by Vivian Wood
“I think whatever you’ve sent over is here Rhys, so I’ve gotta go.”
“See you later, princess!”
What was it with this princess thing again suddenly? Sure, she loved it! But why was he doing it? The band really should have been called Mystery. She heaved a sigh and headed inside to open the gate.
He seemed to have bought another entire shop by the looks of the boxes and garment bags being carried into the living room by the delivery people.
She signed off for the delivery and waited until the gate closed behind the van before returning to the living room. She started tearing open the packages right there. Why not? She was alone anyway. The cleaning lady wasn’t even in today.
Shortly after she’d first moved in, she'd insisted that they didn’t need a full-time housekeeper, at least for the ti that she would be here. Rhys was still paying her full salary though, so she’d encouraged her to pursue her education in her spare time and maybe find something she was passionate about. She’d practically kissed her and Rhys had chuckled as she mumbled something about kids and rushed out. She still checked in every morning when she wasn't here and made sure that the groceries were delivered on time.
Her breath caught as she took in the first dress he had sent over. What the? The last time he had sent over clothes, they had been elegant, beautiful designer masterpieces. These dresses were not that.
Five dresses in all. All in the same scandalous style. He wanted her to dress up like a showgirl?
The first dress she opened was made only with round white pearls, held together by an almost invisible layer of material underneath and she was quite sure the beads wouldn’t even cover her ass. The neckline was low enough to barely cover the nipples of a less-endowed girl and while she hadn't been standing in the front of the queue on the day when those had been handed out, she certainly hadn’t been standing in the back either. There was no way those would cover her entire breasts.
The next three were, however, just as short and skimpy but instead of beads, they had feathers. Lots of colorful feathers and sequins and tight bodices that she wasn't sure would cover much of anything really.
The last one was the one she ended up choosing because she liked its color best.
It also had feathers, but only a few tasteful peacock feathers flaring up over the low neckline. The corset bodice of the dress looked like it would be skintight, but it was a beautiful, shiny turquoise that she loved.
The “skirt” was black tulle that she was certain would be see-through in the light, but she had a beautiful black pair of panties that she thought would cover her up enough and look like they were meant to be a part of this dress.
The rest of the boxes and packages contained headgear, accessories, jewellery, makeup, perfume and shoes.
She carefully sifted through the purchases he had made and selected the rest of her outfit. If she was going to look ridiculous, she was going to do it properly.
Still, she should just check whether this was a joke or if this was really what he wanted her to wear.
She pulled out her phone from underneath the heap of feathers, sequins, lace and heaven only knew what else and fired off a quick text.
Serena: You serious? Showgirl?? I’m going to look ridiculous in all of this!
His reply was almost instantaneous.
Rhys: You never look ridiculous. You’re going to look sexeee.
Serena: Sexeee? Really?
Rhys: ;)
Rhys: Don’t worry, you’re not the only one dressing up for this
Serena: You’re dressing up like a showgirl too? What’s your dress look like?
Rhys: Haha. Pretty. I always look pretty. Bet I could pull it off.
Serena: That you do, sir. That you most certainly do. But I think we’ll need to test your theory about pulling it off soon.
Rhys: Gotta go princess. Lots to do. We’ll see about testing my theory later…
For some reason, her mouth had gone dry at his last text.
Serena: Right. See you later
If she was going to do this right, she had better get started on getting ready. If it had been anyone other than Rhys that had asked her to wear this, she would never have gone through with it, but it was Rhys asking, so she simply sighed as she grabbed everything that she needed and headed upstairs to her bathroom.
Chapter Fifteen
So, she’d nearly broken a couple of bones getting into this dress, but it was 9:00 on the dot and she was ready. Finally. Bones intact.
She gave a final look at her reflection and headed out toward Thomas and the car that would take her to Rhys.
About fifteen minutes later, she stepped out of the SUV that Thomas had parked right out in front of a club, her eyes wide.
She had gone all out with her makeup and had spent almost an hour giving herself dark smoky eyes. She had even applied some glitter. She’d taken her long, dark hair up and had pinned a smaller peacock feather into the updo. Turquoise feathered earrings dangled from her ears and she had paired the outfit with black skyscraper heels.
She felt outrageous outside of the club but once she stepped inside, she saw that the entire club looked outrageous. It was made up like an actual burlesque club and whoever was paying for this little shindig had spared no expense in making sure that it fit the theme down to every last detail.
There were servers circulating with champagne in coupe glasses, harlequin dancers on aerial silks everywhere, flashing lights and even a girl up on stage doing an act and stripping down to her pasties.
She didn’t see anyone she knew coming in, but as if he were calling out to her, she felt a pull toward the left side of the stage and sure enough, there he was.
He was dressed as a 1920s gent and looked like he had stepped right out of a party at Jay Gatsby’s house, straight into this party. The look worked for him, although who was she kidding - all looks worked for him.
He openly checked her out as they walked toward each other in the crowded club. Finally meeting in the middle, he pulled her into his arms as if he didn’t intend on ever letting her go again and whispered against her ear, “Definitely very sexeee!”
She leaned into him and shivers ran up and down her spine at feeling his hot breath on her ear. She liked this, she liked this a lot. Was it possible that he did, too? It felt like it, from the way he was hanging on to her, but...
Her thoughts completely stopped when the first flash went off. Followed by what felt like a million more. Reporters? she thought in her daze. Who had invited reporters?
She thought back to his words this afternoon. I’m planning something, he had said. He had invited them. This was all still part of the act. The delicious shivers she had felt running up and down her spine just seconds ago had settled in her stomach like a block of ice. Fuck.
When he finally let her go, a flock of scantily-clad girls descended on him and he let them hang all over him. Right in front of her. With the reporters now scattered, he looked like he had not a care in the world. She grabbed a glass of champagne from a passing server and poured the entirety of its contents down her throat in one go. Happily, another server passed and she accepted another glass from him.
She turned to see the other four members of Misery huddled at a table nearby. Yes, all four. What was Luc doing here? And why was Anders in a club so soon after being discharged from the hospital?
Milo waved her over and they all hugged her warmly, except for Anders. He just nodded in her direction.
“Luc! This is a surprise! What’re you doing here?”
“Came home earlier this week. I was so over that place. It’s boring. And I’m fine. Besides, from the looks of things I came home just in time. We’ve been on fire this week with all of Rhysie’s new stuff. Looks like the magic’s back for us!”
Rhys had written new songs this week? Well, color her intrigued.
“It’s good to see you. How’re you holding up?”
“I’m okay, really. I owe you an apology, Se
rena. My behavior the night we met was appalling. I’m really sorry. Forgive me?”
The Misery boys were just oozing with apologies today. Still, he looked appropriately sincere, so she nodded in agreement as Milo and Jett cheered.
“One more down, only about two million to go,” Jett joked as he tapped Luc’s back. At least, she thought he was joking. Luc couldn’t really owe two million more apologies, could he?
“We’ve got to go up in about a minute, guys,” Anders spoke up.
“You’re performing tonight?” she asked. When did that happen?
“Yup, impromptu gig to get a feel for the fans' reactions to the new stuff. We used to do it all the time but we stopped ‘cause we were always on the road last few years. Didn’t have the time. Rhys suggested we do it, and we all agreed. Haven’t been on a stage for over a month now, can’t have that!” Milo explained, his voice brimming with excitement, eyes lit up.
“Time, gentlemen. See you later, Serena. Enjoy the show,” Luc said, winking at her. What was that about? These had to be the most confusing men on the planet! None of them had spoken to her in almost a week, yet now they were all friendly and winking at her and pretending like they were old friends… Even the ones she had never been friends with!
Jett caught Rhys’ eye and nodded toward the stage. Rhys seemed to understand and immediately disentangled himself from the girls still falling all over him.
As soon as they took the stage, the music died down and every eye in the club turned toward them. She now knew that they had played sold-out stadiums worldwide, so a couple of hundred people in a club should have been easy, but she felt nervous for them anyway.
Jett stepped into a circle of light center stage and it was really hard for her to believe he was the same guy who had been joking with her minutes ago. A thunderous roar went up from the crowd as soon as he stepped up to the microphone.
This close to the stage, she could see each of them even though only Jett was lit up right now. He gave the crowd a few moments to die down, and she took the time to really take them in.
Misery, in all their glory up on the stage that they would undoubtedly dominate in a few minutes, was really quite a beautiful thing to behold. She suddenly wished Mary or Katie were here to share in this moment.
It was easy for her to see now why they became international gods of rock. Even though she knew that she was joking with them just a couple of minutes ago, her brain couldn’t wrap itself around the fact that those guys up on stage were the same guys.
Rhys had the red Gibson guitar she had watched him play at home strapped to him, smoldering eyes gazing out into the crowd and even though she was sure he couldn’t actually see her, it felt like his blazing gaze had rested right on her. Gone was the easy, yet complicated fun-loving guy she had spent countless hours watching movies and playing house with. The one that she had come to know and dare she even think it, love. He was drop dead gorgeous and his stance was powerful, determined and he oozed confidence and sex appeal.
Luc stood diagonally across the stage from Rhys, holding his own guitar almost gently as he waited for the lead singer to do his thing. He looked more at peace than she had ever seen him, staring intently out at the crowd. His eyes were focused, not watery and darting as they had been at their first meeting.
Milo stood behind the keyboards, blond hair shining, his face set and his eyes narrowed. He seemed to radiate supremacy from his stance behind his chosen instrument, as if its closeness gave him strength.
Anders had picked up his drumsticks with a small smile and seemed almost relieved as he settled in behind his kit. Her father had worn a similar expression when she was young and he had arrived home to find his family waiting for him, all smiles. Strange that Anders would be wearing it now, like he had arrived home.
“We’ve been working on a couple of new songs and we invited you all here tonight ‘cause we want you to be the first to hear them.” Jett’s smooth voice came over the microphone.
With no further ado, Rhys stepped forward into a pool of light that had appeared in front of him, head bowed and eyes closed as he picked at the strings with his right hand, left holding down chords on the fretboard that his fingers found effortlessly. It took her breath away, watching him stand there, confident and powerful and too gorgeous to express in words.
A few seconds later, all the guys had joined in and Jett started belting out the first lines of their new song.
The crowd, herself included, listened to them play, completely enthralled by them.
About halfway through the song, a thought that she couldn’t quite grasp at yet was being forced in the back of her mind. This song seemed personal, somehow. She might not have had much, okay any, songwriting experience, but she had read somewhere over the course of the last few weeks that people used their own experiences when they were writing a song.
She thought back to what Luc had said earlier about these being songs Rhys had come up with, though she had no idea if he had written them entirely by himself or how that process had worked.
As she looked up at him, he had turned ever so slightly and seemed to meet her eyes just as Jett started singing about a girl who had surprised him and who he has real feelings for that he’d never had before.
That’s when it hit her, was it at all possible that this song was about her? No way! Her heart skipped more beats as this thought hit her harder than what could possibly be healthy and the air was sucked clear out of her lungs. Shit. She really needed to talk to her mom about genetic heart conditions in their family. She was pretty sure she needed to see a doctor.
Chapter Sixteen
Misery played three new songs in all before walking off stage to earsplitting cheers. Jett, Milo and Anders had lost their shirts somewhere along the way, to the extreme and loud appreciation of the female members of the crowd, and Jett had remarked that the string jockeys were being uptight tonight, which had caused Rhys to tease his shirt up just a little before shaking his head and giving a small smile that had left her dizzy and wanting. Along with every other female and most males as well probably in the crowd.
Rhys walked straight to her from the stage and pulled her into a tight embrace. He was seriously sweaty, but she didn’t mind. She’d take these moments with him any way she could get them, these moments where it felt real. She breathed him in, sweat and bourbon and that thing that was just completely and uniquely Rhys.
“You like them?” he asked into her ear, still not letting her go.
She let him go then so that she could look him in the eyes, but she put her hands on his hips so as not to break off all physical contact when she said, “I love them. They’re wonderful, Rhys! You’re wonderful!”
At this he pulled her back into his arms and started jumping around a bit. A jump hug? Okay then…
The jump hug didn’t last much longer, as someone cleared his throat behind her and she turned to look into Milo’s amused smile. Jett, Luc and Anders stood behind him, all carrying bottles of water and all fully clothed again. They tossed a bottle of water to Rhys, who caught it in one hand and drank it all in one go, his other arm still firmly around her waist.
She followed them to a corner table and slid into a chair next to Rhys. Rhys, Jett and Milo ordered a bourbon each from a server who looked like she was about to faint because they were talking to her. Rhys ordered a glass of wine for her while Luc and Anders stuck to their water.
She sat back in her chair at Rhys’ side, listening to them banter back and forth, sipping her wine and actually really enjoying their company. She'd grown used to them, she felt more comfortable here with them than she had felt in her own house with her parents for years. There was a scary thought.
Although it was made scarier by the fact that while she felt like part of their family, she wasn't. At any point, Rhys could end this game he was playing with her and she’d never see any of them again. She’d had a taste of that these past few days, and it had sucked!
Damnit, she cou
ld feel the sting of tears in her eyes. No one seemed to notice though and she tried to plaster a smile back on her face before anyone noticed, swallowing hard. At least, she had thought no one had noticed, but Rhys was looking at her with a strange look in his eyes, so maybe he had noticed. He smiled at her and fixed her blue eyes with his piercing green ones, causing her stomach to bottom out. She really was never going to get used to that smile.
“Come on princess, let’s go dance!” He jumped up and pulled her onto the dance floor with him. For the next few hours, that’s what they did, they drank and danced a lot and her earlier depressing thoughts had all but disappeared from her head. Today she still had him. She was just going to let herself enjoy it while it lasted.
He led her off the dance floor after a particularly exhausting song, given the amount of jumping around it had inspired, and back to their table. It was empty now, the guys must have all been out there somewhere, though she couldn’t see any of them.
“Be right back, princess. I’m gonna go get us another drink.” He disappeared into the crowd and she smiled at his retreating back. He was being so sweet tonight…
She relaxed into her chair and looked around her, taking in the varied feather and sequin and bead covered dresses. Now that she had been surrounded by them for a few hours and had had some wine to help with dealing with how skimpy they were, there was a certain beauty to them that she was starting to appreciate.
What she didn’t appreciate, however, was the person, or people, who had just caught her eye and were now walking toward her. Her heart dropped, and her ears rang. Bryan. Bryan and the raven-haired woman he had been fucking when she had surprised him at his apartment that night.
Why was he even coming over here with her? Still, he walked straight up to her, and she rose from her chair to avoid being looked down on, physically, at least.
“What are you doing here, Serena? And why are you dressed like a whore? You waiting tables now that you’re not getting along with your parents? Oh, you remember Andrea? You almost met that night at my apartment.” His hand was placed firmly on Andrea’s ass as he practically hissed this at her.
