The Baby: A Steamy Rock Star Romance (Cruise Control Book 3)

by Sian Ceinwen

  “Lolita Serafina Ciccone, you have changed my life in so many ways, and all of them have been good. I love you more than any woman I’ve ever met, and I can’t imagine living my life without you.”

  He opened the box and held it out in front of her. Inside was a beautiful, intricate, gold airplane pendant encrusted with diamonds and suspended on a golden chain.

  “I promised that I wouldn’t make decisions for you, so I didn’t want to pick a ring for you. The first time that I told you I loved you, we were on a plane, so I had this made for you and what I really want to know is…will you marry me?”

  Lita had tears in her eyes, but she smiled and nodded at him. “Yes, I will.”

  Sebastian grinned at her and moved over to kiss her before he put the necklace around her neck.

  “Congratulations,” her dad said, and their other parents joined in.

  “Let’s celebrate,” Bianca announced.

  Sebastian got champagne glasses and champagne for everyone, filling Lita’s glass with orange juice. They toasted their engagement, and everyone took a sip before sitting back down. Sebastian sat on the armchair that Lita had been sitting on before, and she sat on his lap.

  Their parents were talking excitedly about possible wedding plans, and Lita snuggled in to Sebastian.

  “Are you happy, princess?”

  Lita played with the airplane necklace and nodded. “I really am.”

  “Good.” He kissed her, and she kissed him back, feeling completely content here in his arms.

  “You could’ve picked a ring for me; I wouldn’t have minded,” she told him.

  “I know, but I figured that you wouldn’t be able to wear it this late in your pregnancy, anyway. Also, this way, the paparazzi won’t immediately know that we’re engaged.”

  “That’s actually really smart. Thank you, Seb.”

  He grinned at her cheekily. “You should have a closer look at the bottom.”

  Lita turned it over and burst into laughter. On the bottom of the plane, the Cruise Control symbol had been expertly engraved, along with their initials.

  “Of course, you did.” She shook her head, unable to wipe the smile off her face, though.

  “If it wasn’t for Cruise Control, I never would’ve met you. My band has given me so many good things and wonderful opportunities, but the best thing it’s brought into my life was you and Mirabella.”

  He squeezed her tightly, then kept his arms wrapped around her with his hands resting on her belly. Lita’s tiredness had vanished from the moment that Sebastian had said he had something to say, and they were sitting there talking to their parents when Sebastian’s phone began to buzz on the table next to the chair he’d been sitting on before.

  Sebastian made no effort to get it and let it ring out, but when it started buzzing again about ten seconds later, he frowned. “Would you mind grabbing that for me, Mom?”

  His mom walked over and picked it up as it stopped ringing.

  “It was Hayden,” Sebastian announced, looking at his phone as Lita’s own phone started buzzing in her pocket.

  She pulled it out and saw Hayden’s name on the screen.

  “Hayden?” she asked as their call was connected. “Is everything okay?”

  “Not really. I’ve been in a car accident.”

  “You’ve what? Hang on, I’m putting you on speaker.” She took the phone away from her ear and pressed a button so that they’d all be able to hear him. “I’m here with Sebastian, and our parents are here as well. Say that again.”

  “I’ve been in a car accident. I’m okay, so is Jesse, he was driving. Someone was following us, and they tried to run us off the road,” he told them.

  Lita was in complete shock.

  “Are you fucking serious? Did they catch the person?” Sebastian asked.

  “No, when we crashed, they drove off. There were no number plates on their car. We’ve both been checked over, and we’re fine, but it was scary as shit. We’re at the police station now, giving our statements.”

  “Is Cooper there?” Sebastian looked worried.

  “Yeah, he is, plus that lawyer he used to get Heather off her charge.”

  “Do they know why the person ran you off the road?” Lita asked.

  “They’re not sure, but they think it might have been a fan. The police have asked Cooper to give them all of my fan mail for them to go through.”

  “Do you need us to do anything?” Sebastian asked.

  “No, just letting you know. You’re obviously safe at Galena, but just be careful, guys.”

  “Will do. Keep us up to date. I’m glad you’re safe, Hayden,” Sebastian said.

  “Thanks, Seb. I’ll talk to you guys later.”

  Hayden ended the call, and they all sat in complete shock for a few moments before anyone spoke. Lita’s mind was a whirling mess of emotions. She was worried about Hayden, but she was worried about herself and Mirabella as well, not to mention Sebastian and the rest of their friends.

  “Well, that’s put a downer on my mood,” Bianca announced. “I’m still happy for you guys, but that’s terrible about Hayden. I’m going to go call Annette and see if she’s okay before I go to bed. Goodnight, everyone.”

  “Sure. Mom, can you not tell her about our engagement? I don’t want Hayden to hear it from his mom.”

  “Sure, bello. It’s your news to share how you want to. Just let me know when I can tell everyone,” his mom smiled at him.

  “Maybe tomorrow. I’ll see how Hayden is in the morning and call the other guys once I’ve told him, plus Grandad and Nonna, then you can tell everyone.”

  They all retired to their bedrooms, and Lita collapsed on the bed, lifting her hand to her neck to feel the airplane necklace as she did. Sebastian caught sight of her, and his expression of worry turned to a smile.

  “I feel guilty for being so happy,” he told her.

  Lita smiled back at him. “Me too.”

  Sebastian climbed onto the bed next to her and smiled down at her. “I’m glad; I want my fiancée to be happy at all times.”

  “Oh my god, you’re my fiancé,” Lita said slowly.

  “Yup, you’re stuck with me for the rest of your life, princess.” He grinned as he lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her.

  “I don’t know, I could still back out, you know.”

  Sebastian reached underneath the dress she was wearing and began to softly rub her inner thigh. “Really? You’re thinking about backing out, huh?”

  “Yup, I only said yes so that you wouldn’t lose face in front of our parents,” Lita nodded.

  “I see. I’m sure that’s the case. Well, let me just show you what you’ll be missing when you back out.” He smirked at her as he slid his fingers in and out of her three times before he began to slowly rub them in circles across her clit, and Lita moaned. “I doubt you’ll miss this at all.”

  “Nope. Not…at…all,” Lita said in between panting breaths.

  Sebastian lowered his mouth to bite her nipple. Even through two layers of clothing, it had an effect on Lita.

  “Come for me, princess,” Sebastian whispered in a husky voice before he lowered his head to kiss her as he continued to rub her clit.

  He was still kissing her when her orgasm hit, and she moaned into his mouth as it did. They removed their clothing, and then Sebastian entered her from behind. After they’d finished and cleaned up, they lay in bed together, naked, with Lita only wearing the airplane necklace.

  “I’m the luckiest man in the world,” he told her.

  “You definitely are,” she agreed, and she felt him smile in the darkness.

  Lita fell asleep in Sebastian’s arms and worked hard to push away the fear she was feeling for everyone’s safety as she tried to fall asleep. Long after Sebastian’s breathing had deepened, Lita finally managed to get to sleep.

  38

  LEVEL 35.5 – Cruise Control Bingo

  Your baby is the size of BMO.

  You’re
in the home stretch. Only four weeks left until your due date at the end of this week!

  Do you remember back when you walked without a waddle? Those were the days. Anything that you drop belongs to the floor, now. It’s gone. Out of your reach, forever. You will be missed, car keys. We Uber places, now…unless we drop our phone…

  Lita pulled on a gorgeous, flowery maternity dress, the latest of Heather’s offerings, and slipped on some black ballet flats. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and walked out to find Sebastian sitting on the sofa, already dressed and playing a video game on the console.

  “Hey, princess, all ready to go?”

  “Yup, I can’t wait!” Lita told him with a grin.

  They were going to pick Becky up from the airport, and then they would be going to Cruise Control’s rehearsal. Becky had no idea, and Lita couldn’t wait to surprise her. Their official rehearsals wouldn’t be starting until next month, but Hayden had a rehearsal space in his apartment that they had been visiting each Friday since the beginning of the year.

  When they got to the airport, Sebastian and Lita stayed in the car while Daryl went to get Becky. Ben stayed in the car with them because, since Hayden’s crash, Cooper had been even stricter about their security measures, and none of them were allowed to be out without a bodyguard in public at all now. The police were still going through Hayden’s fan mail, but they hadn’t found anything yet.

  “Hi, guys,” Becky said as she slid into the car. “Lita, oh my god, you look gorgeous.”

  “Thanks,” Lita said and gave her friend a hug. “It’s so good to see you.”

  Becky smiled at her and then caught sight of the airplane necklace. She reached out and held it in her hands, leaning forward to look at it.

  “It’s stunning. It looks even better than it did in the pictures you sent me. You did good, Sebastian.”

  He smiled at her. “Thanks, Becky.”

  “So much for not marrying Sebastian Fox even if you were paid a million dollars,” Becky smirked at Lita.

  Sebastian burst into laughter, then leaned forward and whispered in Lita’s ear, “Did you only agree to marry me because I paid you a million dollars, princess?”

  She shook her head and said, “A lot of things have changed since June.”

  “No kidding. I miss you, dude. When are you coming back to Seattle?”

  “I’m not sure; I’ll have to see how it goes. As long as we’re given the all-clear, I’ll be going on the Games We Play tour, so probably after that.”

  They’d come to this decision recently when they were discussing the tour, and both of them knew that they didn’t want to be separated for that long, even though Lita was worried about the logistics of taking a newborn baby on a concert tour.

  Becky sighed. “I hate you, Sebastian. You stole my best friend.”

  “Should we tell her where we’re going now, princess?” Sebastian laughed.

  “Nah, let’s make her wait,” Lita grinned.

  “Wait? Where are we going? I thought we were going back to your apartment?” Becky’s eyebrows were raised.

  “We’re definitely going to an apartment; it’s just not ours,” Sebastian told her.

  “You’re not making me hate you any less,” Becky warned him.

  He laughed at her comment. “Maybe not, but it’s so much more fun to make you wait.”

  Eventually, they pulled into an underground garage in an apartment building in Chicago. Daryl and Ben escorted them in the elevator up to Hayden’s apartment.

  When the doors opened and they walked into his apartment, Hayden greeted them with a friendly smile on his face. “Hi, guys. Hey Becky, good to see you again.”

  “Oh my god! Hi, Hayden. What are we doing at Hayden’s?” Becky asked as she walked past him further into the room. She came to a grinding halt when she saw Gabriel and Harrison sitting on a sofa nearby. “Holy shit.”

  Lita laughed. “It’s so nice to not be the only fangirl around here for once.”

  “Hi, Becky, how are you?” Harrison asked.

  “Good. Surprised. What is happening right now?”

  “The guys have a rehearsal, and we’re going to watch. If you want to, of course,” Lita told her.

  “Fuck, yes!” Becky exclaimed, and everyone laughed.

  Hayden took them from the room they were in, down a long hallway, and opened the door at the end. Behind it was a massive, soundproofed room with all of their instruments set up in it.

  “Wow, this is insane, Hayden,” Becky gasped.

  Hayden laughed. “I practice more often than these slackers, and the drums can’t exactly be played in an apartment building without pissing people off, so it made sense for me to have the rehearsal room.”

  “Pfft, as if I don’t practice every day,” Sebastian said.

  “I could count on one hand the number of times I’ve seen you pick up a guitar since I met you, and I think these guys were all there each time,” Lita teased him.

  “Shh, princess, do you want me to get kicked out of the band or something?”

  Everyone laughed, then the guys grabbed their instruments and started to rehearse while Lita and Becky sat on a sofa to watch them.

  “This. Is. Amazing.” Becky whispered it to her with a look of shock on her face. “I can’t believe your life now, dude.”

  “Tell me about it. I still freak out all the time about it. It’s so weird that I’m marrying Sebastian Fox.”

  She watched him as he played the guitar in front of her. He looked beautiful and incredibly sexy as the muscles in his arms tensed and flexed while he played. Sebastian caught her eye and smiled at her while he sang the chorus of “Rules To Break.”

  They watched them rehearse, and the sheer delight was evident on Becky’s face as she took it in. Lita had come to a couple of these rehearsals before, but even she was still amazed at getting to watch them perform up close and personally.

  They played all of the songs on Games We Play, then Gabriel asked, “Anything you’d particularly like to hear, Becky?”

  Becky’s eyes widened. “Holy shit, yes. Umm, can you play ‘Midnight Memories’?”

  “Sure,” Gabriel smiled.

  They began to play Becky’s song, and she grinned the whole time they were playing.

  “He’s still so fucking hot,” Becky whispered to her as Gabriel was singing the second verse, and Lita had to stifle a laugh.

  “Yup, they all are.”

  “Still think Hayden’s the sexiest?” Becky smirked at her.

  Lita looked over at the group as they played and smiled. There was no doubt that Hayden was incredibly attractive; they all were. None of them had the same effect on her that Sebastian did, though. Even now, she knew that she would be happier if she were in his arms than she would be anywhere else in the world.

  They’d settled into a nice life together at Galena; she would do some coding during the day, and he often went into the studio to write music. Sometimes, she would sit in the studio with him while he worked. Lita knew that their life would be entirely different once they were on tour, and she did worry about how she would adjust, but she also knew that she would have plenty of support.

  “Okay, I’ll admit that I think Sebastian’s the sexiest now,” Lita told Becky.

  “As if you didn’t think that before and just wouldn’t admit it,” Becky teased her.

  “Never,” Lita protested with a grin.

  The guys continued to ask Becky and Lita what songs they wanted to hear, and at Sebastian’s suggestion, they even played three unreleased songs for them, which was very exciting. When the rehearsal was finished, they said goodbye to the others and went back down to the SUV.

  “Are we picking up dinner on the way home?” Becky asked.

  “Nope,” Lita smiled.

  Becky narrowed her eyes at Lita. “Why do you have that grin on your face, Lolita Ciccone?”

  “We have dinner plans,” Lita told her.

  When they pulled into another unde
rground garage, Becky asked, “Whose place is this, then?”

  “How do you know it’s not mine?” Sebastian asked her.

  “Just a hunch.”

  Lita laughed. “You’ll see.”

  They went up in the elevator, and they led Becky to number 37B and instructed her to knock on the door.

  Ariana smiled at them when she opened the door. “Hey, Becky. It’s nice to see you again. Come in.”

  They walked inside, and Ariana led them to the kitchen where Heather was sitting at the counter.

  “Hey there, lover. I see you brought your lovely fiancée and her bestie to us. You can leave now. You’ve served your purpose.” Heather gave him a wicked grin.

  “You’re not having dinner with us, Sebastian?” Becky asked.

  “Yes, I am. Heather just thinks she’s funny.” He rolled his eyes, and Heather laughed.

  She stood up and gave all three of them a hug before sitting down again. Becky sat down next to Heather, and Lita sat down next to Becky, while Sebastian stood behind Lita and wrapped his arms around her.

  They talked as Ariana pulled a beef roast and vegetables out of the oven. The rest of the band, along with Blake, arrived not much later, just as Ariana finished making the gravy for their dinner.

  “It smells amazing, sweetheart,” Gabriel told her as he walked into the kitchen to give her a hug.

  “Thanks. Can you set the table?” Ariana smiled at him.

  They all helped Gabriel take the dishes and cups out to the table, then Ariana brought the food out. She’d carved the roast beef into slices, and everyone served themselves from the dishes on the table.

  “This is delicious, Ariana,” Lita said as she took her first bite.

  “Thanks. Roast beef is kind of my specialty.” Ariana smiled at her.

  “I can’t believe that I’m eating dinner at Gabriel Knight’s house,” Becky said to them both.

  Ariana laughed and told her, “The first time I came here, I was freaking out. I was a fan of Cruise Control too.”

  “I just realized that I’ll be staying at Sebastian’s place tonight and going to Harrison’s place tomorrow.” Becky shook her head in amazement.