Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series) (30 page)

“Except the breaking my heart part, right?”

I shrug and he frowns. “It was necessary. I’d even go as far as kicking her ass for you, if she hadn’t been pregnant.”

He raises his eyebrows and smiles wide.

“Why do you look so surprised? I could take her.”

“I know you can.” He slants his mouth over mine for a lingering kiss. “You are so adorable.”

A loud pounding on our door causes me to jump. “Put it in your pants, Lair. It’s time to party.”

“Fucking
, Hunter.”

I get up
to let Hunter in. He’s standing in the hall with Scott and Trey. “Let’s go. We only have a few hours.”

He links his arm through mine and drags me towards the elevators. “Wait, I need my bag.”

“No you don’t. It’s on Jack.”

Our hotel is smack in the middle of
the French Quarter in New Orleans. We can walk from it to the
House of Blues,
where we are playing tonight, or to about fifty bars as well. From the lobby, all you see are droves of tourists walking by, some openly holding alcoholic beverages. It’s a huge party.

The
House of Blues
, although one of the most famous places we are playing in so far during our tour, is also one of the smallest. With barely nine hundred seats, it will feel intimate compared to the arenas we’ve been performing in. As we wait for Oscar and Dylan, I’m bouncing with anticipation. The weather is fantastic. Except for seeing Los Angeles from the backseat of a cab, and what little I got to see of Vegas, this will be the first real tourist destination I’ve ever been to.

“Do we have to wait for them?” Hunter asks impatiently.

“You don’t. I’m not going anywhere without Oscar. Where you heading? We’ll catch up.” Jack offers.

“Fine, meet us at The Abbey.”

The guys head out, leaving Jack and me to wait for our security.

“Jack,
The Abbey
is a block away. We could have gone with the guys.”

“Baby, I don’t want you going anywhere without Oscar.”

“I’m with you constantly. Where am I going? Oh, the ladies room. Does he need to come with me there too?”

“I’m serious
, smartass. If I’m not with you, Oscar is. End of discussion.”

“I love when you get all controlling on me.” I lean over to nibble on his ear.

“I know what you’re doing.”

“What?
” I trace his ear with my tongue, then move lower to suck on his neck.

“Lei.”

“Jack, the poor guy already has to stand guard outside my dressing room. You have him trailing us like a puppy dog. What more do you want, for him to sleep on our bedroom floor?”

He holds my chin and tilts my head to look into my eyes. “Leila, I’m not kidding.”

“Ok. I hear you.”

He kisses me and continues to stare into my eyes. “I love you.”

Oscar and Dylan come over to where we are having our moment. “Hey, sorry we’re late.”

“Everything ok?”

“I was on the phone with Ace. Nothing new, no sight of him.”

“I was just
informing my fiancé she goes nowhere without me or you.”

I roll my eyes, and Jack catches me. “Really?”

“Leila, he’s right.” Oscar sides with Jack. Well, of course he’ll side with Jack.

Realizing it will get me nowhere to crack a joke, I concede instead. “Got it. Now can we go have a drink?” I stand and hold my hand out to him
, which he ignores, and instead wraps an arm around me.

My argument
was valid. Our walk to The Abbey took less than three minutes. We find the guys in the back corner. A tray of tequila shots sits, waiting for our arrival.

The waitress comes over, focusing on Jack.

“Baby, what do you want to drink?”

“I’ll have wine.”
She levels me with her glare, measuring me up. She is one hot piece of ass, and the old Jack would definitely be paying attention. My Jack barely looks at her.

She takes
our orders and throws Jack a dazzling smile before heading off to get our drinks.

“What took you so long?”

“We were waiting for Oscar and Dylan.” Jack looks at me briefly and quickly adds, “So, um…I spoke to Jessa.”

They all wait patiently as Jack takes a few seconds to continue. “She told me it wasn’t mine.”

“Holy shit.” Hunter speaks first.

“Jack, you must be relieved.”

Jack nods at Scott and says, “You can’t imagine.” He squeezes my hand and adds, “It’s over. I don’t want to hear about it any more.”

“Well
, I’ve been staring at these entirely too long. Shot time.” Hunter is quick to comply.

“I’ll pass.” I shake my head
, as Hunter passes out the shots.

“Lei, this one is your shot. It’s ginger ale.” Trey holds up the tiny glass.

“Not funny.”

He shrugs and smiles. “She asked me to do it.”

“Leave my wife alone.” Jack says, just as the waitress reappears with our drinks.

“You two are married
? I don’t see a ring on your finger.” She asks, looking directly at Jack.

“Soon to be.”
He responds without looking up.

She leans over and says into his ear loud enough for us to hear, “That’s a shame.” Then
hands out our drinks and saunters off towards the bar.

“Is she for real?”

Jack drags his chair closer. “Ignore her.”

“She’s
hot as hell and hitting on you.”

“Is she? I hadn’t noticed.”

“Hoo-kay,” Hunter challenges. “We know you love Leila, but you are trying to say you didn’t notice that hot piece of ass?”

Jack stares into my eyes and touts, “Nope.”

“I believe you. But if she comes near you again, I’m going to get violent.”

“Now that’s hot,
” Hunter says, while smiling. “Two hot chicks in a fight? Wet dream material.” Jack and I stare at him. “What?”

“You guys are too much.
” Oscar shakes his head before drinking his seltzer. “Don’t you have a girlfriend?”

“
Yes, and I love her. But just because I can’t touch doesn’t mean I can’t look. I’m being honest.”

“Hunt, how many chicks did you average a year since I moved in with you?”

“What’s your point?”

“Been there, done that.”

“So?”

“It doesn’t interest me anymore.”

“Are you saying I love Mandi any less because I look?”

“No. I’m
just saying I no longer have the desire to.”

“Oh, throw up. I’m not in love or attached or pussy whipped. I’m going to tap that.” Trey gets up and stalks to the “hot piece of ass”.

“He is such a whore.” I say out loud.
Besides what little I know of him from Lori, it occurs to me I really don’t know much about him. “How old is Trey?”

“He’s thirty-one.” Jack responds. “Why?”

“I was just curious.”

“Spill it.” Jack eyes me suspiciously.

“Do you think he’ll ever settle down and have a family some day?”

“No.”

“Yes.”

Jack and Hunter respond simultaneously.

“I don’t know. I have to agree with Hunter. I think domesticated Trey is in there and just needs a nudge.” I lean over to give him a quick kiss. “You’ve changed.”

“For the better.” We proceed to ignore all things around us and have one of our moments in the midst of this crowded, noisy bar.

Oscar notices and says, “You two make sure you keep this fire going. That’s what kills a marriage…trust me. My wife and I didn’t work hard enough at it. With me being gone in the beginning, we lost our connection. Even when I got home, we didn’t work hard enough. I was detached, having been through hell and back while serving, and she didn’t understand what I was going through. Whatever little passion we had, smoldered and died. After being together for almost ten years, we had nothing left.”

I first notice sadness in Oscar’s eyes. “Oscar, do you have kids?”

“No. We tried. Maybe things would have been different if we had been successful. But then again, my career choice would have probably done us in anyway. When I got home, I had gotten a boring desk job in an attempt to settle down and work at having a normal married life. I was miserable. After we split, I called my army buddy, Colt, and begged him to get me a job with *Orion. He spoke to his boss Mike, and they hired me. I was meant to do this. If I had discovered this line of work earlier, she would have left me much sooner.”

“I
am never letting you go.” Jack says directly to me.

I smile warmly at him. He truly has changed. He’s so open with his love for me. He’s so romantic and sweet. Having heard many of the stories of how Jack used to behave, stranger things have happened than Trey finding love and settling down. I’m witnessing it every day
that I’m with Jack Lair.

“You two are truly nauseating.” Hunter says
, before tipping back another shot.

“And y
ou are such a hypocrite. When I was miserable, you and Mandi were God-awful to be around.”

“Oh yeah. I forgot,
” Hunter smirks. “Still, if I can’t be happy, no one should be allowed to be happy.”

“Jackass.” Jack says
, before leaning over to smack the back of his head.

“You guys are very entert
aining, I’ll give you that much,” Oscar admits. “You are the first rock band I’ve worked for. It’s been a blast.”

“You don’t get tired of living on a bus with a bunch of
men?” Scott asks incredulously. “I don’t think I could do that if I weren’t also doing what I love to do.”

“I am doing what I love to do. I love my line of work. I lov
e helping people.” Oscar shrugs. “Dylan is in the same position. Do you mind living on a bus with a bunch of men?”

“Yes and no. I also love what I do, but it can be torture as well. This is my third tour. I can’t see myself doing this for much longer.”

“What would make you leave?” Scott asks.

“A family. If I had a wife and kids, I’d be in corporate behind a desk.” Dylan glances up at me briefly before looking down into his beer.

An uncomfortable silence falls over us until Jack turns towards me and asks, “Are you ready to see some of New Orleans?”

I nod at his question.

“You guys gonna continue drinking the day away?” He asks, looking directly at Hunter. In response, Hunter picks up yet another shot and downs it.

“Oscar, do you mind leaving?”

“Of course not. It’s my job.” Oscar is always extremely professional with us.

“You two better not be shitfaced for our show tonight.” Jack says to his band mates before standing and pulling me up as well.

“Can’t promise that.”

Jack shakes his h
ead and leads us out onto the street that is crowded with tourists. The daylight hits me, causing me to squint. “I feel like we’ve been in a cave for hours.”

“Me too.
I needed air.”

Jack, Oscar and I walk down the narrow
streets of the French Quarter. I feel strange having Oscar trailing us like a chaperone. I hold my tongue anyways. We stroll into shops and Jack buys me a few little trinkets as souvenirs. I buy my postcard marking this stop on the tour. When we get to the Mississippi, he hands his phone to Oscar. “Can you take a picture?”

“What’s gotten into you?”

“We need to build memories to tell the grandkids some day.”

Oscar takes a shot of us
with the river behind us.

“Great pic, you two. You are going to make gorgeous babies.”

Oscar’s words thrill me. Having children with Jack is a prodigious event I cannot wait to occur in our future…now more than ever.

Jack nuzzles my neck and whispers what I am thinking. “I can’t wait for you to have my babies.” His words send shivers down my spine and instantly turn me on. He may as well have asked me
to fuck him right here on the side of the Mississippi.

“I’m done sightseeing.”

He smiles at me and responds, “Well, yay.”

It’s about twelve minutes later when Jack and I stumble through our hotel room door, clamoring to try and remove our clothes while still attached at the lips.

He kicks the door shut with his foot before pulling away breathlessly. “God, I need to be inside you so bad.”

“Stop talking.” I rasp before pulling him back to me. The burn he started at the river has beco
me an unbearable throbbing in between my legs. I yank off my clothes, and then assist in helping him remove his. Once we are completely bare, I push him to sit on the edge of the bed and straddle his hips.