Like Real People Do

Black Tie Formal

The one with the late night advice.

//

Uncrossing my legs, I pushed myself to my feet, staying squatted on Audra and Finn's play mat long enough to ruffle Finn's dark curls before straightening and twisting from side to side to stretch out the kinks which had developed in my back from sitting on the floor for the past two hours. The motion caused me to sigh in satisfaction and also gave me a good idea of where Jaxon was in the room.

Constantly keeping an eye out for him had become somewhat of a bad habit on my part, and one which I couldn't seem to stop. Usually it wasn't actually that much of a problem because my entire job consisted of taking care of Jaxon's kids while he wasn't around, so I wasn't necessary when he had free time. Still, I found myself making excuses to stick around and if he saw right through me, he didn't indicate it in the slightest.

Which is why I had spent the entire afternoon in Jaxon's suite with the twins while he got ready for that evening's award show. Though, in this case, he might have actually needed me, seeing as the past couple hours had been a whirlwind of stylists and makeup artists and interviewers hoping to get sound bites. The chaos had finally settled about fifteen minutes ago and currently, Jaxon was standing in front of the full length mirror on the other side of the room, struggling to make the knot on his black silk tie look even.

Laughing to myself, I crossed the room, coming to a stop a few feet behind him. "Need some help?"

Turning to face me, he scrunched up his nose apologetically. "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," I laughed, stepping forward and reaching out to undo the knot and start over. The band didn't often dress up this much for red carpet events, but this was a big one, so he'd gone all out. Unfortunately, this also meant that he had no idea how to tie a tie. Lucky for him, four years in private school made me an expert on the subject.

"Thanks," he muttered, lowering his chin to watch my fingers work.

I didn't want to imagine how his long eyelashes, which were casting a shadow against the tops of his cheeks, would feel against my skin, so I said something to avert his attention upwards. "Excited?"

It served its purpose: he looked up, but it took me all of three seconds to realize that wanting him to look up at all was a huge mistake. Because now my eye line was right at his lips, which meant that if I leaned forward just a little, we'd be kissing. But I couldn't look up because then I'd be staring into his eyes, so I settled for focusing on the movement of my hands tying the knot as he spoke.

"Nervous, kinda," he admitted, clearing his throat before the words came out, "But I always get nervous before we perform."

It was their first televised performance of their newest single, so I understood the tension. "That's good, right? Gives you an edge."

"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged, taking a step back once the knot was pushed all the way up and turning to look at my work in the mirror. He lifted one side of his mouth into a smile, nodding as our gazes met in the glass. "Been paying attention, huh?"

I did pay attention to the conversations he had with his band mates in the dressing rooms and I'd learned a lot about the music industry and touring and Jaxon in general. More than he realized or than was appropriate to admit. "Something like that."

His smile widened as he turned to face me once more, stepping to the side to grab his jacket off the bed and shrugging it over his shoulders. "Hey, thanks for working tonight. I know it's past your usual time."

"No worries," I shrugged as he adjusted his lapels. "Duty calls."

"Right," he laughed, nodding at me one more time before bypassing me to squat beside his kids on the play mat, leaning over to give them goodbye kisses and hugs. "Alright, Daddy's gotta go. Be good for Cece. Wish me luck?"