Girl in Love(61)
She wanted to get a few things out in the open before either of them hurt the other any more than they already had.
It was time to stop hiding behind her pretend boyfriend.
“He’s here,” she heard one of the security guys say. She whirled around in the direction the voice had come from.
From across the open area backstage, she saw him getting out of an SUV. He was smiling broader than she could remember seeing lately. There was a determined set to his jaw. Memories of trailing kisses along that same perfect jawline had her slightly off balance.
Her heart began to race and she licked her lips as she walked to the front of the platform. She wondered if her knees were going weak because she hadn’t eaten much or if it was something else.
Something else grinned when he saw her watching him from up on the stage.
“Hey, pretty girl,” he greeted her. She didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on her bare legs when he pulled off his sunglasses.
“Hey yourself.” All thoughts of what she’d wanted to talk to him about flew right out of her head the instant he’d spoken. There was a familiar heat in his eyes that reminded her of the first time they’d made love. It was effectively scrambling her brain.
She took a deep breath in hopes of snapping out of whatever weird Trace trance she was in.
“Come on, Corbin. We’re wasting daylight here,” she heard Mike Brennen say.
Trace looked over his shoulder.
“Trace,” she called out as he walked toward where his band was setting up.
He turned with a confident smirk on his handsome face. “What can I do for you, Kylie Lou?”
Nothing I can say in polite company. She had no idea what had her suddenly so off-center. She wiped her sweaty palms on her cutoff shorts. “Um, can we talk? Later, maybe?”
“Sure thing. Meet me on the bus after?” He nodded at the stage, so she assumed he meant after his soundcheck.
“Okay.”
His gaze burned into hers and her entire body warmed from the inside out. When it became too hot for her to handle, she looked away.
She knew something was shifting between them. She couldn’t explain it if her life had depended on it. But she could feel it.
KYLIE HADN’T paid much attention to the outside of the buses before. She’d sort of purposely avoided looking at them when she could help it. But the larger-than-life image of her and Trace standing back to back next to the title of the song they’d written together what seemed like a million years ago was becoming impossible to ignore. Much like the man in the picture was.
She didn’t know how bad the storm that was Trace Corbin was going to be this time. All she knew was that it was coming. What terrified her most was that she knew the precautions she should take, knew there were ways to avoid it. She just couldn’t seem to make herself hunker down and hide this time.
Her heart and her head were at war as she waited for Lulu to join her on the bus and help her get ready.
On one hand, she wanted to be honest with Trace, with Steven—with everyone.
On the other, she wanted to keep her already scarred heart locked away where it would stay safe.
But the way he’d looked at her moments ago, he was changing the game. They’d both had walls up. Or she had them up and he’d respected them. She’d thought it was for the best. But she hadn’t felt as alive as she did right that second since…since he walked away from her a year ago.
She closed her eyes. Remembering the pain helped keep her sane. It kept her from losing control and throwing herself into his arms. Besides, his arms belonged to someone else now. Or did they?
She wondered if Gretchen was at all concerned about them being on tour together. She’d heard Trace on the phone with her a few times. He always stepped away to take her calls. But it never sounded like they were professing their love or even arguing for that matter. Mostly, the few tidbits she’d overheard sounded like business talk. She could’ve sworn she’d heard him saying things about building permits.
Feeling overjoyed at the fact that she hadn’t yet overheard them making plans to meet up or for Gretchen to catch a show, she wanted to slap herself. It was dangerous and stupid to be this invested in his relationship. If Gretchen did join them at some point, Kylie knew damn well she’d be bunking in a roost on a different bus.
My, how the tables have turned, she thought to herself as she hopped up and sat on the kitchen counter. It wasn’t too awfully long ago that she was the girlfriend visiting him on his tour with Gretchen. And yet, in some ways, it felt like a lifetime ago.
She leaned back on the counter as she decided that no matter how painful the outcome might be, she was going to tell Trace there wasn’t anything going on with her and Steven. And she was going to ask him point blank, straight-faced with no tears or sobbing nonsense, what exactly was going on with him and Gretchen Gibson.