“I’m sorry, Mr. Mitchell, but your card was declined,” the waitress says, handing me back the credit card.
I feel my cheeks heat, and the waitress must notice, because she says, “It happens all the time to Americans up here. Some credit card companies make you call and let them know you’ll be out of the country, especially before allowing charges this big. Smaller purchases like coffee or something like that don’t always cause issues.”
“Ahh,” I say, trying to hide my embarrassment. “I’ll make sure I call right away.”
“Not a problem,” Kelsey says. “I gave my company our travel information last week. I’ve got it.”
“I’ll talk to Trent,” I tell Kelsey as soon as the waitress has left again. “I’m sure we can pay you back.”
“It’s really not a big deal, Carter.”
“Well, I’ll buy dinner at your top place in Toronto, then,” I say, suddenly desperate to help her make it to all the places she has on her list.
“It’s a date,” she says, and even though I know she’s making a joke about Jaxon setting us up, I find myself drawn to the idea of a real date.
Chapter ten
Kelsey
“Jaxon!Jaxon!Jaxon!”thecrowd chants as Jaxon switches his guitar before the final song of the set. They have two additional encore songs after this one, but the crowd knows the end is near, and the excitement in the place is palpable. Opening night of the Forever Starts Here Tour has been nothing short of phenomenal. Jaxon and the musicians are amazing, and the crowd is singing along at that perfect level of excitement that makes everything fun but not chaotic.
Our security teams have been on point, and from where I’m monitoring everything from the small room backstage, all is as calm as it can be. We had one fan rush the stage during the third song, but the venue security team knew exactly how to handle it in a calm, professional way. Carter’s sitting next to me, his attention primarily focused on the security guard who’s responsible for staying with Jaxon while he’s on the catwalks moving around the stage to various new locations on the set. Kevin has been an integral part of rehearsals, and I’m impressedMitchell Security was able to find someone with the level of experience he has—he played the same role for Hailey Moore’s tour last winter.
“Do you think that line is about Izzy?” Carter asks, pulling my attention from the screen where I’m monitoring the social media posts the team is sending my way. I sent security up to the third level an hour ago to pull a woman who once turned up at Jaxon’s house with rope and a hammer to break in. It feels like if you’re dumb enough to broadcast your location when you’re not supposed to be there, then you should be kindly escorted out.
“What line?” I ask. Even though we’ve now heard Jaxon’s setlist too many times to count, I’m embarrassed to admit I don’t know many of his songs. I’ve been so focused on making sure our team is perfect that I didn’t stop to really listen to any of his practice sets.
“We walked different roads, found love in the dark, but I always carried the light of your heart. I thought I moved on, thought I was fine, all the while imagining you by my side,”Carter says, his deep voice not quite singing, but coming out in a lilting chant.
I listen to the song then, really listen to the words Jaxon is saying, and slowly shake my head.
“No. This song has a happy ending. It’s the one a bunch of people use as their first dance song at their wedding. Unless Iz has been keeping a very major secret from me, those two never got their happy ending. I don’t think either of them even realized there could’ve been a happy ending for them. They were friends—it never seemed to me like either of them felt more than that. Or maybe they felt it every once in a while, but they never wanted it. They were happy with what they had.”
Jaxon reaches the end of the song, the last line,forever starts here…with me and youlingering in my head through the cacophony of cheers that erupt. I catch Carter staring at me from the corner of my eye and realize I’ve been staring at the screen showing the concert too long, a lone tear trickling down my face.
I wipe my cheek, pretending not to notice Carter’s questioning stare. He doesn’t need to know about my failed attempt at love or about how sometimes, just sometimes, I think this could be the start of something for him and me.
“Kelsey,” he starts, and as I turn to look at him, I see a new account pop up on my monitor, this one live streaming someone walking backstage, sneaking through a storage room.
“Shit,” I say as I see the message my agent sent along with the video: Security breach, room next to Jaxon’s dressing room.
I swivel my screen toward Carter. “Breach in the room next to the dressing room.”
“I’ll call Weston,” he says, raising his hand to his ear to touch the push-to-talk button on his earpiece. Weston is in charge of the close protection officers, or CPOs, who make up the backstage team.
“Weston, there is a breach.”
Carter pauses.
“Weston, do you copy?”
Carter glances at me as he pushes the button in his earpiece again. “Amee, do you copy?” he asks, this time calling to the head of the stadium’s security.
“Shit,” he says as no voice comes through.
On my screen, a feminine hand starts knocking on a wall, as if trying to decide which parts are hollow.
“You’re not coming through at all, boss,” the man positioned by the door to the security room says, pointing to his own ear.
