Jemma

Two weeks of lying around in various hotel rooms is driving me crazy. At least I don’t need the crutches anymore. Sophie is becoming more difficult as well. If I don’t get her out of the hotel today, I’m worried she’ll sneak out. The band has a rare day off tomorrow, so maybe I can bribe her to sit tight for one more day.

I walk over to the door that opens out onto the terrace and head outside. This suite is not to my taste at all, so I’ve been sitting out here on the terrace to relax and study. The view of the Detroit city skyline from here is amazing. You think you’ll never get used to this sort of opulence, but you kind of do after a while. Still, I much prefer the quiet of Wes’s house to the myriad of hotel rooms, no matter how expensive they are. My hands itch to get back into his garden and do something outside.

“Hey, Jemma, what’s up?” Sophie sits on one of the chairs and puts her feet up on another.

“Hey, Soph. I was just thinking about what we could do tomorrow when the guys have their day off.”

“Yeah, at least no Trent means no last minute interviews or something.”

“Exactly, so what do you want to do?”

“I want to go shopping. Or see a movie or something.”

“You don’t want to see the Institute of Arts?”

Sophie laughs. “Seriously? I’ve been doing nothing but boring schoolwork. The last thing I want to do when I finally get to go out is more school stuff.”

“I suppose you have a point.” I shrug my shoulders. “Shopping and a movie then. I’m sure your brother will go along with that.”

“If you’re going, he’d go and watch the sappiest romantic movie anyway.”

I ignore her insinuation. Wes and I have been getting along well, but he hasn’t kissed me again yet and it’s driving me crazy. With all the extra stress and security measures, there hasn’t really been an opportunity for us to be alone.

“Did you have a movie in mind Soph?”

“Duh, the new Jackson Durant movie is out.”

I do a double take. “Uh, Soph, I don’t think Wes is going to be able to sit through two hours of Jackson on screen without losing it.”

Sophie pouts. “I don’t care, I’ve been cooped up for weeks. He owes me. Besides, he doesn’t have to watch it. Leon can come with me.” She smiles. “Leon’s hot.”

“If Wes hears you talking about him like that, he’ll be reassigned before you can blink.” The big black man is certainly good-looking, but much too old for Sophie to think so.

“Don’t get your knickers in a knot. It’s not like I want to date him, duh. He’s much too old for me.”

I laugh. “Where did you hear that old expression?”

“Simon said it to Leon.” Sophie and I both crack up at the image of the head roadie and the head of security going at it.

“What did Leon say?”

“Um…something like ‘I see what you're saying, but if I agreed with you then we'd both be wrong’.”

“This is where I should probably tell you that eavesdropping is wrong, but given our current lack of mental stimulation, I might leave that lesson for another time.”

Sophie grins. “So has my dopey brother kissed you again yet?”

My mouth gapes open. Did she see when Wes kissed me in the hotel room? “How do you know that he kissed me before?”

“Well, I was pretty sure he had, and now you’ve just confirmed it.”

“Are you sure you’re only thirteen?”

“That’s what you get when you only hang around old people.”

I laugh, early twenties is hardly old. But poor Soph has spent most of her life around people much older than her.

Sophie jumps up from her chair. “The band’s back. Quick, I need your help to convince them we should come to tonight’s show.”

I follow Sophie back into the suite. Guilt washes over me, as the main reason we haven’t been to any shows has been my sprained ankle. But now it’s better, we should be allowed to go. For once we are definitely of one mind.

My eyes immediately go to Wes. He looks amazing in a band T-shirt and dark denim jeans. He looks at me and smiles. His eyes crinkle adorably, and I really wish I could go up to him and kiss him hello. Instead I settle for walking up to the whole group gathered in the living area. Finn has his arm wrapped around Autumn. She was having a nap. She still looks half-asleep. Her cute baby bump is visible underneath her T-shirt.

Zane and Ryan are in between Finn and Wes. Sophie goes around the group getting hugs from everyone. Oh, to be young and full of confidence. I hang back slightly. Wes closes the distance and wraps his arms around me. I’m momentarily stunned. Coming to my senses, I snuggle into his warmth and wrap my arms around his waist.

“I missed you,” he whispers into my ear.

I close my eyes and take a breath. “I missed you too.”

“I can’t wait until this tour is over and we can spend some real time together.” He’s still whispering so no one else can hear. They’re all having a raucous conversation around us, so they wouldn’t be able to hear anyway.

“I’d like that too.”

Wes takes my hand and leads me back out onto the terrace. “I’m sorry we haven’t had any real time together since Trent left. I promised you I could give you a chance at a normal relationship with me, and I’ve failed already. You haven’t given up on me, have you?”

“No. I know what happened was out of your control. How could I hold that against you?”

Wes smiles broadly, his whole face lights up. “You don’t know how happy it makes me to hear that sweetheart.” He sits down and pulls me onto his lap.

I shriek and laugh at the same time as I collapse against him. “Why the change?” I love that he’s doing this but I’m not sure what’s changed. “Have you had news of Trent?”

“Yeah, he’s in L.A. doing his worst. And it turns out his worst is nothing like I feared.”

I frown. “What do you mean?”

“Apparently, this woman who’s claiming to have given birth to my son is the best he can do.”

“You knew about her?” I ask, remembering back to when I heard about the woman.

“Of course. Rebecca, our publicist keeps us informed about all that stuff.”

“I know the baby isn’t yours. But aren’t you worried about the damage she could do to your reputation?”

Wes grins. “I’m glad you’re sure she’s lying about me.”

“Well, of course I am. You told me you haven’t had a relationship in over two years, so you couldn’t be that baby’s father.”

Wes puts his hands against my cheeks and closes his eyes. He opens them again, and it’s as if I can see into his soul. “You believe in me. You don’t know how rare that is in this industry. Thank you, my love.” He gently pulls me closer and places a whisper soft kiss against my lips.

“I’ll always believe in you, Wes. I know now you’re the man God had picked out for me. I know you’d never intentionally hurt me.”

Our arms wrap around each other. Intense emotions as swirl around us like a palpable force. I love this man with all my heart and if he asked me to marry him right now, I know what my answer would be.