Nick McLeod embraces the life of a rock star with enthusiasm-reveling in drugs, women, crazy escapades, and adulation. Among the groupies who rush backstage after his shows, he occasionally glimpses a woman with blond hair and amethyst-colored eyes. Yet every time he turns to look at her, she vanishes. Then one night as he begins his performance, fueled by cocaine and alcohol, she appears next to him on stage, shaking her head sadly just before he passes out. The near overdose lands him in rehab, and now he is rethinking his priorities. Home, family, and a life with his son are tops on that list. When the offer comes to host a reality show to find a "star," he takes it.

Meanwhile, the mysterious woman, Ambriel-who goes by Brie-realizes that although she has been appointed as Nick's guardian angel, she is becoming more and more attracted to him, making Nick a challenging assignment in more ways than one. She even enters the contest on the reality show so that she can stay close to him and look after him, and he is drawn to her in spite of himself. Falling in love with a contestant is against the rules-and so is falling in love with the human you're supposed to be taking care of.

With one foot in the intense human world of show business and the other in the supernatural world, Nick and Brie's romance might prove too complicated to survive. Can they overcome the obstacles of both worlds?

An Angel to Watch over Me

By Judy Mauer

Abbott Press

Copyright © 2011 Judy Mauer
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4582-0109-6

Chapter One

It was the end of the last long day in a long week. When the whispered voice came through the headset that the last contestant of the day was on her way in, he sighed in relief. Man he hoped this one actually had some talent.

So far this week he and his fellow judges had seen, jugglers, fire eaters, singers, dancers, and a few really bazaar acts that just didn't translate well into words. It was their job to watch three minutes of each performance and then decide if that person or act was worthy of going to the next step in the process of finding a "star".

He had taken this reality TV job with 'So You Want to be Famous?' because he thought it would be fun. He was all about having fun; it was just in his nature. He was infamous for some of the practical jokes he had played thru the years. Well you could just read the tabloids for some of them. He just had this joy for living and making the most of each day. It turned out to be a lot of work too. That he wasn't afraid of either, he tended to throw himself into whatever project he was doing fully, completely. Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.

Having spent the last twenty years of his life in the music industry gave him the expertise. He was after all considered to be a rock legend; a rock god to some. He was Nick McLeod; his band was Gemini and he had stood in front of them for twenty years. He had been compared to some of greats; Steven Tyler, Eric Clapton even Mick Jagger. He felt humbled just to be in the presence of those legends, much less to be compared to them. That he had been nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had all but knocked him out.

Small and conservatively dressed in a slim skirt and silky blouse, she walked into the audition room and sent a sunny smile their way.

"Hello" the soft voice greeted them.

"Hello back at ya" he greeted. "What is your name and what will you be going to do for us today?" He sat up from his usual slouch, she was pretty and even in the simple clothes she wore she would definitely catch attention.

"I am Ambriel Archangel." "I am going to sing for you."

Her voice played across his senses with a coolness that eased the tension in his body and the headache he was barely aware of. He was mesmerized by her smoky angelic voice. Awe-struck he looked at the other five judges to find they were as transfixed by that voice as he.

They were unanimous in the giving of the golden ticket to move her on to the next level.

Ambriel walked out of the room with the ticket clutched in her hand. She had completed the first part of her assignment. Singing was second nature to her, she had done it all of her life, her very long life. Now for the rest; that might be so easy, getting close to Nick McLeod.

At last this day was over, but it did end on a spectacular note.

He walked into the deli across the street from the hotel. Not much different than what he had grown up in. Counter to the left of the door and booths in the back for patrons to have their sandwich or bowl of soup. Nick and his sister had spent many an afternoon, weekend and summer working with their parents in the one they had owned.

She saw him when he entered, his long beautiful coffee colored hair pulled back away from that famous face. From her vantage point she could see the pain behind his green eyes. After he placed an order he gazed around the shop and spotted her in the last booth.

She gave a small fingertip wave as he smiled at her in greeting.

"Hello, again." She motioned for him to sit.

"Do you live around here?" he asked pulling out his chair. Although he was used to being stalked by fans; he didn't think it applied here. The deli and hotel were not close the stadium where the auditions were held. And she didn't appear to be the crazed stalker type.

"No, I work near by." "I restore antiquities at the small museum around the corner."

"Hmmm, singer by day and antiquities at night?"

"I know, but I have always been fascinated by things that are very old and in need of special care to restore them to their prime state." She needed to be able to touch him again. The small handshake that she had done with all of the judges after the audition was over only gave her a small glance into what she was sent to do.

They exchanged small talk until Kenny behind the counter called his number.

"Guess that's me." Grinning he stood up.

"Yeah, I need to get to work."

Walking beside him up to the counter, she asked. "Would you like to see some of the stuff I work on?" It was a good excuse as any.

"You know I am not supposed to see contestants outside of the show, it could get us both in trouble."

Reaching across the counter she gave Kenny a quick buss on the cheek. "Good night, sweetie, see you tomorrow night."

"Nite, Brie", Kenny ducked his head with a blush staining his seventeen year old cheeks.

He opened the door and they walked out into the coolness of the evening. She reached up and smoothed a stray lock of hair away from his face and leaned in a placed a soft kiss to his cheek.

"If you change your mind, I am down that alley. The big door at the end, ring the bell and I will let you in, there is nobody there at night but me."

Smiling, and raising his hand up to touch the spot where her soft lips had grazed his cheek Nick watched her disappear around the corner before he turned and walked across the street to his hotel.

The cold silent room closed in on him as soon as he entered. Taking his sandwich to the sofa he flipped on the television. Surfing through channels and finding nothing to hold his attention; his mind kept straying back to the conversation with the girl from the deli, Ambriel or Brie, as the counter kid called her. She was young, twenty seven she had told them at the audition. But at almost forty Nick considered twenty seven to be young. She was off limits to him as a contestant, but he had spent a lifetime of ignoring the rules. He was 'Naughty Nick, Nefarious Nick, and Never, Never say No Nick' or at least he had been in the past. After two turbulent marriages, a few unsubstantiated paternity suits, and the love of his life Lennon, his vicarious five year old son changed a lot of that wildness. He talked to his son on the phone every day; no matter where he was. But mostly he was just lonely. He wanted the life his parents shared; some one with whom he could lean on and to grow old with. His younger sister, Colleen, had a husband and three children and all six, seven if he had Lennon, of them spent Christmas every year with their parents in the home they grew up in. It was a tight fit, but worth it, family was everything.

Before he was aware of it he had left the hotel behind and was moving down the alley. Kenny was coming out of the door just as he was reaching for the bell. "Hey, man. You decide to go see the angels?"

"Angels?"

"Yeah, Brie, she works on restoring paintings of angels. It's her specialty. Go down the hall and thru the doors at the archway, you'll see."

Nick followed the directions and stepped into the open door way and stopped. The ceiling was arched and the room was long and wide. Paintings of angels and celestial beings covered everything. It was amazing.

He saw her sitting on her knees in front of a life sized fresco of a male angel seated upon a throne; huge black wings spread out behind him. Her hair spilled down her back to pool like moonlight at her crossed ankles. He hadn't realized how long or how light in color it was since she had kept it pulled up when he had seen her before. She was wearing a paint stained white coatthatcovered her faded jeans and T shirt.

"WOW!" he took a slow turn around the room. It reminded him of the Sistine Chapel. Arched ceiling, frescos on the walls and ceiling, it was breathtaking and some how calming.

Looking back over her shoulder Brie greeted him with a smile.

"Decided to see the angles after all?"

"Kenny let me in, I hope you don't mind. Have you done all this restoration by yourself?"

"No, several people have worked on this over the years. I have only been here a few months. Come in, walk around and look. Just don't touch anything without gloves."

"Does that include you?" The wise crack answer was automatic, he couldn't help it.

She rose from her kneeling position by the wall with the ease of a lifetime of practice. Walking to where he stood by the door, she took his hands and tugged him into the room. "No, you can touch me anytime."

Cocking his head to one side he grinned down at her. She was a tiny thing, he stood 6'1" in his bare feet and he towered over her. He might have to take her up on that offer.

Linking her fingers through his she led him into the long hall.

"These aren't as old or as famous as the frescos in the Sistine Chapel, but some were created by the apprentices of the great masters. We are lucky to have some of these." She explained.

"I have been in the Sistine Chapel a few times when we played in Rome. It was one place where I could sort of disappear from the public and blend in with the crowd."

Leaning against a work table placed in the middle of the room she watched as he moved from scene to scene in the hall. He was wearing faded well worn jeans that hung low on lean hips and cupped what was still a very nice butt, and he smelled so good like Thanksgiving all warm and spicy with nutmeg and cinnamon with just a hint of cloves. His classic Gemini T shirt was stretched across a chest that had seen sometime in the gym. Long coffee brown hair was pulled back into a loose braid that hung to the middle of his back, high cheek bones above a wide mouth with full lips and a slight dimple in his chin. Bright green eyes were taking in the work on the walls and spread out on the small tables around the room. There was pain behind those eyes.

"These are great." He turned with a sigh and rubbed at his temple. The pain in his head had been there for so long he had learned to live with it. Thought it was the results of the life he had lived for so long. All the hard partying and drugs, booze and the pounding of amps and the shear volume of standing in front of a band for twenty years.

"Want to see something really cool?"

"Sure, what ya got in mind?" The grin of pure mischief was hard to resist.

"Lie down on your back and get comfy and I'll show you." She scooted up on the long table and patted the space next to her.

Well this could be interesting he thought, and moved onto the table and stretched out next to her. Lying next to him she laced her fingers with his and leaned her head against his shoulder.

"Now, relax look up at the ceiling and enjoy." The room slowly dimmed around them. The blue of the painted ceiling seemed to grow brighter. As the table began a slow rotation the sky above them began to change. Bright noon day blue began to fade to early evening twilight; stars appeared in a night darkened sky, she pointed out the constellations as they moved around them, with Gemini ascending. She felt him start to tense up, "SSH, relax. It's okay. Just watch" she whispered.

The sky above them turned pink with the coming of dawn and then slowly brightened back to blue. The lights came back up as she rolled to her stomach and rested on her forearms. Grinning she took in his baffled face.

"What happened? I have been clean and sober too long for that to have been a flashback."

"No flashback, just a little angel magic. Did you like it?"

"Yeah, Angel magic is great; best special effects I've seen." Still flat on his back he looked at her propped next to him. Long very pale blond hair spilled across her shoulders and down her back reaching almost to her knees.

"No special effects, angel magic is real. Don't you believe in angels, Nick?"

"I was in Catholic school for twelve years and was an alter boy on top of that, Mom was proud. So, of course I believe in angels, but I also know what hallucinogens can do. Did you slip me a Mickey? "

His right hand came up and fingers slid into the hair just around her ear, thumb resting against her jaw. Deep green eyes locked onto hers as the fingers slid deeper into her hair cupping the back of her head pulling her closer.

"Your eyes are purple. I wasn't sure earlier."

"Yes. They kind of put people off so I usually wear colored contacts when I go out."

"They're pretty don't cover them up."

She leaned into his hand; his beautiful mouth was just inches away. A slight movement of her head brought her into contact with that mouth. Slowly she brushed a gentle kiss across those oh so famous lips. The hand at the back of her head tightened and pulled her in for a more through introduction.

Releasing her, he sat up and swung long legs over the side of the table. Dropping his head into his hands he sighed. "I shouldn't have done that; breaking all kinds of rules, just my being here; intimate physical contact with a contestant. That's bad. And I am trying hard to be good and change my ways. You know clean living; eating regularly, no more drugs or alcohol, following the rules. I learned in that last round of rehab that the rules are what keep me stable. If I break too many of them, I am afraid I will end up back in that hell pit of chaos that ruled my life for so long."

"Rules are good, we all have our own set that we live by. The rest of the crew and the other judges left today to go back to the west coast. Why did you stay?" she questioned.

Rubbing the side of his head at the temple he sighed. "I just wanted a little peace and quiet. You know no lights, cameras, and no people. I wanted to spend some time with my folks, but they are on a cruise with my sister and her husband and kids. And my son, Lennon, is off somewhere with his mom." He maybe a super star, but he was damn lonely. He wanted real life things, not adoring fans. Reality was something he was beginning to crave.

Resting her chin on his shoulder she linked her arms around his waist. "Okay, I can fix that. Meet me in the lobby of your hotel tomorrow about noon. Wear something that you don't mind getting wet. I know a very secluded private lake that will suit you just fine."

"It's going to be a lost cause for me to argue with you over this isn't it?" he sighed

"Definitely, now go back to your room get some sleep it is very late or very early depending on how you look at it."

Nick slid off the table and started towards the door, Brie was standing behind him making shooing motions with her hands. "Noon, lobby."

He had gotten almost to the outside door when he decided that this was a really bad idea and he was going to go back and tell her. Just as he entered the arched door the lights began to dim and she stepped into the wall and disappeared.

Chapter Two

She was waiting in the lobby when he stepped off the elevator. Ratty jeans and another classic Gemini T shirt a ball cap pulled low over his eyes and the ever present dark glasses hooked in the front of the shirt. She didn't think that he would really show up, she had expected the concierge to hand her a note saying that he had to return to the coast earlier than expected and would see her next week.

A small finger wave directed his attention to where she stood smiling at the back of the lobby. "Morning, sort of." She greeted. "Are you ready for a relaxing, no stress, no cameras, no people day?" A shrug of his shoulders and what might have passed as a smile was her answer. "Not a morning person, huh? Even if it starts at noon."

"No." was the grumpy reply.

"Come on lets go. I promise you will feel better in a little while." She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the lobby leading to the back entrance of the hotel. She stopped in front of a Mini Cooper parked at the curb. The back of the tiny car was stuffed with a cooler, blanket, and a very large tote bag.

"A Cooper? You have got to be kidding me."

"Nope, isn't it great? It is just the right size for zipping in and out of traffic gets great gas mileage, easy to park, and it is cute."

Looking at the little car, he groaned. "Don't tell me the color is pearl? You have a Mini Pearl?"

"Yes, mini Pearl, Ain't it great? And yes, that is a price tag hanging from the rearview mirror."

(Continues...)

Excerpted from An Angel to Watch over Meby Judy Mauer Copyright © 2011 by Judy Mauer. Excerpted by permission of Abbott Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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