Meeting Trouble (New Adult Rock Star Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page A

want to see him again.
    The hockey game went into overtime while Katie got up to get another b eer. I shrugged my jacket off, too warm, and picked fuzz off my black v-neck blouse. I didn’t see him come in, but the reaction of the room told me he was there—somewhere behind me. I turned to look over my shoulder as the whole band entered the room together.
    People flocked around them. Several were obviously fans, like us, proud and lucky with their All-Access-Passes hanging around their necks. I wondered idly how you got your hands on one when the lead singer didn ’t nearly knock you down several flights of stairs. Katie tipped her beer at me and sauntered over nearer to the band. I turned, but didn’t move from my perch on the ottoman, feeling uncertain and deflated. In spite of my dismissal at Katie’s suggestion, a part of me clung to the spark of hope the fantasy might come true, that I might end up in Rob Burns’ hotel room.
    As I watched him talking, signing autographs, joking and laughing, I saw something I hadn ’t in the few moments he was outside with us. This was his public face. Outside, he had been wide open, showing me something real, probably surprised into it by circumstance, but still...
    What I was looking at now was clearly a façade. It reminded me of when my mother had taken me back stage at Les Miz. It made me sad and I wanted to leave. I noticed Katie had cornered Tyler and she pressed as close as decency would allow as they talked—probably closer. I knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere any time soon, so I sat and sipped my water and decided to just people-watch.
    Rob saw me and waved. I half-waved back but didn’t move from my seat. Instead, I drank my Evian, crossing my legs at the ankles and watching, wondering how in the world this situation had manifested. I still felt like I was drifting, floating through. A few girls with autographed tour programs tucked under their arms giggled together as they passed me. They had taken several pictures with Rob and received a myriad of kisses from him. Now Rob looked at me, his gaze steady and attention focused, although he talked to a guy beside him wearing a Trouble t-shirt.
    I tipped my Evian bottle, draining the last drops, and turned to the table for more when I felt him standing by me. I don ’t know how I knew it was him, but I knew it before I turned and found myself face-to-face with the snap on his jeans.
    “ Hi, Sabrina.” Then Rob smiled and I melted. I didn’t want to melt. It just happened. His clothes were different than his concert outfit, I noticed, and his hair was wet. Shower, I thought. Of course, they must shower after the show.
    “ Hey, Rob.” I smiled and hoped I wasn’t blushing. My cheeks felt hot. “Fantastic show!”
    I couldn ’t think of anything else to say, although I realized he must have heard that particular phrase hundreds of times from fans. Probably that many times just tonight. So much for being determined to be unique or unusual and different.
    “ Thanks,” he replied. “How’s your head?”
    “ Oh, it’s fine.” I touched the spot where he’d hit me with the door. It was still tender. I’d never even made it to the bathroom to look at it. It occurred to me then, I must look awful—a big cut open goose egg on my head on top of being sweaty from dancing during the show.
    “ I’m really sorry about that,” he apologized, sitting on the couch across from me.
    “ No harm, no foul.” I winked, and then it just slipped out—again. “Remember, I said I wouldn’t sue you or anything.”
    I couldn’t believe I said it. Again. But after watching him sign autographs and give kisses and put his arms around strange women, what other conclusion could I come to? The only reason I wasn’t just another face in the crowd was because I might be a liability. A backstage pass was obviously supposed to change that.
    He raised his eyebrows. “You must really believe that’s why you’re here.”
    “ Big