by Fox, Lizzie
I joined her in the doorway and peeked over her shoulder. It was black and white, like the rest of the suite, with a large, very deep jacuzzi tub, a tall mirror and vanity with one of those sinks that looked like a bowl, and a large glass stall shower, enclosed with gray and white tile in an intricate design.
“Hey, we have a tub like that,” I protested. I didn’t know why I felt slighted suddenly. Jessie was clearly in awe and… a part of me resented it wasn’t me who gave it to her.
“We do, baby. And it’s perfect. This is kinda crazy.” She sidled up to me, wrapping her arms around my waist and squishing her face into my chest. I sighed deeply, comforted by her embrace. In a way, I am working for this so… technically I did give this to her. Right? But I wished I could shower her with this sort of stuff all the time. I knew she was getting worried about her lack of muse and running out of money. Hopefully this collaboration with Madison would be lucrative, and she wouldn’t have to worry anymore. The initial payment was… nice. But the royalties if the album was successful would be off the hook.
I held her against me for a few heartbeats and kissed the top of her head when we were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Who the hell could that be?” I muttered. We’d turned down the bellhop service—it just felt weird being served, and I grabbed Jessie’s hand and brought her with me to answer the door. Why? I didn’t know, but I felt out of my element here, and Jessie’s stable, loyal presence grounded me.
“Seth Archer? Man, it’s good to finally meet you.” I opened the door and was immediately greeted by Miles Madison himself. I was taller than him—haha—but he was a lot more built. Like… movie action-hero buff. With his wavy brown hair slicked back, blue eyes and fancy, designer jeans and a band t-shirt, I felt immensely inadequate. I stole a glance over at Jessie to see any hint of attraction towards him, but her expression was neutral.
I shook myself out of my stunned expression as he reached out his hand. “Miles Madison.” He shook mine firmly and turned to Jessie, outreaching to her. Reluctantly she took it, and he brought it to his lips and kissed the back of her hand. A growl rumbled in my chest, waiting to be released, but I choked it down because Jessie appeared slightly uneasy. “You must be Seth’s fiancée? Jessica?”
She forced a smile. “Jessa-lie. But Jessie is fine, no one remembers Jessalie,” she replied curtly, and Miles grinned and nodded.
“Jessie, right then.” He released her hand and turned to me. “Mind if I come in?”
“Oh yeah…” I stammered, stepping aside to let him enter, still awed at everything. The room, his presence—I mean this was an award-winning musician. Everyone knew who he was; he was a huge deal.
“The room good? I thought it was a little eh but it’s Milwaukee, we did the best we could,” Miles said, crossing the room like he owned the place and flopped down on the sofa, setting his feet on the table like he owned the place.
“It’s great, actually, thank you,” Jessie spoke up when I didn’t. She elbowed me and jerked her head towards him, meaning I should get over my star-struck nonsense and go talk to him like a human.
“Of course, least I could do,” Miles said nonchalantly.
I sat in a nearby, matching lounge chair, and Jessie perched next to me on the arm. I kept my arm wrapped tightly around her waist, as close to me as I could, both for reassurance, and also for possessiveness. Miles’ eyes tracked over us briefly but lingered a little longer on her. Not long enough to be considered rude, but I definitely noticed.
“I see why you didn’t want to miss out on the wedding. You’re very beautiful, Jessie. I probably wouldn’t turn you down either,” Miles said with a cocky smile. I sucked in a tense breath. But Jessie broke the tension with a joke.
“Sorry, Miles. I don’t care for three-ways, so you’re shit out of luck.” She smiled sweetly at him, and he laughed.
“Funny and beautiful. You’ve got yourself a winner there, Archer,” he said with a wink in my direction.
“Yeah,” I agreed, trying to be enthusiastic but really? The anxiety was taking over, and I was beginning to feel my skin crawl and tighten. “She’s really talented too. She wrote a bunch of our new songs.”
“Really?” Miles rose a brow, looking impressed. “Which ones? I’ve heard quite a few, just wondering if they’re my favorites.”
“Um, ‘Farewell to Forever’, ‘Black and Blue’ and ‘Chosen’ are the only ones that have been released, I think. Right?” She asked for confirmation, and I nodded.
“‘Black’ is very good,” Miles said, snapping his fingers at her. “But ‘Darkest Day’ is definitely my favorite. Some good chops, man, I gotta say.”
Jessie set her hand on the back of my neck and squeezed gently. “See? I told you. That was all Seth.”
“It’s fantastic, man. Actually I wanted to ask you about that… the band actually learned it, I’d be totally jazzed if you’d allow us to play it and come sing with us. The show is Wednesday night. It’ll be huge on YouTube and bring a ton of listeners to your band,” Miles suggested, and I flinched, blindsided with shock.
“You—what?” I asked, my voice squeaking. Miles chuckled. “I’m not sure I can. I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”
“Bring your fiancée, she can stay backstage. Good practice for the future, huh?” Miles said with a knowing grin.
“Sure…”
“Well, just think about it.” He rose to his feet, brushing off his pants. “Well, I just wanted to meet you officially. And ask you about that stuff with that Adam guy. What was that shit?”
Rolling my eyes, I snorted bitterly. “A mistake.”
“Adam is my ex. Unfortunately, he’s also a royal dick and hates my guts. So he totally goaded us on. He’s just full of hot air; it’ll back down before long,” Jessie replied for me, and I nodded in agreement.
“Figured. Your response on the band’s page was perfect, though. No one blames you for that. In fact, I think it actually made you more popular; that next day you were actually trending on Chirper, you know,” Miles said casually, and I was confused. “You didn’t see that?”
“No. Did you?” I asked Jessie, and she shrugged.
“Ah, Ian mentioned it to me. I haven’t looked myself, but yeah. No big deal,” she said with indifference.
Miles laughed loudly. “No big deal? It’s a huge deal. Hashtag ‘Sethalie’ was all over that night.”
Blinking, I laughed uncomfortably. “I stay off of social media, so I had no idea.”
“You should look, it’s awesome. Well… if you need anything, you have my number. Grab some lunch downstairs, and I’ll meet you in the studio at say, three? We can go over the music and get acquainted with it, and hopefully start recording tomorrow? Sound good?” Miles inquired, and I nodded. He turned to Jessie. “For tomorrow since we will be in the studio all day, I booked the day for you in the spa, Jessie. Well, my manager did. She said it was quite luxurious, and you should like it a lot.”
Jessie looked surprised. “Oh—you didn’t need to do that.”
“I figured she could just come hang out?” I asked, confused.
“Sorry,” Miles frowned. “Band members only. Unfortunately, it’s part of the contract, no one else not on the project can be involved. That’s…a problem?”
Jessie slapped my shoulder with the back of her hand, and she laughed. “No, he was just joking around. I usually make the band dinner, he’ll probably miss that.”
Miles gave a snorting laugh. “Oh, I would miss a home cooked meal too. Well, see you at three? You can come for this part, Jessie, that’s no big deal. But the actual recording the bosses won’t like it if you’re around.”
She shrugged. “No biggie. I have plenty I can do.”
“Right on. Just enjoy all the amenities. Anything in the fridge is on me; order room service. Also on me. Just relax and let your man make the music. I gotta tell you, I think you have a huge career ahead of you, Archer,” Miles said, clasping my shoulder.
“Thanks,” I replied, stunned at his words. He departed with a wave, closing us in the enormous hotel room—the room he called “eh”—and I continued to sit on the chair, speechless.
Jessie slid with a plop into my lap. “Uh, Seth?” She waved a hand in front of my face.
“Sorry,” I replied with a laugh. “I just… this is actually happening, isn’t it? This is like… mainstream stuff, huh?
She wound her arms around my neck and placed a sweet kiss on my cheek. “Yeah, it is baby.”
“I’m…not sure if I can go through with this. This guy is huge.”
“Well, he certainly has a huge ego,” Jessie retorted, with a roll of her green eyes and a dry laugh.
Her joke seemed to bring me out of my head. “He does, for sure,” I replied with a grin. “But…damn Jess. You know when I agreed to join Fever Pitch, and then Night Addiction, I never thought anything could come of it. I never wanted it to. I was perfectly happy singing in bars and just enjoying myself. But this? This is… big time. I mean—people are already talking about me. Us. And we haven’t even done anything yet. I’m not sure I can handle being in the limelight like that.” Feeling shaky with nerves, I squeezed my arms around my fiancée and rested my cheek on hers for closeness and reassurance. “That’s just… and I can’t believe you can’t come with? I never would have had you come along if you’re just going to sit around here all week by yourself!”
“Oh stop,” she protested. Her fingers threaded into the short hair at the back of my neck, as she absentmindedly rubbed. “You heard him. He said something about a spa day for me? Sounds like fun. Would be even more fun if you were with me, but something tells me cucumbers over your eyes and mud baths and bikini waxes aren’t really your thing,” she said, placing a smiling kiss on my jawline. I laughed at the thought of me in a spa.
“I don’t even think they’d allow me in,” I chuckle. “Still…”
“Oh, and it won’t be all day, you’ll be here at night and we can relax and…things…” Coyly, she dropped her hand and traced it over my inner thigh. “And I have writing I can do. I’m making progress on something, sort of. I might be able to make something out of it.”
“Aw, that’s great, honey!” I praised, genuinely happy to hear that. I knew she felt out of her element without the writing, and the songs made her happy. She liked contributing and being a part of things even though she wouldn’t admit it. After all, I understood; everyone pretty much wanted a place to belong. But a book she created would be something that was all hers to be proud of, and I think she needed it. I trailed my fingers over the soft skin of her forearm as I tried to push my nerves away. “I still would feel better if you had something to do. Something fun.”
“Oh, I’ll find something. There’s lots here, right? Libraries, book stores… hey maybe I can find some things for everyone for the wedding, for being there. You know like, thank you presents?”
“That doesn’t really seem like a lot of fun,” I replied, unconvinced.
“Well it’ll kill the time until you’re back, and then we can do some things. Right?” She asked.
“Right,” I agreed reluctantly, gazing down at her with appreciation. “Thank you for being here, even if you won’t get to like, be there.”
“Where else would I be?” She retorted, affronted. “You need me, right? So where else would I be?”
I chuckled dryly. “Of course, I need you. I’ll always need you.” I pushed away the desperate sigh that threatened to escape. Yeah, I needed her. I always felt like I needed her too much, and what did I give her in return? Not much, really, I thought. And I hesitated to agree to have babies with her? Something she wanted? What sort of a selfish fucking prick was I to even attempt to deny her that? I should be getting down on my knees and groveling, offering whatever she wanted for all she did for me. She let me rage, she accepted me for me, she encouraged my music, filled in for me when I couldn’t push the words out, allowed me to be sullen on my moody days when it was clear she wanted my attention—not just hugs and talking, but in the bedroom too—and most importantly, she dragged me back from the ledge when I wanted to jump. Metaphorically, that is. Seriously, she was everything and I was just…a mess.
Hopefully, me doing this here with Miles, after a little bit of discomfort on both of our ends, would end up being part of a lucrative future for both of us. With the generous payment I’d be getting, not only did she not have to worry about a job for a long time, but I could fill the bedroom next door to ours with a room full of baby furniture, and a smart, practical sedan in the driveway instead of my shitty truck. She wouldn’t even have to trade in her Challenger. I could give her just about anything…or start to.
So, no matter how uneasy it made me, I was going to go into that studio, work my ass off to make things better for us. I didn’t know how else to repay her for everything she’s done and how wonderful she was. I wasn’t likely to have to pull her back from the ledge like she had with me, but even if I did? No question, no matter what it was, I’d be there. Now, and always.
Feeling suddenly motivated, I began to stand, keeping hold of her so she didn’t fall off my lap. “Feeling up to lunch? I want to get all this over with, so we can come back here and enjoy this place a little better, huh?” Setting a hand on her hip, I leaned into her, finding her lips and gingerly fingering the hair over her shoulder. Her lips parted, and she let out a quiet moan. Besides last night, it’d been a few days since we’d done much in the form of intimacy, and I could tell she craved it. She gently lifted her thigh, making her center casually rub against my inner leg, just barely missing my cock, which was growing harder by the second with her hot kisses and quiet moans.
“Can we enjoy it a little bit now? Just for a few minutes?” She asked hopefully, breaking the kiss just long enough to brush the tip of her nose over mine and arch her body into me. A thrill of desire shot straight through me and had me instantly reaching for my shirt to pull it off. Right now, I’d give her anything. Including this.
“Hell yeah we can,” I said, and with her sultry grin I was motivated to give her anything she wanted. We quickly stripped off all of our clothes and landed in the big, plush bed to break it in. And we did, for the next twenty minutes, until I was sated and spent, and Jessie relaxed listlessly in my arms. Just like how it always should be.
21
Jessalie
The recording studio was immense, and I thought Seth’s eyes were either going to fall out of their sockets upon entering, his jaw was going to come unhinged, or he was going to pass out from sheer amazement. I had to keep my cheesy smile contained so I didn’t look like a total sap and a dork, because watching his happiness climb was absolutely satisfying as he tended to keep it below the surface. Sometimes, I felt like he didn’t or couldn’t allow himself to be happy. I saw it with me often, but it was nice to see him happy for something else entirely. Something that proved he was as amazing, talented, and worthwhile as I always thought he was.
Miles was behind the glass partition and looked up promptly when we entered. He’d been laughing boisterously with a woman and a few other guys; he seemed to tell them “Be right back” and he emerged.
“All right, you’re here. Now we can get started! What do you think?” Miles asked, clapping Seth on the shoulder.
He laughed uncomfortably. “Well, it’s big.”
Miles chuckled. “That’s what she said, huh?” He jokingly nudged me at his jest, and I forced a smile. Seth looked momentarily horrified.
“Maybe she did, but she doesn’t like to talk publicly about her fiancé’s dick, eh?” I responded, deadpan.
Seth’s hands clapped over his face. “Shane is such a bad influence on you.”
I giggled, and Miles lightly punched him in the arm. “I see why you keep her around. Is he always this serious?” he asked me, and I shrugged. “Well, let’s get started and see if we can’t loosen you up, huh? Beer? Wine? Something else?”
“I don’t drin
k, thanks though,” Seth answered, and Miles appeared shocked a moment before he looked over his shoulder and waved to someone. A tall, well dressed woman in a designer sweater, black pants and shoes, with red bottoms I’d only dreamed of being in the same dimension with because of their high cost, exited, plastering an artificially sweet smile on her face. She had a severe chin length crop and perfectly done make up. Glancing down briefly at my jeans and green “cold shoulder” top and black flip flops, I felt desperately underdressed and inadequate.
“Caia, this is Seth Archer and his fiancée, Jessie. Can you make sure Jessie has everything she needs while we’re working?” Miles asked, and Caia nodded singly.
“Of course. If you’ll come with me, Miss—”
“—Reynolds,” I replied. Normally, I’d say Jessie was fine, but the body language of this woman clearly indicated she was not my friend, and never would be judging by the scrutinizing pass her eyes made over me.
Seth still clamped onto my hand for dear life. He swallowed deeply until I stood on my tiptoes and sweetly kissed his jaw. “I’ll be fine, and so will you,” I whispered quietly into his ear. “Just have fun, okay?”
He nodded once, and with what I hoped was an inconspicuous tap on his ass, I pulled my hand out of his, granting him a little smile as we parted, and he followed Miles into the studio. I followed Caia, the ridged bitch, into a small room with chairs, a small sofa, and a fridge. Nearby was a coffeemaker and one of those single-cup dispensers with a row of plastic “Phoenix Studios” in red along the wall.
“Coffee? Tea? Wine or something, Miss Reynolds?” Caia asked.
“Coffee, I suppose. But I can get it myself, really,” I insisted, “if you show me where the pods are?”
She motioned with a gesture of her well-manicured hand at a cabinet above the appliances, and I promptly “got to work”. She stood along the wall, looking imposing—she thought, anyway. I wasn’t threatened by her. “So, what do you do, Miss Reynolds? How long have you known Seth?”