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The coffee pot was still half full from last
night, so I poured a mug and set it in the microwave for Jacob,
then re-buttoned the top two buttons of my pajama top. Sneaky
hands—we weren’t kissing
that
long. The timer chimed and he
walked into the kitchen dressed in layers.

Taking the mug from me, he said, “Thanks.
You’re a Godsend.”

“Do you have time for breakfast?”

He shook his head. “I’ll eat on the
plane.”

“Where’s the next gig?”

“Vancouver. Come with me.”

“To the airport? I’m not dressed.” Unable to
leave a mess for my sister-in-law, I walked to the sofa to fold the
blanket.

“On the plane.” His toiletry kit and the
clothes he slept in went in his suitcase.

“Jacob, I can’t just drop everything. Dad
paid for the plane tickets here and back.”

“Do you work tomorrow?”

“No clients, but I have
responsibilities.”

“Between Christmas and New Years.”

“Some of us don’t make money
twenty-four-seven from royalties.” That came out snappier than I
intended. We’d argued this kind of thing so many times before.

“Okay…but come see me off.”

“And how would I get back?” A car honked once
outside. His ride was here. I took the empty mug from him in
exchange for his coat. “I’ve seen enough partings in airports.”
Only made two steps toward the kitchen before he yanked me back and
kissed me. Wrapping my arms around his neck, I kissed him back,
putting what I couldn’t express into my actions. When he had me
panting for breath, he let go.

“I love you,” he said.

“I know. I love you, too. Go. You’ll be
late.”

He opened the door, I stepped out of the way
of the draft, and he left. Neither of us liked saying
goodbye
.

“That was some kiss,” Darcy said, making me
jump.

“You were watching?”

She smiled. “Just the last part.”

“Not nice to eavesdrop.” My cheeks were warm,
probably glowing pink.

“Don’t make-out in my house,” she teased.
“Want breakfast?”

“Too early for me. Think I’ll go back to
bed.”

She shrugged and turned to the kitchen. I
grabbed the pillow from the sofa and went to my room. Dad and I
weren’t flying home until later, so I had time to sleep.

If I could shut my brain off.

Despite having my family together on
Christmas for the first time in years, I’d been downright mopey
until Jacob surprised me yesterday morning. It was terrifying to
care for someone that much—part of the reason I was a recluse after
Mom died. We could easily screw this up all over again, and
then…well, I didn’t know what came after
then
.

****

Jacob couldn’t rejoin the tour with the same
enthusiasm as the others. For the first time in twenty-nine years,
he wanted a ‘normal’ life—well, at least, a normal holiday. He’d
never sign on to leave home this late in the year again. Not while
he had Beth.

He was the last band member on the plane.

“Thought we might have to continue without a
lead singer,” Bob teased.

“I’m not that late.”

“Of course not. Bethie wouldn’t let him be,”
Aaron said. Then the prick made a whip-cracking sound with his cell
phone. Mikey grabbed it from his hand.

“Let me try that.” The whip cracked again.
“Where’d you get the app?”

“Very cute.” Jacob flagged down the
stewardess. “Coffee?”

“Yes, sir.”

His mates were only yankin’ his chain, but he
wasn’t in the mood, and put ear buds in and cranked up his iPod.
Being the only one in a serious relationship had started making him
feel like an old man around the rest of the band and he didn’t like
it. They were a team, brothers, best friends…no one should be set
apart. Bob sticking with Celeste should’ve given them more common
ground, but the guitarist didn’t feel for the redhead what he did
for Beth.

Something slapped his shoulder. “Stop it.”
Speak of the devil.

Jacob removed one ear bud. “What?”

“Whatever’s runnin’ through your head to make
you such a grumpy ass. Stop it. Personal shit is left at home,
remember?”

“I’m fine.”

“Tell your face. Look…everybody’s homesick.
Just hold it together one more week and pretend you want to be
here.” Piece said, Bob left him alone.

Sighing, Jacob downed the rest of his coffee
and went into the sleeping quarters in the back to rest. Everyone
counted on him to be on tonight.

****

“Elizabeth?”

“Yeah, Dad?” I turned away from the window
and my thoughts. “Is it time to leave?”

“Soon. Say goodbye to your brother.”

Nodding, I stepped past him and went to
Andrew. He was sitting on the floor making the toy train run around
the tree, Sarah on his lap. She clapped and giggled each time the
train whistled.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” He picked up Sarah and got to his
feet. “Say bye-bye to your Aunt Beth.”

She waved her little hand at me. “Buh!”

Kissing her cheek, I wrapped around him for a
group hug.

“Be good, kid.”

“Twenty-seven is a kid?” Granted, with him
towering over me, I sometimes felt like one.

“Does your family always bicker?” Darcy
said

We looked at each other then at her.
“Yep.”

She took Sarah, put her in her crib, then
hugged me. “Call more often, ‘kay?”

“I’ll try.”

Dad came back in from loading the bags. He
and Andrew shook hands and did the manly-pat-the-back thing. The
only person Dad got all soft around was his granddaughter and even
then, you had to catch him when he wasn’t looking, but this was
great progress when he and Andrew wouldn’t be in the same room
together ten years ago. Darcy was pretty amazing to put up with all
the Lawsons under one roof, but my brother always did have good
taste.

Dad read most of the five-hour flight. Having
the window seat, I watched the scenery pass by below, then tried to
nap, then settled upon the usually calming classical list on my
iPod just so he wouldn’t ask why I was so restless. Though, since
he didn’t try, maybe he already had a good idea.

My best friend Celeste picked us up at LAX.
“Hi, Mr. Lawson. Have a good Christmas?” Unexpectedly, Celeste took
a liking to him and cooked for him often. She didn’t talk about her
family much, so I didn’t mind sharing.

“Yes. Thank you. And you?”

“I entertained myself.” Head in the trunk, he
missed the impish grin accompanying her words.

Please don’t have a story about phone sex
with Bob
…

“Oh, hi, Celeste. Thanks for picking us up
today.”

She rolled her eyes. “I was getting to you,
geesh.” She let my father take the passenger seat, so I got the
back with no leg room. Coupes suck.

“Elizabeth, your friend was just being
polite.”

“Yes, Dad…”

Tired, I let them chat on the way to my
father’s.

When she pulled up at the house, I got out
and stretched my legs. L.A. was a brisk sixty-five this afternoon,
a welcome change from the snow of Virginia. Snow was pretty, but
cold
.

“Do you want us to stay for a while,
Dad?”

“Nah. I’m sure you ladies want to gossip
about Elizabeth’s gentleman caller.”

“You’re
what
?”

Oh, he would have to bring that up. Now, she
wouldn’t leave me alone until she got all the details.
“
Thanks
, Dad.”

“Drive safe, honey.” He went in the
house.

Celeste turned on me the second he was out of
earshot. “Spill.”

“Can we get back in the car first?”

She sighed, opened her door, and sat. I took
my time getting comfortable in the passenger seat, adjusting the
seatbelt and back position.

“Beth!”

“Jacob surprised me on Christmas Day. It’s
not a big deal.”

“He flies to Virginia for
one day
just
for you and it’s not a big deal? Bullshit.”

“Well, it was a good surprise, obviously, but
we were at my brother’s house, not some place romantic. There were
a lot of people around.”

She stared at me. “There isn’t a single juicy
detail?”

“Nope.” Nothing I was telling her.

“For dating one of the hottest men on the
planet, you have a very boring relationship.”

“By
your
definition.” Have I mentioned
my best friend was a monogamous nympho?

“Beth, you’re the only woman on the planet
who would date Jake Lindsey and not boink his brains out at every
opportunity.”

“Been there, done that, got the t-shirt—it
didn’t end well.”

“Which was also your fault.”

“
Both
our faults. Can we not? I just
came off a long flight after not a lot of sleep and I
so
don’t need you picking at my love life when I’m not even home,
yet.”

She put the car in gear. “Sorry. I’m happy
you got a surprise gift. That was very sweet of him.” We made our
way through the streets toward the 10 Freeway. It took about a half
hour to get home, if we didn’t run into a traffic jam.

“Thank you.”

My best friend’s
interest—cough-obsession-cough—was exactly why I wanted to keep my
relationship a secret from the public. Friends and family already
scrutinized it enough. What would the press and every busybody
do?

“Did you have to work while I was gone?” I
asked.

“No. No emergencies. The office is always
dead the last two weeks of the year,” she said.

“Oh. Well, that’s good. Gives you more time
to shop post-Christmas sales.”

“I’ve already made a list.”

Celeste didn’t believe in awkward silence, so
she filled me in on the past three days of her life and her plans
for the week and we were soon at our building in Santa Monica.

See, once Jacob was back in California, I’d
have to tell him about the changes of the past two months. Being a
creature of habit and routine, I didn’t know how I was going to fit
him back into my daily life. Before he went on tour, I was
constantly paranoid, looking over my shoulder for cameras poking
out of bushes whenever I left the house. As his personal assistant,
I was cropped out of every photograph, but that wouldn’t happen
anymore. I questioned the intelligence of dating a rock star all
the time. If not for all the history of thirteen years and loving
him nearly as long, I’d say no way and not for me, but Jacob was
Jacob
—the only boy/man I’d ever wanted.

Which made the whole enterprise scary as
hell.

Chapter Two

December Twenty-sixth continued…

They’d flown out of Virginia four hours
before Beth would leave, meaning she was in the air when he landed
and he was stuck with voice mail. The moment he was off the plane
in Vancouver, they whisked him away to a live radio interview. From
there, they took him to his suite to do over-the-phone press until
he said
no bloody more
and got some sleep. Rock stars did
not
do
work at sunrise.

The nap helped, so he ordered lunch—late
breakfast?—and pulled his iPhone out of his pocket.

****

Finally inside, I went upstairs to my room.
The condo had two identical master suites with full baths, and mine
was on the right. A natural introvert, I needed my own space and
quiet, things sorely lacking over the past few days. Desperate for
eight hours of sleep and getting
maybe
four, I longed for my
bed—
Jacob’s
bed. He left it with me when I was eighteen and
his mother sold the house behind ours. Once we broke up, it sat
untouched until my accident several months ago. When I moved in
with Celeste, I bought a new mattress for the bed, but I still saw
his old teen room when I looked at the frame.

My bedroom was the only room in the house
missing gray cat fur. Celeste’s longhaired tom thought he ruled the
joint and we were his servants, and he’d probably hiss at me if I
said hello before showering. The cat hated all men for some reason.
Well, he could keep hating as long as he left the shirt I stole
from Jacob alone. It had been stuffed under my pillow since he went
on tour.

To unpack, or nap? I wouldn’t be able to
sleep without putting things away or in the laundry basket where
they belonged, so—unpack.

Anal? Me?
Naaah
…

I set my suitcase on the bed and unzipped it.
The pillowcase Jacob used sat folded on top of my clothes. Darcy
would forgive me. At least I didn’t steal the blanket, too.

My phone rang. Fearing it was work, I almost
let it go to voice mail. “Hello?”

“Hey, beautiful.”

****

“Shouldn’t you be at rehearsal?” Beth said
when she answered the phone.

“I’m having lunch. Thought I’d ring my girl
now we’re finally in the same time zone.” 11:45AM PST, to be
exact.

“Oh. Hi.”

He could imagine her tucking her long hair
behind her ear. “Hello. Are you home now?”

“Yeah. Where are you?”

“My suite. Alone. It has a big bed.”

“Don’t start that again. I just went on
vacation with you in October. That fills my spontaneity quota.”

“Ouch.”

“Sorry…” She sighed. “Didn’t mean to
snap.”

“Anything I can do?”

“Just come home on time.”

“Love…” Just yesterday, she told him she
loved him for the first time and he was on cloud nine. Cloud
eleven, even. He expected her to be excited to hear his voice, not
snippy. She’d put a brave face on her notes, though, so maybe he
wasn’t seeing exactly how difficult it was on her end. “The last
gig is New Year’s Eve, alright? Soon as they let me out, I’m on my
way to L.A.”

“I know. I have Christmas gifts for you.”

“We’ll make a proper night of it. Dinner,
twinkly lights, a crackling fire…”

“It’s Southern California, Jacob. Bit warm to
use the fireplace,” she teased.

“Hey, they built one into my house; I’m going
to use it.”