Uncut (Unexpected Book 4) (19 page)

“Sounds doable,” I say, looking at Thea. “What do you have on tomorrow around noon?”

“Rest, catch up with my business stuff. Not sure . . .” she trails off suspiciously, “why?”

Reed approaches us; it’s time for her to go home. “We’ll pick you up then.” I lean forward and kiss her cheek. “Sweet dreams, Butterfly.” Tonight I don’t follow the bouncer to make sure she makes it next door. I have to discuss our schedule with Reed and Tristan.

D
uring the morning I worked via Skype with Scott, my assistant. Setting up my schedule for the next couple weeks wasn’t as hard as I imagined it’d be. I’ll have to travel only twice next week, but after that I can stay longer in Seattle. At eleven, Matt reminded me that we had a thing to do today. Hiking with Thea. The idea of going out for a hike convinced me to change and join him. The company was a plus. Except now I realize this might be awkward.

“Why am I here?” I power on my tablet as Matt drives us to pick up Thea. “Sounds like you’ve planned some kind of date with her. I’d hate to become the third wheel.”

He laughs. “Dude, when I take her on a date it’ll be to some place fancy.” He moans. “Shit, I said when, not if. That’s bad, right?”

“Or good, depending on how you see it, Matt,” I respond, tilting my head to the driver’s side and wondering what he’s thinking. “When was the last time you took someone out on a date?”

He shakes his head. “Never. Unless you count our early breakfasts as dates.”

“That’s unexpected. Even I have had dates, Decker.” It’s been a long time since I dated. “Not even a high school girlfriend?”

“No, I was homeschooled.” He pulls in front of the Silver Moon and kills the engine. “I’ve never taken anyone out. Maybe one day I will, maybe it will be with her. I don’t know. Today is not the day though. We’re heading out to the trails as friends.” He pauses and looks across at me intently. “Can you do me a favor? Please, don’t overthink what we’re doing.”

I give him a tight smile; how is it possible that in such a short time he knows what I think? No one knows me as well as he does. There’s something about him—a strong desire to care for everyone and believe that everything is possible.

Matt clears his throat, crossing his arms.

“Just a hike, I get it.” Then tap my head. “Not allowed to think, only walk. Happy?”

“So you own several bars?” Thea questions before taking a bite of her hamburger. I nod. “But why move from the East Coast to California?”

We walked for a couple hours. I followed Matt’s lead, but his lead included talking. Our conversation flowed easily for as long as we hiked. We covered a lot of ground. Thea is great at asking questions. Neither Matt, nor I, missed any of the ones she asked, and they were many. Of course I told her about my beginnings. That I’m from Hartford, Connecticut, went to Yale, and how I dropped out and went to California to make a name for myself.

“At the time it sounded like the best place to start fresh,” I say, drinking my shake. As I’m about to ask where she’s from, a young woman approaches us.

“Excuse me,” she stutters, looking at Matt. “Aren’t you MJ Decker?”

Matt rubs his face, straightens his posture and smiles at her. “I am.”

“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.” She fans her hands toward her face, her eyes light up, and she bounces a few times before speaking. “Could I get your autograph? A picture with you? I can tweet it and be like so famous.”

“Sure. I’m cool with the autograph, sweetheart, but the tweet not so much,” he denies, taking the pen that Thea supplies from her purse. He signs a napkin and hands it over to her. “What’s your address? I can have my people send you over a signed T-shirt if you relax and forget where you saw me. Can you do that for me?”

“But I want a picture with you,” the woman insists.

Thea fetches her phone out of her purse. “What’s your name?”

“Sienna,” the girl responds.

“Sienna, do me a favor and snuggle closer to MJ,” Thea instructs. Sienna obediently leans closer to Matt, hugging him like a puppy she wants to cherish forever. “Now smile.” She taps her phone a couple of times. “Ready, we’ll print this and have his publicist send over the signed pic.”

“Will you really?” Sienna asks, writing down her address. “I promise not to mention that you’re here. Just don’t forget to send me the shirt and the pictures.”

The woman leaves, and Matt is the first one to speak, “Didn’t I say these are the best hamburgers you’ve ever eaten in all of Seattle?”

“So where are the best hamburgers that you’ve ever eaten in the entire world?” Thea takes another fry, dips it in her vanilla shake, and eats it.

“Still searching for that one, Butterfly,” he says, eating the last bite of his second hamburger. “It’s all about the hamburger, shake, and fry combo. The three have to complement each other.” Thea feeds him a fry dipped with shake and he grins at her. “See, best combo ever.”

We laugh at his comment and go back to the easy conversation we were having before a fan interrupted us. After finishing lunch, I suggest walking instead of taking the Jeep, as we’re only a couple of miles from Thea’s place. I’m not ready to end this . . . whatever we want to call it. Not yet. They both agree. We laugh, chat, and enjoy the company the entire time, until we reach the building.

“Thank you, it was great. It’s been so long since I’ve had so much fun.” She fidgets with her keys, her head lifts, and her eyes look from Matt to me. “See you later tonight?”

“Yes,” we both respond. I lean down and kiss her cheek, and Matt does the same. It takes some strength to pull back and not wrap my arms around her.

How is this possible so quickly? Does Matt feel the same?

Thea turns around and enters her home without another word. My mind starts thinking about today. She’s right. It was a great day.

“You’ll be okay tomorrow?” I ask Thea. We pushed our trips. Instead of leaving on Sunday, Tristan left earlier today and I am heading to California tomorrow. The crowd hasn’t diminished since the day I sent that tweet, and many corroborated that I come to the Silver Moon often.

“Yes, stop worrying about me. You should ask Reed.”

“He should hire someone.”

She rolls her eyes. “That’s not necessary. Matt, you’re the reason why we had so many visitors every night.” She places her hands on top of both cheeks and squeaks. “OMG. It’s MJ Decker. Please, please,” she squeals rubbing her body against me. “Give me your autograph, take me home. I want to have your babies.”

I wiggle my eyebrows and smirk. “So, you want to have my babies?”

“Ugh,” she growls, palm facing her forehead. “No. Those are some of the phrases that many of your crazy fans screamed while they were pawing you as if you were a piece of meat.”

“USDA choice, prime select piece of meat. And you must call them my adoring fans,” I correct her, half joking. They’re borderline insane. The attention is exhausting sometimes, and the lack of privacy is frustrating. “Not crazy. They have feelings.”

Thea frowns, lifts her hand, and touches my jaw. “You don’t like the attention, do you?” I stare into those magical eyes that look deep purple tonight. How does she know? “That smile of yours isn’t reaching all the way to your eyes like it usually does. I bet having all those
adoring
fans chasing you along with the reporters must be tiresome.” I nod. “There’s no such thing as privacy, and they want to know everything about you. From where you bought your last coffee, to how you sleep at night. Boxers or briefs. Meat or vegetarian. Coke or Pepsi.”

“Boxer briefs,” I respond, then take her hand and place small kisses along her palm. “I don’t think they are that intrusive. But it’s the price you pay when you’re famous.”

“It isn’t worth it to pay for it with your life.” She tries to take her hand back but I don’t let her. I’ve never discussed with anyone how I feel about the attention. No one would understand. For some reason, she does. “You end up running away from everything you had, and watch your back to make sure they aren’t right behind you. Every step you take is documented, every mistake judged and penalized. At night, all those followers are gone and you remain lonely. Hurt.”

“I try my best to erase the intimate shit,” I explain, trying to communicate to her how I manage to survive. It’s the job of the media team I assembled to erase most of the crap that's posted about me. “Keeping the personal shit away from strangers is hard in showbiz. You know, when Jacob and I started our band, Without A Compass, it was fine. No one cared about us as people, only our music. There was an incident that changed it all. Some jerk tried to make money off us and the media got wind of who one of our fathers was—Chris Decker.” Something flickers in Thea's eyes, but she closes them briefly and when they open they look void of emotion. It doesn't sit well, but I shove it aside. “We adjusted our routines and made sure to keep the family’s identities away from us, keeping my sister safe. It was long ago though.”