Chapter 1
She sighed after she read the text, ‘He is fine! Go and have fun! This is the first vacation you have had since college and you deserve this. I will send you one picture later in the week and don’t want to hear from you unless you have been injured or are dead!’
Lacey knew her mother wasn’t messing around and put her phone away. She fixed the strap of her little purse and went to find her seat. She had been so excited about this concert and didn’t know if she was even going to go at first. But she had given into her mother’s insistence that she needed to go -even if it was in another state and take a vacation. She wasn’t sure, but then her best friend Eddie started in and they both ganged up on her so she had no other choice but to agree.
And here she was in Miami, Florida, seeing her favorite singer/band, Everett Moore in his last concert on the latest tour. She missed the one in Denver because of work, but was very excited to see him now. He was an incredible singer and incredibly good looking, even if he was older than her. She loved his deep gravelly voice and had since she heard him sing in middle school. Now here she was, a 25 year old nurse and still pining away for a famous person she has had a crush on since she was 12 years old. It was actually pathetic, but she didn’t really care. He had great music.
She was listening to the opening band and thought they were a good fit to go with Everett’s music. She was listening and swaying to the music at her very expensive floor seat and didn’t notice when a large bear of a man came up to her and asked, “Miss, can you come with me please?”
She froze and saw he had official looking credentials around his neck and was worried, “Did I do something wrong?”
He smiled a little, showing that he didn’t seem as menacing as she first thought, “No Miss. There is someone that would like to talk to you.”
She bit her lip, then nodded. He escorted her with a hand on her back to a side door and went to the backstage area. She stopped in front of a closed door and the large man knocked and she waited to see what the hell was going on, trying hard not to wet her pants.
—
Everett was burned out. He was done with this tour and couldn’t wait for this last concert to be over. He wanted to relax and hide from all the pressures of this life. He loved music and he was damn good at it. But sometimes the corporate side took the fun and spontaneity out of the process. He remembered fondly when he first started out and would go to local clubs in LA with just his guitar during open mic nights and play. He wasn’t technically old enough to drink, but he could rock the hell out of the crowd. That was how he found his lead guitarist and one of his best friends, Brenden, and they had been together ever since, making music and touring the world.
They played clubs, got drinks under the table and took home hot women. He had a few wild years, especially when they went on their first tour when he was 20 years old, opening for one of the biggest bands in the world and found out what groupies actually were. His mother saw the tabloids and met him at his condo in LA and essentially kicked his ass. She embarrassed the shit out of him, going with him to the doctor and making him get tested for STDs. It didn’t help that the doctor warned him, in graphic detail, what those were really like and how miserable they were to deal with.
That sobered him up some and he really calmed down his antics, especially as he became more famous and was more easily recognized. He was much more discrete and choosy about who he dated and slept with. It wasn’t as hard as he thought it would have been, but then Brenden found Alicia. They were an amazing couple and Everett was happy for them, and just a tiny bit jealous. That jealousy hit him a little harder when she went on their next tour with them and stayed on the bus. He wanted to have someone there for him too.
Things looked up for him when he found Molly. They had a whirlwind romance and were married just a few months after they met at a little diner in LA. She was studying for final exams and eating onion rings and he thought she was beautiful. Things were good for three years until Molly had a miscarriage when neither knew she was pregnant. That was rough for them and she wanted to immediately try again. Everett was much more hesitant and that sort of created a rift. They tried so very hard to make a go of it, but Sarah came into the picture and things became a bit more complicated.
Sarah was his rep and manager from the music company. She was good at what she did and really helped push his career. About six months after Sarah started, Molly moved out. Everett always had a suspicion that something happened between them, but both insisted there was nothing. Molly always vowed to love him and they actually remained very good friends as the years went by. He even sang at her wedding to Greg and thought he was perfect for her. They now had three really great kids and all called him ‘Uncle Ev’.
He had many girlfriends over the years, but never felt like he needed to take it to the next step. But it had been awhile since there was anyone that caught his eye or his heart and he was damn lonely. He sighed as he looked around the venue dressing room. It had been two years since he had written any new music and he was stuck. The Label was starting to nag about something new for them to put out, but every time he sat down with his guitar and his notebook, nothing happened. He would grow frustrated, put everything away and go for a walk.
There was a knock on the door as he was feeling sorry for himself and his other best friend and bodyguard, Nate came in. Nate was a massive bear of a man. Everett had never seen shoulders so wide on a human before and he had the muscles to match. He had a perfectly round shaved head, big deep brown eyes and a big white smile that stood out even more on his dark skin. He had saved Everett on more than one occasion from overzealous female fans and their jealous boyfriends who watched them fawn all over him.
“Hey, you doing ok?” Nate asked, watching his great friend and boss looking lost.
Everett sighed, but nodded his head, “Yeah, just ready for this tour to be done…need some R&R badly.”
“Well, I guess it’s a good thing that we are going to the Caribbean Sunday morning, isn’t it,” Nate smirked.
Everett chuckled, “Yeah…I’m glad that you agreed to come with me. I know you aren’t ‘on duty’ but glad that we can just relax, drink, fish and watch women in tiny bikinis walk past.”
Nate chuckled, “I agree with everything except the women part.”
Everett chuckled, “Yeah I know you would rather watch the men in speedos, but at least you can help me weed out the weird ones!”
Nate watched Everett and just knew he needed to get him out of that room before the concert and his mind off of things, “Come on, let’s go watch this little boy band and see if they are gonna steal your fans and sales.”
Everett rolled his eyes, but got up and went with his friend. They went to the side of the stage where they could see the stage and the crowd. They stood there for a few minutes before Everett nudged Nate in the ribs.
Nate turned, “What?”
Everett pointed out to the crowd, “Who is that?”
Nate looked and saw a small group of women by the stage watching the band, “Which one?”
Everett pointed out again, “The redhead in the blue dress, the one where you can see her shoulders. Who is she?”
Nate snorted, “How the hell am I supposed to know? A fan maybe?”
“Ok smart ass! Can I meet her?” Everett snapped back.
“I don’t know, can you?” Nate asked, suddenly wondering what was going on in Everett’s head. It had been a long time since he wanted to pick up a woman at a concert. In the 15 years that he had worked as his security guard, there had been a small handful of times that he was asked to bring a female to meet him. But Nate noticed that there was a different look on Everett Moore’s face, something he hadn’t seen in a long time… excitement.
They both stood there for several minutes, Nate watching Everett, watching the redhead. He was totally enthralled and had a small smile on his face as he watched her smile and sway to the music. He was almost hypnotized.
“Yeah, can I see her in my dressing room? I have to talk to her,” Everett asked, almost begging.
“You sure man?” Nate asked, then looked at his watch, “You only have like 20- 25 minutes before you go on.”
“I just want to talk,” Everett assured him.
Nate nodded, “Ok, let’s go.”
Nate followed him back to the room, then went through the maze to get to the crowd and walked up to the young woman. He saw now that she was young, maybe only mid 20’s, but very pretty. When she smiled it surrounded the whole area with light and you couldn’t help but smile back and want to be around her. Nate took a deep breath, then approached her.
