Buried Notes (Brothers of Rock #4) (9 page)

He growled under his breath and
grabbed the sides of his jeans and boxers. In one swift push, they were down
and he stepped from them. Now he was naked and it only felt right to climb into
his bed for a little...
something
.

Becky laughed as Chris climbed over
her. He faced her like he’d done in her bed the morning after their wild night.
Becky passed the bottle to Chris and he drank. Something about it all felt
almost innocent. Like nothing else in the entire world mattered but that moment
right there.

“You know, this is a little strange
for me,” Chris said.

“Strange how?” Becky asked.

She suddenly looked nervous.

“Here I am, naked, in my bed. But
you’re under the covers. I don’t know if you’re naked or just tired...”

Becky rolled her eyes. “Is that
your best line?”

“Kind of. Let me try another
one...”

Chris leaned towards Becky and
kissed her cheek. He ran his nose up to her ear and there he exhaled a gentle
breath. He touched her face, keeping her close.

“Becky,” Chris whispered. “I’ve
wanted you for a long time...”

His hands moved from her face down
to her chest. He felt the covers and slowly started to push them out of the
way. Becky allowed him.

“I think about you when I’m awake,
when I’m sleeping,” he said. “I just... can’t stop...”

Chris’s hand felt the fullness of
Becky’s breast in his hand. He squeezed and moved to her other breast. At the
center of his hand he felt her hard nipple. She then let out a soft moan,
setting the tone for what Chris wanted from her.

“I want to touch you,” Chris said.
“Everywhere.”

“Then do it,” Becky replied without
hesitation.

Chris kissed Becky’s neck as his hand
began to explore the tenderness of her skin, the way her stomach fluttered as
he kept going; both of them knowing right where Chris’s fingers were meant to
be. At the curve of her center, Chris slid two fingers along her silky wetness.
He curled his fingers and wasted not a second exploring the tightness of
Becky’s body. She moaned and thrust up at him. Chris kissed up to Becky’s
mouth. As he pressed his mouth against Becky’s, he pressed his two fingers deep
into her. She groaned and lifted her body, making Chris want more. He began to
move in and out of Becky, exploring her with his fingers. Becky reached down
and touched Chris, gripping him, stroking him, pulling him. She wanted Chris. He
gently took his fingers from Becky’s body and climbed on top of her. He would
replace his fingers with something much bigger. As he held Becky, kissing her
every few seconds, loving the way her kissed lips looked, he thrust forward and
entered Becky.

It was as good as the first time.

Becky quickly wrapped her legs around
Chris and together they were locked into minutes filled with passion and
overflowing with lust. Chris kissed Becky’s mouth, her neck, his lips gliding
wherever they wanted to go. When Chris straightened his arms and looked down,
watching their bodies coming together, Becky took her chance and kissed Chris’s
chest.

They were perfect together, Chris
knowing the right way to move to please Becky and Becky knowing just when to
move and how to do it to please Chris too. It was one of the greatest moments
in Chris’s life being on the road. When Becky began to grip the sheets and arch
her back like Chris had been fantasizing about for days now, he felt her body
reaching an intense climax. Her climax quickly became his climax, his body
unable to control how Becky felt against him.

They came together, Chris
thrusting, Becky moaning. And when it ended, Chris lowered to Becky and they
kissed. And kissed.

And kissed.

Their make out session lasted
almost as long as their sex did. Chris wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or
not but both certainly felt good. The kiss ended when Becky reached for the
vodka bottle. Chris rolled from her and they remained in bed together, naked,
and drinking.

And talking.

Chris couldn’t get enough of her.

“Can I admit something?” Chris said.

He was ten drinks into the bottle
and feeling it. It should have worried him because of what he might say, but
all worries were driven away right then.

“It’s your bed, your bus,” Becky
said. “You have the advantage.”

“Okay,” Chris said. He looked at Becky.
“What I said before... whispering to you... I meant it.”

Becky smiled. Her cheeks flushed
for a few seconds and she took a shaky breath. He took a drink and gave Becky
the bottle. She drank too and put it on the floor. Chris touched her shoulder
and let his fingers tease the top of Becky’s chest.

“I can’t get enough,” he said.
“I’ve never...”

“You’re just drunk and horny,”
Becky said.

“Yes and yes,” Chris said and
laughed. “But when I look at you, Becky, it’s like... it’s like everything.
Like I either want to kidnap you on this bus forever... or run off and marry
you.”

Becky giggled and threw her arms
around Chris’s neck. They kissed once and then she looked Chris in eyes and
smiled.

“Then do it,” she whispered.

“Do what?” Chris asked.

“Whatever you want. Kidnap me.
Marry me.
Have me again
.
Whatever you want.”

“You don’t want to be married to a
rockstar,” Chris said. “This is fun for a little while, right?”

“Or maybe forever,” Becky said. “We
won’t know unless we try.”

The vodka rolled through Chris’s
body making everything seem picture perfect clear. He never met someone like
Becky before. And in his heart he knew he never would again. If he didn’t do
something right then, she’d leave. She’d be gone. Or she’d stay, for her
friend’s wedding. But Chris would go back to California. Back to LA. Back to
reality. The album. The next tour.

But if he had Becky with him... all
the time...

“The forever kind of thing,” he
whispered as his eyes widened.

“What’s that?” Becky asked.

“Get dressed,” Chris said.

“Are you kidnapping me?” Becky
teased. “If so, I’d be better off naked.”

She let the covers fall down past
her chest. Chris looked at her perfect breasts. They were more than handfuls
for Chris. It made his body ache some more, wanting to just stay right there and
have her again.

But he had a point to prove.

He wanted to show Becky how serious
he was. And he wanted to show her how outrageous things could get.

“Becky, I’m not kidnapping you,”
Chris said. “I’m marrying you.”

**

Luckily for Chris, neither the cab
driver nor the people at the small wedding chapel had no idea who he was. If
someone recognized him, things would get out of control. Not that standing in a
wedding chapel with a woman who basically was a stranger wasn’t wild enough.

Chris didn’t care.

He knew what he wanted.

He wanted Becky.

She didn’t flinch when it came time
to sign the paperwork. She didn’t flinch when she jokingly walked down the
aisle to prerecorded cheesy wedding music. She didn’t flinch when she stood
before a tall man that stunk of cigarettes as he began to speak the beauty of
marriage.

Chris and Becky stared at each
other, smiling, sometimes laughing, but it was the eyes... the eyes said
everything. Chris knew the way he looked at Becky, she had to feel it. He was
serious. Beyond serious. A long time ago Chris learned that if something came
along you had to grab it before someone else did.

And that’s just what Chris did.

He grabbed Becky’s hands and
together they were married in Las Vegas at a small chapel.

Two people sat in the makeshift
room and they clapped when Chris and Becky were officially married. He took her
hand and ran her out of the chapel. Once in the cab, they kissed and Chris
ordered the driver to find them an all night jewelry store.

“For what?” Becky asked.

“Because you need a real ring,”
Chris said.

When Becky kissed him in that
moment, he knew he would feel the way he did forever. Even when reality
suggested that once the vodka wore off things wouldn’t be so easy, Chris didn’t
care.

He dared himself to think what he
would do next... but as he kissed Becky - his new bride - he realized that he
had fallen for her. He was in love with her.

Yes.

He may have been drunk, but he
believed it.

(11)

“Rebecca... I’m your sister… you
better start talking, and right now.”

Becky smiled as another tear fell
from her eye. “You sounded just like Mom then. Only you didn’t use my full
name.”

“I would,” Rachael said, “but I
don’t know what your last name is.”

“Good point,” Becky whispered.

After all, legally, she was Rebecca
Danielsons. The marriage in Las Vegas all those years ago was a legal marriage,
something Becky had to face each time she got a piece of mail with her legal
name on it. Or when she got her taxes done. That first meeting with her tax professional
was a little troubling, trying to explain her situation and find the best way
to keep things low key and calm.

“I don’t know what you want me to
say,” Becky said.

She lifted a picture of her mother.
It was taken last spring, during an Easter egg hunt. As a joke, Becky and
Rachael painted a few rocks and made them look like eggs. They put them in the
grass and sent their mother to get them. She found them and when it came time
to open the eggs, their mother was baffled by the rocks. Rachael’s three kids
got a kick out it and Becky managed to get a picture of her mother holding the
painted rocks with a big smile on her face.

She always smiled.

Always.

“Rebecca,” Rachael said.

She plucked the picture from
Becky’s hands and placed it on the table.

“It was something dumb,” Becky
said. “Okay?”

“Marriage isn’t dumb. It’s kind of
a big deal.”

“Not in Las Vegas,” Becky said and
opened her eyes wide.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,”
Rachael said. “You went to Vegas and married someone?”

“Kind of. If I tell you who though
you won’t believe me.”

“Try me.”

Becky smiled and thought about back
then. Living in Texas, working at a bunch of bakeries, trying to figure out
what to do next. Leave it to her mother and sister to be the ones who saved
Becky’s dream. When they opened their own bakery a few years ago, they coaxed
Becky back to North Carolina to help them run it. BRB Bakery was fun for a
while but ever since her mother got sick, Becky wasn’t sure how she felt about
being there. Her sister-in-law, Deb, started working there a year ago, which
helped a lot, but it felt too much like a job and she always promised herself
she wouldn’t do something that felt like a job because she wanted to enjoy
herself and have a simple life.

Kind of the opposite of getting
married while drunk in Las Vegas.

“Did you know Mom was married
before?” Becky asked.

“Of course I know that. She married
her high school sweetheart.”

“Yeah, two days after she turned
eighteen,” Becky said.

“But they got divorced like a month
later,” Rachael said.

“Mom told you all this?”

“Yeah. She told me when I was
younger. When I met Paul and things were really serious right from the go, she
sat me down and explained to me that sometimes you can’t just run with your
heart. You have to let time...”

“... share the lead,” Becky
finished. She’d heard that many times from her mother and had said that herself
many times since that night in Vegas.

It was part of the reason Becky
never really had a relationship. Aside from legally being married, she didn’t
want to fall for someone too fast and end up with bigger problems than what
lingered.

“Did you listen to Mom?” Becky
asked.

“Well... no. I’m not sure anyone
really knew this or not, but see this ring?”

Rachael held her right hand out. On
her ring finger was a small diamond.

“Yeah, I remember the night you
came home with that.”

“Me too,” Rachael said. “I thought
Mom was going to cut my finger off... and cut something else off Paul. But I
told her it was just a gift. Like a promise ring or some crap.”

Rachael laughed.

“It wasn’t a promise ring?” Becky
asked.

“No. It was an engagement ring.”

“What? You two were together for
like a month...”

Rachael squinted her eyes. “And
you’re married right now.”

“Fair enough,” Becky said. She
closed her lips and pretended to zip them.

“I just knew with Paul. He proposed
and I said yes. But we were under agreement that we’d wait for a while after
that. So a few years later when it came time to plan a real wedding, he got me
a better ring.”

“I guess we just fall in love too
hard and too fast, huh?”

“Well, I’m married to the same
guy,” Rachael said. “No offense to you. Or Mom. She was married twice and they
both didn’t work out.”

“She had Jeff for a long time.”

“But they, well, once she got
diagnosed...”

“He’s still a good guy.”

“I’m not saying he’s not. But…
wait, you keeping changing the subject.”

Becky rolled her eyes. “I know.”

“Just tell me.”

“Okay,” Becky said.

Becky lifted another picture. It
was a picture of their mother holding some kind of blue flower near her face.
She looked away from the camera and the flower and her eyes matched. It was the
perfect picture. She turned it around, nodding.

“Yes,” Rachael said. “That’s a good
picture.”

“This is the one.”

She handed it to Rachael, who would
handle all that background stuff. That’s what big sisters were for, right?
Rachael’s husband, Paul, was home with the kids, giving Rachael the chance to
be there with Becky. Becky had no intentions of leaving. She didn’t want to go
back to her small but very cozy apartment and cry all night.

It was better to be there, in her
mother’s house, where she could cry with Rachael.

And tell Rachael about her deepest
secret.

“I’m going to tell you who it is
and you have to believe me.”

“Okay, you’re starting to scare
me,” Rachael said.

“You know who Chasing Cross is,
right?”

“The band? Yes. I know who they
are. Paul listens to them a lot. He has little Paulie listening to them too. He
dances to the music. It’s adorable.”

“Well, you tell little Paulie that
his, uh, uncle is the bassist for Chasing Cross...”

“His uncle is the...”

Rachael’s face looked way too
confused for Becky not to enjoy. She laughed and it felt good to laugh.

“The bassist from Chasing Cross,”
Becky said. “Okay?”

“Wait a second,” Rachael said. She
stood from the table. “You’re telling me that you married the bassist from
Chasing Cross?”

“Yes,” Becky said.

“Chasing Cross... the band.”

“Yes.”

“Then why aren’t we all rich?”
Rachael asked.

“Do you not believe me?”

“I didn’t say that,” Rachael said.
“It’s just... I mean, Rebecca, that’s quite the thing to say, right? And if
he’s your husband and he’s rich...”

“I don’t want money,” Becky said.
“I never wanted money. If I wanted that I would have stayed put in Texas and
worked my ass off. But I came back here to be with my family and enjoy a simple
life.”

Rachael walked to the counter and
got two glasses. She poured iced tea and served a glass to Becky and drank one
herself. She shook her head the entire time.

“What’s wrong?” Becky asked.

“I’m in shock.”

“Yeah. Well... I went to go look
for an ex one night and ended up helping him. We kind of had a good night and I
flew to Vegas to see him again. We drank a lot of vodka and I woke up the next
morning...”

“Married,” Rachael said.

“Married,” Becky said.

“Married to a guy from Chasing
Cross.”

“That’s right.”

“To a rockstar.”

Becky smiled. She liked when it was
put that way.

To
a rockstar...

**

Becky woke before Chris did. She
knew a few minor details of the night before. Working her way backwards, she
knew she was in a hotel. An expensive hotel from what she remembered as Chris
was ushered along as a celebrity through the back of a casino to the hotel
above it. The bed was very comfortable, something much greater than Becky would
ever be able to afford to sleep in. The next thing she remembered was the
drinks. The celebration drinks. The enjoyment drinks. The drink drinks.

She blinked a few times and then
shut her eyes tight. She waited for the aching throb of a hangover headache but
none came. She opened one eye then the other. Slowly, she started to sit up,
taking the top cover with to cover her chest. When she looked to her right she
saw Chris on his back, his wide shoulders, muscular chest, chiseled jaw just
there, sleeping. Then Becky held her left hand out and looked at the ring on
her finger.

Shit.

She wasn’t quite sure if it was a
good
shit
or a
bad
shit
, and
yes, there was a difference between the two.

The diamond was far too big for
some silly Vegas wedding.

But as the details crept back into
her mind she realized that they didn’t just talk about getting married, they actually
did it. It was an official wedding. Not some dress up and pretend thing. Chris
had married Becky. Becky had married Chris. He had taken her to a store to get
a ring for her finger.

Becky lowered her hand to the bed
and just sat there, stuck between wanting a little more sleep and being in
total shock. Each time she looked at Chris she wanted him to open his eyes. To
open his eyes and have a plan. Have something to say. After all, he was the one
who concocted the entire thing, right? He was the one who told Becky to see him
in Vegas. Sure, she had plans to be there anyway, but whatever. He was the one
that took her to the tour bus. Got the vodka. Whispered those romantic words in
her ear. Had sex with her... twice. Okay, fine, three times last night. And he
bought the ring
and
put it on her finger.

Shit.

As her heart began to race, Becky
took a few deep breaths for the sake of keeping calm. That’s what she was
always known for. Keeping calm and going with the flow. But this wasn’t a car
breaking down. This wasn’t the power going out during a thunderstorm. This
wasn’t packing her bags and leaving North Carolina for Texas.

This
was marriage.

Becky let another few minutes pass
and then she started to shake the bed. She needed Chris awake and they needed
to figure something out. Becky had to get to her hotel room sooner than later
and wait for her friend to make it to Vegas for her own wedding. And Chris said
something about going to California with Chasing Cross.

And there it was again.

The reality of what had happened,
both good and bad.

She slept with the bassist from
Chasing Cross.

She married the bassist from
Chasing Cross.

But it would have to end, right?
Becky looked at Chris again. There was no way this could last. Chris was a big
time rockstar traveling the world. Becky was just some woman trying to learn
everything she could about baking with the feeble dream of having her own
bakery someday.

Talk about opposites.

Chris stirred and yawned. He opened
his eyes and when he saw Becky, the first thing he did was smile. Becky smiled
back. She couldn’t help it. Chris was the most gorgeous man she’d ever met in
her life. Aside from him being a rockstar, Chris was just amazing. The way he
looked at Becky was the kind of stuff that belonged in a movie. Becky didn’t
believe that look could be directed at her.

“Good morning,” Chris whispered.

“Morning.”

“Come here.”

His hand was at her back and a
second later, Becky crashed down to Chris’s body. She kissed him the way he
wanted to be kissed. But she also kissed him the way she wanted to kiss him.
She couldn’t get enough of Chris. The covers fell from Becky and her breasts
were exposed, but she didn’t care. Chris’s hand remained on her back and his
other hand touched her face. It made Becky’s heart race even faster. If this
was just lust and fun, he would have touched her breasts. But he didn’t. He
touched her back and face.

What did it mean?

Becky savored the taste of Chris’s
mouth. But the kiss came to an end and she put her head on his chest, listening
to his heart race too. That was another thing. She never met someone whose
heart raced like Chris’s did. She always thought that rockstars were cool and
confident. Becky couldn’t imagine that she could make a man’s heart race.

But she did.

“What a night,” Chris said as his
fingers ran through Becky’s hair.

Her body shivered with need and
excitement.

“I know,” Becky said. “I think we
got married.”

“Yeah, I’m starting to remember
that too.”

“You fall in love too fast, you
know that?”

“I do?” Chris asked and laughed.
“You’re the one who stalked me to Vegas.”

Becky picked her head up. “Stalked?
You invited me. And my friend is getting married.”

“All I hear is
I’m going to stalk Chris and marry
him
...”

“Yeah? Well, not to kill the moment
here, but what’s the plan?”

“What plan?”

Becky held her left hand up. “We’re
married, Chris. For real.”

Chris sighed. “Yeah. I guess we
are. For real.”

They stared at each other, reality
creeping its way in by the second. The reality of their own personal lives. The
reality of the night before. The reality taking away the fantasy.

Becky hated reality.

“I need to figure this out,” Chris
said.

Becky moved from Chris and pulled
the covers over her breasts. She suddenly felt cold and on the verge of being
alone.

“What’s wrong?” Chris asked.

“I don’t know,” Becky said. “I hate
this right now.”

“Me too,” Chris said. “I meant
everything I said last night. I want you to know that.”