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She waggled a finger at him, grinning. “NDA,” she reminded him.
He wouldn’t say a word, but her sexual inexperience now made sense. The one guy she was linked to for three years wasn’t interested in girls. He was floored by the realization. And ridiculously relieved. “So, why did the two of you break it off?”
“It was actually Zane who wanted to end things about eight months ago. He just didn’t feel the situation was fair to me, not that I was interested in dating anyone. So, we made it an amicable split, though his female fans raked me over the coals on social media for breaking his heart,” she added wryly. “He’s still a great friend that I keep in touch with, and I really hope he eventually goes public with the truth. He deserves to be happy.”
“Why did you agree to do it?” he asked quietly.
She thought for a moment. “Three reasons, actually. My mother insisted it would be a great career move,” she said, and rolled her eyes at that. “I really liked Zane and I wanted to help him. But mostly, I wasn’t over you when the whole fake relationship scenario was proposed to me, and being linked to someone just made things overall easier.”
“How so?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t interested in dating anyone, so it was a cover-up for me, too, in a lot of ways,” she revealed, her gaze brimming with honesty. “You’re the only one I’ve ever been with that way, Collin. Wholly and intimately.”
Blown away by her admission and everything else he’d learned tonight, he reached for Raevynn and pulled her across his lap. He hugged her close to his chest, wondering if she could feel the steady beat of his heart that had been, and still was, directly linked to her. He’d loved her back then, and he loved her now.
She cuddled against him, her hand stroking along the side of his neck and down to his chest in a tender caress. “I wish I could stay right here with you,” she whispered. “Forever.”
God, he wished that, too. But staying sequestered from the world indefinitely was impossible, and her leaving him was inevitable.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The following morning, Raevynn woke up teeming with inspiration and her mind clearer than it had been for years in terms of her life, her future, and her career.
With Collin still deep asleep beside her, and not wanting to wake him, she carefully slipped from the bed and quietly got ready for the day ahead. She put on one of the comfortable, casual dresses she’d bought, and after brushing her teeth, she looked into the bathroom mirror and grinned as she took in her short hair, which still looked great—sexy a
nd tousled and all she needed to do was run her fingers through the strands and the soft waves did their own thing. She loved it.
Out in the kitchen, she made a cup of coffee, and while it was brewing, she eyed the prepaid phone that she hadn’t touched since sending her mother that initial text a few days ago. She turned it back on and wasn’t surprised when the device pinged at least a dozen times with different incoming voice and text messages. All from her mother, demanding that she return and reminding her she had upcoming obligations and commitments scheduled the following week. Not to mention a contract waiting for her to sign so that preparations for the new world tour could commence, along with production.
One of the last messages, left the previous evening, had been the most disparaging, accusing Raevynn of being spoiled and selfish and only thinking of herself.
A week ago, a hurtful comment like that would have left her guilt-ridden and devastated, which her mother knew. Today, it was a stark reminder of how manipulative her parent was. And how Raevynn had spent the past seven years being so easily influenced by her mother’s words and actions, to the point that she’d lost her true identity, and her own voice and opinions, along the way.
It had taken running away with the one man who still knew her heart to give her the fortitude to come to those realizations and accept the things she knew had to change.
She sent a quick text back to her mother. I’ll be back at the Plaza Hotel this afternoon. And then she disconnected the phone once again. It was all her mother needed to know, and for the next few hours, she wanted to enjoy the peace and quiet and the time she had left with Collin.
Surprised that she wasn’t more upset by all those messages, she returned to her coffee and stirred in French vanilla creamer. Then, rummaging through the kitchen drawers, she found a notepad and pen and took those items and her mug out to the deck. She sat in one of the comfortable chairs and meditated for a few minutes to readjust her mindset while enjoying the warm morning sunshine on her face and the sense of calm around her.
As she relaxed, the creative side to her brain engaged, a song fully forming in her mind, and an adrenaline rush of excitement shot through her. It had been a while since lyrics had come to her with such clarity, and she picked up the pad of paper and pen and let the words flow. For well over an hour, she wrote the verse, chorus, and bridge and hummed the melody since she didn’t have her guitar with her, feverishly jotting down notes for various chords and riffs to add in later.
Out of everything her career entailed, she realized this was her passion. Writing songs was what made her happy.
She was so immersed in the new song that she didn’t hear Collin come out onto the deck until he quietly sat down in the chair beside hers. Startled by his sudden presence, her body jerked and she placed a hand over her rapidly racing heart.
“Oh, hey, hi,” she said breathlessly. “You kind of surprised me.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to,” he said apologetically. “You just looked really intensely focused and I didn’t want to interrupt whatever you were doing.”
“It’s okay.” Relaxing once again, she smiled his way. “I’m just about done.”
Grinning back at her, he leaned over, smoothed his hand over her hair, and placed a soft kiss on her lips, lingering a few extra seconds. He tasted like mint toothpaste and the coffee he held in his other hand. And maybe even a little bit of her future.
“Morning,” he murmured as he settled back into his seat, his sexy voice reminding her of all the hot, erotic things they’d done together the night before. “You were up early.”
She shrugged. “A lot on my mind, I guess.”
He nodded in understanding and glanced at the notepad she held, his gaze narrowing slightly as he tried to decipher her scribbles and handwritten notes. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?”
