Heartstrings (Rock With You #1) Rock Star Romance

by Hunter, Adriana

  The last thing Melody was aware of, as she drifted off in a hazy state on the edge of exhaustion, was inhaling Logan’s scent, a combination of spicy and earthy, deeply masculine, vaguely scented with whisky, and the distinctive odor of sex, all mingled into a heady mixture that somehow soothed her into a deep sleep.

  * * *

  Melody groaned, rolling over in bed. The light from the window cut across her pillow, sending a wave of pain through her head. She threw an arm across her eyes, waiting for the agony to subside. She took a few deep breaths, eyes closed, and then it hit her. She wasn’t at home.

  She sat up in bed, quickly closing her eyes again as the room spun around her.

  “Oh, my God. What the hell have I done?”

  It all came back in a rush of images. The text from Patrick, drunk at the hotel bar...and Logan. Oh, shit. Logan. She’d slept with Logan MacKenzie. Holy shit!

  Melody opened one eye, looking around the room. Her clothes were neatly folded over the back of a chair, her purse on the bedside table. But there was no sign of Logan, not even a stray piece of clothing. The bathroom door was open but that room was empty to. She was alone. Typical rockstar…one-night stand with a drunken, wanton woman.

  “Stupid…stupid mistake.” Melody flopped back on the bed, jarring her head again. Something crinkled beneath her outstretched arm. Rolling over, she fished a piece of hotel stationary from the pillow next to her. She smoothed it out on the sheet, squinting as she tried to focus on the scrawling handwriting.

  ‘Melody…Next time I’m in New York, I’ll call you. The tour comes through here in about a month. I need to see you again. Logan.’ The word ‘need’ was underlined three times.

  Like that will ever happen. Shaking her head, she crumpled the note, tossing it to the floor.

  “You’ve done some very stupid things in your life, Melody, but this takes the cake.” She squinted at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was well past ten o’clock. The card next to the clock reminded her that check out time was at eleven.

  “Shit…” She climbed out of bed, heading for the bathroom, debating whether she had time for a shower. Turning on the hot water, she decided if she was late leaving the room, Logan MacKenzie could afford to pay for any extra charges.

  By the time she got home, Melody was feeling almost normal, not craving bed and aspirin as she had earlier. She dumped her purse on her bed, checking her cell phone for messages. There were several from Patrick, all of which she deleted. One from her mother, quickly saved for later. And one from Melissa. That she hesitated over, then deleted it. She could deal with Melissa on Monday.

  She and Melissa were best friends, had been since Melody had started at the firm. Melissa was her paralegal and without her, she would literally be lost. Melissa tracked everything from docket dates to filing status to all her appointments. She had a knack of being able to put her finger on any piece of paper needed, even those pesky documents that somehow went missing on Melody’s desk, buried under mountains of other papers. Melody felt a pang of guilt; her success in winning the Montague case had been in no small part due to Melissa’s expertise. She made a mental note to do something special, take Melissa to lunch or get her something special to mark the occasion. Melissa had mentioned there was a scarf at Barney’s she’d had her eye on.

  The chirp of her cell phone interrupted her musings. Flipping it open, she recognized Patrick’s number. Her first instinct was to send the call to voice mail but she knew he’d just keep calling until he got through.

  “Hello?” She sat back on the sofa, kicking her heels up before dropping her feet on the coffee table. There was a run in her stocking, which somehow annoyed her greatly.

  “Melody. I’ve been trying to reach you since last night…I think…we should…I mean, how are you?”

  Melody massaged her temple with her free hand. “Patrick. You broke up with me. In a text message. And you have the nerve to call and ask how I am? How the fuck do you think I am?” She heard the rising anger in her voice and it made her head hurt again. Damn Patrick.

  There was brief silence from Patrick’s end. “I…it was a terrible thing to do, Melody. And I’m sorry. It was impulsive.”

  “It was more than impulsive. It was mean and heartless. Look, you made yourself clear. We’re through. You don’t get to call now and ask how I am. You made it clear I’m out of your life. So, you’re out of mine.”

  Melody took a deep breath. “In fact, I’ve moved on, Patrick. There’s someone else. And he’s more of a man than you could ever hope to be.”

  Flipping the phone shut, she tossed it on the coffee table. She may have made a mistake in sleeping with Logan MacKenzie, but at least she could put the experience to some good use. She felt a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth as she thought about Patrick, who was probably staring at his phone in confusion. Let him think about that bit of information for a while.

  Melody went to her bedroom, slipping out of her dress, grabbing her pajamas. Even though it was still afternoon, there was no way she was going to leave the apartment. Traumatic events called for drastic measures and being dumped by ones fiancé and sleeping with a stranger were traumatic.

  Tying the sash to her robe, she padded barefoot to the kitchen, opened the freezer, moving aside frozen dinners and ice cube trays, unearthing the pint of Chocolate Therapy ice cream she kept stashed in the back, just for such emergencies.

  Back on the couch, dipping into the ice cream, her mind went back over the previous night. And she closed her eyes, cringing at the memory. Never, ever had she picked up a stranger in a bar. And she was certainly no groupie. Her firm represented all kinds of celebrities and she had never fallen for any of them, even remotely. She had been professional with all of them, even those who had made a blatant pass at her. It was something she prided herself on.

  But now, she’d crossed the line. And it was all Patrick’s fault. She scooped up another spoonful of ice cream, the creamy chocolate melting on her tongue. If he hadn’t been such a jerk, hadn’t broken up with her via text, for heaven’s sake…and after she’s won her first case…she wouldn’t have been drowning her sorrows at the bar, an easy mark for Mr. Logan MacKenzie. Easy mark; that was her. And Logan had taken advantage of her. That was clear.

  And now, here she was, drowning her sorrows in a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. She licked the spoon, reluctantly put the cover back on and stashed the pint in the back of the freezer. Men were her downfall. So was ice cream, but that was a different story.

  “No good…any of them. None of them.” She muttered to herself as she went back to her room. Her headache had returned and now she really did crave a nap, and aspirin. But the nap came first. Curled up on her bed, she muttered a resolution to the room at large.

  “No more men.” Only work; that at least she knew she did well. She would dive into whatever her boss gave her, one hundred and ten percent, and work late if necessary. She’d bury herself in her client load and put all of this behind her.

  Rolling over, her eyes closed, she decided that really was the best thing to do.

  * * *

  Monday found Melody at work early, already behind her desk, her attention focused on a brief, when Melissa knocked on her door.

  “Hey, good morning. Come in.” She cleared a spot on the edge of her desk as Melissa sat in the chair across from her. Melissa had her usual stack of docket books and case files, ready to give Melody the list of the week’s upcoming deadlines.

  “So, how was your weekend? I called you, but you must have been having a wild time with Patrick….” Melissa stopped as Melody dropped her gaze, shaking her head.

  “Is something wrong? Did I say something…?”

  “No, you’re fine. It’s Patrick.” Melody straightened her back, looking at Melissa. She knew she’d have to talk about it with her co-workers at some point. Everyone knew they’d gotten engaged, knew about the wedding plans; she’d made such a big deal about all of it. She felt embarrassed now, bu
t decided to look at this as an opportunity. She’d deal with this head on, get past it and get back to work. Run toward the monster, not away.

  “He broke off the engagement on Friday night.” Melody watched, not without a bit of amusement, as a range of emotions flash across Melissa’s face, including a brief smile of something that resembled relief. She felt a frown crease her forehead.

  Melody had suspected Melissa had a bit of a harmless crush on Patrick; the girl blushed crimson any time he’d come to visit Melody at the office, and became giddy and giggly if they all went out for drinks. Melissa was young and Melody chalked it up to girlishness and inexperience with men.

  Melissa’s face finally settled into an expression of concern. “I’m so sorry, Melody. That must have been awful, especially after the high you were on from winning the Montague case. Did he ask for the ring back?” Melissa nodded toward Melody’s left hand, the ring finger bare.

  “No, actually…he broke up via text.”

  “You’re kidding! Patrick? I would never have thought…he’s such…he always seemed such a gentleman. Did he give you a reason?”

  Melody shook her head, waving her hand. “No. Just that this ‘wasn’t the right time’…something vague.” She really didn’t want to get into that much detail with Melissa, certainly not at the office. Maybe after work sometime. Melody still really wasn’t sure of Patrick’s reasons, and right now, he was the last thing she wanted to talk about.

  “So, what’s on the docket for this week?” Melody sat forward, picking up her pen, smiling at Melissa.

  “Oh, okay.” Melissa took the cue and opened up the red leather docket book, scanning the dated columns.

  “So, you have three filings due, Benton on Wednesday; Phillips, and Monroe on Thursday. All of them are on your desk…” Melissa pointed to the stack at Melody’s elbow.

  “And I see you’re already working on the Benton case.” Melissa nodded toward the open file in front of Melody.

  “Do you think Benton will go to trial or will they settle?”

  “I think they’ll settle. I don’t think either party wants to drag this out. The Montague case was the exception, you know. Not everyone wants their day in court, or is as stubborn as Frank Montague is.” Montague was a high rolling casino owner who enjoyed the limelight. His favorite quote was ‘Bad publicity is still my name in the paper.’

  “Most are willing to work out a deal. Sometimes it’s just a matter of a client feeling they were listened to and being treated fairly. I get that’s more what Benton is looking for at this point.”

  “But the Montague case made Mr. Marshall happy and makes you the star of the week.” Melissa blushed at the mention of Ryan Marshall, managing partner and Melody’s boss.

  Melody laughed. “Well, yes, a big case and a win equals a big fee for the firm. And I can’t deny I’m still enjoying the good feelings from winning my first big case.”

  Melissa hesitated and Melody knew there was more the girl was aching to know. “So…are you okay, Melody? I tried calling, like I said, but you didn’t answer. Were you upset after, well, the thing with Patrick?”

  Melody debated only briefly how to answer. She was still appalled over what had happened with Logan, and wild horses wouldn’t drag it out of her, much less Melissa. She shook her head.

  “I drowned my sorrows in a pint of ice cream, nothing more. Totally dove into that, and slept, and didn’t come up for air till Sunday.”

  “Oh…yeah. That’s probably what I would have done.” Melissa stood, clutching her stack of notebooks and folders. “Well, back to work. Drop the Benton file on my desk when you’re ready.”

  Melody spent the rest of the day immersed in her work, trying hard to push everything from the weekend out of her head. But fleeting images of Logan MacKenzie kept cropping up unexpectedly, pushing their way to her consciousness. Images of him as he held her, kissed her, as he did things that drove her crazy, as she gave in to him. As he took advantage of her.

  It was well after lunch when she heard a knock at her door. Her boss, Ryan Marshall was leaning against the doorframe.

  “Hey, how’s my star today? I’ve been meaning to drop by, but the partners’ meeting ran longer than I anticipated.”

  Melody blew out a breath, waving Ryan toward a chair. “Come in. I’m fine. Back in the thick of it. Did you want an update on my cases?” She shuffled the case files on her desk, trying to restore some semblance of order.

  “No, not today. I checked with Melissa on your docket and you have a fairly light week. There’s nothing new on the foreseeable horizon. But we all know that can change with jut a phone call.” Ryan stepped into her office, closing the door behind him.

  “She told me about Patrick. I’m really sorry, Melody. I know how much you love…him. How much you were looking forward to getting married. You must be absolutely devastated.”

  Melody cringed. She’d wanted to avoid this conversation with Ryan, or at least been more prepared for it. And now I have Melissa telling tales at work.

  Ryan had seemed to have a difficult time after Melody announced her engagement. She’d long suspected he’d had some kind of feelings for her, but his consummate professionalism had kept him from acting on them. She was apprehensive now that all that might change.

  But Ryan appeared sincerely concerned, and she relaxed.

  “Thank you, Ryan. It is…was hard. I’m not really ready to talk about it, so…” She smiled and Ryan took his cue, rising from his chair.

  “I understand. I’m here for you, Melody, whatever you need. Even if it’s just to talk. Or not talk…” He laughed. “You know what I mean. I value your friendship, you know that. My door is always open.”

  Melody watched as Ryan left her office. She idly tapped her pen against her teeth, lost in thought, a whirlwind of emotions suddenly surfacing. And chief among them was the regret she felt over her night with Logan MacKenzie, combined with a persistent and annoying visual of Logan, his dark hair sexy messy, watching her in the throes of passion, as he did things to her no man had ever done. It was the alcohol…that damned Macallan.

  She shook her head, trying to dislodge the image. “Work, Melody…just do your work.”

  But over the next several days, Melody found it increasingly difficult to forget her night with Logan. She’d be blindsided at odd moments by a thought of him, at hearing a voice that sounded like his. Catching a glimpse of any tall dark-haired man would make her gasp. And hearing his latest hit song on the radio almost drove her over the edge. There was nothing between them, but a one-night stand…a damn good one, but just one night. And he took advantage of the situation, of my emotional state and…I was drunk.

  It wasn’t until a couple of weeks had passed before she forced herself to take the time to think about what had happened. She’d accepted an invitation from Ryan for drinks after work, and had invited Melissa along. Ryan had been good-natured about Melissa showing up with her, but Melody sensed an undercurrent of mild annoyance.

  But Ryan had been his ever-charming self, attentive to Melody, even more so after Melissa had gone home. But she couldn’t focus on Ryan after a couple of drinks. Her thoughts kept going back to Logan, to their night together. She was distant and it wasn’t long before Ryan picked up on it.

  “Is there something bothering you, Melody? Is it Patrick?”

  She winced. Patrick was the least of her worries. She hadn’t thought about him in days. In fact, it surprised her at how easily she had been able to just push the whole thing out of her mind. He’d called a few times, once asking for the ring back as Melissa had predicted. She wasn’t sure what that said about their relationship…or lack thereof.

  “Not so much Patrick as my reaction to what happened. I did something…rash.” She took a sip of her drink, playing with the little plastic sword that held a cherry that lay at the bottom of the glass.

  “I can’t imagine you doing something rash.” Ryan chuckled softly, leaning on the bar watching her close
ly. “You’re the epitome of clear thinking. It can’t be that bad.”

  “I had a drunken, one-night stand with a complete stranger.” There, the words were out. She’d admitted her foolish mistake. Ryan was quiet for a moment, looking at her with a serious expression on his handsome face.

  “Well, I guess that was a rash move. But still…” he reached out, his hand resting on hers, squeezing her fingers briefly, warm and solid against her skin. “It’s not like you’ve continued that pattern. You’re not a wanton woman; I’m sure it was just an extreme reaction to an extreme situation.”

  Melody’s head jerked, a fragment of memory sliding through her mind. Never leave the Macallan, even for a beautiful wanton woman. Damn Logan MacKenzie.

  “It was…extreme.” Melody didn’t want to recount the details to Ryan, but she’d kept everything bottled up for so long the words just seemed to tumble from her mouth.

  “It’s just…well, I can’t forget about it. It was…I don’t want to be dramatic, and I can’t say it was life-changing, but it was…more, maybe…” She frowned at her drink, poking the cherry with the plastic spear. She really couldn’t continue to explain just how intense the night with Logan had been, especially with her boss.

  “Maybe you’ve fixated on this guy…whoever he is…rather than dealing with Patrick. You haven’t said anything about how that’s affected you. That must have been a terrible sense of betrayal, being left by Patrick, someone you trusted, someone you loved.”

  Ryan’s hand had moved to her arm, his fingers sliding over her skin, quickly brushing against the side of her breast. She turned sharply, but Ryan had picked up his drink, looking at her over the edge of his glass. She shook her head. You’re far too jumpy…and more than a little tipsy here.