by Cari Quinn
Of course, that all depended on Gray coming out of his dressing room someday soon.
“What the hell.” Lila aimed a death ray at Nick and charged across the room. “This is a closed set,” she snapped. “No groupies.”
“Groupies? I don’t see any groupies.” He glanced around, eyebrows lifted. The perfect lying picture of innocence. “Tori here is my special friend. Totally different.”
Tori nodded eagerly. Lila did not appear impressed.
When Simon wandered off muttering about needing a drink, Harper leaned in close to Jazz. “How’re you holding up?”
“Not awesomely.” Jazz lifted the bottom of her robe. “These garters are cutting off my thigh circulation.”
“Look sexy as hell though.”
“So will the permanent band tattoos on my legs.”
“Speaking of band tattoos, I’m thinking of getting the Oblivion O right here.” Harper pulled down the collar of her shirt to reveal the top of her breast. “Maybe add a whisk.”
“Sounds good. I still need to get mine too.” Still holding up her robe, Jazz peered between her legs. “I’m thinking inner thigh.” Gray liked that area on her. “What do you think?”
Harper didn’t answer.
“Harp?”
“Not Harp.” Gray’s husky voice rumbled over her skin. “By the way, that’s some pose. Don’t feel like you need to change it on my account.”
She whirled around and grinned widely enough that her cheeks hurt. “Where did you come from?”
“Today, rehab. Originally, my mother’s wo—” The rest of his statement disappeared under her lips as she attacked him right there in the middle of Lila’s set. He laughed and grabbed her hips, pulling her even closer while he stroked his tongue over hers and reminded her all over again just what that mouth was capable of.
Her panties soon bore the proof.
“Mmm, missed you.”
Grinning, he dipped his forehead to hers. “I’d say me too but I think you can feel that without me saying a word.” He tugged lightly on the belt of her robe. “This is some outfit.”
“You haven’t even seen the best part yet.”
She waited for his eyes to darken with jealousy that everyone else would soon be seeing it too but he only pressed his lips to hers again. “Yeah, I have. Nothing is better than your face.”
God. This man.
“How are you?” she whispered between kisses. “You look good. No, you look great. You gained weight. Your color’s back.” Not caring who was watching, she reached around behind him and grabbed his ass. “Oh yeah. Everything’s exactly right.”
He laughed against her mouth. “You’re trying to screw up the big plans I have for us, aren’t you?”
“Big plans for screwing?” She arched against him and buried her hands in his thick hair. He’d grown it even longer and hot damn, her nipples solidly approved. “I’m down. Or up. Pretty much any position you want me in.”
“Uh uh. No screwing. That’s my big plan. I want us to go slow.” He edged back and drew his fingertip over her parted wet lips and down her throat to her guitar pick necklace. “This time, we’re going to do it right. No rushing ahead. I want to do the old-fashioned thing and, you know, court you.”
Uh oh.
She cleared her throat. “I’m not sure that’s possible, all things considered.”
“Sure it is. We’ll reset the clock and do everything all over again. Start from the beginning.”
“Two minutes until I’m closing this set,” Lila shouted as the crew hustled around, doing final adjustments. She wasn’t the video director, but she’d taken over as usual. “Necessary personnel only.”
Jazz bit her lip. Oh shit. Damn, damn, damn. This was not going well at all. So much for her big surprise. He was liable to dump her again after she dropped this present on his doorstep. Not the present itself—that was wonderful—but her timing left something to be desired. Best of all? She’d actually planned this stupid set-up.
Other women arranged an intimate dinner for two. Her? She invited a camera crew.
“I have something I need to tell you. Like…now.”
“We have all the time in the world.” He tucked her hair behind her ear. “Back to brunette. I love it.”
“It’s vegetable dye. I can’t use the real stuff right now.”
“What, is there a shortage or something?” He grinned. “Doesn’t surprise me. You change your hair practically daily.”
“Take your places, everyone. Simon, don’t touch that. Jazz and Gray, get on the bed.”
He grabbed her hand and tugged her with him. “Be gentle with me, okay? I’ve had a long eight weeks.”
“You’re not the only one,” she mumbled, prepared to climb the three steps to the platform bed. But he turned and plucked her up, setting her down carefully on the mattress and lying beside her as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
She stared up at him, dizzy for a whole different reason than her usual one lately. “Gray,” she whispered urgently.
“Hmm, baby?”
“Jazz, move your leg. That angle is not flattering. Gray, put your hand higher. Pretend you actually like her.”
“Was this really your idea?” he muttered in Jazz’s ear, doing as requested. His hand slid up her thigh and she bit her lip to keep from moaning, though she wasn’t sure if it was from desire or distress. Probably both.
“I’m not sure I properly conceptualized it.”
“You think?” He turned his face into her hair. “Sweet hell, you smell like a fucking wet dream.”
“That’s good,” Lila said as the bearded cameraman loomed over them, his breath reeking of the meatball sub he’d eaten a few minutes ago. Jazz’s stomach roiled. “Roll half on top of her,” Lila continued. “Think the hottest makeout session of your life. When we come into the bridge, Simon’s going to take center stage for a moment and that’s when we want you to slide down her body. I think we all know what we want you to simulate.”
Gray lifted his head. “You can’t be serious.”
“Don’t worry, with the proper camera angles, it will still be classy,” Lila said.
“Oh, yeah. This shoot is fucking exploding with class,” Nick said from a few feet away. “Too bad I forgot my pearls.”
Simon chuckled. “Bet we could arrange a pearl necklace pretty easily.”
Gray choked with laughter and gripped his side. “Ow, fuck, that still hurts.”
Jazz eased up on her elbow and touched Gray’s jaw. “Want me to get on top?”
“I do.”
“Shut up,” Jazz and Gray said to Simon.
“No, stay where you are,” Lila commanded. “If everyone cooperates, this will be done by lunch.”
“You mean I’ll be done for,” Gray breathed in Jazz’s ear, making her laugh. He traced small circles with his thumb on her upper thigh, rekindling her lust and easing her nerves at the same time.
The set crew continued to yell instructions to each other and to the members of the band. Nick, Simon, and Deak were supposed to rock out on their instruments in the corner like a bunch of voyeurs while she and Gray rocked out on the bed. At the end, a sugar-like powder would be dumped on them from above. Whether that would turn out sexy or dopey as hell was anyone’s guess.
At the moment, she had bigger problems.
When the recorded track to “Sugar Kiss” started and Gray nuzzled the side of her neck, panic really set in. She’d bungled this so badly, and keeping this secret from him any longer felt like a huge mistake. She’d wanted to do something sexy and unique that they would never forget. Hell, their most important moment would even be memorialized for all time on video. But her sexy was in short supply and after his pre-shoot declaration about wanting to go slow, she couldn’t hold back one second more.
“Gray.” She guided his face up to hers, well aware the cameras were still rolling. Not really caring. She rubbed her mouth over his and slid her hand along his jaw so it bloc
ked the movement of her lips. She hoped. “I’m pregnant.”
For a moment, nothing happened. Had she overdone the whole hand blocking thing? The recorded music was freaking loud, and the guys were playing for real in the corner because Nick had insisted he couldn’t simulate.
She wet her parched lips and inched closer to Gray’s ear, about to try some seductive lobe action while yet again imparting her news, when his head reared up and collided with hers. Hard. Stars swam in her vision and she reached up to grab her throbbing face.
It was wet. That probably wasn’t good.
“Cut!” The cameraman shouted as a slew of curses erupted around them.
“Oh, Christ, get ice. We’ve got a bleeder,” someone called.
Gray, however, didn’t appear to notice her fluid loss. “What? What did you say?” She cupped her nose and tried to speak but evidently, he’d decided to pry the words out of her by force if necessary. He dragged her hand away from her nose and pressed his there instead, holding it away from her mouth. His eyes were wilder than she’d ever seen them. “Say it again.”
“I’m pregnant.” Something about saying the words to him made her eyes fill. “We’re going to have a baby.”
He stared at her, a huge range of emotions playing across his face. So many she couldn’t track them all. His lips moved, but no sound emerged.
“Say something,” she pleaded.
He dropped his hand as a crew member pushed a plastic bag toward her nose. “Ice’s here,” he said hollowly.
Normally, she would’ve thrown some snark back at him. But she couldn’t, because a boulder the size of Rhode Island had taken up residence on her chest.
“Let’s see your face,” Lila said, crawling on the bed on her opposite side. “If there’s bruising, we’re fucked.”
“It won’t show up yet,” the cameraman said. “If we finish the shoot now, we can make it work.”
“I’m still bleeding,” Jazz said in a small voice, but no one seemed to care.
“Let me see.” Lila nudged aside the ice and probed her face gently with her fingers. “She looks fine. Time to boogie.”
“Still bleeding,” Jazz said again, waving her ice bag.
She was resoundingly ignored.
For his part, Gray had slumped on his side and was staring vacantly into space. That didn’t bode well.
“Everyone, places. From the top. Gray?”
He moved like a robot, assuming his position half on top of her with about as much enthusiasm as a child on the way to the dentist. He slid his hand up her thigh, shifting it so her leg rested on both of his. She soon realized his erection hadn’t abated. Nor had his stricken expression.
At the cameraman’s cue, he went back to kissing her neck, his fingers still doing that stroking thing on her thigh that had worked well to start her engine before. It had the same effect the second time around and she arched again, getting into it in spite of herself, when he suddenly lifted his head and stared into her eyes. “You’re pregnant,” he said without lowering his voice. At all. “We’re really having a baby?”
“Yeah.” She swallowed. “We are.”
“For fuck’s sake, cut,” the cameraman yelled. “How am I supposed to shoot a video under these conditions?”
“Give them five. You get five,” Lila said, appearing in Jazz’s line of vision just long enough for her to nod. Lila moved back, clapping her hands. “Clear the set, people. Time for a short break.”
“Oh, thank God. I’m so tired from playing six notes.” Nick’s sarcastic reply carried across the room just before the slam of a door signaled the group’s exit.
Jazz chanced a look at Gray, who’d finally regained some of his color after her bombshell. “You okay?” she asked hesitantly.
“Yeah. Are you? How did this happen?” His gaze traveled down to her partially undone robe—they hadn’t gotten to the big reveal yet—and back up to her face. “The tests were negative.”
“We took them too soon. Within a few weeks, I didn’t need them to tell me anyway. It became obvious pretty fast.”
“The band knows?”
“Yes. I’m sorry I told them first, but I kind of had to. I was throwing up constantly while we were in the studio and Nick started making jokes about me having an eating disorder.”
“So that’s why the guys were acting so weird in the dressing room. Deak said we had to stick together, him and me. I thought he just meant because Simon and Nick are nuts.” Gray’s throat bobbed. “Lila didn’t freak out over what it means for the band?”
“A little. She chided me for not coordinating the birth with the upcoming tour. I don’t think she understands the meaning of the word unplanned.” She rolled her eyes. “But as soon as she figured out her spin angle, she was fine. She decided she would put out a big press release when I start to show about our ‘love child’.”
“‘Love child’? Only Lila.” He shook his head. “Are you still sick in the mornings?”
“It’s more morning and afternoon sickness. Sometimes evening. Harp and I keep joking about needing matching sinks wherever we go. Oh, guess what? Deak and Harp finally bought a house. It’s the cutest place—”
“Save that for later. One life changing event at a time, please.” His lips twitched. “What other symptoms did you have?”
That was her Gray, always needing to know the details. He’d never be the kind of man who didn’t get involved. “Well, I couldn’t even put on a bra without wincing—” He jerked back from her like she was on fire and she had to laugh, though it made her nose hurt more. She touched it gingerly. “I’m okay today.”
“Oh. Good.” He frowned, studying her chest so intently that she couldn’t help squirming. “They’re bigger.”
“Yeah. So’s my belly, though you probably won’t be able to tell yet. But I can.”
“Let me see.”
She undid her robe and revealed the skimpy lace teddy beneath. He laid his hand on her stomach and her pulse skipped from the heat of his palm and the intimacy of the gesture. She felt more naked with him touching her there than she ever had in her life.
“I can tell,” he breathed, and the wonder in his voice brought back her tears. He gave her a sidelong glance and let out a shuddering exhale. “So…guess slow’s out, huh?”
She shut her eyes, thinking back to one of the hardest days she’d ever gone through. It hadn’t been an ending for them, though it had seemed like it at the time. But somehow they’d found their way back to each other as friends even while they’d dated others. Then they’d broken up with those other people and grown closer all over again.
And then they’d joined Oblivion.
“I couldn’t hit the pause button on my life,” she said, blinking her eyes open as a tremor went through his body.
He remembered.
“I’m so fucking glad,” he said hoarsely, lacing their fingers together over her belly. “I’m not waiting for any-damn-thing anymore. We’ve waited plenty.”
“I know you just got out of Visions, and you’re dealing with big life changes.”
“Yeah, but I’ve been clean more than sixty days. I’m taking it one day at a time. Believe me, staying away from coke and everything else is my number one priority.”
“I know, and I’m so proud of you for deciding to go to rehab. It wasn’t easy.” She bit her lip. “There are other concerns too. Financially, we’re still finding our footing, but more of the money will start rolling in soon.”
“Actually, we’re not doing too badly there.”
“Huh?”
“While I was in rehab, I started pursuing another avenue to make some extra on the side. I want to pay you and my parents back as soon as possible, and now I can.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I started selling some of my songs.” He smiled. “Lila hooked me up with some producers and artists who liked what I have. I worked on more in between therapy sessions and courtyard walks. You’d be surprised how much you ca
n come up with when you’re alone so many hours of the day.”
“That’s amazing.” She stroked his cheek, smiling as he turned his head to kiss her thumb. “I can’t wait to see all the new material.”
“I’m stockpiling it. Once I got back into the groove, it felt natural. It reminded me of when you and I used to write together. I’m hoping maybe we can get back to that. Get a few Edwards-Duffy collaborations out there.”
She glanced at her belly. “One’s already cooking.”
He pressed their joined hands to her stomach. “The best one yet,” he murmured.
“You’re really okay with this? Even though the timing sucks?”
“The timing must be right, because it happened. This is exactly what we both wanted.”
She couldn’t deny it. Even with the alternating bouts of worry and panic over his reaction that she’d suffered through since learning she was pregnant, she’d savored every single moment of their baby’s life. “Yes,” she said, throat thick. “This is exactly what I want.”
“I know the extended family thing didn’t work out for us the way we would’ve hoped. The situation with my parents…” He trailed off and shook his head. “I’ve talked to them a couple of times recently, and we’ve even tried to discuss Brent. It’s just not happening.”
“This baby is going to need grandparents. Look, they’re not perfect, all right? But they’re the only parents you’ve got. And I think—hope—that maybe this child can start to build a bridge. Brent’s gone, Gray,” she said gently. “It’s over.”
“They sided with him. They never even considered that he tried to hurt you. You had to leave, and it wasn’t fair.”
“They didn’t make me leave. It was my choice.” Not that she’d had many of them, since after what had happened with Brent, the Duffys had never looked at her the same way again.
“You didn’t feel safe staying in the house with him. What option did they give you?”
“You paid a much bigger price than I did. God, you turned your back on them to show your solidarity with me, even after I left.” She rubbed his hand. “Sweet, stubborn man.”
“I won’t stand for anyone hurting you. Not while I have anything to say about it.”