“What’s the matter?”
“Jaime Garwood got arrested for assault. I have to go down with Greg Sullen, the studio attorney, and fix this mess.”
Jamie Garwood was a new addition to the studio. Like Nick was twenty-five years ago, Jamie was turning out to be the next music heartthrob. The only problem was he was all ego and thought he was quite the lady killer. He also had a problem with women telling him no when it came to sex; in his immature mind, because of who he was becoming, they should be glad to sleep with him. Unfortunately, when they told him no, his impulsive nature was to use force and almost rape them. This wasn’t the first time he had been in jail – nor was it the first time Nick had to try to keep it hushed up in the press.
“Do you want me to come with you?”
“I’d love it, except that I don’t want you down at the police station and associated with this,” Nick said grimly. “The kid is outstandingly talented. He just doesn’t have the maturity needed to be as famous as he is.”
“I’ll keep your place warm,” Kate said invitingly.
“I’ll be back to claim it,” he agreed, pausing to kiss her. Then he strode out of the room and Kate heard the front door close, followed by the sound of his car starting up.
* * *
As it worked out, Kate and Nick didn’t get a chance to set up any kind of wedding during the break. It took all of Nick’s skill and resources to keep Jamie’s arrest out of the newspapers. He and Greg had been able to get him off on a plea deal, which consisted of anger management classes and a lot of community service, including a concert which would benefit a battered women’s shelter. The studio had lawyers on staff for this kind of thing as musicians tended to act like little kids sometimes and the studio didn’t want to take the hit. It frustrated Nick all of his time was going to fix this and before he knew it, there were two days before the European tour. And there would be no time for him and Kate to do anything.
Kate and Nick discussed it over dinner at her townhouse on Saturday night. Both agreed for now, they would continue as before. “It’s fine, Nick,” Kate told him. “Another three months doesn’t matter. It won’t change how I feel about you.”
“I know,” Nick answered. “I was hoping to not have to use separate rooms.”
Kate blushed a little. “We don’t have to, you know. We can tell the band the truth and they won’t think badly of either of us.”
“It’s not them, love. It’s me,” Nick admitted. “I am still having issues over the whole boss versus employee notion. Until I put the ring on your finger, I’m not going to have you dragged through the press as my willing mistress.”
“I can’t be your mistress, Nick. You’d have to have a wife for me to be your mistress,” she said, teasing him.
Nick shot her a look. “You know what I mean. And I just wanted to smack Garwood during this whole thing. His arrogance irritates the bloody hell out of me.”
“He should be appreciative,” Kate said. “Personally, I think some time in a jail cell might have cooled him off.”
“Here’s where being a businessman sucks. His being in jail had an opportunity cost I didn’t want to explore.”
“I’m sure it added to the arrogance. He knew you weren’t going to go against him.”
“I made it more than abundantly clear I would if it happens again,” Nick said, in a hard tone. “Next time he pulls this crap, I’m pulling the contract. I don’t want the negative press and I don’t need the headache.”
“Jerry’s going to let you do that? Jamie’s pretty hot right now.”
“Jerry has no say in this. We set up the partnership so we are responsible for our own agreements. I signed Garwood so he’s my problem. And Jamie doesn’t want to push that far – I have the pull to make sure he never records again in this industry and I made it crystal clear.”
Kate got up from the table, taking the dishes and things back to the kitchen. “Are you planning to stay here tonight?” she asked, changing the subject.
“If you want me to,” Nick said, as he followed her. He stood watching her from the doorway, not sure what prompted the question. They had been inseparable at night since they got back. “You could always pack up and come home with me.”
“I do need to pack,” Kate agreed. “I was going to finish some laundry and do it tomorrow.”
“I’ll stay and help you get yours done. Then you can come help me with mine. Nothing I hate more than packing a suitcase.”
“As much as you’re gone?” Kate said in disbelief. “I’d have thought you were an old hand at it by now.”
“Didn’t say I couldn’t do it efficiently,” Nick said, watching her load the dishwasher. “Just said I hated doing it.”
The buzzer for the dryer went off. “Well, there’s part of it done,” she said, closing the door to the dishwasher and walking away to the laundry room which was behind the kitchen. She folded the clothes on the table in the room and put the load from the washer into the dryer. Kate figured she’d leave the clean clothes on the table and pack one suitcase from there, rather than take it all upstairs.
* * *
She came back in from the laundry room, looking for Nick and found him on the couch with the television remote, flipping through channels. He patted a spot in front of him on the couch and Kate went to him, sitting down cross-legged and snuggling back against his chest. “Doesn’t appear to be anything worth watching,” Nick commented.
“I know,” she agreed. “I usually only watch the Food Network or the Dodgers if they’re playing.”
“I saw a game,” he said, flipping back to a Dodgers baseball game.
“Didn’t know you liked baseball.”
“I’m not much into sports period,” he admitted. “I would rather just talk to you.”
“Sounds good,” Kate said. “Television has become background noise at best these days.”
There was silence for a few minutes. Kate quickly saw the Dodgers were ahead, which pleased her since she was a big fan. She could sense Nick was putting some big thoughts together so she remained quiet, more than happy to spend the time with him. There was so much they didn’t know about each other – a lifetime’s worth for both.
“This is so odd for me, “Nick said finally.
“What is?”
“My last serious relationship with anyone was over eight years ago,” he began. “I met an actress at a studio party.”
“Melanie Albertson,” Kate prompted. “It’s not a big secret, Nick.”
“She was pretty, had a good sense of humor, and she understood the stress of having a famous name. We were both busy people so our time together had to be planned. I used to think it was part of the problem; if I had to plan to spend the night with her, all sense of spontaneity was gone. I simply didn’t feel anything for her, short of being her friend.”
Nick stopped for a moment and Kate continued to lean back against his chest, aware of the arm holding her there. Nick wasn’t usually forthcoming about information unless he was specifically asked so she patiently waited for him to continue. “She ended it after about six months. Said she never saw us as anything more than friends and she needed more. I didn’t disagree; I knew she was right. But then you come along with a late night story of heartache, pain, and terror and all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around you and try to take some of it. And I really wanted to go drag your ex out of his hotel suite and beat the bloody hell out of him for what he did, and I’m not normally a physical kind of person.”
“It’s ancient history, Nick,” Kate said softly. “I’ve had ten years to get past it and I think I have.”
“I know. But the crazy thing is I think about you all the time. I never did with Melanie, or anyone else for that matter. Including Sharon and I thought it was love at its fullest. I want to protect you, take care of you, be there for you. I have never felt this way about a single person in my life.”
“Maybe for the first time, you are truly in love,” Kate said thoug
htfully. “I know I feel so much more for you than I ever did when I was dating Kevin or when we were married. I wanted to come through the phone when you were in London and try to stop the pain. I wasn’t sure how you felt about me, but I didn’t care.”
“I wasn’t sure then either,” Nick admitted. “I knew I liked you and I knew you were someone I could get close to, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to take that step. I’d been pretty definite about not getting married again. I’d been pretty definite about not wanting to let a woman in my life again, period. That theory flew out the window when you walked into the room, wrapping your arms around me. It stopped me cold and I wanted you to stay very badly.”
“I’d listened to you for three nights straight, trying to sound like you were in control, and it was obvious you weren’t. Having lost my own father, I had firsthand experience of what grief felt like. But, based on what I knew about your family, I could feel your pain, Nick, like it was my own.”
Nick wrapped his arms around her tighter. “This is going to be a hard three months, love. And I will tell you I’m sorry now, but I can’t to do this any other way. We shouldn’t have spent these past three weeks together either, but I’m not quite that noble.”
“It will add to the strength of our relationship,” Kate said. “If we can’t weather this, then we don’t have any business going any further.” She paused for a moment. “But I will be slightly disappointed if there isn’t a plane to Vegas or something equivalent within a few days of getting back.”
“I think I get it arranged. What about your family? Aren’t they going to want to be there?”
“They didn’t come when I married Kevin and it was a civil ceremony. They will probably want to celebrate with us in some way though.”
The dryer buzzed in the other room and Nick released his hold so Kate could go take care of it. She folded the rest of the clothes and came back into the living room. She walked over to Nick and held her hand out to him. He turned off the television and got up, letting Kate lead him to the stairs and up to the second floor. Once in Kate’s bedroom, Nick stopped and pulled her to him, his mouth finding hers in a demanding kiss. Kate knew his sharing had affected him, making him less gentle, but she returned the kiss without hesitation. He picked her up, putting her on the bed and started the act of undressing her. His mouth never left hers, insistent and probing, and soon both were oblivious to the real world, enveloped in their need for each other.
* * *
Kate was dead tired as she walked with the rest of the band into the hotel and to the elevator. Between the time change from Los Angeles to London, and then having to be at the Hall by eight, Kate’s mental time schedule was all messed up and she had a bad case of jet lag. All she wanted to do was crash – she wasn’t hungry or interested in going anywhere with the rest of the guys. She bid them all good night, scanned the key card Mickey had given her and went into her room. It was a normal one bedroom suite – the kind of room she was used to at this point. She turned the light on in the sitting room for Brock, set her backpack over by the closet and started to walk into the bedroom. Out of nowhere a hand grabbed her and pulled her against a hard chest. She could feel the metal of the knife at her throat.
“Don’t move,” the voice said, and Kate knew it was Kevin behind her.
“What do you want from me, Kevin?”
“I want you and I have wasted the better part of ten years looking for you. No one walks away from me.”
“You pushed me down a flight of stairs and smashed my hand,” Kate said, fear and anger making her bold enough to argue with him. “You ruined my dream and my career. Why would I want to stay with you?”
“You vowed,” he reminded her. “Until death. So this is the plan: we are going to walk out of here nice and quietly.”
“Kevin, there’s no way Nick’s security is going to let us out of the hotel. You’re crazy to even think it,” Kate said.
“They either let us go or I’ll slit your throat,” Kevin said against her ear. “Let’s go.”
The sound of a key card in the door froze Kevin in place. Kevin pulled Kate tighter against him and held the knife closer, watching as the door opened and Brock walked in. Kevin moved Kate a few steps into the room and Brock stopped still. Kate could feel the knife starting to draw blood against her neck.
“So this is your lover? ” he sneered, not realizing Brock was security. “Going for seconds, I see. I’d have thought you wouldn’t have settled for less than Marshall himself. Wish I had known in New York. We could have fixed this then.”
“Kate, don’t move,” Brock said, taking a step closer.
“Don’t do it big boy,” Kevin said. “I will kill her before you can yell.”
Kate looked at Brock; they had prepared for a situation exactly like this. He nodded at her ever so slightly and Kate went limp in Kevin’s grasp. Kevin was set off balance for a second and it was enough for Brock to come barreling at him, knocking him to the floor. They kept Kate cut off from the door and her heart was in her throat as she watched the two men wrestle for control. She started to yell – hoping someone would hear her - and suddenly Kevin gave a shout of exultation as she saw him stab Brock in his left leg. Something came over her, as Kevin started to pull himself back up and Kate shoved him, hard, up against the wall, causing his head to slam into it. He slumped to the floor.
Between Kate’s yelling and the slamming of Kevin into the wall, Sam and Kyle came running in. Security always had a master key card for all the rooms. Kate was on the floor with Brock, hands on his thigh trying to stop the bleeding. It was pouring out of his leg and it was obvious the knife had slashed something important. Kate slipped her fingers into the wound – Brock was doing everything he could to hold still, obviously knowing she was trying to help as he went in and out of consciousness. She found the artery which was bleeding and pinched it with her fingers, the bleeding barely slowing to a trickle. Sam was standing over Kevin and Kyle was on the phone to get both an ambulance and the police.
“Stay still, Brock,” Kate said to him softly. “I have the artery between my fingers and I’m not letting go. Ambulance is coming.”
“Bloody hell,” another voice said from the doorway and Kate glanced up long enough to see Nick enter the room. She didn’t pay him much attention – all of her composure was focused on keeping Brock alive, but she did get a look at his face as he walked around the unconscious Kevin. Kate had blood all over her neck, shirt, and pants and she watched Nick look her over. She was sure it was impossible to know how much of it was hers and how much was Brock’s.
“Kate,” was all he said. Kate could easily see Nick was upset - he didn’t say much but she could see the dark look on his face. His rage was contained but Kate knew he was walking a tight edge. Nick didn’t deal well when things quit going as planned and the fact she was involved, Kate knew, was making this even more difficult for him.
“He was waiting in the room and jumped me,” was all Kate said. The paramedics walked in and Kate still held the artery clamped. The paramedics didn’t have anything in their kit they were confident would do a better job and asked her if she would come with them. Kate nodded and they loaded Brock onto a gurney and they left for the hospital. The police had been right behind them and they handcuffed Kevin just as he was coming around. The police took a statement from Sam and Kyle, but both told them they needed to get the actual events from Kate and Brock.
Chapter Nine
Once at the hospital, doctors were able to clamp off Brock’s artery so Kate could release it. Stepping back, she looked down and saw the enormous amount of blood on her shirt and her pants, now understanding the look Nick had given her back in the hotel room. This has to be scaring the crap out of him; to have seen this and not been able to react. Kate thought this might push him over the edge and break down his mental block. Thankfully Kevin hadn’t been interested in actually doing bodily harm otherwise he could have killed her before Brock ever walked in the room. She still didn
’t understand what was mentally driving her ex-husband. His obsession didn’t make sense because he tried to drive her away emotionally before the accident ever happened. Ten years later, he had the career he wanted and she should have been old news.
One of the nurses saw her expression and came over. She told Kate to follow her and walked them to where they kept clean scrubs for the hospital staff. Pulling out a set she took Kate down to shower and change. Kate knew there was no salvaging either the pants or the shirt, and trashed them in the proper container for blood-contaminated items. The nurse stayed until she was done and noticed the cut on her neck was still seeping. It wasn’t deep enough for stitches but there was still some blood coming to the surface so the nurse put some antiseptic ointment on it and covered it with a clean bandage. Kate followed the nurse out to the waiting room, as the doctors had taken Brock up to surgery.
When Kate got into the waiting room, she saw all the band members, half the security force, and even Nick himself. Nick being there surprised her; she knew how much he tried to stay out of the public eye while on tour and she was touched that he would be there for Brock... and her. She took a moment to gauge his expression before making her presence known – she wasn’t sure if it was worry or anger on his face; probably a mixture of both. Kate came walking up and smiled weakly at everyone. Trent was the first one to see her, jumping up to give her a brotherly bear hug, and the other three guys joined in. Nick stayed in the foreground and Kate knew it was because he didn’t want to give anything away to the rest of the group.
“I’m okay guys, really,” Kate said, as they let her go. “And it’s sweet you came out here.”
“Wouldn’t have missed it,” Trent said. “Ready to go back to the hotel?”
Kate shook her head. “You guys can head back. I’d like to stay until Brock is out of surgery.”
“What happened in the room, love?” Nick asked, his voice deceptively soft as he walked over to her.
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