Rock All Night(37)

23




I awoke to a light knocking on my door.

Tok tok tok.

“Unnnhhh…” I moaned.

Jesus, didn’t they know what TIME it was?

…wait… what time WAS it?

I lifted my head and looked blearily at the clock.

10:07 AM.

Holy shit.

I never slept this late. Not only that, but my body was supposed to be three hours ahead because of the time zone difference. Back in New York, it was one o’clock in the afternoon.

Adrenaline rushed through me. I jumped out of bed and staggered over to the door.

Was it the hotel coming to throw me out?

Was it Miles come to scream at me to be in the limo in two minutes, no exceptions?

Was it Derek, back for round two?

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that last one.

I opened the door the slightest crack and peered out through swollen eyes.

It was a maid in a pristine white uniform, next to a rolling cart of towels and cleaning supplies.

“Cleaning service,” she said.

“Um… can you come back later?” I mumbled.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said apologetically. “There was no ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door.”

“Um… no worries… my bad…”

“Alright. I’ll be back in an hour or so.”

“Okay…”

She pushed the cart down the hall, the wheels barely whispering over the thick carpet. A few seconds later I heard another low knock about 20 feet away.

I found the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on my side and fumbled it out through the crack, hung it on the doorknob, and then closed my door.





24




First thing I did was call Miles’s cell phone. It was the only number that Glen, my editor at Rolling Stone, had given me before I left New York.

“Miles ‘ere,” he answered on the first ring.

“Hi, Miles, it’s Kaitlyn.”

I was expecting something like, Hello, or Good morning, or any of a number of possible pleasantries.

What I got instead was a brusque, “What do you want?”

“Um… I just wanted to make sure you guys hadn’t left without me.”

“Left without you?” he asked, almost incredulous.

“Yeah… isn’t there another concert in another city tonight?” I asked, recalling one of the few other pieces of information I’d gotten from Glen.

“Irvine – but it’s only an hour away. Bus won’t even be ready till three.”

“Oh. Um… okay… that’s good… are the guys practicing now?”

He gave a short, barking laugh. “PRACTICING? Those lazy sods aren’t even UP yet.”

Suddenly I felt a whole lot better.

“Oh… okay… what time should I come by, then?”

“Whenever,” he snapped, then hung up the phone.

Asshole.

But at least I had time to take a shower.





25




Actually, I had time to take a shower, get dressed, and go down and have a quick breakfast at the restaurant in the lobby. I didn’t eat much – A, the prices were astronomical, even by New York City standards, and B, I didn’t relish hanging out in the place where I’d seen Derek get mauled by a bunch of half-clothed hoochies. But I stayed long enough to eat some toast, a side order of fruit, and drink some coffee. Everything was excellent, especially the coffee. At eight dollars for a ‘bottomless cup,’ it had better be. By the second cup I was feeling halfway human again.

I went over to the penthouse elevator at 12:30 but found out I couldn’t get it to go anywhere without a special keycard. I went to the front desk and explained who I was, but the Ms. Universe contestant on duty said that I had to get authorization from the inhabitants. So I reluctantly called Miles again. He answered again on the first ring.

“What?” he snapped.

I explained the situation.

“Christ,” he snarled, then hung up.

A second later the reception desk phone rang. Ms. Universe picked up, said, “Right away, sir,” pleasantly, and then smiled at me. “You can go on up.”

I thanked her and headed over to the elevator.





26




I was nervous all the way up to the penthouse.

I kept wondering how it was going to be seeing Derek. If the sexual tension was going to be as uncomfortable as it was last night. If he was really going to stick to ‘I’m not going to make a move, you’re going to have to make a move,’ or if he was going to go back to hitting on me.

But when I got up to the penthouse, I realized something else I should have been worrying about but had completely forgotten:

Ryan.

He answered the door when I knocked – showered, styled, and neatly dressed in jeans, brown oxfords, and a royal blue button-up shirt with a brown leather jacket.

“Good morning,” he smiled at me.

Suddenly all the discomfort of last night’s conversation came racing back.

“Uh… hey,” I said, my legs frozen where I stood.

He gave me a weird look – probably because of how uncomfortable I was acting – and then stepped aside. “Come on in, we ordered breakfast.”