Blue Christmas (The Moody Blue Trilogy | Book One) (8 page)

“I’ll probably
fall asleep.”

“That’s okay. Just
don’t drool on the furniture. Or me.”

“I’ll try to
remember that. Are you sure your parents won’t mind? We won’t disturb them,
will we?”

“No, their room is
way down the hall. The loft is great—it’s my favorite room in the house. When
the guys are here, it’s where we hang out. Come on, I’ll show you.”

A fire crackled in
the fireplace, the lighting was soft, and easy jazz filled the room over the
sound system. Overstuffed chairs and sofas formed an intimate circle around the
hearth. He opened a cabinet to browse an extensive DVD library.

“Jason, can I ask
you something?”

“Sure. Shoot.”

“You and Jackson
and Gevin, JT and Sergio. What’s it like being who you are? I mean, do you
feel
like megastars and celebrities? Or is it just a way of life that you’re totally
accustomed to. I can’t even begin to comprehend what your life is like.”

He abandoned the
search and sat down on the sofa beside her. “Actually, every morning I wake up,
look in the mirror and admire myself—the famous, good looking one in the group,
of course. Then I call my chef, order breakfast in bed, and tell Giles the
butler what clothes I want from my twelve closets.” He propped his feet up on
the coffee table in front of them. “It’s a tough life, but somebody’s gotta do
it.”

“Okay, okay, laugh
all you want, but I’m serious. I’d really like to know.” She stretched her legs
out on the table beside his, crossing them at the ankles.

“I know, I know. I
was just kidding. Look, I’m just as normal as you or anybody else on the face
of the earth. I get hiccups, I blow my nose, I put my pants on one leg at a
time just like the next guy. I’m sloppy and irresponsible at times. I get moody
sometimes. I get tired of the guys I work with sometimes. They get tired of me.
We argue and fight. Then we’ll get over it and laugh about it and go on. I
don’t really know how to answer your question. This is my life and it’s all I’ve
known since I was just a kid.”

He arched his back
in a slow stretch. “But I’ll never get used to the hysteria of all the fans.
All the attention and hype. When that stuff hits, I mean, it’s like life kicks
into this surreal realm that’s flat-out bizarre. It’s sooooo strange. I can’t
even begin to explain it. Hannah, I will never understand why the five of us
are anything special.”

“You’re
kidding—right?”

“No, I’m totally
serious. Why us? Why not five other guys? Okay, so we can sing and we play a
little music, but c’mon—some of these kids throw themselves at us like we’re
some kind of gods. That part scares me. And I always have to wonder why all
this happened? Why us? Why me?”

“That’s the part I
can’t imagine, Jason. Does it get old? Do you wish it was different?”

“No, I can
honestly say I love it. Like I told you earlier—doing something you love and
making a living doing it? Well it’s incredible. Being up on stage and singing
and doing our sets—I feel so
alive
. I wish I could put you in my shoes
so you could understand.”

“But how do you
stay so sane? It seems like most celebrities are so full of themselves they can
hardly function. But you’re so—”

“Watch it—”

“—down to earth.
Meeting you, getting to know you—you’re so
real.
I’ve been with you all
evening, and I still haven’t seen a trace of ego. How is that possible for
someone who has millions of women all over the world obsessed with you?”

Jason laughed. “Oh
yeah, millions. But you have to remember most of them are adolescent. They’re
just kids, Hannah.”

“Not all of them. I’ve
seen those pictures of you guys with the gorgeous models and actresses. Don’t
give me this ‘just kids’ bull.”

Jason’s face
crimsoned. “Maybe not
all
of them. There are a few ladies out there.
Okay, a
lot
of ladies.
Hordes
of ladies—”

“I get the
picture.”

“And I’d be lying
if I said I didn’t go out with some of them. All the guys have. But I’m tellin’
you now—what you see on TV ain’t what you get.”

“What do you
mean?”

“Some of them are
really nice. Decent. All that. But the majority of them are unbelievable. They
talk trash worse than any sailor. They’ll sleep with anything that moves. And
all they want is to be seen with us to get themselves in front of a camera. You
don’t know agony ’til you’ve been stuck with one of those losers. I guess what
I’m trying to say, it isn’t always what it seems to be.”

“So how do you
come out of this when the time comes? How do you go from being rock star to
regular guy again? Is it even possible? Will there ever come a time you can
just walk into a restaurant without being mobbed?”

“Oh yeah. Think
about it. Remember NSync? Other than Timberlake, would you recognize one of
those guys if he walked in the door right now? Or the Spice Girls? If you ran
into one of them at the store, would you know who she was? See, right now it’s
hard to imagine going back to a normal life, but it’ll come.”

Hannah snuggled
deeper into the sofa, wrapping her arms around herself. Jason grabbed a quilt
off the back of the sofa and threw it over both of them. “Thanks, Jason. But
how will you handle it in here?” she asked, tapping her heart. “How will you
look in that mirror and say, ‘nobody knows who I am anymore’? How will you
accept that and be okay about it? Think about what a
major
adjustment
that will be. I wouldn’t think most people would handle it very well.”

“I understand what
you’re getting at. I think about it all the time. But I think I’m going to be
so
ready for the change when it comes. Ready to live a normal life again. I also give
my parents some credit for instilling standards in my life that keep me on a
reality check. Since the beginning of all this. They hold my feet to the fire
and remind me who I am. And they pray for me all the time, too. That makes a
huge difference.”

He tucked the
quilt around his legs. “Now it’s my turn.”

“Your turn for
what?”

“To ask you a
question.”

“Fire away,” she moaned
through a yawn.

“Right now,
tonight . . . when you think about this—I mean . . .”

“You’re stammering.
Spit it out, McKenzie.”

“When we met
tonight, you were pretty star struck.”

She snorted. “That’s
an understatement. Your point?”

“So right here,
right now. Who are you with? Me the celebrity, or me, the son of the lady who
came through your lane at the store? I guess I’m wondering if you can get past
the other stuff.”

She stared into
the fire. Tough question. Throughout the night she had not once forgotten that
this was THE Jason McKenzie. The butterflies, the adrenaline. He was, after
all, the idol of her teenage years. His picture had once plastered the walls of
her room; his songs, engraved on her heart forever.

Could she ever
think of him any other way? He wasn’t just any ordinary guy. To think of him as
a regular person, someone she could actually be “friends” with? Good question.
Tonight had been so amazing. He already felt like a friend. He made it so easy.
So incredibly easy.

“Jason, it would
be impossible for me to forget who you are. I’ve had such a ridiculous crush on
you for so many years, it isn’t funny.
Long
after all my friends outgrew
teen idol fantasies, if you must know.” She felt her cheeks warm again. “But
after getting to know you tonight—spending this time with you and your family—it’s
like I’ve gotten to know someone else entirely. I can’t separate
what
you are from
who
you are. But I can tell you this much.”

“What?”

“I like the person
I’ve spent this evening with. He’s very real.”

“Fair enough.”

They talked for
hours. They talked about life and dreams and family and friends. They never
watched a movie. Hannah smiled at the thought. With sleepy eyes, she watched the
fire slowly die, leaving behind only glowing embers coated with ash.

Around 8:00 on Christmas morning, Laura padded down the hall with Frank close behind her. Finding
Jason’s bedroom door open and his room empty, they also noticed Hannah’s door
was open—her room also deserted. They stopped by the loft, smiling at the sight.
Tiptoeing over to the sofa, they discovered Jason sitting with his head tilted
back against the cushions, his long legs stretched out on the coffee table. Snuggled
beneath a quilt, Hannah lay with her head on a pillow in his lap, Jason’s fingers
woven through the dark tendrils of her hair. His soft snores made them smile.

Frank rolled his
eyes. “My son. Ever the heartbreaker.”

Laura sighed
happily, wrapping her arms around her husband’s waist. “She’s a nice girl,
isn’t she?”

His warm smile
answered her question. “Yes, and apparently we’re not the only ones who think
so.” He nodded toward his son’s sleeping image.

She suppressed a
laugh, not wanting to wake them. “Not a bad way to start Christmas, is it?” she
whispered in his ear.

Jason suddenly
snorted out loud. His head moved in perfect rhythm as he mumbled in his sleep
with the slightest hint of a melody. His lips continued to move, but they heard
nothing. He was sound asleep.

Chapter 6

“
T
urn left at the light up there. The apartment
complex is on the left. See it?”

Jason maneuvered
his black Escalade into the turn lane. The overnight storm had left the roads
patchy with ice. The SUV slid around the corner. “Whoa, baby! That was fun.” His
sarcasm penetrated the chilled interior of the vehicle as he regained control.
“Guess it’s been a while since I drove on icy roads.”

“No, really?”
Hannah feigned innocence. She smiled at his appearance, his wandering hair
tucked under a backward UNC baseball cap. The cold air pinked his cheeks, his
eyes shining and alert as he concentrated on driving.

“Well, of course,
because I don’t get to—”

“I was teasing,
Jason. It’s obvious you aren’t used to this kind of driving.” She shook her
head. “Anyone ever tell you you’re gullible?”

“Me? No way. I
knew you were teasing. I did.” He shot her a serious look. “I did!”

“Sure you did. But
that reminds me of something I wanted to ask you. What on earth would make a rock
star drive a long trip like you made yesterday? You drove in from Atlanta,
right? Is that where you live now?”

“No, I live in L.A.
I was in Atlanta for some meetings with one of our producers.”

“So why didn’t you
just fly?”

“Simple. I needed
the space. Time alone. Just me, my wheels, my tunes, and the open road. Driving
gives me a chance to air out my brain, y’know?”

“Makes sense.  Oh,
that’s my apartment there—the last one on the right. Just pull in the last
space there.”

He navigated into
the space with great care, sliding only slightly to a stop. “Sit tight.” He opened
his door. “I’ll get your door.”

Another smile
curled Hannah’s lips.
Who said chivalry is dead?
She looked up just as
he slid past her window and dropped out of sight. She threw open her door,
finding him sprawled flat on his back.

“Jason! Are you
okay?”

His eyes tracked slowly
to hers. A second passed before they both burst out laughing. “I’ve fallen and
I can’t get up!” he wailed like a little old lady. “Can you help me, dearie?”

Hannah fell back
in the seat laughing.

“It isn’t
that
funny. A little help, here? I could use a hand, Hannah. That is, if you’re not
too busy?”

She couldn’t
stop her giggles enough to sit up. Her legs hanging out of the vehicle above
him, she felt him tugging on her shoe.

“Hannah!”

Finally gaining
composure, she sat back up and looked at him. “I don’t know. I kind of like
having you helpless.”

“Come on, woman!
Give me a hand.”

She realized they
must have looked like a Shriners clown routine at the Ice Capades as they
slipped and slid all the way to her door. Her stomach ached from laughing so
hard. “What I would give to have that on tape. It would get a trillion hits on
YouTube.”

“Very funny.” Jason
wiped the wet snow off his rear. “Everybody wants a piece of me, and you want—”

“I want you,
got to have you—”
she sang, exaggerating the reprise of the old
Blue
hit. 
“—gonna get you, and what’cha gonna do about it, ba-by!”

He grabbed her, his
gloved fingers attempting to tickle her through her heavy coat. Hannah shrieked
in protest. “Stop! Jason—no!” she yelled between gasping giggles.

He pulled her into a bear hug, face to face. “Shhhh! Do you want to wake
the dead around here? Have a little heart for your neighbors, Hannah. Sheesh.”