Page 25 of This Side of Beautiful

The vision of a naked Janae invaded my mind as my cell buzzed.

WYA?

I responded to Brian’s text.With Janae.

Brian sent an eggplant and a peach emoji, and I sent the middle finger emoji.

What timeyou getting back?

In a couple of hours, why?

Cedrickwants to meet. Del asked us to do a recordwith Janae. You probably already know that.

Yeah. You thinkit’s a good idea?

I do. She smashed thestage and we’re getting buzz. Cedrick, on the otherhand, hates the idea. Thinks she will take the focusaway from us.

I sank back into the sofa. I agreed with Cedrick. Janae had too much natural star power tonottake the focus from The Hollow Bones. The difference was that I didn’t care about attention, and Cedrick lived for it.

Janae wants to plead her case.I’ll bring her back with me.

No women atmeetings.

I made the rule, remember? We can meet todecide after she leaves.

Bet.

Bet.

Janae was still in the shower. I took a deep breath before I finally scrolled through social media for the first time in two days. The Friday night incident was trending even without my googling it, photos of Cash Black against the wall after I’d punched him and pics of me with Janae thrown over my shoulder like I were a caveman. The stories indicated that it had been a fight between me and Cash over Janae, not a concerned man protecting a woman from potential harm. Someone had even captured a video of us speeding away like Bonnie and Clyde leaving the bank after a heist.

I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my thighs as I perused the thousands of comments. Most were positive and supported us as a couple. Women expressed interest in discovering more about me, since I didn’t have any social media accounts. Only a few reactions were negative, calling Janae a slut and a homewrecker. No one said anything negative about me, since I was the hero in this scenario, trying to rescue his woman. Before this trip, I would probably have judged Janae similarly if I wasn’t the man in the photos. I would have believed she hadn’t changed, was up to her old tricks, and thought no more of her. One thing I hated more than anything else was wasted talent.

Janae was wasting hers, though I’d pretended I meant Cash Black when she asked me. When she called me out on it, I’d lied, unable to say it to her face. For three years she’d been sober, and now she’d broken the promise to herself because she led her performance with her head instead of her heart. I’d judged her harshly and was downright mean in how I viewed her. Maybe I was wrong.

In the little time we’d spent together, I’d realized that I had perceptions about her that might have been true in the past but no longer seemed to fit. I’d witnessed the nervous, scared, and unsure Janae. The funny, sensitive, and honest Janae. I’d even seen her pissed. I’d also observed how vulnerable and alone she was in the world. To be in the city of your birth and have no one from your family attend your show or stay with you in a penthouse meant to be shared spoke volumes without her ever telling me anything about her people.

If she and I were going to be tour mates for the next two months, I wouldn’t do anything to dispel the rumors that we were a couple. I would be there for her as a friend rather than a foe.

Or, at least, I’d try. The woman was so irresistibly sexy and frustrating. Janae would push my buttons in ways I wasn’t ready for.

“It took me longer than I thought,” she announced softly.

I slowly perused her body and stood up when she strolled out in a flowy, thin-strapped, long pink sundress and flat silver sandals. The shower had curled her loose hair around her face. I could hear my breath hitch, which meant she probably did, too. If this outfit was an attempt to downplay her allure, all it had done was enhance Janae’s natural beauty. I could stare at this woman all day.

She arched her brow slightly. “Landon, you good?”

“Um… yeah. You look nice.”Shit. I cleared my throat. “Change of plans. The guys want to meet now. We’ll pick up something to eat on the way back.”

Her smile faltered, and she moved to me, rubbing her stomach. “I don’t have an appetite now.”

I awkwardly grasped her shoulders. “Hey… hey… It’s going to be fine. Our bark is worse than our bite.”

“Barks hurt too. Should I even waste my time? You know them.”

“It’s only a waste of time if they nix the idea.” The warmth of her bare skin underneath my hands aroused me, and my voice deepened of its own volition. “Are you sure you can handle all of this? This is only the start of your apology tour.”

“Apology tour? I made a mistake, and now I’m moving forward.” Her face wrinkled with distaste, zapping my growing desire. “Either people accept me, or they don’t. I’m not begging The Hollow Bones or anyone to forgive me. I spent years in therapy to forgive myself.”

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