Chapter 7
Someone banged on the door of the suite just after noon. Jewel managed to open her eyes as the bed moved and Ramsey lifted his head.
“Chow!” Syon called from the other side of the door.
Ramsey had a hand on one of her breasts as she lay on her back in the middle of the bed. His cock was hard against her thigh, but she groaned as she realized how sore she was; one little attempt to move sent an ache through her. She lay still as she tried to decide how to gather up enough resolve to leave the bed.
Ramsey’s lips curled back into a smug grin.
“Ha-ha,” she groused as she sat up and rolled over the side of the bed. “Bet you won’t be so satisfied with yourself when you realize you aren’t getting any for a bit.”
He smacked his lips and flipped over so he was lying on his back, braced on his elbows and giving her a million-dollar view of his buff body. His cock was standing rigid, but it was the look of victory in his eyes that made her reverse course.
“Two can play that game,” she warned a second before she dove back onto the bed and grasped his length to lick it from base to tip.
“I love letting you kick my ass in this game.”
* * *
They had to order a second round of breakfast by the time they made it over to Syon and Kate’s suite. Drake and Taz were hanging out as well, the scent of pancakes and hash browns filling the air. Ramsey dropped a packet of painkillers in front of her, making her cheeks heat. Taz reached over and whacked his ear.
Ramsey jumped and turned on his bandmate. Taz greeted him with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t mess up.”
“He’s not,” Jewel assured Taz. “Even went to see his parents last night.”
There was shock all around the suite. Ramsey shrugged and dove into a mountain of scrambled eggs he’d dumped Tabasco sauce over.
Taz suddenly smiled. “See? I’m right to tell you not to mess it up. Jewel is a keeper.”
“Which means everyone can turn their attention on you,” Ramsey retaliated with a smack of his lips.
Taz’s expression became guarded as the other members of Toxsin took the opportunity to laugh at his expense. He shook his head. “I’m not the one with the commitment issues. Joi is.”
Jewel was itching to ask who Joi was, but a warning look from Ramsey made her reach for a piece of toast instead. There was a knock on the door before Brenton appeared.
“How are we feeling today?” he asked brightly. “Ready to rock? We’ve got a packed stadium to play.”
The buzz in the room started to build. Jewel enjoyed being part of it. The members of Toxsin began to put on their game faces as they scattered to their suites to shower and begin the trip to the stadium. Ramsey kissed her good-bye before running down the hall to dive into an elevator with Taz. The hotel lost its homey feeling with their departure, becoming more of a lonely building. A necessity of success.
Her phone buzzed, showing Bryan Thompson’s number.
“Hello?”
“Good evening, Ms. Ryan, Bryan Thompson here. Mr. Morcant is hoping you have time to meet with him tonight.”
There was a tingle on the nape of her neck—the timing of the call was just too perfectly matched with Ramsey’s departure. Jewel shook it off, realizing that she really didn’t have the right to be picky. A mega offer was a mega offer.
“I do,” she answered clearly.
“Excellent,” Bryan replied. “A car will call for you, say around six?”
“Great.”
She ended the call and ordered herself to look forward to the meeting. Being in a relationship with Ramsey didn’t change her dreams of having her own career. In fact, she needed to be her own person more, because the last thing Ramsey needed was a woman trying to ride his coattails. It would be too simple to get lost in the whirlwind of his bigger-than-life persona. Caught in that gravitational pull she’d noticed about him the first time they’d met.
Yeah. She was going to her meeting with Quinn Morcant, and she was going to give his offer serious consideration. Because there was no way she was only going to be Ramsey’s toy.
No matter how much she enjoyed being played with. The reason was simple. She needed to be his match.
* * *
When Jewel made it down to the lobby at six, she had the contract offer in hand. It was decorated with highlighter now, questions written into the margins. Steven followed her silently until he spied the uniformed driver waiting in the lobby, holding a card with her name on it.
The bodyguard stepped into her path. She was so used to him trailing her, his action surprised her. When she locked gazes with him, she realized she’d misjudged him completely. Steven often came off as a happy-go-lucky guy. It had been a mistake to think Ramsey would have hired anyone who wasn’t deadly skilled. She was looking straight at that reality now. And Steven was making it clear she wasn’t going anywhere until he approved.
“Sorry,” Jewel started. “I’m a little new to having someone along with me. I have a business appointment this evening with Quinn Morcant to discuss the proposal he has made.”
As far as explanations went, it was polished and professional sounding. But she still felt off balance and wet behind the ears.
Well, straighten up, girl. Opportunities are calling.
Steven considered her for a long moment. “We need to work on communication, Ms. Ryan.”
“Yes. My fault,” she admitted.
He turned around to look at the driver. “Ms. Ryan has her own car at her disposal. I’ll see that she arrives.”
The driver wasn’t amused. For a long moment, there was a stare down that had the hotel security moving closer. Morcant’s driver finally reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew a business card. Steven plucked it from his fingers before lifting up his cell phone and tapping something into the screen.
He held his tongue until she was settled in the back of a dark-windowed sedan that appeared in front of the hotel fast enough to make her realize she had been selling Steven short. The guy was a polished professional.
“I hope you understand why it isn’t a solid idea to get into a car with a stranger?” Steven asked softly.
Too softly, because she heard the judgment in his tone loud and clear. “I’m a little new to the lifestyle.”
Steven pulled something from his jacket pocket. It looked like a hair ornament. He held it up. “Press the center, and it sends a signal to my earpiece.” He demonstrated. “And I won’t ask any questions before I extract you. To be clear, there won’t be any conversation until I have you in a secure location. You’ll move under your own power or mine.”
“So ‘oops, I didn’t mean that’ isn’t something you want to hear?”
He shook his head with a menacing look. Jewel held out her hand. “Got it.” She slid it into her hair and made sure it was secure. “No oopsies.”
Steven returned to what she’d come to consider his normal expression. Guess that meant her apology was accepted. But she was still left feeling a little hollow, like she had no clue what she was doing.
Well, she was going to have to learn.
Fast.
Because she was going to be her own woman. She loved Ramsey for the no-excuses artist he was. Didn’t fucking care she was admitting she loved him either, because it only fueled her determination to make sure she was someone he’d be proud to have near him.
His counterpart.
The car pulled into traffic as she opened the contract and focused on the meeting ahead.
* * *
“Jewel is good for you,” Taz said from a makeup chair.
“Can’t believe she got you to go see your parents,” Syon added from where he was fingering the strings of his guitar.
“Believe it.” Ramsey made his way across the performers’ backstage room to pick up his own guitar. “That woman holds awesome powers of persuasion. It was good. My mom even fell into line. Sort of. She didn’t bring the Bible out, anyway.”
Syon looked shocked for a moment before he slowly smiled. “The fans are going to be devastated.”
“Yup,” Ramsey confirmed.
His decision felt right.
So damned right it scared him, but in a good way. It had been too long since he’d had something in his life that he was afraid to lose.
But Jewel had been worth the wait.
* * *
The car delivered her to another posh, upscale hotel not too far from where Toxsin was staying. A huge revolving door was centered in front of it. Steven took her through it, insisting on walking ahead of her. Inside the lobby, there were polished marble floors and desk personnel in bottle-green suits.
A woman in a smart brown suit was waiting for her. “Good evening, Ms. Ryan, I’m one of Mr. Morcant’s assistants.”
It was an obvious tactic, replacing the burly driver with a less intimidating female. Jewel didn’t buy it for a second. There was a sharpness in the woman’s eyes that said she was every bit as capable as the driver, even if she was wearing a skirt.
Well, mostly because of the skirt and the fact that the woman looked a little unaccustomed to it.
She was suspicious, but decided it was a healthy approach to take into a meeting with one of Forbes’s most eligible bachelors. Quinn Morcant wouldn’t be giving anything away, so neither would she.
“This way please.”
The assistant didn’t blink an eye as Steven followed them. She took Jewel to a private elevator that required a key card. She swept it through the card slot, and the elevator door opened.
She led the way forward, inserting a key into the control board of the elevator before the doors would close. There was a soft hum and vibration as the car engaged and pulled them upward. The doors opened into a very nice entryway. The assistant swept the key card a final time to open a pair of double doors.
“I’ll show your escort to our waiting lounge,” the assistant stated firmly.
Steven sent her a look before he followed the woman through another door. Jewel was left standing in the entryway, facing a pair of doors that just might lead to her future. She tightened her grip on her resolve and reached for the door. There wasn’t much use in knocking. A man with a personal assistant certainly wouldn’t be in the dark on just where his appointment was.
She hesitated two steps inside the door. There was music playing in the background, and a table set up for dinner.
“Excellent.” Quinn Morcant didn’t waste the opportunity to let her know he noticed her shock. He was watching the doorway from a position near the floor-to-ceiling windows that made up two sides of the room.
“My plan to impress you is working.” He had on a three-piece business suit that was expertly tailored to his body; there was also a slight Scottish lilt to his voice, making the “you” sound more like a “ye.” Damned if that didn’t tickle her just a little.
She pushed herself forward, repeating her self-imposed dictate to face him head-on. “I didn’t realize it would be a dinner meeting.”
Quinn had closed the distance between them, allowing her to see how blue his eyes were. Oh, hell, he was Scottish through and through, in that way every girl fantasized about after reading a Highlander romance novel.
“Can hardly keep you during the supper hour without feeding you.” He held out a hand. Jewel took it, thinking he meant to shake. Instead, he lifted it to his lips and pressed a kiss against the backside of her fingers.
Man, it was suddenly clear how the man had made it onto the Forbes list. Eligible didn’t even begin to describe him. There was a vibe to him that sent a shiver down her spine.
“I see you’ve gone through my offer,” Quinn continued as though she wasn’t standing there frozen.
“Yes.” Her brain fired up as she lifted the contract between them. Quinn plucked it neatly out of her hands and dropped it on a nearby table.
“After supper,” he declared softly, but not so softly that she didn’t hear the ring of authority in his tone. The guy was used to commanding everything around him, and she got the distinct impression he enjoyed it.
There was no way she was going to let him steamroll her. “Sounds delightful,” Jewel said, her confidence coming to her rescue. Quinn was charming and over the top, but she realized he didn’t steal her breath.
Only Ramsey could do that.
“Excellent.” Quinn actually held a chair out for her. “I like to get to know people before jumping into bed with them.”
He was testing her. Using the word “bed” instead of business. Jewel sat down. The moment she did, a waiter appeared with a bottle of wine. Quinn settled down across from her, but she wouldn’t say he sat down. He swung his leg over the chair and settled onto it. There was something less than civilized about the motion.
“I tend to take that approach in business myself,” she added. The waiter had opened the wine and poured out a sample for Quinn. He smelled it before tasting it.
“Perfect.” His speech slipped into a burr again. The waiter filled both their glasses before moving away on silent feet. Quinn lifted his glass. “To new ventures, Ms. Ryan.”
* * *
Ramsey rubbed a hand over his face, happy to be free of his stage makeup. He was still pulsing from the show, his blood up. Brenton appeared, but it was the set of the man’s body that drew a second glance from more than just Ramsey. Syon, Taz, and Drake all turned to look at the road manager. There was something serious on his mind.
Dead serious.
“Sammy called,” Brenton began.
“And?” Syon prompted him when he fell silent.
“Someone tipped him off,” Brenton responded. “Claims Jewel went to a dinner meeting with Quinn Morcant.”
Ramsey eyed Brenton. “He’s trying to contract her art work.” It was the right thing to say, but he didn’t like it. It meant Jewel was out with another man. A thick wave of jealousy crashed into him.
“Sammy’s source claims she’s there selling your new piece of music.” Brenton dropped the real reason he was so tense.
“Bullshit,” Ramsey said.
“I don’t think so,” Taz agreed.
“Neither do I.” Syon added his two cents’ worth.
“Jewel doesn’t roll that way,” Drake stated firmly.
“Well, Sammy thinks so. It’s a good source. She had opportunity.”
“So…she’s guilty?” Ramsey countered. “Was that source Tia, by chance?”
Brenton’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t know.”
“Well, find out,” Ramsey shot back. “Because Tia started in on Jewel the second she could, and Tia isn’t one to quit while she thinks she’s ahead. Someone is feeding her information. She knew Jewel was a virgin.”
“That’s not good,” Taz said. “It’s someone with top-floor access.”
“I’ll get on that,” Brenton added.
Quinn Morcant was smooth and as much of an appreciator of the ladies as Ramsey had been himself. He suddenly realized exactly what sort of asshole he’d been. “I’ll go find her,” he said.
“Wait for me,” Syon insisted, but Ramsey was already on his way out the door of the performers’ area. The press was camped out, flashes going off as he emerged. For the first time, he felt crowded. There was something hollow about it all, and he realized what he was feeling was fear.
Fear that all he was going to have was his rock-star life.
It wasn’t enough.
Shit.
His parents were right.
* * *
Jewel’s head was spinning when she made it back down into the car. Steven was watching her, but Jewel had her hands full trying to keep her thoughts together. Quinn was cutthroat. A business shark that made normal sharks look cute and cuddly. She’d taken to sipping the wine in an effort to maintain her wits. The trip back to the hotel wasn’t long enough for her, and she was still struggling to sort her thoughts into order as she headed into the lobby.
“Why did you go see Quinn by yourself?”
Jewel jumped, looking up to find Ramsey bearing down on her.
“I was discussing the contract offer he sent me.” The paparazzi were surging to life, the scent of a fight rousing them. Jewel walked through the lobby toward the elevators, because Ramsey was tense, clearly spoiling for a fight.
She made it into a car, but Ramsey followed her. He pointed Steven toward another car before the doors slid shut.
“What are you doing jumping on me like that?” she asked the second the doors shut. “Couldn’t you wait? Or maybe…trust me?”
“It looked bad,” he continued, as though she hadn’t spoken. “Really bad that you went alone to see someone you know is in direct competition with my producer.”
“So that’s why you’re barking at me in front of half the crew, like I was stepping out on you?” She bit back her temper and dug deep for some patience. “It was a business meeting, about my career.”
Ramsey scowled at her as the doors opened on the top floor. “A meeting that smells like it included wine.”
That stopped her in the middle of the hallway. She turned around, unbearably conscious of the fact that they weren’t alone. She struggled to make her tone even. “The last business meeting I went to with you included naked people in the pool and a topless woman in a shoestring bikini bottom kissing you. I’m not planning on coat-tailing my way through life, which is exactly why I went to the meeting. To discuss my art.”
She was losing it. In some corner of her mind, she realized he was jealous and lashing out at her. Jewel turned on her heel and headed down the hallway, away from the suite she shared with him. She ended up in a conference room, reaching for the sliding glass door and pulling it open for air.
She needed air!
It was just a misunderstanding.
Like hell. It was an epic failure on his part not to trust her. Her phone buzzed, and she reached for it. Her mother’s number flashed on the screen. She opened the line, desperate for a distraction. She didn’t want to face the fight she was having or its destructive implications. Suddenly, all of the confidence she’d had in her relationship with him went dead like a jet engine that just stopped in midair.
Just falling, and all the time, she was aware of her impending death when she hit the ground.
Ramsey was suddenly there, pulling the phone out of her hand. “Whoever it is, they can fucking wait.”
He punched the power button on the phone, killing it completely, and dropped it into a chair.
“That was my mom.”
He froze, her statement impacting and making it through the haze of jealousy holding him in its grip.
“And we are not talking about this now.” She held a hand up between them. “I am way too pissed off and you’re…” Words failed her.
“I’m jealous,” he confirmed. “Aren’t you happy?”
“What?” she asked in a hollow whisper. “How could I be happy to see that you don’t trust me?”
“Morcant isn’t just anyone,” Ramsey continued. “The guy could charm the habit off a nun.”
“Oh…so I’m expected to understand when I come out of a restroom and find you lying across a bunch of pillows and kissing someone, but how dare I have a dinner meeting with a man who is equally as attractive as Vicky?”
“Someone said you gave him our new music piece.”
She felt like he’d punched her in the chest. Her heart just stopped between beats. “How can you even say that to me?”
The other members of the band were in the doorway. “I would have walked out of the meeting if he’d even asked!”
“I had to bring it up, because someone told Sammy about your meeting with Quinn.”
His face was red, but she interrupted him before he got out his next argument.
“That is such lame logic. You should be smart enough to realize Tia is just trying to clear me out of her way,” she said. “We need some space to cool off.”
“Agreed.” Syon was suddenly there, along with the other members of Toxsin. Ramsey snorted, but realized he wasn’t going to win. In some corner of her mind, Jewel discovered herself admiring the way the members of the band came together to help one another. Taz and Syon were muscling Ramsey out of the room, while Drake offered her a key card and gently guided her down a different hallway.
“I’m fine,” she informed him, and swallowed when she realized how sharp her tone was. “Really. Thanks for the key card. I’ll be fine.”
Kate was hovering as well, considering her with a critical look before nodding. “Give me a ring if you don’t want to drink alone.”
“Yeah.” Jewel slid the key card through the slot and pushed in the door. Inside the room, there was blissful privacy, but it rang with a silence that was nearly deafening.
She sank down onto the bed, reeling from the way life had turned a full one-eighty on her in less than the space of a day. She was back to being on her own, and the reality of it was overwhelming.
And too painful to face. She lay back as she lost her battle against her tears. They slid down the sides of her face as she felt the flames consuming the wreckage of her relationship with Ramsey.
He didn’t trust her.
Didn’t see her as anything but an ornament decorating his life.
Maybe they could come back from the trust issue. It could be excused by the newness of their relationship.
But she had to be her own person.
Knew it and felt it burning in her gut so badly, there was no way she was going to abandon her art. She’d know she was a sellout, and someday Ramsey would see it too.
Tia would end up calling things right.
He’d leave her because she wasn’t his partner. Loving someone meant taking them the way they were. Not trying to change them. But true relationships needed to be balanced. She couldn’t be his poor, rescued, starving artist forever.
Which sucked on an epic scale, because she loved him.
* * *
“Getting drunk isn’t the answer,” Taz said.
Ramsey wiped his mouth on the back of his hand, an empty bottle already sitting on the table beside him. “Last time you saw Joi, it worked for you.”
“The difference is, Joi refused to leave that restaurant with me,” Taz countered as Ramsey tipped the beer bottle back and drained it. “Jewel is here, and smart enough to know when to walk away and let both your tempers cool off.”
“So…I’m chillin’.” Ramsey chucked the bottle in the direction of the trash can. “Get lost. I’m a big boy.”
“You’re a big something,” Taz said without moving off the sofa. “But I’m staying. Team code. When one of us gets drunk, he gets a wingman.”
Ramsey flopped back onto the floor, staring up at the ceiling as the alcohol numbed his brain. He shouldn’t have guzzled it. That was his last clear thought before it stole his wits, leaving him prey to the regrets his temper had shielded him from, and too intoxicated to physically do anything about it. Like get his ass down the hall and beg Jewel to forgive him.
“I’m an asshole,” Ramsey informed the ceiling.
“No argument.”
“I need to tell Jewel,” he said as his words slurred.
“When you sober up,” Taz replied.
Ramsey rolled onto his side. “It was only a couple of beers.” But the room was spinning.
“And two shots of rye,” Taz enlightened him. “Only place you’re going is to the throne room.”
“I never puke.”
But an hour later, he wished he had. The room spun, and his belly knotted from the poison he’d ingested. The thing that tormented him the most was the fact that he was helpless to remedy his actions while his system was dealing with the alcohol.
“Tomorrow, I’m going on the wagon,” he informed Taz.
“Told you, Jewel is good for you.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “Got…got to straighten up.” Ramsey turned onto his side and tried to fix his gaze on Taz. “Kick my ass…if I mess up?”
Taz slowly smiled. “You got it.”
“Thanks.”
Jewel deserved better from him, and he was going to make sure she got it.
* * *
The phone in her room rang at two in the morning. Jewel woke with a start, fumbling for the receiver in the dark.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Ryan?” someone far less groggy asked on the other end of the line.
“Yes.” She rubbed her eyes and squinted at the bedside clock. Yup, it was two in the morning.
“This is the front desk. Could you come down to the lobby please?”
“Huh?” she asked.
“I am sorry, but there seems to be some concern over your well-being, and I would like to maintain the privacy of the top floor.” The manager sounded stressed beyond his limits. “There is someone here claiming to be your mother, and she is insisting on seeing you, or she intends to call the police to investigate the matter.”
“My mom?” Jewel asked as her brain started to function. “I’ll be right down.”
Jewel was suddenly wide-awake, the severed phone call clear in her mind. She was a rotten daughter for not making sure her mom wasn’t worried about her. She flipped on the light in the bathroom and wiped her face with a washcloth before dragging a brush through her hair a few times.
She felt the tension the moment she got out of the elevator in the lobby. There were four members of hotel security standing near the front desk, clearly trying to keep someone there. There was a very familiar sounding “harrumph” before her mother pushed through them.
“Mom, what are you doing here?” Jewel asked, even though she already knew the answer.
Her mother stopped two paces in front of her and propped her hands on her hips as she scanned her from head to toe with a knowing eye. “Being your mother.”
The security force was still standing in place, the manager wringing his hands. “We’re good,” Jewel said.
The manager didn’t look appeased.
“Don’t placate him,” her mother said. “He’s just worried his rock star guests will have a problem with me showing up to keep them from abusing my daughter.”
“I’m not being abused,” Jewel insisted.
“Well then, you can explain why someone cut off a call, and you didn’t answer when I called back.” Her mom was in full mother-hen form. “You know my feelings on oppressive relationships.”
“Yeah…” Jewel reached out and hugged her mom. “I’m fine, and I’m so sorry I didn’t call you back. I fell asleep.”
Her mother pegged her with a knowing look. “Fell asleep crying.”
Jewel didn’t bother to lie. Her puffy eyes betrayed her anyway. Her mother suddenly abandoned her defensive mode in favor of being the compassionate shoulder Jewel desperately needed. “Come here and tell me what happened.”
Jewel indulged in a long hug, but pushed away when tears flooded her eyes. “I can’t. Not just now. I need to sort out my feelings.”
Her mother made a low sound under her breath. “Well then, are you coming home with me? No better place to think things through.”
It was a good idea.
And yet, it filled her eyes with fresh tears. Jewel blinked them away as she tried to get a grip on her emotions. Her mother made a low sound under her breath.
“Come on,” her mother said in a firm yet understanding tone.
Jewel let her mom take over. She knew she was being a coward, but the wounds on her heart were just too fresh for her to do anything but stumble through life. She didn’t want to see the suspicion on the band’s faces. Not on the men she’d come to think of as friends.
But what she really wanted to escape from was Ramsey. She was being a chickenshit. Sure. She knew it, freely admitted it. The reason she followed her mother out of the hotel was that she just couldn’t lose what was left of herself. If she saw Ramsey, she’d fold, like she always did. He’d overwhelm her, and she’d talk herself into making it work. Every relationship called for compromises.
It was that idea of compromise that had her sliding into the front passenger seat of her mom’s car and pulling on her seat belt.
Ramsey deserved better.
So did she.
Sure, it might work for a while. While the sex was hot enough to overpower everything else. But the day would come when passion wasn’t enough, and they had to face each other as partners. That was when it would all crumble, because she hadn’t been strong enough to become her own person. Ramsey deserved that in a partner, and she wasn’t going to be the one to disappoint him.
Even if it meant walking away.
* * *
He stank.
Ramsey groaned and squinted at the morning light, and he was forced to notice just how much he reeked. Taz was punching the keys of his laptop as he scowled at an online game. His headphones might have led some people to think he wasn’t aware of what was going on around him, but Ramsey knew his bandmate better.
And there was no way he was going to get so lucky as to escape having a witness to his stupidity.
Ramsey climbed to his feet and went toward the bathroom. He flipped on the water and stripped out of his pants. The dragon tattoo sent a prick of pain through him, as well as remorse.
He really needed to stop being a dick.
As in, immediately.
The water was still cold, but he walked beneath the showerhead and let it shock him. His brain was clearing, allowing him to think.
And he had a lot to think about.
Or in this case, plan.
By the time he finished dealing with his stubble-covered chin, he was grinning. Jewel was about to discover just what happened when she got what she wished for.
Because he was going to be the man she thought he was.
* * *
“Open it,” Ramsey hissed through his teeth.
Brenton eyed him dubiously.
“Are we rolling out of here in an hour?” Ramsey supported his demand with fact. His fist was still resting on the door to Jewel’s room. He hammered the wood again, but there was still no answer.
“We are,” Brenton confirmed as he produced a master key card and slid it into the door. Ramsey took over, pushing the door in.
“Jewel?”
It took exactly sixty seconds to confirm she wasn’t in the room. His stomach dropped. The bed was messed up, but there wasn’t a single other sign of Jewel having been there.
“Steven!”
The bodyguard yanked his door open, wearing nothing but a pair of pants. He was looking at his phone. “She’s in the conference room. East corner.”
Ramsey felt a flash of relief, followed by an intense twist of dread. His head might be splitting with a hangover, but his brain was working just fine. The memory of tossing her phone onto a chair was crystal clear and chilled his blood.
“Shit!” he cursed as he found the phone. Steven was on his heels, buttoning a shirt.
“Oh, crap,” the bodyguard agreed. He was in motion immediately, dialing the security center of the hotel.
Ramsey swept the screen of the phone and used his own fingerprint to unlock the screen. Jewel was going to have something to say about him putting himself as second security protocol on her phone, but he didn’t care, so long as she said it to him. Profanity, anger, just something to prove he hadn’t screwed up so badly she was giving up on him.
The ten calls from her mother were blinking, along with several text messages.
“Her mother was here.”
Ramsey and Steven spoke at the same time.
“Oh, man, you hung up on her mother last night,” Taz said from the doorway.
“And she left the phone in here when she needed to get away from me,” Ramsey finished.
“The manager says her mom showed up around two, threatened to call the local cops if her daughter wasn’t allowed to leave,” Steven filled them in.
“Why the fuck didn’t that manager call up here?” Ramsey demanded. It was a ridiculous demand; he recognized it the moment the words were out of his mouth.
Brenton put on his game face, the one he used when he was trying to remind them all of the merits of professionalism.
“I’ll meet you in Detroit,” Ramsey said as he started out of the room.
“Now wait just a moment.” Brenton stepped into his path.
“Clear out of my way, Brenton,” Ramsey warned him. “I am going after her, and when I get back, someone better have some answers from Sammy.”
“Got your answers right here. It was bullshit,” Sammy said from the doorway. The music producer folded his sunglasses and slipped them into the pocket on the breast of his shirt. “Although, in my defense, if you’d filled me in on Tia, I wouldn’t have let her twist my balls last night while I had a couple of drinks in me. Caught the little bitch cackling about her victory this morning. Don’t leave my ass flapping in the breeze like that.”
Ramsey grunted. “She was your groupie.”
“Yeah, yeah, I’ve got to tighten up the guest list,” Sammy agreed.
“The vultures made good use of the opportunity your girl Jewel offered them this morning when she left with her mom.”
Ramsey pulled out his phone and checked it. The headlines were vicious.
Romance Over for Tattoo Princess Jewel!
Leaving in Mom’s Car, Jewel Is History!
Toxsin Fans Rejoice, Ramsey Is a Free Man!
“I’ll catch up with you in Detroit,” Ramsey repeated. Something prickled along his nape, and he realized it was fear. Stone-cold dread that he might have just fucked up worse than he ever had before.
“The plane will be waiting for you,” Sammy said.
Ramsey flashed him a look.
“Don’t be so surprised,” Sammy said. “I might enjoy having a good party, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know a keeper when I see one.” He turned and grabbed something from the assistant hovering behind him. “Give her this, and tell her I’m open to negotiation.” He handed over a thick folder. “I sure as shit can’t stand by and let Quinn scoop her up without a fight. That bastard would never let me live it down.”
Ramsey tucked the contract under his arm and headed out.
It was action time.
* * *
“Mom?”
Jewel was still rubbing her wet hair with a towel when she caught a glimpse of her mom hurrying from the front room to the kitchen.
“Is something wrong?” Jewel dropped the towel when she realized her mom had grabbed a rolling pin from the kitchen and come back across the hallway, holding it like a club on her way toward the front door, with an expression that said she was going to war.
“Nothing at all.” Her mom was clearly distracted by what was happening in the front yard. She was looking through the spy hole in the door.
“I can’t remember the combination for the gun safe,” her father said as he came back into the living room.
“What is going on?” Jewel asked again, but both her parents turned bright smiles toward her.
“Nothing to worry about.”
“Everything is fine.”
Which sent Jewel’s heart racing. She marched across the room and grabbed the curtain pulled across the window. She’d moved it only a few inches when the flashes started. Jewel recoiled instantly, releasing the fabric. It swished back into place, earning a muffled cry of dismay from the paparazzi camped outside.
Oh…shit…
Of course the hyenas were there to feast on the carcass of her crashed and burned relationship with Ramsey.
“I remember,” her father announced before he headed back into the bedroom and the gun safe.
“Oh God,” Jewel moaned, “I shouldn’t have come here.”
“Nonsense.” Her father was back with his service pistol from the seventies. “This is your home. No better place for you.” He held the gun up and checked it before pushing the loaded clip into it. “It’s those squatters who need to clear out. Don’t you worry none, Daddy’s got this.”
Her father started toward the door with a determined look on his face. Jewel slid between him and the door. “Dad, you can’t just go out there and start waving a gun around.”
“Watch me,” he declared firmly. “I didn’t break my back earning the money for this plot of land to see anyone trespassing on it or threatening my daughter in the house where I raised her.”
There was a rise of noise from outside. Jewel looked at the curtain, suspecting it had shifted. It hadn’t. The window was still covered, but there was a definite commotion taking place outside.
“Better dial the emergency services, Patti,” her father warned. “Sounds like things are heating up.”
“Dad.” Jewel flattened herself against the door. Her father had the gun tucked into his belt as he leveled a firm look at her.
Someone pounded on the door before her father got the chance to argue with her.
“They’re bold,” her mother said.
“Good,” her father replied. “I prefer a straight fight any day.”
He gripped her shoulder and pushed her away from the door. She could have dug in, but respect for her father made her give way. She mentally cringed as she watched her father turn the dead bolt, fairly certain her nest egg from signing over rights to the dragon was about to become jail-bond money.
Her dad pulled open the door, and the paparazzi surged to life. But her tongue was frozen to the roof of her mouth as the open door revealed Ramsey. He stood there on her parents’ front porch, looking like a Ferrari parked outside of a fast-food restaurant. The reporters behind him filled the air with flashes from their cameras, making him look like he was sparkling. Pain knifed through her, but so did a protective urge. The paparazzi were pushing forward, acting like a hungry pack of vultures.
“Are you here for Jewel?”
“Did you run away, Jewel?”
“Why were you crying last night, Jewel?”
“Did Ramsey cheat on you?”
“Ah…come in.” Jewel reached for him and pulled him through the open door. There was a cry of outrage from the crowd on the lawn and a grunt from her father as Jewel closed the door, sealing Ramsey inside with them.
“This is Ramsey,” Jewel began lamely.
Her mother lifted the rolling pin and hit her palm in an unmistakable warning. “Mm-hmm.”
“We need to talk,” Ramsey started, his eyes glittering. He pulled himself up and looked at her father. “May I come in?”
Her dad grunted. “Seems my daughter thinks so. Don’t think I won’t throw you to that pack out there if you make her cry.”
“Dad,” Jewel groaned, writhing against a wave of embarrassment.
“Yes, sir.” Ramsey hooked her by her bicep. There was a warning sound from her mother that made him turn and look back at her. Her mom slapped her palm with the rolling pin with clear intention.
Ramsey released her arm and offered her his hand instead. Jewel hesitated, scared to death that touching him would be her undoing. Just seeing him was almost too much to bear.
“I’ll stand right here and discuss this with you, Jewel,” he said firmly.
“There is nothing to discuss.” She moved away from the door. He reached out and caught her wrist.
“There sure as sh…is.” He bit back the word of profanity. “You were the one who realized we needed time to cool off.”
“Actually”—she pulled her wrist out of his grip, not caring too much for the fact that he let her go—“you needed time to—”
“See what a dick I was being.” He looked at her mother and shrugged.
“Acceptable in this case,” her mom replied before she turned and headed toward the kitchen. “Just call out if you need me, Jewel.”
Her father made a sound in the back of his throat before he followed her mother through a doorway and into the kitchen.
“I was being a dick, and then I got drunk, which was stupid,” Ramsey stated. He was full of all the confidence she’d felt radiating from him the first time she’d set eyes upon him.
She loved it.
Loved him.
But tears filled her eyes without a care for the way she tried to control them. Ramsey cursed and wrapped her in his embrace, gathering her close when she tried to squirm away.
“You have to forgive me,” he muttered against her temple. “I love you. I want to be everything you’ve always thought I could be, but I can’t do it without you to anchor me.”
She gasped and pushed against his chest. He finally released her with a snort of frustration.
“It’s not about forgiving.” She suddenly felt drained. She knew she had to let him go, and it was going to suck everything wonderful out of her.
“The hell it isn’t,” Ramsey argued. “Sammy came by this morning to apologize in person. I should have ratted Tia out to him. Should have made sure she couldn’t take another shot at you. Even Sammy told me I was a dick for leaving him open to her attack.”
Jewel snorted. “He should clear out that pack he has brownnosing him.”
“He plans to.”
“Good.” That was what really mattered. “But that’s not the real problem.”
Ramsey went still as he read her emotions off her face. He’d been tense before, but something shifted between them as he went rigid.
“Then what is it about, Jewel?” His tone had gone deadly. “Why did you leave me?”
She had to tell him, had to be straight. He deserved that.
“Because I have to be my own person too.” She was shaking, and wrapped her arms around herself. “You have to see… I can’t be less devoted to my own career than you are to yours. It would be a mismatch. You’d realize it…in time…and I’d know I was a sellout.”
Understanding dawned on him. It was a horrible sight to see, because it confirmed everything she’d known to be true, even if some part of her heart had been holding out hope. It was all over now.
“Yeah, I get it,” he said softly.
“Anyway…I’m glad you understand.” She was holding on to her composure by a thread. Ramsey reached out and stopped her when she tried to walk past him, the connection making her stiffen.
“I know what it’s like to have a passion burning in your gut.” He delivered his next words in a menacing tone. “So don’t ever call me dense about the need you have to be successful.”
She stepped back, trying to decide what he was driving at. “But you don’t want me signing with Morcant.”
“I don’t want you near that guy, because I’m fucking jealous of him,” Ramsey informed her. “I may like girls, but I’m not blind. The guy is smoking hot, and did I mention that I love you?” He opened up his hands in a “get real” gesture. “Knowing you are anywhere near him makes me jealous. Which is just another way of saying I love you, because I have never cared about another girl taking off. There were always plenty more to take her place. Not you.”
His admission made her smile, just a tiny curving of her lips. Oh, it wasn’t really the right thing to feel, but she couldn’t help it. He’d been jealous. It was one of the best compliments he’d ever given her.
“You smiled,” he said softly. “I win the point.”
She rolled her eyes as the memory of Portland flashed through her mind. “This is about more than one encounter. This is about…” Words suddenly failed her, because she didn’t want to let go of the fragile hope springing back up.
“I get it.” His tone had deepened. “You’re worried I can’t deal with you being more than mine.”
She nodded, once, and it felt like the motion tore her heart in two. She was laid bare, everything exposed.
“Honey, I sure as hell want to have you stuck to my side, but that’s only because I value every bit of you. The drive to be successful is part of that, and I never said I couldn’t deal with it.” He was furious, but drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I still don’t want you anywhere near Morcant…at least not without me there to remind you how much more you mean to me.”
“Ha,” Jewel said. “You mean so you can glare at him.”
“That’s what guys do.” Ramsey shrugged. “Some girls too. I saw the way you warned Tia off with a glance.”
Jewel defended herself. “She had it coming. She thought you were just some possession.”
“But I’m more?” he demanded, forcing her back to the topic at hand.
“Yes, much more,” she admitted.
He captured her, taking the opportunity to fold her into his embrace. It was her undoing; the connection between their flesh as jolting as the first time. She gripped the fabric of his T-shirt and drew in the scent of his skin, trembling as it raced through her senses.
“I love you…” he whispered in her hair. “All parts of you.”
“I’m going to sign that contract. It would be stupid of me not to.” She lifted her head and locked gazes with him. “So I am going to see Quinn again.”
He didn’t like her comment, but he nodded. “At least read the offer Sammy brought over this morning.”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. Ramsey’s lips lifted into that arrogant grin she adored so much. “He even left the private jet at our disposal. Want to become a member of the mile-high club?”
“Ramsey…” She squirmed as her cheeks caught fire. “My parents are listening.”
There was a smothered giggle from the kitchen before her father called out, “If you’re not going to take advantage of that offer, girl, how about letting me take your mother on a date in that jet?”
Ramsey wiggled his eyebrows at her. “I like your dad.” He pressed a hard kiss against her lips before he released her. “And I need to talk to him about you.”
“What?”
He kissed her again, cupping her chin. “I want to marry you, so I am going to go ask your dad.”
“Ah…he’s got his gun on him at the moment.”
Ramsey winked at her. “I noticed. Why do you think I was going to ask him to be the shotgun bearer?”
“That’s not funny,” Jewel said.
But her father started busting up in the kitchen, deflating her argument completely. Ramsey smirked before turning around and walking across her parents’ home like he belonged there.
And she realized…he did.
Life was suddenly so perfect. Impossibly perfect for how many hours she’d agonized over the reasons why it couldn’t be perfect.
Love didn’t make sense.
But it did feel absolutely epic.
* * *
“I just want a band.”
No one listened to her. Ramsey was still looking at a tray of loose diamonds, while her mother drooled over a tray of engagement ring settings. Her father sipped a rum and Coke, and tried not to look too nervous when her mother slipped one of the rings onto her own hand and smiled longingly.
“Ramsey…I really just want a band.” Jewel tried to sound enticing. “So I can work with it on.”
“Not a chance,” Ramsey replied as he picked up a huge diamond with a set of jeweler’s tweezers. “I want Morcant to see a rock on your finger the size of Texas.”
“And men claim women are the ones who insist on a diamond engagement ring.”
Ramsey wiggled the diamond gently so it caught the light. There was a bump as one of the reporters trying to get a shot of them inside the jewelry shop hit the window because he was being jostled by the rest of the pack of paparazzi.
Still, the little polished rock was dazzling. She felt herself melting, but honestly, it was because Ramsey was there. He carried the diamond over to her hand, letting her see it over her ring finger.
Her composure shredded, the reality of the moment filling her eyes with tears and her heart with love.
“That’s the one,” Ramsey said, but he wasn’t looking at the diamond. He was looking into her eyes, his dark eyes glittering with love. “The only one for me.”
“Yeah,” she agreed. “And I plan to make sure you never forget it.”
His eyes narrowed. “School me, baby.”
That was exactly what she planned to do.
* * *
Jewel groaned. Her cheeks heated, and Ramsey wore his smug victory grin. She looked over toward the cockpit door.
“It’s not thick enough. They heard you…screaming,” Ramsey cooed next to her ear as he settled back onto his back on the private jet’s sofa. The thing slid out to make a bed. The fabric was slightly stiff against her bare skin, but most of her body was lying on top of Ramsey, so it didn’t really matter.
Nothing really mattered when they were in each other’s arms. Her new engagement ring had twisted on her finger. She tried to turn it, but her right hand was pinned against Ramsey’s side. He reached up and centered the ring.
“Still think it’s too big?” he asked as he squeezed her hand.
She smiled, nuzzling against his chest. “It’s growing on me.”
“Wish your dad had let me buy that one your mother picked out.”
“Well, you know that had about as much chance of happening as you letting Quinn Morcant pay for mine.”
Ramsey snorted. Jewel laughed at him. “Just put my dad to work. He hates being retired.” She sighed. “Guess I’m asking for nepotism. See? You start getting me things, and I lose all sense of boundaries.”
He smoothed the hair back from her face. “Lay your demands on me, baby. I’ll satisfy you.”
She made a soft little sound and let her eyes close. “You certainly did.”
“And I plan to do it again and again,” he insisted. “Getting your dad a job will just be part of making sure you can’t escape me.”
She lifted her hand and slapped him mockingly on the chest. He covered her hand with his, holding it still.
The plane engines droned on, the aircraft vibrating just enough to rock them both to sleep. Ramsey kept his eyes open longer, fighting to stay awake so he could savor the feeling of her in his arms.
He was the luckiest damned fool alive.
* * *
Taz sat in his hotel suite, staring at his phone. A Facebook page was open, a notification of a friend request having been approved, keeping his full attention.
Joi Sun Kim had accepted his request.
After two years.
Why?
The question fascinated him as much as it frustrated him. What did she want? He grunted and closed the application. Damned if he had any clue. All he knew was he wanted her. Wanted her so badly, three years of rejection hadn’t dulled the urge. She still filled his dreams. Success in the music world had somehow translated into disgrace in her family’s eyes. They had forbidden her to see him, talk to him, marry him.
He should move on.
But he couldn’t.
Taz opened Facebook again and punched in her name so her page came up. Maybe she’d approved his friend request so he’d see that she’d settled down with some other guy. It would hurt like shit, but maybe it would be better to see the evidence of her with a husband. Maybe that would end his obsession with her.
Instead, all he saw was her face, and it cut him to the bone. Her sparkling eyes, her whimsical smile, and the way her spirit came across in the form of cute animal pictures and encouraging sayings on her Facebook wall.
He still loved her.
There was no doubt about it.
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