18
If you want to find somebody and you want to be married and you want to have children, don't make it a rock star.—Stevie Nicks
Bile rose in Rhys's throat at the sight of the stately mansion in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood as the cab pulled up in front.
He had hoped this reaction would abate in time, but it only grew more pronounced every time he visited.
All of a sudden he was angry with himself for giving up his Bucktown condo.
Even if he no longer lived in Chicago, it would be worth keeping the place so he could see his kids without having to interact with his ex-wife or her husband.
Of course, seeing Dax and Sienna these days required a careful dance of scheduling due to the many activities in which both were involved.
Spending time with Dax would be even more difficult when he went off to university in a month.
Even before Rhys moved away from Chicago, weeks would go by without seeing either of them when he was in town.
He understood. They were growing up, and like most teenagers didn't feel the need to be with dear old Dad when there were much more interesting things going on.
Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the glance the cab driver threw over his shoulder, but he ignored it.
The meter was running, and if he wanted to sit out in front of this overdone, pretentious piece of real estate all day then he would.
Going into that house was the last thing he wanted to do, and he needed some time to work up to it.
He could always just go back to his hotel and have the kids come to him there, but they hated that.
It was only natural that they felt more relaxed in their own home, and he cringed from the thought of dealing with their bored sighs if they were stuck all afternoon at the hotel.
The wavery shape of a body appeared on the other side of the leaded glass oval in the front door, followed by a face peering out one of the sidelights.
Rhys grinned as he recognized his seventeen-year-old daughter.
He leaned forward and handed the driver his fare, plus a large tip for not saying anything about his hesitation in getting out of the cab.
His feet had just hit the sidewalk when the front door was wrenched open and Sienna came flying out of the house.
"Daddy," she cried, and crashed into him halfway between the street and the house.
Laughing, Rhys lifted her and spun her around, her giggles warming his heart.
"Stop it, Dad! I'm gonna hurl." On her feet once more, she tiptoed and placed a kiss on his chin. "I thought you weren't ever going to get here."
"I checked into the hotel first. No sense in lugging my bags around with me.
" As he watched his daughter, he was struck as always by the wonder of genetics.
The long wavy hair that hung halfway down her back was the same warm caramel color as her mother's, but her face was Rhys's.
The high, defined cheekbones, the chiseled jaw, and the almond-shaped dark blue eyes were all Collinsworth, even though they were softened a bit by her femininity.
"You get more beautiful every day," he told her.
"Oh, Dad." She slipped her arm in his and towed him toward the house. "You always say that."
"Because it's true." He took a deep breath and stepped into the house with her. "Where's your brother?"
"Probably in the kitchen." Sienna made a bored face.
"I mean, he had breakfast an hour ago, so for him it's time to eat again.
" Her face lit up as she deftly changed the subject.
"Oh! I'm having my senior pictures made next week.
And can you believe it, I'm even having some taken at The Bean.
I know it's cheesy and all, but it's, like, just so Chicago, you know? "
"What? You're not a senior yet." He followed her into the den and shook his head as she flopped onto the couch. "Don't rush it."
"I am, too, a senior," she contradicted. "I'm not a junior anymore, so therefore I'm a senior. And then I'll be eighteen in March, and a legal adult."
Rhys made a sound of amusement. "An adult, right? So what changes when you become eighteen? You can vote."
"And be referred to as a legal adult. That has to count for something, right?"
"You'd think." He turned at the sound of footsteps behind him and smiled at the sight of his son. "There you are. Leave anything edible in there?"
Dax grinned and hugged his father. "I think I left some broccoli and other crap like that if you're really hungry."
"I'll pass, thanks." He fingered the caramel-colored hair that brushed the collar of his son's T-shirt. "What's this? Letting your hair grow?"
A muffled snicker from Sienna earned a dark look from Dax.
"Yeah, well," he said. "See, Ian met this girl from Oak Park, and a couple of months ago he and I were hanging out with her and some of her friends at her house.
Her parents kind of turned their basement over to her, and that's where she spends most of her time.
Anyway, she has this big ass poster of Illicit on one wall.
Of course, Ian has to point it out, right?
He didn't say anything about you being my dad, but he kept giving me these looks and shit. "
Rhys nodded in understanding. Both of his children learned fast to keep new people from finding out that their father, Mr. Collinsworth, was the same man as Rhys James from Illicit.
It helped to separate the people who only wanted to know them for what they might get out of them from people who could become true friends.
Ian, Dax's best friend from childhood, knew who Rhys was, as did a few of Sienna's friends.
But most people who knew the Collinsworth children had no clue their father was a rock star.
"Anyway," Dax continued. "The prettiest one of Danielle's friends kept saying how hot you are, right?"
Uncomfortable, Rhys cleared his throat. He was interrupted by Sienna's sound of disgust and turned to her with a raised brow.
"What? I'm not hot?"
"Ew, no." Her expression looked like she'd just sucked on a green persimmon. "You're my dad. I mean, you're handsome and all, but there's no way you're hot. Gross."
"That's not what that girl Zoe said," Dax contradicted.
"Then she looked at me and said, 'You really look a lot like Rhys James.
If you grew out your hair, I bet you'd look just like him.
' So I thought to myself, what the hell, right?
If girls think you look hot with the hair and all then I should take advantage of wearing your face around all the time.
So, yeah." He tugged on the ends of his hair in illustration.
Rhys didn't know whether to laugh or high-five his son in congratulations. "It's always worked well for me."
"Okay, that's it," Sienna declared. "This is grossing me out."
"God forbid you should be grossed out." Rhys grinned at her. "And where's your mother? Surely she hasn't gone to work this early."
A solemn look passed between Dax and Sienna, one that made Rhys go still. "What is it?" he asked. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, it's fine, I guess." Sienna's voice held a hint of a tremor. "Mom's at her lawyer's office. She and Cam are getting a divorce."
"Oh." Taken completely by surprise, Rhys let himself sink into the back of the couch.
Cam had been front and center the month before when Rhys was in town to help Dax find a new car.
Whatever happened between Hayley and her second husband happened fast. "I'm sorry to hear that.
Are you two all right?" He looked back and forth between his children.
"Yeah, we're okay," Dax replied. "It's just that it's still a little weird for him not to be here, right?"
"Mm-hm." Rhys nodded briefly. Since Hayley and Cam married so soon after her divorce from Rhys, he knew neither Sienna nor Dax could remember a time Cam wasn't around.
In fact, Hayley had been so hell-bent on making her new husband their main father figure that she even attempted to have them call him Dad.
Rhys put his foot down over that, and despite his frequent Illicit-related absences made sure his children knew who their real father was.
"Anyway," Sienna said with a sigh. "She said she's going straight to work after she leaves the lawyer's, so she won't be home until after the late newscast."
Rhys couldn't stop the rush of relief at knowing he wouldn't have to see or deal with either Hayley or Cam. "Is there anything you two want to do, then? Somewhere you want to go?"
Dax slouched low in his chair and stretched his long legs in front of him. "No, it's too hot out there to go anywhere. Let's just stay here."
"I know." Sienna jumped up from the couch and rushed over to the built-in maple cabinets that surrounded the large television. "Let's play Rock Band."
"Rock Band?" Rhys looked at her in amazement as she pulled the instruments from a deep drawer. "Are you mad?"
"Don't worry, Dad." She cast a mischievous glance over her shoulder. "We won't embarrass you by having you play any of the instruments. You can just sing."
"Embarrass?" He held out his hand. "Give me the damn guitar. And put the AC/DC version in. Let your old man show you how it's done."
Rhett sat down on one of the beige linen couches in the living room of Rhys's borrowed condo and grinned at the text message on her phone's screen. She'd asked him exactly when he would be home and received a reply that made her tingle.
Exactly? Don't know that. Around 2:30. But I expect to have you naked under me at exactly 2:31.
Oh, she had a surprise waiting for him, though. It might delay the getting naked part for bit, but she was pretty sure it would be worth it.