Chapter 18
Rockstars – Can be babysitters as long as candy’s involved
Leia
Ithrow the skirt on top of the growing pile of clothes on the bed. What do you wear to a date with a rockstar? When you don’t know where you’re going? Or what you’re doing?
A dress? A skirt? Jeans and a blouse?
Why is this so hard? I’m twenty-nine years old. I am not a teenager going to a dance with the captain of the football team.
I pick out a summer skirt with a t-shirt. If it’s not good enough, it’s Fender’s fault for refusing to answer my question on what we’re doing. Spoiler alert: Telling a woman it’s a surprise is not a good idea when she doesn’t know what to wear.
The doorbell rings and I rush from my room to answer it but I don’t manage to get there before Isla.
“Fender!” She greets as I reach the entryway.
He ruffles her hair. “Hey, cutie pie.”
“Are you here to watch a movie with us?”
“Nope. I have something better.”
“Something better?”
“Yep. Something better.” Fender’s gaze meets mine and his eyes heat. “Assuming your mom approves.”
Damn it. He knows exactly how to make me weak in the knees. Kindness to my kid will do it every time.
Isla bounces on her toes. “Can I, Mom? Can I?”
“Can you what?” I ask. “We don’t know what Fender has planned for you yet.”
He holds out his hand. “I’ll show you.”
Isla takes his hand and he tugs her out of the house. He waits until I follow before leading her across our yard to his house. My brow furrows. What is he up to?
We stop at the door to his house. “Keep an open mind.” He waits until I nod before opening the door.
Isla rushes inside and squeals. I start to follow her but Fender shackles my wrist to stop me. He kisses my nose. “An open mind, yeah?”
He draws me into the room and I gasp. There are fairy lights strung up along the walls, a pink tent set up in front of the television, and snacks set out on trays on the floor.
“Mom,” Isla calls from inside the tent.
I get on my knees and crawl inside. There are pillows and blankets spread out on the floor. Isla’s already lying under a blanket.
“Isn’t this the best?”
“You like it?” Jett asks as he lays down beside Isla.
Gibson rolls his eyes. “Of course, she likes it. It’s awesome.”
Isla giggles at Gibson.
“She laughed. She likes it.”
Fender sticks his head in the tent. “Gibson and Jett are going to keep an eye on Isla while we go on our date. Assuming you’re okay with it.”
“Why wouldn’t she be okay with it?” Gibson asks. “We’re awesome.”
“And we have the best treats.”
“Maybe too much food.” I motion to the pizza, chicken wings, brownies, and gummy bears stacked on trays in front of the tent.
Gibson smacks Jett. “Told you it was too much.”
Jett ducks his head but not before I notice the blush on his cheeks. “I wanted her to have her favorites but Fender said we couldn’t ask her any questions.”
I squeeze his shoulder. “It’s okay. This is a special occasion. But don’t let her eat too much. She’ll get sick.”
“Got it.”
Fender offers me his hand. “Ready?”
I glare at Jett and Gibson one last time. “If anything happens to Isla in your care, I will post about your competition to sleep with the most fans on social media.”
“Okay,” Jett immediately agrees while Gibson gapes at me.
Good enough. I clasp Fender’s hand and he helps me to stand.
He draws me into his arms. “You’re certain you’re okay with this arrangement?”
“I couldn’t drag Isla away now if I wanted to.”
He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear. “Then, it’s time for our date. You ready?”
I gulp. “Yep.”
I say my good-byes to my daughter and Fender’s bandmates before he leads me outside. I gasp when I notice the vehicle waiting for us at the curb.
“Holy cow, Fender.”
He shrugs. “I’m a big guy. I need a big car.”
“But a Hummer? Is this thing even allowed in Winter Falls?”
“It’s electric,” he says as he opens the door for me.
I stare at the seat. It’s nearly as high as my chest. Am I supposed to climb into this? Fender solves the problem when he lifts me up and places me on the seat.
“You didn’t have to lift me.” I would have figured out how to climb in. Eventually.
He leans over me to click on my seatbelt. “I enjoy carrying you, firecracker.”
“Firecracker?”
He grins and one of his dimples pops out. It’s amazing really. One dimple and his face goes from grumpy to sexy. Although, his grumpy face is pretty sexy, too.
“Are you going to deny you’re a firecracker?”
He has a point. “Nope.”
Once we’re on the road out of Winter Falls, I ask, “Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.”
I hate surprises. I prefer to be prepared for every possible contingency. How can I be prepared if I don’t know what’s going to happen?
Fender reaches across the center console and squeezes my thigh. “Don’t worry. You’ll enjoy it.”
I open my mouth to ask him how he knows when he continues, “I hope.”
The uncertainty in his voice has me shutting my mouth. He’s nervous. It’s endearing. And annoying since I can no longer bug him to tell me what the surprise is.
“How was your day?” he asks.
“How was my day?” I repeat.
“Yeah. How was your day? Did your boss drive you batty? Did you finish all your work before I picked you up?”
No one’s ever asked me how my day was before. I’ve been on my own since my grandparents died when Isla was three. There’s never been anyone waiting for me when I came home from work – except Isla.
I would do anything for my daughter, but I have missed adult conversation at home. Being able to bitch about my boss without worrying the language I’m using will scare my daughter for life would be nice.
“Work was okay today,” I finally manage to say. “Brody actually said thank you.”
Fender scowls. “Does he not thank you for the work you do more often?”
“Ha! Let me tell you about the time I refused to talk to him for a week because he didn’t say thank you. He had no clue what was happening.”
By the time I finish my story, Fender is pulling into a parking lot.
“Where are we?” I ask as I gaze around. The building in front of us reminds me of a castle from a Disney movie. The ‘castle’ is surrounded by nature, and the parking lot is full of fancy cars. Wherever we are, I don’t think I belong here.
“Um…”
Fender’s cheeks heat as he stumbles over his words.
“You said something about deserving time to pamper yourself the other day so I asked Virginia how I could pamper you.”
“Virginia?”
“Indigo’s a blabber mouth. She would have told everyone in Winter Falls what we’re doing.”
“Pamper me?”
“I know being a single mom isn’t easy. I was raised by one.”
“Hold on. You were? Why didn’t you say anything?”
He shrugs. “I assumed you knew.”
“Because you’re a famous rockstar and I should follow your every move in the tabloids and on social media?” I roll my eyes. Who has the time?
He chuckles. “Sorry. Sometimes I forget how unimpressed you are with my status.”
“Anyway, you were raised by a single mom?”
“It’s a story for another day.”
I open my mouth to berate him but stop when I remember pushing someone to tell their secrets never works. I was a stubborn teenager once too.
“You want to pamper me?”
“You deserve it. You work hard, you’re raising Isla on your own and doing a damn good job, too.”
Oh, how he’s changed his tune since we met. “How are you planning to pamper me?”
“Well.” He clears his throat. “I thought about sending you for a day at a spa, but I wanted to do something together.”
“And?”
“We’re doing a couples massage.”
“A couples massage?”
“If you don’t want to do it, we don’t have to. We can skip it and go straight to dinner. I’ll cancel the appointment.”
He digs in his pocket for his phone but I shackle his wrist.
“You are not denying me my first professional massage.”
“You like the idea?”
“I love the idea.” I reach for the door handle. “Let’s go.”
“Wait for me to open your door.”
“What? You don’t think I can jump down?”
“I know you can, but I don’t want you to have to.”
Holy cow. Have sexier words ever been uttered? He knows I’m a strong woman but he wants to help me anyway.
Oh boy. I better secure the cage around my heart because I could fall in love with this man. Which would be a stupid thing to do. Because no matter how much I try to ignore it, he’s still a rockstar and I’m still a single mom. These two things do not go together.