Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

NOAH

I was in awe of the woman I’d just met. Absolute, complete awe. When she’d first sat down, I’d been irritated as shit that the vacant seat next to me was being taken after all.

I’d expected it to be someone annoying. Someone I didn’t want to talk to who would fawn over me for the entire flight. That happened to me way too often when I had to fly commercial.

I didn’t mind the fans. In fact, I loved them. Without them, I still would have been just some kid out on his own, probably working some shitty job and making barely enough to get by. But as grateful as I was to them, I’d once spent seven hours next to a woman who kept making excuses to touch my hair.

It had gotten old fast, but this girl? I would let her touch any part of me she wanted, for as long as she wanted.

She was beautiful, with short blonde hair cut into a layered, pixie style and vivid green eyes that seemed to hold a permanent glimmer of laughter and mischief. Although she was probably a few years older than me, she was at least a head and a half shorter than I was, a tiny slip of woman I would be able to hold up against a wall so damn easily.

Our impromptu make-out session had been hotter than sin and left me aching for more. It had definitely been one for the books.

But best of all? I didn’t think she had any fucking idea who I was.

I loved that. Couldn’t get enough of it, which was why I’d decided to go ahead and steal that kiss back there.

If it had been up to me, I would have made out with her all the way to New York, but I’d probably have gotten us both arrested if I’d done all the things I wanted to do with her. She shot me a secretive, sexy smile as we sat back down side by side.

“Where did that come from?” she asked.

“You’re impossible to resist.” I shrugged. My heart was still doing weird somersaults in my chest and my cock was still trying to convince me that getting arrested might be worth it. “It was one of those ‘why not’ moments.”

“Why not, huh?” she replied with a thoughtful smile. “I think I like that. Besides, you helped me out with something back there that I needed a little help with.”

“Need any more help?” I joked, but also not really. I had no clue how the kissing had helped her, but shit. I’d happily do it again and again. “Consider me at your service any time.”

Her cheeks flushed. “Thanks. I’m Gemma, by the way.”

“Noah,” I said carefully, glad she hadn’t offered me a last name. It meant I didn’t have to give her mine either.

I was enjoying that she wasn’t just another fan. She wasn’t blinded by my stardom. She just liked me. It was a refreshing change.

As we settled back into our seats, I breathed through the lust still racing through my system. When the cart came past, I grabbed us both drinks, hoping it would cool my revving engine.

I grinned as I handed it over to her. “As long as you’ll bring another towel, you’re welcome to toss that one out on me too.”

She laughed, the sound easy and natural, carefree, as if she did it all the time. “Thanks, but I think we’ve pushed our luck enough, don’t you?”

“I find that life begins where the lines start blurring, don’t you?”

Uncertainty flickered in her eyes for a moment. “I wouldn’t really know. So, are you going home or flying from home?”

“Neither,” I said. “I’m from California, but I was visiting a friend in Austin and now I’m going to New York for work.”

“I’m from Austin,” she volunteered. “Also heading to the Big Apple for business instead of pleasure. I might squeeze in some fun while I’m there, though.”

I looked right into her eyes. “Same.”

Her cheeks flushed all over again and I almost groaned. It was just too easy to imagine how she would glow after an orgasm, and it was really hard to stop thinking about it once I’d started.

Either way, it was clear nothing else was going to happen between us on this flight. She wasn’t a risk-taker—even for me.

We ended up talking all the way to Manhattan, and when it was time to get off the plane, I stopped her from leaving. “Can I have your number before we go our separate ways?”

She blinked rapidly but nodded and held out her phone. “Here. Give me yours, too. Are you planning on going to Austin again anytime soon?”

“Probably,” I said honestly. “I visit there pretty frequently.”

In fact, the place was fast becoming like a second—or maybe third—home to me. Brandon, my bandmate, was from there. We often had to attend events there, so he and I usually tacked on a few extra days to chill before we took off again.

Gemma gave back my phone and I returned hers after typing in my number. As she hiked her laptop bag up on her shoulder, I grinned. “I’ll talk to you soon, Gemma. Good luck with your business stuff.”

“Thanks.” She smiled and wiggled her fingers in a wave. “Happy working.”

I laughed, grabbing my backpack. In an attempt to avoid getting recognized while disembarking, I slid my sunglasses over my eyes and tugged a ball cap over my head.

Eventually, I was definitely going to reach out to her. While I would have loved to give her a ride into the city, that would most definitely have blown my cover.

Bodyguards waited for me as I strode into the building, quickly closing ranks around me as they led me to the exit. I had enjoyed my anonymity on the flight, but that was definitely over now. As security swept me through the building, necks craned as people tried to catch a glimpse. Several screeching shrieks rang out when someone realized who was at the center of the huddle.

Thankfully, we made it to the waiting car without many hold-ups and I was whisked straight from the airport to the venue, the story of my life right then. I rarely saw the places we went to for performances, mostly stuck with the views from the windows of our hotels or vehicles if I wanted to know what the outside world looked like.

City Lights, my band, had recently been labeled as the next big thing , and ever since, our lives had been turned upside down in all the best ways possible. It was a dream come true for all of us, but our growing popularity and increasing level of fame were definitely taking some getting used to.

Tonight, we were the entertainment for a big charity event. By the time I arrived at the venue for our sound check, the rest of the guys were already there. Brandon, Lewis, Jack, and I had been thrown together by our label, but we’d become brothers in the time since they’d turned us into City Lights.

Each of us had a role to play in the band, embodying one the traditional personas a boy band was expected to have. Brandon was the outspoken one. The big, loud Texas boy with thighs like tree stumps and bright blond hair that hung in waves to his shoulders.

He was the bad boy to my supposed heart throb—I still wasn’t convinced they’d picked the right guy for that role.

Lewis was the glue, the so-called responsible one while Jack was the broody, lovable loner. Our personalities in the band had been decided for us, but we had each embraced our roles. Everyone but me fit into theirs naturally.

“Cutting it a little fine there, aren’t you, Parks? We’re on in three hours.” Brandon laughed when I walked in as he was being handed his mic.

It had tape wrapped around it in red, white, and blue, with a white star stuck to the blue tape to make it look like the flag of Texas. I grinned, pulling off my sunglasses and my cap and dropping them on a table backstage.

“I don’t book the flights,” I said, shrugging. “Plus I’m ready to go. Unlike you guys, I don’t need to be pampered before I go on. Mic me up and let’s rock the hell out of this sound check.”

A roadie rushed toward me with an earpiece and my microphone, practically falling over her feet as she handed them to me. I nodded my appreciation, turning to Lewis when he shot me a disapproving look.

“What?” I asked innocently. “I’m here, aren’t I?”

He sighed, fidgeting with his earpiece as he nodded. “You missed your flight again.”

“Only the first one.” I winked, falling into step beside him as we made our way to the stage. “That’s why there’s a backup, right?”

“We need a jet,” Jack said, his voice low but teasing. In real life, just like his persona for the band, he was a pretty quiet guy and he definitely preferred to be alone, but when he was around us, he was usually a little more comfortable and talkative than he was anywhere else. “Parks could keep it at his place so he could just get on it as soon as he wakes up in the morning. It’d save us a lot of worrying.”

“I’ll look into it,” Lewis said, grinning. “An alarm clock would serve the same purpose, though, and those are a lot cheaper.”

“I’ll look into it,” I joked.

Brandon blew past us, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet and jumping every now and then. The guy was a constant bundle of energy.

He laughed. “Let’s go, boys. What are you, eighty? Why are you moving so slow?”

Lewis groaned but picked up his pace. For the next hour, we focused on the sound check, making sure that when we took the stage later for the event, everything would be perfect. After that, we were shuttled back to our hotel for a quick round of press interviews before we had exactly thirty minutes to shower.

Back at the venue, we were raced to wardrobe and handed our outfits. We changed, posed for some pictures, and then it was time for our show. The backstage area was teeming with activity, but nothing compared to the electric anticipation bleeding back here from the waiting crowd.

My heart thumped, adrenaline shooting through my veins. I wrapped my fingers around my mic. A quick look at the others to make sure they were ready to go, and I grinned, plastering my trademark cocky but charismatic grin onto my face.

“Let’s give ‘em a show, boys,” I said.

We ran out onstage. Bright lights blinded me, but I could feel the presence of the crowd and hear their shrieks and screams, even though these were all professional people, not our usual crowd.

The band behind us started playing the opening strands of our first song and I lifted my mic to my lips, coming in exactly on cue to start singing. As I did, I walked to the edge of the stage. I’d do the obligatory introductions and crowd-charming later, but for now, I just focused on the opener.

A hush fell over the crowd when I started singing and I smiled, loving every second of my job. I’d always been an incredible singer, and whenever I’d opened my mouth, even as a boy, people had always been amazed at my voice.

About a year ago, a video of me had been posted on TikTok and it had gone viral. The aftermath had been a whirlwind. My career had taken off, catapulting me to heights I never would have been able to imagine. Especially after City Lights had been formed.

As I sang, my gaze scanned the crowd, their faces clearer now that I’d walked to the edge of the stage. The other guys fanned out behind me, all of us able to do this routine in our sleep by now. I loved seeing people’s faces while we performed for them, but tonight, I saw a face in the crowd I hadn’t been expecting.

The girl from the plane. Gemma .

I nearly choked when I saw her, but as soon as our gazes met, I knew I wasn’t imagining things. Our eyes connected and it was definitely her. A jolt of electricity zapped through me as if I’d stepped barefoot on an exposed wire, my heart suddenly beating faster.

I knew I had to move on, go to the other side of the stage to pay some attention to those people as well, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t take my eyes off her.

She was stunning, all dressed up in an olive-colored cocktail dress with shimmery eyeshadow highlighting those greens. I swallowed hard, practically drifting through the rest of the show until I could finally leave the stage.

As soon as I’d put my things away, I headed out to find her. Gemma. The girl who had captivated me from the moment I’d seen her—and who definitely now knew who I was.