Make Me Believe: Jilted: The Bride Read online

  Rowan pushed at the blankets and untangled herself as she sat up. Or maybe Luke was so used to waking up with a woman in his bed it didn’t even phase him.

  Why did that thought depress her so much?

  By the time she dressed and finished packing the rest of her things, Luke had started breakfast and had coffee brewing.

  He turned her way as she left the bathroom. “You good?”

  She nodded, avoiding his gaze. She couldn’t meet his eyes just then, still embarrassed from waking up wrapped around him.

  “The eggs are almost done. If you want to take over, I’ll finish getting dressed.”

  “Sure.” She took the spatula from his hand and stepped into his spot. He hesitated, then walked around her. She glanced over her shoulder as he walked away, painfully aware of how well his ass filled out his jeans.

  They had to get off the mountain immediately.

  As soon as the door closed, Luke shoved his hand down his pants and adjusted his raging hard-on. He’d gotten it mostly under control when he’d walked outside to turn on the generator, but the damn thing had a mind of its own when it came to Rowan. As soon she’d joined him in the kitchen, it had risen up as if to say, “Here I am! Look at me!”

  He’d been awake when Rowan realized she’d been draped all over him and rolled off the bed. The right thing to do would have been to ease out from under her and leave before she woke, except he’d enjoyed having her pressed against him. She’d snuggled into him in her sleep and, if the last few days were anything to go by, he was enough of an asshole to take advantage of the situation.

  He hadn’t meant to cop of a feel of her ass, but that had always been their position when they’d been together. Pulling on the shirt she had handed him the night before, he shoved his feet into his boots. They still had to find his car and get down the mountain, which meant he hopefully had a few hours to get her to agree to…what exactly?

  That was where his plan ran dry. He wanted a future with Rowan—he could see it—but he didn’t know how to get from where they were now to there. He just wanted to be there without all the in between, because he had no doubt everything in between was going to suck hairy balls.

  Back in the kitchen, he ate the last of the eggs while Rowan washed the pan, then bagged the remaining food, refusing to meet his gaze the entire time.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “Yeah.”

  “Okay. I’ll shut off the generator and lock up.”

  “Okay.”

  He watched as she left through the front. Maybe getting into bed with her last night had been a mistake. He’d been so cold when he’d gotten up to pee, he’d decided to check on her to make sure she was okay. She’d been shivering so hard he’d heard her teeth chattering before he’d even cracked the door. His only thought had been to get her warm. But now, her embarrassment from waking up with him might actually be more of a barrier than her anger had been.

  She was already in the car when he pulled the door shut and locked the key in the box.

  “Do you want me to drive?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

  She turned the car toward the road once again. When they reached the tree, she slowed down even more and eased over the sawdust and wood chips. The way ahead was clear and it didn’t look like anything else was going to stop them from leaving.

  Chapter 17

  Rowan couldn’t get over the thought that she’d been just another warm body in Luke’s bed. Now things were awkward and uncomfortable. She didn’t know what to say or how to act so she kept her eyes on the road, resisting the urge to glance at him. To meet his gaze that she could feel on her.

  This trip couldn’t go fast enough.

  She caught a reflection of the sunlight off something on the side of the road and blinked. She slowed to a stop and put the car in park.

  “What’s wrong?” Luke asked.

  Pointing to the side of the road, she said, “Your truck.”

  “Damn. Hang tight.”

  “Yup.”

  He walked to the edge of the road and the culvert the rental was in, scratched his head, then slowly disappeared into the ditch.

  So much for her hope that they’d find it in working order and she’d be able to leave him there. A few minutes later, he reappeared, scrambling back up to the road. He brushed his hands off on his jeans, adding more dirt to the layers already on them.

  Looking at him through the windshield, it was hard to believe he wasn’t the same Luke she’d known since she was twelve. Here, now, wearing a faded, tight-fitting t-shirt and dirt-covered jeans, he looked like her Luke. But looks were deceiving and that man was gone, replaced by someone who had a manager and a team and who didn’t think twice about shaking up her life like a snow globe.

  He got back in the car and immediately plugged his phone into the USB port to charge. “Well, I found my phone and my wallet, but I’m going to have to pay to get at tow truck up here to pull it out of that ditch.”

  Rowan nodded and shifted into drive, following the dirt packed road down the mountain. They eventually hit asphalt, signaling they were getting somewhat close to civilization. Other than Luke asking what she wanted to listen to on the radio—she didn’t care—they rode in blessed, awkward silence for the rest of the trip.

  Almost two hours later, she pulled into the parking lot of the Alpine Inn and Convention Center and stopped in front of reception.

  “Is this okay?” she asked.

  “Uh…sure. For what?”

  “To leave you here. This will be easier if you call one of your people to come get you than it is for me to take you all the way back to Denver.”

  He turned to her in his seat. “Rowan—”

  “Don’t.” She gripped the bottom of the steering wheel. “When we…broke up it almost broke me and I had to get away from Nashville. I went from wanting to be with you every day to being afraid I would randomly run into you. Denver seemed far enough away to get over you.”

  She couldn’t look at him while she spoke and kept her eyes on her hands. “But I missed you so much and I knew within days that I’d made a mistake—that I shouldn’t have transferred—but it was too late. So I called and texted to tell you that I was wrong and I loved you and that I wanted to find a way to make it work, that I was willing to do whatever it took to be with you. Every call that didn’t get answered…every message that wasn’t returned…chipped away a little bit of me each and every time until I felt like there was nothing left. It took me close to a year before I could really accept that it was over.”

  “Rowan, I’m not making excuses,” Luke said. “But I never got any of your calls or texts. I would have answered. I realized as soon as you were gone that I’d been an asshole. Every step of the way I wanted you with me and you weren’t there and that was my fault. You have to know I would have answered.”

  Her head jerked in a semblance of a nod. “I believe you, but it doesn’t change anything that happened. I didn’t think I would ever be happy again and it took me a long time to be happy. And up until two days ago, I was really happy.” It was hard to imagine it had only been two days. “Then you stopped my wedding and undid everything I’ve worked for the past six years. I don’t know what I’m going to do now.”

  She took a deep, shaky breath. “But what I do know is that I can’t be with you. I can’t go back to the person I was then. So, please—don’t.”

  She finally looked at him. Finally let the tears that had threatened for the last two days spill over. She ached for the Luke she once knew. He placed a hand on the side of her face and ran his thumb across her cheekbone, wiping at her tears. The heat of his palm radiated out and through her body and she fought the urge to press her cheek into it. He leaned forward and pressed his lips softly against hers.

  It would be so easy to fall back into him—as easy as curling into him last night had been. She closed her eyes as the memories washed over her. He had been her first kiss and s
he’d thought he’d be her last. But that was then.

  It must have registered that she wasn’t kissing him back because he ended the kiss and pressed his forehead against hers. “I still love you, Rowan.”

  “I love you too, Luke. But just because you love someone doesn’t mean you should be with them.” She swallowed hard and pulled out of his grasp. “Please go.”

  He searched her gaze, shook his head slightly, and dropped his hand from her face.

  “I’m not giving up, Rowan. Not this time.” He grabbed his phone and got out of the car and took two steps away from it.

  Her bottom lip trembled as she pulled back onto the two-lane highway that would take her to Denver. Less than half a mile down the road, she stopped the shoulder and turned on her emergency flashers. Dropping her head onto the steering wheel, her chest heaved with the first sob.

  She knew this was the right decision, but why did it hurt so much?

  Luke watched the taillights of Rowan’s car disappear around the corner. Dierks Bentley’s song, Settle for a Slowdown, played in his head. Other than yielding to pull onto the road, she didn’t stop.

  The look in her eyes had been physically painful. The hurt and devastation had glittered like shards of glass in the tears falling down her face.

  He’d been wrong to think he could barge back into her life and everything would fall into place like a Hallmark Christmas movie. He knew that now. But he also knew Rowan was it for him—that his life wouldn’t be complete with her in it.

  He didn’t plan on going anywhere and he could afford to wait days, weeks, months, hell, even years if he had to if it meant he and Rowan would be together.

  The automatic doors slid open when he turned around and he approached the registration desk.

  A pretty young woman smiled at him. “Good evening and welcome to the Alpine Inn.”

  “Thank you. Do you have any rooms available?” Not something he had considered when Rowan had asked him to get out of the car.

  The clerk typed away at her computer. “We do have a few…you have your choice of a double queen or a king.”

  “I’ll take the king.” He slid his credit card and driver’s license out of his wallet and passed them to her. When was the last time he’d checked himself into a hotel? He was either on the bus or someone on his team took care of it for him and handed him the key card to the room.

  “Luke Stone?” The girl looked at him with wide eyes. “The Luke Stone?”

  “Yeah.” It was still weird being recognized as someone famous. He hoped he never got to the point where he expected it.

  Rowan would keep you grounded and never let you forget you’re from a town called Flat Holler.

  “I love your music! Not as much as Miranda, ’cause Miranda’s the shit, but you’re my favorite male country singer.”

  He smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  She leaned closer and said in a low voice, “Do you and your wife need some privacy? We have private cabins at the back of the property if you’re trying to keep a low profile.”

  Not a very big fan. “I’m not married.”

  She leaned back as if he’d slapped her. “Oh. I thought…well, everyone thinks you and Rowan eloped.”

  How did she know about Rowan? “What do you mean everyone? How?”

  “Mr. Stone, you’re all over social media. The clip of you interrupting her wedding has over a million hits on Twitter.” She sighed. “So romantic, but still so tragic you know? I mean, who leaves their bride standing at the altar and doesn’t sock the guy interrupting in the face?”

  Right?

  “Although maybe not in this case, since it would have been your face.” She ran his credit card and programmed two key cards while talking.

  “The rumor going around is that you eloped and that’s why no one has seen you. The most popular rumor is that you went to Vegas. I didn’t think that was true because someone would have seen you and posted about it. Come to find out, you were here in Colorado all along!” She slid the room keys across the counter. “You’re in room four-twenty-three.”

  “Thank you.” He took the keys and his credit card and headed to the bank of elevators. Waiting for the car to arrive, he heard the unmistakable sound of a shutter click and knew his whereabouts would be announced to the world. He couldn’t work up the energy to care.

  He finally powered up his phone and waited for it to connect to the network. After eight pings, a window popped up that told him he had fifty-three unread texts. Opening the app, he quickly scrolled through. Most of them were from Marla and Brett wanting to know what the hell he’d been thinking and where the hell he was.

  One text from his sister Shelby caught his eye.

  Not the way I would’ve done it but it’s about damn time.

  His phone rang while he was scrolling to the latest texts and Marla’s name appeared on the screen.

  He hit the green dot. “Hey.”

  “Oh my god, you’re alive.” He heard the relief in her voice. “Where are you?”

  “The Alpine Inn.” He stepped off the elevator onto the fourth floor and followed the signs pointing to his room.

  “Where is that?”

  “West of Denver.”

  “You’re still in Colorado?”

  He swiped his key and pushed into the room. Bed. T.V. Shower he didn’t have to charge. “Yeah.”

  “Have you talked to Brett?” she asked.

  Ugh. He didn’t want to think about what his manager was going to have to say. “Not yet. You happened to call while I was going through my messages, so I answered.”

  “Is Rowan with you?”

  “You’re the second person to ask me that question.”

  “Well, you interrupted her wedding and you both disappeared. It’s a valid question. Even more valid: why isn’t she with you?”

  Luke sat at the foot of the bed and said out loud what he didn’t want to admit to himself. “She didn’t want me.”

  “And you’re giving up?” she asked.

  He took a breath. “No. Just taking a moment to regroup.”

  Chapter 18

  Rowan entered her apartment and shut the door, leaning against it. She was tired. Tossing her keys into the bowl on the table beside the door, she dropped the bags at her feet.

  “Honey…I’m home.” It would be funny if it wasn’t so sad. She stared blankly ahead and tried to gather the energy to move away from the door. Dragging herself from the car had burned the last of her reserves. Her stomach grumbled, but the thought of fixing something to eat was exhausting. She didn’t want to eat. She didn’t want to talk to anyone, even though she needed to call her parents.

  Going to the cabin had been a mistake. Not that Luke wouldn’t have found her at her apartment but at least then she could have kicked him out or called the police—anything other than be stuck somewhere with him, overwhelmed by all the memories.

  Seeing him again had brought back the stark reality that she missed him. It was almost as if she had regressed to that girl she’d been when they first broke up. She rubbed her forehead with the heal of a hand and grabbed the house phone on her way to the recliner. Curling up in a ball and resting her head on the arm of the chair, she dialed the number of her childhood.

  Voice mail picked up. “You have reached the Mitchell residence. We have no comment. Friends and family, please call our cell phones.”

  “What the hell?” She ended the call and dialed her dad’s cell phone.

  “Rowan,” he said as soon as he answered. “Thank god. Where are you?”

  “I’m at home. What’s going on? Why do you have that message on the house phone?”

  “It’s been ringing off the hook with reporters wanting an exclusive.”

  She covered her eyes with a hand. “I’m so, so sorry, Dad—I didn’t mean to dump all this on you.”

  “I know, honey. Claudia explained that you went to her parents’ cabin.”

  “Still, it wasn’t fair to y
ou or Mom or Michael’s family to stick you with dealing with the fallout.”

  “Rowan, it’s okay. I will say you missed a really good party. It was probably a good thing you guys paid for the open bar.”

  She huffed out a laugh his pragmatic view of the situation. “At least someone had a good time.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. I will be…eventually.”

  “Did you and Luke elope?”

  “What?!” Her head jerked up. “No! Why would you ask that?”

  “That’s the rumor going around on the internet. You haven’t seen it?”

  She lowered her head to the armrest. “No. I’m avoiding my cellphone.”

  “Probably a good idea.”

  Except now she was curious what was being said.

  “What are you going to do?” he asked.

  Rowan shook her head. “I don’t know. Probably just go into work and pretend the last two days hadn’t happened.” Had it really only been two days? It felt like years had passed.

  “Why don’t you come back home for a few days?” he asked. “You’re off anyway and this time it won’t be because of an emergency. You can actually visit for a few days.”

  “I’ll think about it.” That was almost the last thing she wanted to do. She loved her family, but Flat Holler, Tennessee was still the small, closed-minded town it had been when she grew up there. The last time she’d been home for an extended visit, one of her uncles had asked if she was dealing drugs since it was legal in Colorado.

  “All right. Let me know what you decide so I can pick you up from the airport.”

  “If I decide to visit, I’ll get a rental car and drive myself,” she said. “How’s Mom?”

  “She’s good. She went to Johnson City to visit Aunt Susan.”

  Oh, thank god.

  “She wants you to call her, though.”