A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) (11 page)

“
Sit
and have a few drinks,
”
Jake said.
“
You never know
what you
’
ll end up not
believing.
”

The woman sat and Jake eyed her up
and down.

Beautiful. Alone and beautiful.
Exactly what he needed tonight.

He ordered more to drink.

The woman turned out to be in town
on business. Her boyfriend had recently broken up with her to take a job
somewhere in California. She did something in finance, made money, but it wasn
’
t until she put her hand on Jake
’
s leg did he finally have some
real interest.

“
What
’
s it like being a rockstar?
”
the woman - Cara - asked.

“
It
’
s everything you can imagine and
more,
”
Jake said. He looked
at Cara
’
s big green eyes.
“
What do you think it
’
s like?
”

“
I
don
’
t know. You play
concerts. Travel. Write music. Drink in hotels. Party in hotels. Where
’
s the rest of the band?
”

“
They
’
re out doing something else,
”
Jake said.
“
This is my night out. I needed a
night to clear my head.
”

“
Busy?
”

Jake smiled.
“
Shows. Releasing an album. Then
a big tour.
”

Jake caught himself leaning toward
Cara. She was enthralled by him. Jake liked the attention. It kept his mind at
bay.

“
You
play guitar,
”
Cara said.

“
That
I do.
”

“
Will
you play a song for me?
”

“
How
about another drink?
”

Cara laughed and moved closer.
Their bodies were just inches away from one another. Her hand still on his leg.
She squeezed teasingly and then inched up. Jake put his hand to the small of
her back. Her shirt lifted up and Jake
’
s
ring finger felt Cara
’
s
skin and he looked at his drink for a second, making an important decision.

The line between right and wrong was
far too blurred to explore. This became a game of want versus need. Jake knew
he wanted to be a rockstar. He knew he wanted to write and play music. And he
knew he wanted and needed the kind of relationship that Luke, Gray, and Trent
had found. He would never have that with Chloe. Or with this woman, Cara. And
probably not with anyone for a long time, because he was about to have a baby
with Chloe.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Cara asked.

Jake shook his head. He stood up
and wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. He knocked on the
bar and got the bartender's attention.

“
Listen,
”
Jake said.
“
Here
’
s what I owe, plus quite a bit more. I need a six
pack and a bottle of something.
”

“
We
keep a tight inventory,
”
the bartender said.

“
I
emptied out a bottle already,
”
Jake said.
“
Just fill that
one back up for me.
”

The bartender smiled, maybe in
shock of the rockstar giving him advice on how to cheat a bar out of liquor.
The amount of money Jake threw on the bar was way more than enough to pay for
the booze.

Jake had the six pack in one hand
and gave Cara the bottle.

“
Let
’
s go for a walk,
”
he said.

“
Are
we allowed to do this?
”

Jake looked at Cara.
“
Nope.
”

There was a slight hesitation and
then Jake found his mouth touching Cara
’
s.
Her tongue was nervous, but his wasn
’
t.
Jake kissed her as he led the way to the elevator. It dinged and the doors
opened.

Tonight was a night to
self-destruct.

(10)

Jake opened his eyes and it was
morning. Again, he was in a hotel. And, again, he was alone in a big bed. The
difference this time was that when he rolled to his left, he could sense there had
been someone there. He reached for a pillow and smelled it. It smelled of
perfume.

“
Shit,
”
he whispered.

The bedroom had no other evidence
of a woman so maybe she had already left.

What the hell was her name
again?

As Jake
’
s mind struggled to pull up details of the night
before, he sat up and got out of bed. He wore absolutely nothing and found his
jeans and shirt on the floor in a small mess. That meant his phone, wallet,
keys, everything important had just been there for the taking.

When he grabbed his phone and
looked at it, two things bothered him.

First, he hadn
’
t been bothered by the band, or
Chloe, as much as he thought he would be. There were a handful of messages, but
Jake didn
’
t feel like
taking the time to listen to them or read the texts. They weren
’
t worth the time right now.

The second thing that bothered him
was the cell phone itself.

All it took was the press of a
button to take a picture. And then just another press of a button to have that
picture posted everywhere. Hell, Trent had just gone through something like
that when people videoed him hitting a guy in a bar.

Now Jake moved fast. He grabbed his
jeans and put them on. He ran to the door and opened it, his shirt slung over
his shoulder. Out in the main part of the hotel room he looked around. There
was nobody there. That was a slight relief, but the problem was the phone
situation. If the woman
…
Cathy
…
Cindy
…
Cara
…
if she had her cell phone,
then that could be a problem. For all Jake knew, she could have taken pictures
of him naked, sleeping, or when they were together.

When Jake felt something touch his
shoulder, he jumped.

“
It
’
s just me,
”
a voice said.

Lips touched his shoulder next. Two
hands came down his chest, fingers clawing playfully. Lips moved across his
back. Kiss after kiss.

“
Hey,
”
Jake said.
“
Good morning.
”

“
Good
morning to you,
”
Cara said.

Jake hurried and turned around.
Cara stood in bra and panties. A matching leopard print set. She was a pretty
woman, but not the same as the woman from the night before. Her hair was messy
and her eyes had intentions that Jake wanted nothing to do with.

“
Hey,
listen,
”
Jake said.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Cara asked.
“
Are
we going back to bed?
”

“
Do
you have a cell phone?
”

“
Of
course. You stole it last night.
”

“
I
…
I stole it?
”

“
Yeah,
”
Cara said.
“
You took it and hid it from me.
Told me you didn
’
t want me
taking pictures.
”

Jake sighed. At least he was sort
of thinking clearly last night.

“
I
would never do that to you,
”
Cara said.
“
We have
something more than that. That
’
s
what you told me.
”

“
I
…
what?
”

Cara giggled.
“
You held me last night. I wanted
more, but you told me to save it. To wait for the right time, because what we
have is special.
”

“
I
said that?
”

“
You
did.
”

Cara came close and hugged Jake.
Jake's hands hung at his sides for a few seconds. He stared into the bedroom,
to the bed. The sheets were messy and he had been naked. But yet he and Cara
hadn
’
t slept together.
Instead, he had said some dumb stuff to her that wasn't true. Maybe his heart
felt those words, but they definitely weren
’
t
meant for Cara.

“
What
do you want to do today?
”
Cara asked.
“
I have the day
off. Tomorrow I have one more meeting and then I fly back to Florida. You said
you might surprise me
…”
Cara looked up at Jake.
“…
you might come with me?
”

“
Whoa,
”
Jake said.
“
I can
’
t do that.
”

“
You
lied to me?
”

“
Cara,
we were drinking,
”
Jake
said.
“
You know what I told
you about myself and my band.
”

“
You
told me
…”

Jake slowly broke away from Cara.
He needed to put his shirt on. Then he needed to get the hell out of the room
and away from the hotel. He needed to find the band and then he would need to
face Chloe. This was a big mess. Worse than usual. He felt guilty and that made
him angry. He didn
’
t want
to feel guilty because he and Chloe weren
’
t
together. They were not a couple and never would be. Even if Chloe made it up
in her mind.

“
Just
give me my phone then,
”
Cara said.
“
I
’
ll get in touch with you later.
Maybe you
’
ll remember what
you promised me.
”

“
You
do realize who I am, right?"

Cara nodded and smirked.
“
Of course. I
’
ll be right back.
”

Cara went back to the bathroom.
Jake hoped the next time he saw Cara she would be fully dressed. When the
bathroom door clicked shut, Jake put his shirt on and considered what to do. What
had he done?

There came a small knock at the
door and then it opened. A woman came walking into the room and it sent Jake
for a loop. She pulled a cleaning and supplies cart. When she looked up, she
froze and Jake felt his mouth fall open.

The woman was beautiful.
Breathtaking, even for Jake.

Black hair with small, tight curls.
Big dark eyes and thin lips that hurried to form into a smile.

“
I
am so sorry,
”
she said.
“
I didn
’
t know you were still here.
”

“
That
’
s okay.
”

The woman started to back up, but
Jake moved toward her. He put a hand out without knowing what his actual
intention was. He couldn
’
t
look away from her.

“
They
must have the rooms messed up,
”
the woman said.
“
I thought
this room was empty.
”

“
Jake!
”
a voice yelled.

Jake rolled his eyes. He didn
’
t need this. He didn
’
t need any of it.

“
I
’
ll go.
”

“
No.
Don
’
t.
”

“
Excuse
me?
”

An idea came to him. He was already
a complete ass for what had happened last night and this morning. Why not keep
it going?

“
Can
you do me a huge favor?
”
Jake asked.

“
I
…
um
…”

“
Listen
to me. I
’
m not sure if you
recognize me or not. I
’
m
the guitarist for a popular band. For Fallen Tuesday.
”
The woman
’
s
eyes lit up with a resounding
Yes! I know you!
.
“
I have a situation I need to get out of. There
’
s a woman in the bathroom and I
need her to leave. I
’
m
sorry if that makes me sound like a jerk but I need it.
”

“
What
do I do?
”
the woman asked.
“
Kick her out?
”

“
Pretend
to be my girlfriend,
”
Jake
said in a hurry. It sounded horrible even as it came out of his mouth.
“
Just pretend you caught me and
that we
’
re fighting. She
’
ll leave. I think.
”

“
Are
you serious?
”

“
Please.
I
’
m sorry, but please
…”

Jake expected nothing but a slap to
the face. And he deserved it. He deserved it from this woman. He deserved it
from Cara in the bathroom, too. Hell, maybe he deserved it from Chloe.

Whatever.

Right now, Jake just needed to get
the hell out of the hotel.

“
Can
you help me?
”
Jake asked.

“
I
don
’
t know
…
this is
…”

“
I
’
ll give you something. Anything.
An autograph. Concert tickets. Money
…”

Jake turned his head and winced. He
couldn
’
t believe he just
offered the housekeeper money to pretend to be his girlfriend.

“
I
’
ll do it,
”
the woman said to Jake
’
s surprise.

“
You
will?
”

“
Yeah.
Let me get rid of this cart.
”

The woman left the room and Jake
stood for a few seconds, flabbergasted. It wasn
’
t
because the woman was going to help him. It was because of how beautiful she
was. Where the hell had she been last night? Where the hell had she been
yesterday? A week ago? A month ago?

When Jake closed his eyes all he
saw was her face.

“
Jake?
Did you hear me?
”

Jake turned and Cara stood in the
middle of the floor. She was fully clothed.
Awesome.

Jake
’
s
mind spun for a second and then he remembered the kitchen. That
’
s where he hid the cell phone.
He remembered flirting with Cara. He remembered giving her some kind of line
about his life and career and how cell phones could ruin things. He remembered
Cara giving up the cell phone and then he told her to get in the bedroom and
get ready. That
’
s when Jake
hid the cell phone behind the coffeepot.

At least he knew where the damn
phone was. Now he just needed to get Cara to leave.

“
What
’
s wrong?
”
Cara asked.

“
I
have to
…
there
’
s something outside the door
…”

“
Is
it for me? Breakfast in bed?
You
in bed?
”

“
No,
wait. Last night shouldn
’
t
have happened.
”

“
Well,
it...didn
’
t.
”

“
No,
not like that,
”
Jake said.
“
I
’
m
sorry, Cara. Whatever I said or did
…”

There was a knock at the door. Jake
went to the door and opened it. This time his jaw almost hit the floor. The
woman had not only ditched the supplies and cleaning cart, she also put her
hair down. All those curls were dancing freely now. Coming over her shoulders.
She did something to her sleeves and untucked her shirt.

She looked even more amazing.

Who the hell was this woman?

“
There
you are,
”
she said.

“
Jake,
who
’
s that?
”
Cara asked.

Jake backed up and the woman came
inside the room.

“
I
’
m Melanie,
”
the woman said.
“
I
’
m
…
Jake's girlfriend.
”

“
What?
”
Cara asked. Her eyes went wide.
“
You are with someone?
”

Jake tried to look guilty. It wasn
’
t hard to do. He didn't just
have someone, he had a pregnant woman waiting for him. The only reason this
woman -
is her real name Melanie?
- was needed was to get Cara to go
away.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Jake said.
“
Last
night shouldn
’
t have
happened.
”

“
No
it shouldn
’
t have,
”
Melanie said.

Then she pushed Jake. The move was
unexpected and Jake tumbled back. He barely caught himself from falling and
then looked at Melanie.

Her eyes
…
holy hell
…
her eyes
…