Back to the Top (Ross Records) (3) (25 page)

“I want to marry you,” I whispered, causing a huge grin to break out on his face. “Whenever you want.”

He kissed me, softly at first, but passion ignited. Just as I reached for his shirt, meaning to pull it over his head, he stopped me.

“Angel, you were just released from the hospital for exhaustion,” he said in a husky voice, chest heaving. “We can’t do this right now.”

Groaning, I butted my head against his chest. “Then maybe you shouldn’t be here this close, kissing me that way.”

“You’re right,” he said as he eased out from underneath me. Kissing my check, he climbed off the bed. “You should rest for a little while.”

“Okay,” I said as he slipped out the door. I settled into the pillows, soft smile on my lips. My heart flipped again. I was engaged. I was going to have a baby. Rolling to my back, I stared at the ceiling. My life had changed so much in such a short time.

I closed my eyes again, so very tired still, but unable to escape into slumber. My mind was too busy processing what would happen next and how my family would take the news. I vowed to call my parents after I took a short nap. Maybe with a fresh mind, I’d be able to figure out how to tell them.

***

The next morning, I drove with Jake to the video location, feeling a bit better. The phone call to my parents had been difficult – especially telling my father that his little girl was about to have a child out of wedlock. But, in the end, they were thrilled.

As I sat in a chair, watching Chad direct the video, my thoughts drifted out of the warehouse and to the future. I’d agreed to marry Jake, but nothing had been set in stone. I supposed we’d discuss it after the video was finished, maybe set a date. Unwed women had babies every day – it was nothing new – but I didn’t want to be one of them.

“You ready to go?” Jake asked me hours later. “We’re done. Now it’s all up to editing.”

“Good,” I said, rising from my chair. “Now what?’

Laughing, he wrapped his arms around me. “We’re going home. Rob says he wants to shoot the next one in Chicago.”

Back at the condo, the guys ordered food and we ate around the coffee table in the living room, most of the talk centering on the video. I was more tired than ever, even though I sat most of the day. After cleaning up the dinner mess, I went up to Jake’s room to make sure he was properly packed since our flight was leaving early the next morning.

“You don’t have to do that, you know,” Jake said, standing in the doorway. “I can do it.”

“I don’t mind,” I said as I folded his shirts and placed them in the suitcase. “If I leave it up to you, you’ll ball them all up and shove them inside. Nothing would fit and you’d have to go out and buy another bag.”

Grinning, he strolled into the room and sank to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“Fine,” I said. “Tired, though.”

“Well, the doctor said you’d be tired – she said it would last all throughout the first semester.”

I nodded. “Great. And it’s trimester, not semester.”

“Yeah, that. When we get home, we’ll get your vitamins and make you an appointment with a doctor,” he continued. “We’ll see what to do to help out with the tiredness.”

I shrugged as I placed the last of his shirts in the suitcase and zipped it shut. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then go to bed. How about you?”

“Is that an invitation?” he asked, lifting a lazy brow.

Rolling my eyes, I collected clean pajamas and headed out of the room.

Standing in the shower, I let the warm water fall down my body, chasing away the tension. Closing my eyes, I bent my neck under the stream.

I really wanted to talk to Jake about everything but was trying to bide my time and wait until we got home. Not that I minded having the entire band share the condo, nor was I worried about them knowing we were discussing wedding plans, it was just that I wanted to talk it over with Jake alone. It was such an intimate, private thing that needed to be between the two of us for now.

Groaning, I turned around to wet my hair. Adding shampoo, I scrubbed my hair, wishing that the shampoo would wash away my thoughts for a bit, too, so I could relax and hopefully sleep.

Freshly washed and shampooed, I stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around my body. I leaned into the mirror, looking to see if I was radiant or any of the other words I’d heard used to describe pregnant women. But I couldn’t see any differences, except maybe my face was a little pale. There was nothing glowing or shining or anything else and I wondered if there ever would be.

With a sigh, I dressed and rubbed the towel over my hair. I left the bathroom and nearly ran into Jake in the hall.

“Jake, what are you doing standing right outside the door?” I asked, hand over my heart.

“Waiting for you,” he said.

“I’m fine,” I said with a slight groan. “I’m not going to faint or anything in the shower.”

Wrapping his arms around me, he grinned. “I wasn’t waiting for that. I was waiting for you to get out so I could get in and I didn’t want to barge in on you. It’s been a rough couple of days and I figured you’d want a little privacy.”

Standing on my toes, I pressed a kiss to his lips. “I’m fine, but thank you.”

“I’ll be right out,” he said, dropping one last kiss to the top of my head before stepping around me and into the bathroom.

I stood there for a moment after the door closed, biting my lip. I could easily slip into the room, sit on the counter, and talk to him.

Shaking my head, I went into his bedroom instead. I’d go with my earlier plan and wait until we got home.

***

The next morning, tempers flared as the grumpy band members lugged their bags to the rental van, whining about the early hour. I tried to remind them that they could sleep on the plane but only received dirty looks for my efforts.

Just as I walked out the door, happy to be headed for home, Jake’s phone rang. Tension immediately flew to my shoulders, imagining Brad’s voice on the other line. Even though everyone had already managed to get new cell numbers, I still cringed every time a phone rang.

“Are you kidding? Already?” Jake roared, causing Nick to glance over his shoulder as he climbed into the van. Jake paused as he listened to his caller. “If you have it, bring it to the airport.”

He ended his call, jamming his phone into his pocked. He flashed a weak smile before ushering me into the van.

“What was that about?” I asked as I buckled my seatbelt.

Running his hands through his hair, he kissed my cheek. “It seems as if we’re tabloid fodder again. Doc found out about it and grabbed one. He’s going to bring it to the airport.”

“Great,” I said, wondering if this circus would ever end.

Twenty

The flight to Chicago was less than relaxing. Doc had indeed brought along a tabloid, but it wasn’t
The Star Gazer
this time. Instead, it was some little known local rag that had run a story about me being hospitalized, speculating all sorts of things about what was wrong with me now.

“Well, we knew they’d start with the pregnancy rumors,” Jake said after we read the article. He passed the paper to Nick.

“Sure,” I grumbled, sipping the orange juice the flight attendant had brought me. “I figured they’d start that, too, but I wasn’t expecting all the other things. I mean, since when does exhaustion and dehydration mean that I’m dying from a rare blood disease one only gets by swimming in remote watering holes in the Congo?”

Ronnie, seated behind us, snorted. “Man, I wish Carly wouldn’t have flown back so early. She’d get a kick out of this.”

I rolled my eyes as Jake took my hand.

“He’s right,” Jake said. “It’s so outrageous that it’s funny. And at least it’s a local magazine and not a national one.”

“It won’t take long for the national magazines to pick up the story, though,” Matt added. “I mean, I’m sure they were all parked outside the hospital and if they weren’t, they’ll take this article and embellish it to fit their own needs.”

I slumped in my seat, closing my eyes. “Yay.”

“Screw ‘em, Iz,” Jake said. “Everyone who matters knows the truth.”

Of course he was right, and of course I should have thicker skin by now – it wasn’t like I hadn’t been through this before. Turning my head, I managed a smile.

“You’re right. I’m not going to let them get to me again.”

He kissed my cheek. “I know you won’t. And you won’t have to deal with this alone.”

Settling more comfortably in my seat, I focused my gaze out the window at the wispy clouds. Things always seemed worse than they actually were … well, most times. I’d just have to remember that.

“Who are you texting over there?” Jake asked.

Turning my head, I looked across the aisle at Nick who was studying his phone.

“No one,” Nick said. “Just reading the hundreds of texts that Andrea has sent me since I arrived in LA.”

“What does she want now?” Jake whined.

Nick shrugged. “Wants to see me as soon as I get home.”

“Imagine that,” Jake mumbled. “Are you going to go see her?”

“I don’t know,” Nick said as he shoved his phone into his pocket. Leaning his head back, he closed his eyes. “It sounds urgent.”

“Doesn’t it always?”

Sighing, Nick squeezed his eyes shut tighter. “Jake, I haven’t actually seen her in at least six months. She texts me all the time, asking me to meet her, but when I get there, she’s never there and never shows up.”

“You never told me that,” Jake said.

Lifting a shoulder, he shifted his head, cracked his eyes, and managed a sheepish grin. “It’s not exactly the sort of thing you want to tell everyone – that you’re ex wants to meet you and you, like a dumb ass, go to meet her but she stands you up.”

“So don’t meet her this time,” I said.

He took a deep breath and lifted a glass of juice to his lips. “I don’t know. I mean, usually she asks me to meet her at a restaurant or a bar or something, but this time, she wants me to come to her house. She can’t exactly escape.”

“No,” I said. “But she could make sure she’s not home when you’re due to arrive.”

“I don’t know,” he said as he turned his head forward, closing his eyes again. “I haven’t decided what I’m going to do yet. I haven’t answered any of her texts.”

I opened my mouth, about to suggest that he just hang out with us tonight, thinking Cammy would come back and stay with us. Maybe the two of them could…something…and he’d forget all about Andrea. But I thought better of it. If I tried to force them together, it would never work.

“Dude, it’s your decision,” Jake said, taking my hand. “You know how I feel about the situation but it’s not my life.”

Nick nodded.

Jake scooted down in his seat, turning his head toward me. He gave me a smile before closing his eyes and wrapping an arm around me. I nestled into his shoulder and, even though my mind was a whir, I managed to doze off until we landed at O’Hare.

When we got home, Nick disappeared into his room. I waited until Jake took our bags upstairs before calling Cammy.

“How’s it going?” I asked as soon as she answered.

“Great,” she said. “I finished all my paperwork and attended orientation.”

“Wonderful! When you come back here tonight, we’ll celebrate,” I said.

“Bella, you dork,” she said, a smile in her voice. “I found an apartment. Actually, Greta found it for me. She used to rent it after her father died – it’s in the basement of this elderly couple’s house. And, it’s just down the road from Jake’s place.”

“Wow,” I said. “Well, you can stay here until you move in.”

“I’ve already started moving in,” Cammy said. “The apartment has been empty for three months.”

“Oh,” I said as Jake returned to the room. “Well, you still need to come over tonight to celebrate. I’ll cook. Well, I’ll ask Jake to cook.”

“Sounds like fun,” she said. “See you tonight.”

Dinner that evening was nice – just nice. Nick was too preoccupied to really participate in the conversation and Cammy’s excitement was overflowing, making her more talkative than ever. Jake and I told her about the baby, which set her into overdrive. It was a pleasant evening with friends, but the wind had left my sails. Not a single spark emitted between Cammy and Nick.

After dinner, Cammy left, eager to get to work on her new apartment, and Nick disappeared into his room. Jake helped me load the dishes into the dishwasher, wearing a knowing smirk.

“Disappointed, huh, Iz?”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

He leaned against the counter, folding his arms over his chest. “I know you far too well. You wanted Cammy over here tonight so you could try to fix her up with Nick.”

“I…” I stammered, face suddenly warm. “So, what if I did? They’d be great together.”

“Maybe so,” he said, lifting a shoulder, “but it’s not up to us. If there’s something between them, they’ll figure it out. In the meantime, you can’t try to force it.”