Famously Engaged (17 page)

He hesitated and her throat closed because she knew what was coming. “I don’t want to.”

Her instincts screamed for caution but there was a question she needed answered ahead of tomorrow’s interview. “Hypothetically, if you weren’t married to the band?”

“In a second.” His arms captured her in a fierce embrace and she knew he spoke the truth. The confirmation should’ve come asa relief. Instead it fractured something inside her. Purely by chance she’d found her prince ch arming. But he was already married.

…

After a restless night and several hours of preening, Beth studied her reflection in the full-length mirror that Jake’s minions had supplied. Their color consultant, hair stylists, makeup artists, and personal groomer had pulled off a miracle. The image that greeted her showed no trace of her usual self, but she knew somewhere way down deep beneath her upswept hair, dramatic makeup, and fancy clothes, she was there. She had about forty seconds to find her core strength, or else this ridiculous live-to-air interview was going to be a flop.

She closed her eyes and tried to remember that this was a positive step. Legitimizing their engagement would take away the aura of mystery that had the press so intrigued, and because Christophe had preapproved the interview questions, it was a simple matter of smiling nicely and reciting the correct responses on cue.

She
definitely
wanted to get rid of the massive media presence outside her gates. This, apparently, was the way to do it.

A friendly rap on her bedroom door set off thousands of tipsy butterflies in her stomach, and it was all she could do to walk forward as they collided en masse. It was too late to back out now, but she’d never felt less prepared for anything in her entire life.

Jake was waiting in the hall, and his stunned double take brought an instant grin to her face. “Who were you expecting?” she asked.

In an impeccably cut suit and a bright white shirt, he looked far too respectable to be a rock star, but his trademark smile gave him away. “You’re like a chameleon,” he said. “The first time I saw you, you looked like a chorus girl with that transparent robe and feather boa.”

Laughter exploded out of her.

One of the film crew appeared to usher them into the dining room. It’d been years since the pivoting wall between it and the study next door had been opened, but space was at a premium and the Kens had been eager to try it out as soon as she’d described it. Christophe had deemed the new open-plan room a perfect interview location, and it’d been a relief to earn his approval.

She and Christophe had had several heated discussions the previous evening, and he was lucky she hadn’t asked him to leave.

She’d finally given up arguing her point about what constituted suitable clothing for the interview and allowed him to dictate what she’d wear. He’d called in a favor and had a designer friend of his deliver a selection of gowns from his upcoming collection. Her stylists chose a vibrant aquamarine gown with a full skirt, heavily beaded bodice and oversized collar. No doubt the cameras would love it, but it was far too flashy for her taste. And walking in these spindly heels was next to impossible.

Taking pains to avoid Christophe’s gaze, Beth tried to keep her

shoulders back, her chin up, and a serene smile in place while she and Jake were fitted with microphones. Jake teased her on and off as they were given a final run-through of the interview format and what would be expected of them, but she felt as wooden as a fence post. Her heart pounded at a frantic rate and she’d begun to feel queasy. A chic, slightly older woman joined in their conversation partway along, and Beth couldn’t help but notice how friendly she was with Jake. Too friendly.

Trying to give the appearance of concentration as a cameraman droned on about hand signals, Beth strained to catch the gist of Jake’s conversation with the woman, who was getting on her nerves for some reason. Perhaps it was simply that she was whispering and she hadn’t even bothered to introduce herself.

“Do you ever think about what might’ve happened that night in Prague?” the woman asked Jake in a low, sultry voice that couldn’t possibly be misinterpreted.

Before Jake could reply, preferably with a resounding no, one of the crew tapped the woman’s shoulder and raised his clipboard imperiously. “You need to be seated, Leanna.”

Leanna? She was
the
magnificent Leanna Lexington that Christophe had been going on about last night? Terrific. Her confidence leaked out of her pores, making her feel like she should go and take a shower and forget all about this ridiculous interview.

This wasn’t her. At all. Her designer dress and hidden-wonders bra gave her curves that were as fake as the flawless complexion she was currently sporting. Not a freckle in sight. But next to Jake and Leanna, she was going to look like Little Miss Average plucked off the street and dressed up in clothes that clearly belonged on a catwalk in Milan or Paris. And even if she somehow managed to pull the look off, she’d blow it as soon as she opened her mouth.

She didn’t have a cultured accent or a brilliant education or all the right contacts. She was the only child of working parents from an inner Melbourne suburb. And there was nothing remotely special or glamorous or newsworthy about her.

“Wait,” she blurted in a panic as two of Leanna’s assistants tried to shepherd her toward her designated chair. She’d spoken too loudly—she’d shouted, really—and everyone had frozen in place. Except Jake.

Catching her completely by surprise, he stepped toward her, whirled her into his arms and dipped her in the very next instant.

Her careful coiffure abandoned its constraints to fan all over the hardwood floor, the tiny ding of countless hairpins loud in the sudden silence. The thrill of being upside down, her lips mere millimeters from Jake’s, had her wondering how she could’ve thought
anything
was wrong in her world.

Nothing was wrong. Everything would be infinitely right as soon as he kissed her. He would have, she was certain of it, if a collective gasp hadn’t stopped him. Pandemonium broke out with mutterings of ruined hair and makeup and schedules being ignored. Christophe and Leanna were beside themselves and she found herself upright, being propelled forward by Jake’s guiding hand on the small of her back. Without any effort at all, he halted her progress, spun her around and guided her to sit down on her chair. Landing safely but with a complete lack of grace, she couldn’t help but laugh.

The interview was back on. And it was going to be great.

That naive optimism lasted about four seconds. A distinctive voice snagged her attention and she stared in silent awe at the man who was speaking.

“Jake? Why do I see David Beckham standing just over there?”

Jake sprawled negligently beside her, a smug smile on his lips.

“He was in town and so was Leanna’s other guest. I asked them to step in and round out the show.”

Leanna had another guest?
An impossibly charming and handsome yet familiar-looking man entered her line of vision.

“Beth, this is Hugh—”

“Grant,” she squeaked.
Hugh Grant and David Beckham and 
all Five Awesome Emperors were in her house? They were…and 
she was…and they were—

Hugh spoke and she may have responded to his greeting with something like hello or I love you, but it was doubtful. His hand, his lips—Hugh Grant’s lips—touched her hand and stole every speck of her composure. He’d visited her home before, in her dreams, and heat flared beneath her makeup. She concentrated on her hands in her lap, resisting the urge to twist them while

Hugh and Jake planned a round of golf.

Their easy camaraderie revealed the massive divide between their world and hers. She’d welcomed Jake, and all of the Emperors, into her life as if they were neighbors or old friends. Their fame hadn’t seemed unmanageable, but it did now.

David Beckham nodded to her from across the room and she blushed anew as every underwear advertisement she’d ever seen flashed through her mind. She jerked her gaze back to Hugh.

These people were Jake’s peers and she was in the wrong place altogether. She’d need more than a makeover to hold her own in this company.

Jake leaned closer, one hand slipping inside the collar of her dress to knead her tight neck muscles. “Go ahead and stare,” he said. “Get it out of your system.”

She laughed. It was impossible not to because he’d said those exact words within seconds of meeting her. “I’ve just realized something that’s beyond fabulous. No one is going to be looking at me during the interview. Who’d bother when they have you and

David and Hugh?”

Jake looked set to argue, but there wasn’t time. Leanna took her seat and the show began. Beth and Jake were to be the finalguests so Beth had the benefit of watching the other two men work the cameras and interact with Leanna. They made it look easy. And when it was her turn she found that being interviewed gave her a natural high. Mostly it was a matter of smiling in the background while Jake fielded Leanna’s questions, but uh-oh, it looked like it was her turn to speak.

“Beth,” Leanna said with a sly smirk. “Does your family approve of your decision to marry rock royalty?”

Beth struggled to hold on to her smile as Leanna deviated from the preapproved questions. Beside her she could feel Jake’s tension shoot to the very limit of his control, although thankfully it didn’t show. She silently willed him to keep his mouth shut and trust her to handle it. The rotten woman was making a grab for ratings but it wasn’t going to pay off.

“My parents would love Jake.” She leaned toward Leanna to underscore her conviction. “Not for what he does, but for who he is. Unfortunately they’re no longer with us, but they believed”— she smiled as she repeated her father’s favorite refrain—“that what a person does for a living is less important than what they live for.” 

“What they live for?” Leanna repeated, frowning with a total lack of comprehension. “Can you explain that for us?”

Leanna probably lived for her career and that’s why she didn’t
get it.
Beth fought the urge to sigh. “When you break it down, Leanna,” she said and sent the other woman a saccharine smile, “most things in life are transient—jobs, colleagues, possessions, even homes. Things come and go, new dreams replace the old and we carry on. What we live for, what sustains and fulfills us and drives us forward, might be as necessary as breathing, but it’s more likely to be a person than a shiny red convertible or a Grammy award.”

“And your parents taught you this?” Leanna put on a show

of absolute shock and gave a false laugh as she looked right at the camera. “Ladies and gentleman,” she said, “Beth’s parents—?”

Was she freaking kidding?
“Howard and Sarah.”

“Beth’s parents, Howard and Sarah Carlisle, taught their daughter all of this. Mine stuck to the basics.” She turned to Jake and gestured at him to speak. “What lesson did
your
parents teach you, Jake?” Before he could respond Leanna turned away from him and gave another hugely irritating false laugh. “Or perhaps this is another question for Beth?”

Startled to be responsible once again for answering, Beth drew a complete blank. What could she say about people she’d never met? Come to think of it, other than Skyla, Jake had never mentioned his family. Thinking that any answer would be better than none, she forced another smile and injected some casual enthusiasm into her voice.

“Jake’s parents covered the basics too. He’s caring and generous and has beautiful manners. And just between you and me his serenading skills,”—she angled a grin at Jake and felt her throat catch when she saw the banked thunder he could no longer hide—“are…better than average.”

Jake didn’t leap out of his chair as she’d thought he might, so she jammed a final conciliatory comment into the mix and prayed Leanna would move on after this. “And if all that’s not enough, he has excellent taste in jewelry.”

She held her engagement ring up for the cameras, automatically obeying the cameramen’s hand signals. Jake’s body was coiled, ready for action, and she could feel his anger seething around her, looking for an outlet. Had
she
upset him, or had Leanna? The urge to touch his knee or reach for his hand was strong but she managed to keep her hands to herself. Even so it felt wrong, completely wrong, to let him stew silently when she was sitting right next to him.

Something was dreadfully amiss but the world was watching and she was aware that the slightest misstep could set Jake off.

She silently begged Leanna to wrap the interview up without mentioning Jake’s family again.

“One final question to you both.” Leanna’s smile warned it was going to be a doozy. “Will you be looking to start a family of your own?”

Beth jumped in before Jake could even draw a breath.

“Obviously we’ll want to cement our little family of two before we think about expanding it. We’re going to need
another
phone for future baby news, darling.” She aimed an angelic look at Jake and felt relieved beyond measure that he looked vaguely amused.

“Leanna wants to be on speed dial too.” She shook her head theatrically as if
everyone
they met had the same request.

The closing comments were a blur of niceties but Christophe’s first words to her after the cameras stopped rolling cut right through the haze.

“What the heck was that?”

Jake had his back to the room, so she kept it simple and answered honestly. “You’re asking the wrong person.” She jerked her head toward Leanna. “She’s the one who went off script. I would’ve said exactly what you wanted if there’d been time to go over it, but as it was I had to wing it and hope whatever I said was suitably inoffensive.

“By the way,” she added as Christophe continued to glareat her, “I’d like to use this room for lunch so I’d appreciate you ma king sure it’s clear inside of two hours.”

No one spoke and since all eyes were on her, waiting for something, she felt the need to continue. “Let me know if you’d like written instructions since I’d hate for any of
you
to have to improvise.”