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I rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up. My neck, back, arms, legs and stomach muscles ached, not to mention the riot of aching muscles I felt in my core.
“Animal,” I muttered and immediately carnal scenes from the night before flashed before me which brought a small secret smile to my lips. In bed sometimes that noun was certainly true, whenever raw passion overrode his tenderness for me. What woman wouldn’t want to inspire such a reaction from her man?
After a quick shower, I found Jamie still shirtless, lounging on a couch in the sitting area of the suite. He chewed some toast as he listened to someone on his cell and my eyes feasted on his lips as he did so. When he caught me looking at his face they curved into a warm smile. Sitting up straight, he patted the seat next to him for me to sit beside him.
“She’s out of the shower so I’d say… thirty minutes?” He listened again and shoved his cell on the table right before the call ended. Donna’s name flashed a second before the call ended icon showed up.
“The tour bus is outside, ready when we are. I told Donna… well, you heard what I told her,” he said with a smirk.
Jamie had already poured out some orange juice, and he’d ordered a selection of morning pastries, coffee and morning rolls. I wasn’t hungry, but still managed two vanilla pastries and a croissant with butter and jelly.
After we’d eaten, we dressed, wrapping up warmly as it had snowed again during the night, and made our way to the foyer.
Paddy wandered into view, drinking from a hip flask, and Jamie immediately sighed.
“Great, that means he’ll sleep most of the way on the bus,” he chuckled.
“You worry about him, don’t you?”
“Not Paddy so much as his liver. He’s been drinking like that for years. First thing in the morning and last thing at night. I care about him, but he’s a functioning alcoholic.”
“Yeah, I’ve seen the pattern,” I replied, nodding knowingly from my time at the bar. “You had a fair bit yourself last night,” I said, admitting my observation.
“I did, much more than usual, but I guess I was on a high because you were here. I’m usually careful of my alcohol intake. I don’t want to be the guy that’s making an ass of himself everywhere he goes.”
“Is that how you view him?” I asked, surprised.
“God, no. I just… care about what happens to him. My dad was a heavy drinker.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, it used to worry me when I was a kid. I guess there’s still a bit of that feeling left in me when I look at Paddy.”
“You’re a good friend to him,” I mumbled as we met with him and his wife at the door.
“And he to me,” he replied, putting his arm around me and smiling toward him.
“He to me? You wouldn’t be talking about me by any chance, would you?” Paddy asked, smirking.
“Yeah, why were your ears burning… is that the saying, or is it your ass itching? I can never remember which old wives’ tale goes with that.”
“An itchy arse means worms… or piles, neither of which I suffer from,” he retorted bluntly, and laughed.
“Good, glad to know your puckered hole’s in good shape,” Jamie responded, patting is back lightly, as if he were afraid to touch him. Bernie and I laughed and I felt my face flush at his crude remark toward Paddy. “Now that you’ve gotten all that uncouth conversation out of the way, let’s see if we can replace that toilet humor of yours with some European culture.”
As we piled onto the small luxury bus, Belle caught my eye and I strolled up the center passage and sat across from her.
“Good night?” she asked, addressing me but peering up at Jamie as he took the seat on the aisle and blocked our view of one another.
“Yeah, we couldn’t get back to the hotel for DistRoyed fans,” I explained, looking past him.
“There were hundreds of them lining the street when we made it back. I felt worried about you. Didn’t you get my message?”
“Message?” I asked, taking my cell phone out of my bag for the first time since I’d been in the coffee shop the day before. I realized I hadn’t taken one picture during the DistRoyed gig. I swiped and saw she’d left me three messages.
Belle: There are hundreds of fans here at the hotel. Try to find another way inside. Don’t come to the front door.
Belle: Let me know you’re okay, please.
