by E. L. Todd
“Haven’t told her yet.”
“You told me first?”
“Yeah. She’s at work and I’d rather tell her in person.”
“But you still came to me.”
“That’s different. I know I can bust in here whenever I feel like it.” With the exception of today because of all those assholes in line.
“She’s going to be excited.”
“I know she will be. She’s been supportive through this whole thing…couldn’t have asked for someone better.”
Dad nodded in agreement. “You really couldn’t.”
***
Don stood backstage with me. He wore his typical black suit with a matching tie, having no personality whatsoever. He looked like every other executive in the business. “Change of plans.”
“What?” I blurted. They just did my hair and make up, and I was ready to go. I was nervous about sitting in front of a live audience, but I was more nervous about broadcasting the entire thing on national television.
“I think your wife should go out there with you—as a guest.”
“Really?” I blurted.
Dad stood beside me, wearing slacks and a collared shirt. He never wore nice things—to anything. But he dressed up for this. “That’s not a bad idea. She’s the co-star of the thing.”
But would she want to do that? I could barely convince her to be in the video in the first place.
“Talk to her?” Don asked.
“I guess I could feel her out.”
He pointed to his watch. “You’ve got four minutes so you better get on that.”
I walked into the back where the refreshments and snacks were. She was sipping a cup of water with a shaking hand, her stomach bulging out.
“Baby, why is your hand shaking?”
She set the glass down, her cheeks red from being flustered. “I’m just nervous.”
“Why?”
“I’m nervous for you. This is so exciting and so much pressure at the same time.” She grabbed my arms and rubbed them gently. “Everything is happening so fast and I can only imagine how nervous you are.”
“I’m a little nervous…”
“You’ll be great, Slade. I just have heart palpitations because I’m so excited.”
Maybe asking her to join me was a bad idea. “Actually, I was hoping you would join me on the show.”
“What…?” Her jaw fell open.
“Yeah. Don thinks it would be a great idea. You were the star, after all.”
“Uh…”
“Baby, you’ll be fine.”
“You want me to go out there where millions of people are watching?” she asked. “Are you insane?”
“You can do it. You’ve been in the spotlight your whole life.”
“But that’s different,” I said. “I was only famous because my father was famous. But now I’m famous because I’m famous.”
These hormones were killing her confidence. Prior to this, she wasn’t afraid to do anything—ever. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. I’m not going to pressure you. But I think it would be great—and a lot of fun.”
A guilty look came over her face. “Do you think it would help your career?”
Immensely. “That doesn’t matter. Do it if you want to do it, or don’t.”
“It does matter, Slade.”
“Well…you’re the reason the video went viral. So, that should answer your question.” It surprised me how much her pregnant belly changed her perception of herself. She assumed she was some cow walking around, but in my eyes she was the sexiest and most beautiful thing in the world.
Her hand went to her stomach and she bit the corner of her bottom lip.
“You need to decide now. Because we only have about two minutes left until we go on.”
That only made her more flustered but pushed her to an answer. “I’ll do it.”
***
I stood backstage with Trinity, holding her hand in mine. Her palm was sweaty, and her usually subdued pulse was strong and throbbing. The make up team quickly put her in a new dress with heels, and they did her hair in beautiful waves. They added more makeup to her face so she wouldn’t look washed out under the beaming lights.
“My special guest this evening is an up and comer musician, Slade Sisco. His music video with his pregnant wife went viral, and now he’s here in the studio tonight.” Jimmy Fallon’s voice stopped, and a round of applause greeted us.
“Oh my fucking god.”
I ignored Trinity’s words and pulled her with me, smiling for the cameras and waving to the crowd as I was taught. I guided Trinity to the sofa on the rise because I knew she was already overwhelmed with the amount of attention we were both getting.
I helped her into the seat because her pregnant belly was enormous then I sat beside her and grabbed her hand again.
The applause finally died down after I shook Jimmy’s hand.
“So great to have you here tonight,” Jimmy began. “I saw that video, and I have to admit it’s guy-proof. I was into it.”
“Thanks.” I kept my voice confident because my publicist explained how important it was to appear calm and collected, but not arrogant at the same time. “I had a lot of fun filming it.” I glanced at Trinity then turned back to Jimmy. “And I had a lot of fun getting her pregnant to begin with.”
Jimmy and the rest of the crowd laughed.
At least my joke went over well.
“Trinity,” Jimmy said. “What’s it like being married to a musician? All the late hours? All the artistic mood swings?”
She met my gaze for reassurance before she answered. “I don’t notice a difference, honestly. He’s always there when I need him, and I’ve never called and heard his voicemail.”
The crowd awed at her words.
Now that the cameras were rolling and we were in the moment it wasn’t as terrifying. Jimmy led the conversation where we needed to go, so it was much easier on Trinity and I.
“So, how did this come about?” Jimmy asked. “Having your wife be in the video?”
“Well, we originally hired a model to be in the video. She was supposed to share all the same scenes with me.” I tried to tread carefully so I wouldn’t say anything I regretted. “But it didn’t feel right rolling around with some stranger. All the songs were written about Trinity, so I thought it made the most sense to have her in the video. Besides, she’s beautiful. It couldn’t be more perfect.”
Trinity squeezed my hand gently.
“And it was a lot easier to do the video justice when my costar was the woman I was in love with. I didn’t have to act. I could just be myself.”
Jimmy nodded in interest, his coffee mug sitting on the desk beside his resting hand. “So, that was the first single on the album, right?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“And can we expect more videos with Trinity?”
“You can expect every video to have Trinity—and Olympia.”
“Olympia?” Jimmy asked in confusion. “Is that the name of your baby?”
“Oh yeah,” I said. “I forgot to mention that.”
“Well, congratulations,” Jimmy said. “A little baby girl.”
“Thank you,” Trinity said. “We’re both excited.”
Jimmy grabbed a vinyl cover of my new album and held it out to the audience. “So, this hits stores exactly two weeks from today. It’s called Ghosts and Rainbows.” He set the picture down before he turned back to me. “Slade will be playing a song for us in just a few moments so stayed tune.”
Whoa, what?
The cameras faded out for the commercial break. The audience started talking amongst themselves, and Jimmy sipped his water. “Take the side stage and they’ll get you set up, man.”
“I’m playing?” I don’t remember being told that.
“Yeah, Don said you were up for it. Is that a problem?”
“No…just not prepared.”
“You’ll be fine, man. Knock
em’ dead.” He fist-bumped me.
I turned to Trinity, needing her support for this.
“You’ll be fine,” she said. “You’ve performed in front of people before.”
I was never nervous to play music in front of anyone, but right now I couldn’t breathe or think. I was sick to my stomach and my fingers felt slippery from all the sweat. “But not in front of the whole country.”
Chapter Thirteen
Conrad
“Can you believe that?” I would never wrap my mind around what I saw. “Slade was on Jimmy Fallon last night.” I stared at my dad and uncle incredulously, still unable to truly understand what happened. “His album isn’t even out yet.”
“It’s incredible,” Mike said. “I can’t believe he’s my son-in-law.”
“And my nephew,” Sean said. “I really hope fame doesn’t change him. Because he’s a pretty incredible person the way he is.”
“I don’t think that will happen.” I’d known Slade my whole life. His head never peeked too far into the clouds.
“I don’t know,” Mike said. “When fame and fortune come at you hard like that it’s hard to stay grounded.”
“Trinity will keep him grounded.” That was one thing we could all rely on. She could set him straight like no one else ever could.
Sean gave me a fond look. “You’re probably right, Conrad.”
“In other news…” Dad put his hands in his pockets. “We need you to go to Seattle.”
“Me?” I pointed at my own chest. “Why?”
“Because you’re the CEO,” Sean said. “Or did you forget?”
“Not the CEO,” I barked. “A CEO. Big difference.”
“Whatever,” Dad said. “We need you to go.”
“Why don’t you go? I have a dog, remember?”
“Not our problem,” Dad said. “We’ve decided to expand so we need you to check in on the Seattle office.”
“Why are we expanding there?” Manhattan wasn’t big enough?
“Our business has been expanding every single year,” Dad explained. “A little here and a little there…now there’s too much work and not enough people. If we open another branch in Seattle it’ll create new jobs and increase our expansion. Sean and I talked about it thoroughly.”
“But now it’s my job to see is through?” Look how that worked out.
“You need something to do anyway,” Dad said. “It’s a good project.”
Not when I had a woman waiting at home for me. Well, two.
“You leave tomorrow,” Sean said. “Let us know how it goes.” He filed out with Mike behind him.
“Can I bring Lexie?”
Dad stopped and looked at me. “You don’t need to ask us. You’re the boss, remember?”
***
“Seattle?” Lexie asked. “What’s there?” She stood in front of me in the shower, the water running down her naked body. Her perky tits were round and firm, and her long blonde hair clung to her neck.
“A new location for PIXEL. I have a few meetings I have to attend. You know, check on the progress and speak to the district manager.”
“I had no idea that was even going on.”
“Dad was pretty quiet about it. Not sure why.” I rinsed the shampoo from my hair then rubbed the tiny muscles of her back. “Will you come with me?”
“I’d love to. I don’t want to stay here with that freak. But…I don’t think I’ll be able to get the time off.”
I hated the fact she had a job. It didn’t bother me that she wanted her own money or to commit herself to a profession. It bothered me that she couldn’t travel with me at the drop of a hat. It bothered me that she was a slave to someone else. It bothered me that she didn’t possess the same kind of freedom I did. But instead of complaining about it, I let it go. “Too bad.”
She turned around and rubbed my chest, her eyes full of apology. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t apologize.” I grabbed her hips and pulled her in for a soft kiss.
“But I can tell you’re disappointed.”
“Obviously.” I was always disappointed when I didn’t get my way.
“Maybe I can cut down to part time or something…”
“Do whatever you want. But I’ll probably travel a lot for work over the course of the years. You might miss out on some things.”
Her eyes turned suspicious. “Are you trying to manipulate me?”
“No. If I were manipulating you, you wouldn’t even realize it.” Or I would just straight up tell her to quit her job and focus all of her energy on me. I wanted her to be a stay-at-home wife so she could be at my beck and call whenever I wanted. But I knew that would never happen with Lexie. She was too independent and stubborn.
“Let me see what my boss says.”
I wanted to be her boss. “Okay.”
“I really, really don’t want to be stuck here with Macy while you’re gone. Unless when you’re here you deal with her so I don’t have to.”
Macy and I got along just fine. She listened to me, and when I asked for something she obliged. But with Lexie, it was always a catfight. I wasn’t sure if they would survive the week I was away. “I hope both of you are still alive when I get back.”
“I don’t.”
I chuckled right against her mouth. “I know she’s a pain in the ass but she’s family. And when it comes to family, you have to bend over backwards, do the things you hate, and always be there. It’s just how it goes.”
“Not every family is like yours.”
“I know. We actually like each other.”
Her hands moved to my hips and she tickled me.
I grabbed her wrists and yanked them against the deep curve in her back. I pressed her right against me, her beautiful tits against my chest. “I’m not sure how I’m going to survive a week without my lady.”
“I’ll send you dirty pictures.”
“But can you send a dirty mouth to seal around my cock when I jerk off?”
Her eyes grew heavy in arousal. “I can try.”
***
I just finished packing my suitcase when Lexie came home.
“I got the time off.”
“You did?” I turned around, unable to hide my surprise.
“Yeah. I told my boss it was important.”
“Did you tell him you were going to work part time as well?” I tried not to sound too hopeful because that would ruin everything. I could already tell our marriage might be difficult because of this aspect. I wanted her to stay home all day and attend to my every need—even when I didn’t need her. But I knew how that would fly.
“Yeah. He said he needed to think about it.”
Needed to think about it? “What’s that supposed to mean? If you want to work part-time, you work part-time. End of story.”
“It’s more complicated than that with the clients.”
“Then hire a full time person to replace you, and you can just float.”
“Float?” she asked. “Is that a term I’m supposed to be familiar with?”
“Maybe you can just work a few times a week, act as a sub or something.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “You’re only making it more clear that you have no understanding of what I do.”
“Whatever,” I snapped. “Do whatever you want.”
“You want me to stay home, right?”
Tricky question. I had to tread carefully or I would say something stupid—really stupid. “I want whatever you want, Lexie. If you want to be a mountaineer, be a damn mountaineer. You’ve never cared about what I think so don’t start doing it now.”
“Since you’re going to be my husband I should start caring.”
“Lexie, you know what I want but I’m not going to tell you to do it.”
“So, you don’t want me to work?”
Not particularly. “It’s not like I want you cooped up in the house all day long with nothing to do. But I don’t like the fact you can’t just take off with me whene
ver you want. I don’t like the fact you have to be at work at certain times of the day. I’d rather see you shopping all day long with your friends.”
“When have I ever struck you as the shopper type?”
“Don’t be a smartass. You understand what I mean. And we’re going to have kids down the road. Working and being a parent is hard. It’ll be even harder if both of us are working. And I really don’t want a nanny looking after my kids.”
“Me neither.”
“That’s all I’m saying.”
I understand it. But I might get bored not having a job.”
The fact she was having a calm conversation with me rather than kicking me in the nuts was a good sign. “There are a ton of hobbies you can take up. I know my mom did a lot of charity work when we were growing up.”
“Or maybe I could work with you.”
At PIXEL?
“By your assistant or something. That way I wouldn’t have to work certain hours of the day, I’d have something to do, and we would always be together.”
All I could think about was her walking around in a tight, little skirt. She’d come into my office and my belt would be off quicker than I could say hello. I’d fuck her on my desk then send her on her way…until she came back for something else. “I think it would be too distracting for me.”
“Really?”
“Yes.” I looked down at her tits automatically.
“There’s nothing else I can do there?”
“You can’t be another CEO, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“It’s not,” she said. “I could organize social events for the company, charities and galas. Stuff like that.”
“It’s possible.”
“I wouldn’t even need to come into the office for that.”
And my dick would stay in my pants. “I’ll think about it.”
She turned around and grabbed her suitcase from the closet. “While you do that, I better get packing.”
I zipped up my suitcase then bought another plane ticket on my phone. When I entered Lexie’s information I accidentally wrote Lexie Preston instead of Lexie Lane. My hand shook when I realized my mistake. I wanted her to be mine so badly I couldn’t be patient. I jumped the gun.
***
“Do anything stupid to our home and I’ll murder you. I’m not kidding.” Lexie pointed her forefinger right in her sister’s face.
