Chapter Thirty-Two
There was something intoxicating about waking up with Jeff in the morning, Wren decided, wrapping her arms around him once again.
“We should work out this morning,” Jeff muttered, his body turned away from hers. “But I feel like I’ve already had one.”
She laughed. “It was definitely an active night.”
He groaned, grinning as he turned to look into her eyes.
“Well, maybe I’ve got enough energy for one more round here in bed,” he murmured, covering her lips with his.
It had been a beautiful way to start the morning, she thought to herself an hour later. She’d realized that she’d rarely spent the night with the guys she’d dated, preferring to be alone.
And she’d never let anyone live with her. That had been the beginning of the end when Vin had claimed he’d been forced to move out of his apartment, even after Wren had loaned him some money to help pay the rent while he was in-between acting jobs because of the strike going on at the time. He’d hinted at moving in with her, and that must have been when he began freeloading at her beach house, while she was travelling cross-country on tour.
But everything was different with Jeff. And then there was the added bonus of actually being able to be herself when she was with him.
Jeff had given her a tour of the entire house this morning, and now they were in the basement, having a short workout together.
“You had the basement dug out, you said?” she asked.
“It was only a cellar, and the foundation was needing a lot of shoring up anyway. And since the house was high above the shoreline, we were able to create the walkout that will eventually lead up to the kitchen deck as well as down to the pier.”
“You’ve managed to blend in the elements well with the rest of the house,” she said.
“It helps that Dad owns the lumberyard. He can get a hold of all types of reclaimed lumber from just about anywhere since he does a lot of restoration work in conjunction with local architects.”
She sighed, resting the hand weights she’d been using back on their rack. “I guess I’d better go upstairs first and shower and get dressed so we can head into the studio soon. I can’t believe we’re going to start recording the single on Monday.”
“I can’t believe I’m being trusted to handle the audio production,” he admitted.
“Why not?” she asked gently. “The orchestra mix was entirely your idea. Who better than you to put together the finished product. What I can’t believe is that they’re preparing to release it right away, and Mike is already promoting it as an electrifying single, unlike anything I’ve ever recorded.”
Jeff grinned. “You’d better get going then. I’ll wait until you’re finished since we don’t have time for any more…”
He seemed at a loss for words.
“Hanky-panky?”
Jeff barked out a laugh. “That sounds exactly like something my mother would say.”
Wren was laughing too as she rushed up the staircase.
* * *
Their time together at the recording studio was going by way too quickly, Wren realized. Jeff had already finished creating demos of two-thirds of her portfolio and had even produced two different versions of each song she’d recorded.
In fact, once the orchestra was put in place on Monday, Jeff had mentioned that they might try recording a few of her other songs at the same time, in preparation for the album.
He seemed to assume that once her single was released, it would be an instant hit.
Strangely, Jeff seemed to be right, because even before the single released, it was moving up the charts, according to Mike, Wren was surprised to discover when they spoke. Apparently, the earlier demo had been getting some promotional traction from some very important people.
After a busy Saturday at the studio, Jeff took her out to lunch again, this time at a drive-in in a nearby town.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had a root beer float,” she admitted, grinning as they polished them off after eating some hamburgers and curly fries.
“I used to love coming here as a kid,” he said, smiling.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun,” she suddenly said out loud. “I didn’t have much of a childhood.”
“One day, you might feel comfortable telling me about it,” Jeff observed. “What would you like to do tomorrow since we’re taking the day off before you begin recording on Monday?”
“I’d like to get some paint and specialty rollers so that I can do that sponging technique on your walls while you’re working in your studio after we’re done recording with the orchestra. It’ll give me something to do during the upcoming week. Otherwise, I’ll distract you too much.”
“I agree. Alright. I’m going to trust you on this. We’ll go over to my dad’s supply store tomorrow at the lumberyard and pick up what we need.”
“I promise what I’m planning will look perfect,” she said reassuringly.
“We might as well get groceries here instead of in Crystal Rock today. They’ve got a better selection of meat and vegetables anyway.”
“Sounds good,” she agreed.
* * *
The following day, Jeff introduced Wren to his dad, who was the only one there at the supply store, since they were closed on Sundays.
“My wife has told me a lot about you, Wren,” Dad admitted, much to Jeff’s surprise. “She was worried about you, you know, when you were young.”
“I know she was,” Wren answered, turning to Jeff. “Your mom was more like a mother to me than my own back then. To my mom, I was just a commodity.”
“There was quite a custody battle, I heard,” Jeff’s father said.
“Turns out neither one of them should have been parents,” she confessed, sounding surprisingly accepting, Jeff realized.
“You’ve done well on your own,” Dad said to Wren.
“Thank you,” she replied.
“Your mother was talking about having you two over for dinner, but Jake just warned me about the fact that there’s trouble, and that’s why you’re staying with my son.” Dad held his gaze. “If anyone can take care of you, it’s Jeff. I’m pretty proud of him.”
“You should be,” Wren said softly, giving her father a grin.
At that moment, his sister Kate walked into the store from the backroom, nodding cooly at Jeff and ignoring Wren. Without saying a word, she reached for some items from the shelves, heading back into the storeroom.
“What was that about?” Jeff growled. “Why’s she being so rude?”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen her behave like that since she was a teenager,” Dad said, frowning.
When Jeff looked like he was going to head back to the storeroom, Wren rested her hand over his arm. “Why don’t you help me grab those supplies so we can get out of your father’s way?”
Jeff glanced at Wren, nodding. “Okay. I’ll let Kate cool off before I talk to her.”
“It was nice to meet you, Mr. Callahan,” Wren said.
“Just call me Cal, Wren. It was nice to finally meet you too,” he said.
Strolling through the aisles, Jeff watched as Wren reached for several different items that he didn’t even realize that Callahan’s carried.
“You said you could mix some paint for me? I’ll take some samples in case you want me to continue in some of the other rooms, but I have my mind set on a certain pale yellow with just a touch of olive green. I’ll see if I can match it up for you to mix.”
“Okay,” Jeff agreed.
After they’d finished loading the paint and supplies in the truck another twenty-five minutes later, Jeff turned to Wren when they were sitting inside the cab of the truck. “How come Kate’s behavior didn’t seem to bother you?”
She grimaced. “It’s not that it didn’t bother me, but I get it all the time. It’s all the stories about me in the tabloids. It’s pretty easy to see that we’ve got something going on between us. I’m sure she’s just being protective of you.”
“It’s none of her goddamn business,” Jeff muttered, revving up the engine.
Wren suddenly grinned, looking like a weight had fallen off her shoulders.