A Lush Betrayal (18 page)

“
If I could only watch one view, it would be your face

If I could only touch one place, it would be your skin

If I could only feel one force, it would be your love

If I could only breathe one thing, it would be your air.”

I sigh. “That’s such a beautiful song.”

“It’s about you,” he answers softly.

I lean up and turn to see his face. “What? You wrote that song long before we ever met,” I say, somewhat disgusted that he thinks I’m so dumb I’d fall for that line.

He chuckles as he presses my head back down on his shoulder. “Every love song I’ve ever written is about you, Mel. I just didn’t know it at the time. Some part of me anticipated you, was waiting for you, dreaming of you. The same part that brings me the songs. I know it sounds crazy, but you have to believe me. Now that I have you, I know who all those words were about. Every one of them.”

I lie in silence for a minute. “Oh, Joss,” I finally whisper. “What have we done?”

The only answer I get is his heavy, even breathing as he finally succumbs to sleep.

Joss

S
OMETHING SHARP
and pointy jabs me in the chest, and I hear a huge ruckus nearby. I open my eyes, disoriented for a breath. Then I see Mel scrambling to sit up and grabbing for her clothes. My attention is captured by the sight of her red hair in a tangled curtain over her eyes as she struggles to get her feet into her panties. Then I see her bare breasts bouncing with the efforts and lose all focus. I reach out to touch her and her head snaps around to look at me. She’s obviously upset, but her look softens when she takes in my expression.

“What’s wrong?” I say, feeling the muscles of my face tense into a scowl even as I stroke the underside of one of her breasts.

“Tammy’s outside in the hall,” she breathes as she stands up and bends over to get her bra.

That’s when I hear the commotion start back up. “Joss!” I hear Tammy shriek from the hallway. “I know you’re in there with my little sister, you fucking asshole. Get out here right this minute!”

I sit up, clutching my head. “Aw fuck,” I groan.

“Yeah,” Mel answers bitterly.

Tammy commences pounding on the door and then I hear the low voice of one of my security guys trying to calm her down. I throw on my jeans commando as Mel gets her own top and jeans back on. I find my cell phone and hit speed-dial number one.

“Walsh?” I say as his sleepy voice answers.

“What the fuck, man?” he grunts. “It’s like—seven forty-five. We don’t have to go for another three hours.”

“Your future wife is off her leash,” I answer coldly.

“Don’t be an asshole, Joss,” he mumbles.

“She’s standing outside my dressing room at the auditorium about to tear the place to pieces. If it weren’t for the security guys, I’d be a eunuch by now.”

I hear Walsh groan and the sound of sheets rustling as he tries to get up and deal with this bullshit that has become our lives.

“What the hell did you do now?” he asks without preamble.

“You know, what I did or didn’t do isn’t really the issue here, dude. Your fiancée is out. Of. Control. You need to get your ass down here and rein her in.”

“Where is Mel?” he asks with unusual insight.

“Standing here next to me.” I’m not going to apologize for it, and Tammy’s not going to decide who the hell I can and can’t sleep with.

“Shit. Okay, I’m on my way. And next time, maybe you could give me a little warning before you go throwing a damn bomb into the middle of our tour.”

“Walsh, this is my life, you know? I’m not in the habit of asking permission to live it.”

I end the call and turn to Mel. She’s melted into the sofa as if she could hide out in the overstuffed cushions. I sit down next to her and place my palm along her cheek. “Hey.” She looks at me with despondent eyes. “Walsh is on his way. He’ll get her calmed down.”

She shakes her head. “How will this ever work when she’s so against it?”

“She’ll adjust. She’ll have to,” I answer.

“But what if she doesn’t?”

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Right now, let’s try to relax, and as soon as Walsh is here, we can sit down and talk to her, okay?”

She sighs and rakes her hair out of her face. “I’ll be right back.” She stands and goes into the adjoining bathroom.

I exhale and collapse back against the sofa. If I didn’t know that Tammy would never, ever risk Walsh finding out about us, I’d be worried she’d spill the beans simply to keep Mel away from me, but I know she won’t do that. And as much as I hate to keep something from Mel, I know me sleeping with her sister would be a deal breaker. I’ll never tell her and neither will Tammy. If we can get Tammy to accept our relationship, we’ll be home free.

Why does that seem so unlikely right now?

When Mel comes out of the bathroom, she looks a little more confident.

“I’ve got to go talk to her,” she says.

“Wait until Walsh gets here,” I respond. “He’s the only one who can deal with her when she’s like this.”

She shakes her head. “She’s my sister, Joss. I know she can be over the top, but she loves me and she’s worried.” She heads for the door and I follow, grabbing a t-shirt and throwing it over my head as I go, my stomach sinking like a rock in a pond.

Mel opens the door and there stands Tammy, dressed in four-inch-high spiked-heel boots, skintight jeans, and a blouse with a plunging neckline, her hair drawn up in a severe ponytail. She’s in her battle clothes. Fuck.

She leans against the wall opposite our door, Jeff on one side of her and Ethan on the other. When we walk out, she lunges for me, but Jeff and Ethan catch her before she can get more than a step. I cross my arms and glare at her. Mel looks rapidly between us, her arms stretched out to the sides as though she could keep us away from one another.

“You prick!” Tammy hisses as Jeff and Ethan gently guide her back a couple of steps before they release her.

“Tammy!” Mel reprimands.

“Stay out of this, Mel,” Tammy snarls.

“What?! You didn’t actually say that to me!” Mel replies, her voice rising.

The security guys are looking at me in desperation now. We’re three guys about to witness a knock-down, drag-out catfight between two sisters, and while that might sound hot in theory, the reality is it involves a lot of high-pitched voices and hysteria that all of us would rather avoid.

“Look, Tammy,” I say.

Her head snaps to face me. “Don’t you even—”

I throw my hands up in a
what the fuck
gesture. “Not sure what you want here, Tammy.”

She steps toward me, and Jeff and Ethan move along with her, on heightened readiness in case she goes ninja on my ass. She stabs a finger at my face. “I want you to stay the hell away from my little sister. You know why, and I told you I would fight you every step of the way if you tried to do this.”

I shake my head.

“Tammy!” Mel exclaims. “This is not your decision to make. I’m an adult. What does it take to get that through to you? You can’t control this. Joss has been nothing but wonderful to me, and if he decides not to be at some point, that’s my problem to deal with, not yours.”

Tammy looks at Mel then back at me. I shrug, indicating Mel’s said everything there is to say on the topic.

I see a poisonous look cross Tammy’s face, and she folds her arms tightly. “All right, if you won’t take care of yourself, you leave me no choice. I’m sorry to do this, but you’re fired, Mel. You’ll have to leave the tour. You can go back to Mom and Dad’s or stay at my place in Portland, but your job here is over.” She flashes me a triumphant look.

Mel is speechless for a minute as I shake my head. I can’t believe Tammy actually went there. I don’t want to humiliate her, but she’s leaving me no choice.

“You can’t do that!” Mel shouts. “She can’t do that, can she?” She looks at me.

“No, of course she can’t. Tammy, be reasonable,” I say in the calmest voice I can muster. “Don’t do this. You’re going to end up breaking something that can’t be fixed.” I look at her hard, trying to convey everything I’m not saying.

“I told you I’d do whatever it took to keep you away from her, Joss. I meant it. Mel, pack your shit. I’ll get you a plane reservation.”

Mel looks at me, lost. I’m left with no choice.

“Tammy? You can’t fire Mel. You and Dave may have hired her, but she works for me, and only I can fire her, which I won’t, in case you didn’t already know that. In addition, if I think you’re so emotionally compromised by this whole thing that you can’t do your job, I’ll send
your
ass home instead.”

Naturally, it is right at that moment that Walsh walks in.

“Over my dead body,” he says coldly, the new, more assertive Walsh showing through in spades.

I spin to face him as he strides down the hall, ready to defend his woman.

Goddammit.

“It’s not what it sounds like,” I’m quick to add.

“Yeah? ‘Cause it sounded a whole hell of a lot like you were threatening Tammy’s job because she pissed you off.”

“She fired me, Walsh,” Mel chimes in. “Joss was only trying to make the point that she’s out of control and isn’t allowed to fire me.”

“Baby,” Walsh talks quietly to Tammy as he takes her hand. “This isn’t going to go anywhere good. Let’s get out of here now. Maybe later you and Mel can talk…
alone
.” He throws me a nasty look. I respond by raising one eyebrow.

“I won’t stand by and let him ruin her life,” Tammy persists.

Walsh whispers something in her ear as he rubs his hands up and down her arms. She shakes her head and looks at the floor. He whispers more to her, and she nods her head, just barely. I can see the moment her body language changes, the point at which she gives up and lets him take over.

Walsh leans down and kisses her on the temple. “Come on, sweetheart, I brought a car. Let’s have them take us to breakfast. Anywhere you want to go.”

She nods sadly, the fight draining out of her before our very eyes. I feel my heart contract as I wish so very much that we’d never gotten to this heavy, ugly, sad place.

“Tammy,” Mel says as Walsh puts his arm around his fiancée and turns toward the exit. Tammy looks back at Mel, her face a vision of destruction and desolation. “You’re my sister and I love you, but you have to let me live my life. You’ve got to stop this before you ruin us.”

I wonder which “us” Mel is referring to.

Tammy shakes her head and walks away with Walsh.

Five minutes later, I get a text from Walsh:
If you ever threaten her again, I’ll walk. And if you hurt Mel, you and I are done.

A sharp pain lances through my chest as I realize that, whether he ever finds out about Tammy and me or not, it’s destroyed us anyway. I’ve lost the best friend I ever had.

Mel

T
HE RIDE
back to the hotel after Joss and I slept together the first time is uncomfortable, awkward, silent. Basically everything you don’t want after having passionate, unforgettable sex with someone.

Joss sits and looks out the window of the car as we’re driven by Jeff and Ethan. I’m not sure what he’s thinking about, but I know I’m worried to death about my sister. Tammy’s intense, yes, but I’ve never seen her like this. Her protective streak has reached a new level, and I can’t shake the feeling that there is something much more to it than her worry for me. One thing I know for sure is I’ve got to have a talk with Walsh in private. Maybe the pressure of his addiction and recovery is taking its toll on her. Something’s not right, and if she needs help, Walsh and I have to make sure she gets it.

When we arrive at the hotel, I assume we’ll go our separate ways. I’m heartbroken, but it’s pretty obvious Joss doesn’t want the baggage of trying to be with me, and I don’t blame him. Tammy is more than a road block, she’s the Berlin Wall.

We’re in the elevator when he suddenly turns to me. He reaches out and softly touches my hair. “Will you come to my suite with me?” he asks in a low voice.

“Um, what for?”

His hand drops and I see him shake off a shudder. “I don’t know. We’ve got a few hours before we have to load up the bus. I thought maybe we could have some room service, hang out, talk.”