by Tamsin Baker
Yeah, for them. I grinned with thanks and nodded at Phillip. The law team Phillip had around him was a force to be reckoned with. I wouldn’t have liked to see what they did to the local law enforcement if they hadn’t followed what the lawyers wanted.
“Thanks for that, Phillip.”
“No problem. Those girls deserve to be prosecuted. They could have killed you.”
I glanced away, a tightness across my chest bringing with it an even greater fondness for our manager.
Law elbowed me in the side, and I looked up to see my friend grinning at me and sliding his eyes sideways.
I followed his gaze and saw Jo standing in the foyer of the restaurant, the maître d’ barring entrance to someone who obviously couldn’t lie quickly enough to get into the restaurant without a reservation.
Heat spread through my chest as she waved and tilted her head towards the man blocking her way.
I stood up and walked over to where they stood, my heart pumping faster with each step that I took. God, she was beautiful. Her skin was positively glowing, and her smile hit me right in the belly.
“Thanks, but she’s with me.”
I held out my hand, and Jo took it. Tingles of awareness moved over my skin as I pulled her close to me.
“Is there somewhere we could sit to have a quick chat?”
The maître d’ politely indicated a booth to the side. “If you’d like.”
I pulled Jo into the booth, keeping her hands in mine and staring into her blue eyes. I wasn’t sure what she was going to say, and my erratic pulse told me that I cared about the outcome of tonight.
I swallowed hard, trying my best to not look as awkward as I felt.
“How did you know where I was?”
“Phillip sent me a message after the news aired and told me where you’d be.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes. “I think I need to give that guy a raise.”
She rubbed her small soft hands over mine. “I’m sure you all look after him pretty well.”
I laughed, the move freeing up some of the tension in my tight muscles. She was right. Considering all four of us gave Phillip a percentage of our money, yeah, he was doing pretty well.
I took a deep breath, ready to apologize again, and this time in person. “I’m so sorry for leaving you this morning with all that mess. Part of me thought they’d all follow me, but if I’d been smart and stopped for a second and actually thought about it, I would have known they’d want an exclusive from you.”
And although I hadn’t thought of it at the time, it just occurred to me that she could have sold her story for a pretty penny. As a cash-strapped student who’d been shafted by a boy-band upstart, you’d think she would have taken the opportunity to blab.
I lifted her hands to my lips, kissing them softly.
Obviously not.
She shrugged. “You don’t need to apologize again. That’s what I’m here to do. This morning was not your fault. I knew the risks when I asked you to stay at the apartment. It was just a little unexpected, that’s all. I didn’t cope with it, and that’s on me, Alec. I’m sorry.”
I looked away from her beautiful face for a moment to think about what else I needed to say. “Are you still regretting last night?”
She slid closer, her thigh pressing up against mine. “Absolutely not, and I’m sorry if I gave you the impression that I did. I was just worried about how people would see me. I’m a bit old fashioned like that. I’m sorry.”
I kind of liked that about her, even if it had felt like she’d cut my balls off this morning.
“You know, people are always going to say things about us, about you. You can’t please everyone, and unfortunately, it’s all kind of part of my deal. I don’t worry too much about how other people see me, except those I love. Everyone else can go jump.”
She looked down, blinking fast as moisture slid across her cheeks.
When she lifted her head again the tightness in her face made my chest ache. “You’re right, Alec, and I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have worried so much about how everyone else saw me, especially not stupid reporters that don’t know me, nor do they care how they hurt me. I am sorry, Alec. I’ll try not to let it happen again.”
That’s more like it, sweetheart.
“You’re beautiful, Jo. I’ve never known anyone like you, and if you think you can handle my world, I want to spend a lot more time with you if you’d allow it.”
“So would I, but … I have to tell you…”
Her face looked so worried my belly fell through my body, making me feel sick.
I swallowed hard. “Tell me what?”
She glanced away, red cheeked as she bit her lip. “You’re going to think I’m stupid.”
“I guarantee you, I won’t, Miss I’m going to be a doctor.”
She giggled and looked up, her blue eyes alive and bright and oh so happy I just wanted to kiss her again.
“I’ve had a few boyfriends before, and they were all serious, long term things.”
“Yeah…” I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going. She didn’t want to know about my past relationships, did she?
Hope to hell she doesn’t!
“And no one has ever made me feel more … loved … than you did the other night. I know it’s too early, and we barely know each other … but this feels so right. I don’t mean to scare you, but there it is.”
A chuckle rose, and I laughed out loud. “That’s what you were worried about? Telling me you loved what we did last night?”
Women!
I shook my head and reached out for her, cupping her perfect face in my hands and drawing her close. She tilted her head up, and her lips touched mine in such a way that I moaned, molten sensation melting through me.
She grabbed my shirt with her fingers and held on tight.
We kissed and kissed, until my jeans were becoming uncomfortable and her breathing was sounding like she’d been for a run.
“Home? Or dinner?”
She looked at me for a moment, her eyes slowly clearing as she registered my question. “Umm, have you eaten yet?”
I shook my head, not that it mattered.
She nodded once. “We better eat then. I don’t want you getting sick again on my account.”
“Wow, you’re not going to actually look after me are you? You’ll spoil me for all those grasping bitches that keep falling at my feet.”
My tone was joking as I slid out of the booth, but she gave me a glare and bumped me hard with her hip. “You better believe it, and those women are just going to have to get used the fact that you’re taken. At least for a while.”
I slung an arm over her shoulders and directed her back to where Phillip, Law, and Byron still sat waiting for our meal to arrive.
“Hopefully for longer than a while,” I whispered into her ear as we slid into our chairs and I made the introductions.
“Jo, you know Phillip, and this is Law and Bryon.”
She gave them all big smiles and settled against me. I lifted my arm and dragged her close, her presence as soothing as it was arousing.
“So, did you decide what you’re going to do with your time off?” Law asked me.
I gave the guys a big smile and squeezed the girl beside me that had come to mean too much to me.
“I think you were right, Law. A holiday is definitely in order, especially if Jo will come with me. When do you get time off from university?”
She looked up at me with bright, wide eyes. “Ah, I finish exams in a couple of weeks, but I really can’t afford a holiday at the moment.”
I kissed her soft lips gently, loving the flavor and their pillow-like texture beneath mine.
“Don’t be silly. After you saved me from dying in the street the other night, and then took me in to save me from the media while I regained my strength, it’s the least I can do.”
“But Alec…”
I kissed her quickly again. “Jo, I’m serious, that cocktail those girls
gave me was pretty lethal. If you hadn’t kept me safe, called an ambulance, God knows where I’d be. I owe you, more than I can ever repay.”
She blushed and pressed closer, sighing as our food arrived.
The men started serving themselves, and I leaned close once again to whisper into her ear.
“I hope you’re going to let me thank you for as long as it takes.”
“What if it takes forever?”
A grin spread across my face so big I was worried I might strain a muscle.
“I fully intend to make sure it does.”
She laid a hand on my thigh, and we began to converse with the others once again. I’d finally found a woman with a heart like no other, who slotted into my world like she’d always been there, and I wasn’t letting her go.
Epilogue
Alec
Two years later
Excitement flickered around the room like a jumping livewire. After Phillip had announced our return to the world stage the reporters hadn’t stopped murmuring and our interviewer, Georgina was beaming.
My heart was beating a little faster, too, if I was honest. Another world tour had finally been organized, and I was so ready for it.
We’d agreed to answer a few personal questions sent in by viewers, and I was pretty happy not to be in the hot seat. Zeck and pretty boy Dillon copped most of the questions, and as Law leaned back in his high back chair, we shared a grin.
“So, our next question left by a fan is for you, Dillon.”
I chuckled as Dillon moaned and buried his head in his hands. “Oh man, can one of the others take a turn?”
“Nope, afraid not. It seems that with Issy’s pregnancy and news of her carrying twins has spread, rumors of baby number two are in the wind for you, and this fan wants to know if that’s true. Is little Grace going to be a big sister any time soon?”
I heard Law chuckle this time and looked over at Dillon. Time to spill the beans, mate.
“That would be a yes.”
The audience went wild, and Georgina’s face lit up. “How wonderful for you. I know a few more hearts break each time one of you boys settles down, but you must be so excited.”
Zeck spoke up this time. “Yeah, it’s going to be amazing. Five babies in the group by Christmas. We can’t wait.”
Georgina’s eyes were wide, and I locked my hands over my chest. It wasn’t me, so they better not look this way. Jo and I were bloody brilliant, but nowhere near babies.
“Well that doesn’t add up. Are you saying Ashlyn is having twins as well?”
“Nope,” Dillon said. “I doubt I’d ever have sex again if I did that to her.”
Everyone whooped and laughed, and Georgina’s eyes locked in on poor Zeck again. “Zeck, something you want to tell us?”
Zeck shot her an amused look. “You kidding? If Issy were having triplets I’d be celibate right alongside Dillon for the rest of my life. I mean, clearly we wanted to catch up with Dillon and Ashlyn, but not pass them. Damn.”
Georgina finally turned to Law and me as though she’d finally remembered we were there. “Law, Alec? Something either of you want to share?”
I shook my head and looked away for a moment. Sure, I wanted kids someday, but my beautiful woman was smart and going places. She had a great internship and was on her way to being an amazing doctor. I wasn’t going to slow her down.
“It’s me,” Law announced, and I relaxed back into the chair.
Georgina stared at Law with the look of someone who knew that Law and his partner having a baby was kind of an impossibility.
Bubbles of laughed tickled my throat. That would kinda be funny actually. I wonder who would rather be the pregnant one. Law or good ol’ Byron?
“Ah, I have to admit, I’m a bit surprised. Law, have you been holding out on us?”
Zeck snorted. “You have no idea.”
“You could say that. I have a daughter.”
“A daughter?” Georgina asked bewildered.
“Yes. My husband and I started the process for adoption a little over a year ago, and just last week everything was finalized and we were able to bring our baby girl home.”
“Husband?” Georgina’s voice squeaked, and I covered my laugh with my hand. What was the big deal? You’d think this chick was twelve with all the shocked expressions dancing over her face.
“Yes, my husband,” Law repeated, lifting up his hand and displaying the cool piece of metal lying there.
“Sorry, can we just cover that again?” Georgina blinked at us.
Law leaned forward as though he were speaking to a young child. “Let me break it down. Two years ago I reconnected with someone I cared deeply for. His name is Byron. Those feelings grew, and a year later we got married. We chose to keep it to ourselves partly to make sure nothing interfered with our plans to adopt, and partly because it was no one’s business but ours. We now have a beautiful baby girl named Madeline, who you will all get to see pictures of in the next issue of Who Magazine, and ah, yeah … that about sums it up. Did I miss anything, lads?”
I grinned at my mate, proud of his coming out. It was about bloody time really.
“You forgot the part about that time when you—”
Law slapped his hand across Zeck’s mouth before he finished that sentence. “I really didn’t forget that part.”
“Bloody disgusting.”
Everyone, including the audience, laughed at the group’s antics, and pride swelled in my chest. I loved being a part of this world and the people in it.
“Well, you certainly have kept a lid on things,” Georgina finally said.
“That’s true, but now I’m a parent, and I’m more concerned with what kind of a role model I am for my child. I’m not exactly doing a very good job if I can’t be honest about who I am. I’m proud of who I am, I’m proud of my husband. He’s been a support of mine, of ours, from the very beginning. I tried doing this without him, and I never want to do that again. This is who I am, this is who we are.”
“I have to ask, what made you decide to come out now?”
I grinned winking at the others as I answered. “I guess it was just the right time.”
I pushed at Law’s shoulder as the other three chuckled. “That was bloody cheesy, mate.”
Georgina turned her beady eyes on me, and I regretted speaking instantly. I’d almost got away with it!
“Alec! We have time for just one more question, and I’m sure we can find one in this pile for you.”
I grinned at the woman before us and shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t mind if you don’t mind if you don’t. These guys are much more interesting than me.”
She pulled a flash card up and grinned triumphantly.
Damn.
“Firstly, I’d just like to say how much I admire the work you’re doing with outreach drug programs in the city.”
Well, this was a safe topic.
I glanced at the guys for permission. After all, this wasn’t just my stage. But all three grinned and leaned back in their chairs, opening up the floor for me.
“I have actually. After my unexpected experience with Rohypnol, I’ve been working with some people to better educate young people in England about the dangers, symptoms, and side-effects of date rape drugs. They can be fatal, and noticing the effects and acting fast is the key.”
I’d really enjoyed the work I’d done so far, and using my fame to forward a really good cause and education program made everything feel even better.
“Alec, one final question for the night from our viewers. Are you still seeing Jo, the waitress that saved you that night? How is it going, and are we set to hear in wedding bells or babies in the near future?”
I looked over at Phillip. “Phillip, that’s at least three questions. Do you think I should answer when she said just one?”
A general laugh went up again, and I turned back to the woman and crossed my arms over my chest.
“Yes we’re still together, and no, no weddi
ng bells or babies as yet. Jo’s still on her road to being a brilliant surgeon, and I’m supporting her in that one hundred percent.”
“So it’s going well?” the woman repeated again.
I looked at Georgina and sighed, a beautiful myriad of emotions and pictures flickering through my mind. Jo was beyond spectacular. She was a delight, my best friend and my savior. Every day she told me she loved me, and every day I fell a little more in love with her.
“Jo is an angel, my light. She loves me, and I love her. Simple as that.”
The interviewer gave me a last, lingering smile and turned back to her camera to end off the interview. I sat back, enjoying the spotlight being taken off me once again.
Life was good, better than good. I had a beautiful girl at my side, great mates, and the world at our feet.
Nothing could be better than this.
The End
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Other Books by Tamsin Baker:
www.evernightpublishing.com/tamsin-baker
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