Joy Ride by Desiree Holt (bill gates best books TXT) 📗

week for us. We planned it that way. Now we’ll have time to rehearse our set. If we get the gig. Deep Blue River’s record guys will be there and if they like us….”

His voiced trailed off even though the exhilaration radiating from him was electric. Even Emma knew this could be a very big break for the band. She wanted to be thrilled for him—and she was, but also far from ready to let him go. She was just so afraid if all this happened, the fragile relationship growing between them would somehow disappear.

And there was the old Emma, still uncertain and unsure.

“Hey.” He moved his hand away from her breast and pulled her down into his arms. “If we get the date, would you like to come and see it?”

Her heart thudded. “The concert? Really? You could get me a ticket?”

He laughed. “I could do even better. I’ll get you a pass. Tell you what door to come in and what to do. What do you think?”

“When is it?”

“Next Sunday night. Can you make it?”

Emma nearly shook with suppressed delight. Make it? How could she not? And it was her birthday! What a great present.

“I’d love it. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Absolutely.” He hugged her tightly. “We’ll get a limited number of passes, and I really would like you to be there.”

Ohmigod! He wanted her to be there with his friends. Out in a place much bigger than Aftershock. So she was important enough for him to include her. She wondered if the redhead she’d seen at the club would be there and if so, who was bringing her? And would she be all over Marc?

But then a thought struck at her, diminishing her enthusiasm. “You’d have to know….”

“Your name?” he finished, as if knowing what she was about to say. “Would it really be so bad for you to tell me?”

Would it? Why did she continue to cling to such concealment, like some kind of security blanket? She’d been intimate with him in ways she’d only imagined before. But they were so different. From separate worlds. Now it was more than the inability to get past the fear that the bubble would burst, and she’d need a place to hide and heal her broken heart. She was equally nervous about bringing him into her world, worried people would only see the rocker with the tattoo sleeve and long hair and not the intelligent, caring, solid individual she was coming to see him as. The normal things she’d learned about him.

No. She wasn’t ready to chance it yet.

Scaredy-cat.

“I know you think it’s stupid,” she told him. “I’m sorry. If you want to change your mind about the concert….”

“No.” His arms tightened around herm and he feathered a kiss over her forehead. “I’ll work it out. I respect you enough, ML, to wait until you trust me enough to tell me yourself. To really let me into your life. “

“Thank you.” She pressed herself against him. “You’re just so…thank you.” Her heart squeezed at his words and tears clogged her throat. Maybe they did have something real here if she could just take that last step. She could see happiness with him shimmering just beyond that final barrier if she just had the courage to reach out and grab it.

“I definitely want you there at the concert. With me.” Another light kiss. “You’ll really get to see first hand what this business is all about.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure. It’s a very special night for me and I want to share it with you. How can I make music without my Music Lady?”

“This is like a dream come true for you, isn’t it?”

“It’s what every musician works for. Pushes himself for. Dreams of.” He kissed her forehead. “Don’t you have dreams, Music Lady?”

Of course she did. Could she tell him?

“Well?” he persisted. “Come on, everyone has dreams.”

“Yes,” she answered in a small voice. She‘d never let anyone in on this secret. “I want to write.”

“Yeah?” His eyes lit up. “Sounds great. Write what?”

“Um, well, romance novels.” Her heart of heart’s desire. She had notebooks filled with scribbled ideas, still shoved in a box in her closet where no one would find them. Her hidden dreams that she’d never had the guts to go after. Kind of like the way she was afraid to take that final step with Marc.

“So why don’t you?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know.” But she did. Not enough courage. Not enough faith in herself. Fear of criticism by her parents. By the few men in her life. Especially Andrew.

“ML, listen. Music was my dream and when I was a lot younger, I was afraid to reach for it. All of us in the band were. Except maybe for Rick. But we took one step and then another and look where we are now.”

“There’s a lot of rejection in the publishing business,” she pointed out.

“Just like in the music business. But if you settle for nothing, then nothing’s all you’ll ever have.

Just like she’d been willing to settle for Andrew.

“If it’s truly your dream,” he went on, “you should give yourself a chance. Worst case, you won’t be any worse off than you are now. Right?”

“I guess so.” If she could accept what Marc was offering and give herself completely to him, trust and all, then she could also reach for her dreams. Somehow believing in him and believing in herself all became wrapped up together.

She glanced at the red numbers on the clock beside the bed and sighed. It was that time again.

Each time it got harder and harder for her to do this: pull away from him and leave before dawn. Her heart was seriously involved now, and she had to admit to herself how much she’d enjoy waking up in his arms. Having breakfast with him. Maybe cooking for him in his magnificent kitchen, although if cooking was his thing, she’d let him wait on her. Reading the Sunday paper together. All the