Unexpected Admirer

  This is a fictional work. The names, characters, incidents, places, and locations are solely the concepts and products of the author’s imagination or are used to create a fictitious story and should not be construed as real.

  5 PRINCE PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC

  PO Box 16507

  Denver, CO 80216

  www.5PrinceBooks.com

  ISBN 13: 978-1-939217-22-6 ISBN 10: 1939217229

  Unexpected Admirer

  Bernadette Marie

  Copyright Bernadette Marie 2013

  Published by 5 Prince Publishing Smashwords Edition

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations, reviews, and articles. For any other permission please contact 5 Prince Publishing and Books, LLC.

  First Edition/First Printing March 2013 Printed U.S.A.

  5 PRINCE PUBLISHING AND BOOKS, LLC.

  Unexpected Admirer

  Aspen Creek Series, Book Two

  Other books by

  Bernadette Marie

  THE KELLER FAMILY SERIES

  The Executive’s Decision

  A Second Chance

  Opposite Attraction

  Center Stage

  Lost and Found (5/2013)

  Love Songs (10/2013)

  Home Run (2/2014)

  ASPEN CREEK

  First Kiss

  Unexpected Admirer

  On Thin Ice (9/2013)

  MATCHMAKERS SERIES

  Matchmakers (6/2013)

  Encore (7/2013)

  Finding Hope (8/2013)

  OTHER TITLES

  Cart Before the Horse

  Candy Kisses

  5 Prince Publishing, Denver Colorado

  To Stan

  You certainly were my unexpected admirer…good thing I caught on!

  Acknowledgements

  To my men…thank you for allowing me to lock myself away with imaginary people! My job is full of play time.

  To Mom and Dad…thank you always for your love and support.

  To Anni…thank you for always reading my stuff in all its forms. And for laughing when you’re supposed to and crying at the right times as well.

  To Connie…what a mess I’d be…just saying!

  To Anne…thank goodness you came along!

  To Susan…I’m glad you happened into my life and taught me everything you know!

  And a special thank you to Justin Timberlake…your talent and good looks made it easy to imagine someone as sincere as Jesse Charles!

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you for stopping back into Aspen Creek for the next story in the series. This town is so much fun to write. There are so many stories hiding among the residence here.

  The story of Melissa Mathews and Jesse Charles is a fun one. What happens when the rock star falls in love with the middle school biology teacher? Sometimes the bright lights of fame are a little to blinding. There are those times when the simple life is much more appealing.

  While in Aspen Creek we run into some of the characters we met in the past, and those are the joys of reading a series.

  I hope you enjoy Unexpected Admirer and I look forward to sharing the next book in the series with you in September. On Thin Ice is very near and dear to my heart. If you know me, you know that hockey is very important in my family and the next Aspen Creek book will take you on the ice.

  As always…enjoy a little Happily Ever After.

  Happy Reading,

  Bernadette Marie

  Unexpected Admirer

  Chapter One

  A crowded arena on a weeknight was not where Melissa Mathews wanted to be. She’d spent her day teaching thirteen-year-olds the fundamentals of biology, attended a staff meeting, and drove an hour to Grand Junction. She was beat.

  But when she looked over at her son, who stood next to her, his grin as big as the sun, she knew she’d recuperate. After all, it was her fault they were standing with thousands of people who chanted Jesse Charles’s name. She’d won the tickets to see the pop star on the radio. The show had been sold out for months, and she didn’t have the funds to take her son anyway.

  It was a mystery to her why he even wanted to go. Jonah was a huge Jesse Charles fan, but Melissa wasn’t. Oh, he seemed to be a fine role model, but between her son playing his music morning and night and the kids at school incessantly talking about him, Melissa could care less about the man.

  And the night was just beginning. No, she couldn’t have just won some general admission tickets. She won the whole package. A nice dinner at a local restaurant. Front row tickets to the show. And what would a night like this be without meet and greet passes for later.

  Jonah was in heaven.

  Melissa was in a teenager-fueled hell.

  Jesse Charles paced back and forth in his dressing room. He’d been performing since he was ten, professionally since he was fourteen. However, stage fright was a real thing and he had it bad.

  His assistant, Bryce, was busy taking notes and talking on his cell phone in the corner. He’d thought his manager would take the time to fly to Colorado to catch the show, but again, he was busy with his own, fantastic life.

  Jesse let out a sigh. His career was nothing less than spectacular. He was the number one recording artist in America, and the world had taken note.

  But at twenty-five, Jesse Charles was tired.

  Melissa fidgeted with the backstage pass around her neck. The woman at the radio station had told her to keep it under her shirt. She’d seen people mobbed over them. It was killing Melissa to have it pressed against her skin, but the last thing she needed was to have it ripped from her neck. Jonah hadn’t been happy about tucking his in either, but he’d done it. What did it matter anyway? He was going to meet his idol. All Melissa could hope for was to be in bed before two a.m. and that maybe Friday would be quiet for the middle-schoolers she’d have to teach—but she knew better than that.

  The lights in the arena dimmed, and the crowd around her went wild. She looked over at her son. An enormous smile permeated his lips. He hadn’t been so happy in a very long time. Melissa owed him this night. She put her arm around him and gave him a squeeze just as the arena filled with lights of all colors. A whine of a guitar pierced her ears, and from the center of the stage in a smoke-filled cloud, Jesse Charles emerged in all his glory.

  She had to admit, the atmosphere was infectious. Girls swooned and screamed. Jonah clapped his hands and sang along with the songs she was familiar with, but she didn’t know the words. Never would she have expected to enjoy herself, but among Jesse Charles’s fans, she was happy too.

  The show was loud and spectacular—and never ending.

  Melissa looked down at her watch for the third time. The show was moving into its second hour, and the man hadn’t taken a break. He’d sung and danced the entire time—he had endless energy. She, on the other hand, was exhausted.

  Melissa scanned the crowd. She was sure she was the only person aware of the time. She looked back up at the stage, and at that moment, she was sure her eyes connected with Jesse Charles’s. The very moment hit her.

  She diverted her eyes. Certainly he was that good of a showman to make the entire audience feel as though they were the only ones in the room.

  It wouldn’t be long before she’d be right in front of him, shaking his hand. But that was all for Jonah. She wasn’t interested. She was sure he’d say hello, sign a picture, and move on to the next person. Yes, that would be how it would go. She told herself there really hadn’t been any eye contact. Thousands of scantily clad girls screamed his name. If he had seen her, it was probably a look of disgust for someone so average in his crowd.<
br />
  Jesse Charles went about belting out the song of the moment. He danced his way to the side of the stage, motioned to someone, and without missing a beat, he was back at center stage making the crowd go wild.

  A few minutes later, Melissa felt a hand on her shoulder.

  “Ma’am, would you mind coming with me?” An enormous man with a security shirt was standing next to her.

  “I’m sorry,” she yelled over the music. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “If you wouldn’t mind just coming with me.”

  He was trying to guide her away from her seat. “My son!”

  She reached for Jonah and grabbed hold of his arm and then quickly picked up their coats.

  As she followed the man, another security guard stepped in behind them. Jonah moved up closer to her.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I don’t know.” She reached out for the man in front of her as they headed toward the side of the arena. “Sir, where are we going?”

  “I’ve been asked to take you backstage.”

  Melissa let out a breath. “Is this for the meet and greet?”

  “No.” The guard narrowed his gaze on her.

  “Oh, we have passes.” She pulled the pass from under her shirt.

  “No, ma’am, this has nothing to do with that. Mr. Charles would like to sing to you. He’s requested you on stage.”

  Certainly there was some kind of mistake. The radio station hadn’t said anything about getting on stage.

  Her heart pounded faster than the rhythm of the song blaring thought the arena.

  Jonah had grabbed hold of her hand. “Mom! He wants to sing to you!”

  “I don’t like this.”

  The men were leading them down a corridor The music was muffled, but as they turned the corner, she could see the stage and Jesse Charles was only a few feet in front of them, performing for thousands.

  “What if I don’t want to do this?”

  The security guard gave her a shrug.

  Jonah stepped between them and looked up at her. “Mom, this is fun. Go.”

  When did a ten-year-old tell his mother what to do? But then she noticed the glimmer in his eyes and the smile that still turned his lips up at the corners. She couldn’t let him down.

  She handed Jonah her coat, straightened her clothes, and ran her fingers through the wild curls which went every which direction. This had to be some kind of a joke for the superstar. What a mother wouldn’t do for the joy of her child.

  Jesse glanced to the side of the stage. Bryce had made his way to the woman he’d pointed out in the crowd. He was obviously giving her directions, but even Bryce was probably thinking he was crazy.

  Never, in all the years that he’d been performing, had he ever pulled someone from the crowd to sing to, but there was something about this woman that had caught his attention. Perhaps it was because she stood out simply by not standing out.

  The blouse she wore was a simple, white button-down with a pair of jeans. Her hair was a wonderment of wayward, brown curls. But from the row in front of the stage, her eyes had sparkled up at him and caught hold.

  The song ended, and the lights dimmed. His band carried on as the crew pulled two stools to the center of the stage.

  Jesse let out a breath. Stage fright was bad enough, but walking toward this woman, he decided it was the lesser of two evils.

  The eyes that had mesmerized him now were wide open, perhaps a bit fearful.

  He smiled and tried to calm his own nerves. “Hi, I’m Jesse.” He held his hand out to her.

  “Melissa.”

  “It’s nice to meet you.” He kept hold of her hand. “I’d like to sing to you.”

  She nodded as though words were impossible. He understood that well enough. He hoped he remembered the song now that she stood before him.

  Jesse switched hands and led her out to the stage where the crew member helped her onto her stool, but he never let go of her hand.

  The music formed into the melody the world had accepted. His most current number one hit had given him the leap to super stardom and he hated it, but it encompassed what he was feeling at that very moment.

  As the lights came up and he could see her face even more clearly, he knew this would be the hardest song he would ever sing. He, the man who dated super models and actresses, was nearly paralyzed by her beauty. There were no Botox-filled lines, no four-inch high heels on her feet, or even a trace of lipstick on her lips. If anyone he knew found out his heart was flipping in his chest over this woman, they’d have him committed.

  Melissa’s hand shook in his. He covered the mic on his cheek. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded as the volume of the music increased, and the crowd around them erupted into applause.

  Jesse took a breath and began to sing the ballad of Admirer to the woman who had him as giddy as a schoolboy.

  Chapter Two

  Melissa was afraid to look toward the audience. Dear Lord, why was she sitting on the stage holding hands with this young man? No one at the radio station had told her this was part of the show.

  She did manage to look back at Jonah, who stood on the side of the stage with her purse grasped in his arms. The smile on his face was enormous and that made her happy, and she realized, in that moment, it had been a very long time since she’d been this happy, too.

  Jesse’s thumb brushed over her hand, and when she looked back in his eyes, they pulled her in. So this was what those girls who swooned over the posters in their lockers felt like? But she wasn’t some thirteen-year-old-girl. She was a mother, a widow, a biology teacher. It wasn’t right to feel warm from head to toe because Jesse Charles was gazing at her. She was probably old enough to be his mother. How sweet that he was singing to her. They probably all thought that when he pulled a strange woman onto the stage each night.

  But Melissa couldn’t deny that there was more, and she felt it. In two and a half minutes, she’d be just another fool slobbering over herself because of his smile. Even as he gave her hand a squeeze, she knew she had to be smart about what was stirring inside of her. She was thirty-five years old. And she’d been schooled in realism. Losing her husband when he’d performed a routine traffic stop was realistic. Raising her son, taking care of her mother, and making a living as a teacher in a very small town was the reality of her life. Sitting with Jesse Charles was just a moment, literally in the spot light, which she’d look back on and smile.

  At the end of the song Jesse stopped singing. But the song continued on, and the words were loud in her ears. It was as if they pulled her from the trace that his eyes had put her under, and she looked out to see the glow of lighters and cell phones waving in a sea of people who finished the song.

  Her body trembled.

  Jesse lifted his hand to her cheek and guided her attention back to him as he sang the very last line.

  The crowd erupted into applause, and Jesse Charles moved in closer to her and kissed her.

  The whole world must have stopped in that moment because all she could hear was her heartbeat in her ears.

  When the kiss ended and she looked into the eyes of Jesse Charles, she wondered why he looked so shaken. Surely kissing another woman each night made him immune to anything. Was it so bad, her kiss?

  She watched him suck in a deep breath and then cover the mic on his cheek as the lights dimmed. “Wow. I hope you didn’t mind that.”

  “It was nice of you.”

  His expression changed as if she’d offended him.

  “I’ve never done that before. There was something about you…”

  A stagehand was standing next to her ready to push her offstage and back to the side where she’d come from. She jumped off the stool and turned toward Jonah, who was still grinning.

  Jesse grabbed her hand. “Wait. Don’t let them make you leave.”

  Melissa narrowed her stare. “I have backstage passes for me and…”

  “Good!” His eyes widened as the mus
ic grew louder. “I’ll see you soon.”

  The crew member guided her off to the side of the stage, and Jesse went about his work mesmerizing the crowd.

  “Mom! Mom! He kissed you!” Jonah dropped her purse on the ground and enveloped her into an enormous hug. “Did you see that?”

  She wondered if he knew how silly it sounded. “Yes, I was there.”

  Bryce, the man with a striking resemblance to Jesse Charles who had earlier introduced himself as Jesse Charles’s assistant, walked over to them. “Mr. Charles has requested that you both watch the show from here.”

  “I didn’t realize the meet and greet passes included all of this.” Melissa looked down at her pass dangling around her neck.

  “It doesn’t. He seems to be out of sorts this evening. He’s never been one to pull women on stage. He thinks it’s tacky.”

  Jesse was doing his job, hitting the notes, giving the audience what they’d paid their hard-earned money to see, but his eyes were on the side of the stage.

  Melissa had been shoved off, beyond the audience’s view, and now was embraced by a young boy. Why had he thought she’d be another one of the single women in the crowd? She had a son, which more than likely meant she had a husband.