Page 10 of Her Rock Star's Dark Secret

“Oh, I didn’t see you there.”

“That’s all right. I was across the restaurant from you.”

Far enough away that she couldn’t hear how rude Lauren was to Chase. No wonder she thought they were together. Or very soon would be.

But Lauren knew that would never happen. She refused to allow herself to be betrayed by another man.

Chapter 4

Chase poured a drop of olive oil into the skillet and turned on the burner before rummaging around in the fridge and pulling out a carton of eggs. He opened the cabinet, pulled out a bowl, and cracked three eggs into it, then whisked them together with a splash of milk and a dash of salt and pepper. He poured the mixture into the skillet, humming the tune that had been in his head all morning. He’d woken up to hear the melody and had immediately recorded it into his phone so he wouldn’t forget it. The music had been claiming him like that for the past ten years. When the melody came, it wouldn’t leave until he turned it into the next hit song.

He pushed a button on the coffee machine and sighed as it hummed away. It wasn’t long before the smell of breakfast had permeated the small apartment. He’d been crashing on Alexis’s couch all weekend. He wouldn’t say he was second-guessing his decision to stay with his sister, because he loved her and he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could, but he really couldn’t get comfortable on her couch.

Maybe he’d just stop by the local furniture store and buy a new one. He knew she wouldn’t let him buy a new one, so he’d have to surprise her with it. He just had to make sure she liked the couch he chose. And most importantly, it had to be comfortable enough to sleep on. If Alexis objected—and he knew she would—he’d just tell her it would end up being the same price as him getting a hotel. That would quiet any protests she’d have about him buying her a new couch.

He didn’t know why she was so against him buying her things. He had more money than he knew what to do with. At the very least, he wanted to help his family. But Alexis had this thing about being self-reliant. It was a big deal to her, and if he bought her stuff, it meant she couldn’t take care of herself one hundred percent on her own.

If she only knew how well he could provide for her if she’d let him. His house in LA was impressive, to say the least. Eight bedrooms, ocean view, and a pool with a rockwork waterslide. He didn’t need that much space—other than the occasional party, it sat empty—but he loved the view from the master bedroom. Where else could he lay in his bed and see an entire wall of windows overlooking the Pacific Ocean?

His family had no idea, though. He’d never told them. And they’d never come to visit him.

Had he changed since high school? He’d like to think he had. He wanted to do better, to be better. He blamed himself for Maisy’s death. But it was a secret he would most likely carry to his grave.

He’d bullied her heavily when they were in high school. Maisy was always on a crusade for something, and it had driven him nuts. She’d wanted to implement rules to protect the Virginia Big-Eared Bats. The school was planning to build a new building with a larger gymnasium, but they were going to have to blast into the rocky ridge behind the school. It turned out there was a cave system that housed the endangered bats for part of the year while they roosted with their babies. Maisy was unstoppable when it came to those bats. She was constantly rallying to protect them.

All Chase could see back then was the new gym he’d been promised. So he and a few guys from the basketball team decided to play a prank on Maisy. It was supposed to be good-natured fun, but it escalated quickly. What had started out as a simple night of toilet papering Maisy’s house ended up with some of the guys keying her car and slashing her tires. Chase had never meant for it to go that far. The guys involved ended up getting caught and serving time doing community service. But it had been Chase’s idea to TP her house. He felt responsible. And he felt terrible that the night had gone so badly. A month later, Maisy was found dead in her bathtub. She’d cut herself with her razor and had bled to death.

No one knew Chase was involved or that it had been his idea to lash out at Maisy that night. It was his deepest, darkest secret. He held himself responsible for her death, and no one could know.

Especially not Lauren.

She had been Maisy’s best friend. They’d served on the student council together. Lauren was the president, and Maisy was her VP. The two girls had been inseparable since elementary school. Lauren had taken Maisy’s death impossibly hard. He could hardly look at her sometimes because his guilt was so overwhelming. If she ever found out he was responsible for the events that led to Maisy killing herself, she would never speak to him again. He didn’t know why, but he wanted her respect. He needed it. Maybe it was because if Lauren respected him, he could finally respect himself.

He stirred the eggs around in the skillet as Alexis opened the door to her bedroom, yawning. “Good morning,” he said.

“Hey, good morning.”

“Sleep well?” he asked. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say. She might ask him how he slept. And he’d slept awfully. He wasn’t ready to go there with Alexis yet.

“I slept great. You?”

Chase groaned inwardly. “Not the best.”

“What?” Alexis grinned. “Your ten-thousand-dollar bed is better than my couch?”

“I don’t have a ten-thousand-dollar bed.” He’d only paid seven grand, but that was beside the point. Alexis didn’t need to know how much he spent on his bed anyway. He liked to keep his finances private. Especially from his family. They didn’t need to know how wealthy he was. He didn’t want to make things weird with his family. It was enough that the paparazzi were after him all the time. At least he’d been able to escape them since he’d come to Maple Creek. Since he’d rarely returned, they had no idea where his hometown was.

He was always vague about his hometown because he wanted his parents’ privacy respected. Even if they hadn’t reached out to see how he was doing—they could have gotten his number from Alexis at any time. It wasn’t like he’d made himself unreachable. He’d even told Alexis she was welcome to share his number with their parents. But they never tried to contact him, and he hadn’t reached out after they ignored him when he told them about his recording contract.

“So how did it go with Lauren yesterday at the park?” Alexis asked, sitting at the table and scooting in close.

“Would you like a cup of coffee?” Chase asked.

“Yes, please,” Alexis said. “Coffee sounds divine.”

Chase grabbed a mug from the cupboard and placed it in the Keurig.

Alexis spun around to face him. “You still haven’t told me how it went with Lauren.”

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