So I Married a Rockstar

Chapter Fourteen

Ch.14: Inappropriate Behaviour

I decided not to go back to the studio with Jude. It was an experience I'd never forget, but it also wasn't something I could participate in, and Jude would be there for the rest of the day and probably much of the night.

Besides, I really needed to unpack my stuff.

We picked up an assortment of sandwiches from a little French café that Jude liked, and I took a couple of them back to the loft with me, while Jude took the rest to the studio.

My phone started pinging shortly after Don dropped Jude off at the studio.

Then it kept pinging.

And pinging.

And pinging.

When I glanced at the screen, I realised that my life had just changed again, in the biggest way. My phone was blowing up with messages and notifications about Jude. I'd known that my identity would be revealed now that Jude had publicly declared himself my husband, but I hadn't expected it to happen this fast.

My throat knotted.

After the texts came the calls, my screen lighting up with name after name after name, and then after the people I knew, came calls from numbers I didn't recognise. I let them all go to voicemail.

In hindsight, I should have changed my number after Jake and I broke up – he and Kelly had probably already given it to whichever media vulture was willing to pay.

When we got back to the loft, Don took my bags upstairs and neatly stacked them in the kitchen for me. Then he left and I was alone.

I turned my phone on silent, but that didn't stop the onslaught of call after call after call, now mostly numbers I didn't recognise. The knot in my throat was getting worse, and there was a feeling in my chest like a trapped bird, frantically flapping against my ribcage.

I had no idea how to deal with this, or even where to start.

Gripping the edge of the bar with both hands, I took several deep breaths. "Calm down," I told myself. "Panicking doesn't help anyone."

As pep talks went, it was hardly original, and unsurprisingly, it didn't make me feel much better. Taking another deep breath, I looked around for something to focus on, and my gaze landed on the vase of flowers near the sink.

The red roses were gone. A bunch of yellow roses were in their place.

I stared at them, wondering why I found that strangely unsettling, then I heard the faintest creak from somewhere behind me. I spun around.

The loft was empty and yet . . . it wasn't.

Suddenly, somehow, I knew I wasn't alone here.

My heart crept into my throat.

Jude's stalker couldn't be in the loft. There was no way. Nope. Not a chance.

Right?

I pulled a knife from the block on the counter and clutched it with both hands as I tiptoed away from the kitchen and into the living space.

Nothing.

But Jude's bedroom door had been closed when we left the loft this morning. Now it was slightly ajar.

The creak had come from there, I was sure of it, and I paused, listening hard. I could hear something else now – the faintest hint of music. It sounded familiar, but it was too quiet for me to work out what it was.

But someone was definitely in Jude's room.

And it wasn't Jude.

Readjusting my grip on the knife, I crept closer and nudged the door with my foot. It swung open another couple of inches, and I tensed, ready to leap back, but nothing moved inside the room.