Chapter 7

7

I t was all Jake could do to get through the radio show and sound check. He barely caught a glimpse of Claire all day and it was eating at him. She told them she was fine, but he saw red when she said her ribs might be fractured.

Someone was going to pay for that.

Just when he thought he would crawl out of his skin and scream, she was there. In wardrobe.

Miranda passed out outfits for their first set, and Claire sat off to the side watching. Flashbacks from several years before came to him of her watching them get ready. The two of them shared smiles constantly, all leading up to the moment they slept together.

They had spent years fighting it. Or he had at least, but he suspected she had as well. It only took them both getting drunk for it to escalate.

As Miranda shooed the guys off to get changed—which primarily consisted of them going to separate areas of the room and stripping down right there because no one had the time to care for modesty—Jake caught Claire's eye and smiled.

She gave him a small wave and scooted off her chair, holding out her arms to show off her outfit and doing a small spin. She looked stunning in her black leggings and an oversized sweater, despite the heat, that looked soft. But she could make everything look good.

He grinned at her as she mouthed, "Thank you."

He tipped his head in acknowledgment before Miranda shooed him off with a knowing wink. Jake and the rest of the band got dressed and came back to the middle of the room. Ben walked over to Claire and kissed the top of her head before disappearing out of the room with the other guys. Jake lingered for only a second, taking a step closer to Claire.

"You look great," he said.

She smiled up at him and he damn near died. "Thanks to you. I really appreciate it. I promise I'll pay you back."

"It's unnecessary. It's a gift."

He reached up to push a lock of hair behind her ear, but she flinched. She immediately squeezed her eyes shut as a flash of regret flew across her face and she let out a breath.

"God, Jake, I'm sorry."

He studied her for a moment and waited for her to open her eyes before saying, "I will gain your trust, Claire-bear."

"It has nothing to do with you."

"I know. But I'm going to fix it, anyway."

Will popped his head back into the room. "Jake, come on."

Jake gave Claire one last look before forcing himself to follow Will to the stage.

The show had only been slightly better than the previous night. Jake was still distracted, looking for Claire, but during a costume change, Miranda told him Claire didn't plan to be in the audience. He forced himself to relax and focus on the show. The fans deserved that much, at least.

That night, they would take the tour bus to the next city, and they could shower at the arena before needing to settle into the bus for the night. He wasn't sure if Claire would join them on their bus or ride with some of the crew, but he suspected Ben wouldn't let her out of his sight. Jake knew he wouldn't.

He forced himself to burn off his nervous energy with the show, and by the time they walked offstage, his nerves were fried.

Claire gave him a small smile when they passed the wardrobe room to their dressing rooms. She was helping Miranda pack the wardrobe closets.

Jake tossed his clothes in the hamper beside the door, where it would be collected and washed before tomorrow night's show. Then he stepped into the small shower in his dressing room. The arena was large enough that they had several dressing rooms with showers, affording each guy their own and not having to double up that night. It made the night smoother when they could all shower in their own rooms rather than taking turns before piling onto a bus for the night.

Despite having a little extra time before needing to get out of there, he showered quickly and dressed in record time. When he stepped out of his dressing room wearing a fresh pair of clothes and his hair was still dripping wet, his security guard wasn't beside his door. He glanced down the busy hallways of the arena as everyone bustled about, getting things to their trucks. His dirty clothes remained in the hamper beside his door, so he picked them up and turned toward wardrobe.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Sean asked, walking toward him. He was a member of their security crew and was often assigned to Jake during performance nights when they needed to get out to the bus unscathed.

Jake held up the dirty clothes. "Just running this to wardrobe."

Sean lifted a brow. "Since when do you run your own dirty clothes to wardrobe? You have people for that."

"It's not beneath me to do it. I'm just helping."

Sean crossed his arms. "Bullshit."

Jake rolled his eyes and walked down the hall. Sean followed.

"You're usually chomping at the bit to get to the bus to relax. So tell me what's really going on."

"Nothing is going on. I just want to help Miranda out."

They turned the corner and stopped at an open door. Miranda was still tucking items Claire was handing her into the wardrobe closet. Sean let out a low whistle under her breath that only Jake could hear. Jake threw Sean a dirty look.

"Now I know why you wanted to come here. Is that Claire?" Sean whispered.

Jake threw an elbow into Sean's broad chest, who only chuckled in response before stepping into the room.

"My stuff hadn't been picked up yet, so I thought I'd save you a trip."

Claire gave Jake a shy smile. Miranda walked over to Jake and took the clothes from his hands before depositing them in a large clothes bin.

"Thanks. But you didn't need to do that. We still have to run down that way to get the clothes from the other guys."

Jake shrugged and tucked his hands into his pockets before rocking back on his heels.

Sean's eyes bore into him, but he promptly ignored it as he tried to find something else to say. Miranda glanced back at him.

"Is there something else you need?"

Jake looked at Miranda and then over at Claire, who was pushing an item into the rolling wardrobe with her back to them. Miranda looked over at Claire before looking back at Jake. Her eyes softened, and she winked.

"Hey, Claire. Why don't you head back to the bus with Jake? I can handle the rest of this, and you really should rest, anyway."

Claire turned toward them and frowned before glancing over Jake's shoulder out into the hallway.

"I should probably wait for Ben."

"He'll be fine knowing you're with Jake. It's not like you won't be without security."

Claire's eyes briefly met Jake's before flitting past him. She cast another worried look over Jake's shoulder. "I should wait for Lonnie, though. He told me not to go anywhere without him."

Sean took that moment to step into the room and held out his hand. Claire shook it.

"You must be Claire. I'm Sean. I usually follow this pretty boy around." He thrust a thumb over his shoulder at Jake.

Jake rolled his eyes and a small smile touched Claire's lips.

"It's nice to meet you," she said.

"I can get you and Jake over to the bus if you'd like. I'll radio Lonnie first to make sure he's good with it."

Claire glanced at Jake before looking back at Sean. "Yeah. Okay, thank you."

Sean stepped into the hallway and pulled out his radio while Jake and Claire waited in the wardrobe room with Miranda.

A moment later, Lonnie appeared in the room.

"Let's get you two to the bus."

Claire looked back at Miranda and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm looking forward to it. Get some rest."