Page 12 of Lexi Lets Go

The sound of someone clearing their voice harshly by the door pulled their focus. There standing at the door, looking extremely annoyed, was his damn manager.

"We've had a development,” she said, “you’re needed inside."

"Right." He stood and turned back to Lexi. “It was lovely chatting with you. I look forward to our next meeting." His mouth turned into that smile of his as he winked at her. She didn’t respond. Her brain was still frozen trying to figure out what had just happened.

He turned to walk back in. Jacinda did not follow him in but was standing there glaring at her.

"Well, it looks like the power is back on," Lexi said to her with a forced smile.

"What was that about?" she asked, ignoring Lexi's attempt to lighten the situation.

"That? That was nothing. We just bumped into each other out here." Jacinda just continued to glare. Rage and embarrassment were building inside of Lexi, and if she did not remove herself from this situation right now that rage would bubble over. "If you'll excuse me, I'm getting ready to leave."

Lexi walked right past her and into the inn.

"You'll have an NDA on your desk in the morning."

She couldn't be serious. "I'm sorry, whatever for?"

"You read his list," the woman stated back plainly and headed up the stairs.

Lexi made her way to her office and slammed her door. She needed to get out of this inn. She grabbed her purse and rummaged through a bin until she found one of those plastic ponchos the inn kept for guests and decided to walk back to her car. It was still pouring down rain, but she didn't care. She needed to get out of this place.

Chapter5

Liam

Liam went to his room and waited for Jacinda. Even though today didn’t go according to plan, he felt more alive than he had in a long time. Something about this place and the beautiful woman on the porch spoke to him. There was something here. He just wasn’t sure what, but this was the most inspiration he had felt in almost a year.

He knew that she was a bad idea. The decision not to get involved with anyone after everything with Henry was a decision he was sticking to. His life was too crazy. He should just put this all out of his mind and get back to the schedule.

Before he was Liam James, he had grown up in a town a little bigger than this one. That was when he was still just Liam Sheffield. He loved being Liam James now. He loved the community he was able to give his fans, he loved creating music, but sometimes it was lonely.

He was supposed to be in the next city getting ready for the concert tomorrow night. After a day of meetings that resolved nothing, that should be his focus. But he still couldn’t get this wonderful woman off his mind. And after that interaction, he knew she wouldn’t be leaving his thoughts any time soon.

He had been sure she was a fan by how she got flustered around him, but when he started naming his song titles, she looked at him like he was from another planet. He wouldn’t be conceited to say most of the country knew a couple of his bigger hits. He had just performed Modern Times on SNL a month ago. That song and Midnight Groove were both sitting at the top of the Billboard charts right now and had been for over a month. If she were a fan, she would have known them, and not looked at him like he had lost his mind. This woman was growing more intriguing by the minute. She had seemed to be flustered by him but not because of his stardom. That was not something he had encountered before.

And if the lights hadn’t come back on, he would have kissed her. And fuck... he wanted to kiss her. He wanted to do a whole lot more than kiss her, but he wasn't sure what all that meant yet. And he wanted to be sure. His life was not his own, and his image was complicated. He had survived a rough couple of years when the media had gotten wind of his relationship with his touring bassist.

Those around him knew he was bisexual. He was kind of the poster boy for positive masculinity which made many people question his sexuality in inappropriate ways. He didn't care if people knew he was bisexual and refused to hide it. But his sexuality and who he was attracted to made no difference in the art he created, and he refused to let that be the story. His shows were a place for people to just exist and be themselves regardless of who they were and if society accepted them.

One particular song called Home was hard for him to sing every night because it spoke of finding a home and a family where you feel love, which isn't always your own. The tears that would stream down the faces of some of his fans at that song gutted him. If he could give them a night and a safe place to be who they are, then all the strain and bullshit of this line of work was worth it. He could handle it, but he wouldn’t put anyone else through it, especially anyone he cared about. Being involved with him just came with too high a cost.

He sat on his bed kicking his feet up and waited for Jacinda to come. This was a nice little inn, and the view from his room was wonderful. He had to see those falls before he left town.

There was a soft knock at his door. "Come in," he called.

Jacinda entered looking irritated. She was irritated most days, but this day had been one for the books from start to finish.

"So, I just received an email. The arena you were supposed to perform at tomorrow night got hit by this storm. Apparently, the roof took some damage and there was extensive flooding, so we’re going to have to cancel the show."

"What do you mean cancel the show?" He hated that. He loved his fans, and he knew many of them saved up and came from far away to see his shows. "We’re going to reschedule and offer full refunds if they can't make the new date. It’s all being worked out."

"Can we do something on social media? Maybe a private online show for ticket holders as an apology?"

"I’ll see what we can put together. It would take a bit of the pressure off. Our next date is in five days in New York. I can get you airlifted out of here tomorrow and get you home for a few days."

He nodded along as she rattled off a few other things, but he was looking out the window. Though it was dark, and he could no longer see the falls, he knew they were there. He wanted to explore them. He wanted to explore this town. He wanted to explore that intriguing woman behind the front desk, but he would keep that one to himself.

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