Teacher: The Final Act (A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy #3) (7 page)

He growled a little.  ”Yeah, well, he said it would ‘get in the way,’ whatever the fuck that means.”  

I couldn’t help but laugh.  His expression was a frustrated, dig-my-heels-in kind of stubborn, and he seemed a little embarrassed.  

“It’ll grow back, baby.”  

He raised an eyebrow at me.  ”You like me furry?”  

I laughed and ran my hand under his shirt, raking my nails through his chest hair.  His eyes rolled back and he moaned.  ”Ah, shit, Jesse.  That feels so fucking good.”  

I whispered to him just where else I’d like to run my fingers. He shivered, grabbed me up, slung me over his shoulder, and carried me to our borrowed room.

We emerged several hours later after making love, and napping, which was a first. Danny never napped. Then more lovemaking, showering, getting dressed, removing clothes, more lovemaking, and getting dressed again. We were sitting in Julian’s office in front of a ginormous monitor, looking at furniture and ideas for the new room, when Jane and Nora returned. She came into the room, looking nervous, and gasped when she saw me. She didn’t run to me like she usually would. She actually clung to Nora’s side a little.

“Hey, sweetie! I’ve missed you,” I said and held my arms out for a hug. I glanced at Danny and saw him frown when she hesitated, but I wasn’t surprised. She came over and hugged me tentatively. She squeaked when I pulled her onto my lap.

“Are you okay, Jesse?”

“I’m okay. I was a little sore, and I know my face looks terrible, but everything is okay.”

She didn’t seem to believe me. She hugged me again, hiding her face in my hair. I held her and stroked her back. Danny reached over and rubbed her back, too.

“I know it’s upsetting to look at her face. It’s killing me,” Danny said seriously. I snorted and Jane popped up, frowning at me. Then she realized what he’d said and she giggled, too.  It took Danny longer to get it.  When he did, he shook his head.  

“I can’t even get you back right now!  This is so not fair!”  

Jane laughed, but then looked back at me with worry.

“I’m really fine. He didn’t hurt me,” I said to her, hoping she understood what I was trying to tell her. “I want you to do me a favor, though.” She gave me her full attention.

“I want us both to take self-defense training. The detective I met at the hospital said she’d come to the house and teach us. Would you do that with me?”

She nodded vigorously. “Yes! Of course I will. I’m so sorry this happened to you, Jesse.”

I thanked her, kissing her forehead. “Thanks, Jane. I promise I’m okay. Now, the next item of discussion is that your dad has decided to make some changes at the house,” I said, gesturing to the computer.

Danny took over explaining what we were thinking of doing in the living room and her eyes totally lit up.

“It’s gonna be so cool! I can’t wait! Will it be done by Halloween? Can we have a big Halloween party?”

Danny and I looked at each other and shrugged.

“I don’t see why not,” Danny said and the two of them started planning the party. I sat back, feeling a little tired. My heart swelled with love for these two crazy redheads.

After they plotted for a bit, we got Jane settled into the room across the hall from us.  She looked around at the modern furniture and it made me think of watching her check out the hotel room when we went to Los Gatos.  Man, that felt like so long ago, but in reality it was less than two months.  So much had happened!  Of course, I could say that about the entire time I was with Danny.

Nora stayed to cook us dinner and then Connie was coming to stay with her.  Nora, it seemed, was a little freaked about what happened and Connie didn’t want her to be alone.  Danny called the decorator and scheduled a meeting with her on Wednesday.  We were going to go over to the house together then for the first time.  Nora already had people coming to clear the room and put everything he was keeping in the garage.  Some specialists were going to move the piano into the great room off the kitchen for the time being.  I couldn’t believe this was all happening.  

So we camped out at the Mannings’.  It was a little weird, but they really missed having Danny over and they made every effort to make Jane and I feel at home.  We all missed Legs, though. Their backyard was a series of decks and not safe for our growing pup. Legs would stay with Patricia and Max until we could get home.

After dinner the guys had a jam session and played some of the new songs they’d just recorded.  The Mannings had turned part of their home into studio and rehearsal space.  It was cramped and loud, but they provided us girls with earplugs.  Jane and I curled up together on a loveseat and Nora sat on the arm.  

Their music was absolutely brilliant!  When Danny sang the new lyrics, I felt my stomach tighten.  Somehow he’d managed to spill our ups and downs into the most beautiful words.  He sang of love at first sight, of the excitement of getting to know someone, loving one who’s forbidden, the fear of losing the one you love, and even the thrill of a new lover.  All of the songs were powerful and were a huge departure from what they usually sang about.  

They played for about an hour and a half. Jane and I were enthralled the whole time.  When they took a break, we took out our earplugs and she looked up at me, her blue eyes huge.  ”I never knew they sounded so awesome!  My dad is...Wow.”

I giggled with her.  ”I know.”  

The guys sat in a circle facing each other. Danny’s back was to me.  They were talking in musician speak about the songs and which ones they might want to play live and which one should be their first single.  Bronson tossed his hair back and took a long swig on his water bottle before addressing the group.

“I think Tuesday we should have Patricia and someone from the label come down and hear what we have so far.  She wants to meet with us to schedule the first round of appearances and interviews.”  

Danny nodded and said, “Definitely.  I think we’re ready.  And Nikki’s ready to do the album cover as soon as we are.  He also said he’d do some publicity shots for us if we want.  Julian, are you going to update the website?”  

“Already working on it.  I’ve got some ideas for teasers.  I was almost thinking we could drop hints or passwords in interviews that would unlock material on the website like photos, clips of the new songs, etc.  What do you guys think?”  

Danny stroked his goatee, deep in thought.  ”Maybe we could also do some scavenger hunts for clues to where we might make appearances?  That could be fun.  Some random places, like The White Stripes did in Canada on their last tour?   Like post on Facebook thirty minutes before where we’re going to be there?  Dude, we could like show up in a parking lot where they’re having a Food Truck Mafia!”  

The guys laughed and seemed game for that.  

Then Jane spoke up. “Dad, what about GeoCacheing?  You know, leaving clues lying around that people can use their GPS to find and then when they find the right location, there’s like autographed stuff?  Some of my friends are into that.”  

Danny turned around and smiled at her.  ”That’s a cool idea.  We’d need to find someone who knows how to do that shit, though.”  

Jane hopped off the couch. “Well, I kinda do.  I did some with my friend Sasha and her mom.  We could work on it together.”  

Danny beamed at his daughter.  He grabbed Jane and kissed her hard on the cheek, giving her a squeeze.  ”My daughter is a genius.  Maybe we should make you our marketing guru!  That’s sure a helluva better idea than those clowns have ever come up with.”  

Julian said he’d help her put the info up on the website.

Alex laughed.  ”Remember that time they tried to get us to play that pothead music festival?  That one up in Humboldt?  They thought it would ‘broaden our fan base?’  I’m so fucking glad we didn’t do that. Or the time they wanted us to be on an episode of Desperate Housewives?  What the fuck was that all about?”  

The guys swapped stories of lame ideas the label had come up with.  Bronson laughed loudly and sputtered, “Remember the action figures?  They wanted us to fucking be like KISS?”  

Alex frowned.  ”I kind of liked those dolls.  You guys shot that one down.”

Danny was laughing but then he got quiet.  ”You know what I’d like to do?  I’d like us to sing the National Anthem at a Giants game.  Wouldn’t that be so cool?  I heard Metallica showed up once, had a whole themed night.  I’d love to do that.  But maybe we could do like Spring Training or something, where there’s a smaller crowd of the diehard fans and then we could do like a show someplace after, in a club or some shit. I miss those intimate gigs. It’s been a long time.”

They all nodded and Jane asked, “Can you even sing it, Dad?”  

He raised an eyebrow at her and then launched into the song a cappella. His voice was so powerful. I watched as everyone in the room broke out in goosebumps.  When he hit the final high note, Julian and Alex started whistling loudly.  At the end, Jane’s jaw was on the floor.

“Daddy!  How did you learn how to do that?”  

He grabbed her and pulled her in for a kiss.  ”Practice!  Now, why don’t you grab that guitar over there. Let’s play them our song.”  

Danny had taught Jane how to play “Smoke on the Water.”  The guys clapped along and Julian and Alex joined in quietly to provide the bass and drums.  Danny sang quietly, his voice able to go from the National Anthem to Deep Purple without missing a beat.  

The jam session went on and on.  After Jane played she came back to the loveseat and leaned into me.  In a few minutes she was fast asleep. Danny carried her off to bed. I followed them and waited in the hallway for Danny to come out.

He was grinning like a madman when he opened the door. He backed me up to the wall with an intense kiss. He pulled back and cradled my face. “I liked having you here while we played. What did you think of the songs?”

I swallowed hard. “It was kind of a shock. I had no idea...”

“I know it’s really personal. I hope you’re not upset.”

I shook my head. “No, not at all. It’s not like anyone else is going to know what it’s about.”

His smile fell a little. “But they will. I’m going to be doing interviews all over before the album comes out. They’re going to ask. You gonna be okay with our relationship being out there?”

I paused before answering him. He backed up from me so I could sit on the bed.  I wasn’t sure how I felt about it.  
Here life goes, taking another crazy turn
, I thought to myself.  I looked at him and took his hands in mine.  

“I don’t know.  Just how personal are we talking?  I can only imagine my students might see or read an interview about you. I’m kind of concerned.”  

He tugged on his goatee a little.  ”I can see that.  I guess I shouldn’t talk about your flexibility, or that sexy mole you have on your lower back.”  

I pinched his side and he scooted back on the bed to get away from me.  

“Ow! Fuck!  Alright!  I guess I really shouldn’t talk about how you like to abuse me.”  I tackled him and straddled his chest, pinning his arms with my knees.  ”Oooo, I like this move, honey.  Okay, fine.  I will definitely not tell them about how much you like skinny dipping in my pool.”  

“Remember, I can always do my own tell-all interview,” I said with a smirk.  

He stopped laughing.  ”You could.  I wouldn’t stop you.  But I’m only kidding. I hope you know that.  I will only say that ‘yes, I am in a new relationship, it’s very serious, and she’s the love of my life.’  Will that be okay?  I mean, if they really listen to the lyrics, it might give them other ideas...”

I leaned down and kissed him.  ”Just don’t go into detail about our bedroom activities. Or my new bra size.”  

He pulled his arms out and cupped my breasts.  ”Mmmmm, no way.  These are mine. I fucking love these.  I loved them before, you know.  Now they’re just more kissable, and suckable and cuddleable.”   

“I get it.  There’s just more of me to go around.”  

He moaned. “Exactly.”

“But you
can
tell them how excited you are that you passed the California High School Exit Exam and are officially a high school graduate.”

He stared at me blankly. “What did you say?”

I bent down and rubbed noses with him. “You passed, silly. I told you you would! I’m sorry I hadn’t told you yet. Gloria called me and told me the day everything happened. I—”

Danny flipped me over on my back. I was completely at his mercy. I’m sure he thanked me at some point. I was just distracted by his expert use of his tongue and fingers, and the way he contorted my body to get exactly where he wanted to be. I could barely hold on as he showed me with his body just how much he appreciated all of the hard work we’d done together, and were about to continue doing together.

When he finished inside me, we were both gasping for breath. He nuzzled my neck and fingered my necklace with the Teacher pendant that I never took off.

“I am so blessed to have you in my life, honey. Thank you for this gift of you.”

I started to tell him we needed to plan a celebration, but he silenced me with his kisses.

“This is all the celebration I need. This and a fucking wedding reception. Everyone and everything else can wait, God dammit. I just want you.” I started to protest, but he just had this way of taking over. Just like with everything else. This time I was happy to let Mr. Bossypants be in charge. He continued to be in charge for hours.

Monday and Tuesday the guys were in the studio. After I picked up Jane from school, we hung out at the Mannings’ and watched movies.  We spent time in their hot tub, ordered take out, and bummed around.  It was probably no different from what the brothers did on a regular basis.  

Wednesday afternoon Nora took Jane to the ranch while Danny and I prepared to go to the house and meet with the decorator.  He worried about how I would feel going over, but Nora assured us the room was already gutted.  The crew she hired moved fast. I was less worried than Danny, but I knew it would be weird for a while.  I would feel better as soon as I started self-defense training with Sandra.  I made a mental note to get her number from Danny.