CLASS ACT (A BRITISH ROCKSTAR BAD BOY ROMANCE) (13 page)

I remembered the feel of her lips upon mine. She was so soft and warm. I recalled the sensation of her clothed breasts against me. I longed for another taste.

I needed to show her that I wasn’t completely hopeless. She was my last shot at keeping my career. Not to mention that fact that she actually seemed to give a damn about me.

It didn’t seem anyone else had seen us kiss. Or Charlotte’s dramatic retreat for that matter. If the others sensed any tension between us, they would probably think I had flunked a pop quiz.

Unfortunately, Jared had other plans. “Finally, it took you long enough to get down here. You have to stop acting like a child!”

“And you have to stop treating me like one,” I spat back, trying to sidestep my manager. “I’ve only got a few hours of free time today before we hit the road. I intend to make the most of it.”

“We’re behind our promotion schedule, Heath,” he continued, scrolling through his phone. “We’ll have to cancel that visit to that orphanage. We just don’t have the time-”

“No, we’re not canceling this visit,” I said, keeping my rage in check. “I made them a promise that I’d visit them in this leg of the tour. It’s not like we’re going to double back to Philadelphia any time soon.”

“Signed contracts trump promises,” Jared replied. I didn’t need to be told twice. “We’ve already picked up some bad press with you skipping out on the Adidas executives-”

“You think we’ve had bad press?” I chuckled. “Try telling the media I’m not visiting the orphanage I’m funding because you need to ink another endorsement deal!”

He knew I had him there. “Just make it quick, Heath.”

With that out of the way, I went to greet Charlotte. The woman averted her eyes from my gaze but spoke in a mousy voice. “Good morning, Heath.”

“Sure you don’t want something harder in the morning?” I asked. “You could always use liquid courage. It’s part of a nutritious breakfast.”

“No, thank you,” she blushed. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that our kiss was on her mind. “I’m just trying to recharge after the concert. I can’t imagine how it must feel for you.”

I shrugged. “I’m used to this routine.”

“Listen, Heath,” she began, nervousness in her tone. “After last night-”

“We should take a day off!” I offered. “I think we’ve earned it after last night’s… adventure.”

Charlotte giggled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d guess you were trying to weasel your way out of today’s lesson.”

I wanted to sigh in relief. The tutor didn’t hate me. More importantly, my new friend didn’t hate me.

“Perish the thought,” I joked before becoming serious. “Charlotte I want to take you someplace. It won’t take too long. We’ll be back before the tour continues.”

A coy smile appeared on her face. “Somewhere private?”

“No, it’s quite public,” I answered. “I think you’ll like it.”

“What is it?”

I gestured to the rear exit. “That would ruin the surprise. Let’s head through the back since the media is camping out in the front.”

Afterwards, we entered the taxi I had called up beforehand. I sat across Charlotte who looked stoic as ever. Last night, I had seen her break the façade and give into her passion. Nonetheless, I was relieved that she hadn’t left the tour in tears.

Or cursing my name through the halls of the hotel.

It was more of a common sight than my management or I would’ve liked to admit. I had broken countless hearts. I didn’t want to break this one.

Charlotte was more than just my teacher. I had barely met the woman and I had told her some of deepest secrets. I didn’t whether it was the alcohol or her innate ability to slip past my defenses but she knew more about me most other woman I had met.

We took the taxi to my secret destination. The driver was an Indian man who thankfully didn’t recognize me. He seemed to be more into the Bollywood music playing on his stereo than any British rock music.

Yet, the tension lingered between my teacher and I. “Charlotte, about last night-”

“It was the drinks,” she answered, her face an unreadable mask. “I was a bit tipsy too. Let’s forget it ever happened.”

Unless someone spiked her club soda, I knew she didn’t have a drop of alcohol in her that night. It hurt to have her lie to me. I’d been lied to before by people and businesses. Most notably my record label lied to me. I had lowered my guard for my new teacher.

Nonetheless, I trusted Charlotte to keep things professional, even if it meant lying about her feelings. “Of course. It’s all in the past.”

“I overheard you talk about an orphanage,” she said, switching the subject. “What was that about?”

“It’s one of many orphanages funded by yours truly,” I answered to her surprise. “Well, it’s under Howard’s name if you want to get technical.”

Charlotte leaned in with interest. “You fund orphanages?”

“Howard and I came from orphanages,” I answered. “Chances are that some children with big dreams and no parents are just scrapping by on the streets. They deserve as much of a shot at life as I did.”

She flashed me a heart-rending smile. “That’s very generous of you, Heath.”

“Maybe they’ll grow up to be more civilized like Howard than a hell raiser like me,” I said in half seriousness. “We also have some places that strictly help the homeless or serve as a halfway house. It’s meant for adults or teenagers who fell through the cracks of the foster care system. The place we’re going to is a children’s orphanage through and through.”

After traveling a few blocks of traveling, we reached the orphanage. Charlotte read the sign as I paid the taxi driver. “‘The Howard Lane Foundation for Orphans.’ I remember reading about this.”

“There’s about a dozen in the world with half of them being in the United Kingdom,” I continued as we walked to the entrance. “This was the first one we built in the States. We’re trying to have a few in Africa and Asia by the end of the year.”

She nodded. “Is this a business meeting?”

“I’m the last person you want in a productive business meeting,” I laughed. “No, this is more of a personal visit. There’s a rung of hell reserved for men who break promises made to orphans.”

“A social visit, then?”

“More of a checkup. I make sure the children are taken care of. I was an orphan. I know what it’s like to be cold or hungry.”

Charlotte gave me a smile that made my heart skip a beat. “You’re not as bad as you think you are.”

I shrugged as we passed a photo of Howard. I was plenty bad. “Howard was always a skinny little thing.”

“He looks cute,” Charlotte said. “Sort of like the boy next door. He’s the type that’s shy, kind, and always has a shoulder for you to cry on. You know, the guy you can always rely on.”

He was as lean and studious as I was muscled and silly. “How about me?”

“You’re the bad boy fathers warn their girls to stay away from!”

I absentmindedly placed a hand on the photo of Howard. God, I missed that man. “He looks thin now. After he started chemotherapy, he was practically a bag of bones…”

“It’s always hard on everyone,” she sighed. In the distance, we heard the soft laughter of children. “I remember when my grandmother had cancer. She was already suffering from Alzheimer’s. She didn’t even know who I was when she was on her deathbed…”

That old twinge in my heart came back. Along with it came the guilt. “It was all my fault…”

Charlotte’s eyes widened in surprise. “Your fault?”

“I kept pushing us to keep on touring,” I said with regret. We were a rising star in the British rock scene. “I wanted to strike the iron while it was still hot. I was addicted to the fame. I loved hearing my name chanted by the crowds. I kept signing us on newer, more lucrative contracts. If we had taken a break… we could’ve screened him and caught the leukemia early.”

“It’s no one’s fault, Heath,” she replied, placing a hand on my shoulder. “There’s no point in asking what if when life throws a curve ball at you like that. You have to roll with the punches.”

I gripped her hand. Her words helped a little. Not much. But they helped. “Thank you.”

My teacher blushed and changed the subject. “So, are we going to go inside?”

“Of course,” I replied, glancing at the photo of Howard one last time. “It’s time you met the woman who runs this show.”

Charlotte took in the sight of the orphanage. It was clean, sleek, and a far cry from the ramshackle building I grew up in. “I thought you owned these orphanages?”

“I own them but I can’t run them while I’m on tour,” I said. “An American woman named Megan Halper runs these orphanages. Overseeing a dozen orphanages across two continents is a full-time job. Besides, she’s more qualified to handle the management and finances of this than I am.”

“You trust her with your money?”

“Both of us go back years. As luck would have it, she needed to put that MBA she earned to good use.”

Charlotte gave me a teasing smile. “An old girlfriend?”

“No, just an old friend,” I answered, getting a hint of envy. “She was actually Howard’s old dame. They met during our first tour in America. It’s the reason we visited that states so often during our early years. It was the perfect excuse for him to meet her when she was studying in college. Putting her in charge of The Howard Lane Foundation for Orphans was the least I could do for her.”

The revelation made her quiet. I hadn’t just killed my best friend. I had also robbed his lover of a future with him. “I see…”

The good times flooded back into my mind as I walked through the orphanage. Children in dorms and classrooms glanced at us. “The one I grew up in was nowhere as fancy as this one. Some days, we’d have to go without heating. English winters are no joke. The people in charge of the orphanage were good to us. They would wrap us up and make us huddle around a fireplace. The matron would take the very coat off her back and give it to me.”

“Sounds like something out of some Charles Dickens novel.”

I chuckled at that. “There was no rich benefactor to save us. We just had each other and our music.”

She scanned the interior of the orphanage. A small park like area caught her eye. “I always thought an orphanage, even a well-funded one, would be cramped. This place has a garden and the playground looks massive.”

“I know what it’s liked to live in a rundown building held together by chewing gum and tape,” I replied. “It’s like living like a caged animal. Orphans should worry about who they want to be rather than if the home they live in will collapse on top of them.”

Charlotte gazed at me as if peering into my soul. “Heath, I never knew this about you. I always thought it was something Howard did before he died.”

I gave a cynical laugh. “You won’t read about this in the tabloids. They’ll sooner print that I’m using these orphanages as a public relationships stunt.”

My teacher gave me a soft smile. It brightened up my dark thoughts. There was a connection between us that was as powerful as forked lightning. “Heath, why’d you bring me here?”

I had never shown these orphanages to my record label. The less they stuck their nose in it, the better. Hell, only Jared was involved since he helped handle the finances for my various charities. “To show you that I’m still a patron of the sciences in spite of my literacy. Or lack thereof.”

Charlotte opened her mouth to reply with a witty retort.

However, a familiar, feminine voice interrupted us. “Heath, is that you?”