Cover Me: A Rock Star Romance Read Online Free PDF

kids anymore. It’s complicated now.”
    He pulled me against his warm body and held me tight. “It doesn’t feel complicated to me.”
    I pushed away. “Because you don’t know! You weren’t the one who got hurt!”
    Derek put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath. “You keep saying that I did something. Tell me what it is! What the hell did I do to you that you carry around with you every day for this long and can’t let me have this with you.” He motioned between us. “We’re not strangers. We’re far from it. You say this is fast, but to me, it’s our time, Bess. That review busted my balls, but I’m starting to think it happened for a reason. To bring you back into my life. I’ve been sitting in this place alone, trying to make a life for myself now that I’m not on tour and like magic, here you are.”
    “It’s not magic. It’s a review. A bad review. The way you responded to it brought me into your life, Derek. Not fate or destiny or any other kind of special force.”
    He turned to the fire, rubbing his palms together and nodding. “Fine. I’ll call you a driver. I’d take you back, but the paparazzi would have a fucking heyday seeing you getting out of my car like that.”
    We stood in silence. I stared at his back, followed the line of muscle where my fingers had pressed and held tight what seemed like only moments ago.
    I didn’t want to leave. I was already hurt, but at least I was the one hurting myself and it wasn’t coming from him. He walked into the kitchen and picked up his cell phone from the counter. I heard him say he needed a driver while he opened the sliding door and stepped outside, then closed it behind him.
    The scent of grilled burgers wafted into the house. He was trying so hard to make it a good night. A normal night between old friends who could be so much more. If I could just let the past go.
    But I couldn’t. I was getting caught up in the moment and had to put some distance between us to know how I truly felt.
    He came back in with the burgers on a plate and sat them down hard on the kitchen counter with a loud crack. “If you’re hungry, you can eat before you leave.”
    I didn’t want to go with him angry. The past was pushing me away. I didn’t want the present pushing him. “Will you eat with me?”
    He ran his fingers into his hair and gripped it tight, giving me a piercing stare. Standing there with his amazing body on display, his waist band riding low on his hips, he looked at me like he could be done with me in a heartbeat or be inside me in a second, proving he was right and tonight was meant to be. I could barely breathe, watching him think and wondering what he would do.
    Finally, he dropped his hand and shook his head. He strode by me, swept the blanket off of the tops of the chairs and headed toward the master suite. “I’m taking a shower. Lock the door behind you when you go.” He stopped and turned his head, glancing back over his shoulder. “It’s been nice catching up. Good luck to you, Bess.”
    I watched him walk around the corner, the words I’d said in the bar as an attempt to dismiss his dinner invitation slung back at me. Dismissing me.

Four
    Derek
    I waited until she left then took the bottle of wine out on the deck. Dangling my feet in the pool, I sat there getting drunk, hating her, hating myself.
    It would be easy to call her a psycho bitch and be done with it. But Bess wasn’t a psycho. Bitch I’d give her, but only when she had a reason to be. What the fuck did I do to her to make her afraid to get close to me?
    We never went out, so it wasn’t like I cheated on her. I’d never cheated on a woman. Weak men cheated. Bess and I were friends. She helped me write the song I sang and posted on You Tube that went viral and got me noticed. It was something we did our boring ass summer before senior year. That song, Cover Me, was the title song on the first album I ever recorded. It was a huge deal and she bailed on me