Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25780 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 129(@200wpm)___ 103(@250wpm)___ 86(@300wpm)
I’m starting to relax. My body is starting to cool down. The tension is starting to drain out of me.
“Okay, so what about the photo?” I blurt out. “There was clearly a photo of you two together–”
“Another show,” Cal interjects.
“I think it was one of mine?” Jenni suggests.
“Yeah, I believe so,” Cal agrees. “We were talking about doing a song together?”
Jenni snaps her fingers. “That’s right! We never ended up doing that. Why not?”
Cal shrugs. “Got too busy, I guess.”
“You got too busy, Mr. Superstar.”
They both start laughing, and I feel the urge to sit. Luckily, there’s an ottoman by the door where I plant my butt and lean back against the wall.
Cal comes over to me and kneels down beside me. “Are you all right, baby?” he asks, his voice sounding as sweet and caring as ever.
“This is just…this is all too insane, Cal.”
“I know, baby.” He nods. “But I promise you, it’s all the truth. Right, Jenni?”
Jenni nods but doesn’t say anything. In fact, she turns and disappears back into the living room, leaving the two of us alone together.
“I’m so sorry, baby,” he says, running his hand up my leg. “It was Josh or Kathleen—or both of them—trying to get back at me for letting them go. But we’ll find a way to squash this nonsense. You, Jenni, and I together. And you know that you’re the only girl for me, okay? And that I love you, right?”
His words hit me right in the chest, embedding themselves there in a way that I know will last forever. “I guess I’m going to have to learn to deal with some of this if I’m going to be your manager, huh?”
Epilogue
Cal
Five Years Later…
* * *
I never knew what my life was missing until I found her.
Now I stand on the deck of our house in Malibu, watching the sunset, my arms wrapped around Reese’s pregnant belly as the warm breeze dances around us. It’s the release day of my latest album, sales and reviews are both phenomenal, but without Reese, none of that would be possible. Without Reese, none of it would matter.
Just as I suspected, just like I told her, she became the best manager I could hope for. I’m able to trust her to always have my schedule laid out perfectly with no conflicts, which means I never had to hire an assistant. And when it comes to having someone to trust on the creative aspects of which direction to take my career, Reese has always been top of my list.
The first song I wrote about her went number one and stayed there for just over eight weeks. Our relationship went so well that I was inspired to write and ended up writing an entire album of basically love songs in less than a month.
The next single went number one for seven weeks, and then the entire album went number one and became my best-selling album ever. Reese planned out my countrywide tour, which was a major success, and at the very last show back in New York, I brought her out on stage and proposed.
She probably saw it coming—at least a little bit. Why else would I drag her out on stage in front of all those people? Still, it couldn’t have gone over any better than it did. I’d called Sarah up to get Reese’s ring size, and I’d spent weeks picking out the perfect stone.
She burst into tears when I got down on one knee with the band still softly playing in the background. Her parents were backstage when she said yes, and we were married three months later at an outdoor ceremony at the lake where I played her the first draft of the song I wrote for her that later became a hit.
She’s the love of my life. My constant inspiration. And the mother of my beautiful daughter.
I kiss up the side of my wife’s neck until I reach the bottom of her ear—the spot that always causes her to shiver with delight. “What’s the matter?” I whisper in the teasing tone I know she loves. “Something tickle?”
“Stop!” She giggles. She clearly doesn’t mean it. “You’re bad.”
“You love it.”
I slip my hand up my wife’s loose-fitting dress and feel her pregnant belly. I absolutely love it—all the extra curves that lead right up to her big, swollen breasts. I didn’t think I could want Reese any more than I already did, but then I watched her body change more and more as she was pregnant the first time, and I realized that I had a thing for her when she was with child. So now that she’s pregnant again, I can barely keep my hands off her.
“Haven’t you had enough of me already?” she whispers as I slip two fingers down her panties. She’s already nice and moist and ready for me, which just turns me on even more.