I gulp down.
“But he was the closest thing I ever had to a dad,” he adds.
Without thinking, I reach over and caress his cheek lovingly.
Jake looks at me surprised, instantly tensing under my touch.
Coming to, I take my hand back, my cheeks heating. I sit face forward. My heart is pumping hard in my chest.
I can’t believe I just did that.
We’re silent for a moment. And I’m sitting here squirming in my seat at the act of intimacy I just showed to Jake.
“Tru…,” he begins, voice soft.
A horn beeps behind us making me jump, and I look up to see the light is on green. Jake shifts the car into drive, never finishing his sentence.
Jake pulls the car up into a waiting bay outside the airport, and I climb out to go and meet my folks.
Walking into the airport, I check the board for arrivals. Seeing their flight has already landed, I head straight over to the arrivals gate.
I’m only waiting five minutes when I see the familiar faces of my mum and dad.
“Daddy!” I cry out, jogging over to him, I launch myself into his arms.
“Hey, baby girl.” He squeezes me tightly.
I feel a sudden lump in my throat, and tears in my eyes.
“Mama,” I smile hugging her.
“My beautiful girl,” she says taking my face into her hands, she kisses my cheek. “You look well … happy.”
“I am happy, because you both are here.” I put my arm through hers; resting my head against her shoulder we start to walk, following my dad pulling their case along.
“The car is just over there, dad.” I point to the left at Jake’s rented Mercedes.
My dad turns back, eyebrow raised. “You’re driving a Merc?”
“Not me silly,” I giggle. “I got a ride here.”
I was going to tell them Jake was in the car, but I think it will be a nice surprise for my dad when he sees him.
We approach the car and I pop the boot. My dad lifts the suitcase into it.
My dad goes for the backseat door, but I say, “Sit up front. I’ll sit in the back with mama.”
Giving me a funny look, he opens the door and climbs in, and I get in the backseat with my mum.
“Hey, Billy,” Jake says to him.
“Jake, my boy!” my dad exclaims and pulls Jake in a manly hug.
Jake looks a little taken aback, but really he shouldn’t be surprised, my dad has always been a huggy kind of guy.
Jake looks back at us. “Hi, Eva,” he says to my mum. He sounds nervous.
“Hi, Jake,” she nods, smiling lightly.
I can tell he’s wary with my mum.
She’s a no nonsense kind of person, says it how she sees it, and I know he’s worried what she will think of his antics over the years.
Funny, he’s this rich, famous man, but my mum can make him feel like a misbehaving teenager again.
As we travel back, my dad talks away in the front with Jake, of course about the show tonight, and I talk with my mum about what I’ve been doing since I came on the tour.
When we get back to the hotel, Jake has to go, as he needs to head over to the stadium to prepare for tonight’s show. So I get my mum and dad settled in their suite.
They’re staying in Stuart’s suite, and he’s moved into Jake’s for the two days that they are here.
The hotel didn’t have any other available suites, and Jake wouldn’t have my mum and dad staying in just any old room, which was sweet. I offered to give mine up for them, but he wouldn’t have that either, then Stuart said he would crash in Jake’s suite, as it’s got two bedrooms anyway, and he’d let my parents stay in his suite, which Jake agreed to.
Once they’re all settled, we head down to have breakfast together in the hotel. While we’re eating Jake calls me on my phone and asks if my dad would like to go down to the stadium to watch rehearsals.
My dad’s face nearly splits in two when I relay it to him.
One glance at my mum and she nods her ascent, so my dad heartily agrees. He will be in his absolute element there with the guys.
Jake tells me he’s going to send Dave to come and pick dad up in thirty minutes, so we finish up our breakfast, and Dave turns up as expected for my dad.
Kissing both me and mum, dad heads off to the stadium.
“So what do you want to do today, mama?” I ask. “Go to the beach or shopping?”
“Shopping,” she grins.
We get our bags from our suites, then head out into Barcelona for the day.
I love shopping with my mum. She has a really eclectic taste in clothes, that’s where I get my fashion sense from.
We stumble across this little boutique that sells the most amazing clothes and shoes. And I instantly zone on these Black colour block high heeled, strappy sandals, with white and orange bars going across the toe area.