Falling Star (20 page)

"What look?" Trying to arrange her features into an innocent smile was a lesson in futility. Her lovesick grin wasn't going anywhere, and Dean saw everything she felt. She ended up laughing.

Not if you're naked.

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Yeah, that look."

"Maybe he's taking a break."
Shouldn't you be working? she texted.
"When is your boy coming over?"

Dean folded his arms across his chest. "I'm going to ignore that, because once you see this
man
," he glared at her, "you'll be sorry enough. And he'll be here any minute."

I'm Multitasking ;)

Jade couldn't believe Adam's emoticon wink was almost as sexy as his genuine version.
You're good at that :)

She took a plate from the cupboard and loaded up a plate of noodles. "Who is this guy? I haven't heard you talk about anyone new."

"His name is Marco. I met him Saturday when he delivered my lunch."

"By bicycle or car?"

"Bike. Why?"

Jade took her plate and made her way to her room before throwing her last comment over her shoulder. "Just wondering if he has his driver's license yet."

Just as she knew he would, he took off after her. Good thing she had a lock on her door. She laughed when Dean jiggled the doorknob and cursed.

"You'll pay for that Jade!"

"I'm not afraid of you!" The doorbell rang. "Go answer the door, your play date is here!"

God, she loved Dean. With a female roommate she would have to deal with competition, cattiness and clothing theft. Dean was able to share her appreciation for men, but obviously not competing with her for the heterosexual type. She sat in the armchair near the window, ate Dean's spaghetti, and sent text messages back and forth to Adam.

They like your song.

My song?

Three and a half, remember?

Can't wait to hear the finished product.

We'll play it on Thursday for you.

You should get back to work.

I know. I'll call you when they leave. You should get ready for bed ;)
.

By the time she peeked into the living room an hour later, Dean and Marco were tangled together on the rug, both of them shirtless, and mouths fused in a violent-looking kiss.

She tiptoed back to her room. At least from what she saw of Marco, he wasn't a kid, he was a well-built Hispanic man.

* * * *

Jade yawned. Again. Earth Scents was slow, which left her too much time to daydream. Ella was in the back room, arranging the afternoon deliveries for John, who probably tapped his foot impatiently.

She and Adam had talked way too long last night. She was glad for the distraction though. She even turned up the television to drown out the sounds of passion coming from Dean's bedroom. Marco was still there the following morning, and he even cooked breakfast.

He was taller and lankier than she thought, and she was wrong about his heritage, Marco was an Italian, born and raised in Florence. He even came with the accent, and oozing hot-blooded Latin sexuality. He came to L.A. to go to school, so he was smart, and he must not be a snorer, or he wouldn't have made it all night in Dean's bed. Maybe her friend had met his match. By now they were probably in the throes of another session of hot sex.

Jade's nipples reacted to her daydream, remembering what Dean had told her about a front row seat. Of all of Dean's former lovers, this Marco would get her vote for most fun to watch.

Wednesday she got to spend the night in Adam's huge bed, though they didn't get much sleep.

"Tell me what I need to do before you let me inside you bare," he asked after disposing of yet another condom. He crawled back onto the bed beside her and stroked her hair, damp with perspiration, away from her face.

It took her a few seconds to catch her breath before she could answer him. "I'm already on the pill."

"Then I'll see my doctor. I really want to feel you surround me."

She'd never had sex without a condom. She tried to imagine how it would feel. She moaned against his throat, and her sex clenched with need. "I'll see someone too. I'd love to feel you come inside me."

He trailed his rough fingers across her stomach, and whispered his adoration in her ear. When he touched her everywhere, teasing her with his restrained passion, she pushed him to his back and returned the favor.

He reached for another condom and rolled it on. "You make me so hot and hard. I swear I can never get enough of you."

Jade had never been with a man who recovered so quickly. It gave her a heady burst of pride to know that she affected him so.

They slept late, and spent the morning in bed, only leaving when the scent of fried chicken wafted from a tray Elaine had placed by the door around noon.

Dean was right, they needed a House Manager.

She met the members of Adam's band, and true to his word, they were a cordial down-to-earth group. With Ella's request in mind, she scoped out the men. Tim, one of the guitar players, and John, who played bass, were both married. Jason was a good-looking all-American blond, but the drummer was gay. Too bad for Ella, and too bad Dean had switched to brunets. Mick, the keyboard player was indeed single, and he even looked like Ella's type, with long black hair and heavily tattooed arms.

They all sat in Adam's music room, which was like a studio combined with a college dorm. There were musical instruments everywhere; digital recording equipment took up part of the space. The rest was filled with a side bar, easy chairs, beanbags, and a long sofa. They worked on the layers of "Always". Each band member took his turn playing his part solo, and took advice and changed a few things. The recording of one part would be played for the next layer, and so on. Soon, the parts all came together, and they played the song in its entirety. Jade sat out of the way, and was completely entranced. Although this wasn't a formal recording session, they all took their parts seriously. After playing a few other songs, with Jade as the only audience, they "threw some riffs around". They must have been playing together for quite some time, the way they could read where each other's minds were going. Even tempo changes sounded choreographed. Eventually they all made their way toward the bar, and started in on the snacks Elaine brought up.

Tim sat down beside Adam with another cold bottle of beer. "I figured Nash was hooked on some girl," he elbowed Adam without spilling from his longneck, "when he turned down poker night." Tim had one of those interesting faces that reminded her of a football player—square, ruddy and a nose that looked like it had been broken at least twice.

Jade put on her appalled face, while secretly pleased that he preferred her company. "No! Not poker night!"

Adam just pulled her closer against his side. "I get enough of their ugly asses on tour. Besides, they never pay up."

"Bullshit!" Jason yelled out from his perch on the stool behind Adam's drum set, and pointed his bottle toward Adam. "You're the guy who always loses."

By the time the men filed out of Adam's house, Jade had phone numbers of the two band wives, and an invitation to a two-year-old's birthday party.

He took her to bed, and spent his time loving her thoroughly. Jade wasn't sure she'd ever had more than three orgasms, but under Adam's masterful touch, she surprised herself.

Fully satisfied, she lay beside him, listening to his heartbeat, wishing she had packed an overnight bag.

"Don't forget, tomorrow I'm taking you to Marc's restaurant." His after-sex voice was the sexiest. She almost wanted to tell him to use it when he sings, but millions of fans fall in love with this man through his voice. This post-coital voice she'd keep for herself. "This will be your coming out, you know. We'll be seen. Together. Your face will be in the news after tomorrow night."

Jade did know that. She knew Adam had been shielding her since that first date. She also knew if she wanted a part in Adam's life, she would have to learn to live the life he did. What if she took the leap, and was humiliated by a very public breakup down the road? Could she handle that kind of heartbreak? The only other option was to walk away from Adam right now, before the world knew who she was. One look into his blue eyes told her she would never be able to do that.

"Do you want to think about it some more? I can wait, Jade."

She looked him directly in the eye. "Should I dress up?"

He visibly and physically relaxed. A smile briefly tipped his mouth, then he smothered her with kisses. "It's a nice place, but you know I like you wearing anything," he licked a line down her jaw, "and nothing."

"You've seen my only dress." She laughed when he tickled her throat.

"I'll buy you something sexy."

"No. I don't want you to spend money on me."

He made his way down to her chest, and he nuzzled in between her breasts. "Do you want me to spend money on some other woman?"

She slapped him on the back of his head. "No, I just…oh Adam…I love it when you do that."

He stopped sucking her nipple between his teeth to speak. "You just what?"

"I just wanted to warn you before you saw me in the same dress and…I don't know how nice your friend's place…ah that feels good."

"You're beautiful, Jade."

* * * *

Friday morning, Jade stood on the sales floor of Earth Scents, watching two men install a brand-new touch-screen computerized cash register. She fought back tears. It was so like Adam, to give her such a gift. He knew she wasn't comfortable with his wealth, and wouldn't feel right about taking expensive or frivolous gifts from him.

"This thing will also track our inventory, Jade!" Dean was one of the few men who actually looked at an owner's manual, and he had already bookmarked several pages with torn-off pieces of paper. "I just have to install this software on our computer, and connect it with this Ethernet cable." He shook his head incredulously, and bent back over the thick book. "This is awesome."

"It is awesome." She pulled out her phone to send Adam a text. She knew he was busy with his producer today, so she couldn't call him like she wanted to.
You're wonderful. Thank you for the register.
It was installed and running before she got Adam's reply.
I don't like it when you worry.

"You're not mad at him, are you?" Dean turned her around to face him.

"No, I'm not mad. I'll try to figure out a way to pay him back though." She had no idea how much this system cost, but she'd look it up and budget some kind of payment system.

"I'm sure there's some way you could pay him back that will make the man happy." Dean kissed her forehead, then moved her to one side. "But since you aren't mad, I'm supposed to give you this."

Dean reached underneath the counter, pulled out a thin white box, and laid it like a sacrifice before her.

She looked at it as though it might burst into flames if she touched it. "What is it?"

"Do you want me to tell you, or do you want to open it?"

She lifted the lid. Underneath the layers of white tissue lay a pool of sea green silk. She lifted it from the box, and it unfurled, revealing the most beautiful dress she'd ever seen.

"Oh my God." Her hands shook so badly that it showed off the shimmering iridescent finish of the fine fabric. "Dean…did you see this?"

"Yeah I saw it. I get to take credit for picking it out. Adam said he didn't want to ask your size. He thought you'd be offended."

Before she dropped it on the floor, Jade carefully folded it back away, and threw herself into Dean's arms.

She'd never been so nervous in her life. Dean sent her home from work early so she could have her hair and nails done before slipping into the sensuous fabric of her dress.

The color was perfect for her. It brought out the color of her eyes, and made her hair shine. It was a simple cut, but it fit her like a second skin, showing a generous, but not lewd, amount of cleavage. The hem flirted with her knees, and floated around her with each movement, like a silk cloud.

She spun in front of Dean, and his approval was clear. "Damn, I'm good."

"It helps to have someone else's money to spend, I'm sure."

"Well, that's true." Dean reached up to pull some of her hair loose from the chignon to lay around her temples. "You look great, Jade. The cameras are gonna love you."

She covered her erratic heart with an equally shaky hand. "I'm scared, Dean."

He pulled her into his arms, careful not to crush her dress or destroy her hairdo. "Don't be, Jade. Just think of it as a date with Adam. You're going to ignore everyone else there, just like you'll ignore any mention of you two in tomorrow's gossip columns."

Dean was right. It was just a date. If anything came up, she knew Adam would bring her home. He seemed to be pretty good at shielding her so far.

"I might text the code."

Dean joined in her laughter, then shoved a shot of brandy in her hand, swearing that it wouldn't be enough to knock her down, but just enough to make her relax.

Adam picked her up for their date promptly at seven. He wore a black suit with a one-buttoned jacket that showed off his broad shoulders. Even his shoes looked impeccable.