Songbird Freed Read online

  “I know we’re no substitute for Coop, Kell, but you’re not alone.”

  The atmosphere in the apartment had changed so much over the last few months it was hard to believe it was the same place. From a bachelor pad to a love nest, it was now the home of a two-week-old bouncing baby boy. Beer and wine that was always kept chilled in the fridge, had been pushed aside to make way for expressed-milk-filled baby bottles, and a baby monitor was a permanent fixture on the kitchen island bench.

  Kelli was bouncing back surprisingly quickly. She wasn’t tackling strenuous exercise yet, but on any given day she could be seen jogging with her three-wheeled pram along the beachfront boardwalk.

  It helped that Noah was an absolute angel. He hardly ever cried, except for food and cuddles, and slept for decent blocks of time, which allowed Kelli to sleep too.

  “This baby thing is easy,” Cole declared one afternoon as he strolled around the apartment, rocking Noah. “Isn’t it, little fella?” he cooed, as Noah gurgled up at him.

  Jason had insisted on treating Kelli at the salon, and we were more than happy to take care of Noah while he did. I loved watching Cole with the baby; he was a natural, and Noah seemed to recognise Cole’s voice instantly, always looking towards him whenever he spoke. On the odd occasion when Noah had screamed uncontrollably, all it had taken was Cole to sing a few bars of any song and he had calmed down, totally captivated by the deep husky tone of his godfather.

  “How much longer do you think Kell will be staying?” Cole asked, his eyes still glued to the baby.

  “I don’t know. Why? Do you want her to go?”

  “No.” He picked up Noah’s tiny little hand and blew a raspberry in the palm. “I’d miss this little guy too much. Still, I guess it has to happen sooner or later.” He bounced Noah. “And we’ll see you all the time, won’t we?”

  Never in a million years did I think the overconfident showman would be clucky, but he was. It was yet another side of Cole, and I loved him all the more for it.

  Kelli came bustling in, looking gorgeous. Jason had treated her to not only a haircut and colour, but a facial and a mani-pedi.

  “Hey, guess what?” she said excitedly. “Jase told me your apartment has just been sold. Apparently it was all kept hush-hush; no one knows who bought it.” She looked at me, head tilted to one side. “Maybe the new owner will move in, then you’ll have to cancel your lease?”

  It was something I still hadn’t gotten around to doing. Even though I was now living with Cole, I was yet to tell the rental agent that I had physically moved out. It was wasted rent money, but with everything that had been going on, it just wasn’t high on my list of priorities.

  The subtle throat clearing by Cole, drew my attention. He had a sly half-grin on his face.

  “The new owner won’t be moving in.” He turned to look at Kelli. “You don’t have to go straight away, Kell, but when you’re ready, I figured you’d need somewhere that was a little bit bigger to live.” He reluctantly handed Noah back to her. She frowned at him, not understanding what he was getting at. “I bought you the apartment. Save you paying rent, and it’s two bedrooms, so Noah can have his own room when he’s bigger.”

  I could see the tears welling in Kelli’s eyes as she stood there, mouth agape.

  “That’s perfect,” I said, kicking myself for not thinking of it. “You’ll have Jase across the hall, and us less than ten minutes away.” I turned to Cole. “When did you think of doing this?” And why didn’t you tell me?

  He gave me a one-shouldered shrug. “I do have the occasional stroke of genius.”

  Kelli very calmly handed me Noah, then threw her arms around Cole’s neck.

  It was all coming together. The one gaping absence was Cooper. He was in every part of this adventure, but the void his death had left would never be filled. I didn’t know if it was a blessing or not, but already Noah was starting to look like his dad.

  Rehearsals for the burlesque show were going brilliantly well, and we were scheduled to add the show to the already thriving restaurant in two weeks.

  Since Nicole and the girls had shown me one of the routines they had put together, we had hired another three dancers, and Cole and Jay had written the entire musical score.

  Because the restaurant was open five nights a week and the bar was open day and night, we needed somewhere away from Reds to rehearse. The perfect place came to me one early morning while Cole and I were at the gym. Membership was up, which was great, but it was mainly burly guys pumping iron, so the aerobic classes had been cut down by half. This meant the large room upstairs that looked out over the weights room was vacant most of the time.

  “Do you think we could use the upstairs room for dance rehearsals?” I asked Cole one morning as we ran side by side on the treadmills.

  “Of course, you don’t need to ask. What’s mine is yours, so use what you want, whenever you want.”

  In shock, I stopped running, just long enough to lose my footing and go sliding back off the treadmill belt, landing hard on my backside. Cole jumped off his, and was down on his knees beside me in a second.

  “What happened?” he asked, trying not to laugh. “That looked like something from a Looney Tunes cartoon.”

  I refused to cry, but God, that hurt! “It’s not funny.” I slapped his hands away and tried to get up, but my butt didn’t want to obey. Instead it cried out in pain until I gave up and stayed put.

  “Oh shit, babe, I didn’t mean to laugh,” he said, realising I was injured. “Are you okay?” Try as he may, he couldn’t hide his smirk. “Would you like me to ice your butt cheek for you?”

  It wasn’t funny. There was too much to do. I didn’t have time to be out of action with a bruised ass.

  “What are you two up to? No time for canoodling on the floor.” Mal was standing in the doorway, watching us.

  “We weren’t canoodling,” I told him, pulling myself up and stretching out the injury.

  Cole tentatively took my hand, unsure if I would welcome it, or push him away in a huff. He bit his bottom lip when I looked at him, but his eyes were full of humour. I couldn’t keep a straight face. I burst out laughing and that was all he needed, pulling me into his arms and giving my butt a gentle rub.

  “I’ll kiss it better for you later,” he growled in my ear.

  Melting into him, I let the comedy of it wash over me. “That was your fault,” I mumbled into his chest. “What was with the ‘what’s mine is yours’ speech?”

  He pulled back, giving my ponytail a playful tug. “Well, I’m yours, so it only makes sense that everything I have is yours too.”

  As I looked at his gorgeous face, I wished he could understand one thing. I didn’t want everything that he had, all I really wanted was him, and for him to fight for us.

  The next two weeks were a whirlwind. With rehearsals, working at Songbirds, and running the restaurant, I felt like I was barely able to sit down for more than five minutes at a time.

  After completing a stock-take one Sunday afternoon, I sat slumped at the bar feeling totally exhausted.

  “Why don’t you go home, Tara? You look like you could do with a sleep.”

  I looked over at Marcus and gave him a tired smile. A sleep sounded like heaven, so I grabbed my bag and headed home.

  As soon as the elevator door opened and I stepped into the foyer of the apartment, I could hear voices, and I wished I were back at Songbirds. Cole had been evasive when I’d asked him what he was planning to do this afternoon, and now I knew why. As I tip-toed further into the apartment, I could hear his mum and Prue fine-tuning what sounded like menu options. But what I didn’t like even more was that they were finalising what they said had been discussed ‘last time’.

  Hanging back out of sight, a knot grew in my stomach as I listened to them go over the last few arrangements for Cole and Prue’s engagement party.

  “Next,” Cole’s mother said, “is the announcement. Now I’ve already spoken to all the big newspa
pers, as we agreed, but we were thinking some of the glossy magazines may be interested as well.”

  “Wouldn’t that be wonderful,” Prue gushed. “We could be right beside the rich and famous.” She snorted a laugh. “Of course, half of them aren’t as rich as us.”

  So many emotions were coursing through me. I didn’t know if I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry, or storm in there and punch Prue in her pretentious, greedy little face. But I waited. I waited for Cole to say something, anything, to tell them that it was never going to happen.

  I poked my head around the corner. Cole was sitting on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees, hands repeatedly running through his hair. I knew that movement; he was stressed, really stressed, but why wasn’t he saying anything?

  Prue pulled an envelope out of her bag and handed it to Cole. “You need to give Tara this.” Her eyes narrowed, and a smirk curled her thin lips.

  “What is it?” Cole croaked.

  “It’s a contract, an offer, if you like, to get her out of your life.”

  I gasped, then quickly clapped my hand over my mouth. That bitch thought she could pay me to leave Cole!

  Cole jumped up, towering over her. “That’s just really fucking heartless, Prue. Leave Tara out of this. It’s hard enough on her already. She doesn’t need to be dragged into your pettiness, and she certainly isn’t interested in my money. You’ll have to do better than that to break us up.”

  “Like get married?” Her eyebrow cocked triumphantly.

  “I’ve already told you, I don’t want to marry you, Prue,” Cole bellowed.

  “No, but you will.” His mother’s voice was as smooth as silk as she laid down the law in her own unique way. “You understand what’s involved, and how many lives can be ruined. Family comes first, Victor, it always will.”

  Tears stung my eyes and I rested my head back against the wall, waiting for Cole to tell them once and for all to get the hell out.

  “I’ll work something out with Tara, but I don’t want you going near her.”

  What? What did he mean he’d work something out?

  Taking a huge calming breath, I stepped around the corner.

  “Prue, Lucinda, how lovely to see you in our home,” I said through clenched teeth. “Because this is our home, isn’t it, baby?”

  Cole’s head dropped, and he muttered “fuck” under his breath. He came towards me, his eyes huge as he realised that I’d heard at least part of their conversation.

  “This will always be your home, Tara,” he whispered. “No one will make you leave.”

  Those words should have been comforting, but they weren’t—they left me cold. Would I be expected to stay in my ivory tower, on call for whenever Cole felt like popping in for a booty call?

  Lucinda and Prue stood and went to walk past us, Lucinda completely looking through me as if I wasn’t even there.

  “This is for you, Tara,” Prue said, handing me an envelope. “It’s an engagement invitation.” She smirked as I recoiled from her. “You can bring a date. Maybe now that you’re single, Spencer could accompany you.”

  They left, but the aftermath of their visit was palpable.

  “You didn’t say anything, Cole. You just went along with it.” Angry tears stung my eyes, but I refused to turn into a blubbering mess … yet.

  His hands rested on my arms so I couldn’t turn away. “I promise you …” He ducked his head down so he could meet my eyes. “… I will sort this out. It’s you and me, Tara. As long as we’re together, that’s all that matters.”

  I dropped my gaze to the floor and nodded. I was beginning to lose hope.

  With only a few days left until the burlesque show opened, we all gathered for final costume fittings at our makeshift rehearsal studio. I’d given Jason the task of helping design the outfits with a fashion designer friend of his. He was also in charge of hair and makeup.

  As I slinked into yet another amazing costume, I had to stop for a moment to let it all sink in. It had been a long road in some respects, with quite a number of hurdles along the way, but it was finally here.

  “How’s this?” I asked, stepping out of the change room into the brightly lit rehearsal room.

  Cole gave a low whistle as he sat back into his chair. The look on his face when he saw the latest outfit reminded me that although it was a costume, there wasn’t a lot of it. He fidgeted with the crotch of his jeans, and gave me a sexy wink.

  “I like it,” he said, smiling, then pointed to his crotch. “He likes it, too.”

  Jason blushed. “Is it too much? Or should I say, too little?”

  The costume was a fishnet full-length body suit, with embroidery subtly placed to maintain my modesty. Although the material stretched from neck to ankle and wrist, which made me feel covered up, it was actually almost non-existent.

  “As long as you can’t see anything you shouldn’t be able to see, I think it’s fine.” I turned to Cole. “Too revealing?”

  His eyes ran hungrily over my body, starting at the ankle, and eventually finishing at my face. “I just have one question,” he called back. “Can you make another one to wear at home?”

  After a final full dress rehearsal, we all gathered around. We were ready, which was both exhilarating and terrifying.

  “Okay everyone, opening night will be next Wednesday. If anyone thinks we’re not ready, speak up now.” Everyone clapped and cheered excitedly, looking around to see if anyone had any objections.

  We had decided that until we could see how popular the concept was, we would keep the other existing entertainment downstairs in Songbirds. This meant The Sons would still play Saturday night, and I would play piano Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday would be the burlesque show with dinner, and karaoke for those downstairs who just wanted to drink. The restaurant would be closed Sunday and Monday, to give the staff at Reds a couple of days off.

  Cole’s arm wrapped around me, pulling me into his chest. “Are you ready for the whirlwind?”

  Beaming up at him, I replied, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  “In that case, I think we need to get away for a couple of nights before you get on this treadmill and can’t get off.”

  That sounded like a brilliant idea. The beach house had become our little home away from home, and we had escaped down there for a night here and there whenever we wanted to unwind and relax, or when we wanted to give Kelli some space to bond with Noah alone.

  Nicole came bouncing over like an excited puppy. “I can’t believe it,” she enthused. “I’m finally dancing and getting paid for it.” Her arms flung around my neck roughly. “You’re the best.”

  Manoeuvring out of her strangle hold, I hugged her back. “Do you and Marcus feel like a few days away? We’re going to the beach house.”

  Her whooping was my only response. She sidled over to Marcus who was deep in conversation with Jason, rubbing her shoulder against his.

  “Feel like a dirty weekend, baby?” she asked seductively.

  He grinned, his dimples making a welcome appearance. “Lead the way, Red.”

  “LET’S PLAY a drinking game,” Nicole suggested animatedly, as she checked out her sunburnt shoulders. We’d spent the day lazing on the sand and splashing around in the shallows, while the guys flew around on the Jet Skis. Nicole having pale skin had not fared well, but she refused to cover up, wanting to work on a tan that never quite happened.

  Not being much of a drinker I had never been into drinking games, but the guys seemed to like the idea so I went along with it.

  “What game did you want to play?” I asked.

  “How about Confessions?” Nicole said with a cheeky grin.

  Shrugging, I looked at Cole for his reaction. “I guess so. I’ve never heard of it, but okay.”

  Marcus found a bottle of tequila and four shot glasses, lining them up on the coffee table. We all grabbed cushions from the couches and made ourselves comfortable sitting around on the floor.

 
“Okay, I’ll start,” Nicole chirped as Marcus filled the shot glasses for the first time. “So the rules are, you ask someone a question, and they have to answer honestly.” She looked at each of us pointedly to make sure that little rule sunk in. “Then, if someone else has a better answer to the same question, everyone except that person has to drink.” She looked around as if it were simple. I had no idea what she was talking about.

  My face must have looked completely confused. “I’ll do the first one until you get the gist of it.” She laughed before turning to Marcus.

  “Marcus, what’s the scariest thing you’ve ever experienced?”

  Marcus’s face twisted in thought for a moment. “Moving to Melbourne with Jason when we were eighteen. We had nowhere to live, no jobs, and no money. We arrived and just had to figure things out for ourselves. It was pretty tough in the beginning.” He grinned at us. “Do I win?”

  Nicole looked at me. “Got anything better?”

  Frowning, I could think of something a lot worse. “Being attacked by Patrick and nearly raped was pretty scary.”

  Nicole’s smile dropped. “Drink everyone.”

  I drank too. Not because I had to, but because I needed one.

  Now it was my turn to ask a question. “Nicole, what is your biggest regret?”

  “Hmm, showing Peter Pirelli my boobs when I was fourteen so he would take me to the Valentine’s Day dance at school.”

  “Is that because the dance wasn’t much good?” Cole asked, laughing.

  “No, he lured me to his house to do it. I didn’t realise his friends were there hiding behind the door watching too. One of them took a photo and showed everyone at school. I was so humiliated.” She looked at Cole. “And yes, the dance sucked, too.”

  Looking at the crease between her brows, you could see it was something that still upset her greatly.

  Marcus leaned towards her. “Do you want me to track him down and beat the crap out of him for you, baby?”

  Nicole laughed. “I’ll think about it and get back to you.” She kissed him on the cheek. “So does anyone have anything better?”