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‘It sounds like you’ve taken care of everything. Good. I can’t say I’m not glad about that. Rick was right when he said it would a bad idea, making things personal between us.’
‘Leave Rick out of this’ with a grim scowl Jake walked angrily towards her. ‘What’s between you and me is nobody’s business but our own. You got that?’
What could Caitlin do beneath that frosty glare but acquiesce? Even if what he had just said contradicted everything he’d said previously. Their relationship wasn’t just their own business—wasn’t that the point? Blue Sky had a vested interest in her not having a personal relationship with their manager. They were probably concerned that Jake would break her heart and she would end up leaving the band…just as Marcie had.
Perhaps it really was for the best if Caitlin and Jake pretended that their passionate liaison hadn’t happened after all. If Jake could be cool about it then she would just have to learn to do the same.
* * *
That night, having heard positive feedback about Blue Sky’s performance the previous night, the music press turned out in force. Onstage, determinedly giving her all, Caitlin had had to contend with flashbulbs popping in her face at regular intervals and backstage afterwards it was even worse.
A huge number of people had squeezed into a room not much bigger than a cloakroom. The atmosphere was hot, stuffy and claustrophobic, and the smell of alcohol mingled liberally with the accumulated heat of bodies pressing in too close. All she really wanted to do was to get back to Jake’s flat and escape.
The sense of panic that gripped her had taken her by surprise, and she’d more or less clammed up when too many questions had been catapulted her way by over-zealous reporters who barely gave her even a second to answer them. If it hadn’t been for Jake, dealing with their questions with cool professionalism, as well as Rick protecting her from the crush, Caitlin would have fled in a heartbeat—never mind that publicity any publicity…was meant to be good.
Mid-morning the next day found her sitting in the foyer of the old-fashioned seafront hotel in Brighton that Jake had booked the band into, delicately hiding a yawn behind her hand as Rick and Jake conversed with the desk clerk. The rest of the band members were out on the small square patio, chatting. Caitlin stifled another guilty yawn as she watched them.
‘Are we keeping you awake, Cait?’
Taking her by surprise, Rick gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze, then dropped down beside her on the padded seat, stirring the air around them with the musky scent of his cologne.
‘I couldn’t sleep last night.’ Shrugging her shoulders in the faded denim jacket she wore over a blue maxi-dress, she attempted a smile.
‘Excitement keeping you up, huh?’
Rick was grinning, and she saw her companion’s astute hazel eyes were curious. ‘Something like that,’ Caitlin replied.
Let him think that, she decided. It was a lot less complicated than confessing that she’d been missing Jake. That her body had been aching for him all night.
She would swear that she’d tossed and turned from midnight to dawn because she needed him so much. No wonder she felt as if she could sleep for England this morning!
Jake had bunked down over at Rick’s, and the Chelsea flat had been soulless and empty without him. Even last night’s undoubted success and the ensuing interest from the press hadn’t been able to console her.
Was it really so wrong that she should want Jake as badly as she did? Her gaze helplessly gravitated towards him as he leant casually back against the reception desk, his glance sweeping thoughtfully over her and Rick. Today, his long legs were encased in faded black denim, a leather belt with a buckle was slung low on his tight, lean hips and his leather jacket was folded casually across one arm. His expression made her heart turn over. She wondered if he’d had similar trouble getting to sleep last night.
As his searching glance deliberately sought hers Caitlin sensed the hot sizzle from the contact erupt in her belly like a flare.
‘We’ve got a few things lined up for today, but perhaps you can catch up on some rest later on, before the gig tonight.’
