The Rock Star and the Girl From the Coffee Shop 2: Under Pressure by Terry Towers Page A

wrong?” Upon reaching the final stair of the white marble staircase she leapt into his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist as he held her tight against him.
    Slipping her arms around his neck, she brushed her lips across him. Any smidge of anger she may have had evaporated as concern filled her.
    He hesitated as she pulled back in his arms to look him dead in the eye, her green eyes searching his grey ones for a clue to what was bothering him. “Bo?”
    Keeping her secure in his arms, he began walking toward the living room, his
    expression grave. “We need to talk.”
    Hanna could swear her heart stopped beating for a moment. Talk? The talk? Her body stiffened as she unwrapped herself from him to stand before him.
    “About what?” Wasn’t the talk reserved for breakups? A lump caught in her throat and the bottle of wine came to her mind as her frown deepened. She shook the image loose. Wanting to talk could mean a million different things.
    Chuckling softly, he brushed a lock of red curls from her face, tucking it behind her ear. “Nothing like that, babes.” Taking her hand he led her further into the living room and sat down on the sofa, pulling her onto his lap.
    “But, it’s not good.”
    He cringed. “Yeah, it’s not great. But, just listen. Okay?”
    Hanna nodded. “What’s going on?” Her eyes narrowed at him. “What did she do?”
    She could hear the contempt dripping from her voice and didn’t give a damn. Bo already knew she hated the woman, nothing new there.
    He thrust a hand through his dark hair in agitation, as if gathering his thoughts. “Well, as you know I went to Nadine’s hotel to sign some contracts.”
    “Yeah.”
    “And I was led to believe the guys were going to be there as well, signing the new contract.”
    “That bitch!” She didn’t need to hear more to know where this conversation was
    headed. Rage filled her. She was going to… Dammit! She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she was going to do something about that bitch… “What did she do?”
    Brushing her cheek with the back of his hand, he pulled her tighter to him. “Calm down a second, let me finish.”
    “Fine,” Hanna grumbled, melting into him, laying her head on his shoulder, allowing the strength of his arms around her and the deep, spicy scent of his cologne to relax her.
    “Go on.”
    “Well, I got there and it seems I was the only one invited.”
    Hanna gritted her teeth, but said nothing.
    “And she answered the door with barely anything on. A little teddy I guess you could call it.”
    “Go on…” She looked up at him, her eyes locking with his.
    “I told her I wasn’t interested. Not now, not ever. I was about to leave and she followed me into the hall. She tried to kiss me and that’s when they took a picture.”
    Hanna jolted upright in his arms, eyes wide. “Picture!”
    “It seems a tabloid photographer snuck into the hotel. He saw it as a juicy picture I suppose and snapped one… a few maybe, I don’t know, and took off. He was out of the hotel before security could nab him.”
    “A picture of you and her.”
    “We didn’t kiss, Hanna.”
    “But did it look like you were?” Hanna could feel the tears welling up in her eyes.
    She knew how these things worked. Within the next couple of days the tabloids would have the picture of Bo kissing his half-naked manager plastered all over America. Hell, all over the world.
    “I’m so sorry Hanna, but from the angle, I think so.”
    Hanna chewed at her lower lip, trying to keep her emotions in check, trying to keep from getting hysterical. It wasn’t his fault. “So in a few days it’ll look like you’re cheating on me with my doppelganger who happens to be your manager. But of course, they’ll say stuff like you’re trading up. Dumping the chunky chick for the type of girl you should be with.”
    The tears began to flow, and she let them. Why couldn’t those assholes just leave her and Bo alone? Sure, most people