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“I should be able to fight this better. I let the fear consume me. My head swims with paranoia, and I feel like I’m drowning with no way back to the surface.”
“But you’re not. I’m right here and I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know.” Alex smiled, running his fingers along my jaw as he took a deep breath
“You get stage fright because you care. You want to give your fans a good show…and you will. You are incredible on that stage.” Alex gave me a look like he didn’t believe me. After all this time, how could he not see what he meant to people…to his fans?
“I’ve never told you about the first time I saw Steel Roses live, have I?” His eyes burned deep into my soul, begging me to continue.
“I was only twelve. I’d never been to a concert before. Steel Roses hadn’t gone global, yet, but the moment you walked onto that stage, I was hypnotised.”
“I can’t say anything inappropriate, Straight Lace. You were twelve, I was eighteen!” I slapped his leg and continued my story.
“You had this sexual desire practically oozing off you, but that wasn’t what hooked me.” He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “It was your voice, Alex. It was the way you held the entire crowd with each word you sang. That was the most amazing moment of my life up to that point. Yes, you might be devilishly handsome, but it’s your voice that the fans go crazy over. Your pure, raw, talent is what has us coming back for more. You never have to fear disappointing your fans when you perform live. That would never happen. Your voice is just as hypnotising today as the first moment I heard it. When I listen to you in the studio, you bring tears to my eyes.”
“What’s the most amazing part of your life now?” Seriously? Out of that entire speech, that was his response? “Answer the question, baby. I honestly want to know.” His hand stroked my cheek softly, sending shivers down my spine. “I’ll tell you mine after.” I couldn’t deny this man anything; I was a slave to his touch and words.
“Becoming your wife,” I whispered. “I’ll never have a moment better than that.” Alex’s eyes came alive as he leaned down and kissed me softly.
“Mine was when you said yes,” he breathed against my mouth, taking my breath away in typical Alex fashion. “Knowing you loved me and all my broken parts…it floored me.”
“I will always love every single part of you. The good and the bad. You’ve got me for keeps.”
“Fuck,” Alex breathed, still inches from my mouth. “I fucking love you so much!” He crashed his lips against mine, and somehow I ended up straddling his lap before the kiss broke. “We better get out there. I’ve got a show to do.” When he looked into my eyes, I knew at that moment that my confident rock star was back!
Everyone was waiting for us by the side of the stage when we came out. Alex would be entering from near the back of the stage. “Let’s fucking do this!” Alex yelled, putting his arm out in front of him. “Hands in! Lets fucking rock this place!” Cody, Lance and Mason put their hands in and cheered all together. It was show time! The lights went black, allowing the guys to walk onto the stage to take their places.
Alex pulled me toward him quickly, pecking my lips. “Don’t move from this spot. I need to be able to see you, Straight Lace.” Always so bossy. Despite that, or maybe because of it, I gave him a small smile. Alex smacked my butt and got into position at the back of the stage.
When the lights came up, the band started to play, and the entire arena erupted. By the time Alex took to the stage, the crowd was deafening.
Diego and Liv had joined me at the side of the stage. Linking their arms with mine, we all stood watching Alex take control of the entire audience.
“He’ll never realise how amazing he is, will he?” I muttered to Diego.
“Nope! It’s one of the reasons I adore him.”
Our first leg of the tour was in the continental US. By using larger arenas and stadiums, we managed to condense the number of performances by nearly half. If you compared it to the Steel Roses reunion tour, this one was four months shorter. After the US, we’d have a break for two weeks, then it was on to Europe and parts of Asia, the largest leg of the tour. Our last leg was Australia, but that was only three weeks with ten gigs. After that, Alex would head to South America for a show in Brazil, then wrap up the tour back in the US, doing a few gigs in Boston and finishing in New York. In total, we’d be touring for just over eleven months. By the end, Alex and the guys would have played over a hundred and fifty gigs.
Profit-wise for Alex and our company, after the venues, insurance and stage management had been paid, we were looking to bring in over fifty million dollars. Not bad for a record label that had only been in existence for a few years. When I’d gone over the figures with Ava, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It was absolutely insane! This tour, before expenses and everyone was paid, would earn almost nine hundred million dollars! It certainly was an eye opener to learn how much it cost to put together a world tour. Alex was also giving all the band members a bonus of three million each. Cody and Mason had told him it was too much, but Lance…yeah, he was going to use it as a nice down payment to buy a house in LA with. I figured he wanted to compete with Alex’s mansion there if I was being honest.
We were currently in Texas, having a few down days before the next gig.
“Did you read this review?” Alex beamed, looking at his phone. “‘I’ve never seen Alex Harbour so alive on stage. It would appear that marriage does, in fact, look good on him.’” Lying on the sun lounger next to him, I turned to smile in his direction. “This might be the first review where they haven’t commented on my good looks.” Opening his mouth wide, he gasped. “Am I losing my looks?” he questioned teasingly.
“Definitely not,” I snorted, holding my stomach.
“Are you still suffering?” Alex asked, concerned. We’d gone out for a meal last night and something hadn’t agreed with me. “We can go back to the room if you want. I thought a bit of sun might have helped.”
“I’ll be okay for a bit.” I held my hand out to him, and he took it, stroking the top of my hand with his thumb. “Read the other reviews to me?” I asked him, loving the distraction of his voice.
I was ill for almost a week. The doctor suspected food poisoning and had given me some sickness pills. It wasn’t easy travelling when my stomach was churning like a washing machine on full spin, but I managed. We were now in Seattle for a few nights, and the cooler air seemed to be helping a little.
Alex had been very loving this last week. He attended to my needs every second he could—he hated seeing me sick—but I was getting my energy back and had managed to make it to sound check.
“It doesn’t sound right,” Alex called over the microphone. “Have you checked my mic?” He glanced over at Naomi, who motioned to one of her guys. Even though the stage had been taken down and put back up over thirty times now, there were still the odd teething problems here and there. With so much to remember and get right, there were bound to be issues once in a while. That’s what sound check was for, though. After an hour, Alex was happy and the guys all jumped off the stage.
“Glad you’re feeling better, Nat.” Cody grinned. “Alex has been a moody fucker, worrying about you constantly.”
