by Vi Keeland
My mother and I were close and I knew that she would be concerned, but when she wanted information she had her ways of getting it from me. I wasn’t ready to share that part of Jack’s life with her, although I was sure that whatever sordid image she had already conjured up in her mind was probably far worse than the truth of the situation.
I still hadn’t spoken to Jack about the news segment, and at first I thought that maybe he was giving me some space to let the segment sink in. But Jack wasn’t really that type of man. If he had a problem or a concern, he went right to the core of it. He didn’t believe in space or mulling things over. It just wasn’t who he was.
I thought back to the first time we had seen each other in Hawaii. We met in a bar while he was there with his friends for a bachelor party. I had been vacationing with Sienna on what was supposed to have been my honeymoon. We’d both felt the instant chemistry that sparked between us. But I had been coming off of a broken engagement and wasn’t really looking to meet anyone. Jack had decided we should have an island affair and there was really no stopping him once he made up his mind. He hadn’t pushed me or anything, but he was clear with what he wanted and didn’t give me an opportunity to overanalyze my decision. Instead, he’d stayed right in front of me, standing so close with his incredible green eyes burning into me that my body couldn’t help but react. He was demanding and possessive, but in a confident, sexy kind of way that few men could pull off.
The more I thought about Jack, the more I realized that he must not have heard about the news story yet. I knew he had a board meeting that morning, but I wasn’t sure how long those type of things normally lasted.
I was just drying off after a shower when I heard my phone ring from the bedroom. The flashing picture of Jack made me smile, even though I was a little apprehensive to discuss what I had seen on TV. Down deep, I knew I was acting childish. But when it came to Jack, my emotions were difficult to control.
“Hey.”
“Hey, beautiful.” His sexy voice made me smile, even from thousands of miles away.
“How was your day?”
“As expected.” Jack sighed and quickly changed the subject. “How was your pajama and room service day?”
“It was … interesting.” I struggled for the right word to describe my day.
“Tell me about interesting.”
“I’d rather hear about your day.” I had no idea why I was stalling.
“You’re stalling, babe. Is everything all right?” Since the first day I’d met Jack, it had always thrown me off balance how he seemed to have the ability to read my mind. For the most part, I had chalked it up to my body language, but apparently he could do it even through the phone, thousands of miles away.
“How do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Know what I’m doing when I’m three thousand miles away.”
“I told you, babe, you’re important to me, so I pay attention. But you’re still stalling, so why don’t you tell me what you don’t want to tell me.”
Yep, I was right, the man would never have given me time to think before calling if he knew something had bothered me. “I saw you on TV today.”
“Okay.”
I flirted my response. “You looked really handsome.”
Jack chuckled. “Get to the interesting part, babe.”
“It was a story on one of the pseudo-news shows, the ones that do the news, but all the news revolves around celebrities.”
“I know the type.” I could tell from his tone that he was growing impatient with my story.
“They announced the nominees for the AVN Awards. The footage must have been from last year’s award ceremony, because you and your date were on the red carpet all dressed up.”
Jack blew out a rush of air. “My date? You mean Jenna?”
“Yes, her.” God, just hearing Jack say her name made my claws come out.
“So you’re upset because you saw us on TV together?” Jack’s question was seeking confirmation, not questioning the validity of my reaction.
“No, although I did feel a little queasy when the reporter mentioned a rumor that Jenna might have some extra bling on her finger this year from you.”
“I’m sorry, babe. Jenna’s publicist has kept rumors of our relationship circulating for years. I never cared because it helped sales and I really didn’t give a shit what anyone thought. I’ll make sure Jenna and her publicist stop playing games.”
“Thank you, I’d appreciate that. My mom has been calling all day and I haven’t figured out what I am going to say to her yet.”
“Why do you have to figure out something to say to her?”
“Because I’m assuming she saw the story today as well and I am not sure what to tell her.”
Jack spoke solemnly. “Tell her the truth.”
“That my boyfriend is a pornographer and had sex with more women than I can count?”
Jack was quiet for a minute. “Is that how you think of me, Syd?” His voice was low and sounded pained.
I tensed at the sadness of his tone. I hadn’t meant to come across as hurtful, but I was being honest. I had no idea what to tell my family and friends now that the dark side of Jack’s life had come to light.
“Maybe that didn’t come out right. It’s just that my family won’t get it. They don’t really know you and I don’t want their opinion to be based on some stereotype they took from a movie about Bob Guccione.”
“I care what you think, Syd, and I didn’t think you judged me as a person based upon the type of businesses I run.”
“I don’t, and I don’t want others to judge you either.”
We talked for a little while longer, but the damage had been done and there was a tension between us even when we moved on to other topics. When we hung up I wondered how my heart could be filled with such love for a man and yet I was able to hurt him so easily.
***
The best part of my friendship with Sienna was that she told me the truth, even when I didn’t always want to hear it. The night after my conversation with Jack I was still moping around, even after our show. I told Sienna about my talk with Jack and tried hard to repeat exactly what had been said.
“So you basically told him you were embarrassed of him,” Sienna said matter-of-factly, as she popped a handful of peanuts from the bar into her mouth.
“No! I didn’t say that. I told him my parents wouldn’t understand and I didn’t want them to think badly of him.” My tone was definitely defensive.
“Syd, why didn’t you want your parents, or anyone for that matter, to find out about Jack’s production business?”
“Because I didn’t want them to judge him.” I held my head up high, my response indignant.
“What did Jack do that they would judge him for?”
“He didn’t do anything. People will judge him just because of his business. People are judged based on who and what they affiliate with, like it or not.”
“And since you are with Jack, people will judge you based on how they perceive him?”
My shoulders slumped a little. “I guess so.”
“So you are concerned about you, not only about Jack. You basically told him that you were embarrassed of him, Syd.”
I hated that Sienna was right. I wanted so badly to tell her that I didn’t care if people judged me because of Jack’s business. But the truth was, I did. I never stopped to think about it, but I did care what people thought. Deep down I knew it was shallow, but I had to be honest with myself. If our roles were reversed and I realized that Jack was embarrassed about a part of me, even the tiniest most insignificant part of me, I would be hurt more than I wanted to think about.
My head fell back as I growled. “Ughhh.” I wanted to kick myself for being such a selfish, immature girl. “What am I going to do, Sienna?”
Sienna smiled a devilish full smile and wiggled her eyebrows. “I have a plan.”
Of course she did. That was why she was my best fr
iend since third grade.
Chapter 8
The next week and a half flew by with back to back shows and no downtime between concerts in Sweden and Austria. The tour manager approached Sienna and I about cutting a single while we were on tour so they could work some radio airplay ahead of the cities we were going to play in, to gain some following. We planned to record in Northern Italy for three days while we played venues in Milan and Florence.
I couldn’t wait to tell Jack that we were going to record one of our songs. Sienna and I had recorded a few songs together years ago when we were younger, but it had been done in a converted garage using old equipment and a mixer who had been stoned most of the time. Jack was happy that I was excited, but voiced some concern over my lack of representation. He didn’t think it was a good idea for us to sign anything without first consulting with an agent and attorney. Neither Sienna or I had ever worked with an agent, but I trusted Jack’s business acumen and was more than happy to allow him to deal with the business aspect of things when he offered.
The day before we were scheduled to begin recording, Jack overnighted Sienna and I a package with contracts to sign. Although Sienna and I would have been happy just to sign whatever was put in front of us without reading, Jack insisted that we both read the contracts, and then arranged a call with our new agent to discuss the details of what we were signing.
Jack’s package also had an iPad with software preloaded for our video chat with the agent. I was initially taken aback by the woman who appeared on the screen for our conference, especially when she introduced herself as Ryan Sealy. Because of the name, I had assumed Ryan was a man. But the woman smiling at us on the other side of the video chat was most definitely a woman — a stunning, perfectly-groomed, well-spoken, intelligent woman. She gave us an overview of her background, most-revered clients and the services she provided. To say her client list was impressive was an understatement. The woman represented half of the artists that had songs on Top 20 radio.
We spent more than an hour and a half on the conference. By the time we were ready to hang up, my head was spinning and I was so grateful that Jack had taken control of the negotiations because it sounded like the original contract was very different than the one we would be signing. Ryan had definitely earned her fee, whatever that might be someday, since it was contingent on our sales.
“Well, ladies, I think we were able to get you both covered nicely. Do you have any questions for me to help you be more comfortable with signing everything in your individual packages?” Ryan smiled, giving us a glimpse of perfect white straight teeth to match her perfect high cheekbones.
Sienna and I looked at each other and shrugged. “I don’t think so, Ryan, I think you covered anything we could have wanted to discuss, and then some.” I returned Ryan’s smile.
“That’s great. Then maybe Jack will relax a little. That man should have been a lawyer the way he interrogated me with questions on this.” Ryan’s business face relaxed a little, her voice breaking from the all-business tone of the last hour and a half. “I’ve never seen him like this, Sydney. That man has it bad.”
“Uh … thanks.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to a statement like that. It sounded like she must have known Jack for a while, but I didn’t feel comfortable asking.
Ryan laughed a lighthearted friendly laugh. “Okay then, you make sure to let Jack know we’re all good so he can call off the dogs. My husband was starting to tease that he was going to get me a new cell phone with the number of times Jack called to go over details in the last few days.”
Whatever tension had grown in my neck subsided a little when Ryan mentioned her husband. I had never been the jealous type, but Jack seemed to cause feelings in me that were new on so many different levels.
***
Sienna and I decided to video chat with Jack together after our conference call to say thank you for finding us Ryan. After a few minutes Sienna decided to run out and order us dinner with our bus driver, leaving me alone on the bus to talk to Jack.
“So you liked her?” Jack loosened his tie as he spoke. I felt a pang of heat as I watched him undo the top few buttons, exposing the skin at the top of his neck. There was something very sexy about talking to Jack from his office and seeing him transform from all-business to caring boyfriend.
“Yes, I really did. Have you known her a long time? It sounded like it from something she said.” I was glad my question came across as aloof as I had wanted it to sound. I really didn’t want to sound like a crazy jealous girlfriend after all the trouble that Jack had gone through for me.
Jack laughed. “I’ve known her since birth basically. Her mom was our housekeeper and they lived in the guesthouse until she went off to college. We spent years in the same playpen, since whenever my mom went out, my father handed me over to Ryan’s mom.”
“Oh.” I paused for a moment, letting the new information sink in. “Well, she seems to really like you.”
Jack’s face got serious. “She’s never been anything but a friend, Syd.”
“I didn’t’ say anything.”
“But you were thinking it.”
“How do you know what I’m thinking?”
Jack chuckled. “I feel like we have had this conversation before, babe.”
His playfulness made me laugh. Or perhaps it could have been the relief I felt from knowing Ryan was only a friend of Jack’s.
“Why did you send an iPad? You know I packed mine.” I watched as Jack’s eyes left my face and settled on my breasts.
“I wanted to have the latest encryption software loaded for security.”
“Is my contract top secret?” I raised an eyebrow, teasing, and Jack’s eyes came back to meet mine. God, his beautiful green eyes weren’t even dulled by being shot through a satellite feed thousands of miles away.
“I wasn’t worried that someone would hack into your conversation with Ryan about the contract.”
I furrowed my brow, “Then what—” Jack’s sexy crooked smile stopped me mid sentence and I watched as he raised his eyebrows suggestively.
“Are you alone in the bus?”
“Yes.”
“Go into the bedroom and lock the door.” I felt a surge between my legs at his words.
Jack didn’t delay with further instructions as I locked the bedroom door behind me. “Sit on the bed. Set the stand up so I can see all of you.”
I blushed, knowing what he was asking me to do, but did as he instructed anyway.
“I love you in pink. I can’t see the damn color anymore without thinking of you. Do you know what it’s like to walk around for a half an hour with a hard on just because I pass a shirt in that color folded in our closet?”
I wasn’t sure what I liked better, the thought of Jack’s hard on, the thought of him thinking of me just from seeing a color, or that he had called his closet “our closet.” All of them made me feel warm in private places.
“Take off your pants, Syd. Sit with your legs open and the camera between them.”
I did as he asked, surprisingly not self-conscious about what I thought I was about to do. I left on my pink lace boy shorts, grateful that I was wearing pretty underwear that matched my shirt.
I looked up at the camera just as Jack was running his fingers through his hair. I could feel the tension pouring from his movements.
“Leave the underwear on, but pull them aside so I can see you, babe.”
I felt all of the hair on my body stand at attention with excitement. I looked down, slowly and deliberately taking my time as I first rubbed up and down on the crotch of my underwear using my pink painted nail. I could feel the wetness already dripping from my body. I heard Jack groan, and his reaction fueled my performance. I stopped the finger that was gently tracing up and down and looked up at the camera under hooded eyes. Slowly I lifted the finger from my sex to my mouth and sucked it as Jack watched intently.
I removed my wet finger and slowly brought it down to the edges of my pink l
ace panties, taking my time to pull the thin material to the side, exposing my glistening most-private of areas.
I looked up at the screen and saw Jack had pushed back from his desk and was slowly unbuttoning his pants, his eyes fixated between my legs. I watched as his thick cock sprang free and his hand wrapped around the thick base.
“Take off your shirt.”
My taut nipples strained against the top of my demi-cup lace bra, full with arousal.
“Pull down your bra so I can see your nipples. Keep the other hand on your panties.”
I obeyed. My nipples protruded proudly, anxious for Jack’s touch. His words sent my body ablaze and I couldn’t stop to think how it could be satisfied without Jack to fill me.
Jack’s breath became ragged, calling my attention to the screen. I watched as his big hand stroked leisurely up and down his thick cock.
“Pinch your nipple.”
I complied.
“Harder.”
I grasped my swollen nub firmly between my thumb and forefinger and squeezed harder. A slight hint of pain shot through me, sending a rush of moisture down to my already swollen clit. I closed my eyes and moaned, succumbing to the intense feeling.
“Push two fingers inside yourself. Do it slowly so I can watch every inch disappear.”
I reached down between my legs and circled my opening, gathering the moisture that had pooled at my entrance. I hesitated as my fingers sat at my ready opening.
“You’re so beautiful, Syd. Pretend it’s me inside of you. Close your eyes. I’m on my knees in front of you, my head circling your entrance, waiting for its chance to plunge into your wet pussy.”
I circled my fingers and let my legs fall further open as I closed my eyes, imagining Jack on his knees in front of me.
“You’re so wet, baby. Put me inside of you. Show me how much you want me.”
I took a deep breath and pushed my two fingers deep inside of myself. A loud moan escaped my throat.