FanGirl Squeal (RockStars of Romance Book 1) (12 page)

“Miss Ford, please wait!”

“Kiss my ass! I didn’t come here for this! I don’t know who
you think I am…” Her words stopped abruptly when she focused on the group
walking towards them. She stared directly at Bryan like he was the scum of the
Earth then turned her attention to Tracy.

 “I told you,” the woman spoke in a low voice. “I told you
that I didn’t want this. You can keep your interview. I’m outta here!”

“Savannah, wait!” Tracy and Cash said at the same time.

Savannah stopped walking and closed her eyes. She took a
deep breath before turning around slowly. Tracy touched her shoulder and said
something in her ear that Cash couldn’t hear. Whatever it was seemed to calm
Savannah down. Her shoulders relaxed and her breathing became more even. She
turned around and faced Cash. He held her intense stare. Her brown eyes had
lost a little of the fire he’d saw before. They were more expressive in person
than in pictures.

“Miss Ford!” Bryan started to step towards Savannah, but
Jennifer stopped him.

“Bryan, it’s quite obvious that you, me, and Tracy still
have much to discuss before Cash signs anything and I turn over the reins to
your firm. Let’s go back in the conference room.”

Jennifer grabbed Bryan’s arms and pulled him away from her
son just like a mom would.

“You too, Blondie,” she said to the receptionist. “I think
we need more wine.”

“Don’t leave before seeing me,” Tracy quickly said to
Savannah before Jennifer grabbed her arm too.

Within seconds, the hallway was empty except for Cash and
Savannah. Cash was actually a little nervous. He was sure that his nervousness
was emitting off of him like a neon light. Despite that, he walked a few steps
and pulled Savannah into a hug like she was his long lost friend. Even in her
heels, she only came up to his shoulders. When she pulled way, Cash saw that
she was crying.

“What’s wrong? Do I stink?” he sniffed his armpits. “I was
out washing my car before I came here. I promise, I showered today.”

Savannah wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and smiled
sheepishly. “It was either going to be tears or an embarrassing squeal,” she laughed.
“I promised myself that I wouldn’t scream when I saw you.”

“Go ahead,” Cash joked. “I’m used to it.”

“Give me a minute,” she giggled. “This is so surreal. I’ve
been waiting for this moment, dreaming about this moment, hell; I’ve been
planning this moment in my head for years. Now, you’re standing right in front
of me and I can’t think of a single word to say. My friends are going to be so
disappointed in me.”

Cash was quiet too. Savannah’s pictures, as beautiful as
they were, did no justice for the woman standing in front of him. Her strapless
dress brushed the top of her thin ankles. Large gold hoop earrings adorned her
ears. The cool thin material of her dress hugged her curves just enough to let
him know that her body was incredible but was subtle enough to keep his
imagination running. She wore a hammered gold teardrop necklace that sat
perfectly atop her cleavage. He couldn’t take his eyes off the necklace.

It seemed like an eternity passed before either of them
spoke. Cash cleared his throat and broke the silence.

“Since you were so upset, I guess someone mentioned
something about my website?”

“Yeah, the blonde girl. Cash, that’s not why I came up here
and you know that. I don’t even want the damn book to be public knowledge. I
don’t want to do the interview if it means I have to talk about that. Every
question I had centered on your music and your tour. I’m not talking about that
book.”

“I know,” Cash nodded. “And I apologize. I didn’t know
anything about it until a few minutes ago. I’m still working out the kinks with
my new manager. He’ll get it together. But I have a question.”

“What’s that?”

“Why are you so adamant about not getting any recognition
for that book? That was a pretty awesome thing you did for me.”

Savannah leaned against the wall and sighed heavily. “Because
it was for you, not me. My entire life is about bringing celebrity news to the
public in different ways. I just didn’t want this to be news, okay? I didn’t
want it to be another celeb thing that people can talk and speculate about. I
don’t want anyone discounting the meaning of the book by thinking it was just a
ploy to meet you. Besides, my family already thinks I’m completely obsessed
with you. I don’t want to add any more fuel to that fire.”

Cash stepped in front of Savannah. He smirked as he lifted
her head to meet his eyes.

“That was a lot of words.”

There it was…the sound Cash had been waiting to hear.
Savannah’s laugh was loud, genuine, and girly. Her eyes twinkled and her smile stretched
all the way across her face when she laughed.

Cash burst out laughing. “Did you just snort?”

Savannah’s cheeks flushed and she tried to compose herself. “I
don’t know what you’re talking about. That wasn’t me. You must be hearing
things.”

“I heard you snort,” Cash teased. “That was definitely you.”

“It wasn’t,” she giggled.

The playful grin on her face was driving Cash nuts. He
wondered if her lips were as soft as they looked and what she tasted like.

Down boy
. Cash had to stop the fantasy he was having.
Savannah probably wouldn’t appreciate him backing her against the wall and crushing
her lips with his.

“Sooo,” Savannah dragged the word out slowly. Cash was
watching her as she tried to avoid his eyes. “How do you like living in New
York now? Your apartment is beautiful.”

You should see the bedroom
, Cash thought. “It’s cool.
It’s not L.A. and it’s certainly not Boston. Wait a sec.” Cash raised his eyes
brow suspiciously. “Beautiful? How do you know what my apartment looks like?”

Savannah slapped her hand over her mouth and groaned. “Well,
this was interesting. Gotta run.”

Cash reached for her hand and stopped her from making a mad
dash out of the building. “Wait. What’s going on? Are there pictures of my
place online?”

There had to be and the idea pissed him off. His home wasn’t
for public knowledge. He didn’t need fangirls and groupies camped outside of
his apartment. He didn’t want people knowing where he rested his head or what
color his sheets were.

“I don’t want to get anyone fired,” Savannah replied. “As
far as I know, there aren’t any pictures online. The interior designer you used
is a bitch and she emailed pictures to my friend who didn’t get the job. My
friend emailed them to me.”

“What designer?”

“Cannon Designs.”

Cash breathed a deep sigh of relief. “Yeah, I fired them a
long time ago. My house looks nothing like whatever pictures you saw.”

Savannah slumped against the wall and looked down at her
hand, which Cash was still holding.

“Whew, that was close.”

However, Savannah knowing – or thinking she knew – that
personal part of his life gave Cash an idea. He heard the obnoxiously loud
knock of opportunity and opened the door.

“You know what I think?” he asked.

“What?”

“I think you and I should go grab some lunch and you can
tell me all the other creepy shit you know about me.”

Savannah’s laugh was quick and filled with embarrassment. “I
only know the things that you’ve said in interviews or at your concerts. I’m
not
that
fan.”

“Come on! What’s my favorite color?” Cash pressed.

“Cash…,” was Savannah’s reluctant reply.

He loved the way she said his name and his mind
automatically started thinking about what it would sound like when she was saying
it in his bed.

“What’s my favorite snack? I know you know,” he prodded.

Cash was enjoying watching Savannah’s face turn brilliantly
red. He had no idea that African-American people blushed so hard.

“Macadamia nut cookies,” Savannah muttered with her head
hung down in shame.

Cash burst into a loud laugh and snaked his arm around her
waist. “Let’s go, Creeper.”

“Me?” Savannah gasped as she allowed him to lead her down
the hall. “An hour ago, you liked one of my Instagram pictures from a year ago.
Who’s really the creeper here? And what’s with the cookies and strawberry milk,
Cash? What are you? Six?”

This isn’t happening. I am not sitting in BareBurger eating
and drinking with Cash Myers. I’ve pinched myself at least ten times but I’m
not waking up from this apparent dream.

“You went to prom with two gay guys?” Cash asked me with an
incredulous gleam in his eye. “Why? There’s no way you couldn’t get a date.”

I finished the rest of my beer and sat the glass on the
table. “I didn’t want a date. I just did it to piss off my sister,” I admitted.
“Ashley has this vein in her forehead that goes apeshit whenever I do anything
that isn’t proper or ladylike. I really just wanted to see it start throbbing
as she was being crowned Prom Queen. It was totally worth it. I’ve never seen
my sister so angry.”

Cash is actually laughing at my stupid stories and signaling
for the waitress to bring up more beer. We’ve been here for two hours and she
was bringing our third pitcher of beer. I pinched my leg again. Finally, I
accepted the fact that I am, in fact, sitting in BareBurger with Cash and he’s
definitely asking questions about my childhood.

“Who’d you go to prom with?” I asked.

He leaned back and did that half smirk thing he does. His
dimple was waving at me. “Sadie Winslow. She was smokin’ hot.”

“Did you score?” The words tumbled out of my mouth so fast
that my filter couldn’t catch them. I blame the beer.

“Of course I scored. You heard me say she was smokin’ hot,
right?”

I tried my hardest not to picture Cash in high school,
naked, sweaty, and screwing his smokin’ hot prom date. I failed. And it wasn’t
Cash in high school that flashed in front of my eyes. It was this Cash, right
now Cash and he wasn’t screwing his prom date.

Get it together, Savannah.

I took another swig of the ice-cold beer and cherished the
cooling affect it had on my body. I still can’t believe this. Cash is really
talking to me, really hanging out with me like we’re best friends. I’ve been
trying to keep my cool. Even though talking to him is easy, my inner fangirl is
dying to get out and start jumping up and down.

“So, you were born and raised in Harlem?” Cash asked. “Why’d
you go all the way to UCLA?”

 “Because Los Angeles is 2,790 miles away from Harlem. I was
trying to put as much distance between me and my sister as possible.”

“But you two looked so happy to see each other at the
airport,” Cash replied with a smirk.

He’d flashed that same crooked smile at me at least twenty
times since we left his manager’s office. And every single time, my heart
threatened to jump out of my chest.

“Stay off my Instagram page, stalker.”

“Stay off mine.”

Cash slid into my side of the booth and snapped a picture of
us so fast that I didn’t even realize it was happening until it was too late.

“Did you just post that?”

“Since you aren’t supposed to be that fan who stalks my
pictures, you’ll never know.”

“Did you block me?” I screeched, completely mortified by the
idea. I know a few people who have been blocked from celebrities’ social media
pages. It’s not a good look.

“No,” he laughed and took a swig of his beer. “I’m not a
dick.”

“No,” I agreed. “You’re not.”

I met Cash’s eyes. For a moment, I was stuck, mesmerized by
how beautiful they are up close. It’s one thing to see them in pictures, but mere
inches away…

I CANNOT EVEN DEAL

I broke eye contact first. I felt feverish, as if my body
temperature had risen twenty degrees in that brief moment. As my heart
fluttered and pulse quickened, I knew exactly what happening. I’ve been saying
it for years.

Cash Myers is killing me.

“Are you okay?” The concern in Cash’s voice startled me back
to reality.

“Yeah, I’m okay. So…umm, I finally thought of something
important to ask you since you’ve been all up in my business since we got here.”

Cash sat his burger down and gazed at me. “This sounds
intriguing.”

“What would you be doing if you were forced to retire since
you’ve had such a successful run?”

Cash snickered. “You’re not going to believe me.”

“I’m sitting in a restaurant with Cash Freaking Myers. At
this point, I’ll believe anything.”

“I’d go to college,” he replied. “I’d study music then I’d
teach music to elementary kids.”

I almost melted right into the vinyl booth. My inner fangirl
let out a squeal. O-M-G is right. How is this man not off the market? Victoria
Williamson is definitely the number one candidate for Dumbest Broad of the
Year.

“What about you? What would you do if you were forced to
retire?”

“Is it me or do these sound like date questions?”

“Well, I’m just having burgers and beer with a friend,” Cash
snickered again. “Are you on a date?”

I shook my head. “Fine. I’d open a twenty-four hour
bookstore. Sometimes, you’re up reading and you get to the end of a book in the
series and you have to start the next one, but Barnes and Noble is closed. That’s
the worst feeling in the world.”

“So what series were you reading when that happened to you?”

I held my head down and shamefully answered, “Twilight.”

Cash laughed so loud that people in the restaurant looked up
from their meals. My face briefly burned with embarrassment.

“You are a fangirl,” Cash howled. “Were you a Twerd? Which
was it, Team Edward or Team Jacob?”

I folded my arms across my chest and glared at him smugly. “I
was a Twerd and I couldn’t choose.”

“That’s hilarious. I bet you’re into Harry Potter and
SuperWhoLock too?”