Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars

Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars By Codi Gary


Dedication


To my awesome editor, Chelsey Emmelhainz:

Thank you for all you do to make me a better writer.

Just know your LOLs and love its make all the difference.





Chapter One



* * *





HOW MANY GLASSES of champagne did I have last night?

Gemma Carlson groaned, gritting her teeth against the stabbing pain that seemed to be spreading through her brain. She didn’t want to open her eyes, afraid of what she would see. Right now she was only sure of two things: one, her head hurt like a son of a bitch, and two, she was very, very naked.

Prying open her right eye, she tried to focus on her surroundings, but instead of seeing intricate, golden wallpaper, she found the walls were light-colored. A couch sat in the corner of this room; her room had a tiny office chair and desk. The landscape on the wall was new, too.

She opened both eyes, blinking rapidly at the dryness, and realized she had no idea where she was.

Which meant she obviously wasn’t in her hotel room.

A light snore behind her caught her attention and she stiffened, turning her head slowly to look at her bedmate. She sucked in a breath at the sight of dark curls and a broad back, the only things visible above the heavy comforter.

Travis.

What have I done?

Sitting up, she swallowed the rolling nausea and fought the splitting headache, catching her face in her hands. And then she felt it. Something cool and metallic on her finger. Something that definitely shouldn’t be there.

Pulling back her hands, she stared at the large, three-stoned diamond ring on her left index finger and froze.

Oh, f*ck.



22 hours earlier

GEMMA CARLSON WAS in heaven. Well, heaven for a twenty-eight-year-old single mom who hadn’t had a vacation in years. She’d spent a good chunk of her savings on a room in the beautiful O’Shea Hotel in Las Vegas to attend the Lovers of Romance Convention. As she walked past the large golden fountain in the lobby toward the elevator, she struggled with the two sacks of autographed books she’d managed to score at book signings. Now she could concentrate on her very important plans to order room service—probably a salad, followed by something sinfully dark and chocolatey—before heading out to the Kiss Awards. She was really looking forward to the big awards ceremony later that evening and had even brought a lovely black dress for the occasion. Not the elaborate ball gowns the award nominees would be wearing, but still pretty.

Afterward, she’d fill up the deep, claw-footed tub in her bathroom with some bubble bath and read one of her delicious new novels with a guaranteed happily ever after. The world was a shiny, perfect place.

Except it might be nice if a hot guy was waiting for me, ready to feed me calorie-free chocolate that actually tasted like the real thing.

Gemma shook her head at the thought. Her life worked too well for her to get involved with anyone, especially someone she picked up in a hotel bar. Besides, she could never have sex with a stranger; she was too paranoid from all the stories she read online about one-night stands gone wrong. And she had her son, Charlie, to think about.

So, if she wasn’t into casual sex, that left her with trying to meet someone, and honestly, she hadn’t been trying very hard. She’d barely dated in the last ten years because she was worried about how someone new would affect their lives. Besides, Rock Canyon was a small town, where everyone was up in everyone else’s business. She’d already felt awkward after one date with Charlie’s peewee football coach.

She stopped in front of the gold elevator doors, her fingers cramped and stiff as she set the bags at her feet. Flexing them, she reached out to press the up button and tapped her foot impatiently as she waited. She wanted to call Charlie to make sure he was having a good time at camp. It was the first time they’d ever been apart, and although she was enjoying the conference immensely, she missed her baby.

He’s not a baby anymore. He’s nine years old.

It was hard to imagine her sweet little baby, who had only been around six pounds at birth, was half-grown. In just a few years, he’d be in high school, dating and falling in love for the first time; God, just the thought of their first safe-sex talk was enough to make her wish he would never grow up. How do you explain safe sex when you got pregnant at seventeen?

Just make sure to use two birth control methods, honey. You never know when the condom’s going to break.

Not that she needed to be worrying about that now. So far, she’d been doing something right. Charlie was a vibrant, outgoing boy, and they were happy with it being just the two of them. Having him when she was basically a kid herself had been hard, but she’d done her best.

Still, time had gotten away from Gemma, and she was no longer the scared teen, struggling to make a life for herself and her newborn son. She was pushing thirty with a successful business, and her life was safe, secure, and . . . well, a little boring, actually. She concentrated on Charlie’s wants and needs so much, that she had little time for anything else.

Not this trip, though. This trip was about her. It was her one chance to be a little selfish and she was taking advantage of it. Charlie was at youth camp for another week, and while he was there, she was going to relax and get things done. When she got home tomorrow, the first order of business would be to tackle his closet. Who knew what kinds of things were growing inside it?