Teacher: The Final Act (A Hollywood Rock n' Romance Trilogy #3) Read online

  “I, uh, was just coming to freshen up. I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, it’s almost time! I’ve got to get to the venue.” She turned on Max with a fury I hadn’t seen from her before. Not even when we had our Melrose Showdown with Her Hungarian Highness, as the incident had been dubbed. “We will continue this later.” She turned on her four-inch red heels and stomped towards me, one plump curl bouncing under her chin. She threw her shoulders back and smiled at me. “I’ll see you downstairs. You’ve got your passes? You’re ready?”

  “Absolutely.”

  She was back to business, but I made a mental note to check in with her later.

  I changed into some jeans with blingy stuff on the butt that Danny really liked, and a matching black tank I’d picked up earlier from the hotel shop. I still didn’t have much in the way of rocker wear. I did, however, have my black cowboy boots that I was dying to slip into. I left my hair down and applied just a little bit of makeup around the eyes and smeared my lips with sparkly, dark pink lip gloss. Then I giggled. I was going to see my boyfriend’s band play. What kind of bizarre world had I landed in? That I was marrying into? In less than forty-eight hours!

  The show was beyond amazing, beyond anything I could describe adequately. All four of “the guys” rocked their hearts out on that stage. The Mannings often seemed reserved to me when we hung out, but not on stage. Bronson prowled around like a dark shadow to Danny’s fire. Julian threw off so much sexual energy, it was a miracle that more bras and panties weren’t thrown, or that more of them didn’t spontaneously combust. Alex was a major clown behind the drum set. He smiled the whole time like he was the happiest kid on the playground. These four men, who had become so important to me, were larger than life. I thought maybe they’d seem like strangers up there, but their personalities were just amplified, uninhibited. Bronson and Julian sang backing vocals frequently, which I guess I hadn’t realized since the times I visited the studio, they were done recording. I loved the way their voices supported Danny’s, just like they were always there to support him in life.

  Jane and I watched the show from the side stage, while my parents sat in the luxury box reserved for guests of the band. Patricia flitted around back and forth between the box and backstage, making sure everyone had what they needed. She was on top of everything, but I was still worried about her.

  I couldn’t see Danny interacting with the crowd much from where we were standing. I guess I’d been worried he would see all of those women out there and decide I wasn’t enough. But it wasn’t really like that. He did catch my eye a few times and he grinned bashfully, like he was worried what I was thinking. The rest of the time I mostly had a view of his backside. And oh what a backside! Completely in his element, he was the epitome of male beauty and sensuality. I couldn’t wait to get him back to our suite.

  Jane loved the show. She rocked out next to me, singing along to all of the new songs. She was still learning their back catalogue, thanks to Brooke, who wouldn’t let her listen to his music. She’d even learned to play a couple of the new tunes on her guitar and sang along. The first time Danny heard her sing one of his songs he shivered. Later he told me it freaked him out how much she sounded like him and wondered if she would want to start singing. He wasn’t quite sure how he felt about that. But watching her having so much fun, I was beginning to see a future with music in it for our little Janey.

  Ours! Oh! The wedding. I got lost in thought for a bit thinking of all the things we still needed to do for the wedding and kind of missed the rest of the set. The next thing I knew I was being swept up in a pair of strong, sweaty arms.

  “I can’t fucking take you being over here,” Danny said close to my ear over the din of the crowd that was still shouting for more. “Let me do this encore and then I’m going to make you come so many times tonight, you’ll likely lose feeling in your legs.” He set me down hard and backed away, licking his lips.

  “Ok, that was soooo gross.”

  Oh my God. Jane.”Oh, honey, I’m—”

  “No. Don’t be sorry, just, GOD, does he have to maul you like that? And he’s so… ew!!!”

  I totally laughed, feeling a little relieved she hadn’t heard what he said. Then she’d really think he was “ew.” The band played two more songs and then bowed together on stage. Danny pulled off his shirt for the encore, making it all the more necessary to fan myself. I couldn’t even remember what songs they played when I tried to think of it later on the phone with Nora. My parents were brought backstage and they took Jane with them. That left me alone with the band and the crowd that was beginning to form of people who wanted a word, an autograph, a picture or a handshake.

  Danny was super gracious to everyone, but his eyes let me know he already had me undressed in his mind. I could almost feel his hands on me as I watched him sign a young guy’s t-shirt on his back. All the times he shook hands with people I imagined those hands playing me…

  “Jesse, can I go over some things with you for tomorrow?” Patricia was standing next to me with her phone out and her calendar pulled up. I shook myself. I’d been close to a fucking orgasm just from watching my fiancé. What the hell was wrong with me? Was this what I had in store for the rest of my life with him? Sign me up!

  “Huh? I’m sorry. I-”

  “I know. He fills out a pair of jeans well. Anyway, I need to take you and Jane to get fitted for your dresses tomorrow. Bronson is taking care of all of the guys for me, thank God. Then tomorrow night we’ve got the show and then the guys are going out afterwards. Did you want—”

  “God, no. I need sleep. I don’t think I’ve had a full night’s sleep since…”

  “He got back from tour. Got it. Don’t need to hear the details.” She was being sarcastic, but not really humorous.

  This was not the same woman I’d grown to consider my close friend. I knew she wasn’t right.

  “Patricia? Are you okay?”

  “What? That? In the hall? That was nothing. I’m fine. Totally fine. I’m on this. We need to get your dresses, then I wanted to get you into a spa to get pampered and get your nails done while your parents take Jane to see Cirque du Soliel.”

  “Oh! You were able to get them tickets! I know they’ll love it.”

  Patricia nodded and went back to flipping screens on her phone. “Alright. I’ve got some things to take care of, so you get your ass back to your room and tell him I said not to keep you up all night, got it?” She kissed my cheek and stormed off.

  Oh no. I was so shaken with worry for her that I barely paid attention to the conversation on the way back to the room between Danny and Jane.

  “I really liked the way you guys changed up that bridge on ‘Shelter’ and the chorus on ‘Fly’ was so cool the way Uncle Bronson and Uncle Julian sang those dueling parts while their guitars harmonized.”

  “Jesse?” Danny tugged on my hand hard. “Honey? Are you with us?” My ears were ringing a little, but this time I heard him.

  “Were you talking to me? I’m sorry.”

  They looked at each other and laughed out loud.

  “Uh, you have the room keys,” Jane snickered.

  I narrowed my eyes at them. I was used to them ganging up on me by now, but I couldn’t let them get away with it.

  “Excuse me! I was just so engrossed listening to you accomplished musicians!” I made fun of them a lot, especially now that she was getting to be quite proficient and showing very promising talent on the guitar. The two of them together… Overwhelming.

  “I’m going straight to bed after I shower. Uncle Alex hugged me and got sweat and God knows what else on my new shirt. I can’t even!”

  Danny took that moment to rub his sweaty hair all over her back, causing her to squeal and run to her room. He laughed and called out “I love you” to her closed door. She answered back that she loved us. At least I’m pretty sure that’s what she mumbled.

  Then, I was in trouble. Danny made good on his promises. I could barely walk when I
woke up.

  The next morning Danny ordered a huge breakfast delivered to our room and everyone came over to eat. We all talked about the show and the day’s plans. The guys had sound check again and they needed to get their outfits lined up for the wedding. This morning would be the last time I saw Danny until the wedding the next day. My stomach was doing jackknives and three-sixties and all manner of extreme sports. I thought I was hiding it pretty well, but Danny pulled me aside before he left.

  “Honey, you look terrified. Are you okay with all of this? I know, Bossypants and all that shit, I kinda forced the fucking issue.”

  “I’m not going to lie. I’m scared to death. It has nothing to do with you. It’s more like, will I trip and fall on my face? Will I put the ring on the wrong finger? Am I even going to be able to speak coherently?” I gulped hard and spoke in a low voice. “Am I going to be able to make you happy? Keep you happy? Will I be enough for you?” I offered a weak smile.

  Danny pulled me into his arms and kissed my hair, heaving a big sigh. “I worry about the same things. Will I be able to protect you? Will I be able to be everything you need? Will you still need me, will you still feed me when I’m sixty-four?”

  I pinched his side. Hard. “OW! Fine, I’m just saying I know what you mean and I think the answer to all of those questions is yes. Yes, we’ll be happy. Yes, it’s going to be tough sometimes, as we’ve already seen plenty of, but we can make it. We will make it. I fucking love you, Jesse Martin Black, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life loving you.”

  His gimme smile looked different to me this morning. He seemed different. It was like now that it was really happening, that we were in the place where we were going to be married and everything would be ready, he could finally relax. I think having the show tonight would help calm him down a bit. He really got into a zone when he performed. Maybe because he was in his element.

  “You can’t call me that yet,” I teased. It drove him crazy every time I corrected him.

  He rolled his eyes and kissed me once more. “Fine. But I’m going to say it over and over once we’re fucking married. Hell, I think I’ll even get it tattooed! Damn! That’s a great idea!

  All I could do was shake my head as he shouted to Bronson that they needed to find a tattoo parlor after the show. “I’m getting my woman’s name tattooed on me.”

  “Danny!”

  It was useless. He was on a roll. About an hour later the guys cleared out to go take care of their stuff and it was time for Jane and I to go get fitted for our dresses. I had a picture of what I wanted and Patricia said she knew a private collector who would have the perfect dresses for us. Danny and I lingered in the doorway, just staring at each other.

  “I know you’ll be at the show, but I’m going to miss being with you tonight. Do we really have to follow that rule?”

  “Yes, we do. There’s enough unorthodox activity around us already. Let’s at least observe a few wedding do’s and don’ts, shall we?”

  He cursed wedding conventions under his breath before kissing me one last time. “I’ll meet you at the altar, baby,” he drawled, curling his lip just like Elvis.

  “Have a great show. And a great party! You guys have fun!”

  He hesitated for a minute. “You sure you okay with it? I could come back here… I’m sure I’d enjoy myself a helluva lot more.” His hands started getting frisky so I pushed him out into the hall.

  “Go! I love you,” I said, holding my pendant to my chest.

  He grabbed the leather cuff on his arm and said, “I fucking love you, Jesse.”

  Eight hours later I dragged a groaning and moaning Jane back to the room. “I’m so glad this is going to be over tomorrow. No offense, but if Patricia made me try on one more dress I was going to throw up on her shoes!”

  I tried not to giggle at her incessant complaints. I knew she hated shopping. At least she enjoyed the spa. “I know it was terrible for you, and I’m sorry you missed the Cirque du Soleil show, but I’m so grateful to have you as my Maid of Honor.”

  She turned to look at me then from where she’d plopped on the couch and she beamed at me. “Thank you for asking me, Jesse. I love you.” I hurried over to her and we hugged for a long time. “Just don’t make me do this again. At least not for a while.”

  She went into her room to get ready for the concert that night and I took a moment to calm my heart down. It had been pounding out of control all day from the moment I first saw myself in ‘The Dress.’ Oh, it was perfect! It was a replica of an actual dress Priscilla wore. It had a loud black and white floral pattern, an A-line hem that hit me incredibly high on the thigh, and a boatneck collar that I knew would show off my Teacher pendant just perfectly! I opted for knee high white go-go boots with a heel that would make me taller than Danny. I knew he wouldn’t mind. I couldn’t wait to see what he came up with for clothes. Him and the rest of the guys.

  I showed my mother when they came to pick us up for dinner and she laughed. “You’re getting married in that crazy thing?”

  “It’s perfect, don’t you think? You have met my fiancé, haven’t you?”

  She rolled her eyes. She had been concerned about Danny in the beginning, but learned to love him like everyone else in his life. She just worried about me. I don’t think she completely trusted him, and that was hard. I trusted him as much as is humanly possible. We’d been through so much together. I had to trust him. To not trust him would mean living a miserable life worrying about what he might be doing when I wasn’t with him, which could be a lot of the time.

  I had to admit, while I was lonely without him when he was on the road, having that peaceful time to myself without the insanity he brought into our lives was kind of a reprieve. I didn’t prefer it to the monster that was Danny, but it was necessary for my well-being. Like the trust.

  We ordered room service again because Jane was so tired she’d fallen asleep for a bit. When she woke, she just wanted something quick. It was weird for me to be spending this kind of money and charging it to the room, but I figured I’d let Danny have his fun for this whole wedding gig. When we got home, I’d start being difficult again.

  Watching the show from the luxury box was even more surreal than being backstage. It was hard to accept the fact that I was going to be marrying the guy on stage. My heart was still racing, and it didn’t help watching him strut around the stage. A few times he slung his guitar back and moved about the stage interacting with the crowd. The screaming was so loud, the women so crazy for him… Could I really handle this? As they wrapped up the show, I asked my parents if they’d take Jane back to the room for me.

  “I just need to see him,” I said to my mom.

  She smiled, a knowing look on her face. Jane was yawning so big. I knew she wouldn’t complain. I made my way to the entrance backstage and showed my VIP badge. They let me back without questioning me and I prayed I could find the area where we met up with the band the previous night. As I turned a corner, I saw Danny leaning against a wall talking to a woman. He was leaning in close and smiling that handsome smile. I couldn’t see her hands. I kind of saw red for a moment and lost control of my feet, which marched me right up to the two of them.

  “Honey,” Danny said, grabbing me around the waist and yanking me to his side for a sloppy, sweaty kiss. He smelled like beer. Guess they were starting the party early.

  “I just…” I ran out of steam. I stared at him like an idiot and couldn’t say anything.

  He gave me a confused look and then turned us around. “I was just talking about you. Jesse, this is Sammara Gunderson. Sammara is from Feedback Magazine. She’s the reporter I told you about that’s going to do the feature on me. Sammara, this is my fiancée.”

  I looked down on this curvy woman. She was about my age with short, black hair in a stylish bob, and pale skin. Her eyes were kind of spooky, like she could see things. Danny squeezed my side, hinting that I should actually take the hand of the woman in front of me.


  “I’m sorry. Hi. It’s nice to meet you,” I got out, feeling like a complete heel.

  “No problem. I know you guys have a lot going on. Danny, I’m going to find Patricia and set up our dates, okay? Thanks for the show. You guys sound even better than on your last tour, and I didn’t think you could top that. Glad the surgery worked out.”

  He shook hands with her and she said goodbye to us. “Goddamn, that was sexy. You came storming up here like you were ready to throw down and protect your fucking property. I fucking love that, honey.”

  I pushed away from him, embarrassed by my behavior. “I don’t know what I was thinking.”

  “You saw me with another woman. I get it. Don’t you think I want to break the legs of every guy I see you talking to? Do you know how hard it is to watch Cosmo put his hands on you? Fuck, Jesse. I totally trust you, but you’re so fucking beautiful. It’s rough, man. I’ll tell you that.” He approached me slowly, sliding his hands around my waist.

  “I just…Wow. I’m such an idiot. I know you would never—”

  He shut me up with a passionate kiss, the kind that made me want to wrap my legs around him and never let go. He turned my back to the wall and deepened the kiss, so much so that I was ready to tell the guys to go fuck themselves, that I was taking my man back to the room with me. But Danny pulled away.

  “If I don’t stop…Jesus, honey. I want you so fucking bad right now. That’s just going to make it that much sweeter tomorrow night. Look,” he said, pulling out his phone. “It’s eleven thirty. We’re getting married at two o’clock tomorrow. That’s just fourteen-and-a-half hours from now. I can wait if you can.” He leaned down a little to make eye contact with me.

  He was so… He was everything to me. And we were getting married.

  “That much sweeter,” I whispered. My heart finally calmed. This was happening. We were getting married. “Okay. You go have fun with your boys. I’m going to get some sleep before the beauty brigade shows up in the morning. I’ll see you at two o’clock.”