The Complete Groupie Trilogy (105 page)

She chuckled. “How could I forget? You were this half-naked bad boy rocker whispering naughty intentions into my ear.”

His breath was hot against her neck. “Did it work?”

“What do you think?” she breathed.

“I thought you were the sexiest woman I had ever seen,” he said as his tongue rimmed her ear. “Thought it then. Still think it now.” His lips covered hers.

She clung to him as he kissed her. “You still take my breath away,” she whispered as he pulled away.

He grinned. “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet, babe. Come on.” He took her hand and led her from the living room down the hall. He opened a bedroom door, but it wasn’t to the master where she thought he’d be leading her. Instead it was to a bright and cheerful nursery. She gasped. “Vanni.”

He opened the door to a pale pink paradise, which took everything she had planned to the next level. She instantly knew that he and Kelly had been in cahoots. The wallpaper featured a smattering of tiny hopeful rosebuds on a light blush background, like Andy had wanted. But the bookshelves were filled with childhood books she’d grown up reading, books she could now read to their daughter. There were stuffed animals and fanciful snow globes with fairy tale characters and shiny bright glitter. There was even an antique music box with a graceful ballerina balancing right on top their daughter could take with her to adulthood. The furniture was all done in cherry wood, again like she had wanted. But the rocking chair was an antique with a matching ottoman, and the centerpiece of the room – the crib – was much more extravagant. It was round, with pink bows holding up the breezy cotton canopy, and wisps of pale pink material running down and tying off at each pole like a cloud. It all looked tailor made for a perfect little princess, and their special bear sat waiting right inside. There were tears in Andy’s eyes as she reached for it, playing the lullaby he had specially recorded for their daughter.

It was such a magical place to bring their baby. It almost hadn’t felt real until now. Now she couldn’t wait to meet their little girl. Her arms hungered to feel their warm, wiggly baby, to hold her, to rock her in the rocking chair, to sing lullabies as she nursed her. It had all felt so abstract before. There was no crib at the beach house; there had been no practical place to put it in their loft bedroom. So they thought about it, they even talked about it, but the evidence of her pregnancy was contained almost entirely within her body.

In their first home together, they were a couple.

Here they were a family.

And she actually felt ready.

She turned to Vanni. “I love you,” she said simply.

He took her back into his arms. “And I love you,” he said as he kissed her softly on the lips. “Both of you.”

“And what’s next on your magical tour?” she wanted to know.

He gave her his irresistible smirk as he took her by the hand and led her through a side door into the large master bedroom within a child’s cry from the nursery. The platform bed was in the same cherry wood as their daughter’s furniture. Their room matched the blush pink from their daughter’s room to a rich and masculine hunter green. It was warm and inviting, and instantly felt like home. All they had to do now was christen it.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. “Welcome home, Vanni,” she said before she reached for a kiss. He happily complied. He loved the taste of her mouth, and the way her lips parted for his inquisitive tongue. His hands slid down her back and circled her close to his body, which always responded to her ardor like a puppet at the end of her string.

With ease he swept her up into his arms without even breaking their kiss. He carried her to their bed, which Kelly had already thoughtfully turned down before she retired to her temporary accommodations on the other side of the house.

But he wasn’t thinking about Kelly as Andy’s fingers slid up under his shirt and spread across his massive chest. His hand made a similar journey, only it paused to sweep over her rounded tummy. He cupped her full breast and his thumb brushed across her sensitive nipple. She arched her back to fill his hand as she moaned into his mouth. He pulled away slightly to remove her shirt, and she unfastened her bra to discard it somewhere in a darkened corner of their new room. His mouth fastened over the aching peak of her breast, and her head tipped back as his masterful tongue etc
hed warm circles onto her skin.

Vanni pulled her pants over her hips and kissed his way down her body. He planted dozens of tiny, loving kisses around the mound of her pregnant stomach, still so enamored of her body in full bloom. It was proof of their love in every way, a permanent bond that linked them forever. That baby was a living wedding ring, a sacred covenant. He counted his blessings every day she would kick him through her mommy’s skin. She had already let him know who was boss, and he couldn’t wait to meet her.

But it was her mommy who needed his attention now. He spread her legs with his hands and dove between to toy with her with his mouth and his fingers. She gasped as she writhed against him. She burned for him in a way she had never, could never, burn for anyone else. Anything less than his body inside her own was a tease.

And Vanni was quite the expert at teasing.

He brought her to climax within minutes, and she shuddered powerfully against his nimble tongue. She tried to pull him up to her but he was determined to make her scream. His slid his fingers inside of her, making her buck against his hand. She wanted him to fill her completely, but he was on a mission to take his time.

She was delirious by the time he finally climbed back up her body. She could taste herself on his lips as he kissed her. “Make love to me, Vanni,” she said as she pulled him close.

There was an evil little grin on his face as he looked down at her. “I’m afraid I’m not the kind of boy that puts out on the first date, Miss Foster.”

She whimpered as she ground against him. She knew he wanted her. “Why are you being so mean?” she pouted.

He bent to kiss her lips, one at a time. “Because the first time we make love in our home, I want it to be as man and wife. Think you can wait?”

“No,” she said with an even bigger pout, which made him laugh. He covered her naked body with the sheet, lovingly tucking her in. “Haven’t I always been worth the wait?” he asked as he traced her chin with his finger.

She looked into those dark brown eyes she loved so much. “Every time,” she agreed in a soft, sated voice.

He kissed her again, with just as much passion as she. He was breathing hard as he pulled away. “I better leave now or I won’t be able to,” he warned.

She wrapped him closer. “Good.”

He adopted the gentile accent of a Southern woman. “Ah declare this is not proper. Not proper at’tall. You just keep your hands to yourself till you put a ring on mah finger, missy.”

She giggled and he stood. “Sleep tight, babe,” he said as he blew her a kiss. “Dream naughty dreams.”

She looked at his hardened silhouette and gave him a satisfied smile. “You, too.”

He left her in their bed and drove home to the lonely beach house, taking the first of many cold showers before he made Andy Foster his bride.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Burbank, California

May 31, 2011

The week leading up to the premiere of Fierce had been a hectic one for all involved. For Vanni, the other judges, Graham, Shannon and the contestants, this included 16-hour days at the studio. For Andy, this meant video-conferencing from her new, secure fortress in Rancho Palos Verdes, with Kelly running relay.

Between work and his trying to properly court his fiancé, Vanni hadn’t had much time for anything else. He was glad Holly had stepped up her game and taken care of herself. She wasn’t texting him as much, and whenever he’d find a few minutes to call her to check on her she’d hurry him off the phone, assuring him that she’d hired a nurse and was staying in bed, and their son was doing just fine.

He would have gone to her apartment but there had been no time, and she made it clear there was no need. She seemed to accept he had other obligations, and no longer seemed to demand the all-or-nothing domestic bliss of making him choose.

It was as though his life was finally falling neatly into place. The Wilkes had accepted the settlement offer, Yael was happily managing the band and making progress on the new album, and the show was right on track with everyone’s optimistic expectations.

That night they were scheduled to broadcast their live premiere, which would introduce the nation – and the world – to their top contestants. Vanni was especially excited about Jordi’s performance. Over the past few weeks he had definitely taken her under his wing, working closely with Jorge to unleash her individual style while boosting her confidence. Though she was fearless on the stage, he got the distinct impression that she was trying to prove something. He couldn’t talk to her much, given his position as judge, but he planted the bug in Jorge’s ear.

Jorge was known on set to be a magical fairy godfather, who had the uncanny ability to reach in beyond all the surface insecurities and pull forth one’s inner confidence. For Jordi, Vanni suspected Jorge would have to do the opposite. She had oodles of confidence when you put a microphone in her hand. Her insecurities were deeply hidden.

He knew she’d have to fight through them to really shine like he knew she could.

Allison voiced her concern once again that putting her on an international stage might actually do her more harm than good. She feared that because Jordi depended largely on her amazing talent to validate herself, hearing any real criticism might tear her down as opposed to build her up. They had an amazing crop of talent for their show. She was spectacular enough to grow out of her pond in Bumfuck, Iowa. The real question was if she would drown in the ocean of talent in which she’d been cast.

As talented as she was, she wasn’t the only contestant that had won the hearts of the judges. Jace Riga, a 21-year-old disabled veteran who juggled movie star good looks with an artificial leg, had blown them all away during his audition, where he confessed that he never knew he could sing until he was lying in a hospital bed, recovering from the bomb blast that had left him an amputee. It had kept him balanced through the recovery process, as he learned how to walk again and face the world with what looked like a limitation.

“I’d have never known I could sing if it hadn’t been for that roadside bomb,” he told them as he took the stage. He pointed to his artificial limb that reached from his knee to the stage. “Now I have a bionic foot and the chance to sing for the country I love.”

All three judges soundly voted him through to the live shows. From his wavy, jet-black hair, olive skin and bright green eyes to his heroic, optimistic, can-do, "Ooh-rah!" attitude, they knew he had everything it took to be a fan favorite from the get-go.

He, too, would be on their live broadcast premiere. Maggie signed on as his assistant from that first audition, which officially switched her employment from Graham to another patient. This was good news for both Maggie and Graham, who had begun to take baby steps into a new romance. His paying her to take care of him suddenly felt inappropriate at best.

She still lived in the house, and she accompanied him to work every day, but no longer as his healthcare provider.

They instead used all downtime to foster the growing feelings between them, both as friends and as lovers – though they had not yet taken that final step toward the bedroom.

It had been a long time for Maggie. She didn’t want to jump into bed with Graham, especially since she knew he had residual feelings for Andy. That had been clear after Andy was attacked at her beach house, and Graham immediately wanted to bring her back to Malibu.

That night, when he had returned from the hospital and told Maggie what he had proposed to Andy, she let him know she was nobody’s substitute. She slammed off into her bedroom after telling Graham he’d better make his choice before she made it for him.

Fortunately they had been too busy the past week to argue too much about it, but Graham realized quickly that he had messed up and deserved her ire. He was still chasing after a rainbow when a pot of gold sat in his own house. He knew what a gem Maggie was before, but seeing how she tended to Jace really drove it home what a remarkable woman Maggie Fowler truly was.

Maybe he was as afraid to be loved completely as Andy or Vanni had been.

They’d all been circling love for years, never quite capturing what it meant to truly give oneself to another person.

When Shannon’s husband, Jake Dalton, showed up with her for the live show, both Graham and Vanni were reminded what it meant to be a man committed to the woman he loved. Jake was completely content to walk beside Shannon and enjoy her success with her, his arm draped casually around her shoulders, a proud smile on his face as she did what he knew she did best. He didn’t look at other women; he didn’t pine for lost loves. He knew the woman on his arm was the absolutely best life could offer. It showed every time he looked at her.

It made Vanni wish that Andy were beside him. She deserved all that and more. Within weeks she would be his wife, and the whole world would know exactly how much she meant to him.

He, too, knew that she was the very best life had to offer. Without her, everything he had chased so long – fame and adulation – rang hollow. It meant nothing, he knew that now.