Rock All Night(130)

“You’re good at it,” I said – a little white lie. Actually a big white lie, but I wanted to keep him there no matter the cost.

I moved right up next to him and put my arms around him. He held onto me, drew me in closer.

“We’ve just been spending so much time together,” he murmured. “I think that’s the problem. Twenty-four hours a day for the last five weeks… no wonder we’re fighting all the time. I just want to back it off for a little bit, take a breather.”

It sounded reasonable.

It sounded logical.

…so why was I so afraid?

“But… what about…”

“What about what?”

“Your plans… everybody’s leaving today…”

“We’ll stay in Vegas till I figure it out. You stay here – I’ll talk to Miles, get it set up. You can go to the spa, go shopping, whatever you want. Just charge it all to the room. I’ll be back in a day or two, I just need to get my head clear. Then we’ll spend a couple days going crazy. Crazy fun, I mean.” He pulled back, looked me in the eyes. “Okay?”

I was so, so afraid.

But what else could I do but say ‘yes’?

He wasn’t breaking up with me.

He wasn’t ‘leaving’ me.

He just wanted a little time apart.

I mean, we had been together so much, it had become claustrophobic in a way. I just hadn’t seen it until now because I wanted him so badly. No matter how miserable he might make me, I wanted him.

Which was scary to admit to myself.

There was something even scarier.

“…you’re not doing this to go party with… other women, are you?” I asked quietly.

He grinned. “If I wanted to do that, I would have done it last night. I would’ve just not come home.”

Come home.

I was ‘home.’

I relaxed a little.


“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“No other women?”

“No other women.”

“No strip clubs?”

“No strip clubs.”

“No… groupies, or whatever?”

“No groupies, no fans, no call girls, no topless Vegas shows. You want to add in no nuns, too?” he teased.

I glared at him, then caught myself. Glaring at him too much had gotten me into this mess in the first place.

“Then what’re you going to do?”

“I don’t know. Probably gamble some. Drink some. Maybe call up some friends in LA, see if they want to come out and party.”

My immediate thought was, You could do that with me, but I didn’t say it out loud.

“But no women,” I reiterated.

He held his hand like he was taking the oath in court. “No women. You want to check for a Gideon Bible in the night table so I can swear on that?”

That’s not a bad idea.

“No,” I murmured, and leaned my head against his neck. “I’m going to miss you…”

“I’m going to miss you, too,” he said soothingly, “but it’s only for a couple of days. I think we need this. I think we’ll both be in a better mood when I get back.”

“…yeah…”

He put his hand on my chin and tilted up my head, then leaned in and kissed me. Softly, sweetly.

For a moment all was right with the world, and I lost myself in that kiss.

Then he pulled away and winked. “Don’t have too much fun without me.”

“You either.”

He grinned. “I won’t.”

“…okay…”

He leaned in and kissed me one more time, a delicate brushing of his lips on mine.

“See you soon.”

He got up, gave me one last smile as he reached the edge of the room, and then walked out.

For a couple of minutes I just sat there numbly, thinking What the hell just happened?

Then I lay back down in the bed and cried silently into my pillow.





108




After an hour moping around in bed feeling sorry for myself, I decided to seize the opportunity. I would make the most of my solo flight! I would go have fun! I would have an awesome time recharging my batteries – alone!

I was a good enough liar that I was able to get myself out of bed, shower, and go down to breakfast without crying again.

After three mimosas, and feeling my spirits temporarily lifted, I decided to go see what the rest of the band was doing.

Up in the penthouse, Killian was standing amongst a pile of suitcases playing his guitar. Ryan was sitting at his laptop, and Riley was nowhere to be seen.

“You’re leaving already?” I asked Killian.

“Got a noon flight to Heathrow,” he nodded, and took a puff on his joint.

I remembered the stories Ryan had told me about Dr. Killian turning into Mr. Hyde… but wasn’t sure if I was supposed to let on that I knew. So I just said jokingly, “How are you going to survive the entire flight without any weed?”

“Private jet,” Killian informed me. “Do anything I want on it, short of bring it down over the ocean.”

I looked at him, stunned. “You got a private jet just so you could smoke out the whole way there?”