Made in Nashville: HarperImpulse Contemporary Romance (19 page)

She clung to him, pressed her damp skin to his and held on tightly. His heart was racing and his breath was hot and staggered against her cheek, their bodies still locked together. She tried to come down, but smaller waves were still breaking, little shockwaves of pleasure sneaking up on her as Jared pulsed inside her.

‘Did I hurt you?’ He raised his head from her embrace to look at her.

‘No.’ She brushed her hands over his hair. ‘No …  it was beautiful …  just so beautiful.’

‘It was everything,’ he told her.

‘Yes, it was.’ She put her hand in his. ‘It was everything.’

With two steaming coffee cups in her hand she entered the bedroom, smiling when she saw Jared was unmoved. She put the drinks on the dresser and crawled back into bed, snuggling up close to him and drawing the covers over them both. She lay there for a moment, breathing him in and then she pinched an inch of skin and he flinched.

‘Hey, what was that?’ He shifted in the bed and turned to look at her.

‘Good morning,’ she greeted, smiling.

‘One thing you’re gonna have to learn about me is I ain’t no mornin’ person,’ he stated, rubbing at his eyes.

‘I’ve made coffee.’

‘I’m awake.’ He grinned and wrestled her into him, making her squeal as he tickled her ribs.

‘Stop!’

‘What is this?’ He pulled at the t-shirt she was wearing. ‘Are you really wearin’ my limited edition Lynyrd Skynyrd tour t-shirt?’

She pulled it up and over her head, throwing it down on the duvet. ‘Not now. What you gonna do about it?’

She watched him wet his bottom lip with his tongue. ‘What am I gonna do about it?’

She nodded, sat up a little straighter, pushed her hair back, unashamedly bare.

He studied her, watched as the lack of covering and his scrutiny made her breasts change and harden. He could look at her for always, just look, and before last night that would have been enough. But now he knew how perfect she was in every way, how her body responded to his, he never wanted to be parted from her in any sense.

He sat himself up and reached out for her, his thumb lingering over her nipple until she closed her eyes for him. He cupped her breast and then pulled her in for a kiss.

‘How hot is that coffee?’ he drawled, nipping at her bottom lip.

‘It’ll keep,’ she responded, pushing herself up against him.

The tune of ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ erupted from Jared’s phone on the dresser. He groaned and let her go.

‘It might be Buzz. After yesterday I can’t let it go,’ he stated, his eyes meeting hers.

‘Go, go answer it,’ she urged.

He left the bed and moved to pick up the phone. ‘Buzz …  well I’m not at home right now. What’s up?’

She pulled the cover up around her and watched him as he spoke. It was only just past eight. She didn’t know much about Buzz’s daily agenda for Jared but Larry never used to call her before nine unless there was a problem.

‘You what? Are you serious?’ He turned around to look at Honor, his eyes wide. ‘No, I know, it’s good. I just don’t understand it is all.’

She tried to listen harder, decipher what was going on by watching his body language. She mouthed the word ‘what?’

‘Yeah I will. We have a sound check slot at three. Listen, thanks, man, for sorting all this out and for everything. Are you comin’ tonight? Then, hell, I’ll see you there.’

He ended the call, put down the phone and leapt back onto the bed.

‘Hey! That was almost my strumming hand,’ she said, scooting back a little as he advanced.

He took hold of her hand and put it to his mouth, kissing the skin. ‘That was Buzz. Dan Steele’s dropped the charges against me. My lawyer called Buzz and that’s it, it’s all done.’

She stilled, not knowing how to react. Had Dan really done what she’d asked him? Had what she said really sunk in and had an effect? Or was this just another one of his games just so he could be in control. Did he have some other plan? Perhaps there was something else going on they didn’t know about yet.

‘Hey, what’s up? This is good news. Buzz says he’s told the Marlon Awards board and they no longer want a meet which means I’m still in the runnin’. I’m performin’ tonight at the festival and, when that’s done and the awards are over, we can head off to Alabama to meet my mom with no pending trial over my head.’ He brushed a hand down her hair then held her chin up with his thumb and forefinger.

‘You really want me to meet your mom?’ The thought of being invited into a family filled her with mixed emotions. Joy that she was going to be able to interact in that way like she’d never had the chance to do before and fear because she didn’t know how that would feel.

‘Yes I do. We’ve only got six weeks before the tour. We start rehearsals next week and it’s gonna be full-on. I don’t know when we’ll get the chance to get to Alabama again. We don’t hit there until the Fall.’

Honor nodded her head and forced a smile.

‘What? Are you worried about meetin’ my mom?’

‘No …  I guess …  maybe a little. I just have no idea what it’s going to be like. I never had a mom, remember? I had care workers and I’m hoping that isn’t anything like the same.’

‘I don’t know, she was damn straight-down-the-line with me and my brother. Anna seemed to do better. She’d put on her cute face and force the tears out.’ He laughed.

‘How old are they?’

‘Jacob’s the baby, he’s coming up twelve. Anna’s fifteen.’

‘So you’re the eldest.’

‘Yes, ma'am but I look well on it don’t I?’

Honor smiled and looped her arms around his neck, tugging him towards her for a kiss. She pressed herself against him and shivered as his arm went around her waist, pulling her into him.

‘I love you, baby,’ he whispered into her ear.

‘With all my heart,’ she replied.

‘So, where’s Baby Blue Bonnet really from?’

He was showing her the park. They’d headed off into a trail through the woods and when he asked that question she felt the need to kick a stick.

‘I have no idea. I was left in Michigan but you’re right, I could be from anywhere. My parents could have been visiting, just passing through, just dropping off their unwanted brat on the Mayor’s doorstep.’

‘I’m sorry, that was a real dumb ass question to ask. I just can’t imagine havin’ no history like that. I can trace my ancestors back as far as …  well I think one of my great granddaddies helped Noah with that Ark.’

Honor spat out a laugh and thumped him on the arm.

‘Hey, that’s my frettin’ arm just there and I have a gig tonight.’ He put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close.

‘Roots. You need to put down some roots in Alabama with the Marshall family,’ Jared told her. ‘Just you wait, my mom will have you in her dance dress before you’ve even meet the chickens.’

‘Dance dress?’

‘It still swamps Anna.’

‘I bet she’s a great cook too,’ Honor said.

‘Yeah, and she can sing.’

‘Now you’re being bad, stop it.’

‘She’s gonna love you, Honor.’ He stopped walking and turned to look at her. ‘She’s not gonna believe that someone like you is with someone like me but … ’

‘Don’t do that. Don’t put yourself down. We’re all marked by things that happened in the past.’ She moved her hair and touched her scar. He raised his hand and touched hers with his.

‘If I ever see the guy that did that … ’

‘We’ll dial 911 and wait for the cops. It took me a long time to realize that people like him just don’t have any sense of right or wrong. Even after psychiatric treatment it’s doubtful that the inbuilt, screwed vision of life he has can be changed. When he attacked me, he just attacked me. He didn’t do it because he thought it was bad, he did it just because he wanted to.’

‘Never again, not on my look out.’ He kissed her cheek, then linked their hands and started to walk again. ‘So, you gonna watch me later on?’

‘Hell yeah. Is that how it goes?’

‘You’re catchin’ on to those Southern ways, baby. C’mon, I need to show you how to get real dirty in these woods over here.’

‘Are you OK?’ Honor had to shout to raise her voice above the noise of the band. Jared’s musicians were on stage at the Marlon Festival starting up the opening number while he waited for his cue.

‘Sure! This is what I love the most. I’m gonna go out there and have the time of my life …  and you’re gonna be watchin’!’ he called back.

‘Thirty seconds, Jed.’

‘I’d better go. I’ll be in the pit with Mia. I’ll be the one screaming harder than anyone else,’ Honor told him.

‘I love you, girl,’ he told her.

‘I love you too. Go!’ She kissed his lips, holding onto his hands.

‘Ten seconds, Jed, let’s go.’

She let him go, watched him rush along the backstage area before she hurried down the steps and around the side of the stage to the VIP pit.

‘HOW Y’ALL DOIN’ TONIGHT!’

Jared’s voice reverberated around the arena and the noise rising from the crowd disorientated her. There were fifty thousand people screaming at the tops of their voices for her man. She’d watched a couple of other acts the previous day but the reaction was nothing on this. Southern flags and banners were being held up in the air, drinks were being spilt because of frenzied clapping and rock hands.

‘ARE YOU READY FOR THIS OUTLAW?’

She flashed her pass at security on the cordon and looked for Mia. The audience screamed louder, hats were waving, women were sitting on the shoulders of men, flashes from cameras and glows from cell phones were erupting everywhere.

Mia had her mouth wide open in a screech when Honor reached her. She pulled her arm.

‘Where’ve you been? You’re missing it! WOO HOO! YEAH!’ Mia jumped up and down, waving her arms in the air. ‘Did you bring corn dogs?’

‘What? No.’

‘Look at Byron! God, he’s so sexy! BYRON!’

Honor caught an elbow in the ear as Mia jumped again, waving her arms.

‘LET’S BREAK ALL THE GOD-DAMN RULES …  IT’S TIME FOR SOME DRINKIN’ DOWN SOUTH!’

The band kicked into one of Jared’s most popular songs and the crowd reacted immediately with more air-punching, photo-taking and joining in with the lyrics. Honor had never experienced anything like it. Ten years away from the music scene and she had no idea it was going to be like this. Everyone around her was worshipping Jared like a god and looking at the stage, seeing him perform, hearing the fantastic band, she could understand why.
She
was almost awestruck. He was charismatic as well as supremely talented and he held every single person watching in the palm of his hand.

Mia elbowed her in the side. ‘I totally forgot. You’ve never seen him live, have you, doll?’

Honor shook her head, aware of what she’d missed. He was a true country rock star, not just a song-writing genius but an energetic performer who know exactly how to have a party on stage and transmit that feeling to the entire room.

‘He rocks it, doesn’t he?’ Mia called to her.

‘Yes he does,’ she answered.

‘I want to thank y’all so much for comin’ to hang out with me tonight. I’ve had such a blast, so thank you for making me feel so welcome.’

The crowd responded with whoops and yells. He couldn’t see any of them. They were a black mass of shadows, stretching out in front of him and ending who knew where. But he could feel them. They’d clapped and shouted their appreciation, joined in with all the songs and made the gig one of his best performances of the year. This was why he did what he did. When he found out he could be so admired for just bringing the style of music he loved playing to the stage, it was a dream come true. He loved, lived and breathed what he did and every day he praised the Lord for giving him the chance to do it.

‘Now, this last song I’m gonna play is a brand new one. It’s gonna be on my new album and I wrote it for my girl.’ He whirled his hand in the air and a spotlight moved, falling over the VIP pit, lighting it up.

‘She’s down there somewhere, Miss Honor Blackwood. Let’s hear some appreciation for her y’all, because she’s one talented lady.’ He saw Mia had grabbed up Honor’s arm and was waving it in the air as Honor looked embarrassed from the attention.

The crowd responded straight away, clapping and screaming their acknowledgement as he knew they would.

‘So, being in love an’ all.’ He paused. ‘It brings out all these sorts of feelings I barely knew existed.’ He stopped and the crowd whistled. ‘So, Honor, this one’s for you. This is
All For You
.’

Here I am, and God I think I’m fallin’

Can’t hold on, you’ve got me floored

Can’t forget, Lord I think I’m drowning

Going down without a care

You didn’t even know how much you reached me

You didn’t even know that you could teach me

But it’s all for you

Everything I do

Cos now you’re here with me, baby it’s all true

Yes, it’s all for you

Every single day

And baby now I’ve found you, there’s no other way

She knew Mia was staring at her but she couldn’t stop. The tears were leaking from her eyes as she watched him and his favorite acoustic guitar work magic on a song he’d written for her. It was perfect.
He
was perfect.

‘Oh! I might just orgasm. This is
the
best corn dog I’ve ever had.’ Mia was stuffing it into her mouth as they waited in the holding area for Jared and Byron to finish up and join them.

‘I thought we were going to eat someplace,’ Honor remarked as the rest of the corn dog got pushed down Mia’s throat.

‘We are. I mean, this is a good corn dog an’ all but it’s basically just a snack. D’you know how long I’ve been here? D’you know how much more it costs me to have someone else take care of the store instead of you? I deserve this.’

‘I slept with Jared last night,’ Honor informed.

‘Holy fuck! For real? For a minute I thought you were gonna hang on till the wedding night.’

Honor took a swig from her water bottle.

‘Well? You can’t just lay that on me and not give me details. What’s he like?’

‘I’m not giving you details. We’ve never given each other details.’

‘You’re kidding me? I’ve given you a blow by blow account – literally - of all of my conquests.’ Mia looked affronted.

‘It was special …  really special and that’s all I’m saying,’ Honor stated.

‘I saw the two of you on You Tube in his new video and I swear the screen misted over. I’ll hedge my bets that he was damn good.’

‘And Byron?’ Honor asked quickly.

‘Oh he’s got a body to die for. You have to be fit for all this touring they do. He’s the most sought-after guitarist in Nashville you know. Everybody wants him, Lindy Mason, Jared, Vince Gill, you name them, they want him. I call him Deacon Claybourne but he doesn’t really get it.’

Honor laughed.

‘Miss Blackwood.’ The middle-aged roadie she’d seen the day before approached them, something in his hands.

‘Hey …  it was Corbin wasn’t it?’ she replied, frowning as she tried to remember.

‘Yes, that’s right. You remembered.’ He smiled.

‘I really appreciated the water yesterday.’

‘I’m Mia, Byron Starks’ girlfriend and Honor here’s my very best friend. You are … ?’

‘Corbin Severs, ma'am, pleased to meet you.’ He held out his hand to Mia and she took it.

‘We’re just about to head off so … ’ Honor started.

‘Sure. I just found these backstage. They’re picks,’ he stated, handing her a tiny plastic box not more than a couple of inches across.

‘Oh,’ she took them, her brow furrowing in confusion. She didn’t recognize the box at all. ‘Are you sure they’re mine? I mean, there are so many artists here and … ’

‘They’re personalized.’ He took the box back from her hand and opened it up.

There were maybe a dozen guitar picks all with her photo or cover art from her first albums, the logo of her name in gold or pink, one was sequined, with HB engraved into it.

‘Wow, they’re awesome! I need to get some of those for the store. Would you sign some?’ Mia asked, looking past Honor into the box.

‘I’ve not seen these before,’ Honor stated, lifting her eyes to look up at Corbin.

‘They were just backstage …  you know maybe your new record company had them done and they kind of got lost en route?’ he suggested.

‘Whoa, hang on, maybe it’s that stalker guy. Flowers, owls, chocolates and now personalized picks,’ Mia blurted out.

‘I don’t think …  well I don’t know but …  well I was just passing these on. I mean if you don’t want them I can unfind them again for you,’ Corbin suggested.

‘No, it’s fine. They’re pretty.’ She took the box back. ‘I expect you’re right. They’re probably something Gear arranged. Jared has some with skulls and stuff on,’ Honor said, smiling at the roadie.

‘Right, well, have a good night,’ he said, waving a hand and turning away.

‘Weird,’ Mia said, staring at the glittering picks.

‘Yeah but no freaky note and look at this one - neon blue,’ Honor said, taking it out the box and holding it up.

‘What you got there?’

Jared’s voice startled her and she closed the box up. If she showed him or told him where they came from he’d worry. He’d think it was another gift from her anonymous admirer or Dan Steele. He’d been through so much in the last twenty-four hours she didn’t want to add to his plate. Things were going so well between them and she didn’t want anything getting in the way.

‘Someone’s made her some real cute picks,’ Mia stated, snatching the box and opening it up.

‘Probably Gear. They were left backstage,’ Honor said hurriedly.

‘I want some like that,’ Byron said, admiring them.

She could see in Jared’s expression that something was coming.

‘Any note?’ he said, his eyes questioning.

‘No note. It’s nothing. They’re not from …  whoever it is,’ Honor insisted.

‘Maybe we should … ’

She silenced him with a kiss, grabbing him by his leather jacket and holding him hard against her.

‘Are you seeing this?’ Mia said loudly to Byron.

‘Damn, stop it, or you’ll be all over tomorrow’s papers,’ Byron remarked.