Crash and Burn (Love You Like A Love Song #1)

by Michele Callahan

  “My brother is a mess, but he’s all I’ve got left of my family. I love him and I’ll never give up on him, no matter how bad it gets. Never.”

  “I know and I understand. I feel the same way about my brothers.”

  “Chance, I don’t know how to be normal, and you want normal, a white picket fence and two kids and a dog.” A tear slid from her eye and he kissed it away. “You need a normal wife who knows how to cook casseroles and bake cookies and shit. I can’t do any of that.”

  “Fuck normal. There is no normal, Erin. That’s the big lie. Everybody is dealing with something. Everybody. I don’t want normal. I want you.”

  “But…” She tried to gather her thoughts for the next argument, but he lowered his hand from where he’d been holding it pressed to the door and used that strong grip to massage her bare shoulder, and the gentle touch made her burn.

  “Hush. I’m not normal, either. I’m just as messed up as you are.”

  His hand moved to cup her cheek and she leaned into his touch as he continued. “I’m no angel, Erin. I told you, my biological parents were Meth-heads who bought drugs before they bought food. Luckily, I had a grandmother who loved me, but she died and I didn’t get out of that house for good until I was seven.”

  “I’m sorry.” She unfurled one stiff finger at a time before lifting her hands to his sides. The heat of his body infiltrated her system through her palms and she fisted his sweater in both hands to keep him close.

  “Don’t be sorry, babe. But don’t hide from me either. I’m no white knight.” He kissed her softly, his warm lips pressed to hers in a caress so full of love her heart felt like it was about to explode. “I’m dark and dirty and I’ve walked through hell, just like you have. I’m not afraid of your past, and I don’t judge you for surviving it. We’ll figure this out together, okay? One day at a time. I want to be with you, Erin, if you’ll let me.”

  “So, you really quit your job?” The question sounded breathless and accepting to her ears but she was on the precipice of taking the biggest risk of her life. She loved him with every cell in her body, but she had to be sure. If she jumped, and he didn’t catch her, it would crush her and she’d never be able to write enough songs to heal the wound.

  “Yes. This is the internet age. I’ll work on the road. I can go wherever I want, do whatever I want. And I want to be with you. Here. New York. London. Fucking Antarctica. I don’t care where we go, but I can’t lose you.”

  “But what about your perfectly planned life?”

  “I don’t want a life without you.” He held her gaze, but the fire had left his eyes, replaced by a tenderness she’d never seen before. “We’re young. Maybe, someday, we’ll decide to slow down and start a family. Maybe not. Maybe we’ll be sitting in Paris when we’re fifty eating chocolate and ordering room service. I don’t care where we go. Just let me come with you. I love you.”

  “You love me?”

  “So much it hurts.”

  Every cell in her body hurt, physically ached to feel him close to her. “I have another show tomorrow night. Here. In two weeks we’re going on tour with the band, opening for them worldwide. I’ll be traveling for months, living out of a suitcase, new city almost every night.” She lifted her gaze to his. “Are you sure that’s what you want? What are you going to do? You’re a workaholic, Chance. You’ll go crazy. And then you’ll hate me.”

  “No. I’ll work online. I already talked to the partners, and they agreed to keep me on as a consultant. Trust me, I’ll have more work than I know what to do with. Don’t worry about me. You do your thing, I’ll do mine, and when we’re done for the day, we’ll order room service and get naked.”

  She studied him. He meant it. And it made sense. “Thank God for the internet.” She smiled up at him, and stopped trying to keep her heart out of her eyes. She dropped the walls she’d built so many years ago. Just for him. “I’m putting my heart in your hands, Chance. You better take care of it.”

  “Is that a yes?”

  “Yes. To everything. I love you.”

  He shuddered and dropped his lips to hover over hers. “About fucking time, woman. You were making me nervous.”

  “Shut up and kiss me.”

  He did just that, taking what she offered with a hunger that left her breathless. He yanked on the ribbon that held her top on until the white corset split enough to give him access to every curve and valley. Then he worked his way down her body, kissed and suckled her neck and breasts until she tilted her head back and moaned.

  Fingers buried in his hair, she let him have his way, gave into to his sexual demands.

  He hiked her tiny white skirt up to her waist and shoved the thin lacy strap of her thong aside to work her with his mouth and tongue. Chance dropped to his knees, right there in front of the dressing room door and put his mouth on her, devoured her like a starving man, like he’d never get enough of the taste of her.

  The assault on her clit made her knees weak, but he held her steady with one hand on her hip. With the other, he pressed two fingers deep inside her wet heat. Within seconds she exploded, but he didn’t relent, he worked her until she moaned and whimpered and came apart again.

  This time her knees did give out, but he caught her with an extremely satisfied male chuckle and kissed his way back up her body to reclaim her mouth.

  The taste of her desire on his tongue made her impossibly hot. She shoved at his chest. “I want to ride you, Chance. With my wings on.”

  The visual hit him and she watched his eyes go nearly slack. “You’re so fucking hot, woman, you’re going to kill me.”

  “Trust me, it’ll be a good death.” She followed him to the floor as he lay on his back and she helped him out of his pants. He grabbed a condom from the pocket and rolled it on as she stepped out of her thong. When she had him gloriously naked under her, she lowered herself onto his thick length and threw her head back as he stretched and filled her body, her soul, her life. Tilting her hips to get a better angle, she didn’t stop until he was buried to the hilt, as deep as he could get inside her.

  Wings behind her, she felt like an ancient and all-powerful goddess when his fingers dug into her hips to pull her closer. His face was flushed and strain lined his mouth as he tried to maintain control.

  “You’re mine now, Chance. Forever.” Truth. And she was his.

  “Forever.”

  He pulled her head down to his and kissed her until there were no more words in her head, just pleasure, and love, and Chance burning her up from the inside out.

  Epilogue

  Six Months Later

  Chance adjusted the guitar strap over his left shoulder, plucked the strings to make sure his bass guitar was still in tune, and blew a stream of nervous air past his lips. Erin had sprayed black-and-red stripes in his hair and spiked it into a wild, porcupine-like entity on top of his head. He had on tight black leather pants and a black vest that looked like it had come straight out of a rock and roll magazine article from two decades ago.

  Erin had been beside herself two days ago when he’d first tried it all on. She said he looked retro.

  Then her eyes had gotten that look that made his cock hard in five seconds flat and they’d spent the rest of the afternoon having hot, sweaty sex.

  He was so fucking in love with that woman, it was almost unbearable sometimes. It hurt just to look at her.

  But he looked. He couldn’t stop looking. Even now, when he was about to embarrass the hell out of himself onstage in front of several thousand people. She was out there with her band, doing her thing while he waited side stage right. He was on next.

  Be a rock star was about to be checked off his list.

  Jake’s outrageous laughter hit him first and he cringed. Great. His brothers must have actually checked their email. Erin had arranged for all of them to be here to witness this epic humiliation.

  Here it comes. Chance turned around, and sure enough, all three of his brothers were right behind him.r />
  “Holy shit, bro. What did she do to you, dip you in ’80’s juice?” Jake’s eyes were lit up with laughter.

  Chance grinned back. He couldn’t help it. He was too fucking happy. “Shut up, asshole.”

  Derek smirked and walked around him in a slow circle. “Nice ass, but I think the sock in your pants is a bit of false advertising.”

  Before Chance could respond, Mitchell stepped up and lifted his hand to test the spikes on top of Chance’s head with his palm. Chance had to dodge out from under his brother’s groping. “Don’t touch the hair.”

  All of his brothers laughed and Chance laughed with them. He was glad they were here. He hadn’t been home in months, spending the time on the road with Erin. Her career was taking off, she’d hit a couple charts, and one of her videos was climbing toward a million views.

  He heard her song start winding down and knew it was almost time. “I’m on in about a minute.” He looked at each of his brothers with a new and deeper appreciation. “I’m glad you guys are here.”

  “So are we.” Mitchell hit him on the shoulder while Jake and Derek hovered.

  Jake cleared his throat. “So, this was really on your list?”

  “Be a rock star? Fuck, yeah. What did you write down? Join the rodeo?”

  “Naw.” Jake blushed and all three of his brothers smelled blood, but Mitchell spared him.

  “So, you want to be a rock star?” Mitchell wore a blazer and had a pair of expensive sunglasses resting on top of his head. He even had a bit of a tan.

  “No. Erin’s got that covered. This is one time only. I just need to check this off the list, for Mom.” Chance chuckled and took another look at the guitar and insane outfit he was wearing. “Guess I was a crazy ten-year-old motherfucker who just wanted to get hot girls.”

  “Well, you got that covered.” Derek’s attention was on the section of stage visible from where they all stood. Erin, dressed all in red tonight, was out there giving an amazing performance. Chance couldn’t help the feeling of utter and complete contentment that filled him. She was his. That goddess onstage came home to him every fucking night.

  “Yeah. I got hot woman covered.”

  “When’s the wedding?” Jake asked.

  “She wants to get married at Christmas. She’s booked for a show in Vegas. You fuckers better be there.” Just over three months, and she would officially be his forever. And he didn’t care if they got married by Elvis himself, as long as she was his.

  “Like we’d let Elvis marry you without witnesses.” Derek shifted his leather jacket on his shoulders with a grin.

  Mitchell cleared his throat. “Mom would have loved her.”

  All four of them were silent for a few seconds and Chance accepted the moment of shared grief. His mom would have loved Erin, would have loved fussing over his beautiful bride, buying flowers, dress shopping and tasting cake. All that female insanity would have made his mom beyond happy.

  “Mom’ll be watching.” Jake turned to stare at Erin. For once, Jake looked like a city boy, minus his usual cowboy hat and boots.

  “Fuck that. She’s probably looking at you right now and wondering what the fuck happened to her fourth favorite son.” Derek smacked him on the back and Chance laughed.

  The moment was broken by Erin’s seductive voice as she told the story of a ten-year-old boy’s promise to a very special mother.

  When he walked onstage, the crowd screamed. Erin smiled, so much love in her eyes that her entire body glowed with it. His brothers’ loud shouts of approval defied the odds and made it to his ears above the din.

  Four chords. Steady beat. He could do this. He’d been practicing for three months.

  He nodded to the drummer and the real bass guitar player, who had agreed to this crazy stunt with a grin.

  Erin smiled at him from her place up front and counted down.

  He hit his first chord and let it all go. He jammed, made faces, stuck his tongue out at the crowd, swung his hips just to hear the girls scream, and he swore he could hear his mother’s laughter.

  He played, and he loved Erin more with every fucking note.

  Dear reader, thank you for spending time with Chance and Erin and the Walker Brothers. If you enjoyed this book, please take a moment to leave a review at your favorite retailer. Help fellow readers find good books, and help your favorite authors keep writing. Thank you!

  Read on for a sneak peek of Jake Walker’s love story in

  Alone With You….

  Alone With You

  Love You Like A Love Song, Book 2

  Find out what happens when Jake Walker runs into the only woman who ever broke his heart. Sometimes, all true love needs is a second chance…

  February 2016

  Alone With You

  Love You Like A Love Song, Book 2

  A Contemporary Romance

  By Michele Callahan

  Coming February 2016

  Copyright © 2016 by Michele Callahan

  About Alone With You

  Love You Like A Love Song, Book 2

  Claire Miller fell in love with Jake in the third grade. Life was on the fast track to perfect when he finally moved her out of his ‘friend zone’ their senior year. But one hot night of reckless passion changed things between them forever. Jake rocked her world, but the two young lovers had plans for their lives, and neither she nor Jake were willing to bend. Knowing she could never be what he needs, she let him go, and has missed him every day since. That was seven years ago. Plenty of time for Jake to fall in love with someone new, get married, and move on.

  ***

  Trouble is, he did none of those things. And now that she’s back in town, seeing him again stirs up all those old feelings. She’s only going to be around for a few weeks, and they both still want different things. No matter how much she wants to be with Jake, she can’t give up the life she’s worked so hard to build. But Jake just won’t be reasonable, and is relentless in his determination to get her back into his life, and his bed.

  ***

  Jake Walker knew the first time he saw Claire, when he was eight years old, that he wanted to marry her. Neighbors and best friends, he spent a decade by her side, growing up and falling in love with the sweetest, smartest, most incredible girl he’d ever met. Everything was perfect, right up until the day she got on an airplane headed for California and never came home. At seventeen, he watched her walk away. But seven years later, the sight of her hits him like a punch to the gut. She’s more beautiful than ever, and every cell in his body demands that she is “The One.” Her kisses can’t lie, and he knows every time he touches her that the fire still blazes between them.

  ***

  Lust. Desire. Passion. Jake and Claire can’t resist taking the ride, but nothing has changed. Sometimes, true love isn’t enough. Sometimes, the only thing that can make a stubborn heart face the truth is being left behind…

  Excerpt: Alone With You

  “Come on.” Jake tilted his head toward the family room and Claire followed him into the comfortable space she knew almost as well as her own home.

  Two large couches sat opposite each other with a rectangular table between them. A large fireplace took up half the wall at one end of the room, and a giant television hung from the wall on the other side. Southwestern style blankets had been hung over the couch backs and the room was decorated with horses in all forms. There were small horse statues, bronze horse sculture pieces hung on the walls, and racing horses had been woven into the area rug that covered the floor.

  In the center of the coffee table stood a single, empty, glass soda bottle.

  “Is that…?” Holy shit. Had he kept it?

  “Yes.”

  “Oh, no.” Claire took a step back, but too late. Jake closed the double glass doors behind her, shutting them in the room. The windows were hung with one-way sheers and the glass doors were covered with blinds. They would be completely alone. Even if any of his crew came into the house from outside, the
y wouldn’t be able to get in. Claire knew, because she’d given Jake her virginity on that rug seven years ago.

  And just like that night, so long ago, Jake clicked the lock on the door throwing Claire’s mind into a flashback. Hot bodies writhing on the floor in front of the fireplace. Jake covering her body, taking her innocence as she took his, both of them too overcome with emotion to talk. She closed her eyes to block out her view of the fireplace, but that was the wrong thing to do. The room smelled like leather and…him.

  “This was a bad idea.” Claire’s voice rang with panic and there wasn’t a thing she could do about it. Alone. With Jake.

  Jake froze. “So, is that your answer? No?”

  Claire walked to the couch and sat down. She put her coffee cup on the table, right next to that long-necked soda bottle that had helped her give herself to Jake all those years ago. She stared at the glass bottle for a minute. She still wanted Jake. She’d known being with him again was going to hurt. But now, it was time to adjust to the reality of their situation and get things moving. They only had three weeks. She could either sit here reminiscing about the past and everything she’d lost…or she could spin that bottle and get Jake naked.

  Pulse pounding in her ears, she reached over and laid the bottle down on its side. With a familiar flick of her wrist she sent it spinning in a perfect circle. Just like old times. “Sit down, Jake.”

  “You still remember the rules?” Jake abandoned his post at the door and sank down next to her on the couch, just like the last time.

  “West side of the table is me, east side is you.” When the bottle stopped spinning, it was pointing right at her and she actually closed her eyes in anticipation as Jake whispered the question that caused her heart all the trouble she could handle. Just three words. They weren’t I love you, but these three words were very powerful, and much more dangerous at the moment.