Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The following morning, Juliette woke up alone and wildly disappointed.

Actually, the next three mornings she woke up alone, even though she and Simon went to bed together every night. It was like having a semi-sexy sleepover with your crush.

If you were both in middle school.

Seriously, she was beginning to wonder if her definition of taking things slow and Simon's definition were the same. She was all for not having sex on the first night, but she had hoped that things would progress a little more each night. The only thing that progressed was the damn penguin documentary, and she wasn't sure how much more she could take. Now she had to decide if she should just say something or simply seduce him.

Seduce. Definitely seduce him.

She had a feeling if she opened the dialogue and had a discussion about everything, Simon could talk about it until they both fell asleep again.

The good news was he was still making music during the day. They would talk about what he was hoping to accomplish on this next album, how they could incorporate it into the documentary, and the best way for him to present it all to his agent and music producers. Honestly, Juliette didn't think he had anything to worry about. Artists changed things up all the time. It wasn't realistic to keep him making the same music over and over. The more he evolved, the bigger his fan base would be.

"Hey, Jules," Nikki said, joining her in the kitchen just as she was about to start making lunch. "I just got off the phone with Simon's agent, Mick. He wants to do a video chat this afternoon with the documentary guys to start working on the preliminaries."

"Oh?"

She nodded. "I told him Simon's been working hard on some new music and maybe now wasn't the best time—you know, trying to buy him a little more time—but he was pretty adamant that we all be on the call." She sighed. "So, do you want to do rock-paper-scissors to decide who gets to tell him?"

Groaning, she shook her head. "Damn. I feel like we've all been here in this nice little cocoon. It's been easy to forget about the outside world. It sucks that it's going to come crashing in like this."

"I know," Nikki said wearily. "Although, if I'm being honest, I feel like we've all been dancing around the topic and Simon needs to put his foot down so we can all move on. Plus, I'd really like to go home and sleep in my own bed. Celia and I were talking about it last night and we're both super eager to head home."

"Why don't you? It's only another…what…four or five days on this lease? Simon mentioned that you were going to head home at that point and then meet up with him in Seattle. Why stay here if you're miserable?"

"I wouldn't say miserable, but…I don't know. It was nice of him to let us tag along on his vacation. I don't want to seem ungrateful."

"It's not ungrateful," she reasoned. "You already travel so much with him; it's no wonder you miss being home in your own space. I'm sure I'm going to start feeling that way soon."

It was odd that she hadn't started feeling it already.

"We'll see how this video call goes," Nikki said, walking over to the fridge and pulling out stuff to make sandwiches. "If Simon's okay, then I won't feel bad heading home a few days early."

"Where do you guys live? Are you within driving distance?"

She nodded. "We are currently living in Greensboro, which is three hours from here. Celia's family is there and with Simon being on tour right now and me traveling so much with him, it just made sense for us to find a place near family so she has extra help with Alex while I'm away."

"That's awesome," Juliette agreed. "And Simon also grew up here in North Carolina, right?"

Another nod. "He did, but closer to the coast. His mom still lives there."

This could possibly be a good time to broach the one topic Simon refused to talk about. "Are you close to her? His mother? Are they close? I mean…do they have a good relationship?"

But Nikki saw right through her. "Jules, come on. Anything you want to know about Simon's family needs to come from him." Leaning against the counter, she gave her a smile. "But I will say that his mom is awesome and I adore her."

"Oh."

"And we still have to decide who's going to break the news to him about the call this afternoon. Can I just yell ‘not it,' and that be okay?" Then she laughed nervously. "Or…maybe something a little more mature?"

Juliette already knew how this call needed to go and what she needed to do. "I say we wait until Simon's sitting down with us for lunch and then you tell him. If he starts to freak out, I'll jump in and put his mind at ease." Standing, she walked over to the kitchen island and began putting their meal together. "This is where I'm going to do what you're all paying me to do. If this call gets out of hand today, I'll smooth that over too."

Nikki eyed her warily. "I don't know how you're going to convince Mick not to side with the producers, but I have faith in you. And it's kind of like we're both breaking the news to him, so…"

"Breaking the news to who?" Simon asked as he strolled into the room.

Juliette's heart skipped a beat at the sight of him. His jaw was still scruffy, his hair was in wild disarray, and with the snug t-shirt and ripped jeans, he was too sexy for his own good.

Damn him.

If Nikki weren't standing right there, Juliette could just walk right up to Simon and kiss him and tell him how good he looked, effectively starting her seduction. Unfortunately, they were not alone and they were about to drop some unpleasant news on him.

"Um…what?" Nikki said, putting slices of brioche bread on the plates. "What are you even talking about?"

Laughing softly, Simon came closer, took one of the plates, and began putting his own sandwich together. "I just heard you saying you were both going to break the news to him. I'm guessing you were talking about me unless you're suddenly getting Juliette involved in something with Alex."

"Maybe the ‘we' I was referring to was me and Celia. Ever think of that?"

"Oh, uh…" Simon looked over at Juliette and she could tell he was embarrassed, but she could also tell that Nikki was stalling. So she threw herself on the grenade.

"Actually, Simon," she began carefully. "Mick scheduled a call for you and all of us, along with the documentary producers this afternoon." Pausing, she tried to gauge his reaction.

He didn't say a word.

"You don't have to worry," she went on. "Any pushback they give you on certain topics, I will step in and tell them how this is going to go. I've got this."

Still he said nothing.

"Simon?" Nikki prompted. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

He shrugged. "I've resigned myself to this," he said casually, but Juliette and Nikki exchanged glances because neither of them was buying it. "All I can do is listen to what they have to say and hope they'll show me the same courtesy." Then he reached for the provolone cheese. "Do we have any mayo?"

So many questions were swirling in Juliette's head, but she didn't want to get into it right now. What she wanted was a few minutes alone on the phone with everyone to tell them all to back the hell off. That wasn't going to happen and she knew she'd sound way more believable if Simon would just tell her the specifics of what he wanted avoided. Other than just saying he didn't want his father mentioned, she was going into this blind. That told her that the likely reason was abuse, but…she hated not knowing for sure.

And how crappy would it be if that was the reason and I made him relive it just to settle my own damn curiosity?

Yeah, that would be awful.

Her only option was to go into this call with confidence and shut down anything even remotely referencing his childhood and his father.

As long as I come off sounding like a badass, I should be fine.

"If it's okay with you guys, I'm going to take lunch over to the guest house and eat with Celia and Alex," Nikki told them. "The call is at three, so I'll be back over at 2:30 so we can go over anything we need to before we go live. Will that work?"

"Of course," he replied with his usual smile. "Go and have lunch with your family. Tell them I said hi."

And while that was a very Simon thing to say, it still felt a little off. The last thing she wanted to do was draw attention to it or delay Nikki's leaving, so Juliette waited until she was out the door and she and Simon were sitting down to eat.

"How's the music coming?" she asked to break the ice, but the look he gave her told her he knew exactly what she was trying to do.

"Really?" he asked, and it was the first time she caught a hint of sarcasm coming from him.

"What? I'm genuinely curious," she said sweetly. "Plus, I want to be able to back you up if anyone asks what you're working on."

Tossing his sandwich down, he leveled her with a hard stare. It shouldn't have been sexy, but it was.

Or maybe she was already sexually frustrated and anything was going to be a turn-on right now.

"For what it's worth, Simon, I get it. Nikki got the call, and she was dreading telling you about it for this exact reason. You're upset, but you're trying to pretend that you're not." Then she paused. "Although…you're not smiling and acting like your usual chipper self, so maybe you're not pretending and this is you when you're upset!" She clapped her hands, feeling proud of herself. "I'm so relieved that it's possible! Yay!"

He was still staring. "Are you done?"

Juliette instantly sobered, clearing her throat and nodding. "I am. Sorry. But you really need to know that I am going to be all over these guys today. I promise. No one's going to force you to do anything or put anything in this film that you don't want. It seems odd to me that Mick's not forcing them to back off, but…whatever."

"Because Mick doesn't know. He doesn't get it."

This was her opening. Her chance to make him tell her.

The words were right there on the tip of her tongue. She felt her mouth open and then close, but ultimately, she couldn't do it.

Shrugging, she said, "Then shame on him. He should respect what you're asking, even if he doesn't know all the reasons. But don't worry, I'll take care of it."

"Juliette…"

"Eat your lunch," she said with a wink. "And I want to know all about how today's music is going so we can dazzle everyone on the call."

It was a weak distraction at best, but it worked.

Going out on a stage and performing for tens of thousands of people was never a problem. Simon was more comfortable on a stage than almost anywhere else. So going on this video call—even with Nikki and Juliette sitting beside him—was definitely the reason he felt completely sick to his stomach.

There was a light knock on his bedroom door, and he reluctantly called out, "Come in." It was undoubtedly Juliette, but he wished he had a little more time to himself.

"Hey." It was Nikki. Stepping into the room, she shut the door behind her. "You okay?"

"No," he said with a mirthless laugh. "I never should have agreed to this project, Nik. It's going to be a disaster. They're going to steamroll right over all my objections and…"

Stepping in front of him, she gently grasped both his shoulders. "Have a little faith, Simon. I think Jules might be the perfect advocate for you."

"This isn't about being an advocate. That's not her job. She's supposed to be handling PR for me and this damn film, not dealing with bullies." And he hated how that's essentially what this was amounting to.

"Stop thinking of it like that," she admonished before pausing, her expression softening. "Say the word and we can back out of it. Mick will be pissed, but you've got a great legal team and we can claim breach of contract if they don't want to honor your requests. The way I see it, it's not really worth all of this."

The sigh was out before he could stop it, and his head lolled back. "Nik, you know why I don't want…"

"I do," she quickly interrupted. "And I am 100% in agreement with you. Walk away from it, Simon. It's not worth your mental health."

There was another knock at the door, and this time he knew it was Juliette. She opened the door slightly and peeked in. "Everything okay? I thought we could set up downstairs where all the guitars are. Maybe to give us a bit of a working atmosphere."

"Sure," he murmured. "That works."

"Or," she quickly added, "we can just as easily sit at the dining room table. It's wherever you're going to be more comfortable, Simon."

Anywhere but here…

"I think downstairs would be great," Nikki said, making the decision for him. Smiling, she took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "The decision moving forward is all yours. This is your career, your life, and your decision. Remember that." Releasing his hand, she left the room.

"What's going on?" Juliette asked, and he saw the tiny crease between her brows. She was trying not to freak out or frown, but…she was.

"Nik is a firm believer in me controlling my own destiny," he said with a weak smile. "She thinks it would be fine to tell Mick that the deal's off and that I no longer want to do this project."

"O-kay…is that what you're going to do? Because I need to know these things." Her tone was clipped and very impersonal, very much like those first days after she arrived here. Publicist Juliette was back, and he shouldn't be surprised.

"I don't know!" he snapped, his hands raking through his hair. The pacing came next. "Backing out is the coward's way and that's not who I am, but at the same time, moving forward is…it's…I can't explain it!"

When he turned and faced her, she looked cool and composed, her expression completely closed. Her hands were clasped tightly in front of her. "Backing out is not cowardly," she said firmly, but softly. "There is obviously a trauma there and no one has the right to make you relive it or put you in a place that undoes all the healing you've done." Lifting her chin, she studied him for a long moment. "You don't need to be in on the call. I'll handle it."

"Juliette, no. I…"

But she was already out the door.

Mumbling a curse, Simon stood there, frozen with indecision. It shouldn't be like this. He was a grown man and shouldn't let the things that happened to him as a kid affect him this much. That was the past and he'd moved on…grown…healed.

Have I, though?

While he should have gone after Juliette, he turned and picked up his phone instead. He had twenty minutes before the video call started and he was on the verge of a panic attack. The last time he felt like this, he'd talked to Jax, but this time he was calling Noah—and he didn't care if he was in Hawaii or the office. He needed to talk to his levelheaded brother.

"Simon! Hey!" Noah said when he answered the phone. "Is everything okay? You rarely call me when I'm at work."

"Okay, yeah. Sorry. How was Hawaii?"

"Amazing! I never thought it was a place I wanted to go, but I'm so glad I let Lily talk me into it. Honestly, I don't think I've ever been that relaxed in my life. So what's going on with you?"

"Do you have a minute?"

"I actually have ten," his brother said with a small laugh. "Then I'm due in a meeting. What's up?"

"When you met Lily, did you ever think that things from our past would be a deal-breaker for her?"

"I'm not sure what you mean. Like what specifically?"

"You know, like…her finding out about our childhood and Dad. Did you ever think of just not telling her?"

"Um…wow. That's an odd thing to ask, but…maybe? At first? Then it felt like it was something I had to share, and I was fairly open with her about our upbringing. She comes from an amazing family and just assumed everyone did. I lashed out one night and told her the whole sordid story of my life and it didn't really faze her. She felt bad for me, which I kind of hated, but…" He paused. "Okay, this is about the documentary, isn't it?"

It wasn't a question.

"I'm supposed to get on a call with everyone in a few minutes and we're at a standstill because there are things they want—an in-depth dive into my childhood—and I want to keep that all…you know, buried."

Noah sighed. "Totally understandable. Why are they so hell-bent on this?"

"Because I have a reputation for being this nice guy with no genuine drama."

"So they're pushing for the drama. Got it." Another sigh. "Damn. And Mick's agreeing with all of this?"

"Only because I haven't shared anything with him. I just said that part of my life is off-limits."

"Which naturally makes everyone even more curious."

"Exactly."

"Can you back out?"

"I think so, but…is that the right thing to do? Other than this one issue, I think the documentary can be amazing. There are so many of them out there now thanks to Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, and I know I can add something unique without the drama. I just don't know how to make anyone listen to me."

"Don't you have a new PR team? What do they say?"

He didn't have time to get into that whole angle with his brother. "They support me in whatever I decide, but you know I'm a people pleaser, Noah. The thought of backing out and disappointing everyone or—worse—having them looking at me like I let them down, is more than I can take."

"Damn, I really wish I had more time right now." He muttered a curse. "There's no way to make everyone happy, Simon. It's not possible. Either the film people are happy and you're miserable, or you step away and have peace of mind, and your management team is miserable. I mean…"

"If you were me, what would you do?"

"I'd fight for what I want," Noah told him. "And I'd make sure my publicist and manager and agent and assistant and everyone else on my payroll had my back. If you agree to everything except this one stipulation, they have to respect that."

"On some level they do, but…I don't want to go into the specifics. I just want them to know this is a topic to stay away from."

"And at the same time, you don't want to share the specifics. It's a tough spot to be in, and only you know who and when you want to share them. I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Noah. I know you need to go…"

"I do, and again, I'm sorry. Call me tonight and let me know how it goes, okay? Stand firm, bro. I believe in you."

That made him smile. "Thanks. And I'll talk to you later."

Hanging up, he tossed the phone down on his bed and let out a long breath. It would be so easy to shut the door and stay in here and pout. But was that who he wanted to be? Would he be able to even look at himself in the mirror? Worse, with the way things had been progressing with Juliette, how would she look at him if he hid in his room? And would their personal relationship end before it ever had a chance to begin?

There was no way he could let that happen. With a fortifying breath, Simon stormed out of his room. In the living room, he took a moment to figure out where Juliette and Nikki were. Voices were coming from the lower level, and a quick glance at his watch showed he had five minutes before their call was supposed to start. Jogging down the stairs, he came to a stop at the bottom and almost laughed at the wide-eyed shock both women were staring at him with.

"I never would have come this far in my career if I took the easy way out," he said, feeling more confident than he had just minutes ago. Looking at Juliette, he smiled. "I'm going to let you do your thing, but only after I do mine." Then he looked at Nikki. "Thank you for always wanting to take care of me. Sometimes I don't know where I'd be without you."

Nikki was instantly on her feet and hugging him. "Let's do this."

Nodding, he kissed the top of her head, and wished he could hug and kiss Juliette right now too.

Later. Once all of this nonsense was done, he was going to convince Nikki to spend the evening with her family, and he was going to see about possibly taking Juliette out on a date.

Feeling good about all his decisions right now, he walked over and grabbed himself a bottle of water after noticing the girls already had ones, and then got comfortable on the sofa. They each also had a laptop of their own and he looked around for his.

"Just share with Jules," Nikki said. "If we weren't going to have to be sitting practically in each other's laps, I'd say we should just use one, but…if you put the computer on the coffee table, you guys should be fine."

He looked at Juliette who still looked a little stiff to him, but he'd worry about that later.

Soon, Mick's face appeared on the screen, followed by producers Jacob Ward and Max Yearsley. Simon put a smile on his face and did his best to look confident. That's when he felt Juliette's hand cover his—out of the camera's view—and it was only then that he knew everything was going to be alright.

"Mick, Jacob, Max, it's good to see you," Juliette said, sounding like the consummate professional. "We're glad you wanted to chat today, but Simon's on a writing streak and we don't want to take up too much of his time."

Nodding, he said, "I'm looking forward to possibly having the film crew in the studio with me next month. Maybe having exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the next album or even premiering a new video at the end of the documentary could be a big selling point," he said, remembering some of Juliette's suggestions from last week.

The next few minutes were a bit of stroking everyone's egos, and then it was time to get down to business.

"We want a hometown visit," Max stated. "We think footage of you back at your old high school and walking the streets where you grew up are exactly what we need. We'll need your mother to give us some old photographs so we can make a digital scrapbook that will go with the piece."

"And we want footage of you with your family," Jacob added. "A family dinner while you're back in town where we can ask them some questions and get a more well-rounded picture of where Simon Bennett came from."

Simon was about to respond, but Juliette beat him to it.

"Gentlemen, that's not going to happen," she said, her tone almost icy. "Besides the fact that both of his brothers lead very busy lives and neither still live anywhere near their hometown, I believe Simon's repeatedly mentioned how that's not something he's willing to do, and if you continue to push this agenda, we'll pull from the project."

"Now wait a minute," Max said, his face going red with anger. "You can't do a documentary without going through where the subject came from and how he became the person he is! It's unreasonable!"

Again, he was going to speak and it looked like Mick was too, but Juliette was faster.

"No, what's unreasonable is that this project was pitched as a tour film," she snapped. "I've read the proposal, gentlemen. You came to Simon and his team for a concert film with some—and I repeat, some —behind-the-scenes footage of his personal life. That can be accomplished with backstage interviews or including a slice-of-life segment of his life now . He's been upfront with everyone about what aspects of his life are off-limits. If you can't work around that, then that's on you and we can all just shake hands and walk away. The choice is yours. My client is more than willing to give you access to his personal life now . That was the agreement. You changing the terms puts you in breach of contract. Do we understand each other?"

Simon actually held his breath. He looked at Mick, whose lips were twitching, and then at Jacob and Max, who didn't look pleased, but also looked like they knew this discussion was over.

"I believe we all meet up in Seattle in two weeks?" Juliette asked, and everyone nodded. "We're looking forward to Simon playing the new music for you, and we're working on the possibility of his brother, Jax Wylder, agreeing to be a part of the film."

His brother was an attention-hound, so there wasn't a doubt in his mind that he would do a segment.

Mick cleared his throat. "Jacob, Max, let's get together before the tour starts in Seattle and go over a few more of our requests." Then he smiled at the camera. "Simon, I love that you're making music, and I can't wait to hear it. Nikki, tell Celia and Alex I said hello."

"Will do, Mick!" she said.

"And Jules? Can you stay on the line after Max and Jacob are done?"

She nodded solemnly.

It took another five minutes for that to happen and, once they were officially off the call, Mick faced the camera with a scowl. "Juliette Bellucci, that was a pretty ballsy thing you did here today. I would have appreciated a call beforehand letting me know what you were throwing down."

Another nod. "My apologies, Mick."

That made him smile. "I enjoy having bold, confident people on the team. And I love knowing that you're looking out for Simon. I'm looking forward to meeting you in person."

And yet another nod. "I'm looking forward to that too."

"Good. Keep making music, kid, but make sure you're getting some rest. You were supposed to be taking a break. This next leg of the tour has a brutal schedule because of the film. I don't want you to be exhausted. Nikki, Jules, make him rest, okay?"

"We're on it, Mick!" Nikki said cheerily. "Don't worry."

"Excellent! Okay, we'll talk next week. Thanks for everything today and have a good one!"

The screen went blank and they all breathed a collective sigh of relief.

For a moment, Simon didn't know what to say. All he knew was that he was completely elated! For the first time since the early planning phases of this project, he felt hopeful.

"That was awesome!" Nikki exclaimed as she got to her feet. "I mean…wow! Jules, you were intimidating in the best freaking way! I wanted to totally high-five you at one point, but didn't think it would have looked professional. Damn! That was just so powerful! Don't you agree, Simon?"

He nodded and smiled at her. "I have hope," he said and then smiled at Juliette. "Thank you."

Fortunately, she smiled back. "That's my job. I told you I'd take care of it."

Reaching for her hand, he squeezed it. "You did and I'm sorry I doubted you."

"Okay, I think this was all awesome and we should celebrate, but before we go any further, I need to say something," Nikki interrupted. She looked a little nervous, and he had no idea what could possibly be wrong. "Celia and I are going to head home tonight. I know we have until the end of the weekend and all, but…Alex is getting a little whiny about missing his toys and I'm a little cranky because I miss my own bed. We appreciate you including us in this trip, and I hope you don't think we're ungrateful…"

"Nik," he said as he stood. "It's fine. I get it. Take the time at home with your family because I know you'll be there for the launch of the second leg of the tour. You don't have to ever feel bad about wanting to have a personal life."

She was instantly there hugging him. "Thank you." When she pulled back, she looked serious. "I'll still be available to work, so if there's anything you need…"

"Nik?"

"Hmm?"

"Go pack and I'll see you in Seattle."

The squeal of happiness was her immediate response before she hugged him again and then turned to do the same to Juliette. "Seriously, Jules, you were impressive. I'll see you in a few weeks!"

The instant the door shut, you could have heard a pin drop. The silence was deafening and awkward, and all he could think of was how he and Juliette were finally going to be alone.

Swallowing hard, Simon slid his hands into his pocket. "So, um…I was thinking. Maybe you and I can go on a genuine date tonight—like a proper night out. We could go into town and have dinner, and there are some great shops and galleries to explore. What do you think?"

She didn't respond right away. Was she going to turn him down? Tell him it wasn't a good idea? They'd been sleeping together every night for the past several nights, but…just sleeping. He was trying to be a gentleman and not rush her or come on too strong. Now he hoped it hadn't been a complete turnoff.

Great.

How awkward would it be if she changed her mind about them and now they were stuck here alone?

Ugh…

"I have a counterproposal," she said as she sauntered closer.

"O-kay…"

"I'm thinking of a completely improper night in." They were toe-to-toe, and the sultry tone of her voice and the warmth of her body were pretty convincing. "We can order dinner in, and…not leave." One hand smoothed over his chest. "The only place we need to go is your bed or mine."

Groaning at that image, Simon reached out and anchored his hand into her hair. "I like the way you think." And he sealed that with a kiss.