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Chapter Fifteen
Andrea
Two weeks had passedsince Andrea had blurted out to Declan about what he had said and she hadn’t heard a word. He hadn’t texted, he hadn’t called...hell, she even wished he would have sent one of those voicenotes that annoyed the hell out of her. But she’d gotten radio silence.
She’d been kept busy though, dealing with a PR nightmare that could have ruined Charlie and Noah’s little sliver of happiness. Everything had worked out thankfully, and her and Noah had buried the hatchet so to speak when he thanked her for sorting it and for being a rock to Charlie.
“You’re not the witch I thought you were.” He had teased.
The broody bastard had even laughed when Andrea joked that she would take payment in the way of their firstborn child.
Andrea hadn’t even taken a break the past week and she was exhausted but tonight was the Emerald Records charity gala and she had to attend to get the band there. Luckily enough, her plus one had demanded she take the day off and take to the spa in the hotel, getting pampered before the big night.
JJ had rented out the most expensive suite in the hotel and then booked her in for all kinds of treatments so that by the time the hair and makeup people arrived, she was as relaxed as could be. Her date for the night was dressed in an impeccable tuxedo in a charcoal grey that made his green eyes pop even more.
The team finished with her hair, pulling it back off her face and then letting it fall in a messy curl down her back. Her makeup was very rock chick, with a dark red lip and smokey eyes. And then there was her dress.
JJ had been adamant that he would buy her dress for her, and he wouldn’t hear any arguments. When he showed her the dress he had picked out, Andrea had been stunned and told JJ that there was no way in hell that she could pull that dress off.
Dismissing her with the wave of his hand, JJ had asked her just to try it on and after being zipped into the devastating dress, Andrea looked at herself in the mirror and fell in love. The black designer dress was cut at different angles, with a high neck that hugged her throat. Then the material was cut to show off her bare shoulders and arms, a slash at the chest revealing just a tease of her breasts before the dress tapered in to accentuate her curvy hips. The dress was floor-length but had a slit that would have been perilously close to revealing her crotch if not for a slight extra piece of material that preserved her modesty.
JJ had given her this stupid grin when she exited her bedroom and whistled, telling her that if the sight of her didn’t make the foolish rock star lose his damn mind, then Andrea needed to forget all about him. Andrea had laughed, shaking her head before she slipped her feet into a pair of black Louboutin’s.
Now Andrea was bracing herself for the media, as JJ opened the door to his car and Andrea tried to get out of the car without flashing her knickers. Thankfully JJ held her hand and shielded her getting out of the car as the assembled media shouted for Andrea to tell them who she was wearing, were her and JJ an item, and all that stuff.
Andrea posed with JJ, smiling for a few shots before she stepped aside and let JJ do his thing before he joked that his date was getting cold and ushered her inside. The owner of Emerald Records held the gala at his sprawling country estate in London every year, opening his home to the rich and famous. Andrea had seen pictures online and as someone who came from a three-bed semi-detached house in a middle-class area, Andrea could never understand the need for a house this size when you hardly spent any time there.
JJ place a hand on the small of her back and steered her inside, stopping to greet a few other movie stars and dignitaries, introducing Andrea and they politely smiled at her like she was insignificant until one of England’s premier footballs came over and gave Andrea a hug and told the men that she was a goddess and they should hire her whenever they needed a PR rep.
She would be sending him a thank you gift first thing in the morning.
Music drifted out from down the hall and she swayed with the music, JJ noticing and he offered a farewell, then led Andrea down the hall. The house was crammed with people, and Andrea looked around her to see if the band had arrived but couldn’t see them just yet.
If the house on the outside looked extravagant, then the inside was even more so. Andrea noted gold handles on doors, pristine marble floors, and that wasn’t even the most lavish of it. JJ walked her through an archway and Andrea sucked in a breath.
The record executive had an actual concert hall in his back garden. There were a dozen steps down to a football pitch sized hall that was surrounded by glass. It looked like a massive sunroom but this piece of divinity had a stage at the bottom, where an orchestra played classical versions of recent music. Right now, they were playing a very nice cover the newest single from the girl band Nicolette was managing, and Andrea knew she wanted to get the band in with an orchestra.
“No work tonight, gorgeous.”
Andrea rolled her eyes at JJ, glanced at the arm he was holding out to her and then linked her arm in his, grinning up at him as they began their descent down the steps until JJ leaned in to whisper in her ear. “Head up, my love. You have a lot of eyes on you.”
Andrea jerked her head up, trying not to scan the room as cameras flashed and JJ held her tightly when her eyes locked with piercing blue eyes and she almost stumbled in her skyscraper high heels. She pulled her eyes from his, just to still her beating heart so that she didn’t do a Madonna and tumbled down the stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs, JJ let go of her arm to grab two glasses of champagne and Andrea downed hers, then took JJ’s, who quirked a brow at her but didn’t say anything. Tim Brett came over and dragged Andrea over to introduce her to a few Emerald Records executives and she offered JJ an apologetic smile even as he waved her off with a wink and disappeared into the crowd.
After a good hour of smoozing, Andrea excused herself to go and find JJ, only to see him deep in conversation with the band and her heart sank. She knew she would have to go and talk to them eventually, but she needed a lot more alcohol to face Declan.
Standing in the middle of the room, she was about to turn around when Rhys spotted her, and came rushing forward, his grin lopsided when meant he’d already had a few too many drinks but even she had to admit the Calvin Klein suit she had sent him looked dashing.
Rhys hugged her and she smelled the whisky on him. “You’ve been avoiding us all night.”
Andrea smacked him on the shoulder. “I’ve been networking, bro. that’s my job. I just spoke to someone in BBC radio all about you lot so this is a business meeting to me.”
Rhys linked her arm as he steered her toward the band. “JJ’s sound out.”
She nudged him with her shoulder but said nothing as Luna was shamelessly flirted with JJ, then winked at Andrea before she came forward and Andrea could see men looking at her. Luna had pulled her blood-red hair back into a severe ponytail, highlighting her green eyes that twinkled and the stunning smile, with lips that were painted a navy blue to match the dress she wore.
The dress was couture, plastered to her slim but muscular frame, the muscles on her arms exposed from drumming, and her legs, though short were exposed in all their pale glory, with a hem that was short at the front and longer at the back, the material swishing as she moved.
“Andi, your dress...damn girl... if I liked women I would totally try and seduce ya.”
While her twin, Luke, was quiet when not plied full of drink, Luna was loud and proud with her thick Cork accent, as the band laughed when JJ looked startled at her forwardness and a politician at the next table nearly spat out his drink.
Andrea grinned, returning her grin as she teased. “Girl same. I’ve already kissed a girl and didn’t like it so it’s a shame. We would have made a hot couple.”
