What He Bargains (What He Wants, Book Nineteen) (15 page)

They were connecting in some strange way. She could feel it so strongly and she knew Jake could feel it too. She saw hurt and pain in his eyes, pain that was so strong, so fresh, that it almost made her want to kiss him to heal whatever he was feeling.

And then Jake finally pulled away, running a hand through his hair. “Ummm…yeah. We should get going or Kurt’s going to get pissy.”

“We wouldn’t want that,” she said sarcastically, feeling that an opportunity had been missed.

“The limo’s waiting, Raven. Come on, we don’t want to be late for the big show.” He turned and walked to the door opening it, starting out into the hallway.

On the way out of hotel, there had been a virtual wall of paparazzi taking pictures and screaming questions and comments that seemed designed to get Jake’s attention.

“Jake! Jake!”

“Over here, Jake!”

“Jake, how do you feel about Boston? Do you like the people here?”

“Any new women in your life, Jake?”

“Quick smile! Quick smile over here!”

The calls and screams were so frequent that Raven was taken aback by the intensity and fury of it all. There were fans begging for autographs, girls screaming and crying, and then there were the phalanx of bodyguards making a small box of protection around Jake, while Raven and Bruce and Kurt trailed behind him.

The four of them were able to get into the limousine, which then promptly took off, being escorted by police cars as they drove to the Garden.

Inside the limo, Jake was quiet, seemingly lost in thought. Kurt was on the phone yelling at someone about lighting, and Bruce was on his iPad, typing away.

Nobody spoke to each other on the ride to the venue.

Welcome to the tour
, Raven thought.

A
s strange
as the drive over had been, nothing could have prepared Raven for just how overwhelming it would be once they arrived at the venue.

Parked beside the Garden, were more than a dozen semi-trailer trucks with Jake’s name and face emblazoned on them. And then there were the tour buses, gigantic oversized vehicles that carried the band around from city to city with the trailer trucks presumably following along, like some bizarre travelling gypsy caravan.

The amount of people and equipment involved was mind-boggling, and it quickly became apparent to Raven just how much pressure was on Jake’s shoulders.

All of this was about him and him alone. He didn’t have other band members to shoulder the burden, to take some of the heat. The millions and millions of dollars being generated by this tour was happening because of him, and if he somehow failed to deliver the goods, there was nobody else to blame.

Not only were they making millions and millions of dollars in the course of this tour—it was now clear to Raven that they were also spending millions of dollars.

All of these people were being paid by Jake. All of this equipment, and the vehicles, the labor, the food, the insurance, the marketing and publicity and posters and television ads—all of it came from him.

Sure, Jake was going to make a lot of money performing a few hours a night. But a lot more was going on then just the nightly performance. And now that Raven was inside the bubble with Jake, she was quickly sensing that it wasn’t what she’d imagined it to be.

Inside the arena, she did her best to just stay out of the way, keeping close to Jake without really making her presence fully known. Why he even wanted her with him, she couldn’t have said, as he all but ignored her as he moved from one location to the next, never stopping for long.

Kurt was always around, talking on the phone and then barking orders out to various people who worked on tour. He seemed always frustrated, constantly on edge, telling someone that what they were doing wasn’t good enough, fell short, wasn’t going to cut it.

But as confusing and shocking as it felt to suddenly be thrust into this strange new world, not knowing her role or what she was supposed to be doing other than following Jake Novak from one place to the next—nothing was as strange as when Courtney Taylor showed up.

It happened a few hours after arriving at the venue.

They were still backstage before the show, and everyone was milling around. There were musicians, backup singers, dancers, technicians, roadies, publicists, catering staff and security guards all in one place.

Raven was still following Jake around like a lost puppy, trailing behind him, invisible to everyone, while he answered questions, talked on the phone, did mini-interviews and recorded promotional bits for various radio stations.

When they had a bit of a break, Jake asked her if she was hungry.

“Starving,” Raven admitted.

“You can eat whenever you want,” Jake said. “You don’t have to wait for me to tell you.”

“Oh, okay. I just—I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be doing.”

“Come on, let’s grab a plate for you,” he said, bringing her to the tables lined with all kinds of food prepared by the catering services. He surprised her by making the plate for her, asking her what she liked and then doling out portions of it, making Raven feel taken care of.

And then Raven wondered why he was always so hot and cold. One moment, he acted like he was her doting boyfriend, the next it was as if he didn’t know her name.

Handing her the plate, Jake smiled at her. “Eat, relax. I know this whole thing seems totally foreign right now. But in a week you’ll feel like you’ve been doing it your whole life.”

“Is that a good thing?” Raven asked, grabbing a mini hot dog wrapped in bacon and popping it in her mouth.

“Depends,” Jake said.

“Depends on what?” Raven asked, after she’d swallowed her food.

But Jake didn’t have a chance to answer, because suddenly Courtney Taylor had arrived on the scene.

Everyone took notice.

It wasn’t because everyone knew who she was, either. Courtney Taylor wasn’t that big a star, certainly not on Jake’s level. But the moment she walked into the room, Raven felt like she’d been eclipsed, as Jake’s attention turned to Courtney, as if he’d forgotten Raven was even there at all.

Raven understood why, too.

Courtney breezed in laughing, spinning in her brilliant gold dress with sequins, the dress clinging tightly to her athletic figure. She talked to everyone—everyone—and the moment she was in range, her eyes would lock onto theirs and then she’d hit them with her brilliant, dazzling smile. Those big green eyes of hers would light up as if she found whoever was in front of her the most fascinating person on the planet.

Courtney’s honey blond hair fell in curls down her shoulders, and her skin was tan and flawless, as if she’d been photo-shopped to perfection in real life. Her lips were luscious, soft and heart shaped, her eyes beautiful, surrounded by dark eye shadow that offset her bright blond hair and pink lips.

Courtney was girlish, flirty, cute and endearing. But a moment later she could be sexy, touching someone with those delicate hands and they would instantly blush, women and men alike.

By the time the blossoming superstar had made her way to Jake, he was already transfixed by her.

“I wrote a song about you,” was the first thing Courtney said, upon approaching him.

Jake chuckled. “You wrote a song about me?”

She nodded, batting her eyes at him, pursing her lips. She put her hands on his shoulders with the kind of familiarity that suggested having known him intimately. “I wrote it before I even knew we’d be doing this tour together.”

Raven nearly choked on a mini hotdog.

Courtney glanced over to her, one eyebrow rising curiously. “Who are you?” she said. “Not Jake’s new girlfriend, I hope.”

Raven had half a mind to say that that was exactly what she was, just to see Courtney and Jake’s reactions. Instead she just smiled. “I’m his social media…uh…person. Social media stuff—I do that.”

“Oh,” Courtney laughed. “You do that stuff.” Something in her tone was derisive without being obvious about it.

“Yup, that’s me,” Raven said, catching Jake’s eye.

He looked annoyed.

“I’m just glad you didn’t say you two were a couple,” Courtney said, spinning away from Jake, her ass swaying provocatively. Everyone within a hundred feet was staring at the spectacle now. “I’ve had the biggest crush on him ever since his first single. I was like, that guy can write a love song like nobody’s business.”

“I co-wrote that song with Evan Daniels,” Jake reminded Courtney.

“You wrote the words, though, didn’t you?”

“Yeah.” Jake gave Courtney a proud look that filled Raven with helpless jealousy.

“That’s what I thought,” Courtney said. “Those words—I couldn’t stop listening to them,” Courtney told him. “The line that said, ‘I never really saw your face until I saw you leaving’ was like—totally devastating, in the best way.”

“Wow,” Jake said. “I’m a huge fan of yours, too. That’s why I played every card I had to get you here.”

Raven stood there next to Jake Novak, holding her plate of food that had gone cold, watching two superstars forming what looked like a love connection to end all love connections, and she felt a pit in her stomach opening that was the size of the Grand Canyon.

She was right next to him, so it was almost as if Courtney was looking at her too, she could practically feel what Jake must be feeling as this sultry vixen spun her web of flirtation and seductiveness, luring him into her clutches.

“You did that for me?” Courtney asked, stopping and standing still for a moment, looking at him as if he were Sir Galahad, her knight in shining armor. “I love a man who puts all his cards on the table when he wants something or someone.”

“I guess I’m the man for you then,” Jake laughed.

“Oh, I never doubted that,” Courtney replied, smiling, and then she strutted closer to him again. “I should play you my song,” she told him.

“Sure, maybe at sound check.”

Raven could tell that the thought of Courtney playing him a song made Jake uncomfortable. And in that moment, her own frustration at being ignored in favor of this musical sexpot made Raven act impulsively. “You should play it now,” Raven told Courtney.

“You think so?” Courtney asked her.

“Yeah, definitely now.”

Jake shot Raven another look that could have killed, but she ignored him.

“Aki, did you hear that?” Courtney said, snapping her fingers and turning her head to look at a small Japanese man who was standing a few feet behind her.

Aki looked like he could have been anywhere from twenty years old to forty years old—his face was smooth and ageless. “Shall I get your guitar?” he asked Courtney, his voice betraying a slight accent.

“Please,” she said softly but firmly. Aki scurried off and Courtney turned back to Jake, her eyes brightening again. “I feel like a little kid at her first recital.”

“You know what, I should take some video of this and post it to Facebook,” Raven announced, surprising even herself.

Jake turned and looked at her, his eyes dark. “No, I think this should be kept private.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea!” Courtney gasped.

“Yeah, well, I am his social media coordinator after all,” Raven reminded them. She felt proud to have added ‘coordinator’ on the end of her job title. It sounded way more official.

Jake glared at Raven, his jaw tensing. “What are you doing?” he said softly.

“My job,” she replied easily. Then Raven pulled out her phone and put it onto the video setting, as Aki came running back with a guitar case. He knelt down and opened the case, revealing an acoustic guitar that sparkled as if it had been encrusted with millions of tiny diamonds. Aki lifted the guitar from the case as if he were handling a sacred relic, handing it over to Courtney, who slung it over her shoulder and gave it a quick strum.

Now Courtney was looking at Jake as if Jake was an angel come down from heaven, her eyes soft and loving and wondering.

Raven started the video on her phone and began recording the scene, panning from Jake to Courtney and back to Jake again.

“I wrote this song for you,” Courtney said to Jake, “because your words inspired me, because your soul is pure, and I can feel your heart when I play it.”

It was hard to watch this woman trying to seduce Jake so openly, and even more painful to think that it might actually be working. The only consolation Raven had was that Jake was truly furious at her for filming them, even if he was hiding it well.

And Raven thought that if she couldn’t wow him like Courtney, she could still get under his skin in other ways. There was a strange pleasure in knowing that Jake had lost some of his precious control over the situation, if just for a moment.

Courtney began to play Jake her song, and even Raven, in her frustration, had to admit that it was a catchy song. Instantly, Courtney Taylor transformed from smitten schoolgirl to a gorgeous siren, her body moving in time with her graceful strumming. The voice that came out of her was perfect, sultry, echoing through the room effortlessly, and nobody else move or spoke while she sang.

She was captivating.

The song was something about watching someone from afar, knowing you could never have them, that they were never yours in the first place. Courtney sang right to Jake, never looking away from him. She smiled knowingly as she sang the chorus.

“Nowhere else can bring me here, no one else can take me here, the way you kill me with your eyes, the way you keep me satisfied. I will always remember this. I will always remember this,” Courtney’s voice boomed.

Jake, for his part, stood and watched her, managing to give off just the right aura of natural sexiness as he listened.

Courtney sang for him, she sang to him, and it was perfect, it was flawless just like she was flawless—and when she finished, the room burst into applause.

The people in the room were not new to this business—many of them had clearly been in it for years, and were jaded to it all. But when Raven panned her phone around to get video of the reaction, she had to admit that it all seemed genuine.