Righteous Obsession (14 page)

“She’s obviously very happy for us.”

“I know, but if she cries this much over an engagement
announcement, what’s she going to be like at our wedding?”  He yawned.  “I’d
better dry my hair and get to bed or I’ll end up falling asleep during our
concert at the Whiskey which wouldn’t be too cool!”

“Especially if you start snoring,” Alethea teased.

“I don’t snore,” Colin said from the bathroom then
peeked around the door.  “Do I?”

“Only when you sleep on your back.”

“I guess you’re lucky it isn’t my usual sleeping
position,” Colin commented wryly.  He finished and came out of the bathroom.

“It sounds as if Amanda’s adjusting well to having
both you and Liam gone.”

Colin grinned.  “Until now, they’ve never had a time
in their marriage when they were completely alone.  I think they’re finding out
there are definite advantages to it.”

“What time are you getting up?”

“About ten-thirty.”

“We can call my parents then, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

When Alethea came out she saw that Colin had already
fallen asleep.  She slid into bed beside him, kissed him then turned out the
light.

Alethea woke suddenly before her alarm went off and
stirred uncomfortably.  She was lying on Colin’s arm with his one arm and leg
draped over her, making it impossible for her to move.  She brushed Colin’s
hair aside and glanced at her clock that read a couple of minutes before
ten-thirty.  When the alarm did go off, she felt his body jerk and then he
groaned and rolled over on his back, covering his eyes with his arm.

“Good morning,” she greeted him.

“It is, isn’t it?”  He replied with a groan.  He
uncovered his eyes and struggled into a sitting position.  “Did Liam come in
last night?  I don’t remember hearing him.”

“I don’t think he did, but I’ll check.”  She put on
her robe and left the room but was back in a second, shaking her head.  “No,
the bed hasn’t been slept in.”

“He probably crashed at Mace’s.”

“Probably.”  She got back in bed beside him.  “Do you
want to call my parents right now?”

He could see how excited she was to tell her parents
the news of their engagement.  “Sure.”

Alethea got out of bed, slipped on a short, silky
sapphire blue nightgown then got back into bed.

“What’s with the nightgown?”  He asked then added,
“Not that you don’t look as sexy as hell in it!”

She blushed.  “I know it’s stupid, but I just feel
weird talking to my parents when I’m naked.”

“How about when there’s a naked man in your bed,”
Colin joked.  “Want me to duck into your closet?”

“No,” she replied, poking him in his ribs with her
elbow.  She picked up the phone and pressed a button.  “It’s ringing,” She
pushed the speaker button and replaced the phone in its cradle.

“Hello?”  The voice sounded a lot like Alethea’s with
the exception of sounding older and the accent being more noticeable.

“Hi, Mom!”

“Alethea!  Beau, pick up the extension,” Her mother
called excitedly.

“Hello, Alethea!”  Beau Ford’s voice came on the line.

“Hi, Dad!  How are you and mom doing?”

“We’re fine.  We’ve just turned in our grades so now
we’re relaxing.”

“Is there a reason why you’re calling us?  You usually
wait until evening to call.”

“There definitely is!  Mom, Dad, Colin asked me to
marry him last night and I said yes.”

“Congratulations, darling!  When are you planning to
be married?”

“Tentatively, next summer, but it’s too early to set a
definite date.”

“Are we still meeting Colin in July?”  Beau asked. 
“We definitely want to meet him since you’ve consented to marry him.”

“Yes, Dad, those are still our plans.”

“I also hope we get to meet Colin’s family before the
wedding.”

“I can give you their phone number if you and mom
would like to call them and make some plans.”

“Have you met them and do you know anything about
them?”  Beau continued.

Behind Alethea’s back Colin made a face and rolled his
eyes.  What kind of a pedigree was he expected to have?

“Yes, I met them before Colin left on tour.  They’re
very nice people.  Colin’s dad, Peter Matthews is as you may recall the
Attorney General of California.  His mom, Amanda is also a lawyer and she has
her own practice.  He has a younger brother, Liam who plays keyboards in
Unforgiven.”

“Alethea, are you sure you don’t want to wait longer
before you get married?”  Her father asked.  “After all, you haven’t known him
that long.”

“Now, Beau,” His wife interrupted.  “Alethea wouldn’t
have called us if she wasn’t sure.”

“We’ve known one another long enough, Dad, and we’re
sure we want to get married,” she stated emphatically.”

“You will call me first thing when you and Colin
decide on a definite date?”  Her mother urged then added, “You know, it takes a
minimum of six months to plan a proper wedding.”

“When we decide on a definite date I’ll call you first
thing, Mom,” Alethea promised.  “Listen, I’ve got to get ready for work so I’d
better let you go.  As soon as I know what Colin’s schedule for New Orleans is
going to be like, I’ll call you and we can make plans then.”

“All right, darling, we’ll look forward to hearing
from you.  Goodbye now.”

“Goodbye, Mom, Dad.”  She turned to Colin.

Colin lay back with his head resting on his elbow. 
“Your dad doesn’t sound exactly thrilled at the thought of you marrying me.”

“It’s only because he doesn’t know you and he’s
concerned,” Alethea explained.  She could tell from his tone he was feeling
hurt.

“Yeah, I suppose,” Colin agreed, turning over on his
side.  Beau probably wouldn’t welcome him with open arms even after they met,
but he didn’t want to hurt Alethea by allowing her to discover that he was
expecting the worse.

Alethea sighed.  “I’m going to take a shower.”  She
touched his face then got up and went into the bathroom.  Privately, she wished
her father hadn’t acted as if she was marrying someone from the Ten Most Wanted
List and would welcome Colin to their family with the same warmth Peter had
shown her.  She showered and went through her beauty routine in half the time
it normally took her.  She came out of the bathroom and sat down at her
dresser.  “The bathroom’s free, Colin.”  She picked up her brush and started to
brush her hair.

Colin watched, fascinated.  “How many times do you do
that?”

“A hundred strokes in the morning and a hundred
strokes before I go to bed.”

He threw back the covers, got out of bed then kissed
her neck.  “Well, I can see it’s paying off.”  He stretched, yawned then padded
off to the bathroom.

Alethea was glad to see that Colin had apparently
shaken off his dismay about her father’s reaction to their marriage
announcement.  She dressed quickly, wearing tight, faded jeans and a T-shirt
proclaiming, ‘Female Power’.  “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Anything’s fine,” he answered.  He quickly showered,
shaved, and dried his hair then started to dress.  He wore light blue jeans and
a silky, long-sleeved shirt with wide slashes of red, orange, blue and
turquoise mixed through it.  He sat down on the bed and pulled on his
high-tops.  Before he left the room he checked his voicemail.

“Colin Matthews, God has told me that you are so evil
that he wants you to suffer greatly before you die and burn in hell for all
eternity!  I’m going to make your life a living hell!  By the time I’m through
with you, you’ll beg me for death and maybe I’ll decide you’ve suffered enough
and grant your wish, but I wouldn’t count on it!”

Colin glared angrily at his phone as if he thought it
was responsible for all those vile messages.  There was no doubt that this
person’s messages were becoming more threatening and more violent each time he
called.  Still, he couldn’t conceive it as anything but a very sick joke.  Yet,
it was beginning to concern him somewhat.  Without realizing it, Colin had been
running his hands up and down his arms as if cold.

“Have I got the air conditioning set too low?” 
Alethea asked.  She’d come back into the room without Colin being aware of it.

He glanced over at her and shook his head.  “No, why?”

“Well, you were rubbing your arms like you were really
cold.”

“Sorry, it’s just an absent-minded gesture of mine.”

“I’ve got breakfast ready if you are.”

“I’m definitely ready.  Starved in fact!”

They went into the kitchen where Alethea had their
omelets ready.  She dished them up and they sat down to eat.  Colin took a bite
of it.  It contained chopped shrimp, tomatoes, and green onions and crumbled
bacon.  “This is great!  Wherever did you learn to cook so well?”

“My mom.  My cooking is nothing compared to hers which
I’m sure you’ll find out when we’re in New Orleans next month.”  Alethea
stood.  “Do you want some juice?”

“What I’d really like is a kiss!”  He pulled her into
his lap and kissed her.

“If you don’t let me go I’m going to be late for
work.”

“Damn! I know!”

Alethea poured him a glass of tomato juice and poured
herself some orange juice.

“I hope you have some mouthwash around somewhere or
poor Jazz will drop over dead the first time I open my mouth!”  Colin laughed. 
“Metal Now’s headline will read, ‘Rock Star Busted After Killing Rock Magazine
Editor With Breath!’  I can just see it now!”

Alethea giggled at the imagined headline.  “There’s a
bottle in my bathroom.”

“You’re coming to the show tonight, aren’t you?”

“Definitely!  Do you realize this is the first time
I’ve ever seen Unforgiven?”  Alethea had seen him perform at the Pro-Choice
Rally recently, but it had been with an ad-hoc group rather than Unforgiven.

“That’s right.  We’d just started work on Too Strong
for Fantasy when I met you.”

“Are you looking forward to playing the club tonight? 
It’s been quite awhile since you played a one, hasn’t it?”

“Yes to both questions.  The last time Jake and I
played a club was when we were in BodySnatchers; back in the good old
party-till-you-puke days,” Colin recalled fondly.

They finished breakfast and got ready to leave.  Colin
glanced into the guest room and immediately saw that Liam’s bag was no longer
there.  He returned to where Alethea was waiting with a puzzled look on his
face.

“What’s wrong?”  Alethea asked.

“Liam must’ve come in sometime during the night
because his bag is gone.”

“Why would he leave without telling us?”

Colin shrugged.  “He probably thinks he’s intruding on
our privacy.”

“Well, when you see him, make sure you tell him he’s
not.”

“I will.”

They went outside and got into Alethea’s jade green
Corvette.  “I hope you don’t mind cramming yourself into my Corvette,” she
teased Colin.

“I think I can put up with it since the driver’s so
gorgeous and sexy!”  Colin replied with a glance at her ass.  He pushed back
his hair and put on his sunglasses.

The drive from Alethea’s home to downtown Los Angeles
did not take as long as Colin was anticipating.  He was thankful that traffic
was moving smoothly and rapidly on the freeway.  Alethea pulled up in front of
the Whiskey A Go Go.  Colin, to his amazement, saw that the fans were already
lining up to purchase tickets for that night’s show.

McGregor was waiting outside by the front entrance. 
When he saw Alethea’s Corvette pull up, he immediately moved forward to keep
the kids from mobbing Colin.  Colin had other ideas.  Before McGregor could
stop him, he jumped out and went over to the kids, standing, talking and
visiting with them for several minutes.

After introducing himself to Alethea, McGregor
remarked, “Maybe, Colin should run for president.  He’s better at that than
most of the candidates!”

Alethea laughed.  “I don’t think that would be Colin’s
idea of a good time, Buck.”

“I guess not.  He’d have to cut his hair.”

“You’d better go over there and grab him or else he’ll
be out here all day,” she advised McGregor.

“Good point!”  He went over to where Colin was standing
and took hold of his arm.

“Sorry, people,” He apologized to the kids.  “But
Colin’s has to go now.”  He led him, protesting, towards the front entrance.

“Can’t I even say goodbye to Alethea?”  Colin
complained.

McGregor sighed and let go of him.  “Go ahead.”

Colin sprinted over to Alethea, put his arms around
her and kissed her.  There was a chorus of whistles and cheers from the fans
waiting in line.  “Can I take you to dinner?”

“Sure.  What time?”

“Six?”

“It’s a date!”  She replied, getting back into her
car.

Colin watched until he lost sight of the Corvette then
he and McGregor went inside.  He spotted Liam first thing and pulled him
aside.  “I asked Alethea to marry me last night and she said yes.”

Colin, that’s fantastic!  Have you told mom and dad
yet?”

“We called them last night and they’re really happy
for us.”

“Will Alethea be here later?”

“Yeah.  She’s coming to the concert tonight.  By the
way, you didn’t have to leave Alethea’s house.  You’re certainly welcome to
come back.”

“I know, but Mace invited me to stay with him and Jake
rather than driving back and forth to Alethea’s place.  Gosh, Colin, he knows
all these great clubs to go to!”

‘All these great strip joints, too!’ Colin thought. 
“Well, okay, if that’s the only reason.  We were just concerned that you might
feel you were invading our privacy which you aren’t.”

“No,” Liam assured him.

“Okay.  Let’s get this show on the road then.”

The interview part of the show went fast much to
Colin’s relief.  If the truth be known, doing interviews was not one of his
favorite things.  It wouldn’t be so bad if the questions weren’t always so
redundant.  He had to admit that Jazz made the process a lot less boring.