Be Here Now: A Cedar Creek Novel (34 page)

“I’m so happy to finally meet you!” Maggie released me and jumped up and down in excitement, clapping her hands. She reminded me of Macy.

“It’s nice to meet you, too, though I would have preferred to wear clothes while I did.” I send another glare in Jason’s direction, but his grin didn’t falter. I made sure that my towel was still safely attached and hiked it up a little so it didn’t show any more than it should. Maggie gazed first at my appearance then at Jason’s then she grinned in delight.

“So, you’re Maggie,” I broke the, for me, awkward silence and tried to act as if I wasn’t half-naked.

“Yep. I’m Maggie. The hot shot’s personal assistant. I do everything and anything he needs or doesn’t want to do himself and don’t get paid nearly enough for it.” She stated promptly and hilariously, making me snicker. I had a feeling Maggie and I would get along, no problem. She had an attitude, the good kind, along with a lot of energy, and I bet she didn’t take anyone’s shit, not even Jason’s, and I liked that.

Now that she had released me, Jason claimed me back with an arm around my waist. “You need to get on your phone and do your magic. You’ve got a wedding to plan,” he told Maggie.

“A wedding? Yay!” She screeched again as she clapped her hands before she got down to business and took out her phone. “Okay. I need specifics. When, where, who needs to be invited?”

“This afternoon, the beach, and no one. It’s just gonna be the two of us. And keep it on the down low. I don’t want the press to get wind of it.” Frank burst out laughing. “Jeez, man, you don’t let any grass grow, do you?” I giggled since that wasn’t the first time we’d heard that.

Maggie’s eyes bulged out of her head. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope,” Jason stated proudly. I wasn’t sure if he was answering Frank or Maggie, but it didn’t matter. Maggie’s eyes came to me. “Please tell me you won’t let him steamroll you like that.”

I shrugged. “I want to be married to him. We’ve wasted enough time. So why wait?” Jason squeezed my waist and kissed my temple. Maggie watched us for a few moments before she shrugged and said, “Can’t argue with that,” as she unlocked her phone and started to scroll through it. I had assumed by the way she had greeted me and by what both Jason and her had said about finally meeting me that she knew our story and her words confirmed it.

“And call Robert, too. I’m sure he has some forms for me to sign before we get married. There’re a few things Loreley and I have to discuss with him.”

“Already on it,” Maggie muttered with the phone at her ear as she wandered away from us towards the living room.

“Who’s Robert?” I asked.

“My lawyer.”

“And what do we have to discuss with him?”

“Lots of things, but what I really want him to look into is what it would take to change Jesse’s last name.” Tears instantly came to my eyes and my lower lip trembled.

“Hey. None of that. As of this afternoon, you’ll be carrying my name for the rest of your life and Jesse was our son. I want him to have the same name we do.” All I could do was stare at him. God, I loved this man.

“Are you okay with that?” His thumb was caressing my cheekbone as he looked into my eyes questioningly. Was I okay with that? How could I not be? It was one of the most beautiful things I had ever heard.

“Of course I am. It’s beautiful. Thank you.” Relief and gratitude flashed through Jason’s eyes and he kissed my forehead lovingly.

“All right you. Let’s get dressed. First stop, Robert; then dress shopping, then rings, and then I have a surprise for you.”

“A surprise?” I wasn’t a big fan of surprises but I could tell by the gleam in his eyes that I would like this one.

“Yup. Let’s go.” He took my hand again and as he led me out of the office I saw Frank’s gaze on us. It was warm, happy, and relieved. He was happy for us. That meant a lot since it seemed like Frank was one of the few close friends Jason had aside from the band. Frank and Maggie. I gave him a small smile over my shoulder and he winked at me. Holy heck! That guy was hot in general, but when he smiled like that and winked I doubted any woman’s panties didn’t disintegrate on the spot. Good thing I wasn’t wearing any. And good thing Jason hadn’t noticed. Or so I thought.

“You done drooling?” Jason asked over his shoulder, a smile playing around his lips. I tried to school my features even though I knew he had seen. “What’s that, honey?”

Jason chuckled low. “Nice try. It’s okay. I’m not jealous. I know Frank would never go there just like I know that neither would you.”

That was news to me. He had always been the jealous type.

“But yesterday with Nathan—”

“That was different,” he interrupted me. “Nathan has always liked you and I know for a fact that he would have gone after you if I hadn’t gotten there first. With Frank, I know it would never happen. Besides you, he’s probably the only person I trust completely and undoubtedly. It also doesn’t hurt that I know he’s got his eyes set on someone else.” I scowled at his words.

“Who?” I asked, instantly curious.

Jason shook his head. “Nope. Not my secret to share. But I’m sure you’ll figure it out for yourself.”

Hmm, I would have to keep my eyes open for sure. I was dying to know who Frank had his eyes on and why he hadn’t done anything about it. But there was something else Jason said that bugged me.

“Frank is the only person you trust one hundred percent?” I didn’t like the thought of that. That meant he really had been all alone these past six years, and it made my heart hurt for him.

“And you.”

“What about the band?”

“I trust the band, mostly. They’re like my brothers, but things haven’t been smooth in a long time. I hardly ever talk to any of them but Nathan when we’re not working or on tour.” There was sadness in his eyes. Sadness and regret.

“Why?” I asked. Back then they had all been really close.

We were in Jason’s bathroom now and he unwrapped the towel from me and pulled me into the shower. He positioned me under the spray and reached for the shampoo.

“I wasn’t lying when I told you that I was miserable without you. I missed you and deep down I always blamed myself for what happened and I took it out on them. They understood and put up with my shit for a while. But you can only take so much crap from someone and eventually they stopped doing that. I don’t blame them. I was a miserable fucker.” He squeezed shampoo in his hand and massaged it into my hair. It felt divine and I closed my eyes for a moment. Jason rinsed my hair and then started on my body.

“Sorry, I don’t have conditioner,” he murmured.

“That’s okay,” I assured him. “Do you think you can fix it?”

“Your hair?”

“No, the band.”

Jason sighed heavily. “I hope so. I’ve got a lot to make up for. I didn’t realize just how much until this last tour. Murphy won’t even talk to me.”

“I’m sorry, baby.”

“It’s okay. I’m happy now that I’ve got you back and I’ll work on Murphy and Dex. They’ll come around.” Dex was the fourth member of their band. He was almost as bad as Murphy, but just like Murphy, deep down he was a good and loyal guy. I hoped Jason was right and he would be able to fix what had been broken. It couldn’t be fun to work with people who wouldn’t even talk to you unless they had to, especially since they had been your friends before all the craziness of stardom had started.

“Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”

“You’re already doing it, Loreley. I was miserable because you weren’t a part of my life. Now you are and you always will be, so there’s no longer a reason for me to be miserable.” He was done washing my body and moved me out of spray so he could turn into it. I grabbed the shampoo this time and started to wash his hair.

“I’m glad. But that’s not what I meant. I want to help.”

“I know you do and I don’t doubt you will. I just don’t know yet exactly what I’m gonna do. We’ll have to play it by ear I guess.”

“All right. As long as you’ll let me help when the time comes.” I rinsed his hair thoroughly and smiled at his groan.

“So, Frank is the only one who’s allowed to flirt with me or tease without any retribution?” I brought us back to our original topic.

“Yes,” he stated seriously. There he was, my possessive tyrant. I smiled at him. “You’re mine and no one is allowed to look at you for too long. Flirting is out of the question. Touching I don’t even want to think about.” He sounded disgruntled now. My smile grew bigger. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
Just a little, maybe
. I shrugged.

“So, does the same apply to me?” I asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Do I get to defend what’s mine?” I had finished washing his body and he turned off the water before his arms went around my waist and pulled me into him.

“Absolutely,” he said through his grin.

“You sure about that? You know I can be hell on wheels when riled. That hasn’t changed.”

“Oh, I’m sure. And I sincerely hope that hasn’t changed. It’s hot,” he growled in a low voice and nipped my bottom lip. My body was getting excited again and so was his. I could feel his arousal pressed against my stomach.

“I want to take you again, but we don’t have time,” he said against my mouth before he took it in a fiery kiss.

“We can be fast,” I tried to persuade him. I snaked my hand down his stomach, grabbed his already rock hard cock, and started to pump. He groaned into my mouth and pressed me against the side of the shower stall at the same time he turned me. I lost hold of his cock and braced both hands against the glass.

“Fast,” Jason breathed and was inside me only a second later. Then he showed me what fast really meant.

“Mr. Sanders is here to see you,” the sugary sweet voice of the secretary said into the intercom. Her eyes didn’t move from Jason the whole time. We were at his lawyer’s office. It was swanky with deep brown leather furniture and a mix of contemporary and modern art on the walls. Swanky but somewhat cozy and homey. The secretary—Rose, as the sign on her desk told me—didn’t seem to mind that I was standing right there, my hand in Jason’s, as her googly eyes roamed all over his body. I took a step forward and leaned my hip against her desk.

“Hi, Rose,” I said in a voice that was just as sweet. The smile on my face was over the top fake, but she didn’t seem to notice when her eyes finally came to me. I felt Jason’s questioning eyes on me but ignored him. My focus was on the bitch who thought she could look her fill of my man and pretend I wasn’t even in the room, or better, didn’t exist. “Excuse my fiancée’s rudeness. I’m Loreley. It’s so nice to meet you.” My voice was dripping with sarcasm. At the word fiancée, her eyes snapped down to the ring on my finger, then to Jason, then back to me. This time when she looked at me, there was no pretense of friendliness. Disdain and jealousy were written all over her. If I hadn’t known she wasn’t one of Jason’s one-night stands—I was sure he would have told me before we walked into the office—the contempt and bitterness on her face would have fooled me to believe she was. I dropped the smile from my face and glared at her as I leaned in closer across the desk. I didn’t have to say another word for her to understand that I meant business.

“Loreley,” Jason said in an amused voice behind me.

“Yes, honey?” I kept my glare on Rose, but my voice was soft, making her glare intensify, which of course, brought my smile back, but this time it was smug. With a hand on my elbow he turned me towards him, effectively breaking my eye contact with Rose. He cupped one side of my face and laid a big wet one on me, right there in front of her, which I thought was awesome. “Hot,” he murmured against my lips, gave my bottom lip one a quick nip, then leaned back and turned to face the door that was opening behind the desk.

“Jason,” someone said in a deep voice. “It’s good to see you. Maggie tells me we’ve got a lot of things to talk about.”

“Robert,” Jason greeted him with a chin lift. “Yes, we do.” He gave me a proud smile and I turned around to meet Robert—and was surprised that I already knew him. I cocked my head as he stopped mid-stride and took me in.

“It can’t be,” he murmured under his breath, then a huge smile flashed across his face and he closed the distance between us. Instead of shaking my hand like I thought he would, he wrapped me into a big and fatherly hug. “It’s you, isn’t it?” he asked when he leaned back, clutching my upper arms. I nodded. “See? I told you you’d get over him and find someone worthy one day.” He looked extremely pleased.

I giggled and shook my head at him. “Not quite.”

His eyebrows scrunched up in confusion and he looked at Jason then back at me. “What do you mean? Are you not Jason’s Loreley?”

“I am. See, Jason is the guy I told you about, the one I thought broke my heart.”

His eyes narrowed on Jason but he spoke to me. “Are you telling me that Jason is the asshole who threw you away all those years ago?” His voice was hard and shocked. I was shocked, too, at his surprising outburst.

“Can someone tell me what the hell is going on? How do you two know each other?” Jason sounded irritated. He laid his arm around my waist and pulled me into his side. Robert—or Bob as I knew him—let go of my arms, if reluctantly. His narrowed eyes were still on Jason.