Taking Something (32 page)

Nick's eyes went wide as he looked me up and down. I'd almost forgotten that he hadn't seen me in my dress yet.

“Like it?” I asked, turning to model the expensive dress my stylist, Bridgette, had picked out for me. The sleek, fitted metallic gold dress was not something I would have picked out normally, but I had to give her credit. It was perfect for the awards show. My hair was down and curled, so I pulled it to the side to show him the open back. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he loved it.

“You look…” he mumbled, stepping over to me and running his hand down my side before pulling me into his arms and kissing me softly. “Flawless as always.”

I held my breath, the same way I always did when he touched me. It wasn't because I couldn't breathe. I was just scared that if I let it out I'd wake up and be hit with a reality that wasn’t this dream life I was living. The one where he hadn’t given me—us—a second chance.

I'd been so wrapped up in pleasing everyone around me—mainly by letting them walk all over me—that I’d never done anything for me. After I’d quit working for Sadie and told Landry the truth, I realized that sometimes things don't always go as planned, but that doesn't mean they aren't right.

The way that our relationship developed might not have been conventional—or even moral—but that didn't mean our feelings hadn’t been real.

After he’d left Los Angeles, I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him. I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the way he’d gone after what he wanted. So I’d done the same. I’d signed a deal with Hollace and gone back to doing the one thing—other than raising my daughter—that made me happy. Music.

“It's so pretty, Mom,” Audrey agreed. “You’ll match the trophy you are going to bring home tonight,” she added with a smile.

“Fingers crossed,” I said, hopeful that I'd hear my name announced tonight. I had been nominated for Pop Album of the Year for my sophomore album.

It had been truly unexpected—and I wasn’t saying that to be modest.

After my first album had had decent success, I had just been pleased to be back in the game, so to speak. Nick had helped me produce a great album on top of helping me balance love, family, and a career. We spent the majority of our time in Chicago working on music, falling even more in love, and raising Audrey. Nick and Audrey reminded me every day that love was the most important thing, but music was an important part of who I was, too. And that I deserved the happiness and success it brought me.

“We should probably get you dressed, kiddo,” I told Audrey as I motioned for her to follow me into the bedroom. “It's your first awards show. Gotta make sure you look spectacular.” I winked at her.

She was over the moon that Landry had asked her to be his plus-one. I loved that she was able to have a relationship with him, and he had proved himself to be a terrific father. We took turns helping each other out when our careers demanded one of us be away. He even had an apartment in Chicago, so she hardly ever had to be pulled from school because of our hectic schedules. Tonight was an exception. We'd flown out to Los Angeles for the show and Audrey was ecstatic. It didn't hurt that Landry had a little help from Bridgette. She'd turned out not only to be a great addition at Westwood Records, but a great addition to Landry's life. The two of them had been in steady relationship for a while now, and Audrey and Bridgette adored one another.

“Um, yeah,” she said dramatically. “I'm gonna meet them tonight.” The excitement on her face was over the top. The
them
she was referring to was her boy band of the moment. There was nothing more humbling than finding out your daughter's main concern was meeting her favorite band. Not the fact that her mom was nominated for an award or that her dad was going to be performing. Nope.

All she wanted was a new picture to show off at school on Monday. And it didn’t include a single one of us.

I had to laugh as I helped her zip up the dress she'd picked out for the evening.

“How's my hair?” she asked, looking at herself in the mirror.

“You've been hanging out with Nick too much.” I chuckled before assuring her that not a hair was out of place on her pretty little head.

“I heard that,” he said as he walked up behind me, wrapping his arms around me and resting his chin on my shoulder. We watched Audrey twirl in the mirror, and both of us smiled happily at our reflections. I wanted to freeze that moment, that utterly perfect moment with my family. But there was another part of my life that beckoned.

“Landry's waiting downstairs in the car. We should probably get going.”

The evening passed in a blur. The red carpet, the photos, the interviews, the schmoozing—all of it overwhelming and exciting at the same time.

Having Nick by my side and catching the smile on Audrey's face as we made our way into the auditorium made it all worthwhile. Landry had opened the show and, in true Westwood fashion, knocked it out of the park. Audrey had been on the edge of her seat the entire time, singing along and mimicking his dance moves. I knew it was just a matter of time before the bug bit her full force.

It didn't help matters that her grandfather had all but promised her a recording deal if she wanted it. In the ‘it's all in who you know’ game, Audrey was way ahead of the curve. Between my, Nick's, and Landry's musical influences, there was a slim chance that it wasn't going to be Audrey's first career choice. I was okay with it as long as she remembered to stay grounded and humble and didn't let it take over her life the way it did for so many. Okay, so I was a nervous wreck about it, but knowing she would always have a solid support system of people who’d learned from their mistakes and would be there for her when she made hers helped me to sleep at night.

When it came time for my category, I squeezed Nick's hand in mine and smiled, knowing the cameras would be on me. As the nominees were shown on the big screen above the stage, I had to remind myself to keep smiling, even when Sadie Sinclair's face and name flashed across the screen.

I wasn't one to hold a grudge, even after all the pain she'd caused me and my family. Even though her new style of music made me cringe. Shock and awe had nothing on what she was doing these days.

Once Landry had found out the truth about Sadie lying to both of us, he might have said something to his father about cutting her loose from Westwood Records. It helped matters that, soon after, she’d completely lost her mind and justified the termination of her contract. The new label she’d found was more than willing to give in to her insane demands and tacky brand of entertainment. Sadly, the music industry still embraced her, and quite a few people still bought her records. Hence, the nomination she’d garnered.

“And the Grammy goes to…” Country super star Kylie Ryans opened the envelope and showed it to her equally talented husband, who was presenting with her.

“Sheena Lawson,” he said with his slow Southern drawl. He looked so darn cute up there with his tight jeans and his dimpled grin that I didn't even mind that he hadn't called my name. At least I hadn't lost to Sadie.

Nick kissed me on the cheek and whispered in my ear, “You're still my favorite.”

“I better be,” I teased, turning to him. I pressed my lips to his. Trophy or not, I'd won a much more valuable prize. Love.

As we listened to Sheena's acceptance speech, Nick pulled his cell phone from his jacket pocket and showed me the screen.

Lila: You were robbed, G! But you look smoking hot tonight!

I smiled. Lila, Tucker, and sweet little Bailey were a great extended family. One I was so glad Audrey and I could call ours. When I wasn't working, our weekends consisted of family dinners and date nights. I could understand why Nick had been so adamant about staying in Chicago, and I was happy that we'd made it our home.

The screen lit up again.

Lila: The only thing that would look better with that dress than a Grammy would be a wedding ring! ;-)

I shook my head and saw Nick's smirk as he read the screen. Lila was nothing if not consistent. Ever since I'd moved to Chicago and she'd seen just how in love Nick and I were, she'd been hell-bent on getting us married.

It wasn't that we didn't want to get married…eventually. We'd just been so busy getting our careers off the ground that we hadn't even thought about it. Besides, we were together and I had no doubts that we'd stay that way. Ring or no ring.

“It's okay, Mom. You'll win the next one.” I felt Audrey's little hand squeeze mine and looked over to see her grinning up at me with tired eyes. It had been a long night. I gave her a wink and nodded. Landry's eyes found mine and acknowledged that our little girl was ready for bed. After all the excitement—mainly because she’d gotten the photograph she'd wanted—she was spent.

As soon as the show was over, Landry ducked out with Audrey and told us that he'd see us at the after-parties once he got her settled in at his parents' house. As badly as I wanted to go home with Nick and have our own after-party, I knew that I had to at least go to one function and let the media snap a couple pictures.

“Having had a good night?” Nick asked after we’d made our way through the swarm of photographers to a quiet corner of the party.

“It's been great,” I said, wrapping my arms around his waist and resting my head on his chest. He pressed his lips against my forehead. “Everything I'd hope my first big awards show would be.”

“I'm super proud of you. In case I haven’t mentioned it.” He chuckled.

“Thanks, babe.” I looked up in to his eyes. The party seemed to fade away as he slowly lowered his lips to mine. I felt my knees start to go weak as he parted my lips with his tongue. He was such a good kisser that I didn't even care if anyone was watching us. Oh, and someone was definitely watching us.

“Well isn't this cute?”

I didn’t even bother to pretend to be surprised. A catty remark was exactly what I’d expected from Sadie Sinclair.

“We think so,” Nick replied, touching his nose to mine before turning his loving gaze into a scowl to look at her. “What do you want?”

“Oh, I just came by to offer my condolences on you not winning tonight,” she sarcastically confessed.

Nick started to speak up in my defense, but I held my hand and stopped him. I could handle her now. She didn't control my life any more.

“Well thanks so much, but you can move along now,” I insisted, not letting her miss the annoyed look on my face.

“It has to be hard. I mean, this was your big comeback. What are the odds that you'll get another nomination?” Her normally attractive features contorted into an ugly sneer.

“About the same as the odds of you being a has-been by this time next year,” I quickly replied. I could see her already coming up with some bitchy comment to respond to mine, but I wasn't about to give her another second of my time. Ever. I put my hand up to keep her from uttering a single word. “You know what? I've already won, Sadie. More than you ever will,” I said firmly, grabbing Nick's hand. “I think it would be in your best interest to walk away so we can get on with our night.”

She stared at me, dumbfounded, and for once in her life, she didn't have anything to say. Or she did, but she took the look on my face and my verbal warning seriously and walked away. I couldn't have been more ecstatic about someone exiting my life.

“You totally used your mom voice on her,” Nick laughed as we made our way out of the party later that night.

“I totally did,” I confessed. She hadn't left me much choice. If she was going to act like a child, I'd just go ahead and treat her like one.

“I'm not gonna lie,” he offered as we climbed into our limo. “It was pretty hot.”

“You think so?” I asked, giving him a seductive little grin.

“Maybe you should try it out on me,” he said, waggling his eyebrows. “You know, tell me what to do.”

“You would like that, wouldn't you?” I rolled my eyes and laughed.

“Oh, well now you did it,” he warned, reaching over to pull me onto his lap. “Just had to roll your eyes, didn't you?” He snaked his arms around my waist and crushed his lips to mine. Nick might have been good at convincing people that he knew what they wanted, but I knew what he wanted better than anyone. I knew that all it took was one little eye roll to set him off.

In the best possible way.