“Yeah.” I grinned, and the guys in the band grinned back at me. “Those are the ones. C’mon.” I took Hollie’s hand. “I want you standing beside me at the piano.”
We led the procession, my goddess and me. Once we were inside the largest studio at the end of the hall, we each took our places, friends and family in supportive roles. Linc on my Fender, Ramon on lead guitar, Ash on his drums, me on the piano doing vocals, and the woman I loved and planned to share an infinite number of sunrises with beside me.
Let’s write the sunrise
And mark a new day
We’ll paint a brighter world
Where sadness can’t survive
A place where you and I
Are free to live our lives
Erase the darkness
Blot out the bad times
Wash them away like
Grains of sand into the sea
Until there’s nothing really
Left but you and me
Because I’m naked in your light
Nothing but the truth
And the truth is
I’m nothing without you
Bring on the sunrise
We’ll start all over
And let the heavens in your eyes
Light up our way
The fire burning in our hearts
Will rule the day
Because I’m naked in your light
Blinded by your truth
And the truth is I’m nothing
Without you
“Hollie,” I said as the last note faded. “I want to take you outside. Just you and me to enjoy our first sunrise as an engaged couple, but first, I want to be sure. Are you okay with all of this?”
“You mean living here in OB with your dad downstairs, my sister above us, and all our friends nearby?”
“Yeah, that. I kinda decided everything for you.”
“You’re the one that made the big sacrifice leaving your island.”
“Our island, and nothing is a sacrifice that keeps me near you. Island side. Beach side. Location doesn’t matter as long as it’s you and me today, tonight, and always.”
“Kiss your fiancée, already!” Ash shouted, and I did.
It was what I wanted to do.
Afterward, I took her outside, or she took me. It didn’t really matter. What mattered was she and I were together.
For now, and all the rest of our days.
“Hollie,” I said when I was seated, and my fiancée nestled in front of me on the slope of sand that led to the ocean where the pink streamers across the turquoise sky heralded a new day.
“Yes, husband-to-be?” Her hands resting on my knees, Hollie turned to glance at me over her shoulder.
I grinned, knowing I’d never in my life been happier. “Are you ready for my brand of loving—good vibes, surfing, sleeping, eating, loving, rocking and rolling, and fucking well into the night and the next morning?”
Hollie smiled and returned her head to my shoulder. “I’m ready for you. I was born to be yours. I’m ready to face whatever, whenever with you. Frame by frame, until we have a story, until we’ve written each sunrise into a beautiful new life.”
Epilogue
* * *
Hollie - Three years later
“Can you give us another minute alone?” I asked Olivia.
“Sure. But make it quick. You’re going to have to make a statement soon.”
“I know.” I clicked the courthouse’s conference-room door closed. I had what I was going to say to the press planned out. But first, I had to make sure Fanny was okay.
“Hey.” I took a seat back at the long table where Hart and all the others had gathered only moments before.
“Hey, yourself.” Tears fell, trailing mascara beneath my sister’s pretty silver eyes.
“Are you okay?” I swiped the trails of black away, not bothering with my own. There were too many.
We leaned forward, wrapping our arms around each other and pressing our foreheads together.
“I should be asking you the same question.” Her brows drawn together, she scanned my features. “How can you be so calm?”
“Because he doesn’t matter.”
“He did every single thing he was accused of, but he barely got a slap on the wrist.”
“He dropped the $10 million countersuit against me. That’s not insignificant. Neither are the other lawsuits he’s facing without any insurance money to back him up. But most of all, he has to live with himself.”
“You’re incredible, you know.”
“I don’t know about incredible.”
“He’s a monster, Hols. But you stood up to him and his sleazy attorneys.”
“I just did what was right.” I pulled back from her and straightened my shoulders. The stark black suit jacket I wore pulled tight across them.
“I’m proud of you.” She reached for my fingers and squeezed them. “Have you told Diesel yet?”
“No.”
He would probably hear it on the news before I got home, but I didn’t want to share it on the phone. He was with our baby girl so Fanny could be here with me. I would wait. The three-hour drive wasn’t that long. Not in the grand scheme of things when the trial and the appeals and extensions associated with it had taken years. I wanted to talk to him and process how I felt about it together. The way we did all important things.
“He’s going to be upset.”
“Yeah, because justice wasn’t done. I guess that shouldn’t be surprising. There will always be bad guys in this world. They don’t always get what they deserve. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t stand up to them. We have to fight for what’s right. Samuel might have gotten off easy today in that courtroom, but by doing what I did and being true to myself, I win in the long run.”
“You do.” Fanny gave me a proud smile. “You are so strong.”
“It’s easy to be strong when you have the love and support I do.”
“Oh, Hols. I love you.”
“I love you too. So much. But don’t make me cry any more.” I withdrew my hands and shook my finger at her. “I have a statement to make to the press, and Ernie’s going to have a devil of a time trying to make my face presentable.”
A knock on the door heralded my best friend’s entrance. In far less time than I would have imagined, Ernie the miracle worker made me look like I’d stepped off a movie set, instead of like I’d just dissolved into tears after the jury’s disappointing verdict.
My chin goddess-level high, I stepped out of the private room, walked down a long empty hallway, and emerged into the crowded open space directly outside the courtroom. Uniformed officers flanked me as flashes went off all around me, accompanied by shouted questions.
With practiced poise, my spine straight, the way I wanted Diesel and our daughter to see me, I surveyed the crowd confidently until the din died down before I began.
“A verdict was delivered in the courtroom today. There will be no further appeals by my attorneys. I have a life to lead, a daughter to raise, a husband to love, and movies to make. These things are my priorities now.”
“And making money,” someone I couldn’t see in the back shouted, and a few people snickered.
“No.” I narrowed my gaze in the direction of the inappropriate comment. “That’s Samuel Lesowski’s number-one goal. Money has always been his one love, and it likely always will be.”
My expression softened. “But it’s not mine. Real love is. My mother and my biological father believed that where there is light and love, there is a way. I believe that too. I believe that because I’ve seen it in action with them, with my sister, with my friends, and most of all with my family. I wish that kind of love and light to all of you. Thanks, everyone.”
• • •
Diesel
“You ready to try again, little one?”
In her inflatable wetsuit on her pink surfboard with about a bazillion dolphin stickers, Kelly bobbed her cute little strawberry-b
lond head full of curls at me.
“Good girl.”
She beamed a radiant smile my way. My heart soared on the currents of her happiness, just like it did with her mother.
Holding her steady in the surf on her oversized practice board, I glanced up toward the parking lot above the beach. No sign of Hollie’s SUV returning from LA yet.
“Yo, bro.” Ramon called out from his spot several yards away, where he held little Dominica on her board. “How’s the pop-up going?”
“She’s two years old, Martinez. We haven’t quite got the stance perfected yet.”
He was egging me on. We were still on basic shallow-water acclimation stuff with all our kids.
“Sounds like an excuse, man. I think my baby surfer girl is gonna have hers down in no time at all.”
“Go ahead and talk, talk, talk all you want, but the proof’s in the action.”
He laughed. It was bullshit. We wouldn’t have any actual surfing with our grommets for years, but that didn’t keep any of us from talking smack or starting our kids on their boards early. When Ash eventually brought Abby down from her nap, he would be just as bad as we were.
We were all a bunch of competitive assholes, and I loved it, loved them, and loved our lives here in Ocean Beach together. I wouldn’t want it any other way.
“Bring your best,” I whispered in Kelly’s ear.
“Yes, Daddy. That’s what Papaw says.”
“Your grandpa Tam is always right.”
She nodded, then started bouncing her bum up and down on the board. I knew who it was before she shouted.
“Mommy!”
I lifted my sea urchin off her board.
“I’ll stow it,” Ramon told me, his dark eyes dancing like mine undoubtedly were. “Go get your girl.”
It was what I wanted to do, so I did.
A wet squirming Kelly in my arms, I moved up the slope of sand toward the parking lot as Hollie headed our way. I probably looked like shit, sand all over me and wearing nothing but an old pair of board shorts. Likely, I even had dry cereal stuck in my hair from snack time that had morphed into Cheerio wars, but you wouldn’t know it by the way my woman looked at me.
“Diesel!” Hollie kicked her high heels off and ran barefoot through the sand. The wind whipped platinum strands from her tight updo. I would undo the rest later when we were in our bedroom, and I had her naked.
“Hey, goddess.” I played it casual, though my eyes blazed and my pulse roared louder than the surf.
“Mommy!” Our baby held out her chubby arms, and Hollie took her from me when she reached us. “You’re home. You’re home.”
“I am. My favorite place to be.” My wife slipped her free arm around my waist as I enveloped my greatest treasures in both of mine.
“Sorry you lost the case, babe.”
“I didn’t lose.” Bright tears glittered in Hollie’s eyes like celebratory sparklers as she looked at Kelly first and then me. “I can never lose. Not ever. Not when I have both of you.”
About the Author
* * *
Michelle Mankin is the New York Times bestselling author of the Black Cat Records series of novels.
Fall in love with a rock star.
Love Evolution, Love Revolution, and Love Resolution are a BRUTAL STRENGTH centered trilogy, combining the plot underpinnings of Shakespeare with the drama, excitement, and indisputable sexiness of the rock 'n roll industry.
Things take a bit of an edgier, once upon a time turn with the TEMPEST series. These pierced, tatted, and troubled Seattle rockers are young and on the cusp of making it big, but with serious obstacles to overcome that may prevent them from ever getting there.
Rock stars, myths, and legends collide with paranormal romance in a totally mesmerizing way in the MAGIC series.
Get swept away by temptation in the ROCK STARS, SURF AND SECOND CHANCES series.
Romance and self-discovery, the FINDING ME series is a Tempest spin off with a more experienced but familiar cast of characters.
The ROCK F*CK CLUB series is a girl-power fueled reality show with the girls ranking the rock stars.
When Michelle is not prowling the streets of her Texas town listening to her rock or NOLA funk music much too loud, she is putting her daydreams down on paper or traveling the world with her family and friends, sometimes for real, and sometimes just for pretend.
BRUTAL STRENGTH series:
Love Evolution
Love Revolution
Love Resolution
Love Rock’ollection
TEMPEST series (also available in audio):
Irresistible Refrain
Enticing Interlude
Captivating Bridge
Relentless Rhythm
Tempest Raging
Tempting Tempo
Scandalous Beat
The Complete Tempest Rock Star Series, books 1-6
The MAGIC series (also available in audio):
Strange Magic
Dream Magic
Twisted Magic
ROCK STARS, SURF AND SECOND CHANCES series (also available in audio):
Outside
Riptide
Oceanside
High Tide
Island Side
FINDING ME series (also available in audio):
Find Me
Remember Me
Keep Me
Girls Ranking the Rock Stars series (also available in audio):
ROCK F*CK CLUB (Girls Ranking the Rock Stars, Book #1)
ROCK F*CK CLUB (Girls Ranking the Rock Stars, Book #2)
ROCK F*CK CLUB (Girls Ranking the Rock Stars, Book #3)
ROCK F*CK CLUB (Girls Ranking the Rock Stars, Book #4)
ROCK F*CK CLUB (Girls Ranking the Rock Stars, Book #5)
ONCE UPON A ROCK STAR series:
The Right Man
The Right Wish
The Right Wrong
Stay connected. For cover reveal and release alerts: Text ROCK BOOK to 345345
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(Complete Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances #1-5) Page 144
