Madi felt overwhelmed and undeserving. “I can’t accept all this!”
“You can and you will or you’ll hurt my feelings. By the way, make sure you pack tampons and fill your birth control prescription too.”
“Kendra...” Madi felt her eyes well up with tears. She pouted at Kendra and started to cry.
“Stop! Stop it!” Kendra grabbed a box of tissues and the two of them sat there hugging and crying on the floor of the dorm for the next hour.
*****
The weekend flew by and before she knew it, Madi had hugged her parents goodbye and taken the long drive to the airport. Ang had sent her an email with her plane tickets and name of the limo company that was picking her up in LA. Over the weekend, Madi had managed to wash all her clothes, get a haircut and highlights (Kendra did too), speak to her manager at Titans to get a semi-leave from her job, check her grades online – all A’s, get a passport photo to bring with her, pack for her trip, spend time with her parents and have dinner with Kendra.
On the way to the airport, Kendra had insisted that they listen to all of Jake’s songs. Kendra quizzed Madi to make sure she knew the title of the song, whether Jake had written it or not, and which CD it was on. Madi aced the test, as expected.
They walked quietly to the baggage check-in and then sat in the middle of the airport on a bench, holding hands.
“I know you’re nervous, Mads, but you’ve got this, okay? This is going to be an amazing experience for you. I made you a list of places to visit in France, if you have the time, as well as one of my favorite little bistros in Italy. You don’t have to call me every day, but you do have to text me. I’m only going to be in Mexico for two weeks with the fam and I will have my phone on or near me at all times. If you need me, for any reason, I will be on the first flight out there to kick some ass. Understand?”
Madi nodded her head. “I don’t know what I did in this life to deserve you Kendra Lainey Parker, but you are now and always will be my sister. I love you and I’ll call or text you every single day, I promise.”
Kendra nodded her head and looked away to fight back the tears.
After a long hug, kiss on the cheek, slap on the ass, and a “go get ‘em,” Madi was on her way.
Jake
It was getting late. Madi’s flight was supposed to arrive at three o’clock. It was now after six and she still wasn’t there yet. Ang had called the airport and found out that due to the crazy storms they were having, her flight had been delayed. Apparently, Madi had sat on the runway for two hours before they finally took off. The rain and winds had died down considerably and Ang had said that the flight should have arrived at 5:15 p.m.
Jake was pacing a bit waiting for Madi before Caleb called him in for a meeting. Jake was happy for the distraction. The band had left when the weather got bad, but Jake, Caleb, Ang and the guys from security had stuck around to get some work done. Jake sauntered out of Caleb’s office a few minutes later and heard a familiar sound. It was Madi laughing. He rounded the corner to the conference room and almost tripped over three suitcases in the hallway.
“Did you bring your entire closet?”
Madi turned around and released Ang from her hug. Jake noted that Madi was wearing tight black pants and an off-the-shoulder green sweater. She looked edible.
“Hi there, boss. Sorry I’m late,” she said with a grin.
“That’s okay, we already deducted it from your pay.” Jake walked over to Madi and hugged her planting a small kiss on her cheek. “Glad you made it here safely. Ang was starting to worry.”
Ang crumpled up her nose at Jake and eyed him quizzically. “I’m so glad to have another woman in this testosterone-filled place. You have no idea!”
“I’m glad to be here! So what do you need me to do?”
Jake and Ang looked at each other and laughed.
“What?” Madi said.
“Do you really think we expected you to get off an extremely long flight and go right to work? We’re taking you to dinner.”
Madi happily agreed. Just as they turned to go, Ang’s cell started ringing. “Hold on a sec, let me get that.”
Jake and Madi sat down at the table and Jake had just started to ask Madi how her flight had been when he heard something in Ang’s voice. He put a finger up to Madi to ask her to wait as he turned his attention to her conversation.
“Oh no… Are you sure? I’ll be right there. Yes. Thank you so much for calling.”
“Ang, what’s wrong?” Jake asked.
“I need to get to my house right now.”
*****
Jake surveyed the damage and then strode over to Ang, putting his arm around her shoulder. The winds had caused one of the oldest trees on her property to snap in half. The tree had fallen into the roof and through to the kitchen. Water was spraying in all directions and the water and fire department were both working on the problem.
“I can’t believe this.” Ang was in shock.
Madi grabbed Ang’s hand and held it tightly, not taking her eyes off of her. After Ang had told them that her neighbor had called to tell her about the tree, they all climbed into Jake’s car and he drove them over.
“I spoke to the fire department,” Jake said. “You can’t stay in the house. They’re going to make sure the roof is stable and then they will let you in briefly to gather some clothes and personal belongings. You’re going to stay with me.”
“No, Jake. I already called my sister. She’s going to meet me at work and I’m staying with her.”
“I promise you I’ll take care of this,” he said as he pointed to the damage. “I called a construction company. The owner is coming out here tonight to assess the work that needs to be done and they’ll start the repairs right away. They said you were lucky to not be in the house at the time. The damage seems to be mostly in the kitchen. I’ll replace everything.”
“Jake, this is not your responsibility! I called my insurance company and the damage is covered. There is no need for you to worry.”
“I’ll let the insurance company do their thing and then my guys will do theirs. I don’t want to hear another word about it. I’ll take care of it all. You’ll be back here in no time.” Ang hugged him. He had taken command over the situation. Ang was like family to him and he took care of his family.
Ang let go of Jake and wiped her eyes. She smiled at Madi briefly and then she gasped. “Madi!”
Jake turned suddenly. His face showed he immediately understood what Ang was thinking. Madi looked at them both questioningly.
“Oh Madi, I’m so sorry! This is not the welcome to LA we’d expected to give you.”
“Please don’t worry about me at a time like this,” Madi said as she squeezed her hand.
Jake motioned to the house, “I think what Ang is saying is that you no longer have a place to stay.”
Madi’s face dropped and then she smiled reassuringly, “I’ll figure something out.”
“Jake…” Ang glanced at him and there was an unspoken communication between them.
Jake knew exactly what Ang was asking of him and in his heart he knew it was the right thing to do, but he couldn’t help but worry about it. He ran his hands through his hair and smiled, kissing Ang on her forehead. “Of course.”
“What? What did I miss?” Madi asked.
Jake stared at Madi intently before he smiled. He tried to read her but he had nothing. Then he asked, “How would you feel about spending the night with me?”
Chapter 17
Madi
“What did you say?”
Madi had replayed the question in her mind repeatedly. When Jake had asked her, her mind initially went to the gutter and she thought about the condoms Kendra had packed in her suitcase. Then she realized that he meant instead of staying with Ang, how about you just stay at my place for the night. That made way more sense and Madi was glad she had broken that code before she embarrassed herself yet again. Madi had tried to give Jake a way out of it, but h
e insisted. He said he had plenty of room and it wouldn’t be a problem at all. By the time the fire department had let Ang into her house and she was able to get her clothes and some personal items, it was almost ten at night. Jake drove them back to the studio and waited for Ang’s sister to arrive before he turned back to Madi.
“Some night, huh?”
“You know, you didn’t have to go to all this trouble just to be alone with me.” Madi elbowed him in his ribs and laughed.
“Well, you know I do have contacts. I called God and asked him if he could drop a tree on Ang’s house for me so I had an excuse to get you back to my place.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured.” Madi smiled at Jake and he ran his hands through his hair. He stopped when he got to the pile of luggage outside the conference room.
He turned to Madi and threw his hands in the air, “Seriously?”
“I blame Kendra. You wouldn’t believe me if I tried.”
“You surprised me last time when you only had a carry-on. This is more what I would have expected from a girl.”
“I may have over-packed, but Kendra insisted that I bring it all.”
“I see,” Jake said as he leaned on the door. “Well, when we get back to my place we’ll have to open it up and go through the standard baggage check. It’s a requirement to stay at my place.”
Madi’s face dropped and she began to think about all the lacy panties Kendra had packed, the red lingerie and the box of condoms. She went into panic mode. “No! You can’t go through my bags. I could just stay at a hotel, right? That would be fine. I’m sure there’s a room available somewhere.”
Jake let out a huge belly laugh. “I was kidding! But I have to say, I’m extremely curious what’s in there that you so desperately don’t want me to see.”
Madi’s face went from panic, to relief and then straight to aggravation. “You know, you would think that after twenty years of dealing with my father’s razzing, and my brothers’ constant teasing, that I would be able to recognize when you were simply tormenting me.”
“Well I didn’t want to tell you earlier, but now that you mention it, you are really easy to tease. You may need to work on that. I know this girl who’s good with helping people. I might be able to get you an appointment. There must be an underlying issue with your self-esteem or something.”
“You think you know me so well, don’t you?”
“Actually, I haven’t been able to figure you out at all. And believe me, I’ve given it quite a bit of thought.”
The sincerity with which he expressed himself and the look in his eyes made Madi catch her breath. Had he really tried to figure her out? “I’m an open book,” she said.
“If you were a book, I’d be able to read you,” he said with a smile.
Something told her his book would be one she’d never want to put down.
Jake
He couldn’t believe they were on their way back to his place. This was not what he had planned. He wondered if he’d left any clothes lying on the floor. He’d removed his shirt when he sat at the piano but that was days ago. He’d picked it up, right? Jake noticed Madi staring at him while they were driving. “Something wrong?”
“No, I was just wondering what you were thinking. You seem so deep in thought.”
“Actually, I was wondering what shape my place was in and whether or not it was suitable for company.”
“I have two older brothers. A few pairs of underwear, dust you can write your name in and a bunch of empty food cartons wouldn’t even make me flinch.”
She was cool. He had to give her that. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Okay, I’ll take you at your word.”
After Jake had parked the car, he grabbed two of Madi’s suitcases, one in each hand, and started to roll them toward the door. Madi grabbed her purse, her carry-on and the third bag. They struggled their way through the garage to the door, laughing the entire way. Twice, Madi’s suitcase had rolled the wrong way and fallen over, and Jake had accidentally banged one of the bags into Madi’s leg. They got to the door and dropped everything. They were both out of breath and Madi sank to the floor outside his door as Jake bent down, resting his hands on his knees.
“Welcome to Casa de Morgan,” he said with a grand swoop of his arm.
Madi slowly got back on her feet and leaned on the wall as Jake opened the door. Jake heard Murphy bark and then run to the door to greet him. Madi walked in and dropped to her knees.
“Oh my gosh! Aren’t you the cutest thing in the world?” She put her hand out and Murphy’s tail looked like it might propel itself right off of him.
Jake brought her bags in as he watched the interaction. Murphy had completely forsaken him in exchange for Madi. Murphy climbed on her lap and began to lick her face.
“Who is the sweetest little boy ever? Who is the sweetest?” Madi was making baby talk to his dog and for some reason it kinda turned him on.
Jake brought in all her bags and closed the door. Murphy was now on his back and Madi was kissing his face while she rubbed his belly. Jake couldn’t help but remember that Murphy knew a good thing when he saw it. Murphy hadn’t acted like this for any other woman besides Ang and Jake’s mom. He must have thought Madi was special. Jake smiled as he internally said I told you so to his conscience. Jake turned to eyeball the place. Madi didn’t even notice him grab a pair of socks, two shirts and a pair of underwear off the floor. He opened the nearest closet and threw them inside.
Madi slowly crawled up off the floor while giggling and looked around. “Wow! This is amazing.”
Jake hadn’t thought about it in a while, but it was a great place. There were hardwood floors throughout. Around the corner to the right was an open concept kitchen with stainless steel appliances and off-white cabinetry from floor to ceiling. The kitchen was huge with an island bar and it could probably hold twenty people comfortably. To the left of the entrance, opposite the open kitchen, was a huge black sectional, two chairs, a 60” flat screen on the wall and multiple game systems. Straight down from the entrance was a door to a powder room and a grand hall, which housed Jake’s baby grand piano, various keyboards, guitars and sound equipment. To the left of the hall were four bedrooms and three bathrooms.
Madi looked up at the twelve-foot ceiling and glanced around the place.
“Would you like a tour?” he asked.
“Hell yes I want a tour!”
Jake smiled and led Madi around. Madi crossed her arms and nodded as Jake explained each room. He wondered what she was thinking. He stopped when he got to his bedroom and went to the door opposite of his.
“This will be your room. I hope it’s okay.”
He opened the door to a fifteen-by-twenty room decorated in beige and blue with a queen size bed, walk in closet, chest of drawers and flat screen TV.
“Really?” Madi said. “I can stay here?”
“Yes…” Jake said unsurely. “Is it okay?”
“It’s wonderful!” Madi said with a genuine smile. “I absolutely love it.”
Jake felt his pulse quicken and then pointed to a bathroom connected to her room. “That’s yours as well.”
“Wow, thank you so much. Are you sure this isn’t any trouble?”
“None at all. I have plenty of room.”
Jake went on to show her the other two rooms and bath. He stopped short of his bedroom again. He usually didn’t show people his room. It was too personal; it was his space. For some reason, with Madi, he felt obligated to show her, like she needed to see it or he needed for her to see it.
She must have read his expression because she touched his arm and said, “Hey, thank you for showing me around. I know your bedroom is your personal space and there is no reason I need to see it.” She gave him a knowing, comforting smile.
For some reason her need not to see it made him want to show it to her. He confidently opened the door and ushered her in. Jake couldn’t see her face since she was in front of him. The room was shades of
brown, red and orange, perfectly blended and serene. There was a four-poster king size bed complete with a canopy, a fireplace on the side and another baby grand piano. Various pieces of art Jake had collected while touring and vacationing throughout the world decorated the walls. Murphy ran in and jumped on the bed. Jake walked toward him, ran his hand through his hair, and glanced at Madi to see if he could gauge her opinion of it.
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