Chapter 19
ZOEY
My eyes opened when I heard loud laughter and general commotion outside the bedroom door. Before investigating, I wanted a moment to myself, so I burrowed under the silky sheets and inhaled the smell of me and Ty. Smiling to myself at the memory of the past twelve hours, I couldn’t help but adore how Ty was still sweet and kind to everyone around him, including me.
From my suitcase, I pulled out some leggings and a T-shirt and padded barefoot outside to locate the source of the noise. Connor and Zane were sitting on stools at the kitchen island slagging Ty while he stood with his arms crossed, gloriously shirtless, his wavy hair a rumpled mess. He good-naturedly glared at them.
“Hey, Zoey.” Zane came over to give me a hug, his loopy grin wide.
“Connor, Zane, you better erase the image of my boobs from your mind.” I covered his eyes with my hand.
“Aww, not possible, they’re spectacular.” He waggled his eyebrows at me from under my palm.
“It better fucking be possible.” Ty growled.
“So, are you guys back together?” Connor leaned back on his stool, his ripped arms crossed above his head.
“We are, and this time it’s for good.” I nestled into Ty’s side. He kissed the top of my head.
“Finally!” Zane shouted, fist in the air. “Now you won’t be such a pain in all of our asses.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Ty beamed.
“Don’t forget to call Jace, he’s fucking pissed about the paparazzi stuff.” Connor pointed at Ty.
“What happened?” I asked.
Connor tapped his phone and held up the TMZ page where, sure enough, there were several pictures of Ty and me in front of Dan Tana’s. Ty looked absolutely gorgeous, he clearly had become accustomed to having his photo taken and knew his angles. On the other hand, my two expressions ranged from scared rabbit to triple-chinned yokel.
“I’ll call him later,” Ty promised. “We have plans today.”
“Just be careful, bring Sergey with you,” Zane cautioned.
“He’s meeting us in Laguna.”
“Well, if he can prevent any more ugly pictures of me being taken, I’m all for it.” I scrunched up my nose. “I’d like to avoid my name getting out there, I’m afraid I’ll get backlash at the firm.”
“Well, we are pretty famous, sweetheart!” Zane stood and gestured to Ty. “You better get used to it quickly if you’re going to be with that one.”
“Knock it off, dude. Don’t you have somewhere to be?” Ty shooed the guys back to the pool house.
We took a sexy shower and I put on cutoffs, a black tank top, and my wedge sandals. As always, Ty wore jeans that were barely held together by the threads, a vintage Soundgarden T-shirt, a baseball cap, and flip-flops. We spent the day driving his not-too-incognito fuckmobile down the coast, leisurely stopping in some of the beach towns to browse the kiosks, hold hands, and enjoy the sun.
Zane was right about Ty’s popularity. We couldn’t go anywhere without camera phones following us.
Ty was acutely aware of his surroundings, having lived this way for so many years. He’d refined escape from aggressive fans into a fine art. When someone recognized Ty and asked for a selfie, he graciously handled it like a pro. If they got demanding, he expertly deflected. Although he took it in stride because he was so used to it, for me it was intrusive and a bit terrifying. After the first few incidents, it was really hard not to show my discomfort.
At some point during the day, Jace sent Ty a stern text with links to photos that Ty had been tagged in. Apparently, the LTZ universe was abuzz about Tyson Rainier’s mystery woman, but according to most of the comments the fans were not impressed with me in the slightest. Talk about ego-crusher. After that, I tried to hide from the camera to avoid more scrutiny.
I couldn’t believe that Alex had sought this out and became so famous on Instagram. My introverted self didn’t know how to handle it. It occurred to me that it was only a matter of time before I was outed as the “bitch that broke his heart.”
By the time we got to The Ritz at Laguna Beach, it was nearly seven p.m. and I was sick, sore, and tired of people. Sergey escorted us to our room, and as quiet and unassuming as his presence was, he served as a reminder of Ty’s need for security. I couldn’t wait to just be alone with my boyfriend, and I wasn’t disappointed. The penthouse suite was over-the-top with sweeping views of the purple, red, and orange hues of the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. It was so gorgeous, my crankiness waned.
“I hope you don’t mind if we have dinner in the suite, I want you all to myself all night.” Ty slid his hand around my back, holding me at the curve above my ass.
I picked up the room service menu. “That’s perfect, I’m starving.”
“No, no. I’ve got it all arranged.” Ty took the menu from me and led me out to the expansive private patio overlooking the water. Outside was a beautiful table set for two, white linen, roses, and soft guitar music playing in the background.
“Wow, when did you do all this?” I was blown away.
“Don’t you worry about it.” Ty leaned against the patio rail, so fucking handsome with his scruffy, unshaven face and long hair completely windblown from our drive.
“Come sit down with me.” I beckoned when I took a seat.
Ty immediately obliged, sitting in the wrought-iron, padded patio chair next to me. Playing with my fingers as we looked out at the sea. At some point, the sun finally disappeared over the horizon. We moved to the table and indulged in a delicious, romantic dinner, and my mind quieted.
Would this be my life now?
After a while, the breeze turned chilly and we moved inside to recline on the plush, gold sofa in the living room to watch a movie.
“I’m sad you’re leaving tomorrow.” Ty squeezed my hand, which rested on his stomach as I lay against him. “I love having you with me.”
“I love being with you too.”
“Could you stay longer?” Ty questioned. “I mean, no pressure.”
“I wish, but I can’t.”
“Okay.”
My mind spun again.
“People are going to find out it’s me, Ty.”
“Yeah, probably.”
“Is that what you want?” I had to ask considering we’d been out in public all day and now there were likely hundreds of pictures of us posted everywhere.
“Well, yeah. Of course. Although, Jace wants to get ahead of it first.” Ty let out a breath that he’d apparently been holding.
“It’s freaking me out, babe.” I sat up to face him. “I’ve deliberately kept myself out of the public eye for years, I don’t even have live socials.”
“So you don’t want people to find out about us.” Ty didn’t question, he stated and kinda sulked.
“You don’t get to do that.” I was annoyed at having to reassure him. “You’re not that insecure boy anymore, you know that’s not the case.”
Ty didn’t say anything, but I was not going to engage in game playing. “Just because you wanted to be a famous rock star doesn’t mean that I want everyone to know my name. You took that option away from me with the album.”
“And we took every precaution to protect you. I can’t help that we’re well-known, Zoey,” Ty grumbled. “That’s part of the gig.”
“Well, it’s not part of my gig. I’m in the middle of a job search while balancing a very competitive position at my firm.” I got up and strode over to the window, needing some space from my rocker. “Your fans hate me. They think I’m heinous. It’s all in the comments.”
Ty stretched out on the sofa, crossed his legs, and shut his eyes. It looked like he was practicing breathing exercises, but he remained silent. After a few minutes, his eyes opened slowly, and he found me gaping at him.
“No, Z, they want to be you, so they try to tear you down. It’s part of the fame game.”
“I’m not famous, and they don’t even know me!”
“Look,
I didn’t think it through. I just wanted us to have a fun day out like we used to do back in Seattle.” Ty patted the space on the sofa beside him and beckoned for me to come back.
It was hard for me to be mad at his sentiment, but at the same time we were just getting to know each other again. Figuring out how and if our lives could mesh. It occurred to me that he was used to having every detail of his life catered to and fixed, maybe he forgot how it was for people who weren’t in the spotlight.
“I’m worried,” I confessed, my arms akimbo. “My reputation and integrity are vitally important in my profession. A careless photo or slimy article could take on a life of its own and destroy my career.”
“That’s why we have publicists.” Ty held his hands up. “They take care of that for us, and they will take care of that for you.”
“Isn’t their job to get you in the media?”
“Well, yeah. True.” Ty rolled his eyes. “But they do crisis management too, that’s why you don’t see any of the old embarrassing drunk footage of me around anymore.”
My stomach clenched.
“Did you take me to all these public places because you want me to be outed, Ty?” I sat on the edge of the sofa next to him. “Because once who I really am is out there, we can’t take it back.”
“I mean, I didn’t not want people to find out we are together. I already basically announced it on Sirius.” Ty stroked my back in a feeble attempt to calm me down. “Sienna thought it would be fine.”
Shrugging him off, I chewed on my thumbnail. “You talked about this with Sienna?”
“More like cleared my plans.” Ty was so nonchalant. But, of course, this was what he was used to. On the other hand, all of this was scary to me.
“I’m feeling very vulnerable and out of my league.” I picked at the thumbnail I was doing a good job of ruining. “I need to understand what say I have in all of this. Did Sienna consider what price I had to pay?”
“Butterfly, shhh. I’d pay any price to be with you.” Ty cupped my cheek in an attempt to get our romantic weekend back on track.
“Ohmygod! Stop it.” I knew he was sincere in his feelings, but I didn’t want to get diverted from the conversation with a cheesy line.
“Stop what?” Ty was getting exasperated.
“When you say that you’d pay any price to be with me, it sounds so selfless. If you read between the lines, what you’re really insinuating is that I should also pay any price to be with you. Even if that means the world finally identifies and annihilates me. Even if it means harming my own career,” I quarreled. “Do I have that right?”
“Zoey, when did you get so argumentative? Did they teach you that in law school? We are on the same side. I don’t know what you want me to say. I’m famous, my picture gets taken so much I don’t even notice anymore. Scandalous things have been written about me for years now, it rolls off my back.”
“So, I guess it should roll off of mine too.” My sarcasm was real.
“Jesus, there’s only been a few pictures, you’re making such a big deal out of this.” Ty huffed and pulled out his phone. “If it makes you happy, I’ll interrupt our romantic weekend to text Sienna. We can spend our last night before you have to go home getting a media plan together.”
I knew I was ruining our night, but I couldn’t let it go. Something felt really off. Life had been so much easier when we were younger. Being back with Ty was a dream come true, but now I worried that Ty’s fame and notoriety would suck me dry and overshadow all that was good between us.
“Come back here.” Ty motioned.
“No.” I shook my head. “You’re not taking my feelings about this seriously, and I need to think about how I’m going to fit into your life without losing my own identity.”
“Wow.” Ty deflated and looked like I’d kicked his puppy. “I had an entire romantic night planned for you, and now it’s all messed up.”
“Sorry, not sorry.” I got up, went into the bedroom, and shut the door.
Sprawled out on the king-size bed, I flung my arm over my eyes. Something about this whole situation was bugging me, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It wasn’t like I had a bunch of job interviews lined up. I’d only had a few nibbles from the headhunter. None of the positions were even in Seattle.
All I knew was that I simply couldn’t afford to be part of any scandal until I figured out where I’d be working. Even after I took a new job, depending on the non-profit I’d probably have some sort of code of ethics to abide by.
Then it hit me and utter panic set in.
I already had a code of ethics to abide by.
Tearing out of the bedroom, I found Ty out on the balcony looking completely out of sorts. I couldn’t worry about that because I had real problems.
“Ty, I need to go back to Seattle.”
“What?” Ty’s eyebrows nearly jumped off his face. “Why?”
“You’re the firm’s client and we’re sleeping together.” I was freaking the fuck out.
“Zoey, you’re the love of my life, we’re more than sleeping together,” Ty roared. “What is going on right now? Since we got to the hotel you’ve been acting so irrational!”
Frantically, I typed into my phone, ignoring Ty for the moment. When I found what I was looking for, I expanded the words on the screen and held it up for Ty to read.
“A lawyer shall not have sexual relations with a client unless a consensual sexual relationship existed between them when the client-lawyer relationship commenced,” he read from my screen.
“I’m in so much trouble.” I sank down on one of the patio chairs.
“I don’t understand.” Ty sat next to me, looking completely confused at what was going on with me. “We had sex years before you were a lawyer.”
“You have to read the words exactly how they are written.”
“I’m no good at this legal stuff, Zoey. Just spit it out.”
My mind felt like it was going to implode. “Bottom line is that I’m violating ethical rules. We did not have a consensual sexual relationship when the firm took your case.”
“You’re not even helping the foundation anymore.” Ty threw his hands up. “This is so fucking stupid.”
“And yet, I could get fired. Even disbarred,” I whispered.
We sat in silence as that little tidbit sank in.
“Fuck.” Ty pulled me into his arms.
“You need to take me to the airport, I have to go home.”
“Z, it’s late. There’s nothing we can do about it tonight. Stay, we’ll book on you on the first flight out and we’ll go from there.” Ty kissed my head and I tunneled into his arms, seeking comfort.
Unfortunately, I had a sinking feeling that I was about to lose everything.
Chapter 20
TYSON
Lying in a beautiful hotel suite with Zoey should have been absolute heaven. With LTZ’s hiatus looming, I wanted to convince her to move in with me, get married, quit her job, and spend an entire year with me with no schedule and no commitments. Just me and her. That had been my master plan.
Man, I was stupid.
Jace warned me that the LTZ fans were going to figure out that she was Z. He was convinced that the backlash against her would be brutal. He’d been on my case since the Space Needle show to work on a strategy to soften her introduction to the fans. It’s not like I could hide her forever, everyone knew who I was. I selfishly ignored his warnings and now Zoey was paying a price.
She hadn’t taken the paparazzi and fan stuff very well, and for good reason. I’d irresponsibly ditched my security team in a misguided effort to have some privacy with my girl. That had backfired spectacularly. How could I have forgotten how it felt years ago when I’d first become famous? I hated being ambushed. The whispering behind my back. The pointing. Everyone trying to touch me. Now it was my normal and I was used to it but, as Zoey pointed out, it wasn’t hers. Mentally admonishing myself wouldn’t help, I simply had to do whatever it took to prote
ct her. Which, unfortunately, meant she had to go home early.
Part of me wondered if there was more to it. I’d never known her to be so combative and closed down. All I wanted was to help her, but I couldn’t if she didn’t open up to me. I watched her quietly snore beside me, finally resting. I didn’t want to wake her up because she’d tossed and turned all night, stressed because of some ethical rule I couldn’t understand. All I knew was that I couldn’t lose her again, and it felt like she was slipping away. Right when we were finding our groove again. I didn’t know how to handle it. I was close to losing my shit.
“When do we need to leave?” Zoey yawned and rubbed her sleepy eyes.
I wanted to show her how much she meant to me, that she could trust in our relationship. Plus, I couldn’t keep my hands off her for another minute. I caressed her head and kissed her deeply. “We have some time before we need to leave for the airport.”
“I’d better get packed.” She sat up, the sheet floated to the bed revealing her flawless, curvy body clothed in only a tiny tank top and panties. I couldn’t help it, my dick was like granite.
“Why do I get the feeling you’re going to say goodbye to me today.” I traced her shoulder blade.
“Ty.” Zoey shook her head sadly.
The silence stretched out between us.
“You’re perfect.” I pulled off her tank top, nearly losing my mind at the sight of her breasts spilling out. Nibbling on her lips, devouring her, touching her everywhere, I wanted to imprint her with my love, fate be damned.
“Please—” She pulled away for a minute, pleading. I wasn’t sure if it was for me to stop or to keep going.
“Zoey, I’ve always been yours, and only yours,” I cupped her cheeks to remind her before taking off my boxer briefs and freeing my erection. “Please, let me make love to you.”
She nodded, laid back, and reached for me.
Gripping my cock and giving it a few strokes, I knelt between her legs. Zoey clasped her hands around my hips while I rubbed my dick through her wet folds and guided myself into her. Reaching under us, I cupped her heart-shaped ass and pulled her up to me. As we rocked against each other, all I could think was that our bodies were meant to be joined like this, we fit each other perfectly.
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