My One and Only: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Second Chance Romance

by Weston Parker

  Jared nodded, one corner of his mouth lifted in amusement. "We've done pretty well for him."

  "I'll say," I breathed, trying to think back at how long the white wall that eventually led to Gerry's gates had been. We had to have been driving alongside it for at least a minute.

  The gate itself was a metal thing worthy of either a prison or a palace. I couldn't quite decide which. Beyond the wall and barely visible through the narrow slats of the gates was a house that looked like it could house a small country and should have been on the cover of an architectural magazine.

  "Guess we can't take all the credit, though." Jared pushed his sunglasses up into his hair and gave me a quick wink before rolling down his window to ring the doorbell.

  "What do you mean?"

  He shrugged, waiting for the shrill bell to finish its tune. "I mean it's hardly like we’re the first band the guy has managed. He's a superstar. I bet he's got houses like this stashed all over the place."

  "Boy, did I ever get into the wrong side of this business." I'd known Gerry was in this game for the money. I just hadn't realized how much of it he made. But then I remembered how much I loved my job and how much Gerry's seemed to annoy him. "Never mind, I wouldn't want his job anyway."

  "That's why we're here." He smirked. "Can't play without the whole team on the pitch."

  It was starting to look like they were going to have to. The gigantic gate didn't budge, and the intercom remained silent. We’d tried calling Gerry on the way over, but we didn't get an answer. Whatever he was doing, it didn't look like he wanted to see or speak to us about it.

  "Why is Gerry so pivotal to the band?"

  Jared was so impassioned about not going back to recording without him that I quickly realized it was a good time to choose my battles. It would have taken me longer to convince him to record without Gerry than it would to make this trip to his house.

  Plus, Jared was hard to resist when he felt so strongly about something. Guess it was just hard to understand why he felt so strongly about their manager having to be present before they started recording again. I never imagined there was much love lost between Gerry and the boys. In fact, I always kind of got the impression that none of them really got along very well.

  Dom and Caleb tolerated Gerry, presumably because they knew he was the manager and was the best at what he did, but Jared, Nick, and Matt could be openly hostile toward the guy. And frankly, I'd often sensed that same animosity on Gerry's part.

  Clearly, however, I'd misread the situation. Jared's jaw was set as he rang the bell again, obviously not ready to simply give up and drive away.

  "He's the one who got us out of the garage," he sighed, jabbing his finger onto the button for the doorbell and keeping it there. With his free hand, he ran his fingers through his dark hair, giving it a really sexy, mussy look.

  I doubted that was what he'd been trying to do, though. It looked more like the mighty Jared Larsen was actually stressed about something for once. Any fool would be able to see this meant a lot to him.

  "I don't want to leave the people responsible for making the band what we are," he added and then cheered when the gate slowly started sliding open.

  I'd never seen him like this, but I would be lying if I said I didn't like it. The way he'd been these last couple of days, no sign of that damned persona, and all real, full of fire and passion, this was the guy I couldn't resist. The one I always knew was inside him but only ever got glimpses of.

  We parked outside of Gerry's house, and he was waiting for us at the door, looking like he hadn't showered since the band broke up. Maybe shortly thereafter, since he hadn't looked this way the last time I saw him.

  For the first time in my life and from the stunned look on Jared's face, for the first time in his, we were seeing Gerry without a suit. He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt that were both wrinkled like he'd just plucked them up off the floor and instead of smelling like his expensive cologne, he smelled like a liquor store.

  His eyes were slightly glassy as he blinked at us and stepped aside. "Wasn't expecting you two, of all people. Come on in."

  Stumbling slightly as he led us through his cavernous entrance hall and to a bar with a view that seemed to stretch forever, he flashed us a lopsided grin and leaned against the counter. "Whiskey?"

  "No, thank you." I declined immediately. Never mind the fact that it was barely noon, Gerry was clearly in need of help, and I didn't think drinking with him was the answer.

  Jared caught my eye and then shook his head as well. "I'm staying away from the heavy stuff for now."

  Gerry blinked as if he couldn't quite understand the words coming out of Jared's mouth, and then he smiled. "Good for you, son. Never thought I'd see the day. Proud of you."

  A flush crept from Jared's neck to his cheeks. Oh my god. Was he blushing?

  On occasion, I'd gotten the feeling the guys saw Gerry as their father, or father-figure at least, but never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined that praise from him would make Jared freaking Larsen blush.

  I refrained from reacting, not wanting to ruin the moment between the two. If anything, I wished I could bottle it and relive it whenever Jared was being the pretentious, celebrity ass I knew so well he could be when he wanted.

  Jared cleared his throat and grabbed a bottle of water Gerry offered him. "The band is back together. When will you be able to come back to work?"

  "Work?" Gerry asked, sounding as if he'd never heard the word before as he waved it away. "I'm not going back. Retired. I don't have raising any more kids in me."

  Was that what it was? Was that why he would get so very angry and disappointed in them? Was this the reason he seemed so deeply aggravated and personally offended when they got up to their antics? It had to be. Just as they viewed him as a father, it seemed the mighty Gerry Thomson saw the band members as his spoiled children.

  Now there was a head trip for me. I hadn't been expecting that.

  "You can't retire now, Gerry, please. We need you," Jared told him. Anyone else might have sounded like they were begging, but not Jared. He didn't beg. It was more like he was stating the facts.

  Gerry dismissed what Jared was saying with another wave of his hand, reaching for the bottle of whiskey beside him and taking a gulp straight from the bottle. "You don't need me. You never have. Trust me, you guys will be fine without me."

  "No, we won't. We're not moving forward without you, Gerry." Jared's tone was firm even. He meant business, and he was completely serious. As far as he was concerned, no Gerry meant no Destitute.

  Shit. And here I thought the difficult part was going to be getting Jared back. Who could have guessed that was only the beginning?

  "You can't be serious," Gerry scoffed. "I knew you'd come back. You boys won't ever abandon each other."

  "And we won't abandon you either." Jared's voice dripped with sincerity. He wasn't joking.

  "What are you saying?" Gerry squinted, his words starting to slur as he took another sip of whiskey.

  Jared grabbed the bottle from him and walked with purpose over to the sink. He didn't say another word as he emptied the bottle down the drain. Neither did Gerry. It didn't escape my notice that Gerry didn't try to stop him either. The bottle must've cost a fortune, but whatever was happening between the two was more valuable than that.

  "I'm saying that it's all of us or none of us," he told Gerry firmly. "And we'll need you to be ready to work tomorrow."

  Holy crap. Jared taking control was seriously hot. And more than that, seeing him take control of situations and of his future, of what he wanted, and what he believed in, it validated everything I'd ever thought about him. He really was quite the man.

  "Okay," Gerry agreed eventually, after a painfully long silence during which the men stared each other down like they were about to start a duel. "I'll be at the studio tomorrow, and I'll be your manager again, but I'm taking the rest of the day off."

  Jared nodded and turned to leave, mot
ioning me to his side. "You do that. We'll see you tomorrow."

  If I thought I was in trouble over falling for Jared before, I was in serious trouble now. In the past, I could never know for sure whether he really was the man I thought he was and wanted him to be or if I was only making it up in my head because that's what I wanted to believe. But now I knew for sure, he was everything I'd ever thought he was and so much more.

  I wasn't falling for him anymore. On that day, in that moment, I fell for Jared Larsen. Hard.

  CHAPTER 55

  JARED

  "That's what I'm talking about!" I jumped in my spot, landing with both feet on the ground. My sneakers squeaked against the polished studio floor as I landed. We were finally back in the studio, and we sounded fucking great.

  Everything was in place, and everyone was playing each song the way it was meant to be played. We were on fire, and if we kept this up, we would not only deliver the album in totality by our original release date, but we might even get it in under the wire.

  This was how we’d always dreamed about things going. It just didn't happen all that often outside of dreamland.

  "I knew there was a reason we had so many fans," Nick joked, dropping to his knees to play a random solo. When he was done, he lifted his grinning face and winked. "We're actually kind of good when we put our backs into it."

  Dom chucked a drumstick at his head, but he couldn't quite keep from smiling. "You might be kind of good, but the rest of us are fucking brilliant."

  "I concur." Matt laughed and gave Dom a high five. "Who knew a couple weeks of sleep, a bit of spit and polish, and the threat of losing everything we'd worked for would be all we needed to get our mojo back.”

  “Mojo?” Caleb laughed so hard, he nearly sank to his knees. Gasping for air, he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes as he set his guitar down. “Are you in an Austin Powers movie or something?”

  “Say what you will.” Matt winked and set his guitar down. “That dude had the right idea about a lot of things.”

  “So did Jared, since we’re suddenly all back on our game,” Caleb pointed out, still chuckling. “Only he did it without round beds, shoulder pads, or any of that other crap.”

  “Don’t mention a round bed around him, or next thing you know you he’ll order one,” Nick protested, groaning.

  “Now that you’ve mentioned it,” I started, winking at Nick. “I feel like I should tell you I’ve already ordered one.”

  “Bullshit.” Matt crumbled a receipt he pulled from his jeans and threw it at my head. “But that’s my cue to get out of here.”

  “But it’s especially for you when you come over,” I called out after him as he turned his back on us and headed out the door. He laughed without turning around and held his middle finger up in the air.

  “Still have our mojo back,” I heard him yell before the studio door slammed closed behind him.

  Nick was still laughing when his eyes popped wide open. “Shit. He’s my ride. We’re heading out a party in Malibu some model’s throwing.”

  He bolted out the door as if he didn’t have a whole stable of roadies who would drive him, actual drivers or the Uber app on his phone. Since he had all those things, only one explanation made sense. “He doesn’t know where it is, does he?”

  Dom chuckled and rose from behind his kit. “Nope. Matt met the chick at a photo shoot while we were taking our … break, and she invited him.”

  “Since when is Nick so hard up for models?” Caleb looked from me to Dom to the door, confusion marring his features.

  Dom shrugged, walking to the door himself. “He’s not. Matt mentioned the girl knew that Irish actress he’s been hoping to sink his teeth into.”

  “His teeth, huh?” I joked. “You off too?”

  He cringed at my lame joke and nodded. “Yeah. You coming?”

  “I’m gonna hang back a while. I got something I want to finish up here before I leave.” My eyes drifted to the grand piano sitting in the corner of the studio.

  Dom didn’t question me and looked at Caleb. My brother shook his head, waving at Dom. “I need to talk to Jared for a minute. See you tomorrow.”

  “See you,” Dom replied, pushing through the door.

  Caleb waited until it shut again. “Today went well.”

  “It did.” I walked over to the piano and sat down on the soft velvet bench, lifting the lid. “It’s good to be back.”

  “Amen to that.” He shoved his hands in his pockets, his chest puffing as he took a deep breath.

  “What’s going on with you?”

  Releasing the breath, he gave his head a small shake. “I just can’t believe how close we came to losing all this. Guess we’ve got Alicia to thank for saving the day.”

  We did. She was also the reason my fingers were itching to be on the piano keys. A melody had been taking shape in my head since I’d dropped her at her place after we went to see Gerry, along with some lyrics that were struggling to break free from the confines of my mind.

  I was hoping the song would come together if I had some peace and quiet in the studio to just let it flow. “She sure is something, that girl.”

  “I’m sorry about what I said in New York,” Caleb blurted, dragging a hand over the stubble on his jaw. “I was out of line.”

  “You mean you’re sorry for telling me to stay away from her?” The memory of that conversation still stung.

  Caleb hung his head, remorse in his eyes when they met mine. “Among other things. I shouldn’t have said all that. You were right. I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, and I shouldn’t have made assumptions.”

  I released a heavy sigh, letting one hand roam across the piano’s smooth keys. “You were also right about a lot of things that day. We do need her, for one.”

  “Yeah, we do,” he agreed. “But I underestimated her by assuming she would walk out if you fucked up. After what she just stuck by us through, I feel like shit for thinking she was like all the others.”

  “She’s different.” In so many more ways than I’d realized before. She was strong, resilient, and resourceful in her job and as a person, a woman, she was just incredible. Something was happening to me when it came to her. I didn’t want to put a name to it yet, but I was hoping this song that was begging me to get out would help bring things into focus for me.

  “You really do care about her, don’t you?” Caleb asked, breaking into my thoughts and putting one possible name to what I was feeling.

  I frowned. I hadn’t said anything about how I felt about Alicia to Caleb, but it looked like I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought. He ignored my expression, a thoughtful look in his eyes as he continued. “I can see that you do. You care about her in a way I haven’t ever seen you care about anyone.”

  “I care about you. And the others,” I retorted. I wasn’t ready to have this conversation with him, or with anyone. Not until I could make sense of what was going on in my head.

  “Not like that, you don’t,” Caleb scoffed. Either he didn’t realize I didn’t want to talk about it, or he just didn’t care. “You care about her in a very different way.”

  My spine tensed, but then I realized it was just me and Caleb in the room, and he already knew at least some of the feelings I was wrestling with. “I care about her.”

  His eyes widened in surprise at my admission, but he quickly schooled his features. “Like I said, different to what I’ve seen from you before. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for warning you away from her.”

  “I understand why you did it.” Which was why the memory of the conversation still stung. Caleb had been one hundred percent right that I was going to fuck things up, and I did.

  If it hadn’t been for Alicia being who she was, she wouldn’t have given a shit about the band after I basically ghosted her after our night together. And if she hadn’t cared about us, I probably wouldn’t have been sitting in the studio right now.

  In a nutshell, everything Caleb h
ad feared from me had been for a damn good reason. The only reason his prediction of my relationship with her fucking up everything for the band hadn’t come true was her character. Not mine.

  Caleb’s lips pulled up into an impish grin. “I know you understand, but I was still wrong to have done it. Consider my nose firmly in my own business from now on. Meddling in things I don’t know about has never been my style, and now I know why. You told me you two knew what you were doing, and I should’ve trusted that.”

  He tapped his fist lightly on the piano, done saying his piece. “I’ll leave you to it.”

  I nodded absently and allowed both hands to finally drift to the keys, pressing down on them softly as the melody in my head jumbled, refusing to come together. From the corner of my eyes, I saw Caleb turn when he reached the door. “I hope things work out for the two of you.”

  “Me too,” I mumbled, but I wasn’t sure he heard me as the door swung shut behind him.

  Finally alone, I closed my eyes and focused on the music. Memories flooded me as I worked. Alicia's eyes the first time I’d met her swam into my mind, the way she’d immediately seen through my act and the way she was always ready with a comeback and always pushed back.

  The melody took shape around the memories and flowed through me, to the piano, creating a beautiful, melancholic piece I hadn’t intended to make, but I could definitely work with. I lost track of time, keeping at it until the notes became clearer, and the lyrics came tumbling out by themselves.

  I was vaguely aware of the air changing, and then Alicia was standing on the other side of the piano. Her lips formed a soft smile as she watched me play. My fingers stilled over the keys, and a crease appeared between her manicured eyebrows when I stopped.

  “I was enjoying listening to you,” she told me earnestly.

  I patted the space beside me on the piano bench. “I want to play something for you if you’ve got a minute. Have a seat.”