Page 32 of Conquest

“Don’t be late!” Kenny yelled, and hung up.

Jesse snapped his phone closed and looked over at the bathroom.

Evan leaned against the doorframe. “Good news?”

“Phoenix wants to meet with me and Kenny today at two o’clock!”

Evan walked back across the bedroom. “That’s great.”

He slipped under the covers, and Jesse bounced up to kneel on the bed.

“It’s more than great! Do you think they’ll sign us? I couldn’t imagine, I mean, I’ve dreamed about this for so long, but after playing in all those shitty bars I was beginning to worry it wasn’t going to happen. We just weren’t getting the right exposure, and the band! The people who were playing for us—”

Jesse’s words silenced as Evan’s mouth closed over his.

Evan pushed him onto his back and eased on top of him. “If you have this much energy, I can think of a hundred different ways to burn it.”

Jesse beamed up at him, his eyes glinting with excitement. “They’re your record label too, so you know all about them. You must be pretty good friends with them since you were hanging out with them when we met.”

Evan rolled off of him and lay on his back.

Jesse sprang up. “You could be on our album! You could sing a duet with me!” He crawled on top of Evan and sat on his hips. “If they decide to sign us, will you do that? Guest star on one of my songs?”

Evan brushed Jesse’s hair to the sides of his forehead. “Maybe.”

Jesse met his gaze, but only for a second before Evan glanced away. Jesse’s heart twisted at the injured look in Evan’s eyes, the strained tone in his voice. He did it again, mentioned music and caused Evan’s hidden pain to surface. Wanting to elevate Evan’s mood again, he glided his fingertips down Evan’s chest and tweaked one of his nipples. “Thanks for helping me get this meeting.”

Evan brought his eyes to Jesse’s. He laid one hand on the side of Jesse’s face. “Listen to me, I didn’t do anything to get you this meeting. All I did was lead Greg to you. He had the final say on whether or not to bring you in. I don’t want you to think you’re getting this chance because we spent the weekend together. Your talent earned you this opportunity. Not me.”

“I know. You could’ve been screwing me for a month before introducing me to him instead of stalking me at my shows. You know, I’ve heard of fans stalking a celebrity, but never a celebrity stalking a fan. You really do have your own way of doing things, don’t you?”

Evan laughed. “I wasn’t stalking you!”

Jesse took his lips down Evan’s throat. “But even though you say you didn’t do anything, technically you’re the catalyst since Greg never would have come to see me perform if it wasn’t for you. So I really should thank you.”

Evan closed his eyes, his fingers tangled in Jesse’s hair. “I don’t deserve any thanks, but if you’re going to insist on giving it, I guess I’ll take it.”

Jesse smiled as he kissed his way down Evan’s body.

CHAPTER NINE

Jesse glanced in his rearview mirror and smiled at the black Cadillac Escalade tailing him through the city streets. Even with his sunglasses on, Evan couldn’t hide how hot he was. Jesse watched the fingers of Evan’s right hand tap a rhythm on the top of the steering wheel; a red flash sparkled with each flick of his index finger from the ruby set in the eagle ring. During their weekend together, he noticed Evan didn’t wear his multitude of rings around the house, only the one that had belonged to his father.

Evan had yet to share anything about his family life, but from the snippets he let slip, he knew Evan’s father had passed away, and from what he could tell, he must have meant a lot to him since Evan always wore his ring. Jesse wondered if he would miss his father if he died. Considering he didn’t miss him while he was alive, probably not. Evan hadn’t said much about his mother, but now that he thought about it, he realized even though they talked a lot over the weekend, Evan had mostly asked questions about him and listened quietly as he spilled every detail about himself, while Evan answered his questions with a two sentence maximum.

Jesse shook his head, loathing his big mouth, and vowed he would work harder to draw Evan out more. It wasn’t that he wanted to pry into his life, he just wanted to know the man behind the persona who stood on stage with a mic in hand, holding thousands of people captive at his every word and movement. He knew that wasn’t the true Evan. It was as if he were two different men. The one who shined and smiled for all the world to admire, and the one who lived alone in a secluded mansion where the phone hadn’t rung once over the weekend.

The last thought reminded him he should call Brandon. Since it was almost noon, Brandon would be at the theatre, but he might still be able to answer his phone. He opened his cell phone and almost hit the number two to speed dial Brandon out of habit, having momentarily forgotten he bumped everyone’s number down one to put Evan’s cell as the first. He hit three instead. The phone didn’t get to finish its first ring before Brandon’s voice sounded through the other end.

“Well, well, well, look who finally decided to call.”

Jesse winced, knowing he was in for a scolding. “What’re you talking about? I’ve left you two messages.”

“Yeah, I got your stupid messages!” Brandon raised the pitch of his voice to mimic Jesse’s. “Hey, asshole, it’s me. Just wanted to let you know I’m running off with some guy to prove to you I can take care of myself!” His voice deepened back to its normal baritone. “Fine! I get it! I watch over you too damn much! You know what? Too freakin’ bad, because it’s not going to change!”

“I knew you’d take the messages like that, but it’s not how I meant them. And I was being honest. I didn’t go running off with just some guy.”

“Oh, that’s right. You went running off with Evan Arden. Real cute, Jess. You have the stupidest sense of humor.”