Rock Kiss 01.5 Rock Courtship(19)

Thea hadn’t believed she was settling; she’d believed she was laying the foundations for a relationship that would last decades, becoming stronger with each day that passed. Only… it seemed Eric hadn’t wanted the same thing. He’d wanted the drama and the passion. If it had only been that, and if he’d been honest with her as soon as he realized he’d made a mistake in proposing, she would’ve released him from the engagement without any attempt at emotional blackmail. It wasn’t as if she wanted to be with a man who didn’t want to be with her.

The Eric she’d originally fallen for, he would’ve been up-front with her. But something had happened to him during the time they’d been together. She didn’t know if he’d been weak beneath the surface from the start, or if it was seeing her increasing success that had created the fractures. He’d begun to resent her, until she no longer shared her successes with him, until the gulf between them grew and grew.

His cheating had been ugly, but worse had been the hate she’d sensed in him.

The idea that David might one day feel that way toward her was a horrible thing to contemplate. Tears burned her eyes. Because her friendship with David already felt deeper and more rooted than anything she’d had with Eric. And this time… this time, she felt the passion, the chemistry, experienced the racing pulse and the wildly thudding heart.

It was a combination so powerful she knew her and David’s nascent relationship could either become her everything, or it could end up savaging her.

Fingers trembling, she rubbed her hands over her face, then finished making her tea and, mug in hand, went back upstairs to her bedroom. Up here, she couldn’t hear the television, only the nocturnal insects outside the open bedroom window as she picked up the memo where she’d left off.



…the fact of the matter is that you might find me easier to handle as a fantasy than in reality.

I’m not just the woman you’d be sleeping with if I agree to a relationship. I’d also be the woman who works all hours and thinks nothing of taking a client call in the middle of a date. At times, I’ll be able to accompany you on tour, but many times I won’t. As a result, we’d have to deal with long separations that may make you question why you’re even with me.

It would mean being physically frustrated for weeks at a time, and from your memos, it’s obvious you’re a man with a strong physical drive. Think about that, David. Really think about it—and about all those groupies who throw themselves at you. Will it be worth it to give them all up for a cold bed?



Thea had to take another break, the idea of David with other women making rage bubble in her blood. She was in so much trouble if she was already having that visceral a reaction.

Drinking her cooled tea, she put down the cup and made herself finish the memo.



Unlike Jack and Valerie, we couldn’t avoid the industry circuit, since I have to keep my finger on the pulse of that world. The pressures on us will be continual and intense—to manage it, we’d have to be willing to not only work hard, but to stick it out even when it would be easier to walk away.

You could find a woman outside the industry. I could find a man who doesn’t live in the media spotlight. There would be no dual pressure—we could go home and switch off instead of having to consider how outsiders might scrutinize our every move.

In conclusion, I say that while the play might be fun and exciting, it’s everything else that could screw us up. We could lose our friendship and gain nothing.



Thea hesitated after typing the last word. If she sent this, she shoved everything up a notch, made it serious… but had it ever been anything else? No. She pushed Send.

Ten minutes afterward, she received a message.

Thea, you might be my fantasy, but you’re also the woman I’ve seen up at 3 a.m. to deal with media drama. I know who you are. And…

A second message followed in another few minutes—David really was adorably slow on his phone.

…bodies aren’t interchangeable for me. I want you, no one else. I’m so gone on you I haven’t slept with anyone since I asked you out. It’s not hard to say no when the woman isn’t you.

Sniffling and smiling and feeling as if her blood was made of honey, she composed her response: It’s your turn to write a memo. Then, because he’d given her words that went a long way toward healing the leftover hurt inside her from Eric’s hate, added: xx

Pushing Send, she knew she’d just given the green light to a relationship that already felt passionate in its power—despite the fact she and David had never exchanged a single real kiss. Her skin grew tight at the thought of kissing him, of feeling his lips on hers, his body hard and warm against her own.