Rock My World (16 page)

If only he could get rid of these damned doubts.

E
RICA STARED
after Adam’s car, torn between crying and throwing something. There goes the big, macho man, off to sulk in his cave, while the woman he’d said he
loved
had to tough it out on her own. Didn’t he realize she needed him right now? That she wanted his reassurance that they were in this together?

When he’d asked if she’d made the tape, she realized how little faith he had in her. The knowledge hurt, like finding out all the people smiling at you were really laughing behind your back.

She trudged toward her own car, anger growing as she reviewed the events of the past hour in her mind. How convenient that Bonnie had walked into Carl’s office at just the right time. And what a coincidence that she knew more about the tape than anyone.

Why am I the only one who sees how suspicious this is?
she thought as she started her car and put it in gear. It wasn’t as if Bonnie had a saintly reputation. Everybody knew how ambitious she was. She was the type to do anything to get what she wanted.

And she had it all now, didn’t she? Her own radio show in prime time, and for once Carl was upset with someone besides her.

When Erica reached home, she stomped into her apartment and headed for the kitchen and started opening cabinets. If ever there was an occasion that called for mass quantities of chocolate and carbs, this was it.

Unfortunately she’d been spending more time at Adam’s place than her own lately, and the cupboards were close to bare. She managed to unearth a half a jar of peanut butter and a bottle of chocolate syrup. She
frowned at her meager finds, then shrugged. Desperate times called for desperate measures. She opened the peanut butter, popped the top on the chocolate syrup, and added a generous splash of syrup to the jar of peanut butter. Add one big spoon and she was in business.

She was halfway through the jar and starting to feel a little queasy when the phone rang. Heart pounding, she snatched it up. Maybe Adam had called to apologize.

“Hey, girl, I heard what happened.” Tanisha’s voice was gentle. “You okay?”

“Not great, but I’m hanging in there.” She licked the last of the chocolate-peanut butter off the spoon and set it aside. “Did you catch the broadcast?”

“Uh-huh. I was in my car, on the way to the post office. One minute Bonnie’s doing her spiel for Mighty Mike’s, the next there’s a lot of heavy breathing.”

She winced. “Yeah. Somebody must have planted that tape there. Adam and I had no idea. I mean, we never would have played something like that on the air.”

“There’s a rumor going around that it was you and Adam on the tape. Is that true?”

She sighed. “Yeah.” Those moments in the library had been so special. She and Adam had been closer right then than ever before. Having their most intimate sharing broadcast before strangers that way, turned into something lewd and wrong, hurt worse even than losing her job.

“Where were you? When?”

“Swear you won’t pass this around?” It was bad enough that Carl knew.

“Cross my heart. Tell.”

“We were at the station. We were supposed to be doing inventory.”

“Couldn’t keep your hands off each other, huh?”

“Something like that.” Would Adam ever feel that way about her again? If he didn’t, what did that say about the professions of love he’d made?

“So how did that tape get made?”

“Bonnie says she was there that night. That she stopped by to record the commercials for Mighty Mike’s and that she saw
me
doing something with the computer. In other words, she implied that I must have made the tape and planted it.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Exactly what I said, but Bonnie said I did it to get attention. That I’d do anything to make a name for myself.”

Tanisha snorted. “She would know about that, wouldn’t she?”

“I think she set the whole thing up. That she heard us, taped it and put it in the computer so that we’d get caught. And so far, it’s worked out perfectly for her.”

“So Carl believed her crazy story?”

“The tape was there. It was obviously us. I don’t think Carl cares at this point who put it there. He’s worried about his job.”

“The FCC already sent someone to investigate. They’re going to want to talk to you and Adam, too.”

“I know. All I can say is that I didn’t have anything to do with the tape being recorded and played on air. It’ll be Bonnie’s word against mine.”

“She’s playing the innocent right now. All long-faced about the terrible
tragedy
. But I overheard her tell
Davie the drive-time show is going to be an even bigger hit now that she’s in charge.”

Erica tightened her grip on the phone. “It’s probably a good thing I’m not at the station right now. I’d give her something to wear a long face about. What does Carl say?”

“Nothing. He’s been locked in his office. He looks like somebody shot his dog. He really does like you and Adam.”

“And we’ve disappointed him.” She felt as if she’d swallowed rocks. Carl wasn’t exactly the warm and fuzzy type, but she’d come to respect him. Knowing she’d fallen in his eyes was hard to take. “I know Bonnie was behind all this. I just have to find a way to prove it.”

“How?”

“I don’t know.”

“Even if you prove she set you up, you still broke Carl’s no dating rule.”

“Yeah, but I’m thinking that looks pretty small compared to this. And even if it doesn’t get our jobs back, I’d like to try to salvage our reputations.”

“What does Adam say?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. He’s not talking. In fact, the minute Carl stormed into the studio, it was like a gate closed over his emotions. He even asked me if Bonnie’s story was true.”

“He just wanted you to verify that it wasn’t. It doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe you.”

“Then why doesn’t he say that? He wouldn’t even let me come back to his place with him.”

“Men are like that. Give him time in his cave, he’ll come around if he really loves you.”

“Yeah.” Big if. “I’d better go now. Thanks for calling.”

“Hang in there. And let me know if there’s anything I can do.”

“Thanks.”

She hung up the phone and slumped against the sofa. This morning she’d felt as happy as she’d ever been, so in love with Adam she was sure no problems could touch them. Then, at the first hint of trouble he’d pulled away from her. What did that say about the strength of his feelings for her?

She sat up straighter and took a deep breath. She couldn’t moon around worrying about what Adam thought of her. If he couldn’t come out of his funk and see that she was a strong, together woman who cared about him—a woman who was worth making an effort for—then he wasn’t worth having.

The thought induced a flutter of panic. She’d said and thought this kind of thing before—about other men, other jobs. Whenever a situation or relationship got uncomfortable, she’d been the first to bail.

But the idea of “to hell with them, I deserve better” didn’t set well now. She
wanted
to stay with this job—and Adam—more than she’d wanted anything before.

She stared at the telephone and thought of calling Adam. Maybe together they could figure out what to do. But the memory of how he’d looked at her as he was leaving the station kept her from picking up the receiver.

The thing to do was to work on clearing her name, then she could try to convince him she was serious about the two of them as a team.

E
RICA SOON DISCOVERED
that it was one thing to have steamy sex with the man you loved, quite another to have the whole city listening in. By the day after the on-air snafu, she couldn’t leave the house without running into someone who wanted to ask her about it, or worse, make some lewd comment. She’d started screening all her phone calls, though her voice mailbox soon filled up with people berating her for her lack of morals. Apparently it was okay for rock stars to sing about sex, but heaven forbid anyone actually having it.

Worst of all were the gossip columnists, who telephoned and e-mailed, and even showed up at her door, all wanting “the scoop” on her relationship with Adam.

“You tell me,” she wanted to answer, but didn’t. The Hawk had been painfully silent since they’d parted company Monday afternoon. Was he still sulking at home? Or had he decided to cut ties with her altogether, perhaps in hopes of getting back into Carl’s good graces?

Though she hadn’t heard from Carl, his secretary called and set up an appointment for her to tell her side of the story to the FCC investigator. She’d managed to put the interview off until Friday. That gave her less than four days to gather evidence against Bonnie. She’d
tossed and turned all night, trying to come up with a plan, and by morning, she had an idea. But she’d need some help. Tanisha agreed to stop by on her way home from work and discuss strategy.

Tanisha showed up a little before six, bearing take-out Chinese, a bottle of white wine and a half gallon of Ben & Jerry’s Funky Monkey. “You really are my best friend,” Erica said as she unpacked the provisions.

“Nah, I just don’t think well on an empty stomach.” Tanisha took a couple of plates from the cabinet and began dishing out the food. “Have you come up with a brilliant plan yet?”

“I have. But I’ll need you to call Bonnie and disguise your voice.”

Tanisha laughed. “This should be fun.”

Fortified with Kung Pao chicken and emboldened by most of the bottle of wine, the two friends gathered around the phone. While Tanisha consulted the script Erica had written, Erica wrapped a handkerchief around the phone speaker. “This always works in the movies,” she said, handing over the phone. “I hope it’s enough that Bonnie can’t recognize your voice.”

“I’m just a lowly secretary. Bonnie doesn’t even know I’m alive.” She punched in Bonnie’s home number and waited through five rings.

“Hello?” The Bombshell sounded more crabby than sexy this time of day.

“It is very important that I speak to Bombshell Bonnie,” Tanisha said in a deeper-than-normal voice.

“What? Who is this?”

“This is a friend. I have some information that is very important to your job.”

“What? We must have a bad connection. I can’t understand a word you’re saying. It sounds all muffled.”

Tanisha made a face, then jerked the handkerchief off the phone and tossed aside the written script. “Listen, Bonnie, I know you were behind that sex tape being played on the air during the Hawk and Honey show,” she said. “I’ve got evidence to prove it. If you want to save your ass, you’ll meet me tomorrow evening at the Side Street Deli.”

“What?” Bonnie screeched like an outraged parrot. “Who is this?”

“That doesn’t matter. I’ve got something you need. So be there tomorrow at eight o’clock. And bring lots of cash.” She slammed down the phone and stared at Erica.

“Do you think she bought it?”

Tanisha pressed a hand to her chest. “I don’t know, but my heart’s racing like a NASCAR driver.” She reached for a glass of wine and downed half of it.

Erica patted her shoulder. “You did great.” She picked up the phone. “Now for part two of my plan.”

“Which is?”

“Adam and Carl need to be at the deli tomorrow night to hear Bonnie’s confession.”

“Provided she confesses.”

“Showing up to meet a blackmailer is as good as a confession, I’d think.” She punched in Adam’s number, before she lost her nerve.

Light-headed, she waited for him to answer. “Hello?”

At the sound of his voice, her heart leaped up near her tonsils. She hadn’t realized how much she’d longed to hear from him. “Adam, this is Erica.”

“Oh, hi. How are you doing?” He sounded okay. Not overly warm, but normal.

“I’m okay. Sticking close to home, trying to avoid the paparazzi.”

“Yeah. Me, too.” Shuffling noises, as if he was shifting the phone from one hand to another. “You heard from the FCC yet?”

“I have an interview with them Friday.”

“Me, too. On Thursday.”

She’d hoped he would suggest getting together. When he didn’t, she swallowed past the knot of fear in her throat. “I need you to do me a favor.”

“Sure. What do you need?”

“Can you meet me at the Side Street Deli tomorrow night, about seven-fifteen?”

“I guess. What’s up?”

“I can’t tell you now, but it’s really important that you be there. Just…trust me.”

She held her breath, waiting for his answer. Her vision was beginning to blur when he finally said, “Okay. I’ll be there.”

“Thank you. I’ll see you then.” She started to add that she loved him, but was too afraid of his response. Better to say nothing, at least for now.

Knowing Adam would be there gave her the courage to call Carl and invite him to the meeting also. At first he was irritated at being contacted at home, but when she kept emphasizing how important it was that he meet her and Adam, he reluctantly agreed.

She hung up the phone and looked at Tanisha. “We’re all set.”

“Let’s hope we’ve got enough rope to hang Bonnie.”

“By the time I get through with her, she’s going to be begging for mercy.” When it came to the job she loved, and the man she loved, she’d fight dirty if she had to.

“T
HIS IS
B
OMBSHELL
Bonnie on KROK, your home for the top rock in Denver. Are you ready for another way-out Wednesday afternoon in the Mile High City? If you’re on your way home, fasten your seat belt and get ready for a wild ride with the Bombshell.”

Adam leaned over and switched off the radio. Call him petty, but he wasn’t ready to sit here and listen to someone else do his job. He slumped in his chair and stared at the pale blue jacket draped across the back of the sofa. Erica had left it here Sunday afternoon and he’d never bothered to move it.

Even without physical reminders like the jacket, he couldn’t stop thinking about her. How she looked sitting next to him in the KROK studio. The way she laughed. How it felt to have her legs wrapped around him as they made love.

The sick feeling in his gut when Bonnie had suggested Erica had made that tape for her own gain.

His mind refused to believe Erica would do anything to hurt him, but the twist in his gut worried him. Was instinct trying to warn him of the dangers of putting too much trust in anyone?

The ringing doorbell startled him out of his brooding. He stared at the door, and thought about not answering it. He was getting tired of hanging up on reporters. But what if it was Carl? Or Erica?

He heaved himself off the sofa and strode to the
door. A check at the peephole revealed Nick Cassidy squinting up at him, making an obscene gesture with one hand.

Adam jerked open the door. “Nick! What are you doing here?”

“I came to see if you were fighting off all your groupies. Thought I’d cut in on the action.” Nick limped into the living room. He was dressed in black jeans and boots, a black shirt and carried an ebony cane with a silver tip.

“What groupies?” As much as Nick annoyed him at times, Adam was touched he would stop by to see him.

Nick settled on the sofa facing Adam. “Now that you’re the talk of the town—the superstud whose prowess was demonstrated on the air waves—I would think you’d have women falling all over you.”

Adam sank into a chair. “Cut it out, Nick. It’s not funny.”

“Life is funny, my friend. Learn that and you’ll get through anything.”

“Is that why you stopped by—to give me a bunch of corny advice?”

Nick ignored the question. “How is Erica?”

“She’s okay, I guess.”

“You guess?” Nick studied him a long moment, then looked around the room. “I thought she might be here with you.”

“No. We thought it might be a good idea to lay low, with all the reporters and everything.” Adam half expected his nose to start growing after telling a whopper like that.

Nick’s gaze wandered around the room again. “So are we having fun, yet?”

Adam leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Right. I just lost my job, got embarrassed in front of the whole city. My ex-girlfriend says my current girlfriend did this on purpose and I’m not sure who to believe. I’m having a regular blast.”

“I heard the story Bonnie’s spreading around. Seems kind of far-fetched to me.”

“The whole thing is far-fetched. I can’t believe half the city heard me having sex on the air.”

A smile tugged at the corners of Nick’s mouth. “Sounded like you were having a good time, to me.” He shifted, and rested the cane across his knees. “I may be wrong, but Erica doesn’t strike me as the type to want to record her, um, exploits for posterity. Bonnie, however…” He grinned. “Bonnie probably makes home movies. And if I ever found them, I could make a small fortune.”

“I’ve learned you can never tell about people,” Adam said. “For instance, who would guess you had a decent bone in your body?”

“I never said I was an angel.” His gaze pinned Adam in his chair. “But I’ve learned a thing or two about relationships in my time. A lot of our business is about creating an illusion.”

“So?” Was Nick saying that Bonnie was right—that Erica had pretended to love him for her own gain? Or that Adam wasn’t seeing the real issue in this whole mess? Or something else?

“You strike me as a pretty smart guy,” Nick said. “You know Erica better than I do. What does your gut say about her?”

His gut said he loved her. But that didn’t mean she wouldn’t hurt him.

“Look, you got your life back on track after your little vacation in the pen. You can get past this little dust-up, and come out on top again.” Nick stood, leaning heavily on the cane this time. “You need to step back from that and think about what’s real. Things aren’t always what they seem.”

Yeah, sometimes they’re worse.
But Adam didn’t say it. He thanked Nick for stopping by and showed him to the door. And then Adam stood with his head pressed against the door frame, wishing he had a crystal ball that would show him the truth, and let him see what really mattered.

He straightened and rubbed the back of his neck, thinking. Maybe instead of accepting Erica’s story or Bonnie’s story or anyone else’s story, he should gather some facts and use them to help him make up his mind.

He hurried to the kitchen and dug the phone book out of the drawer. He’d start calling and asking questions, starting with the security guard on duty the night that tape was made. He wouldn’t stop talking to people until he got some answers.

B
ONNIE TUGGED
on a pair of formfitting black leather pants and added a metal-studded belt. Leather halter top, leather jacket and stiletto boots completed the outfit. She studied herself in the full-length mirror on the back of her bedroom door.

“You look hot.” Doug came up behind her and put his hands on either side of her waist.

She shrugged him off. “The point is, do I look intimidating?” She looked around the room, hoping to
spot some accessory that would add extra oomph to the outfit. “I wish I had a gun,” she said.

Doug looked alarmed. “Who are you going to shoot?”

“Nobody. But a gun could keep whoever this blackmailing nutcase is in line.”

“Want me to come with you?” Doug rubbed his hands together. “I’ll keep your blackmailer in line.”

She studied him in the mirror. She’d originally planned to handle this herself. After all, whoever had called her was a woman, and she was certain she could take any other female. But what if her caller brought along backup? “You can come with me,” she said, turning to him. “But don’t say anything. Just stand there and look menacing.”

“You’re the boss.” He nibbled the side of her neck.

“Don’t you forget it,” she murmured, even as the feel of his lips and his hand and his tongue made her weak in the knees. Reluctantly she pushed him away. “Come on. We’re going to be late. I want to get to the deli early and scope things out.”

“T
HANKS
, P
AT
. I owe you one.” Adam tucked the padded envelope into his jacket and waved goodbye to the security guard at the KROK building. He checked his watch. He had just enough time to meet Erica at the deli. He couldn’t wait to show her what he’d found.

“Adam! Wait up!”

He turned and saw Carl hurrying toward him. Great. The last thing he’d wanted was to run into Carl. “What are you doing here?” Carl asked when he reached Adam’s side.

“I came by to talk to Pat. He had something of mine I needed.” That was more or less the truth. He wasn’t ready to share the rest yet. Not until he’d spoken to Erica.

Carl nodded. “You doing okay?” he asked.

“I’d rather be working.”

“To tell you the truth, I’d rather have you working. I thought Bonnie was a prima donna when I had her on weather and traffic, but now that she has her own show, the demands never stop. ‘Carl, I need a more comfortable chair.’ ‘Carl, we need a new billboard advertising the show.’ ‘Carl, my name should be bigger on the Web site.’” He pressed his hands to his head, as if trying to block out the memory.

“So let me come back,” Adam said. “Erica, too. We’ll pay the FCC fine. We’ll even apologize if we have to.”

Carl shook his head. “It’s out of my hands now. Corporate is up in arms and they don’t want either of you near a microphone until the FCC has finished its investigation and issued a report.”

“And after that?”

He frowned and refused to meet Adam’s eyes. “After that, we’ll see.”

“Right, well, see you around.” He turned away.

“I’m headed over to the Side Street Deli. Why don’t you come with me?”

Adam stared at Carl. “You’re going to the deli?”