Page 22 of Protecting Her

I stared in the mirror and called myself a dozen kinds of a fool. I’d let another man into my heart, and look where it had got me. Did he even really plan a record?

I let my head sink into my arms, crossed on the dressing table, and sobbed as thoughts swirled in my head. Surely it wasn’t all a lie? Please? Somebody, tell me the past three months weren’t all a lie…

Kevin

I sank back into the seat of the jet and tried to relax. Lately, it seemed the only time I had to rest was when I was high in the air, on a jet, where my electronics had to be turned off for the duration of the flight. Well, they didn’t have to be, but I pretended they did. It gave me an hour or two of quiet.

“Sir, would you like a drink?” I opened my eyes to see a flight attendant stood at the end of the row of seats.

“Just a ginger ale, please.” I had another meeting as soon as I landed. I needed my head clear, even if it was after nine pm already.

I’d spent the last week going back and forth from London to Charlotte, then up to our branch in New York, down to Myrtle Beach and over to New Orleans to have a look at the bars in each one. I had a surprise for Ember when I got back to Nashville. Part of her new contract included exclusive tours of our bars throughout the world. I’d be going to Paris tomorrow, to check on our venue there to ensure it was up to par for my little songstress.

I’d taken full responsibility for Ember and the contract we had with her from day one, and now I took on this burden too. I could have passed it on to someone else, Mason and Trent had seen videos of Ember’s talent and had agreed I’d been right about her, but I didn’t trust anyone to make the right choices. I wanted everything to be perfect for her. That meant I had to do a lot of legwork.

Right about now Paula and Mark were going over the contract with Ember, and in a few days, I’d be back home with her. For a lot longer this time. I’d taken this on as my sole responsibility now; there wouldn’t be anymore flying back and forth for the hotel. I’d made that deal with my brothers.

I sighed, happy with the world and all that had come to me with this woman. I was calm now, and maybe even a little more approachable than I normally was. She’d made me see that there was more to life than just getting through it so that I could die and get it all over with. That’s how I’d been living, I realized now. As if I wanted to get out of life as quickly as I could.

Yeah, I’d found a lot of enjoyment in my life, but I hadn’t had a goal or a dream. I’d just bounced around from task to task, and I wasn’t doing any of that anymore. I knew what I wanted from life now, and that was Ember. For now, I knew she wanted to tour, to make music, and to experience life. She’d hidden from the world for so long, but now she didn’t have to anymore. I was there to keep her safe.

I took a sip of the ginger ale and relaxed again. She’d even made me think about kids. I hadn’t wanted kids before now, and had done my best to make sure I didn’t have any, but with her? I found I wanted a little miniature version of that face of hers, or mine, to love and hold on to. So many of my male friends had changed when they had children that I’d wondered what fatherhood brought to them.

Was there something missing that I didn’t know about? Was there some new emotion there that gave them that peace? Men who would normally get in fights and had done a lot of carousing suddenly turned into placid characters with a never-you-mind attitude. What had caused that?

I kind of liked the idea of Ember big with my baby too. I hadn’t really thought about pregnant women before, not as sex partners, but the thought made me instantly hard, and I shifted in my seat to make sure my tray table hid me. Damn, where had that come from? I knew what I’d be doing in my hotel later tonight, if I didn’t fall asleep first.

I chuckled to myself and took another swig of the ginger ale. Normally, that wasn’t something that I would do, but without Ember, I’d become a pro at it. I’d wake up in the morning, hard as a rock and unable to do anything until I took care of it. At night, sometimes thoughts of her would keep me awake, and I’d have to do it again, as I remembered the sweet suction of her walls as I drove into her, or the way she sighed my name when she came apart.

Fuck, that wasn’t helping the situation. The flight attendant came back and asked if I needed anything else. I was certain that might have been the first time I’d blushed since I was a schoolboy. I politely refused anything else, and tried to turn away from the older woman with dark red hair. She gave me a wink and sauntered off.

It was something I was used to. Women found me attractive and always had. Of course, I’d always found them attractive too, but I had Ember. I didn’t need anyone else; in fact, I didn’t want anyone else. Only her.

The flight soon ended, and I made my way to the next hotel. I had to wonder why my father had to build an empire that was spread out so far. He’d worked hard to build the business, but what had driven him to own so many hotels? Money was one thing, but this was a lot of work for one man to handle. He’d done it for a long time though, without our help, and I couldn’t really be angry at him now.

We’d figured out it was all a ruse by now, his plan to get us under one roof to work together. He had never been sick. At first, I’d been more than a little angry with him, such a huge lie to tell, but he’d had his reasons. And for Mason and Trent, the ruse had brought them love, so could he really be blamed?

I still couldn’t believe Mason was about to settle down with one woman, he just wasn’t the kind, but he seemed to really love the woman who had stolen his heart. I was glad for him. Trent had kind of mellowed out too, since he’d finally admitted something we’d all known all along. He’d grown up with the woman he would one day fall in love with. Jessi was his perfect mate.

And I had mine. The jet finally landed, and I went to the bar just to get my land-legs back for a minute. I had a lot to get through today, so I ordered a cup of coffee and went over what I needed to get done again. I went and found the company car that would have been left for me and made my way to the hotel. It was in shambles, and my jaw dropped from the minute I stepped into the shabby car left for me until I drove up to the hotel. We hadn’t been to this one for a while, and well, maybe the shape it was in was our own fault.

The exterior needed to be pressure washed, I could see one window was boarded up, and when I stepped in? I nearly lost my cool then, but managed to not fire everyone on the spot. The carpets were disgusting, the walls were grimy, and I could see staff members just leaning up against walls, chatting, as if one of the big guys hadn’t just walked in. Maybe they didn’t know who owned the place, but they were about to.

“I’m here to see the hotel manager,” I told the young redhead at the counter, once she’d finally finished her phone conversation with her boyfriend. The name tag said her name was Jill.

“Oh, right, you’re the big boss, aren’t you?” She gave me a brief, but surly smile as she snapped her gum. “Let me just find out where Peter is.”

By the time she picked up the phone again the bored tone was back in her voice. Young Jill was definitely out of a job.

I managed to grit my jaw through the meeting and had made it back to my hotel without firing anyone before I actually felt my blood pressure start to calm down. I was angry at how poorly the bar was being managed and made notes to fire the old managers and hire new while the place was redecorated. How could managers let our facilities run down like that? I was even angrier when I saw stains on the duvet that should be pure white with a dark chocolate brown line toward the top. This would not do. I’d have to call Mason and Trent about this tomorrow.

For now, I ordered some room service, kicked off my shoes, and turned on the television to watch the late news. Images and words flashed, and I stared at the screen, but I didn’t really notice any of it. Not really. My thoughts were on Ember. Room service came but my food was cold and tasted of sawdust, so I decided to get a flight back tonight. I couldn’t stand anymore of the place.

I had my assistant find a flight for me and made ready to board another flight. Mason had the company jet, so I couldn’t use that today. I was exhausted, grouchy, and wanted only to climb into bed with Ember. It would be late when I got in, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to hold her. I hadn’t seen her in almost two weeks now. It had been excruciating, but I’d managed to not spoil the surprise about the international tour I had planned for her.

That part wasn’t in the contract, but it would be when I had it amended. By the time the plane had landed it was after one am, so I made my way to the hotel and quietly let myself into her room. I had a key of my own, so I didn’t have to wake her when I came in late. From the moment I opened the door I knew she wasn’t there.

The lights were on, but things were missing. The blanket she’d hid under when she watched movies on the couch was gone. The picture she’d hung up on the wall was missing too.