Behind Closed Doors (10 page)

“We are married, we appear at events together, we share houses, but we aren’t in love.”

“Why don’t you separate?”

He lifted his sunglasses away from his face and I could finally look into those gorgeous deep green pools, captivated by the way they gleamed in the setting sunlight.

He sighed again, “it’s complicated.”

“It seems that way. So you’ll forgive me if I would prefer to steer clear of complicating it further.”

“That’s the thing,” he shuffled in his seat, turning his body so he was completely facing me. “I don’t want you to stay away. I’m drawn to you. Since the very first moment I laid eyes on you, I couldn’t wait to be near you. When you’re singing, all I do is stare at your lips, wanting to kiss them.”

I leaned my back against the car door behind me, trying to place some distance between us. The car suddenly felt extremely claustrophobic.

“I’m upsetting you?” he asked, a concerned expression on his face.

“I just don’t understand what you want from me, Jayce.”

“I want to get to know you, to see you outside of the show.”

“I’m not a groupie, you can’t just use me whenever you feel like hooking up with someone,” my defensive tone shocked even myself.

“This isn’t about sex,” he retorted. He ran his hands through his hair and took another deep breath. He spoke again, but this time his voice was gentle. “Please believe me, Kyla. This isn’t about sex.”

There was something about the way he said my name in that moment, it was almost as if I was hearing my name for the first time. He was either a good actor or he was being entirely genuine.

“Have you ever cheated on your wife before?” I asked, almost afraid of his answer.

“Never.” His response was definite, his face serious. I believed him.

I was trying desperately not to get swept up in the moment, to keep my wits about myself, but it was hard when this gorgeous man sat before me, baring his soul.

“Why me?”

He looked at me for a long time. “Why you indeed.”

He answered me thoughtfully. “You’re so beautiful, but it’s like you don’t know how beautiful you are. From the moment I first saw you, I knew there was something different about you. I could tell you were unsure of yourself and part of me wanted to make you see how amazing you are. You light up a room when you walk in and I have this unnerving need to be close to you. It’s been driving me crazy.”

“You are beautiful too,” I added and I was instantly aware of how lame it sounded. “I would use the word handsome, but that word seems too old for you.”

Jayce chuckled and I loved the way his eyes lit up.

“Will you see me on the weekend?” he asked, leaning forward and touching my leg. Although the fabric of my jeans was covering my skin, his touch still set my body on fire.

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea,” I answered, challenging every impulse inside of me that craved this man.

He swallowed and squared his face, looking at me with a serious expression.

“If you tell me these feelings are completely one-sided I will accept that and it wont harm our working relationship. I promise. But if there is even one miniscule part of you that is interested in getting to know me, then please agree to meet with me again.”

I had to pinch myself to make certain I wasn’t dreaming. Yep, it was really happening and as I looked at his genuine expression, I couldn’t deny what I was feeling.

“I wouldn’t be in this deserted parking lot if I wasn’t interested.”

I moved forward and kissed him chastely on the lips and then settled back on my seat, amused by the stunned expression on his face.

“Is that all you’ve got?” he challenged.

I leaned toward him and he licked his lips in anticipation, but I stopped just short of his mouth.

“What were you expecting?” I whispered.

Without hesitating, he met my lips. His tongue traced along my bottom lip before delving inside my mouth. His hands slid down my back and stopped at my hips, pulling me into him, I pressed my body flush against his chest as he sucked my tongue into his mouth. My hands were resting between us, crushed against his chest, delighted by the hard muscles I felt beneath his t-shirt. His tongue began to move faster against mine as his hands made their way underneath the thin fabric of my singlet. He caressed the bare skin of my back gently and my body covered with goose bumps.

“You’re cold?” he asked breathlessly.

I shook my head, no.

I adjusted my body position and accidentally hit the gearshift with my knee. Jayce chuckled as he moved his hand to my knee, rubbing it adorably.

“I’m sorry. I know this isn’t exactly the most romantic setting. You deserve so much more.”

I shrugged. If I was honest, I couldn’t care less where we were, all I knew was that I missed the feeling of his lips already.

I settled back on the passenger seat and Jayce reached for my hand, he brought it to his mouth and kissed the back of it, the gesture warming my insides.

“So, I take it you agree to see me this weekend?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

I nodded, wondering if I would end up regretting my decision.

“Maybe we could have a meal together?” he suggested.

“In public?” I questioned.

“I will arrange something. Something private.”

“Sure.”

I knew it was probably a bad idea, but who was I to decline? I had been a mature and responsible girl for most of my life and I was tired of being the girl who overthought every last decision.

“I better get back to the house, I have a lot of practice to do before tomorrow’s show. My mentor can be a real tyrant.”

“He sounds like an ass,” Jayce smiled.

“You have no idea,” I teased.

“I’m glad we had this talk.” He brushed his thumb over my cheek and I leaned into his touch.

“I am too.”

I gave him a light kiss on the lips before opening the passenger door.

“See you tomorrow,” he said, pulling his sunglasses over his eyes.

“See you then,” I waved, pushing the door shut behind me.

He waited until I walked to my car and got behind the wheel before he backed out of the lot. I took a deep breath and tried to convince myself that I’d made the right decision.

The sun was setting in the distance and it cast an orange light over the car park. The warmth of the car did nothing to alleviate the goose bumps that had spread over my body. I was about to start the car when I heard my phone beep. I pulled my phone out of my purse and opened the text.

JAYCE: 
Drive safe. Missing you already.

I held my cell against my chest as a huge smile spread across my lips.

Chapter 10

“Noah is going to be in the audience tonight. I’m so excited!” Emily announced. I don’t know who she was telling exactly. Everyone in the house knew Noah would be in the audience. She hadn’t stopped talking about it all week. When I say all week, I mean, non-stop-obsessing-over-the-top-ranting, but it was cute, even if it made Emily more excitable than usual.

“I am going to jump on him and kiss him all over,” she said.

Katerina screwed up her nose. “Too much info, tiger.”

I was thrilled that Emily would finally get to see Noah after being separated for almost a month, but I was also excited for my own reasons. Jayce had messaged me earlier in the day. The first text was to wish me luck for the show. The second was to ask me to his home on Saturday. Yes, to his own condo in Malibu.

I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face and I was barely even worried about my performance that was moments away.

I looked in the full-length mirror once my hair and makeup was done. I was wearing a short fuchsia dress with matching heels. Joss had convinced me that the outfit wasn’t too risqué for my performance. I usually wore clothes that were more casual on stage. Tights or jeans with a simple top, but the dress was a completely different look for me. I hoped it wasn’t too short and the crowd wouldn’t get a show they weren’t expecting to see. 

I took to the stage and sang the song I had chosen. Although it wasn’t my preferred style of music, it was my most enjoyable performance to date. Perhaps it was my impending date with Jayce that changed my mindset and enabled me to sing freely. The feedback I received from the coaches was positive and Jayce’s comments were encouraging, yet unbiased.

Once I performed, the night went by like a flash. I was relieved when Jayce announced that I had a place in the top twelve. However, Dion chose to eliminate Rosa and I was upset to lose yet another roommate.

“I am so sorry, Rosa,” I hugged her tight.

“It’s okay. I’m happy with what I achieved.” She shed a few tears, but she was at ease with the decision. She missed her family and I suspected that might have hindered her performance.

After our goodbyes, Marc stood by my side, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

“It’s alright, I know you’ll miss Rosa, but you still have me as a friend,” he smiled.

“You’re a great 
friend
,” I emphasized the word 
friend
 and he nodded at me knowingly.

“You know how I feel about you,” he said, his kind blue eyes searching my face.

“You hardly know me.” It was the truth. We hardly knew one another.

“I know enough to know that I like you.” The corners of his mouth turned up into a hesitant smile.

I wondered if I would be so quick to shoot Marc down if I hadn’t developed feelings for Jayce. Irrespective of what was happening with Jayce, the last thing I wanted to do was lead Marc on and give him false hope.

I lowered my voice. “You know Victoria is into you, right?” I playfully nudged him with my shoulder.

“Way too high maintenance for me,” he screwed up his face. “She’d be one of those needy chicks that smothers you. Plus, she’s a pop singer, you know how I feel about that.” I laughed at Marc’s comment as Emily entered the room with Noah in tow. 

“Noah, this is Kyla, my roomie,” I shook Noah’s hand. He seemed shy, which I hadn’t expected given Emily’s lively personality.

“It’s good to finally meet you, man. We thought Emily made you up.” Marc teased and Emily was quick to punch him in the shoulder. Marc winced jokingly before holding his hands up in surrender.

“Noah, I have heard so much about you,” I told him and he smiled, revealing a set of perfectly straight teeth.

“I have heard a lot about you too.”

“Tell Kyla what you told me, babe. About your friends...” Emily prompted and Noah eyed me hesitantly.

“My friends want you to come back to Portland for a visit. They’re eager to… ah, meet you.”

Marc snorted and Noah’s eyes veered toward him.

“Unless you are already seeing someone else?” Noah backtracked, eyeing Marc nervously.

“No, she’s not.” Emily announced.

“Marc wishes,” Katerina commented and I shot her a look of warning.

“I will definitely be coming to Portland for a visit once this is all over,” I smiled at Noah. “To visit Emily, if nothing else.” I added succinctly.

We remained at the studio for a couple of hours after the show finished filming. I was sitting on the couch, waiting for everyone to finish their interviews when I noticed Jayce standing in the doorway. He threw his head back, motioning me to follow him outside. I slipped out of the room and met him in the hallway.

“Follow me,” he whispered. He glanced up and down the corridor before hurrying down the hallway. He led me to an area of the studio that I hadn’t ventured to before. I was about to ask where we were going when Jayce stopped in front of a door that had his name inscribed on it. He entered a passcode into a keypad and the door unlocked. I followed him inside and the door swung shut behind us.

We were in Jayce’s dressing room.
It was everything he was. Raw and rough, and completely unpretentious, from the Andy Warhol prints hanging on the walls to stack of records sitting next to an antique record player. The familiar scent of his cologne hung in the air and as I breathed him in. It became incredibly real that I was standing in this gorgeous man’s sanctuary. 

Without saying a word, Jayce pushed me up against the door and his lips came crashing to my mouth. One of his hands rested against the door, next to my head, as the other made it’s way under the hem of my dress, squeezing my ass gently with his soft fingers.

“God, I’ve missed your lips,” he breathed as he kissed his way down my neck and along my collarbone. He paused at the base of my throat.

“You were amazing tonight, as always.”

I wrapped my hands around his neck, pulling his lips back to mine, begging him to devour me. He moved both hands to my thighs and gripped my legs tightly, lifting me up against his hard torso. Without hesitating, I wrapped my legs around his waist and he carried me to the overstuffed sofa on the other side of the room.

He carefully laid me down and kneeled between my legs, never taking his lips away from mine.  The hem of my dress was around my waist and Jayce’s knee pressed against my sex, grinding into me delightfully. He supported his own weight with his arms as he hovered over me. I gripped his biceps with my hands, loving the way the hard muscles tightened beneath my fingertips. I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth and nibbled on it gently. His knee pressed into me harder and I threw my head back, fighting the urge to moan.

“Kyla,” he droned.

“Mmmm.”

“Do you have any idea how much I want you?”

I grabbed his face and was about to pull his lips back to mine, when my cell started to ring loudly. Jayce glanced around the room, looking for my purse.

“You want me to answer it?” he asked.

“Sure. Tell whoever it is that I’m busy.”

Jayce kissed my cheek gently and then he sat up and moved to the other side of the sofa. It was painfully clear that our moment was over and I missed his touch instantly. I pivoted my body, moving my feet to the ground. I stood and attempted to smooth out the creases that had formed in my dress. Jayce came over and brushed a few stray strands of hair behind my ears.