Maybe it was all just a silly fantasy, at least that’s what her father kept telling her, but she couldn’t help dreaming about it anyway. Caroline loved to draw and paint, spending her weekends sitting in the park sketching the scenes around her. It made her feel less alone in overcrowded New York City to create worlds, scenes, and people with her pencil that she could just get lost in. Images she could erase and reshape to become perfect.
“Ma’am, we're here. That will be $15.85,” the cab driver said to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Caroline rustled around in her purse and pulled out a twenty dollar bill, handing it to him through the opening in the plastic partition between them.
Caroline scooted out of the taxi. “Keep the change, thanks!”
She hopped out on the sidewalk in front of the Java Jolt, her favorite coffee shop, that was just down the block from her law office. She wasn’t a lawyer, despite her law school degree. Her father had gotten her a job as a paralegal at a famous New York City law firm that his friend was one of the partners at. She was currently studying to take the New York Bar Exam, or at least that’s what she told her father. She was in no rush to become a lawyer like him.
Her father did almost everything for her, including purchasing her Upper East side condo for her. Caroline Sanders came from a long line of country club, old money, upper class lawyers. She went to the finest prep schools in the city, ivy league for college and law school, and still spent every summer at their family house in the Hamptons where her parents now lived year round. Her wardrobe consisted of polo t-shirts, pencil skirts, and ridiculously oversized hats.
Even though it wasn’t what she really wanted to do, she loved her job and her coworkers so her morning commute was always cheerful. Most of all she loved her morning coffee and muffin. The Java Jolt wasn’t a franchise brand, although it did have another location in Washington, DC, but it also wasn’t a hipster joint overrun with kids in baggy hats and skinny jeans.
It was becoming harder and harder to find a coffee shop that wasn’t one of the two, which made this her favorite place for her early morning caffeine. Her breakfast here every morning consisted mostly of lattes and warm blueberry muffins.
She pulled open the front door to the shop as the aroma of coffee swirled around her nose, bringing a smile to her face. She nearly pranced up to the register, greeting the baristas who knew her all by name.
“Caroline! Have a good weekend?” George, the manager, asked her as he started ringing up her usual order.
“Same old, same old, George. Just spent some time in the park. What about you?” Caroline handed over a few dollar bills.
“The wife and I actually got a chance to go to that bed and breakfast you suggested. It was wonderful, so nice to get out of the city for a couple days and just relax.”
“That’s wonderful, tell Marcy that I said hi!” Caroline collected her warm blueberry muffin and headed away from the counter.
She looked around for an open seat to start enjoying her breakfast while she waited for her coffee, but every couch and table was occupied. She finally spotted a couch in the far corner that only had one man sitting on it. Even though he had spread his things across the open seat, half the couch was technically open.
Caroline walked over to him and put her muffin down on the coffee table, waiting for him to notice her and move his things. She noticed that most of it was sheet music and what looked like scratched out lyrics.
“Excuse me? Do you mind moving your things so I can sit here?” she asked, pointing to his books and papers since he seemed oblivious to her presence.
The brooding man glanced up at her briefly from under his worn out gray, army-style cap, then looked back down at his papers and continued to write. Caroline stood there awkwardly, waiting for him to respond, but it quickly became apparent he was ignoring her.
She squinted her eyes at him, studying the obviously tall man, since his legs were bent at a harsh angle to fit between the couch and coffee table. He wore an army style cap that was worn out gray and tipped down over his face, keeping him directly from view. His cap was doing a good job of hiding his face, even though his wavy brown hair stuck out from beneath.
Caroline couldn’t stop herself from noticing his chiseled chest and bulging biceps flaunted by his black v-neck shirt tucked into his tight, faded jeans.
“Okay, since it seems like you’re have some difficulty moving your arms, I'll help you out.” Caroline started picking up his papers and moving them to the coffee table.
“Hey! Hey, lady! What the hell, don’t touch my things,” he growled angrily, jumping up from his seat and glaring at her.
He snatched his things out of her hands and picked up the remainder, moving it to the coffee table like she had wanted in the first place.
“Couldn’t you find another place to sit? It’s a big place, and I like my privacy.” He scowled at her. “I don’t need to be sitting here with some woman I don’t even know, just to end up with picture on TMZ because of it.”
Still fuming, he sat back down in his seat, but this time leaving enough room for her to comfortably sit as well.
Caroline stared at him wide-eyed, but then shrugged her shoulders and sat down. “That’s a bit dramatic, don’t you think? It’s not like people walk around ending up in tabloids every day, even if this is New York.”
“It’s not dramatic, it’s my life. Paparazzi are everywhere. I don’t need a scandal right now,” he retorted before going back to his work. His attempts at giving her every nonverbal signal possible to leave him alone had only piqued Caroline’s curiosity into his last statement.
Who am I sitting next to? she thought to herself as she stared at him blatantly before finally responding. He looked slightly familiar, but barely, and she got a nagging feeling that maybe she’d met when they were younger. Or maybe not, she really wasn’t sure.
“Sounds dramatic to me. Am I supposed to know who you are or something?”
He turned to look at her with a puzzled look on his face. “Are you being serious?”
“Of course I'm being serious. Are you God’s gift to the world or something?” she asked, turning her face away from him. “I don’t think so, buddy.”
George walked up to Caroline at that moment, handing her the latte she ordered everyday.
“Thank you, George,” Caroline said, but received no response.
She furrowed her brow in confusion as she tried to gauge his expression. George was looking nervously over at her couch mate, a clear battle between self-control and excitement on his face. When he returned back to the counter, she saw him whispering to his coworkers behind the bar, pointing in the mystery man’s direction. She turned back to her fresh latte, still puzzled, and picked up the newspaper in front of her.
“At least you're nice to some people,” the man beside her mumbled loudly.
She shot him an angry look, but didn’t respond. Instead, she went back to reading her newspaper, attempting to forget the uneasy feeling in her stomach.
The duo ignored each other for a while and went about their separate business, Caroline enjoying her latte and the mystery man writing his music. After about fifteen minutes had ticked by, the mystery man abruptly slammed down his pencil, took off his cap, and turned his body to completely face Caroline.
“Do you seriously not know who I am?” He seemed determined, and slightly irritated, as he raked his fingers through his long, shiny hair. “Have you never heard the name Logan Clay before?”
She looked up at him, immediately noticing how handsome he was without the cap covering his face. He had a chiseled jaw line and sparkling blue eyes that seemed to be shimmering, even in the dull light of the coffee shop. His skin had the perfect tan under the stubble of his five o’clock shadow and long dark eyelashes.
She cleared her throat in an attempt to keep her composure, quickly shaking any thoughts of attraction from her mind. She looked back at her paper, flipping to the next page nonchalantly. �
��Nope. Should I have?”
“Do you ever turn on the radio or read a magazine?”
He stood up from the couch, walked over to a nearby table, rifling through a pile of magazines until he found the one he was looking. Marching back to Caroline, he held it up to show her the front cover of the magazine.
Sure enough, there was Mystery Man, posing in leather pants and no shirt, exposing to the world a set of amazing abs and tattoos. In big letters at the top, it said ROCKSTAR LOGAN CLAY TAKES TOPS BILLBOARDS.
“Congrats?” she said, seemingly ambivalent.
His jaw dropped as he took in her indifference, standing in front of her a bit longer, still holding the magazine. With an angry grunt, he stalked back over to his seat and dropped down. Logan couldn’t understand why this beautiful woman was ignoring him. Women were always throwing themselves at him.
He wasn’t sure if it was because of her spunk or because of her beauty, but he couldn't deny that he was immediately attracted to her and yet somehow incredibly annoyed by her at the same time. The way she held her newspaper, purposely avoiding looking at him infuriated him to no end. Somehow, it was also the most intriguing interaction he had ever had.
How is it possible that this woman can be so irritating and so irresistible at the same time? Logan thought to himself, glancing at her.
Caroline was doing her best not to look at him, but she could feel his staring. She couldn’t explain why she was acting so distant and cold toward him. Especially considering how handsome he was, and how she was definitely attracted to him. Something about his entitled attitude turned her off quickly though.
That was the one quality in the world she couldn’t stand, probably because of her own background and copious experience with people like that. Caroline didn’t like to admit it, but she wasn’t happy living such a privileged life. She wanted to pick her own future and rebel against her family’s traditions, rather than follow her father’s dream for her to become a lawyer.
Her mind started to drift back to her earlier thoughts of painting, the idea of painting Logan quickly dashing across her brain. This man next to her would make a great subject piece, with his chiseled features and rugged looks. She quickly tossed those thoughts and blushed, thanking the stars that he couldn’t read her mind.
Reaching his boiling point of being ignored, Logan decided to leave. He could not stand sitting next to this infuriating and alluring woman another moment. Beyond irritated and confused, he also felt slightly rejected. Logan gathered up his music sheets and headed up to the counter to order a coffee to go.
Caroline glanced up to watch him leave and immediately felt a pang of regret travel through her, as if she had just missed out on something she would later regret passing up. To be honest, she had heard of Logan Clay before today and had instantly recognized him once he showed her the magazine cover.
However, Caroline was too stubborn of a woman to give him that satisfaction.
She put down her newspaper and sighed, seeing Logan had already left the store. She took the remaining sips of her latte and stood up. As she did so, George the barista, rushed over to her with his face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning.
“Caroline! You’ll not believe what just happened!” George blurted out. “Do you know who you were sitting next to?”
He resembled a star-crazed fan with his wide smile and dancing eyes, his whole body twitching in excitement.
“Yes, Logan Clay. What about him?” she responded, halfheartedly.
“He was interested in you! You were sitting next to him for like half an hour, and I saw you guys chatting. Are you going to go out with him?”
“What? Of course not, plus you’re dead wrong.” Caroline stuck out her chin, brushing her hair over her shoulder. “He wasn't interested in me at all. He was a little full of himself, if you ask me.”
“Oh, really? I’m wrong? Well then, why did he tell me to give these to you?” George retorted with a snide grin as he pulled three tickets out of his apron pocket and spread them open in front of her face.
“Concert tickets? For this weekend’s show, front row at Madison Square Garden? I heard that was all sold out!” Caroline was astonished as she read the tickets. She did love music and any type of concert, particularly free ones, so it was a no brainer that she was going to go.
“Not just concert tickets, Caroline. THREE concert tickets. You know what that means?” George raised his eyebrows at her. “He definitely wants you.”
Caroline laughed at his presumption. There was no way that Logan Clay, the most popular rock star in the modern world, wanted anything to do with her, especially after their hostile encounter today. Although, she couldn’t reconcile the dramatically negative introduction with him leaving her tickets. It made no sense.
“How do you get that from the number of tickets he left, George?” Caroline put her hand on her tip and tilted her head, wondering what the barista was talking about.
“Jeez, Caroline, how clueless are you?” George folded his arms and declared confidently, causing her to smile at how seriously he analyzed such a simple situation. “He didn’t leave you one ticket, because then you wouldn’t want to go by yourself. He didn’t leave you two, because he doesn’t want you bringing a date and he didn’t leave you more than three tickets, because he doesn’t want you to get lost in some group where he won’t get the chance to see you again. I can pretty much guarantee you that you will get to go backstage."
“You are reading way too much into this, George.” Caroline giggled and took the tickets from him, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she was excited about the possibility.
Chapter Two
Was George right? Does Logan Clay want to see me again? Am I even interested in a guy that seems so full of himself? Caroline’s mind was stuck ruminating on Logan the entire work day.
She always thought of herself as a girl of high standards, yet she had butterflies in her stomach over someone she had just met who had annoyed the hell out of her. Plus he was a celebrity, a musician who lived in an entirely different world than hers.
She had always pictured herself settling down with another lawyer, or a doctor, or someone with a job that didn’t involve sweating on a stage, strutting back and forth in tight leather pants.
Her parents had a great marriage, one that she had always idealized for herself one day. Her father was a doctor and her mother was a nurse, happily married for over 30 years. They enjoy their house on the beach in the Hamptons, where their biggest worry is weeds in the rose garden. Caroline had always assumed she would end up with the same type of practical man as her father.
Caroline sighed and rifled through the papers on her desk, trying to push away the tingling in her core that was attempting to ruin her future plans. She decided to push away all thoughts of Logan for the rest of the day and just concentrate on her projects at work.
No point in adding unemployed to the list of ways she didn’t measure up to her father’s expectations.
About eight hours later, Caroline trudged through her front door, dropped her purse on the floor, and tossed her keys on a nearby table. She collapsed on the couch and just lay there, staring at the ceiling. Work had been exhausting, way too much running around for the senior partners, busy deadlines that just seemed impossible to meet, and no time to take a breath.
She glanced over at her cell phone that was dangling precariously out of her purse by the front door, where she had originally dropped it. She scooted to the end of the couch and reached out to try to grab it, nearly falling off the couch. It would have taken a lot less energy to just stand up and walk over to get it, but Caroline was stubborn and didn’t want to get up.
Her father had always joked she was so stubborn, that once her mind was made up, nothing in the world could budge her. Caroline laughed at the thought as she finally grasped her phone and slid back onto the couch. She turned her phone on and flicked through her list of contacts, finding her best friend Aralia’s phone numb
er. She clicked the number and the phone began to ring.
“Caio, cupcake!” Aralia’s voice came through the speakers.
“Hey girl, it’s me,” Caroline greeted her, already smiling at the bubbly personality that was Aralia. She always infected everyone around her with the same outgoing spirit.
Aralia had been one of her best friends since they were children, and they’d moved to the city together years ago. She was a bartender at a bar in Chelsea that was always standing room only, most likely due to Aralia’s charming Italian wit and banter. It seemed sometimes like Aralia was always followed by a crowd of friends she barely knew.
“Hey, Caroline, how was your weekend?”
“It was great, just went to the park and relaxed. Nothing super fun, just got some rest and tried to catch up on sleep.” Caroline shrugged as she grabbed the tickets out of her purse and looked them over. “Hey, listen. I got three free concert tickets for Saturday night, want to go?”
“Hell yeah, what concert? Is Jackie our third?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Caroline agreed.
Jackie was Aralia’s cousin and roommate. The three of them had become close friends since moving to the city, even though they all grew up together. Aralia and Caroline had never included Jackie much when they were kids, but as the girls all spent more time together, it was a fast and easy friendship. They often spent Friday nights at the bar together or Sunday brunches filled with gossip and chatter.
“Perfect! I'll check with her to see if she's free on Saturday night, but I'm pretty sure she is. Which concert?” Aralia asked again.
Caroline sighed, knowing her friend would overreact.
“Front row tickets at Madison Square Garden for Logan Clay’s concert,” Caroline admitted quickly, closing her eyes and praying that her friend wouldn’t inquire as to how she got the tickets. She was confused enough about the situation, she certainly didn’t think she could explain it to someone else.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?!” Aralia screamed into the phone, clearly excited.
Logan Clay: A Forbidden Rockers Box Set Page 9
