I shake my head. “Everything was great for those first two years. All the money was going into producing my albums and getting my name out there. It’s about that time we started dating. Musician and her manager—seems like it’d be an epic love story.”
His hands stall. “And I’m guessing that’s where it all went wrong.”
I nod. “Eric got me into all the right places, so when that first album dropped and my single hit the top ten, I was on cloud nine. Appearances on TV shows, meeting the right people, opening for one of the biggest bands in the world? I didn’t think it could get any better. But then I got my first royalty check and to say it was lackluster is an understatement.”
Jasper growls, not interrupting, but I can sense his anger with Eric.
“I made pennies on what I was bringing in.”
“What happened to it?”
“When I asked Eric, he said it all went to cover production, tours, marketing, blah, blah, blah. Being young, naïve, and in love with him, I believed him. But as I got bigger and headlinedmy own tours, the checks got smaller and smaller. I knew something was wrong.”
“God damn it. If I ever see this man, I will punch him in the face.”
“Believe me, I want to. He was embezzling and stealing from me. His lawyer got him out of jail, but the trial is coming up soon and it’s going to be hard because my attorney is still having trouble tracking down where all the money went.”
His hand tightens around my calf in a protective way. I love that feeling. Feeling safe and protected with him. Something I never felt with Eric.
“This guy is an asshole.”
Crawling over and settling on his lap, I wrap my arms around his shoulders and cup his cheek. “No punching is needed, but I love that you want to defend me.”
He links his hands behind my back, settling just above my butt. “I’m sorry that you have to go through all of this.”
“It kind of sucks. Until all of this is resolved, I’m in limbo. No manager. No contracts. No studio to record in. I can make music here, but all the creative juices are zapped.”
“Because you’re so stressed,” Jasper confirms.
“Yeah. It’s the worst.”
“Is there anything that I can do? Be your sugar daddy?” He presses a kiss to the tip of my nose. “You’ve already ruled out punching him, so that’s off the table.”
“Well, as far as sugar daddies go, you’d be a pretty good one.” I smile back at him. “I just hate how young and stupid I was. Everyone told me to keep my rights, but I didn’t think past that.”
“Hey. You weren’t stupid.” Jasper’s voice is firm. “He took advantage of you. Here was someone young and vulnerable, and he didn’t think twice about doing what he did.”
His words stir something deep inside of me. The part that made it hard to trust after Eric. It’s thawing that wall around methat I’ve been taking down brick by brick because of this man here.
“He made it hard to trust my own judgment. I thought he was one of the good ones. I just wanted to be famous and tour the world.”
Jasper smiles, pressing a kiss to my palm. “Well, at least he did that. I know you’re famous and I don’t really follow pop music.”
“You’re going to have to start. I mean, how can you be my groupie if you don’t know any of my songs?”
“Hey.” He points a finger at me. “I know the one you sang?—”
“You better not say at the game,” I joke. “Everyone knows the national anthem.”
“I was going to say the one with the flowers in the cracks from the gala.”
“‘Wildflowers in the Weeds,’ but close.”
“See? I’m already halfway there.”
“I can send you home with all my CDs. Play them for Zucchini so she doesn’t forget who I am.”
Jasper shakes his head. “It’d be impossible for anyone to forget about you.”
