AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Reluctant, Danny moved away as Lauren opened the notebook and started to nibble on the end of her pen. He leaned his head back and shut his eyes—they were tired and burning. Letting himself wander through his memories, he thought about watching Lauren perform when they were young. When she was seventeen, she played with a local band at some of the area bars. They weren’t supposed to let her in because she was underage, but people liked the band and the bars liked the money, so they’d look the other way. Back then, he’d always been torn. He loved watching Lauren perform but the crowds made him wary.
A frustrated sigh interrupted his thoughts. He opened one eye to find Lauren frowning at the pages.
“Remember playing at O’Malley’s Pub back in the day?” He hoped his question would distract her from whatever was aggravating her.
“Oh, God. I haven’t thought of that dive in a long time.”
“I’ve never understood how you can feel so comfortable up on stage. All those people watching you.”
“That never bothered me.” She got a faraway look. “But, man, it’s a real rush. People screaming at you, for you. Singing your songs back to you. I’m not sure I can really describe it—it’s something you have to experience.”
“And all of them wanting to be you… or bewithyou.” Danny couldn’t help but think of the more hard-core fans. His mouth went a little dry.
“Part of the life,” she said. “That’s why I learned self-defense and why we have security with us on tour. Most of the fans are cool, but there are some idiots out there. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t.”
Danny made an indistinct noise of disgust. Even back in the O’Malley’s days, Lauren had a little cadre of groupies who would follow her around. Most were harmless teenage boys hoping maybe—just maybe—she’d notice them. But there were older ones, too. More than once, Danny had to explain to some over-enthusiastic fan boy that Lauren wasn’t a chew toy.
Lauren stood and stretched, cat-like. She leaned close to him and said, “I don’t make a habit of sleeping with groupies, but in your case, I might make an exception.” Her tone implied there would be no sleeping, at least not immediately. She didn’t have to ask him a second time.
Later, as Lauren lay dozing in his arms, Danny found himself thinking about O’Malley’s again. Back then, there might have been a hundred people at the bar on any given night. But what would a Kingmakers show be like now? Withthousandsof men there—grown-ass men, not little boys. Each one singing along with Lauren. Each one watching her and imagining all the different things they’d do if they got her alone.
A bolt of insecurity coursed through Danny, and he tightened his arm around her without even thinking. She murmured in her sleep. He told himself that he was being an idiot, but the last thing he thought about before he fell asleep was a stadium full of screaming fans.
ChapterTwenty-Nine
Lauren was rarely without a notebook. She’d filled thousands since she first started writing songs. The very first, which was now tattered but safely ensconced in a secure storage locker, had a Joe Cool Snoopy on the cover. In Lauren’s lap now was a brand-new spiral-bound journal. She’d picked one with an abstract sun made of different-sized diamond shapes on the cover, hoping a fresh set of pages would open the door to some fresh ideas.
She didn’t realize Danny had come in from the other room until he started massaging her shoulders. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to relax, as his thumbs pressed into the muscles at the base of her neck and down between her shoulder blades. She kept her eyes closed and rolled her head from side to side, attempting to loosen her neck.
“Still no luck?” he asked.
“No.” That morning, they’d made love—early, as the sun was coming up, before Danny had to leave for work. As she lay in his arms after, Lauren had dissolved into tears as she confessed her difficulties writing, the friction it was causing in the band, and how insecure she felt about her talent.
“I don’t know what’s wrong.” Even she could hear the defeat in her voice. “We’ve got some songs. Most are average. Couple are marginally good, but when we work on them, I don’t hear a hit. Not one that people will grab on to. Maybe the critics are right. Maybe we are old news…”
“Bull. It will come to you, but the more you worry about it, the harder you’ll make it. Like Lucas playing baseball. He’s so worried about hitting, he swings at anything—so we always work on being patient. And waiting.”
“I suck at waiting,” Lauren said with a rueful smile. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you something. I know I mentioned it to you once before, but I still haven’t heard about Cole coming to the studio.”
When Danny’s hands stilled, she knew what the answer was.
“I don’t know about that,” he said. “Cole brought it up the other day, and the conversation got a little testy. I think with what’s going on right now—with us—her visiting might not be in the cards.”
The answer didn’t surprise Lauren, but it did disappoint her. She’d been looking forward to Cole’s visit and her youthful exuberance. She changed the subject.
“I bet you’re looking forward to the weekend?” Lauren closed the notebook and tucked her pen into the metal spiral. Tomorrow, Danny was leaving early in the morning to go spend the weekend with his sons. Lauren was glad he’d have the chance to see the boys. She’d overheard him on the phone with them a few times, knew how much he missed them. But visiting with the boys meant he was visiting with Heather, too. She worried about how hard the weekend might be for Danny.
Or maybe it won’t be so difficult, she thought.
Every time she thought of Danny with Heather, Lauren could swear she saw the future. And it didn’t include her. Who was she fooling? Danny wasn’t going to give up his family and join the three-ring circus that was her life. She swallowed her fears—Danny didn’t need all her drama on top of everything.
Danny went to the kitchen and got some water. He brought Lauren a peach. She nibbled at it, not really hungry even though she hadn’t eaten much dinner. With a sigh, she opened the journal again. An hour later, she had cobbled together what might be the start of a halfway decent chorus. Hopefully, when the rest of the band heard it in the morning, they’d like the concept.
Morning, however, came far too early. Lauren woke up when Danny crept out of bed and into the shower. It was still dark but by leaving before rush hour, he could make it to Connecticut by the time the boys were having breakfast. Lauren listened to the hiss and patter of the water.
When Danny tried to slip from the room, she rolled over. “No sneaking out.”
“I was trying not to wake you. You were restless last night.” He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his hand over her hair.
