Read Online The Hardest Set (Willow Son #4/Brothers of Rock #19) by Karolyn James - Free Book Online

knows though, famous people were usually nothing like they presented
themselves for the camera. If Van was that much of a rocsktar that he drank
himself stupid and verbally assaulted women, he was better off being gone.
    Unless he ’ s out in the apartment.
Making coffee or something.
    Natalie smiled as she rushed from
the bedroom. Her hopes were a little crushed when she confirmed that Van was
definitely gone. The only thing he ’ d
left behind was what must have been his phone number scribbled on a piece of
paper. If Natalie wanted to be a real bitch she could have texted the phone
number to everyone she knew. Spread the word and let Van ’ s phone blow up.
    “ No, ” she whispered.
    Not worth it.
    Natalie grabbed the paper and threw
it out. As far as she was concerned, it was all done. The night had come and gone.
She figured nobody would believe her if she told them what happened. There was
no proof of Van anywhere, except in the bedroom. Then again, the smell of man
could have been from anyone.
    When Natalie ’ s cell started to ring she hopelessly ran to it. Her
heart always raced each time it rang, wanting it to be Mark calling. Wanting
him to fix all that had been wrong. Wanting him to fulfill his promise to love
Natalie and only Natalie. Now that faded enough and was replaced with a little
hope that it was Van calling her.
    It was Andrea calling.
    “ Good
morning, ” Natalie said. “ You ’ re up early. ”
    “ You
sound half dead. Did you just wake up? ”
    “ Yeah,
I did. ”
    “ Good.
I ’ m on my way. With coffee
and bagels. ”
    “ Drive
faster, ” Natalie said.
    She hung up the phone.
    When Andrea showed up, Natalie had
to hand it to her. She handled herself amazingly. She couldn ’ t imagine how late Andrea must
have gotten home last night and here she was dressed up, looking nice, as
though she ’ d slept ten
comfortable hours and was ready to take on the day.
    “ Take
these, ” Andrea said.
    Natalie took a bag of bagels and
carrier with two large cups of coffee. She went to the table and cleared
everything away, again.
    Again …
    Natalie realized that Van must have
gone through her drawings.
    It made her smile and blush.
    “ What
are you so … wait a second.
I smell a man. ”
    “ No
you don ’ t, ” Natalie said.
    “ Yes,
I do. ”
    “ Stop. ”
    Andrea ’ s eyes went wide. She hurried and dropped her bag
and her phone. “ Tell me
right now. ”
    “ You
wouldn ’ t believe me. ”
    “ Try
me. ”
    “ Andrea …”
    “ You
had a guy over last night. Look at your hair! You have sex hair! ”
    Natalie touched her hair. “ Sex hair? ”
    “ Yeah.
It ’ s all messy and stuff.
Like you were on your back with your hair rubbing against a pillow for a while.
You little …”
    “ I
did not have sex, ” Natalie
said. “ I swear on my life. ”
    “ But
you had a guy here? ”
    “ Yes. ”
    “ You
have a guy come over but you don ’ t
sleep with him? ”
    “ Actually,
no. He didn ’ t even sleep in
my bed. He slept on the floor. ”
    “ What?
How old are you? ”
    “ You
wouldn ’ t believe me, ” Natalie said. She grabbed her
coffee and blew into the small opening. She sipped it.
    Andrea reached for her bag and
pulled out an envelope. “ This
is your pay from last night. If you don ’ t
confess what happened, I ’ m
going to start docking your pay. ”
    “ Bitch. ”
    “ Yes.
Now talk. ”
    Natalie sighed. “ You remember when I was looking
for Willow Son? ”
    “ Yeah. ”
    “ That
was because Van, the bassist, was out back, drunk. Like really drunk. I ’ m surprised he didn ’ t get sick, he was that drunk. ”
    “ Okay …”
    “ So
I brought him here. ”
    “ You
brought a rockstar back to your place? And you didn ’ t …”
    “ He
was a drunk asshole, ” Natalie said. “ Trust me, it
wasn ’ t happening. He kept
saying really nasty things. ”
    “ So
what? He ’ s famous. You have
to look past that. I mean, you had the chance of a lifetime.