One More Day (The Alexanders 1)

Jackson walked out of the house, unsure how to behave. Part of him wanted to chase his brother and ask what else he knew and the other part wanted to bury his head in the sand and ignore it. Ridley looked up as he pulled the door closed behind him.

“Is everything okay?” she asked.

He walked back over to the blanket and sat down on the edge. She looked a little hurt that he didn’t sit right next to her, where he’d been before the interruption. He wasn’t sure how to recapture the carefree feeling of a few minutes ago. Not when all he could see were white pages and black ink.

“Yeah. Nick just wanted to talk business. He has no sense of timing whatsoever.”

He looked over at her, watching as she carefully collected their cups and silverware, placing them neatly back in the picnic basket. Next, she picked up the small containers used to hold their sandwiches and the leftover potato salad and put them in the basket on top. When she was done, everything was arranged neatly with all the similar items grouped together. She hummed to herself softly as she worked. He shook his head.

If Ridley was a criminal she had to be the worst one ever.

When his cell phone started ringing, he gratefully snatched it up.

“We’ve got a problem, boss.”

Jackson closed his eyes and massaged the knot of tension just starting to form between his eyebrows. “What kind of problem?”

“One of the girls is pregnant. She’s threatening to drop out of the group.”

Jackson groaned. Somehow he had sensed his luck with Divine was too good to be true. However, he had dealt with worse problems in the past. The scandal with Alana flashed through his mind before he could squelch the thought. He wouldn’t let it get that bad if it took everything within him.

His eyes shifted over to look at Ridley lying quietly on the blanket, her face serene, seemingly asleep. He smiled confidently. They had been interrupted before things went too far, but he knew it was only a temporary reprieve. A part of him wanted to throw the phone in the pond and bury himself in her forever. After all, whichever group member had gotten herself knocked up, she would be just as pregnant tomorrow as she was today. The papers his brother had brought would still be there, too.

It was tempting to close himself off from the world and revel in what he had found today after a lifetime of searching.

Peace.

But he was a man who believed in keeping his word and he’d told Ridley that the next time they made love it would be perfect. He’d figure out what it was she was hiding, she wouldn’t be distraught after a nightmare, he wouldn’t be tearing her panties off with his teeth, and they wouldn’t rush this time.

He closed his eyes against the memory of her erotic pleadings. A few more moments and he would have said to hell with comfort and taken her right here in the backyard.

Mosquito bites on his ass didn’t fit his idea of perfect.

“I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. I trust that you can handle things until then.” He flipped the phone shut, ignoring Mac’s voice still chattering away.

He would have to go into the office to come up with a game plan. There would be difficult decisions to make and he needed time to figure out what direction the group would take.

He sent a quick text to Katie to see if she could keep the boys for a little longer. Once she responded, he dropped down next to Ridley and began kissing his way up her arm. Her girlish giggle let him know she wasn’t asleep as he had previously thought and she had probably been listening to his entire conversation.

“I have to go into the office for a little while.” She frowned slightly and threw her arms around his neck drawing him down on top of her. He laid his head on her breast and listened to the steady rhythm of her heart beating underneath his ear. “Come with me.”

Her eyes met his. “Really? I’d love to go. But wait, what about the kids?”

“We can pick them up after we get back. I already asked Katie if she’d mind them staying a little longer. I want you to meet the new group I’m producing. Besides, I don’t want to be away from you right now.”

Ridley turned her face into his shoulder and placed her hand in the middle of his chest. The soft touch warmed him unlike anything else. “I don’t want to be away from you, either,” she finally admitted.

Watching the wind lift her hair and the golden glint of the late evening sun off her smooth cheeks made him realize how vulnerable she was.

“Come on. It doesn’t take long to get there but I don’t want to be out too late.” He held out a hand and pulled her to her feet.

It wasn’t her fault that she’d trusted the wrong person in the past. He’d done the same and didn’t want anyone judging him for it. Hadn’t she already paid the price for her mistake? The night she’d told him about the accident, the emotion in her eyes had been real. She’d been scared and she’d done the only thing she could do. Run.

I don’t believe she’s a scam artist. I don’t care what Nick says.

* * *

“Okay, guys, I briefed Jackson on the nature of the problem, so now we have to figure out how to deal with it.” Mac, Jackson’s assistant, spoke quickly as though he had somewhere else to go.

Ridley sat back in a hard plastic chair and assessed the annoying, albeit beautiful, members of Divine. She was excited to see what Jackson did at work but was a little disappointed that what she’d seen so far didn’t look much different than an ordinary office. She’d never been inside a real recording studio and had been expecting something really high-tech and different.

You’ve been watching too much TV.

“Okay, girls. I’m going to do everything I can to push the single out right away. If we’re lucky, it’ll catch on and we can book you guys as the opening act on a small tour before Kaylee gets close to her due date.”

Jackson looked at Ridley and rolled his eyes. She hid her smile behind her hand. The girls weren’t even pretending to listen.

Two of the group members, Mandy Johnson and Christina Milado, were in the corner arguing. Sasha Whitman, a friendly, slim woman with a cocoa complexion and a bright smile, was sitting just to her left. She had been asking Ridley questions about her relationship with Jackson since she’d arrived. There were only so many ways she could play dumb and pretend they were just friends.

Her gaze finally came to rest on the fourth member of the group, standing at the window, distanced from the other members as much in body as she was in spirit. She couldn’t figure out how Kaylee Wilhelm had ever hooked up with the other three girls in the first place. She had a sad, sort of haunted look about her, and seemed extremely unaware of her own talent. With her rounded figure she was not the same “bombshell” type as the other girls, but she was beautiful in a unique way. She also had the best voice. Clear as a bell and capable of hitting notes that made her breath catch.

“Okay, why don’t we just address the elephant in the room? There’s no point in dancing around the problem.”

“This is a little more than a problem. This dumb whore got herself knocked up and we haven’t even had a chance to shoot our first video,” Christina said.

All conversation stopped. Everyone turned to look at Kaylee. She didn’t turn from the window.

“Tina, we aren’t going to get anywhere by you slinging insults around. If you don’t have anything constructive to offer, then you shouldn’t be here.” Jackson nailed her with a steely look when she opened her mouth to complain. Once he was sure she wasn’t going to interfere again, he turned his attention back to Kaylee.

“Kay, look, it’s not a big deal. I had a similar problem with another group and we managed to shoot the video around it. I want you to know how important you are to the group and we’ll support you no matter what you decide to do.”

Ridley thought he had gotten through to her when she turned around. When he saw the tears running down her face, he grabbed the tissues on the desk and offered them to her. She snatched them with a sob.

“My baby is not a problem. There’s no decision to make. I love this baby and I am not giving it up!”

She hurled each statement as if hoping to pierce him dead through the heart. Suddenly she tossed the box of tissues on the ground and stormed over to the door.

“If she stomps any harder the roof might cave in.”

Christina’s snide comment was made in a stage whisper, obviously intended for everyone to hear. She didn’t even bother to wipe the smirk off her face when Kaylee turned around and slowly walked back in front of her. Instead she met her gaze straight on, even had the nerve to raise an eyebrow as if to say “Whatcha gonna do?”

Ridley had heard enough. She put two fingers in her mouth and let out a piercing whistle. “Everybody shut up!”