by Vi Keeland
I was speechless as I took in the enormity of the billboard. At first, I hadn’t even noticed the same size billboard hanging on the other side of the main entrance prominently displaying Justin and Kyle.
Sienna screeched with excitement. “What did I tell you, Syd? Hot, right?!”
I smiled at her confidence and then looked to Jack, who was still staring at the billboard, his face unreadable.
“It’s big, that’s for sure.” I nervously laughed as I studied Jack, waiting for any indication of his thoughts.
Lucky for me, Sienna didn’t have my patience. “What do you think, Jack? Your girl looks smokin’ hot up there, doesn’t she?”
Jack unglued his eyes from the billboard and stared at me as he spoke to Sienna. “She looks sexy as hell. Not sure how I feel about every other man in the vicinity of Rome noticing it too though.”
Sienna rolled her eyes and took my hand, handing her iPhone to Jack. “I want a picture of us standing under the billboard.” She began to run toward the billboard, dragging me in tow.
When we were positioned close enough to the billboard, but still far enough so that the photo could take in the breadth of the billboard, Jack lifted the iPhone to snap the photo.
“Wait! We both need to stand sideways, so that you can see that my boobs are bigger than Syd’s, because that picture makes it look like the other way around.” Sienna positioned herself standing sideways so that the silhouette of her figure would allow for a good view. Then she grabbed underneath her breasts from over her shirt and pushed them up, emphasizing the fullness of her cleavage.
I playfully rolled my eyes and giggled at the vulgarity of the gesture that was totally Sienna. “Okay, take the picture now!” Sienna yelled to Jack, who shook his head in mock ridicule before taking the photo.
***
The rest of the evening Jack was quieter than usual, but not so much that Sienna would have noticed anything was wrong. Although, to be honest, when Sienna was excited, she was a one woman show, and most people didn’t stand a chance at sharing the attention anyway.
The four of us made plans to have breakfast together in the morning before spending our last full day in Rome taking in some of the required tourist attractions. We had agreed to spend the day touring the Sistine Chapel, the Pantheon, and Trevi Fountain. I wasn’t an incredibly religious person, but the Sistine Chapel had always been a place I wanted to go for some reason.
By the time Jack and I finally returned to our suite, I was exhausted and couldn’t believe it was still the same day that had begun with us together in Tuscany. We were both quiet as we shared the bathroom doing our nightly routines at the double sinks side by side. I wasn’t sure if Jack’s somber mood was from the long day or if the billboard had bothered him more than he had said.
We got into bed and I snuggled into the crook of Jack’s shoulder, my fingers spread wide on his broad chest, playing with the light smattering of hair dotting his breastbone. Jack trailed his fingers up and down my back lightly and the silence of the room suddenly beat loudly in my ears.
“Are you upset about the billboard?” My voice came out quiet, barely above a whisper.
Jack exhaled loudly, as if he was relieved to finally say the words. “Not at you, babe.” He squeezed my shoulder gently, pulling me even closer against his side.
“I understand.” I truly thought I did.
Jack shifted, easing my back onto the bed, and lifted his body over me, his forearms on either side of my head, absorbing the weight of his body. The room was dark, but my eyes had adjusted and I could see the light in his eyes above me. “Do you, Syd?” He pushed a lock of my hair behind my ear as he spoke tenderly.
“I think I do. You don’t want men looking at me. I get it. You don’t even notice the way that women look at you when you walk by. I get the urge to smack them when I see them taking more than a peek. So I can’t imagine that I would be happy if you were on a thirty foot display, perhaps with these sinful abs showing.” I rubbed my handed across his hard abdominal muscles.
Jack was quiet for a moment before he spoke. “It’s more than that, Syd. Yes, the thought of men looking at your beautiful face and body up there makes me want to stay outside the coliseum and hurt every man that takes more than a friendly look, but it’s not just that.”
Jack’s eyes searched mine, looking for something before he continued. “You’re mine Syd. And I don’t want to share. Not a picture, not a smile, not a touch. All of it is mine. Only mine. You were made for me. That sexy mouth belongs to only me. I wake up every morning craving that body that wiggles beneath me. That body that surrenders as soon as it’s filled with me. It’s mine and I need it so bad it physically hurts when I reach over on the bed and find your warm body isn’t there. So, yeah, I’m not happy about the picture. But it’s the rest of it that’s killing me.”
His words brought tears to my eyes. It was incredibly possessive, but also the sweetest thing anyone had ever said to me, but I still didn’t get the connection to the billboard.
Jack’s thumb wiped the tear that escaped away tenderly. “I don’t want to lose you, Syd. I know I have to give you this space to live your dream, but I’m afraid your dream will take you away from me.” I could hear the strain in Jack’s voice and it physically hurt inside of my chest.
My beautiful, smart, dominating man was afraid. Afraid I would leave him. The fact that he chose to share his vulnerability with me made me fall for him even more, if that was even possible. “You aren’t getting off that easy, Mr. Cole. I’m coming home the minute this tour is over. And I’m going to leave my underwear on your bathroom floor and spread my makeup and hair products all over your neat bathroom countertops. I’m going to take over more than half your closet and litter your kitchen with the unfathomable … a coffee pot. And I plan on snoring while you go for your ten mile runs and decorating your sleek mantel with goofy pictures of us that you won’t like.”
Jack lowered his face closer to mine and whispered. “Ours.”
I furrowed my brow, confused at his sole word.
“Our bathroom floor, our bathroom countertop, our kitchen, our mantel.”
I had no idea how to respond, so I didn’t. Instead I kissed him with everything I had. A kiss to tell him I wasn’t going anywhere.
Chapter 13
Our day of being tourists in Italy was fun, until we hit Trevi Fountation. Everything had been perfect up to that point. Jack and I tossed coins into the fountain and made wishes. Sienna asked Tyler to take a picture of me and her in front of the fountain, while Jack grabbed me an iced coffee at the nearby café. The fountain was a popular tourist spot and it seemed to be crowded with a young, rowdy crowd. Some of the tables were filled with guys drinking and making a bit of a spectacle of themselves.
As Sienna and I stood in front of the fountain smiling for our photo, a tall muscular guy approached, seemingly oblivious to Tyler, who was about to take the picture.
“Hey, aren’t you two the babes from the billboard on the coliseum?” At first he seemed harmless, and our response was pleasant, if not friendly.
Sienna replied. “Yep, are you coming to see the show?” She winked and did her infamous fan flirtation.
“Hey guys, look at this.” The large guy motioned to his friends to come over and I watched as the table of guys who had been drinking began making their way over to us.
I saw Tyler move in closer, his face changed from smiling to apprehensive.
“These are the two chicks from the billboard on the coliseum. You got great tits, baby.” The man took a step closer as he pointed in my direction.
I didn’t respond, thinking it best not to add flame to the alcohol which was already burning inside the drunk asshole.
One of the guys that had walked over yelled, “Show us your tits. I got a hard on just looking at you bent over in that picture.” A few of the guys now huddling around us snickered at the comment.
The big muscular guy took a step closer to me and rea
ched out his hand. “Come on, babe, take a picture with me.” Tyler caught the guy’s hand in mid air as he reached for me.
“You got a problem, asshole?” The muscular guy squared his shoulders and puffed out his chest in Tyler’s direction.
Jack suddenly appeared and stood in front of me, ignoring the heated exchange taking place behind his back. “You okay?” he asked in a low, controlled voice.
“Yes, I’m fine. I just want to get out of here.”
Jack looked to Sienna. “I’m fine. Let’s just get out of here, Jack.” The look on Jack’s face was murderous and made me even more nervous than I had been a minute ago.
Jack turned to the ringleader and took a step in his direction. I watched as the man steadied himself in response to Jack’s aggressive posture.
“You got a problem, pretty boy?” The man stood toe to toe with Jack, neither backing down.
Jack spoke calmly, too calmly. “You owe the ladies an apology.”
“I don’t owe them shit.” The man’s face moved closer to Jack’s.
Thankfully, a police officer walked over and interrupted at just the right moment. “Do we have problem, gentlemen?” The officer’s words may have been spoken in broken English, but he pulled out his baton as he spoke making his point crystal clear.
The ringleader took a step back and held up his hands. “No sir, no problem here.”
The officer looked to Jack and I watched his jaw clench. “We were just leaving, officer.” Jack turned to me and took my hand without another word and the four of us walked away unscathed.
***
Four hours later we were still having the same argument.
“I’m getting you security.”
“I don’t need security.”
“You need damn security, Syd.” Jack’s tone grew more heated as he unloaded his pockets onto the desk in the living room of our suite.
“The rest of the tour we are going to be so busy we will barely even have time to go off on our own.”
“What about when you go to dinner before a show?”
“We are always with other people.”
“I don’t trust other people. I trust a trained security professional.”
“But—”
Jack turned to face me, his expression stopped me in my tracks. I had never seen him so angry before.
“I try hard to not get in your business, Syd. But I need to know you are safe running around half of Europe obliviously with your friend.”
“I’m not oblivious.”
Okay, so maybe I was oblivious at times, but it definitely wasn’t the time or the place to admit it.
A knock at the door broke our staring contest and I went to open the door, grateful for the interruption. My hand was already on the door handle when Jack barked.
“Ask who it is first, Syd.”
Damn it. I would normally ask who it was before I opened the door, wouldn’t I? My argument with Jack was just making me lose my wits.
“Who is it?” I asked with an attitude through the door.
“Housekeeping, Mrs. Cole. I have a garment bag that Ms. McAllister asked me to deliver to your room. She said you would know what it was.”
Damn it. I had forgotten all about the dress that I had planned to show Jack. I opened the door and apologized for my attitude, attempting to tip the kind-faced older woman, but she refused to accept a gratuity. I took the dress and walked toward the bedroom without saying a word to Jack.
Jack stood in the bedroom doorway, his body taking up most of the passage. He watched as I hung the garment bag.
Jack motioned to the dress bag. “Going somewhere?”
I looked at him and narrowed my eyes. “Yes.”
Jack raised an eyebrow, surprised at my answer. “Where?”
“To an awards show. At least I was planning on going. But I haven’t been asked yet.”
I watched as what I was talking about registered on his face. The corner of Jack’s mouth twitched and turned slightly up. I saw a hint of his cocky smile before he tried to cover it with indifference. “Put on the dress.”
“Why?” I asked, with a mouth full of sass.
“Because I want to see what the most beautiful girl will be wearing when I show her off on my arm.”
Right. Damn. Answer. I turned my back to him so that he couldn’t see me smile, taking the dress bag with me as I went into the bathroom to change.
I quickly fixed my makeup and ran my fingers through my hair after slipping on the dress and shoes. Even without proper preparation, I knew I looked good when I saw my reflection in the mirror. It was the dress. Sexy as hell and fit like a glove.
I opened the bathroom door and stood in the doorway, posing as Jack’s eyes took in the dress. He didn’t say anything, so I waited, then slowly turned, giving him the full effect of the dress.
I looked up at Jack as I completed my slow circle and our eyes met. His eyes were filled with desire. He made no attempt to hide his slow gaze up and down my body one more time before he spoke. “You’re definitely getting fucking security.”
For some reason, when he looked at me that way and told me what I was doing, I didn’t mind it so much. I let out an exaggerated sigh. “Okay.”
Jack smiled and I rolled my eyes.
He took two long steps and was quickly in my personal space. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Then he helped me take off the dress.
Chapter 14
I don’t know why, but Jack leaving me at an airport was much easier than me leaving him outside the tour bus. Maybe it was because I was the one making the choice to go and I could have jumped off the bus before it pulled away and made the decision to go back home with him and live my happily ever after.
It had been hours since our bus had pulled out of Rome and I’d watched Jack standing outside alone until he was completely out of view. But there was still a lump in my throat and a feeling of emptiness inside my chest that made me feel hollow. I knew Jack was going straight to the airport for his flight, but it hadn’t made it any easier to walk onto the bus and take those first few steps away from him.
My phone buzzed and I smiled, seeing Jack’s face on the screen indicating a text had arrived.
Your new security will meet you at the next stop. Boarding now, call me when you get up tomorrow. Can’t stop thinking about you in that red dress. We may need security at the awards too with the way you look in it. Fuck, now I have to board for an eight hour flight with a hard on bc of the picture in my head.
I grinned and rolled my eyes at the screen. The man had no shame. Sienna caught me smiling and broke into my thoughts.
“Finally, a smile. I thought you were going to walk around looking like someone had just shot your puppy for the next two weeks. Was it a dirty text from loverboy that made you smile? If you want, I can walk around being all alpha male kickass demanding if it makes you feel better.”
I shook my head at my best friend, a smirk telling her that I thought she was crazy.
Sienna stood and puffed out her chest and did her best husky low monotone deep-voice impression of Jack. “Syd, you don’t need any clothes for our trip. Me Tarzan, you Jane.” She pounded her fists against her chest. “You will be naked and ready for me whenever my twelve inch dick rises to attention.”
I threw the closest thing to my reach at her that wouldn’t leave a permanent scar, Jack’s sweatshirt that had been sitting next to me. I’d taken it when we were packing because it smelled like Jack.
Sienna lifted the sweatshirt to her nose and took an exaggerated deep inhale, sniffing the sweatshirt. “Yum, loverboy’s sweatshirt even smells good. I’m still a little pissed that you saw him first.” Sienna joked.
I laughed at her playfulness, thinking it would probably be a good time to tell her about our new security, which I was pretty sure she was not going to be happy about.
“Um, Loverboy has hired us security. He went a little crazy after the incident at T
revi Fountain and decided it wasn’t safe for us to be traveling without a professional now that we are starting to be recognized.”
Sienna seemed to think about it for a minute and then shrugged her shoulders. “He’s probably right. There are some crazies out there.”
Really? Did Sienna just agree with my overprotective boyfriend’s assessment of our safety? “You aren’t annoyed that we are going to have some goon following us around?”
Sienna shrugged again. She seemed to be fine with it. “Is the goon hot?” She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
***
The next few shows went by quickly and we were heading for our fourth city in as many days when our bus stopped unexpectedly in the middle of the night, jarring me from my sleep. I tried to ignore the stop and go back to sleep, but I heard talking outside and decided to find out what was going on.
Sienna was already outside of the bus talking to Kyle when I made my way down the stairs.
“What’s up? Is everything okay?” My voice was groggy and raspy.
“We’ve been having bus trouble all night. It wasn’t letting us go over forty the last hour, but now the damn thing is shaking and maxing out at twenty. Vince doesn’t want us to drive any further. He thinks we might make whatever is wrong worse and he’s worried about seizing the engine.”
“Where are we?” I looked around and it looked like the middle of nowhere.
Kyle shrugged as he spoke. “Halfway between bumfuck and nowheresville.”
Justin walked over to where we were standing. “Vince will stay here with the bus and get it towed to the nearest shop in the morning. Kyle and I and the rest of the band will bunk with you guys. They’re going to load the extra equipment we need to haul now. If the bus isn’t fixed by first thing in the morning, we won’t make it to the show. We’ll take what we need just in case.”
The solution sounded logical to me and Sienna didn’t seem to mind. We all pitched in and moved what had to be moved and loaded back onto our bus. It took almost two hours of maneuvering the extra equipment under the bus to get it all to fit, but we were back on our way as the sun began to rise.