Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars(18)

Just one weekend that’s for me in ten years doesn’t make me a bad mom.

Once she left for home tomorrow, Travis would be out of her life again and back to his. She had planned to keep their little tryst to herself, but could she do it? Could she just go home and pretend nothing had happened? And if she went with him to this event, how was she going to spend the evening continuing to keep a tight lid on her emotions and hiding the details of her life?

Because otherwise I’ll be wrecking three lives that work fine just the way they are.

If she were going to tell Travis about Charlie, she should have done it ten years ago, despite what she’d thought was going on between him and the blonde in his trailer.

Closing her eyes, she drifted back to that night, and her stomach roiled with pain.

“Travis, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” the woman had asked, her tone sweet as honey but with a bitter aftertaste.

Gemma had pulled away from Travis and run. She’d almost made it to the gate before he caught her and spun her around.

“Let me go,” she’d cried, swinging her arm. Her hand had connected with his cheek and he’d grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently until her gaze met his.

“Gemma! Nothing happened. I walked into my tour bus and found her like that. I was telling her to leave when you arrived.”

Did he think she was an idiot? Sobs choking her, she couldn’t even speak. His grip had loosened and he’d rubbed her arms, trying to comfort her. “I swear, there hasn’t been anybody else.”

Even if that was true, she knew eventually there would be. Who were they kidding? He was going to spend over half the year on the road, with beautiful girls coming on to him left and right. Eventually he was going to give in to temptation. In time, he would leave her anyway . . .

What about the baby?

If she told him now, would he quit? Would he come back to Rock Canyon and get a job at one of the dairies? He’d be miserable and would probably hate her for it. Music was all Travis had talked about since the minute she’d met him. If she told him now, he’d give up his dream. And eventually resent her and the baby.

“It’s over, Travis.” Her voice had been shaky but firm.

“What?”

She’d felt sick at the hurt in his eyes but knew it was for the best. “I said it’s over, Travis. I’m setting you free.”

“I don’t want to be free. I just want you,” he’d pleaded, and she’d hated it, knowing what it had cost him. Travis didn’t beg anyone for anything.

“We’re headed in different directions, so why not just end it before something really bad happens?”

They’d stood there for what felt like hours, her waiting on pins and needles for him to say something, anything to change her mind, but instead, all he’d said was, “Okay.”

Gemma opened her eyes, staring at her reflection, demons warring inside her as she remembered walking away from him. She had cried all the way back to the airport, praying he would come after her, but he never had. The first few months, she knew he’d asked Mike about her, until she’d told Mike to stop answering him. There had been times over the years when she’d been tempted to call him to tell him about Charlie. But once she’d made a mental list of pros and cons, she’d always changed her mind.

In fact, the day Charlie was born, she’d called his cell from the hospital but hung up when he answered. By that time Travis already had two hit singles and was on his way to the top. It wouldn’t have been fair.

Then she’d kept her eye on his career over the years. The tabloids had adored him for the fodder he gave: new girl every week, raging hotel parties that cost him thousands of dollars, and that was just in his early days. When they began calling him “The Hell-Raiser of Country Music,” she’d known she had made the right decision. Charlie didn’t need to be associated with that type of life.

Taking the towel off her head, she wrapped it around her body and left the bathroom. She found Travis sitting on the edge of the bed, his elbows on his knees. He glanced up when he saw her and smiled.

“You’re running out of time, Cinderella.”

Heart pounding, she opened her mouth to start telling him about her doubts. The reasons why they shouldn’t do this. But his hand snaked out and grabbed her before she could form the words, pulling her into the space between his legs as he looked up at her.

“My Gem.” His glance was so tender it stole her breath and her heart all over again.


She didn’t argue, couldn’t really. No matter the distance or the obstacles they had faced, Travis had always been on her mind; she had just hoped her feelings would fade with time. They hadn’t, obviously, but it didn’t matter now. There had never been a real future with Travis, and despite her own desires, Charlie was more important. His happiness and normalcy meant more than fleeting desire and an old flame that had never stopped burning.

But while she was here, in this moment, she could take away a little something for herself, couldn’t she?

Her arms slipped over his shoulders and she tried not to think about anything beyond Travis’s hands stroking her back and the kisses raining along the skin above the towel. For just a little while, she didn’t want to be responsible, levelheaded Gemma Carlson. She wanted to be Gem again.

“Gemma, I want you. I want this and more. Do you understand?” he asked, his eyes lifting again to meet hers. Her vision blurred and she tried to turn away, but he caught her chin with his thumb and forefinger.