Damaged But Not Broken (New Adult Rockers) (8 page)

I had never really doubted my life
with Savannah. Until now.

Yes, I get frustrated with
Savannah, and she annoys the shit out of me sometimes, but isn’t that normal?
She’s the only girl I’ve lived with, so I don’t have much to compare it to.

As I cruise through the streets
back towards our house, my stomach flips when I think of what the hell I am
going to tell Savannah about this afternoon. It’s not going to go over well
when I tell her that I had lunch with Paige.

Savannah doesn’t know much about
Paige other than we were high school sweethearts. She knew that Kenny was
Paige’s father, but I don’t even know if Savannah knew about Paige’s attack. I
never shared it with Savannah, and unless Savannah was following the news
twelve years ago, she wouldn’t have known.

I still have a couple hours before
Savannah comes home, so I can work on my explanation. The fact that I even have
to work on my explanation annoys me. I try to imagine how I would feel if
Savannah went out with an old flame to catch up. It worries me that a part of me
wouldn’t care. I can’t imagine Savannah having someone in her past that meant
as much to her as Paige meant to me.

Does Paige mean anything to me now?

I don’t want to face the answer to that
question , all I can think of is how badly I wanted to reach out and kiss her
while we were together this afternoon.

What am I thinking? I’m getting
married for Christ’s sake!

As I pull into my driveway, I
decide that the only thing I can do is avoid Paige. Which I can’t do because
I’ve already promised to come out and see her play Friday night. I’ll just go
out Friday and hear her play, support her as a friend, and then keep my
distance. I don’t want to hurt her, but I can’t jeopardize my relationship with
Savannah.

Feeling this strongly about Paige
is dangerous, and I need to tread carefully.

Once in the house, I lock myself in
my music room, which also doubles as my office. I call Becky to find out where
Paige is playing and then I look over some of our band information. Kenny is
good about handling things, but I like to keep track too. Money is tight and I
really need this tour to come through or I might find myself being forced to
put on a suit and work for Jeffrey Devlin at his investment firm.

I shiver at the thought. I’m not a
suit and tie person.

Just as I begin to wrap up, I hear
the front door bang open.

“Suuuugar!” Savannah sings out, and
I hear her heels clicking along the floor.

“Be there in a sec!”

I close my laptop, force Paige from
my thoughts again, and head out to greet my fiancé.

The refrigerator door is wide open
and Savannah is bent over, fishing for a water bottle in the back. I pause a
moment, drinking in her long legs in her red heels, and her ass which is
practically hanging out in her short black skirt.

“Dang, baby. Don’t you think that
skirt’s a little short for work?”

I can feel her smiling even though
her back is to me. She slowly rocks her ass back and forth and turns around to
me, a lazy, sexy grin across her face.

“Don’t you like it, sugar?’’ she
croons, slowly moving towards me, running her hands along her red top to draw
my attention to her boobs.

It works.

“Yes, I do like it,” I admit. “I
don’t like that all your coworkers can like it, too.”

“Sugar, you know I work with mostly
women.”

“
Mostly
.” I repeat.

“Nothing wrong with giving the guys
a little show. Let them have a peek at what they’re never going to get.”

I feel a surge of jealousy at the
idea of other men ogling Savannah in her skimpy clothes. And then I feel like a
bastard because I spent the afternoon with another woman, and have been
fantasizing about her since I ran into her last night.

Savannah sprawls across a kitchen
chair and takes a long drink of her water.

“What did you work on today?” she
asks.

“I did some management stuff for
the band and had to talk to Becky about a few things.” I try to stand
non-committal. “I also stopped by to see an old friend who is back in town.”

“Oh? Who’s that?” Savannah says,
her tone rising and octave.

“Kenny’s daughter. Paige.”

Savannah isn’t fooled.

She narrows her eyes. “Paige as in
your high school girlfriend?”

I roll my eyes to try to show it’s
not a big deal. “If you can call it that. She moved away when she was fifteen.”

“You lost your virginity to her,”
Savannah points out.

Damn. Chicks always remember stuff
like that.

“Well, yeah. I swear, we had sex
maybe a handful of times before she moved away.”

Which was true. It had only been a
couple weeks after we both lost our virginity when Paige moved away suddenly.

“So what, you just 'caught up'? Talked
about the good ol’ days when you were screwing each other?” Savannah’s voice is
hard and I know this is far from over.

“Savannah, don’t be that way. I
told you we were friends before. She was my first friend when I moved to
Nashville. I haven’t seen her in thirteen years. I just thought it would be
nice to stop by and say hello. Especially since I’m signed with her dad’s
record label.”

Savannah seems somewhat mollified
when I remind her that I work for Paige’s father.

“You said she is ‘back in town.’
What do you mean by that?”

“She’s apparently a singer. It
seems that Kenny has been trying to get her to Nashville for a while so he can
help start her music career.”

“She’s a
singer
too?”

Savannah definitely doesn’t like
this.

I shrug again. “I guess. It’s the
first I’ve heard of it.”

Savannah finishes her water, and
licks her glossy lips. “I don’t like it,” she says bluntly. “If she’s going to
sign with Kenny, then you’ll be seeing even more of her.”

I feel a swell of hope, but quickly
cover it up. “I doubt it. How often do I see Kenny’s other groups?”

Savannah nods. “I guess so.
Hopefully your tour will start soon.”

It seems the worst is over and I
take the opportunity to change the subject to dinner. I suggest taking Savannah
out which makes her happy. I hope that’s the last we talk about Paige, but as I
look at the sparkling diamond on Savannah’s finger, I can’t help wondering what
it would look like on Paige’s hand.

~~~

Friday rolls around quickly, and I
conveniently forget to tell Savannah that I’m heading out to the club Clipper
to see Paige play.

“Where are you going again?”
Savannah calls from the bathroom as she dolls herself up. She and Abby are
going to have a girls night, while Ryan and I go see Paige. Ryan doesn’t
actually know we’re seeing Paige either, he just thinks we’re heading out to
the Clipper for drinks and live music.

I hesitate not wanting to disclose
our location in case she decides to stop by and surprise me. “Umm, I have to
check with Ryan. I forget.”

“I thought I heard you say the
Clipper when you were on the phone with him.”

Shit.

“Oh yeah. Maybe that was it.”

This lying makes me feel like an
ass.

“Whatever." She says. "Just
curious.”

“Where are you and Abby heading?”

“Don’t know. Dinner out and then
maybe we’ll go dancing.”

She comes slinking out of the
bathroom, dressed in sky-high electric blue heels and a short black dress.

“Damn, baby. You’re going dancing
like that?”

I can’t help it. Savannah looks
like she’s on the prowl.

“What’s wrong with it?” she asks
innocently.

I’m no fool. When Savannah goes
somewhere she wants to be the center of attention. She dresses to impress. Her
hair is perfectly styled and loose down her back, and she has full makeup on.

She blows me a kiss so as not to
mess up her lipstick. “See you later, sugar. Don’t wait up if you get in before
me.”

“Alright. Have fun. Don’t do
anything stupid.”

Savannah rolls her eyes and walks
out of the room.

Once the bathroom is free, I take a
quick shower and a little over an hour later, Ryan and I are walking into the
Clipper. I see Kenny at a table with some other business people, and I wave.

“Did you know Kenny was going to be
here?” Ryan asks.

“No but you know how he is. He’s
always out at these places.”

I look over and see Kenny nursing a
club soda. He seems to be keeping his shit together since his label nearly
tanked. I remember Kenny being a big drinker when Paige and I were kids, and it
only seemed to get worse after Paige left.

We order a couple of beers and take
a seat at a small table. A few minutes later, someone taps Kenny on the
shoulder and Kenny nods and gets up. He walks onstage and grabs the mic.

“I’ve got a bit of a surprise for
all of you,” he purrs into the mic in his drawl, “I’m happy to say my little
girl has returned home, though she’s not so little anymore. And she’s one hell
of a singer and guitar player. I'm proud to introduce my daughter, Paige
Lawson!”

The crowd claps their hands and
cheers in response. Kenny has a big goofy grin plastered across his face as
Paige walks out onstage.

“Holy shit! Did you know about
this?” Ryan asks, drinking in Paige. Ryan and I became friends after college,
but I never told him about Paige.

“I knew a little,” I admit, “Paige
and I used to know each other as kids.”

“Damn!” Ryan says appreciatively,
shaking his head. “I’m glad you’ve got Savannah now. I’m going to be all over
this.”

“You better watch it,” I growl.

Paige takes the mic. "Thank
you all for coming tonight, it's great to be back in Nashville." She says in
her soft, sexy voice.

Ryan eyes me carefully. “What’s it
to you?” he asks.

“Nothing,” I manage to say, “It’s
just that Paige has been through some serious shit. I’m a little protective of
her.”

Ryan takes a long drink of his
beer, and leans back in his chair as his eyes rove over Paige’s body.

She’s dressed in a simple dark blue
dress that highlights her eyes. It’s short enough to reveal her killer legs
without being trashy. It dips across her chest without showing too much
cleavage, but let's everyone know that she has one hell of a rack.

Her hair is curled a bit, not long
and straight like it was the other day, but it looks great. Kind of messy. It
reminds me of what she looked like after we would finish fooling around. Still
gorgeous but messed up just a little.

Ryan is still admiring her body and
I feel a wave of anger and possessiveness over Paige. She was mine first, and I
don’t like anyone looking at her in that hungry kind of way. Ryan is a great
guy, but he knows how to work things with the ladies. He’s slept with more
women than I can count. He is smooth and charming, and half Mexican which gives
him a bit of an exotic dark features look.

I don’t want Paige anywhere near
him.

But then all my thoughts leave me
as Paige starts to sing. I’m blown away by her voice.

I know instantly that Paige is
destined to be a star. She has a vulnerable, sexy quality about her that makes
her instantly likeable. She’s real. And her voice is flat out amazing. Powerful
but tender, with an almost soulful quality. She could rival any current female
country star.

I look over at Ryan whose jaw is
hanging open.

“Shit, man! Did you know she could
sing like that?” he asks.

I shake my head in disbelief. I
glance over and see Kenny Lawson grinning from ear to ear, glowing with pride.

Paige does a total of five songs
and people jump to their feet clapping and whistling for her when she’s
finished. She thanks everyone, clearly embarrassed by the happy reaction and
then hurries off stage. I see Kenny disappear after her.

“Are we going to stick around for a
bit?” Ryan asks, finishing off his beer, still looking somewhat shell shocked.

“Yeah.”

“Cool. I’m going to get another
beer and check out who’s at the bar.” His eyes slide longingly to the stage
door where Paige will eventually emerge. “I need to bide my time,” he grins.

“I mean it, Ryan. She’s not right
for you.”

Ryan winks. “I can show her the
ropes.” He saunters off for another beer.

I sit and stew over Ryan's
intentions with Paige. I’m glad I came to see her, and I’m proud as hell of
her, but I know in the pit of my stomach it was a mistake. When I saw her the
other day, I knew I was in big trouble the instant all of my old feelings
started coming back.

After seeing her perform just now,
I know I've only made it worse. And now that Paige is here in front of me, back
in my life, I don’t know how I'm possibly going to forget about her.

I know I should get up and walk
away. I should leave right now. Not even congratulate Paige, just grab my keys
and run like hell out of the bar. Avoid her at all costs because I'm in love
with Savannah and we're getting married. But I know myself, and I know that I can’t
do that. I can’t walk away from Paige now.

It scares the shit out of me.

It takes about ten minutes, but
Paige finally emerges from the side door. Kenny is at her side instantly,
hugging her and whispering into her ear. Paige smiles widely and then I see her
eyes scanning the bar. I’m not sure what she’s looking for but I hope it’s me.

Her eyes find me and that says it
all. She excuses herself, and politely accepts congratulations from people as
she makes a beeline for me. She’s still wearing that sexy blue dress and it
kills me to see her looking at me the way she used to – like I’m the only person
that exists.

“Blake! You came!” She throws
herself into my arms, and I inhale, taking in her familiar scent of vanilla and
ivory.

“Oh, crap, I’m sorry,” she
apologizes, pulling back. “It just kind of came over me.”