He looks over at Dingo and nods.
I look up at him, and his eyes meet mine.
“I want you to know that I acted out of pure, unadulterated jealousy and that pure, unadulterated jealousy is because I’m so in love with you. You don’t have to say it back. I know it’s hard for you to say, and I understand completely, but I also want you to know how wrong it was for me to act out that way.”
His forehead meets mine. “You know how I feel, though, right?”
“Until the end of time,” I say, which makes him smile.
“Exactly.”
“Colt,seriously, c’mon, man,” Dingo calls out.
What happened todaycannothappen again.
Somehow, I have to lock these feelings away, keep them from spiraling out of control. I can’t let my jealousy override logic. I lost it today—completely, irrationally lost it. We’re volatile together, a match too close to the flame, and if we’re not careful, it will burn everything we are to ash.
Colt wraps an arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side. No words, just the weight of what we both know.
Then, together, we walk back into the penthouse suite for round two.
Chapter Seventeen
The flight from Chicago to Sydney, Australia, was long—just over twenty-two hours. Thank God for the bed on board, or I might have lost my mind.
TheRolling Stoneinterview went well, and the band’s picture made it to the cover, which was a huge milestone. But I couldn’t bring myself to flip past the front page. I knew what was inside—Colt, draped over another woman for the sake of an image, a publicity stunt. And I knew seeing it would only stir up memories I’d rather leave buried.
After landing, we checked in, and, once again, Colt made sure we had a separate suite.
Before I could even unpack, he had to rush off to a meeting, leaving me alone for the last two hours.
Now, finally, he walks into our suite, eyes locked on a brochure, brows furrowed in concentration.
“Hey, babe, how was the meeting with Rob?” I ask, sifting through my suitcase, trying to find something to wear for dinner.
“Yeah, good. He’s impressed with your song, and the guys and I created the backing track. It sounds fucking great. We’re sure it will do well in the charts on release,” he replies, turning a page in the brochure he’s still holding.
“Well, for starters, it’s notmysong. You wrote it, not me, but I am proud of you,” I say while throwing a bunch of clothes on the floor.
He looks up from the brochure and smirks at me. “Um… why are you suddenly turning into a teenager and throwing your clothes all over our room? Has my Little Bean sprouted into a full-on rock chick?” The cheeky look on his face is adorable.
I sit on the edge of the bed. “I have nothing to wear,” I say, flopping back onto the mattress.
Colt chuckles. “Baby, you have heaps of clothes. You have more than the other girls.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know, but I’m sick of always wearing the same old boring shit.”
Colt lies down on the bed next to me. “Okay, first of all, you swore, and secondly, you’re a temptressbecauseyou know what swearing does to me, and we have no time for me to fuck your brains out ’cause we have to go to this stupid dinner. And thirdly, after Sydney, we’re going to Melbourne. We’re there for a few days. You and Anna should go shopping. Have a girl’s day. I just read this brochure about Melbourne, where there’s a street full of little boutiques and shit for chicks. Chapel Street or something, I think it’s called. I can get our driver to take you there, with security, of course, and you can buy yourself some new clothes. You can buy me some too if you want,” he says, facing me. “I know your father has limited your monthly allocation, but I don’t want you to worry. I’ll give you my credit card, and you can get whatever you want. I don’t care how much you buy or how much you spend. Have fun. You deserve it. You’ve given me so much. It’s time for me to give back to you.”
I smile and roll on my side to face him, feeling pure happiness. “You would do that for me?”
“Of course, I would. What’s the point of having money if I can’t spend it on those I truly care about?” I run my finger along his jaw. He smiles, and I lean in to kiss him, but he pulls away abruptly and sighs, shaking his head.
“If you start something, I won’t be able to stop. C’mon, we can’t be late. We’re meeting some bigwig of Australian music for an interview after dinner,” he states, smiling at me and getting up from the bed. He bends down and picks up my long black dress from the floor, laying it on the bed beside me. “Wear this with no panties,” he says with a wink before walking into the ensuite.
Shaking my head, I giggle at his demand but do as he says and get dressed, then do my hair and makeup.
***
