Page 20 of Madd Love

“Yeah. That sounds good.” I haven’t gotten to know Jacob yet, so I will take this opportunity to hang out for a few minutes before heading to my room. I take a drink of my beer, walk over to the couch, and sit.

Damn, I feel fuzzy.I wonder if I’m coming down with something.

Jacob pulls his phone from his pocket and looks at it before he taps away on the screen. I look around, and it’s just us three, but why do I feel so heavy?

“I’ll be right back. Texas needs help.”

“Okay.” I hear myself say as Jacob walks away.Texas is our lead tech. I hope everything is okay. I should ask him what’s going on but I feel so tired and my body feels as if it weighs a ton.

Someone’s breath is on my cheek.

“Let me make you feel good.”

“I love…” Something? Someone? My vision is starting to fade to black around the edges.

What the hell?

FIFTEEN

Jen

“Hey, Larry!” Glory says as she strides up to an older man wearing a blue pocket T-shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes.

“Hello there, young lady. How was your trip?”

They hug briefly before she replies. “It was good! No problems.”

“That’s great. Here are the room keys.” He hands Glory some cards. “We’ll see you at the show.” And Larry, the man of mystery, walks off into the sunrise. He really just goes out onto the patio, and well, the sun is coming up. Sue me for being dramatic.

“Glory, who was that guy?” I ask very confused by why we’re meeting a random man in the lobby.

“Oh, that’s Larry Henry. He’s the band’s tour manager. Beck had me call him once when he was at the beginning of the tour to ask a question about one of their stops, and I just kept his number. Sometimes, I like to surprise Beck with a wake-up call when he’s on the road.”

“You really are a horn dog.” Evelyn laughs, and of course, Glory turns a new shade of pink.

“Okay, here is a key card to Madd’s room. He and Beck shack up.” Glory hands the key card to me. I’m so excited to surprise him! I can’t wait to see his face when he realizes we flew here in the middle of the night.

The night before, when we video chatted, he kept trying to talk me into joining him on tour for a while. Of course, I can’t stay away that long. Evelyn and I have the bakery. Now that we have a bigger staff, we can at least take a vacation.

“And here are keys to two suites for all of you.” Glory hands Christina, Rim, Evelyn, and Atticus key cards as well. You can’t take a man’s private jet and not bring him along, and then, of course, Atticus has to join us.

It’s the first time in a while that we’ve all been together, and I am looking forward to it.

“I got your bag. Come on, sweetheart. Let’s head to the room and rest.” Atticus grabs Evelyn’s bag and drapes his arm around her shoulder. He towers over her, but they are the perfect couple.

Evelyn looks at me and winks with major exaggeration, then throws her hand up like she’s whispering. “He wants to go do it.”

Everyone laughs. That girl is crazy, and Atticus is the calm to her storm. They’re adorable.

“Okay, girls, go get your men! I’m going to try to take Rim’s mind off of investigating every inch of this hotel. I swear he never stops working.” Christina squeals as Rim comes up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist.

“Are you talking about me, wife?”

We barely get a wave as a giggling Christina and Rim head off to their suite. I almost feel bad for the hotel manager because Rim will be analyzing everything with his shrewd business eye. I’m sure Christina will take his mind off things for a few minutes, though.

“Madd and Beck share a suite when on tour, so let’s head up.”

We roll our overnight cases to the elevator, and once inside, Glory swipes her key card to gain access to the penthouse. This is all still a bit surreal. I sometimes can’t wrap my mind around the fact that I’m dating a rock star. He’s so normal. I don’t even think about it really until I’m in a fancy hotel using a keycard to get to the penthouse. Then I remember.

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