Chapter 4
Watching her drive this beast is all kinds of sexy. I’m happy she didn’t change before we set off, because admiring her legs has become my favorite thing to do. I don’t want to look like a fucking creeper. She is doing me a favor, after all.
I’m disappointed at the thought of separating from her.
Krista is gorgeous, she’s funny and I love how independent and free-spirited she is. Hell, she is sitting beside me in her pajamas, hiking boots and not a lick of make-up. I don’t think I’ve come across a woman who cares so little about impressing me in… Well, ever.
I’m staring again. Fortunately, she’s focused on the road. It’s hard to articulate how she intrigues me, she’s mesmerizing and it’s dumbfounding because I don’t react to women like this.
Reluctantly, I drag my eyes away from the beautiful woman beside me. I can’t figure out if I'm happy or not about heading after Cody. This has been an unusual but welcomed reprieve.
I heard what the fucker said while he was on the phone, and I was in the RV. I’ve been gone overnight and they’re holding off on calling the cops.
The cops won’t do anything right now anyway, but that’s irrelevant. The only reason Cody is holding off is because the record label doesn’t want this kind of publicity.
Krista’s lie tickled me, even if it made me seem gross.
I’m wasting what little time I have left with Krista, worrying about Cody and the label. I shift back in the seat so it swivels to face her. She glances at me with a small smile.
“What are your plans after South Dakota?”
She sighs, but not as if she’s irritated. “My final destination is Chicago. I’m going to a book signing there.”
“Cool, like in a bookstore?”
“No, it’s much bigger than me. There are over a hundred authors scheduled to be there. It’s a weekend event.”
“Impressive.”
“It’s always fun. And I get to stay in a hotel with a bathtub. And I meet a lot of amazing people. Catch up with friends.”
I smirk at the bathtub comment. “When is that?”
“A few more weeks.”
“So you’ll be on the road that whole time?”
“Winding my way to the windy city,” she chuckles at her own joke, and it makes me grin back at her.
“Didn’t you say you’re from Chicago?”
“I did,” she slows to take a tight corner.
Now I see what she means about it taking longer, although I’m not sure she needs to go this slowly. She was going much faster last night when she drove past me. Is she stalling?
“So what kind of books do you write?”
“Suspense, thrillers, murder mystery type.”
“Do you have any of your books here?”
“No. Even though I write while I’m on the road, I keep the business side of things away. The books for the convention are being shipped straight there. My PA makes sure everything is where it’s supposed to be. I couldn’t manage without her. She runs my life.”
“Doesn’t sound like it’s a bad thing.”
“It’s not. We’re friends too, so that helps.”
“Can you buy your books online?”
“Yeah, or any bookstore stocks most of them too. The older ones, anyway. My more recent books are online.”
“That’s because you went indie,” I nod, recalling what she said earlier. “Are you working on a book right now?”
Her laptop is on the dining table with a notepad and some other papers next to it. I almost looked through it on the way back from the bathroom.
I reprimanded myself for that. I’d hate the thought of something rifling through my song book. I can’t do it to her.
“I am. I’m about halfway through. I’ve gone in a different direction though.”
“Yeah?”
“Heavier on the romance,” she admits, looking anxious.
“Isn’t that a big thing right now?” I ask.
I’m not unaware of the current craze for appropriating celebrities’ images to fit the book boyfriend criteria. Hell, half of the bullshit I get from the crazy fans is women casting me as book characters. The number of comments on the band’s social media about how I’m this guy, or that guy, is part of the bullshit I wish would go the fuck away. It wouldn’t have bothered me six months ago. I’d been ignoring it, but my brain can’t cope with the scrutiny and sheer volume of it.
Men don’t particularly like being sexualized either. At least I don’t.
“Yeah, I don’t intend on going full romance. It’s a little more than I would usually write. Anyway, enough about me. Do you know what you’re going to do once you catch up with your manager?”
“I know what I don’t want to do. Go with him,” I add.
“You don’t have to,” she glances at the radio when one of our older tracks comes on.
I wink, but pick up her phone and skip it. It’s not that I don’t like my own music, I don’t want the reminder right now.
“What else am I gonna do?”
“There must be someone you can call. Or at least let him take you to where they are. We’re kind of in the middle of nowhere.”
Solene, our drummer, was the logical person to call. She’d fix this in a heartbeat. I wonder if Cody has let them know I pulled a disappearing act. Losing my phone last night doesn’t help either.
“Why are you in the middle of nowhere?” Krista interrupts my thoughts as she slows down for an exit.
You can’t miss the sign for the rest stop. Luckily, it’s still a little further away.
“You ever heard of Bill Jane?”
She shakes her head after thinking for a moment.
Not surprising, I guess. “He’s a record producer.”
“I thought you were staying away from anything music related,” she frowns.
A cute little line appears between her eyebrows. She’s pissed about that. For me.
“It was arranged a while back. Cody said I couldn’t get out of it. It was just a party. I didn’t have to perform or anything.”
“The rest of the band weren’t invited?” she asks in surprise.
“Solene and Ethan already had plans. They’re siblings and do a lot together. Paul got stomach flu, or he would have been here too.”
“You still could have changed your mind. Why didn’t you?”
This question coming from anyone else would have pissed me off. Krista sounds confused, rather than angry at me for letting the people around me dictate what I’m doing.
My fists tighten on the armrests. “A stupid sense of obligation. Bill gave us our big break years ago. He produced our best record and helped us a lot. It’s his sixtieth birthday party. I didn’t want to let him down. Ironically, I hardly saw him. I was too busy fending off…” I trail off, figuring she can work that out.
“Well, there are positives,” she says, speeding up. “At least now you know what you want. A clean break, for the time being. Not having one foot in and one foot out.”
“I guess that’s true. Also, I learnt lake water is disgusting and you shouldn’t drink it.”
She bursts out laughing and it brings a smile to my face.
“And I met a pretty awesome woman who showed me how to look at things differently.”
She glances at me, and holds my look for as long as possible, without swerving us off the road.
“I didn’t do that,” she mumbles.
“Who says I meant you?” I can’t resist messing with her. That small line pops up between her brows again. “Of course, it’s you. You’re the only person I’ve seen in the last twelve hours. Believe me, you helped. And your advice to always carry toilet paper with me, in case, you know. That will live with me for a while.”
“It’s sound advice, Jude. You should never forget it.” She blows out a heavy breath. “Here we are.”
Shit.
Krista turns the RV into the entrance to the rest stop, and drives along the back road where other RVs and long-haul trucks park. I scan the parking lot for Cody’s car but don’t see it. Maybe he already looked and headed back to the hotel. A big part of me wants that to be true, but we didn’t pass his car on the way here.
Once she’s maneuvered the RV into a parking space, which is damn impressive if you ask me, she turns off the engine and looks over to me.
“Want me to help you find him? I have to pick some stuff up anyway. There is a convenience store at this stop, so I can stock up.”
“Sure. And, if you have time, can I buy you a proper breakfast? To say thanks.”
“You don’t need to do that.”
“I want to. Well,” I glance at the packed parking lot, knowing I can't exactly just go to the diner. “To go.”
“What about your manager?” she follows my gaze.
“I’m kinda hoping he’s gone.”
“Then what will you do?”
“Either call an Uber to take me to the airport, or…”
“Or?”
“Hitch a ride.”
“I’m not sure everyone will be as accommodating, but you might find someone who’ll give you a ride.”
She’s messing with me, right?
“Just let me get changed. I won’t be a minute. I’m pretty sure I saw that fancy black sports car when we first pulled in.”
My stomach drops. She was messing, but for a different reason. I watch her slip into the bedroom and pull a sliding door over for privacy.
Where did she see the car? Damn. Rising, I stretch my legs, finish the last of the water and decide to see what it might be like driving one of these things.
I slip into the driver's seat. My legs are all bent up because it’s so close to the pedals. I don’t want to mess around with her arrangement and can’t figure out how to do it anyway. Instead, I spin the chair around back to the cabin. It’s nice. Granted our tour buses are swankier, but I’m seeing the appeal in this.
Krista is still in the back, so I get up and wander along towards the kitchen. There are pictures up I didn’t notice before. I spot Krista in a group photo, wearing a bikini. Damn. She’s sexy underneath her clothes too. Not that I haven’t thought that.
“You ready?”
I straighten up, my face hot. Her eyes go to the picture, then back to me, but she says nothing. As she gathers her things, I eye the outfit and am pleased her legs are still on show. This time in denim shorts, they still show off the length of her legs. She’s paired it with a vintage grey band shirt, which is baggy but accentuates her figure.
She opens a cupboard and takes out a pair of white sneakers, and slips her feet inside. Then she grabs a purse and slings it over her shoulder so it’s sits across her body.
“Guess I should say goodbye to this place,” I remark.
“If we dawdle any longer, your manager will leave, and I will have to give you a ride someplace else.”
“I’m not gonna say that would be a bad thing,” I grin.
We leave the RV and I wait while she locks it up. It’s warm out. I’m wearing the same clothes I had on all day yesterday, after a seven-mile trek and lying on the grass. I surreptitiously give my shoulder a sniff. Doesn’t seem that bad, but I should have asked to wash up before we left.
Krista hasn’t mentioned I stink, so I won’t worry about it.
“Here,” she says as we walk through the parked RVs. She hands me a black baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses.
“Fuck, I hadn’t even thought about that.”
“Being mobbed isn’t on my list of things to do today. Okay, I saw his car this way.” She heads to the right, away from the buildings.
It’s busy at this time of the morning. Although I have no clue what time it is anymore. I don’t even care. She’s right. I spot Cody’s corvette a few rows over.
“Do we wait by it?” Krista asks, shading her eyes from the sun as she turns back to look at me.
“No, I said I wanted to buy you breakfast. We can check for him inside.”
“If you’re sure.”
“Definitely.” And hopefully we miss each other.
Why the hell don’t I tell her to take me to the nearest city so I can get out of here without Cody’s help? It would be wrong, that’s why. As much as he’s a prick, not letting him know I’m safe is a pretty shitty thing to do.
We check the diner but don’t see him. I follow Krista to the convenience store, telling her to grab her groceries, but she says she’ll come back once we’ve tracked Cody down. So far, there is no sign of him. We look back to the car again when we leave the convenience store, but it’s still there. Cody isn’t.
A couple of people watch me. I have distinctive tattoos. Despite the heat, it will be best to cover them up. I ask her to wait while I duck back inside the store and grab an ‘I heart Montana’ sweatshirt. Luckily, I only tossed my phone last night, not my wallet.
Now I’m less conspicuous. We begin our search again. When I spot him, my stomach drops. Krista sees him too and turns to look at me. I can’t read her expression. It’s like she is trying to hide what this means. It’s clear when he sees me too.
Cody grabs his phone and calls someone, talking into it as he heads towards me. He eyes Krista the nearer he gets and his face morphs into recognition. Ah shit, never thought of that. Let him say even one word to her and I’ll tear him a new one.
“Where the hell have you been?” Cody hisses. “And you,” he turns to Krista.
I grab his arm, give Krista a quick look of apology, then drag my manager away.
“What the fuck are you doing? Do you know how many people are losing their shit over you vanishing into thin fucking air?”
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care? Well, start fucking caring because Solene is about to get on a plane to come find you. The record company is losing their shit, and Bill Jane wants to call the police.”
“I’m fine.”
“Oh, you’re fine, great. Let me call everyone and tell them you’re fine. And you’re with her? She said you left.”
“Don’t worry about her,” I say, diverting his attention from Krista.
“I ought to call the cops on her.”
“For what? And you fucking won’t. Leave her out of this. She helped me. That’s all you need to know.”
“Fine, but we need to get back to the hotel. And then on a flight back to LA.”
There is no point in arguing. I haven’t forgotten I promised to get Krista breakfast. After some more arguing, I convince Cody to go wait by the car. Krista has stayed away, using her phone while I was dealing with the asshole.
I’m gonna have to leave. Why does this feel so fucking bad? I’ve known her a few hours, but she’s had such an impact. I don’t want to leave this woman.
We both know I have to.
“Don’t worry about breakfast,” she says when I stop in front of her. She keeps her eyes on me, not sparing Cody a second glance. “You’re going home?”
“Yeah, I should. People are worried, the ones I care about.”
“It’s the right thing to do,” she says.
“Is it?” I ask.
“Only you can answer that, Jude. It was nice meeting you. You can keep the hat and glasses,” she winks, takes a few steps backwards. “Keep rocking.”
My fingers twitch at my side, longing to reach out and stop her from walking away, but I can’t. My current predicament needs to be dealt with, and then I’ll go back to being in a world-famous band. I can’t bring that to her door.
With one last wave, she disappears into the convenience store again.
All the way to Cody’s car, her words play over and over in my head.
‘Only you can answer that.’
Still, I get into the car and ignore everything Cody says as he pulls out of the parking lot. We pass Krista’s RV as we leave. I close my eyes, rather than look at it.
It was a taste of something different, something I’m never going to have.