Blush (Rockstar #2) (22 page)

“How much!“ I yell at Cage.

“It was all real, Lucy. Above it all I'm a businessman. Do you think I'd hire you if I didn't believe in your talent?“ he asks, still masking his expression.

“You know, I have no fucking clue.“

“Language, Luciana,“ mama scolds.

“To hell with the language,“ I snarl. Shit. Is that Jesse's sister? I smile and I'm sure I look like a deformed clown. “Janalee?“ I ask by way of greeting.

She nods. “Nice to meet you.“

I let out a laugh. “Likewise. Would have been better under less insane circumstances.“

Janalee snorts. “Wait until you meet my family.“ Ben scoffs and Jesse nods.

I look to my grandpa. “Did you set up everything in my career, Grandpa?“

He just looks at me. “You think I would do that to you?“

“I don't know. I don't know anything anymore. You hid this from me. You all did,“ I say, looking at my parents who both look guilty as hell. “Why didn't you just tell me?“

“You didn't need to know,“ Damian replies.

“Who the fuck are you to tell me what I need and don't need to know about my god damn life!“

“Baby, please, calm down,“ Jesse asks. “Your blood pressure is spiking and you don't need to have another seizure. Please. I just got you back.“

I take a deep calming breath, closing my eyes. Breathe in, breathe out. I open my eyes and meet Jesse's gaze. “I'm sorry, love. I am. I'm so angry right now. So confused and frustrated.“

He nods and kisses me softly, resting his cheek against mine again.

“Make them leave,“ I whisper.

“Everyone?“ he asks.

“No, just them.“ He knows who I mean. I look straight at his chest when he sits upright, not meeting anyone else's gaze as I hear them shuffle out of the room. I look up for a second and meet Sera's gaze. “You too.“

Hurt crosses her features. Well, welcome to the club, sister.

“Lucy—“

“Don't. Just go,“ I tell her, looking back to Jesse as tears slip from my eyes. Betrayal, hard and sharp, fills me and a sob bursts forth.

“Shhh,“ Jesse whispers, sliding up next to me and pulling me into his side. Xander rubs the fingers of my casted hand, well, not the broken two, but the rest.

“I just don't understand why it was a secret. And now how can I trust that everything I've accomplished as an actress and with Blush is even real and hasn't been staged? Would we have gotten this contract if it wasn't Cage?“ I glance at Meggie.

“We're fucking awesome. Cage or no Cage, we'd be right here helping Falling Down sell out shows,“ she says with conviction.

Trace steps forward and rests a hand on my foot. “Your talent is unquestionable. Don't doubt yourself. Don't start doubting Blush either.“

“I'm not doubting any of that. I know we're fucking awesome. I'm doubting them and wondering what else they lied about and manipulated in my life,“ I sigh.

“Does it matter?“ Trace asks. “In the end, does it matter? You're here and you'd be here with or without them.“

I tilt my head. “I guess.“

“Screw them,“ Kennedy steps up. “You are a fantastic actress. We watched you as you went from commercials to sitcoms to movies—“

I cut him off as I look to Jesse. “You watched me?“

One side of his mouth kicks up in that grin that turns me into a puddle of goo. “Of course I watched you. Did you think you could make that kind of impression on me and I wouldn't keep tabs on you?“

“But I didn't tell you my last name.“

He shakes his head and shrugs a shoulder. “I saw you on that one show, the family one?“

I nod.

“After that, he was sunk,“ Ben teases. “We watched every single show. He found everything you'd ever done and we watched that too. I especially enjoyed that commercial for lip balm.“

“Whatever. I was sixteen,“ I grin and Xander manipulates the fingers of my casted hand and flips Ben off. “Thank you, Xander.“

“You're most welcome. And I've got to say, I enjoyed the sunscreen commercial. You had that tiny bikini—“

“Dude,“ Jesse scowls.

Xander laughs. “Every single time.“

“What?“

“Every time that commercial came on, I'd talk about your ass or the bikini and he had that same reaction. Every single time.“

I meet Jesse's gaze and he looks slightly embarrassed. “So you watched me as much as I watched you?“

He nods. “After we met, yeah. And, baby, do not doubt your talent. With each role, you proved yourself. Your award is a justified win.“

I sniffle and Xander wipes my face with a tissue. I'd wipe it myself but both men are holding my hands.

“I'm tired,“ I whisper to them. “There's just been so much. I can only imagine the media.“

“Who cares, really?“ Ethan asks. “Who gives a fuck what they say or what they're gossiping about now? Let them speculate.“

“They'll find out enough shit when you get sprung from this joint,“ Jesse adds.

“Which won't be for a bit,“ Misty tells me. “You know they're going to hold you here for a good three days minimum.“

“Yeah,“ I sigh. “I know. So be it.“

“Why don't you take a nap, babe. It's probably best if you don't overdo it.“

I nod at Jesse.

“I could sleep,“ I murmur around a yawn.

“Do you need anything?“ Xander asks.

“Nope. Just you guys.“

He rubs circles on my fingers. “We're not going anywhere.“

“Mmm, good. Sing me to sleep,“ I tell them.

“Who?“ Meggie asks.

“All of you.“

There are snickers and chuckles.

“What do you want to hear?“ Jesse asks.

“Hmm. The Kill from Thirty Seconds To Mars.“

“Jared Leto,“ Meggie says breathily.

“Mhmm.“

“Nice choice,“ Trace tells me.

“Thanks.“

Kennedy strums a chord and they all start singing.

What if I wanted to break…

I drift off to sleep listening to my husband sing a Jared Leto song. Yeah, you can bet that my smile is huge.

FOUR DAYS LATER and in a plush hotel suite, I wake up to Xander singing and for the first time I regret coming out of the coma. Why, you might wonder? Because what I hear is:

Baby, baby, baby oooh
Like baby, baby, baby oooh
Like baby, baby, baby oooh
I thought you'd always be mine… mine

“Xander Mackenzie, you have me reconsidering whether life was the best option for me. How can you possibly torture me to these depths?“ I tease.

“Aww, come on, Luce, you know you love some Biebs. I know you're a Belieber,“ he snickers.

“Dork,“ I reply with a laugh. “Where is everyone?“ The room's empty except for Xander.

“They all went to shower. Jesse went to get the food on your list,“ Xander tells me with a raise of his brow.

“Hey, I deserve all of that and more carrying around a litter of Kingstons.“

Xander throws his head back and laughs. “Litter of Kingstons,“ he shakes his head, still laughing. “That's fucking awesome.“

I smile “Right? I'm pretty damn proud of that one.“

“You should be. Epic. Beyond epic,“ he agrees.

“I gotta pee,“ I announce and Xander helps me up from the sofa I'm napping on.

“You alright?“ he asks. “Any dizziness?“ He keeps his arm around my waist and walks me to the restroom.

I roll my eyes. “I'm fine. You are all so fussy.“

“Luce. You could have died. Personally, I'm thinking it was a pretty fucking close call and I don't want to ever have that shit happen again,“ he tells me, straight-faced and serious.

“I'll do my best. Now let me pee.“

I close the door and go about my business. It took three washings with baby shampoo to get the blood out of my hair. The doctor didn't want me to but I wasn't going for the caked on blood look for a week or more. Spenser helped me and using baby shampoo was the least-harsh shampoo he knew of.

I hear Xander singing
My Pony
by Ginuwine and I snicker. That guy.

My hair, now, is up in a ponytail. There's a huge bruise on the side of my head just above my temple that's hideously multi-colored with black, purple, red, yellow, green, and brown. I'm sure there are more in there but it makes me sick to look at it. Less than a centimeter down and likely that ice chunk would have killed me. As it is, on top of the bruises, I've got multiple stitched up wounds. They're small, but still a pain in my ass.

Each time I think about what happened I get so angry and then I get frustrated because I can't remember the one thing I know I need to. I just know there's something I need to remember. I don't know how I know, only that I do. Wow, that's a lot of “knows“. No wonder I've got a nonstop headache.

I wash my hands and dry them off on the bath towel. I straighten my Avenged Sevenfold fitted tee and just as I'm about to open the door I hear it. I burst out laughing, I can't help myself.
Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy
by Big & Rich. Xander. I have to see this.

I slowly and stealthily open the bathroom door and tiptoe to the sitting area in the suite. I see Xander, his phone in his hands, feet moving, hips a-grooving, as he sings out loud. I can't help myself. I snort.

He looks up from his phone and a big grin takes over his face as he continues singing and makes his way to me, swiveling his hips as he does. I'm grinning like mad because he's so fun and has no shame at all.

That song's nearly over when he lifts his phone, wicked grin in place, and pushes a button. Moaning comes out of the speakers and then the drums and I burst out laughing. When he drops to his knees and starts lifting his hips in some stripper move, I grab my own phone.

“I'm so recording this!“

He keeps singing
Cream
from Prince, leaning forward, dry humping the floor and I laugh as I record him.

“We'll switch it up a bit since I'm putting on a show,“ he tells me with a wink. He lifts his hands over his head, still on his knees, and rotates his hips in a circle. Xander Mackenzie is seriously sexy and from the way he moves those hips, I bet he's amazing in bed.

When he pushes the button on his phone and
Freak Me
from Silk starts playing, I lift a brow. He stands up and grabs a pen from the table and uses it as a faux mic. I snort as he lip syncs the song until he gets to the chorus, of course, where he sings:

Let me lick you up and down till you say stop
Let me play with your body, baby, make you real hot
Let me do all the things you want me to do
'Cause tonight, baby, I wanna get freaky with you

Xander looks to his phone. How do you top that? I mean, it's quite the song, right? Well, no worries. Xander's got it under control.
Sexual Healing
by Marvin Gaye. He pulled out the big guns there.

I hold up the phone, following him around the room as he sings and dances.

“Alright, alright,“ he says, raising a hand to stop. “I know what we need next but you gotta dance with me, Luce.“

I grin and lift a brow.

“He's one of your favorites.“

“Oh God, I hope it's not one of my embarrassing ones because this video is going on the BFD blog,“ I murmur.

“It's not.“ He holds out a hand for me and I take it. “I'll record you while you record me and we'll put them both up. Deal?“

“Okay, but I gotta take it easy.“

He rolls his eyes. “Woman, do you think I'm going to let you go all crazy?“

I laugh. “I guess not!“

Rock Your Body
from Justin Timberlake comes on and I grin. JT! We both start dancing and laughing when the door to the suite opens up. I turn my camera to capture Jesse's expression of incredulity then the smirk before he shakes his head, carrying in some bags of groceries.

“What's going on in—“ Ben asks, then laughs when he sees me and Xander. By now Xander's taken my scarf I had by my pillow and tied it around his head like a headband. The scarf has Powerpuff Girls on it. I snort.