See You at the Show (22 page)

***

Stevie sat down next to Jack, taking the cigarette out of his hand and taking a deep draw on it.

“I thought you’d given up,” Jack said, looking at her as she threw her legs over his, slipping one arm round his neck.

“When did I say that?”

He took the cigarette back and ignored the question.
 
“You and Cassidy had a row?”

“More of a disagreement.”

“You seen him tonight?”

She leaned over him to grab a can of lager from the table beside him.
 
“No.
 
I’ve been busy.
 
Call yourself a rock star?
 
That can’s empty?”

“What the hell’s up with
you
tonight?”

“Nothing.”
 
She reached into her pocket as her mobile signalled the arrival of a text message.
 
From Daniel, and she couldn’t help smiling as she read it.
 
Tomorrow night she’d see him again and she surprised herself by how much she was looking forward to that.
 
He was a welcome relief to the shit going on around here, even if she shouldn’t be going anywhere near a married politician who could, quite possibly, become the next Prime Minister.
 
It had ridiculous scenario written all over it, not to mention stupid and dangerous but then, sometimes stupid and dangerous was good, hadn’t she always said that?
 
And the excitement never hurt.
 
She never got tired of excitement.

“Someone special?” Jack smirked, stubbing out his cigarette.

“Shut up, Jack.”
 
She slid her ‘phone back into her pocket and got up, just as Mark walked into the room.
 
His eyes immediately locked onto hers and she felt her stomach turn a dozen tiny somersaults.
 
She hadn’t seen him since he’d walked out on her that morning and now here he was, all set to go on stage looking drop-dead gorgeous and dangerously sexy.
 
She couldn’t take her eyes off him.

“Come here,” he said, holding out his hand and she took it, letting him pull her into his arms, grabbing onto his t-shirt, closing her eyes as he kissed her.
 
“I’m sorry, baby.”

“You’re always sorry, Mark.”

“I mean it, Stevie.”

“Whatever.”

“Who was he?”

She looked at him.
 
“A quick apology then we move straight onto interrogation, is that it?”

“Do I know him?”

 
She let go of him, pushing him away.
 
“I’m outta here.”

“No, Stevie, look...I’m sorry...”
 
He grabbed her hand, swinging her round to face him. “Ok?
 
I’m sorry.”

“Will you stop using that word, Mark, because you never mean it.
 
No, you don’t know him, and it was just sex.
 
That’s all it was.
 
Do I ask you details of every groupie you sleep with?”

He pushed a hand through his hair.
 
“Can we just get back to normal?”

“And what
is
that exactly?
 
Because I’m not sure I know anymore.”

“You and me, baby, back where we should be.
 
We belong together.
 
Mark Cassidy and Stevie Stone – we’re unbreakable.”

She looked at him.
 
“Are we?”

“Things don’t have to change, Stevie.”

“But they already have.
 
Can’t you see that?
 
And I don’t think I like it, Mark.
 
I don’t think I can handle it.”

He leaned back against the wall, throwing his head back as he pushed a hand through his hair again.
 
“I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“But you did.”
 
She went over to him, stroking his face, the stubble rough underneath her fingers.
 
“And I can’t pretend that you didn’t.”

He took hold of her hand, looking into her eyes.
 
He loved this woman, this crazy, Swedish woman.
 
He loved her.
 
He’d never known what it had felt like to be in love before, but he did now.
 
It hurt like hell and he hated it but he couldn’t stop it.
 
He couldn’t.

“So, what are you saying?”

She kissed him slowly, his arm sliding around her waist as her body pressed up against his.
 
“I’m saying, take me as I am, Mark.
 
I can’t give you the commitment you want from me and I’m not sure I ever can so, take me as I am, or leave me alone.
 
Your choice.”

He watched her walk away, watched her run over to Johnny, throwing herself into his arms for a hug and he felt that pain again, cutting right across his chest.
 
Because she’d left him with no choice at all really.
 
He couldn’t stop loving her and he couldn’t stop needing her.
 
There was nothing left to think about.

***

Johnny couldn’t pretend he wasn’t pleased to see the look on Mark’s face as he watched Stevie quite obviously tell him how it was.
 
He couldn’t hear what she was saying to him but he could see Mark wasn’t liking it.
 
Had he told her he was in love with her?
 
Was she telling him she didn’t feel the same?
 
Mark was his best friend but where Stevie was concerned he was also now his competition, and he wasn’t going to make the mistake Mark had quite obviously made and tell Stevie how he felt because where was that going to get him?
 
No, he’d play it by ear.
 
He’d keep doing what he was doing, keep her close as his friend and see what happened.
 
He had nothing to lose.
 
Mark, on the other hand, may have already lost it.

***

Dave Deacon watched it all playing out in front of him.
 
He wasn’t stupid, he could see where it had been heading for years now.
 
Stevie Stone wasn’t the kind of woman you could keep at arms length for that long and not start to want totally for yourself, and that’s what was happening with Mark Cassidy.
 
She’d got to him big time, Dave had seen it coming, and he should have stopped it from getting this far.
 
He didn’t need his front man, the person who was, to all intents and purposes, Black Rock Diamond losing his focus over a woman.
 
Without Mark Cassidy the band didn’t really exist and if he was off his game then everyone suffered.

The tension between him and Johnny hadn’t gone unnoticed either.
 
It was obvious things had changed between them and it was all because of Stevie Stone, none of which made Dave happy or comfortable and he wasn’t about to sit back and watch everything implode, because it would.
 
If he let it.
 
But he wasn’t going to.
 
He had a job to do now, and the most important thing he had to make sure of was that he finished it.
 

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Stevie sat on her bed, scrolling through the texts Daniel had sent her over the past couple of days.
 
For a man who looked so right and proper in his suit and tie with his clipped English accent he wasn’t half using words that would shock those whose circles he mixed in.
 
Stevie thought it hilarious, and cute.
 
She was bringing out a side of Daniel Madison he hadn’t known existed, and she loved every second of teaching him things he’d never dreamed of doing before.
 
He’d been a quick learner too.
 
A very eager and willing pupil.
 
But if his friends and colleagues over in
Westminster
only knew what he got up to with his secret rock ‘n’ roll mistress - the new Leader of the Opposition.
 

Because that’s what Daniel was now.
 
He’d won the Leadership Election by a landslide and now, with a General Election just months away, his party was more than confident he could take them forward into Government.
 
She’d never usually paid that much attention to politics before, but being with Daniel had made her sit up and take notice because she cared about what he did.
 
She cared about
him.

Their affair – because that’s what it was – had started up a few months ago, just before Stevie had left with the band for their European Tour dates.
 
It hadn’t happened straightaway, Stevie hadn’t been sure she’d wanted to get involved when things were still such a mess with Mark, but Daniel had been very persistent.
 

He was a romantic, the total opposite of Mark, and despite the fact he was so not the type of man she usually went for he’d won her round with his persistence.
 
He was like an antidote to the crazy life she lived, an escape she could run to when she felt like it, but she didn’t always feel like it.
 
She was still very much involved with Mark.
 
She couldn’t let him go, he was like a habit she couldn’t break but she
had
started to keep her distance more than she’d used to.
 
Because Daniel was taking up more of her head space than she’d ever thought he could.
 
She found herself thinking about him more and more, wondering what he was doing, where he was when he wasn’t with her and she tried to stop it by sleeping with Mark or throwing herself into her work but he wouldn’t go away.
 
He kept on creeping back into her thoughts and she couldn’t stop that.
 
As time wore on she found herself not even wanting to.

She’d been away for a while now, working with Black Rock Diamond on their North American and Canadian Tour so her affair with Daniel had hardly had time to get off the ground in reality, but she was missing him.
 
She’d missed him frequently over the time she’d been away, despite the distraction of Mark.
 
This seemingly mild-mannered and polite gentleman who’d walked into her life and made her change the way she thought about things - she’d missed him.

But they were all back in
Britain
now.
 
The band was in the studio to record the new album and Stevie had some time off, a chance to relax, yet all she wanted to do was see Daniel.
 
She wanted to call him, she wanted to hear his voice but she couldn’t just call him any time she wanted to, could she?
 
It wasn’t that simple where Daniel Madison was concerned.
 
So she punched out a quick text and lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
 
She felt at a bit of a loose end.
 
She’d just spent weeks on the road hanging out with rock stars and partying most nights with little or no sleep and it felt strange having nothing to do.
 
She wasn’t even tired, even though she should be.
 
It had been a long flight back from
Vancouver
but she just couldn’t settle.

She closed her eyes for a second, thinking back to the tour.
 
She got such a buzz from being on the road with the band and it was always hard coming down from that, which is why she needed to do something.
 
She just didn’t know what.
 
Not if Daniel wasn’t here.

Her ‘phone suddenly rang and she reached out for it, picking it up and answering it straightaway without even checking to see who it was.
 
“Yeah?”

“Where are you?”

She smiled as Daniel’s perfect English voice came down the line.
 
“I’m at home.
 
Where are
you
?”

“I’m at The House of Commons.
 
It was Prime Minister’s question’s today…I need to see you, Stevie.
 
I’ve bloody missed you.”

“Yeah, I’ve kinda missed you too, politician guy.
 
What you doing later?
 
I’ve got nothing on this evening.”

He laughed quietly.
 
“I really hope you haven’t.”

She pulled her knees up slightly and smiled to herself.
 
“Hey, Mr. Party Leader.
 
Are those thoughts befitting a man of your stature?
 
I’m not leading you astray, am I?”

“I hope so, Stevie, I really hope so.
 
Come over to my place.
 
An hour?”

“I’m there, baby.”

She threw the ‘phone back onto the bed and turned onto her side, hugging a pillow tight.
 
Things were changing in Stevie Stone’s head, and that was all because of Daniel Madison.
 
The man she was falling in love with.

***