Getting Played (Heart of Fame #7) (20 page)

“Or perhaps,” he cut her off, “it’s because I get to hurl poo at the audience like the chimps do.”

Nat raised her eyebrows at his unexpected proclamation. “You do
not
throw poo into the crowd at your concerts, Jaxon Campbell.”

A devilish smirk stretching his mouth, he turned his head to face her. “You’re right. But wouldn’t that be fun?”

He kissed her before she could respond, a quick, playful and noisy smacking of his lips on hers. “C’mon,” he said. “Let’s check out the monkeys. Ten bucks says one of them is going to throw poo at us.”

The chimps did indeed throw poo at them. Jax and Nat
ewwed
and laughed along with the rest of those gathered to watch the primates do their thing, Bruce hovering a few metres to the side like a grumpy chaperone. No one looked twice at Jax. Nat didn’t know if it was due to his sunglasses and cap, the lack of black leather pants and visible tattoos or the fact those around them were having too much fun with their own company to be bothered to pay closer attention to a guy who maybe looked a little like someone famous. Whatever the reason, Nat loved it. And she could tell Jax did as well. He laughed and hugged her and they existed together in a way they never had before.

It was wonderful.

After the chimps had finished their feces flinging, Jax took Nat’s hand in his and they wandered through the African section of the zoo.

“So tell me.” He bumped his hip to hers in a playful nudge. “Where’s the stunningly handsome husband and horde of gorgeous children?”

Nat snorted. “At home. Waiting for me to stop fooling around with a famous rock star. Why do you think I didn’t want you coming back to my house last night?”

He stumbled, the colour bleaching from his face as he stared at her with blank horror. “Ahhh…”

She laughed, nudging his hip with hers in retaliation. “Kidding. Jesus, Campbell, as if I’d be bonking you if I was married with kids.”

A shaky chuckle bubbled from him and he started walking again. “Sorry. I’ve just got a thing about married women sleeping with me.”

“You like it?” Shock cut through Nat’s voice.

“Hate it. Won’t stand for it. I may be a horn dog but I still have morals. Married is married and I’m not going to be the one to fuck up a union that should be considered sacred.”

A warm tickle of happiness made its way through Nat at his statement. “Damn, Jax. I didn’t know this side of you existed.”

He shrugged. Nat didn’t miss the bitter twist that pulled at his lips. Nor the tension that claimed his shoulders. “I’ve come to realize a few things in my advancing years.”

They walked in silence for a while. Nat digested what he’d said. Wondered if it had anything to do with the way their own relationship had ended all those years ago. She’d accepted her reaction to the footage of Jax having sex with other women on the tops of hotels around the world was a tad knee-jerkish a week after Jax moved out. He’d insisted the incidents had all occurred before she and him had become…pseudo serious. But despite her heart telling her it was the truth, she’d used it as the reason for ending their relationship. When, truth be known, it had been fear.

Fear she’d wake up one day and realize she loved him. And at twenty-two—the age she’d been when she and Jax had rented their apartment—Nat didn’t want to love anyone. Especially not a guy who was a draw card to sex-crazed groupies the world over.

Now, walking beside him, his palm warm against hers, his familiar scent in every breath she took, she wondered how much of her spinster existence was due to the fact no one had ever completely filled Jax’s shoes?

“So no husband and children,” he said, the question ending the silence. “But surely there’s been a boyfriend or two? Boyfriends? Surely Jeremy I’m-Too-Hispter-For-My-Suit Craig can’t be the only man aching for you?”

A blush painted Nat’s cheeks. “Aching for me? I can see why your autobiography was so successful. You certainly have a way with words.”

He grinned. “You’ve read it? Did you like what I said about you?”

“I’m not sure. The chapter dedicated to you bonking your way around Sydney in your early twenties wasn’t very specific on details.”

He laughed. “Okay, I didn’t use your name because I didn’t want you angry at me. And you were the principal of Sydney Boys High at the time it was published. I checked. I didn’t think the students or parents at the school would have reacted well on learning their revered principal had screwed a lowly rock band keyboardist at just about every significant Sydney location, do you?”

She couldn’t help but chuckle. “Point taken.”

He nodded. “Good. Now answer the question, Boxhead. Why aren’t you happily ensconced in a relationship right now?”

A steady pressure wrapped Nat’s temples. A prickling heat razed her flesh. “No one’s ever come close to…” She caught the incriminating confession before it could fall from her lips. “I mean, I’ve just never found the right person. And I work ridiculously long hours. No one’s going to put up with me never being home for dinner, or being at work all weekend with student performances. Or being too tired when I do get home to do anything but collapse in bed, sometimes without even cleaning my teeth.”

He studied her with a steady sideways gaze, an unreadable expression on his face, his eyes hidden by his dark sunglasses. “Yeah, sounds like hell.”

Her heart quickened. Why was it so easy to picture Jax in that bed with her? Teasing her for her bad breath even as he flattened her to her back and slid his morning erection into her all-too-ready—

“So what did you think of the movie last night?” she blurted out, shutting the mental image down. “Best soundtrack of the series so far?”

For a moment, it seemed like Jax was going to call her out for her sudden shift in topic. And then he let out a knowing chortle, lips curling. “So far,” he answered, withdrawing his hand from hers and pulling her to his side, smoothing his fingers across the curve of her butt to settle on her hip.

They walked and talked. Conversation flowed from the movie to the upcoming Chris Huntley sequel, to the animals around them, the people around them, to the band and their exasperating search for a new lead singer. Jax told her about Pepper, her phenomenal voice and crippling shyness, filled her in on how the New Yorker was now the band’s manager and the best thing that had ever happened to Noah. He regaled her with Samuel’s epic battle and ultimate surrender to love. She laughed, not only picturing the brooding guitar player struggling with his well-crafted rock star persona but loving the sound of Jax’s voice, his description of the moment Samuel had bolted after the woman he loved in a San Francisco rehab clinic.

When he told her of the heartache Levi had experienced over the last year, she couldn’t stop the tears stinging the backs of her eyes. “I wish I’d known,” she said, gazing at a large silverback gorilla fleeing a smaller female sitting in front of him. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had anything to do with Levi, but I remember him being a serious, deep guy. To lose a baby in such a horrible way…” She stopped, her heart clenching.

“I almost called you,” Jax said, his body close to hers as he leant his palms on the gorilla enclosure’s railing. “No one but the band and Levi and Corbin’s family knew and we were sworn to secrecy, but I almost called you.”

“To tell me?”

He shook his head. “Because I couldn’t get my head around the shock and senselessness of it all and needed you to help me understand it.”

Nat frowned up at him, her belly knotting. “How would I—”

“You always helped me understand life, Natalie,” he cut her off with a soft smile, still facing the gorillas tending to each other on the other side of the glass. “Just by being with me, you helped me understand the madness of it all. I didn’t realize that until you weren’t.”

The knot in Nat’s belly twisted. Her throat tightened. Her lips tingled.

Jax turned his head, his eyes hidden by his sunglasses, his face shrouded in the shadow form of his baseball cap. “I almost called you to tell you that as well.”

“Why didn’t you?” The question left her before she could stop it, a scratchy whisper.

His smile turned wry. “I told you that already. I’ve been a tosser most of my adult life.”

The self-deprecating contempt in the calm statement about his personality tore at Nat’s heart. “Not your whole adult life,” she murmured, cupping the side of his face with her hand.

“No?” Surprise tinged the word.

She shook her head. “Only when you took my AC/DC album.”

He laughed, the sound warm and relaxed and wonderful. “Ah, only then. Gotcha.”

Without warning, he dropped into a low crouch, pressed his shoulder to her belly and hauled her off her feet. He wrapped his arm around the back of her thigh, ignoring her giggling squeals. “Just for that, I’m going to carry you into those bushes over there and show these gorillas how it’s done.”

She burst out laughing. “Put me down, you maniac!”

“Nope.” He began walking. “I’m going to make you regret that, woman. I’m going to—”

“You better put her down, Mr. Potter,” Bruce’s stern voice rumbled behind Nat. “The paparazzi have discovered you’re here and are hunting for you.”

“Fuck.” Jax lowered her to her feet, a scowl twisting his lips. However, he didn’t release her from his arms, holding her close to his body instead. “No screwing in the bushes then.”

Pussy throbbing at the notion of being caught making out in the bushes by a horde of ravenous paparazzi, Nat pulled away from him a little. “What about lunch instead? We could find a semi-secluded corner in one of the cafés or restaurants here and wait until they’ve given up?”

“Holston’s with them,” Bruce said, distaste evident in his voice.

Jax snorted. “Well, we know
he’s
not going to give up in a hurry, don’t we?” Turning his dark glasses to her, he let out a wry chuckle. “Fuck it.” With a grin, he reached up and swept the baseball cap from his head. “Ready to have some fun, Teach?”

She frowned, the devilish look on his face unnerving her. And exciting her. “What are you going to do?”

“This,” he said, and without warning, slung her over his shoulder again and strode from the gorilla enclosure.

It didn’t matter how many times Nat or Bruce told him to put her down. He carried her over his shoulder through the zoo, loudly proclaiming to anyone who passed who he was. People stopped and gaped at them. Most raised their phones or cameras and took photos. All of them laughed and smiled. Nat gave up protesting and, giggling often, surrendered herself to the moment and enjoyed his lunacy.

When they finally came upon a gaggle of paparazzi obviously alerted to the spectacle Jax was making, he gave her butt a showing slap. “Think I might take you into the reptile enclosure, woman,” he declared, raising his voice to a melodramatic volume. “Show you a really impressive snake.”

The photographers—three of them in number, all armed with the latest and greatest zoom lensed camera—swung to face them. “Campbell!” they started calling, just as Jax strode away from them, Nat still slung over his shoulder. She gave them a sheepish wave, wondering how the hell the Con board was going to react to this. Wondering but not really caring.

She was having fun.

A minute later, with Bruce muttering something into a mobile phone beside them, Jax carried her into the dark interior of the reptile house.

The cool shadows wrapped around them instantly. Nat blinked, the sudden darkness messing with her vision for a few moments.

By the time her eyes had adjusted to the distinct lack of light, Jax had returned her to her feet. “That was fun,” he laughed, sliding his hands up the back of her thighs, over her butt to pull her hard to his body.

“It was different,” she pointed out, unable to hide the delight in her voice. “What do we do now?”

Removing his sunglasses, he lowered his head to hers, his hands cupping her backside in a warm, possessive grip. “Well, Bruce will keep everyone outside until the zoo security guys come and deal with paparazzi. And while they are distracted by security, kicking up a fuss about being denied access to public attractions and whatnot, you and I will slip out through the reptile house’s staff exit.”

Nat cocked an eyebrow. “And you know all this because?”

“Because I told Bruce to organize just such a thing before coming to your home today, in case the pap found us.”

“You did?”

“I did.” He drew his head closer again to her, his breath a warm caress on her lips. “I also told him to tell zoo staff and security to not come to our rescue or let anyone into the reptile house for at least twenty minutes.”

Nat’s heart tripped a beat. Her breasts grew heavy, her nipples pinched tight. The rigid bar pressing at her belly told her the paparazzi was the farthest thing from Jax’s mind. “You did?” she whispered, smoothing her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and into the hair at his nape. “And why’s that exactly?”

“So we could do this,” he whispered back.

He closed the minute distance between their lips and kissed her.

“And this,” he said when he tore his mouth from hers.

And with that, he pressed her back to the wall, unbuttoned her shirt and proceeded to make love to her.