Taste of Candy Read online

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “But I only turned it off because I want you to be able to focus on what I’m about to say.”

  ***

  Chapter Five

  Uh-oh. Happy conversations didn’t start like that. Candy figured he was going to remind her that this was just a fling—not that she needed reminding. Or did she? She played back everything she’d done, everything she’d said to him. Had she been clingy?

  No.

  Candy rolled over onto her hands and looked up at Dave expectantly. “Okay.”

  “You are a great fuck.”

  Candy blushed, and then blushed even harder at the fact that after everything she had done that evening, his language should embarrass her.

  Dave cleared his throat and helped her sit up. “You know I’m on tour now, so—”

  “It’s okay, I knew you’d have to leave after this weekend,” Candy said as Dave uncuffed her.

  She steeled herself against the tiny voice in the back of her mind that wished that weren’t true. A hot little fling was all she wanted anyway. God knows she’d had enough failed relationships to last a lifetime. But Dave Roads didn’t need to be one of those bad memories.

  By walking away now, she’d always have this perfect moment to treasure.

  He took her wrists in his hands and gently kissed them, rubbing her wrists with his fingertips as if to soothe any discomfort away.

  “That’s not where I was going with this. I want you to come with me on tour. I’m leaving tomorrow. You could shack up with me and come to all our gigs—we’re going all over the place.”

  Candy stared at him in shock. He wanted her to go on tour with him? Her thoughts immediately went to her work—but as a freelance graphic designer she had a very open schedule and could work from anywhere as long as she had her laptop and a wi-fi connection. She could literally bring her work on the road with her—and continue seeing Dave.

  But what was the point? So what if he had discovered the secret to making her come, not just once, but multiple times? So what if he was a famous rock star? Did that mean she should just give up her nice normal, life for him? Candy frowned. Her nice, normal, boring life.

  Don’t do it. You’ll have to share him with every other woman out there. He’ll never truly be yours alone.

  But maybe…what if she went with him on tour and just kept her feelings at bay? If she could treat the arrangement as sort of an…ongoing one-night stand, then she’d be okay. Right?

  “What do you think, Candy?”

  “What about the rent on my apartment?”

  “I’ll pay your rent so you don’t have to worry about it,” he said, shrugging. “You’ll always be able to go back home if you feel like it.”

  “You wouldn’t need to pay my rent—as long as I can bring my work on the road there’s no reason I couldn’t just pay it myself.”

  “Is that a yes?” Dave looked at her, excitement in his eyes.

  Candy grinned. Hell, what did she have to lose? As long as she remembered to not get too attached, then nothing.

  “Okay. But just for a little while.”

  Dave laughed and hugged her. “It’s going to be really great having you around.”

  “Won’t I put a crimp on your groupie sex orgies?”

  “I don’t want any other woman. Certainly not some vapid groupie. You’re different, Candy. And all I want right now is you.”

  Candy forced herself to focus on the most important part of what he had just said—specifically, the words ‘right now.’

  Because no matter what Dave said, he was a rock star with a crazy tour schedule and a million fans eager to sleep with him. She’d be his flavor of the week but he’d soon tire of her. She’d have to remember that if she wanted to protect her heart.

  “Okay,” Candy said. “For now.”

  ***

  Walking down the busy sidewalk in midtown Manhattan took some getting used to, but Candy had three more weeks in New York City with Dave while TopShelf performed at various sold-out venues to adjust. She hadn’t been home in almost five months, but she didn’t mind. Traveling suited her—and it was fun buying new clothes on the road.

  She walked past a magazine stand and did a double take. Several months ago when they were in Berlin, Dave mentioned to her that he was meeting up with a reporter for a magazine interview, but he’d neglected to mention he’d be on the cover. Smiling, she picked it up and flipped through it quickly to the article about him.

  “No reading!” the guy who owned the stand yelled to her in a thickly accented voice. “Buy now!”

  Candy grumbled but pulled a few bills out of her purse and took the magazine with her down the street to a cafe. Grande non-fat mocha latte in hand, she settled into an armchair by the window and stared at the photo of him. Dave was gorgeous. The photo was a glossy black and white, but you could tell he had blue eyes anyway.

  Candy enjoyed being able to just stare at his face, for as long as she desired, without making him uncomfortable. The thick dark fringe that lashed his eyes, the shaggy black hair that looked professionally tousled, and the magnificent tattoos all served to make him into the most beautiful man she had ever known.

  She read the interview and noted with a touch of jealousy that the reporter was a woman who was obviously flirting with her subject. But what could Candy expect? He was a good looking, single rock star. Of course he had tons of chicks after him.

  But no matter how hard she tried to not get attached to Dave, it was clear she’d failed miserably. If she hadn’t failed, then stuff like this wouldn’t bother her.

  Candy gritted her teeth as she read the article’s chatty tone and obviously sex-crazed reporter. Then I say: So, Dave Roads, are you still a bachelor? Dave shrugs and winks at me before answering with a definitive “Yes.” My favorite rock star gives me a sexy grin as he looks me up and down and says, “but I won’t be lonely tonight.” Looks like I have dinner plans, loyal readers.

  Candy pushed the magazine away in disgust. She searched her memory for nights when Dave was MIA. There’d definitely been several occasions when Candy had bowed out of an after-party so she could get some work done. Nights when Dave had come home in the wee hours of the morning and fallen into bed beside her.

  And there had been plenty of times when he’d taken a phone call in private, or hung up the phone when she walked in the room. As if…as if he had something to hide.

  A secret.

  Had Dave really hooked up with that reporter? He did have a penchant for sleeping with women who turned him on, he said so himself. Hell, Candy had just been another promotional dinner date when Dave decided to take things to the next step. And it looked like he had met this interviewer and had done the exact same thing.

  There must be plenty of other girls out there who had hooked up with Dave Roads. Maybe they were reading this article and sighing, remembering what a flirt he was when he was trying to get in their pants.

  Well, Candy wasn’t interested in being a groupie. She wanted to be the only one. That’s too much to ask of him. He’s a rock star, not husband material. Right?

  She stared at his face on the cover of the magazine—but looking at Dave in his personification as a rock star wasn’t what she needed right now. She needed to see the Dave she had come to know. The incredible guy who lavished her with attention and truly cared for her. The guy who gave money to every homeless person who asked.

  Picking up her cell phone, she looked at her phone’s wallpaper. It was a picture she’d snapped just the other morning when he’d woken up and was still rumpled and sweet looking. Yeah, he was a rock star. But he was also her boyfriend. And there was no reason he couldn’t be something more, if he wanted to be.

  But did he want to be? Would he ever be able to go on an interview and not screw the reporter if she was hot?

  She’d have to find out.

  Candy called Dave’s cell, cursing under her breath when it went to voicemail. Damn. It was just as well. What was sh
e going to do, directly ask him if he was sleeping around?

  Um…yes. That’s exactly what she would do. And if he was, then she was going back home and fuck the rest of the tour.

  Her phone beeped as a text came in from Dave. Sorry I missed u, what’s up?

  She texted back, I read your interview.

  He answered, LOL, how’d I do?

  Candy’s thumbs stopped, poised above her phone’s keypad. Taking a deep breath, she typed and then hit send before she could stop herself. Did u screw her?

  There was no answer. No text back. Candy’s heart dropped and she frantically wondered what the silence meant. Was he crafting an apology? Or maybe he was furious with her for even asking—after all, he’d never promised monogamy. She stared at the phone, willing him to text to her back. No answer.

  Suddenly the phone rang, the TopShelf ringtone turning a couple of heads in the coffee shop as she quickly answered it.

  Dave was talking before she could even say hello. “Did I screw who?” he asked. “Why do you think I screwed anybody?”

  “I’m not trying to insult you, Dave, and I know we never promised each other monogamy or anything—we’re not high school kids going steady. I get that. We’re adults, having fun.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s not fun to have conversations like this,” he said.

  “Okay,” Candy said. She had to make a choice as to whether or not she trusted him or she’d go crazy trying to maintain a relationship with him. She did trust him—she trusted him with her body and, it seemed, with her heart as well. As long as he was honest.

  “We need to talk about this monogamy thing, though,” Dave said. “Tonight.”

  “Okay,” she said again, her voice gone flat.

  He was going to break up with her—that was clear. Too bad, since Candy was pretty sure she had just realized something—against her better judgment, she had fallen in love with him.

  She felt like she’d been sucker-punched. Why did she have to fall for a guy she had to share with millions of people?

  ***

  Chapter Six

  Candy’s hands trembled as she stood alone in the hotel room later that evening, looking out over the New York City lights from the penthouse view. She never should have let herself get so attached to a rock star. It was supposed to be a one night stand. What had she been thinking to go on tour with him—to spend the past five months glued to his side, going to his shows every night?

  Sure, it had been fun. Lots of fun. And she was able to keep her freelance graphic design business going by working on her laptop during the day.

  But it was all going to be over soon. She was dreading their date to ‘talk about this monogamy thing.’ Candy didn’t want to break up with him—she loved him. But she wasn’t sure she could still be with him if he was going to tell her he wanted to sleep with other people. It just wasn’t her style.

  It was foolish for her to think she could treat this relationship as an extended fling. Despite her best intentions to stay emotionally unattached, she’d gotten thoroughly roped in.

  So much for protecting her heart.

  She jumped when she heard the door to their hotel suite open, but she didn’t turn around. He would see her crying, and that would be terrible.

  “Hey, babe,” Dave said, coming up behind her and putting his muscular arms around her waist. “I missed you.”

  Candy leaned her head back on his chest and breathed shakily. Was this going to be how it all ended?

  “What’s wrong, Candy?” His voice was soft, concerned.

  She shook her head, unable to voice her fears. A fat tear rolled down her cheek.

  Dave turned her around until she was facing him and held her chin in his hand. “Did you really think I fucked that twit who interviewed me?”

  “She basically said as much in the magazine.”

  Dave smirked. “All right. We need to talk about the whole monogamy thing.”

  Why did he keep calling it a ‘monogamy thing?’ It was normal and natural for her to want to be his only girl. She wouldn’t—couldn’t—settle for anything less.

  “Listen, Candy,” he said, his tongue flicking out of his mouth and carefully touching her jawline, licking her tear up its salty trail until he planted a tiny kiss on her eyelid. “I’m not fucking around. And I don’t want you fucking around, either. You’re mine…and I’m yours.”

  Candy hadn’t even realized she was holding her breath until air rushed into her lungs, as if she had been wearing a corset that was too tightly laced and Dave had just cut the strings with his words. “I’m yours, Dave.”

  “Good. ‘Cause guess what I did today?” he asked, a devilish grin on his handsome face.

  She couldn’t help but grin back and laugh. “Tell me.”

  Without a word, Dave stripped his tight long-sleeved T-shirt off and lifted a fresh gauze bandage from his arm. He already had a full sleeve of tattoo art, but now there was a new addition hidden amongst the designs on his forearm. A beautiful little tattoo of a colorful hard candy wrapped in foil.

  “It’s not your usual skulls and barbed wire type of tattoo,” she said, “but it’s very cute.”

  “It’s candy,” he said. “To remind me of our time together.”

  She grabbed his face in her hands and stood on her tiptoes, pulling him into her kiss. His words made her feel cherished even as she grasped the deeper meaning behind them.

  If he needed a tattoo to remind himself of their time together, it was because their relationship wasn’t going to last forever. For all she knew, every tattoo on his body was there to remind him of a different lover. And now he’d have something to remember her by, after he left her.

  So she needed to make every moment she had left with him count. “I want you,” she said. And I love you. But she couldn’t say it. Not when she knew he wouldn’t be saying it back. That would hurt too much.

  He let out a sound almost like a growl and lifted her hips until she was straddling him, her back pressed against the floor-to-ceiling window, her skirt riding up her thighs. She gasped as he tore her thong off of her with one quick movement.

  She held on to his bare torso with her thighs as he dropped his hand to his zipper and freed his cock, which was hard and thick with need already.

  “Fuck me, Dave, please fuck me. I can’t wait any longer,” she whispered as he thrust inside her, supporting all of her weight in his arms and against the window. She wondered briefly if anyone out on the city streets could look up and see her back and ass sliding up and down over the glass.

  Who cares? This might be the last time she ever got to be in Dave’s arms. As happy as she’d been with him, there were still those unaccounted nights he’d been missing. The late night phone calls.

  The tattoo to remember her by.

  He had a secret, but what was it?

  ***

  Chapter Seven

  The following evening, Candy cheered from the wings of the stage, singing along with the every song. The tunes never got old, even after hearing them over and over again. Maybe because the vibe from each audience was different, and that played into the effect of the music. The very loud music. She had taken to wearing little foam earplugs to protect her hearing since she was so close to the amps. She could still hear everything as if it was being downloaded directly into her head.

  That night’s performance was insane—people were practically climbing over each other to get closer to the band, and everyone was having a great time.

  Dave looked at her from the stage and winked, and she smiled back. He’d been acting so secretively lately that she knew their time together was almost up.

  May as well smile and dance while she still could.

  “New York!” Dave yelled into his mic, and the crowd went wild. “Wanna hear a song no one has ever heard before?”

  The crowd roared and Dave grinned, nodding to his band. Candy raised her eyebrows in interest. A new song? She didn’t remember hearing him rehearse any new so
ngs.

  “This is a love song,” Dave said. “I call it ‘Taste of Candy’.” He closed his eyes and sang, gripping the mic tightly as the band started rocking out.

  Candy I don’t know what to do

  You’ve made me fall in love with you

  I’d give up food forever—let me die of thirst

  I just need the taste of Candy

  Now you know I’m cursed

  Candy I don’t know what to do

  You’ve made me fall in love with you

  Candy’s jaw dropped. Had he really just sung her a love song? Her eyes filled up with tears and she brushed them away with the back of her hand, smearing her mascara.

  Suddenly it all came together. Everything made sense now. He’d been rehearsing and planning a song—a song he couldn’t have her hearing ahead of time. No wonder he’d been acting like he had a secret to keep.

  Relief washed over her like rain.

  Dave looked over at her and the crowd went nuts, lighters in the air, swaying to the beat as he gestured for Candy to come out on stage.

  Overwhelmed with emotion, Candy shook her head. She couldn’t go out there in front of all those people. But then she saw the concern in Dave’s eyes. He had laid his soul bare in front of a thousand strangers, and she was leaving him hanging.

  She ran on stage before she could talk herself out of it and jumped into his arms. The lights were so bright she couldn’t see the audience even if she wanted to, which she didn’t. She just wanted to be in Dave’s strong arms.

  He clutched her to his chest, threw the mic on the ground, and kissed her. She was vaguely aware of the screaming fans but Dave’s kiss was so all-encompassing that it blocked any thought from her mind other than I love you.

  “That was a great song,” she whispered in his ear.

  “It’s true. I love you, Candy. For real. Forever.”

  “I’m so glad, because I never want this to end,” Candy blushed and looked around the stage and the packed theater. “We can talk about this later.”

  “Now’s good,” he said, dropping his mouth to her neck and nibbling it in full view of the crowd. “And I never want this to end either. I want you to marry me.”