“Turner, I never meant to hurt you. Logan and I had our fling before you and I ever met. It was over when we met. He was gone on tour for six months and only got back two weeks ago. I just realized that what I thought I had gotten past and moved on from, I really haven’t,” Caroline told him, begging forgiveness.
“Well, I have great timing, don’t I? Proposing to my girlfriend the same week she starts cheating on me?” Turner accused her.
“Turner, it wasn’t like that!” Caroline said emphatically, rubbing her hand against her temples to relieve the ache in her head.
“Just leave, Caroline,” Turner said coldly, picking up his spoon to finish the lava cake by himself.
Caroline sat there for a few moments, but knew that there was nothing else that she could say right now to make this better, things were only going to deescalate from here if she tried. She finally nodded her head and tried to hold back her tears.
Picking up her purse and her overnight bag, she left the table. As she got to the restaurant doors, she could feel the tears threatening to burst, so she quickly went out to the sidewalk and hailed a cab. Luckily, one stopped right away and she hopped in. The moment she sat down, she burst into tears and held her face in her hands.
“Miss? Where to?” the cab driver said awkwardly, turning around to look at her. “Miss, are you okay?”
Caroline couldn’t speak, but just kept crying for a few more minutes. The cab driver rummaged around in his glove box and came up with an old box of tissues and handed them to her.
She smiled at him, in thanks, through her tears and tried to calm down, wiping the tear stains off her face. After another few minutes, she began to get her breathing under control. The cab driver was still parked in front of the restaurant and awkwardly glancing back at her, clearly regretting having pulled over to pick her up.
“I’m sorry,” Caroline told him, calming down. “I just broke up with my boyfriend.”
“It’s okay, Miss. Where do you want me to take you?” he asked her. Caroline reached into her purse and pulled out the invitation to Logan’s show and handed it to him.
“To that address, please.” She sniffed.
He glanced at the invitation and then handed it back to her and pulled away from the curb.
“Sure thing, Miss, but that party is over now I think. It's almost ten o’clock,” the cab driver said as he hit the gas pedal, trying to make up the time he lost while she was crying.
Caroline’s eyes widened and she grabbed for her phone in the bottom of her purse. She finally found it and looked at the time, which confirmed that it was a quarter to ten which was long past when the gallery was supposed to close. She leaned back in her seat, frustrated with herself.
She had known that she was going to be late, but she didn’t realize how long it would actually turn out to be. Turner deserved an explanation, he deserved the dinner she had promised, and he deserved the time she had given him.
It was the least she could do knowing how badly she had just hurt him. However, now there was a chance that she might miss Logan and she couldn’t bare it if she had lost out on being with her Eduardo.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The cab screeched to a stop in front of the art gallery and Caroline quickly handed him a few bills, then swung her bags over her shoulder, and headed toward the front door of the art gallery.
She grabbed the door and pulled, but it didn’t budge, it was locked. The gallery had already closed. Caroline took a step back and cursed at herself for missing the show, for missing Logan. She stepped back up to the door and cupped her hand around her eyes, trying to peer through the glass.
She knocked on the door, tapping lightly.
She saw a light in the back so she started banging louder. She couldn’t believe she had screwed this up so badly. Caroline could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes again, but she pushed them back and started banging even louder on the door.
She saw a silhouette appear in the back, causing her to bang even louder on the door. Luckily, the person saw her and headed over her way.
Caroline stepped back and the door opened for her. The man standing there was familiar, but she couldn’t remember exactly where she had seen him before.
“Caroline, Logan told me to look for you earlier in the show,” the man said to her and it suddenly dawned on her that this was one of Logan’s security guards.
She had met him at the concert many, many months ago. Jackson was Logan’s driver, but had been doing security work for him for a while now as well. Caroline didn’t even say hello to him, because her mind was only on one thing.
“Is he still here, Jackson?” she said, stepping inside.
“I don’t think so, the show ended a while ago. I’m not part of his home security, so I was just closing up here. He is leaving for Greece tonight, so my guess is that he is already on the way to the airport. The schedule was to head straight there after the show wrapped up,” Jackson told her.
Caroline’s whole body slumped at the news. He was gone, he was on a plane to Europe, and she had missed her chance. She heard the words, but they didn’t seem to be making sense in her head. She couldn’t have missed out on her one chance, she couldn’t possibly have missed him.
“He’s gone?” she said softly, the tears that were threatening to spill finally did. Jackson took a few steps over to her and touched her arm.
“Are you okay?” he asked her.
She nodded her head saying that she wasn’t okay.
“Do you want to look around at the paintings, since you are here anyway? I can wait to close up for a while. If you want, I can try to make some phone calls and see if he left yet. He might still be here,” he told her before he walked away toward an office.
Caroline walked from the foyer into the next room and flipped on the light switch. The walls were lined with beautiful paintings and there were several benches positioned for people to sit on to view them. A doorway on the far end led to another room with a similar set up. Caroline stepped into the room slowly and gazed at the paintings.
They were all landscapes of scenery and flowery depictions, so Caroline could tell right away that they were not Logan’s. She walked past and headed into the next room, which was much nicer than the first. The ceiling was all glass so stars beamed down into the room, which was still dark, since she had not turned on the lights.
She didn’t reach for the light switch, because something about the star light mesmerized her. The patterns and streaks that they cast onto the paintings were haunting, yet beautiful. The room contained about ten paintings ranging in size but they all had one thing in common, they were all about her.
She walked into the center of the room and looked at one of the paintings that the stars lit up the most vividly. It was her, same as every picture was her. There was a painting of her at her window bench in her old apartment, another of her ankle deep in the ocean, and so on.
This one picture though, she wasn’t alone. She was to the left looking off into the distance, only her profile showing in the painting. Behind her resting on her shoulder was a man’s strong arm belonging to a shadowy male silhouette.
In his other hand was a bouquet of roses, tilted towards the ground, as if he was about to drop them. It seemed she didn’t even know he was there, didn’t even know he loved her. She walked closer to the painting and reached up to gently touch the cheek of the male silhouette.
The painting was nondescript, but she knew it was Logan.
She had missed her chance. Their story had played out just like his painting. She had turned her back on him all this time, spurned his love, and now he was gone. He was gone and had taken half of her heart with him. A warm tear slid off her eyelashes and spilled down her cheek. She sniffed quietly and wiped at her cheek.
“Do those tears mean you like the painting, or hate it? An artist never really knows what his audience will see in his renderings,” a deep, familiar voice behind her asked.
Caroline
whirled around in surprise, letting out a yelping sound, startled at the sudden invasion of her private moment.
When she turned around, she was staring straight into Logan’s piercing blue, smoldering eyes. She didn’t say anything, her throat was locked closed making words an impossible feat.
Instead, she took a fast step forward and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her body tightly up against him, and kissed him firmly on his lips. He was frozen for a moment in surprise, but then melted into her kiss. His arms wrapped around her waist and lifted her up, closer to him, causing her feet to dangle above the floor. Her arms were still around his neck, one holding on to him and the other hand tangled in his hair.
A few minutes went by with the duo lost in each other’s embrace, until Logan gently lowered her to the ground and pulled away, looking into her eyes.
“I didn’t think you were going to come,” he whispered.
Caroline frowned at that thought, remembering that Turner had said the same thing. But she had always known. She knew on her drive back to the city, she knew when her mother told her about Eduardo, and she knew when she and Logan had kissed on the park bench after his coffee shop stunt.
She had always known.
“I was always going to come, Logan. It’s always been you,” she said softly, tucking her head against his shoulder, under his chin, as he hugged his arms tighter around her.
Her words warmed his heart and put a smile on his face that he knew would never leave as long as she was there with him. He held her like that for a few minutes, then his hand found her chin and tilted it up, so he could kiss her again. Caroline smiled as she felt her entire body relax.
She felt a sense of wholeness that she had only experienced before in his arms. She knew that he was her other half, her soul mate, and the love of her life. She was never going to question that again. Her days of saying no to good things and turning down opportunities out of fear, or a sense of duty to who she thought she was supposed to be, were over.
From now on, her only guide would be her heart.
“I’m guessing Jackson told you that I was going to Greece tonight,” Logan said to her, still holding her tightly against him.
She nodded into his chest.
“I thought you’d already left. I thought I had missed you,” Caroline whimpered, remembering the grief she had felt only moments ago. He hugged her tighter and kissed her again, reassuring her with his strong embrace.
“Come to Greece with me.” He leaned back and looked down at her, one arm around her waist, and the other brushing her hair behind her ear.
“Yes,” she said simply, smiling at him.
No hesitation, no fear, and no doubt.
He smiled at her. “I love you, Caroline Sanders.”
“I love you, Logan Clay,” she responded as he lifted her up off her feet again to kiss her. Her knees were bent, so her feet were up in the air and he spun her around, as she giggled and kissed him again.
“Come on, let’s go home,” Logan told her.
“Where is that?” She asked slipping her hand into his, as he placed her back on the ground, and they headed for the exit. He looked at her and winked.
“It’s wherever you are, beautiful.” Logan said and leaned down to kiss her again. That was all the answers Caroline would ever need again.
EXCERPT FROM ROCKER CHRISTMAS:
A LOGAN & CAROLINE NOVELLA
Forbidden Rockers, Book #3
(formerly titled Sand & Snow)
by Sarah Robinson
CHAPTER ONE
Fall 2014: Athens, Greece
“Caroline, this is completely unacceptable!” her father shouted at her through the receiver as she pulled the phone slightly away from her ear.
“Daddy, I’m-”
“You can’t go gallivanting overseas and leave your responsibilities behind, Caroline. You missed the BAR exam! And you lost your job! Do you know how many strings I had to pull to even get you that job in the first place?”
“I never wanted to work there in the first place and I told you that many times,” Caroline’s rebuttal landed flat as guilt overtook her.
He had a point, she had just up and left her life in New York, traveling to Greece with Logan Clay last month. While she didn’t regret that at all, she did understand her father’s point that the way she left her job as a paralegal at a very prestigious New York City law firm had not been very mature. She hadn’t even told her boss that she quit, she just hadn’t shown up again.
Caroline fiddled with the knot on her wrap skirt that was so light, you could still see underneath to the dark red bikini that she was wearing. She hadn’t even had time to pack a bag before they had left for Greece, having to buy all new clothes once she arrived. There was no way that she could have passed up joining Logan on his trip, especially after the torturous six months they spent split up when he was on tour singing and performing all over the world.
“I’m not becoming a lawyer, Daddy. I’ve been working on my art and sketching while I’ve been out here. I want to pursue that, become an illustrator or maybe do graphic design. I thought you were coming around and going to accept that,” Caroline pleaded with her father to understand, laying her head back on the lounge chair she was stretched out on.
Despite the arduous conversation she was having, there was no way not to enjoy the view from the balcony of their villa atop one of the southern hills of Athens overlooking the beaches on the coast. The sun was warming her skin which had picked up a gentle tan from the last month out here, even her hair had lightened just slightly.
“It’s not that I don’t accept it. Everyone has hobbies, Caroline. Drawing is not a job, it won’t pay your bills and I certainly won’t keep paying your bills forever either,” he retorted.
“I’m not asking you to! I can take care of myself.” At least she wanted to.
He had never given her a chance to try, always paying her way through school and then buying her condo. She had never had to take care of herself financially, despite bringing in a decent paycheck at her old job.
Caroline had always enjoyed a luxurious life thanks to her family’s opulence, but traveling with Logan had introduced her to a level of luxury incomparable to anything she had ever experienced. He wanted for nothing and took life one day at a time, doing whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted to.
“Caroline, come back to New York and get back to real life. Your mother and I have not even met this Logan character and the thought of our only daughter traveling the world with a stranger isn’t exactly what we dreamed for you. We did not raise a daughter so irresponsible that she would just up and leave the country without telling anyone, leaving her job in the lurch like that.”
“That’s what I’m upset about, Caroline. I’m not upset that you want to change careers. Sure, I’m not pleased, but that’s not what bothers me. It’s that you’re behaving like someone I did not raise, and I don’t even know I recognize. It all seems to revolve around this Logan character entering your life.” She could hear her mother chiding her father in the background, telling him to ease up on her.
Her mother had always been more supportive of her relationship with Logan as well as her independence. In fact, she had been the main encourager to pursue a relationship with Logan, rather than stay with dependable and safe Turner Schwartz that she had dated during their separation.
Despite his misgivings about Logan, she knew that her father was right about her irresponsibility surrounding her trip to Greece. She should have given notice at her job and she did feel guilty about that, but it was an opportunity she couldn’t have passed up.
If she had to do it over again, she knew that she would still go to Greece with Logan.
“Dad, Logan has nothing to do with this. I’m doing this, I’ve been trying to do this for a while. I need to figure it out for myself.”
He groaned. “God, Caroline, you are infuriating sometimes.”
“We will be back soon, it’s almost t
he holidays. You and Mom can both meet Logan then. You will get to know him and see he really is a wonderful man,” Caroline attempted a peace offering.
“It might be better if you spend the holidays somewhere else this year, Caroline.” His voice was cold and harsh.
“Dad, please,” she felt a lump forming in her throat.
She knew her father would be angry at her, but they had always spent the holidays together. Christmas was her favorite time of year. She had always been Daddy’s little girl growing up, singing Christmas carols and listening to stories about Santa Claus on her father’s knee.
“Caroline?” A higher, feminine voice rang through the phone after some rustling sounds.
“Mom, did you hear-” Caroline started, trying to keep from crying even though tears were starting to slip onto her lower lashes.
“I did. Let me just talk to him, baby. Give me a few days to get him to calm down. I want to see you, sweetheart. You’re always welcome here,” her mother soothed.
“Okay.” She sniffed.
“Let me just talk to him and see how it goes, okay? We’ll talk soon, baby?”
Caroline swallowed hard. “Yes, Mom. I love you.”
“Love you too.” The line went quiet and Caroline dropped the cell phone onto the chair next to her, letting out a small sob which she quickly covered with her hands over her face.
“Beautiful, why are you crying?” Logan walked out onto the balcony and immediately leaned down over the lounge chair to kiss her forehead.
She just shook her head, not able to say anything since the lump in her throat seemed to only be swelling into her chest, threatening to burst into a fountain of tears.
He reached both arms down, taking her hands in his, and pulling her up to a standing position. “Alright, come here.”
Logan wrapped his arms around her, hugging her tightly against his chest. Sighing, she laid her head against him, closing her eyes as she tried to focus on regaining her composure. Something about the strength of his arms squeezing her against his rock hard body was unbelievably calming, beginning to relax her entire body.
Her Forbidden Rockstar: A Forbidden Rockers Novel Page 17