The Rockstar Who Loves Me

Song 5 ♫ Felt the Boom

"Por qué estás limpiando?"

I froze in the act of dusting shelves stocked with products and turned to Leyna, one of the shop assistants in the main store. She lifted a perfectly trimmed and made up eyebrow that usually made a lot of customers ask for a replicate.

She was one of my favorite employees, not just because she was Dominican and we could chit chat in fast Spanish spiced with a lot of swear words, but also because she reminded me of a young Dawn. Someone who was fresh out of fucks to give, and I admired that because my fuck basket was still pretty full.

Clearing my throat, I said, "Solo estaba ayudando."

Leyna gave me a bottom to top, top to bottom look as if to say sí, claro. I was dressed in all black and had a name tag over my breast like each employee in the store, but I didn't wear the regulation t-shirt with the name of the store in the back, or the black slacks. Instead, I was in a black dress that although showed nothing interesting, did accentuate my waist and showed off my legs.

It wasn't the typical outfit when I wanted to blend in and do customer research.

She took the duster from me. "Who you trying to impress?"

"Me?" I tossed my perfectly styled mane over my shoulder. "I don't need to impress no one. If that happens to be a side effect on people, it's not my fault."

Leyna laughed. "Wow, I hate you."

The bell at the front door rang, signaling a customer. We both turned in unison but Tom, who had been at the front desk, pounced on the customer like a cat spotting prey. It didn't matter, the newcomer was a middle aged woman.

"Oh, okay," Leyna said, picking up the task where I'd let off. "So you are waiting for someone, huh?"

I brushed the wrinkles off the front of my dress. "Mind your own business."

"Aye, aye."

Damn, I'd just painted a target on myself. Now at least one pair of eyes would scrutinize the moment—

Oh, shit.

Tae Yang walked into the store like he was filming some kind of pictorial, dressed in the tightest black jeans I'd ever seen, tastefully ripped around knees that had more muscle than they should. The dark green shirt was made of some light material that fluttered about when he opened the door, revealing a hint of what was below.

Whew, what a hint it was.

He took off his sunglasses and spotted me right away—among the shelves packed with stuff, among all the people and employees mingling in a store large enough to comfortably welcome a hundred people. A song from that famous hometown rock band played across the store, as if framing the moment in a picture of effortless coolness that he shouldn't have a right to have.

I inhaled deep and put on a smile.

Another assistant jumped at him. "Welcome to Ultra Beauty. My name is Stacy and I can take care of you today. Is there anything in particular you're looking for?"

"Yeah," he said, jerking his head towards me. "Her."

Stacey, Leyna and what felt like the whole world turned to me. I worked hard to not let my smile waver.

"Hi, Tae Yang." My voice broke for a second there so I cleared it. "So glad you were able to come. Follow me."

Stacey's greeter smile dropped into a frown and I made a mental note to buy her a coffee in compensation for the commission loss.

But in any case, it wasn't like I was going to make any money off of him.

Which Tae Yang reminded me of, by saying, "Wouldn't miss a freebie for the world."