Assured (Soul Serenade #2)(55)

With a small nod, she turns toward the bunks. I place my hands on her hips and walk slowly behind her. She slides into the bottom bunk and I climb in behind her, pulling the curtain closed. Curling in a ball, she faces the wall. I slide a hand under the sweatshirt and rest my palm against her smooth skin, then bury my face in her neck, just breathing her in.

“I’m sorry about tonight,” I whisper.

Her body stiffens. “What?”

“I botched it. I should have waited for a more romantic time and place to tell you how much I love you.” I kiss her neck.

She instantly relaxes.

“I wanted the first time I told you to be special, but I just couldn’t. . . . In that moment, I needed you to know.”

“I wouldn’t change it, Cole. It’s you. You’re confident and cocky, but you’re also my sweet Cole. It wasn’t botched. It was honest.”

I kiss her temple then place my lips next to her ear. “I want to be your lover and your best friend.” I nip at her ear.

This gets her attention. Turning her head, she looks at me. “You remember,” she whispers.

“Every f*cking word you’ve ever said, sweets,” I assure her.

Turning her head back to face the wall, it’s quiet until I hear her sniff. “I love you, too.”

“Stacy?”

“I’m fine. I just don’t feel good, but my heart is full. Full of you, full of us. I need you to know that.”

I scoot in as close as I can get to her. “I know, baby. Mine too.” I hold her close until we both eventually drift off to sleep.





I’ve been awake for hours. Long enough to know we reached our destination. I’ve been lying here trying to figure out how I’m going to explain the bruises, or better yet how to hide them.

One thing I do know is that I can’t tell him. I can’t tell anyone. I will not have the demise of Soul Serenade on my hands. Those four men have worked hard to get where they are, and I’m not going to ruin it for them. Besides, nothing happened. I just need to be more aware of my surroundings, make sure I’m not alone. It’s a solid plan. Now if I could just decide on what to do with the bruises.

Cole shifts behind me and I know I’m running out of time. Luckily, it’s been cooling off, so I could get away with a long-sleeve T-shirt. I’ll make sure it’s my Soul Serenade shirt. I can use the “I don’t feel well” card and the excuse that I’m cold. I can pull that off.

What I’m really struggling with is Cole. How am I going to keep him from seeing them? I run through the tour schedule in my mind, and luckily, we don’t have any breaks where we can get a room for the night. That will help. No way could I get away with staying covered if we had a room to ourselves. He would know without a doubt that I’m hiding something.

Cole’s hand that has been under my shirt—well, his shirt—all night snakes up toward my chest. “Morning, sweets. How you feeling?” his sleep-laced voices asks as he palms my breast.

Any other day, I would be doing whatever I could in this cramped space to give him more of me, to see and to touch more of him. Not today. Today, I pretend to be sick.

“I’m just feeling blah, I guess. Nothing hurts, just cold,” I lie, burrowing into the covers to make it more believable. I’m going to hell for this. I either lie to the man I love, or tell him the truth and ruin what he and his band have busted their asses for. There is no good ending to either solution, so I’m just going to hold onto him. Cherish every touch, every kiss and pray that f*ck-stick Wilson doesn’t spill. Surely, he’s smarter than that, right?

“Can I do anything?”

“I think I just need to rest.” Another lie falling from my lips.

“Are you hungry?” He reaches up to the small shelf above and grabs his phone. “I can make you some breakfast.”

“You cook?”

He laughs. “I was thinking like a toasted bagel.”

“Okay, Mr. Hampton. Dazzle me with your toasting skills.”

“Oh, don’t you worry.”

I roll over slowly to face him. I bite my tongue when I hit my arm on the side of the bus. Shit, that hurts!

“You haven’t seen anything until you’ve seen me spread cream cheese.” He winks.

Cocky ass.

“Uh-huh. Let me up, crazy man, I have to pee.”

Sweet Cole returns as he kisses my forehead before rolling out of the bunk.

I rush past him and into the small bathroom, locking the door. Once I’ve handled my business, I push back my sleeves to wash my hands and dark purple bruises cover my arms.

Shit.

I do bruise easily, but these look like I’ve been beaten. You can see exactly where his fingers were. I swallow the lump in my throat, knowing I’m lucky he didn’t take it further. The look in his eyes said he wanted to. I have never been so grateful for the interruption of voices in my life.

A single tear slides down my cheek as I think about lying to Cole, to Logan and the rest of the guys. I hate Wilson and the position he’s put me in. I hate that I really, truly, finally believe that what Cole wants is more than just to get his dick wet and that I’m the one who could screw it all up. I avoided him thinking he would use me and here I am being the liar in the relationship.

“You okay in there, sweets?” Cole lightly knocks on the door.