Everyone in the room laughs with glee.
“He’s also surprisingly goofy. The same as me, actually. He doesn’t do it all that often—but, on occasion, Savage belly laughs with those closest to him. And when he does, it’s the sweetest, most endearing sound you’ll ever hear. It’s like the clouds part when Adrian Savage laughs from the depths of his soul, and the entire world is bathed in glorious sunshine.”
Savage’s chest heaves. His nostrils flare. His body language reflecting back to me how I’m feeling as I stare into his chocolate eyes.
I swallow hard. “Adrian is protective and supportive, too. He tells me to demand what I’m worth and not settle for anything less. He’s also a thoughtful boyfriend. He knows I can’t stand the smell or taste of cigarettes, so he quit smoking, just for me. When I was sick, he took care of me. Held my hair for me when I threw up.” I bite my lower lip. “And, of course, it doesn’t hurt that he’s literally the sexiest man on Earth.” I press my lips together, signaling that’s all I’ve got, and Savage leans in and kisses me again—this time, even more passionately than before.
The crowd applauds, while Sunshine, our host, laughingly says, “Hey, it’s a family show, guys.”
Savage and I break apart, both of us breathing hard, and as the place explodes with raucous applause, Savage lays his palm on my thigh under the table, letting me know his arousal is most definitely not for show.
“Okay, before these two need a room,” Sunshine says, “I think we’d better get our mentors out here. Four judges this season means four mentors! And here they are!” She motions to the side door and calls out each mentor’s name, one by one, and they appear in order and stand behind their respective judge at the table.
There are a flurry of questions for the group—but, thankfully, no curveballs or surprises—and, finally, Sunshine wraps things up.
“Thank you for coming today! Full promo packages have been sent to you via email.”
I look at Savage, ready to flash him a look of relief that the press conference is over, but he’s eyeing my mentor behind me like he’s plotting murder.
“Hey,” I whisper sharply, squeezing Savage’s thigh, and he turns around and smiles at the crowd again. But it’s too late. His jealousy was on full display. Clearly, he’s trying to figure out why the producers chose Colin, of all people—a drummer known more for his recent underwear campaign than his singing—as my mentor. And I must admit, I’m wondering the same thing. Colin and I have never been anything but friends. But there’s no denying our chemistry. Also, I can’t help remembering I offered up Colin on Sylvia as someone I’ve been wrongly linked with, right before I denied the rumors about Savage and me. Did the producers notice that little detail, too?
“Back to the greenroom, guys,” a PA says to the cast. And, in short order, all eight of us exit the press conference and head back into Reed’s game room. The minute we get to our destination, I begin walking toward Colin, intending to ask him what the producers said to him when they hired him. Did they mention what I said on Sylvia as one of the reasons they’d picked him? But before I’ve reached Colin, Nadine, the executive producer of the show, hugs me and pulls me over to Savage.
“You two are geniuses!” Nadine blurts, her angular face aflame. “We had extremely high expectations about you two this season. But now that I’ve seen the goosebumps you’re capable of delivering, I can already tell we didn’t aim nearly high enough.”
Five
Laila
I’m sitting next to Savage in the backseat of a large, black SUV with tinted windows, headed toward whatever home the producers have secured as our fake love nest for the next three months. The same driver and bodyguard from yesterday are seated up front. Savage is looking out the window on his side of the car. And I’m freaking out.
Which parts of Savage’s speech during the press conference—the one where he itemized all the things he supposedly “loves” about me—were based in truth? For my part, every word I said about Savage in my speech was tethered to truth. I don’t love Savage, obviously, but now that I know about his devotion to his ailing grandma—like, seriously, where did that come from?—I realize he’s not quite the monster I’d come to believe by the end of the tour. In fact, I think he might be a whole lot more like the dude I shared a bottle of whiskey with in Providence, than the asshole who tore me a new one in Atlanta.
Also, those two kisses Savage and I shared during the press conference are messing with my head. I’ve never swooned so hard in my life as I did during those kisses! My brain knew it was all for show, but my heart exploded like a nuclear bomb. I felt urgency and need in Savage’s lips and tongue. I felt passion. And now, as I sit here next to Savage, driving to who-knows-where, I’m realizing, much to my dismay, I’m in for a very confusing three months, exactly as Aloha warned.
I look at Savage sitting next to me to find him tapping on his phone with a cute little smile on his face—the kind of grin I’ve seen on him only when he’s interacting with one of his bandmates, but especially with Kendrick or Ruby.
“Are you texting with Kendrick?” I venture, looking for any excuse to start a conversation.
Savage looks up, still looking adorable. “My cousin, Sasha. She lives with our grandmother in Chicago. They watched the press conference and now my cousin is texting in all caps.” He snorts. “She’s so funny. Both Sasha and my grandma are losing it about the ‘amazing girlfriend’ I’ve never bothered to tell them about.”
I glance at the two men at the front of the car and lean in to whisper. Surely, our companions are bound by an ironclad non-disclosure agreement, but better safe than sorry. “What are you telling your family about our ‘relationship’?”
Savage flushes a deep crimson, telegraphing the answer to my question is: I’ve let them believe we’re an actual couple.
“You haven’t told them the truth?” I whisper.
He shakes his head, looking sheepish. “I was going to give my cousin a heads-up about us before the press conference, but I got distracted when I ran into Kendrick and found out he’d sent you the album. And now, they’re both so excited about everything . . .” He exhales. “Mimi—my grandma—she’s my father’s mother—she always says she wants me to settle down and find the ‘great love of my life,’ the kind she had with her husband, Jasper, who died young. Apparently, after watching the press conference, Mimi told Sasha she felt like she could finally stop worrying about me, now that I’ve found a woman who can ‘see past all that silly rock star business’ to the ‘real me.’” He chuckles. “Apparently, that comment you made about my laugh ‘parting the clouds,’ or whatever you said, made quite an impression on Mimi.”
I chuckle with him. “Honestly, I’m relieved you haven’t told your family the truth about us. It makes it a whole lot easier for me to ask you to lie to my family about us for the next three months.”
Savage laughs. “You haven’t told your family the truth, either?”