by KL Shandwick
Dipping his head, Flynn began kissing me and Niamh went back to cooking dinner. I felt a little embarrassed about that, but then again, he was a rock star. He didn’t care who was looking at him, and his confidence gave me the confidence to accept his ways.
After eating the excellent dinner of Beef Wellington, mashed sweet potatoes, and asparagus, Niamh was clearing away when Flynn’s cell rang. Flynn glanced at his phone and sighed, “Excuse me, I have to take this one… Hey Bernie,” I heard him say before he made his way back out of the kitchen toward the den.
Niamh smiled, “You look good on him,” she said and continued to empty the plates and stack the dishwasher. At first, I thought she meant I was eye candy for the press, but when I realized it was just her way of saying she approved I relaxed. I loved Niamh from our first conversation.
While Flynn was on the phone, she told me she’d worked for Flynn since he’d bought the house the year before. His management had advertised with an agency for a housekeeper, and they had rejected her application on account she was an Irish immigrant with a five-year-old boy. His management security couldn’t check her background details enough for an interview.
Flynn being of Irish ancestry had heard how his grandparents had struggled to get a foothold in their newly adopted country when they arrived in America and put his foot down. He, more than anyone, knew how difficult life was when you were different, so he’d dismissed the rest of the applicants as unsuitable and said he wanted her without an interview.
Tapping on the glass slider distracted Niamh, “Oh here’s my little son,” she said bustling to the door and drying her hands on her jeans. A small dark haired boy of around six threw himself at her.
“Mommy, I had a great time at Toby’s house. Can he come over next week?” Niamh brushed his hair from his forehead and crouched down beside him. “I don’t think we can do next week Teague, Flynn’s home.”
Teague’s eyes lit up. “He is? Can I go see him, please Mommy?”
“Not right now, baby, he’s working. Maybe tomorrow, okay?”
Teague appeared dejected, “Alright,” he said accepting his mom’s explanation.
Niamh slipped on a wool jacket and flicked her hair out of the collar. “Teague this is Flynn’s special friend, Valerie. She’s going to be staying here with Flynn.”
Teague’s eyes lit up and went as wide as saucers, “Wow, are you having sleepovers with him?”
Niamh chuckled and rubbed his head, “Something like that baby,” she winked at me. “I live in the gate house down the hill at the back. There’s a second entrance to this place there. If I leave this way can you lock the door behind me?”
I nodded, and she left closing the door. I turned the lock then felt a little awkward because Flynn still hadn’t returned, and as he’d left the room I didn’t want to walk in on his call. Pouring a cup of coffee from the coffee pot, I sat hugging it at the table. I’d barely sat down when he came back. “Niamh gone already?”
I nodded, “I met her son Teague. He’s excited I’m having a sleepover with you.”
Flynn grinned, and his smile lit up his face. Widening his eyes, he said, “Fuck. He’s excited? I’m almost coming in my pants you’re having a sleepover.”
He came around the table and took the cup out of my hand. “You haven’t even been upstairs yet. We should probably freshen up and get ready I’ve got a band meeting at 9:00 pm. Pick your outfit carefully; you’re about to enter the zoo,” he said. Flynn took my hand and pulled me out through the kitchen and into a large marble hallway. A staircase swept around from the bottom to the top floor, and a wrought-iron banister ran the length of the upstairs landing.
We ascended the stairs and on reaching the landing Flynn gave me a whirlwind tour without opening the doors. Nodding left and right, he orientated me to the layout, “Guest room, bathroom, guest room, study, another bathroom, my office, my library, and this…” he threw open the double doors at the end of the corridor, “Is my love pad,” he said chuckling.
It was masculine and very Flynn. Cool vintage gray and white lines, plain gray curtains and black furniture. White sheets and a cool gray luxury silk comforter covered the massive bed. “It’s custom made for orgies.”
My head snapped round from looking at the bed to face him, my eyes bored holes into him. Raucous laughter erupted from his throat. “Fuck, Valerie, I’m joking. I get restless after gigs. I kept falling out of the bed, so I had a bigger one made. I only got it three weeks ago, and I can’t wait to break it in with you,” his eyes became seductive as he scooped me off the floor and threw me down on the bed. He threw himself next to me and lifted me into his arms.
Pulling his head back to make eye contact he groaned and ground against me. “Last thing I want to do is to work tonight. As soon as we’re done we’re out of there, okay?” I nodded, and he kissed me like he was starved. He broke the kiss leaving me gasping for air.
“Go freshen up. I’m not coming into that bathroom with you. We’ll never get out of here if I do, and I want to take my time with you in my big bed when we get home.”
Thirty-five minutes later I’d showered and dried my hair then stood staring at my suitcase wondering what one wore to a band meeting. I found some gray skinny jeans and a dark red form- fitting t-shirt.
When I looked in the full-length mirror, my heart sank. A plain looking little girl stared back at me. I pulled out some black stiletto boots and took a heavy silver metal belt from a mini-dress I’d packed last minute. I added that to hang over my hips. Better but I needed more. I didn’t wear a lot of make-up just a little mascara and very occasionally some red lipstick. I made my eyes up heavily with kohl eyeliner, and I penciled my eyebrows slightly.
Staring in the mirror I decided to go all out with what I had, so used the eyeliner pencil around my eyes drawing them out slightly at each corner. I applied my lipstick and a little blusher, then teased my hair in a few places to make it a bit wilder. I stepped back again to see the effect just as Flynn walked back through from the bathroom still wearing a towel. He stopped dead and stared at me with a shocked look on his face.
When he didn’t speak I did, “Sorry, I’ll take it off, give me ten minutes.”
“Oh no, you fucking won’t. Valerie, I never thought it possible, but you look so fucking hot. I mean even hotter and I never thought that possible.”
His towel was tenting, and I chuckled, “I just realized I don’t have the wardrobe to be a rock star’s girlfriend.”
“You look fucking perfect. Damn. You didn’t have to think about what to wear, Valerie. A paper bag would look good on you. However, if it makes you feel more confident to dress like your sin- in- heels I’ll never be the one to tell you, no.”
While Flynn was getting dressed, he kept glancing over at me and swearing under his breath. He pulled on some clean jeans and a plain white t-shirt, took a brown leather jacket out of his wardrobe and closed the door. He slapped on a splash of cologne, and he ran his fingers through his hair. Bending, he pulled on some Chucks. Once he finished primping, he came over and wrapped his arms around my waist.
“No matter what, I love you. They may say hurtful or bitchy things about us, to you, or things directly about you. We ride it out; it’ll die down eventually when they know you’re not going away. You got this?”
I swallowed hard because as he said that I’d realized my reality wasn’t going to be hugs and puppies, I was entering a cutthroat environment where the norm was to shock and gain reactions. I reconciled myself with my history, and nothing much scared me when I’d had that thought.
“Oh, I got this, no worries, Flynn. As long as you’re one hundred percent sure, because once I’m out there, it’s you and me. Together we’ll be a tough shell to crack.”
Bending toward me he kissed my neck and turned me in the direction of the door. Walking with his arm around me he glanced at me and chuckled. “Good girl. That’s my Valerie. They’re going to be pissed about Iria and creaming their pants at
the sight of you,” he said, almost to himself, and chuckled.
Chapter 28 ~ Legal
Butterflies weren’t what I felt as we entered Bernie’s place; it was straight up nerves. Security was nearly as tight as it was at Flynn’s place. His house was superbly positioned by the lake.
Fall in Chicago was a riot of color. Flynn took my hand and slid along the seat of yet another company car, and he pulled me out beside him. “No matter what they say, babe, remember you’re here because I love you. Tyler’s probably going to shit-stir the moment he sees you. You are just his type.”
I swallowed back my fears and stared into his eyes. Flynn leaned toward me and kissed me softly on the mouth and squeezed my hand. Every time he tried to reassure me I became more concerned at what was waiting for me inside Bernie’s house.
“Let’s get it over with,” he said tugging me to him.
Flynn pushed the main door open and strode confidently down the hallway. I cursed my boots and the tick-tack noise the heels made against Bernie’s ceramic tiled floor. I remember wanting the hallway to be twice as long because I had no idea what I’d been about to face.
Six people sat in the room, but one stood out like a sore thumb. Iria. She was sitting with another woman a few years older than her. Tommy Alzaci, their drummer, turned his head, objectified me and grinned.
“If Flynn has to leave the party, he brings the party back with him.”
Iria stood up and stared at us. She looked irate as she began to walk toward Flynn with a frown on her face. She was stunningly beautiful, but her face had an ugly expression. Before she reached us, Tyler Chisholm stood up and adjusted his jeans at the waist.
“What the fuck are you doing, dude. We agreed no groupies in our homes.”
Flynn ignored him completely as Iria had stopped in front of me. She stared me down before exhaling and turning to face Flynn, “I’m tired of this shit, Flynn. Poor girl, what did you promise her?” Looking at me again, she asked, “Did he tell you, you were the love of his life? He said that to me. Tells me that all the time, and now, I get this shit.”
Wandering around the sofa, she looked back at me, gestured her hand up and drew it the length of me. “Call her a cab. If I were you, I’d run sweetheart. He’s never going to leave me.” I’d seen pictures of her with Flynn before, so I knew who she was. She wasn’t even kind enough to introduce herself; I hated her on sight.
Continuing to hold my hand, Flynn squeezed it gently in reassurance. My heart thumped in my chest and for a couple of minutes, I’d almost done what she’d told me. He had used those very words, “love of my life.” How could she know that unless it was true? And, if it was, could I trust him?
Bernie swiveled in his chair and glanced fleetingly at me before turning to Flynn.
“Errol, what the fuck are you playing at? You disappear without a word and bring back a kid that looks barely legal. She is legal isn’t she?”
Tyler stood and wandered over to a crystal decanter and poured himself a tumbler of amber liquid. He threw it down his throat and gasped pulling a face. It was likely bourbon or whiskey from the smell on his breath when he walked closer.
“Fucking pretty, I’ll give you that. No wonder you didn’t want to leave her. I’m calling second dibs. I don’t mind leftovers when they’re as gorgeous as her,” he said as he leered at me and grinned like what he said may actually happen. I didn’t wait for Flynn to speak in my defense because I felt if he fought my battle at that point it would be a daily occurrence.
“Wow, guys. Thank you for the welcome. I’m humbled. Flynn told me what a great bunch you all were, I see what he means now,” I drawled sarcastically.
Turning to face Iria I smirked, “Thanks for warming Flynn up for me, honey, but your days are numbered I guess because, yes, Flynn told me I was the love of his life, guess he thought you were until he met me.”
Tommy chuckled, “Fuck she’s hot and ballsy, I’m getting a hard-on just watching this.”
Flynn grinned at Tommy, “She’s definitely the one. I’m so fucking head-over-heels in love with her.”
I smirked at Bernie, “To answer your question, Bernie, I am legal. Flynn waited a long time to make sure of that. And Tyler, I wouldn’t pour water on you if your pants were on fire. Which from that little speech you just gave, may be your reality if you go around fucking other people’s sloppy seconds.”
I’d had no idea where the last line I told Tyler came from; I think I had heard it in a movie once.
Bernie started laughing, and the guy I’d seen playing rhythm guitar in the band, and who’s name had never really stuck, stood up and offered a hand to me, “Craig Southers, darlin’, best-looking guy in the band. Nice to meet you. Flynn, I’m happy for you, dude. You’re a beautiful lady, Valerie.”
Flynn slipped an arm around my shoulder, “I’ve been in love with Valerie for a long time. I can’t tell you all how happy she’s made me that she’s finally in my life.” He turned and addressed his ex-girlfriend, “Iria, I have no wish to hurt you but I’ve been telling you how I felt all this time. Maybe you’ll realize I’m not in your future.”
Iria shook her head and wandered over to the sofa where the other girl was sitting and threw herself down heavily beside her. “Like hell, you’re not. I haven’t wasted all this time waiting for you to come to your senses about us for you to blow me off now. You think I’m going to disappear because she’s here?” she said tipping her chin in my direction. “Bernie, if he doesn’t get rid of her, I think this is one for the press?”
Looking up at me with a smug expression she asked, “Did he tell you I was pregnant?”
“Of course, he did. And you were already when you got together. We have no secrets from each other,” I’d stated hoping that was the case.
Tyler walked over to the decanter again and poured himself a generous measure, “Well, fuck, Iria I’ve listened to this blackmailing shit since a few months after Major ScAlz was formed. You fuck with my career and it hurts the band, I’ll fuck you, and it won’t be pleasurable.”
Craig slapped his knees and stood up, “Guess we’re all going to have a period of adjustment. Iria go to the press. The public fucking loves Flynn. You think you’ll come out of this looking pure? He might keep his mouth shut about the way you’ve constantly threatened the band with this shit, but I won’t. I’m fucking bored with it and you now, so do your worst. We’re a rock band, and I think we’re established enough now to weather the storm. You never know, it might bring more fans. Flynn’s reputation has been boring lately. A newer, younger, hotter girlfriend may just spice it up a bit for them.”
Bernie turned to look at Flynn, “You’re a selfish prick. Don’t you think about anyone but yourself?”
Flynn looked at me, smiled calmly and looked Bernie square in the eye, “Seems like that’s all I’ve done for over two years now. Val and me—we’re fucking doing this. You don’t like it, fire me. I’d be happy to walk away. Valerie means that much to me,” Flynn stepped forward and wrapped his arms around me. He placed his forehead intimately on mine as if we were the only people in the room and whispered, “You okay? You did great, babe.” I smiled at him and nodded then he took a sharp breath, stepped back and turned to face his bandmates.
“So what’s this urgent meeting about? Or are you going to allow Iria to dictate that as well?”
Upon hearing her name, Iria stood and looked at her friend, but she stayed seated and shrugged her shoulders. “Fuck you as well,” she screamed. Turning to Flynn, she warned, “Alright you asked for it. Let’s see how your precious little jailbait girlfriend story plays out in the press.” Turning to me she smirked, “What are you smiling about, you haven’t heard the last of this either,” she warned.
Alarm registered on Flynn’s face as he glanced at me, “Did you forget that Jess was Martin’s girl? I know all about you hitting on this teeny bopper when she was a sophomore,” Iria said delivering what she thought was the death knell for Flynn.
> “He didn’t hit on me. My brother Martin may be dead, but Kayden is very much alive. What Martin may have told Jess and what actually happened are not the same thing. Go for it. All I’ll be able to tell the press is you are a jealous, rejected woman, and I feel sorry for you.”
I could see the guys in the band staring at Flynn because the last thing any of them could deal with was Flynn being accused of having sex with an underage girl. Tommy glanced up at Iria with intent in his eyes.
“Do that and I’ll personally hunt you the fuck down. I’ll see your chronic lung condition suddenly becomes imminently fucking acute when I choke you with my bare hands.”
Iria stared open-mouthed, in shock that no one targeted Flynn, “Fuck all of you,” she spat and stomped out the door. When we heard the main house door slam, Bernie turned to Flynn and shook his head. “What a cluster-fuck. Give me your word you never fucked her before she was legal.”
“He never touched me like that until a few days ago,” I replied and felt myself flush. I glanced at Flynn and his eyes immediately softened like he was sorry I’d been put in that position.
“Sure she’s ready for this?” he asked nodding at me but didn’t allow Flynn an answer, “I damn well hope so because if that bitch opens her mouth, she’s going to try to destroy you and the band.”
Craig stood and walked over to Flynn and embraced him in a manly hug. “Don’t worry, Flynn, I got your back. I’ve seen how she’s manipulated you and how you’ve tolerated her for the sake of the band. These two fuckers?” he waved his finger between Tommy and Tyler, “They’ll get your back too if they don’t want to go back to playing in deadbeat bars, because unlike them, I know where the talent in this band lies.”
Flynn took my hand and pulled me around to sit on the sofa beside him. “I never got with Valerie to piss anyone off. I’ve loved her since she was fifteen. The first time I saw her, I knew I had to stay away because of the feelings she stirred inside me. I never touched her other than to press my mouth against hers in a closed kiss. I’d never have taken advantage of her that way.