The Rock Star Wants a Wife

by Demelza Carlton

  No screams or cheering accompanied this performance. He kind of missed it. His grin didn't fade as he crossed the floor to stand before Penelope and bowed, holding the gift in his outstretched hands. "A present for you."

  "Oh." Penelope's hands shook as she took the gift. She tore through the paper, then held her prize aloft. "A microphone. Oh my God, it looks like the same one from..."

  "Our karaoke night," Jason finished for her. "Sure is. And I signed it for you, too." He backed away from her to accept the second gift from Marcel. This one was too big to throw, dwarfing the bow someone had tied to the carry handle. There was no disguising this gift.

  Jason's eyes met Calais' as he strode past Penelope to present the other girl with her parting gift.

  Calais swallowed, her eyes glittering with what looked like tears. Oh fuck, crying women – the last thing he needed. Jason thrust the box at her, hoping it would distract her enough to stop her from crying.

  Calais grasped the handle with both hands, and for a moment Jason thought it was too heavy for her as she lowered it to the floor. Then she dropped to her knees on the tiles, heedless of her dress, as she opened the case to see what was inside. She gasped, her hands hovering over the guitar.

  "I signed that, too," he said, pointing.

  Calais barely glanced at the autograph. She looked like she was itching to pull the Gibson into her arms and play, just like she had that night in the dunes, but she appeared to change her mind and closed the case again without touching the guitar at all. She rose to her feet, hugging the case to her chest. "Thank you."

  "If you ever want another jam session with me, bring that, and you're on," he said, his eyes searching hers. Would she want it, or would the guitar be on an online auction site by morning?

  "Thank you," Calais repeated. "I will. When...when I'm ready." Not yet, in other words.

  Jason's shoulders slumped, though not as much as Calais'. He knew how much healing time could do. But sometimes it took a shitload of time.

  Paige clapped her hands, trying to draw attention back to her. "How sweet! You bought them both presents. But you can't have both ladies, Jay, though we know your reputation. There can only be one winner here tonight. So tell me, Jay. Has the rock star decided which girl he wants to be his wife?"

  Everyone who'd been at the dinner had said the same thing when Paige interviewed them: they wanted him to pick Calais. Quiet, unassuming, mourning Calais. The press would rip her apart and the trolls would fight over what remained. He'd have to protect her, or things would be worse than they'd ever been with Paige.

  Then there was Penelope, who the staff hadn't mentioned at all. Who'd walked miles to the pearl farm just to go on a date with him. A fighter to the core, certainly. Down to earth, but she dressed up nice. She made pancakes that could have come from heaven. If a reporter said something she didn't like, she'd probably punch him. Or her.

  No. Yes. No. Jason eased the box out of his pocket, opening it and holding it up to the light so the cameras could get a good look at the huge pink-purple diamond. He thought it was hideous, but it had been donated by the local diamond mine, and he hadn't been able to refuse it.

  Collective gasps from all three women – and some of the camera crew – told him they didn't mind men bearing huge pink-purple things that formed big bulges in their pants pockets.

  Jason took one final, deep breath. Time to decide.

  FIFTY-NINE

  Penny couldn't cool the heat in her cheeks. She didn't normally blush, so why was she doing it now? It was Jay. The raw sexuality of the man, and remembering the way he'd held her through their duet in this very bar. Never mind that she'd sung like one of the screeching lorikeets in the trees outside, or that she'd forgotten half the words. It had been like there was no one else in the world but the two of them that night. How could any man compare to him?

  Her fingers tightened around the microphone. She'd keep it forever, as a souvenir of their time together. No matter how shitty life got, she'd remember that for a short time, it had been wonderful once. And it would be again.

  He gave Calais a guitar. Penny suppressed a snort. At least her gift would fit in her suitcase. Where would she put a guitar? Calais could barely lift the case. And it's not like Jay even played the guitar. He was the band's lead singer. Everyone knew that. A microphone was way more personal than something huge like a guitar. It probably wasn't even a good one – just something cheap one of the production assistants had picked up for him in town. It's not like there was a music shop in town.

  Paige waved her hands to get Penny's attention, gesturing for the girls to stand up straight again. Lined up for a firing squad, as Jay picked one and the cameras zoomed in on the other.

  I won't cry, Penny swore. She might have given the cameras a blush, but she wouldn't give them a single tear to gloat over. She'd gotten what she wanted, the chance to be on TV and save her reputation. She'd signed the contract for the cooking show. Calais could have the delicious rock star, Penny thought, as her eyes bade farewell to the well-muscled calves, vanishing into low-slung shorts that exposed the delectable, muscular V pointing to the ever-present bulge in the front of his pants. Sure, he wore a shirt, but he hadn't buttoned it, so the cameras could zoom in on that toned, tanned six-pack that gleamed like it had been oiled. Maybe it had. After all, the makeup crew had slathered their stuff on her and Calais. They'd probably attacked Jay with foundation, lip gloss and anything else they could think of, just for a chance to get their hands on him.

  Those girls got paid to oil him up, she realised, wishing she'd chosen a different career path. Maybe she could...

  Paige clapped her hands. "So tell me, Jay. Has the rock star decided which girl he wants to be his wife?"

  Wife? No, that never happened on these shows. Not someone he'd only known for a few short weeks. Not even rock stars fell in love that fast. She was just saying lines, something to get people at home excited when they watched the show. It didn't mean anything. It couldn't.

  Jay pulled something out of his pocket, showing that not all that bulging had been...Jay.

  Oh God, she wasn't blushing again, was she? Just the thought of Jay naked...

  The diamond caught the light and all thought ceased. Rock. Ring. Huge. Fuck...

  Something bumped into Penny's side and grasped her hand. Calais. The girl looked terrified, Penny thought. Like she wasn't ready to wear a rock that big. But who was, really?

  This time, Penny didn't hesitate. She squeezed Calais' hand with all the support she could muster and managed a reassuring smile. While Penny would give almost anything for Jay to choose her, Calais deserved happiness with him more. God knew she'd had precious little lately, and Penny had more than her fair share. A show. A spot on a cooking show.

  As long as she didn't give the cameras or the bitchy host the satisfaction of seeing her cry.

  Jay dropped to his knees, holding the ring up like the offering it was.

  Penny squeezed her eyes shut, breathing steadily in the desperate hope to stem the tears. Tears of happiness for the friend beside her, she told herself, though the TV crew wouldn't see it that way. Calais' clammy fingers tightened around hers.

  Penny heard Jay clear his throat. "Will you marry me?"

  SIXTY

  Xan had spent the whole day vacillating between wanting to go to the pub to watch Jay propose to his bride, and wanting to stay the hell away from the media circus she knew it would be. So staged, artificial and unrealistic...could he actually love one of the girls he'd just met?

  She snorted. If it was her, she'd take one look at the hideous pink rock, then at the man she barely knew, and tell him how ridiculous a marriage proposal was, under the circumstances. If a man wanted her love, he had to earn it. Not four weeks of romance, in between seducing multiple other girls, before declaring his undying love for a stranger.

  Surely even Jay Felix wasn't that stupid.

  Xan laughed. She'd seen Jay do some damn stupid things in the year s
he'd known him. Swimming naked in the lagoon every morning, marrying a mail-order bride bigamist, driving while drunk and losing his licence, buying a girl's virginity at auction, jumping out of a helicopter, playing golf on the roof...and now this.

  No, proposing marriage to a stranger wasn't out of the ordinary for Jay Felix. He had crazy for breakfast every morning. Right before his nude morning swim.

  And his way with women...no matter who they were, he made them feel like they mattered. Phuong, Flavia, even Gaia...he'd made them feel like the only woman in the world, the only one who mattered to him. He made them fall head over heels in love with him, on top of that perfect body of his.

  If he wasn't the bane of her existence, would she have fallen for his charms, too? Xan mused. No. Definitely not. She'd continue to enjoy watching his morning performance in the water, of course, but that didn't mean she liked him. Couldn't stand him, in fact. But the woman who did hold his heart would be a lucky one indeed, if only because he'd do everything to make her believe his world revolved around her. How could any woman resist that sort of adoration?

  Maybe she'd be wrong. Maybe one of them would have the sense to tell him how ridiculous the whole set up was, or tell him an outright no. Anything was better than a nauseating yes, followed by kisses and hyperventilation. Which girl had Jay decided on, anyway?

  Curiosity pulled Xan out of her office and halfway across the foyer before she heard the receptionist calling her name.

  Xan halted. "What, Philly?"

  "Phone call for you, Ms Lane. A Mr Rome from Broome Backpackers. He says it's urgent."

  What could the backpackers have to ask her now? She hadn't worked there for a year. It's not like any of the guests there could afford to stay at Romance Island Resort. Or take one of the day trips.

  "What does he want?"

  Philly shrugged. "He won't say. Just that it's urgent and he has to speak to you."

  Xan sighed. "Put him through to my office phone. I'll take the call in there." She marched back into her office, flicking the lights on. She didn't much care who Jay chose, anyway. At least it wouldn't be the one who'd embezzled her company's money to pay for plastic surgery. Those unnatural boobs that didn't bounce one bit...

  Xan lifted the receiver to her ear. "This is Xan Lane, the hotel manager at Romance Island Resort. How can I help you?"

  The man on the other end burst into hysterical laughter. "Oh, thank God! I thought I'd lost you. Baby, it's me. I've come halfway round the world to tell you I was wrong. You're the only one that I want. You and no one else."

  "Who is this?" Xan demanded, her heart sinking as suspicion built in the back of her mind.

  "It's Jerome, baby, your fiancé. I'm in Broome, at the backpackers where you used to work. They gave me the number of your new place when I explained who I was. I'm here to marry you and take you back home where you belong, baby."

  The phone slipped from Xan's nerveless hand and smashed on the floor.

  SIXTY-ONE

  "Will you marry me?" Jay repeated, a note of urgency in his voice.

  Penny opened her eyes to look at Calais, only to find the girl's shining eyes firmly fixed on her.

  What on Earth...?

  Penny dropped her gaze to the rock star kneeling before her, holding up that blindingly beautiful diamond, but it was his eyes that mesmerised her. Warm, caramel brown that she could drown in as he stared up at her.

  Her knees grew weak and tears sprang to her eyes. She wouldn't cry. She wouldn't. She...

  "Will you, Penelope?" Jay's hot caramel sauce voice implored, melting her heart into mush.

  "Oh my God, yes!"

  The story continues in

  The Rock Star's Wedding

  which you can get HERE.

  Click here to get started – www.demelzacarlton.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Demelza Carlton has always loved the ocean, but on her first snorkelling trip she found she was afraid of fish.

  She has since swum with sea lions, sharks and sea cucumbers and stood on spray drenched cliffs over a seething sea as a seven-metre cyclonic swell surged in, shattering a shipwreck below.

  Demelza now lives in Perth, Western Australia, the shark attack capital of the world.

  The Ocean's Gift series was her first foray into fiction, followed by her suspense thriller Nightmares trilogy. She swears the Mel Goes to Hell series ambushed her on a crowded train and wouldn't leave her alone.

  Want to know more? You can follow Demelza on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ , YouTube or her website, Demelza Carlton's Place at: www.demelzacarlton.com

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