Crazy in Love (Blue Lake #3)(49)

“Well you did,” Rita answered. “You caused trouble for all of us.”

With a hiss, Rita turned on her heel and walked out the door.

As Cole spun and caught Rachael’s gaze, he nearly broke. She looked completely torn. Wrung out.

“I swear I don’t know who took the picture,” she said, her hands still covering her mouth. “The only people who were at the inn this afternoon were Dom and Martina, my designer. It had to be one of them.”

Cole nodded. “Dom, then.”

She shrugged. “Probably.”

“Quite the winner, that one.”

He hadn’t realized he was still holding the water bottle until it crackled from the pressure of his grip. He loosened it, popping the bottle back into form.

“Did I really cause trouble?” she asked, her light eyes shimmering in the dim backstage lighting. “Tell me the truth.”

No reason to lie, right?

“I’m betting the magazine has your address. Come morning, there’s going to be people from the bay area knocking down your door. Your town is going to be turned upside down until they’re satisfied that they’ve unearthed every juicy secret. And they’ll pay handsomely for dirt, too, without caring whether it’s legit or some back alley bullshit fairy tale.” The anger in him rose. “As for me, I’ll have no choice but to give a public statement about what happened in Houston…and here.” He chucked the bottle into the corner. “Looks like the media wants to get personal. Instead of focusing on my music, they want to run my personal life through the mud. Did you cause trouble? No, you didn’t.” He shook his head. “I did it to myself.”

She brushed his arm, but he shook away from her touch. Right now, there was a problem, and he had to fix it. If he stayed focused, performed the show without missing a beat—or forgetting any damned words—he could hold his head high at the next press conference. But if he let Rachael in and let her know how much this whole situation bothered him, how much he hated that the limelight was going to ruin the low-key life she treasured so much…he was liable to fall apart.

“Cole,” she said reaching out for him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t think that—“

“It’s all right,” he interrupted, grabbing his guitar and striding into the hall. “I didn’t think either. But I’m thinking straight now. Can you find your way back?”

“Back?”

“To your chair or whatever?” He strummed a few chords from the first song of the show and tried to push out thoughts of Rachael and the way things were going to change for her. “Can you make it back?”

“Yeah, I can take care of myself.” Her voice sounded distant as if spoken in a tunnel. “Again, Cole, I’m so sorry.”

“Me too.” He longed to glance at her over his shoulder. Take one look at that sweet face. But he didn’t. Couldn’t. He buried himself in the song playing itself out on his fingertips. “I wish this had never happened.”

By the time he realized it’d been silent for far too long and turned back around, Rachael was gone.





Chapter Fifteen





Cole marched on stage to the thunderous roar of thousands of screaming fans. It was a continuous booming rumble that vibrated the stage, the floor…even the air. Every moment was electric, a spark of energy that shook him to the core. Adrenaline surged through his veins. Facing a crowd like this was exhilarating. Frightening in a spine-tingling way.