I Want You to Want Me (Rock Star Romance #2) (17 page)

Derek’s sister was amazing, but he didn’t share Slater’s ease. “How’s V?”

“Em says she’s fine. Not hurt, you know, physically. She just wanted to go home, to the farm.”

Derek closed his eyes.

He hadn’t been there for her. He’d thrown his little fucking tantrum, and look what had happened?

He needed to grow the fuck up. Pull his head out of his ass.

He needed to see her.

The four of them strode across the lobby. With his phone at his ear, waiting for Vince to answer, Derek tapped Cooper’s arm with the back of his hand. “Get a printout of the directions from the front desk.”

“Car’s got GPS,” Cooper said.

“And we’re going to a farm on Long Island. I don’t want any screw-ups.”

Cooper nodded, throwing his duffel over his shoulder.

Ben and Slater stood beside him, both of them on their phones, texting.

“Derek?” Vince answered with a rough voice. “Dude, I’m so fucking sorry.”

“You’re fired.”

Ben and Slater both looked up, like someone had jerked a string at the back of their necks.

“Dude, no way,” the roadie said. “Don’t do that. It wasn’t my fault. He just wanted to party a little.”

“You’re right. It’s not your fault. Whatever Pete did, whatever drugs he scored, that’s not on you. That’s on Pete. And it’s on us for not keeping an eye on him. But you lied to us. You told Slater you had him with you.”

“I did have him with me. But then I lost him, and I spent
half the night trying to find him. I swear, I looked fuckin’ everywhere for him.”

Vince was a good guy, but he’d failed them. He should’ve told them Pete had gone off with some girls. Partied in some bar.

“You’re a great roadie, and we’ve counted on you more than anyone else on this tour, but you lied to us, man. I’m sorry, but if we don’t have trust, we don’t have shit.”

He disconnected before the guy could respond.

“That was harsh,” Ben said.

“No, he’s right.” Slater clapped Derek on the shoulder. “You did the right thing. Vince should’ve told us what happened, so we all could’ve gotten involved. It never should’ve come down to what happened last night. It scares me shitless to think what he could’ve done to Violet.”

Derek held his friend’s gaze and saw a deeper truth. “Or Emmie.”

His shoulders sagged, but he didn’t say anything. Didn’t need to.

Cooper strode up to them, handing over the directions. Derek took them, reached for his bag.

“What now?” Ben asked.

“We go get the girls.”

•   •   •

He
hadn’t talked to her in nearly eleven hours. Everything between them had gone to shit, and the fault lay entirely with him.

Hitting a red light, he pulled out his phone, texted her one more time.
Just let me know you’re OK.

But what would the words matter? She could keep telling him she bore no physical marks, but she wouldn’t tell him how it’d felt to have a hundred-sixty-pound guy high as a kite pinning her to a bed.

His phone buzzed. Violet.
Finally.

I’m fine.

Did he touch you?

Not like that. He was angry with me. It wasn’t sexual, if that’s what you’ve been thinking.

Fuck. He wished he’d known that.
I’m sorry.

“Dude, let’s go,” Ben prompted from the backseat.

Derek looked up to see a green light. He checked the GPS. One mile to go.

They’d left the crazy traffic of Highway 495 nearly twenty minutes ago. The road had since narrowed to two lanes. The towns they’d passed were more rustic, historic, and much less populated. And now they’d hit farmland. Well, vineyards mostly.

The road climbed, giving them a view of asphalt and wide-open blue sky. And the moment they hit the top of the rise, the world exploded into endless fields of brightly colored flowers.

“Holy shit,” he murmured. Violet’s wildflowers.

“Jesus.” Slater straightened, leaning forward to take in the spectacular view.

A frothy, gray-blue ocean lay sandwiched between acres of wildflowers and a robin’s egg blue sky. “Unfuckingbelievable.”

“I gotta take a piss.” Cooper pulled on the back of Derek’s seat. “We almost there?”

“You have reached your destination,” the GPS said. “Your destination is on the right.”

Violet lived here. She
lived
here.

“What’s she doing on a farm?” Cooper said.

An old farmhouse, shaded by a massive copper beech tree, sat back a good distance from the road. He turned into the semicircular driveway. The house looked to be hundreds of years old and badly in need of repairs. Green moss grew all over the tar-shingled roof.

He didn’t even have the car in park before Slater jumped out. He leapt up the porch stairs and knocked on the door. Arms folded, head down, his friend’s body was taut with tension.

Derek got out of the car, breathing in the sweet scent of beach roses and taking in the quiet, peaceful farm. The door opened, and Derek’s heart flew up into his throat. But it wasn’t Violet. It was a stunning, voluptuous, dark-haired woman. “Hello.” She gazed up at Slater, giving him a warm smile. “You must be Slater?”

“Yeah, hi. Slater Vaughn.” Impatiently, he motioned at
the guys, who’d lined up behind him on the broad porch. “This is Derek, Cooper, and Ben. Is Emmie here?”

“She’s at the beach. Would you like me to show you how to get there?”

Slater’s hands flexed. “Yes.” And then he let out a breath. “Please.”

The woman, older than he’d first thought, stepped out of the house. “Do you see that break in the fields right there?” She pointed across the street. A dirt path cut through a section of rosebushes, pink on one side, red on the other. “Take that path, and you can’t miss the beach. You just go down the stairs and there it is.”

“Thank you.” Slater brushed past them, jumping off the porch, gravel crunching under his boots on the driveway.

“Hey, I’m Derek.” He offered his hand, and she clasped it.

“Francesca. Lovely to meet you.”

“Is Violet here?” He hoped he didn’t sound as impatient as Slater had.

Francesca shook her head, looking worried. “She’s in the fields.”

“Any idea where exactly?”

“No, sorry. She’s weeding.” The woman shook her head. “She’s been at it awhile, so it would make sense she’d be over that way.” She gestured to the southern part of the farm.

“Emmie?” Slater shouted.

Derek turned to see his sister coming up the dirt path, her face lighting up when she saw her boyfriend.

Slater stepped into the road, right in the path of a pickup truck. It honked, long and loud, swerving around him.

“Thanks,” Derek said to the woman, and then jogged to catch up with his insane band mate. “Hey, cool it. Everything’s all right.”

But Slater was focused on his girl.

Just as Emmie reached the road, Slater stepped out again, holding up a hand to stop the traffic. An old pickup, blasting some pop song, braked hard.

Emmie gave Slater an amused shake of her head as she ran to greet him in the middle of the road. He swept her up in his arms, kissing the ever-living shit out of her. Her legs swung out, then slowly wrapped around his waist. After
whispering in her ear, he lowered her, and then got down on one knee.

“Oh, shit,” Ben said.

“No fucking way.” Cooper pushed closer. The three of them stood side by side along the edge of the road, watching.

The music shut off, and the passenger in the truck got out, leaving the door wide open. She aimed her camera phone.

Slater took Emmie’s hands and kissed them. “I love you, angel. I love you more than anything, and I’m done fucking around. I want forever, and I want it now. Will you marry me?”

His sister let out a little cry, then sank down on her knees. “Jonny.”

More people got out of cars, stacking up behind the pickup. More camera phones aimed at the couple.

Emmie cupped Slater’s head and gave him the sweetest smile Derek had ever seen. “Of course I’ll marry you.”

Slater grabbed her, holding her so tight the sandals dangling from her fingers dropped onto the asphalt. “I fucking love you.”

“I fucking love you, too.” Tears glistened on her cheeks, and her smile spread across her whole face. He’d never seen his sister look so happy.

As soon as they got up, Slater took her hand, swiped up her sandals, and escorted her off the street. The witnesses clapped loudly before getting back into their trucks and taking off.

“Congratulations, man.” Derek slapped his friend on the back.

“Fuck, yeah.” Slater held Emmie tight to his side, practically shaking with happiness.

Derek held his sister’s gaze, sharing her joy. And then he couldn’t resist. He lurched forward, pulled her out of Slater’s arms, and hugged her tightly. “Happy for you, Em.”

“Happy for me, too.” She turned to whisper in his ear. “Now, go get your girl. I don’t know what the hell you were thinking bringing Gen back to the hotel room last night.”

He was going to say that Violet didn’t want to be his
girl, but he was done with that shit. “I fucked up.” She did want to be his girl. She just didn’t know how.

He’d show her.

•   •   •

A
trickle of perspiration ran between her breasts, and Violet sat back on her heels to swipe the back of her gloved hand across her forehead. Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic” played softly from the truck, the hot July sun beat down on her back, and her arms ached from the constant yanking of the weeds. She’d been at it for hours, and as usual, all the noise in her head had quieted. She felt so much better.

Until she remembered she’d lost her job. And then she got all riled up again.

She had to stop thinking about it. She’d finish up out here, take a quick shower, and get on the phone. She’d line something up. Besides, she’d made a ton of money for one month. Usually, she used half to pay down the debt on the land and then divided the other half between savings and the farm account. For supplies, seeds, and renovations on the house.

This time, she’d hold on to it. She’d be fine until she lined up another job.

She hadn’t slept with Derek, so she could get another job in the music industry.

Jason Becker sprang to mind. Not long ago the teenage phenom from New Jersey had girls around the world crying at his feet. Lately, though, he got more press for his drunkenness and partying than his pretty boy good looks and pop songs. She’d bet Irwin could get her in touch with his people.

Getting up from the soft quilt, she reached for her aluminum water bottle and surveyed her wildflowers.

Standing there, surrounded by nothing but sky and trees and flowers, she felt peace flutter over her like a silk scarf. She took in the bright baby blue eyes, their white centers making them look like birds with their heads thrown back in joyful song. The hot pink candytufts, the purple foxgloves, dangling off their stems like perfect bells. On the other side of the highway, she had her tea plants. The
daisy-like chamomile, the mint leaves that always reminded her of her grandma’s wrinkled hands, and the rows and rows of fragrant roses.

This is my happiness.

And working with a guy like Jason Becker? With his team of enablers? That would be a total nightmare. But she’d do it. If it meant she got to keep her farm, hell, yes, she’d do it.

The hair on the back of her neck shot up as a rush of sensation skittered down her spine. Movement out of the corner of her eye had her turning to find a figure striding across the fields.

Derek.
Gaze trained on her, he headed her way, purposeful, focused, a man on a mission. The closer he got, the tighter her skin grew, the shallower her breathing. He looked . . . feral.

Her impulse was to run. The truck was a couple yards away, keys in the ignition. She didn’t want to want this man, but with every stride toward her, her body opened for him. Heat flooded her, and everything feminine in her softened to welcome him.

He didn’t say a word as he approached. Just bent, scooped her up, and held her tightly to him. His scent flooded her senses, that familiar mix of clean cotton, fresh soap, and Derek. Oh, how she yearned for this man.

She wanted to let go, sink into him—of course she did. But come on. He’d spent last night with Gen. He’d given up on her.

Irrational as it was—and it
was
irrational—she couldn’t help feeling the sting of betrayal.

He nuzzled her ear. “You scared the shit out of me.”

The dam burst wide open. All her affection for him came pouring out. He truly cared about her. “I’m okay.”

He squeezed harder. “When I saw you on the bed . . .”

“He wasn’t trying to hurt me. He was angry because he thinks I’ve turned you all against him.”

“Violet.” He imbued her name with reverence. “My sweet V.” His face turned into her neck, and he inhaled. “I need to breathe you in. I need this.
Us.
Do you understand?”

She nodded, hesitant. He’d needed Gen the night before.

Did it matter if he’d used the other woman? She knew what they had between them, and she also knew how badly her rejection had hurt. So he’d turned to Gen. Was that so bad?

Her heart sank. Yeah, it was.

He pulled back, the look on his face so vulnerable, so
wanting.
And then he kissed her. Those beautiful, sensuous lips claimed hers, his tongue seeking, urging her to let him in. She wanted this—her body wanted this. But her mind screamed to push him away.

And so she did. She pushed at his shoulders, tore her mouth away.

God, he looked absolutely crushed. Destroyed.

She didn’t want to destroy him, but come on. “God, Derek.” Her voice came out shredded. “You were just with Gen.”

“No, no. V, I didn’t sleep with her. I didn’t even touch her.” Relief released the tension in his features. “She’s not . . .”

“What?”
Please tell me you’re mine.

“You. I don’t want her. I want you. Only you.” He kissed her again. “I want you so much.” He pressed soft kisses across her cheek, over her forehead, and down her nose. Tucking his face into her neck again, he opened his mouth over a sensitive spot, then licked. “I fucked up last night. I never should’ve called her. I was out of my mind. Wanting you but not being able to have you. But it’s my fault. It’s all on me. I was so fucking selfish, pushing you into something you didn’t want. But even after I called Gen, I knew it wouldn’t work. And I told her. I apologized. Because you’re mine. And no one else will do.”