“Go ahead and tell her to cancel my room. I’ve got other plans.”
Chapter 4
Summer
I can’t believe I just invited this veritable stranger to come home with me.
But he doesn’t feel like a stranger.
It doesn’t make sense, because it feels like I’ve known him a long time. He’s easy to talk to and even easier on the eyes, but it’s more than that. There’s something different about him because the thoughtful, gentle man he is on the inside is the polar opposite of the long-haired, tattooed rocker he is on the outside. Obviously, it’s the same thing in his case, but I’ve never met anyone like him.
And the need for him to touch me is more than I can resist.
The storm has settled into a light drizzle as we walk out to my car.
“You know how to drive a stick?”
“I do.” He grins as I toss him the keys, catching them with one hand.
“Then I guess I’ll take you up on your offer of driving me home.”
Normally, I wouldn’t let anyone drive my car, but I can’t seem to help but trust Tate.
And I’m exhausted.
He gets behind the wheel and adjusts the seat since his legs are quite a bit longer than mine.
“Reverse sticks sometimes,” I tell him.
“Got it.” He starts it up and smoothly shifts into reverse, pulling out of the parking lot.
“Right at the light and then left at the first stop sign.”
I lean back in the seat and relax into the aging leather.
I love this car. It broke Mom’s heart when she had to stop driving but I take her for rides whenever I can. It’s a convertible, so we put the top down and let the wind blow in our faces. That’s when she’s happiest and I do my best to take her out whenever the weather allows.
“Tired?” he asks, glancing over at me.
“A bit.”
“I slept for about two hours before the bus broke down so I’m tired but at least I had a nap. You’re going on twenty-four hours without sleep.”
“I just passed the twenty-four hour mark,” I admit. “But it’s okay. I’ll sleep for a few hours and then get up to start baking. I don’t want to mess up my sleep rhythm since I work a lot of hours between Tuesday and Saturday.”
“Yeah, I’m up late most nights because we usually don’t finish playing until eleven or so, and then there’s tear-down, sometimes we have the press or local radio personalities backstage to talk to. By the time we get to the bus or hotel it’s usually around one in the morning. And I don’t get good sleep on the bus so I’m usually dragging by the time we get a night at a hotel.”
“You sleep on the bus most nights?”
He nods. “We were on tour with a speed metal band called Karnal Death. It’s a really long story but their lead guitarist wound up in jail after assaulting his girlfriend—who is now engaged to Mick—so the tour ended abruptly. Right as our album went platinum. We didn’t want to lose the momentum, so our manager asked if we’d be willing to sacrifice some comfort to go on a club tour.”
“Which means riding on a bus?”
“Yeah. It’s not the same money as playing arena or bigger venues, so flying from city to city isn’t in the budget. Not yet. We’re doing okay, and we got a nice payout earlier this month, but we’re not making the kind of money to charter a plane, or even for the five of us to fly commercial. We’re getting there, though.”
“That’s both exciting and frustrating,” I say thoughtfully. “Someday you’ll have to tell me about the Karnal Death guy and Mick’s fiancée. But not tonight.” I stifle a yawn. “I guess I’m more tired than I thought.”
He reached across the center console for my hand. “Me too. We can go home and get some sleep. No pressure, Summer.”
