Page 43 of Her Rock Star's Dark Secret

“Hm.” She kissed him again. “Maybe I did at first.” She nibbled his bottom lip. “But everything’s changed.” She nuzzled her head in the crook of his neck. “But maybe you haven’t noticed that.”

“Oh, I’ve noticed. And I have to say, I like where this is going.”

She sat back, reality crashing upon her. Where could this go? Chase lived across the country. He had music to perform, to write. She had a salon to run. There was no future for them. She pulled away from him.

“What are we doing, Chase?”

“What do you mean?”

“This.” She waved her hands between them. “We’re letting ourselves get carried away.”

“I like getting carried away with you.”

He wasn’t getting it. Lauren stood up. “I need to head home now.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s getting late. I need to get up for an eight o’clock appointment tomorrow morning.”

“I understand.” He sounded so dejected. Why did Lauren allow herself to feel bad about that? Chase had probably been sweet-talking her this entire time. And she’d fallen for it. She hated herself for it.

Chase drove her home, and a thick, uncomfortable silence hung between them. Lauren wondered what he was thinking. Why did he sound so dejected? Was it because he actually liked her, or was he disappointed that she wasn’t interested in kissing him more? Was she something serious to him, or did he consider her a frivolous plaything? Just another girl.

Well, Lauren wasn’t up for being another girl. She was the real deal, take it or leave it. And unless he was willing to give up a fantastic career for her, she didn’t see how anything could work out between them. And she would never ask him to do that. But she knew she couldn’t subject Penny to a life on the road. Her daughter needed stability. If Lauren was going to expose her daughter to her mother’s long-term relationship, she wanted to make sure it was real. She didn’t want Penny to go through the same pain with Chase as she had with her father when he checked out.

Her daughter deserved more, and so did Lauren. That was why Lauren needed to pull away before she was sucked in too deeply. Before she fell too hard. Because she was standing precariously on that ledge, and she couldn’t afford to take that leap off the edge. She just had to get through the rest of the week and then the reunion and memorial. Then Chase would leave, and she wouldn’t have to see him again.

He pulled into the parking lot and turned off the engine. He turned to her, the leather of his seat making a swishing sound as he twisted. “Lauren, did I do something wrong?”

Why did he have to sound so vulnerable?

“I can’t do this.”

“Do what? Kiss me? Date me? What did you think we were doing?”

“Why are you making me define this?” Lauren crossed her arms in a defensive position as if that would fend off an attack. She couldn’t define it because she didn’t know what was going on in his head.

“What do you want this to be?”

She heaved out a heavy breath. “I can tell you I’m not interested in a fling. I’m the real deal, Chase. I have a kid to think about. And she’s getting attached to you. I can’t mess with her feelings. She’s been through too much with her dad.”

“I can respect that. I would never want to do anything to hurt Penny.”

“But you have a career on the other side of the country. We don’t really fit into that life.”

Chase grew silent. “I don’t have a good answer for you. I’m sorry.”

So hewasjust after a good time. Well, so was she, initially. And shewashaving a fun time with Chase. Until it got too real on the side of a mountain. How had their fun night gotten so derailed? Was Lauren that incapable of having a good time? She always had to make everything so serious. But that was life with a kid. She had to put Penny first, always.

Chapter 14

The next two days went by at a snail’s pace. Chase tried to keep himself busy by running and working out at the gym, but the entire time he kept thinking about Lauren and their kiss on the side of the mountain. He’d never shared a kiss like that in his life. He’d wanted to kiss Lauren for a while, and it had exceeded his expectations and then some. It was too bad she got so skittish after their kiss.

They’d had such a fun night before that. He’d loved singing with her. He was surprised by how beautiful her voice was and how nicely it had blended with his. He’d caught a few videos of them on social media on Thursday morning. The paparazzi were going nuts online with speculation of his romantic interest in Lauren. It was scary how spot-on they were. But what they didn’t know was that Lauren had completely rejected him and then pushed him away.

He couldn’t blame Lauren. She deserved a man who could offer her and her daughter stability. And he wasn’t that man. He had to go back to his band and work hard to put out his next album. Aaron was already talking about the tour he wanted Chase to take after the album came out next spring.

Lauren and Penny didn’t really fit into that life. What was she supposed to do with her salon? Stay behind and keep running it while he had groupies fangirling over him? He shook his head. He couldn’t picture it.

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