“When are you going to tell her about the band?” Gabe asked.
“After I talk to Jacob. If I can straighten this mess out, she never needs to be the wiser.”
“Do you really think that’s the best way to start a relationship with your partner for life, keeping her in the dark about everything that might upset her?”
“I don’t want her to be upset. Ever.”
“Yeah, but—”
“Guys, wait up,” Nikki called from behind them. A nurse shushed her, but that didn’t deter her from racing down the hall. Gabe stopped to allow Melanie, who was walking at a fast clip as quietly as possible, to catch up. Nikki zoomed right past him and careened into Adam, laughing when he caught her by both arms.
“Easy there,” Adam said. “I’m not exactly in top form at the moment.”
“You look great to me,” Nikki said, linking her arm through his and leaning into his side.
Gabe offered Melanie a smile and took her hand, falling in step behind the chatterbox that was her best friend and the broody musician that was one of his.
“So you’re going to fix Sole Regret, right?” Nikki asked. “Because I’ll be devastated if I have to start listening to Nickelback again.”
“I’ll do my best,” Adam said. “Once Madison is out of the hospital.”
“Are you taking her back to your place?” Nikki asked.
“That’s the plan.”
“So I’ll be in Austin for a while too. I can come help you out if you need me to.” She leaned close to his ear and whispered loud enough for Gabe to hear, “I’m sure the lovebirds will want some time alone, if you catch my drift.”
When they passed a waiting room near the elevators, Madison ran up to Adam and grabbed his sleeve.
Wait? How could Madison be there with a fully functional right arm when they’d just seen her in that hospital bed with a cast that went on for miles? Gabe exchanged a look with an equally baffled Melanie.
“Will she see me yet?” uninjured Madison asked Adam.
“You might as well go home, Kennedy. She’s not ready to forgive you yet.”
Kennedy? Gabe actually said oh aloud as he recalled Adam mentioning at one time or another that Madison had an identical twin.
Kennedy’s eyes brimmed with tears, and she pressed trembling lips together. “I’m not going home until she talks to me.”
“She’ll talk to you when she’s ready.”
“Are you leaving?” Kennedy glanced longingly down the hallway.
Adam sighed. “I guess not.” He turned to Gabe. “Thanks for stopping in.”
“I thought you were hungry,” Nikki said, squeezing Adam’s arm and gazing up at him adoringly. It wasn’t the same kind of look she gave Shade. This look was more of a hero-worship thing than a “whoops my pants fell off, what are you going to do about it” kind of look. Gabe didn’t even get bestowed with her hero-worship look. What was up with that?
“I’ll be fine,” Adam said. “I had some of Madison’s tomato soup earlier.”
“I’ll get you something,” Nikki said, and Gabe was at once reminded of the fangirls who jumped to do Adam’s bidding. And then it occurred to him that Nikki was a fangirl.
“How is she feeling?” Kennedy asked. “Is she getting enough rest? You aren’t eating all of her food, are you? She needs to keep her strength up.”
“As good as can be expected,” Adam reported. “She’s about to take a nap now. No, she’s eating plenty. She didn’t like the soup so she gave it to me.”
“You’re Madison’s sister, right?” Melanie asked.
Kennedy nodded.
“Why doesn’t she want to see you?”
Adam lifted his eyebrows at Melanie, and she lowered her gaze.
“None of my business,” she said under her breath.
“I . . . uh . . . sort of told her boss that she was dating a client,” Kennedy said, cringing.
“Hoping that Madison would dump me,” Adam said. “But it backfired, didn’t it, Kennedy?”
Kennedy scowled. “I’m sure I can help her get her job back.”
“She’ll find a new job,” Adam said. “In Austin.”
The elevator opened and several people emerged.
“Don’t bother her while I’m downstairs,” Adam said, “or I’ll call security to have you removed.”
“You wouldn’t!”
Adam’s jaw was set in a hard line and his gray eyes were as cold as arctic steel when he said, “Try me.”
He stepped onto the waiting elevator, and the rest of them scrambled in after him before the doors shut. Adam leaned against the interior wall of the elevator and rubbed both eyes with the heels of his hands.
“Madison has to forgive her eventually,” he muttered. “I don’t like having to play the bad guy and keep them apart.”
“So Kennedy got Madison fired because she dated you?” Gabe asked, having connected some dots.
“Yep,” Adam said. “I’m okay with it—one less string to tug her away from me—but it really did a number on her ego. She’s good at what she does and makes a huge difference in the lives of a lot of people who don’t know how to function without medicating. Just look what she did for me.”
Gabe had to admit that Adam was almost a fully functional human being these days.
Nikki fingered the sleeve of Adam’s leather jacket. “You know her sister is going to go check on her now that you’re going downstairs with us, don’t you?”
Adam smiled slyly and cupped the back of Nikki’s head, roughhousing with a little shake, as if she were his exasperating little sister. Nikki’s smile was breathtakingly joyful.
“Of course I know that, silly. I’ll just give Kennedy a few minutes to sneak a peek at her sister. She’ll be quiet. I know she doesn’t want Madison to get upset. She’s just worried about her.”
“So why did you bother to threaten her?” Gabe asked.
Adam pressed one hand to his chest. “Playing the bad guy, remember?”
“So that Madison doesn’t have to,” Melanie said, squeezing Gabe’s hand.
He supposed that Adam taking the brunt of the blame for the rift between the sisters was one way he showed he cared. Gabe assumed that Madison would prefer to be told the truth, but what did he know? Just because his relationship worked better based on mutual trust and honesty didn’t mean every relationship worked that way. Maybe Madison liked that Adam hid things from her. But Gabe doubted it.
When they exited the elevator, Adam said goodbye and turned toward the cafeteria.
“I’m hungry,” Nikki said to Melanie, her gaze following Adam’s retreating back. “Actually, I’m starved. Why don’t we join him? Then we won’t have to stop later.”
How could she be starved after eating her weight in waffles and syrup-covered bacon less than three hours before?
“He’s engaged, remember?” Melanie shook her head at Nikki.
“I don’t want him that way,” Nikki said. “I just like to be around him. He gets me without trying to.”
“I get you,” Melanie said.
Gabe snorted, but Nikki smiled. “Because you try so hard. That means the world to me, you know.” Nikki looped her arm through Melanie’s free one and leaned into her side, hugging her arm. “Please. I’m sure Gabe has more to say to him.”
Gabe had a shit ton of stuff to say to Adam. “I could eat,” he said.
“Outnumbered,” Melanie said with a resigned sigh. “I’m not hungry, but I could definitely go for a cup of coffee.”
Nikki squeezed her arm again and took off down the corridor after Adam. Gabe and Melanie followed at a much more sedate pace.
“You’re not really hungry are you?” Melanie asked just as Nikki caught up to Adam and nearly knocked him over by jumping on his back. Rather than look pissed—which is what Gabe expected his reaction to be to such an assault—Adam laughed, looped his arms around her long legs at his waist, and gave her a piggyback ride toward the cafeteria.
&n
bsp; “Stuffed,” he admitted. “But I like to see her happy, and for whatever reason, Adam does that for her.”
“Do you think I try too hard to understand her?”
“Nothing wrong with that,” he said. “You’re empathetic. It’s one of the things I love most about you.”
She leaned into his side and gazed up at him with a look of adoration that made his heart flutter stupidly.
“It’s a quality we share.”
Gabe wasn’t so sure about that, but he accepted her compliment and got in the cafeteria line behind Nikki and Adam. Nikki was asking Adam about his music-writing progress and if he’d drawn any more pictures of her. Gabe was surprised by how open Adam was about himself when he talked to her. Adam had always been secretive about his personal life, but with Nikki, he held nothing back. Perhaps she got him the same way he got her. Gabe didn’t get either of them, but that didn’t stop him from enjoying their company. Especially when they were together.
“So what you need to do,” Nikki was saying to Adam as she munched on the salad she’d selected from the cafeteria cooler, “is show Jacob all the work you’ve been doing. He’ll get all excited about it and want to get the band back together.”
“It’s not that good,” Adam said, dipping a fry in ketchup, his eyes trained on his task.
“Everything you write is good,” Nikki said. “And most of what you write is excellent.”
“That’s true,” Gabe said. He took a sip of his eyeball-peelingly strong cup of coffee and pulled a layer off the stale cinnamon roll that he and Melanie were sharing.
“You haven’t seen everything I write,” Adam said.
“I saw the lyrics you wrote about you and me,” Nikki said. “One wounded beast recognizes another…”
Adam rolled his eyes. “Those lyrics could be about anyone.” He stuffed several fries into his mouth. “Or no one,” he added around his mouthful of fries.
“But that song wasn’t about just anyone. You wrote it about me. I was right there when inspiration struck. I saw it awaken in you. It was so freaking cool!”
“I’m usually inspired by dark things,” Adam said, pointing at her with a French fry. “And you, darling Nikki, are dark.”
Gabe stared at her, trying to see in her what Adam saw, but to him, Nikki was a pretty girl with gorgeous eyes and an infectious smile who seemed to live without a care. He knew better, but yeah, he didn’t see her dark side at all. She was too good at hiding her true feelings and covering them with bubbly bullshit. Apparently Adam could easily see through all her false normality. He’d always been a deep and complicated sort of guy, and though he’d nearly driven them all mad with those complications, Gabe was glad he was a part of his life. Being around Adam today reminded Gabe how much he’d lost when Jacob had walked off their tour bus outside of New Orleans.
“When we get the band back together,” Gabe said, “you could bring Madison on tour with us while she recovers.”
Adam paused with his dry-looking poor excuse for a cheeseburger halfway to his mouth. “Do you honestly think this is going to work out?”
Gabe’s heart skipped a beat. He had not only thought it but believed it. But if Adam didn’t think it was possible, then how could the rest of the band rely on him to set things straight with Jacob? Hell, when had they ever been able to rely on Adam for anything?
“What are you going to do with the rest of your life, if it doesn’t?” Gabe asked, his pulse thrumming hard in his ears. He still didn’t have a plan B, which frankly freaked him the fuck out whenever that fact came to mind.
Adam shrugged. “Wing it.” He bit into his cheeseburger.
“It’s the only way to live as far as I’m concerned,” Nikki said, a bright smile on her face.
Melanie stiffened slightly and reached for Gabe’s hand. Well, at least one person at the table understood Gabe’s terror. Wing it? Was Adam fucking kidding him?
“You are going to try to talk to Jacob, aren’t you? Me, Owen, Kellen, we’re all counting on you.”
Now it was Adam’s turn to stiffen. He dropped his burger and pushed his tray away. “You should know better than to do that,” he said quietly. He stood. “I have to check on Madison.” And without so much as a goodbye, he stalked off.
“He’s not going to fix this,” Melanie said when Adam was out of earshot. “It’s as if he doesn’t give a shit about how this affects the rest of you.”
“He’s always like that,” Gabe said, tossing the remains of their demolished cinnamon roll onto Adam’s abandoned tray. “If responsibility so much glances in his direction, he takes off.”
Nikki rose from the table to discard their trash. Her face was flushed, but Gabe couldn’t read her. He didn’t get her, and he sure as fuck didn’t get Adam Taylor. Gabe might as well call Owen and Kellen and tell them both to find a new life, because the old one’s champion refused to even suit up for the battle.
Chapter Ten
Melanie climbed out of her car and stretched the aches out of her limbs, back, and butt. She was so glad to be home, and as she gazed up at the big A-frame log cabin surrounded by woods and nature, it hit her. This beautiful place really was her home now. Gabe hurried up to the house to let the dogs out. His regular dog-sitter had taken care of them while they’d been gone. Beau was instantly jumping for joy on the porch beside him. Lady limped out, her ears droopy and her big brown eyes sad.
“Last trip for a while,” he said to her, scratching her head. “I promise.”
Melanie grabbed an armload of her stuff from the trunk and was halfway to the porch when Nikki’s Bug pulled up behind Melanie’s car. Nikki stepped out of the little melon-orange car and stood with her hands on her hips, assessing Gabe’s gorgeous home.
“I thought rock stars lived in mansions,” she said.
“It’s my castle,” Gabe said, helping Lady off the porch while Beau went to investigate the newcomer.
“It’s a beautiful house,” Melanie said. “I absolutely love it.”
“Because you have great taste.” Gabe offered her a wink.
“Doggie!” Nikki said, practically launching herself on top of Beau, who backed off with his tail between his legs before leaping forward again to give Nikki a full-face tongue bath. They rolled around in the dust for several minutes like a pair of rambunctious puppies before Lady went to check out the potential new member of their pack.
“Oh, you poor thing!” Nikki reached a hand in Lady’s direction. Lady gave it a sniff and then a timid lick. Soon she was lying on her back, wagging her tail and getting a vigorous, apparently much appreciated, belly rub.
“Lady will never leave her alone now,” Gabe told Melanie, his face bright with mirth. “That dog is addicted to belly rubs.”
And that was how Melanie and Gabe ended up unloading both cars while Nikki became well acquainted with the dogs.
Later, Nikki sat perched on a stool at the breakfast bar while Melanie and Gabe worked to throw a meal together. Nikki’s new furry friends sat on either side of the stool with their faces pressed against her outer thighs.
Nikki sighed. “You two belong together,” she said. “Just look at you. Cooking without arguing. Road trip without arguing. Pick up crazy friend from the loony bin without arguing. Do you two ever argue?”
Melanie smiled at Gabe, recalling that the last time they’d had a disagreement had been because Nikki had kissed Melanie and made it clear that she wanted her. “Not often.”
“So can the dogs be in the wedding?” Nikki asked, reaching down to scratch each behind the ears. Puppy love was totally a thing, and both of Gabe’s dogs had it bad for Nikki.
“I don’t see why not,” Gabe said as he added more olive oil to the fresh salad dressing he was mixing.
“Wouldn’t that be a recipe for disaster?” Melanie was immediately imagining a doggie tug of war with her veil and dogs marking their territory on pews.
“My dogs are well behaved,” Gabe said, but Melanie was far from convinced.
“As the bride, my vote counts double and breaks all ties.”
Gabe smirked at Nikki. “In other words, no dogs.”
Dogs should take puppy-dog-eyes lessons from Nikki. If a pooch sported the current look she was giving Melanie, he’d easily get any treat he desired. But Melanie didn’t fold. She added another layer to the lasagna to avoid Nikki’s pleading stare.
“How about a skydiving wedding?” Nikki asked.
Melanie sprinkled parmesan cheese on top of the final thin layer of sauce. “Absolutely not.” She lifted the ceramic dish and turned to the preheated oven in the wall, which Gabe opened for her.
“Beach wedding?”
“How about we have it here?” Gabe asked.
Melanie stole a kiss. “Fabulous idea.”
“In the trees?” Nikki asked. “Where will the guests sit? The dusty driveway?”
“No one ever said chairs have to be set out in perfect rows,” Melanie said. “Just scatter them about the forest.”
Gabe snorted. “I never knew you were such a rebel.”
He swatted her butt playfully, which somehow turned into a rear-end-massaging embrace fueled with a passionate kiss. He pressed his rapidly hardening cock into her hip, and her knees buckled. If he found scattered chairs sexy . . .
“The dogs would be more comfortable here,” Melanie said, wondering what she was getting into, but she decided the smile Gabe gave her was worth a slobbery ring-bearer pillow.
“You hear that?” Nikki said. “Your daddy’s getting married and you’re invited.”
Lady barked, and Beau echoed her—the low but loud sound making Melanie jump.
“How long does that lasagna need to bake?” Gabe murmured in Melanie’s ear.
“At least forty-five minutes,” she said.
“Hey, Nik,” Gabe said, “if I’m not done devouring your friend in forty-five minutes, could you take the lasagna out of the oven?”
Nikki grinned. “You got it.”
Melanie tripped over a squeaky toy as she trailed after Gabe, already anticipating all the delicious things he’d do to her body. She supposed Nikki being there did have a few advantages. Not burning the lasagna, for one. Entertaining Gabe’s fur babies, for another. She was sure she’d think of more advantages later.
Trust Me (One Night with Sole Regret Book 11) Page 12
