by Tammy Coons
Mark turned to the girls. “You two did a great job; Fury is very pleased.”
“Thanks.” Cheyenne nearly burst with pride.
“Come with me. There are many people dying to meet you.” Mark’s broad smile was welcoming as he offered an arm to both Cheyenne and Steph. “Fury should be here any moment. Always fashionably late...they remind me of women sometimes, the way they must get all primped. No offense, ladies.”
He proceeded to introduce Cheyenne to many VIP’s and several record executives. Cheyenne was distracted, knowing that Scot would soon be in the same room. She felt like she was having chest pain and hoped she wouldn’t vomit on her very expensive gown. After posing for a few more pictures with several musicians she adored, Steph grabbed her by the elbow.
“What do you say we go have a breath of fresh air?” Steph said under her breath.
Cheyenne nodded and followed Steph through the crowd. They made their way to the veranda. Cheyenne collapsed in a chair and lit a cigarette.
“That was exhausting, but Holy God! Can you believe who’s here.”
“Did you see Kevin?” Stephanie’s reply was casual.
“Yeah, and his date.”
He’d arrived with Maria, the co-star of his latest film.
“How do you feel about that?”
Steph smiled with complete confidence. “She can have him.”
“Damn straight. I’m glad the guys aren’t here yet. That would have been overkill.” Cheyenne exhaled.
“What am I doing here?” Steph shook her head and looked up at the sky. Cheyenne noticed Steph’s mood change when she’d mentioned the guys.
“I think this will be a good time for closure.” Cheyenne flung her cigarette into a nearby ashtray, feeling suddenly nauseated by the smoke.
“What do you mean?”
“You know as well as I do that we left some… things… unresolved in Rome.”
“Come on. Let’s go back inside.” Steph seemed to steel herself and Cheyenne admired her courage. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to be having seizures.
Reentering the ballroom, they each grabbed a glass of champagne. Cheyenne downed the first and grabbed another.
“You know...” Steph began, her blue eyes suddenly identical to Cedric’s.
“Don’t. Not tonight. Please…my nerves are shot.”
Steph rolled her head back and lifted her eyes to the ceiling.
“Here they are everyone!” Mark called out, snapping Cheyenne to attention. She looked to the entrance as Nathan, Bret and David entered. The crowd inside the room immediately migrated in their direction, and cameras flashed furiously, giving the ballroom a strobe light appearance.
“Come on, let’s go over there.” Cheyenne pulled Steph away with her to a couch on the opposite side of the ballroom. She told herself this was to avoid the crowd, but a small voice inside whispered that she was being cowardly about facing Fury.
“I think I’m going to hyperventilate.” She fanned herself.
“Just breathe,” Steph ordered. Her voice was solid but she looked antsy. They waited for the crowd to thin before standing.
“Steph!” Nathan exclaimed, making his way toward them. Cheyenne swallowed hard and avoided his eyes. Steph waved at Nathan.
“I missed you.” Nathan embraced Steph, “My God, you look gorgeous. I love your hair.”
“I missed you too, you little jerk.” Steph returned his embrace.
Nathan looked at Cheyenne, and reached his hand out to her. After a moment’s hesitation, she took it. He gave it a gentle squeeze and his apologetic eyes mollified her.
“I love the pictures and story. You two are aces.” Nathan smiled.
“We had a great group to work with.” Steph’s response seemed automated and as Cheyenne looked at her, she saw Steph nervously watching the entrance.
David and Bret appeared and they all exchanged hugs.
“Bret! You’re here?’ Cheyenne blurted, grabbing another glass of champagne from a passing tray. Steph snatched it from her grasp and swigged it. Cheyenne scoffed and cocked her head to the side.
“Thanks,” Steph said, and smiled brightly.
“I sure am. I’ve had a change of heart. I’m staying with the group now that Ian isn’t in the picture. This is my wife, Sarah.” He presented them a lovely blonde with a sweet smile.
“Pleased to meet you.” Cheyenne welcomed Sarah with a gracious handshake.
David also had a lady on his arm, who he introduced as Yara. She was a gorgeous, dark-skinned woman, whose exotic looks were attracting a lot of attention. Cheyenne scanned the room for Scot and was both disappointed and relieved when she didn’t see him. She leaned over to Steph. “I’m going outside to get some air.”
She made her way through the crowd and was relieved to be alone on the veranda. She found herself looking out at the skyline. It was a beautiful fall evening. Wondering where Scot was and if he was avoiding her, she found her cigarettes and lit one.
“There you are,” his voice said from behind her.
Her pulse raced suddenly. Overcome, Cheyenne found herself unable to move or speak. Willing her body to obey her command, she slowly turned, knowing the sight of him would take her breath away.
She wasn’t disappointed; her breath caught in her throat. Scot stunned her, his dark curly locks perfectly disheveled and his chiseled features more breathtaking than she remembered. His long, lean body was perfectly adorned in a dark navy suit, his white shirt open at the collar.
“You look ravishing,” Scot said breathlessly. He’d stopped a foot from her, and in the moonlight she saw his eyes slowly take her in. After what seemed like minutes, he turned away and looked out at the city.
“It’s a beautiful night.”
Cheyenne mutely stared at her shoes. She had so many things she wanted to tell him, but she had no idea where to begin.
“The article’s smashing.” She could feel him looking at her.
“Thanks,” she managed and looked up to face him. Their eyes locked.
“I missed you. I wanted to call you so many times just to hear your voice.” Scot’s magnetic eyes held hers and refused to let her look away.
“Scot…” Cheyenne took a deep breath. “I was such a mess. I’m sorry for what happened with Nathan.”
His gaze shifted back to the city lights. When he stayed silent, she continued.
“The look in your eyes that day in Dublin still haunts me.”
Scot turned to her again. He reached out and touched her face, making Cheyenne shiver.
Boldly, she plunged forward with what she’d planned to ask.
“Scot, do you still believe in love at first sight?”
“Yes, Cheyenne, I do.” Scot held her gaze and pulled a small red velvet box out of his pocket.
“Marry me.”
Cheyenne felt a tear slip down her cheek. Scot’s arms were around her waist and he pulled her close. “Wait.” Cheyenne’s hands were on his chest. Scot frowned.
“I need to tell you something.” She took a large, exaggerated breath.
“Go on,” Scot murmured, a trace of amusement danced across his face. Desperation choked her, and she took several slow breaths, hoping her predicament wouldn’t cause him to turn his back on her.
She wiped tears away and Scot’s eye brows knit in a frown.
“Cheyenne, is something wrong?”
“I think I’m pregnant.”
He let go of Cheyenne and her stomach fell. She turned away from him, furious at herself for burdening him on what should have been a festive evening.
As she tried to pull the shattered pieces of her dignity together, she felt his arms come around her from behind and his chin rested on her shoulder. Her eyes closed, and she savored the familiar sensation of his touch.
“If I am, I’m not sure I want to keep it. My career is just beginning.” Cheyenne held her breath as she continued to stare at the cityscape.
Scot turned her to him and put
a finger under her chin, raising her face to his.
“It’s not how I pictured our life together starting, but we’ll figure it out together.” Scot’s sincere smile convinced her that he intended to stay at her side.
When their lips met, Cheyenne felt as if her world turned on its axis.
“I love you,” Cheyenne blurted.
Scot’s broad smile astounded her. How had she ever walked away from him?
“I love you, too.” Scot pulled her close and kissed her repeatedly. When they finally parted lips, he held her protectively in his arms.
“Marry me, Cheyenne.”
Cheyenne searched his eyes for motivation and suddenly heard Cedric’s advice replay in her mind. Scot was offering her his heart and she would not walk away from his gift again. “Yes, I will.”
Tears of joy glistened in his eyes and Cheyenne felt like she could lift off and fly away.
“It’s great to catch up with you Nathan. Sounds like Fury’s doing surprisingly well considering everything.”
“We are. It was really hard to believe that Ian had the stones to do what he did. Fortunately we had Mark behind the scenes making sure our reputation wouldn’t be tarnished. As it turns out, Ian turned on the rest of them and is singing like a canary. As verbose as he is, it shouldn’t take long to close the case.” Nathan’s emerald eyes rolled to the heavens. “Due to the investigation, we were sequestered. The only exception was concerts. It was bloody awful—like reliving life with Ian squared. It nearly killed Scot, the poor bugger. We couldn’t even call our families…it’s been a long month. He really does care for Cheyenne.”
Steph noted with surprise that Nathan hesitated, his face dour.
“ I shouldn’t have done what I did. It was a major strain on the band.”
“It wasn’t your finest hour. And I’m sorry about screaming at you. I need to go to anger management.”
“Speaking of screaming and anger management, I’m not sure what happened between you and Phillip.” Nathan flicked a strand of hair from his intuitive eyes, a reticent smile playing on his lips. “But he seems like a different man.”
Steph’s nerves were shot at the prospect of seeing Phillip; she just wanted to get through the night. She noticed Nathan watching her, and she looked him straight in the eyes.
“I don’t want him to be a different man.”
“Well, speak of the devil.” He glanced over her shoulder.
“Stephanie.” Phillip’s voice caused her an avalanche of goose bumps and her heart hammered with such force that she was surprised Nathan couldn’t hear it. She inhaled deeply and turned to look at him. He was a bronze vision in his Hugo Boss suit, his whiskered face smoldered, as always.
“Phillip,” she managed.
His simmering gaze fixed on her as if they were the only two people in the room.
“Right, this is my cue to go elsewhere. Ta.” Nathan’s voice seemed a million miles away and Steph couldn’t peel her eyes from Phillip’s as Nathan took his leave.
“May I speak with you somewhere little more private?” Philip’s blue eyes swept over her hair, her dress, and all the ivory skin it exposed. Every cell in her body felt inflamed and feverish.
“Sure.” Her response came out as a breathless whisper.
Be cool, Steph!
Phillip placed a hand on her lower back and, as he led her to a dark corner, her skin tingled under his touch.
When he had her alone and away from the loud music and crowds, Phillip shoved his hands in his pockets. His hesitation was disconcerting, but Steph waited silently, vowing to shut the hell up for once. Her hands were shaking and she was unsure what to do with them. She placed them behind her back and leaned against the cold marble wall. It felt marvelous against her blistering skin.
“I wanted to call,” Phillip began, rubbing his whiskered jaw nervously, “but with all the chaos on Fury’s side, we were advised not to.”
“I know, Nathan told me.”
“Honestly, I needed to speak with you face to face.” His eyes fastened on hers and his distress was evident. Steph felt uncomfortable and was tempted to fidget, but she willed her feet to stay firmly planted. She needed to know what his thoughts were, but the wait was intolerable.
“It sounds like things are going well,” Steph offered, after a long uncomfortable pause. “With Fury, that is.”
She groaned internally. Shut up, Steph!
“Yes it is,” Phillip agreed, and his rich voice made her think of warm, creamy eggnog. As she instructed herself to focus on his words, he continued. “But that’s not what I want to talk to you about.”
He ran a hand through his fair hair and Steph recalled the way it felt clutched between her fingers. He glanced her way just as she shuddered.
“I want to start by saying I’m sorry.”
“For what?” Steph thought their scoreboard was all tied up on the field of poor behavior, and couldn’t imagine which particular offense he’d singled out.
Phillip took a step toward her as he looked her in the eye.
“For being a pompous ass at every turn. I’ve often wondered how different things might have been if Ian had simply told us to expect you that day we first met.”
Steph felt herself relax against the marble wall behind her. She’d wondered the same thing all the way home on the plane.
“Why were you so against the story Phillip?”
Phillip’s eyes narrowed at the question and he rubbed his whiskered cheek again. He shrugged and seemed to look past her. Just when she was sure he wouldn’t answer, he took another step toward her and leaned against the wall facing her, placing his hands in his pockets again.
“When Fury first started to have a following, we got cocky. The attention was addictive and I got caught up in it. I got mixed up with the wrong girl and when her fiancé came looking to start a fight, my little sis was at the show. He broke a beer bottle right beside her head and came after me with it. She still has a scar.”
Steph’s eyes were wide. She could see his sadness and residual anger and knew exactly which Phillip Kersey he was.
“As I said in my interview, not all attention is positive. I thought my family was better off far away from this madness. I chose it, not them.”
“That’s why you freaked out and avoided me.” Knowing the motivation for his hostility, Steph felt like several puzzle pieces shifted into place. He’d felt threatened by their story, and Ian’s incompetence and Goddess’s theatrics had agitated their first encounter into an eruption. She realized Phillip’s eyes were fixed on her mouth and he was dangerously close. Meeting her eyes, he shrugged again.
“That was part of it… I guess I was scared.”
“Of what?” She felt her heart in her throat as he pulled his a hand out of his pocket and placed it beside her head, cornering her. She felt ensnared by the position and she failed to suppress a spicy smile.
“The affect you have on me.” His serious expression wiped her smile away. Steph needed him to kiss her and desperately wanted to touch him. Somehow she managed to restrain herself.
Phillip looked down at the ground and then back up at her.
“I want to start over.” He reached out and entwined his large fingers with hers.
“You’re not the only one who behaved badly. I was argumentative and childish I owe you an apology.” Steph stroked his hand with her thumb. “But how do we start over?”
Phillip’s face blossomed into a gorgeous smile. He pulled her to him and kissed her deeply, taking his time. She had never felt so alive and could have stayed in the kiss all night. After several minutes of his skilled lips on hers and his body pinning her to the wall, he’d literally taken her breath away. She nearly went limp in his arms. He finally pulled away. She looked up at him, her eyes were glassy with lust.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Phillip Kersey. Now what do you say we go up to my room?” Steph laughed, and without a second thought she pulled him toward the nearest elevator.
/> It was a beautiful June morning in London, and the hospital waiting room was relatively quiet. The weather was so gorgeous that only those who really needed to be there were. Steph had taken the red eye from Chicago and had arrived two hours before. She dozed on Phillip’s shoulder as he pored over a magazine. He threw it down and picked up another.
“Darling, didn’t you take this?” he asked, holding out the cover of GQ.
Opening her eyes, she smiled and sat up.
“I sure did. Look at you, paying attention to things I do. That’s my man.”
Phillip graced her with a sardonic smirk. She leaned up and placed a light kiss on his lips. He put his hands in her hair and locked eyes with her.
“I wish you could stay longer. Don’t go back.” He looked down at her, searching her eyes. She squinted, wrinkling her nose but looked pleased.
“You always say that.”
“Well, I’d like to see you try to get back through customs without your passport.” He pulled her passport out of his inside coat pocket. She laughed as she struggled to take it from him. He teasingly held it up out of her reach and stuffed it back in his pocket as his hand brushed a velvet case containing his grandmother’s ring. He had a big evening planned.
“I have a surprise for you.” Phillip pointed toward the door. Steph turned and the look of shock she wore was almost comical. Cedric slowly approached them and held up a deck of cards.
“Cedric!” She sprung off the couch and practically knocked the priest down as she threw herself into his arms. “I didn’t know you were coming!”
“Pretty agile, old chap.” Phillip congratulated him for keeping his feet. Cedric waved his cane at him in a threatening manner.
“Did I miss the blessed event?” Cedric asked.
“Not that we’re aware of,” Steph murmured. “Phillip won’t allow me to speak to the nurses anymore.”
“Sensible fellow you have there.”
“I was afraid they might evict us from the waiting room,” Phillip chimed in.
“What are you doing here?” She was glowing and her dazzling smile lit up the waiting room.
“I promised Cheyenne and Scot I’d bless the baby.”