[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
fuck senseless...but when she actually turned that big brain on his life, to analyze the decisions he d made,
he d lost it on her.
Throwing everything into the picnic bag, he moved quickly through the trees to find her waiting in his
car. Her back was straight, her hands were on her lap, and she was staring straight ahead as he got in
behind the wheel.
I m sorry."
He wanted to reach for her hand, but he knew how she d react, that the last thing she wanted was for
him to touch her. The irony wasn t lost on him that the very thing she didn t want was now what he needed
most to reconnect with her even in that one small way.
I m sorry, too."
Marcus was surprised to hear her say those words to him. He d been planning to say so much more,
needed to let her know how wrong he d been to hurt her like that, that he hadn t realized what a sensitive
topic his father s death was.
But when her eyes met his, flat and empty, he knew he was too late.
I shouldn t have pressured you for these extra days together."
He thought he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes, but when he looked again they were clear. And
still so flat his gut clenched at the memory of the passion, the joy, that had been there just minutes before.
You were right to want to end things after that first night. Her mouth moved up at the corners, into
something no one would ever call a smile. Lesson learned. One-night stands should stick to the number
in their name.
Marcus had always been the steady Sullivan, the one who knew what do in any situation. However,
from the first moment with Nicola, he d been completely out of his depth. More so now than ever before.
But even though he d known all along that their relationship was going to end in the very near future, he
hated the thought of it ending this way.
You ve never been a pop star to me, Nicola. You ve always just been you. A woman I wanted and
liked from the start. If I ve ever treated you like you were nothing more than a sex kitten, I m truly sorry.
She was silent for a several very long seconds. Finally, she said, It s nice of you to say that."
He waited for more, waited for her to tell him she thought he was more than just some guy in a suit
who knew how to make her scream with pleasure when she came, but she simply pulled her cell phone
out of her bag and looked at the time.
How long will it take to get to the Warfield?
Suddenly, he felt like he was bending over backward to try to get her to listen to his apologies, but she
wasn t willing to bend at all.
Hadn t he spent two straight years bending over for Jill, doing whatever he could to make her happy?
Look how that had turned out. If he d been too boring, too emotionless for Jill, then surely one day soon,
even if he and Nicola found a way to patch things up today, she would surely end up bored with him,
too...and eventually he d have the extreme non-pleasure of walking in on her fucking some exciting guy
with piercings and a goatee, knowing he d been a fool one more time.
About an hour.
I hope there s no traffic. If you know any short cuts, I d appreciate you taking them.
How had it come to this so quickly? From making love in the ocean to sitting in his car while Nicola
spoke to him like he was a stranger?
But his pride wouldn t let him beg her again for forgiveness. He d tried. She d pushed him away.
They were done.
Don t worry, he told her in a voice that was just as distant as hers had been, I ll make sure you re
there on time.
Chapter Eighteen
Thank God she d done a thousand shows like this one, Nicola thought as she went through the motions
of sound checking and joking around with her band. She might have been smiling, laughing, but she felt
hollow. Empty.
And really, really sad.
The things Marcus had said to her kept repeating over and over in her head, so loudly that she actually
forgot the lyrics to one of her songs and had to stop in the middle, apologize to her band with a joke,
pretend she didn t see the way they looked at her, at each other, with questions in their eyes.
One slip. She was only ever one slip away from people assuming late nights and drugs and wild
parties.
Of course, she wasn t exactly helping herself by playing into the wild image with her videos, the
clothes she wore onstage, the fact that she let herself be photographed with people whose wild images
were earned, not simply imagined.
It was as much as Marcus had said to her out on the beach, when they were angrily throwing words at
each other.
She knew that was a large part of why she d been so angry. Maybe if she could have taken one breath,
and then another, she could have let herself admit to him to both of them that she was tired of the sexy-
girl image. That she d been wondering more and more why she was bothering with it. And that she
wanted to let her songs stand for themselves.
Just the power of her music, sink or swim, without the silent promise of sex to sell them to the world.
But she hadn t taken that breath, had she?
Instead, she d barreled headlong into the stupidest, most idiotic confession of her life.
She d told him she was falling in love with him.
No.
She d yelled it at him.
Of course, he d said nothing about love. Not there on the beach...and not later in his car.
She sat in her dressing room, which her tour manager had set up per her usual specifications, making
the space comfortable and cozy for a few hours, and stared into the large mirror with the strip of lights
shining down above it. They were way too bright, highlighting all the parts of her soul she didn t want to
have to see.
To his credit, Marcus had come back to the car and immediately apologized. But she d been too afraid
to hear what he was sorry for, terrified that he was going to say, I m sorry you re in love with me,
kitten. I never meant for that to happen.
She turned away from the mirror, unable to look herself in the eye any longer.
Heartbreak was supposed to be perfect for writing songs. She should be picking up her guitar and
writing a masterpiece, channeling the Joni Mitchell inside herself and singing about blue boys and bright
red devils she couldn t live without. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl wyciskamy.pev.pl
fuck senseless...but when she actually turned that big brain on his life, to analyze the decisions he d made,
he d lost it on her.
Throwing everything into the picnic bag, he moved quickly through the trees to find her waiting in his
car. Her back was straight, her hands were on her lap, and she was staring straight ahead as he got in
behind the wheel.
I m sorry."
He wanted to reach for her hand, but he knew how she d react, that the last thing she wanted was for
him to touch her. The irony wasn t lost on him that the very thing she didn t want was now what he needed
most to reconnect with her even in that one small way.
I m sorry, too."
Marcus was surprised to hear her say those words to him. He d been planning to say so much more,
needed to let her know how wrong he d been to hurt her like that, that he hadn t realized what a sensitive
topic his father s death was.
But when her eyes met his, flat and empty, he knew he was too late.
I shouldn t have pressured you for these extra days together."
He thought he saw the shimmer of tears in her eyes, but when he looked again they were clear. And
still so flat his gut clenched at the memory of the passion, the joy, that had been there just minutes before.
You were right to want to end things after that first night. Her mouth moved up at the corners, into
something no one would ever call a smile. Lesson learned. One-night stands should stick to the number
in their name.
Marcus had always been the steady Sullivan, the one who knew what do in any situation. However,
from the first moment with Nicola, he d been completely out of his depth. More so now than ever before.
But even though he d known all along that their relationship was going to end in the very near future, he
hated the thought of it ending this way.
You ve never been a pop star to me, Nicola. You ve always just been you. A woman I wanted and
liked from the start. If I ve ever treated you like you were nothing more than a sex kitten, I m truly sorry.
She was silent for a several very long seconds. Finally, she said, It s nice of you to say that."
He waited for more, waited for her to tell him she thought he was more than just some guy in a suit
who knew how to make her scream with pleasure when she came, but she simply pulled her cell phone
out of her bag and looked at the time.
How long will it take to get to the Warfield?
Suddenly, he felt like he was bending over backward to try to get her to listen to his apologies, but she
wasn t willing to bend at all.
Hadn t he spent two straight years bending over for Jill, doing whatever he could to make her happy?
Look how that had turned out. If he d been too boring, too emotionless for Jill, then surely one day soon,
even if he and Nicola found a way to patch things up today, she would surely end up bored with him,
too...and eventually he d have the extreme non-pleasure of walking in on her fucking some exciting guy
with piercings and a goatee, knowing he d been a fool one more time.
About an hour.
I hope there s no traffic. If you know any short cuts, I d appreciate you taking them.
How had it come to this so quickly? From making love in the ocean to sitting in his car while Nicola
spoke to him like he was a stranger?
But his pride wouldn t let him beg her again for forgiveness. He d tried. She d pushed him away.
They were done.
Don t worry, he told her in a voice that was just as distant as hers had been, I ll make sure you re
there on time.
Chapter Eighteen
Thank God she d done a thousand shows like this one, Nicola thought as she went through the motions
of sound checking and joking around with her band. She might have been smiling, laughing, but she felt
hollow. Empty.
And really, really sad.
The things Marcus had said to her kept repeating over and over in her head, so loudly that she actually
forgot the lyrics to one of her songs and had to stop in the middle, apologize to her band with a joke,
pretend she didn t see the way they looked at her, at each other, with questions in their eyes.
One slip. She was only ever one slip away from people assuming late nights and drugs and wild
parties.
Of course, she wasn t exactly helping herself by playing into the wild image with her videos, the
clothes she wore onstage, the fact that she let herself be photographed with people whose wild images
were earned, not simply imagined.
It was as much as Marcus had said to her out on the beach, when they were angrily throwing words at
each other.
She knew that was a large part of why she d been so angry. Maybe if she could have taken one breath,
and then another, she could have let herself admit to him to both of them that she was tired of the sexy-
girl image. That she d been wondering more and more why she was bothering with it. And that she
wanted to let her songs stand for themselves.
Just the power of her music, sink or swim, without the silent promise of sex to sell them to the world.
But she hadn t taken that breath, had she?
Instead, she d barreled headlong into the stupidest, most idiotic confession of her life.
She d told him she was falling in love with him.
No.
She d yelled it at him.
Of course, he d said nothing about love. Not there on the beach...and not later in his car.
She sat in her dressing room, which her tour manager had set up per her usual specifications, making
the space comfortable and cozy for a few hours, and stared into the large mirror with the strip of lights
shining down above it. They were way too bright, highlighting all the parts of her soul she didn t want to
have to see.
To his credit, Marcus had come back to the car and immediately apologized. But she d been too afraid
to hear what he was sorry for, terrified that he was going to say, I m sorry you re in love with me,
kitten. I never meant for that to happen.
She turned away from the mirror, unable to look herself in the eye any longer.
Heartbreak was supposed to be perfect for writing songs. She should be picking up her guitar and
writing a masterpiece, channeling the Joni Mitchell inside herself and singing about blue boys and bright
red devils she couldn t live without. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]