Rock Me: Sexy (New Adult Rockstar Romance) (New Adult Rock Star Erotic Romance) (22 page)

Maybe Katie thought he would forgive her
once the show ended to huge acclaim. He would think that she of all people
would know better than that. He guessed that she had probably struggled with
her conscience to do it. She definitely felt some guilt; her tearful good-bye
and her drunken wine binge showed him that.

But it must not have been too big a
burden on her morals when she cheerfully left him messages acting like they could
still be friends. Maybe she was just sucking up to him because she had changed
her mind again and wanted to return to the producer role after all? It didn’t
matter though, he had already decided. He didn’t care what the guys wanted; he
wasn’t going to sign up for another season of bullshit.

Tyler had other things to worry about. He
had to push Katie out of his mind forever. He was miserable; he could feel the
sadness deep in his bones. He had been heartbroken, but definitely hardened, by
Katie. Never again would he let a woman do that to him. He regretted breaking
the ‘no repeat sex’ rule more than he did getting Cassie pregnant.

The guys thought he was depressed about
the baby. It was a rough blow to his life, but he was going to take his
responsibility seriously. He was going to be a great father and he’d be there
for Cassie, too. He’d help her out financially and emotionally if she needed
that. But that wasn’t what had him so severely depressed.

Katie’s betrayal had completely raked him
over the coals. The guys didn’t know the whole truth. They suspected that she
just moved on when she found out about the baby. The only person that knew what
happened between them was Sabrina. He had spent a week visiting his sister and Hailey
when the tour break started, and she had helped him begin to function again. To
keep moving on.

Now he was bitter. He had fallen for
Katie’s lies. He could see it so clearly in hindsight. She had fed him exactly
what he wanted to hear, stringing him along. But, in reality, it was like the
damn TV show, all fake. It was all a big old joke on him, but that didn’t seem
to lessen the pain any.

Tyler glanced over at Cassie. He had to
stop this endless loop of misery running in his head and concentrate on the
baby. They were sitting in the waiting room at Cassie’s obstetrician. Tyler had
fought like hell to be included in her appointments.

She’d had every excuse in the book as to why
he couldn’t go with her to the point that he started questioning her very pregnancy.
That had shut her up quickly; she was forced to relent. Despite his suspicion
regarding the pregnancy, it was plain as day now that she actually was pregnant.

It turned out that her OB/GYN was located
in Seattle, which is where she apparently lived. All these years, and he never
knew that. Tyler had to fly out from Texas for the appointment. Cassie didn’t
look particularly happy that he had kept his word to go to the doctor with her.
But Tyler was no fool. He needed to know for sure that this was his baby.

Tyler kept himself hidden behind a
magazine, not really reading it, as he felt the stares of a bunch of ladies in
various stages of pregnancy, eyeing him up. Did they recognize him or was it
just really weird for a dude to be at the OB/GYN? He couldn’t wait for this to
be over.

When the nurse finally called Cassie’s
name, Tyler stood up. Cassie sighed, but didn’t try to stop him from going with
her. She was sent to a bathroom with a specimen cup and Tyler was led to the
examining room by a nurse.

“You must be the proud Daddy? Is this
your first?”

Tyler sat down and waited nervously.
“Yes.”

Cassie arrived in the examination room
and the nurse took her vitals. Shortly after, the doctor came in and began his
exam. Tyler had imagined her getting into a paper gown and doing the whole
stirrups and probing thing. When that didn’t happen, he was relieved. The exam
was boring, a lot of talk about nutrition and prenatal vitamins and measuring
her belly with a tape measure.

Suddenly, the doctor was finished.
That
was it?
He asked Cassie if she had any questions and she shook her head. He
got up to leave, but Tyler stopped him.

“Wait, doc, I have some questions.”

The doctor turned and sat back down on
the rolling stool. “Certainly. Ask away.”

How could he find out if he was the
father?
“So, you said
she’s 17 weeks pregnant. So the baby was conceived around Thanksgiving, right?”

The doctor took out a cardboard circle
with dates and numbers all over it. He spun the wheel slowly until some numbers
lined up. “So, it looks like this little guy was conceived around Christmas.
Looks like December 28
^th
.”

Cassie looked nervous. “But doctor, the
measurements aren’t precise, right? I know I conceived earlier than that.”

Christ. She had fucking lied to him
.

The doctor looked back and forth between
them. He spun the wheel again, frowning at the numbers. “If you conceived on
Thanksgiving, you’d be about 22 weeks right now. You’re definitely not that far
along.”

Tyler glared at Cassie. “Doc, is it
possible that she’s more than 17 weeks? That the baby is too small or
something?”

The doctor flipped open Cassie’s chart. “Let
me see. You had an ultrasound at week 13. Everything was normal. Baby is a boy.
Measurements are normal. Due date is September 20
^th
. No, this baby
was not conceived in November.”

Cassie’s mouth fell open. She looked
shocked. “Doctor, that’s not possible! I need a new ultrasound. Something’s not
right.”

Tyler felt disgusted. “Cassie, I’m going
to find out eventually when we do the paternity test. You might as well just
give it up.”

The doctor frowned. “Is the paternity of
this baby in question? Because we can do a paternity test now.”

“Before the baby is born?” Tyler asked.

The doctor snapped Cassie’s chart closed.
“Yes. I’d need to take a blood sample from Cassie. And I’d need a cheek swab
from you. Fragments of DNA from the fetus can be found in the mother’s blood.
We can be more than 99 percent certain if you are the father or not.”

Tyler stood up. “I want to do it. How
long will it take to know?”

“Five days. A week at most. Let me go get
the nurse.” The doctor left the room.

Tyler was pacing in the tiny room. “Fuck,
Cassie. Am I the father?”

Cassie’s shoulders slumped. “No.”

“Who is?”

She wiped her nose. “Robbie Asher from
Soulless.”

While he should have felt relief, he just
felt hurt. “Why would you do this to me?”

Cassie cried out, “Because you’re famous.
You have Rock Star Diaries and tons of money and I know you’d be a better
father than Robbie. I was just looking out for my baby, Tyler.”

“Shit.
Shit!
I can’t believe you’d
do this to me.”

Three days later, Tyler sat alone in his
Texas apartment waiting for the start of Episode 6. Alex and Nick were at a
local country-western bar that was throwing a big viewing party. Part of the
proceeds from the event was going to Tyler’s charity. But Tyler couldn’t
stomach the thought of attending and begged off at the last minute. They didn’t
know what was coming.

The embarrassing pregnancy reveal. He had
been braced for it to happen. And now, none of it was even fucking true. It
would all eventually end up looking like a giant publicity stunt. Hopefully it
wouldn’t ding his credibility too much. He felt like such a chump, used and
abused by everyone around him. He remembered when he lived just to be in the
spotlight. Now he just wished he could hide away from everyone.

Most of the show focused on Alex and
Tommy. Tyler was hardly in it.
They were saving him up for last
. When
the show ended, he sat back confused. No video. No pregnancy reveal. He was
stunned. What was going on?

It took a week for Tyler to make up his
mind. He needed to talk to Katie. He just couldn’t get her out of his mind. Her
sweet phone messages haunted him and he had to know the truth. Nothing made
sense anymore. He called her, but when she didn’t answer, he didn’t leave a
message. What the hell would he say to her anyway?

He dug the worn business card, the one he
got at the Vibe headquarters meeting, out of his wallet.
Kaitlyn Winston.
Co-Producer. Blackstone Films
. It listed an address in New York City.

He would track her down and find out what
happened. Just to ease his worry about the video surfacing. He tried to ignore
the fact that he felt a stirring of excitement at the prospect of seeing her
again.

It took a couple of days to arrange a
trip to New York City. It was a Tuesday morning when Tyler arrived at the
address on the business card. He hadn’t shaved in days in preparation for
coming to New York. It worked fairly well. A scruffy face, hat and sunglasses
kept most people from paying too much attention to him.

He had shown the card to the receptionist
in the lobby of the building, but Katie wasn’t listed in the directory. “Can I
speak to someone at Blackstone Films?”

The receptionist called Blackstone Films
and they must have verified that Katie used to be an employee there. The
receptionist hung up. “Wanda said you can go on up to Blackstone and speak to
someone there. Take this guest pass and take the elevator to the seventh
floor.”

Tyler rode the elevator up, wondering
what had happened to Katie. He recalled that she had mentioned to him the night
she left that she was changing paths with her career. If she had expected such
a success with Rock Star Diaries, why would she have changed directions so
suddenly?

The receptionist at Blackstone Films
confirmed that Katie used to work for them. “She hasn’t been an employee here
for months, though.”

Tyler was frustrated. Could he sweet-talk
this lady into giving him information? She was older and definitely wasn’t all
that impressed by his appearance. “Do you know her current address? Or where
she’s currently employed. I really need to contact her.”

“No, I’m sorry, Mr. Matthews. I couldn’t
give out that information even if I knew it.”

Tyler sighed. He could try one more
avenue. What was the guy’s name? “Can I talk to her old boss? Hugo?”

The woman’s eyes opened wide. “Mr. Black?
You want to talk to Mr. Black? Oh, I don’t think he’d… Well, he’s a very busy
man and -”

Tyler cut her off. “Can you just call
him? Ask if he’ll see me? Tell him I’m here to talk about Ms. Winston.”

The lady gave him an empathetic look. “I
guess I could try, but like I said…” She shrugged and picked up the phone.

After a few seconds she spoke into the
phone. “I’m so sorry to bother you, Mr. Black. There’s a man here to see you.
He wants to discuss something about a Ms. Kaitlyn Winston, who used to work
here.”

She listened. “Mr. Matthews, he says.”
She paused for a long moment. “No, he didn’t give me a card, but he doesn’t
look like any kind of lawyer… Yes, sir. I’ll send him right up.”

“Well!” She looked amazed. “He’s willing
to see you. Take the back elevator up one floor. And take that hat and those
sunglasses off or he’ll toss you out on your ear.”

It took Tyler five minutes to make it
into Hugo Black’s inner sanctum. The plush office was impressive, the walls
filled with plaques and awards and the large window displayed a panoramic view
of New York City. Tyler sat across the desk from the man he remembered meeting
at the premiere party.

Hugo folded his hands on the desk in
front of him. “Mr. Matthews. I knew your name sounded familiar, but I just
couldn’t place it. Of course, I looked you up and was reminded that you are a
member of the band Cold Fusion.”

Tyler nodded.
What did Katie ever see
in this arrogant geezer?

“And of course, now I see, under all that
stuff…” his hand swatted vaguely in Tyler’s direction, “…that I remember you
from the premiere party in Vegas. What can I do for you?”

Tyler cut through the bullshit. “I’m
looking for Katie.”

“I gathered. For what reason?” Hugo leaned
back in his leather chair.

Tyler didn’t like this guy. “Do you know
where she is?”

“Yes, I do.”

Tyler met the man’s penetrating stare. “I
came to New York to see her. I need to talk to her.”

Hugo tapped his fingers against the desk.
“I’m not so sure she’d want to talk to you.”

“She’s been calling me. She wants to see
me.”

Hugo’s eyes narrowed as he contemplated
Tyler’s words. “That may be true. But let me be more precise, Tyler. I’m not
sure that I
want
you to talk to her.”

Tyler tried to keep his cool. “Why not?”

Hugo answered simply, “You’re not good
enough for her.”

Tyler’s hand clenched into a fist. He
felt like popping this guy in the face. “And you are, right?”