Page 40 of Love is a Drum Beat
Something about this plan still didn’t sit right with him. “You don’t think lying to the media is wrong?”
“Not when telling the truth would break the stupid NDA Jo signed.” He sat and opened the bag of chips. “My mouth is definitely going to hate me.”
“Why?” Dax perched on the arm of the couch.
“Have you never had salt and vinegar chips? Your mouth eventually starts calling out for mercy, but by that point, you can’t stop eating them.”
“That is completely nonsensical. They aren’t an addictive drug.”
“Oh, yes, they are, and you, my man, have just become my dealer.”
“Just don’t get any crumbs in my studio.”
“I make no promises.” As he shoveled chips into his mouth, Ben scrolled on his phone. “Got it!” He set the chips aside and held out his phone. Someone had snapped a picture of Jo and Nolan entering the hospital. Without her ridiculous superhero masks, Jo was the most recognizable member of Rockstars Anonymous.
Dax stared at the picture, the way Jo kept her eyes trained on the ground. That wasn’t her. She was spunky, sarcastic, and confident.
Now, this one picture stripped everything from her.
“Earth to Dax.” Ben’s lips drew down as he studied Dax.
Dax looked away and handed the phone back. “Let’s get to work.”
Ben cracked open his seltzer and took a long drink, still not taking his eyes from Dax. “You’re worried about her.”
“Aren’t you? Jo spent so long hiding this pregnancy from the world. She doesn’t want it to become the story of who Jo Jackson is. And that’s what’s happening.”
“Jo, out of any of us, can take care of herself.” Ben lifted one brow.
“She shouldn’t have to.” He stood and paced to where he’d left his guitar.
Music made sense to him. Lyrics had meaning. It was all he’d clung to most of his life.
He didn’t know if he’d ever understand Jo, but he wanted to.
If she’d let him.
13
Jo
Jo had actively tried to stay out of the media throughout her career. She let Noah suck up all the media oxygen with his planned scandals. The magazines painted him as a bad boy who did the wrong thing frequently. And she knew that was wrong; she knew Noah was more than that.
So, why did she believe what they said about her?
Jo Jackson was officially news. The blogs identified Nolan from the pictures at the hospital, and everything went downhill from that. She could still hear Melanie’s exasperation when they told her what they’d planned.
According to Melanie, she’d had to put in a lot of work to change the narrative of the Drew Stone tour after Drew fell in love with a dancer.
And now, Jo had put the tour right back in the spotlight. Nolan returned to Drew, telling her everything would be okay.
Jo wanted to close her laptop, to get away from the viciousness of the blogging world that compared her pregnancy looks to other celebs. The blogs that chastised her for getting pregnant, the ones debating if the pink-haired rocker was really capable of being a mother.
They didn’t know her, but they voiced all the same questions Jo had about herself.
There was no getting away from them. Doctor Lawrence wanted to see her weekly up until she gave birth. She’d told Jo it was okay to get up and move a little—take that, Dax—as long as she wasn’t on her feet for long.
And what she wanted most of all? A shower.
