by Rachel Lacey
The roar of the crowd finally zapped his brain into gear. Even though it was still dark out and over an hour from the live broadcast, the area in front of the stage was filled with fans. Kate was onstage, midway through her sound check. She wore black pants and a loose blue top, chatting with the crowd while her sound tech made adjustments to the playback of her most recent hit, “Saved.”
“Look who’s here, you guys!” she said into the microphone, gesturing toward him, and the noise level from the crowd grew deafening.
He waved, staying off to the side while Kate finished her solo sound check. This was her performance, after all. He was just the “special guest.” He toyed with his ear monitors as she finished singing “Saved,” his eyes roaming the crowd. He didn’t realize what he was looking for until his gaze settled on Jenn. She stood just offstage across from him, wearing a headset and talked animatedly with a man from the GMA crew standing beside her.
He’d seen her before she left the town house this morning but had been too bleary-eyed to appreciate the way she looked. She had on a knee-length blue fitted dress, her red hair swept back into a loose bun the way she almost always wore it when she was working.
“We’re up.”
He turned to find Kate standing in front of him, a funny smile on her face. He nodded. “I’m ready.”
She followed his gaze, glancing over her shoulder at Jenn, then clicked off her microphone and leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “Be careful, Cole. You almost look like a man who’s falling in love with his wife.”
10
Cole watched Kate as she walked away. He looked like a man falling in love with his wife? What the hell did she mean by that? Because no way was he falling for Jenn, and secondly…did she know the truth about their fake marriage?
He stalked up beside her, giving her a piercing look, but her stage face was in place now, her smile politely professional as the first bars of “The Love You Give” began to play behind them. The crowd screamed anew as they recognized the music.
He and Kate stood side by side while they sang, paying more attention to the crowd than each other. Kate would point and wave at people she’d recognized while he sang his parts. She seemed to know a lot of her fans. He couldn’t exactly say the same. As he swept his gaze over the crowd, not a single person stood out.
This was only the sound check, so they didn’t have to play to the cameras—or each other. He sang with one hand shoved into his pocket, his gaze focused on the sliver of Central Park visible behind the crowd.
When the song ended, Kate thanked him for joining her before turning back to the fans. “You guys know he just got married, right?” The crowd whooped and screamed in response. “Did you know he married my assistant?”
What the hell was she doing? Cole forced a smile. His gaze flicked to Jenn, who stood motionless beside the stage, her lips slightly parted, eyes wide.
“Crazy, right?” Kate said, still smiling broadly. “So while this song isn’t actually a love song between me and Colton, it did lead to love between him and Jenn.” She glanced over at Jenn, then at him, before returning her gaze to the crowd, which was now screaming for Jenn to come out onstage.
She wouldn’t like it, but hell, Kate had opened this can of worms, so he’d blame it on her later. Smiling, he gestured to Jenn. “Come on out, babe. The crowd wants to meet you.”
She walked onto the stage, giving Kate a murderous look as she passed her but keeping a warm smile plastered on her face. She walked right up to him, tipped her face toward his, and planted a quick kiss on his lips.
He draped an arm around her shoulders. “My wife, ladies and gentlemen. I bet you guys didn’t have any idea the great Katherine Hayes also moonlighted as a matchmaker, did you?”
The crowd screeched in delight. Many of the women in the audience wore expressions that looked alarmingly like those little emojis with hearts in their eyes. Jesus Christ. They better still like him after his marriage ended.
“It’s true,” Kate said, looking positively delighted. “I’m now an official matchmaker.”
“When we come back out here for the live show,” Cole said, “I’ll be singing with Kate, but you guys will know who I’m really singing to.” He gave the crowd a conspiratorial wink as he squeezed Jenn’s shoulders.
“That is so cheesy,” she said into his mic, playing along.
“I know it, babe. I just can’t help myself.”
The crowd was still screaming and aww-ing, and cell phones were in the air all over the place as people rushed to document one of his first public appearances with his new wife. He and Jenn turned to each other and kissed again for their benefit.
“See what I have to put up with backstage?” Kate joked.
“Please,” Jenn said, snagging the mic right out of his hand. “I’ve put up with you being disgustingly romantic with Josh for over a year now.”
Kate gave an unapologetic shrug, still smiling. He had to hand it to her, she was a master at working the crowd—and working the positive publicity. Whether she knew the truth behind his arrangement with Jenn or not (and he strongly suspected that she did), she’d just given them a headline moment that would solidify them as a loving couple, and since their marriage would be short-lived, he needed to maximize every PR opportunity he could get.
In short: he owed Kate one for engineering this moment.
“Okay, you guys. We’ve got to get dressed and ready for the live show. We’ll see you again in a little while, okay?” Kate waved at the crowd, blowing kisses.
Damn, but she really was good at this. He should be taking notes, because he would have been comfortably back in his dressing room by now if he’d been on his own. Maybe if he shared a rapport with his fans like she did with hers, they’d stop trying to sell pictures of his dick to the tabloids.
He turned to follow her offstage. In the distance, a boom echoed across the park, loud enough to make him pause and look around. A car accident? An electrical short? Jenn lurched beneath his arm, which was still slung across her shoulders. He looked down at her.
The smiling, playful woman who’d joked with the crowd moments ago was gone. Jenn’s face had gone slack, her eyes glassy. Then her knees buckled, and she fell.
“Whoa.” He dropped his arm to her waist, drawing her in against him before she hit the stage. “What happened? You okay?”
Jenn said nothing, her expression totally blank as if someone had just turned off the light behind her eyes.
“You’re scaring me,” he murmured in her ear.
Behind them, a buzz grew in the crowd, and he was painfully aware that they were watching every moment. He shoved the mic into his back pocket, freeing his other hand to support Jenn if necessary.
Then Kate was at his side. “Get her off the stage,” she hissed. “Now.”
“Come on, baby, let’s walk.” He wrapped his arms around Jenn, urging her forward, and she began to walk.
Thank Christ. What in the hell was going on? He guided her offstage with Kate close beside them, headed for his dressing room.
“We need water,” Kate called out as soon as they’d stepped offstage. “And someone bring us a damp cloth.”
He guided Jenn into his dressing room and sat her on the couch. “Jenn? What’s going on? Are you okay?”
She looked up at him in confusion, her face white as chalk, her eyes wide and glassy. “I’m…I’m okay.”
“Here, sweetie, drink some water.” Kate crouched in front of her, holding out a glass of ice water.
Jenn took it and sipped, then gave her head a slight shake. “I’m fine, you guys. Really.”
“Don’t bullshit a professional bullshitter,” Kate said with a wry smile, still looking concerned. She held out a white cloth. “Put this on your forehead. You can press it against your neck too. Trust me, it helps.”
“What’s going on?” he asked. “Jenn, are you ill?”
She shook her head, leaning back on the couch as she pressed the cloth over her
eyes.
“Why don’t you come back to my dressing room?” Kate suggested to Jenn, giving Cole a funny look.
“She’s my wife. She’s staying here until I know she’s okay, or I’m taking her to the hospital.”
“I don’t need the hospital.” Jenn sat up, pressing the cloth against her neck as Kate had suggested. “I just spaced out for a minute, but I’m fine now.” The color was returning to her cheeks, and her pupils had returned to normal.
The weight that had been pressing against his chest eased, and for the first time, he became aware of the crowd that had poured into the dressing room with them. Jorja, Kate’s band, and practically everyone from the crew had gathered to make sure Jenn was okay.
“Jorja, can you clear this room out for us?” he asked his assistant quietly.
With a nod, she began ushering people out of the room until only he, Jenn, and Kate remained. Jenn took another sip of water and turned to Kate. “We have to get you ready for the live show.”
Kate nodded. “In a minute. You first.”
Jenn got to her feet, her cheeks blooming pink. “I’m fine, seriously. Just embarrassed.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “Don’t be. You’ve seen me have way worse attacks than that one.”
“What kind of attack?” Cole asked, starting to feel like he was missing something and not liking it one damn bit.
Kate gave him an assessing look before returning her attention to Jenn. “You guys should probably talk. Linda and Leo are waiting to do my hair and makeup so just come to my dressing room when you’re ready, okay?”
Jenn sucked in a deep, slow breath, blew it out, and nodded. She watched as Kate left the room, closing the door softly behind her. Then she walked to the big framed print of Central Park on the far wall, staring at it idly. “Last year, I went to the Route 91 music fest in Las Vegas with a few of my friends.”
And suddenly, he understood everything.
* * *
Jenn kept her eyes on the photograph of Central Park in front of her. “We went for my friend Casey’s birthday. She’s a huge country music fan.”
“You don’t have to tell me if it’s too difficult,” Cole said softly from behind her.
She shook her head. “It’s fine. Really. I’m fine. I heard that crash out there, and I just…for a minute, I was back there in Vegas in the middle of all that gunfire.” She turned to face him. “But that was months ago. I wasn’t injured, and neither were my friends. We were lucky. I’ve seen a therapist about it. I’m fine.”
“Even when you’re fine…it’s okay to not be fine for a little while every now and then.” He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around her. He felt so strong, so good. The numbness that had seeped into her bones started to thaw.
“I know.” She pressed her face into his shirt, breathing in his scent, the musky aftershave combined with virile man that she’d come to associate with Cole.
“How did Kate know? Have you had attacks like this before?”
She shook her head against his chest. “But she knows I was there in Vegas. She’s dealt with PTSD most of her life, so I guess she recognizes it when she sees it.”
“You should go home,” he said softly. “Take a break. Rest.”
She pulled back to look into his eyes. “Are you crazy? I’m working. I need to be in Kate’s dressing room with her right now.”
“I’m sure she’s fine on her own for a few minutes.”
“Sure, for a few minutes, but you guys are going on live TV in half an hour.” She backed out of his arms.
He took her hands. “Kate’s a professional. I’m positive she can get through one performance without you.”
She shook her head. “She could, but there’s no reason I can’t get back to work. I’ll…I’ll see you later at home, I guess.”
She bolted for the hall and stood there with her back against the wall, gulping deep breaths. She squeezed her eyes shut against the tears welling behind them while her fingernails gouged her palms. Embarrassment buzzed through her veins, making her skin prickle. She’d completely lost it up there on that stage in front of hundreds of people. What would they be saying about her now?
Worse, that awful numbness was still lurking around the edges of her consciousness. She was absolutely terrified that it would overcome her again, that she’d freeze, that she’d hear the shots, the screams…
Stop it.
She sucked in a slow breath and blew it out the way her therapist had taught her to do, then crossed the hall and slipped into Kate’s dressing room. Kate sat in a chair before the mirror, a white cape around her shoulders while her hair and makeup people did their thing. Her blonde hair shone beneath the heavy lights, pinned back on one side with a blue clasp. Her eyes were closed while Linda, her makeup artist, applied false lashes.
“Jenn, is that you?” she asked.
“It’s me.”
“Can you guys give us a minute?” Kate asked.
“Let me just get these lashes in place…” Linda leaned over her. “Done.”
“But only a minute,” Leo warned. “We’re on a tight schedule to get you ready.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Kate waved them off with a smile. She blinked heavily, looking over at Jenn. “I hate false lashes. Probably my least favorite thing about getting ready for the stage.”
Jenn twisted her fingers as the door closed behind her. “Kate, you’re already running late, and I’m totally fine. Promise.”
Kate narrowed her eyes at her. “What did I say about bullshitting me?”
She looked down at the floor. “I just…”
“Are you having flashbacks?”
“I guess…I did when I heard that crash.”
“I heard a car took out a traffic pole over on Central Park West.” Kate leaned forward in her chair. “Are you still seeing that therapist?”
She shook her head. “We worked through everything there was to work through.”
“Well, now you need to go back,” Kate said firmly. “I’m serious, Jenn. You need to nip this in the bud before it gets worse.”
She swallowed, hard. “I know. I will.”
Kate reached out and took her hand. “I don’t want you to wind up like I did, okay?”
“Okay.”
“We’ll talk more about this later, but right now, you’d better let Leo and Linda back in before they have a fit.”
The next fifteen minutes passed in a blur as they got Kate ready for her performance. She would be singing three of her own songs followed by the duet with Cole. Jenn pushed aside her own issues for the meantime. Truthfully, she didn’t even have time to think about anything other than Kate’s upcoming performance.
Jenn stood in the wings, watching as Kate walked onto the stage to a flurry of screams from the crowd. She wore a shimmery blue dress that reached almost to her knees, with a loose fit that concealed her belly. She chatted briefly with the morning show hosts and then opened the live performance with “I Wish,” a dance tune and one of her biggest hits.
Jenn listened on her headset as the production manager called times. The crowd was dancing and singing along as a camera on a boom swung over their heads, capturing it for the live broadcast. So many people, clustered so closely together. What would happen…?
Her heart beat against her ribs as the crash she’d heard earlier reverberated around inside her skull. What if someone walking by in the park opened fire? Really, they were so exposed here in the middle of Central Park. Anybody could just walk up and start shooting…
Cold sweat prickled over her skin.
“Ms. MacDonald, what are you doing?” the production manager’s voice boomed in her ear. “You’re within the line of camera four.”
Jenn jumped, startled back to her senses. She’d leaned so far forward that her face might have been visible for a moment during the live broadcast. What a stupid rookie mistake! She corrected her position. “My mistake. Sorry.”
Heart racing, she focused on Kate as she finished
her performance.
“Going to commercial in five, four, three, two, one…gone,” the voice in her ear said.
“Linda, Leo, we’re up,” Jenn called, leading them out onto the stage.
Kate met them halfway, eagerly accepting the bottle of water Jenn held. She took a long drink, then closed her eyes obediently as Linda began patting down the sweat on her face. Leo spritzed her hair, smoothing down the flyaways that had popped up during her performance.
“On fire this morning, Kate,” Leo told her as he worked.
“Thanks,” she murmured, holding perfectly still for them.
“Thirty seconds,” Jenn said, listening to the countdown in her ear.
Linda touched up Kate’s lipstick and stood back with a satisfied look on her face. “Perfect. Go get ’em, tiger.”
“Will do.” Kate handed the bottle of water back to Jenn with a smile.
“‘Saved’ next,” Jenn told her.
Kate nodded, breathing deeply to prepare for the next song.
“Ten seconds,” Jenn said, ushering Linda and Leo off the stage as the cameras swung back into place. She took her position in the wings—careful this time not to lose her focus and do anything stupid. She kept her eyes glued to Kate as she sang “Saved” and then “Best Life,” before heading into the next commercial break, refusing to think about anything other than Kate and her performance.
She, Linda, and Leo rushed back onto the stage for more touch-ups, except this time Cole and his team had joined them. He looked ridiculously handsome in black jeans and a fitted T-shirt, his hair styled to perfection, and—only because she knew the business well enough to know it was there—strategically applied makeup to give his complexion that extra “glow.” The sight of him made something deep inside her belly tingle.
Unable to resist, she walked over and whispered in his ear. “You look good in makeup.”
“Do I, now?” He gave her a wry smile, his eyes searching hers.