Aftershock (35 page)

“No, I guess you don’t. It took me a lot of years to realize the competition between Beth and me was all in my mind. You look just like her, you know. When you landed on my doorstep, that just made it worse. I drove you away because of it and you have no idea how often I’ve wished I’d handled things differently.” She rose stiffly. “I’ve said what I came to say. Perhaps, in time, you’ll be able to forgive me for the way I always acted toward you. But whatever you do, don’t walk away from what’s waiting for you. You’ll regret it forever.”

Sydney just stared at her.

“You’re going to get a call today,” Janine continued as she moved to the front door. “From your friend Emma. I suggest you listen to her and do what she asks.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Sydney hurried over to her. “Are you just going to leave like this? Walk out of my life?”

Opening her purse, Janine extracted a slip of paper and pressed it into Sydney’s hand. “My phone number. I’m sure you’ve wiped it from your mind by now. I know I don’t have any right to ask but I would really like it if you’d call me. Get things in order, Sydney, and then we’ll see where we go from here.”

She opened the front door and walked out, closing it gently behind her.

And then she was gone. Sydney stood there, stupefied, staring at the piece of paper.

What the hell?

***

“I’m not going.” Sydney fisted her hands in her lap. “Please, Emma. I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can.” Emma spread out cosmetics on the vanity in the bathroom. “You managed a face-to-face with your aunt, didn’t you?”

“Exactly how did you set that up, anyway? I can’t believe the old bat even talked to you, much less came to see me.”

Emma tossed the empty cosmetics bag she was holding onto the vanity and stuck her hands on her hips.

“Okay, old bat? Yes, she was. And she totally admitted it, if you can believe that. But, Syd? After she got over the shock of seeing me she nearly broke down in tears. Don’t you think everyone deserves a second chance?”

Sydney sighed and nodded. “Yeah, you’re right. It was just such a shock seeing her. And having her tell me she’d been wrong all these years. I still can’t wrap my mind around it.”

“We all make mistakes, you know.”

“I still don’t think my leaving the agency was a mistake, if that’s what you’re leading up to. And, in case I didn’t mention it, Linc has stopped calling.”

“Maybe he’s just waiting for the right moment. Like tonight. Besides, it’s a hometown concert again only, this time, they’re big rock stars.”

Sydney shook her head. “How did I let you talk me into going? I can’t do this, Emma. If I walk in there, everyone’s going to look at me and that picture will pop into their minds. Along with Macey Schreiner’s rotten column.”

“I don’t think you give people enough credit. Where would Marc and I be if I hadn’t gone back to the club that night?”

“That’s different.”

“No. It’s not. Besides, have you even seen a hint of that picture lately? Has anyone written anything about it? In case you hadn’t noticed, Macey Schreiner’s column is among the missing.”

Sydney raised her eyebrows. “Who managed that?”

“Linc Forrester and Butch Meredith wield a lot of clout in the industry. And there were tons of other people who were plenty tired of her. Besides, you can only have the power as long as you used it wisely. She didn’t and it bit her in the ass.”

“But still.” She was so afraid of making a mistake again.

“But still, nothing. If you don’t have the guts then say so. But if you love Rick, you have to do this. For both of you. The guy is miserable, Sydney.” She leaned against the vanity. “If we get there and it’s too awkward, we’ll both leave. I promise.”

“But a concert? With everyone there?”

Emma laughed. “There’s safety in numbers. Now shut up so I can do your makeup.”

Big mistake, big mistake, big mistake
.

Sydney repeated it over and over to herself during the ride to the venue. As they showed their passes at the stage entrance, her stomach tied itself up in giant knots. And when they walked into the wings, she was sure she’d throw up any minute.

“The band is already on stage, waiting,” Emma whispered in her ear. “Come on. Over here.”

Sydney let herself be guided to the spot in the wings where she usually watched the shows. When Linc Forrester moved away from one of the equipment cases and silently gave her a hug, she was afraid she’d cry.

“You belong here, Sydney,” he told her. “We were afraid we’d have to hog-tie you to get you here.”

Then Butch was next to her, slinging his arm around her, telling her how much they’d missed her.

She was still trying to pull herself together when the house lights dimmed, a voice from the sound booth said, “Okay, everyone. Here we go. The band you’ve been waiting for. San Antonio’s own.” Pause. “Lightnin’ has struck!” She heard the familiar intro to “Take the High Road” and electricity crackled through her system. There they were. Her band. In their eye-catching T-shirts, playing better than they’d ever played before.

She clutched Emma’s hand as the audience screamed their approval after each number. Although Marc had caught Emma’s eye between two songs, Rick had yet to look in her direction.

Maybe he didn’t want me to come at all. Maybe Emma was wrong. Maybe I can get out of here before it’s too late
.

“I need to go,” she shouted in Emma’s ear over the roar of the crowd.

“Not on your life.” She nodded toward the stage. “Pay attention.”

She saw Marc standing at the front of the stage, holding his hand up for silence. Okay, it was time for the Marc and Emma thing. She’d leave after that. Get a cab and just get out of here.

“This is the time in our show when we always do ‘Music Lady’
for you,” Marc said to the audience.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!” the crowd chanted.

“But, tonight, we have something even more special for you. If you’ve been following Lightnin’, you know that a lot of our success is due to the hard work of Sydney Alexander of Full Moon Productions.”

Sydney froze, a chill racing over her skin.

“What you don’t know is that she is the very special lady of our leader, Rick Trajean. So, tonight, we want you to be the very first to hear the song he wrote just for her, ‘You’re the One.’ And, tomorrow, we hope you’ll be downloading it on iTunes and nagging deejays to play it.” He turned and motioned to Rick. “It’s all yours, my man.”

Marc moved back as Rick stepped up to the mic and picked out the opening notes of a song Sydney had never heard before.

You walked into my life and brought with you the sun.

I took one look and knew you were the one.

You brighten up my days.

In a million different ways.

For me, You’re the One.

Sydney felt her throat tighten and tears clog her eyes. She could hardly catch her breath.

Just the touch of your hand and I feel it in my heart.

I love you in a hundred different ways when we’re together or apart.

The taste of you that lingers with me.

The scent of you that never leaves me.

The feel of you against me that makes me come alive.

For me, You’re the One
.

It was so quiet in the hall that Sydney could hear herself breathe. She stood, motionless, fingers pressed to her mouth.

“Go on,” Emma said and gave her a shove toward the stage.

At that moment, Rick turned to look at her, and the tears began in earnest. Someone else nudged her again. Like a sleepwalker, she moved out onto the stage, barely heard the screams of the audience or saw Marc motion for silence. All she saw was Rick and the heat and love in his eyes. How had she ever thought she could walk away from this, from him, no matter what?

He held out his hand and she somehow made her feet move to where he stood.

No matter which way the wind blows or how the music flows.

In the darkness and the light, in the day or night.

Miles apart, you’re still in my heart.

Because for me, forever, ever, You’re the One
.

His beautiful bass voice held the last note as the band played the final chords of the song. For an endless moment, there was complete silence, just as there had been at the first concert performance of “Music Lady.” Then, like that other time, the audience was on its feet, screaming, yelling, cheering, whistling. Rick took off his guitar and rested it on its stand before pulling her into his arms. The kiss he gave her would be burned into her memory forever. She wound her arms around his neck, realizing she could never let him go. Whatever happened, they’d work it through together. There would be other tough times ahead but they’d handle them.

Vaguely she heard the audience chanting, “More, more, more.”

Rick released her, pulled his guitar strap over his head, and launched into the final verse again. She saw lights popping at the foot of the stage and realized photographers were crowding each other to get pictures. Someone finally pulled the curtain closed, and Rick wrapped her up in another hot kiss.

“Don’t ever leave me again,” he whispered in her ear. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She was laughing and crying.

Then Butch and Linc were both on the stage, shaking hands with everyone. The road crew moved into place to make the equipment change and gave them the thumbs-up.

“It’s our own aftershock,” Butch told them and winked. “The effect or repercussion of an event. I think this qualifies, don’t you?”

But Rick was paying no attention to him or anyone else. He held on to Sydney as if he’d never let her go.

“You’re the one for me,” he kept repeating. “I can’t make it without you.”

“And you won’t have to.” She brushed her lips against his. “I’m yours. For always.”

“Just as soon as we can get out of here, I’m going to show you. And then we have plans to make.” He glanced over at Emma. “I owe you big-time.”

Sydney saw the other woman grinning like an idiot and smiled back at her.

“Thank you,” she mouthed.

Emma just kept grinning and gave her a thumbs-up.

Someone touched her shoulder and she turned to see Linc standing there. “We need to have a talk. I think we’ve wasted enough time. My office. Ten tomorrow morning. No arguments.”

She managed a smile. “Yes, sir. I’ll be there.”

Rick pulled her against him as tight as he could, as if afraid she’d disappear. But she wasn’t going anywhere. Not anymore. Never again.

“I’m yours,” she told him.

“Believe it. Because for me? You’re the one.”

Desiree Holt’s writing is flavored with the rich experiences of her life, including a long stretch in the music business representing every kind of artist from country singer to heavy metal rock bands. For several years she also ran her own public relations agency handling any client that interested her, many of whom might recognize themselves in the pages of her stories. She is twice a finalist for an EPIC E-Book Award and a winner in 2014, a nominee for a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Award, winner of the first 5 Heart Sweetheart of the Year Award at The Romance Studio as well as twice a CAPA Award for best BDSM book of the year, winner of the Holt Medallion, multiple winner of the Whipped Cream Book of the Week Award and is published by five different houses.
Romance Junkies
said of her work: “Desiree Holt is the most amazing erotica author of our time and each story is more fulfilling then the last.”

You can visit Desiree at:

www.desireeholt.com

Joy Ride

Emma, the good girl poster child, is running from a life she suddenly sees as gray and suffocating—a life where she’s successfully buried all her hopes and secret dreams. Until the night she wanders into Aftershock and is immediately drawn to the hot bass player. The electricity of his performance, the powerful music he coaxes from his guitar, the heavy vibration of each note reaches out to something deep inside her and wakes an Emma she didn’t even know existed.

Marc doesn’t much care for the groupies who hang around the band. He needs a woman he can create a future with that’s a counterpoint to the craziness of the rock music business. When he sees Emma for the first time, something inside him cracks wide open. Just one sizzling glance between them, and he’s sure he’s found the woman to complete his life.

But as the relationship grows, there’s a huge stumbling block: Emma won’t tell him her name. The sex is fabulous but he wants more…. Although Emma is finally finding her true self, her fear of everything falling apart builds a barrier she can’t seem to cross. Marc is taking her on the joy ride of her life, but will her own insecurities destroy everything?