Rock My World

“Yeah, well last time I looked you were a man and a woman, too.”

Adam’s frown was a real scowl now. “I won’t get out of line.”

Carl shrugged. “I didn’t say anything, did I?”

Had they forgotten she was here? What if she wanted to get out of line? “How’s Nick?” she asked, anxious to change the subject.

“Okay. I saw him after he came out of surgery. They had him on a morphine pump and he was feeling no pain. He’s got a pin in his leg and a cast up to his thigh, and his shoulder’s all bandaged up.” He wiped his face with an oversize green bandanna. “He’s lucky he wasn’t killed.”

“Poor guy.” She shuddered. “Funny how a few minutes can change everything, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Adam was looking at her. Was he thinking about how this changed things between them, too?

“Now get back in bed.” Carl shooed them toward the bed. “We want some photos for the Web site.”

She settled back against the pillows beside Adam, smiling for the camera, all her senses focused on the man beside her. They were almost touching, but not quite, the satin sheets bunched up between them.

“No, no, no. Act like you like each other.” Carl stood beside the cameraman, motioning for them to move closer together. “This is supposed to be sexy. Attention-getting. You’re having a good time, remember? It’s for a good cause.”

She glanced at Adam, who wore a pained expression. “Carl, I—” he began.

She couldn’t decide if he was shy or simply had an overdeveloped sense of propriety. She absolutely refused to consider that he might not want to get closer to her. She couldn’t be that far off in reading the signals he was sending out when no one else was around.

Fine, then. She’d be happy to help things along a little. She pulled the sheets from around them and slid closer, her hip snugged up against his, his arm brushing the side of her breast. “How’s this?” she asked, and threw both arms around him.

“Great! Great! Adam, put your arm around her. That’s it. Now big smiles!”

The flash blinded them, but it did nothing to dim her awareness of Adam’s arm around her or the warmth of his body against hers. He’d gotten over his reluctance quickly enough, his fingers kneading her waist, his body angling toward hers slightly. Only a half-turn and they’d be facing each other, looking into each other’s eyes, their lips almost touching….

“That’s great. You look hot. We’ll get a million hits on the Web site with these.”

“I think a million’s a little optimistic,” Adam said, his arm still wrapped around her. “It’s not the Paris Hilton video.”

“Now there’s an idea.” Carl’s eyes took on a wicked gleam. “Video. I’ll have to talk with the Web designer about that.”

“Hey, Adam, come over here and check this schedule, will you?” their production assistant, Mason, called.

Did she imagine his reluctance to pull away from her? She hugged a pillow to her chest and watched him climb out of bed and cross the floor to speak with Mason. Obviously Adam had enjoyed the cuddling as much as she had. If she could only figure out a way for them to enjoy it when no one was looking…no one but all those security cameras.

She glanced up at the smoked plastic dome. Was there someone sitting at a console somewhere, monitoring them right now? She stuck out her tongue just in case. That’s what they got for spoiling her fun. Wonder if she could cover them with a sheet…?

“What are you looking at?”

She started as he joined her in the bed once more. “I’m thinking how boring it must be for whoever monitors those cameras,” she said.

“This is probably more exciting than staring at screens full of furniture all day, which is what they usually do.”

She laughed. “So far it’s been fun.”

His eyes caught hers and lingered. “Yeah. It has been fun.”

There was no time for further conversation, as Adam was called on to do a public service announcement for the Salvation Army and Erica did a quick interview with the entertainment columnist for the Post. The rest of the day was a blur of talking with fans, posing for photos, signing autographs and making regular on-air appeals for more donations. Before she knew it, they were well into the afternoon.

“Time to do a call-in, folks.” Mason held out their headsets and motioned for them to get ready.

“How are you two doing out there?” Audra’s voice came through loud and clear. “No napping on the job, now.”

“Nobody told me that,” Erica said. “I was hoping to catch up on my beauty sleep.”

“She doesn’t need it, folks, trust me,” Adam said.

She gave him her most killer smile. Maybe she’d been wrong about him not seeing her as an available woman. He didn’t seem to be having that problem now.

“We’ve raised over two thousand dollars in our first eight hours,” Adam said. “Let’s double that by nine when we say good-night.”

After-work traffic brought a rush of donations and visitors. For a few minutes, Erica even had a line of people waiting for her autograph. Talk about a rush. “I could get used to this celebrity business,” she told Adam when the crowd had dwindled.

“You’re a natural at it.”

A little after nine the production crew packed up for the day. Someone delivered a take-out pizza and checked that they had everything they needed and then everyone left. Finally they were alone. After the hubbub of the day, the quiet was a little unsettling.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m not messing up the sheets with pizza sauce.” Adam moved into a nearby leather recliner.

“Right.” She pulled up an armchair next to him and helped herself to a slice of pizza. “I’m starved. That burger I wolfed down at lunch is long gone.”

“Tomorrow we lobby for more snacks.” He wiped his fingers with a fistful of napkins. “After all, we’ve got to keep our strength up.”

“Yes, it’s such strenuous work.” Maybe not physically, but she had to admit, being “on” for so many hours was exhausting.

“The first day went pretty well, I thought,” Adam said. “Tomorrow shouldn’t be as hectic.”

“It went great.” But there was still the first night to get through. What would happen then? She had a lot of fantasies about what she’d like to happen, but the security cameras had ruined all that. So how would she and Adam handle spending the night in the same bed?

“I wonder how Nick’s feeling about now?” Adam asked.

“Probably not so good.” She had a sudden image of Nick in a hospital gown and quickly shoved it aside. Some things she did not want to see. “I’m sorry he was hurt, but I’m glad I’m doing this promo with you instead of him.”

“Oh, Nick’s all right. Most of his rep is just part of his act.” He glanced at her. “I’m sure he would have been a perfect gentleman.”

And will you be a perfect gentleman? She hoped not. She was beginning to worry that he wasn’t attracted to her at all. She wasn’t a bombshell like Bonnie, but she’d never had reason to worry about her looks much before. Who would have guessed her dream job would be so hard on her ego?

Suddenly she had to get away from him, if only for a few minutes. She yawned. “I’m wiped.”

“Yeah.” He set the pizza box aside. “It’s getting late and we’ve got another early morning tomorrow.”

“At least we don’t have a long commute.” She stood and began gathering up their paper plates and cups.

“I’ll do that.” He took the trash from her, his hand grazing hers, sending a rush of heat through her. “You can have the bathroom first to get ready to turn in.”