Next Song I Sing (NEXT TIME AROUND)

by McDonald, Donna

  Marla grabbed Chloe’s arm firmly with one hand and gently took the business card from the man with the other. “Thank you, Mr. Davis. You enjoy the show?”

  Ashland Davis looked at Chloe and smiled, enjoying the fire in her eyes. Jasper Wade was a lucky bastard. “You’re a stunner alright, but I’m on wife number four. Divorce is too expensive, sweetheart.”

  Chloe looked at Marla with total disbelief that the sassy woman was tolerating the man’s disrespect. Marla rolled her eyes at Chloe’s cluelessness.

  “I’ll explain in minute,” she said, looking back at the man and giving him her most winning smile of approval. “Chloe is always a little ditzy after performing. All the endorphins swimming around in those pipes of hers.”

  Grinning, he nodded. “Well—tell your friend Chloe to give me a call this week when she comes to her senses. If you see Jasper, tell him I came by.”

  “Yes, sir,” Marla said. “Hope you can stay for the second set. We have even more material in that one.”

  Never letting go of Chloe’s arm, Marla steered her clear of the tables and crowd, pushing through the standing-room-only group hovering in the doorway. Vanessa travelled meekly behind, giggling at Chloe’s resistance.

  “Excuse us. Star here is dizzy. Got to get some air. Thank you,” Marla said cheerfully, moving the crowd with her arm.

  “What’s with you?” Chloe demanded in a whisper, wrenching herself from Marla’s grasp when they finally broke free. “Who was that old guy?”

  “Who was that old guy? You got a lot to learn about this business. Your boyfriend hooked us up. Ashland Davis is the fourth largest record producer in this state and he wants to talk with you about a record contract, dummy,” Marla sang, doing a mini-dance in her sequins and heels. Then she threw her arms around Chloe and hugged. “This is a huge break—the kind that only comes once in a lifetime.”

  “Break? For what?” Chloe said, laughing despite herself at Marla’s boobs bouncing.

  Then she turned and saw Jasper’s ex-wife stroking her fingers along Aaron’s arm.

  “Oh, hell no. That is for damn sure not happening. Somebody is going to die first,” Chloe said, hands fisting on her hips.

  Marla turned in the direction of Chloe’s glare and venom, catching her by the arm and halting her.

  “Aaron? Your ex? Oh God, girl—don’t do anything stupid,” Marla ordered, her eyes wide at the amazing hunk of male Chloe was glaring at. She looked back at Chloe with new respect.

  Wrenching herself from Marla’s grasp, Chloe stomped across the room to glare up at Aaron, who looked sheepish and gave her his best repentant smile.

  “I thought I left you in my room taking care of your own business,” Chloe demanded, not wanting to add to Megan’s distress by making Jasper’s ex aware of her ex-husband’s girlfriend. God, she hated sounding like a soap opera.

  “Why are you down here in the lobby flirting with this—strange woman?” Chloe’s angry gaze swung to include the model, who looked even more outstanding up close.

  Damn it. Why was Jasper’s ex flirting with Aaron? And why hadn’t Jasper said anything about her coming back? Chloe glared, not sure what to do or say next.

  Years of good manners kept Rayonna from laughing openly at the singer’s anger, but her smile was like the sun coming out from behind the clouds of her wounded pride. There was obviously some intimate relationship between Kells and the overweight singer, but another two minutes and the man would have been heading to her room with her. Taking a man away from the woman Jasper was currently chasing was a perk Rayonna hadn’t counted on.

  “Perhaps Aaron just got tired of looking at you and wanted better scenery. Does Jasper know about you and Aaron?” Rayonna asked, rubbing Aaron’s sleeve again.

  “Yes, he does. I told him about Aaron long ago. Now get your hands off my ex before I break your fingers,” Chloe ordered. “He’s not for you.”

  “Chloe—honey. Why are you so mad? I was only talking to her. Hell, I wasn’t planning to cheat again. I swear it,” Aaron said, mentally crossing his fingers that not having done so yet counted. “I didn’t forget what we talked about earlier.”

  “Evidently you did if you were flirting with this woman. What about the baby, Aaron?” Chloe demanded, her face flushing red when she heard the loudness of her voice and realized that everything she said was being carried across the tiled lobby.

  She could see the lies mirrored in the masculine gaze that lifted from hers to study the ceiling, could tell that Aaron was wishing Chloe hadn’t seen him talking to Rayonna. And she had to accept that if she hadn’t interrupted, Aaron would have blindly cheated on the sweet girl carrying his child, who was probably still in Chloe’s bed sleeping off her stressful day. There was obviously no changing him because he lacked the ability to see that his behavior was wrong.

  Chloe was suddenly and totally ashamed for all the second chances she’d given him.

  “You truly are worthless, Aaron Kells, absolutely worthless,” she said at last, her eyes welling with tears that she was definitely not going to shed. It would do her no good to grieve more or worry about how badly Aaron was going to treat the woman who was carrying his child.

  It was simply not her problem.

  But it sure hurt to think it could have been her if she hadn’t finally gotten smart enough to leave him.

  At the sight of Chloe on the verge of crying, Jasper pushed through the growing crowd while working to push aside his aversion to dealing with the situation. His gut was churning from all he’d heard, but he’d be damned if he would stand by and let Chloe go down in flames at Rayonna’s feet. Instead of the brave, happy woman who’d left his bed earlier today, Chloe now looked like she was barely holding it together.

  Jasper might not know her as well as he did Rayonna—obviously didn’t if what Chloe said about the baby was true—but he knew she didn’t deserve to be involved in his ex-wife’s scheming machinations. Rayonna was flirting with Aaron Kells because of him.

  “Rayonna, you’ve caused enough trouble for one evening. I’ve arranged for you to be transported to the hotel in Malibu. You’ll be in the executive suite there. I’ve told the staff never to book you into this hotel again. You are no longer welcome here,” Jasper said flatly.

  “Jasper, you can’t mean that,” Rayonna exclaimed in shock, her perfect face pale at the fierce determination in Jasper’s. She’d never seen him look at her so adamantly.

  “I’ve never been more serious,” Jasper said firmly. “You’re not going to hurt Chloe or any of her guests with your outrageous comments or your actions. I want you to leave immediately. The hotel shuttle is waiting out front.”

  “How can you side with her, Jasper? This woman is obviously cheating on you. I was doing nothing but talking to the man when she ordered me away from him,” Rayonna exclaimed, looking at Jasper with tears in her eyes.

  “Whatever is going on here with Mr. Kells is Chloe’s business. The hotel shuttle is still waiting, Rayonna. Don’t make me have security escort you out,” Jasper said, looking at his ex and not at Chloe.

  Rayonna swung a scathing look to Chloe. “Bitch,” she yelled, lifting a hand to strike, only to be swung up and away from her target by a pair of strong arms.

  “Now play nice, Rayonna,” Max said, holding his ex-sister-in-law’s arms captive while she screamed and flailed. “Security! I need some help here. She’s stronger than she looks.”

  Rayonna screamed louder and pulled one hand free, intending to use it on the man holding her. This time her swinging hand was caught by a woman’s, one of the singer’s friends.

  “Lady, you swing at Max, and I’m going to put your pretty model ass on the floor while my friend Emma takes a picture with her phone,” Taylor warned. “Raging Aging Model Throws a Temper Tantrum would make a great tabloid headline, not mention how viral it would probably go on the internet. It for damn sure would make people think twice about working with you.”

  The threat to her career
had Rayonna calming just as two men in hotel uniforms showed up. Each took one of Rayonna’s small, toned arms in hand as Max turned her over to them.

  “Gentlemen, take Rayonna to the hotel shuttle out front, and one of you needs to ride to Malibu with her. Her luggage is already inside the vehicle,” Jasper said before swinging his attention to the crowd. “Lobby show’s over now, folks. Thanks for your patronage. You can go back to the lounge to catch the next set.”

  The crowd laughed at Jasper’s joke, walking away but still watching the guards escort a now weeping Rayonna out of the hotel lobby and to the front door.

  “Wow—that woman was really going after you, Chloe. What did you ever do to her?” Aaron teased, laughing at his own joke. “Was that fight over me?”

  “Over you? God, Aaron, when are you going to quit wearing your ass on your shoulders?” Chloe demanded, shame over Jasper’s rescue making her throat thick with unshed tears. “Thank you, Jasper. I can only imagine what you must be thinking about all this.”

  Jasper stuck his hands in his pockets to keep from taking the frazzled, embarrassed Chloe into his arms to soothe her. “So Kells is your ex-husband?”

  Chloe nodded and sniffed, unable to meet his gaze. “Unfortunately.”

  “It seems Mr. Kells told the front desk he was your husband. That’s why Lily put him in your room,” Jasper recited, ignoring the younger man who was a head taller and much broader than Jasper had ever been.

  Next to Kells, Jasper felt ancient, not mention a host of other things that would probably haunt him later. The man was massive. It was like standing next to Max, only worse. This was the man he was trying to follow with the most amazing woman he’d ever met. It was a very unpleasant reality check.

  Chloe shook her head at Jasper’s explanation, and snorted in disbelief at the lie. “Aaron Kells is definitely not my husband any longer, and now I wish he had never been. Don’t be too hard on Lily. Aaron has fooled a lot of people in his life, including me.”

  “If you would just come home with me and work things out, our marriage wouldn’t be a lie,” Aaron said firmly. “You are still the only woman I’ve ever loved, Chloe.”

  “No, that’s not true. You love all women,” Chloe corrected fiercely, sad that she’d wasted five years with him. “But you started singing a whole new song six or seven months ago when you put yourself on the path to becoming a father. The baby is serious business, Aaron.”

  “So it’s true what you said?” Jasper asked. “There’s really a baby?”

  “Yes. God help his poor child though,” Chloe said fiercely, closing her eyes and thinking about the girl upstairs sleeping and unaware of this situation. Maybe it was a blessing Megan had missed this. Her life with Aaron, if it worked out at all, was not going to be easy.

  “God help his child’s mother,” Jasper said quietly, his gaze dropping to Chloe’s stomach. He made himself raise it quickly again to her face. There was no time to dwell on what could not be changed. “Do what you have to do, Chloe. If you get tired of dealing with Kells, let me know and I’ll have security get rid of him too.”

  “Hey now,” Aaron said, frowning at the man’s firm tone. He wanted no bad publicity. His parents would kill him. “I’m not causing any trouble here. I was just talking to a pretty woman. It’s not my fault she was a psycho.”

  Chloe shook her head. “All I want is for Aaron to go back to my room and do what he promised this one damn time. His child deserves that much.”

  Jasper stepped close and lifted a hand to her face. “Are you sure that’s what you really want?”

  Chloe nodded. “I don’t care how he treated me in the past. I’m over that. But I want him to do the right thing now.”

  She pulled Jasper’s hand off her face and kissed his palm, closing her hand around his for support. Then she looked at Aaron. “You still have the key?”

  “I don’t get it, Chloe. What’s with you and this guy?” Aaron complained, sighing at the woman he’d married standing intimately in the arms of another man, and one who looked like he was dying of longing for her. “Are you in love with him?”

  “Yes. I am,” Chloe said firmly, turning to glare. “It may be hard for you to understand this, Aaron, but Jasper sends other women away that flirt with him. He doesn’t sleep with them. That alone makes him a much better choice than you ever were.”

  Jasper laughed at her declaration, leaning his forehead against Chloe’s hair. Holy hell. The woman just admitted she loved him—and told her ex. Behind him, Jasper heard Max laughing. He hoped he could laugh about this later too.

  “If you really love me, then just stay with me, Chloe. You don’t have to go back to Kells. I’ll take care of you and the baby,” he said. “I want you both.”

  Chloe pulled away to stare at him. “What are you talking about, Jasper?”

  Jasper moved a hand to her stomach. Chloe stepped away from his hand in shock.

  “You think—you think I would go to Aaron after—after us?” she squeaked.

  “No! I would never think that. I figured you got pregnant before you divorced him. You said there was a baby,” Jasper stated, confused by her shock.

  Chloe closed her eyes, laughed harshly. “Oh my god. Jasper Wade—you continually surprise me. You’re the kind of good guy a woman looks her whole life trying to find.”

  “Did I miss something important in our conversation?” Jasper asked. “Because I’m totally lost.”

  Chloe laughed again, but easier this time. Her heart lifted as she met his intimate gaze and saw the truth there. Jasper would have hated it if she had been pregnant with Aaron’s child, but he’d had stood by her anyway and raised her child. That pushed the definition of faithfulness to a whole new level for her.

  Not to mention the fact that she was completely convinced that Jasper liked her, loved her, and wanted her. And she wanted him too. Really, what they had found with each other was pretty simple. Maybe there wasn’t any reason to wait.

  “Jasper, there really is a baby, but it’s in girlfriend number three who’s sleeping upstairs in my bed right now,” Chloe said. “Megan followed Aaron out here when he tried to break things off with her. She’s at least seven or eight months along with his child. Didn’t Lily mention her?”

  Jasper was so relieved the baby wasn’t in Chloe that he felt dizzy. “No. Lily didn’t mention anyone but Kells. There wasn’t time. I was headed to try to stop Rayonna when—never mind. So you’re not…you’re not carrying Kells’ child?”

  “Jasper, if I’m pregnant, it’s yours. But I’m pretty sure I’m not. I’m very careful about those things,” Chloe stated adamantly, listening to the snickers of the surrounding crowd and smiling at his obvious relief.

  Heedless of the crowd, of Max’s laughter, of Kells looking on in shock, Jasper pulled Chloe into his arms then and kissed her thoroughly, hugging her tightly in relief.

  “I’m way too old for this kind of drama. Damn it, Chloe. Marry me before you give me another heart attack about losing you,” he demanded.

  “You were really going to marry me even if I was pregnant with Aaron’s child, weren’t you?” Chloe asked, still having trouble believing Jasper wanted her in his life that much.

  Jasper nodded. Why lie about it? “Yes. I want you any way I can get you. I told you I was sure. I don’t want you to get away.”

  “Kiss me Wade. I’m not going anywhere,” she said.

  Chloe leaned into Jasper, pulled his face to hers, and kissed him back with all the passion she was feeling while the surrounding crowd clapped and cheered.

  When she pulled away from a flushed Jasper, Chloe stepped out of Jasper’s arms and looked at her ex. “That girl upstairs needs you, Aaron. If you don’t make things right by her, I’m calling your mother.”

  “Come on, Chloe. Don’t do that. You know she’s still mad at me because you left,” Aaron said, running a hand over his neck. “Hell, I’m in trouble here. Mom thinks you’re coming back with me. Now I have to tell her
about you marrying some other guy. Look, I’ll make sure Megan and the baby are taken care of if you just keep this to yourself for a while.”

  “I’m checking with Megan after the baby comes to make damn sure,” Chloe warned. “You’re thirty-six, Aaron. Grow up and be a man. All your mother wants is for you do the right thing. That’s all anybody wants. That baby deserves a father who will love it.”

  “Fine,” Aaron said, clenching his jaw at the public chastisement. “Just let me tell Mom in my own way.”

  Chloe shook her head as Aaron strode off in the direction of the elevators, hands in his pockets. Then she looked over at Marla and Vanessa, who were standing by with their mouths open. “Intermission is over I guess. Ready for the second set?”

  “Absolutely,” Marla said, still in shock. “Usually I just go to the bathroom and have a drink. I sure hope this isn’t going to be your usual way to relax between sets.”

  Chloe snorted and felt Jasper’s answering laugh in her hair as he stepped back into her. “I guess I do need a bathroom break. Then I’m going to need something to steady my nerves. Why don’t you ask your new boyfriend to make me a rum and coke? Triple shot, and don’t let Sam skimp on the booze this time.”

  “Now you’re finally acting like you’re the star. Good thing I kept that business card,” Marla said on a laugh. “I think we’re all going to need a little drink.”

  “Sam and Marla?” Jasper whispered in her ear.

  Chloe giggled and nodded.

  “This ought to be good,” he said, reluctantly stepping away from Chloe, but she had a show to do. “Marla, ask Sam to make that two rum and cokes. I have to check things at the front desk and then I’ll be in to hear the next set.”

  “Jasper,” Chloe called as he started away. “My room is a little crowded. Want company tonight?”

  “Yes, and every other night for the rest of my life,” he said firmly, uncaring of who heard. “I’ll have Lily make you a key. You won’t need pajamas. I can’t make my intentions any plainer until we’re alone.”

  Chloe sighed at her good fortune, even as the crowd around them laughed.