“No,” he says, stepping into the shower. “I’m not signing the contract, Tess. Tonight’s gonna be my last show.”
He pulls the door shut, and I take that as a cue to pause the conversation. I blow dry my hair, trying to figure out how I feel about this. I don’t want Jack to give anything else up for me, but at the same time I’ve heard him mention over and over again how unhappy he is with being a product, and how a ten-year contract would bind him to a company in a way he might not be comfortable with.
When the shower stops and he wraps a towel around his waist, I turn to face him.
“Baby, I don’t want you to do this for me.”
“Why not? I would do anything for you.”
“I know you say that, but this could mean the world for your career. It would give you access to—”
“To what? The limelight? A house in the Bahamas? A private jet? I don’t want that shit. I don’t want you always being scared of being found, of a story coming out about your childhood. Besides, I don’t want to make that kind of music anymore. I told Kirby yesterday, before anything about the McQueens was revealed, that I didn’t want to consider the contract unless someone listened to my new music—the stuff I’ve been working on at my studio at my parent’s place.”
“And what did Kirby say?”
“He doesn’t take me seriously. And that fucking hurts, Tess. It’s exactly why I’m not okay with being theirs.”
“I get that.” I nod in agreement. I pull him to me, his warm, slick body tempting me, and I wonder why I was in such a hurry to get dressed. “I don’t want you to be theirs either. I only want you to be mine.”
“Good. Because I am.”
“Can we not deal with Mark Denzel and the police and all that bullshit today? It’s already after two in the afternoon. Can we just get dressed up and go to a fancy dinner and laugh with our friends and celebrate our engagement and have this one final night? This one night where you’re on top of the world as a DJ, and I’m someone’s fiancé and daughter and sister? Can we just pretend, for one night, that none of that stuff with my past exists?”
Jack’s forehead presses against mine and he brings me in, squeezing me tight. “Okay, Tess. Tonight we can push all of that aside and give ourselves over to the decadence of Vegas—even though neither of us, at our core, are those people.”
“And who are we, at our core?” I ask.
Jack smiles. “I thought at our core we were fuck-buddies?”
“In that case….” I give him a cheesy I’m so head-over-heels-for-you wink, and then I drop to my knees.
Because I’d rather be Jack Harris’s fuck buddy than anything else.
Chapter Twenty-Four
JACK
Stacked, my club, is at capacity, as I expected. Ace has got to be pumped for this sold-out event, and as I wait in my dressing room to go on stage, Tess gives my ass a squeeze.
“I know this is your last gig as a DJ, and that you’re telling Kirby tomorrow that you won’t sign the contract, but I am really happy that I get to be here tonight, as your fiancé. As your girl.”
“Me too, baby.” I give a Tess a kiss, wanting to give her so much more. “Soon we can start a new life, just you and I.”
“I want to move to your parents’ island. Is that weird?”
“No,” I tell her, cupping her face with my hands. “I do, too. We can play music and catch fish and fucking make tea every day. You can read books and we can have babies. It’s gonna be perfect.”
“How many babies do you want, Jack?” Tess gives me a closed-lip grin, shaking her head.
“I want to have so many babies with you.” I lick my lips, loving the idea. “You are gonna be so hot knocked up, Tess. I can just see it. Your tits so nice and big,” I say, running my hands over her breasts. “Your belly so round with my baby in you. Damn.” I move my hand to adjust my growing cock. Just thinking about putting a baby in her gets me hard.
“I had no idea you wanted to be a father so bad.”
“No, I just want to be your baby’s daddy.”
“You’re making me so horny, Jack.”
“Good. Tonight, after the show, I’m gonna bring you back here and I’m gonna put a baby in you.”
“Is that so?”
I lean in and kiss her pink lips. “It is so.”
A knock on the door draws us apart. The manager sticks his head in the door.
“Show time, Jack.”
“Okay, hey, can you have security take Tess to the private table?”
“Of course,” he says. “Just follow me.”