Outlaw Country (22 page)

Even at nineteen, Gracie had seen her share of substances pass before her. Her mother could only protect her so much. Gracie wanted nothing to do with drugs, and she promptly fired a few road musicians the second she found out they were using.
 

At first, Gracie had thought less of Kitt, but after she saw how he was taking care of himself, she had to change her opinion. He was in fantastic shape much like his younger brother. The Wade brothers had addictive personalities; that much she had learned quickly. Colton couldn’t get enough of music and Gracie. He was voracious when it came to sex, and Gracie loved it. She had never felt so sexy and powerful before in her life. Kitt must’ve channeled his energy into working out, because Gracie never saw him with any groupies or clingers that traveled from city to city with The Guilty Party.

The band was as laid back as any who she had played with since she started at fourteen. Their rider required almost nothing waiting for them at each tour stop. They needed a decent sized green room stocked with booze for after the show. Beyond that, Colton and his band weren’t divas. Venues noticed and remembered things like that. The only strange stipulation was a gym set-up in a different room backstage. Kitt had spent most of his time in there before the show started.

When Gracie first found out that Kitt had a past in hard drugs, she wondered if the gym was just a cover for something else, but after seeing his body, Gracie knew Kitt was into weightlifting and nothing more. He shied away from the fame, but the women noticed Kitt as much as they noticed his star brother.

He never showed up for the recordings, and it had Gracie worried. She liked Kitt even if they didn’t have much of a relationship. More importantly, though, it was tearing at Colton.
Something
was tearing at him, anyway. Gracie didn’t pry, and Colton didn’t offer, so she could only guess. After the first few days, everyone but Kevin had stopped trying to reach him.

“Roger is on it,” her mother had told her. “He has everyone in the business looking for Colton’s brother.”

Kathleen had done her best to reassure Gracie, but the girl was heartsick. Kathleen knew the feeling all too well. After Eric had left her, Kathleen sank into a depression that lasted months. Gracie had been the one to pull her from it, and her daughter may have never known what she had done to save Kathleen.

She believed her words she told her daughter because she believed in Roger. He had given her something that even Gracie couldn’t provide. Roger Ellery had made Kathleen feel beautiful for the first time in decades. Since Gracie’s father ran out of their lives, Kathleen had never saw herself as a pretty woman. She dressed well and did her makeup every morning, but that was just because she was a professional, and she knew that dressing well was a necessity, especially as a woman.

Roger had made her blush with stolen kisses and sweet words. He sent her texts, brightening her mornings like she’d never had before. Kathleen knew love, and she knew what it meant to fall hard. It had happened with Eric, and even though she told herself it would never happen again, there she was. Kathleen stood teetering on the edge of something magical, terrifying, and wonderful.

Years of working in service of her daughter had given Kathleen the ability to hide her emotions well, but she was feeling an ache inside her chest, too. She didn’t want to see Roger head back to his small home in Kentucky, either. Everybody from both camps desperately needed some time off, but time off didn’t have to mean time to themselves. For the first time in a while, Kathleen didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. Roger had a wonderful way of silencing the negative emotions that always tried to creep into her mind.

Kathleen could make hard decisions when it came to the music business. When it came time to choose a label, Kathleen played hard ball and eventually won Gracie a very lucrative contract that didn’t screw the girl over in any way. Gracie thought her mother was being very stubborn and selfish but grew to understand that Kathleen could be a shrewd and clever negotiator.

Despite that, Kathleen wasn’t looking forward to the hard decision she’d have to face at the awards ceremony. She was going to have to have a serious discussion with Roger about where they saw their future going. He may have been a good man, but he was still a man. She knew that
if
he was thinking about it, he probably wasn’t thinking all that hard.

Was Kathleen ready to move in with him? No. She knew that would be far too soon and far too foolish for anyone’s benefit. Even still, she was ready for something bigger, something more than she had. Gracie was nearly twenty, and both Hart women knew they wouldn’t be living together forever. Kathleen knew it was only a matter of time before Gracie wanted to be out on her own.

On her own or with Colton…

The thought still gave Kathleen an uneasy feeling. She still found herself counting to ten and meditating hard on the idea, but she was coming around. Colton came off rough, but the more she had gotten to know him, the kinder he seemed to be. Colton had been especially kind to Kathleen. She knew it was probably an attempt to soften her opinion of him. Kathleen also knew it was working.
 

That night, as the two women ate dinner opposite each other in the small breakfast nook that jutted from the kitchen into the backyard, Kathleen decided it was time to have a serious discussion with her daughter.

“I don’t hate Colton.” Kathleen closed her eyes and sighed.
Off to a great start.
 

Gracie looked up from her salad, her eyebrows furrowed and her head tilted to one side. Kathleen tried to smile, but the results weren’t great.

“I’m sorry, that came out strange. Let me try again.” Reminding herself that Gracie was still a little miffed, Kathleen really made an effort, saying, “The last few months haven’t been so perfect.”

“You can say that again.”
 

Kathleen didn’t hear anger in her daughter’s voice, more like exhaustion.

There was a hint of anger in her own voice, though. “Gracie Hart, I am trying to apologize.”

Gracie’s face lost some of the bitterness that it held. She hunched down in her chair just a touch, “Sorry, Mother.”

“I thought he was Shepard all over again. I probably even thought he was your father all over again. Let’s just say that Colton’s track record had me worried. When I get worried, I go a little batty.”

Kathleen hoped she would get a reaction from her daughter. Gracie’s eyes lost some of the chill, and a faint smile appeared. It was progress. It was something, at least. “I let the rumor mill get to me, and I know how much it hurt you. I was doing way too much managing and not enough moming. The time at The Grapeyard was very eye-opening.”

For their own reasons, both Kathleen and Gracie would look back on those two weeks as some of the best time of their lives. Kathleen had Roger, Gracie had Colton, and the music that came from the live room was just sublime.

“He’s a good boy, despite the tattoos and the Joe Cool attitude.”

Gracie threw her hands up, bringing them down hard. Her voice was exaggerated, “Oh God, Mother. You sounds like Gram.” Kathleen was embarrassing her daughter, and that was a good sign. Gracie was a massive talent and a beautiful daughter, but she was still a teenager; she could only feel one emotion at a time. If she was embarrassed, she wasn’t angry anymore. The eye rolling sealed the deal.

Kathleen laughed out her response. “Well? He is a good boy.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Anyway,” she ignored her daughter’s red cheeks, “What I’m saying is that I’m sorry, and I only want what’s best for you. If Colton is the right man, you have my blessing because I know you’re the right woman.”

Gracie stood up and threw both hands over her flushed face. “Oh my good lord, I can’t even right now, Mother.” Kathleen could hear the giddiness in her daughter’s voice. “I cannot
even
!”

As her daughter ran from the kitchen, Kathleen shook her head. Footsteps echoed in the house as Gracie ran upstairs.

Leaning out of the booth, Kathleen called, “So we’re still on for a jog after dinner, sweetheart?” The ache at her cheeks from laughing felt good after the tidal wave of tension that had tossed them to and fro.

Colton saw Gracie standing at the loading dock, poking away at her phone. He couldn't stop the smile that came to his face. As usual, she wore a dress that hugged her midsection and flared around her creamy legs. It was white with cardinals here and there. The one from their first meeting at Muscle Shoals. Colton remembered with a smile. He stopped for a moment, leaned against the door that led in and out of the theater, and admired the view from behind. It had only been a week, but it felt like an eternity.

Tilting his head, Colton tried to remember the last woman that he had slept with more than once. He gave up, realizing that it was probably a fruitless exercise. Settling on the thought that no woman but Gracie was coming to mind, he moved toward her.

She jumped when she felt a hand move her big, blonde curls aside, but giggled at the feeling of Colton’s stubble at her neck. “Lord, you scared me half to death, Colton Wade.”

She spun around, her teeth showing as Gracie threw her arms around Colton’s neck. He lifted her, giving her that butterfly-in-the-stomach feeling that even a roller-coaster couldn’t match.

“Gotta get your heart racing one way or another, babe.” His last word was muffled by her kiss. He laughed at her passion and fury. Every time they were together, the world around them ceased to exist. Gracie was just about ready any time, any place.
Good god, what have I created,
Colton thought with elation.

She bit his ear lobe, and whispered, “It’s always racing for you.”

As his manhood swelled at the breathy whisper, Colton wished for a room with some hint of privacy. The theater was small and swarming with people setting up for the event. The band had only twenty minutes before their rehearsals began, but he was going to be damned if he’d let this opportunity slip through his fingers. Gracie was a once in a lifetime girl, and Colton was a live in the moment man.

Fingers interlaced, the two ran through the backstage, sliding past riggers and make-up crews. Endless doors and hallways came and went as Colton and Gracie hunted down a secret spot. Sparks and bright light came from the pair. They weren’t trying to hide their love from the world, but they did crave their privacy.

Colton’s feet moved quick, grace and speed coming from that primal instinct inside of him. He peeked through an open door and saw a single fluorescent bulb lighting a room of costumes. Shoving the door open with his shoulder, Colton pulled Gracie inside.

“Fuck yes, it locks.” He backed her against the door, slamming it closed. With a flick of his fingers, Colton and Gracie had found a private retreat for just a moment. Their bodies were one as she grabbed him by the belt and yanked him towards her.

She bit at his bottom lip, pulling away until her head bumped against the old green door behind her. Gracie let out a breath as if she had just escaped death. “I didn’t realize just how much I needed you until I felt your fingertips on my skin.”

“Like this, sweetness?” Colton’s index finger brushed over Gracie’s shoulder, bringing the thin strap of her dress along with it as it moved to her arm. Her hands were still at his belt, unhooking it.

She gave him a girlie look that made Colton’s cock throb harder. With a nod, Gracie dropped the zipper.

Colton growled back before tearing the remaining strap from Gracie’s other shoulder. His hands moved down to her thighs, pinning her back against the door again. Colton made no attempt to be gentle. It never even entered his mind. Gracie had driven him absolutely insane with desire. He had to have her, and if she came away with a few bruises, tough shit.

Colton looked like he was about to tear Gracie’s dress from her tight frame. She grasped at the waist and shimmied her hips as she lowered it. The dress fell to the floor, leaving her in a white, strapless bra and matching cotton panties.

Gracie thought she could actually see Colton’s heart breaking through his eyes. He took a step back and looked her up and down. Her heart was racing from the danger and the need.