The interviewer asked a few more questions, which for the most part Nolan answered, but not without the other guys joking around and adding their own comments. The easy friendship they had in real life came through when they were interviewed together, with Kirk usually the more serious, quiet one and Mason the rambunctious joker of the group.
“You guys recently finished shooting the first video from the album, but instead of premiering it today, you’re singing the title track from your new album unplugged. Correct?” The interviewer looked at the guys for confirmation.
“Actually,” Jared said—and my chest squeezed so hard at his deep voice, I could barely breathe—“we’re going to play a song that isn’t on the album.”
“Oh, so it’s from the first album?”
“No,” Nolan explained, “Jared recently wrote it for someone special. The record label hasn’t even heard it.” My heart rate picked up at his words.
For some reason, Nolan’s news excited the interviewer. “Even better.”
The guys walked to their instruments of choice—all except for Jared. Instead of grabbing his guitar, he stepped up to the microphone.
I stood staring at the screen as Jared started singing.
When we were young
You were always by my side
My friend, my confidante, my sun on a cold winter day
I never felt like I needed to hide away
Not a single person in the room made a sound, all mesmerized by the emotion of the song and his incredible voice.
Thought I could handle the rain
Fell for a rose all beauty, all wrong
Didn’t realize until much too late
Only one real treasure was my fate
This is my song for you
The truth of my heart for you
When the clouds obscure the view
This is my song for you
You’re the only one for me
That’s the way it’s always been
You’re the air and the stars and the moon
This is my song for you
I didn’t know how the record label would react to the band’s sudden change in plans, especially when the song wasn’t even on the upcoming album and it wasn’t the new single. But in that moment, while Jared sang about his love for a woman he had known forever and who had inspired him to be everything that he was, about his love for the woman who had sacrificed everything for those she loved, I didn’t care what the label thought.
I watched the stars from our old tree house
But it wasn’t the same without you by my side
The sunrise at dawn is what we can have
Just give me a chance to prove we’re strong
Just give me a chance to prove my love
Tears threatened to obscure my vision, and I blinked them away. He loved me? He hadn’t proposed because he figured it was the right thing to do for Logan. He had proposed because he wished to spend the rest of his life with me because he loved me—Logan or no Logan.
And I had rejected him.
I sank onto the corner of the couch, my legs uninterested in holding me up anymore.
But why hadn’t he told me this before? Why write a song and perform it live on TV when Nolan was supposed to be singing their debut single off the album?
I knew the answer. Because what better way to prove his love for me than doing the one thing he’d rather not do—be the one at center stage?
41
Jared
The final strains of the song faded and the entire studio broke into overwhelming cheers and applause. I had no idea how it sounded on TV, but here it was deafening.
We returned to the couch. I had done it, but was it enough to convince Callie that I loved her? I wanted to phone her, to find out if she felt the same way about me. I wanted to phone Hailey and hear about Callie’s reaction when she heard the song. But I couldn’t do either of those. We still had the interview to finish.
“Wow, Jared,” the host said. “I had no idea of the depths of your talent. Do you sing any songs on the new album this time?”
“No, this was a one-time deal. I’m more comfortable being behind the guitar than the mic.” Disappointed murmurs rose from the audience.
After the stunt I’d just pulled, I wasn’t sure if I was still a member of the band. Yes, Nolan and I had created it, but I had no idea the extent of the label’s rights when it came to us.
The guys had been on board with my idea to sing the song tonight. When I pointed out it could get us in trouble with the label, Mason had simply said, “Let’s go fuck the hell out of the song and prove to your girl you’re not some dumbass loser who fucked up proposing to her.” But while the guys might’ve been supportive, Remar’s reaction was anyone’s guess.
Did I care what his reaction would be? Not really. There were some things that were just that much more important to me.
The interview continued for another fifteen minutes. The original plan for the show was to perform two songs—“Tangled” and one of our hits from our debut album. So not to entirely piss Remar off, and because we were here to promote the new album and not so I could declare my love to Callie on national TV, we performed “Tangled.” Which was met with the same level of excitement as my song for Callie.
Afterward, we hung around to sign autographs for a select group of fans who had won the VIP prize. By the time we escaped the station, I had been congratulated, pawed, hugged, and kissed. The last one had taken me by surprise, when a fan unexpectedly kissed me on the lips. Out of respect for Hailey, Nolan no longer allowed fans or groupies to kiss him at all. Not even a peck on the cheek was permitted. I would have to be more vigilant in the future and adopt the same policy.
Assuming Callie felt the same way about me that I did about her.
Our newly appointed bodyguard, who looked like he could have once served in the Marines, escorted us from the building. He wasn’t alone. Several members of the station’s security detail were also at our side. And just as well that they were. Our appearance at the station had been well publicized. Fans were waiting for us outside, held back by a red rope on both sides of the building’s entrance.
While I was sure Brian, our bodyguard, would’ve preferred that we hightailed it straight to our waiting limo, the band stayed back to thank fans and sign more autographs. Mason let the girls kiss him, but the rest of us kept a safe distance from the more ardent fans.
The fans were the ones who bought the albums and downloaded the singles. If it hadn’t been for them, we wouldn’t be where we were now. So as much as Brian wanted to get us away from the craziness, it wasn’t going to happen just yet.
The downside was it delayed me contacting Hailey.
Eventually Brian successfully herded us into the vehicle, with threats that we would miss our next interview if we didn’t get our asses in gear. With my heart pounding in my chest, I sent Hailey a text.
Me: Did she see it?
Hailey: Sorry. I don’t know. She didn’t come over. She said she needed to get away for a few days and dropped Logan off at your parents’ house.
Shit. I dropped my head back against the limo seat. Now what?
“Sorry, man,” Nolan said a moment later. Hailey must’ve told him what had happened. “I thought for sure your plan would work.”
“Me too.”
“Don’t give up yet. Hailey’s positive Callie loves you, and I believe it, too. Any idiot can see that she does.”
I shrugged. “Doesn’t matter if she has no idea how I feel about her.”
“Do you know where she might’ve gone?”
“Not a clue.” There was one way to find out.
Me: Thinking about you. How are you?
Before I began demanding to know where she went, I wanted to at least know if she was talking to me. While I waited for her to respond, I phoned Mom.
She picked up on the second ring. “That was beautiful,” she said. The noise in the limo dropped to a quiet murmur.
“What was beautiful?”
“The song. You wrote it for Callie, right?”
“Yes. She didn’t by any chance watch it with you, did she?”
“No, she wasn’t here. But when she dropped Logan off here yesterday, she told him you were going to be on the show. Do you want to talk to him?”
Before I could answer, she passed him the phone.
“Daddy? You were inside the TV.”
I chuckled. “Yes, I was on TV. So you watched?”
“Yes, but I didn’t hear you sing,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Is Mommy there?”
“No. I miss you.”
“I miss you too.” And I did. How I’d survive touring without seeing him every day was a mystery. I’d spoken to him every day, when he was with Sharon, but that wasn’t the same. “But I’ll see you tomorrow. Do you know where Mommy is?”
“Somewhere magical.”
I considered that for a second. Something about his words sounded familiar. “Is that exactly what she said? Or did she say it was somewhere they bring magic to the screen?”
“Yes” was all he said before handing the phone back to my mom.
“Do you know where she went?” I asked.
“She didn’t say. She only said that she needed a few days to think things through. Did you two have a fight?”
Good question. I had no idea. As far as I knew we hadn’t. But when it came to figuring out women, I was clueless most of the time.
After getting off the phone with my mom, I checked to see if Callie had responded to my text. She hadn’t. And she still hadn’t responded by the time we boarded the plane and the flight attendant announced we had to turn off our phones.
42
Callie
My phone pinged from my purse as I drove down the interstate from San Francisco. My heart thump-thump-thumped a fast pace the entire way, and it had nothing to do with my family dying on this same road.
My heart was racing me back to L.A. solely because of Jared.
According to their announcement three hours ago, they were opening for Endless Motion’s extensive U.S. tour in just over a week. If I didn’t tell him soon how I felt, it would be a while before I got to tell him face-to-face.
The sun was low in the sky when I arrived at Jared’s building. I parked my car, jogged to the front door, and buzzed his apartment. No one answered. Hailey had told me the band was flying home today from New York City. I hadn’t thought to ask her when exactly they were due to land.
There was no guarantee he was even coming straight home, but it was a chance I had to take.
I sat on a nearby bench. The area was well lit and the neighborhood decent, but that didn’t stop my body from switching to fight-and-flight mode at the sounds sneaking up on me—every rustle of the leaves, every footstep, every car engine that hummed past.
I reached into my purse. My hand brushed against the velvet box next to my phone.
Jared had texted, Thinking about you. How are you? His words warmed me on the inside, a marshmallow in hot chocolate. By now he would know that I hadn’t stuck around to see him perform. He didn’t know I had actually watched him—and realized how big an idiot I’d been for not seeing it sooner. He loved me like I loved him. That thought, along with a gallon of coffee, had kept me awake on the long drive home.
I removed the velvet box from my purse and opened it. The silver glinted in the glow from the streetlight behind me. I fingered the fine chain and the silver guitar pick, a symbol of my love for him.
After the band left the TV station, I told Samantha something had come up and I needed to return to L.A. I left her place and drove straight to a nearby mall, where I bought the pendant for Jared.
I pulled my hoodie around me, and thanked God we lived in L.A. and not Chicago. Otherwise I would’ve been sitting there in a winter coat and still shivering.
A car door slammed shut. I glanced down the path to the road. A cab was parked there, but that wasn’t what caused the air in my lungs to pause.
The dark-haired, dimpled guitarist standing there with his gaze locked on me was the one to blame for the way my lungs had temporarily ceased functioning. He walked slowly toward me, as if certain I was nothing more than an illusion that might vanish in a puff of smoke if he moved any faster.
During the drive from San Francisco, I’d been busy deciding what I would say to him. Some attempts had been witty. Others had been the equivalent of three Kleenex boxes of emotional. There was even the version where I got down on my knee and proposed to him.
But after spending hours practicing exactly what I longed to say, I forgot it all the moment he stepped out of the cab. Instead, I closed the distance between us, gazed at his heart-melting eyes for a second, then crashed my lips against his . . . and let everything I had to tell him be revealed through the kiss.
His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me closer. All those practiced words in my head meant nothing, truth be told. But this—the kiss, the way he held me, the love between us—was perfect. Any doubts I might have had? Evaporated.
Eventually I shifted away and rested my forehead against his. Our breaths came fast and hard, and it took a minute for me to slow my breathing enough for me to utter the words I did need to say. His arms remained around my waist. My hands stayed threaded in his hair.
“Jared Michael Leigh.” My voice was soft but certain. “Will you marry me?”
A slow, sexy smile curled onto his full, kissable lips. “Yes, I would love to.”
And then we were kissing again . . . until kissing wasn’t enough.
How we made it upstairs with all our clothes still on was beyond me, but they certainly didn’t stay on once we entered his apartment. Somewhere between the front door and his bed, my shoes, socks, jeans, and T-shirt had left my body. His clothes had suffered the same fate.
Jared kissed me again, but this time the kisses were gentle and unassuming. Which was funny given our state of undress. If anything, you’d have thought we’d be ravishing each other at this point.
That’s not to say I didn’t want to. Eventually.
I smiled against his lips. “I love you, Jared. I’ve been in love with you since I was seventeen. I don’t think I ever stopped loving you.” I brushed my mouth against his and continued along his jaw. The stubble there teased the tip of my tongue as I forged a path to below his ear. I gently nipped him. His answering moan stirred me. And the mere thought of what he could do to my body almost had me coming in my panties.
“God, I’ve missed you,” he murmured against my ear. “And I’m not saying that because I’m about to make love to you.”
Good thing I was holding on to him, because my knees gave way at his words. “I’ve missed you too. More than you can possibly imagine.”
He tenderly traced his fingers down my arm. “Are we going to be okay? I mean, when I go on tour?” Hope filled his beautiful brown eyes.
I smiled and caressed his face, the movement soft but reassuring. “I know we will. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but as long as we trust each other, we’ll be fine.”
That gave him the measure of reassurance he needed, and with it came the kisses I craved. His mouth devoured mine, his tongue creating havoc against my own. He guided me back onto the bed. His fiery gaze consumed me, igniting the heat between my legs.
He cupped his hand against my cheek, then with a feathery touch he trailed his fingers down my neck and between my breasts, still encased in the white lace bra. Every cell in my body buzzed with energy, with desire.
His fingers continued down my stomach, pausing a moment so he could kiss the skin above my belly button. His teeth lightly grazed the place he’d kissed. I moaned at the delicious sensation.
His hands resumed their journey to my panties. Less than a minute later, I was free of them. They disappeared over the edge of his bed. Jared’s boxer briefs joined them soon after.
Underwear—it was so overrated.
Jared�
��s fingers went on to create magic between my legs. They slipped between my folds and teased the supercharged core, pushing me closer to the edge with each brush of my clit.
I wrapped my fingers around his thick length and almost moaned. Yes, I had missed this too. I swirled my thumb against the tip, spreading the small amount of pre-cum around the velvety surface.
Jared sucked in a sharp breath, then reached for a foil package from the top drawer of his nightstand. He ripped it open and rolled the condom down his length. But instead of positioning himself between my legs, he beckoned me off the bed.
He propped the pillows against the headboard and leaned back against them, then indicated for me to straddle his legs. Before I could position myself over him, he placed his hand against my waist to stop me, and reached around to undo my bra. It too joined the party on the floor.
Jared leaned forward and took my nipple into his sweet, warm mouth. His wet tongue circled it, then he sucked it to a stiff peak. Holy mother of all things amazing, this man is certainly talented with his tongue.
I moaned, the sound not even beginning to convey how I felt.
Once he was finished, a satisfied grin on his face, I slowly lowered myself until he was seated deep inside me. I didn’t know where I started and where he ended—and I didn’t care. All I cared about was how my soft heat hugged his hard length.
Jared rested his hand on my hips, guiding my movements and the pace. Like the kiss earlier, it was slow and sweet, as was the build-up to the peak. He kept his eyes, now dark with want, focused on me, adding to the intensity of the moment. He’d told me he wanted to make love to me, and that was exactly what he was doing.
But then came a point where I didn’t crave slow anymore. I wanted to race to the peak, and I wanted to do it with Jared.
My Song For You (Pushing Limits Book 2) Page 25
