MARRYING THE ROCKSTAR (#3 ROCKSTAR SERIES)

♪ twelve ♪

I wasn't sure if it was the after-effect of all the sex we had the day before, or the exhaustion from all the thrills of meeting so many famous people all at once, but I slept in, the morning after the charity. I'd gotten into a rhythm of waking early to work-out, have breakfast, and head to my studio; but this morning, my eyes wouldn't open.

I remembered sensing Leo getting up but fell back asleep before checking if he returned. The blankets were warm, I was snuggly, the buzz from last night still slightly bubbling in my brain.

"Babe," came a soft voice, filtering into my ear, gently tearing me out of my slumber.

"Hmm?" I rolled over, eyes blinking open to find Leo standing by the bed, arms crossed, staring down at me.

"Wake up, babe," he said, his whisper a caress over my skin.

A brush of air flurried over my chest; one of my breasts had slipped out of my nightgown. I smirked, thinking Leo would see it and quickly bring his tongue to it, to wake me in my favorite way—with sex.

But if he saw my exposed nipple, he didn't react to it the way I'd hoped. He kept at a distance, not cold, but not as warm as he usually was. He was fully clothed, as if he'd gotten up at the crack of dawn and had been waiting for me all this time.

"I'm awake," I said, twirling a finger around my nipple, licking my lips. "Just need a little...push."

I had no idea how I could still be craving him after all the fucking from yesterday, and yet...well, it was Leo. Craving him was constant, never-ending, and I'd grown used to it.

"Not today, my love," he said, his words gentle but still so distant. "We have...uh...plans."

"We do?" I fixed my nightgown and forced myself to sit up, stretching. "What time is it? What are we doing?"

"It's ten," he said, sitting on the edge of the bed, his gaze focused on my face. Almost as if he was doing his damndest to not look at my cleavage, to not remember how tempting my bare breast had been seconds ago. "And we're...having lunch with my parents."

I froze. "Lunch? Parents?" This woke me up much faster than his tongue between my legs would have. My back stiffened as I squinted at him. "And you're only telling me now because..."

"Because they're in town, and they called me this morning, asking to meet up." He winced, turned his face away so I couldn't see him. "Spur of the moment. They want to talk about...wedding stuff."

"What?" I pulled the covers up and over myself, as if his parents were standing right there, scowling at me. Criticizing me for not moving the wedding along fast enough, for not focusing on the details, for still not knowing what I wanted to do or where I wanted to get married.

"You're surprised?" Leo scoffed and scrubbed his face. "This is a normal thing, meeting the parents."

"Not at the last minute! And I've met your parents," I said, wrinkling my nose. "At the party, remember?"

"Yeah, well..." He rubbed the back of his neck and got up. "That was a slight fiasco, wasn't it? And it was quick; you like, shook their hands and moved on to the next guest. This will be more...intimate."

"Intimate." I clicked my tongue, not so much annoyed with Leo—he could have woken me up earlier—but irritated with this change of plans, this last-minute scramble. I had plenty of things to do today, and none of them involved wedding planning. "To talk about wedding stuff? What exactly does that mean?"

"Why are you acting surprised?" He frowned at me as he tapped a foot to the floor. "They want to be involved, and we're getting married soon. I assume they have questions."