Arthur passed me a tissue as I drew my legs in so people could file past us. Suddenly a shadow blocked out the light. I glanced up. Marcus stood in front of me, and Avery was with him. She bent down to hug her dad. I stood, wiping my face, and then reached back and took Carter’s hand.
Avery turned to me, her smile fading. She stared at me for a long uncomfortable moment. “Why are you here?” she demanded her eyes icy green.
“Avery,” Marcus cautioned.
“She’s got a right to ask,” I said looking her straight in the eye. Justin wasn’t the only twin who was a protector. “I love him,” I told her. “I was wrong to doubt him. I was wrong to run away like I did. But I’m back to stay now.”
Her brow rose, skepticism evident. The gesture was so like him that it made my chest burn. “And if he doesn’t want you back?”
“That’s something he has to decide.”
Her assessing eyes flashed with what I hoped was approval.
Arthur started coughing and her gaze slid to him, concern creasing her brow. “I’m sorry, Kat. I don’t think I’m up to an afterparty. Would you make my apologies? Give your brother a hug. Tell him how proud I was to see him tonight.”
“I don’t really want to go either Dad.” Her expression turned thoughtful. “It’s his night. I’d rather go back to the farm with you. Is there room on the helicopter for Marcus and me?”
“Yes,” I answered for him. “Carter and I are planning to stay here.”
“Good. Then you can deliver the message for us both.”
I nodded, and she pressed a couple of lanyard passes into my hands. “The party’s in Ballroom C at the Sutton.”
“Thanks,” I mumbled and impulsively threw my arms around her neck. I felt my eyes burn when she returned the hug.
“Good luck, Bridget,” she whispered in my ear.
I so liked her.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
* * *
Bridget
Taking Carter by the hand, I made my own way through the crowd, threading through every available space that opened up in front of us. When I finally reached the taxi line outside, I wanted to scream in frustration. There were fifty people already in line ahead of us.
“Excuse me, Miss Dubois?”
I turned to face the imposing black man with kind mahogany eyes.
“I’m Ray. Marcus’ driver. He thought you might appreciate a ride to the Sutton?”
“Yes.” God bless Marcus Anthony.
Turns out Ray was very Fast and Furious, darting deftly in and out of traffic. I held onto the door handle with one hand and texted Lace with the other.
Me: Back in town. Fashion emergency. Can you help?
I received her reply just as we were pulling into the front circle drop off.
Lace: About time. And hell yes. Meet you at the apartment.
Ray had gotten us to the Sutton in an astounding fifteen minutes. He rounded the hood and held the door open for Carter and me to get out. “Good luck Miss Dubois. Champ.” He gave Carter a fist bump.
The well attended after party was for the benefit of the Amanda Todd foundation, an anti-bullying charity. Women in colorful floor length gowns mingled gracefully in the crowded lobby amid smartly attired men in their black tuxes. Thankfully the crowd thinned as I turned down the narrow hallway to the residential side of the hotel.
I smiled when I exited the elevator. Lace was waiting for us, her backside propping the apartment door open. “Took you long enough.” Carter flew into her arms and she hugged him tightly. Her eyes remained on me though and I approached her a little more cautiously.
“So you’re finally giving JJ the green light?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry I left with only a note. I messed things up so badly.”
“Stop it.” She pulled me in with her and Carter, hugging both of us. “I missed you, Gigi.” Tears pricked my eyes at the heartfelt words. “So you jumped to conclusions. Everyone does once in a while. Antonia’s a bitch. I would’ve probably reacted the same. Only I would’ve punched him first, then left, but it’s all good. Mary’s PI got the whole story out of that lying bitch. Now’s the time for moving forward. What did you think of the show?”
“Tempest was fantastic.” I felt my face go all dreamy fan-girl.
“Yeah.” She grinned. “JJ wasn’t too bad either, huh?”
My cheeks got hot. “What’d you tell everyone when you got my text?” I asked as we moved inside the apartment.
“Didn’t have to tell anybody anything. Everyone’s kind of distracted after the thing with War backstage. Bryan’s in a really bad mood. I haven’t had much luck getting him out of it.” Lines bracketed the edges of her mouth. Though she probably wouldn’t admit it, I could tell that seeing her ex again had been rough on her, too.
Carter plopped down in front of the television and picked up a game controller. Lace and I moved down the hall.
“What happened with Warren?” I asked as soon as I closed the door to my old bedroom.
“With him and me, nothing.” She shrugged as if she wasn’t bothered. “He and Bry exchanged some words. It didn’t come to blows, but only because Justin put himself between them. There’s definitely someone War hates more than Bryan now.”
“But enough wasting head space on Warren Jinkins. Let’s get you glitzed up.” Lace slid the closet open and started looking though the unworn clothes still hanging from the bar. My brow rose when I saw the things she laid out on the bed. Black leather smooth front short shorts, a sparkly see though mesh tank, and a tiny black tube top. “Trust me. You can totally pull off this look.” She held up a finger. “And I’ve got the perfect boots. I’ll be right back.”
I’d only stripped off my shirt when she returned with a pair of over the knee black shiny boots and a half dozen black leather and silver bracelets.
“You’re gonna make his jaw hit the floor,” she told me after she noted my uncertainty. “Go wash your face and frizz out your hair. I’ll change and come help you with your makeup.”
Thirty minutes later, my transformation was complete. Looking in the full length mirror, I had to admit Lace was right. Ok. Not exactly. More like smokin’. I held my own with the statuesque goddess in the one shouldered grey mini-dress standing beside me.
The boots zipped up to mid-thigh, and Lace helped me turn the cuffs over. Her pink frosted lips pulled into a wide smile. “It’s a regular Sandra Dee makeover.” She shook her head and her chandelier earrings made a tinkling sound.
“I just need a cigarette to crush out under my boot when he sees me.” My lips twitched.
She laughed. “Too bad Bry quit, yeah?” She linked her arm with mine. “Let’s grab Carter and go.” Carter’s eyes bugged out when he saw us, but he didn’t say anything. She ruffled his hair and handed me the key card on our way out. I tucked it in my pocket. There was nowhere for her to put it with her outfit.
We took the elevator down to the ballroom level. There was a line at the security check but with the passes around our neck we were able to bypass it. The ballroom was packed when we entered. Bistro tables were scattered throughout the room. People congregated around them or at the elaborate buffet. A few couples swayed slowly in time with the orchestrated music on the mostly empty dance floor.
The light from the disco ball hanging from the ceiling reflected off the sparkles on my top. I rubbed my bare arms partly because I was cold in the skimpy outfit, but mostly because I was nervous. I was getting a lot of attention, but that was ok. Things were different now. Other guys could look all they wanted, but they couldn’t have me. I was taken. Whether I was sexy or subdued, I was all his. All of me. All for him. No more hiding. No more doubts.
I quickly scanned the room for Justin. As the couple in front of me parted, I found him. He was standing next to Dizzy across the dance floor. I was a little sad to see that my lavender shirt had been replaced, but he looked sinfully handsome in a white shirt with the top two buttons undone exposing his collarbone. His ha
ir looked freshly washed and was tousled over his brow and his dark jeans fit him well, snug as usual in all the right places.
Lace followed the direction of my stare. “I’m taking Carter to get a soda. I’m sure he’ll want to see Justin in a minute. But it’s your moment now. Rock his world, Gigi.”
I nodded absently, but my eyes were locked on him and my purpose was clear. I threw back my shoulders, summoned my confidence, and strutted toward him.
Dizzy saw me first. He did a double take, and then elbowed Justin. “Isn’t that Bridget?” I heard him ask.
Justin’s head snapped in my direction. He gave me a fast head to toe scan. Then he blinked as if he couldn’t believe his eyes. So he looked me over again, this time taking his time. The edges of his mouth curled as he came toward me. When only a foot remained between us, his arms flashed out, and he pulled me in and wrapped them around me tightly. Like he would never let me loose. “I love you,” he said his mouth near my ear, his breath warm on my neck. Then he leaned his head back to look at me. “I know what she said to you.” His eyes searched mine. “None of it’s true. She’s a bitch and a liar. She’s not fit to breathe the same air as you. I was in a different place back when I was with her. I…”
“I shouldn’t have believed her.” I put my fingers over his lips. “You’ve never given me a reason to doubt you. I let my fears drown out what I knew was the truth. I’m sorry.”
“Babe,” he breathed and I knew he accepted my apology even before he swung me around in a celebratory circle. “You look hot enough to need a warning label.” His eyes were smoldering when he put me down.
I smiled. “Thank you. You look pretty good yourself.” I peered up at him through my lashes, suddenly feeling those nerves again. I bit my lip and marshaled my thoughts. “I wasn’t prepared for someone like you, Justin. Someone patient and understanding who could help me find faith in myself again. Who could help me become the person that I’ve always wanted to be. The person that I was, before all the poison in my life put me in a dreamless sleep. But you woke me up and rescued me from my fear and doubt. And you made me some beautiful promises. Promises I treasure. Promises I want to return along with a few of my own.” My fingers tightened on his solid forearms. “I promise I won’t allow anything to ever come between us again. I promise to take every single one of your ‘I love you’s and give them back to you with interest.” I pulled in a breath to finish. “And if for some reason my glass wall needs to come back up again,” I glided my fingers up into the silky hair at his nape and pulled his face down to mine. “I promise that you’ll be on the inside with Carter and me. You’re the best thing that has ever happened to me, Justin Jones.”
“I accept,” he whispered as if I’d proposed to him and then his lips came crashing down on mine. I parted mine eagerly under his strategic assault and his tongue swept inside to reclaim what was already his. I slid my hands down his hard back, arched into him, and moaned my surrender.
“Mommy.”
Justin ended the kiss, and rested his forehead against mine. His gorgeous face filled my vision, and there was a forest fire of heat blazing in his eyes.
I got the unspoken message. He’d take care of me later.
He took one step back and stretched out an arm to Carter. “Missed you, Champ,” he told him. “I’m proud of you for taking such good care of your mom. When do you think we can convince her to make us a family… officially?”
EPILOGUE
* * *
Justin
“Move your toes all the way to the edge,” I told him.
Looking at me expectantly, Carter scooted forward, styling it in his new Volcom swim trunks that matched mine exactly.
“That’s good.” Then I felt something really good. Her. Breasts pressed into my bare back as she moved up behind me in the pool and wrapped her arms around my waist. I had the image of her in that hot new pink string bikini seered into my brain. It was almost as hot as that outfit she’d worn when she met me at the afterparty. I’d kept those boots as a souvenir. The things we’d done with her in them…well, let’s just say Lace was never getting them back.
I lowered my head to bring her delicate clasped hands closer. I brushed my mouth across both her knuckles, accustomed now to the fierce emotion that tightened my chest whenever she touched me. Covering her hands with my own, I glanced over at Carter. He was watching us with a patient smile ghosting his lips. “Try to use your knees to put a little more spring in the jump this time. Diving’s like life champ. You can’t do it halfway. You have to go all in to get it just right.”
Carter nodded, positioned his hands, and then executed a flawless dive with barely a ripple. When he surfaced, he held the heart I’d fashioned from wire and red ribbon.
“What’s that?” Bridget asked her chin resting on my shoulder.
“Bring it here and let’s see,” I said without giving anything away.
“It’s got your name on it Mommy,” Carter said with exaggerated excitement as he splashed over.
I drew Bridget around to my front, cradling her in my arms. She took the heart from Carter and peered up at me suspiciously through the darkened fringe of her wet lashes. “When did you do this?” she asked.
“I have my ways.” I grinned. “It is Valentine’s Day, after all.”
“You know with everything that’s been going on, I completely forgot.”
Yeah, that was an understatement. Lately, her cell had been plastered to her ear. The witchy stepmother hadn’t contested. Why would she with a bulldog like Maurice Trigg breathing down her neck. Evelyn had been wiser than I’d given her credit for being, hopping on her broomstick, and flying out of our lives, hopefully this time for good. Crystal Hotels, the Dubois family legacy, was now back in the proper hands. The board was looking for a new CEO, and Bridget had a meeting scheduled to go over a list of potential candidates at the end of the month. She was also planning to propose other changes that I thought were pretty damn cool. Apparently, my woman was as capable as she was beautiful.
“That’s ok,” I told her. “I’ve actually got a few ways that you can make it up to me in mind.”
Her blue eyes sparkled back at me in a way that told me she liked that idea.
“It looks like you missed something.”
She lifted the heart closer and I heard her sharp intake of breath when she finally saw the square cut emerald solitaire. “What’s this?”
“I’ve had it for a while. You probably don’t want to know how long. You’d think I was impulsive. And maybe I am a bit, but I recognized what we had early on.” I ran my thumb over her bottom lip. “I was fully committed to making you mine a long time ago.” I framed her beautiful face, and could hear the deep emotion in my voice as I spoke. “Bridget Dubois.” She clutched the heart to her chest and stared up at me. “I promise to love you and cherish you, and Carter, as long as I live. Will you marry me?”
“Yes,” she whispered without hesitation, eyes bright. I lowered my head and kissed her softly, breaking the kiss much sooner than I wanted in order to be sure to include a boy I already thought of as my own son.
“Did I do good?” He swam in between us.
“You were perfect, Champ. An aquatic superhero,” I praised and he beamed.
“Help me get this loose,” Bridget muttered, frustrated with the wire.
As I helped her, I heard loud voices. I glanced over to see that the celebratory committee had arrived. Right on time.
I got the ring off and slid it on her wet finger.
Her eyes misting, she pulled her hand to her chest and then kissed me hard. “I love you.”
“You guys gonna make out in the pool,” Lace teased, “or are you gonna come to the party room and celebrate? Everyone’s waiting. I made cupcakes.”
“Yippee!” Carter exclaimed, kicking toward the ladder.
“Dry off really well,” Bridget called after him.
“I will,” Carter replied, taking the blue and white striped towel
Lace offered him.
I kept Bridget close at my side, helping her into a terry cloth hotel robe. I freed her soaked platinum tresses from the collar and carefully arranged them around her shoulders. “I love you,” I whispered, kissing her soft neck.
“Please!” Lace mock grumbled. “All this sweetness is giving me a toothache.”
We followed her into the room just off the pool deck. A handwritten congratulatory butcher paper banner had been taped onto the back wall and decorative streamers hung haphazardly throughout the room and from the tv that was mounted in the corner.
King and Sager clapped me on the back and offered me their best wishes while Lace escorted Bridget to a table decorated with silver and red records, a fifties rock ’n roll theme, quirky and quintessentially Lace.
I took a couple of glasses of champagne that Bryan offered me and made my way to where Lace, Bridget, Carter, and Dizzy were seated. King and Sager dragged a couple of extra chairs over so we could all squeeze in together around the same table. “I’ll go back and get the cupcakes,” I volunteered, not forgetting Carter’s keen interest in them earlier.
I picked up the platter, but before I had managed to turn back around, I felt the mood drop in the room. The sudden chilling silence made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. I spun around, my gaze automatically going to Bridget and Carter. She along with the rest were staring up at the television in the corner, their faces registering varying degrees of shock.
“Where’s the remote,” Bryan growled.
“Here.” Dizzy grabbed it and pointed it at the television, his brows down, his piercing eyes glinting in the fluorescent lights.
As the volume rose, I froze.
“…former front man of the rock band Tempest refused to make a comment today as he left Zenith headquarters in San Francisco.” All eyes were on the screen as Warren Jinkins wearing mirrored sunglasses was escorted through a throng of reporters to a limo with darkened windows.
Rock Star Romance Ultimate: Volume 1 Page 134