Bulletproof

by Melissa Pearl

  Would I ever get what Ella and Cole had? A love to last the ages?

  I instantly thought of Sean.

  None of my other ex-boyfriends ever surfaced when I asked those questions. It was always him. He’d been different from the rest, captured me in a way no one else could.

  Maybe that was why it was so hard to let him go.

  Maybe that was why the fact he’d let me walk out that door killed me so bad.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  SEAN

  Rhonda was waiting for me after dance rehearsal. She stood outside my dressing room, tapping her long nails on the back of her phone.

  “Hey.” I rubbed the towel over my face and paused beside her. “I thought we were meeting later.”

  “I know. I was just driving by and wanted to pop in and talk to Ashlee, and I also came to pick up the contract, have you sign—”

  “Wait.” I raised my hand. “Why were you talking to Ashlee?”

  “I wanted to ask her to accompany you to the Saito event. She said yes, so I’ll find out what she’s wearing and then get the tailor to whip you up something to match.” She unlocked her iPad and tapped in a few details.

  “I don’t want to go with her.”

  She looked up at me and rolled her eyes with a sigh. “Well, you could have said something to me earlier.”

  “I didn’t think you’d be arranging it for me.”

  “Oh please, I arrange everything for you. You know I’m in charge of your life.”

  I didn’t smile at her cheeky grin, Isabella’s words taunting me.

  Who’s feeding you this horseshit?

  “So who do you want to go with then?” Rhonda ran a finger over her eyebrow and looked at me expectantly.

  “Morgan.” I swallowed. “I want to take Morgan with me.”

  “Oh Sean, please tell me you guys aren’t back together. I thought we’d dealt with this already. That’s over now. You have to let it go.”

  “No, I don’t.” I flicked the towel over my shoulder. “I don’t have to let her go, because she was the best damn thing that ever happened to me, and I let her walk out the fucking door. I was too blind to even see it coming.” I huffed.

  She swallowed, her eyes skittering the walls as she cleared her throat.

  I frowned. “Look at me.”

  Meeting my gaze, she raised her eyebrows, going for innocent, but I saw it...in her eyes.

  Mama was right. They did tell you everything.

  “You saw it coming,” I whispered.

  “Huh? What are you talking about?”

  “You knew.” I crossed my arms. “You knew it was brewing, and you didn’t warn me.”

  “Oh come on, surely you knew it was brewing. She was making all those demands, asking you to risk your career. She was completely out of line...and she knew it too. I told her to watch it.”

  My eyebrows bunched together. “You what? Did you talk again...after that time you showed up at her house?”

  Rhonda pursed her lips.

  “I thought you were inviting me to those meetings. What the hell did you say to her?”

  My manager flicked her head to the side, looking away from me. “I might have suggested that she think about what’s best for you.”

  “What’s best for me.”

  “Yes, she was getting in the way of your career, and I—”

  “You told me she misunderstood what you were saying, but that was a lie, wasn’t it?”

  Rhonda’s casual shrug said it all.

  “I should have listened to her, but no, I stupidly stood up for you!”

  She gave me a swift glare.

  “My love life is none of your business.”

  “Your whole life is my business, Sean Jaxon. I took you from a fresh-faced, clueless wonder and made you the king of Superstar. I saved your reputation. You would have been in the gutter after Miss Tripoli was done with you. You’d be nowhere if it wasn’t for me.”

  I stepped into her space, anger coursing through me as I pointed at her. “You didn’t even want me to take this role. It wasn’t until I met Morgan that I insisted on it.”

  Rhonda pulled back from me, lifting her chin. “Yes, and aren’t you glad I went along with it and made it work for you.”

  I shook my head, breaths punching out of my chest as my fingers curled into a fist.

  “Face it, Sean. She was holding you back. You want to be famous? You have to make sacrifices.”

  I clicked my tongue, my jaw clenching tight as I rubbed a hand over my head.

  “Who gives a shit about fame...and money.” I kicked the wall beside me. “It feels worthless without her. She made me happy, Rhonda. She cared about me, she inspired me, and all she wanted in return was for me to stand up for her.” My gaze was black as I looked across at my manager. “But you told me not to.”

  “Of course I told you not to. It was the right thing to do. Travis would have made your life hell. He could have written you out of the show in a heartbeat. She was not worth that.”

  “Says you.” I shook my head.

  “I did what was best for you. I’m your manager; that’s my job.”

  “I can’t believe I just kept taking your word for it, trusting you with everything, and you completely stabbed me in the back.”

  She rolled her eyes. “I think you’re being a touch dramatic.”

  I opened my mouth to say more, but she held up her hand to stop me.

  “Look, enough is enough. We can finish this conversation later; you’re due for a read-through in twenty minutes, and I doubt you want to go smelling as you are.” She held out her hand. “Now, can you please give me the contract so at least I can cross that off my list for the day.”

  I frowned, stepping away from her.

  “Sean, please, not again. Tell me you’ve signed it.”

  “I’m not signing anything.”

  “What?”

  “Rhonda, this is over. I can’t trust your word anymore. It’s time I started looking after myself.”

  “What the hell are saying to me right now?”

  “I’m saying you’re fired.”

  “You can’t fire me. We have a contract.” Her words were like sharp nettles, but I rose to meet them, returning her steely gaze with one of my own.

  “Contracts aren’t bulletproof. You can check with my lawyer if you like. And by the way, my agent and publicist, they’re gonna come directly to me now. I was gonna discuss this all with you tonight, but after what you’ve just told me I can’t wait. You’re gone, Rhonda.”

  Her eyebrows arched high, disappearing beneath her bangs. “That’s really how you want to play this? Fine.” She shoved the iPad back into her bag and flicked the strap up onto her shoulder. “Don’t think for a second this will be easy, little boy. I have more connections than you know what to do with.”

  “I’m not expecting it to be easy. I just want it to be right.”

  Her mouth opened and shut for a few minutes, shock stealing her words. Finally she huffed and spun on her heel, stomping down the hallway and muttering a string of curses. I tipped my head back and rested it against the wall, fear skittering through me.

  What the hell was I doing?

  An image of Morgan floated through my head. Those soft brown eyes, that cute little smirk she used to give me. I grinned, a deep yearning pushing inside of me.

  It felt good to know I was on the road to getting her back.

  All I could pray was that she’d take me.

  Snatching the un-signed contract from my bag, I ran out of my dressing room and down the corridor.

  Travis was just stepping out of his office when I arrived.

  “Travis!”

  He stopped and turned to face me, impatiently checking his watch.

  “Can this wait? I’m heading out the door.”

  “No, it can’t. We need to talk.” I held up the contract. “And we need to talk now.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  MORGAN


  The studios were now ready to go. I had a class starting on Saturday morning, and I was near giddy with excitement and terror. Isabella had been around the night before, and we’d gone over all the last checks. Ella had also put me in touch with the guy who helped them market Reynold’s, and I had spent most of my day with him.

  He was getting the website up and running, putting together some flyer options for us to choose, and he’d also given me a contact list for all the local schools. It looked like I’d be spending a day on the phone tomorrow.

  I wrinkled my nose, hating that idea but knowing it needed to be done.

  Placing my hands on my hips, I stretched high, rising to my toes and leaning into an arabesque. As soon as the marketing guy had left, I’d changed into my tights and run through my class for Saturday. I had eight seven-to-ten-year-olds to work with, and I wanted to make sure I knew exactly what I was doing. That way, I could spend my energy on group management rather than worrying about what to do next.

  The forty-five minute session was full, and my only concern was fitting it all in rather than having dead time at the end.

  Skipping over to the stereo, I flicked through my iPod, wondering if I should go through the class one last time. It was only ten p.m., and I could always sleep the night here if I wanted to.... But the idea of doing my own thing for an hour before locking up was too tempting, so I selected my own playlist and decided to just dance.

  I had put this list together last week, ten softer songs I could unwind to. Rather than sharp, static movements, these songs brought out the flow in my muscles. I moved like water across the floor, letting the tune lap against me.

  “Is It You” by Cassie swirled around me and I jumped over the notes, landing softly and kicking my leg back for a simple spin.

  I was trying to let the words wash over me and focus only on the steps, but I couldn’t. They haunted me, digging into my heart and making me ask.

  Moving to the mirror, I grabbed hold of the barre, gripping the wood tightly and asking, “Is it him? Is he the one worth waiting for?”

  I sucked in a breath, tears welling in my eyes. I let them fall. Since finally letting go on the night I’d labeled my titanium moment, I’d found that letting the tears out actually hurt a lot less than I thought it would.

  Crying didn’t make me weak; it made me open, and that in turn gave me a strength I never knew existed.

  The song ended and I brushed the tears from my face, looking at my reflection in the mirror and gasping.

  I spun around and drank in the figure leaning against the doorframe.

  Oh man, he looked good.

  His long legs were fitted with a pair of dark jeans, and a white tank was stretched over his buff torso. And then there was that black jacket of his. I loved that jacket.

  My eyes traveled the length of him, until they crested over his chocolate face and my heart melted.

  “Sean,” I whispered, pushing off the barre and walking toward him. “What are you doing here?”

  And how did I feel about it?

  Did I want to run into his arms? YES.

  Did I want to pretend that three months of radio silence never happened? YES.

  Could I?

  No.

  I swallowed, stopping in the middle of the room to wait out his answer.

  He pushed off the frame with his shoulder, his shoes echoing in the studio as he slowly moved toward me. “I just came to ask you a couple of questions and...” He pressed his lips together and clicked his fingers before running a hand over his head. “Depending on your answers, I’ll stay...or leave you alone.”

  I wanted to shrug as if I didn’t care either way, but my shoulders were too tense to move, so I stood like a Terracotta Warrior awaiting my fate.

  “Man, I’d forgotten how beautiful you are.” His words breathed into the room, stealing the air from my lungs. A little grin pushed at his broad lips. “Well, I hadn’t forgotten, but now that I’m seeing you again...damn, woman, you fine.”

  His white teeth appeared and I couldn’t help a grin.

  He thought I was fine?

  I could barely breathe around this guy! And that was plain frustrating, because part of me felt like I should be really mad at him. Another part felt this huge weight of caution. Why was he back? Had he come to woo me and then just let me go again?

  I’d never felt so confused before, and it pissed me off that above all those important questions, the only thing I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and pretend we’d never been apart.

  I brushed my hands down my thighs, resisting the urge to jump for him.

  “So.” I licked my bottom lip. “What do you want to ask me?”

  The second his mouth opened, my phone started ringing. I glanced at it on the table, willing it to shut off, but it might have been Jody.

  “Just a sec.” I held up my finger to Sean and raced over to the table, picking up my phone with a slight frown. “Hey, Cole. What’s up?”

  “It’s happening.”

  “What’s happening?”

  “She was here, complaining about a tummy ache and then she just doubled over like someone had punched her in the gut and then whoosh.”

  “Whoosh?”

  “Yeah, her waters broke, all over the floor. Grossed out quite a few customers, if I’m honest.”

  “Wait a second, Jody’s waters broke?”

  “Yeah, Ella’s taking her to the hospital now.”

  “She’s having the baby now? She’s not due until next month!”

  “Well, from the way she was wailing when she left, the baby really doesn’t care what her due date is. It’s coming. Now.”

  “Holy shit! I gotta go. I gotta...”

  “Take a breath, Morgan.” Cole chuckled. “Ella will keep an eye out for you.”

  “Okay, I’m leaving right now.”

  “Drive safe.”

  I hung up, panic sizzling through my body as I went through the checklist.

  “Is everything okay?”

  I spun at Sean’s question, blinking twice to remind myself he wasn’t an apparition.

  “I’m sorry. I have to go, Jody’s having her baby early and she needs me.”

  “No, I get it. You go.”

  Snatching up my purse, I dug out the keys and threw my phone inside. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you...” I pointed at him, wondering if I’d just lost my chance.

  “I can drive you if you like?”

  “No!” I surprised us both with my snappy answer, but a small part of me wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say and I certainly wouldn’t be able to absorb it while racing to the hospital. Jody needed all my attention, and I couldn’t give that to her with Sean around.

  I swallowed and mouthed an apology.

  A smile spread over his lips. “It’s okay. I’ll wait here.”

  “Okay.” I nodded stupidly.

  “You go.” He pointed for the door.

  “Okay. I’ll go.”

  “Okay.” He chuckled. “Morgan, go.”

  “Right.” I grabbed my slip-on shoes at the door and shoved them on my feet, hopping down the stairs and trying to push Sean out of my brain.

  My sister was having a baby.

  She needed me, and that was all I could focus on right now.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  MORGAN

  I heard Jody’s wail before I saw her face. She was in room 317, Ella by her side, wiping a cool cloth on her face. I stepped into the room, dropping my bag on the chair and rushing to her side. Jody screamed my name, crying like a school kid as a contraction ripped through her. Grappling for my hand, she squeezed my fingers tight and whimpered.

  “It hurts.”

  “I know, sweetie.” I kissed her forehead. “But you can do this. Breathe through the pain, just like you practiced.”

  “But we’re only halfway through the classes,” she wailed. “This is like way early! I’m not ready. I’m not ready, Morgan.”

  She started hyperven
tilating, panic scoring her features as another contraction rolled over her. She tipped her head back and groaned, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.

  “Good work, Jody, honey.” The obstetrician patted her knee. “You’re doing great. It’s going to be time to push soon.”

  “Already?” I squeezed Jody’s hand.

  “Yep, this one is ready to say hello to the world.” I could hear the grin in the doctor’s voice and smiled.

  “Wow.” I looked across at Ella who had tears welling in her eyes, her face alight with wonder. “I can’t believe how fast this is happening.”

  “I’m not ready,” Jody cried again, fear stark on her face. I knew exactly what she was talking about. Crunch time was just around the corner: keep or adopt was looming large, and she still hadn’t made up her mind.

  “It’s okay. You’ll know.” I patted my chest. “In here. Just listen to your heart.”

  She nodded, her face bunching as another contraction blindsided her. Her grip on my hand intensified to painful. I winced and breathed in through my nose. Finally she relaxed, and I wriggled my fingers to try to get the blood flowing again.

  Jody was out of breath, already exhausted after only three hours of labor. Ella updated me in between contractions, and I soon had the full story. Cole had called once to let us know that Dad had gone down to collect Grandma Deb, and they would be here waiting as soon as the baby was born.

  I looked at the clock. It was past midnight. Jody’s baby was going to be born on May 12th...a date we would never forget no matter what her decision.

  “Okay, Jody. It’s time to start pushing, sweetie, so when that next contraction hits, I want you to bear down and go for it.”

  She pulled in a shaky breath, looking like a lost kid as she gazed up at me.

  I smiled and gave her hand a light squeeze. “It’s nearly over,” I reassured her, before shooting Ella a nervous glance.

  Her smile was soft and calm. She kissed Jody’s cheek just as the next contraction came on. Helping her sit up, we repeated the doctor’s words, coaching her through the first push.

  By the tenth push, my arms were cooked spaghetti as we lowered her back down.