I shake my head. “That’s not why I left you, Noel. I left you because you were a selfish bastard who cared more about himself than the person who loves you the most in the world.”

The suitcase hits the floor with a loud thud when I yank it off the bed and roll it towards the door.

Noel steps in my path and grabs me by the shoulders. “Please.” His voice is so low it’s a near whisper. “Please stay with me.”

I close my eyes. I can’t look at him. Even though what he’s done to me is completely shitty, I don’t want to see him this way. Hurting him again is the last thing I want to do, but I can’t stay. Not after all this. “Let me go, Noel.”

“No,” he says. “I’m going to fight for you. I need you to know you’re my everything. I can’t lose you again. I just want you to give me a chance, Lane—a chance to prove myself to you.”

His words sting. How I wish they were true. If they were, he would’ve ended things with Sophie the minute we reconnected and told me everything. Instead, he hid everything from me.

“How can I trust you now?” I open my eyes and touch his cheek. “I’m sorry,” I say before I step out of his hold and roll my suitcase out the door.

CHAPTER TWENTY

This isn’t the brightest idea I’ve ever had. I roll my suitcase through the parking lot and try to stay out of all the road crews way as they push and pull amps and speakers toward the arena. I’m not even sure what city we’re in, let alone how to find a place to run away to in order to avoid running into Noel.

“Lanie?” I hear my name spoke by an unfamiliar voice and I turn. It’s the bodyguard that’s always herding Noel’s fans away. Noel probably sent him to find me. Great.

“Oh, hey, Mike.” I reply as coolly as I can and hope he doesn’t notice the heavy-ass bag I’m toting around with me.

His eyes drop down on my hot-pink luggage. “You going somewhere?”

I tuck a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Um, yeah, actually. I need to find a hotel, but I’m not sure how to get out of this place or even what city we’re in, so I can Google a cab company.”

He frowns at me. “I can take you if you want.”

If he wasn’t so big, I’d wrap my arms around him and thank him profusely for saving my life. “That would be awesome.”

He smiles and for a second he loses that intimidating bear vibe and turns cuddly. “Come on, the Escalade is parked on the other side of the buses.”

Mike takes over the handle of my suitcase and starts walking. I don’t argue. With his muscles pulling that thing, we’ll get out of here twice as fast.

When the SUV comes in sight he hits a button of the key and the trunk opens. Mike shoves my bag inside and we both jump in the cab.

“What hotel do you want to go to?” he asks.

I shrug. “It doesn’t matter—the cheaper the better.”

He nods and backs out of the parking space. “The tour manager booked us all rooms at a local hotel. You’re more than welcome to have my room.”

“Oh, no, Mike. I can’t do that. You need your room.”

He laughs and shakes his buzz cut head. “Lanie, you’re welcome to it. I’ll bunk up with one of the other guys. It’s no big deal.”

As bad as I feel for taking his room, I agree to it. Being broke majorly sucks in emergencies like this. What little money I have left in my checking account will be spent on buying me a plane ticket back to New York where I belong.

My heart instantly sinks. I don’t belong there anymore either. Not only is my job at Center Stage Marketing flushed to hell, but that non-compete contract makes it impossible to get another marketing job in the city.

I’m royally screwed.

Mike pulls the Escalade under the awning of the Hilton and opens my door after he grabs my bag. “Come on. I’ll check you in.”

I smile. He’s unbelievably nice. How can he work for a douche bag like Noel?

Mike walks up to the check-in desk and the blonde clerk blushes as she speaks with him. I can see why girls like him. He looks like he can lift you with one hand and plus has these amazingly cute dimples.

He grins, while the attractive blonde writes down what appears to be her number and slides it across the counter to him. He folds the little scrap of paper and tucks it, along with his I.D., back into his wallet.

Mike waves bye to the girl and then turns to me with the hotel key-card. “Room 211, Lanie. Do you need me to help you with your bag?”

I shake my head and pat his arm. “Thank you, but no. You’ve done so much to help me already.”

The handle on my bag clicks as I pull it up.

Mike tilts his head and pulls his mouth into a tight line. “You know, Lanie, he’s different with you. I’ve worked for him a long time and he’s mentioned you several times before, but I didn’t know how much he actually loves you, until he saw you again that first night in Houston.”

I bite my lip. It’s nice to hear confirmation of Noel’s feelings for me, but it doesn’t change the facts. “He’s having a baby, Mike, and he neglected to tell me about it.”

He frowns. “He has his reasons. All I’m saying is give him a chance to explain them to you. Maybe it’s not what you think.”

Before I can say anything else, Mike turns and heads for the exit. Noel’s lucky to have him. That guy seems to really care about him.