Rock Kiss 03 Rock Redemption(24)

He’d seen her work double shifts at the diner, watched her schlep to audition after audition and come back disappointed but determined to try again. Not once had she fallen back on the Ordaz-Castille name—and since she’d made no attempt to court publicity during her teens, no one had recognized her. She’d simply been another young, hopeful actress.

Kit had earned her place in the limelight, and she’d done it on her own terms.

“Did you like New Zealand?” she said before the lengthening silence became painful, full of all the words they couldn’t say to one another. “I never asked.”

Because she’d refused to talk to him then. “Lots of water and sunshine, and the South Island’s crazy beautiful. Me and Abe, we took off for a week to one of the national parks, did white-water rafting, bungee jumped, even walked on a glacier.”

“It sounds incredible.” She sighed. “I’ve always wanted to go down there, never had the chance.”

It was on the tip of his tongue to say he’d go with her, that they could hike through the sprawling parks full of snowcapped mountains and pristine rivers, camp under skies so clear you could nearly touch the Milky Way at night. No photographers, no stalkers, nothing but a wild beauty that would suit Kit’s grounded nature.

He bit back the offer just in time; she’d agreed to come with him today, but he was under no illusion that their new relationship was anything other than brittle. “You’d love it,” he said through the renewed tension in his gut. “If you can swim it, climb it, ride it, jump off it, or hike it, New Zealand’s got things covered.”

Kit had so many questions about the small country that the rest of the drive passed by without further silences. The sky was beginning to lighten in the east when he punched in the code to open the gates to the isolated, no-frills airfield and drove through to the hangar.

“Here she is,” he said once they were inside and by the plane. He patted the side of the Cessna, his nerves in a knot.

It mattered what Kit thought. Always had. Always would.

“She’s not what I expected.” Kit ran her hand along the buffed-clean paintwork. “I mean that in a good way.” A smile. “I expected a new, glossy plane, but she’s got age, character.”

Noah took a breath. “Yeah, she’s got a few miles on her.” Her imperfections were part of why he’d fallen in love with the machine. “I like to think she’s seen the world and now she’s showing it to me.”




Kit felt her heart hitch at the evocative beauty of his words. It was at times like these that it was so difficult to keep her distance from Noah, fleeting moments when he showed her a piece of himself. A real piece, part of the heart he kept hidden so deep that most people never knew it existed. To the rest of the world, he was simply a bad-boy rocker, the most scandalous member of Schoolboy Choir, the one who provided the best photo ops and led the most hard rock lifestyle.

Abe’s former drug use had been tabloid fodder, of course—the paparazzi had hounded him when he was discharged from the hospital after his overdose, but Noah’s liaisons with endless women made for much prettier pictures, especially when he was snapped with a leggy model, actress, or other woman famous in her own right. If he’d kept a little black book, it would’ve been overflowing with A-list names, but Kit knew Noah didn’t keep any records—a man only did that when he wanted to see a woman again.

“Ready to go up?” he asked, the light in his eyes almost boyish. “Wait, hold on a sec. I bought some stuff for brunch.”

As he went to the car to grab the bags, she found herself hesitating. It was early now. If he planned on having brunch with her, that meant they’d be together for hours. She wasn’t sure she could handle that, but the light in his eyes, she hadn’t ever seen that. Not even their first time around.

She was such a sucker. She had to say no, had to back off before she placed herself in harm’s way again.

“Done.” He put the grocery bags in the plane, turned. “We can catch the sunrise if we take off now.”

Kit inhaled, held the breath before releasing it in a slow exhale. “Noah, I’m—”

Smile fading, he met her gaze, the dark gray of his eyes empty of that bright, unexpected light. However, instead of offering to take her back to the city, he braced a palm against the plane and said, “I’m not giving you up, Kit.” His jaw was granite. “You’re too important to me.”

Not important enough.

She barely bit back the angry words. They’d been through that, and if she kept dwelling on it, it would only make her bitter and broken, and poison whatever relationship remained between them. “What are we doing, Noah?” she said quietly. “You know this won’t work.” They’d never been meant to be just friends: they could be either passionate lovers or sworn enemies.