Tainted (22 page)

“Sure. Come on, Chloe, I’ll introduce you to everyone in the studio,” Drake said.

“You know the rules—no one in the studio when someone is recording. She can stay in here with me, and you can come back and get her when you’re done.”

I felt uneasy about sitting in a room with Drake’s boss by myself, but I didn’t really have any other options. I smiled weakly at Drake as he nodded, and then he followed the rest of the band out the door. Trying to put some space between Brad and me, I walked over and sat down on the couch where Jade had been sitting moments before.

“So, tell me, Chloe, how long have you and Drake been together?” Brad asked.

“Um, for about a year and a half.”

“That’s very sweet. When do you two plan to get married?”

His questions were making me uncomfortable, but I couldn’t exactly ignore him.

“We’re not sure yet.”

“I thought you were engaged?”

“We are.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t started planning a wedding already. Most women would be climbing the walls in excitement.”

“We’re taking our time,” I answered shortly.

“I can see that. Why?”

“Sir, with all due respect, that’s between Drake and me.”

“Of course it is. Forgive me. I was simply trying to understand your relationship with Drake.”

“I love him if that’s what you’re wondering.”

“Of course you do. Drake is a very attractive young man with an incredible future ahead of him. I just don’t want to see anything bring him down.”

“What are you saying?” My body was humming with anger. Despite his warm welcome when Drake had been in the room, it was pretty obvious that this man did not like me.

“I’m just saying that Drake is at the beginning of his career. A lot of his fan base will be young women who find him attractive. I’d hate to see that disappear because he’s engaged to a woman who doesn’t want to marry him.”

“I
do
want to marry him.”

“And I’m glad to hear it. While I want Drake to be happy, I don’t see how you coming on tour with him would be beneficial. The less that you’re seen with him, the better. Your presence will be nothing more than a hindrance to the entire tour. The fans won’t like you, and you’ll take up space on the bus.”

“So, you think me breaking up with him would help the overall moral of the tour?” I asked sarcastically.

“Of course not. I want Drake to be happy. In this case, I think it would be better if you kept yourself hidden. You want him to succeed, don’t you?”

“That’s a stupid question. You know I do.”

“Then, consider staying far away from the tour. You’ll do nothing but jeopardize it, and a new band doesn’t need a clingy girlfriend,” he glanced at me and grinned, “I mean, a clingy
fiancé
in their way.”

I opened my mouth to tell him to go to hell, but then I stopped. What if he was right? During his shows over the summer, I’d seen girls glare at me thousands of times because I was sitting with him. I didn’t want to destroy his career just because I didn’t want him to leave me. He would never forgive me.

Brad smiled at me. “You know I’m right.”

I was still speechless when the door opened, and Drake walked back in.

He stopped instantly when he saw me. “Everything okay?”

“It’s fine. Chloe isn’t feeling well though. Maybe you should take her home and do the studio tour another day,” Brad answered.

Drake glanced at me with a worried look. “You’re right. She doesn’t look good. Come on, babe, let’s get you home.”

I stood and followed him from the office. I never said a word when we left the building or on the drive home. I was in shock. By loving Drake, I was destroying his career. I couldn’t do that to him. I couldn’t take his dreams away from him just because I was clingy. I wouldn’t. He’d never forgive me if I took everything from him.

“Babe, what’s wrong? You haven’t said a word since we left Brad’s office,” Drake said as we walked into the house.

“Nothing. I just need to go lie down.” I climbed the stairs to head into our bedroom.

The next few days passed by slowly as I battled with myself about whether or not to tell Drake what had happened in Brad’s office and if I should go on tour with him. Drake continued to ask me what was bothering me, but I deflected every time. I didn’t want to tell him what Brad had said to me in his office. I knew it would only make Drake angry. When he was angry, he did stupid things.

Drake finally exploded a week after my visit to the studio.

“For fuck’s sake, tell me what the hell is going on!” He slammed the remote down.

We’d been sitting on the couch, watching a movie, for the past hour. I’d tried to pay attention, but it was useless. The guilt was eating me alive. I kept picturing Drake’s face when the tour fell apart because of me.

“Nothing,” I mumbled as I focused my eyes on the television.

“Bullshit. I’ve had it with this mopey Chloe. Tell me what’s going on inside of that head of yours.”

I looked at him with tears in my eyes. “I’m not going on tour with you.”

That obviously wasn’t what he’d expected me to say.

His eyebrows shot up. “Why not? Have I done something to make you angry? I swear I’m not using again.”

“No, you didn’t do anything. I just think it’s for the best.”

“There’s something that you’re not telling me. We had this all planned out. Now, you’ve suddenly changed your mind? I’m not buying it. You’ve been like this since I left you alone with Brad. Did he say something that upset you?”

I turned my head away from him. “No.”

He ran his hands through his hair. I knew he was getting seriously aggravated when he did that.

“Why do I think you’re lying? Tell me what he said.”

“I’m not lying,” I lied.

“Chloe…”

I sighed. “Fine. Yes, he did talk to me while you were gone.”

“And?”

“He made some good points.”

He growled, “Chloe, don’t make me drag this out of you. Talk to me.”

“You’re a new band, and you’re trying to build a solid fan base. A lot of those fans will be girls who like you because they want to sleep with you. It’s kind of hard to increase your following when you have your clingy girlfriend on tour with you.”

“Fiancée,” he corrected automatically.

“Whatever. You’re missing the point. You’re going to lose fans because of me. I don’t want to destroy your career because I can’t stay away from you for a few months.”

“Chloe, when it comes to music or you, I will
always
choose you. Always. I’d throw everything away as long as I knew that I had you. You’re my everything.”

“I won’t let you throw it all away for me. It’s not right.”

He cupped my face, forcing me to look at him. “What else did Brad say?”

I lowered my eyes. “He doesn’t understand why we aren’t married yet. I’m assuming he thinks I’m using you with no intentions of marrying you. I swear that I’m not though.”

“Do you want to marry me?” he asked.

My eyes snapped up to look into his. “Of course I do. I love you so much that it hurts.”

“I want to marry you, too.” He stood. “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

“Where are you going?” I asked, already knowing and dreading the answer.

“To have a little chat with Brad.”

“Don’t! I won’t let you ruin everything for me.”

“I’m not going to ruin anything. Just stay here.”

With that, he grabbed his keys and walked out of the front door. I groaned as I settled back on the couch. I hadn’t meant to tell him anything, but it had all slipped out. I just hoped that he didn’t mess anything up because of me.

A few hours later, Drake walked back through the door. I could feel the tension rolling off of him.

“How’d it go?” I asked.

“Wonderful,” he replied shortly.

“Drake? What happened?”

“I told Brad to go fuck himself.”

“Drake! You didn’t!”

“I did. He’s a fucking asshole for even thinking what he told you, let alone saying it to your face.”

“He’s your boss! You can’t do something like that because of me! You could lose everything.” I was so mad at him for doing this to himself.

“I don’t care. No one disrespects you. Besides, he didn’t do anything except for apologize.”

“Bull. There’s no way he backed down. I saw the way he looked at me when he was telling me to stay away. He doesn’t want your girlfriend tagging along.”

He looked up at me and smiled. “I don’t want my girlfriend on tour with me either.”

My eyes widened in shock.

“I want my wife on tour with me.”

“You’ll be on tour soon. We can’t plan a wedding before then!”

He ran his hands through his hair. “Fuck. As soon as we get back, we’re getting married. You can make plans while we’re on tour.”

My pulse hammered in my ears as I thought about planning a wedding. I couldn’t do something like that. I had no idea what I was doing. I would have to find a venue, find a caterer, make a guest list, pick colors, decorate, find a dress, and so many other things I couldn’t even think of. I wasn’t good at this kind of thing.

“Are you okay? You look like you’re about to have a seizure,” Drake said, his voice full of concern.

“What? Yeah. I mean, no. Oh shit, I can’t plan a wedding, Drake. I just can’t.”

“Of course you can. It can’t be that hard.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“Or maybe you could ask Amber for help. She likes girlie stuff like that.”

That was actually a pretty good idea. Amber was far better at being a girl than I was. I knew she wouldn’t mind. She’d probably be thrilled about it.

“That might work. She’d probably do it all for me just so I don’t have a panic attack.”

“Is it really that big of a deal?” he asked, completely baffled by my reaction.

“Um, yes. I don’t want anything big, but you’re a rock star. It’s kind of required.”

“Says who? I don’t care where or how we get married. I just want you to have my last name.”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s not that simple. A wedding is a huge deal. I just… I need to get my head straight and figure out what I want.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You’re not sure if you want to marry me?”

“No, I definitely want to marry you. I just need to figure out what I want when it comes to the wedding.”

“Whatever you decide, I’m behind you all the way. I just want to be able to tell the world you’re mine.” He said as he kissed me softly.

I smiled. “Me, too.”

The album’s release went off without a hitch. From the very beginning, the band and the label knew that they wouldn’t break any sales records since the band was new, and they were right. Sales were slow at first, but with each passing day, they grew. Drake was constantly stressed out about it, but after he said Brad was happy with how things were going, I decided I wasn’t going to worry about it. I tried to keep Drake distracted, and personally, I thought I was doing a pretty good job.

Jade had decided that we needed a girls’ day, and I agreed. I loved the guys, but it was nice to get away from them. Even though Jade and I spent part of the day shopping, I still had fun. I even picked up an outfit to wear to bed for Drake. The lingerie did the trick, and he was successfully distracted for a few hours.