She left in a flash, and he already missed her.
Riley unlocked her apartment. Erika sat up as she walked through the door.
“What’s up? You send me this cryptic text and don’t give me any details.”
Riley dropped next to her on the couch. “Garrett kissed me.”
Erika gasped. “I told you!”
Riley pounded her head against the back of the couch. Her mind flashed back to the kiss that turned her world upside down and inside out. She hadn’t expected it, or thought she’d enjoy it so much.
“What? Garrett Jamieson kissing you is bad?”
“We were interrupted by Logan. He had news for Garrett that the House of Blues has a spot for an opening act on Thursday night.” Riley waited for Erika to catch on.
Surprise lit Erika’s eyes. “You’re singing at the House of Blues?”
Riley grimaced. “Not because I want to. Apparently it’s in the contract that I didn’t read.”
“You’re singing at House of Blues and Garrett kissed you! This is so exciting! I guess this means you’re not interested in Bennett anymore.”
“I don’t know what I think. Why did Garrett kiss me in the first place?” The two of them had been getting along so well lately, but the kiss came so unexpectedly.
“Because you’re a totally hot rocker chick and he wants to get in your pants.”
“Great, just what I don’t need. Or more likely, did he kiss me because he was trying to soften me up so I’d go along with his House of Blues gig?” Was he that manipulative? And if he was, she’d fallen for it like the groupie she didn’t want to be.
“I guess that’s possible.”
“He’s such a snake. I knew better than to trust him.”
“But he’s a totally hot snake. So, is he a good kisser?”
Riley leaned her head back, remembering the touch of his lips on hers and the way he held her close, their bodies fitting together. “Yeah, he’s really great.”
“I knew it!” she squealed.
“Except that he’s a snake who can’t be trusted. Remember?”
“Got it. Snake. Bad. But kissing, good.”
“I don’t want to be the stupid girl who is used by a well-known man whore.”
“You don’t know that for sure. Has he been sleazing around while he’s been in Chicago?”
“Not that I know of. I mean, he hasn’t mentioned anyone or brought anyone around.” Tara sniffed around him a lot, but from what she’d seen, Garrett didn’t seem interested.
“It’s because he likes you!”
“Oh lord, save me.”
42
“Two minutes,” the producer called.
Riley was back on Chart Toppers. What had begun as the most exciting time of her life was turning into the biggest disaster. Every week the judges picked apart her performance more. She’d become frazzled, her initial confidence shattered.
Riley was going home soon. The other kids were better, older, and more experienced. Her mom grew more jittery, worried that Riley would blow it, which wasn’t helping matters.
“Are you ready?” her mother asked.
No, she wasn’t ready. Desiree had given her this song only four days ago and she’d never heard it before. She could barely remember the words, and the song was too high for her range. Would anyone notice if she ran?
Her mom looked in the mirror and adjusted her collar. She bought herself a new outfit for each week.
“Do you remember your words? Don’t forget them like that last guy did. They’ll knock you off immediately. And smile more. Make people like you.”
“I’m trying, Mom.”
“Well, try harder.”
“Mom, I’m really nervous,” she confessed.
Her mom looked away from her own reflection to face Riley. “You better get over it, and fast.”
“I know they’re going to hate me. They want Kylie to win.”
“So get out there and show them that you’re better than that little twit.”
But she wasn’t. Not by a long shot. And she knew it. Tears welled in her eyes.
“Oh good lord. You’re not crying at a time like this, are you?” her mother warned.
Riley swiped her eyes with her arm.
“Look what you’ve done. You smeared your makeup.”
Her mom grabbed her chin, pinching Riley’s skin as she used her thumb to wipe away the smudge.
“Now listen to me. This is our big chance. You need to win this thing. For all of us. Because if you do, it means no more crappy apartment, no more thrift store clothes. Hell, we can go to Disney World. Now, get out there and sing your little ass off.” She released Riley’s chin.
“But Mom, I don’t think I can do it anymore.” Her voice trembled.
Her mother delivered a quick stinging slap across her cheek.
“You disappoint me. Now fix your attitude and go do what we came here for.”
The producer appeared, shocked at Riley’s red cheek and stricken face. He glared at her mother.
“Riley’s just so nervous tonight. I don’t know what’s gotten into her,” she gushed.
The producer took Riley gently by the shoulders and guided her away. “Are you all right?”
Riley sniffled but nodded.
“Makeup!” he called, and a woman appeared to tone down the color on her face. A moment later Riley stepped onstage.
Riley woke in a sweat. If she weren’t in her tiny bedroom, she would have sworn she was actually back on that stage. What was happening to her world? Was she having a nervous breakdown? She had been right back in that horrible situation from five years ago.
She never planned to perform onstage again. Ever. But how could she not have realized this would happen? Normally she thought of herself as pretty smart, but she’d been an idiot not to foresee the need to get back up onstage.
But by trying to help her mom, she’d ended up taking on problems her mother should have dealt with.
Riley rolled over to go back to sleep and try to forget what lay ahead. Her phone beeped. She blindly reached for it and looked at the message.
Are you up? It was Garrett.
She ignored the text and dropped her phone onto the bed next to her and closed her eyes. The kiss!
Her eyes popped open. It had been so out of the blue. And she’d really liked it. So much nicer than the simple good-bye kiss from Bennett yesterday. If only Logan hadn’t walked in. But then again, why the heck was Garrett kissing her?
A minute later her phone beeped again. She read the screen.
I know you’re awake. Want me to come over and prove it?
“Go away!” She yelled at her phone, then texted back, No.
Meet me downtown. Clothes shopping always cheers girls up, doesn’t it?
So he wanted to buy her off for springing the House of Blues thing on her? Predictable. I don’t need any clothes, she texted back.
Yes, you do, for House of Blues.
She refused to respond. He deserved a little cyber silence.
But he responded anyway, with an address and a time.
An hour later, Riley trudged up to a shop located downtown, a block off State Street. The window display included heavy metal T-shirts, chains with emblems on them, leather boots, and pants with spikes coming out of the side.
Great. This would be Chart Toppers all over again, but instead of wearing flouncy cotton-candy dresses, she’d be a goth, heavy metal girl. She sighed and pushed into the store.
“There she is,” Garrett said with a lazy smile, leaning against the checkout counter as if he didn’t have a care in the world. He looked great and Riley hated that she noticed. Her mind immediately flashed to their kiss, but she pushed it away so she wouldn’t be so flustered.
He turned to the clerk, a tall, skinny woman with a lip ring and eye makeup that matched her black hair. “Viv, this is Riley, the girl I’ve been telling you about. We need a kick-ass outfit for her to wear Thursday night.”
“I’m sure we can fix her up right.” Viv looked Riley up and down, then headed off to the racks.
Riley played with the tassel hanging from her purse, unsure where to look. She glanced at Garrett, and all she could think of was the sexy touch of his lips on hers. He studied her and shot her a quirky smile.
“What?” she asked.
“You look uncomfortable.”
“Well, I’m still recovering from the news that you’re forcing me to perform.” And the fact that she never knew what was going through his mind. Was he thinking about their kiss last night, too?
“Like a sacrificial lamb?”
“You said it, not me,” she said, browsing the T-shirts, clinking hangers together as she pretended to study each graphic tee.
He came up next to her and put his arm on the rack. The scent of his aftershave tickled her nose. “Don’t act naïve. You had to know you’d be performing.”
She meant to glare at him, but the sight of his face and lips distracted her. “Well, you could have told me sooner instead of springing it on me.” She moved to the next rack.
“I didn’t know if it would happen until Logan came in with the message. And sometimes, an element of surprise makes a performance better, more urgent and exciting.”
Riley licked her lips and tried to clear her head.
Garrett pulled a pair of black leather pants from the rack. The sides laced up and would expose a whole lot of skin. “How about these?”
“On what planet do you think I’d wear those?”
“I think they look hot.” He grinned.
“Then you wear them.” She slid hangers on the rack because she didn’t know what else to do.
“I’ve grabbed a few things. Let me know what you like,” Viv said. She held up a tiny black stretchy dress that would wear Riley like shrink wrap.
“No,” Riley said.
“How about this?” She held up black pants with rivets along the waistband and spikes down the side.
“Not bad,” Garrett said.
“No.”
Viv held up a leather bustier with zippers.
“Definitely,” Garrett said eagerly.
“Not! Does everything have to be black leather with rivets and spikes?”
“You want to make a statement,” Viv said.
“Of what? That I’m a slutty, goth, metal rocker, biker chick? I am not wearing any of this.”
Garrett sighed and turned to Viv. “How about something with a little less edge? Riley has enough edge in her shining personality without needing any help.”
Riley shot him a dirty look as Viv went off for more goodies. “You can’t seriously think I’d wear anything like that.”
“We’re just getting started. Stop acting so prickly.” He reached out and gently touched the top of her hand with his. Their eyes met.
She froze. What was he doing? Was he about to kiss her again?
Viv called out. “Riley, I put a few things in the dressing room for you to try.”
“Coming.” She reluctantly eased her hand away and followed Viv’s voice to the dressing room created by a canvas curtain.
Inside, several T-shirts, pants, and skirts awaited. She quickly dismissed the backless shirt, the super low-rise pants, and anything with spikes, the devil, or crosses.
She tried on a racer-back tank with a red graphic on the front, then slipped into a pair of black acid-wash skinny jeans.
“Anything you like?” Viv asked from the other side.
Riley slid the curtain open and showed her the outfit.
“Meh.”
“I agree,” Garrett said.
Riley disappeared behind the curtain and tried on another outfit, then another, modeling for Viv and Garrett each time. After a while, she didn’t even feel present as they studied her look. She only tried on items she didn’t hate.
“Try this.” Garrett handed her a denim micro vest that snapped twice across the breasts and laced up in the back.
She torpedoed it back, hitting him in the face. She hoped one of the metal adornments would knock out a tooth.
“Does that mean you don’t want to try anything with lace either?” He laughed.
“This is ridiculous. I look like an idiot in these things.”
“You want to go onstage wearing your faded jeans and a plain T-shirt, looking like a girl from the South Side of Chicago?”
“Do you have a problem with where I’m from?”
“Of course not, but we’re trying to create an image,” he said.
“Your taste sucks!”
“No, it doesn’t. You’re being difficult just to spite me. We’re not leaving here until we agree on an outfit.”
“It’s one stupid concert. You said yourself that it’s only two songs. It hardly matters. I’ll borrow something from my roommate.” She went back into the dressing room, flipping the curtain closed behind her.
As she lifted the T-shirt to pull it over her head, the curtain opened and Garrett slipped in.
Riley yanked the shirt back down and spun around to face him. “Get out!”
“What is your problem?”
“You are!” she snapped. “Do you mind?” The dressing room was tight quarters for the two of them and the heap of discarded clothes at her feet. Her heart raced.
“You didn’t seem to mind me too much last night.” His gray eyes gleamed.
Her mouth went dry. He had a point. She needed a snappy retort, but no words came.
“Is that what’s bothering you?” He leaned close.
“Of course not,” she lied.
“Good.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her.
Riley couldn’t decide whether to push him away or pull him closer. She’d worried he wouldn’t kiss her again after last night, but he infuriated her, too. Still, she couldn’t help losing herself in the touch of his lips and comfort of his arms.
He slowly released her. “Still mad?”
“Maybe.” She dipped her head and blushed, her knees weak, as a thousand butterflies fluttered in her stomach.
He pushed a lock of hair over her shoulder.
“Why did you kiss me?” she asked.
“It seemed like a good idea.” He gave her a half smile that was knowing, wicked, and not the least bit sweet.
“So whenever you don’t like what I have to say, you’re going to kiss me to make me shut up?” She hoped so, but logic said he was using her.
“I like your thinking.”
“I’m serious. You don’t even like me. You said so yourself.”
“Well, you’re growing on me.” He shrugged with a lazy smile. “For some reason, the more time I spend with you, the more I can’t help myself.”
Riley wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.
43
Riley clutched a large shopping bag as she and Garrett left the shop and headed back toward State Street.
“What’s wrong?” He strolled leisurely beside her, carrying a second bag.
“I don’t understand what’s going on. You and me. What is this?”
“Why does it need a label?”
“It doesn’t, but it needs an explanation. One minute you’re a jerk, then the next you’re nice. And now you’re . . .”
“Interested. Kissing you,” he said with an amused, cocky grin.
“Yeah. I don’t get it.”
“You sure like to overanalyze things.”
Riley stared down the street. “I don’t want to end up regretting anything later.”
“Fine. When I saw you with that guy, Emmet—”
“It’s Bennett.”
“Whatever. I realized that I didn’t like the way he looked at you, all hungry and predatory.”
“He did not.”
Garrett gave her a pointed look that said otherwise. “I didn’t plan on doing anything about it, other than making sure you didn’t have a free minute to see him. But then I kept noticing your beautiful eyes and that wild ginger hair of yours, and well
, I couldn’t resist any longer.”
Riley flushed with excitement. She couldn’t imagine Garrett jealous of anyone. “Ginny told me to guard my heart from you.”
“Ah, so I have Ginny to thank for turning you against me?”
“No, you do that well enough on your own.”
He smirked. “So, want to do something tonight?”
“I thought we were too busy.”
“Not anymore.”
She couldn’t help but be wary, but there was something especially appealing about the way Garrett took charge when he wanted something, and it seemed that maybe he wanted her. Happy jitters of excitement ran through her.
Before going to the studio, they stopped at Daley Plaza. Garrett bought her a hot dog and soda from a food cart. They sat on a ledge overlooking the Picasso statue. Riley laughed at the look on Garrett’s face when mustard dropped onto his white button-down shirt. It seemed that the more time they spent together, the more he relaxed. And this was a side of him that she liked very much.
Later, they rehearsed for the House of Blues gig in the large recording studio designed to accommodate a full orchestra. As she watched Garrett in action, she realized her heart was melting. It was very nice. A new energy buzzed between them as she began to let him in.
They didn’t let on to anyone at work the new direction their relationship had taken. Yet every time Garrett joined her on the mock stage and they locked eyes, trills of excitement shot through her. They shared a secret no one else knew.
Riley struggled to concentrate, counting the minutes until she’d be alone with him again. She hadn’t crushed on a guy this much since tenth grade when she fell for a drummer in her school band. Those feelings seemed silly and innocent now, compared with the growing intensity she felt for Garrett. How she’d gone from despising him to being unable to think of anything else she didn’t know, or care.
Every time he paused to look at her, his smile reached into her heart and hugged her tight.
“I think that’s good for tonight. I don’t want to overwhelm you. Ready to get out of here and do something fun?” he said as they wrapped up the session.
“Sure. What did you have in mind?” She grinned. She’d actually loved what they’d been doing for the past two hours. Working with Garrett after he’d kissed her and admitted to being jealous had changed everything. She saw a new vulnerability to him that she hadn’t noticed before.
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