“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
“Did you know that he did all my tattoos?”
“Did he?”
“Yeah.” Luce moved to mess with the heat, while I focused on the road. She had artwork in lots of really intimate places. I know he was married and all, and to my cousin, but I seriously didn’t enjoy thinking about him touching her so close to some of my favorite spots.
“You and him?” I asked. “You ever?”
“No.” She chuckled like the idea was ridiculous.
“What? I just was curious.”
She glanced at me. A small smile on her pretty lips. Then she moved over to briefly kiss me. “You’re cute when you’re jealous.”
“I’m not jealous,” I balked. I’d never been jealous a day in my life.
“Okay. I believe you.” She definitely did not believe me.
“Fine. Slightly jealous. I like you, Luce.” I squeezed my hands on the steering wheel, staring straight ahead. It was kind of hard for me to say this. I didn’t go around shouting my feelings, and I’d never felt more for anyone than what I felt for her. I’d never been in love. And whatever this was with Luce, maybe it was love. I didn’t really care who’d done her tattoos. I only cared who would get to see them for the rest of her life. And fuck, if I didn’t want to be that person…
“I could take you home instead. Get someone to get your car from Luke’s and drive it back to you. I could stay at Dani and John’s alone. You’d probably be safer not sticking with me.”
“Is that what you want?”
My vision on the car in front of me kind of blurred. This intense ache burned through my chest. “No.”
“Me, neither. We should stick together.”
“Yeah.” I cleared my throat, keeping my eyes focused on that car driving way under the speed limit. I didn’t know if I’d be able to cope if this thing between us had to end. I was in over my head.
~ CHAPTER 33 ~
LUCE
It took most of the day to drive across North Carolina toward the coast. I slept for some of it, reclining the passenger seat and falling asleep against the car’s expensive leather. When I woke up, we were crossing the bridge into the Outer Banks. It wasn’t far now. I cracked my window to smell the familiar salty air.
“You go to high school here, too?” Ollie wanted to know.
“Yeah.”
“Born and raised then?”
“Born and raised. I went to California once. And then to the Bahamas with you. Other than that, I haven’t seen much beyond this place.”
“Wow.”
“More like pathetic,” I mumbled. I think Ollie had built me up in his mind somehow. Maybe my tattoos or something about me made me seem cooler than I was. The truth... I really wasn’t all that special. Better to hit him with the reality now rather than later.
I was a small town girl with a high school education. A maid. A bartender. Nothing more. How long until he realized that? How long until my mystery wore off and he saw me for what I was? I pulled my knees up to my chest, staring out the window at the sound as we finished crossing the bridge. Sadness washed over me. I liked him. He liked me. But was that enough to mean anything?
“I can take you places.”
He had my attention with those few ridiculous words. My heart began to pound. “What?”
“I’ll take you to whatever place you want to go. Places—not just one.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, seriously.”
“Europe?” I threw out there, daring to ask, feeling myself tremble. No one had ever said anything like this to me—offering up something so big, so casually.
“Sure. What’s top of your list? Paris?”
Paris? Holy shit. The idea of getting to go somewhere like that was unfathomable to me. Did he even understand what he was saying right now? Tears burned behind my eyes. “Don’t talk crazy.” I became defensive.
“I’m not talking crazy. I want to take you wherever you’d like to go.”
“I don’t have that sort of money.” I probably should head back to Rhett and my old job and start groveling. It was stupid to fall for Ollie. Unrealistic and stupid.
“Yeah, but I have that kind of money.” He made a noise deep in his throat. He shook his head and brushed a hand through his hair. Then he pulled the car over, stopping in the driveway of some random house along the way. I looked around, unsure why he’d stopped until he turned to me.
“It can’t be fucking crazy,” he said. “The way I feel about you can’t be crazy. It just can’t be. I want to take you to all the places you haven’t been. I want to wake up with only you in my bed each morning—in some random hotel, in some random part of the world neither of us has seen before. I want to get lost exploring those cities with you. You know, when we were on tour in Europe two years ago, our first major tour, I didn’t see anything. I mean, I was a little bit busy with the women who started to gravitate toward us, and I could blame some of my social anxiety for it, but mostly... I think I knew deep down that I only wanted to see those cities with someone who meant something to me. So I didn’t see much the first time I went places.” He seemed damn serious as he spoke. “The way I feel about you can’t just be me being crazy. This is real. You feel it too, right?”
He had my heart racing so hard it was pounding in my ears. I felt a little drunk and dizzy despite being completely sober. “Maybe.”
“Then go to Europe with me. See those places for the first time with me.”
He touched my cheek, his fingers moving over my skin. It was the gentlest, kindest touch. His plan would never happen. I had my double mastectomy to think about. To schedule. To recover from. But for a single moment, I pretended that it wasn’t at the back of my mind eating away at me. “Okay. It could be fun.”
That smile I loved so much moved over his face. “Hell yes, Ms. Luce Winchester.” He said the words softly. “Hell yes.”
He kissed me, and I melted into him.
I waited years for Rhett to say stupid, crazy things to me. He never did. Now I had someone even more charming and tempting, saying the perfect things. Ollie was more of a gamble than Rhett ever was. So dangerous to fall in love with. This man would shatter my heart. But here I was, falling for him anyway.
~ CHAPTER 34 ~
OLIVER
Damn. I could not stop smiling. I felt like I was a kid again. This girl had me giddy and feeling like the impossible was possible. We stopped at the last gas station before the paved road changed to sand. We stopped to let a little air from my tires, on Luce’s request. Then we started driving along the beach on the way to John’s mansion.
Luce was quiet. I hoped her silence was a good thing. I meant every word I’d said. I’d take her any place she wanted to go. I wanted it all with her.
We came up on John’s driveway, which was paved. He didn’t live far from the gas station. Only a mile or so. His driveway stretched through some wooded area. I turned, and about a minute later had to park a lot sooner than I anticipated. There were already cars parked everywhere on his property.
“What’s with all the cars?”
“He must be having a party,” I guessed.
“John doesn’t have parties. I’ve known him like ten years, and I barely know him at all.”
“Dani’s having a party then.”
“Or a funereal.”
I cut the ignition. Luce seemed anxious and hesitant to move out of the car. Her hand lingered on her door, but she didn’t open it.
“Let’s go find out what’s going on,” I suggested. “Dani’s my family. We have every right to be here.”
“I wish I had someone’s phone number.”
Neither of us had any numbers in our new phones. I’d never been good at doing the periodic backups. And it was probably pathetic that I didn’t have a single number memorized. But it didn’t matter. We made it here without April following. We were safe now. Dani was practically my big sister. And she lived here now, s
o this was fine. “Trust me. It’s fine we are here, even if there’s a funeral happening.”
“Okay. I’m going to change just in case.”
She wasn’t kidding. Luce got out of the car, and into the trunk, digging through the shopping bags and her new clothes. She found the bag she’d been searching for. The one from Victoria’s Secret. She pulled out the black satin slip thing I’d snuck inside her bag and some black jeans. And then right there, beside the woods, she started stripping some of her clothes off. I stood there with my mouth hanging open, watching her pull the satin over her perfect little tits.
She wore the black slip over the black jeans and finished the outfit with her leather coat. “There. Just in case it’s a funeral happening.”
She shook her hair out with her fingers. It was wavy and messy and sexy as fuck. I hooked my fingers on the waistband of her jeans, feeling her stomach, pulling that girl against me. I kissed her hard in the cold air, pressing her against the side of my car, needing her now.
I had my hands up her slip in a second, cupping the weight of her tits, running my fingers over her pointed little nipples, hoping I was driving her half as crazy as she was driving me. She moaned into my mouth, which only made my hardening cock grow harder.
Someone cleared their throat.
“It’s a wedding for God’s sake. Have some respect.”
Fuck. I jumped, moving off her like I’d been caught with my pants down. But Luce only laughed. The person who’d said it had meant it as a joke.
“Hi Ben,” she said to the guy.
She gave the guy and the girl with him a hug. He was close to my age, tall, athletic, dark hair, with a nice suit on. The girl with him had vibrant red hair. She smiled politely at me.
They were dressed—not for a funeral but for a wedding.
“I’m Ben,” he said to me, shaking my hand. “This is June. You guys late, too? We have twin girls and they were not happy we were leaving today. It was a mess.”
“Yeah. We’re late, too,” I improvised, even though I had no idea what I was lying for.
We walked with the couple. The guy knew who I was, I could tell, but he talked to me like I was anyone else. Like it wasn’t weird or unexpected that I was a celebrity here with Luce. “Beautiful day for a wedding,” I joked. It was cold and cloudy.
“Yeah, I heard it’s under a tent, though.”
“That sounds nice.”
“I’m sure it will be nice.”
Luce wasn’t saying anything. The tent came into view with a huge reception underway underneath. Hell, it was extremely nice. There were twinkle lights everywhere lighting up the inside. There were hundreds of votive candles illuminating the path toward sheer curtains. Voices and bodies and greenery, music and movement were on the other side.
Luce stopped walking, frozen in place.
“Catch you guys in there,” I called after the other couple. But they didn’t hear me over all the noise as they disappeared through the sheer curtain.
“I can’t go in there.” Her eyes were wide and frightened on mine, begging me for something I didn’t understand.
I couldn’t ask what was wrong. Another person on the other side of the curtains that separated us from the party spotted her. A woman. Short, spunky, and vaguely familiar—she burst through the curtain. She ran up to Luce and squeezed her hard around the middle like they were best friends. “You came,” she said. “I’m so happy you came. And you brought something fucking delicious as your wedding date.” The woman pushed at my shoulder. A friendly little shove reserved for frat brothers and actual brothers. It caught me really off guard. I guess that meant I was the ‘fucking delicious’ object.
“Hi, Ollie,” she offered.
“Um, hi?”
“Ellie. We’ve met once before.”
Had we?
She went back to ignoring me a second later. “I heard you quit Chancy’s Claw. I’ve been trying to call you all week. I can’t believe you quit, but I figured you’d come around and still show for this. So, I made Rhett give you a seat at our table. But I didn’t count on you showing up with this slice as your date. Or did you just walk in together? I know Caleb is here, too.”
My brother was here?
The woman tugged on Luce’s hand and pulled her through the curtain. I was a little slower to follow, taking in my surroundings. Rhett. This was Rhett’s wedding. The Rhett she was in love with. The wedding that was supposed to have happened over a week ago. The wedding Luce flew to the Bahamas to avoid.
I spotted the guy who must be Rhett. The groom in his tux, sitting next to his beautiful bride at the head table. All the people around us were talking, eating. The reception was well underway. My cousin Dani was here—in a fucking bridesmaids dress. I nearly laughed. She wasn’t the bridesmaid type whatsoever. I didn’t even know she had friends.
It took me about three more seconds to realize that Rhett’s new wife was John Michaels’ little sister. And Dani was married to John. So that explained why she was a bridesmaid. Then I spotted Caleb sitting on her other side.
Holy shit, was my whole family here?
He noticed me across the room. He stared straight at me. “Why are you here?” he mouthed. He had a tux on, and his hair was styled nicely.
I’d just seen him two days ago. When we’d all argued about the fate of the band. Nothing had been resolved. Not that that mattered at the moment. My eyes moved away from them and across the crowd. I’d lost Luce. Her friend had pulled her away. I needed to find her. Who knows what she was feeling being at Rhett’s wedding? I knew she never intended on coming to this. Now she was being forced here. I spotted her at a different crowded table, made up of mostly bridesmaids and groomsmen. How many friends did this guy Rhett have? There were easily eight and eight—guys and girls—in the wedding party.
Luce sat beside her energetic friend now. She had a smile on her face, champagne in her hand, and seemed okay. I even saw her laugh. I thought about going to sit with Caleb on the other side of the room. I suddenly felt uncomfortable and out of place. But Luce’s eyes landed on mine. Her easy smile slipped away.
This whole atmosphere—it was one of those environments I hated. One that made me feel like I couldn’t breathe. One that made me like to play up my persona, find the prettiest girl in the room, and see how fast I could get her to join me in the bathroom. I guess fucking was my way of taking the edge off. I could sense eyes on me—single women who had come to this wedding tonight hoping to meet someone like me, someone ready to show them a good time in whatever back corner, back seat—or in this case, rented port-a-potty, gross—that we could find.
But my eyes were on the only girl I cared about. The only girl who mattered. Who, even in her black outfit and messy hair, wearing no makeup today, was easily the prettiest girl in this room. My chest ached. Because all she must be thinking about now was the guy across the room in the tux, a guy who wasn’t me. Her smile fell away, and I saw the pain behind her eyes, and really nothing could have kept me away.
I walked across the room, grabbing an empty chair from what seemed like the singles table, disappointed eyes on me the moment I did, and I walked the chair over to where Luce was sitting. I plopped it down next to her chair.
The girls and guys at the table all stopped talking and stared at me as I did it. The one named Ellie even had her mouth hanging open. “Sorry,” I offered. “Well, not sorry. I’m not some ‘slice’ or her ‘wedding date.’ I’m her date-date.” Not sure that made any sense to anyone but me.
But no. I don’t know what these people knew or what they thought they knew, but I wasn’t here as her distraction from Rhett. I wasn’t here as her designated wedding sex. I was more than that. I had to trust I was more. And I wanted all of these people to see that. Above all, I wanted Luce to see that.
~ CHAPTER 35 ~
LUCE
All eyes at the table were on Ollie. The people staring back were my people, my best friends, the ones who knew me better than anyone
. And yet, how well did any of them really know me? I kept so much of myself hidden from everyone. Little by little I’d been letting Ollie see something of me I hadn’t ever let anyone else see. A real side. Not the tough girl with tattoos, who laughed easily with her friends, and never showed her true feelings. But instead the girl who secretly loved deeply and more than ever needed that crazy kind of love in return. Someone who sometimes needed a voice to step in and stand up for her. Ollie, in the weirdest way, had just done that. He could have chosen to keep our relationship quiet. But instead he’d announced it. Proudly.
“I’m sorry,” Ellie apologized. She was my kindest, most loyal friend. She hadn’t meant any harm in her comments. “I shouldn’t have said that before.”
“Alright.” Ollie accepted her apology. “No worries. I was just saying I’m here with Luce because I’m dating her. Just so you all have it clear. I’m not just here with her for sex. Although that part is kind of wonderful, too, right baby?”
Ollie winked at me, bumping his shoulder into mine. Oh God. I couldn’t believe he’d said that out loud for all my friends to hear. Actually, even the table of elderly folks behind us might have heard. I laughed though. “Only kind of?” I joked.
“More than kind of,” he easily admitted, so sincere. The smallest hint of blush moved over his cheeks. Or maybe that was just the heater blasting hot air on us. Either way, it was the cutest damn thing I’d ever seen. I think Ollie Mills was smitten with me. He just showed it in front of my friends, and it gave me all the feels.
I was smiling like a fool until... fuck.
My niece Emma stood beside the table. She’d overheard the whole exchange. And while Ellie had eyes on us like she thought my interaction with Ollie was adorable, Emma didn’t seem pleased. “You and Ollie?” She sounded repulsed. “Really? That’s where you were this last week? With him? Is he why you quit your job and left town?”
Never Leave a Rockstar (Never Trust Book 4) Page 12