Star Struck(20)

Mandy sat up in surprise. "What is it?" she asked, worried.

"Did you and Marcus have a fight or something?" Melanie asked almost breathlessly.

Mandy frowned. "No … " Her tone and expression were undeniably confused.

"Come on," Melanie said, dragging Mandy out of the room by the arm. By  the time Melanie led her to the foyer, Mandy was gasping, stopping short  at the sight before her.

There was a vast amount of flower bouquets littering the floor and the  surfaces of tables and counters. Different varieties and colors, they  filled the small space of the hallway with heavenly smells and blooming  color. Mandy stared at the view in disbelief, almost unconscious of  Melanie standing next to her and putting a card in her hand. "This came  with them when they were delivered just now," Melanie said with a wide  smile.

Blinking, Mandy cleared her head and stared down at the fancy card, not  sure what to expect. She'd been so deep in her daydreams of Ethan that  she hadn't even heard the doorbell ring from her bedroom.

Now she stared at the handwriting that filled the inside of the card,  the large, half-legible print of the words done in dark black ink that  seemed to leap at her from the page.

Mandy didn't even have to guess who it could be.

Still thinking about you, babe. Every second, so don't worry your pretty  head about anything. Just think of the great times that are still yet  to come. Together. See you at 7 pm.

Mandy smiled to herself, almost foolishly glad to know Ethan was still  thinking of her. And that somehow, he'd had the intuition to know she'd  be thinking about the night they'd spent together and worrying about it.  She'd had all kinds of second thoughts, especially in the bright light  of day. She'd spent several hours of the night before and the morning of  today in Ethan Tyler's arms. And he still wanted to see her again. He  still wanted more between them. Mandy felt like screaming with joy as it  finally dawned on her what had happened. She was Ethan's girl. Mandy  Sloane was dating a rock star. Whoa.

Mandy finally broke out of her reverie to find not just Melanie but her  other sister Tiffany and her parents standing there staring at her.

"Well? Are you going to tell us who's responsible for this blooming  bombardment?" her father said with his deep, humorous tone. Her mother  was staring wide-eyed at the display, probably wondering if she had  enough vases in the house to load up the mass of flowers. Facing her  family, she heaved a deep sigh and readied herself to break the news she  felt sure she couldn't keep under wraps for long anyway …          

     



 







Mandy hadn't expected her family to take it so well. They had all liked  Marcus, her father especially. And hearing that Mandy now had some kind  of ‘thing' with a famous, rich-as-hell rock star was news they took well  in their stride. Her sisters, for one, almost went into fits. Being  huge The Strum fans, this was very much a big deal to them. They adored  Ethan, and Tiffany was almost wringing Mandy's arm to get to meet him in  person.

"Well, he'll be picking me up to take me out to dinner tonight … "

"Nonsense," her mother said firmly. "Ethan Tyler would do well to join  us here for dinner instead. It will give us a chance to get to know him  better."

Of course her mother would want to know him better, Mandy thought, an  inner sigh of resignation filling her heart. Mrs. Sloane was very  thorough when it came to her daughters' relationships. For now, Mandy  was the only one allowed to have a boyfriend, so Georgia had more than  enough time to spend monitoring Mandy's love life. Mandy had to say she  was relieved. They all seemed to be taking it rather well about Marcus.

Her father, however, pulled her into his study and asked her with a shrewd look, "Do you know what you're doing?"

"No," Mandy said honestly, heaving a sigh.

Her father, handsome and dark-haired with peppered sideburns, grinned.  "Best answer you could give. I know next to nothing about rock stars so  if you're going to start dating one, I figure it's best getting into it  with a blank script. Take it easy; don't build your hopes up. It'll be  so easy to get hurt, my dear." Her father patted her cheek gently. "Not  that I'd imagine any sane man would ever dream of walking away from my  beautiful, smart Mandy. If he does, he'll need his head examined  –  not  to mention a few stitches by the time I'm through with him."

Her father's eyes were smiling though his lips looked grim. Mandy  couldn't help but laugh as she thought of her father roughing Ethan up.  But she felt touched by her father's concern. "It'll be fine, I  promise."

And yet Mandy couldn't help asking herself, will I?

She had no time to dwell on it. There was dinner to plan with her very  capable mother and then getting ready to see Ethan again. She had been  aflutter when she'd called him to ask if it would be okay to have dinner  with her family that evening.

"I'd love to," he'd said deeply. "I'd be honored to dine with your family, Mandy."

Her heart had been singing ever since. In record time, they'd prepared a  worthy dinner for their famous guest. Then the girls  –  including her  mother  –  all disappeared into their rooms to prepare for the special  occasion.

Ethan arrived and the whole atmosphere in her family home seemed to come  alive. Her parents had recently redecorated the house in a  Moroccan-styled theme, which Mandy had always loved. She wondered what  Ethan would think about the bright colors: the rugs, the lanterns, and  the grand arches.

"I love this place," Ethan said once he arrived, looking around with  enjoyment on his face. Mandy's hidden fears were allayed at once.

Her parents loved him. Her sisters were another matter. They managed not  to freak out at having Ethan Tyler as a guest and were on their best  behavior in front of their parents. Mandy spent the whole evening just  staring at him.

His long hair was tied back and he was dressed in a black buttoned-up  shirt with white stitching. The long sleeves fitted his broad shoulders  and arms, and he completed the look with a pair of tailored black slacks  and black boots. He looked good enough to eat, which was probably why  Mandy kept wishing it was him she had on her plate and not her medium  steak and dill sauce.

He looked so different tonight. He'd toned down the eye makeup and the  black nail polish. And there was no tattoo in sight. Mandy thought it  was really sweet of him to try and impress her parents. However, his  everyday self did nothing to detract from the fact that his stimulating  personality, his superstar grin, and his own-the-world stance shone  right through no matter what.

Ethan mentioned his upcoming London tour and how he was looking forward  to having Mandy with him. He also talked about the last concert the band  was having before the trip to London, and then about his step-sisters  Hayley and Samantha, who weren't rock music fans but supported him  whenever he needed family to back him up.

Mandy had read up about his many charity interests and she brought that  up over dinner. It wasn't that she was trying to ‘sell' him to her  family. She really thought it was cool that he personally took some time  to give back to society through his aid projects and donations, which  he never publicized but were aired by the media anyway. The Strum also  gave a lot of charity concerts and had headlined a recent show in aid of  injured Afghanistan veterans. Mandy found that pretty amazing and  obviously, her family did too, especially Georgia, who had chaired a lot  of benefits.         

     



 

It wasn't a disaster. Far from it. The few hours flew by and the  delicious food was a hit with their guest. Ethan gallantly assured  Georgia that he was glad he'd chosen to join them tonight instead of  going out for dinner with Mandy as planned, and that the food was  positively the best he'd had in a long time. "I miss home-cooked meals,"  he said with an appreciative grin. "More than ever now that I've had  some of your delicious cooking, Mrs. Sloane. I hope you'll invite me  again soon."

"You'll always be welcome, Ethan," Georgia said with a pretty blush on  her cheeks. Mandy's eyes widened; her mother never blushed. And her  father wasn't immune to the rocker's charms, either. They discussed  financial issues in the country and Ethan was quite informed about that  as well, which meant that Kirk had a willing ear to sound off on his  ideas about policy. He was still chatting with Ethan as the table was  cleared.

"He's a way better a catch than Marcus," Tiffany crowed once the three  girls escaped to the kitchen. "Tell me you aren't going back to the  stuffy banker."

"That's unfair," Mandy said mildly. "I thought you liked Marcus."

"He's cool, but let's face it, Ethan is, to put it simply, too freaking  tasty. From any angle. Not sure how you did it, sis, but you've risen a  few  –  no, make that several, rungs up the ‘cool big sister' scale."