Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars(25)

This was insane; how could she have been so stupid? What had possessed her to get married in Vegas? Alcohol was no excuse; deep down she knew that. No, it was her fault she had taken a complicated situation and turned it into a maze of epic proportions.

Who the hell doesn’t remember getting married? Opening the door slowly, she poked out her head and looked for signs of life. The hallway was quiet, and saying a little prayer, she slipped out of his room and hobbled to the elevator. Trying to keep her dress up was a chore with her other hand full, and she ended up pushing the elevator button with her elbow, still hoping Travis wouldn’t wake up and come looking for her. Or that some stranger wouldn’t come out and see her walk of shame.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

The doors opened and the attendant poked out his head. “Going down, ma’am?”

Gemma stepped in with a loud sigh and told him her floor, making sure to keep her back to him. If he thought anything of her odd behavior, he didn’t mention it. She tried to fight the tears filling her eyes, but her vision still blurred.

God, how could she face Travis? Chances were he’d agree they’d made a mistake and would want their marriage annulled, but what if he questioned why she wanted one? Why wouldn’t she want to stay married to a handsome, successful man?

Because I’ve been keeping too many secrets and they’re all about to come crashing down around my head?

But her biggest fear, the one that really made her want to run for the hills, wasn’t that Travis would agree to an annulment but that he wouldn’t. If he told her he wanted her, wanted this, she wouldn’t be able to walk away.

And then she’d have to tell Travis about their son, and if things didn’t work out, it would devastate Charlie. To get a taste of being a family only to have it end when they couldn’t sustain it? She couldn’t do that to him. Charlie had only known love and security; she’d tried to protect him as best she could. She didn’t want his heart broken.

She’d heard what could happen to normal marriages, let alone the ones that left the couple separated for long months. Celebrity couples were always splitting up due to scheduling conflicts and infidelities, and if she took a chance with Travis, that’s where she’d end up. She’d read the books and seen the movies of the week; they would split, and their private business would be all over the place.

And if Travis requested visitation, Charlie would be shuffled around the country on his tours, surrounded by strange people, unprotected. What if whoever Travis hired to babysit Charlie didn’t watch him and he got lost or hurt? She was very careful about who she let into Charlie’s life, but if he was with Travis, she’d have no control. No way to keep him safe and sheltered. All the normalcy she had struggled to provide for him would be gone.

Squeezing her eyes shut against the headache and tears, she leaned against the wall of the elevator her knees weakening as her stomach turned over. The ride was quick, and Gemma tried to act natural as she sidestepped out of the elevator, giving the man a weak smile He returned her smile and she continued to moonwalk away until the doors closed.

Alone at last, she sped to her door and dropped her shoes on the ground, frantically searching for her hotel key card in her purse. Finally finding it, she shoved it into the slot and rushed in, reaching back to grab her forgotten shoes. Shutting the door, she stepped out of the cupcake gown and threw it across the bed, the once beautiful gown now a shameful reminder of her actions.

“You may now kiss your bride.”

Gemma wished she could remember what that kiss had felt like, or the look on Travis’s face, but her mind was blank. Fresh tears filled her eyes; she had never imagined that when she got married she wouldn’t even be able to remember making her vows. Had she even walked down an aisle?


The thought that she might have been sitting during her wedding made her even more disgusted with herself. She went into the bathroom to clean up, taking her contacts out of her already irritated eyes and putting on her glasses instead. Pulling clean clothes from her bag, she changed quickly, and put the dress and shoes back in the garment bag. Gemma reached up to remove the diamond teardrop necklace, dropping it back into its velvet case.

She closed up all of her bags and then carried them from the room and back down the hallway to the elevator. As she waited impatiently, she closed her eyes against the throbbing pain in her head.

If I go to him now and tell him it was a mistake, he’ll probably agree.

But if he didn’t, where would that leave them? She had dreamed of marrying Travis every night for two years during high school, and if she was being honest, probably longer than that. But those dreams had changed when she’d held Charlie for the first time and decided to do everything in her power to make his life good.

“You’re a selfish little coward, Gemma Anne. You’re dead to me.”

If only her father was alive, he would see how true his words actually had been.

The elevator dinged, and she opened her eyes to find the same man inside. “Leaving so soon?”

“Long drive,” she said, her voice sounding raspy.

“I hear you. I drive home to South Dakota every Christmas. Seems like it takes forever some trips,” he said, giving her a smile.

Normally, Gemma would have been friendly and asked him about his family or hometown, but she just wasn’t up to it. So she said nothing, leaning back against the wall and trying not to vomit as the small box started to drop. When the elevator stopped, she carried out her bags and thanked him before making a beeline for the front desk.