by Remy, Cate
“What is it, baby?” he asked.
“Baby?” Exactly how strong was that vodka tonic he downed?
DJ Frost looked between the two of them. “How long have y’all been dating?”
“Not long.” Deacon slipped his arm around Tracy’s shoulder and slid in close. “Why?”
“You make an unexpected couple, I guess. Tracy looks smart.”
“Are you saying I can’t attract smart girls?”
DJ Frost raised his hands in mock surrender. “I think I’m going to order a drink.”
The two men laughed while Tracy tried to figure out what the joke was. She gave up. “Deacon, it’s almost one in the morning. Don’t you think we better leave?”
“Why, baby? Everything’s fine.”
She lowered her voice and got in close so DJ Frost wouldn’t hear her. “Stop calling me that. I’m not your baby.”
“You signed a contract to pretend to be. People are watching. Just act like you’re having fun for a little longer.” He removed his arm from her shoulder and stood when a group of people approached the table.
They looked like they were still in college. The guys wore jeans and graphic tees. The two women had on dresses that were cut out in the abdomen, showing their toned stomachs.
One of the guys gave an obnoxious snort. “Hey, my girlfriend says you’re Deacon from that Wonder band, but I’m really too drunk to tell right now.”
“She’s right,” Deacon answered. “Now let me introduce you to my girlfriend. In fact, I’m going to introduce her to everyone up in the club.” He raised his drink can all of a sudden. “Hey, people, meet my new girlfriend Tracy. Isn’t she fine in this skirt?”
Tracy dodged drops of liquid that splattered from the can. A few landed on her head. The college students laughed as she reached for a napkin to catch the sticky cherry fizz running down the side of her face. Embarrassed, she set her ginger ale on the table. “That’s it. Deacon, I’m ready to get out of here. Now.”
Chapter Five
Deacon woke up to the smell of stale beer and a constant swish-swish in his ears. He opened his eyes to see bright lights —too bright— and the blurred figure of a man standing over him.
“Always the last to leave a party, huh, Deacon?”
He sat up upon hearing Ash’s voice, though it sounded a little muffled in his ears. His head ached. He could use a drink of water and a toothbrush. “What happened?”
“You had too much to drink and fell asleep in the back of the club, that’s what. Everyone else went home an hour ago.”
“I only had one drink.”
“Either it was really strong or all that lack of sleep is turning you into a lightweight.”
Deacon still heard the swishing noise. He looked around and discovered Club Indigo’s dance floor and chairs sat empty. One of the bartenders picked up bottles. Another swept debris off the floor. That’s where he heard the swish-swish. He jumped up from the bench so fast he startled Ash and the nearest bartender. “Where’s Tracy?”
“Don’t you remember?”
“If I did, I wouldn’t ask.” He wiped his brow. Then he took a step in something sticky on the floor. It looked and smelled like his cherry energy drink. “Tell me where she is.”
“Home, as far as I know. She called and left a voicemail on my phone an hour ago, telling me where you were and saying she took an Uber back to her apartment.”
“Why would she leave without saying anything to me?”
“You really don’t remember.” His manager forced air through his nostrils. “Long story short, you were drinking and decided it would be a good idea to let the club know that Tracy was your new girlfriend. She didn’t like it. You yelled over the music and spilled some of your energy drink on her head.”
Shame and humiliation hit Deacon like a bag of bricks. “That can’t be right.”
“It’s all on social media if you want to see.” Ash held out his phone. “A few clubbers had their phones out recording you as it happened.”
Deacon watched the recording of him acting like a fool. The look on Tracy’s face spoke volumes about her level of discomfort as she tried to edge away from him. His teeth set on edge when he heard his voice come through the phone’s speakers. “Hey, people, meet my new girlfriend Tracy. Isn’t she fine in this skirt?”
He groaned. Then the video came to what Ash described, when he raised his energy drink can and ended up spilling some of it on Tracy’s head. What an unbelievable jackass he was a few hours before. “Can’t you threaten to sue or send out a warning letter to people who post this video?”
“You want me to send a warning letter to about two million people? It’s gone viral, Deacon. Everyone saw you acting like a frat boy at his first keg party. Tracy wants out of the contract.”
“Let me talk to her.” Deacon yanked out his phone from his back pocket and dialed Tracy’s number. It went straight to voicemail. He tried again and got the same thing. “She must have turned her phone off to go to sleep.”
“Or to avoid talking to you.”
Ouch. Ash’s remark stung, but it could be true. What if Tracy was so mad she screened her calls? She even said she wanted to break their contract. “I have to find Tracy to clear this up.” Deacon shot past his manager. He jumped over a bucket of sudsy water sitting in the middle of the floor.
“No time,” Ash called behind him. “Your photo shoot is at six in Jasper.”
He pushed the club door open to the muggy night air outside. He forgot he had a photo shoot out in the country this morning. His manager joined him. “Ash, I have to apologize to her for acting stupid.”
“She’ll be at the shoot. If she still wants to work for you.”
“If? I really messed up.”
Deacon’s manager didn’t say a word, but if Deacon had to guess, he’d say Ash agreed. “I’ll drive you home so you can change into fresh clothes.”
Deacon trudged alongside his manager as they made their way to the club parking lot. There was nothing he could do now except get cleaned up and hope Tracy didn’t skip the shoot. This was shaping up to be one big screw up.
DEACON GOT HOME, SHOWERED and put on clothes for the album cover shoot. Ash waited for him in the car outside. They drove the forty-five minutes to Jasper. Deacon didn’t say anything along the way, his mind preoccupied with what he was going to say to Tracy. If Tracy was there.
He tried calling her phone again and got nothing but her voicemail. He checked the usual social media sites and saw that the video continue from last night even made it in a major news network’s gossip columns.
They arrived at the photoshoot location. The band’s van was there behind a set of orange cones blocking entry to the public. The guys were walking around with cups of coffee in their hands. Deacon squinted, in search of Tracy. He saw her several feet ahead of Nick and Luka, setting up her camera equipment. He almost breathed a sigh of relief before new tension caused his nerves to tighten. What precisely was he going to say to her this morning?
Ash parked the car along the side of the road next to a police cruiser there for security. He showed his ID and permit to the officer, who nodded for him and Deacon to proceed forward. Deacon got out of the car, straightening the front of his t-shirt and adjusting his leather jacket. The weather was too hot for leather, but it was a look required for the new album cover. He’d have to suffer and sweat it out for a little bit, it appeared, both from the photoshoot and getting a chance to speak to Tracy.
“Morning.” He waved to the band members. They nodded yet said nothing. Luka the drummer glanced at him and then Tracy before taking a swig of coffee. Looks like they all saw the video, too. Deacon carried the weight of his own guilt. His actions not only hurt Tracy, but it wasn’t making the band’s comeback look so hot, either.
“Doing okay this morning?” asked Luka.
“I could be better.”
“Yeah, you could.” Luka turned his attention away from him.
Deacon was
n’t going to argue. He deserved it. He looked at Tracy again and his pulse kicked the beat up a few notches. She raised her head from looking through her camera lens and met his gaze. Her normally warm brown stare was glazed over with a blanket of ice. If looks could kill, she would have shot and icicle at him. He rubbed his shoulder as he made his way to her.
“Tracy, can we talk?”
“I’m busy right now. We’re already behind on the photoshoot and we have to open this area up to the public in less than an hour.” She toggled with one of the camera lenses.
“Later, then.”
She said nothing.
“It’s important.”
“So is your album cover, but fine. Later.”
Deacon watched her adjust the height of the camera tripod. Nick and Luka talked to each other behind him. Ash was on his phone. He was the only one not occupied. He put his hands in his pockets and shuffled over to the band. They stopped talking when he came over.
“You got bags under your eyes,” Nick noted, never one to mince words. “I hope Tracy can airbrush them out.”
“Funny.”
His bassist didn’t smile. “Not really.”
Deacon took his hands out of his pockets. “What I did was dumb and irresponsible last night. I should have left the club early instead of staying out late before the photoshoot. I know it doesn’t look good to have that video circulating all over the internet.”
“Especially when we’re trying to make a comeback,” Luka added. “All that partying and getting into trouble worked when we were starting out, but we’re older. I got twins on the way with my wife. I can’t afford bad publicity.”
“He’s right,” Nick joined in. “Those videos of you jumping in the hotel pool and acting out in the club might keep people laughing, but they won’t make them buy our music.”
“I heard you loud and clear. I’m done with that stuff,” Deacon vowed.
Nick and Luka didn’t appear to be convinced. “Whatever.” Luka sipped his coffee.
Deacon’s head started to ache again. Nausea crept into his stomach. This was going to be a long photoshoot.
When Tracy was ready to start, she told the band members where she wanted them to position themselves in the grass. Luka and Nick managed to position themselves for perfect camera angles almost immediately. Deacon had to keep moving around. No position he chose made Tracy happy. She kept telling him to stand somewhere else.
The session ended after an hour. He went to help Tracy load her camera equipment into her car.
“Don’t worry. I can manage.” She took one of the equipment bags from him and put it in her trunk.
He saw the police officer lift the orange cone to grant public access to the park. “Tracy, do you want to grab breakfast somewhere?”
“I have to get these pictures edited and sent to your manager.”
“Ash can wait a couple hours. There’s a nice little breakfast spot uptown we can go to.”
Tracy shook her head. “I can just grab food from a drive-thru on my way back to Atlanta.”
She wasn’t making this easy. He scratched his head as he looked across the street at the diner. He saw it was where the band had grabbed their coffee. “How about the diner across the street?”
She gave it a view, hesitation showing on her face.
“I know you have work to do. We can leave as soon as we finish eating.”
She finally gave in. “I’ll drive my car over and meet you there.”
Deacon went to tell his manager what he was about to do. “I’m going to have breakfast with Tracy across the street. Think you can hang around for a little while?”
“I’ve got a conference later this morning. I’ll jump in the van with the guys. You can have a driver bring my car over to my house later.” Ash handed him the keys. “Don’t go crazy with it or anything.”
Once the band left, Deacon drove over to the diner. Tracy was already in the waiting area by the front door.
“How many?” the hostess asked at the counter. She focused on Deacon. “Hey, you’re—”
“Yes,” he confirmed, not wanting the publicity and attention on him this morning, “and I’d like a booth for two in a private corner of the restaurant, please.”
“You got it. Right this way.”
Their hostess took them to a little corner booth in the back of the restaurant. It was one of those fifties diners. The seats were pink and turquoise vinyl. The counter had stools lined in chrome. Elvis crooned from a jukebox.
“I’m also going to be your server today,” said the hostess. “What can I start you off to drink?”
Deacon let Tracy order first. “I’ll have orange juice. Is it okay if we order food now?”
“Absolutely.”
“I’ll have strawberry waffles.” Tracy handed the menu back to the hostess/server.
“I need coffee,” Deacon said, as he read the menu. “Make sure a whole pot of it is brewed strong. I’ll have your pancake, eggs, and bacon platter. Extra bacon.” He sat on the edge of the booth as he waited for the server to leave. As soon as she did, he spoke with Tracy. “I’m sorry about last night at the club. It was stupid and immature of me.”
She looked at him over the rims of her glasses. “Why did you do it?”
“I don’t have a good reason. I got caught up in talking to DJ Frost who wanted to collaborate on a song. You were there posing as my girlfriend. Everything looked like it was coming together for this new album and I got excited.”
“Too excited.”
The server returned with their drinks. She set a tall mug in front of Deacon and filled it near to the brim with steaming black coffee before disappearing into the kitchen again.
Tracy took a sip of her orange juice. “If you’re stressed about your new album, you could try yoga instead of getting tipsy.”
“Yoga. Vegan diet. Feng shui. I tried all that. I still get tense when I have deadlines.”
“Maybe it would help to lay off all the energy drinks.”
“In that case, I better ask for an even larger coffee mug.”
She didn’t laugh at his weak joke. “Or you could rest and not stay out partying so much.”
“Point taken. I really am sorry I embarrassed you last night.”
Her eyes had a new look in them. She set her glass of orange juice down. “You were showing off for those college students when you did it. They were drunk. I don’t like to be around crowds of drunk people. My mother was an alcoholic and my sister and I had to be raised by my aunt.”
“Tracy, if I had known, I wouldn’t have asked you to come to the club last night with me.”
Her eyes looked a little glassy. She stared at the jukebox. “I don’t usually share that information with anybody.”
“I promise you will never see me like that again.” Deacon wanted to touch her hand, to do something to reassure her.
She nodded. “Good, because I don’t think I could keep this up if I did.”
Their server came back with their breakfast. Tracy’s plate of strawberry waffles looked like something straight off of a cooking channel. Deacon’s mouth watered at the side of bacon on his plate. He reached for a fork and dug into the fluffy yellow eggs. “If I keep eating like this, I’m going to need to go to the gym twice a day.”
She eyed his bacon. “If you need help controlling your portions...”
He gave her a couple slices. “Judging by your plate of waffles and whipped cream, I thought you were a carb lover.”
“Who doesn’t like bacon?” She munched happily. “I’m on the other side of the camera anyway.”
“Not if you’re out with me.”
“Contract or no contract, I’m not giving up bacon.”
“So that means you’re still going to go through with this?”
She finished eating the bacon slice. “On one condition. You never again try what you did last night.”
“I meant what I said before. You have my word.”
She n
odded and then dug into her waffles. Things seem to be good between them again. Deacon hoped to keep it that way.
TRACY DROVE HOME FROM the diner after her conversation with Deacon. She was still a little irritated by his behavior from last night, but his apology today was sincere. There was no faking the remorse on his face. She could give him another chance.
She made it home by eleven in the morning. She stifled a yawn as she turned the key in the door. She wanted to edit pictures, but perhaps a short nap first. Her phone rang as she closed the door. She set her keys on the kitchen counter and reached for the phone in her purse. Her sister was calling. “Candace, what’s up?”
“Girl, I was about to ask you the same thing. I turned on the TV and there’s nothing but your face all over Celeb Zone.”
Tracy groaned at the mention of the gossipy celebrity news show. “Don’t you have anything better to do than watch trash TV?”
“Not when I see your face on it. What were you doing at the club last night with that Deacon guy?”
She had to tell her sister. The secret was out. “I got a job as a photographer for his band.”
“No, sis. I didn’t see you holding a camera at Club Indigo. The camera was on you and that fabulous red top and gold skirt.”
“If you want the outfit, you can have it.”
“That’s not my point. Now, are you going to tell me what really went down? What was Deacon hollering about when he had you tucked under one arm?”
She sighed. There was no getting past Candace when it came to celeb news and gossip. “He had a little too much fun. That’s all.”
“Uh huh. So is he your boyfriend? Cuz he called you his girlfriend.”
Her mouth opened to form the word no. Then she remembered her contract. “We just started dating.”
Her sister let out a loud whoop. Tracy had to snatch the phone away from her ear to preserve her hearing. “Look at you, Miss High Life. Got a rock star for a boyfriend and everything.”
“It’s not all what you think.”
A baby cried in the background. “I have to let you go, Trace. Anthony’s waking up. We’re about to go see his nanna.” That was her son’s nickname for Auntie Olivia.
