Page 1 of Her Rock Star's Dark Secret

Chapter 1

“You have a date tonight!” Alexis chirped like it was the best news in the world.

“No, I don’t,” Lauren said, scrunching her forehead in confusion. Had she forgotten, or was Alexis just being weird? Lauren swept the last of the hair clippings from her salon floor. It was only four in the afternoon, and the place was a ghost town with no appointments for the rest of the day.

“It’s a blind date. And he’s a great guy, so you don’t need to worry about anything.” Alexis grinned like she was the cleverest woman in the world. “Oh,” she quickly added, “I almost forgot. I brought you my newest cupcake creation.” She tucked a renegade strand of wavy brown hair behind her ear, grabbed a small cardstock box from the salon chair next to her, and flipped open the lid. “Pink lemonade cupcakes! I need your expert opinion.”

Lauren peered inside the box, and her mouth watered when she saw the swirls of pink frosting sitting atop the cupcakes. She dusted her hands off and grabbed a cupcake.

She took a bite, and a burst of flavors danced in her mouth. Sharp, tangy lemon blended with sweet buttercream. “This is fantastic. But you know I don’t date.”

“Lauren, it’s been four years since your divorce. You need to get out and start seeing people. Penny’s four years old now, and she needs a solid male figure in her life. And I happen to know a great candidate.”

“Penny is doing just fine. And so am I. We don’t need any men in our lives.” She’d had enough with her ex-husband. After everything he’d put them through, introducing another man into her complicated mess of a life was out of the question. She frowned at the chipped paint and outdated floral wallpaper. She had big dreams of redecorating her salon, but that took money. Money she didn’t have. And with the place being so rundown, a lot of clients were going elsewhere. So Lauren still spent her evenings scrolling through design ideas for the remodel she craved for her business.

Alexis’s next words cut into her thoughts, jolting her back into the conversation. “No offense, Lauren, but sometimes I’m not so sure you know what you need in your life.”

Lauren knew Alexis meant well, but sometimes she wished her friend would leave well enough alone. Lauren had gone on several of Alexis’s blind dates, and they’d all been disasters. The last thing she needed was another divorcee trying to talk himself up to her. She knew better. Under all that bravado, they were all the same. They were either complete jerks or the abandoning kind. She’d been married to the latter, who was still a jerk. There was a reason they were all divorced, and she wasn’t interested in finding out why.

“So, where’s this date supposed to be?” Lauren asked. She didn’t know why she was bothering. But if Alexis had set up the date already, she might as well go. Lauren’s expectations were set very low. In fact, they were nonexistent.

Alexis’s brown eyes perked up. “You mean you’re going to go?”

Lauren swept the pile of hair clippings into her dustpan and emptied it into the garbage. “I haven’t promised anything. I’m just gathering information.”

“It’s at Ravioli’s. Tonight at six. You should wear that teal dress you just got last week. It makes your eyes pop.”

“I bought that for the class reunion.” As the student council president her senior year, Lauren was in charge of arranging her class’s ten-year reunion, which was being held the following weekend.

“So, borrow one of mine for the reunion. We’re the same size now.” Although Alexis was two years younger, she and Lauren had been best friends since high school. Back then, Alexis had been the plump one, but within the last five years, she’d slimmed down to a size four.

“Can’t I just go in jeans and a t-shirt?”

“I told him you were dressing up. You don’t want to dress casual when he’s showing up in a tie.”

“Fine.” Lauren sighed. “I’ll wear the teal dress. But you have to promise to let me wear your new white dress to the reunion.” She’d originally had her eye on that dress at the store, but they didn’t have it in her size. Later, she’d seen the same dress hanging in Alexis’s closet. Alexis had bought the last size-four dress the day before. Lauren’s life seemed to be like that a lot lately. Good things were always in sight but just out of reach.

“Deal. You can wear the white dress to the reunion, but only if you go on the date and stay the entire time.”

“Great. You really have that little faith in him?”

“No. I just know you really well. You like to make some lame excuse and then duck out early.”

“That’s because those guys were awful, and it was awkward to sit there and lead them on. It’s better to leave and send them a clear message of ‘not interested.’”

“But you’re not giving any of them a chance. You can’t assume that every guy is another version of your ex. Brandon is a loser. He walked away from two of the best girls on the planet, and when he finally gets some sense knocked into him, he’s going to regret it for the rest of his life. You can’t go around assuming that every guy is going to break your heart. Believe it or not, good guys do exist.”

“I’m sure they do. They just don’t want anything to do with a single mom and her four-year-old daughter.”

“Lauren, listen to yourself. You’re a fantastic catch. You’re gorgeous, a wonderful mom, and you’re a business owner. Any guy would kill to have a wife like you.”

“Whoa, who said anything about getting married?”

“Come on, you want to get remarried again someday, don’t you?”

“Getting remarried is the last thing on my mind. And the only reason I’m going on this date is because I want to wear that Ralph Lauren dress.” That and she didn’t want to leave the guy hanging. She knew she didn’t have any obligation to go on Alexis’s crazy dates, but she didn’t have the heart to stand the guys up either. At some point, she’d have to convince Alexis to stop with the blind date thing, but tonight, it seemed to be too late.

Lauren arranged to have her twin sister, Maggie, watch Penny for the evening. She felt bad asking since Maggie watched Penny every day, but Maggie assured her she didn’t mind a bit. She said she wanted Lauren to find a good guy. Why was it that everyone seemed to be so interested in setting her up with someone when Lauren was perfectly happy being single?

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