She chewed on her lip, and my cock twitched. Damn that was sexy. “Maybe…All right, I’ll go with you. Could be fun.” She smiled while she held her lip in her teeth, and I saw the familiar playful gleam in her eye spark to life. There’s my girl.
I was just about to ask Gibson to take her sister into the next room when Mom appeared in my doorway. “Oh good, you’re here. You can help me make dinner. And by help, I mean get your ass in the kitchen.” Her smile was warm but her words were firm. There was no getting out of kitchen duty once it had been assigned to you.
“Thanks, Mom, be there in a minute.” Maybe after a quickie with my wife.
Mom started walking away, then she stopped, walked over to me, and smacked me across the head. “That’s for not visiting while you were in town. Nice hair.”
She left the room and Anna started laughing. My head hurt, but hearing Anna laugh again was a relief. “Serves you right. That’s karma telling you not to lie, especially to your wife.” Her eyes grew icy, and I knew that even though she was trying to let it go, she was still pissed about my deception.
Holding her shoulders, I looked her square in the eye. “I’m sorry, okay? And I won’t do it again.” We were already here, there was no reason to lie again now. This was going to be smooth sailing from here on out.
Resentful fire brightened her eyes. “You better not lie to me again.”
Giving her a sheepish smile, I made an X over my heart.
Anna pursed her lips, then slowly nodded. “Okay…why don’t you tell me about your show then, so I know what to expect tomorrow.”
I was giddy to finally be able to tell her about it. Holding it inside had been killing me, but once the secret was out of the bag, and I could talk about it, she hadn’t wanted to listen. Every time I’d tried to tell her about the show the last few days, she’d quietly left the room. “Well, for starters…I’m a rock star.” Her eyes widened and I grinned. “Yeah, I know, ironic, huh? And in a way, appropriate. I’m still living out my childhood dream, it’s just bigger and badder than ever.”
Anna gave me small smile that was more on the encouraging side than the humoring smile, and my mood lifted even higher. With Anna firmly at my side, there wasn’t anything I couldn’t do. I was going to own this town, it was just a matter of time.
The next morning, Anna and I made our way to the studio in my dad’s minivan. It was embarrassing to drive it, but we hadn’t had a chance to rent a car yet. I texted Harold when we were there, and he met us in the parking lot in a golf cart, same as before. He said hello to me, then took in my wife with surprised eyes. “Mrs. Hancock…it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Harold Berk, the executive producer of the show. We’re so thrilled to have your husband on board.” He extended his hand in greeting.
Anna gave him a polite smile as she shook his hand. She didn’t exactly share his opinion on the matter. “Yes, I believe I’ve heard of you. Briefly.” Her irritated eyes flashed a glance my way. Even if she did forgive me, she’d never completely let this go.
Harold laughed at her comment and released her hand. When his gaze got a little too lengthy, I stepped in front of Anna. Yes, my wife is hot. She’s also mine, so go ahead and back that dirty thought up. It’ll never happen, bro.
“Should we get going?” I asked.
Harold returned his eyes to mine. “Yes! Hop in, and I’ll take you to your new home away from home.” As Anna and I scooted in beside him, he told me, “I should let you know, Mr. Hancock, you’re the only cast member here who has their own trailer. You should feel very special.”
I gave him a heated glance. “Well of course I should. I’m the star. Remember?” I considered asking him if what Denny told me was true—that he’d asked every other band member to do this before he approached me—but I decided not to. Denny had it wrong. Thinking of Denny made me think of Matt and our tiff at the bar. Was he still mad at me for that? Yeah, probably. I was still mad at him for his comment—You’re dead to me. Whatever, fucker.
Harold kept his eyes glued to the street as he answered me. “Yes, yes. The most important star.”
Anna had her brows furrowed when I glanced at her, so I gave her an easy breezy grin. This was going to be amazing. I could feel it in my bones.
Walking around the set helped bring Anna out of the funk she’d been stuck in, and for the first time in a long time, I saw genuine excitement on her face. Seeing it helped remove the final remnants of guilt that had been hanging around my gut. Given enough time, she was gonna be cool with this. In fact, just watching her face light up as we walked around reminded me of the old pre-responsibilities Anna. It amped me up to see the playful girl I’d married returning.
Anna squealed when she saw the bar set. “It almost looks exactly like Pete’s!” I smiled at her reaction; I’d thought the same thing myself when I’d first looked at it.
Harold seemed uncomfortable with the similarities. “No, no, it’s a generic bar…I assure you.”
He quickly moved us along to the living quarters sets after that. Anna gave me a crooked grin when she ran her finger along the edge of my bed. Since I’d been away from her on that damn promo tour for weeks, and then cut off by her prickly anger or strange mopey mood for the past few days, it had been forever since I’d had sex. My cock started coming to life and I suddenly wanted to take Anna to a private room more than I wanted to continue this stupid tour.