Crazy Dreams (20 page)

I took my cue, getting up and dressing. By the time he came out of the bathroom in a pair of shorts, I knew he was done with me. I felt more lost than ever, as if my whole world was crumbling around me. Tears filled my eyes again, and that time, I let them fall. I was done being angry. I just wanted him to love me again, to forgive me.

“You should go.”

I gulped, nodding. He was right. We were never going to work things out, it seemed, if he wouldn’t even talk to me. I walked out.

Thirty-Five

Stone

That’s not what I meant.

My heart and my head were at war, both struggling for control and the words were out before I could stop them. She left my room and I let her, my heart breaking all over again. I knew I couldn’t let her leave. I raced out of my room, catching her as she was opening up my front door.

“Ember.” I didn’t know what else to say, but when she turned, her teary green eyes meeting mine, I knew we had to work it out. “I think we should talk.”

She gulped. “I didn’t think you wanted to talk.” Her voice was strained. Guilt washed over me. I did that to her.

“I didn’t at first. But I think we should, especially after what just happened.”

She nodded, closing the door and walking back into the apartment. She stood in the kitchen, arms crossed. She wanted to say something, I could tell, but since I initiated the conversation, there was no turning back.

“I’m sorry,” I said. It was a start.

“You shouldn’t be,” she replied. “Stone, I know you overheard me talking to Mallory and Gabby about the solo contract. I have to assume you didn’t stick around to hear the whole conversation, because I told them how much I loved you, how I could never do that to you. I was never going to take the contract.”

“You weren’t?” It made sense. I never thought she was like that.

“No, I wasn’t. In fact, I was planning on telling you that night. I figured we probably didn’t want to work for a company who tried to split us up.”

I was at a loss for words. It couldn’t be that simple. If I’d stuck around a few more hours, I would have been able to get the whole story. I hated myself. I was so selfish, so quick to judge her and assume the worst. I’d have saved us both a lot of heart ache if I hadn’t been such an ass.

“You took the solo contract, though,” I couldn’t help but point out. Doubt was still running rampant in my mind. The last few weeks were treacherous for my soul, leaving me vulnerable and afraid. I didn’t know if we could actually work it out.

“You’re right. I made the assumption that you left me. And then Emily told me you quit, that you just walked away from the contract without looking back. I thought you didn’t care, that you used me.”

I wanted to hug her. Instead, I wrung my hands together. “I never would have left you.” It was the truth.

“So she lied to me to get me to sign the new contract. It was a smart tactic on her part. Then, after that first solo show, I texted you and never got a reply. It all pointed to your guilt. At least, that’s how it looked.”

“We’re both at fault, Ember. Neither of us can take all the blame, though I’d like to. If I had stuck around, you would have told me the whole story.” I hated myself.

She shook her head. “But I shouldn’t have told the girls about it before I talked to you. For the record, though, I lit into them after they suggested I take the deal. I told them how much I loved you, how I could never betray you that way. I put them both in their place.”

I laughed. “I bet that felt good.”

She looked at her hands. “Then, that night, I slept in one of your t-shirts, in your bed, waiting for you to come in. But you never did.”

She was breaking my heart, dammit. “Ember, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” she told me, her eyes lifting to mine. “We could apologize to each other for a lifetime. I’m done with the past. The only thing I care about is our future.”

The vice on my heart reappeared, squeezing it tight. “Do we have a future?” I didn’t want to get my hopes up, didn’t want to believe we could come back from this.

“We’ve always had a future.”

I let out the breath I’d been holding. “Do you forgive me for leaving?” She said she didn’t want to talk about it, but I had to know I had her forgiveness before we moved any further.

“Of course I do. And do you forgive me for being an idiot?”

“You bet I do. I was an idiot, too,” I admitted.

We were both silent for a full minute, letting the moment take over.

“So what now?” I asked, more than a little disappointed that we weren’t kissing. Maybe it was wrong, but all I wanted was to get her back in bed. I knew we were going to be okay, in time, but I wanted to soothe her fears, too. I just had no idea how to do it.

“Now we forget the past. Forget the mistakes,” she suggested, a smile tugging on her lips.

“Start over?”

She walked over to me, stopping just an inch away. “Hell no.” She pressed her lips to mine for a brief kiss. “I want us to pick up right where we left off.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist, lifting her up in a hug. The sound of her laughter filled my ears and my heart. We were already mending.

“I want you to have your music career,” she said once the laughter died down.

“No. They wanted you, not me. I support you, though. I’ll always support you in whatever you do. I’ll be at every show, standing back stage, showing you that I support you.”

“I quit.”

I was floored. “
What?
”

“I never wanted to perform, you know that. They changed a lot about me in the few weeks you were gone. And I let them. I don’t want to be someone I’m not. But going through all that made me realize what I want to do with my life,” she explained.

“And?”

She took a deep breath. “I want to be an agent. Or a manager, maybe. Either way, I want to be part of the music industry. I just want to be behind-the-scenes.”

“Is that really what you want?” I asked her.

“Well, I actually want two things.”

“What’s that?”

“First, I want to be
your
manager. I liked the back-stage aspect and working out of the spotlight to get things together. I’d love to do that for you.”

I hugged her tighter. “Done. What’s the second thing you want?”

“You. I just want you.”

“I want you, too. You’re an amazing person, Ember. I’m so lucky to have you in my life,” I told her.

She smiled. “I love you.”

The vice around my heart let go, letting my heart fly. “I love you, too.”

I put my mouth to hers, kissing her. It was sweet, but passionate, too. There were things we were going to have to work out, I knew, but I was ready to face any challenge, any obstacle,
together
. We were going to make it.

“Looks like all our crazy dreams are coming true.”

I’m not usually one to list off a bunch of people in the back of my books. These people deserve a lot of credit for this book, though.

To Grant Mroz, for being the visual manifestation of Stone Tucker, right down to the tattoo. Thanks for being a great cover model.

To AB Artistry – the cover image is perfect in so many ways and I truly appreciate your work as a photographer.

To Sharp Designs, for creating the design work on this cover. Utterly amazing, yet again.

To my BFF Magan Vernon – we’re more than friends; we’re soul sisters. Thanks for lending an ear when this story wasn’t working for me. Thanks for always supporting my writing and falling in love with my characters as much as I
have. I couldn’t ask for a better friend.
Bad Girls for Life.

To my hubby, Dan, whose unrelenting belief in me as a writer never fails to astonish me. You are my rock and I love you more every day that passes.

To my parents, who always encouraged me to write as a teenager, and continue to do so.

To my BFFs group – Magan, Kate, Tyf, & Sarra – you girls are all amazing!

To all my author friends: Jordan Deen, Elizabeth Sharp, Tabatha Vargo, Felicia Lynn, Melissa Andrea, Dawn Robertson, Kate Roth, Katheryn Kiden, Sarra Cannon, Skye Turner, Chelsea M Cameron, J. Laslie, Amy Miles, T.H. Synder, Kristina Circelli, AnnaLisa Grant, Nickie Seidler, Misha Elliot, Angela Corbett, Julia Sykes, & so many more!!! I adore every single one of you and value your friendships.

To Rachel Higginson, who, a year and a half ago, accepted my crazy Facebook stalking and inspired me to actually write my first book last year.

And lastly, but certainly not least, to you, the reader: Thank you for reading Crazy Dreams. This book was such a pleasure to write and from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your support.

More from Dawn Pendleton

Broken Series

Broken Promises

Broken Dreams

Broken Pieces

Broken Valentine

Best Friends Forever Series

Dreams Series
(releasing Summer 2014)

Crazy Dreams

Wild Dreams

Unbroken Dreams

Callahan Brothers Series
(releasing Fall/Winter 2014)

(order subject to change)

Roman

Riley

Reece

Ryan

Ryder

About the Author

Dawn Pendleton spends her time between Maine and somewhere warm for the winter, dragging her husband and pup wherever she goes. A lover of travel, an avid reader, and a softie at heart, Dawn writes romance novels that face the dark reality of life, which is that not everyone gets a happily ever after right away.

A New Adult Contemporary Romance

A tattooed children’s librarian by day. A romance novelist by night.

A British single father.

Someone else is writing this love story…

One

“What’s another word for ‘pussy’?” Raine said, squinting at me over her laptop. I looked up from mine and thought for a moment.

“What’s the context?”

Her not-quite-blue-not-quite-grey eyes went back to her screen.

“He’s licking it.”

“Her pussy?”

“Yeah, but I’ve already used that word, like, a million times.” I sighed and saved the chapter I was currently working on.

“Send it to me.”

Her fingers clacked on her keyboard and then my email dinged. I ignored the massive amounts of unread mail in my inbox, including several fan letters (which I felt horrible about ignoring) and opened the document.

My eyes did a quick scan as Raine stared at her computer, a frown on her face. I deleted a few of her uses of the word and tweaked the phrasing.

“Okay, sending back.”

It seemed odd, seeing as how our laptops were practically touching on our shared desk. I reached for my coffee cup, tried to take a sip and found it empty.

“Damn. I’m out. Want a refill?” Raine handed me her cup without taking her eyes off the screen. It was nearly one in the morning, but we had a deadline next week, and we hadn’t missed one yet and had no intention to start.

I tried to remember the last time I’d made a pot of coffee, and couldn’t, so I tossed whatever was in the coffeepot and starting making a fresh pot.

“You know, we really should get one of those Keurigs. You know it would be a tax write-off. And it’s not like we can’t afford it.”

Raine just made a non-committal sound.

I was always the one who had to make the first move. When the two of us had met as TAs in the English department at college, I’d been the one who’d had the crazy idea of writing a romance together under a pen name and trying to get it published.

The two of us had spent the hours we were supposed to be doing keg stands and getting STDs typing away. It took us two years to write our first book, and most of it was spent trying to figure out how to combine our brains into one story. And then, by some miracle, we’d actually gotten an agent to take us seriously, and then a publisher and here we were, three years after getting our first book deal, with five books under our collective belt, three of them bestsellers under the name Scarlet Rose (Scarlet for my middle name, Rose for Raine’s mother).

“Ugh, I can’t look at this anymore, or I'm going to set it on fire,” Raine said, rubbing her eyes and getting to her feet and stretching her back.