CHAPTER TEN
“This is Benny Davis and you’re listening to KJOY, Las Vegas’s classic hit radio,” the popular DJ sitting across from Jessica announced into the airwaves. “This afternoon we have a special treat for you. The beautiful and talented Jessica Morgan is in the house, and she’ll be letting us know what to expect from her in the near future.”
Jessica smiled at the friendly DJ—a young, twenty-something male sporting a faux ’hawk, guy-liner, and a collection of colorful tattoos covering the length of both of his arms—and leaned toward her microphone. “Thanks for the welcome, Benny, and for playing my songs on the radio. I really do appreciate it.”
Her label expected her, as a recording artist, to do interviews and appearances to promote her albums and upcoming tours, which Jessica didn’t mind doing. But today was mostly about raising money, and awareness, for Wishes Are Forever, the foundation she’d established a few years ago. The organization was directly linked to The Children’s Hospital of Nevada and granted wishes to the young children who had a long-term stay at the facility. Whenever Jessica was in town, she spent time visiting the sick kids and enjoyed getting personally involved in making their wishes come true.
“We’re happy to have you here. After all, you are one of Las Vegas’s own who made it big,” Benny said, referring to her stint on the hit show Make Me a Star and how her career had skyrocketed after her time on the show. “Before we get to the good stuff, we need to go to commercial, so stay tuned to KJOY to find out all the latest on Jessica Morgan, and to hear about how you can win an evening in her company and VIP backstage passes to her concert next month here in Vegas.”
Benny pressed a button on the panel in front of him, disconnecting their microphones until the reel of commercials ended. During the quick three-minute intermission, they discussed the details of the auction Jessica had planned and how Benny would handle the calls and bids. Once the interview part of her visit was over, she was putting herself up on the auction block for a date night with one lucky winner, with all of the proceeds benefiting Wishes Are Forever.
“We’re back on air with Jessica Morgan,” Benny said, once the radio station fulfilled their advertising obligations. “Why don’t you tell us about your new album and your upcoming tour?”
Jessica worked the PR angle, telling the radio station’s listeners what to expect on her album—more of the soulful lyrics her fans had come to expect from her, along with a bit more edge to some of her songs. Her latest tour, It’s All for You, was kicking off at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay, and that concert was already a sold-out event, which made the VIP backstage passes all the more valuable.
“You sure are one busy woman,” Benny commented. “What do you do on your downtime?”
“Downtime? What’s that?” She laughed, and so did the DJ. “Seriously, when I do have free time, I like to hang with my friends, write new songs, read books. You know, normal, everyday things. When I’m not on tour, I’m quite boring.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Benny said, obviously opting to believe the gossip rags that touted her as a party girl, which was the furthest thing from the truth about her lifestyle.
“It’s true,” she insisted, hating that one part of being a celebrity—the scrutiny and speculation of everything she said and did and how it was twisted into sensationalized fodder for the masses to believe whatever they wanted, and it was usually the worst. “I’ll go out with friends occasionally, but I’m just as happy staying at home for the evening.”
A sly grin eased up the corners of the DJ’s lips, and she knew exactly what direction this conversation had just veered into, even before he spoke. “I know the male population is dying to know, are you dating anyone right now?”
This was the part of interviews she hated—the focus on her private life. But the personal questions came with the territory and she handled it politely when she really wanted to just tell him it wasn’t any of his, or anyone else’s, business.
“No, no one seriously,” she said lightly. Or even casually, for that matter. Over the years she’d gone out with a few guys, but she hadn’t been intimately involved with anyone since Noah in high school. She blamed it on her busy schedule, but she knew her hectic career was more of an excuse to mask a deeper issue—one that kept her from developing a meaningful relationship with any man out of fear of being rejected when he discovered the physical and emotional scars she carried that would most likely be a deal-breaker for him.
“Did you hear that, guys? The gorgeous, sexy Jessica Morgan is single and available!” Benny said enthusiastically, a ploy to generate excitement for the upcoming auction. “We’ve got the auction up next, so guys, here’s your chance to win a date with Jessica, and ladies, if you want to party with a rock star for an evening, pick up the phone and open your wallet for a good cause, the Wishes Are Forever foundation. All it takes is a winning bid and she’s yours for the night, so be generous.”
With that said, Benny pressed a button on the console in front of him and played a song from her recent album. By the time “Don’t Turn Me Away” ended, the auction was ready to begin. Benny opened the phone lines to KJOY’s listeners, and the switchboard lit up with callers willing to place a bid for the opportunity to spend a few hours in Jessica’s company. All she had to do was sit back, relax, and wait to find out who the winning bidder turned out to be.
The opening offer of one hundred dollars came from a young girl who wanted Jessica to perform for her sixteenth birthday but was quickly eclipsed by a higher bid. The hundred-dollar bids quickly jumped into the thousands and kept rising from there. A group of girlfriends had pooled their money in hopes of winning a cocktail party with Jessica as the guest of honor, but they were no match for the many men calling in, who were very competitive and cutthroat in their attempts to become the highest bidder.
The whole process, and the amount of money someone was willing to pay to spend time with her, made Jessica’s head spin—in a very good way.
Eventually, the calls began to dwindle as the bidding climbed to sixty-five hundred dollars, until a male caller made an offer of seven thousand dollars and no one else called to top him.
“Very nice, dude,” Benny drawled, obviously impressed with the man’s generous bid. “Six thousand dollars going once…going twice…going—”
Benny abruptly stopped his countdown as a phone line lit up, flashing like a bright beacon. “Hold on, folks. Looks like this auction is not done yet.” Grinning at Jessica, he connected the call. “What’s your bid?”
“Ten thousand dollars.”
Jessica sucked in a shocked breath—at the staggering amount and because the deep, masculine voice that had made the offer was an all-too-familiar one. The hot, sexy, and very determined Noah Young.
She certainly hadn’t seen that coming.
Benny looked just as surprised. “Now that’s an impressive bid.”
“You got that right, man,” the caller before Noah said, his tone both disappointed and annoyed. “I’m tapped out and can’t compete with ten grand. You win.”
“So, let’s make this official, then,” Benny said, relishing his role as auctioneer. “Ten thousand dollars going once…going twice…going three times…” He dragged the last part out, but when no one else rang in, the DJ made a loud clapping sound with his hands in lieu of pounding a gavel to signal the end of the auction. “Caller, you just won an evening in Jessica’s company, along with VIP passes to her upcoming concert. What’s your name?”
“Noah,” he said, confirming what Jessica already knew. But that didn’t stop her heart from racing ten miles a minute at the knowledge that he’d placed a hefty bid for a date with her.
“Well, Noah, that’s quite a chunk of change you just plunked down. You must want this date with Jessica really badly.”
“Who wouldn’t?” Noah drawled, his deep, masculine voice resonating through Jessica like a slow, seductive caress. “Besides, the money is going to a great cause, so it’s a win-win situation.”
Jessica knew that listeners were probably expecting her to say something to the winner, to at least congratulate him, but her tongue felt tied. No matter how she tried, she couldn’t wrap her mind around why he would spend that kind of money on her—or even for her foundation. If it was all about doing a good deed, he could have just written a check directly to Wishes Are Forever and not torture her in the process. Because she couldn’t imagine he actually wanted to spend time with her on a date, unless it was to dredge up the painful past again, and she so wasn’t going there with him.
Not now. Not ever. Despite the regrets she still lived with, her life had irrevocably changed all those years ago and there was no repairing the damage done.
Jessica cleared her throat and forced herself to speak. “Thanks for the generous donation, Noah.”
“My pleasure.” Again, his husky tone rippled along Jessica’s nerve endings, making her body come alive as if his voice alone had the power to awaken all those desires she’d squashed after leaving him nine years ago. “I’m looking forward to our time together.”
Unaware that Jessica actually knew Noah, Benny focused on the business aspect of the auction: “We’ll get our PR person, Jackie, on the phone to make arrangements for your payment, and to get your personal information to pass on to Jessica so the two of you can set up a time and place for your date.”
“Sounds great,” Noah said.
The DJ switched Noah over to Jackie to handle the transaction while Benny wrapped up the interview portion of Jessica’s visit. Even though her mind was distracted by everything that had just transpired, she managed to answer the final questions, quickly mentioned her album and upcoming tour one more time, then stopped by Jackie’s cubicle to collect Noah’s contact information.
Jessica’s bodyguard, Simon, was waiting for her out in the reception area, and as soon as he saw her he stood and fell into step a few feet behind her as they left the radio station, then made their way out of the building to the Town Car waiting to take her back home.
Except parked at the curb, right behind her chauffeured vehicle, was a sporty black BMW with none other than Noah leaning casually against the passenger door, his arms folded over his broad chest and his jean-clad legs crossed at the ankles. A warm summer breeze ruffled his thick hair, and sunglasses shaded his eyes and kept most of his expression concealed.
She came to a sudden stop, unable to believe he’d been waiting right outside the radio station the entire time the auction had been going on. The man was bold and cocky and too damn persistent.
Simon halted beside her and narrowed his gaze at Noah. “Is there a problem?” Simon asked her in a low, gruff tone, ready and willing to take care of said problem with one word from her.
“No, it’s okay,” she assured her bodyguard, whose tense forearms immediately relaxed. “I’ll be fine. I know him, and he’s not a threat.”
Except, of course, to her emotions.
In that regard, Noah Young caused all kind of havoc—with his dominating presence, his too-confident attitude, and mostly his delicious, addicting kisses. Like the ones he’d planted on her Friday night after her impromptu concert at Taboo. Those kisses had started a slow burn inside of her that had made her feel restless ever since.
She glanced at Simon. “Give me a few minutes to talk to him.”
Simon gave her a nod and headed toward the Town Car, and Jessica started in Noah’s direction, annoyed by the fact that the dark pair of shades he wore blocked his eyes. But despite those sunglasses, she could still feel his gaze on her, most likely taking a slow, leisurely perusal over her dark purple gauze blouse, down her skinny black jeans, to her lace-up ankle boots—and all the way back up again. Maybe it was a good thing she couldn’t see his eyes and what, exactly, he was looking at.
Jessica stopped a few feet away from him and kept her expression neutral. “Was all that really necessary?” she asked. She wanted to sound irritated but didn’t quite pull it off.
To his credit, he didn’t pretend to not know what she was referring to. “Yes, it was very necessary,” he said, his voice smooth as silk. “I didn’t think you’d go out with me willingly, and I figured this was something you couldn’t back out of.”
Jerk. A clever jerk, she admitted begrudgingly, but a jerk nonetheless. “Why would you want to go out with me at all?” It wasn’t as though the last time they’d been together had been all romance and roses. In fact, there had been a ton of animosity between them, and she couldn’t imagine spending hours with Noah steeped with anger and resentment.
Now that sounded like a fun time together. Not.
“Why, Noah?” she persisted.
Shrugging, he finally slipped off his sunglasses, his gaze a direct and piercing shade of brown. “Because you and I have unfinished business to resolve.”
She stiffened, her defenses rising. “No, we don’t,” she said adamantly. The past was the past, and she wanted it to stay there. For her, that term was nonnegotiable.
He thought for a long moment, as if trying to come up with some kind of compromise. “Okay, what if I promise to be on my best behavior and we both make an effort to enjoy the date?”
God, with the history between them, was that even possible? Could they put the past aside and just go forward as friends? Honestly, it wasn’t as though she had a choice. The man had just spent an exorbitant amount of money for a date with her—how would it look if word got out that she’d backed out on a legitimate auction? Her publicist could no doubt handle the damage control, but Jessica had never reneged on a deal before and she wasn’t about to start now with Noah—no matter how bad of an idea this was.
“Fine.” She absently adjusted the strap of her purse over her shoulder, telling herself she could handle a few hours with Noah, especially since they’d both agreed to play nice. Once her obligation was fulfilled, they could go their separate ways. Thank God she was leaving in a few weeks to begin her concert tour, which would assure there would be plenty of distance between herself and Noah.
“What are you doing here, at the radio station?” she asked. She knew he’d handled the donation payment over the phone, so it wasn’t as though he needed to show up in person.
His smile encompassed a wealth of male arrogance, which only made him look hotter. Sexier. “I knew I was going to win the auction, so I wanted to be here when you left so we could discuss the details of our date.”
She bit her bottom lip to keep from grinning, because she didn’t want him to think she was amused by his gigantic ego, which she was. “You are so full of yourself. What if someone kept outbidding you?”
“Not possible.”
With those two words he told her that he’d been prepared to drop far more cash for a date with her, if necessary. As for the details of their date…“Well, your ten-grand donation bought yourself an evening in my company, so we need to decide on a day and time that works with your schedule.”
“How about right now?”
Was he serious? “It’s two in the afternoon on a Monday.”
He arched a dark brow. “I’d like to think that ten thousand dollars would buy me a few extra hours of your time.”
Oh, he was good. Or bad, as the case might be. “So, you want the afternoon and evening?”
“Sounds fair to me.” He pushed away from his BMW, straightening to his full height so that she had to tip her head back to look at his face. “Unless you have other plans today?”
“No plans. But don’t you have a nightclub to run?”
He shook his head, causing soft strands of his hair to brush across his forehead, giving him a boyish look when he was anything but. “Taboo is closed on Monday and Tuesday nights.”
How convenient was that? She hadn’t anticipated going out with Noah so soon and would have appreciated the extra time to mentally and emotionally prepare herself to spend so many hours with him. “I’m not exactly dressed for a date,” she said, the excuse sounding lame even to her own ears.
To her surprise, he reached out and grabbed her hand, the heat of his touch making her stomach do the kind of somersaults she hadn’t felt since their first face-to-face encounter in high school. “You’re dressed perfectly for what I have in mind for the first part of our date.”
“First part?” she asked curiously.
“Yep, it’s a two-part date.” His thumb caressed the back of her hand, and the gold in his brown eyes all but mesmerized her. “And you’re perfectly dressed for the second part, too.”
She released a soft sigh. When things were like this between them, friendly and civilized, the lack of hostility made it so easy for her to do anything he asked. As long as he kept his promise to leave their history where it belonged—in the past—and she was trusting him to do just that.
Deciding to make the best of the situation, she gave Noah a genuine smile. “Okay, I’m all yours.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how brazen her reply sounded.
And, of course, being a guy, Noah immediately jumped on the chance to acknowledge the double entendre. “I like the way that sounds.”
His deep, wicked chuckle made her shiver and her cheeks grow warm.
He tugged her closer and lowered his head to speak into her ear. “One more request. Can we ditch your bodyguard?” Noah asked hopefully, nodding his head toward where Simon was waiting patiently for her by the Town Car. “I promise to keep you safe and protected the entire time you’re with me.” He gave the hand he was still holding a gentle squeeze.
Oddly enough, she believed and trusted him. There was a time when he’d been her knight in shining armor, her defender against the unpleasant memories shadowing her youth, and her sanctuary when her own mother had treated her only daughter like she wished Jessica had never been born. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been around to save her from what happened on the worst day of her life.
She didn’t blame him for that, but those events had forever changed the course of her future…one in which Noah Young no longer had a place.
“Yeah, we can ditch Simon,” she told Noah.
And for tonight she, too, was going to put the past aside and enjoy her time with the only man she’d ever loved.