Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars(67)

He’d been a moron for not realizing how he’d made things sound, like he was putting them on the back burner. The problem was, he hadn’t talked to Big George about how his marriage would affect the way they’d always done things. Big George would be supportive, but there would definitely be an adjustment period. It was about time he took charge of his schedule and events, and cutting back would help show Gemma he was serious about them. First chance he got, he’d call George.

Mrs. Andrews was picking up her things as she said, “Oh, Gemma, are you going to call your mother, or do you want me to?”

Travis covered his mouth to hide his smile at Gemma’s outrage. “I’ll call my own mother, thank you.”

Mrs. Andrews gave Gemma a sharp glance but must have decided to hold her tongue. “I’ll be in touch then, if I have any other questions.”

Travis held the door for her as she walked out, and once it was shut, he strode over to his wife, wrapping her in his arms. “Hey. About before, the tour, I just . . .”

“It’s okay, you don’t have to . . .” Gemma started.

“Shut up and listen. I haven’t talked to Big George yet, but when I do, all of my interviews, and anything else, will be done on concert days. That way I can be home more, and spend all my extra time with my son and my beautiful wife.” Leaning down, he kissed her lips softly. When she didn’t pull away, he took that as a good sign and deepened the kiss.

The door banged open, and Travis heard Charlie say, “Yech. You aren’t going to do that all the time, are you?”

Gemma started laughing against his mouth, and Travis moved away to give his son a black look. “What’s the matter with a man kissing his wife?”

Charlie’s face was comical. “But it’s . . . my mom.”

Travis looked from Gemma to Charlie and said, “How ’bout whenever I’m about to kiss your mom, I say, ‘Avert your eyes’?”

Charlie looked down at Annie, as if getting the dog’s opinion telepathically, and shrugged. “Okay.”

Grinning, Travis said, “All right, now that we’ve established that, why don’t you avert your eyes for about five minutes?”

“Five minutes? Gross with a capital gag!”

As Charlie left the room, Travis and Gemma burst into hysterical laughter. When they finally calmed down, the tension was gone, and Gemma went into his arms willingly.

“I’m sorry,” Gemma said.

“It’s okay,” he said, kissing her hair, “You just gotta trust me, Gem. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

“I know.”

As they stood there holding each other tight, Charlie yelled, “Can I come out yet?”

They tried ignoring him, but by the third yell, Travis was exasperated, and Gemma squeezed his waist. “Welcome to parenthood, where privacy is a forgotten thing.”

He chuckled and kissed her again, thinking that he could deal with the lack of privacy as long as he got to have Charlie and Gemma.





Chapter Twenty-Two




* * *





TRAVIS WAS SLIPPING on his boots on Saturday afternoon when his cell phone rang, Big George’s grinning face flashing across the screen.

He tapped the answer and speakerphone buttons. “What’s up, George?”

“We got a problem, Travis. Someone knows who Gemma is.”

Travis paused as he tucked his boots under his jeans. “How the hell did that happen?”


“Hell if I know, but I just got off the phone with Carol at Country Weekly, who said she was calling out of courtesy. Someone knows who Gemma is and is making a buttload of money passing on the information.”

“Fuck.” He wasn’t ready to go on record about them, especially with Gemma being so gun shy about the press. “Can you see if Carol will hold the story until next week, and I’ll give her an exclusive?”

“I can do that, but Travis, if other people know who Gemma is, then they know where you are, and it won’t be long until they start heading up there to get their own stories.”

Travis pinched the bridge of his nose and cursed, trying to wrack his brain for a way to tell Gemma, but nothing came to mind. “I just need the weekend, George. I just need a little more time.”

“I hope Gemma appreciates all the pressure you’re putting on me, son.”

Travis hung up the phone, wanting to hit something. It had to be someone from Rock Canyon who’d given her up. He had introduced her to Callum and others as Gemma but hadn’t shared her last name, at least he didn’t think he had. Maybe he should tell Gemma about the leak and hide them away until he could do some damage control.

Except tonight they were taking Charlie to the fair, and he had been looking forward to their family “date.” Gemma had allowed this to count as date number two, and Charlie was going to a friend’s house afterward. He had something special planned for her tonight as well, and he really didn’t want to ruin the progress they’d made.

Maybe he had a couple of days, just enough time to solidify their relationship. Big George could handle it.

“Dad, are you coming?” Charlie yelled.

Travis stood up and headed down the hallway, giving himself one last mental pep talk. It was perfectly okay to want to enjoy these last few days before they had to make some big decisions about their future together, and that was just what he was going to do. Leaving his worries behind, he walked into the living room and found Charlie sitting on the couch.