Wrong For You (Before You Series Book 3) (20 page)

“Nice to meet you,” Taylor said. “I’m Alec’s sister.”

“Nice to meet you, too.”

Taylor’s eyes flickered back to Violet. “Now I know why you wanted two tickets.”

“I told you I wanted to bring somebody.”

“Right, but I didn’t like that answer…and neither did Alec.” She tossed a coy wink in Violet’s direction.

Annette raised her eyebrows comically. “See. He thought the same—”

“Shut up,” Violet said under her breath. She didn’t want Annette to reveal her jealous filled retreat from the ballroom when she assumed Taylor was Alec’s date.

“What?” Taylor said, looking back and forth between Annette and Violet.

Violet gave Annette the evil eye, but apparently she didn’t care.

“Violet thought you were Alec’s date. She didn’t want to stay.”

Taylor bit on her lower lip to hold in a chuckle.

“You’re going to lose your best friend status,” Violet said under her breath.

Taylor looked at her watch and then pointed toward the ballroom “We have to go. It’s show time.”

Chapter Twenty-Six

When Violet’s fifteen-minute speech about the worthiness of Foundation ended, she stepped off stage, walking toward him just like Taylor instructed her. Violet sounded nervous the first couple minutes, but as she shared Dean’s story, she hit her stride and no one could tell that she didn’t give speeches in front of a bunch of self-important people every week.

“Hey,” Alec said as she parted the chiffon drapes.

“Hi,” she replied, running one of her slim hands along the length of her neck. It was long, smooth and glowing, just as he remembered, but somehow better. He barely suppressed the urge to push her fingers away so he could trace his fingers along the silken skin starting beneath her earlobe, pausing to feel her pulse fluttering beneath the surface and then to the top of her collarbone.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he took a couple steps toward her. “I thought we could talk after I finish playing. It’s only two songs. You can watch the performance back here and then we could talk here or in the lobby. It’s up to you…” His voice trailed off, waiting for her answer, hoping she was here to give him another chance rather than solely to represent the Foundation.

Violet smiled and his heart expanded in his chest. He missed her angelic smile and her two perfectly matched dimples more than his next breath. “I’d like to, but I brought Annette and I feel bad leaving her alone.”

“Taylor will hang out with her.”

“Don’t volunteer my girlfriend,” Cam yelled.

“She’s my sister,” Alec shot back. “That takes precedence.”

“We’ll see,” Cam said, turning his back to him.

“Don’t listen to Cam,” Alec cautioned. “I don’t.”

“Fuck you,” Cam shot back. “I can hear you.”

“Anyway,” Alec said, clearing his throat, “Give me fifteen minutes of your time. We don’t have to go anywhere. The lobby will work. I want to clear the air.”

“Okay,” she agreed, squeezing his hand briefly. “I’ll be here.”

“Alec,” Jax yelled. “Are you ready?”

Alec’s eyes darted in Jax’s direction before returning to Violet. “I’ll see you in ten minutes.

Her pale blue eyes locked on his and she nodded.

He gave her one last, lingering look and walked on the stage. He loved performing, but right now he’d love to cancel the whole thing. He’d throw Violet and her sinful, curve-hugging dress over his shoulder and bring her back to his place. For the first time in his life, playing the drums felt like an interruption rather than the point of his existence. When he played the drums, he could trick himself into believing he was happy, but when he was around Violet, he didn’t have to pretend. He was happy.

***

Chasing Ruin stepped on the stage to applause and shouts, but nothing like the videos she glimpsed on YouTube. Apparently, that’s the response when the room was filled with self-important people rather than band-crazed groupies and band super fans.

Standing on the side of the stage was amazing. She couldn’t see the people in the ballroom so she felt a little like a voyeur sneaking into Chasing Ruin’s practice session.

“Thanks for coming,” Jax, the lead singer yelled into the microphone. “Since you so graciously opened your wallets for a cause near to our hearts, we’ll be playing two never before heard songs for you.”

Alec did a quick countdown with his drumsticks and then music exploded from the instruments. The crowd screamed the minute Jax’s voice crooned into the microphone. It was like honey over gravel and as everything came together, Violet understood why Chasing Ruin was so big.

“That’s my song,” Taylor said from behind her. “Cam didn’t tell me they were going to play it tonight.”

“You wrote it?” Violet asked.

“No,” Taylor smiled dreamily. “Cam wrote it for me.”

Violet listened to the words of redemption and love lost and found and she had to admit, it was achingly beautiful. “I love it and it’s getting a great reaction.” She yelled to be heard over the music and the shouts from the audience.

“I can’t believe it.” Taylor clapped her hands together like a kid. “Cam’s going to be ecstatic when they’re done playing. That song was his first real attempt at writing music for the band. In the past, Jax wrote all the lyrics.”

“I’m not a reliable judge of music, but it sounds incredible.”

Taylor’s eyes followed Cam around the stage, not veering away from him for a minute.

“How long have you been together?” Violet asked.

“Four months.”

“And Alec doesn’t mind that you’re dating him?” She probably shouldn’t have said anything, but her internet search of Chasing Ruin inevitably dug up some really outrageous stuff on Cam.”

Taylor laughed. “You watched the video, huh?”

Violet’s cheeks heated. She didn’t watch it, but she did read a lurid description of his not so innocent hook-up with two girls. “No, I just read a little about it.”

“Cam has changed. Alec knows that and so do I. We all have crap in our past—lies, secrets, moments we want to erase and moments we wish we could do over—but it doesn’t have to define us,” Taylor said the words so convincingly, she wanted to believe her.

Violet nodded. She didn’t want to erase any moments she shared with Alec, but she wished she had reacted differently to finding out Alec was the drummer for Chasing Ruin. She should have listened, or at the very least called him the next day once she cooled down and let him explain. She told him she loved him and she promised that nothing would change her mind about him. Her promise didn’t even last twenty-four hours. Instead, she ran from him just like his parents did when things got uncomfortable, and she spent the last month choking on her insecurities rather than picking up the phone and calling him.

“All of us are broken,” Taylor continued, “some a little more than others, but if you love someone, you accept them and their past, even if it’s ugly.”

Taylor’s words felt like pointed jabs aimed at her heart. She needed to say something, but just then the music stopped and Cam ran off the stage and twirled Taylor around in a circle. “Did you hear that, Tay? They loved our song.”

“They better have.” Taylor brushed a kiss across his lips.

Violet snuck by them. She didn’t want to intrude on their moment and she needed some time to herself before she talked to Alec. Slipping out of the ballroom, she wandered down the hall until she found the bathroom.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

By the time, he walked off the stage, Violet was gone. She said she’d wait, but maybe she changed her mind. As he walked through the ballroom searching for Violet’s pale hair, his eyes collided with Annette’s. She looked him up and down, her face hard before she approached him.

“Violet’s in the bathroom.”

Alec stuffed his hand in his pockets, not saying anything. Annette wasn’t his biggest fan. She made that clear the moment she met him. He couldn’t imagine she had changed her mind after she heard he lied to Violet.

“Turn left. It’s at the end of the hall,” Annette said, waving toward the open double doors.

“Thanks, Annette.”

He had taken two steps before he heard Annette’s voice. “If you fuck this up again, it will be your third strike and I’ll make damn sure that Violet doesn’t give you another chance. Even if you’re famous and most likely wealthy, she’s too good for you.”

Alec looked over his shoulder. “Baseball fan?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.

“Nope. I hate sports, but it sounded good.” She laughed. “Tell Violet I’ll see her next week.”

“Next week?”

She smirked. “I leave tomorrow, but she’s staying another week.”

“But Taylor said—”

“Violet doesn’t know. It’s my surprise, but I’m sure you’ll find a way to break the news.”

“Why?”

“Because I thought you two would need more than a night to figure out your future. Tell her you’re welcome.” Without another word, she disappeared into the crowd.

***

Ten minutes later, Violet finally talked herself into leaving the bathroom. With her heart pounding so hard she thought she might be sick, she opened the door.

Alec stepped forward, blocking her exit. Overwhelmed, she didn’t know what to say and it seemed as though he didn’t, either. His eyes swept over her body, watching her closely, like he wanted her to be the first to talk.

Violet took a deep breath, sucking as much oxygen into her lungs as she could, trying to steady her nerves. “What are you doing here?” Violet asked.

“Waiting for you.”

“I’m sorry I left.” Her eyes drifted to the floor.

“You don’t have to be sorry.”

“Yeah,” she told him and then took another shuddering breath. “I really do and I’m not talking about after your performance, but after I found out about Chasing Ruin. I should have listened.”

The seconds felt like minutes as she watched his jaw flex and his hand massage the back of his neck. “It’s not your fault. I should have been honest from the beginning or at least before anything happened between us.”

“I’m not mad anymore,” she offered, smiling faintly. “I haven’t been for a few weeks.”

“I can’t believe you’re actually here,” he said, stepping toward her, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes a hopeful sea of blue.

She chuckled, trying to lighten the heavy air circling around them. “You thought I’d miss a chance to raise money for the Foundation after years of skipping paychecks and working ungodly hours to make sure the kids had a place to go after school?”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I guess not,” he said, his voice suddenly flat and his eyes opaque and unreadable.

She touched his arm. “And I really wanted to see you. I missed you.”

She could see all the questions running through his head, but he remained silent. Maybe that meant they were over and that he wanted to say goodbye forever. She bit down on her lip to keep from crumbling.

“You look beautiful,” he said, breaking the silence.

She smiled cautiously, her lips trembling. “You think so?”

He nodded, taking two steps forward as his hands snaked around her hips. “When I met you I thought you looked like an angel with your long blonde, almost white, hair. You glowed from the inside out and I thought you were perfect. So perfect that I tried to walk away from you and push you out of my life because I didn’t want to hurt you.”

Violet brushed her hands along his stubbled cheek. “I’m not perfect.” If she were perfect, she would have given him a chance to explain, but she didn’t because she was scared. Scared that someone like him wouldn’t want someone like her. Scared that he’d break her when he moved on. Scared that she’d never love anyone except him.

“To me you are, and I knew that someone like me was wrong for you. I have so many secrets, some my own and others piled onto me by my family. I could never let anyone in…until you…and then I messed up.” He closed his eyes briefly as pain washed over his face. “My whole life I’ve been a disappointment.”

“That’s not true.”

“It is. My mother told me she regretted not aborting me.”

Violet’s stomach somersaulted. “No,” she whispered. What kind of mother said that to her child?

“It’s true. Then, the man I loved as a father walked out the door when I told him about Brad. Do you know what he said?”

She shook her head.

“That he couldn’t look at me the same way again. Then he died in a car crash that night. He never had the chance to take it back and honestly, I don’t know if he would have. And Brad…he didn’t want me. He didn’t bother with me until a month ago, and as much as I’d love to have him and my half-brothers in my life, I wonder if they only want to be in mine because of Chasing Ruin. Even so, I invited them to visit in a few weeks.”

His eyes clouded over and he looked totally shattered. The pain on his face nearly ripped her heart apart. She hated that his family made him doubt himself and believe he wasn’t worthy of love, because he was.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Chasing Ruin. It was stupid, but I wanted you to know the real me, not some fictional guy that plays in a band that the world thinks they know.” He shook his head. “Then I was so wrapped up in you that I was afraid I’d lose you if you knew I lied.” His voice shook. “I was so fucking desperate to keep you. You saw me, the real me, and you still wanted me and I couldn’t even understand why.”

She gazed up at his face, the same face that invaded her dreams every night since she walked away from him, and her eyes swam with unshed tears. She didn’t know what to say. To her, he was perfect. Why didn’t he understand that?

He swallowed and leaned his forehead against hers. “If you say you want me out of your life, I’ll let you go, but I need you to know I loved you and I still do, Little Violet. Everything I felt for you was real. You’re it for me.”

Her heart pumping out of her chest, she brushed her lips against his. “Alec, I don’t―”

“I know you live in Montana and I live in LA and I travel a lot, but I can’t imagine not having you in my life.”

“I applied to UCLA law school and every other school in southern California.”

“You did? Why?”

“Because I miss you and I love you and I want to be with you.” She cupped his face so she could look in his gorgeous dark blue eyes as he listened to her words. She wanted to see how they affected him. He needed to hear them as much as she needed to say them. “Don’t you get it? I don’t care about your secrets. They’re your past. They don’t mean anything. I love the man you are. You’re generous, caring, and protective.”

He shook his head to disagree and she pressed a finger against his lips so she could finish. “Yes, you are. You helped me raise money for the Foundation, you arranged this fundraiser, you took care of me when I drank too much, and you took care of your sister your whole life.”

“Not really.”

“Taylor sung your praises every day when I talked to her on the phone so I know exactly what you did for her.”

“I didn’t do enough,” he said darkly.

“Nobody believes that except you.” She kissed him again, letting all her emotions pour out of her so he knew how much she loved him and needed him in her life. His tongue reached inside of her mouth, circling hers in a lazy spiral that promised the world. “So, yes, I hate that you lied about Chasing Ruin, but I understand why you did it and I forgive you.”

“You do?”

Nodding, she reached up and tangled her hands in his silky, dark hair. “I want to build a life together if you want me.”

A soft, sexy smile lit up the dazzling contours of his face and she’d never seen anything so beautiful in her life. It literally squeezed the air out of her lungs. “Little Violet, I didn’t know it, but I’ve been waiting for you my whole life. Of course, I want you. That was never in question.”

He laced his fingers between hers and pulled her down the hallway.

“Where are we going?” she asked as they passed the doors to the ballroom.

“Back to my house.”

She stopped walking. “Wait, what about the fundraiser?”

“We played. The guests already gave their money. We don’t need to stay.”

“Annette needs me.”

“No, baby, I need you.” His lips crushed against hers, showing her exactly how much he needed her. It was a kiss filled with love, possession, adoration and thirty days of missed opportunities. He groaned as he pulled his mouth away, his lips moving along the side of her face until he nipped her earlobe and her heart stopped for a beat. “By the way, Annette said she’d see you next week,” he whispered.

“What?”

Amusement lit his entire face. “You don’t leave until next week. She leaves tomorrow.”

“How?”

He shrugged. “She said to tell you you’re welcome.”

Her smile widened. “You think a week is enough time together?”

“Not even close.” He tangled his hands in her hair. “I won’t be satisfied until I can see your face every morning, and maybe not even then because wrong or not, you’re mine, Little Violet.”

“And you’re mine.”

“Always.”

And that was good enough for her.