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

I couldn’t get hold of you, I told my boss I had an emergency. He’s a really good guy and I don’t do this very often. How come you’re not at work?”

“I left a message for human resources saying I was taking a couple of sick days.” No way could she have shown up at work. She could hardly go an hour without a few tears leaking form her eyes and her head felt the size of a house. Not to mention the damage to her heart. But now that she’d had this talk with Annie….

“Then let’s make good use of them.” Her friend swung her legs off the bed and put the laptop on the nightstand. “You need to get out of this house. Right now.”

“No. No, no, no.” The temporary surge of excitement for the band had faded, and Emma wanted to dive under the covers again.

“Yes. Yes, yes, yes.” Annie yanked the quilt and sheet down to the foot of the bed. “Come on. We’ll have lunch and margaritas at Hot Salsa and then find you another great new outfit. For when you go talk to Marc.”

“No more new outfits.” Emma shook her head. “And I don’t want to go to Hot Salsa or anyplace else.”

“Tough. You’re going.” Her friend paused. “Or shall I call your mother and tell her you’re sick and need her?”

Emma leaped off the bed. “Forget that. Let’s get going.”

***

“You need to snap out of this. We have a lot of work to do.”

Rick sat next to Marc on the back porch, watching his friend through narrowed eyes.

“I’ll be fine by tomorrow. Just go away for today. Okay?”

“Not okay. You’re a mess.”

Marc knew it but at the moment he didn’t care. His heart ached so badly he was afraid it was permanently damaged, and he didn’t need Rick trying to piece it back together for him. He just wanted to wallow in his own misery. If he didn’t realize what a disaster it would turn out to be, he’d have started drinking when he got home the night before. Alcohol was a great anesthetic, but not Marc’s style. Never had been. He’d seen too many others fall into that trap.

“I’ll be fine by tomorrow. We don’t have anything going today, right?”

“Right. I just don’t think you should be alone. Hey, why don’t you go over to your folks’ house?”

Marc raked his fingers through his hair. “Maybe later. Right now I don’t feel like seeing anyone. Including you.”

He’d considered talking to his mother but the more he went over everything in his mind the more he felt like a fool. He was probably right to doubt ML, to have reservations about a woman who refused to tell him her name. He hated the ugly thought creeping in that he was the one doing all the giving, all the accommodating. So maybe this was all for the best. His brain got the message, only it didn’t migrate to his heart.

Rick stretched his long legs out in front of him. “Maybe it’s for the best, guy. I mean, she wouldn’t even tell you who she is.”

“That has nothing to do with it,” he snapped. That was one subject he had no intention of discussing with anyone. He had a hard enough time wrestling with it himself.

“Hey.” Rick held up his hands. “Don’t bite my head off. If it worked for you, then fine.”

Marc rubbed his unshaven jaw. “I know you can’t understand this but she’s very special. She had some kind of trust issues. Maybe because the whole rock club scene was new to her. I’m sure she had misconceptions like a lot of people, and that bitch Lacey just solidified them.” He snorted. “You can tell Danny and Shelley thanks for helping to fuck up my life.”

“They feel real bad about the whole thing, Marc. Shelley and Lacey had a big fight about it last night. But Lacey’s been after you for a long time, and her sister was just trying to do her a favor. Nobody realized you were so serious about your mystery woman.”

“Maybe I didn’t even realize it myself until she ran off. Jesus, it’s like my heart’s been ripped out.” He shoved his fingers through his hair. “I was trying to let her know how I feel but still keep it low-key. Not frighten her off. But she means so much to me, and now I’ll probably never get the chance to tell her. Make a life with her.”

And that was no lie. If nothing else had come out of this disaster, it had forced him to accept the fact the he was in love with her. He’d do anything to find her, let her know what was in his heart and pray his hardest it was in hers, too.

Actually he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, but he had obligations to the band he couldn’t ignore. Especially now when the things they’d worked so hard for were within reach. He’d looked forward to sharing everything with his Music Lady, but now….

“All right.” Rick pushed himself out of the chair. “I’ll leave you to your misery. But we’re all having breakfast with Butch tomorrow morning to hammer out the details of the management contract. He’s also got the dates for the tour, and he’s talked to the record people. So put on your best and brightest smile. And brain.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be on my game.”

After Rick had left, Marc wandered around the house. He couldn’t remember ever feeling this bad. This lost. This totally bereft. He’d found the woman he believed to be his soul mate, the woman he could love forever, and now everything was fucked up. In his bedroom, he stretched out on the bed, pulling the pillow against him so he could inhale ML’s scent, wishing she was there with him. And how stupid was that? The chance he’d ever see her again was almost nonexistent and the pain of such knowledge nearly drove