Rock Him (17 page)

His lips tilted up in that half-grin that she found so unbelievably sexy. “Kink, Maddy?
I like it.”

Her body responded with a throb. She closed her eyes. Unbelievable. They had just
finished and she was ready to go again.

She rolled onto her back. “How ‘bout this? If what we do is too much or uncomfortable
before, during, or after, I’ll let you know. Trust me when I tell you I don’t enjoy
pain. Will that work? It takes something away from the magic to be asked if I’m okay
every time.”

A smug smile settled at the corners of his lips. “Magic?”

She rolled her eyes. “It should be. All the practice you’ve had.”

His eyes bored into hers. “Ah, my past. That’s two references to my reputation in
as many minutes. You want to talk about it?”

Maddy bit her lip. She hadn’t meant to tip him off to her insecurities.

“Maddy?” he repeated. There was so much tenderness in his expression.

“A smidge,” she admitted.

“It’s different with you.”

She tensed and her stomach lurched.

He gave her a gentle shake, correctly interpreting whatever expression had registered
on her face at his words. “Not bad different, fantastic different.” He rolled onto
his back and raised his knees. She shivered at the withdrawal of his body from hers.
He sat up, leaned over her and pulled the comforter over her, tucking it under her
body.

“I’m not doing this very well, am I?” he said.

She turned her head and sneaked a glance — he was staring at the ceiling. “Nope.”

“I thought I’d had every kind of relationship there was, from hook-ups to committed.
I’ve had a few long-term monogamous things that were … satisfying.” He turned his
head to study her and she shifted to lie on her side. “But this — with you — is different.
I’m different. It’s
more
.”

Her heart leapt.

He reached over and tugged her toward him.

She caught sight of the clock on the dresser. “Asher! Is that the time?” She detangled
herself from his arms and the blanket and scrambled from the bed. “Hurry, we can’t
be late for Shane’s premier.”

Maddy poured coffee into the travel mug and slipped on her boots. Her follow-up appointment
with the doctor was in an hour and she needed to stop for gas. That early morning
romp with Asher was bound to make her late. Happy, but late.

Smiling she grabbed her keys and purse and hollered up the stairs, “See you later,
baby!”

Without waiting for a reply she let herself out the front door and hurried down the
steps to her car. She started the engine, humming to herself, and flipped on the radio.

It was set to a pop station courtesy of Ella. Maddy was an alternative rock kind of
girl, but whenever Ella was in the car they listened to her music, and Maddy was coming
to know all the tween pop stars and their infectiously upbeat songs.

She put the car into drive and froze as she heard Shane’s name mentioned by the two
shock jocks while they discussed his premier at Grauman’s Chinese Theater last night.

They gossiped about Shane, his latest girlfriend and the cheating, speculated about
his scandalous past — he had quite a history, apparently …

Poor Shane.

The iron gates to the house were swinging open when Asher’s name came up.

“And what was that with Asher Lowe at the premier?”

She stared at the radio as she inched through the gate.

“Some celebrity website said he’s banging the nanny.”

“Man, did you get a load of her?”

Maddy’s hand left the steering wheel and went to her throat. Asher warned her. She
hadn’t listened. It wasn’t as if they knew anything about him or her or their relationship
for that matter, but hearing people discuss them … She tried to pull all the way
forward to let the gates close behind her but a long black limousine was blocking
the driveway. She glowered at the limo parked in front of her, gave a half-hearted
honk and put the car in park.

Her fingers hovered by the radio knob — she really should have switched it off, but
she couldn’t. They tore her to shreds in minutes. Her face, not pretty; her hairstyle,
not hip; her clothes — they had divergent opinions on her clothes. One loved the dress,
one didn’t. Her looks they rated on a ten-point scale — and she didn’t even make the
upper half. They compared her unfavorably to women Asher had been linked to in the
past. They speculated about her weight and joked about eating disorders.

A vaguely familiar sensation twisted through the pit that was her stomach as disbelief
turned to hurt, and, finally, to anger. Those assholes. They were no better than Kimberly
Klaus. They may have a larger audience, but it was the same level of bullying nastiness.
God, she hoped Ella didn’t hear about it. Maddy bit her lip. She was not going to
turn on the regular radio in the car ever again. From here on in, satellite radio
that played only music.

Maddy stared out her front windshield at the automobile blocking her access to the
street.

What the hell? That limo still hadn’t moved.

She was going to be late. With a disgusted sigh, she tapped her horn again.

Turning off the car, she hopped out, grumbling, keys and purse in hand. Striding over
to the tinted window at the rear, she tapped and it rolled down. She peered in, a
polite smile firmly in place.

“Excuse me, but you’re blocking the driveway and I’m — ” Her voice died as she spotted
the woman.

Oh my God.
It was Asher’s mom! It had to be. She looked older than the pictures from the internet,
but remarkably well preserved. Her face was in profile as she stared ahead, the sole
occupant in the rear of the vehicle.

She turned, pinning Maddy with an icy stare. Asher’s eyes. But Asher’s eyes had never
been that cold. Maddy recoiled, her hand automatically reaching into her purse for
her cell phone.

“Get in,” the woman said.

Maddy peered around the inside of the car.

“I’m late for an appointment, Mrs … . er … ” She racked her brain. What was her
name?

“It’s Jacqueline. Get in.”

Maddy searched her purse. Where was her phone?

“Madeline?” the woman said in a conversational tone.

Maddy raised her head and looked right into the barrel of a small pistol. She blinked.

It was so small, was that thing even real?

“Do I have to ask again?” the woman said, her voice monotone, face expressionless.

Well and truly spooked, Maddy dropped the phone into her bag. It took her shaking
hands two tries to open the door. Her limbs heavy and clumsy, she slid onto the seat
and closed the door. The locks went down. She shot a disbelieving look at the glass
partition separating the driver from the back. The car slid away from the curb into
the street.

“We need to have a little chat.”

Maddy scrunched herself up, getting as close to the door and as far away from the
gun as possible. All her limbs were shaking now. She sneaked a glance at the lunatic
next to her.

The little pistol had disappeared.

The woman offered her hand to Maddy.

Humor her!
her brain shrieked.
Stay calm
.

“What can I do for you?” Maddy extended her own unsteady hand.

The woman took Maddy’s thin hand with swollen knuckles. “Ugh,” she said softly in
a calm, well-modulated voice.

Maddy’s nostrils flared, but she left her hand in the cool, elegant grip of her lover’s
crazy mother until the other woman dropped it unceremoniously.

“I have rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease.”

Jacqueline’s face didn’t change, but Maddy was scrutinized by her emotionless, assessing
gaze. Asher intimated that his mother was a nightmare. Silly her, she’d taken that
to mean annoying, not insane.

It was difficult to believe this woman was the mother of an almost forty-year-old
man. She didn’t look older than fifty. Was it an excess of plastic surgery, Botox,
or something more ominous that prevented her from having any expression?

Maddy couldn’t tear her gaze away from those eyes. Asher’s golden eyes, icily intelligent,
but intense and disturbed.

“Arthritis? At your age?”

Maddy was pretty sure her eyebrows would’ve risen in disapproval, disbelief or disdain
but her frozen face didn’t allow for that.

“Rheumatoid arthritis. I’ve had it a while.” Maddy’s voice quavered.
Stop thinking about the gun.
Buck up
.

She made a sound of disgust and Maddy’s eyes widened.

God. Why hadn’t she asked more about his mother? Why hadn’t he warned her?

“My son is dating a diseased woman. I was hoping you just didn’t photograph well.”

Maddy repressed a bubble of hysterical laughter. She bit her lip hard to quash it.

“What will it take to get you out of my son’s life?” Jacqueline asked, still staring.

That gun could do a pretty effective job
.

“He deserves better than you. The poor boy has lived without me all his life, thanks
to that conniving son of a whore Sterling. I’m his mother and I want what’s best for
him,” she said, in that same, flat tone. “That’s not you.”

“Okay,” Maddy agreed.

The woman narrowed her eyes.

Here goes nothing
.

“People were talking about me on the radio this morning. Saying that I’m ugly.”

Mrs. Lowe nodded.

“That he deserves better. He’s good-looking and successful.”

“Yes. Exactly.” Asher’s mother continued nodding like a Bobblehead.

“And I’m none of those things.”

Don’t overplay this, Maddy. She’s not stupid.

“I don’t need that in my life. Especially since we’re not serious. I was going to
… you know … end things.” Maddy said.

The older woman still nodded, her taffy colored hair helmet-like in its immobility.

She waited, daring Maddy to break eye contact.

“Oh, you want me to do it now?”

“I think that would be best.”

“Sure.” Maddy gingerly pulled out her phone under Jacqueline’s watchful gaze and thumbed
down to Asher’s number.

The phone barely rang once when his hoarse voice answered, “Maddy?”

“Hey, Asher, listen--”

“What’s happened? Why is your car in the driveway? I have the police — ”

“Uh … yeah. That’s not necessary. Um … listen. I think this … thing we’ve been
doing is a mistake.”

There was dead silence on the other end of the phone.

“Asher?”

“Yes.”

“Did you hear me?” Her voice shook.

“Yes,” he said, tone wooden. “Mind telling me why you abandoned the car at the end
of the driveway?”

“It’s your car,” she replied. She studied Asher’s mother, who was staring straight
ahead. Was she buying it?

“So, it’s been great and all but I’m done. This morning there were people talking
about me, trashing me, and I don’t need that in my life.”

He sighed. “Babe. I’m sorry you had to hear that. It’s all bullshit. I never listen
to that crap. We talked about this.”

“I know. I know. But it’s not worth it, Asher.”

Sell it, Maddy.
She looked over at old frozen face.

“Asher, I’ve had enough bullying for a lifetime, and I don’t want any more of it.”

“
Fuck
. I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I really am. If there were a way to protect you from —

”

“Yeah, well. There isn’t, is there? So, I’m … I’m done. Okay? I don’t want to see
you again.”

“What about Ella?”

“Her either.”

“What?”

She glanced at Asher’s mother. The woman was staring at her, eyes narrowed with suspicion.
Maddy’s spine stiffened and irritation laced her tone. “Look. I don’t want to be with
you. Deal with it. You come with too much baggage. Way too much. Good-bye.”

“Maddy, where are — ”

She disconnected the phone and snuck a glance at the woman perched next to her.

Had she bought it? She turned to Jacqueline, who was bestowing a magnanimous look
upon her. Her phone started vibrating in her hand and she tucked it back into her
purse.

Okay then.

“Do you think you could you drop me at my apartment?” Maddy asked, cautiously.

Jacqueline lowered the partition and Maddy gave directions to the driver.

Fifteen silent minutes later, the car pulled up in front of her building. Maddy got
out, closed the door and stood on the sidewalk, watching as the limo drove off. When
it was out of sight, she sagged in relief and collapsed onto the curb.

She checked her watch. Damn it, she missed her appointment. Still, being the victim
of a kidnapping at gunpoint seemed like a pretty good excuse.

She called Asher back. It went to voice mail. He was probably canceling the police
or having the car towed.

Maybe she shouldn’t be standing here on the street. That woman might decide not to
take her at her word.

She fished her keys out of her purse, unlocked the door to her complex and headed
up the stairs to her apartment. She needed to reschedule her doctor’s appointment.
Then she would call Justin for a ride.

Asher glared at the phone in his hand. “What the
fuck
?”

She
called
to break up with him? And she was matter of fact about it? He didn’t read gossip
sites, had no idea what people were saying and couldn’t care less. His stomach knotted.
Just because he had years — decades really — of dealing with all the bullshit rumors,
speculation, and lies about his life didn’t mean she would take it in stride.

Gut twisting, he turned on his laptop. What had he been thinking? That she would roll
with the punches? Why hadn’t he seen this coming?
Shit!

He pulled up one of the most offensive celebrity gossip websites and searched on his
name.

Oh no.
There were pictures of him with Maddy. And comments. Endless, horrible, cruel comments.
About her appearance and weight. About her intelligence.