by Robyn Thomas
This wasn’t her. At all. Her designer dress and hidden-wonders bra gave her curves that were as fake as the flawless complexion she was currently sporting. Not a freckle in sight. But next to Jake and Leanna, she was going to look like Little Miss Average plucked off the street and dressed up in clothes that clearly belonged on a catwalk in Milan or Paris. And even if she somehow managed to pull the look off, she’d blow it as soon as she opened her mouth.
She didn’t have a cultured accent or a brilliant education or all the right contacts. She was the only child of working parents from an inner Melbourne suburb. And there was nothing remotely special or glamorous or newsworthy about her.
“Wait,” she blurted in a panic as two of Leanna’s assistants tried to shepherd her toward her designated chair. She’d spoken too loudly—she’d shouted, really—and everyone had frozen in place. Except Jake.
Catching her completely by surprise, he stepped toward her, whirled her into his arms and dipped her in the very next instant.
Her careful coiffure abandoned its constraints to fan all over the hardwood floor, the tiny ding of countless hairpins loud in the sudden silence. The thrill of being upside down, her lips mere millimeters from Jake’s, had her wondering how she could’ve thought anything was wrong in her world.
Nothing was wrong. Everything would be infinitely right as soon as he kissed her. He would have, she was certain of it, if a collective gasp hadn’t stopped him. Pandemonium broke out with mutterings of ruined hair and makeup and schedules being ignored. Christophe and Leanna were beside themselves and she found herself upright, being propelled forward by Jake’s guiding hand on the small of her back. Without any effort at all, he halted her progress, spun her around and guided her to sit down on her chair. Landing safely but with a complete lack of grace, she couldn’t help but laugh.
The interview was back on. And it was going to be great.
That naive optimism lasted about four seconds. A distinctive voice snagged her attention and she stared in silent awe at the man who was speaking.
“Jake? Why do I see David Beckham standing just over there?”
Jake sprawled negligently beside her, a smug smile on his lips.
“He was in town and so was Leanna’s other guest. I asked them to step in and round out the show.”
Leanna had another guest? An impossibly charming and handsome yet familiar-looking man entered her line of vision.
“Beth, this is Hugh—”
“Grant,” she squeaked. Hugh Grant and David Beckham and all Five Awesome Emperors were in her house? They were…and she was…and they were—
Hugh spoke and she may have responded to his greeting with something like hello or I love you, but it was doubtful. His hand, his lips—Hugh Grant’s lips—touched her hand and stole every speck of her composure. He’d visited her home before, in her dreams, and heat flared beneath her makeup. She concentrated on her hands in her lap, resisting the urge to twist them while
Hugh and Jake planned a round of golf.
Their easy camaraderie revealed the massive divide between their world and hers. She’d welcomed Jake, and all of the Emperors, into her life as if they were neighbors or old friends. Their fame hadn’t seemed unmanageable, but it did now.
David Beckham nodded to her from across the room and she blushed anew as every underwear advertisement she’d ever seen flashed through her mind. She jerked her gaze back to Hugh.
These people were Jake’s peers and she was in the wrong place altogether. She’d need more than a makeover to hold her own in this company.
Jake leaned closer, one hand slipping inside the collar of her dress to knead her tight neck muscles. “Go ahead and stare,” he said. “Get it out of your system.”
She laughed. It was impossible not to because he’d said those exact words within seconds of meeting her. “I’ve just realized something that’s beyond fabulous. No one is going to be looking at me during the interview. Who’d bother when they have you and
David and Hugh?”
Jake looked set to argue, but there wasn’t time. Leanna took her seat and the show began. Beth and Jake were to be the finalguests so Beth had the benefit of watching the other two men work the cameras and interact with Leanna. They made it look easy. And when it was her turn she found that being interviewed gave her a natural high. Mostly it was a matter of smiling in the background while Jake fielded Leanna’s questions, but uh-oh, it looked like it was her turn to speak.
“Beth,” Leanna said with a sly smirk. “Does your family approve of your decision to marry rock royalty?”
Beth struggled to hold on to her smile as Leanna deviated from the preapproved questions. Beside her she could feel Jake’s tension shoot to the very limit of his control, although thankfully it didn’t show. She silently willed him to keep his mouth shut and trust her to handle it. The rotten woman was making a grab for ratings but it wasn’t going to pay off.
“My parents would love Jake.” She leaned toward Leanna to underscore her conviction. “Not for what he does, but for who he is. Unfortunately they’re no longer with us, but they believed”— she smiled as she repeated her father’s favorite refrain—“that what a person does for a living is less important than what they live for.”
“What they live for?” Leanna repeated, frowning with a total lack of comprehension. “Can you explain that for us?”
Leanna probably lived for her career and that’s why she didn’t get it. Beth fought the urge to sigh. “When you break it down, Leanna,” she said and sent the other woman a saccharine smile, “most things in life are transient—jobs, colleagues, possessions, even homes. Things come and go, new dreams replace the old and we carry on. What we live for, what sustains and fulfills us and drives us forward, might be as necessary as breathing, but it’s more likely to be a person than a shiny red convertible or a Grammy award.”
“And your parents taught you this?” Leanna put on a show
of absolute shock and gave a false laugh as she looked right at the camera. “Ladies and gentleman,” she said, “Beth’s parents—?”
Was she freaking kidding? “Howard and Sarah.”
“Beth’s parents, Howard and Sarah Carlisle, taught their daughter all of this. Mine stuck to the basics.” She turned to Jake and gestured at him to speak. “What lesson did your parents teach you, Jake?” Before he could respond Leanna turned away from him and gave another hugely irritating false laugh. “Or perhaps this is another question for Beth?”
Startled to be responsible once again for answering, Beth drew a complete blank. What could she say about people she’d never met? Come to think of it, other than Skyla, Jake had never mentioned his family. Thinking that any answer would be better than none, she forced another smile and injected some casual enthusiasm into her voice.
“Jake’s parents covered the basics too. He’s caring and generous and has beautiful manners. And just between you and me his serenading skills,”—she angled a grin at Jake and felt her throat catch when she saw the banked thunder he could no longer hide—“are…better than average.”
Jake didn’t leap out of his chair as she’d thought he might, so she jammed a final conciliatory comment into the mix and prayed Leanna would move on after this. “And if all that’s not enough, he has excellent taste in jewelry.”
She held her engagement ring up for the cameras, automatically obeying the cameramen’s hand signals. Jake’s body was coiled, ready for action, and she could feel his anger seething around her, looking for an outlet. Had she upset him, or had Leanna? The urge to touch his knee or reach for his hand was strong but she managed to keep her hands to herself. Even so it felt wrong, completely wrong, to let him stew silently when she was sitting right next to him.
Something was dreadfully amiss but the world was watching and she was aware that the slightest misstep could set Jake off.
She silently begged Leanna to wrap the interview up without mentioning Jake’s family again.
“One final question to y
ou both.” Leanna’s smile warned it was going to be a doozy. “Will you be looking to start a family of your own?”
Beth jumped in before Jake could even draw a breath.
“Obviously we’ll want to cement our little family of two before we think about expanding it. We’re going to need another phone for future baby news, darling.” She aimed an angelic look at Jake and felt relieved beyond measure that he looked vaguely amused.
“Leanna wants to be on speed dial too.” She shook her head theatrically as if everyone they met had the same request.
The closing comments were a blur of niceties but Christophe’s first words to her after the cameras stopped rolling cut right through the haze.
“What the heck was that?”
Chapter Ten
Jake had his back to the room, so she kept it simple and answered honestly. “You’re asking the wrong person.” She jerked her head toward Leanna. “She’s the one who went off script. I would’ve said exactly what you wanted if there’d been time to go over it, but as it was I had to wing it and hope whatever I said was suitably inoffensive.
“By the way,” she added as Christophe continued to glareat her, “I’d like to use this room for lunch so I’d appreciate you ma king sure it’s clear inside of two hours.”
No one spoke and since all eyes were on her, waiting for something, she felt the need to continue. “Let me know if you’d like written instructions since I’d hate for any of you to have to improvise.”
“Sixty seconds,” one of Leanna’s cameramen announced. Beth ignored him and continued her conversation. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“When are you not?”
Christophe’s comment shredded what was left of her patience.
“I’m a chef,” she told him, aware that her voice had become a tad shrill, yet unable to do anything about it. “I’m not an innkeeper or a celebrity.” She threw her hands up in exasperation, beyond caring that the entire crew was hanging on her every word.
“Somebody give this man some newspapers so he can get up to speed with what’s been going on.”
Nodding silent thanks to the sound guy who helped to remove her microphone, she spun on her heel and left them to it. Jake hadn’t said anything since she’d been forced to ad-lib and she could only assume she’d messed up. Well what did he—or any of them—expect from her? She’d bluffed as best she could. It shouldn’t have been left to her anyway. Didn’t famous people stalk out of interviews all the time? Weren’t managers and publicists supposed to offer assistance?
Oh, what did she know? They’d dressed her up pretty, done her hair and makeup, and drilled her on how to respond to the approved questions, yet she’d managed to ruin the whole thing by being herself. Worse than that, she’d become an intruder in her own house. Even escaping to the kitchen for a few hours didn’t appeal now.
She was far too restless to create anything, but there was one place she’d like to go. She’d have to leave the house to get there, although it was still within the grounds. No doubt she’d freak everyone out if she wandered off unannounced, but surely that’s what the Kens were here for?
Marching to the kitchen door, she swung it open and peered inside. “Hey Teddy, things aren’t going well and I’m about to cause a scene. Any chance you could take five?”
“Interesting dress.” He gave her a dubious once-over and an awkward pat on the shoulder before stepping into the hall.
He almost made her smile, but she held onto her anger and hollered as soon as she had the room to herself. Yelling went way beyond the usual bounds of courtesy and it gave her an odd sense of satisfaction today. “Ken! I need help.”
…
Jake charged toward the sound of Beth’s voice the moment he heard her yell. Something had to be wrong, very wrong, if she’d called for Ken rather than him. She’d said all the right things when Ken and Keith had arrived yesterday, but he’d felt her discomfort and sensed that she’d avoid them wherever possible.
“What’s up?” he asked in a low voice as he drew her into the hall and stepped between her and the door into her commercial kitchen. Where the heck was Teddy? Was there an intruder in the kitchen? And if so, what did that mean for the security people who were supposed to be patrolling the grounds? He grimaced at the thought of them all being overpowered before they could alert Ken or Keith. If that was the case, Beth’s safety was in jeopardy.
“Do you have a cellar you can take shelter in? Does it lock from the inside?”
“What? Why would you even ask that?” She stared at him in complete horror. Shadows stole the customary brightness from her eyes as Ken and Keith sprinted in from their designated posts and shouldered past Leanna and her crew in their haste to secure the kitchen.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she blurted as Ken and Keith reached for their holstered guns to protect her from the perceived threat.
“Nothing that can be fixed by a gun at any rate. Oh God, I’ve accidentally called in a threat, haven’t I? You all seem to operate on some sort of shorthand that I don’t understand. And I’m blundering about like an incompetent idiot.”
She wasn’t making a scrap of sense, but when she tried to pull out of his arms, he refused to let her go. Leanna’s crew was filming them, so he angled his body to shield Beth, the naked distress on her face visible only to him. Protecting her was all that mattered.
After nodding to Ken and Keith to go ahead and inspect the kitchen anyway, he murmured comforting nonsense to Beth in the hope of calming her. Or himself.
“I can’t do this, Jake,” she said. He heard the conviction in her tone, felt the truth of her words in the tension that gripped her as she held herself apart from him.
Without knowing what she meant, the best he could do was whisper, “Cameras,” into her ear. It was enough to make her freeze in place. In his arms. Where she belonged.
“I just wanted to go outside,” she said in a near whisper.
“There’s an observatory in my backyard.”
“Is it secure?” he demanded. The wariness in her eyes made him soften his tone and loosen his possessive hold on her enough that she’d notice. That her safety could come under threat was clearly something she hadn’t considered. And dammit all, he’d deliberately avoided the subject. He’d told himself he’d protect her. The security team outside would protect her, and Ken and Keith and Teddy would protect her.
Yet he’d spent a restless night unconvinced by his ownrationale and barely resisting the urge to check on her ev ery five minutes while she’d slept alone in her own bed.
“Are you saying that I need security?” she asked in utter disbelief. “Because that doesn’t make any sense. No one’s interested in mobbing me. I’m not famous or talented or—”
“Engaged to me?” he finished and watched her lips form a perfect circle when realization dawned. He was a target and she was standing right next to him.
She’d been standing right next to him for days.
Knowing the risks, he’d asked her to stand next to him.
“Get me out of here, Jake.” Her head tilted slightly toward the camera crew behind him and he realized that they bothered her more than any possibility of physical danger.
“The kitchen will do for starters,” she said, “assuming it’s not already hosting a bodyguard convention.”
In one smooth move he guided her into the kitchen and closed the door behind them. The simple line of defense between them and Leanna’s camera crew felt momentous, because Beth’s relief was tangible. The distress she’d shown in the hall lessened. He smiled at her and for one brief, glorious moment, he thought she might smile back. But her gaze shifted and he saw the weight of something unbearably heavy settle over her like a cloak of doom.
She looked at Keith, who was by the open kitchen door,
peering outside, scanning for threats, his right hand resting on the butt of his gun. Beth scanned too, and Jake followed suit. Through the windows, he could see Ken talking to two other security
guys outside and he sensed it was their presence that troubled her. Her shoulders slumped in apparent defeat when Ken reached for his radio to confer with yet another person.
Jake gave her shoulders a gentle squeeze. “You might as well say it,” he said in an offhand tone he knew would annoy her. “I can read most of what you’re thinking anyway.”
“Handy talent, that. You’re good at everything, and now I see why.”
Because he was surrounded by security? “Why’s that?”
Keith turned toward them and whatever Beth had been about to say, she bit back. Frustration threatened to explode out of him. This was important, and yet he and Beth couldn’t have a two-minute discussion without interruption. What was the point of anything, of being safe or successful or wealthy, if he couldn’t even speak to the newest yet most vital member of his entourage?
“I want to go out there.” She pointed at an ivy-covered structure in the bottom corner of her garden.
Presumably that was her observatory, although it looked more like a round brick chimney that’d been abandoned and allowed to fall into disrepair.
She gestured to encompass every member of his security team, and there were five in sight now. “Can you tell them not to overreact when I go outside?”
He could tell them. Whether or not they’d listen was anyone’s guess.
But it’d be private out there. No one would be within hearing distance and if he went with her they’d be able to recapture some of the blissful isolation they’d enjoyed before his team had arrived.
He didn’t know how or when it had happened, but he’d come to rely on a daily fix of alone-time with Beth. So far every day’s fix had been different. The glint of challenge in Beth’s eyes warned that today’s would be unusually fiery. He didn’t want to miss it.
…
Beth refused to be mollified by the familiarity of the observatory her grandfather had built. As soon as she and Jake were alone, she started climbing the steps to the second level.
“I need to move out. Today.” She paused and turned to face him, taking comfort in the three-step height advantage she currently held. “If I need to go to a hotel, then I want a say in where it is because I can’t afford to be trapped somewhere impractical.”