A Time to Move On (17 page)

Their kissing quickly turned wild
as though their lips and tongues were like magnets, stuck together. Mack
couldn’t stop kissing her. He loved her body the way she deserved. His thrusts
deep but gentle. He wanted everything Laura had to offer. Her body. Her mind.
Her soul.

One hand cradled Laura’s head and
the other held her hip. He loved the feel of her thrusts as he came forward.
They were together. They were so perfect together.

Mack made love to Laura by kissing
her and staring into her eyes. When Laura began to reach climax, she dug her
nails into his back. Their noses touched back and forth as he loved her more,
bringing her over the edge. He protected her and held her, feeling the warm
passion all over her body as she finished. Mack kissed Laura again as he
traveled to his own peak. As he came, he thrust harder, groaning into Laura's
mouth. This was more than sex. This was living. This was love. This was moving
on.

They may have finished, but they
were far from done.

Mack rolled off of Laura, but
pulled her to him. She rested her head on his chest. His hands explored her
bare shoulders, her back, all the way down to her ass and the back of her legs.
Her hot breath spread across his chest.

“Your heart is racing,” Laura
whispered.

“Yeah, it is.”

Laura touched Mack’s face. He
turned his head and saw her fingers and hand. It squeezed his heart as he slid
back just a little in time. He nudged Laura’s fingers with his nose and then
kissed her fingers one at a time. He then reached up and took her hand, holding
it tight.

It was time for Laura to know everything.

(18)

“Her name was Kelly,” Mack said.

“What?”

“That’s who died on that road.
Kelly. The only other woman I’ve ever loved.”

“Your wife?”

“She may have been one day. We were
so in love. Happy. Inseparable. I bought my house as a surprise for her. She
had been so supportive of my dreams that I wanted to make sure she could have
the family neighborhood dream she always wanted. She never got the chance to
see it though," Mack swallowed the lump in his throat and continued.
"She left one day to get something at the store and never came back. I was
like you, Laura. I had been behind my drums, practicing when she left. Every
day after that, I beat myself up for not getting up and kissing her before she
left. I should have jumped over that damn drum kit and kissed her one more
time. Or have gone with her. But I didn’t. I held that guilt for a long time. I
even stopped playing drums and tried to give it all up. But I found my way back
because it was what I was meant to do.”

“What happened to her?” Laura asked.

“It doesn’t bother you to hear
about another woman?”

“No. Not when it’s your heart,
Mack. I… I care about your heart.”

“Damn, you have a way with words.
Maybe you should write some songs."

“Not in this lifetime,” Laura said.
She ran a finger across Mack’s lips. “Now, are you going to talk to me or not?”

“I am,” Mack said with his teeth
gritted.

He squeezed her hand a little
tighter.

“Kelly was hit and killed by a
drunk driver,” Mack said. “On that damn road at that damn spot.”

“I’m so sorry, Mack.”

“That day has never left me. But
what I could never stop thinking about is that goddamn road. How did it happen
there, Laura?”

“The accident?”

“Yeah. It's a straight road. She…
she could have turned away, right? She could have swerved. I mean, if she…”

Mack shut his eyes and shook his
head. There was a time when he was angry with Kelly. Angry that she was gone.
As though it was her fault.

“I’m sorry fate dealt that to you,”
Laura said. “But you can’t change it.”

“I can’t. My cell phone rang and I
saw her name come up on the screen. I answered with some dumb thing to say, but
instead of Kelly, it was a police officer telling me there was an accident. I
never moved so fast in my life. I rushed to the scene. She was already gone. I
took comfort in knowing she didn’t feel anything or suffer. The other driver,
the drunk driver, he made it out of his car but later died.”

“You never got your peace then,”
Laura said.

The words shocked and touched Mack.
He looked down at Laura to find her looking at him. A strand of hair fell in
front of her face and Mack tucked it behind her ear.

“That’s exactly right.”

“She was gone without a good enough
goodbye. And he was gone without you punching him in the face.”

“Yes,” Mack said. He caught his
bottom lip quivering. “Yes. That’s exactly how I’ve felt. So each year I spend
the week leading up to the date getting drunk and then on the anniversary I
ride out there and spend the day cruising around. Getting pissed off.
Questioning everything I know. Wondering if it’s time to let it all go.”

“I really messed things up,” Laura
said. “I ruined that day.”

“No, you didn’t.” Mack squeezed
Laura tighter. “You changed it all.” Mack sighed. “Next year, on that day,
we’ll be on tour. The band… they told me we could cancel the show. Or I could
fly out before the show. But I don’t think…”

The emotion overflowed Mack.

He shut his eyes and came to the
conclusion that Laura was going to see him cry. He opened his eyes and
everything was blurry. A tear fell and he didn’t care anymore.

“I’ve done nothing but hide behind
those damn drums,” Mack said. “It’s all I know. It’s never hurt me or let me
down. And now we’re famous. We’re rich. We’re embarking on history. And that
hole…”

“Oh, Mack,” Laura said. She
slithered up Mack’s body and touched his tear. “Mack, you don’t ever have to
hide. You’re a good man. Your heart is… beautiful.”

“Laura, what I’m trying to tell you
is that… you fill that hole,” Mack said.

He cleared his throat and slid out
of bed, moving Laura off him. He stood, naked, and walked to the front of the
bus. He couldn’t believe what he had just said to Laura. A part of him felt
like he betrayed his love for Kelly, and he wondered if that feeling would ever
go away.

Mack smelled Laura’s perfect scent
a second before she touched his body. Her hands came around to his stomach, her
fingers searching until they were interlocked. He then felt her supple breasts
press against his back, followed by a soft kiss.

“I’m right here,” Laura said. “No
matter how tough you are in front of the world and your fans, I’m right here to
see the other side.”

“I run,” Mack said. “Just like you.
I get pissed off and I get on my motorcycle and I go. The band, the music, it only
keeps me grounded for so long.”

“That’s okay,” Laura said. “I run
too. We just have to find a way to run in the same direction."

The words were romantic and cruel.
As though they were going to leave fate to make the final decision. Unless they
forced the hand of fate to do so.

Slowly, Mack turned. He put his
hands to Laura’s waist and she put her hands to his shoulders. Her breasts were
pressed tight to his chest. The passion in her eyes was as warm and inviting as
the rest of her body. Together, they started to sway, as though a sad Fallen
Tuesday song was playing.

Laura moved up and kissed Mack
once. “I get it. Just like you get me.”

“We’re lost, but we have each other.
What the hell does it mean?”

“I don’t know,” Laura said. “I’m
not good at this. I would be running by now.”

“But you’re naked.”

“Yeah, I am.” Laura smiled.

Mack kissed her forehead and then
put a hand to the back of her head. He placed Laura’s head to his chest and
held her, rocking left to right. An endless loop of memories and music played
through his mind as he held the most beautiful woman he’d ever met in his life.
That was the truth of it. Laura had edged her way into becoming the most
important person in his life, and it scared him.

He now possessed Laura’s secrets
and fears and she possessed his.

“You don’t have to let her go,”
Laura whispered. “Ever.”

“Remember what I said about letting
go and forgetting. We are both stuck at a crossroads, but for the first time I
am okay with being stuck. Because I have you."

“You’re sweet,” Laura said.

“Don’t tell anyone that. I have a
reputation to uphold.” Mack kissed the top of Laura’s head again. “I want you
to know that I’ll never put you in a position to settle or move forward. What
we have right now…”

Mack stopped. He didn’t want to
mislead Laura’s heart right now. He didn’t want to play into her by keeping her
comfortable. In reality, he wanted to push her to the edge to see what would
happen. He wanted to offer Laura the rest of his life.

“It’s good,” Laura said. “Like you
said. That’s all.”

Laura kissed his chest. She looked
up again with desirable eyes.

“Are you trying to turn me on?”
Mack asked.

“Maybe,” Laura whispered.

Mack couldn’t resist his needs. His
hands slipped down and cupped Laura’s ass. He lifted her up and she let out a
satisfying cry as he carried her back to the bed.

There, Mack placed Laura down and
made love to her again. There were no more secrets, only scars.

*

Laura opened her eyes and lifted
her head. Her pillow had been the warm and hard muscle of Mack’s body. Mack was
still asleep as Laura slowly rolled to her side. She let the covers slip down
her body. She was still naked. Lifting the covers, she looked down and saw that
Mack was still naked too.

She smiled to herself. She was naked
in a rock star's bed on his tour bus.

Steph would be so jealous,
Laura thought to herself as she giggled.

But this wasn’t just any rock star.
This was Mack. He was a man. A real man with a big heart.

As Laura stared at Mack, she
thought about everything he’d said the night before. A woman he loved had been
taken from him, in a cruel and unfair accident. Just like it had been cruel and
unfair the
baby Ella
was taken. But Laura knew her daughter was going to
be taken too early. It just happened while she had been working. And every day
she tried to tell herself that she was at work to provide a good life for Ella,
but no matter how many times she said it, she couldn't get over not being there
to hold Ella's hand and to tell her
it will be
okay
and that they
will be together again
someday
.

Laura squeezed her eyes shut and
chased the thoughts away. She couldn’t go there anymore. She couldn’t go back to
that day at the hospital. She couldn’t face that empty feeling and she could no
longer bother Jon. He had moved on. Not that the death of their daughter was a
welcomed experience, but Jon had always made it clear he and Laura would never
be together. That meant there was probably a chance Jon would have left to go
to San Francisco no matter what. That would have made things even harder.

Feeling a little trapped, Laura
threw her legs over Mack and wiggled her way off the bed without waking him.
She bent down next to the bed and kissed his chest. Staring at him once again,
Laura couldn’t find the right emotions. At night, in the dark, it made sense to
have forever with Mack. But now it was a new day and Mack would wake and become
the rock star he needed to be.

Laura stood and looked around for
her clothing. She grabbed a blanket off one of the other beds and gathered her
pile of clothes. She wrapped the blanket around her and walked to the front of
the bus. When she saw two men sitting at one of the tables, she froze.

“Well, look at this,” a man in a
suit said.

The other man turned and Laura
quickly realized it was Luke. The freaking lead singer of Fallen Tuesday.

“No way,” Luke said.

“I’m so sorry,” Laura. “I, uh… Mack…”

Laura pointed back. She tried to
take a step but Luke stood up.

“No, wait a second,” Luke said.
“You’re Laura, right?”

“Yeah…”

Mack talks about me?

“Last time we met you were fully
clothed.”

Laura’s body burned red.
Everywhere. She wanted to curl up and disappear.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. I didn’t
expect to spend the night here.”

“Since you did,” Luke said with a
grin, “how was it? I mean, the bus. The bed. Was it comfortable?”

“Very.” She couldn't make eye
contact.

“We’re going to be living on this
thing,” Luke said. “That’s what Frank and I were talking about.”

“Frank,” Laura said. She remembered
what Mack had said about Frank.

“Nice to meet you,” Frank said.
“I’d shake your hand, but that blanket will fall if I do so.”

Laura burned even redder. “Sorry.
Let me go get dressed.”

Luke stepped forward. “Hey, real
quick. Sorry. I don’t mean to corner you. But Mack..."

“He told me everything,” Laura
said.

“What is everything?”

“About Kelly.”

Luke’s face turned white. He slowly
turned his head and looked at Frank. That’s when Frank pushed from the table
and slowly stood. He slipped his hands into his pockets and nodded to Luke.

“He told you about Kelly?” Luke
whispered.

“Yeah. We… we both have been
through something terrible. It's nice to be able to comfort each other."

“He doesn’t just comfort you,
Laura,” Luke said. Luke reached out and touched Laura’s shoulder. “He’s in love
with you. I hope you know that.”

“He… what…”

“What in the hell is this?” a voice
bellowed behind Laura.

She looked back and there was Mack
approaching, butt naked. He was like a beast standing there. Muscle and skin. A
beautiful body. It made Laura weak in the knees.

“Just talking,” Luke said.

“She’s fucking naked,” Mack said.
“Let her get dressed.”

“She’s not naked,” Luke said. “You
are.” Luke pointed and smiled. “Having a good morning there Mack?”

Mack stepped behind Laura and let
out a growling sound.

“What are you doing here?” Mack
asked.

“Well, Frank and I met to talk
about some stuff with the tour. The bus felt a little more private since the
rest of the guys are jamming inside. Didn’t realize this bus was... being
used.”

Used… ohmygosh…

Laura’s cheeks couldn’t get any
redder. It didn’t help matters when Mack put his arms around her body and
pulled tight. She could feel Mack’s thickness pressing against her. He was
having a
good morning
.

“Can we get a couple minutes then?”
Mack asked.

“Not a problem,” Luke said. He
looked at Laura. “Always a pleasure, Laura. Nice to see you again. Tell your
sister we said hello. Oh, and make sure she knows if she wants, she’s more than
welcome at the opening show of the tour. Just have Mack talk to Frank about
that.”

“Consider it done,” Frank said. “We
can discuss more details… once everyone is fully dressed.”

“Damnit,” Mack bellowed. “Get the
hell out. Leave passes for her sister and husband, okay? And then get off the
damn bus for a minute.”

“Only a minute?” Luke asked. “Poor
Laura…”

Mack moved Laura to the side and
lunged at Luke. He grabbed Luke by the shirt. Mack stood naked with Luke inches
from him.

“So, Laura,” Frank said. He reached
into his suit jacket and pulled out what looked like tickets and passes and put
them on the table. “These are two tickets and passes to the opening show. I
always keep a few handy just in case. Just give them to your sister and her
husband. They’ll have full access to the side stage area and front row. Just
make sure they’re dressed.”