Chapter 1
one
. . .
Becky
Willow Haven, Florida
Ten years later…
As I stare at the television screen in my patient’s room, the memories I kept buried for the last ten years come flooding back. How? And how did I never realize?
“Becky, dear, are you okay?” my patient, Mrs. Lee, asks.
Dragging my gaze from the TV, I focus on the fragile woman in the hospital bed. Smiling, I answer, “Yes, ma’am. Sorry, I got distracted.”
“Oh, don’t be sorry, dear. There isn’t a woman alive who could ignore that man. And when he sings, he melts my ovaries. My granddaughters introduced me to him. They have all his albums. Hmm, do they still call them that these days?
I mumble an answer, not really listening. Instead of getting her vitals, I’m transfixed by the man on the screen. What am I doing? I have a job to do. Thankfully, Mrs. Lee, is my last patient before I’m done with my shift. Then it’s just giving reports, and I’m off for a blessed two days.
It’s been a week from hell. I’m in desperate need of a steamy book boyfriend and a bottle of wine or two.
The latest Becca Jameson book hit my e-reader earlier this week.
It's killing me I haven't had time to read it yet. I can’t wait to dig into her newest book, Rook—dark, sexy, everything I need for an escape. That’s when Mrs. Lee’s remark sinks in.
“Oh my gosh, Mrs. Lee, you don’t even have ovaries anymore.
” Just thinking about this octogenarian saying that makes me giggle.
“Fine. But they’d melt if I did. I’m sure yours are melting right now.”
She might be right, but then again, Jason Richmond, who is now Jason Royce apparently, always had that ability.
Sighing, I turn back to my WOW—workstation on wheels—and wrap the blood pressure cuff around her arm.
I take her temperature next, then make the updates to her chart.
“Does your fancy machine tell you when I get to go home?” Mrs. Lee asks with a hopeful expression.
“I’m afraid not. But Dr. Perkins will be making his rounds soon. He’ll have a better idea. Is your daughter coming to visit today?”
“Oh yes, and she’s bringing Harley and Katie. She let them stay home from school today so they could go to the concert tonight.”
“The concert?” My brain can’t seem to keep up.
“Jason Royce’s concert. Aren’t you listening? That’s why he’s on the morning show. He’s performing tonight in Orlando. The first of two sold out shows. Honestly, dear, you’re working too hard.”
I nod. I haven’t had a day off in ten days, and I’m running on fumes. Even if I hadn’t worked so much, I still wouldn’t have known about the concert. The last musical thing I went to was in college at the University of Alabama.
“Please tell me you’ve heard his song, “A Love Lost?” It’s what made his career. It’s so sad. The perfect country music song.”
I probably had, but I wasn’t sure. True crime podcasts or reading is how I fill my downtime. Music made me remember things that hurt too much. It was better to avoid it altogether.
“I don’t think so. But I’ll see if I can find it. Say hi to your daughter, hopefully, you’ll get to go home before I’m back on Monday.”
“Oh wait, you can’t go yet.”
“What’s wrong? Is something bothering you?”
“No, but he’s about to sing that song. Don’t you want to hear it?
” Mrs. Lee was such a sweetheart, always had a smile for everyone.
I didn’t have the heart to disappoint her.
But the last thing I wanted to do was see more of Jason.
Trying to wrap my head around the memories of my first love and the man on that stage was difficult enough without hearing more.
“Okay, but just for a minute.”
The morning show host introduced him as Jason Royce and reminded the audience that he was performing a sold-out show in Orlando for the next two nights.
I wonder why he’d changed his name. Was it his choice?
Maybe the record company thought Royce was a better option.
Not that it mattered to me. Just because he was in Orlando didn’t mean I’d run into him.
Ten years is a long time, not that I ever forgot about him.
I’d been heartbroken, even going to house to find him.
He didn’t come to the door. It was as if he had disappeared that day.
As the first notes of the song rang from the television speakers, my eyes welled up.
It was still him, but more. His voice was deeper.
More resonant. The words were heartbreaking.
They spoke of love being torn away. Crushed.
Broken. Did I do that to him? Or was I giving myself too much credit?
He probably walked away and never thought of me again.
“See what I mean?” Mrs. Lee whispered loudly.
I nodded. Speechless. My heart was pounding too hard in my chest. As his words washed over me, I moved closer to the screen hanging on the wall.
This was the song that made his career, and feeling every word resonate in my chest, I could understand why.
It reinforced all my guilt and heartache from high school, and all the lonely years since.
How could I love anyone, let anyone love me when I’d treated Jason so badly?
Standing there, I took in how he’d changed. Gone was the lanky boy from high school. His shoulders were broad, and muscles rippled under the black T-shirt tucked into his jeans, accentuating his thick thighs.
Colorful tattoos covered his arms. As he strummed his guitar, I could see the veins on his forearms. Who knew that was so sexy? Actually, every romance novel ever written did. Ugh.
Younger Jason had been cute, attractive, sweet.
This version was sex on a stick. The blond hair I’d loved threading my fingers through had been short.
Now it was darker, sun-streaked and reached well past his shoulders.
Even his blue eyes seemed different. A deeper blue-gray, piercing, brooding like the ocean on a stormy day.
A short, trimmed beard finished his transformation.
My fingers itch to reach through the screen and touch it. Is it as soft as I remember his hair?
“Becky?”
Dragging my gaze from the TV, I finally notice my co-worker and work bestie, Cindy, standing just inside the doorway.
“What? I mean, yeah? Did you need something?” My cheeks heat with embarrassment. How long was I standing there mesmerized by Jason?
“Heather sent me to find you. It’s time for report.”
Cursing under my breath, I look over at Mrs. Lee, who has a huge smile on her face. Ugh.
“I’ll be right there. Two minutes.”
Cindy nodded and left.
“See what I told you? No woman can resist him. Admit it, your ovaries melted too.”
Nodding before I could stop myself, my cheeks heated.
Too bad she wasn’t wrong. I needed to remember that the Jason Royce on that screen was not the Jason Richmond I knew from high school.
Everything about him was different. He seemed so gracious, but the ease with which he avoided the gratuitous touches from the morning show host said he’d done it often.
Women probably threw themselves at him all the time. Why wouldn’t they?
Sighing, I smile at Mrs. Lee and grab my WOW.
They’re waiting for my report, and I need to go home instead of wishing for a chance to talk to him, to explain, to apologize—maybe finally get some closure.
Did he need that too? From the looks of him, he had everything he could ever want.
But I know too well how many people wear masks. I’d been wearing one since high school.