“I’m so glad you’re here,” I said softly. “I didn’t realize how much I needed you until now.”
“I’m glad I’m here too.” He turned his head and kissed my forehead. “How are things?”
“Terrible,” I sighed. “It’s like we’re on death watch. The doctors have her so doped up on meds so she can deal with the pain, she sleeps all the time.” I fought back the tears. “It’s sucks watching someone you love die.”
He rubbed my arm slowly. “I can imagine.”
We didn’t talk after that, enjoying being naked and in each others arms again. I even dozed off, only to be woken up by the sound of my phone. I kept it close
I sat up and looked down at Cane. He was sound asleep. I could only imagine what fumes he’d been running on at this point. From some drunk texts and phone calls over the past few days, I knew they wrapped up the tour partying every night and if he came here after the last show, he was probably exhausted.
I slipped from his arms and found my purse on the ground near the door. I dug it out and saw I had a text from my brother. I sat on a chair near the bed and read it.
Where r u?
I rolled my eyes. I knew Mom was near the end, but not today, so there was no reason for him to bother me.
Shopping. Why?
Cane rolled made a sound and rolled over. He woke up when he couldn’t find me next to him. He looked around the room, his eyes narrowed. He finally found me on the chair.
“Get your ass back to bed, woman,” he growled.
I held up my phone and rolled my eyes. “It’s my brother. He wants to know where I am.” I stood up from the chair and went to sit on the edge of the bed by Cane, still holding my phone.
“Is everything ok?” He asked, sitting up. He moved my hair to the side and began to kiss my neck softly, distracting me, my skin beginning to tingle again from touch.
“I think so. I’m waiting for a response,” I sighed and he put his hand firmly on my shoulder, pulling me down to kiss him. His mouth covered mine hungrily and I knew he was ready for round two. I reached between his legs to take his already hard shaft in my hand when my phone dinged again. I tore my mouth from him with a groan.
“Just let me check it,” I grabbed the phone from the floor where I had dropped it when Cane started kissing me.
Mom’s asking for you. It’s not good.
I gasped and put my hand to my mouth, my heart sinking. When I left earlier, she was sleeping soundly in bed. What had gone wrong in such a few short hours?
“My mom is asking for me,” I said softly while standing up from the bed. “He said it’s not good.” I bent down to pick up my t-shirt. “I have to get to her, Cane.”
He stood up quickly from the bed in all of his naked glory. “I’m coming with you.”
“You don’t have to,” I said, finding my discarded yoga pants.
“I want to,” he insisted and I was grateful.
I would need him now more than ever.
Chapter Five ~ Cane
The next couple of weeks were the longest of my life. We rushed back to Lindsey’s house and confirmed that her mom had gone down hill fast. It wasn’t the best circumstances under which to meet her family, but sometimes that’s the way life goes. There wasn’t much to do. All I could do was comfort Lindsey and be there for her. There were a lot of tears and it killed me to see her hurting so much.
I never made it in to meet her mom. She was pretty out of it and drugged up to help the pain. She eventually passed away two days after we got there from the hotel. Lindsey, her brother, and her dad were all with her. She didn’t even have to tell me she was gone; I could tell by the look on her face when her and her brother came out. Her dad stayed in the room to be alone with her. Lindsey always told me that despite her issues with her parents and them not approving of her career choice, her parents had the kind of relationship she wanted. They were head over heels for each other, even after being married so long.
Lindsey cried herself to sleep that night in my arms, but the next morning, she took charge of the situation. Her mom and dad had everything ready for this day. With her mom being a control freak, she wanted to make her own arrangements. Lindsey’s dad was walking around the house like a zombie and wasn’t much help, so Lindsey and her brother took care of everything. It was a little sexy to see her so commanding of the situation.
It was obvious that her dad was devastated by the lose of his wife and I started thinking about what it was like to have a love like that and lose it. While Lindsey was busy on the phone or talking to the various people that visited, I was inspired to write some songs for the album. At the rate I was going, I would have a good four or five songs to take to the guys in the studio next week.
One the day of the funeral, I woke up with Lindsey’s hand wrapped around my cock. I turned and gathered her into my arms. “Make love to me, Cane,” she whispered into my neck. “I need you.”
I rolled her over onto her back and made love to her. It was long and slow and gentle. I touched and kissed her all over, not missing an inch of her body. We came together and I swallowed her cries with my mouth, kissing her keep and trying to take her pain away from her, if only for a moment.
I told her I would hang in the back for the funeral so she could be with her family, but she insisted I stay by her side. I felt a little like an intruder, having not ever met her mother and only meeting the rest of her family a few days ago. Her dad seemed fine with me there but her brother kept shooting me daggers. I don’t think he liked having me around his little sister.
I couldn’t say I blamed him. I wouldn’t want an asshole like me dating my sister either. I knew how the press portrayed me and they weren’t even making it up most of the time. For a long time I owned who I was but now I wanted to be better. Lindsey made me want to be a better person.
As I watched her saying goodbye to her mother for the last time, the tears streaming down her pretty face, I realized I did love her. I probably loved her from the moment I saw her backstage months ago. She hadn’t left mine mind since. I wanted to tell her but now wasn’t the time. I would wait until things settled down some.
After the funeral, I checked my phone while Lindsey was talking to a cousin of hers. I had a text from Diesel.
Dude, get your ass back here. Studio in two days.
Fuck. What if Lindsey needed me here? I wasn’t going to leave her alone.
“Hey you,” she said, linking her arm with mine. She glanced down and saw my text. “You need to get back to LA, don’t you?”
I put my arm around her shoulder and held her close. “If you need me here, I can tell those assholes to wait a few more days. You’re more important.”
She wrapped her arm around the front of my waist. “It’s ok. You’ve been great so far. I should be back to LA within the week anyway. You go.” She smiled and I leaned down to kiss her forehead.
“Thanks, baby.” I was itching to get back into the studio, especially after the songs I had come up with while I was here. I couldn’t wait to get with the rest of the guys and see what they could come up. I loved to perform, but creating music in the studio was my true passion. The whole creative process was amazing.
When we finally made it back to the house, Lindsey and I went up to her room for a nap. When I woke up, I made flight arrangements for the next morning. That would give me a day to get settled back home before going to the studio.
Lindsey and I stayed locked in her room until it was time for me to leave the next morning. She had a bathroom attached to her room and she would go downstairs for food and drinks, so it was perfect. I offered to take her out, but she wanted to stay in. I wasn’t going to complain. I wanted to get my fill of her before I had to leave in the morning. She said she’d be back in no more than a week, but even a day was too long to go without being inside that gorgeous body of hers.
I thought I heard her arguing with her brother one time on the way back to the room, but they were too far away for me to
make out what they were saying and she wouldn’t tell me when I asked. Her arrogant prick of a brother was probably giving her crap about me. I wasn’t a big fan of his either so we were even.
I had to be up early the next morning to get to the airport. Lindsey had set her alarm and woke me up. We took a shower, not really saying much. My visit here hadn’t been what I had hoped for, but it was still good. I felt good that I was able to be there for her.
She borrowed her dad’s car and we were able to sneak out of the house before anyone saw us. I was relieved; I wasn’t ready for an early morning confrontation with her brother.
We arrived at the airport and stopped to get some coffee at the Starbucks inside. We sat down and I couldn’t help but study her. She had her hair up in a messy bun on top of her head and black leggings along with some Ugg boots. God, her ass looked amazing in those leggings. The weather was cooler so she had on a University of Wisconsin gray sweatshirt. She was totally dressed down but never looked sexier to me.
“Why are you staring at me?” She asked shyly, looking down at her coffee.
“Just want to commit you to memory since I won’t see you for a few days. And damn, you look sexy even when you aren’t dressed up,” I grinned at her before taking a drink of coffee.
“You’re scared you’re going to forget what I look like?” She teased. “Guess you’ve killed way too many brain cells with all of that booze.”
I leaned in and whispered, “Don’t forget about the drugs.”
She threw her head back and laughed. I loved the sound of her laugh. It was so pure and infectious, I couldn’t help but laugh along.
She shook her head and played with the cardboard sleeve on her coffee cup. “I’m really going to miss you but I’m so grateful you could be with me. I know it was hard and heavy when we’re still figuring this out, but you made it so much easier.”
I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. “I’m glad I was able to be here. There’s no where else I would have rather been.” I brushed my lips across the back of her hand, meaning every word I said. I should tell her I love her before I leave.
My flight was called, ending the moment. “Guess it’s time to say goodbye,” she said reluctantly and stood up.
“Yep,” I replied and got up. We walked over to throw away our cups and I took her hand. We walked as far as she could go and stopped. I wrapped her up tight in my arms and hugged her.
“Call me if you need anything. Any time. There’s a rule of no cell phones in the studio, but leave a message or text and I’ll get back to you on a break.” This goodbye was a tough one and I didn’t want to let her go.
She nodded. “I will.” She turned her face up to look at me. “I’m going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you.” I cupped her face with my hand before leaning down to kiss her. “I love you, Lindsey,” I whispered in her ear when our kiss ended. When I looked down at her, she had tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, wiping a tear from her cheek. I’d seen her cry too much lately and it broke me inside.
She bit her lip and shook her head. “Nothing.” She got up on her tip toes. “I love you too, Cane Stephens.”
I grinned down at her and was about to kiss her again when my flight was called again. If I didn’t go now, I was going to miss it. Being here with her longer didn’t seem like a bad thing but if I wasn’t in the studio tomorrow, the guys were going to kill me.
“You better go.” She pressed her forehead against my chest, clutching my t-shirt in her hands. “I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Yes you will.” I kissed her one last time and grabbed my bag. I walked backwards towards my gate so I could still look at her. She waved and blew me a kiss before I turned around. I wanted to high five everyone I saw. She said she loved me too!
I was one of the last people to board the plane. I sat down and sent her a quick text before I would have to shut off my phone and scrolled through my other messages. There were a couple from Diesel but one from my manager caught my eye in particular.
We need to talk. Call me ASAP. It’s about your ‘wife’.
I rolled my eyes. I assumed he was talking about Destiny. What did that bitch want now? She had no leg to stand on in her claims of being my wife, so I wasn’t too worried. She was going to continue to be a pain in my ass though until I figured out a way to get her out of my life for good.
There wasn’t time to call him right now, so I shut off my phone and leaned my head back. I was exhausted. We didn’t get much sleep last night. I smiled to myself, remembering how good it sounded when Lindsey said she loved me too.
The flight back was uneventful and I was asleep most of the time. When I got off the plane in LA, I had to admit I missed the warmer weather. I didn’t let anyone know when I was getting back, so I was going to have to catch a cab home. For once in my life, I didn’t want any fanfare or attention when I arrived. I wanted to get home and crash before all the sleepless nights in the studio. Thanks to the Wisconsin t-shirt Lindsey had stolen from her dad’s wardrobe for me to wear, no one was the wiser that I was Cane Stephen’s, lead singer for the Forbidden Gods.
I turned on my phone and sent Lindsey a text to let her know I was back safely. I wasn’t sure if I should say I loved her again; I didn’t want to overdo it and scare her off. She sent me a quick text back to let me know she missed me. I would leave it at that for now and tell her again later before I passed out for the night.
I had another text from my manager.
CALL ME NOW
Fuck, he was impatient. I dialed his number and was surprised to hear him pick up before the phone even finished ringing once.
“It’s about damn time you called,” he almost shouted into the phone. “We have an emergency here.”
“You don’t have to fucking yell,” I said, holding the phone slightly from my ear. What an asshole.
“Remember the whole wife fiasco?” He asked.
“Yeah, I hired a PI and he found no evidence that we were married. It shouldn’t even be an issue anymore - especially one you yell at me about.” I shook my head in disgust. I wasn’t used to people yelling at me and I didn’t like it.
“Well, he missed something.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking out the window at the streets of LA. I loved this town with all the different kinds of people. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.
“She’s pregnant. She claims it’s yours.”
I opened my mouth to say something but I was speechless. Pregnant? Fuck. What was I going to tell Lindsey?
“Cane? Are you there?”
“Yeah, I am.” My cab pulled up to my house. “I just got home. I’ll call you back.” I hung up the phone as the cab driver parked the car. I needed some time to process this. If Destiny really was pregnant with my baby, it was almost worse than us getting married. Her having my baby tied us together for the next eighteen years.
I got out and paid the driver. I walked up to the house, bone tired. I unlocked the door and went inside. I threw my stuff down and grabbed a beer from the fridge. I sat at the island in the kitchen, thinking about what I was going to do next when my phone rang. It was Lindsey. I let it go to voicemail. I couldn’t talk to her right now. She would know something was wrong and I couldn’t lie to her.
I scrubbed my face with my hand and took a long drink of my beer, almost finishing the whole thing. I decided to call Diesel. He would know what to do. He would help me fix this. I had to before I lost Lindsey forever.
Chapter Six ~ Lindsey
He loves me.
I drove home from the airport with the biggest smile on my face I couldn’t help it; rock God Cane Stephens loved me. After the way he stood by my side through my mom’s death and the funeral, I believed it too. I had been thinking of telling him how I felt about him but I didn’t want to spook him. Then he told me first. I was on cloud nine despite my mother’s death.
I pulled into the drivew
ay and parked Dad’s car in the garage. Cane had to fly out early, so it was only around nine in the morning when I arrived home. I hung up the keys by the garage door and went into the kitchen to some breakfast and more coffee. Cane and I spent most of the night in each other’s arms, so I was exhausted.
My brother was sitting at the table, working on his laptop. He was always on that thing. He was heading back to New York tomorrow, leaving me as usual to pick up the pieces as far as Dad was concerned.
My mom’s death was harder on Dad than I thought it would be. It was obvious he was lost without her. She was his soul mate, best friend, and so much more. I couldn’t get him to eat anything and I heard him up wandering the house at night, so I knew he wasn’t sleeping either. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to leave him in a week but I was dying to get back to LA, so I was going to have to figure something out for him.
“You’re up early, little sister,” my brother said dryly, not looking up from his laptop. He had already made a pot of coffee, so I grabbed a mug from the cupboard and poured myself a drink.
“I had to take Cane to the airport,” I replied, bracing myself for his rude comments about my famous boyfriend. I sat in the chair across from him and took a sip of my coffee.
“How can you date him?” He asked, looking up and narrowing his eyes at me. “He’s slept with half the world and he’s an asshole. What’s the appeal?”
“I’m not exactly innocent either, David. Everyone has a past. It doesn’t matter. What matters is how you live your life now,” I shrugged at him. I didn’t feel like fighting with him and I wasn’t going to let him wreck the good mood I was in.
“How nice. Did you get that off of a fortune cookie? Or is that some line of bull he told you so he could get you in bed?” His voice was bitter and cold. Not at all like the brother I knew. David had always been so supportive of whatever I did. Maybe it was a case of a big brother looking out for his little sister, but he was acting like a grade-A asshole.
All I Need 3 Page 4
