Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Nikki: Noah and Jax will meet us at the arena at five!

Nikki: I'm seriously impressed with myself for making it happen.

Nikki: Don't tell Simon. They want to surprise him.

Juliette: My lips are sealed.

Simon was kissing her bare shoulder as she placed her phone back on the bedside table. "Mmm…good morning," she said sleepily.

"Who was texting you so early?" he asked between kisses.

Before she could answer, he gently rolled her onto her back and covered her body with his, and kissed her deeply.

She loved when he did that.

The man kissed better than anyone else and she didn't even care about morning breath because everything else was just so wonderful.

She'd gone back to the hotel yesterday before rehearsal was over because she just needed some time alone. The conversation they'd had earlier in the day was weighing heavily on her mind, and Juliette genuinely needed a little time to be by herself. She wasn't used to having people around her constantly. With any of her previous clients, she didn't travel with them the way she was with Simon.

Because you weren't sleeping with them , she'd reminded herself.

Still, having Simon busy rehearsing was the perfect excuse for her to slip away and have a couple of hours to herself to just wrap her head around where her life was currently at.

There was no one she wanted to call, no one she could really talk to about how she was feeling. The reality was that she was falling hard for Simon, and it scared the hell out of her. He was like a literal breath of fresh air, and she hadn't realized just how long it had been since she'd breathed freely. His love of life and positive energy were infectious, and even though she knew she'd never be the kind of person who saw the silver lining to everything, she had to admit that she was enjoying seeing some new perspectives in her everyday life.

She woke up happier. Her conversations were lighter. The mundane stuff that she had to do for her job didn't seem quite so…mundane. Vanessa's risk of sending her to Simon had been life-changing, and it also had her re-evaluating what she wanted moving forward.

Simon. I want Simon…

That was a given. Unfortunately, she wasn't so sure she was right for him.

Sure, they were fine right now. Everything was new and wonderful and some of that was from the sex goggles. After all, when you're having fantastic sex multiple times a day, it was hard not to be happy. But once that part of their relationship calmed down—like it was going to while he was on tour—then what? When she had to be in serious publicist mode daily and argue with the film crew or squash random stories about him in the press, would they still be looking at each other like they had been? Would the sex fog continue to carry them through?

She didn't know.

Plus, would she revert back to her old self and be too jaded and rigid and negative for him? Would he grow tired of constantly trying to show her the bright side of things?

Her pessimistic side, the side that was pretty much her dominant side, said yes, he'd definitely grow tired of it and leave her. But there was a new tiny voice emerging. It was quiet and small, but it was desperately trying to tell her to have faith—that she was enough and she didn't have to change everything about herself in order to be loved.

Loved.

Oh, man…wasn't it too soon to be thinking about love? But with someone like Simon, it just…fit. He was so amazing, so incredible, that any woman would be crazy if she didn't fall for him.

That thought then had her spiraling because she felt then like she was just one of the masses. Was she just like all those fangirls? Was she falling for him because he was Simon Bennett, rock star?

Okay, rock star was a bit of an exaggeration. Simon was more on the pop side of things—a little Ed Sheeran, Justin Timberlake, and Adam Levine all mixed together.

And utterly delicious.

The gentle bite on her neck brought Juliette out of her reverie.

Softly, she raked her hands through his hair. She loved moments like this, seeing him in such sexy disarray. It was a good look on him.

"This is a great way to start the day," she told him, running a hand along his stubbled jaw. "What time do you need to leave the hotel today?"

"We've got another sound check this morning," he said, resting his forehead against hers. "The car is picking me up at ten." Lifting his head, he glanced over at the bedside clock. "Two hours. That means…"

Juliette gave him a playful shove. "That means you need to get up and have something to eat and shower and get ready. We didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night, so…"

"I wanted to surprise you," he said with a small pout.

"And you did. Although Nikki had me believing there was some sort of PR emergency."

Now he grinned. "But wasn't walking into a candlelit dinner so much better than a work thing?"

"It was, and I believe I thanked you for that. Repeatedly."

And she had.

In some of the naughtiest of ways.

After they ate.

She wasn't crazy enough to let a dinner like that go cold!

Giving Simon another little shove, he rolled off of her, his arm flinging over his face as he often did. "Why don't you go grab a shower and I'll order breakfast?" She sat up and tossed off the blankets. "I'm thinking omelets this morning. What about you?"

Reaching out, he grabbed her arm and tugged her back towards him. "Omelets sound good, but how about we place the order and then we both grab a shower? Together." He waggled his eyebrows at her, and it was hard not to laugh.

"Fine. But we'll have to be quick. You're a VIP guest, so they're not going to make you wait."

"Hmm…I hadn't thought of that…" He studied her for a moment. "I'm willing to go for quick." He tugged her even closer until they were nose to nose. "Sometimes, that's even more fun."

She groaned because it was so true. "You go get the water going. I'll make the call."

They rolled off the bed in opposite directions, laughing the entire time. Juliette placed the order and raced toward the bathroom, realizing this was definitely a great way to start the day, and it made her even more determined to show Simon that she was the one for him.

Sound check wasn' all that exciting, Juliette decided. It was a lot of stopping and starting and she understood why they needed to do this—even though they had done it the night before—it just seemed like it took a long time to actually get through.

The film crew was being shockingly respectful and her pessimistic side was waiting for something to happen. Sure, it was only the second day of filming, but considering how contentious things had become, she was really expecting way more drama.

Stop looking for trouble…

For now, she would. She just hoped trouble didn't come looking for her.

At one, they stopped for lunch. Nikki was waiting for them back in the dressing room with their catered lunch set out for them. While they ate, Juliette was content to simply listen and observe the banter between the two of them. They were friends who've been working together for so long, but it was still interesting to watch them slip into business mode when they needed to.

After lunch, there was another hour of rehearsals before everyone went back to their hotels to relax before having to be back at the arena at five. Honestly, she didn't know why they needed to be back so early when the show started at seven—and that was the opening act—but she figured they all knew best.

Back at The Four Seasons, Juliette went to her own room because that's where all of her stuff was and she had planned on simply joining Simon after collecting her things, but was surprised when he told her he'd see her when the car came back to pick them up. She didn't argue or question it, but it surprised her how disappointed she was.

"Don't take it personally," Nikki said as they walked to their rooms. "He takes a couple of hours to meditate and decompress before every show. I know he may seem like a very mellow guy, but he really works hard at it while he's on tour."

"Oh, um…okay."

"You should take the time to nap or just veg out. The energy in the arena later—especially with Noah and Jax surprising Simon—is going to be completely wild. You have no idea how exhausting it is, so…trust me. Rest up."

"Will do!"

As soon as the door to her room closed, she scoffed at the idea for a nap. She was a grown woman who hadn't taken a nap since she was five. There were emails she could answer, a book she had downloaded but hadn't started to read…there were ways to just simply sit and enjoy the quiet without needing to shut her eyes and sleep.

But…five minutes later, while getting comfortable on the bed with her tablet, she yawned.

"No biggie. It's just a yawn." Reclining back against the pillows, she tapped on the new book, but by the end of the first page, her eyes felt heavy. Sighing, she said, "Five minutes. I'll just rest my eyes for five minutes.

And that was the last thing she remembered until Nikki knocked on her door two hours later.

He was in the zone. It felt like the stadium was a living, breathing thing. There were hundreds of people in motion all around him and it was still two hours until showtime. Well, not his showtime, but Callie Walker's. She was the opening act for this leg of the tour and was a sweet kid. Simon hoped the night was magical for her because it was literally her first tour. He remembered his and knew she'd remember this for the rest of her life.

"How are you doing, boss?" Nikki asked as she came through the door. "It's pretty wild out there already."

"I'm good. I'm good." He looked around distractedly. "Where's Juliette?"

"She's outside talking to some people I just introduced her to." She smiled sweetly, as if hiding a secret.

"Out with it, Nik. What's going on?"

"Are you up for some company?" she asked in a singsong voice.

"Nikki…"

"Okay, okay…hang on. I promise you're not going to mind this."

"You know I hate surprises before a show," he reminded her, but now he was genuinely curious because she did know how much he hated surprises before a show.

Holding up one finger to him, she turned and opened the door and then stepped aside.

And in walked his brothers.

"What?!" he cried, jumping to his feet. "What in the world is happening right now?" But he didn't really care. He was too excited.

"Hey, buddy!" Jax said, shaking his hand and then pulling him in for a hug. "Surprise!"

"This is amazing!" Then he turned to his older brother. "Noah! I can't believe you're both here!"

Noah did the handshake and hug thing too, with a big grin. "We thought it might be cool to be here for opening night."

"Is Lily with you? Mom?"

"Nope," Jax replied. "Just us!" He looked around the dressing room. "So? How's it all going with the documentary people? We spotted some of them out in the halls just taking B-roll stuff, I guess. Do we need to let them interview us while we're here?"

Laughing softly, Simon shook his head. "That's completely up to you. I'm sure they'll love that, but you're under no obligation, I swear."

"Could be fun," Jax said. "My team's having a good season, so I can talk about that whenever they ask about you." He grinned. "Think they'll like that?"

"Feel free to talk about yourself as much as you want. You know I'm more than happy to share the spotlight."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you need to stop that," Noah said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You're a big deal, Simon. It's okay to admit that."

And the thing was, he knew that and was fine with it. He just also believed in letting others around him shine as well.

"Look, there's no doubt that once the film crew knows you're here that they're going to want to talk to you. I'm just saying you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Do we need to set that up with Juliette?" Noah asked with a small smile. "Nikki introduced us outside, and she seemed like she was guarding the door and making sure no one came in."

Just picturing that made him smile. She knew he wanted some privacy here in the dressing room—especially tonight—so it pleased him that she was keeping people away and giving him the time he needed.

He'd felt bad asking her to give him some time back at the hotel, but as much as he loved spending time with her, he was a creature of habit on a concert night. Maybe he'd break that habit down the line—he'd never had a girlfriend with him on tour. There was a part of him that felt certain that he could, especially for Juliette. But today he'd just needed that quietness to get ready for tonight.

"By the way," Noah said quietly, only for his ears, "she's great."

Simon looked at him oddly. "What do you…?"

"Jax told me you had a rough start with her. But we were out there with her for at least twenty minutes and she just genuinely seems nice," he said with a shrug. "And it's obvious she's looking out for you, so for that point alone, I'm going to like her."

"Oh."

"Why? You look like you were expecting me to say something else."

Shaking his head, he was about to try to come up with something to say, but that's when Jax joined the conversation.

"Juliette's cool," he stated. "I was prepared not to like her and to give her shit because of the way things were the last time we talked, but it seems like the two of you have worked things out."

Nodding, he let himself relax. "We did. Things are good. Really good. You know…like…better. Good."

His brothers exchanged glances and smirks, and that's when Simon knew he was basically screwed. Fortunately, no one was in the dressing room with them. Apparently Nikki had let herself out.

With a loud sigh, Simon walked over to the black leather sofa and sat down. "So, um…"

"You're sleeping with her," Jax said flatly. "I didn't think you'd go to that extreme just to get her to back off."

And if his brother wasn't six inches taller than him and fifty pounds or more of pure muscle, Simon would have gotten up and punched him right in the face.

"That's not how it is!" he snapped. "Jesus, what do you take me for? When have I ever done anything like that?"

"Okay, okay, we all need to calm down," Noah said, slowly coming to stand in a position to block either one of them. He looked at Jax. "That was really kind of a dick thing to say. Simon's right. When have you ever known him to use a woman like that?"

Shrugging, Jax seemed unfazed by the conversation. "The timing seems a little odd, that's all. One minute he's calling and bitching about this woman and now everything's great and he's acting awkward. What was I supposed to think?"

"Um, maybe that we're adults! Or that we're colleagues who learned how to work together! I mean, there are dozens of explanations, but your mind immediately went to the gutter!"

"So you're saying you're not sleeping with her? Because if you're not, I'd like to…"

That's when Simon got to his feet and lunged at Jax. "You son of a…"

Jax stepped aside even as Noah moved to block Simon. "You've got a show tonight, Simon! Knock it off!"

"Tell him to knock it off! What the hell!"

Noah held him still for a long moment before giving him that patient, knowing expression. "You still want to say nothing's going on? You know Jax was just baiting you, right?" Then he paused and looked over at Jax. "You were just baiting him, weren't you?"

"Of course I was! Jeez! I'm really not that much of a dick!"

"That's debatable," Simon mumbled, breaking away from Noah.

"He's got a point," Noah agreed. "Your delivery needs some work. Why would you try to pick a fight when he's getting ready for a show? You know he has a whole pre-concert routine, and none of it involves arguing with anyone."

"Look, he needs to be honest, okay?" Jax argued. "If he's sleeping with Juliette, fine. Who cares? Just be man enough to admit it. And if you're involved with her on a deeper level and dating her, then man up and respect her enough to admit it. You, of all people, Simon, should know better than to lie about a relationship. That never works. And then someone finds out and it makes the headlines and rarely in a flattering way."

Raking a hand through his hair, he hated how his brother was right.

Really hated it.

"Let's just say that I agree with you, but Juliette's not there yet. And I respect her enough to respect her wishes not to out us to the public yet. Yet," he added for emphasis.

"Then I'm going to invite her to join us," Jax said as he walked to the door. He pulled it open, looked out and paused, but ultimately turned around without saying anything.

"Wasn't she out there?" Noah asked.

"She was, but she looked to be in deep conversation with someone and I didn't want to disturb them."

Curiosity got the better of him, and Simon walked over to the door and glanced out.

Max Yearsley.

Shit.

Juliette looked tense but confident, and Max looked pissed. So basically, they were reacting to each other like everyone expected. But it still annoyed him that it was happening at all.

"You signed up for this," Noah gently reminded him. "This film was in the works and I get that it's not going the way you hoped, but that's what Juliette's here for. Let her do her thing and don't worry."

Shutting the door, he walked back over to the sofa. "I'm not worried, I just hate the whole thing. This wasn't supposed to be this way. I haven't heard of any other artist who did a tour film have this kind of grief."

"Why isn't your agent stepping in more? Mick seems like the kind of guy that nobody messes with."

"He is, but I wanted to handle this myself. I'm not a child and I don't need people handling everything for me," he argued.

"Pick your battles, Simon," Jax said, sitting down beside him. "I hate to say it, but…no one's listening to you. That's why Juliette's here. And from the looks of the conversation she's having out there, no one's listening to her either. I say you get Mick involved because that's what you pay him for. Make him put an end to this."

Leaning back against the cushions, he let out a long breath. "This is what I'm supposed to be doing—a tour film. It started with Taylor, then Beyoncé, Billie, K-pop…the list is endless. It's the trend and I need to be a part of it."

"Yeah, okay. We get that, but maybe it doesn't need to be with this particular film company," Noah reasoned. "Seriously, call Mick."

"I'll think about it." And he would, just not right now. Right now, he wanted to focus on the fact that his brothers were here. "Okay, enough of my BS, tell me what's going on with you two!"

"Lily and I finally found a house," Noah said with a big smile. "It's freaking amazing. It's just outside of downtown Charlotte so it's close to her family, and has a studio she can use for dancing."

"And what about for you?" Jax asked. "What perks are there for you?"

"It's got an amazing yard with a pool and a hot tub, and a media room in the basement that is going to be epic for movies and gaming." His smile grew. "Now I'll have a space to beat both your asses in Halo !"

"Pfft…the only thing you beat us at is Mario Kart ," Jax teased. "But it will be cute to watch you lose on a twelve-foot screen!"

They all laughed at that.

"Anyway, I've got pictures," Noah said as he took out his phone and pulled them up. "Three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a detached two-car garage with a finished guest suite, and then all the stuff I mentioned. It's perfect for us."

"That's awesome, Noah," Simon said as he scrolled through the pictures. "What about you, Jax? What's new with you?"

"I'm thinking of making this my last season," he said, all signs of his earlier jovial attitude gone. "Last weekend we played Dallas and I took a pretty hard hit." He paused. "I didn't bounce back as fast as I thought I would."

"Holy crap," Simon whispered. "So…what does this mean? Are they letting you sit out the next few games?"

"I have to get clearance for the game next weekend," he admitted. "That's why it was so easy for me to come here today. I can't workout or practice, so getting permission to travel wasn't an issue. If anything, my coach thought it was a good idea for me to get away."

"So…if this is your last season and you retire, what comes next?"

"Well…Noah's helping me with that," Jax said, clapping Noah on the shoulder. "I've been building up my portfolio and investments so that I can be financially sound when I can't play football anymore. I could probably go into broadcasting or coaching, but…" He shrugged. "There's a part of me that doesn't want to be in that world in that capacity. I'd like to maybe go back home and do some good there."

"Some good?" Simon asked. "Like what?"

"I'm not sure yet. Maybe be a coach at the high school or open a camp or…" Now he leaned back against the cushions. "What I really want is to do something that's going to make a difference. I just need to figure out what that is."

Well, color me surprised…

"Then that's what you're going to do," Simon assured him. "I totally believe in you. And whenever you decide, I'm going to be there to support you, invest in you, and help you in whatever way I can."

"Thanks, Simon," his brother said, his voice going a little gruff. "But enough of that seriousness, what's this next leg of the tour going to be like?"

So they talked about the tour and then dinner was brought in. Juliette and Nikki joined them and it was possibly the greatest way to kick off the tour—with a family dinner. Simon didn't do anything to draw any attention to his and Juliette's relationship, but he enjoyed watching her interact with his brothers. They joked and laughed and every time Jax tried to give her a hard time over stupid stuff—like his brother was prone to do—she was more than able to handle herself and dish it right back to him. It was kind of awesome to watch.

Before he knew it, it was time for him to change and finish getting ready. Everyone stayed and ate and drank a little more while he did what he had to do. It took a little longer for him to change clothes and do his hair because he was distracted thinking about all the fun everyone was having without him and hoping Juliette wasn't feeling awkward being with his family without him.

When Nikki knocked on the bathroom door, he called out for her to come in.

"You okay?" she asked. "You've kind of been in here for a while. Are we being too loud and ruining your pre-show meditation?"

He waved her off. "No. I'm just dealing with a bit of FOMO."

That made her laugh. "Seriously? Why?"

"I was just really enjoying hanging out like that with everyone. Don't get me wrong, I'm psyched to get out on stage, but…this was a good night."

She smiled. "And it's about to get better. The crowd is going wild out there, and Gage is waiting at the door to get you where you need to be. You ready?"

He nodded and started to walk past her when she stopped him.

"She fits, you know," she said quietly. "Juliette. I think she seriously impressed your brothers tonight."

If anything, it was the perfect thing to hear.

"That's good, because I'm thinking that I'd really like to see where this goes. Like…seriously goes. Like…the long haul."

"That's a big step for you. I don't think I've ever heard you say that about any other woman."

"That's because I've never met anyone like Juliette Bellucci before." He gave Nikki a hug before walking out of the bathroom area and back out to where his brothers and Juliette were sitting and laughing. He loved hearing her laugh, but more than that, he loved seeing the smile on her face and how relaxed she was.

Yeah, I love this girl…

They all turned toward him with equal parts pride, excitement, and humor. He had no idea what they'd all been talking about, and honestly, he didn't want to know. Now he was officially in performer mode, and his head was firmly focused on the show ahead.

His brothers stood, and so did Juliette. "Good luck!" Jax said, giving him a hug.

"Break a leg!" Noah told him, also hugging him. "We'll see you after the show!"

Then he looked at Juliette and he saw the question there, as if she wasn't sure what they were supposed to do—shake hands, nod, hug? So Simon did exactly what he wanted to do.

He kissed her until they were both breathless.

When he released her, she looked a bit dazzled, and he'd give anything to keep that look on her face all the time.

"I'll see you all in ninety minutes! Enjoy!" he called out as he met Gage at the door and walked out.