by Codi Gary
“All righty, sir, I’ll be back with your check.” The woman skipped away without asking Gemma if she wanted a box for the rest of her meal. Figured.
“When she comes back, will you ask her if I can have a box? I need to go to the ladies’ room,” she said, scooting out of the booth and smoothing down her skirt.
“Sure,” Travis said, standing like a gentleman along with her.
Moving past him toward the main dining room, she tried not to look back to see if he was watching her. She didn’t really want to think about whether her butt looked big.
Why am I worrying about this stuff? It’s just lunch with an old friend.
Ignoring the way people stared as she came out of the VIP room, she bolted into the restroom and closed the stall door with a sigh. She really hoped people weren’t snapping photos of her after having seen her come in with Travis. The last thing she needed was to be on the front page of every magazine in the world and have everyone in Rock Canyon know what she was doing.
Especially Charlie. And Michael.
She didn’t want to think about how her friend would feel. She was just giving Travis a chance for old times’ sake. Besides, going to lunch was a lot different from turning your whole life upside down for your kid, and Gemma just didn’t think Travis could do it. He had always put his music first, and with how successful he was and his lack of serious relationships, it looked like he was still doing it.
It’s not fair to judge Travis when he doesn’t even know about Charlie. Maybe he would be attentive, and . . .
She cut off her inner voice, shutting out the meddlesome ideas. Gemma had spent a little over an hour in his company, and in that time she’d been photographed and stared at. She didn’t want that for Charlie; she wanted him to have a normal, happy childhood.
After this lunch, they could shake hands and say good-bye, and she’d never have to see him again. It was perfect for everyone.
As soon as we’re done, I’ll do just that.
She couldn’t get behind the lie, though. There was too much unfinished business between them, and she couldn’t deny that she was still wildly attracted to him. Indeed, if she spent any more time with him, she was going to forget why being near him wasn’t one of her better ideas.
Walking back to the booth, her knees shook a little as Travis stood there smiling at her. God, the way he still got to her was crazy.
He handed her a little green bag that held a Styrofoam container and offered his arm. “How about I walk you back to your room?”
Chapter Three
* * *
UNABLE TO RESIST him, Gemma slipped her arm through Travis’s and let him lead her out of the VIP room. She made sure to keep her head down, aware of several camera flashes.
“Is it me you’re ashamed to be seen with, or are you afraid of what people back in Rock Canyon will say?” Travis asked.
Gemma peeked up at him. “I just don’t like people poking their noses in my business, wherever they may be.”
Travis was quiet for several beats. “It’s my life, Gemma; people taking pictures of me, selling them to magazines, writing gossip. It pretty much goes with the gig.”
Gemma didn’t respond right away. She understood the situation and didn’t hold it against him. But Rock Canyon thrived on gossip, and for years she’d been the focus of a lot of it. It had taken a while, but people had finally stopped looking at her with whispers and head shakes of disapproval. She’d created a place in her community that had nothing to do with being a teen mom and everything to do with organizing fund-raisers, helping out people in need, and just being who she’d always been.
The people of Rock Canyon used to call her a nice girl who’d made a mistake, but Charlie wasn’t a mistake. There had been rumors and speculation for years about whether Charlie was Travis’s or not. She had never confirmed it, but it was pretty damned obvious. Besides, she hadn’t been seeing anyone else.
But if people in Rock Canyon saw the pictures of she and Travis together now, it would be just a matter of time before someone desperate for money—or just being an idiot—tipped off the press about the possibility of Charlie’s paternity. And then their lives would be overrun by reporters, and Charlie would be thrust into a three-ring circus. All her sacrifices would have been for nothing.
“It’s just that your life is so globally public. It’s bad enough having small-town busybodies monitoring your every move, but when the world knows who you’re with, what you’re doing . . . I don’t think I could ever live like that,” Gemma said as they walked past Gerald the doorman again.
Or subject my son to it.
Travis stopped and held out his hand. “Hey, Gerald. I just wanted to say how much I appreciate your professionalism. What’s your last name?”
Gerald took Travis’s hand hesitantly before pumping it hard, his voice filled with excitement. “Thank you so much, Mr. Bowers. It’s Washington. My wife and I are big fans.”
“And I appreciate it,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a card. “This is my publicist’s number. You tell her your name, and she’ll get you front-row tickets the next time I pass through Vegas, plus a couple of backstage passes.”
Gerald’s brown eyes were wider than the Grand Canyon and he started stammering. “But . . . Mr. Bowers, I was . . . just doing . . . my job.”
“No arguments, Gerald. I’ll see ya soon.”
As they walked away from the grinning man, Gemma had a hard time keeping the warm, fuzzy feelings at bay. “That was lovely of you.”
“That guy deserves it. Any other man would have had his camera phone out or be begging me for an autograph,” Travis said as they walked through the lobby toward the elevator.
“Well, I think it was wonderful,” she said, hoping she didn’t sound as gushy as she felt.
“Thank you,” Travis said, smiling.
“You’re welcome,” she said, fighting the urge to reach up and brush back his hair. It was something she had always done, and now it seemed unnatural not to.
Travis said nothing, just kept watching her with that mischievous grin.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” she asked.
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, but it’s unnerving.”
“Sorry I’m unnerving you,” he said, not sounding sorry about anything. Suddenly, he took her hand and tugged her away from the elevators just as one was about to open.
“What are you doing?”
“I want to show you something,” he said, taking her down a long hallway and through a pair of golden doors. The green uniforms and gold everywhere made Gemma chuckle a little, especially when they passed another fountain with a gold pot in the middle, lights shining into the water, making it look almost like arching rainbows. The O’Shea Hotel really played up their Irish theme, but it was beautifully done. She hardly had time to admire it before Travis was stopping in front of another, smaller elevator. Gemma frowned.
“Where are you taking me?”
The doors dinged, and Travis tried to pull her in without answering, but she held her ground. “Uh-uh. I’m not going anywhere until you tell me where this elevator goes.”
“To the roof,” he said, his eyes twinkling as he raised an eyebrow. “What, are you scared?”
“No, of course not, I just have things to do, and I don’t have time to go gallivanting around—”
“I promise to have you back to your room in time to finish at least two novels today,” he said, holding out his hand. “Come on. I dare you.”
A thousand reasons rushed through her mind, and at least half of those involved Charlie, but she found herself grabbing his hand anyway and letting him pull her inside.
THE DOORS OPENED, revealing a lush greenhouse-style garden, and Travis watched Gemma’s face break into wide-eyed delight.
“Oh!”
She walked out onto the stone floor, and he followed behind to the sound of rushing water on their left. Very few people visited th
is place, but Callum O’Shea knew Travis liked the peace of the garden.
Gemma clapped her hands and laughed, her eyes bright as she looked at him. “This is amazing! Thank you.”
As she walked along the path in front of him, he realized she was the first woman with whom he’d shared this place. When Callum had first shown him the garden, he’d come up here to write songs and escape the constant hangers-on, but he had never used it to soften a woman’s feelings toward him. It wasn’t like he was trying to get her back, at least not consciously, but he also didn’t want their time together to end.
The realization was startling. He wasn’t the type of guy to fall hard for a girl, at least not since Gemma. He knew his memory of how things had been between them was clouding his rationality, and despite her prickliness about Phoenix, he still found himself enchanted by her.
What did that mean, though? Did he want her to forgive him so she would give him another chance? She had already mentioned half a dozen times that she was uncomfortable with his public life, but could they make something work? Some compromise?
It wasn’t just nostalgia, though. He had been with women—probably more than he should have—but the heat had faded every time. Watching Gemma bend down to smell a pink flower, her hair drifting over her cheek and her eyes closing blissfully, was hotter than all those tight-Wranglered gold diggers combined.
Coming up alongside her, he picked the flower, ignoring her protests. “Travis, you can’t do that!”
“Who’s gonna stop me?” he teased, looking around the garden to drive his point home. Smoothing back her long bangs, he slipped the flower behind her ear.
“Beautiful.”
Gemma’s cheeks were flushed, and when she raised her eyes to his, they were shiny with tears. “I wish you wouldn’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Use your charm on me,” she said, wiping at her eyes with a laugh. “You’ve always been able to get around me with it.”
“It’s never been charm with you, Gem,” he said, tenderly using her nickname as he brushed his fingers along her cheek. He felt her shaking and slid his finger under her chin, tipping up her face until their gazes locked. “I’m really sorry about the way things ended, Gemma. I never stopped thinking about you. But I didn’t know how to make you believe me, and part of me was angry that you didn’t trust me.”
She pulled away from him, her eyes narrowed with temper. “Before we started dating, you’d been out with half the girls in school, and don’t tell me you never dated two at the same time. I’m sorry I didn’t give you the benefit of the doubt, but honestly, can you really blame me?”
He fought down the frustration and anger her words brought rearing to the surface and said, “We were friends for two years and dated for four months. In all that time, did I ever hurt you, Gem?”
She said nothing for a few minutes, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. Finally, she breathed a soft, “No.”
“No, because I would never hurt you, Gem. Not for anything.”
He reached out for her hand and squeezed it. “Can you believe me now, Gem? Can you forgive me, so maybe we can have a do over?”
He was relieved when she didn’t pull away, but her answer was a little disheartening. “I don’t know.”
What are you so afraid of?
He could tell she was afraid, holding back a part of herself, and bit back a sharp response. Patience had never been his strong suit, but voicing his frustrations to her wasn’t going to open her up either. Gemma had always fought against people pressuring her, and he figured she most likely hadn’t changed in that regard.
When she cleared her throat and gently pulled away, he let her go.
“Come on. I want to explore.”
He let her walk away from him but followed behind closely, noting the way her shoulders tensed when his arm brushed hers. She might not like his lifestyle or believe in his innocence, but she wasn’t immune to him either.
GEMMA TRIED TO keep her focus on the beautiful scenery and off the warring guilt and panic rumbling inside her. For a second, when Travis had called her out on trusting him, part of her had wanted to believe him so badly she’d almost apologized. But if she forgave him now, what would that mean for Charlie? If she believed Travis about Phoenix, then walking away from him would have been a mistake, and everything she had done to protect Charlie since would have been for naught.
What if. Those two words were making her crazy. So crazy that, when she’d looked up into Travis’s eyes as he’d apologized and told her he would never hurt her, she’d almost stood on her tiptoes and kissed him.
Which was certifiable, no matter what old feelings she’d been fighting all day. If she kissed Travis, that was it. It would be wrong to be so intimate with him and not tell him something so personal.
Maybe not, though, if it’s just a one-time thing. You know what they say about Vegas . . .
They walked along the stone path, and Gemma had to admit she’d been thinking about sex a lot lately. It was hard to date in Rock Canyon; the minute something started to get serious, people started to talk. And while people were talking, she had Charlie to think about, and the things people said about her to him. She still remembered when she’d gone out with Marcus Boatman and all of Charlie’s teammates had given him hell because his mom was dating the coach. It had been only one date, and Gemma had been fine with that. The man hadn’t changed at all since high school.
Travis walked ahead of her over a stone tunnel bridge, and she felt a cool mist as she came behind him. To their right, a large hole had been cut in the stone wall of the tunnel, revealing a waterfall that disappeared into the stream below. She stopped in front of it, reaching out to touch the rushing water as it forced its way through her fingers.
Travis’s shoulder brushed hers and she said, “I never get tired of the sound of water.”
“I remember. Every rainstorm, you’d sit by the window and watch.” His mouth was near her ear, teasing away the strands of her hair.
“I still do that . . . . Ch—” She shut her mouth in alarm, cursing herself for almost mentioning Charlie.
“What? What were you going to say?”
His warm whisper blew across the skin of her throat, and her heartbeat picked up speed.
I need to get away from him before I do something stupid.
But as she turned to tell him they should go, she was startled to realize how close his mouth actually was. Licking her lips, she watched his eyes drop down and his head bend farther.
He’s going to kiss me.
And she wanted to let him.
Travis’s forehead dropped against hers. Her lips were only a hairsbreadth away from his, and she almost closed the distance. It had been so long since she’d been touched, and besides the few terrible kisses she’d had over the last ten years, she hadn’t been with anyone since . . .
Well, since Travis.
He moved closer, the warmth of his breath fanning across her lips, and she started to close her eyes, but Charlie’s face popped up in her mind, smiling with such wild abandon that it broke the spell.
“We should go,” she whispered, turning her head to the side.
Travis stopped, and the breath he took was so ragged and raw that her lower stomach twisted with desire.
“Okay,” he said, turning away from her to walk out of the tunnel and she groaned with disappointment.
She came up behind him just as the elevator doors opened and they stepped inside, neither saying anything on the ride down. When they reached the bottom floor again, she tried to let him off the hook. “You don’t have to go with me. I can find my way back to the elevators.”
He looked insulted. “I always walk my dates up to their door. It’s just good manners.”
“But this wasn’t a date—”
“What would you call it?” he asked, his eyebrow hiking.
Gemma shut her mouth and didn’t argue again. It did have all the earmarks of a date, down to the n
ear kiss and awkward moments. That hadn’t been the plan when she’d accepted his lunch invitation.
What had she been expecting? She’d been curious, especially after his apology, and had wanted to find out just how different he was now from the boy she had loved. And she’d wanted to make sure she’d made the right decision by not telling him about Charlie ten years ago.
He’s happy. If I’d given him the option, he wouldn’t have all of his fame and fortune.
As they approached the main elevator, she blurted out, “You’re happy, right? I mean, with your life and everything? You wouldn’t have done anything differently?”
The elevator doors opened and they let people come off before getting on and telling the attendant the floor number. When Travis finally answered, it was with a wide smile.
“Yeah, sure I’m happy. I get to make a living doing what I love. I get to travel and meet new people. It’s what I always wanted.”
Gemma had no idea what she’d wanted or expected him to say, but his answer definitely irked her. Maybe it was the meet new people comment that made her think of all the girls they’d passed in the last few hours, snapping his picture and undressing him with their eyes.
“Good. I’m glad.”
Stepping off of the elevator when the doors opened, she hurried down the hallway without waiting for him. He followed behind her anyway, and leaned against the wall next to her room door as she searched for her key.
“Any chance I can get you to change your plans for tonight?”
She hesitated. “No. I’m going to relax for a while and then, later, I have the Kiss Awards ceremony to attend.”
“What’s that?” He was still lounging, relaxed.
She inserted the key into the lock and opened the door, walking a little way in and setting down her purse, only to turn back and find he had stepped in, too. Trying to calm the quivering in her stomach at having him in her hotel room, only a few feet from the bed, she said, “It’s for romance authors. It’s like the Country Music Awards for you.”
