by Desiree Holt
They managed the next two shows in the smaller venues with no screwups or problems. Everyone stayed on high alert, and every pass, every worker was scrutinized in meticulous detail. All three shows were sold out, which meant more people wanted interviews. Caleb treated the whole thing like a mission or he might never have gotten through it
And every night they made love, slow and delicious, fast and furious, but always knowing they shared a lot more than just sex. He wasn’t sure what would happen when the tour ended. He’d have to figure out how to stay in her life. He couldn’t walk away from the best thing that had ever happened to him.
Concert promoters always brought food in for the performers, usually late in the afternoon so they weren’t eating just before showtime. On the last stop where she’d solo, they finished the afternoon sound check and headed back to the dressing rooms. When Caleb opened the door to Jasmine’s, he saw someone arranging the food.
Damn!
They weren’t supposed to let anyone in there until he personally vetted them. Fuck, fuck, fuck. And Jasmine was already walking over to the table with all the drinks to get a bottle of water.
“Just leave that stuff,” he told the man. “We can handle it.”
The man turned around, and Jasmine let out a little scream.
“Ohmigod. Cobra.”
Cobra Mattice struck as quickly as the animal he was named for. In a second, he had one skinny arm banded around Jasmine, holding her against him. The next, he had a sharp knife pressed to her throat.
“If I can’t have you, you bitch,” he said in a guttural voice, “no one will.” He touched the tip of the knife to Jasmine’s throat.
Every drop of blood in Caleb’s veins turned to ice. No. This was not going to happen. He wasn’t going to lose Jasmine or fuck up another assignment. He also knew trying to talk to this piece of shit would never work.
He looked at Jasmine, whose eyes flashed not with fear but with anger.
“Get him, Caleb.”
“Try it and I slit her throat.” Cobra’s voice was thin and raspy, his skinny body twitching with nerves.
“Look at me, Jasmine. Just at me.”
“Get out of here, old man.” Cobra spat the words.
“Jasmine?”
She nodded, complete trust shining in her eyes.
“Drop.” He said the word in a clipped, cold voice.
She got the message, let herself sag, and enabled Caleb to leap forward and knock the knife from Cobra’s fingers. In two swift moves, he had the man down, hands behind his back, knee pressing against the man’s back.
“Hey, Caleb, I—”
The door opened, and Gary Lockwood walked in. Whatever he might have started to say was lost when he saw the scene before him.
“Get the Omega guards right now, and I mean now. And have one of them keep everyone else away from here.”
Getting the guards was easy. Keeping people away, not so much, but the Omega guards grabbed Cobra like a sack of flour. They wrestled him out of the building, his scratchy voice spitting epithets as he struggled to get free. Gary had also fetched one of the cops, who called for a patrol car. As soon as the bass player was off to the police station, Caleb headed back to the dressing room.
“Thank god we got him.” Gary blew out a breath.
“No thanks to me,” Caleb growled. “Somehow I missed vetting all the food people.”
“Shit, Caleb. We all did.”
“She could have been killed because of my carelessness.”
Gary stopped, turned to Caleb, and grabbed his upper arms.
“Listen to me, Caleb. You’re the best damn bodyguard I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of them, so get that crap out of your brain. Right now, Jas needs you. Put on your Special Forces mask and get your ass in gear with her.” He paused. “And give her the emotional support she needs. I’ve seen the connection between the two of you, and that’s what will help her tonight.”
Caleb knew better than to argue right now, so he just nodded and started walking again. He’d do what he had to for tonight and the last big show with Sweet Dixie. But then he would head back to his cabin, where he should have stayed to begin with.
Epilogue
The Austin Energy Center was about to be filled with more than sixteen thousand shattering, crazy fans. The promoter had begun selling the merchandise for her and Sweet Dixie twenty-four hours before the show because people were screaming for it. He’d sold out, and Carson had to have an emergency shipment overnighted to the venue. Between her and the headliner, they were swamped with a sudden flood of requests for interviews. Carson was on site, working with Caleb to manage the process. They ended up doing them all at the hotel where they were staying so they could contain and regulate things.
Everywhere she went, inside the hotel or outside, Jasmine was stunned by the huge increase in people who recognized her
Jasmine was also ready to either shoot Caleb our kick him in the balls. The man drove her nuts. Only because of him, his feelings for her, their connection had she had the strength not to be scared out of her wits when Cobra got to her. That same sense of security had given her the energy to go out that night and give a kickass show. But then he pulled back from her. Just shut down.
Oh, he did his bodyguard duties better than ever, almost obsessively. But when they got back to the hotel room, he withdrew, even suggesting he get his own room. She stamped her foot and told him he’d do no such thing, but when they got in bed, he lay so far away from her, he might as well have not been there at all.
He’d been the same way every day since then. She wanted to share the excitement of the big night with him, this man who had lodged in her heart, but he’d put up such a wall, she didn’t know how to reach him. In the privacy of the shower, she allowed herself tears, but she wasn’t a wilting flower or an emotional wreck. She just didn’t know what to do about her breaking heart.
The one time she tried to bring it up again, he shut her right down.
“I nearly got you killed. You could be dead because I missed something, just like my last assignment.”
“Damn it, Caleb.” She stamped her foot. “You didn’t screw up then and you didn’t now. A million bodyguards couldn’t have predicted how he’d get into the concert hall. But you acted like you’d been trained and saved my life. Can we please focus on that?”
He’d just turned and walked away from her.
“I don’t know what to do, Libby.”
She’d spoken to her cousin every day since they’d been back. Libby was stunned at what happened with Cobra, but even she had no idea as to how to handle Caleb.
“Maybe Aron can chat with him,” she suggested in a tentative voice.
“No.” Jasmine shook her head. “If I can’t fix it myself, it isn’t worth fixing.” She said the words even while her heart broke.
Now and then, she caught Carson watching her with a speculative expression, and she was grateful he didn’t ask about the situation. Somehow, she had to find a way to knock some sense into Caleb before the tour ended and she lost him for good. Maybe her special project would help.
Tonight here she was, at the Austin Energy Center, getting ready for the biggest performance yet. Four more songs from the album were racing up the charts, and the iTunes downloads were out of sight. Carson told her there would be some important media people at the afterparty and he’d be guiding her through it all.
The sound check had gone well. Then, instead of going directly back to the dressing room, she’d asked someone to let her use one of the offices for a while. She blanked everything else from her mind while she finished her special project. When the alarm on her watch dinged, she headed off to the dressing room to finish getting ready.
“I want you in the wings tonight,” she told Caleb. No, ordered him.
“I’m good back here.”
“Well, I’m not. You’re still working for me, so you have to do what I say.”
The concert was sold out, but
she’d pulled some strings and gotten Libby and Aron backstage passes. They’d be watching in the wings. With Caleb.
She picked up her guitar and headed toward the stage to wait for her cue. She wasn’t sure when she’d realized how deeply in love she was with Caleb Branam. But there it was, and she wasn’t going to let him walk away.
“Good luck, honey.” Libby gave her a quick squeeze.
“Knock ’em dead, Jas.” Rodeo Jermaine stood there with two of his band members. Damn! Were they going to watch her?
“I’ll do my best.”
“We’re doing the same encore again, right? Two songs, yours and ours?”
“I am so honored to be doing this,” she told him.
“Ditto. Now, get out there and kill the crowd.”
Caleb was standing in the wings, Gary Lockwood beside him. She’d asked Gary to make sure he didn’t leave the spot, and Gary had promised he’d do it if he had to hogtie the man.
The faint notes of the band tuning up drifted to her. The lights in the audience dimmed, and the announcer from the local radio station took his place out in front of the curtain.
“How’s everyone doing tonight?” he yelled.
“Great!” Sixteen thousand voices shouted back at him.
“You ready for some music?”
“Yes!”
“Then here we go with the hottest person to hit the country rock airwaves, Miss Jasmine Grey. Let’s give her a big Austin welcome.”
As screams and shouts filled the auditorium, the curtains opened, and Jasmine strode out onto the stage, the spotlight hitting her full on. She grinned and waved to everyone and blew kisses. Then she turned to the band.
“Hit it, Hondo.”
The band played the opening notes of “Sweet Love,” and she was off to the races.
The enthusiasm of the audience and the response grew with each song. Whether a ballad or a fast tune, they loved them all, and Jasmine rocketed through all of them. When they got to the end of the planned set, instead of waving and walking off, waiting to be called back for her encores, she stayed on the stage.
This is it. Break it or make it. Win or lose.
She glanced sidewise toward the wings and saw Gary still had Caleb glued to his side.
“I have a brand new tune for you,” she began, “one the band hasn’t even heard.” She glanced back at them. “Sorry, guys.” Jack did a little riff on the drums. “Sometimes in life you are lucky enough to meet the one right person, the one you know you were meant for and will love forever. I’ve been fortunate enough to meet that person, and this song is for him. I call it ‘Man of my Heart.’”
She played the opening chords and then launched into it.
“In my darkest hour you came to me
Lending me your strength
You held me up and protected me from harm.
When worries plagued me and troubles followed
I found safety in your arms.
You could have been the man of my heart.
When life came rushing fast at me
You held me safe in the dark
You gave me all you had and then gave me more.
In the darkness of night
Your love surrounded me
And sheltered me at its core.
Were you the man of my heart?
We’ve faced troubles together
And celebrated joy
Your love surrounded me at night
Without you I’d be cast adrift
You’re the one who gives me light.
You’re the man of my heart.
Yes, forever, that’s how long it will last
Forever and a day
You brighten my life and fill me with joy.
The man of my heart.”
A long moment of dead silence then the crowd erupted with deafening cheers and whistles. She turned so she could see into the wings. Libby was clapping and jumping up and down and Aron gave her a thumbs-up. Caleb stood there, shell shocked, Gary whispering in his ear.
“Come on out here, Caleb Branam. I want the world to see the man who holds my heart in his hands and who is the man of my heart. Come on.”
She motioned with her hand. Gary gave him a shove, and he stumbled onto the stage, righting himself as she walked over and grabbed his hand. She dragged him to the microphone.
“Here he is, everyone, the man of my heart.”
Phones were flashing all over the place and people were chanting, “Jasmine and Caleb, Jasmine and Caleb.” She set her guitar on the stand and threw her arms around him, willing him to do the same.
“I love you. Don’t leave me, Caleb. Stay, with me and in my heart.”
He stared at her, and she watched shock battle with hope.
“I nearly got you killed.”
She shook her head. “You saved my life, in more ways then one. I. Love. You. Now you say it.”
She could see the struggle in his eyes, hope warring with pain, and she knew the exact moment hope won.
“I do love you, Jasmine Grey. More than I ever thought I could love another person.”
The audience still chanted, and when she looked at the band, they were all grinning and nodding.
“Stay up here with me. Please?”
He nodded. Gary hustled out with a stool for him to sit on, and he never left her side while they did all their encores. When they all exited the stage, the audience was still screaming.”
Carson stood in the wings with Gary and gave her a huge hug.
“You did it, woman. Twitter is exploding, and my cell phone is about to blow up.”
“This is my inspiration,” she told him, grabbing Caleb’s hand again. “Come on. We need to get out of the way while they set up for Sweet Dixie. Come on.”
They moved to the side while roadies hustled all around them.
“People want to see you, Jas,” Carson told her.
“Can you give us just a few? Please?”
He nodded, and she dragged Caleb off to a dark corner.
“I don’t care how much you want to fight it, I love you and I want you. You’re the man of my heart, Caleb, and the only one I ever want there.”
He put his arms around her, and, in his eyes, she saw uncertainty, hope, and yes, love, all mixed together.
“I think you’re getting the worst of the deal,” he told her. “I’ve got a lot of mending to do.”
“And I want to be the one to help you. Forever. I love you.”
His mouth finally curved in a smile full of promise and need and want.
“Okay, then.” He blew out a breath. “I love you, too.”
He pulled her against him and took her mouth in a hot, hard kiss, filled with love.
Jasmine knew, no matter what, this was the place she wanted to be.
About Desiree Holt
A multi-published, award winning, Amazon and USA Today best-selling author, Desiree Holt has produced more than 200 titles and won many awards. She has received an EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and many others including Author After Dark’s Author of the Year. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The London Daily Mail. She lives in Florida with her cats who insist they help her write her books, and is addicted to football.
“Get out the ice water and fan…Desiree Holt delivers smoking hot alpha heroes and red hot romances.” Lea Franczak, USA Today Happy Ever After blog
Learn more about me and read my novels here:
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More Books by Desiree Holt
Wet Heat
Knockin’ Boots
Joy Ride
Aftershock
Daring to Chance It
Protecting Maddie
Blitzed
Soul Dreams
Playing With Fire
Taken By Surprise
Runaway Billionaire
Hard Lovin’
Out of Control
Dark Secrets
Do You Trust Me
Nightfall
Collision Course
Hot and Dangerous
Controlled Burn
Killian
Lexie and Killian
Night Mission
Flyover
He Came Upon a Midnight Clear
Party of Three
Fourplay
Game On
Northanger Abbey
Down & Dirty
Swingtime
Made For Him
Intermission
Back in the Saddle
Ride the Mustang
Dream Strokes
Crude Oil
Night Ride
Heat Wave
Pretty Kitty
Black Cat Fever
On the Prowl
Game On
Forward Pass
Line of Scrimmage
Pass Interference
The Omega Team
Raw Edge of Danger
Mission control
Lethal Design
Naked Cowboys
Stark Naked
Buck Naked
Stripped Naked
Bare Naked
Naked Hunger
Naked Desire
Naked Flame
Naked Heat
Rawhide
Lassoed By a Dom
Crack the Whip
Bite the Bullet
Slapping Leather
Buckskin, Boots & Bondage
