He’d become a bodyguard and a stalker in one month. Pretty damn impressive.
Chapter Nine
“You can do this. You can do it.” Summer chanted the words to herself backstage at the Palladio, her fingers going numb on the strings of her guitar. She’d played so much the past week that she was afraid she’d develop carpal tunnel. But she’d wanted to make sure she was ready.
Voices buzzed around her, the hive of pre-concert activity creating a low hum under her skin. This show would be the beginning. Tonight was the debut for a lot of things. A new Summer, one who wasn’t hampered by the past or by futile lustful impulses toward an unreachable man. Her new bodyguard, whom she most thankfully did not want to ride like a mustang every time she saw him. Maybe even a new manager, who would open the door for her to a life of travel and fresh faces and music. So much music and the people who loved it, coming to see and hear her. She’d finally be on her own, living life on her terms.
If she nailed it tonight.
She’d been on a half-hearted manager search for a while, sending out letters to the most reputable talent agencies in the city. Most of the nibbles she’d received hadn’t panned out, except this one. Frank Tedoro from the prestigious Tedoro and Thompson agency was interested in her music. Tonight he’d decide if he wanted to represent the whole package.
If he did, things would move quickly from there. He wanted her to get on the road and start busting her ass by playing venues all over the northeast, not only New York. The key to her success, he’d told her, was being seen. She was no longer just a person, she was a product. That freaked her out sometimes, but she figured it was one more thing she had to learn to deal with to get where she wanted to go.
God, she wanted to go. To leave the memories behind. To run from the arms she sometimes imagined constricting her when she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
Remembering the night she’d spent in Chase’s bed that way—as being smothered rather than being comforted—helped her shuffle it into the proper box in her head. He would hold her, yes, for a while. And it would be lovely until he started holding her back—and then he would take off, like her mom. Because that’s what Chase did. He roamed from town to town with his team, like a perennially sour-faced Peter Pan. This was another pit stop for him. Even if he got out of baseball, she figured he’d do the security thing until it bored him. Then he’d be on the road again, forever wandering.
She frowned. So why couldn’t they wander together?
“You ready?” Jax appeared at her side, his warm smile easing her nerves. Some of them. “The natives are getting restless.”
Summer swallowed and looked over her shoulder, peeking through the curtain that fronted the stage. “Yeah. I’m good. Hell of a week for Kyle to get pneumonia.”
“You don’t need him.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead the same way Chase had that morning in his bed, which felt like a lifetime ago. So why didn’t her heart flutter and her breath speed up? Why did she feel nothing at all except momentary comfort? “You’re going to kick ass tonight. And I’ll be watching.”
Jax’s smile flashed while her mind unwittingly replayed the scene she’d tried to block since yesterday. What she’d watched outside The Palladi
o, between Chase and a blonde woman with tits like watermelons. She’d draped herself all over him, and he hadn’t exactly fought her off. And then, if that wasn’t enough, he’d ripped down the flyer for her show. So much for thinking he supported her.
She’d come to The Palladio to take advantage of a free hour onstage during the afternoon lull to test the acoustics for her show, but after seeing Chase and his blonde, she hadn’t cared anymore. Chase Dixon was the only person who had the power to crush her desire for her dream, and that meant he had to go. He was out of her life, now he needed to get the hell out of her head.
And heart.
“If my presence isn’t enough to rock your world, you have another friend in the audience tonight.”
Summer tugged at her short, fringed, dark skirt. Then her hands fell still as Jax’s words pinged around in her brain. “Chase?” she asked hoarsely.
“Not that I know of, though it wouldn’t surprise me.” He didn’t give her time to puzzle over that before he continued. “Don’t suppose you’ve changed your mind on that score?”
He’d asked her several times if she wanted to reconsider making a more concerted effort to…wrangle Chase, for lack of a better term. Actually she’d begun to wonder if Jax had a vested interest in her agreeing, though she couldn’t figure out what. He didn’t seem too forthcoming either.
She looked away, saying nothing. She constantly feared she’d buckle and beg him to help her, no matter what crazy scheme he concocted. And she couldn’t go there.
Blowing out a breath, Jax forged ahead. “Well then. Moving on. Cass accompanied me. She’s already fortified herself with a drink since apparently she doesn’t like country.” He shook his head. “She disappoints me.”
“A drink? She never drinks.”
Jax circled her wrist to steady her still busy hands. She couldn’t stop fussing. “I’ll take care of her,” he said with an edge that had Summer’s gaze jerking up to meet his.
Whoa, hello there. Jax’s typically placid hazel eyes glowed with a ferocity Summer hadn’t expected, and it was all for her best friend. Perhaps Cass’s luck in the men department was improving?
The thought caused an unbidden pang in Summer’s chest. At least maybe one of them could be happily coupled up. If anyone deserved love, it was Cass. God knows she’d endured enough crap in her life.
She didn’t need love. She had her voice, and her guitar, and a few people to enjoy her music. That was all she wanted.
“Okay,” Summer murmured, trying to use her tone and her expression to convey that she trusted him to take care of Cass. She didn’t know him all that well, but he’d always struck her as a stand-up kind of guy. He’d refused to get into specifics about what had originally ended his and Chase’s friendship, but that really wasn’t her business. Relationships began and ended for all sorts of reasons. Some were resurrected in time. And some stayed dead.
“I’ll take care of you too.”