MAY 12
* * *
Dear Journal,
Well, the song-writing session didn’t go as planned. Max wanted to do an acoustic ballad, which pissed off Steve because there are no drums in acoustic ballads. They usually get along so well, but were all arguing within seconds. I was stunned by how quickly the session deteriorated. Eventually Max caved and shared an amazing riff that’s been floating around in his head. I don’t need to tell you how amazing that is, do I? And then Dare joined in with this solo he pulled out of nowhere. I think Logan was about to add his bass line—and God, I wanted to hear it so bad—when Max’s wrist started bothering him. He left the session angry, but he wasn’t really angry, he was hurting. I don’t think he’s ready to let go of playing guitar and I don’t think his bandmates have any idea how much he’s lost by handing his guitar over to Reagan. Even temporarily.
I did get some footage. And I can piece together the good parts. This creative genius business is kind of scary, but I know the fans will love to see them writing a new song. I sure did! Well, except the arguing stuff. I’ll just cut out that part. Steve is such an instigator.
We should be at the hotel soon. I’m so looking forward to spending the night alone with Logan. He says there’s a hot tub in our suite. So you know what that means? Hot tub sex lessons for me tonight.
Score!
I better call Birdie before we get to the hotel, or I’ll end up being too distracted by Logan to remember to call her. Maybe Mom will let her use her cellphone so we can face chat. I miss my buttercup’s smiling face.
In-awe-of-the-talent-around-me,
Toni
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
* * *
“Get dressed,” Logan said, kissing Toni’s shoulder as he rose from the bed. “We’re going out.”
“Out? Where?”
“It’s a surprise.” He wasn’t sure if she’d like the surprise, but there was only one way to find out.
A few hours later they were flying over their drop zone. He’d checked their gear several times, but he checked it again. He’d never taken a woman tandem skydiving and though he wanted to share the exhilaration of hurtling toward the earth with this particular woman, her safety was at the forefront of his mind.
“I am not jumping out of a perfectly good airplane,” Toni said.
She’d also said she wasn’t getting on an airplane the size of a sparrow, but he’d managed to convince her.
“You’ll be strapped to my chest. And perfectly safe.” He hadn’t done many tandem dives, but as a licensed instructor, he was allowed to do them and take his inexperienced girlfriend along with him. “Just enjoy it.”
“What if the chute doesn’t open or, or, or I pee my pants?”
He cupped her cheek and kissed her. “Don’t you trust me?”
“Yes,” she said without hesitation.
He tucked a stray lock of hair into her bright red helmet. “Then stop worrying. You’ll be fine.”
He claimed her mouth in a deep lingering kiss, only drawing away when the pilot called out, “It’s time.”
“Time?” Toni squeaked.
Logan shifted behind her and attached the carabiners that linked her harness to his. He could feel the tremble of her body—knew she was terrified—but he wanted to share this with her. He loved skydiving and hoped it was something they could do together for fun. If she tried it and hated it, he wouldn’t pressure her to do it again. He wanted to find something he liked to do that she enjoyed as well. He’d already decided to buy her a dirt bike for her birthday, and he couldn’t wait to teach her to ride it.
He slid open the door on the side of the plane, and Toni leaned slightly forward to peer down at the ground far below. Thick areas of trees dotted the lush green landscape and twisted streams wound around the hills, all dumping into the wide green river that resembled polished jade from this height.
“Nope. Not gonna happen,” Toni yelled over the roar of the engine. She shook her head so hard, he feared her neck would snap. “No way in hell, Logan. Nope. Nope. Nope.”
“Is your camera on?”
She nodded, touching the camera on the side of her helmet.
Without warning he wrapped his arm around her waist and lifted her toes from the floor before diving sideways out of the plane and taking her with him.
The first moment of free fall always stole his breath, but then the wind caught. Flying and falling at the same time. Adrenaline surging. Heart pounding. And then the overwhelming feeling of being alive hit him. It was that feeling that kept him coming back for more.
“Oh my God!” Toni yelled. “Oh my God!”
“Did you pee your pants?” he teased.
“I’m not sure. But this is amazing!”
His heart soared. She, she was amazing.
“God, I love you,” he said, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her from behind.
“What?” she yelled. The wind rushing past their ears as they plummeted howled and made hearing difficult.
“I said, I love you!” he shouted.
She stiffened in his arms. “Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.”
“I do mean it. I love you, Antonia whatever-your-middle-name-is Nichols!”
“I love you too!”
Her confession should have terrified him far more than the ground rushing toward them, but it didn’t. It thrilled him beyond any free fall he’d ever experienced. Maybe love was the adrenaline rush that had been missing from his life all these years.
“But I’m very mad that you told me now!” she yelled.
Surprised, he craned his neck to try to see her face, but it was useless in their his-front-to-her-back position. “You are?”
He thought she’d want to hear him say it.
“Yeah,” she said. “I can’t kiss you. You have no idea how much I need to kiss you right now.”
He did have an idea, actually. “Next time we’ll jump separately, so we can kiss all the way down.”
“Deal!” A few seconds later her hands clutched at the flapping fabric of his sleeves. “Logan?”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Aren’t we getting rather close to the ground?”
They were. He yanked his ripcord, and there was, as always, that brief instant of terror when he wondered if the chute would come out. If it would open. If it would catch. There was something addictive about that feeling too, knowing he might be meeting his maker soon. The wind caught their chute, and their bodies jerked as their acceleration slowed abruptly.
Toni commented on the scenery as they soared back to earth. But Logan’s mind was racing.
What had he done? He’d told her that he loved her. Was he insane? They weren’t ready for this step. Hell, he wasn’t sure he’d ever be ready for this step, but he definitely wasn’t prepared to love her after less than two weeks together. He had to be completely nuts. Or he’d been caught up in the excitement of the free fall. That was all.
They touched down smoothly, their yellow-and-blue-striped parachute drifting past them and settling on the grass. His hands were shaking as he unfastened her harness from his.
“Did you enjoy skydiving?” he asked.
“I loved it!” As soon as the last clip came free, she turned and threw herself into his arms. “That was so much fun. I’m so glad you forced me to jump.”
“I’m stoked that you want to go again.”
“Did you mean what you said?” she asked.
The smile dropped off his face. “Uh.” He shrugged, his heart trying to thud itself through his ribs. “I guess.”
He turned away and started pulling the chute toward himself.
Toni grabbed his arm and spun him around to face her. “Say it to my face,” she demanded. “Tell me while you’re looking at me, while I can see into you and you can see into me.”
His breath caught. Surely it wouldn’t take the courage afforded by a skydiving adrenaline rush every time he told her he loved her.
; “I . . .” He took a deep breath, forcing himself not to close his eyes to her. Not to close his heart. “I love you, Toni.”
Her smile could have lit the heavens. “I love you too.”
MAY 13
* * *
He finally said it. He loves me.
Skydiving is awesome.
Sex after skydiving? I have no words.
Toni
MAY 14
* * *
Dear Journal,
The concert in New Orleans was really fun tonight. I got into the audience to record footage. I’m pretty sure my toes will never be the same after being stomped on dozens of times, but I think I finally get it, why every Exodus End show sells out. It’s because when you’re in that audience looking up at them, in total awe of their talent, you don’t feel like you’re just watching. You feel like you’re a part of them.
I’m so in love with their bassist.
In love with the band.
In love with this job.
I hope it never has to end.
Toni
MAY 15
* * *
Dear Journal,
It occurred to me today that I haven’t heard from Susan since that meeting in Denver. I guess that means she’s given up on taking my job. Not that I’d ever move aside for her—this is where I belong.
Tonight I’m putting head cams on all the band members so we can get a first-person perspective of what it’s like onstage. I’m really glad we bought extra cameras for the crew. This is going to be amazing!
Logan and the band are currently at some bar grand opening in downtown Dallas. Apparently it’s a big deal. I probably should have gone, but I’m burned out on promotional events and I know they are too. I’ll go to the after-party tonight, though. I have some new clothes to show off. Not sure how Reagan talked me into that leather corset, but it’s really cute. Jace Seymour’s girlfriend—Aggie—embroidered strawberries all over it. I’m going to wear a jacket with it because my boobs are so out there in that thing, but it’s definitely the most daring article of clothing I’ve ever worn in public.
I’m off to do some work now while I have a rare moment to myself. I have a ton of footage to sort through and will be collecting even more tonight.
Overworked-and-loving-it,
Toni
CHAPTER THIRTY
* * *
The lounge door slid open, and Toni dropped her phone. She fell to her knees on the carpet, hunting for it.
“What’s going on in here?” Logan asked, grinning at her.
“Just face chatting with my sister.” She’d been caught acting silly, and her face flamed with embarrassment.
“Oh. It sounded like you were watching The Princess Bride.” He entered the room uninvited and settled on the sofa.
“Not watching it. Reading it. It’s Birdie’s favorite book.” Actually, as far as her sister was concerned, it was the only book. And since the road trip from Dallas to Albuquerque was so freaking long, Toni had plenty of time to read it to her.
“There’s a book?”
Toni laughed and picked up her phone, dusting off a few crumbs.
Birdie smiled when her face came back into view. “I thought you was lost.”
“It was a book before it was a movie,” Toni said to Logan. “Don’t you read?”
“All the time. Menus. Road signs. Text messages.”
Toni picked up the used book she’d purchased at a truck stop and shook it at him. “I meant books.”
“Is that Logan?” Birdie asked.
“Yep. He didn’t knock, did he?” Toni turned her phone so that Logan came into view in the corner of the screen.
Birdie beamed. “Hi, Logan! Mom let me use her phone. Now Toni can read to me and I can see her.”
“Awesome. She can read to me too.”
“No, she cannot,” Toni said, her cheeks blazing again. There was no way she was letting Logan see her acting like a complete fool on purpose. He got to see her acting like one accidentally far too often as it was.
“Please, Toni,” Birdie said.
“Please, Toni,” Logan mimicked as he slid a hand up her thigh out of view of the camera. She caught his hand before it disappeared under the leg of her sleep shorts.
“Sit over there.” Toni shoved him so he’d move out of reach. She didn’t want to become an inferno of insatiable need in front of her little sister. After she hung up? Well, that was another matter entirely.
“Only if you promise to read to me.”
Mr. Grabby Hands reached for her boob, and she smacked his hands away.
“Fine!” Toni said. “But you can’t laugh at me.”
“Can I laugh with you?”
“Birdie, it’s time for bed,” Mom said from out of sight on the other end of the line.
“Not yet,” Birdie complained. “Toni is still reading to me.”
“Five minutes.”
“Hurry, Toni!”
Toni wasn’t sure if she could do this in front of Logan. She took a deep breath and said in her best Cheech Marin impression, “My name is Meee-ster Featherface. You keeled my cheeek-ken, prepare to die.”
A strange snorting sound came from Logan’s general direction as he tried to swallow a laugh. No good. He cackled with glee until Toni gave him her death stare, and he stiffened, releasing an occasional snort as he tried to contain his mirth.
“I don’t think that’s how it goes,” he said. “I’ve seen the movie dozens of times.”
“The book is better,” Birdie said wisely.
“I don’t recall a chicken or a Mr. Featherface,” Logan said.
“Mr. Featherface is our rooster,” Birdie said.
“You have a rooster?”
Toni nodded. “They’re kind of necessary on a chicken farm.”
“I still can’t picture you as a chicken farmer,” Logan said, shaking his head at her. “Do you wear overalls?”
She laughed. “On occasion. Actually, Birdie is in charge of the chickens. Isn’t that right, Buttercup?”
“Yep!” The chirp came loudly out of the phone’s speaker.
“So your rooster plays the part of Inigo?” Logan asked.
“Yep. I’m Princess Buttercup and my dog Jonesy is Prince Hump-and-stink,” Birdie said. “And Toni is Tozinni.”
Logan lifted his brows at her. “Tozinni?”
“Vizzini, the mad Sicilian,” she clarified. “There aren’t many female characters in the book.”
“Do the funnest part, Tozinni!”
Oh, what the hell. If Logan could handle her many quirks, surely he could tolerate her reinventing parts of a book to keep herself entertained as she reread it for the billionth time.
“Do you know that sound, Highness?” Toni asked with a lisp that rivaled Daffy Duck’s. “It’s the shrieking peels.”
“Shrieking banana peels!” Birdie yelled. “They’re going to attack the princess. Oh help. Help meeeeee!”
“Inconceivable,” Logan said, shaking his head grimly.
Birdie giggled, and Toni couldn’t help but laugh with her.
“Your five minutes are up,” Mom said, taking the phone from Birdie.
“But, Mom . . .”
“I’ll call you tomorrow afternoon, Buttercup,” Toni said.
“We’re going to the dunes tomorrow,” Logan reminded her.
Toni wasn’t sure if she’d like racing dune buggies through the desert, but Logan was keen on getting her involved in all his insane hobbies.
“Make that tomorrow night,” Toni amended, smiling when Birdie’s face came back on screen.
“I miss you so much,” Birdie said, her eyes watery with tears.
Toni blinked back a few tears of her own. “I miss you too. Good night, Buttercup.”
“Good night, Princess,” Logan said. Toni turned the screen in his direction so Birdie could catch his wave.
“Will you be Westley next time?” Birdie asked him. “Please!”
Logan bowed his head
graciously. “As you wish.”
Birdie was still grinning when Mom disconnected the call.
“Thanks for humoring her,” Toni said, setting the phone aside. “She’ll love you forever.”
“It’s hard not to love her in return.”
Toni smiled. “I know exactly what you mean.”
“And it’s impossible not to love you.”
Toni’s heart thudded as their eyes met. “I know exactly what you mean,” she whispered.
Logan grinned. “I like this newfound confidence in you.”
“Huh?” It eventually dawned on her that he thought she meant it was impossible not to love her. She still had a hard time accepting that he did, so she wasn’t yet capable of bragging about it. “I meant it’s impossible not to love you.”
He shrugged, looking devilishly irresistible as usual. “Improbable, maybe, but not inconceivable,” he said with a pronounced lisp.
She smacked him in the face with a pillow, and he tackled her to the sofa. He kissed her, chasing all teasing thoughts from her mind and replacing them with X-rated versions. He shifted his hips between her legs, and she could feel him hardening and lengthening through his jeans and her shorts. He pulled her glasses off and set them on the coffee table. He was close enough that his gorgeous face appeared perfectly clear, and for once she was glad for her myopia. It gave her an excuse to make him stay so close she could feel his warm breath against her sensitive lips.
“What are you going to teach me today, sensei?” she asked, as always, ready for a new adventure with her talented instructor.
He threaded his fingers through her hair and stared deeply into her eyes. “I think it’s time you graduated. With honors.”
She grinned. “Mega cum alotta?”
“That sounds appropriate,” he said tersely.
Rock Star Romance Ultimate: Volume 1 Page 43
