Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
Darcy felt like she was about to vibrate right out of her own body.
The countdown was on until Jukebox Calamity dropped, and the world got to decide what We, The Romantics was really made of. A group that struck gold with a single album success? Or a name that had staying power and lasting talent?
Copper Canyon had gone all-out for the release party, hosted at the penthouse of the Fox and Hyde hotel, on a beautiful waterfront stretch in Malibu.
She’d spent the night glued to Emerson and Blythe, because if she wasn’t glued to someone, she was pretty sure she might float away.
This was the night. This was the moment she’d been waiting for since they’d signed their deal with Copper Canyon almost exactly a year ago.
Darcy couldn’t remember half of the people that had approached them tonight. She was lucky that her mouth could start moving without her mind catching up when it came to discussing her music.
Colton returned to them, picking his way through the crowd. He presented a large plate, filled with food. “All right, I have every option. Charcuterie, veggies, and – hey, look, they have these fried chicken sliders. Grabbed enough for everyone.”
He offered the plate around, slowly, meeting their eyes as he went.
Darcy had forced down whatever Colton had put in front of her earlier but couldn’t possibly manage anything right now.
Emerson was pale, and she grimaced down at the plate, holding up her hand. “I can’t. You know I haven’t been able to stomach anything all day.”
He nodded with a wince, lowering the plate. Blythe frowned, reaching out and taking it from him, pushing it more forcefully at Emerson. “Which means you need to eat something now. If you throw up in one of these philodendrons, it is what it is.”
Under Blythe’s command and unwavering stare, Emerson gave in and reached out to take one of the sliders.
“Good,” Blythe nodded approvingly.
“Bossy,” Darcy murmured, teasing.
“Watch yourself,” Blythe shot back, as she returned the plate to Colton.
He took it absently from her, scanning his eyes around the room. He fixed on something, his face lighting up. “Hey, Juliet’s here!”
Just like that, lightning struck through her body, and she spun around to face the direction Colton was facing.
She hadn’t seen Juliet in just over two weeks, which…
well, felt like forever. Absolutely ridiculous, but it was the longest they’d gone since they’d started sleeping together.
And, to make matters worse, she’d never felt needier for someone in her life.
Far worse now than when they’d started this thing.
As soon as her eyes landed on Juliet, she felt dumbfounded.
She shouldn’t; she knew exactly how attractive Juliet was. She had a more intimate knowledge than just about anyone.
But she almost swallowed her fucking tongue when she saw the dress Juliet was wearing. The dress Juliet had worn to her album release party.
So unlike Juliet’s typical public style, the electric blue dress had a long slit up the side, and…
“Wow,” she breathed, her heart stumbling in her chest.
“She looks great,” Colton agreed. He lifted his hand up high in the air, waving at Juliet from across the room. “Hey! Juliet!”
If Colton – at six foot four, broad shouldered – waving his arm in the air as he shouted her name wasn’t enough to grab her attention, Juliet would have had to be wearing a blindfold and earplugs.
She did glance over, first looking at Colton, before flitting her gaze to Darcy.
Then back to Colton.
She didn’t return his wave, merely offering the slightest nod of acknowledgement before she turned to talk to Robbie, with whom – Darcy realized only after staring at Juliet for several long moments – she’d walked in arm-in-arm.
She’d known they were going to be attending together, via Juliet’s texts, but it was different seeing them.
Colton dropped his arm heavily down to his side. “Huh. I really thought we bonded when we danced together.” He tilted his head, frowning. “So, her and Robbie–”
Darcy snapped her attention away from Juliet, cutting him off with a sharp glare. “Colton.”
Blythe hit his elbow.
His eyes widened, before he gave Darcy an apologetic wince. “Sorry,” he whispered.
“It’s fine,” she assured, after glancing around to make sure no one heard anything.
For the first time since they’d arrived, no one was focused on them. The label’s execs and several producers had all dropped in and chatted them up, and she was sure more of that was on the way.
But right now…
She couldn’t stop herself from turning back toward Juliet, raking her eyes down the back of her dress, which revealed her toned shoulders and upper back. She was still in that same spot, next to Robbie, over by the bar.
“I’m just going to grab another drink,” she stated, before tossing back the remainder of the old fashioned she’d been nursing for a while. Look at that – empty glass.
“Sure you are,” Blythe hummed, knowingly.
Emerson snorted.
“Just because I might happen to speak to other people near the bar doesn’t make what I said not true,” she shot back, over her shoulder.
But she couldn’t give a damn. Honestly, Blythe’s teasing felt kind of freeing.
Having everything out in the open between them felt much better than she’d imagined it would.
It had been easy to push it away, to tell herself that since she wasn’t coming out in a big way, it didn’t matter what Blythe knew.
Now, though, she knew otherwise. Now, she knew how good it felt.
She approached Juliet – ahem, the bar – shaking out her hands, then tapping her fingers lightly against her thighs. She really did feel wholly incapable of holding still tonight; it was simply too much.
Jukebox Calamity would be available to the masses in only a couple of hours, and all of the critics and journalists that had gotten access would be dropping their reviews. Darcy felt like everything this past year – everything, maybe, in her life – had been building to this moment.
Maybe it was silly, given the acclaim they’d already reached, but doing it this way, picked up by a huge label and able to replicate that success and really prove themselves was different.
And on a smaller scale, but one she couldn’t deny to herself, she’d been missing Juliet since the day before Christmas Eve. Since she’d driven Juliet back to Nashville early in the morning to prepare for her final show, and then she’d stayed to see it.
She’d seen Juliet’s performances in videos many, many times over the years. She’d seen her sing live last year at an award show. And she’d literally performed “Porchlight” with her at the Country and Folk Awards. All of which had lived up to all of the hype.
But… watching Juliet perform the final show for the Whiskey and White Lace tour had been special. The way she commanded the stage, the way she worked the audience. The way she sounded.
Darcy had been entirely enamored with it. Even with Juliet’s cutesy, Country Sweetheart smiles and comments – the ones that Darcy now disliked because she much preferred real Juliet – she’d been so taken.
They’d spoken several times over the last few weeks; checking in, finalizing the plan for Darcy to go to Juliet’s place the week after next to work on their soundtrack song.
More than anything, though, they’d solidified their plans for tonight.
Rather than go to Juliet’s house, they were going to meet in Darcy’s hotel room – she’d already left Juliet a key that she’d picked up at the front desk – in…
She checked the time – under two hours.
She could not wait.
Robbie’s arm was now slung casually around Juliet’s waist in a manner that made something inside of Darcy twitch with envy.
She cleared her throat as she approached, drawing not only Juliet and Robbie’s attention, but the older couple a couple of feet away as well.
Darcy flicked her gaze over them briefly.
They were in their fifties, maybe? They both looked incredible.
Not only the way they were dressed but… they looked rich.
It was the best way Darcy could think to describe them.
She nodded in their direction, ticking her lips into a small smile. After all, while she didn’t know a lot of people here – Copper Canyon had overseen the guest list – everyone in attendance, theoretically, knew who she was.
The man, with his dark hair that was silvering at the temples, raised an eyebrow at her. The woman returned a very small, tight smile, and – oh. It was in the smile that she realized that was why they looked kind of familiar.
Juliet’s parents. Er, mom and stepdad, as Juliet always clarified.
“Hey,” Robbie greeted, drawing her attention. “I don’t think we’ve been formally introduced.”
He offered his hand, the one that wasn’t resting all possessively easy over Juliet’s hip.
She returned his handshake, gripping tightly as she took ownership of it. “No, I don’t think we have. Darcy.”
His eyebrows furrowed, before his ridiculously plush – especially for a man – lips curled into a smile. “Yeah, no kidding.” His tone wasn’t malicious, but laughter tinged through it.
“Well, you brought up having a formal introduction,” she pointed out, dropping his hand.
“So I did. In that case, I’m Robbie.” He cast a winning smile at her, and…
She really did get it. Robbie was the definition of a heartthrob. The chiseled jaw, the sharp cheekbones, the charming smile. Together – especially with their outfits complementing one another – he and Juliet made a stunning “couple.”
“Congratulations on tonight. You excited?” Robbie asked.
Darcy had turned her attention to Juliet, waiting for her to say something, anything, in greeting. But Juliet looked at her expectantly when Robbie spoke, obviously not jumping to say anything.
She blew out a breath, looking back at him. “Yeah. But also terrified,” she admitted with a laugh that sounded far lighter and more self-deprecating than what she was actually feeling inside.
He waved his hand. “It’s going to be great. Just you wait and see.”