My Once and Future Love (28 page)

Behind a low wall, the yard went down three
steps. We could see the rest of the property from here. A pool was
in the foreground. In contrast to the house, the pool was all
curves with a hot tub to one side. A barbeque stood at the other
end next to a cabana with a restroom sign on the door. I looked
down at the water’s edge and saw the bottom was tiled black.

“Take the path that way to the guest house,”
she said. “And around the other side is the big garage. The garden
is all desert plants, so you can look at it later.” She went toward
the guest house.

“Not fond of the landscaping?”

“I prefer flowers. Mr. Lindsey bought it all
this way.”

Now it made more sense. “No time for
decorating?”

“No need, for the right price.”

“Ah.” I glanced at the house. The second
story had a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows. The architect must
have thought the view was worthy.

Maria took a set of keys out of her pocket
and unlocked the door to the cottage. “This is your new home.”

Nice. A desk sat in the corner window spot. A
sofa and modest-sized television completed the living room. The
entrance to the kitchen was to the left. The refrigerator was
bigger than the one that came with my apartment, the stove had four
burners instead of two, and I now had both a microwave and a
regular oven. A two-person breakfast table sat under another corner
window.

“The bedroom is to the back, of course. These
are yours.” She dropped a set of keys on my palm.

The full bath was between the living room and
bedroom. Two storage closets were in the opposite wall. The tub
looked long enough for me to stretch my legs fully if I sat in it,
yay. That didn’t happen often for a five-foot-seven gal.

I turned on the light in the bedroom. Wow,
big.

“Nice, huh? The windows up there let in nice
light in the morning. Do you have a bed, Miss Lawson?”

“Yeah, I just need to borrow a truck.”

“Okay. Now, there are always leftovers in my
kitchen, so if you run out of something, come over. Always enough
to eat.” She walked back to the kitchen.

“Thanks.”

“I took the liberty of stocking some basics,
but if you have preferences, make a list and I’ll shop for
you.”

“You don’t need to--”

“You won’t have time, Miss Beth, at least not
until you get used to things.”

Her version of basics included three flavors
of pasta, and milk in nonfat, lowfat, lactose-free, and soy
varieties. One cupboard held ten kinds of cereal, and the freezer
was stocked with homemade frozen dinners. I also had apples,
oranges, and bananas by the dozen.

Being late November, daylight would be
short-lasting, so I wanted to get started on moving my belongings
inside. “Do you mind if I start unpacking?”

She shook her head. “Oh, no. Probably a good
idea before Mr. Lindsey comes home. If you need me, use the
intercom.” She went back to the house.

My bed was set up by five o’clock and I’d
just finished tucking in clean linens when there was a knock on my
front door.

“Beth?”

“I’m coming.”

Jacob stood leaning on the doorframe in a
different old leather jacket and jeans with holes in the knees. He
grinned at me. “You have dirt on your nose.”

“Crap.” I rubbed it off with my sleeve. Just
a little dust. “What’s up?”

He tossed me something. A cell phone. “Your
new leash.”

“Ha, ha.”

He came inside and shut the door. “So, that
thing’s supposed to be loaded with my itinerary, accordin’ to my
publicist. She said a girl like you should be able to figure it
out.”

“Girl like me? What does that mean?”

He rolled his eyes. “Like I know. Your new
computer will arrive tomorrow loaded with all that organizer shit.
Wash your hands and come upstairs with me.”

“Excuse me?” If he thought I was going to bed
with him…

“I wanna watch the bloody game while I tell
you what you’re in for. Won’t have time tomorrow.”

Oh. “Fine.” I used the kitchen sink, dried
off with a paper towel, and hurried to catch up with him.

“Maria gave you the tour?”

“I surveyed your kingdom, yep.”

“Same ol’ Beth, always with a quick
tongue.”

Tongues and Jacob brought up inappropriate
thoughts in my brain, memories I’d desperately suppressed. He
didn’t notice my blush, jogging up the stairs ahead of me.

Don’t stare at your ex’s ass…

“How come you put me in the guest house?”

He paused and turned in the hall to face me.
“Would you rather have a smaller room with less privacy?”

“No…”

“You need an office as well as a bed to sleep
in. That was the best option without remodeling and I don’t have
time for that. ‘Sides, runnin’ up the stairs every day will be good
for you.”

Oh,
yay
. Why couldn’t he have bought
the palace
with
an elevator?

He walked into his bedroom and shed the
jacket, tossing it in the vicinity of the closet. He wore a plain
black v-neck tee with a snug fit. Picking up a remote, he aimed it
at the ceiling and pressed a button. Television noise suddenly
flooded the room and I glanced up.

The TV was mounted to the ceiling above his
bed.

“Have a seat, pet,” he said, and flopped on
the king-size. He placed his hands behind his head and the tee rode
up.

Hello, abs and biceps…yeah, this was a good
idea…he was probably showing off on purpose
.

“Beth, you can sit on my bed. You’ve been
doing it since you were fourteen.”

I sat on the edge. “Right. So…besides keeping
track of your schedule, what will I be doing?”

“Oh, come on, my mum could’ve made that shot!
Bloody poof!” He glanced at me. “Sorry…duties, right… Well,
assisting. I need it, you get it. That’s what all the minions do
I’ve seen. There’s an intercom system wired throughout the
property, so I’ll buzz, yeah? The PA is the shadow, the extra hand,
the extra memory… So, got holiday plans?”

“W-what, for Christmas? Uh…no. Why?” I hadn’t
spent a holiday with my family in three years. Andrew was in
Virginia and Dad…well, I sent cards.

“Because we’re leaving on tour and you’re
coming with me.”

“Tour? Where? Shouldn’t you be at your
mother’s on Christmas Day?”

“Concert tour, on a bus, and I don’t always
get the choice. We’re hot, Beth, but we’re not we-control-the-shots
hot. The record company says go, we go.” He shrugged. “Album should
go platinum with the season, though, so sky’s the limit. Can you
handle five blokes in one bus for three months?”

Me against five rock musicians in a
motor-home. Oh, sure, piece of
cake
. “If I can babysit
six-year-old triplets, I think I can handle your band.”

He chuckled. “They’re good fellows at heart.
Just like to have a good time.”

“Like you.”

“Like me. I’ll see you tomorrow, Beth.”

Okay, guess I was dismissed. I stood. “What
time?”

His eyes were back on the game. “Hell, I
don’t know. Prob’ly in that phone.”

Great
.

I said goodnight and left his room. On the
walk back to my cottage, my mind buzzed with all the preparations
for tomorrow. Obviously, studying the Crackberry was paramount. I
needed to make sure my suit wasn’t wrinkled and I had at least one
notepad and a couple good pens. I made a list of things to have in
my handbag in the morning and stuck it to the refrigerator, hung my
pantsuit on the bathroom door, and sat on the sofa with the phone
while dinner cooked in the microwave.

A schedule for tomorrow was right there.
Wake Jake at 7:30. Wake him again at 8:00. Make sure he eats
something and has coffee in hand. Meeting at 9:00
. On and on it
went, every hour of his life mapped out. He wasn’t kidding when he
said they had control.

I hoped I didn’t screw this up.

The next morning when I walked into the house
Maria already had the coffee in a travel mug. “This helps him wake
up.”

“Thanks.”

I knocked on his door and called his name
before I opened it, just in case he wasn’t decent. Last I knew, he
slept nude. He walked out of the bathroom in boxers, scratching his
head and yawning.

“That for me?” he asked, pointing to the
mug.

“Uh, yeah. The meeting is at nine.”

“Okay. Let me get dressed.

I nodded, my brain shut down over the sight
of that much yummy skin. He’d filled out nicely at twenty-five,
lean but strong.

“Beth…”

“Oh. Yeah, sorry, ton on my mind. I’ll go
now.” I fled the room, grateful I hadn’t been staring
at
him.

Get a grip! It’s not the first time you’ve
seen him without a shirt.

Yeah, but it’s the first time since New
Year’s Eve five years ago, the night we—

Well, get used to it!

Inner-Beth was right. Jacob was my boss and
we wouldn’t be buddies on the job. He was the star, I was the
lackey, and I needed to pound that into my brain right quick. This
was strictly platonic. Clinical, even.

He came down the stairs in the same leather
jacket from last night, a Ramones tee, and another pair of ripped
jeans, these with a hole in only one knee. His short hair stood up
in random directions and he hadn’t shaved. Quintessential rock
star.

“Ready, pet?”

“Are you driving?”

He held up a set of keys. “Unless you want
to.”

“No, by all means. I don’t know where we’re
going.”

He walked out of the house to the five-car
garage and triggered the doors to open. “Hello, lovelies.” Wow. His
car collection could buy my father’s house with change to spare. He
walked to the Jag I’d seen before. “Like it?”

“Pretty.”

Sexy. I’d just clicked my seatbelt in place
when he gunned the car out of the garage. It growled and raced
toward the gates.

“Um, Jacob…”

He grinned and triggered the gates to open
just in time to let us through. Silly me, forgetting how crazy he
could be behind the wheel. Apparently, it’d only gotten worse now
he had fast toys.

“Oh, God, I can’t watch,” I muttered when we
entered L.A. traffic.

“Can’t learn where the office is with your
eyes closed, Beth.”

“I’d rather not see Death coming,
thanks.”

He laughed and shifted the car into another
gear. My heart didn’t stop trying to pound out of my chest until we
pulled into the parking structure.

“You are a mad man.”

“You were never in any danger, Beth. Think
I’d kill off my oldest friend?”

“There’s a reason why they’re called traffic
accidents
.”

He waved off my fears and strutted into the
building. I rolled my eyes and followed. It was going to be a long
day.

I took notes on everything.

That evening, Jacob left to do whatever
celebrities do and I had dinner with Maria to discuss his schedule
for the rest of the week so she could plan meals.

The limo was picking us up at nine the next
morning, so I knocked on Jacob’s door a little before eight.

“Jacob.” After a few seconds, I rapped twice
again. “Jacob?”

With no answer, I walked in. He was sleeping
on his side facing me, with his face partially pressed into the
pillow. I tapped his shoulder.

“Jacob, wake up.”

“Mmph.”

“Your ride will be here in an hour. Come
on.”

“Steven Tyler doesn’t get up before ten,” he
grumbled.

“You’re not in Aerosmith. Now get up!” I
pulled the covers off him.

Oh God
. And spun to put my back to his
naked body.

“Shy now, Bethie? Seen it all before.” The
bed rustled from him moving. “Touched it, too,” he said in my ear.
He moved to the closet.

I faced the nightstand. “I’m not touching
anything now.”

“Didn’t ask you to.” He sounded entirely too
amused.

“Don’t you have an alarm clock?”

“What for? Someone always rings me up.” He
walked into the bathroom in a silk robe.

“No wonder you’re always late. I’m going to
program alarms into your phone.”

“Yeah, yeah…” He shut the door and I heard
the shower turn on.

Rolling my eyes, I left the bedroom.

****

Jacob dropped the robe on the floor and
opened the shower door. The water heated instantly, so he stepped
under the spray and closed his eyes, sighing at the pleasurable
feeling of the water beating down on his shoulders. Reaching for
the bottle of soap, he squeezed out a dollop and lathered his
chest.

Cooler air hit his body. The enclosure door
had opened and Beth stood before him in her white blouse and
slacks. One delicate hand landed on his chest above his heart.

“I lied. I do want to touch you,” she
said.

He leaned forward to kiss her but she dropped
to her knees and took his erection in hand. A moan escaped his lips
and he squared his feet, steadying his balance. Her pretty pink
lips wrapped around the tip.

“Oh fuck.” He buried his hand in her soft
hair and encouraged her to take more inside.

It was perfect, and she’d never done this to
him before.

“Beth, I’m gonna--”

She let go and stood up. Her clothes vanished
in seconds. He picked her up, pressed her against the wall, and
plunged inside, finally kissing her like he’d wanted to. This was
going to be fast and sloppy, but damn if he hadn’t missed shagging
her.

The force of his orgasm made him grab the
glass wall to keep his balance. When he opened his eyes, there was
no Beth, just his dick in his hand and ejaculate washing down the
drain.

Bloody hell
. A little self-love hadn’t
left him breathless in years. A few days of Beth back in his life
and he was already fantasizing—

“Oh, not good, Jake…don’t go down this
road.”

She already broke his heart once.

Cursing at himself for letting her get into
his head, he finished washing up, rinsed, and walked out of the
bathroom with a towel around his waist to find a mug of coffee next
to his cell on the nightstand. It was prepared just how he liked it
and he wondered if Maria made it or Beth remembered. Probably
Maria.