The danger of being a star is that everybody watches, waiting
for the star to fall. Cassidy hasn't seen his lover Malcolm in two
months, their drastically different schedules conspiring to keep
them apart. He's deathly afraid of what will happen when his
lover steps off the plane, and the first thing that greets him is
the tabloid shots of Cassidy kissing someone else.

Kiss Me Quick is a collection of short and sweet stories from
authors familiar and new, celebrating the season of love. Come
and enjoy these tales of misunderstandings, lonely singles,
pining lovers, and so much more! Because if there is one thing
that is never in doubt, it’s that LT3 knows the way to your heart,
and these stories are a straight shot.

Tabloid Trouble
By Megan Derr

Published by Less Than Three Press LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or
reproduced in any manner without written permission of the
publisher, except for the purpose of reviews.

Edited by Courtney Davidson
Cover designed by Megan Derr

This book is a work of fiction and as such all characters and
situations are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual people,
places, or events is coincidental.

First Edition February 2012
Copyright © 2012 by Megan Derr
Printed in the United States of America

ISBN 9781620041215

To K-lee,

Because she's awesome and deserves

all the rockstars she wants

<3

Tabloid Trouble

Kiss Me Quick

Megan Derr

6 | Megan Derr –

Tabloid Trouble

Cassidy punched Beckett as he sauntered into the hotel

room looking like he owned the place, clipping him on the jaw
and sending him stumbling back. Nowhere near content with
that, Cassidy gave him a shove, sending Beckett crashing into
the table behind him. When Beckett tried to stand, he only
succeeded in falling to his knees, fingers grasping at the
tablecloth, pulling the fancy meal arranged on the table down
on top of him.

Beckett stood up, too-tight leather pants covered in food,

torn and scratched. He had mashed potatoes and gravy in his
long, multi-colored hair and pieces of roasted vegetable stuck
all over him. He looked so ridiculous Cassidy almost laughed.
Beckett hated anything that ruined his 'I'm So Badass' image.

He was still too fucking angry to laugh, however, and any

chance of calming down vanished whenever he glimpsed the
tabloid papers in the nearby sitting chair. He'd nearly thrown his
fucking laptop out the window, he was so fucking pissed. "You
son of a bitch!"

"Calm the fuck down," Beckett said, gingerly testing his jaw.

He began to pick off the bits of food stuck to him, grimacing at
the salad dressing soaked into his hair and fancy silk shirt.
"You're overreacting."

Barely resisting an urge to punch him again, Cassidy said,

"Overreacting? You kissed me—kissed me like we were lovers or
something, at a goddamn charity event, when everyone and his
fucking brother knows I'm with Malcolm? It's everywhere,
Beckett! The tabloids will run it for days and the internet will
run it forever. Malcolm doesn't need to land and immediately
be bombarded with rumors and 'evidence' that I'm cheating on
him! That the world actually thinks I would dump him for a
scumbag like you."

Sneering, Beckett replied, "It's fame, honey. Relationships

change on a dime. It'll fade in days but the publicity will work all
of us wonders for ages. It's not like you'll actually lose that
yuppy pretty boy of yours."

Cassidy did not reply to that. He'd sent half a dozen texts

and called three times, and Malcolm hadn't replied to a single

7 | Megan Derr –

Tabloid Trouble

one. Not unusual, if he was travelling; more than likely he'd just
forgotten to turn his phone back on. Malcolm preferred to
muscle through airports and save the talking for later.

But Cassidy's gut roiled anyway, because they hadn't seen

each other since a brief two nights together in mid-December.
Hadn't even been able to spend Christmas or New Year's Eve
together, their schedules had gotten so jacked up.

Malcolm would know Cassidy wasn't fucking around on him,

right? Especially not with Beckett. Shit, Cassidy didn't even care
for his music much, had not been thrilled they'd be playing the
same venue, but he was all about helping kids so he'd sucked it
up.

Only to wind up with pictures of Beckett attempting to

shove his tongue down Cassidy's throat posted fucking
everywhere. Beckett laughed in that snide way of his that set
Cassidy's teeth on edge, drawing him from his unhappy
thoughts. "Guess things aren't so great with the sugar daddy if
you're this worried about one stupid kiss. Wasn't even that
much tongue."

"If you don't get out of my face, I'll break every bone in

yours."

Beckett had the temerity to laugh again. "You're such a

princess. I can see why Jet and Dai love you so much; they set
the bar on princess a long time ago. No one in this business is
faithful, honey, you know that. We do better when we're not.
Tabloids sell tickets, not talent." He gestured to the papers on
the chair. "That right there is fucking awesome publicity."

"It's good publicity for trashy assholes like you," Cassidy

snapped, shoving Beckett away when he tried to draw close
again. "I don't need your trailer park antics, Beckett. If you've
ruined everything with Malcolm—"

He cut off as Beckett suddenly moved, with more speed and

force than Cassidy thought he could muster given that he
reeked of cheap whiskey. Cassidy grunted in pain as Beckett
shoved him into the wall, pinned his wrists beside his head and
shoved a thigh between his legs, trapping Cassidy. "Get over
yourself, princess. This is how the real world functions, learn to

8 | Megan Derr –

Tabloid Trouble

accept it. Stop acting like you live in some special fairytale
world. You think someone like your pretty boy doesn't help
himself to all the ass that happily falls down at his feet?"

"Malcolm isn't like that," Cassidy replied.
Beckett laughed, nuzzled his cheek, breath reeking of

whiskey and an inability to use a tooth brush. It caused Cassidy
to remember their kiss, and made him want to retch all over
again. "Of course he's like that. They're all like that. You'd be
like that if you just got the fuck over the idea of being a
Cinderella story. He's young, wealthy, and hot—of course he's
fucking everything that offers. Why shouldn't you?"

Cassidy hadn't heard the door open, hadn't heard anyone

come in, but he would know the scent of Malcolm's sex on a
stick cologne anywhere. They'd been in Paris, and the cologne
had been a gift from a friend of Malcolm's from their days at
Amberton-Lord. Malcolm had put it on to be silly and Christ,
Cassidy had gone wild. It made him hard just smelling it.

Beckett smirked at him. "I see you're getting the idea. Or

should I say, getting off on the idea."

"The only thing I'm getting off on is the way my boyfriend is

about to kick your ass."

Beckett looked at him in confusion, but whatever he was

about to say turned into a pained yelp as a hand grabbed his
greasy ponytail and yanked. Cassidy drew a breath, glad to be
away from Beckett's stench and free of his hold. He felt like he
needed a shower, even though he'd just taken one.

He watched as Malcolm proceeded to kick Beckett's ass,

landing more than a few hits before he finally ended the whole
affair by breaking Beckett's nose. Beckett toppled, and Malcolm
grabbed him, dragged him to the door where two of the hotel
staff waited calmly. If anyone gave a damn about the mess
Beckett's blood was making, it didn't show. Malcolm stopped in
front of the two men, grabbed Beckett's hair, and forced his
head up. "Try to mess with my boyfriend again, and I'll break a
lot more than your nose." He didn't wait for a reply, simply
shoved Beckett at the patiently waiting staff.

9 | Megan Derr –

Tabloid Trouble

They gathered Beckett up and took him quietly away,

discreetly tucking away the bills Malcolm handed to them,
closing the door quietly as they left. Malcolm turned, raked his
hands through his hair, then unbuttoned the blazer of his well-
tailored, blood-stained suit and threw it aside.

Cassidy huffed out a laugh as he found himself pressed up

against the wall again, a leg between his thighs, Malcolm's
hands on either side of his head. "Hi," Malcolm greeted.

Still laughing, Cassidy kissed him, wrapping his arms around

Malcolm's waist. He moaned as Malcolm took his mouth, fucked
his mouth, erasing any and all traces of Beckett from it. Cassidy
whimpered when he finally pulled away, needing more of
Malcolm after going so long without him. "You smell fuckable,"
he said.

Malcolm laughed, nipped at his lips. "Sorry I'm late. Airports

suck. Not as much as charity events, apparently. How is he still
alive?"

"Murder would have meant I wouldn't be getting laid

tonight," Cassidy said. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have had to see
that. I tried to text and call—"

He was cut off by a quick, hard kiss. "Sorry, my phone died. I

forgot to charge it, and I was mired in meetings all goddamn
day. I thought being a playboy was supposed to be easy." He
sighed, just buried his face in Cassidy's hair a moment. "It was
like a punch to the gut, seeing that picture of you two."

"I'm sorry."
"S'okay," Malcolm said quietly. "I didn't think you were

actually doing anything, I was just pissed off someone was
trying to play it that way. We've come too far, you and me, to
fuck up now."

All the knots in Cassidy eased at that, and for the first time

in a long time he was able to relax—well, relax except for the
part where he really wanted to be naked, in bed, with Malcolm
fucking him senseless. "Still, I'm sorry. I wanted to kill him, and
probably would have if you hadn't shown. If I find out our agent
had anything to do with it, I'll kill him too."

10 | Megan Derr –

Tabloid Trouble

"I'm just glad you're okay," Malcolm said. "I saw he had you

against the wall and just saw red. I wanted to fucking kill him.
Beckett's a weasel; I wouldn't have put it past him to do
something slimy." He pushed away from the wall, tugged
Cassidy with him, pulled him into another kiss, hands sliding
down Cassidy's body to grab his ass.

Wrapping his arms around Malcolm's neck, Cassidy held

tightly, moaning again at the scent, the taste, the feel of his
sorely missed lover. "Long time no see."

"Tell me about it," Malcolm muttered, nibbling at his jaw,

his neck, hands shoving into Cassidy's clothes to get at skin.
"Been dying to see you. I'll fucking murder him if he comes near
you again."

Cassidy laughed as Malcolm yanked off his shirt, pushed him

into the wall again, and slowly sank to his knees, tasting as he
want, lingering over each of the tats on Cassidy's chest—
especially the intricate C and M twined together on his
abdomen.

Then Cassidy's pants were down, Malcolm grunting in

approval at the lack of underwear—and Christ it really had been
too long if he had forgotten exactly how goddamn good
Malcolm was at sucking cock. Cassidy tried to make it last, enjoy
the wet, the heat, the way Malcolm used his tongue, but it had
been too fucking long. He fisted his hands in Malcolm's hair and
fucked his mouth, came too soon and shouted Malcolm's name
way too loud and he just didn't fucking care.

Malcolm pulled off his cock, licked him clean, then surged

up to kiss him again, hard and deep. "Mm, love you," Cassidy
said, holding him tightly, closing his eyes and just enjoying the
warmth, the feel, the scent of his lover. "You need to stop
wearing that cologne, it drives me fucking crazy."

"I like you crazy. I'm happy just to finally have you, even if I

had to break that asshole's nose first. Why the fuck he thought
he'd get away with that shit, I don't know, but he'd better have
learned his lesson."

11 | Megan Derr –

Tabloid Trouble

Cassidy just held him tightly, trembling with relief. "I was

afraid you'd think the worst," he admitted, the words muffled
against Malcolm's shoulder.

"No way," Malcolm said softly. "I admit you could probably

do better than me, but you wouldn't do it this way if you found
someone else, and I like to think it's pretty goddamn hard to
compete with me."

In reply, Cassidy just kissed him again, then repeated, "I love

you. No one else. Especially not Beckett, to hell with him."

Malcolm grinned, combed Cassidy's hair out of his face, and

kissed him again softly, fondly. "Love you, too."

Cassidy grinned. "So let's get crazy, if that's the way you like

me. It's Valentine's Day and I haven't seen you in two months—
that's definitely a call for crazy."

Laughing, Malcolm helped Cassidy out of his pants, and

shed his own clothes as he followed Cassidy through the hotel
suite to the bedroom.

Fin

About the Author

Megan grew up a military brat and traveled extensively with her
family. She is now firmly settled in Ohio, with two roommates
and their four cats. She has always been book obsessed, and
writing obsessed since she first gave it a whirl in college.
Romance and fantasy are her primary obsessions, but she’s
game to write just about anything and enjoys a challenge. She is
a sucker for stories of enemies becoming lovers. When not
writing, Megan is drinking too much coffee, reading still more
books, and harassing family and friends, or otherwise doing
whatever possible to avoid editing.