Chapter Eleven
Natalie
I wasn’t exactly dressed for a fancy after-party, but Jacob insisted that I looked great the way I was and that he didn’t want me in anything but my skirt-suit.
“You sure?” I frowned. I had seen the calibre of outfit that usually made their way into his after-parties, and had a feeling mine would stand out as particularly egregious.
“Certain,” he nodded. “I want you just the way you are.”
He leaned in to kiss me again, and I thought my head might explode from the craziness of it. What had happened backstage, I never would have called it in a million years. The way he lay the smack down on his agent like that, the fact that he chased that girl away because he wanted to be with me – it was more than I’d ever expected from a man like him.
All this time, I’d been dancing back and forth over the question of whether or not he actually liked me, and then he just came and asked me to be his official girlfriend. I was pretty sure I would be the only one he’d ever had in the public eye, and the pressure of that was already starting to get to me as I checked my hair and make-up in the mirrored walls of the elevator that took us upstairs to the wrap tour for the party.
“I can’t believe you did that,” I glanced over at him, and he grinned back. He had hardly been able to keep the smile off his face since the confrontation in the back room.
“Me neither,” he admitted.
“Aren’t you worried about your sponsors?” I frowned. I knew I probably should have been revelling in the magic and romance of the moment, but the practical side of me never took a day off and I didn’t want to be responsible for him losing a huge ton of his money.
“Yeah, a little,” he admitted. “But there will be other ones. Maybe even better ones. This whole being in a relationship thing - it could work to my advantage for all I know. Angelo was so hung up on the playboy thing that he never considered that there was a market out there was a different kind of me, you know?”
“I guess,” I nodded, feeling a little relieved. “How do you feel?”
“Uh, well, I’m expecting to start getting phone calls from my family demanding to know why they haven’t met you already,” he grinned. “But other than that, pretty good.”
“You ready?” I asked as the doors slid open in front of us, and he nodded, adjusting the collar of the shirt he’d thrown on before we headed up together.
“As you are,” he looked over at me, and before we could head out into the corridor, he wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed me, pressing me up against the mirrored walls and pushing his tongue into my mouth. I grabbed his shoulders for support and kissed him back, momentarily losing myself to him – until we heard someone clear their throat just next to us.
We pulled back at once, and found ourselves on the receiving ends of some intense glares from an older couple who were lingering outside the doors waiting for us to get us. I smiled bashfully, and Jacob offered them a big, cocky smile in response.
“Sorry to keep you waiting,” he bowed his head as we stepped out of the elevator, and we managed to suppress our giggles right up until the door slid shut.
“Good thing we told everyone or you’d have blown the whole deal for us anyway,” I scolded him playfully, and he took my hand and led me towards the after-party.
“I just have trouble resisting you,” he cocked an eyebrow at me. “I’m looking forward to getting you back to my place already.”
“Seconded,” I smiled, my heart fluttering as his eyes travelled hungrily down my body. “But I’m not missing the chance to go out as your girlfriend for the first time.”
“You’re not worried about the story?” He frowned, and I waved my hand.
“It’s all done now, and I’ll just tell anyone who asked that we got together tonight,” I assured him. He wrinkled up his nose.
“But you were in my dressing room asking me questions before the fight today,” he pointed out. “What was that about if you were done?”
Shit – I had been caught out. I let out a sigh, rolled my eyes, and admitted the truth.
“I just wanted to spend some time with you before it was all done with,” I shrugged. A cocky smile broke across his face.
“I knew it,” he teased. “I really am that irresistible.”
“Keep telling yourself that,” I shot back, faux-angry. Before I knew it, we found ourselves outside the door with the buzz of the party just beyond.
“Ready?” He asked, and I nodded determinedly.
“Ready.”
He tightened his grip on my hand and led me into the afterparty, where everyone’s eyes turned to watch us as we came in.
The rest of the evening passed in a blur; I was sure that I spotted Angelo stalking around the outskirts of the party a couple of times, eyeing us with the kind of disdain that was generally reserved for people who’d killed your whole family. But that didn’t matter, not one bit, because Jacob and I were finally together, finally out there, finally…fuck, it was more than I ever could have imagined.
He introduced me to a handful of his sponsors and fans as his girlfriend and every time the word crept past his lips I wanted to throw my arms in the air and cheer with excitement. I had to make do with a polite smile and a squeeze of his hand to let him know that this was as novel and exciting to me as it was to him.
After the way Angelo had reacted to us announcing the fact we were dating, I had fully expected to be met with oodles of distaste and open aloofness, but instead everyone seemed kind of charmed by us. I spotted eyes traveling down to our interlocked hands, then back up to me, apparently registering what was going on between us – and they just smiled and nodded, or came up to Jacob to demand an introduction.
The worst we got were a couple of disappointed glances from women who’d clearly been hoping to pounce on Jacob as he celebrated the end of the tour, but there were plenty of other eligible bachelors there that evening where they could transfer their affections. I was focused on making a good impression, and trying not to think about the teasing I was going to get when I returned to the office and revealed that the two of us had gotten together. I imagined it would bring a whole new marketing angle for the story, at least – or that was how I would pitch it to my editor.
After a couple of hours and a few celebratory glasses of champagne, Jacob leaned in close to me and brushed his mouth up against my ear.
“You want to head back to my room?” He suggested, and a shiver ran down the length of my spine. I downed the rest of my drink in one gulp and
nodded.
“And this time we don’t have to sneak around to get there,” I pointed out as he tugged me in the direction of the door. I was tipsy, the fuzz around my head coddling me. But it felt good – for the first time since I’d come on this damn tour, I wasn’t feeling confused or anxious or distracted. There was only one thing that I was focused on, and it was the man who was taking me back to his hotel room.