Page 76 of Love is a Drum Beat
“You didn’t call me.” Hurt flashed in his eyes.
She blinked away tears. “I know how much you love your music. I didn’t want to get in the way.”
He leaned forward, pressing his forehead to hers. “The music will always be there, Joey. Moments like this come and go.” Dax ran a hand over her head, a smirk appearing on his face. “What did you do to your hair?”
She sighed. “There might be a mess in your bathroom. Ben was cutting my hair when my water broke.”
“I should have been there.”
“No, you’ve done enough for me, Dax. Once this baby is here, we won’t be your problem anymore.”
He pulled away from her, a frown tugging at his lips. He’d once thought his music was the most important thing in the world to him—other than his parents. It was where the confidence came from. She’d guessed that about him long before living with him.
But he realized he no longer shied away from Jo, he didn’t stutter or agonize over every word he said to her.
Because she gave him the same confidence as his music, the same feelings.
Jo closed her eyes, but he knew she hadn’t fallen asleep by the smile curving her lips.
Dax loved this woman. And he loved her baby before he even met the kid because it was a part of her. He squeezed her hand. It wasn’t the time or place to be making declarations.
Just like it probably hadn’t been the time or place to reveal his identity. Devlin was going to yell at him for it, but he didn’t care. If living under the media’s scrutiny was the price he had to pay to have Jo in his life, he would.
“Have you ever thought you were both?” Jo didn’t open her eyes. “Perfect and good?”
He remembered every word he’d ever said to her.I never wanted to be a perfect man, Jo. I just want to be a good one.
He shook his head. “Jo… have they given you the epidural yet?”
“Yes, but your mom told me it wouldn’t make me loopy, so I’m not. Can you distract me? Please? Anything beats laying here feeling my legs turn to Jell-O as the meds work magic.”
He knew exactly how to take her mind off it. “So, I sort of told them I was the baby’s father so they’d let me up here.”
She opened her eyes and pinned him with a disbelieving look.
“I have proof.” He pulled out his phone, knowing all those people with phones probably uploaded his moment on the web already. It only took Googling his name. He passed the phone to Jo.
She watched the video play out, her eyes rounding. “Dax.” She covered her mouth with her hand. “Have you called Devlin? He can do some damage control, claim you weren’t speaking truthfully, and—”
“No. I’m not going back to the anonymous guy who had to sneak into his label’s own studio and couldn’t be seen hanging with his famous friends.”
She handed his phone back and couldn’t decipher the feelings rolling through her. She was worried for Dax, but also… “I’m proud of you.”
They shared a smile, the kind of smile that betrayed their friend pact.
The kind of smile that would burn itself into Jo’s mind. “So, Dax Nelson, you’re about the become the most famous singer in the world. How does it feel?”
How did it feel? He pictured media outlets from around the world talking about him, fans recognizing him on the streets. No more brawls in grocery stores—even though he never planned to do that again.
“It feels… Jo, I think I just turned my world upside down.”
“Welcome to the celebrity life. You’re probably going to hate it.”
He knew that. It wasn’t like he’d planned to have his face in videos across the web. “I don’t care. I needed to get to you.”
23
Jo
