My Once and Future Love (52 page)

She giggled. “I think you made him wet his
pants!”

He grinned, seeing her so amused. “Probably.
Wanker deserved it. I was in the middle of somethin’.”

She was a vision, sitting on his bed looking
thoroughly snogged.

“You should probably get ready for your
appointment.” She put a hand on his chest to halt him from crawling
back on the bed.

“Got an hour. Plenty of time,” he said,
waggling his brows.

“Thought you weren’t going to seduce me
here.”

He shrugged. “Doesn’t mean I can’t make you
very happy, oh, at least twice before I leave.”

“You’re not the only one that has to work
this morning.”

“Alright… Stay for breakfast?”

“I can stay.” She swung her feet off the bed
and stood. “I’m going to use your bathroom.”

He swatted her ass as she walked away,
laughing when she glared at him.

****

Room service arrived while I freshened up. I
came out in my glasses, having stowed my contacts in my purse, and
it felt really good to give my eyes a break.

“There isn’t technically enough for two, but
there’s plenty of coffee, so eat what you want,” Jacob offered.

I shook my head. “It’s your breakfast. I’m
sure I’m going to have more time to eat today than you will.”

I did snag a strawberry and one of his pieces
of toast.

He wolfed down the omelet, letting me have
the bowl of fruit while he took a quick shower. I almost choked on
another strawberry when he came out in nothing but a towel to grab
fresh clothes from his suitcase.

“Jacob!”

The towel rode low on his hips and his chest
still glistened with water droplets. Memories of riding him in the
shower came to mind.

“What? Pffft…you’ve seen it all before.”

“Yeah, but…”

That was before he looked at me like he did
now. Before I knew he loved me.

****

He waited for her to finish her sentence,
delighting in the way her eyes couldn’t get enough of him. It took
all his restraint to
not
say to hell with waiting and take
her right there.

“I should… I should go, before the puppy
catches me here.”

“You don’t have to, Beth.”

“I know…but we don’t know if we can trust
him, yet. I’d rather be on home turf before going public, you
know?”

He embraced her and kissed her forehead. “I
know. Are you coming to the show tonight?”

She shrugged. “I have no idea what Celeste
has up her sleeve. I’ll call you or pass on a message.”

“Are we good?” he asked. She was in a much
better mood this morning, but he still didn’t know where they
stood.

****

I’d almost forgotten our fight. I smiled.
“Yeah. This morning was nice.”

“Mmm. Very nice.” He kissed me, slow and
sweet. “I love you.”

“I know.”

He helped me into my coat. We lingered at the
door. I felt reluctant to part when things had gone so well since
we woke up together, but finally pulled away, peeking out into the
hallway before stepping out to leave.

While I waited for the elevator, I checked my
phone. One voice mail and one text message, both from Celeste. I
sent a message saying I was fine and on my way back to the
hotel.

She pounced on me the moment I opened the
door to our room. “Tell me everything!”

“Good morning to you, too,” I teased.

“Come on! Don’t torture me. So, how was
it?”

“Sorry to disappoint you, but we didn’t have
sex.” I grabbed clothes and toiletries to take into the
bathroom.

“Why not!”

“Because it wasn’t the right time. We…talked,
then fell asleep in front of the TV.”

“And this morning?”

“Was still PG. He had an appointment, so I
stayed while he ate breakfast, then came back.”

“Tell me he at
least
liked the
dress!”

“He loved it. You were right. And now I need
a shower because I have a client to meet. Can you order me some
scrambled eggs and a waffle?”

I shut the door to the bathroom, turning on
the water a second later.

In the shower, I thought about the past
twenty-four hours and the contrast between how I felt with Jacob
and apart. The doubts and fears in my head were much quieter in his
presence. Perhaps the simple solution lay in attempting to spend as
much time together as possible until I felt reassured in my
decision to try again.

CNZ reports: Sources say a young brunette
was seen leaving Jake Lindsey’s hotel this morning. The juicy part?
She exited his floor
.

Chapter Sixteen

Celeste didn’t have tickets to tonight’s
show, so I picked up food and took it over to Jacob’s suite around
the time we’d left the venue last night. I dressed casually, adding
a plain baseball cap, and entered the hotel the same way as before.
Sent a message earlier saying I’d drop by, but dinner was meant as
a surprise. He wasn’t there, yet, so I waited on a bench down the
hall.

Jacob stepped out of the elevator maybe ten
minutes later accompanied by his bodyguard and the PA. “Hi,” he
said with a smile.

“Hi.”

He opened the door and held it for me. “Go on
in, love. I’ll just be a minute.”

“Sir…”

“It’s alright. She brought me food.
Goodnight, gents.” He shut the door and dropped his gear on the
floor. “What have you got for me, love?”

“Calzones, garlic bread, and canolis for
dessert. Should fill you up for a couple hours.” I started placing
the containers on the table.

“Well, I’m starving!” He gave me a quick kiss
before sitting down and pulled the other chair close to his.
“Sit.”

I handed him a plastic fork. “How was the
gig?”

“The usual. What did you do today?”

“Worked in the morning, then went sightseeing
in the afternoon. Saw the Statue of Liberty.”

“You know, I’ve flown over it a dozen times,
but never seen it up close. Listen… My month off starts
Monday.”

“Oh?”

“And I want you to go with me.”

“Go? Where?”

“Anywhere. Some place quiet. I want to get to
know you again, Beth.”

“I have a job, Jacob. I can’t go away for a
month.”

You can, you’re just afraid to.

Shut up!

“Think about it--you, me, no photographers,
no interruptions… I won’t even tell my staff.”

“Isn’t it a bit early to be going away
together? Why the rush?” I felt the panic welling up in my stomach
again.

“I’m not rushing. I just want to extend what
we’ve got goin’ right here.” He took my hand. “You were right about
staying under the radar for a while. You know what it’s going to be
like at home.”

“I guess I can try to get time off. But I’m
not promising anything! The more time I’m away, the more likely
they are to hand my assignments to another photographer.”

“Even if they did, I believe you’d have
plenty of offers.”

“Thanks. Eat.”

“Yes, dear.” He took a big bite of garlic
bread. “I liked waking up with you this morning.”

“It was nice.” Heat crept up my neck.

“You know, we could do that every day if you
come with me.”

I nearly choked on mozzarella. “Share one
room?” I shook my head. “I’m not ready for that.”

“I’ll keep my hands to myself if that’s what
you want, Beth.”

“I trust you to try, but that’s too much
temptation. I-I can’t.”

He held his hands up in surrender. “Okay, I’m
sorry.”

I sighed, feeling guilty now. “You didn’t say
anything wrong.”

“Yeah. Alright.”

He dropped the subject, but his good mood had
dimmed. For all my progress since the accident, I was still a
coward. When we were done eating, I went back to my hotel.

Jacob had a grueling schedule ahead for his
last day in New York, so we made plans to spend some time together
Saturday before Celeste and I flew home. Tomorrow was a travel day,
the crew moving the show to Boston while the band got to rest for
Sunday’s concert.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Sending a note to myself not to book you for
the month of October,” Celeste replied, fiddling with her
phone.

“I didn’t say I want the time off.”

“Look, all you have to do is call and I’ll
find you a job. Call it a perk of being best friends with the photo
editor. But you have to take Jacob up on his offer.”

“Will you stop pushing me? I want this
relationship to go at a
normal
pace. You’re not
helping.”

“Honey, it’s never
going
to be normal
as long as Jacob is in the limelight. Take the good where you can
get it.”

“Even so, I could do with a minimum of
meddling
,” I threatened.

“Okay, okay. Let’s get out of here while the
rain has stopped.”

****

The rain left overnight, leaving a cool, but
pleasant, autumn morning. Since Jacob’s hotel sat along Central
Park, he arranged for a carriage ride.

“A buggy tour?” I asked.

“Just another normal couple in the city,
right?”

I smiled, and accepted his hand to help me
up. “Right.”

He hopped inside after me and sat close,
draping his arm around my shoulders. The driver signaled the horse
to walk.

“Since you don’t fly out ‘til late afternoon,
I asked for the full tour.”

I glanced around. “Looks like we got away
unnoticed. Can you ever go outside without wearing a hat?” He wore
a newsboy cap today.

“Not often. Not if I don’t want the
attention. The fans, I don’t mind. They’re mostly okay, just
wanting a photo or an autograph and lettin’ me go, but the paps…
It’s getting uglier out there all the time. I get why some of us
are recluses.”

“I just don’t comprehend why a photo of
someone going to the grocery store is that interesting. It’s one
thing to look for a story, tacky as it is, but why follow someone
on mundane errands? What happened to class in this country?”

“Try not to dwell on it, love. It’s a nice
day, the scenery is beautiful, and you’re in excellent
company.”

“You are so full of yourself,” I teased.

“But you love me, anyway.”

“It helps I don’t have to pick up your dirty
laundry anymore.”

He clutched his heart. “Ooo, ouch! ‘Be kind,
fair lady, or I will deny you chocolate’.”

“’Oh, please, sir, not the chocolate!’” I
collapsed into a fit of giggles. “God, that is still the worst play
I’ve ever seen! I can’t believe you still remember the lines.”

“I wanted to ditch so badly that day, but I
needed the credit. What was that insane bat’s name?”

“Mrs. Brambleberry, the chocoholic. Whatever
she was on when she wrote that disastrous thing, I hope it was
worth it! You know, I think I still have the program in a box
somewhere.”

His eyes widened to comic proportions. “You
show that to anyone, and I
will
kill you and hide the
body.”

I grinned; glad to see him scared for once.
“So paranoid. I’ve been the keeper of all your secrets for how long
now?”

“Guess I picked the right girl for the job.”
He tilted his head to kiss me.

I met him half way. “Mm-hmm…”

A couple hours later, we looked for
lunch.

We blended into the crowd. In L.A., Jacob
probably would’ve been spotted by now, but here, we could be just
two more people on a New York street.

I shook my head when he tugged me into a
McDonald’s. “We have all of New York City to choose a restaurant
from, and you want to eat
here
?”

“Hey, just lookin’ for the first place I
recognized.”

I rolled my eyes. “Come on…” And I led him to
a café Celeste and I found.

“Have you given my idea any more thought?” he
asked.

“Huh? Oh…the trip.”

“You’ve had two days.”

“A day and a half.”

“Fine, a
day and a half
. So? How ‘bout
it?”

“I don’t know…where would we go, really? And
short notice?”

“Beth, you know arrangin’ it isn’t a problem.
I’d ask you to stay at the house, but I don’t want us to get
trapped inside. I want to put my time off to good use, and I’d
like
to do that with
you
.”

“We shouldn’t be talking about this in
public,” I whispered.

He sighed, visibly frustrated with me.
“Fine…”

Once more, I’d soured his mood. If he could
just be patient…

Later, Celeste and I rode to the airport in a
limousine courtesy of my boyfriend. With the paparazzi always
prowling the terminals, Jacob had to say goodbye inside the car.
The ride was tense.

“You two okay?” Celeste asked when we were
seated on the plane.

I sighed. “He wants an answer about the
thing. The going-away-for-a-month thing.”

“You don’t want to go?”

“I don’t know! Part of me does, but it’s also
freaking me out for
so
many reasons. And he’s like a dog
with a bone.”

“Wanna know what I would do?”

“I know what
you
would do. I wanna
know what
I’m
gonna do! I kept checking for cameras all day.
Couldn’t stop thinking about it. I tried to be subtle, but Jacob
probably noticed. He thinks we can find somewhere private, but not
too
private.”

“When does he want an answer?”

“His vacation starts Monday, technically, so
he’s already impatient with me. We struggle over my lack of the
spontaneity gene.”

“I think you’re over-complicating the issue,
sweetie. All you’re being asked to do is decide yes or no. Let him
work out the details.”

“You mean give up control,” I translated.

“It makes them feel like men. Let your
gorgeous boyfriend take care of you for a week or two.”

“What about you and Bob, huh? If Jacob has
time off, then so do the rest of them.”

“We had a nice time…”

“
And?
”