, for a second, then that smile turned into a scowl. I do not drool in my sleep. Thats lies.

Oh, yeah, you do.

She slapped my arm. Youre full of it, Matty. I look like an angel in my sleep, but you snore.

I glanced at her out the corner of my eye. Yeah, and I probably fart too. Im a disaster.

Fiona laughed. The sound of her laughter buzzed through me, making me wonder if wed have time for a quickie when we got back to the hotel. Itd have to be a super-quickie, but this pulse of lust couldnt be denied.

Before I could answer her, the cab driver slammed on the brakes, hurling us forward. My head slammed against the back of the front seat, then I got hurled back as he came to a standstill.

What the hell?

I was about to make a crack about arriving alive being better than arriving fast when I realized hed stopped in the middle of an intersection. A very busy intersection. Cars circled around us, blasting their horns.

Why?

I was about to ask when I saw the truck speeding towards us.

I screamed, pumping my foot where the accelerator would be, as though somehow that would help.

I threw my arms around Fiona, trying to protect her, wanting to hold her so tight that shed be safe. But she panicked, screaming and trying to open her door. She couldnt get out. We both scrambled, waiting for the cab to move, for this disaster to end.