Saved by the Rockstar (Rich and Famous Romance Book 1)

by Michelle Pennington

  Julie gave a quiet chuckle before he could finish. “Shouldn’t you be singing that line?”

  Then to his surprise, she softly sang the last words he’d said. He stared at her perplexed for several heartbeats until he caught on. He then sang the rest of the lines to Chicago’s famous song. And they kept singing. It wasn’t beautiful, but it made her smile. He’d sing every song from the seventies if it chased her shadows away.

  When the song was over, she leaned against him and cuddled against his chest, falling asleep. The experience had obviously exhausted her. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and tried to figure out what he could do to help her. She’d never answered him, but he was going to figure it.

  He cared too much to do anything else.

  Chapter Nine

  Julie woke up to Ryland gently shaking her should.er. “Are we there?”

  “Yeah. I didn’t want you to miss the best view of it”

  He had told her once that he lived on a large property an hour outside of Atlanta. She’d pictured a showy mansion in a gated community. That was not the case.

  There was a gate at the front of the road across his property, but it stood wide open. Heavy, green foliage arched over their heads, and the house at the end of the road blended perfectly into the setting around it. It was huge but simple and faintly rustic. Huge windows glinted in the fading sunlight as they drove past, and broad decks beckoned with comfy chairs from every floor.

  “That is one beautiful house,” Julie said, her tone awed.

  “Thanks,” Ryland said. “It was custom built for me.”

  “Do I get the VIP tour?” she asked.

  “Absolutely. But first I’m going to get you and Gracie settled in at the guest house.”

  Julie had been grateful that she wouldn’t be staying in his house. That seemed like too much pressure for the first time they met, even though they’d been talking for over three weeks now. The guest house sat about a hundred yards further down the shoreline of the lake. It was two stories tall and was sheltered under towering pine trees.

  While Andy got their bags out of the truck, Ryland showed them into the house. The door opened immediately into a great room with vaulted, cedar-paneled ceilings and slate tiled floors. The light from the sunset burnished the gorgeous woodwork, and the whole house smelled like baking apples and cinnamon.

  “Okay,” Gracie said. “I’m in heaven. Please tell me that smell is an actual pie and not a candle.”

  “Oh, don’t worry. It’s a pie,” said a pretty, older woman as she came out of the kitchen. “I always think it’s such a welcoming smell, and I like our guests to have something good to eat if they have midnight munchies.”

  Gracie inhaled deeply. “I don’t usually, but now I will have to.”

  “There’s also a casserole on the stove for your dinner. Ryland and I thought that we’d wait till tomorrow before throwing the rest of the family at you.”

  Ryland laughed. “Ladies, this is my mother, Linda Sterling. She and my sister, Alissa, live with me over at the big house, but I think she likes it better over here.”

  Linda nodded. “There, my secret is out. Now, I would ask which one of you is Julie, but it’s not hard to figure out.”

  Julie realized she was still holding Ryland’s hand and felt her cheeks warm. She let go and met Ryland’s mom in a big hug. When she pulled back, Julie said, “I hope you don’t mind the hug. I’m just so excited to meet you. Ryland always has amazing things to say about you.”

  Linda’s smile widened as she beamed at her son. “I’m glad to hear it. That hasn’t always been the case.”

  Ryland rubbed the back of his neck. “Everybody is a punk when they’re a teenager.”

  Julie smiled and shrugged. “I’m pretty sure I was always an angel.”

  Raising his eyebrow, Ryland said, “I’ll be sure to ask your parents when I meet them.”

  Julie’s mind scattered. He wanted to meet her family. She had no idea how her panic attack hadn’t sent him running away from her screaming, but she was immensely relieved. Having him there as her anchor, as her shelter, had steadied her more than any therapy technique she knew.

  Gracie chuckled. “I think this is a good time to find my room. Can you tell me where to find it, Mrs. Sterling?”

  “I’ll show you myself.”

  The two women moved off, and Julie was vividly conscious of being alone with Ryland for the first time.

  “Hey,” he said, as if he realized it too.

  “Hey,” Julie said, smiling up at him.

  “Let me show you where you’ll be staying,” he said, picking up her suitcase.

  He led her upstairs to where a hall ran the length of the great room. A gorgeous cedar railing was all that impeded the view to the floor below and the huge picture windows. Her room was even lovelier than she’d expected, with a king-size bed covered in white, fluffy bedding, two elegant arm chairs, and a coffee table in front of a large television that hung over a gas fireplace. Her favorite thing in the room was the large desk in front of one of the big windows.

  She went to the desk and put her bag down. The polished wood reflected her face, and the scent of lemon furniture polish wafted up to her as she sat down to check out the view. “It’s perfect. I could write here for hours.”

  He moved over and leaned against the desk, looking down her. “That was the idea when I had it moved in here for you. I know you need to work while you’re here. And I thought that maybe if you were really comfortable here, it would be easier to convince you to come back soon.”

  Julie looked up him, a dozen questions hovering in her mind. “Well, thanks for going to so much trouble for me. I appreciate it immensely.”

  He stared down into her eyes. “I’m so glad you came. Especially now that I know what it cost you.”

  Standing up, Julie smiled at him. “Thanks for motivating me to do something hard. And thanks for saving me.”

  “No problem.” Then, straightening, Ryland held out his hand to her. “Want to walk down to the lake with me and watch the sunset?”

  “Sounds perfect.”

  Hand in hand, they strolled through the cooler evening air, down the sloping shoreline, and out onto the floating dock that stretched out thirty yards into the water. Already the sky had lightened to a pale blue as the pinks and oranges spread upward from the horizon. The colors reflected off the gilded water, and the breeze carried the scent of pine and soil and lake water. A fish jumped somewhere close by, and frogs and cicadas gave them a private concert.

  When Julie’s phone rang, she was annoyed at herself for not silencing it. She looked at her screen and saw that it was Heath. “Ugh.”

  “Please say you don’t react like that when I call you,” Ryland said.

  “No,” Julie answered absently, wondering how to deal with this situation. “My friend Heath hasn’t been exactly supportive of me talking to you so I didn’t tell him I was leaving town.”

  “Ah,” Ryland said, as if he understood more than she’d said.

  Julie rushed to explain. “He just doesn’t want me to get hurt.”

  “Is he single?”

  She nodded before she caught on. “Wait. He’s not jealous or anything. We’re just friends.”

  Ryland tugged her towards him and cupped her face with his hands. His eyes roamed over her for a moment before he said, “You’d be a very hard woman to just be friends with.”

  Julie melted inside and leaned towards him. Just as she started to lift up on her toes, her phone vibrated in her hand. “I’d better answer him so he doesn’t bother me all night.”

  “Of course.” Ryland stepped back. “I’ll be inside getting dinner on the table.”

  Julie took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She was used to lazy days at home in her pjs where the only thing even remotely dramatic in her life happened in her stories. But she could handle one unpleasant phone call with Heath—even after the disaster at the convention.

 
He answered immediately. “I went by your house and found your note. Where are you?”

  “Outside of Atlanta somewhere.”

  “You’re in Georgia?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  “But why?”

  “I came to Dragon Con, and now I’m staying in Ryland’s guest house so I can get to know him better.”

  The silence on the other end of the line was deafening. Finally, he said, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because you would have tried to talk me out of it.”

  “Of course I would have. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

  Even though this was exactly the explanation she’d given Ryland for why he was acting like this, it didn’t sit well with her. “If you’re so worried about my happiness, then you should be more supportive when I finally have a chance at it.”

  “He isn’t going to make you happy. Oh, sure, he’ll probably have a fling with you, but he’ll drop you soon enough when he gets bored—or when someone he likes better comes along. You don’t understand what celebrities are like. Especially musicians.”

  “Oh, but you do?”

  “I’m not seeing him through a blind haze of infatuation.”

  Julie was lost for words. For a moment, she stood with her eyes closed, seething. “Heath, you’ve been my friend for a long time, but I don’t need this pressure and negativity in my life right now. Please think about how you’ve been treating me before you call me again.”

  She hung up and took several deep breaths to calm herself. But even though she’d shut him down, Heath’s words hung heavily over her. It was already so easy to doubt everything about this situation. Even though she felt a strong connection to Ryland, how did she know that it wasn’t just blind infatuation, like Heath said? Who wouldn’t feel excited about being around him? Especially with him looking at her like she was the most interesting person he’d ever met?

  Well, she’d just have to be careful and take her time—make sure she knew what she was getting into.

  Chapter Ten

  The next morning, Ryland woke up early even though he hadn’t slept much the night before. He was too aware that Julie was over in the guest house. Their meeting had certainly gone differently than he’d expected, but he’d gotten to know her better really quickly.

  He texted and asked her to let him know when she was awake. When she said she already was, he threw on some clothes and walked down the road to see her. As he walked, he thought about her anxiety and what it might mean for them. He knew she was more worried about it than he was.

  She came out onto the porch looking fresh and simple in a white t-shirt and jeans with her long brown hair cascading down her back. He loved how her generous mouth turned up in such a wide smile, and he loved that right now, it was all for him.

  “How are you doing after yesterday?”

  She shrugged and leaned against the support pillar as he came up the steps. “I desperately wish I could blank that whole scene out of both our minds. But I can’t, and you don’t seem to mind as much as I do, so I’m ready to roll with it. I was thinking about having some of your mom’s apple pie for breakfast. Want to join me?”

  He smiled and nodded his head toward the door. “That sounds like a perfect idea.”

  A few minutes later, they sat together on the front steps, eating apple pie and drinking cold milk, watching the mist over the lake evaporate as the sun rose higher in the sky.

  “This is really good,” Julie said. “And that casserole last night was amazing. Your mom is amazing.”

  “Yeah. She supported us after my dad died by working at a cafe.”

  Julie scooted closer to him. “I figured out your dad wasn’t around, but I didn’t know he’d died.”

  Ryland felt his chest constrict as his memories took him down bittersweet roads. “Yeah.” He’d tell her all about it one day, but today should be happy. He took a deep breath. “So, I’m going to be doing rehearsals all day and recording a track with Marvi Dunlap tomorrow.”

  “Oh, who’s that?”

  “You don’t know her?”

  “Nope. I’m actually not big on the current music scene. I found you by accident.”

  “Best accident ever,” he said.

  “I agree. So, when are you going to kiss me?”

  Ryland’s eyes widened. Did she really just ask that? “I didn’t want to rush you…”

  She put her plate down on the porch and leaned toward him. “Then I guess I’ll rush you.”

  As much as Ryland had been wanting to kiss her, as much as he wanted to crush her against him and take control, he kept his hands clenched next to him as she moved closer. When her face was inches from his, she cupped his face in her hands and stared up into his eyes. Then she flashed a grin and pressed her soft, sweet lips to his.

  It was the purest, most delicate kiss he’d ever experienced, but it ignited a devastating hunger inside him. Keeping himself firmly in check, he angled his head and pressed another, more forceful kiss on her lips. When she pulled away, she bit her bottom lip, and he nearly came unglued.

  “I’ve never had an apple-pie kiss before,” she said.

  Ryland clenched his teeth together, took two deep breaths, and said, “It was a first for me too.”

  But he wasn’t really talking about apple pie. That was the first time a kiss had seared him to his soul. If he hadn’t been completely mad for this woman before, he was now. He opened his mouth to try to form words to tell her as much when the honk of a car horn broke the morning’s tranquility.

  Standing and turning to look up the road, he saw a limo coming down the road. Even if he hadn’t known Marvi was coming this morning, the honking would have given it away. She never lost a chance to get everyone’s attention.

  “Who is it?” Julie asked, coming to stand next to him.

  “Marvi. Want to come up to the house with me and meet her?”

  Julie nodded and grabbed his hand. “Sure. I’ll meet another famous person. It’s starting to seem totally normal.”

  Ryland chuckled, enjoying the brightness of her personality.

  When they got up to the house, Marvi was already inside. Tate’s car and Elijah’s motorcycle had also been parked at the side of the house, so he wasn’t surprised to see everyone assembled in his living room. When they went in, his mom was near the door, so she greeted Julie, who paused to talk to her. He introduced his brothers as well and then turned to say hello to Marvi.

  Before he could react, she had her arms around him, hugging him in a clingy, intimate way. As he tried to push her off, he looked over her shoulder and saw both Julie and his mom watching with wide eyes. His stomach sank at the shock on Julie’s face, but the singer was clinging to him like a tick.

  Reaching behind his neck, he pulled Marvi’s hands apart and lowered them while stepping back. She had been friendly before, even flirtatious, but she was that way with everyone. What was going on? He knew one thing for sure: he needed to make the situation very clear to both Marvi and Julie.

  “Marvi, it’s so great to have you here,” he said. “You haven’t met my girlfriend, Julie Chambers.”

  Marvi narrowed her eyes and looked Julie up and down, then smiled the biggest, fakest smile Ryland had ever seen.

  “No, I haven’t. I have to say, she’s cuter in person than in all those unfortunate pictures going around on Twitter.”

  “Twitter?” he asked, immediately worried.

  “Yeah,” Marvi said, crossing her arms over her small chest. “Your cover is blown. I told everyone that the girl at the convention had to be your cousin or something, because…” she ran her eyes over Julie again. Wisely, she decided not to finish her sentence. “And you know, Ryland, this is really embarrassing. I can’t believe you are doing this to me.”

  “Doing what?” he asked.

  “Don’t you know the whole world expects us to reveal that we’re a couple?”

  Ryland squeezed Julie’s hand, desperately trying to ground
himself in reality. “Why would anyone expect that?”

  “Everyone is talking about how cute we were together at the music festival.”

  “What?” Ryland’s eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. “We sang one song together and did one interview. And that was four months ago.”

  Marvi shrugged. “The chemistry between us was obvious.”

  Ryland waved a hand slowly between them. “There is no chemistry between us. The duet was popular with our fans because it sounded good, not because of any sparks or attraction or any other reason. And I’m dating Julie,” he added as a clincher.

  “Clearly,” Marvi tossed her head. “I can’t believe you didn’t even think about how dating her would make me look.”

  Ryland’s teeth clicked, he clenched them so hard. Before he could say anything else, however, Elijah caught his attention by waving his arms around behind Marvi’s back. Then he nodded his head toward the kitchen.

  When Ryland met him there, Elijah said, “Hey, man. I know this is crazy awkward, but Marvi is going to bail on us if you don’t calm her down.”

  Ryland shook his head. “She’s crazy. And if she got the wrong idea about why she was invited here, that’s her problem. I never did anything to lead her on.”

  “Sure, I know. But we need her to stay and record the track. We’ve been promoting it, and the fans are excited about it.”

  Ryland could not have been more reluctant to sing with someone—or to have her at his house. Especially right now. But Elijah had a point. “At the moment, I couldn’t care less if she left, but I’m willing to do the song with her as long as she stops causing trouble. You handle her though, okay?”

  Elijah groaned, but turned toward the living room. “So…everyone. Why don’t we move to the studio and get started on rehearsals?”

  “I don’t think…” Marvi said.

  But before she could finish, Elijah said smoothly. “Come on. Whatever happened, we all know you two can put out an amazing song together.”