“I’m a single mom, Patricia, and a reporter on top of it. I’m pretty sure that makes me the ambassador for off-limits posters,” she said, shrugging the thoughts away.
“Mike is a good guy. Don’t let the image fool you. He’s nothing like what people think, and we don’t judge people by their job. Does you being a reporter complicate things a little? Sure it does, but reporters aren’t all bad,” Patricia told her as she pushed the dressing room door open, and when she saw them sitting down on the leather sofas, she let out a breath of relief.
“Hey, guys, I wanted to formally introduce you to Makayla. She’s the journalist working with the publisher for the band’s upcoming book, so she’ll be spending a lot of time with us. And this little angel is her daughter Riley, whom Mike charmed this morning. I hear that left quite the mark.”
“It’s really nice to meet all of you. Thank you for having us tonight. Riley’s a big fan.”
“Are you a fan?” Every eye in the room landed on Mike. The man never spoke a word to reporters or journalists, so this inconsistency had everyone looking at each other and questioning what the hell was happening.
“Hmm, well, yes, I am.”
“What’s your favorite song?”
“‘Lies.’”
The room fell so silent that you could have heard a pin drop. Patricia saw Mike clench his hands together at Makayla’s answer. “Lies” was one of the band’s most emotional songs, one of the songs that Mike wrote by himself, but few people knew that. The song had never made it as a single, and most people didn’t know about it since it had been added as an extra on their last album.
Feeling the tension climb in the room, Patricia grabbed Riley by the hand, and suggested, “You said Mike was your favorite member this morning, right? How about you go ask him if you can get a picture.”
Riley looked at her mom. “Can I, Mama? I know we’re not supposed to ask for pictures.”
“It’s okay, baby. If he wants to take a picture with you, you can do it.” Riley hugged her mom’s legs and walked straight to a grinning Mike.
“Can I have a picture?” Riley’s eyes were so big, Patricia thought they might pop out of her head. This was one of the best things about her job, watching the guys make kids’ dreams come true.
“You can have anything you want, darling.” Well now, that was interesting. Mike was one of the nicest people Patricia knew, but he never spoke to anyone like that, with sincerity in his voice like he meant he would give this little girl anything she’d ever asked for. Patricia peeked at Makayla, who watched her daughter, and then her eyes connected with Jarrod, who looked just as stunned. Riley got pictures with everyone before leaving with a smile on her face that looked like it would last for days.
As they walked to the stage, Jarrod held her by his side, and kissed her briefly before turning to take the stage, but she pulled him in close for another. She knew that no matter what happened with her professional life, this was what she needed. This was all that mattered.
The next couple of days in L.A. flew by, and that night they were attending their first red carpet event as a couple. For the life of her, she didn’t know what to wear. Walking the red carpet as a publicist was one thing. Walking it as Jarrod Banks’ date, well, that was a whole different thing.
“I should have picked another dress. Maybe it’s not too late to change.” She glanced toward the clock, but before she could argue with herself a little longer, there was a knock at the door, which meant the guys were all on time. “Dammit.” She took her robe and wrapped herself in it before going to open the door.
“Hey, guys.” And just like that, her hotel room was filled with more testosterone and good-looking men than a strip club. “I’m almost ready. I just have to change.”
Austin took her by the arm before she could make her escape to the bedroom to find a dress that didn’t make her look like some a hooker. “What are you wearing now?” he asked, pulling back the edge of her bathrobe to the side to expose some bare skin and a leather skirt that stopped at the knee.
“Damn woman, is that leather?” Patricia heard Mike say from across the room. Suddenly, she felt the eyes of five of the hottest men on the planet on her and couldn’t do anything but blush as Jarrod’s intense eyes took her in, making her decision to get ready without him around worth it.
Jarrod
Jarrod took her by the waist. Untying the robe and letting it fall from her shoulders, he discovered one of the sexiest things he had ever seen. The dress collared her neck, and lace covered her all the way down to her hips. Then it was leather down to her knees. He never liked black dresses on women, but this dress might just convert him.
Austin took her hand, spinning her around, and when the back of the dress was revealed, they all went quiet.
“See, I knew it. This dress doesn’t work. I’ll just go change. It’ll only take me a few minutes.” She took their silence for disapproval, when, in fact, Jarrod was pretty sure they were all speechless at how sexy she looked.
Before he realized what he was doing, he was holding her in place with her back to his chest as he whispered in her ear, “Don’t you fucking dare change out of this dress.”
The minute Jarrod had seen the back of the dress, his cock became rock hard. A little piece of fabric went across her shoulder blades and the rest of her back was open down to her lower back where the leather started.
Mike came into view in front of them. “Honey, seriously, don’t change. You look… damn, guys, help me out here.”
Jarrod whispered in her ear. “You look sexy as hell.”
Apparently, his approval was all she needed because she gave in. “Okay, okay. Don’t get all worked up. I’ll keep the dress on if y’all insist.” She was blushing from head to toe.
With her body still pressed against his, he whispered, “This dress was made to be taken off your body.” Then he let her go, because he knew if he didn’t, they would never make the event.
As soon as she walked into the bedroom, Jarrod let out a breath, not realizing he had been holding it. She looked fucking beautiful.
“Okay, so I’m just going to say it. She looks freaking hot tonight,” Mike blurted out, and the minute he let the words out, Jarrod had smoke coming out of his ears and he couldn’t prevent the glare he shot his friend.
When she walked back into the living room, Jarrod almost came in his pants. She had on the sexiest shoes he had ever seen. The shoes were high as fuck, with a silver strap around the ankles. When she grabbed her jacket and headed toward the door, Mike stopped beside him, giving him a tap on the back. “Better stake your claim when we get there.”
“Not a fucking problem,” was all he could think to say as they made their way to the limo.
When they pulled up to the event, he felt the tension rolling off Patricia. He knew she was nervous about walking the red carpet as his date. They had talked about it many times over the last couple of days. At first, she had hesitated about attending with him, but after using his powers of persuasion, he’d finally gotten her to agree.
“You ready, baby?” he asked, knowing it was now or never.
“Let’s do this.”
She smiled bravely as she took his hand and he helped her out of the limo. The second he wrapped an arm around her waist, camera flashes started going off, reporters started screaming their questions at them, and photographers were asking them to turn this way and that way, but all he cared about was making sure she was okay.
He pulled her close and kissed her cheek. When he felt her hand on his chest, he looked into her eyes and she put his worries at ease. “I’m fine.”
They had discussed interviews beforehand and agreed to do only one with CMT. He knew it was a lot to ask of her, considering how much she valued their privacy, but he knew if they didn’t give at least one interview, the paparazzi and the media wouldn’t stop harassing them. This was a sure-fire way to control the information out there. A press release would most likely spur more q
uestions, but she knew that a single interview could appease the waters, even for just a little while.
They stopped along the red carpet to pose for pictures, and he was so focused on her that the chaos around them barely registered until she took his hand, gave it a little squeeze, and started walking away from the flashes.
They stopped just before reaching the CMT reporter. “You ready to do this?” he asked her, needing the confirmation.
“Yes, I am.” She sounded so sure and confident that he couldn’t doubt that she meant it.
“Jarrod Banks, the man of the hour, causing quite the commotion on the red carpet,” the reporter said when they reached him. Jarrod wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her tight against him.
“It is a bit crazier than usual tonight,” he answered, keeping it short and to the point.
“It’s not every day that Jarrod Banks walks the red carpet with a date, especially when it’s with this gorgeous woman.”
“What can I say? After five years of waiting, she finally decided I was a worth a shot. I’d be an idiot not to take it.” He kissed her cheek and she smiled, reassuring him once again that she was okay.
“I've got to say, I’ve known you guys for a long time and I'm really happy for you. Any wedding bells in the future?”
“We’re just enjoying each other right now and focusing on the Saints and Sinners world tour.”
“Well, Trish, you just made a lot of women very jealous tonight.”
“I’m lucky to have him in my life, ” she answered him like the pro she was. They finished the interview a couple of minutes later, and when they walked toward the stairs, he knew things were about to get a little complicated.
Patricia
She had to admit that walking her first red carpet as Jarrod Banks’ date was going pretty well, until she saw Elise looking at them with murder in her eyes. Over the years, Jarrod had dated his share of women she didn’t like, but Elise, no doubt, took first place. The woman was just so egocentric and fake that Patricia could barely stand the sight of her. The flashes around her reminded her of where they were, and she knew better than to make a scene in front of all these cameras.
“I didn’t know she was going to be here.” Jarrod’s voice brought her out of the red haze she was in.
She tilted her head to the side to look at him, and she knew he was telling her the truth. Elise was a world-renowned supermodel, which meant they were going to see her at events like this from time to time, but she hated that she hadn't had the chance to mentally prepare herself for this encounter.
“I know, it's okay.” She kissed him on the cheek, and just as she moved away from Jarrod’s body, she felt Elise move closer to them.
“I guess I was right about you, Patricia. Looks like they know how to keep you busy after all.” As much as she wanted to let Elise’s words wash over her, she couldn’t. Every word out of her mouth stung, and the memories from the night when Jarrod had stood by while Elise tore her down flashed in front of her eyes.
“Elise, back off,” Jarrod growled. Anger laced his every word, and even though the sting of the past was still fresh, seeing him defend her tonight erased a little bit of the bad memories.
“I guess she must be really good in bed to get the great Jarrod Banks to defend her.” She didn’t know what it was about Elise’s words that made her snap, but there was no way she was going to stand by and let Elise belittle her relationship with Jarrod.
“You know, Elise, you shouldn’t sink so low. It’s making you age.” Patricia was proud of herself for sticking it to her, but she also knew they had cameras on them. Elise was looking for a story, and she would be damned if she gave her what she wanted.
“Is that the best you have?”
“No, the best I have is standing beside me. Let’s get inside before it starts.” She pulled Jarrod away from the spot he seemed to be glued to and headed inside.
“I love you, Patricia Monroe,” he told her with so much emotion, there was no denying he was telling her the truth.
“I love you, too, rock star.” She kissed him, loving how she felt so connected to him with just a simple kiss. They pulled away from each other, and when she wiped the traces of lipstick from his lips, they both laughed. Yeah, Elise was not going to win tonight.
Chapter Eleven
1 year ago
Jarrod
Sixteen hours. They had been in the studio at his house for the last sixteen hours working on the new album, and he was beyond exhausted. They hadn’t planned to be in the studio for this long, but the guys had a moment of creative genius that seemed to last for almost an entire day.
“I’m going to go put on a fresh pot of coffee,” Trish said before heading toward the kitchen space he had built especially for her.
It was a fully equipped kitchen and he knew she absolutely loved being in it. They had gotten used to her cooking while they were working in the studio. She knew they hated eating out, and since she loved to cook, it was a perfect match.
A couple of hours later, Jarrod was exhausted and could just imagine how tired Trish was. She had come back from New York City on a red-eye flight the night before and had been in the studio with them for over twenty hours. She didn’t need to be there, but always was, and somehow it brought him comfort. He worked better when she was there, even if he had to work harder to concentrate on anything else but her. Feeling her eyes on him when he worked made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world.
When he turned around to the sofa, he found her sound asleep with her head on the pillow he had brought down from his bedroom. All the guys were gathering their stuff and getting ready to head out, and he couldn’t wait to get some sleep, but there was no way he was letting Trish drive home.
Sam stood beside him looking down at Patricia. “Should we wake her up? I can always drive her home if she’s too tired to drive,” he offered.
Jarrod answered his best friend without any hesitation, “Nah, it’s okay. I’ve got her. I’ll carry her up to the spare bedroom. She’s exhausted. No need to wake her up.”
With a smile, Sam advised, “Don’t let her hear you saying you’re going to carry her. She’ll get all worked up and say she’s too heavy to be carried around.”
Jarrod hated that Patricia didn’t see how beautiful and perfect she was. It killed him that the world they lived in made her feel anything less than the most gorgeous woman in the world. “She’s fucking perfect,” he said, making Sam laugh.
“You have it bad, man.”
“Shut up, Sam.” He did have it bad for her, and that scared him more than anything in the world.
“The two of you are like love sick teenagers, trying to hide the fact that you both want to fuck each other’s brains out, and that’s just fucking sad, man. When are you going to stop playing this stupid game?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said a little too hastily to sound convincing.
“Keep telling yourself that, and see how far it gets you with her.”
Once all the guys had left, Jarrod shut down all of the equipment, went to the sofa, and cradled her into his arms like the treasure she was.
He carried her all the way to the guest bedroom before she woke up. “Shit, I fell asleep. I’m sorry,” she said sleepily, cuddling the pillow and blanket on the bed.
Jarrod sat down beside her and brushed the hair away from her face. “Don’t apologize. You haven’t slept in forty-eight hours, Trish. You’re allowed to sleep, you know.”
“Just give me a minute, and I’ll be out of your hair,” she said, snuggling herself against the pillows. Yeah, she wasn’t going anywhere.
“You’re staying here tonight, honey. I’m going to go grab a T-shirt so you can change, and then you’re going to sleep.” He knew she was exhausted when she didn’t argue with him.
He grabbed an old Alabama T-shirt from his drawers and came back to find her sitting on the edge of the bed. She took the shirt and went into the g
uest bathroom to change.
The minute she came out, Jarrod’s cock came to life. Seeing her in nothing but one of his shirts was a fantasy come to life, without the fucking her senseless part. She looked so shy trying to cover herself up. Not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable, he got up from the bed and pulled down the covers so she could slide in.
Once Patricia was all cuddled up in bed, he bent down and kissed her on the forehead. “Good night, beautiful.”
Just before he exited the room, he heard her mumble, “Good night, rock star,” and he smiled to himself.
Present Day
Jarrod
“Not that I’m against the idea completely, but why am I blindfolded and standing in your garage?” They had been back in Nashville for a few days when he had insisted she come over to his house, but now that he had her there, he was more than a little nervous.
“You are so impatient. Just give me your hands and trust me, all right?” This night could go either way, and he was a little worried he was pushing too hard too fast, but he couldn’t find the brakes, nor did he want to.
Five years was long enough to wait, and he wasn’t waiting another second to have her in his life permanently; well, as permanent as she could handle right now. The contractors had been working non-stop for the past two weeks to make this happen in time. He just hoped she would say yes. He walked her through the house toward the back where his office was and opened the door to the new addition in his house.
“I’m going to take off the blindfold now.” He kissed her softly, licking the corner of her mouth before taking off the blindfold. He watched her closely as her eyes regained focus and took in the room they were standing in.
“Oh, my God, Jarrod, this is beautiful.” He watched her closely as she looked around the room and noticed the mannequins in one corner, a sewing table in another, and a drawing table in the middle of the room. There was another desk in the right corner with a brand new Mac computer. “You did this for me?”
Heart of the Music (Saints & Sinners #1) Page 15
