“Sorry,” Ashley said immediately. “I didn’t think before speaking.”
“I’m the one who needs to apologize. My fans are great, but they can be a bit...” He frowned as he searched for the right word. “Overenthusiastic.” He shook his head as if to clear it, before saying, “I’m glad you’re here.”
She almost said, You are? Fortunately, she cut off the words before they could come spilling out. “Thank you. I am, too. I already met James, and he was really nice. I just want you to know that I don’t want to cause you or anyone else any trouble, so I’ll do my best to fade into the background.”
He turned his dark gaze to her, and she actually lost her breath. Whoosh. Gone.
“You could never fade into the background, Ashley.”
Even though the lack of oxygen to her brain was making it hard for her to think straight, she didn’t believe he was messing with her. He didn’t seem the cruel type to make fun of nerds, like so many kids at school had growing up. But the idea that he might be attracted to her was so preposterous she simply couldn’t process it.
Thankfully, before she had to figure out a way to respond, they were at the tour bus, where she could hopefully escape into whatever tiny little bunk she was assigned, far away from him until the next day, when she’d make sure that all the emotion-triggering chemicals currently affecting her brain from his amazing show were way more under control.
He punched in a code on the box at the side of the door, and it slid open. “Welcome to your new home for the summer. Living on a bus is a little weird, but most people get used to it pretty quickly.” He gestured for her to climb the stairs. “After you.”
“Wow.” The word slipped out before she could hold it back, but as she walked up the steps and into the bus, she truly was amazed by how sumptuous the interior was. Leather and glossy wood. A large TV and a really nice-looking kitchen, given the space constraints. She assumed one of the side interior doors led to a bathroom and shower, and the back door to a private bedroom. The living space was entirely blocked off from the driver by a floor-to-ceiling wall. It was beautiful and looked surprisingly comfortable to spend a few weeks in, but she was confused about one thing. “Where is everyone else?”
“The band shares a bus. The rest of the crew shares another. You and I will be the only people on this one.”
She whipped around to look at him. “I can’t share a bus with you!”
He held up his hands. “I promise to be a perfect gentleman, Ashley. I would never do anything to hurt you.”
“Oh my God, I’m not worried about that at all.” The words spilled out fast in the heat of her mortification that he thought she might be concerned he would take advantage of her in their shared bus. “I just assumed I was going to be with your crew. You’re already letting me join your tour. You don’t have to make any other special exceptions for me.”
“You want to learn about the music business, right? Your father mentioned you’re applying to business school.”
“I need real-life experience for Stanford to seriously consider my application.” For the time being, she left off the fact that it would be her second application.
“My band and crew are great,” he said, “but they’re not the ones you want an inside track to, are they?”
Of course they weren’t. She needed an inside track to him. And yet, how the heck could she play it cool when she’d be this close to him all the time? For all its plush luxury, the bus couldn’t be more than eight feet from wall to wall. And Drew wasn’t a small man.
But in the tiny pocket of her brain that was still able to think clearly around him, she knew he was right—the whole point of her being here was to learn from him, which meant that sharing his tour bus was the best possible thing that could happen. She couldn’t let fear of being this close to a gorgeous rock god get in the way of her goal. She’d never forgive herself if she did.
Desperate to salvage a seriously awkward first few minutes, she forced a big smile. “You’re right. It’ll be great to be on this bus with you. Really great!”
His lips twitched at the corners at her abrupt change of response, and she could feel herself flushing at how she’d managed to make everything as uncomfortable as possible inside of five minutes.
“Good. You can have the back bedroom, and I’ll take the bunk out here.”
“You’re the one who has to play a show every night. I’ll be just fine out here.” She put her shoulder bag with her tablet, notebook, and wallet on the lower bunk to claim it.
“You’ve got more than just that, haven’t you?”
“I do, but since I wasn’t sure if there’d be anywhere to keep my things during your show, I stored my bags at the airport.”
“I should have thought about that ahead of time.” It was quite possibly the cutest thing in the world—he actually seemed upset at himself for not thinking about where she should have put her bags. “Things have been crazy lately, but that’s no excuse.” He pulled out his phone and sent a text. “We should be rolling in just a few minutes. I’ll introduce you to our driver, Max, once we get to the airport.” He opened the gleaming, stainless steel fridge. “What can I get you to drink?”
“You probably have a really important after-show ritual that I’m completely screwing up. I can get myself a drink so that you can get to it.”