Serenades (Whispering Cove) Read online

  “Josh,” she called out, hoping he would answer from the bathroom or maybe the living area.

  He didn’t answer. Telling herself he hadn’t run after learning about Kendall, and after a few rounds of sex, Aimee moved Kendall back to her crib.

  Tucking the cover around her daughter, swaddling her in warmth the way she liked, Aimee whispered, “I know you like him, baby, and I hope the song he sang on stage comes true. For both of us. But we have to be careful.”

  She wouldn’t ask him to stay with them. She wouldn’t put that pressure on him. She would show him how much she enjoyed having him around. After turning off Kendall’s light, Aimee checked the apartment.

  It didn’t matter that she wouldn’t pressure him. His clothes, boots and jacket were missing. He’d left despite his claims.

  Anger gripped Aimee. He’d seemed to care about Kendall. He’d said all the right things, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that sometime while she slept he’d slipped out. She wasn’t angry with Josh, though. No, she was angry with herself for believing the fantasy could be real.

  He couldn’t leave his touring lifestyle behind any more than she could join one. They were too different to be a real family, and she should have realized that from the start. She would have if she hadn’t been blinded by dreams.

  Knowing she wouldn’t sleep, Aimee headed to the kitchen and began preparing the sticky buns she’d promised Carmen. They would need to rise before she baked them, but since holidays were calorie-free days, she saw no reason not to indulge her love of baking or the sugary sweets that kept her from ever getting slim. It wasn’t like there was a man who’d stick around for her to keep happy.

  With the buns rolled and covered until she was ready to put them in the oven, she returned to the bedroom. It was officially Christmas Eve, snow was falling, her baby was snoozing, and she’d spent the night with a sexy man in her bed. It didn’t really surprise her that yet another year would pass without her being in a loving relationship. She’d been the outcast enough to understand she wasn’t easy to love.

  Josh had been her first taste of love and unfortunately he wasn’t meant to be a flavor she would grow accustomed to. She would have to take Carmen’s advice and settle for one of the men in Whispering Cove. There had to be someone kind who would love her daughter as much as she did.

  He may not light the fires of passion in her soul that Josh did, but a woman could live without that. Right?

  Look where passion had landed her. The first time she’d given into it she’d wound up a single mother. The second time she found herself and her daughter alone when he walked away from them.

  “Happy Christmas Eve!” Carmen called as she opened the front door.

  Aimee forced a smile for her sister and moved out of the kitchen. “Morning, sis.”

  Carmen took one look at Aimee and her face went from holiday jovial to murderous. “What did he do? I’m going to kick his ass.”

  Aimee tried to calm her sister, but Carmen’s rant had started and there would be no stopping her.

  “I told that son-of-a-bitch not to hurt you. What kind of man walks away from his own child? Did he at least tell you good-bye or why he couldn’t stick around?” Carmen flung her coat, scarf and gloves onto the couch and began pacing. “Bastard probably just walked out without a word.”

  Aimee winced, which only served to incite Carmen further. She wanted to stand up for Josh, to defend him and say he deserved some time to adjust to the news. The trouble was she was torn between anger and believing her own excuses.

  The idealist in her couldn’t help hoping he’d have stayed to blindly accept them both. A vow to leave his touring life behind so he could stay with her and Kendall would have been a dream come true, but foster care had taught her one thing. Life didn’t always suck, but it wasn’t always fair, and it was never a dream come true.

  “Carmen!”

  Carmen snapped her mouth shut in shock from Aimee’s raised voice. “What?”

  “While I’m inclined to feel the same as you, I don’t really know why Josh left. Given that it’s Christmas maybe we could hold off from judging too harshly until we do know what is going on in his mind.”

  “What’s to know? He has a daughter and he walked out on Christmas Eve.”

  “A daughter he didn’t know about twelve hours ago, and for all he knows she isn’t really his.”

  “Oh please! We all know you don’t sleep around.”

  Aimee smiled. “You know that, because you know me. He can’t necessarily feel as certain.”

  She hoped her defense of him wasn’t wasted. She really hoped he deserved the faith she was giving him, because if he made her look like an ass…

  Josh let himself into Kellan’s room and barely resisted the urge to slam the door. The only thing that stopped him was the lump of a body obscured by covers beside his best friend’s. Trying not to awake whatever woman Kell had talked into his bed, Josh picked up a nearby feather.

  Not thinking about what it might have been used for, he rubbed the tip along Kellan’s ear. Kell reached up blindly and slapped at his face and, despite his shitty mood, Josh couldn’t stop the smile that stretched his mouth. He and Kell never failed to find ways to harass the other.

  Brushing the feather against Kell’s face again, Josh stifled a laugh. He ended up biting his lips when Kell’s lids lifted to reveal his hazel irises. His friend was not amused at being awakened with a feather. Well, not with Josh at the other end of it anyway.

  “What the hell do you think you are up to?”

  Josh ignored the threats hiding beneath each single-syllable word. It only amused him more when he needed to hold on to his anger. “Get up.”

  “It’s not enough that you have us in a hotel on Christmas Eve, now you’re waking us up before the sun?”

  “You could have left town after the concert last night.” Josh lowered his voice when the woman beside Kell shifted beneath the covers.

  “Yeah.” Kellan grabbed his jeans from the end of the bed and stepped into them. “What do you need my help with?”

  “Aimee has a daughter.”

  Kellan’s eyes widened.

  “My daughter,” Josh clarified. “She’s tried calling me, even came to a concert and tried to see me.”

  “So why didn’t she tell you before now?”

  “I never received her messages and she was told at the concert I wouldn’t see her.” That last tidbit was one he’d dragged out of her during their shower. It had angered him more than not knowing about Kendall.

  “You’ve had some crazies try to get backstage,” Kell pointed out. “It’s not surprising someone would automatically block her.”

  “Then explain the voicemails she left on my phone. Why didn’t I ever get one?”

  Kell’s lips shifted to one side as if he was pondering the possibilities. A second later he said, “You think someone on the crew is intentionally blocking her. How would anyone know you want to see her?”

  “I understand blocking her from coming backstage. Sort of support it even.” His skin heated as he thought about Aimee standing backstage, pregnant, trying to talk her way past his crew. “What I don’t support is someone going into my phone to delete her voicemails and telling her at that concert they’d spoken with me and I told them not to let her back.”

  Kell winced. “Okay, that’s bad.”

  “That’s why I didn’t know about my daughter until tonight.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Find out who blocked Aimee, and can their ass if they didn’t have a fucking spectacular reason for blocking her. Then, I’m going to make damn sure I’m a part of my daughter’s life.”

  “And her mom?”

  “If I’m damn lucky I’ll convince her I’m worth a shot.” Josh jerked his head toward the woman in the bed. “That I’m not like you on the road.”

  “Anymore,” Kell muttered as he grabbed his shirt and socks from the floor. “I think it’s safe to assume
that whoever blocked her at the concert is the same person who deleted her messages from your phone.”

  “Yeah. So the list is a small one.”

  “I can only think of one person who fits the mold for both opportunities. Why do you need me?”

  “You’re going to keep me away from shovels and graveyards.”

  “Right.” Kell nodded as he shoved his foot into a boot. “Friends don’t let friends kill blindly.”

  Josh laughed. Staying out of prison would be the best way to make sure he got to know his daughter. And Kendall would come back to haunt him from her grave if he jeopardized his career, not that he’d really kill someone.

  When Kell had gotten his second boot on, the two men walked a few doors down. Knowing he’d more likely pound the wood hard enough to wake the entire floor, Josh stepped back and motioned for Kell to do the deed. He gave the door three solid knocks.

  Leya took several minutes to get to the door. Her normally tame, short hair stood up in a messy mohawk. The mascara and eyeliner that were her closest friends darkened her eyes so she more closely resembled a raccoon than a woman.

  “Kellan. Josh.” She glanced between them. “What’s up?”

  Leya had joined the crew just before the first Whispering Cove gig. Aside from crossing a few boundaries she shouldn’t—like waiting for Josh in his trailer during rehearsals—she’d been competent and reliable. A couple of talks had been all they’d needed to keep her out of his trailer. He wasn’t going to be able to let the treatment of Aimee slide so easily.

  “We need to talk.” Kell took the lead.

  “Sure.” Leya opened the door wider and invited them into her messy room. “What’s up?”

  “You were hired to help with merchandise, crowd control and marketing.” Kell got straight to the point, saving Josh from being the bad guy. He’d take his turn, though.

  “Yes.”

  “We’ve already had talks with you about boundaries and inappropriate behavior.”

  She glanced leerily between the two. “Yes.”

  “Have you ever deleted messages off my phone you didn’t want me to have?” Josh asked pointedly.

  Leya blinked, and for half a second he was sure she would lie to cover her ass. He wouldn’t believe her if she did, because she was the only semi-new person on the crew and no one else had ever crossed a boundary into his personal life like she had. That she’d been in his trailer meant she’d had access to his phone, because he left it behind when he was rehearsing and on stage.

  “Yes. I assumed crowd control extended to women outside of your family and the crew leaving repeated messages on your cell.”

  “Were you operating under that assumption when you lied to a woman’s face, telling her Josh said he didn’t want to see her?”

  “Yes.” Leya stiffened her back defensively, as if she thought they were out of line with their questioning. “You hired me to keep the crazies away from you. Any woman who calls you over and over, swearing she had to talk to you, and then showing up at a concert with the same claim falls in that category.”

  “Unless those calls came in on my personal cell, which only Kellan and I have the authority to give out.” Josh’s hands fisted at his sides. The woman before him had cost him five months with his daughter and longer with Aimee. It was unforgiveable, but it was also Christmas, which had him fighting the urge to fire her on the spot.

  “I…”

  “You kept someone I care about from getting through to me.” Josh stepped closer and met Leya’s gaze directly. “That woman is the mother of my child and because of you I almost didn’t know about her.”

  The color seeped from Leya’s face. She shook her head as she backed away. It wasn’t enough to win Josh’s sympathy.

  “Given that it’s Christmas I will pay you through the first.” He moved to the door, ready to be back with Aimee and Kendall. “You should consider the time in Whispering Cove as your last job with us.”

  “Josh, I’m sorry.” She rushed forward and grabbed his hand. “I was only trying to protect you.”

  “You’ll want to release Josh. Now.” Kellan narrowed his usually friendly eyes in a show of suspicion he rarely revealed.

  As soon as she did, Josh and Kellan left her room. In the hall Kell said simply, “I’ll see that she causes no more issues.”

  “I’ve already changed the security settings on my phone.”

  “So you’re heading back to Aimee?” Kell’s tone was level, but fear lingered in his gaze. He was worried about the band and their tour.

  “I can’t let my daughter grow up without me any more than I can deny how I feel about her mother.”

  “You love her.”

  Josh thought about how he’d felt with and without Aimee. Even when she’d told him they couldn’t have a relationship he’d been happier just being in her town. A few minutes of talking with her had inspired him to write a love song that would no doubt be a hit before they recorded it—fans loved that sappy crap.

  “She decorated our daughter’s room in musical stuff. Our album cover is printed on the bedding.”

  “Sweet.”

  “She named the baby Kendall.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah.” He needed to say nothing more for Kell to know exactly what Aimee meant to him. “I’m not putting our band and music on the back burner, but we will be reevaluating things to allow for more time with our families.”

  Kell nodded. “That’s not going to break any hearts.”

  “I didn’t think it would.” Josh smiled as he headed to the elevators. “I trust you’ll tell everyone Merry Christmas for me.”

  “I trust you expect your phone to go crazy with thanks very soon.”

  “Yeah.” And he’d return every message.

  Chapter Eight

  Josh watched Aimee as she stood before the kitchen window that offered a view of the stage he’d performed on. She’d stood in the same spot when he’d been in town for the Fall Festival, when he’d felt her watching him. He’d looked up, and though he hadn’t been able to see her clearly, he’d seen her silhouette and something had told him he had to meet the woman in the window. That same something had pulled him to her when he’d opened the bus door to find her standing beyond.

  “You watched me from that window the first time I was in town.”

  She jumped and spun to face him as he closed the door behind him. “I swear I felt you look right at me.”

  He cocked his head, curious why she didn’t ask where he’d gone. She simply turned back to the window and looked out as if she was seriously studying the landscape that was quickly being covered with more snow.

  “Mid-stage in your jeans, tight T-shirt and ball cap you could have been any man, but I knew you were you. And though the cap shadowed your eyes I swear I felt you look right at me.”

  He closed the few feet between them, but instead of reaching out to her he leaned against the counter so he could see her profile. The scent of strawberry shampoo clung to her hair. Its whisper was only a hint of her scent he struggled to pin down. Sharing the shower with her, lathering her hair up, watching the bubbles run over her spectacular curves, he’d been sure he would lose control and take her against the shower wall.

  He would have made the suggestion, but she’d used those bubbles as lubrication and sent him flying with the best hand job he’d ever had. He’d thanked her by carrying her to orgasm with his hands. Then they’d rinsed, dried, dressed.

  Now, standing in her kitchen with the scent of homemade sticky buns in the oven, he could barely think of anything beyond the time they were stealing. Each moment in her company got exponentially better.

  She made him laugh. She gifted him with generosity. She asked for nothing beyond the simplicity of the night, yet each hour that passed had him wanting to give her more.

  “I did look at you.” He moved to stand behind her, close enough that her hair brushed his chin but not close enough they actually touched. “I felt your gaz
e as vividly as when I opened my door. As vividly as I see you now.”

  “How’s that possible? We didn’t know each other. We couldn’t come from more different worlds.”

  “Yet distance disappeared. Then. Now.”

  “For the moment. We’re good at making it disappear for a few moments, but then life intrudes.”

  “You thought I’d left you when you woke up.”

  “You left no indication you’d be back.”

  Pain gripped his heart and squeezed. He’d thought they were getting closer, yet she was pulling back. To protect herself. To keep him from Kendall. To give him an easier escape. “I was hoping to be back before you woke up. I didn’t realize you were such an early riser.”

  “Comes with having an infant.”

  “Seems so.” When he’d first gotten back to town he might have taken the escape. He might even have considered it, partially, after meeting Kendall. He didn’t think so but if Aimee had argued her point he might have. Spending the last several hours with Aimee…

  Escape was a word now absent from his vocabulary.

  “Why’d you leave, Josh? What could have been so important that it couldn’t wait?”

  “I had to deal with the person responsible for deleting your messages and telling you I didn’t want to see you.”

  “What?” She shook her head. “What did you do? You didn’t fire someone, did you?”

  “I did, but we’d had other issues with her. You were her third and fourth strike.”

  Aimee winced and then sighed. “Is it wrong that I only half feel bad about that?”

  “I don’t feel at all bad.” He shook his head. “Neither should you.”

  She busied herself around the kitchen, not saying anything else for several minutes. He stayed where he was, content to watch her in the silence of the morning. For too long he’d been telling himself he was living. In Aimee’s kitchen above Hauk’s bar he realized the truth. He’d only been watching from the sidelines.

  Aimee changed things.

  “Kendall was so fussy tonight, last night, I almost skipped the concert.” She spoke like she was far away, and though he suspected a part of her was, he felt the warmth of her spirit humming in front of him. “You started to sing. Quiet. Confident. I’d never heard that song, so I’d never sung it to her, but she calmed instantly with your first word.”