Page 15 of Four Dates and A Forever
“I know the feeling.” She’d wanted kids so badly, but she didn’t want to expose her babies to a world where their dad wasn’t around enough to care. Being the daughter of a musician, she’d lived that life and wanted more for her kids. Axel had promised that once he settled in his career, the time would be right. Except he never showed any signs of slowing down, and she’d been the one to settle. Another red flag she should have taken to heart.
“So, you didn’t want kids?”
He blinked at her like she was crazy, and she thought back to that weekend, lying naked in his arms, staring at the ceiling fan as they shared their common desire to have a family. “Steph wasn’t on board. Plus, what kind of life would my kids have with two parents who are never home.”
Elsie thought about that. Thought about how lonely it was to be on the road. Away from family and friends, away from everything that grounded a person, away from everything that really mattered. She’d lived on the other side of that equation for eight years, but she knew the toll it took on one’s personal life. And on one’s marriage.
It seemed Elsie’s relationship wasn’t the only one to fall victim to a rock and roll existence. It was challenging at best and devastating if both parties don’t make a herculean effort. Then there were the sacrifices and the loneliness and the gaps of missing moments. Small ones, big ones, and especially the sweet, everyday moments that make a relationship.
She wondered, in Rhett’s marriage, who was the one to sacrifice the most. In her marriage, it had been Elsie. She sacrificed her time, her dreams, and sometimes her happiness. Then there was her career. It was hard to be a business owner when your world was constantly in flux—last-minute trips to see Axel, unpredictable scheduling, surprise visits where she felt obligated to drop her life to make Axel’s easier.
There was only room for one dreamer in her family, so Elsie put her own dreams of opening her firm on hold to be the kind of partner Axel needed to go the distance with his music. That was why Axel’s betrayal hurt so deeply.
She pressed her fingers to the corners of her eyes. “What a nightmare this is. I really am sorry about Axel’s duplicity. Now we’re stuck in this mess together.”
He laughed. “Not sure I can say the same. This is a pretty sexy mess to be stuck in.”
She peeked out from under the covers and shot him a glare. “I’m not falling for your charm,” she said, then shielded her eyes. “Stop giving that smile. It won’t work on me.” It was totally working on her. “And I’m serious about you finding another place to stay. After last night, it’s nonnegotiable.”
“And your big doe eyes won’t work on me,” he explained, then repositioned his guitar and began strumming. She ducked back under the covers and did a final shimmy into her dress.
Then there was more strumming. Beautiful strumming, as if it were the beginning of something with the level of depth that would stick.
The strumming stopped and she was met with silence before it restarted. It was the same melody, with a few more chords added—a real heartwarming, chest-swelling variety of song that was created to play on one’s emotions. “Rhett?”
“Ah huh,” he said distractedly.
She poked her head out and sucked in a breath. He had his guitar in his hands, his dog at his side, and his fingers slowly moving across the strings. But it was the from-the-heart, lost-in-a-moment humming that had her pausing.
His brow furrowed and his fingers stopped. Without a word he straightened, went to her desk, found a pad of paper, and scribbled down some notes, then smiled. It wasn’t the playboy grin he’d used a moment ago, this was the kind of smile that was usually reserved for a private moment.
It was as if he’d forgotten Elsie was there. Then his gaze met hers and instead of the smile fading, it got brighter. She wasn’t sure if it was that smile or the fact that he was so close, with all those muscles on display, but her body zinged.
Not sure what to do withthat, Elsie cleared her throat. “Are you doodling on my sketch pad?”
“I’m not doodling. It’s calledcreatingand this is my journal.”
She laughed. “Your journal? Do you scrapbook too?”
And the playboy was back. “Why, Red? You offering to give me some photos from last night?”
She ignored this. “Did you hear me? About the living arrangements?”
“Loud and clear.” He sat back down on the edge of the bed. “But here’s how it’s going to go down. I’ve spent the past six months in a hotel room or on my bus. I need a real bed and a place where I can write. Plus, I have three months until I have to go out on the road again and I can’t eat one more night of room service.”
She threw the covers back. “Three months!” This was the worst possible situation that she could imagine. Stuck in this house for the remainder of her stay with a man who had the power to make her strip down to her thong.
“Why so scared? Afraid you might try to kiss me again?”
She eyeballed him. “I did not try to kiss you and I thought you’d be gone in a few days.”
He casually went back to tinkering on his guitar. “Axel said I could live here from now until escrow closes.”
“So you mentioned.” She felt herself begin to sweat. “What you didn’t mention was when that end-date was.”
“I wanted a fast escrow, hopefully two weeks.” She couldn’t finish the house in two weeks’ time. Plus, her new house wouldn’t be ready until August.
“Can’t you stay in your LA house? I mean, this house is still under renovation.”
