I felt like I was floating as he carried me to the king sized bed. Scattered rose petals across the top, and their sweet scent invaded my nose as he lowered me to the mattress. My dress, or rather Lana’s dress, disappeared before I realized it, and Jesse was kissing every exposed inch of skin he could get to.
For hours he savored me. I was weeping by the time we fell into each other’s arms. Jesse kissed my hair. “Do you believe me now?” he murmured.
I raised my head, confused. “Believe you about what?”
He smiled. “That I love you.”
“Jesse, I believed you the first time you said it.” He raised a brow and I sighed. “Okay, my heart believed you. Now my head does too.”
“Good.” He yawned, pulled me closer, and we fell asleep locked in each other’s arms. Hours later, we made love again and then he told me about his childhood, growing up in a trailer park with his band brothers spread out around him, and his mother leaving when he was just a toddler. Jesse told me about his father and I held him close as he described the old man beating him until he was thirteen. By that time, he was bigger than his dad and able to hit back. After he busted the bastard’s nose, he never touched his son in violence again. After that Jesse’s childhood was pretty normal…
I still got weak kneed every time I thought about that beautiful night. He had made it truly special for us both. In a way it had made this week hard, because he wasn’t home like he had been the week before. The guys were back in the studio, and I was lonely for most of the day.
Emmie was busy with work, although she took care of most of it while sitting up in bed now. Nik had forbid her to get up unless she absolutely had to, and I was in charge of making sure she listened. I was glad that she was distracted by work though, because that gave me time to put together my surprise.
On Saturday, I rushed to get through the morning. Lana was helping me and we were both having a blast getting everything put together. I had told Jesse some of what we had planned, but only because I needed his help with who to call. He hadn’t understood a word of what I said, and I had had to explain it to him twice before he got it.
By midafternoon we had everything ready, and I was nervous as hell. Jesse had helped me by taking Emmie out for lunch, and they were still gone by the time everyone started arriving. At ten minutes to three, I got a text from him and put everyone in their places. I wasn’t sure if surprising a heavily pregnant woman was a good thing, but it couldn’t do too much damage.
My heart was racing and my palms were sweaty when I heard Jesse say something that made Emmie laugh. A few moments later, they came out of the house and onto the patio. I held my breath as Emmie took in the sign hanging from the long table loaded with food and presents. Her eyes went huge and she looked at me. “Layla?”
From all directions guests jumped out from their hiding places. “Surprise!” they called and Emmie jumped.
“Oh my Gods!” She whispered and I was dismayed to see her eyes fill with tears.
“You don’t like it?” I asked.
Emmie shook her head, sobbing now. I glanced at Jesse for guidance, but he didn’t look like he understood either, so I pulled her close, holding her as much as I could with her stomach between us. “Emmie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Tears burned my eyes, and I tried to blink them away. One of us crying was enough.
When she had shown me the nursery last week, and I had seen that she only had the bare necessities I had wanted to throw her a baby shower. I wanted my friend to have this special occasion that all mothers should get to have when they were carrying new life inside of them, and I had wanted to be the one to give it to her. I never intended to upset her like this.
“I’m sorry, Emmie. I can ask them all to leave…”
She shook her head again, her arms holding on tight to me while her tears soaked through my top. “No. I’m not mad. I’m…I’m touched. No one has ever…ever…” She broke off, sobbing once again. “I’ve read all about baby showers, and heard the other mothers at the doctor’s office gushing over theirs, but I never thought that I would get to have one.”
“Oh, Emmie.” I kissed her hair, holding her closer.
After a few minutes, she finally pulled away, her face blotch from crying. Nik, Drake, and Shane—all having been in on my secret as of the day before--stood behind her, but none of them said a word. Emmie gave me a watery smile. “Thank you, Layla. Thank you for this.”
Jesse’s hand caught mine. “Well, let’s get this party started.”
For the next two hours, I got to know the people in Emmie’s life outside of the guys. I met Alexis Moreitti who was six months pregnant and her husband Jared. Alexis walked with a cane, and I learned that she had been in a car accident. It was a miracle that she was even able to walk, even more so that she was able to carry her child to term. Her husband was nice, and when he looked at her, I could see his love and devotion shining through.
I discovered that Alexis was Gabriella Moreitti’s cousin. It wasn’t a great discovery either. Gabriella had been invited as well and had come with Axton Cage. But it wasn’t until half way through the shower that I learned Gabriella and Emmie were anything but friends.
“Why did you tell me to invite her?” I asked Jesse when I realized that Emmie was uncomfortable with the other woman around.
He sighed. “Because I didn’t think she would actually show up.” He was eating one of the sandwiches that Lana and I had made that morning. From the looks of it, it was one of the chicken salad croissants that Lana had made from scratch. “Look, Gabriella told Emmie that she hooked up with Nik a while back. It was before Em got pregnant. It was all lies, but Em didn’t know that until recently.”
I glared up at him. “And yet you still told me to invite her.” I had liked talking to the woman, but now I instantly disliked her. No way was I going to like someone that hurt my friend on purpose.
He hung his head and his lower lip pouted out. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“Damnit.” I couldn’t stay upset with him when he did things like that. With another glare, I stood on tiptoe to kiss him. “Next time tell me things like this, okay?”
Jesse grinned. “You aren’t mad at me?”
“How can I stay mad at you when you give me those big puppy dog eyes and that pouty lip?” But I pushed him away when he started to pull me closer. “Go. I have things to do.”
He gave me another pouty look, but I was ready for it this time and pushed him off toward his band brothers where they were standing talking to Jared Moreitti and Axton Cage. Turning, I started gathering some items for a baby game. There were people spread around the patio and by the pool, and I went around handing out little pencils and paper to everyone who wanted to play.
I glanced Emmie’s way and found her laughing with Melissa Shepard and Rich Branson’s assistant who had come in his place. I had lucked out there, because Jesse had said I had to invite their manager, but that Emmie and Rich didn’t get along. I was glad to see that Emmie was happy and that I was able to give her something that she had wanted but hadn’t been able to ask for.
As I finished passing out the game I stopped by Lana who was sitting at a table talking to Vince Shepard and Drake. I touched her shoulder to get her attention, and she grinned up at me. “Ready?” she asked.
I nodded and gave her the piece of paper. My sister spent the next thirty minutes being the master of games. Everyone was laughing and Emmie was having so much fun. I watched from the corner as everyone played game after game. Everyone won something, and even Drake was laughing when the games were over.
After the games came the presents, and Emmie struggled through, trying not to cry as she unwrapped each gift. There were clothes, bottles, diapers, blankets, bibs, toys, and a list of other items that brought tears to Emmie’s eyes. Lana had even helped the guys pick out a present earlier that morning for them to give to her: a portable swing that played classic lullabies. I waited until she had unwrapped the last gift b
efore I brought out my own present for her.
Jesse had to carry it out for me, and Emmie gave up the struggle and burst into tears when she saw the cradle that I had bought her. It was hand crafted with butterflies, bees, and flowers in the carvings. I had known as soon as I saw it that it was perfect for Emmie.
By the time everyone had had a piece of cake, I was exhausted. Emmie seemed like she couldn’t take anymore. She thanked everyone for coming, and Nik took her up to their room so that she could take a nap. Before she went into the house, she hugged me tight and thanked me for making today so special.
“Emmie, you deserved today. I’m glad I was able to give it to you.”
Her chin trembled but she turned away before she burst into tears again.
When everyone was gone, the guys helped me clean up. I was thankful for their help because I was dragging by then, although there wasn’t all that much to do. The food had all been eaten, everyone loved Lana’s sandwiches and the homemade dips. One of which was specifically for Emmie’s cravings made with sour-cream, chopped up bacon, and some ranch seasoning. The cake was nearly all gone, and I was glad that I had taken pictures for Emmie of it before it had been destroyed. She had loved the little pink dress cake with the tiny foot print on the pregnant belly. I had specifically requested that the dress have a girly skull on the dress at the top. It had been perfect.
Finally, the patio was clean and I fell into a chair beside of Lana and Lucy. “Today was fun,” Lucy told me. She was still munching on some carrot sticks with what was left of Emmie’s dip, and I wondered for the millionth time if my baby sister ever got full.
“Yes it was,” Jesse agreed as he sat on the edge of my lounger and started rubbing my bare feet. “You girls did a wonderful job. You deserve something special.”
I raised a brow at that. “Like what?” I hoped he didn’t say something stupid, like a car which was what he had been hinting at for two weeks now, because I didn’t have the energy to smack him in the back of his bald head.
He shrugged. “We could go to SeaWorld tomorrow.”
Before I could say anything Lucy was already jumping up and down. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She threw herself into Jesse’s, arms and he caught her against him, laughing. “I’ve never been to SeaWorld before, but I always wanted to go.”
“Jesse, that’s almost a three hour trip one way,” I told him.
His eyes narrowed on me. “You don’t want to go to SeaWorld?” Of course he gave me that pouty look that I was unable to say no to.
I sighed. “Fine. SeaWorld it is.”
Lucy started dancing around and Lana was giggling. I guess we were going to SeaWorld with the big bad—totally loveable—rocker.
Chapter 16
Jesse
In the weeks that went by I think I fell even more in love with Layla Daniels. Every minute I spent with her was enjoyable, even if all we did was sit holding each other on the couch in front of the television.
I also grew closer to Lucy and Lana. Maybe it was because I knew I couldn’t have Layla without them, or maybe it was because they were special in their own right. Either way, they attached themselves to my heart in an irreversible way. When I thought of my future, I couldn’t imagine it without any one of them.
It was scary, to have my heart seem to grow triple in size over the course of a month. I went from only loving Emmie and my band brothers, to loving three more, but I didn’t run from it. If anything, I embraced it and it only made me more determined. With Emmie’s help, everything was coming along smoothly. All I had to do was talk to Layla about it.
I couldn’t do it tonight though. My buddy Tom was home now, and he had called to invite me and the guys to a party at his house. Nik didn’t want to go because Emmie was just two weeks away from her scheduled C-section and was feeling more miserable by the day. I had planned on taking Layla out somewhere special and talking to her, but Tom had guilt-tripped me into attending.
Layla decided to go with me, which I was thankful for. I in no way wanted to attend one of Tom’s parties without Layla, not with all those girls hanging around. There was no chance that I would cheat on her, but if she found out what those parties were like without being there with me, I was sure that it would have caused trouble.
Lana was staying home with Lucy, and Drake had planned on staying in with her. The weekend before, Drake had pulled one of Layla’s tricks and threw Lana a surprise birthday party. I had been relieved that he had gotten her a new car, because seriously Layla’s old one had broken down twice the week before. I had helped pick it out, which was a plus because both females had gone beyond crazy mad when Drake had gifted Lana with the keys to the Audi.
The white Audi A6 was one of the top rated safest cars available. When Layla heard that, she had calmed down a little. It had taken lots of pleading on Drake’s part for Lana to accept the car. Finally, it was Emmie who had solved the problem by taking out the car’s paper work and giving it to Lana. “It’s yours. Your name is on the paper work. Take the car and stop tormenting him!” Lana took it without any further arguing. We had all learned over the last week or so not to get Emmie too upset. The littlest things could send her into a rage or worse…sobbing.
I picked Layla up at eight so that we could go to the party. She looked gorgeous in a silver top that was tight across her chest, and black leggings paired with the boots she had worn on our first date. I was tempted to skip the party and take her somewhere we could spend the night getting lost in each other.
Instead, I had settled on a deep kiss before I put her into the passenger seat of the SUV. “I love you,” I told her before I closed the door, and was rewarded with one of her sexy little smiles.
When we got to Tom’s, I wasn’t surprised to see people were already spilling out of the house. Some were people from the rock world that I had met over the years. Most were girls there to see whose bed they could get into that night. Layla shook her head as we walked in, obviously already not liking the scene around us.
I gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as I pulled her through the crowded mansion looking for my old buddy. Along the way I passed, Shane and Layla gave a disgusted grunt when she saw that he had two girls sitting on his lap making out. I pulled her closer. “This is tame for Shane,” I reminded her. In the time that we had been together, we had come across Shane in worse scenes than this.
“It’s still hard to witness,” she muttered and I had to agree.
Axton came up to us. It looked like he and Gabriella were off again because he wasn’t fighting off the girls like he normally would when the two were together. I think I preferred him with Gabriella than without. I could tell he was wasted, which was the only reason I didn’t smash my friend’s face in when he started hitting on Layla.
By ten, I still hadn’t found Tom. Layla excused herself and went off to find a free bathroom. I was tired of looking for the old rocker and decided that as soon as Layla got back from the bathroom we were going home.
That thought had no more crossed my mind when I saw Layla appear at the top of the stairs. I looked up, hoping to catch her eye to let her know we were leaving when everything went all to hell…
Layla
I pushed my way through the crowd. The place looked different compared to when I was last here. Then, I had felt so happy, having just spent the night in the arms of the man I’d fallen in love with. Now, I felt almost dirty watching all the girls as they practically whored themselves out so that they could say they had had sex with some rocker, or whatever it was that those types of girls got out of it. It reminded me of my childhood and how my mother would go to parties just like this, leaving me in the car while she spent hours inside some stranger’s house.
After seeing Shane, a man I had grown to love as a brother, making out with not one, not two, but three different women tonight, I had a sick feeling in my stomach that wasn’t going away. So I hurried up in the powder room, hoping that I could convince Jesse to take me home soon.
When I came out of the bathroom on the second floor, it was to find a couple making out against the wall by the door. It startled me because they hadn’t been there when I had gone in just a few minutes ago. As I moved to walk past them, I happened to take a closer look at them and was unable to contain my startled gasp.
No way! There was absolutely no way I was seeing this. Life was not that cruel! It was not that fucked up! Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh. Shit!
The couple heard my gasp and the man raised his head. Chocolate brown eyes narrowed on me when they met my gaze. His eyes were blood shot, and I knew he had to be drunk or high, or both. That didn’t stop the recognition I saw cross his face or the way those narrowed eyes turned into a cold glare.
He pushed the girl away from him, and I was sickened to see that she wasn’t much older than Lana. What the hell did that little girl see in a sixty year old man? “What the fuck are you doing here?” he demanded.
I swallowed my revulsion and returned his glare. “I’m here with my boyfriend.”
Tommy Kirkman sneered down at me. “What idiot would be stupid enough to get involved with you? Some sap with more money than brains obviously.”
Rage burned in my veins, and I clenched my hands into fists so that I wouldn’t be tempted to smack the jackass. “Well, it’s nice to see you haven’t changed much over the years. Still the same slime, ball horn dog you always were. Tell me, is she legal?”
“Trust me, I’ve learned my lesson.” He took a step closer to me, and I almost took a step back. I wasn’t scared of this man. I would never be scared of him. All he was now was a washed up rocker. He was lucky enough to have invested his money well over the years because he didn’t have that same big money coming in on a regular basis now that his career was over.