“Yep, we are buddy. Niven will take you to get your bathing suit and bag together while Mommy and Daddy do a few things real quick,” Lee walked toward the house after he’d put the car away and when he saw the look on Valerie’s face he stopped in his tracks.
“Everything okay?” he asked as his eyes darted from me to Valerie.
“Nope. Big problems with Jonah, he’s out of control,” Valerie replied and bit her bottom lip.
“So what are you going to do?” Lee asked.
“We’re going to go and have fun at the waterpark with our son, that’s what we’re going to do,” I stated, firmly.
Valerie turned and shook her head, “Are you kidding me? I can’t—”
“Yes, you can. And we’re going. We promised our kid a day at a water park with his mom and dad, and that’s what he’s getting. We can’t physically do anything from here. And it will be hours before anyone gets back to us, so we’re keeping our playdate with Liam. If there is anything urgent, Clay can deal with it until we get home.”
When I saw her mouth open to gripe, I placed my finger across her lips and held her face by the chin. Her worried eyes glanced up into mine, and I felt how anxious she was. “Breathe, Valerie. Trust me, babe, we can’t do anything here for hours. Once Clay or Javier call us, we’ll be in a better position to make a plan. We don’t have a gig for almost three months. It’s not the end of the world what’s happening. By this time next week, we’ll have a solution to this. Meanwhile, I’m not prepared to push our innocent little boy to the side for someone like Jonah. So,” I kissed her mouth softly, and leaned back to look into her eyes again, “Take a deep breath, exhale, and go get that cute, tight little body into a bathing suit.”
*****
School was still in session, so I never gave it a thought that there would be many people at the waterpark. The one in Chicago was all but deserted when I took Teague and Liam. I was proven wrong when we’d been there less than fifteen minutes, and I’d been relentlessly hounded by moms that were there with toddlers, and a group of teenage girls. Lee and the management were great at protecting us. They cordoned off a small section for us with a few lounge chairs and an umbrella, but that never stopped the girls from trying to spend time with me.
Valerie sat spread out on one of the loungers. I had insisted she leave her cell in a locker so that she couldn’t work. Once she’d settled, I picked Liam up and headed for one of the lazy rivers. I sat on a float and pulled him along in the water then hauled him up to sit on my legs. The look of joy on his face was the most awesome reward any dad could have asked for.
Lee swam discreetly along the side of us and Liam splashed him as often as he thought he could get away with. He giggled hysterically when the water hit its mark. My heart always squeezed at the way our boy had so much confidence, and I attributed that to his secure upbringing so far. He spent time with his mom and me every day, and apart from rehearsals and gigs he was around us as much as possible, Valerie and I had made sure of that. Niven may have been our nanny and Liam’s bodyguard, but as Liam’s dad, I was determined the hours he spent with him would be minimal.
*****
After forty minutes in the water, it was looking like we needed a break. Liam had been jumping in while I caught him until he got too cold and his little body was shaking violently. His bottom lip had turned blue, and his teeth were chattering. I asked Lee to get a towel to warm him again. Seconds later he was back with a towel and wrapped it around him. “Gonna take him to sit under the umbrella for a bit. Valerie wants to swim with you.”
“Don’t let him out of your sight,” I warned.
Lee turned and gave me a dark look, then looked at Liam. “More than my life’s worth, boss,” he said and headed back toward where Valerie was sitting with Liam. Less than a minute later I saw my sexy girl walking slowly toward me completely unaware that the three guys she’d passed had all turned their heads and were watching her ass. Her eyes were trained on me; she smiled when she neared the poolside where I was leaning on the edge with my chin on my arms.
“Is the water cold—” she asked before screaming when I pulled her in. She came up coughing and spluttering a grin on her gorgeous face, “Jesus, Flynn that wasn’t fair; you need to stop dunking me in pools.”
“Sure it was. You’re in now. You’d have stood there procrastinating about getting in here for a million years before you dipped your toes in the water then complained it was too cold. Am I right?” I asked sliding my arm around her and pulling her close to me.
“Oh. My. God. It’s Flynn Docherty. Remember me?” a blonde girl shrieked as she swam close to me. Valerie stiffened in my arms, and I rubbed her back slowly in reassurance. I had no clue who the girl was. “We were in the same English Lit class at college. We met at Parker Sloan’s 4th of July party, remember?”
As soon as she said that I knew I’d fucked her. She was one of the many. Straight away I felt embarrassed for Valerie and knew that if I didn’t handle the scene correctly, she’d have my balls removed not so nicely and fed to Buster. I had no desire to shame the girl either. Glancing at Valerie, and then at the girl, I knew it was a no-brainer. She had been the one to approach me, and I knew Valerie was holding her breath because the last time I’d inadvertently bumped into a girl we had both known how that had ended.
“I’m sorry, I guess I don’t, I’ve probably met tens if not a hundred thousand people since then—”
“Hi, I’m Valerie, Flynn’s partner, nice to meet you,” Valerie said as she cut into the conversation.
The blonde looked blankly at Valerie then turned back to me, “So are you in town for long?” she asked, completely ignoring Val’s introduction and attempt to control the situation.
“My girl just greeted you, and you ignored her, that’s rude.”
“I wasn’t talking to her, I was talking to you, Flynn,” she said and smirked in Valerie’s direction.
Her response pissed me off and I felt Valerie’s arms slacken as her legs dropped from around my waist. She’d been trying to pull away from me, no doubt angered by the intrusion and the ignorant way the girl had dismissed her. I pulled her back tight to me and repositioned her legs, all the while staring the girl out and waiting for her to shake her head and clarify what she said in a less offensive way. When that didn’t happen, I went for her jugular vein.
“Okay, I had no wish to be rude, but since that seems to be your approach after muscling in on my private family time, I’ll answer the question you probably want to know. Were you a memorable fuck? If I fucked you, I don’t remember. I have no recollection of you whatsoever. You were one of very many girls I had back in college. I’ve no wish to hurt your feelings, but since you and I have different ideas about protecting my girl’s feelings, I’d just like to say our conversation here is done. Now if you’d excuse me, I’m spending precious time with my beautiful woman.”
I briefly saw her jaw drop in shock before I turned and headed away with Valerie in my arms from where she was standing and bent my head to kiss her neck. She instantly dropped her head onto mine, and I murmured, “I’m so sorry, babe, forgive me?”
“For what? Some skank that felt she needed to come and remind you of a one-night stand? There’s nothing to forgive, Flynn. These people need to get a life instead of wanting to use that kind of thing as their claim to fame. I think you handled her just fine, now let’s not allow her to put a damper on our few hours of respite before the shit with Jonah hits the fan.”
Just like that, Valerie demonstrated her trust and accepted my past without prejudice. She had a whole different vibe about dealing with the women who crossed our paths than when we’d previously been faced with that.
Chapter 25
Getting tough
Valerie
After Flynn dealt with the blonde skank from his time at college, we had a great couple of hours at the water park with Liam. Every time I got a day like that with Liam, I wanted to stop being
a world-traveling rock band manager and just be his mommy. It was hard to keep all the balls in the air most days, but I did it because we were building a future for our son.
Liam may not want to play in a band, but with the music and photography studios, I hoped he’d have the opportunity to at least gain experience in one of those areas before he decided what he wanted to do in life when he was old enough.
Liam was tired by the time we left the water park. Traveling home in the back of the SUV I loved the way our baby tried to join in with “Good Riddance” by Green Day, his little arms waving like he was playing drums. Flynn glanced around at him, and his smile was so wide it almost split his face in half. I could see how much he adored Liam by the way he looked at him, and when he finally tore his eyes away from his to mine, his eyes teared up as if he was having an emotional moment.
Turning back to face the front he sat silently for the rest of the journey home and I figured he might well have been reflecting on his relationship with his father, and what he’d missed out on. I knew he wanted to be the kind of dad that his kid adored. And he already was. If Flynn ever needed reassurance about that he only had to look at how Liam responded to him. Our little boy worshiped the ground he walked on.
When he’d finished singing, Liam crashed out on the way home. He sat in his car chair, sound asleep, his little face shining after his day in the sun. I could have stared at him for hours, and it wouldn’t have been enough. If I had to count the number of kisses I’ve peppered on my handsome baby boy, it must be close to a million by now.
I’d promised not to check my phone until we were home and as soon as Lee killed the ignition on the car I delved into my bag to fish it out. Flynn opened the backdoor and lifted Liam, holding him to his shoulder and carried him back to our house.
My cell seemed to take forever to power up, but when it did, I had two messages, one from Clay and one from Javier. I chewed on my lip while my heart raced in anticipation as I listened intently to Clay. The lawyer he’d sent to represent Jonah had managed to smooth the waters with the message delivered from Javier. Jonah agreed to a stint in rehab once he’d found that our record label would not support him if he chose not to.
It was all very well making threats, but we had to be able to back them up. It would take weeks for someone to learn the percussion arrangements that Jonah did for all the songs and we were on the road in less than three months. Like it or not, Flynn and the others were going to have to entertain the thought that they may have to break in a new drummer if Jonah couldn’t get clean and adopt a better attitude.
There was so much to sort through again, but we were supposed to be on vacation. I’d been expecting some quiet time with Flynn and Liam, as well as a few romantic nights while Niven babysat. That hadn’t really happened since we’d come off tour with all the shit we’d faced. Kayden and Amber’s wedding was less than two weeks away, and I felt like I hadn’t stopped since the moment we’d parked our butts back home.
It was 7:00 p.m., Liam’s bedtime, by the time we had changed and gotten home. I was glad we’d fed him some chicken and noodles at the waterpark restaurant while we had a drink. I knew that he’d be exhausted and would likely pass out in the car, which he did. Flynn was trying to pull off Liam’s shorts without waking him as I walked into the bedroom. Turning to look at me, he smirked and stood back waiting for me to take over.
Stepping forward I made the task seem like it was effortless, and Flynn shook his head, “What is it about little kids clothes and women’s bras? They’re always so cumbersome,” he whispered, his hand tracing the edge of my bra from the center of my back to under my left breast.
I shrugged him off and tucked Liam into bed. Brushing his dark hair away from his face, I bent to kiss his forehead. When I stood back up, Flynn was right behind me and caught me by my waist. “We made him. Aren’t we so fucking awesome, babe?” he whispered in a voice full of emotion.
“We did, and he’s amazing, Flynn. Best gift ever,” I agreed.
“Want another gift?” he said. I turned to look into his eyes. He looked relaxed and the smile he gave me would have had most women dropping their panties and begging to hear that line. Not me.
“Because we don’t have enough shit on our plate already?” I asked pointedly.
“We’d cope, babe. We always cope.”
My heart sank, and I stepped around him. I didn’t want to ‘cope’ like he’d said. I wanted life to be a little easier for the both of us than just coping with the next curve ball, so I didn’t reply to his statement. After I made sure Liam’s room monitor was on, I headed downstairs to find the takeout menu for us. Flynn came down after me and wandered over to the kitchen countertop, turned and leaned his hips against it. Folding his arms in front of himself he sighed.
“I take it that’s a no then?”
“Of course I want more children, Flynn, but another baby right now? Are you kidding me, Flynn? A couple of weeks ago you were leaving me. This week you want another baby. Are you fucking bi-polar?”
“You know that was about trust, Valerie. I explained why I did that. We had counseling, and we’re in a better place for it, wouldn’t you agree?”
“We have commitments coming out of our ears. You tell me all the time ‘Breathe, Valerie.’ I’m taking that advice. I need to breathe right now. I love you so much, Flynn, but it’s like there’s been one thing after another for the past seven years of my life. My life and Liam’s were at risk to bring him into the world. Now that he’s here I want to enjoy my son for a while. What happens if I have complications again? Who’s going to deal with taking care of Liam and the band? What if it… no, Flynn,” I said, firmly. I knew my reply sounded harsh and Flynn’s head reeled back in disbelief.
“So that’s it? No discussion? Just…no? Let me ask you this, Valerie. Do you want Liam to be an only child? You had the luxury of all those wonderful siblings. Don’t you want Liam to have that? I get that you’re scared. Baby, we’ll get you the best—”
I stopped looking through the take out menus and slapped them down on the countertop, interrupting Flynn.
“I’m not saying it’s a flat out no, and yes, we do need to talk about this because I have a few things on my mind as we’re being totally honest with each other.”
Flynn stepped closer and held me by my upper arms. Staring intensely into my eyes, I could see through his silence he really wanted to listen, “So talk,” he said, quietly.
I realized I was holding my breath and let out a deep sigh. Eventually, he took his eyes off me and looked down at the floor.
“I’m just a woman, Flynn. Not superwoman. I’ve done everything I have because I knew I could make a difference for you. Of course I want more babies with you. God, every time I look at you the feelings that bubble up inside me make me want to burst at times. I love you, I love everything about you, and I love our son more than life itself. However, managing a rock band is a twenty-four seven job. I don’t want to feel exhausted all of the time and having another baby right now would add an extra layer of pressure for all of us at this point in time.”
His eyes reconnected with mine, and his concern was clear, “So forget the band. Don’t manage us if that’s all that’s holding you back.”
“And you’d be happy with a new manager?”
“If it made you happier and expanded our family, then, of course. I want whatever you want, babe. Do what’s right for you. And us.”
“It’s not that I haven’t loved doing it, it’s just been harder since Liam came along. It’s like I have to decide what to prioritize all the time, and sometimes it breaks my heart not to put Liam first.”
“Why haven’t you said something before?”
“I don’t know. Maybe because I feel no one can do the job as well as I can? Maybe because I’m scared we’ll lose the closeness we share. Perhaps it’s my insecurities coming into play that if you don’t need me, then there’s nothing to keep you from bailing?�
� I said, surprising myself, because until that moment I hadn’t considered that as a possibility.
Flynn wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to his chest, “Fuck. I won’t bail because you don’t want to be our manager anymore. Nothing will come between us, whether you are RedA’s manager or not, and you never need to worry about me not needing you. I’m always going to need you, babe. You’re my fucking world, just like I know I’m yours. We’ve dealt with a ton of shit for want of a better word. You’ve seen me at my lowest and my best. You’ve taken my feelings from despair to delight, lust to love, and from anguish to elation.”
He stepped back and stood barely two feet from me. Tapping his chest over the tattoo he had with all of our initials on it, he said, “In here…this…this warm beating heart of mine, it’s been branded by every thought, gesture, and feeling we’ve ever shared. The depth of love I’ve experienced with you and emotions I’ve felt is something I never thought I was capable of. No one had ever made my heart and mind react the way it does when I’m with you. My heart was numb until you injected the kind of passion and desire it took to make me open up in such an unguarded way. So I’m not lying when I say you own it, Valerie.”
Smoothing my hair away from my face he patted it down and placed his hands on each side of my head. He tilted my head until my eyes met his, and he gave me a slow, loving smile.
“Whatever you decide to do is fine by me, babe. Honestly? If you want to leave the management to spend more time with Liam, I’d completely understand and support that decision. If you want to have another baby, we’ll get advice beforehand from the best OBGYN, and I’d be fucking honored to be its dad. Over the moon in fact. If you need time out from touring with me, it will cut me to the quick, but I’d give you that as well.”
When I heard his thoughts, I was overwhelmed with relief and my eyes filled with tears. Suddenly, I felt as if I could expand my lungs after only being able to take short sharp breaths for years due to the weight on my chest. I had taken on the mammoth task of guiding Flynn back to the top of his game never wanting to let him down.
Ready For Flynn,Part 3: A Rockstar Romance: Ready For Flynn Series Page 23