At first, the monotonous beeping of her alarm made Jacey want to fling the contraption across the room. In the next moment, she wanted to kiss it for booting her groggy self from the world of dreams. She’d never been much of a morning person, but she’d settled into the habit of waking early enough on Monday mornings to spend an hour with Race before flying to the studio in Nashville. She typically stayed three nights, recorded two full days, and returned the following Thursday evening. It was painful to spend so much time away from her newborn son each week, but it couldn’t be helped. It would be far worse being away from him for two full months during her upcoming tour with Lady Rock.

Luca was already gone, of course. He wasn’t happy with her new work schedule though he didn’t openly complain about it. He’d gone silent again on the whole topic of her career which was driving her crazy. Did he think she was a bad parent for putting in such long hours away from Race?

Like she had much choice. Her new practice schedule with Lady Rock’s back-up band involved spending two full days a week in Nashville. If it weren’t for Don and the co-pilot Luca had hired to commute her in his private jet, she wouldn’t have been able to come every weekend. She was wildly grateful for her husband’s pricey intervention in her scheduling dilemma. She just wished he seemed more contended with the arrangement but no! He seemed to be more worried about her than ever — fussing over every pound she’d lost since delivering Race and dickering endlessly with Colette to tweak her diet.

She wished she could figure out a way to make him happy. Period. A foolish wish, but there it was. She was a woman wildly in love with her own husband. A man who’d married her out of duty. A man who didn’t have a history of seeking out emotional attachments with the women he dated. At the end of the day, he was a man driven to grow the Genesis empire and carry on the Calcagni legacy. Nothing more and nothing less.

Thank God she’d never been one to give up easily. After a few sleepless nights in a row, she came up with a plan to win her husband’s heart. Step one required staying an extra hour after practice once a week in Nashville. She stressed about how she was going to explain it to Don, but he didn’t ask questions. He adjusted their flight schedule without so much as a comment. Fortunately! The last thing she needed was for him to pry into her secret appointments at one of the poshest, clubs in town.

She hurriedly dressed for the day and skipped breakfast, dashing down the hall in the hopes Colette wouldn’t waylay her on the way and guilt her into taking a detour to the dining room. It had only been seven weeks since her delivery, but she already had her trim figure back. She had no intention of allowing Colette and Luca to conspire to put any unnecessary weight on her right before the Lady Rock World Tour.

Race’s whimper had her bursting back through the nursery door. “Oh, sweetheart! I’m right here.” She scooped him up, despite their new nanny’s sound of protest.

“I’m sorry he’s not dressed, ma’am.” Britt help out her arms with a rueful expression on her fair, rounded features. “He needs to be bathed and changed. Little guy was sleeping in and I hated to disturb him.” She was a young college student taking online classes in multiple foreign languages. Her long-term goal was to become a linguist.

Jacey laughed and pressed a dozen kisses to the squirming infant in her arms. “You mean I actually arrived in time for his bath? Bonus!”

Britt tucked her long-blonde hair behind her ears as she walked to the nursery bathroom. She filled his mini-tub with warm water and returned to the nursery to prop it on his changing table. Next to it, she laid out bottles of baby shampoo, lotion, and powder. “Are you sure, ma’am?”

“I couldn’t be happier, Britt. Really.” It was the perfect start to her day.

The visit to the nursery flew past too quickly. Two hours later, Jacey was back on the airplane and headed to Nashville.

The following morning, she perched at the breakfast bar in the studio lounge with Lady Rock’s extended band. She idly scooted the food around on the plate Colette had sent with her. She wasn’t nervous so much as anxious to make a good first impression. Lady Rock was en route with her premium band members. They would arrive any minute. Today was the day they would finally meet in person.

Being immersed in the world of pop music was like living in a dream. It was beyond exciting to practice with a real band, work with a ridiculously fawning agent, and occasionally sign t-shirts and other paraphernalia for the groupies who thronged the doors of their studio.

She loved every minute of it, from the excitement in the air to the flurry of preparations for her opening number in the upcoming concert tour. Her first mini-tour!

“J.C. Crew?”

She raised her head to take in the energetic stride of the willowy woman striding towards her. It was Lady Rock in person. A sensation on stage, she appeared to glide more than walk across the room in her glittering red pantsuit and platform heels. Her arms were outstretched in welcome.

Jacey unfolded herself from her stool and reached for Lady Rock’s hand, but Lady Rock kept moving and drew her into a perfumed bear hug.

“Thank you for joining my tour.” The pop sensation drew her at arm’s length and flipped aside a wave of her long, brunette hair to regard her more closely.

“Thank you for asking me.” Her apprehension vanished beneath the approving glint in Lady Rock’s gaze as it swept her filmy white body suit with its flowing sleeves.

“Oh, honey! When my tour director first heard Chance Biggers raving about you, he was sold. After he watched your sample recording, he was completing lost. It was only a matter of working out the numbers with Chance after that.”

It was high praise, not idle flattery, and Jacey knew it. She grinned. “We’ve tweaked the beginning of my sequence a few times and added some dance moves. I hope you like it.”

Lady Rock waved an unconcerned hand, glimmering with gems. “It’s fine. Serge runs everything past me.” He was her lead drummer. He stood, and they embraced with an open-mouthed kiss that lasted awhile.

So what was the way the wind blew in this studio.

Lady Rock remained the rest of the morning, observing her routine and making a few small changes. By lunch time, she pronounced it was perfect, which was a relief since the world tour was only days away.

Leaving Race behind to begin the concert tour was monumentally harder than Jacey expected. It was like ripping her heart from her body, one heartstring at a time, to say goodbye to him. She departed home in a dazed funk.

As usual, Don served as her chauffeur. He dutifully commuted her and her impressive pile of luggage to Chicago for the opening concert night. With her first performance in less than twenty-four hours, sleep was out of the question. She laid awake in bed, experiencing a thousand mini-strokes of stress while the hours ticked all too quickly past. The next morning she was wildly grateful for the skilled team of makeup artists who quickly masked the effects of her sleepless night.

Lady Rock popped her head in the door of her dressing room minutes before her first performance. “Good luck, sugar.” She blew her a kiss and disappeared.

Jacey didn’t need luck. She needed a miracle! She had her husband’s heart to win, and tonight was step two in her plan. Through some clever negotiating, Chance had arranged for her performance to be live-streamed on a private channel straight to Luca’s personal computer. She intended to sing in a way that stirred him on every level if he was watching.

She drew every ounce of excitement and energy possible from her audience and sang directly into the rolling cameras pointed at her from a half dozen angles. In her heart, she sang for Luca. To Luca. Because of Luca.

The applause was thunderous. When it refused to die down, Serge pounded through the notes for an encore. Jacey delivered the encore, blew more kisses, and jogged from the stage while they continued to cheer. The frenzy of the fans only increased when Lady Rock made her appearance.

The opening concert was a tremendous success. It took a team of bodyguards to keep the rabid fans at bay long enough for her and Lady Rock to board their respective tour buses. Jacey hadn’t realized how late it was or how exhausted she was until she clapped the door shut to her room on wheels and leaned against it. Her mouth dropped open in surprise. An enormous bouquet awaited her on the credenza across from her bed. There had to be nearly a hundred red roses in the fat crystal vase.

Mystified, she plucked the card from its holder and nearly stopped breathing as she read.

To J.C. Crew. The most beautiful, talented, and enchanting singer, song writer, wife, and mother. Luca & Race

She stood there in her black leather pants and stage makeup, clutching the card against her chest. She would have preferred a declaration of love, but she would take what she could get from her husband. For now at least. The flowers were romantic. They represented progress.

Three more days passed with no further communication from Luca, and her hopes in his direction took a dive. But her melancholy only added to her success. A slightly pale face and the glint of mist in her eyes made the words of Without You resonate with genuine emotion. Tabloid after tabloid commented on her incredible stage presence. Sales on her first single shot through the roof.