Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars(46)

“You’re right, I don’t.”

He waited for her to say more, but she didn’t. He opened the car door and said, “I’m going to go back to the hotel to shower and get a little sleep before I come over.”

“Good idea. You probably don’t want your son to smell you right now.”

“For the woman in the world’s biggest doghouse, you’re awfully sassy.”

The look she shot him was filled with piss and vinegar. “You just announced to the entire police station that we got married in Vegas. Before too long, the entire town is going to know, and now I’ll have to explain to my son that even though we’re married, it’s not real. Oh, and I had to bail my temporary husband out of jail. So, yeah, excuse me if I’m a little testy.”



GEMMA LEFT TRAVIS and went to open the bookstore, stopping off at The Local Bean to grab Charlie and a white mocha. When Gracie started to ask what had happened, Gemma just shook her head, and Gracie took the hint.

An hour later, she finally sat down to enjoy the quiet. Charlie had been picked up by his best friend’s mom, and she was going to get him when she closed the bookstore.

She’d done her best to explain their crazy situation to Charlie, but he’d been so excited that they were married, he had barely listened. Telling him that it might not work out had fallen on deaf ears, but she would deal with it later. For right now, Charlie had his dad, and he was over the moon. Now all she had to do was stop antagonizing Travis.

Being combative was doing nothing to help her keep the peace for Charlie’s sake, and it was making her want to binge eat. That was why she’d always been a little on the chunky side; she ate when she was emotional, and she still struggled with the desire to drown herself with food every day.

Turning up the radio, her friend Callie Jacobsen’s smoky voice came over the air waves. Callie had moved to Rock Canyon just after Gemma’s dad had died to be his replacement as the morning show DJ.

Gemma called into the station, and Callie picked up on the second ring. “Kat Country, what can I play for ya?”

“How about ‘Honky Tonk BadonkaDonk’?” Gemma said, smiling in anticipation of Callie’s response.

“How ’bout you bite me?” Callie said, her California accent coming through the line.

“Wanna come by when you’re done and have lunch with me?” Gemma asked.

“Sure, if you’ll talk your new hubby into letting me interview him,” Callie said.

No way had gossip spread that fast. “How do you know about that?”

“Hmmm . . . let’s see . . . pretty sure I read it in Small-Town Scandals this morning,” Callie said.

Gemma grabbed her copy of the Rock Canyon Press, which she’d picked up on her way in, and flipped to the column’s page.

AND THE HITS KEEP COMING

That’s right, ladies, Travis Bowers, country music’s sexiest rock star has returned, but don’t get too excited . . . . Turns out Rock Canyon’s prodigal son is officially off the market. At least, that’s what he told patrons of Buck’s last night, right before he got into a drunken brawl with the Coulter brothers.


This columnist is happy to report that Travis came out the victor but was, unfortunately, picked up by Rock Canyon’s finest to sleep it off at the station overnight. The question is, now that he’s here, and married to Gemma Carlson, does that mean we can talk about the elephant in the room?

Did Travis know he was about to be a daddy when he left town? Or did he find out a bride wasn’t all he’d signed up for after he tied the knot? Have no fear, I will have all the details for you very soon!

“This cannot be happening,” Gemma groaned.

“You sound stressed. Was this not a good thing? ’Cause I thought you and Travis . . .”

Just then Mike passed her window, and by the thunderous expression on his face, Gemma knew what was coming. Her stomach dropped, and she broke out in a cold sweat as she said, “I’ll work on it, but I gotta go.”

“Seriously? Hey . . .”

Gemma hung up the phone just as Mike threw the door open.

“You got f*cking married?”





Chapter Fourteen




* * *





TRAVIS WOKE UP a few hours later, still feeling like a zombie. Between the sore ribs, the hangover, and the thoughts running through his head all night, he’d gotten less than nothing as far as sleep went. Add to that the spat with Gemma this morning and he was definitely feeling crappy.

He’d been trying to find a way to resolve all their issues, but he hadn’t come up with anything that would make everyone happy.

Scenario number one was the first thought that had come to mind last night, when he was drunk and angry, but somehow he couldn’t imagine his son being happy if Travis sued for sole custody, so that was out.

The second had him taking Charlie every other weekend, but if he was on the road, he had a hard time imagining Gemma would be okay with that. Plus, how was he supposed to get to know his son amid concerts, interviews, and whatever else Big George scheduled for him? He had always been the yes guy, the one who would do anything, but now, with Charlie . . . well, they would have to make some changes.

The last idea had them all living under one roof, while he and Gemma worked on their temporary marriage and he got to know Charlie. If he was being honest, that was the one that had been pushing to the forefront. Whether they liked it or not, they had a child together, and right now they were married. They couldn’t spend the rest of their lives going back and forth about their mistakes; it wouldn’t be good for them or Charlie.