by Harley Wylde
“Get off my car,” I barked at her.
She gave me a smile that was probably supposed to make me hard, but it just pissed me off.
“Now is that it any way to speak to the woman who can rock your world?” She pushed off the car and sauntered toward me, an extra sway in her hips. “I saw this car outside of the studio and just knew it had to belong to the infamous Jace Devayne.”
She came closer and reached for me, but I held up a hand and took a step back. No way was I letting this woman touch me. With my luck, paparazzi was hiding around the corner and would snap a picture of her hanging on me, then Honey would have my balls when she saw it.
“Look, I don’t know who you are, but you need to leave,” I said, keeping my voice firm.
“You know you want to have some fun, and I’m really good at fun,” she said, licking her lips and eyeing my crotch.
Jesus, had I actually thought women like her were attractive before? I’d been more fucked up than I’d realized if that was the case. I looked around, hoping that one of the guys was within shouting distance. My heartrate slowed a little as Roman came back toward me, hands shoved into his pockets.
“Everything all right?” Roman asked.
“No, everything is far from fucking all right. I don’t know who this woman is, but she needs to get the fuck away from me and my damn car,” I said.
“You heard him. Get lost,” Roman said, standing next to me.
The woman narrowed her eyes. “You’ll pay for this, Jace Devayne. No one turns me away.”
She stormed off down the sidewalk, wobbling on her incredibly tall heels. Roman bumped my shoulder.
“I say you give Ben a call and have that mess sorted out. Maybe it’s time to at least leak the news of your engagement?” Roman asked.
“Yeah. Something. This is fucking insane that I can’t even come to the studio to work without some bitch accosting me at my damn car. If she’d gotten her hands on me and someone had gotten it on camera, Honey would have been fucking pissed.”
Roman smiled faintly. “I’m glad to see your priorities have changed. Not too long ago, you’d have taken her up on what she was offering, and likely have ended up with another paternity suit. And one day, some bitch would have found a way to honestly get knocked up with your kid.”
“Shouldn’t you be following your own advice?” I asked.
“When is the last time you saw me take a woman to my room?” he asked.
Now that I thought about it, I couldn’t remember. Roman had always partied with us, and I’d seen girls suck him off, but I couldn’t think of a single time he’d taken one to his room. I frowned as I stared at him and he just shrugged.
“Once we started getting famous, I decided it wasn’t worth the risk. So my dick doesn’t go anywhere but their mouths,” he said. “You would have done well to do the same. Now you have Honey though.”
“Yeah, now I have Honey. I’ll call Ben on the way home. Maybe he can meet me at the house and we can go over some things with Honey. But if we’re going to leak the news of an engagement, she’s going to need a ring.”
“So, get her one,” Roman said.
I winced. “Yeah, she kind of said she didn’t want one, that she only needed her wedding band. We got these cheap silver rings in Vegas, and she doesn’t want anything else.”
I showed him my ring and he grinned.
“I think I have an idea,” he said. “Come on.”
I followed him down the sidewalk and we stepped into a shop that had a row of those little gumball type machines up front. Roman pulled two quarters out of his pocket and fed them into a machine with rings. A silver band with a sparkly pink plastic stone popped out, and he handed it to me.
“Propose to her with that. Get Ben to bring a camera and take Honey out onto the beach behind your house. Make it look like a real proposal, down on your knee and everything. Just make sure neither of you are wearing your wedding bands,” Roman said. “Put some cheesy spin on it.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, slapping him on the back.
“No problem.”
He walked with me back to my car, in case anymore crazy bitches were lurking, and I headed for home. I dialed Ben’s number and waited for him to answer.
“Ben Winston.”
“Ben, it’s Jace Devayne. I need your help. Consider this a test of sorts. Handle this situation right, and I’ll not only sign with you, but I bet the entire band will.”
“Tell me what you need.”
“I need to leak my engagement to the press, except I need a different spin than what actually happened. I have a ring, of sorts, and I want it to look like I’m proposing to Honey on the beach behind my house. No one can know that we’re taking the photos today. Then when we tell everyone about the wedding, it won’t be quite as much of a shock, and maybe the damn groupies will back the hell off.”
“What’s going on?” Ben asked.
“A woman tried to get into my pants after rehearsal today. If Roman hadn’t come along, I’m not sure what would have happened. I don’t need paparazzi lurking and catching me in what could be construed as a compromising position.”
“Understood. I’ve got a digital camera I can bring. They won’t be professional level pictures, but it should do for posting an announcement online. Text me your address and I’ll head that way now.”
“Thanks, Ben.”
I hung up and sent my address to him right as I was pulling into my driveway. I only hoped Honey agreed this was a good idea, since I hadn’t discussed it with her first. Would she need to tell her agent? Hell, this shit was getting complicated. All I wanted to do was spend time with my wife before I had to set out on another damn tour.
Honey was out on the back patio typing away on her laptop. The intense look of concentration on her face made me smile. If she hit those keys any harder, I’d have to buy her a new machine as a wedding present. Whatever she was working on must have been pretty intense. When she paused, she looked up and I caught her attention. A slow smile spread across her lips and I moved closer so I could lean down and kiss her.
“Ben’s on his way here, and we need to talk,” I said, claiming the seat next to hers.
“Sounds serious.”
I nodded. “A groupie accosted me outside of the studio. Roman thinks we should leak the news of our engagement, put some cheesy romantic spin on it. It won’t make everyone back off, but some will respect the fact I’m taken. The others...” I shrugged. “I guess we’ll deal with those as they come.”
“All right. Where and how are we doing this?” she asked. “Are we just coming up with a backstory? Or do we need photos?”
“Ben is bringing a camera to take a few pictures out on the beach. We need to take our wedding bands off though. Just long enough to take a few photos.”
“I should probably let my agent know what’s going on, if Ben didn’t call her already. Since they’re related, he may be one step ahead of us.”
“True. I can call him back if you want? See if he’s spoken to her,” I offered.
“No, we’ll wait until he’s here. Does this mean I have to wear an engagement ring?” she asked.
“Yes and no.” I pulled the little gumball ring out of my pocket and showed it to her. Honey laughed long and hard, wiping tears from her eyes.
“That’s perfect.”
“You said you didn’t want an engagement ring.”
“And I don’t, but I think I can come up with something to go along with that one. Something that will have people swooning at how romantic you are.”
My phone buzzed in my pocket and I pulled it out. Ben was at the gate and needed entry. I pushed in the code to open the automatic gate then shoved the phone back into my pocket. I stood up, kissed Honey’s cheek, then went to greet my possibly new agent. Ben looked quite a bit younger than his sister, and his caramel colored hair was windblown from the shiny convertible he was driving. But his smile was genuine, and he looked excited.
; He held up a camera and a small laptop. “I came prepared. If I can borrow your wi-fi, then we can set something up while I’m here. I thought your wife might want to approve it since she’s a writer. And I spoke to my sister on the way over. She knows what’s going on and is preparing to field any questions Honey’s readers might have.”
“Sounds like you’re on top of things.”
Ben flashed a smile. “I try to be. Where are we doing this?”
“Roman suggested the beach, but Honey’s already out back and the pool area is nice enough it might work.”
“Let’s check it out.”
Ben followed me through the house and into the backyard. He let out a long whistle as he scanned the area. My pool was rather large, and the area was professionally landscaped. The far corner had some sort of flowering plants. I didn’t know what the hell they were called, but they had pink and purple blossoms.
“Honey, Ben is here,” I said, doing a quick introduction.
“Why don’t we do this... the two of you stand toward the back end of the pool near the foliage and flowering plants. You can even see the ocean over the back wall, so it’s a nice backdrop for some photos,” Ben said.
“In case someone saw you dressed like this, shouldn’t you change?” Honey asked me. “Won’t it seem weird we’re saying our engagement happened a little while ago if you were out in this outfit today?”
She had a good point. While she entertained Ben, I ran upstairs and changed into some board shorts and a blue tee since Honey was wearing a bikini top with her denim cutoffs. It would make it seem like we’d been hanging out by the pool or planning a trip to the beach, like the proposal was completely spur of the moment and not one of those planned out affairs at a fancy restaurant. I went back downstairs, ready to do this.
Honey pulled off her wedding band and I did the same, setting both on the table by her computer. She grasped my hand as we walked to the back of the yard. Ben positioned us how he thought would be best for the photos, then I dropped to one knee and held up the plastic ring.
Honey placed a hand over her mouth, and even managed to fake some tears. Ben snapped shots of me offering her the ring, one of me sliding it onto her finger, and another of us kissing after the supposed proposal. Then came the hard part. Figuring out when the engagement happened, and what we were going to say.
Jace Devayne proposed to sweetheart Honeysuckle Thorn at his home in Malibu on May 15th. The rock star and the romance author met earlier this year. Jace claims it was love at first sight, and Honey agrees one hundred percent. The couple will be saying their vows this weekend in a small ceremony with family and friends.
“How’s that?” Ben asked.
“I don’t know that I want to let anyone know the wedding date,” I said. “What if they bribe someone at the church and get access?”
“Good point,” Ben said, removing that portion.
“There’s another problem. I was engaged until recently,” Honey said.
“So, we remove the date,” I said. “Maybe just say that Jace Devayne and his fiancé will be married in a private ceremony in the upcoming weeks. It’s vague enough.”
“That could work,” Honey said.
“Okay, let’s try this.” Ben retyped the message.
Jace Devayne and fiancé Honeysuckle Thorn will be married in a private ceremony in the upcoming weeks. The rock star and romance author met earlier this year but didn’t connect right away. Jace claims it was love at first sight for him, but Honey took a bit of coaxing.
“That works,” Honey said. “Then if anyone stumbles across my previous engagement, we can work a story around it.”
“I’ll get this out to some celebrity blogs and see how fast I can make it viral on social media,” Ben said. “Any other pictures you’d like to take? I would imagine the fans will want to see more of the two of you once this comes out.”
Honey shrugged. “We could run change into something else and let you take a few of us here at the house. It would look strange if we had the same clothes on in every set of pictures.”
Ben winked at Honey. “Smart woman.”
“I guess we’ll change and maybe you can take a few of us cuddling in the living room. Think that will be enough before the wedding photos go out?” I asked.
“It should be fine. The public will be curious so don’t be surprised if the two of you are mobbed when you go out,” Ben said.
“Great,” Honey muttered.
I knew she wasn’t too crazy about the fame that went along with me being a rock star, but she was handling everything pretty well. I just hoped that we had what it took to make it. There was a reason so many people in the music and movie industry ended up divorced. I just didn’t want to be another statistic. Plus, I really liked Honey and could see myself growing old with her.
“Thanks for your help, Ben. We’ll run change and be right back,” I said, herding Honey from the room.
We changed clothes for a set of pictures downstairs, then changed again and had another set taking out on the private beach. I decided that was enough for the time being and Ben left. I didn’t know how long it would take him to upload everything and for the fans to start commenting, but I had no doubt it would be complete chaos. If Honey ran the other way, I wouldn’t blame her, but I was hoping she had what it took to handle the fallout. I loved my fans, but some of them... well, they wanted to be Mrs. Jace Devayne, and I didn’t doubt for a second that they weren’t exactly going to give Honey a warm welcome.
Chapter Ten
HONEY
When Jace had warned me that some of his fans wouldn’t be pleased that he was off the market, he might have understated the issue a bit. My social media pages had been hit hard with nasty slurs, which my fans hadn’t taken well. They’d rallied around me and fought back. As much as I’d tried to de-escalate the situation, I was worried I was doing more harm than good.
As I nervously smoothed my wedding dress, I paced the room. Jace was already at the front of the church waiting for me, and I knew we were already married so this was all for show, but it didn’t stop the butterflies rioting in my stomach. We’d been together about a week now, and it had been an amazing week, despite some of the more rabid Fierce Seduction fans. Was I ready for a year of this though? Longer if we stayed married.
Roman had come to get me ten minutes ago and now leaned against the closed door. His lips were twisted in amusement as I fidgeted.
“You’re already married, Honey. This is just to give the fans a show.”
“I know! I know that, all right? But... those women, they’re...”
“Cruel, heartless, trashy bitches?” he asked.
“Just remember you said that and not me.”
He winked. “I’ve got your back. And so does the rest of the band.”
“Not Simon,” I muttered.
“He’ll come around. Eventually. Besides, Jace is crazy about you and that should be good enough. You’re all he talks about when we’re at practice, and he can’t wait to get back home to you. He doesn’t even go to the bars to hang with us after a session.”
I frowned. “I didn’t want him to change his life for me.”
“Trust me, he wanted to. And he damn sure needed to.”
“All right. Let’s do this,” I said.
Roman led me to the front of the church and walked me down the aisle. Ben had hired a photographer to snap some photos, both for Jace and me to have as a keepsake, and some we would leak to the public. While I much preferred this wedding to the drunken one I hardly remembered, I also couldn’t wait for it to be over. At least I’d be able to leave the house with Jace and not have to hide my wedding band.
After we said our vows and exchanged rings, I stared hard at the wedding set Jace slid onto my finger.
“That’s not my wedding ring,” I said softly.
“Actually, it is. There’s just an extra piece now.” He smiled.
“Jace, it’s...”
“A pink diamo
nd,” he said. “The fans were curious about your engagement ring. No one got a good look and didn’t realize it came from a gumball machine. Besides, I wanted you have something sparkly.”
“I didn’t need an expensive ring.”
He leaned in closer and lowered his voice. “Deal with it. Wife.”
“You may kiss your bride,” the minister said.
Jace bent me over his arm and laid one on me that had my knees shaking and set me on fire. The church erupted into cheers and Jace pulled away. When I was upright again, I kissed him once more, a softer, slower kiss. We posed for pictures with his band and out on the church steps. We’d decided to skip having a typical reception, and instead there would be a bonfire on our private beach.
Jace had informed me we’d only be there long enough for some photos, and then he had a surprise for me. I’d never dealt well with surprises and I was nervous about what he had planned. At the house, we changed into some casual clothes then mingled with the guests for close to an hour, posing for pictures here and there. The photographer also snapped some candid shots before promising to get digital proofs to us in a few days.
Roman was going to lock up after the party died down and had promised Jace he’d keep an eye on the place. All that told me was that Jace was taking me somewhere that wasn’t close enough to come home tonight. He was being secretive about where we were going though, and it had been making me a little crazy. He hadn’t even let me pack my own bag, so I didn’t even have a hint as to what was in store for me.
At the airport, we were shown to a private jet that had me raising my eyebrows. The flight didn’t take long, and when we landed, my breath caught. Jace had kept me away from the windows until we were descending, and now I knew exactly where he’d taken me. Hawaii. I’d always wanted to go but had never had the time. Well, to be truthful, until my first book took off, I hadn’t had the money for it. Later, I’d been facing one deadline after another and planning a wedding.