Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars(9)

“Try all of them and your movie. I thought they were amazing.” The smile she gave him was sweet and soft. How many times had he closed his eyes and seen that exact smile? Too many to count.

When they’d been friends, Gemma had been his biggest fan, pumping him up when he’d been ready to quit, and he’d adored her for it. In return, he would have died before letting anyone hurt her, and those that had dared had ended up with their asses kicked. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was a bully.

Sure, he’d been just a dumb kid in love, but he was a man now, and those feelings were still there between them. If only he could get her to forgive him for not fighting harder. He should have followed her back to Rock Canyon and not given up until they’d at least had closure. They might not have stayed together anyway, but they wouldn’t be in this awkward limbo of polite conversation and stolen touches either.

But really, she should have believed me when I told her nothing had happened.

It was true they’d both made mistakes, but they’d both been young, too. And now they had both grown up.

Only one thing hadn’t changed: when he touched Gemma, she still felt like his.



AFTER THEY ORDERED, Travis continued to ask Gemma about what she’d been doing for the last ten years, and she was exhausted. She’d nearly mentioned Charlie half a dozen times. It was hard to hold back such a big part of her life, but the only other option was telling Travis.

His life is way too crazy to include a kid; what happens the first time he blows Charlie off for an interview?

The thought of her happy child being hurt sent cold fury through her body, strengthening her resolve. She wasn’t trying to be cruel, but she had to put Charlie first.

But is sitting here eating lunch with his dad putting Charlie first?


If he knew she’d seen Travis and didn’t tell him, Charlie would be brokenhearted anyway.

It was selfish of her to have said yes to Travis, but despite her reservations, there was still a pull for her. She was still drawn to him, and it was hard to fight, especially when he kept touching her, challenging every defense and reason she had for not trusting him. Like asking her about the last ten years, instead of dominating the conversation. What could she say that could possibly compare to the life he was living or the people he had met? They’d always been polar opposites in personality and social standing, but now it was like they were from two different planets.

Too bad her heart didn’t understand that. Every time he reached out to take her hand or gave her that crooked grin, her heart skipped, hopped, and jumped in her chest like a jackrabbit. It was as if she was seventeen years old again, staring into the eyes of the same nineteen-year-old guy she couldn’t seem to believe loved her. It had been one thing to be the unpopular sophomore with a penchant for romance novels befriended by the new junior with the killer blue eyes, but to be Travis’s girlfriend? To be his love? It had never made sense, but her dad had once told her, “Love doesn’t have to make sense. Love can be patient and kind, but it can also be a real bitch. Just try not to piss it off.”

My dad the philosopher.

Dick Carlson hadn’t always been angry and combative. He’d had his moments of humor and had been an excellent showman until his death. People around town had loved him and still missed him, but for his wife and children, the feelings had been mixed up and sometimes wrong. For Gemma especially, it was like a two-sided coin: heads—she loved and missed the funny guy who had taught her to fish; tails—she didn’t miss the awful times when he lost control and took his anger out on her, calling her his biggest disappointment.

Her brother James had graduated with a business degree and was the district manager for a grocery chain in the Boise area. Her sister Dawn had gone to nursing school in Colorado but moved back to Idaho after graduation, married a nice, successful lawyer, and was the perfect wife and mother. Drew, who was just three years older than Gemma, had been an all-around athlete, but his sweet spot had been football. After getting a full ride to Boise State, he’d been drafted to the NFL, and her dad had been over the moon.

Gemma hadn’t been athletic and had preferred books to extracurricular activities, but the first time she’d brought Travis home to study, her dad had puffed up proud. Tall and lean, Travis had played football, basketball, and the guitar like Brad Paisley, and her dad had thought he’d be a good influence on her.

Then again, he also used to ask Travis to take her running so she would lose some weight, and she’d wanted to die of embarrassment.

Travis had ignored those little digs while still being polite to her dad, but never too friendly. When the mean girls had said the only reason Travis was friends with her was because of what her dad did for a living, she hadn’t believed it. Most of the time. If that had been the case, he could have bailed on her any time after he signed with Off Road Records, but he hadn’t. It had been up to her to end things between them.

That night was still painful, still in the top three, coming in right after her dad kicking her out of the house when he found out she was pregnant and the night her mom had called to tell her he was dead.

The night she had ended things with Travis was a hard one to forget, especially when he sat across from her now, larger than life. She could feel Phoenix there between them, like the big pink elephant in the room that no one wanted to acknowledge.

The server came back with their food, and Gemma took the first bite of her burrito, moaning, “Damn, that is so good. I haven’t had Mexican food in forever. The flavor is so . . .” Travis’s smile caught her eye, and she asked, “What?”