Love Today (9 page)

He left about ten minutes later. I’m sure it had to do with the fact that Maggie asked when Zack was coming over. Jared didn’t seem surprised, and he also didn’t seem bothered by it. We had a conversation with Maggie about Halloween and what she was going to dress up as, and I was amused by how much Jared made her laugh and some of the questions he asked her.
He was really good with
her
, and it made me respect him quite a bit.
It’s not always easy for young kids to warm up to adults
,
and Maggie was usually one of the reserved ones.

I walked him to the door and our parting was on good terms. He wanted me to let him know if Maggi
e decided to go with the purple
-leopard-print Diva, or the Bumble Bee Ballerina
for Halloween
.

He waved as he
walked
to
his
’68 Camaro, just as Zack pulled up.

Chapter Eight

I didn’t even think anything of the two coming across each other
. T
hey sort of seemed to acknowledge the other as Zack got out of his Jeep and Jared got into his car. Zack glanced at him pulling away as he walked up to the house, and then looked at me and said, “Nice car. Who’s that?”

“Uh, Jared,” I replied as he entered the house.

It was then that he gave me a funny look. “Jared? You mean he really does exist?”

I wasn’t sure why he looked so
surprised
until I remembered how he actually knew of
“
Jared
”
in the first place.

“So
he really is a ‘friend’ of yours?” he asked.

“What? No, he’s not that kind of ‘friend.’ I wasn’t serious when I brought him up before, you know.”

“Yeah, I
knew that at the time…”

I shut the front door and sighed. Zack’s tone wasn’t accusatory, but I felt guilty anyway.

“Hey, Maggie,” he greeted. He walked toward the kitchen where she was still trying to hang a spoon on her nose like Jared
had
. “What’s the
deal
?” he chuckled as he took the spoon and hung it from his nose.

“Hey, you can do it too!” she giggled.

“I think your nose is too small,” he said, touching her nose with his finger.

I smiled at the two of them as I entered the kitchen and asked, “Are you hungry? We had lasagna a little bit ago. I was expecting you earlier; did something happen?”

“Nah, I just
had a late conference call
. I texted you.”

My phone was by the front door with my purse, but I didn’t want to seem distrustful by going over to check it. “I’m sorry, I guess I didn’t hear it.”

“It’s fine,” he shrugged. “I figured you were just busy.”

He glanced up at me and smiled, and then the two of us just looked at each other for a few
seconds
. I knew what I’d missed out on when he’d arrived, and I think he was thinking about the same thing.

I was glad he could read my silent request when he got up and met me in the
kitchen for a kiss. Because Maggie’s eyes and ears were nearby, we kept it simple. But
then
I led him out a different kitchen exit that gave us a hallway for privacy, and prolonged the kiss.

I cuddled against him for a few seconds as he he
ld me
and then I looked at him and said,
“At
the
wedding
—when I mentioned Jared? —I had only met him one time. It was at an event of my sister’s that I was taking pictures for.
His dad is Rachel’s boss.
And then he was the one that called and set up the photo shoot for the bands at the Showbox, and then tonight he brought that by.” I pointed to the venue poster on the coffee table
in the next room
. “It was only the second time I’ve seen him.
He was just a name I used; I never expected to come across him again—
”

“You don’t need to explain, Taryn. I didn’t mean to come off sounding territorial.”

“So it doesn’t bother you that I spent time with him tonight?”

He paused for a few seconds and then slowly smiled. “This is one of those no-win answers, isn’t it? If I’m jealous then I’m possessive; if I’m not then I don’t care enough.”

“So which is it?”

He lightly laughed and shook his head. “Well, I guess I’m in between. Yes
I’m
greedy for your time
, but no I’m not going to
investigate
your friendships.”

That seemed fair enough, so I
smiled and
nodded my agreement. He kissed me once more and said, “And yes, I’m starving if you don’t mind feeding me.”

“Of course I don’t
mind
,” I smiled. “Let me heat it up for you.”

He wandered into the living room while I re-entered the kitchen, and I heard him say, “That turned out pretty cool.”

I knew he was talking about the poster
, so I agreed and added, “You feel like seeing the show that night? I think I’d like to.”

“Yeah, that sounds like a plan. Oh, wait…
t
he 8
th
? I’m
gonna
be up in Canada that weekend, remember? I’m sorry.”

I did recall the business trip to Whistler that he’d mentioned. He had invited me to go with him, but it was Maggie’s birthday on the 9
th
and I knew I’d pretty much be in charge of
her party
.

Zack re-entered the kitchen and said, “It’s funny that guy’s
name is Jared. I
only
saw him briefly, but he reminded me of
the lead singer of Breaking Point.”

“The band?” I asked. It was more for my benefit than his because
that was the link that finally
hit me between the eyes
.

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “
I thought he looked
like Jared Miller.”

I froze where I was in the kitchen. Zack sat down at the table with Maggie—who was still working on the spoon trick—and I was still speechless. Apparently he noticed
that and glanced back at my stunned silence
.

“No way,” he said. “Seriously?”

“I,
uh…”

He got up as he chuckled at the same time. “Taryn, I barely got a look at the guy, but you’ve spent time with him. You mean to tell me you didn’t even know?”

“Um… Well, he said he was in a band…”

He laughed again and asked, “You don’t know much about Breaking Point?
I thought you loved alternative rock.
They’ve got so many songs that you’d recognize—”

“Yes, I know how popular they are and I listen to their music all the time. I just don’t, like, have their poster hanging in my room or anything. I don’t
remember
what they look like.”

With a smile he pointed outside
where Jared had been
and said, “They look like that.”

I rolled my eyes and handed him the plate of food I’d heated up. “Well call me clueless then.”

“Okay, clueless,” he teased.

I smiled
and he kissed me before he
took the plate out of my hand, and then he sat down at the table next to Maggie.

For some reason or other, Jared didn’t want me to know who he was. I guess that was understandable.
His band was
huge
in the U.S. and they’d already been on two world tours and performed at the Grammys and other big events.
Maybe the guy couldn’t go anywhere without being recognized. Maybe he just liked to blend in with everyone else.

Maybe I was just the one
idiot that could be fooled.

I thought about my interactions with him so far; he seemed like such an ordinary guy. Yeah he was gorgeous and had eyes that seemed to bear his soul, but his status was secondary to me.
It kind of made me laugh at myself because I really was a Breaking Point fan. It’s true that I’d seen what they looked like before, but it really was the music that I’d been so attached to over the last few years.

And to actually be face to face with their front man and not
even
know it…just blew me away.

It was almost bedtime for Maggie, so I corralled her toward the bathroom to take a bath. Zack was watching TV when I came out from reading her a bedtime story, so I sat on the couch to cuddle with him just as
Rachel
came through the door. She went through her usual “I’m so beat; what a long day” routine, and I just let her ramble on about how important her life was. Then she finally asked if Maggie went to bed okay just as she was heading for her own bedroom.

She didn’t e
ven wait for
an answer
as the door shut behind her
.

When Jared called me two days later, I didn’t know if I should admit that I
had finally
realized
who he was. It really didn’t matter to me that he was a famous rock star, but I felt like it was dishonest to keep letting him believe
I didn’t know. He
asked
if I’d commit to photographing his buddy’s sho
w, so I casually said, “Sure, I’d love to
do that.”

“Awesome. It’s
gonna
be at the
WaMu
theatre
in Seattle.
You know where that is?”

“Uh, is that down by the football stadium?”

“Yeah, pretty much right under it.
” Out of the blue he added,
“
You think about traveling much?”

“What?”

“Traveling. Do you have an interest in traveling for your job? Because if you do, I know you’d make a great tour photographer.”

“You mean go along with a band on their entire tour?”

“Yeah. I mean you’d get to see all kinds of places. And if the band goes overseas… Well, you get to experience different countries, too. Being with a group like that is comfortable and people make sure that you’re taken care of.”

“
And i
t helps when you’re
mega
famous,
”
I couldn’t help mentioning
.

He paused for
a few
beats
, and I was sure
that he was processing my tone
.
“So what’d you do, Google me?” he finally asked.

“Actually no, I didn’t even think of doing that. Zack thought you looked familiar. He said you looked like Jared Miller
of Breaking Point
.”

He chuckled. “Yes, I suppose I do.”

“Well, I guess I can understand the need for anonymity, so I’m not mad at you for lying to me.”
“What? I never lied to you.”

“You kept
it
from me. Same thing.”

“No, not the same thing. At least not in this case.”

“What makes it different?”

“
Uh…well,
I really like you. I wanted you to like me
,
too.
Without
knowing that.
”

“I did like you. I mean I
do
like you. But you really think
knowing
your r
eal identity would change how I am around you?”

“I thought you said you understood the need for anonymity. If you really
do
understand, then
you could
answer your own question.”

“Point taken, but I’m not really into all that celebrity crap. I could
n’t
care less about who’s worth what and who’s dating who.”

“Me neither, but even though that’s good to hear, it’s exactly why you intimidate me.”

“What? What do
you
mean?”

“I mean that you actually think less of me because of who I am to the public.”

“I do not think—”

“Yes, you do. I could read you so easily at that brunch for my dad’s company. You were so appalled with people that have money and position.”

“Not even true. It’s the attitudes that go along with it that I don’t approve of. Some of those people don’t care who they step on to get them somewhere.”

“And you thought I was one of them.”

“I did. But you proved that you weren’t. And I’m sorry for judging you like that, but I’m really glad you’re not a stuffy suit-wearing schmoozer. I kind of like the real you, which is just a laid-back, friendly guy that my niece won’t stop talking about.”