Wounded But Not Scarred (New Adult Rockers 2) (8 page)

This stops Daddy for a second.
“She’s a fitness nut?”

“Uh-huh. That’s what Jami says.
That’s what made us think about setting you two up in the first place.”

I can see my dad thinking things
over.

“And she’s good looking?” He says,
with a sly smile.

I roll my eyes. “Yes, Daddy. She's
very attractive.”

“Hmm. Well it might be nice to
change things up and go on a date. Though, I usually don’t have good luck with
women.”

“Well, maybe your luck has changed
now.”

My dad nods thoughtfully. “Maybe it
has,” he says slowly. “Alright, look. Since you and this other busy body Jami
set it up, I’ll go.”

I giggle.

“But do not set me up again, Paige.
I mean it. There’s a reason that I keep my distance from women.”

“Okay! I think you’re going to have
a great time though,” I say happily.

He rolls his eyes at me. “Just tell
me where and when I’m meeting her on Friday.” He starts to leave the room. “And
no more meddling!”

“Yes, sir!” I chirp, saluting him
and then blowing him a kiss. “G’night Daddy!” I call as he disappears.

“Good night!”

Even though he isn’t too pleased, I
feel immensely satisfied that he’s going to go out on this date. I pull out my
phone and text Jami so we can firm up the plans. I don’t know why, but I have a
good feeling about Daisy.

Paige

The sun is bright and shining as I
drive to my daddy’s office and I’m not sure if I’m more nervous for my meeting
with Liam, or lunch with Blake’s mother. I struggled to find an outfit yet
again this morning, and I ended up choosing a teal maxi dress with silver
sandals and silver jewelry.

It’s hot today, so I twisted my
hair up into a bun. September in Nashville can be a tease because you may get
one or two cooler days, and then it shoots back up into the high nineties
again. I forgot about that from my childhood since I was always back in Bristol
for school by the start of September.

Becky greets me in the office, grinning
wide.

“Kenny tells me you set him up on a
date!”

“Yes! Tomorrow night! I hope it
goes well.”

“He tried to act like he was pissed
off, but I could tell he was happy. He even asked me what he should wear!” she
giggles excitedly.

“That’s great! You’ll make sure he
gets out of the office on time tomorrow night, won’t you?”

“You know I will.”

She takes me into the meeting room
and waves as she leaves me there waiting for Liam. I don’t have to wait long
before Liam comes inside beaming.

“I got great news, Paige.”

“I’m all ears.”

“First, your album sounds stellar.
I’ve heard a few of the finished tracks, and they are great. We’re already
getting the word out there that this CD is going to drop at the beginning of
next month. But that means we’re going to have to start you on a press tour
next week.”

He must see the alarm in my face.

“Don’t worry – it’s nothing too
demanding. Mostly local places, and if it’s not local, it’s close by. We’re
starting this out in the country industry. That also means that your first
single is going to drop next week, and that’s one of the things I want to talk
about.”

He sits down and pulls out copies
of all my songs and lists of press stops. All the new information makes my head
spin, and I try to focus as we begin mapping out a schedule.

“I know this is going to be
intense,” he says, “but this is what you want, right?”

“Of course it is! It’s just
happening so much faster than I anticipated.”

“I know. But hey, this could make
for one hell of a holiday present for you,” he laughs.

After our meeting, armed with my
newly marked up calendar, and folder filled with dates and appearances, I pop
in to say hi to Daddy.

“Hey sweetheart,” he says, jumping
up from his desk.

“Don’t get up, Daddy. I just came
by to say hello real fast. I’m going to meet Mrs. Evans for lunch.”

“That sounds nice. Did Liam go over
everything with you?”

“Yes, he did.” I frown. “Are you
going to be alright with me running all over the place to promote the album?”

“Of course I am. I’m a big boy,
Paige. You’ve already done so much for me. Don’t you worry. I’ll be just fine.
This is what we wanted. We’ve got your career on the fast track.” He smiles
proudly. “You’re going to be a star.”

“Stop,” I say embarrassed. I give
him a quick kiss on the cheek and head out. I say good-bye to Becky and we
mention getting together soon, but I think of the grueling schedule I have
coming up, and fear that it will be a while before she and I get a chance to
catch up again.

I head over to the restaurant where
I’m meeting Mrs. Evans, though she's asked me to call her Josie. As I walk
inside, I see her wave to me from across the room. She looks elegant in a grey
pantsuit and silk blouse, and her light brown hair is twisted into a chic knot.
I forget exactly what she does for a living, but I think it has to do with
advertising.

“Hi Mrs. Evans,” I say, giving her
a kiss on the cheek as I sit down.

“I told you to call me Josie,” she
says smiling. “And you look so pretty!”

“Thank you,” I say politely, taking
a seat.

“Thank you for meeting me for
lunch,” she says. “It’s so nice having you back in town and I hope we can be
friends.”

“I would really like that,” I say
sincerely. We order a breadstick appetizer and a salad each. Once our food
order is placed, Mrs. Evans turns to me.

“Blake seems really smitten with
you.”

I laugh nervously. “I’m smitten
with him too.”

“It’s nice to see you two together
again. He was so sad when you moved away.”

I drop my gaze, I really don’t want
to talk about that period of my life, and Mrs. Evans seems to pick up on it.

“Blake told us he put his house up
for sale.”

Uh-oh. I didn’t want her to think
that I was the driving force behind this.

“Yes, I think he was hoping to find
something else,” I say evasively.

“Something else with you?” she
asks, her eyes twinkling.

I squirm in my seat. “Well, perhaps
one day. But we’ll go about things properly,” I hastily add. “I’m not in any
rush – we just started dating. And of course we wouldn’t share a house together
unless we were married.”

Mrs. Evans smiles widely. Clearly,
I’ve said the right thing.

“I knew I always liked you,” she
laughs.

We move away from talk about my
future with Blake, and instead she fills me in on what Blake was doing over the
past thirteen years. Even though I feel somewhat sad listening to Blake’s years
without me, it makes my heart happy to hear about what he did during the rest
of high school and his college years. She glosses over his time with Savannah,
and tells me about family vacations they took and a funny story about how Blake
once tried to cook dinner for his parents on their twenty-fifth wedding
anniversary.

The hour quickly passes by, and
Mrs. Evans snatches the check before I can.

“Don’t even think about it,” she
teases. “I invited you here, and I most certainly intend to pay. And it was my
pleasure to spend my lunch hour with you; I’m sorry to go back to the office.”

“Thank you so much. This was fun.”

She smiles warmly at me. “It was,”
she agrees, “Promise me that we’ll do this again sometime.”

“Yes, I would love that.”

“Well then, that’s settled.” She
pays the bill and we head out of the restaurant. I give her a hug goodbye and
get into my car. Aside from Savannah’s nasty little visit earlier in the week,
I have to admit that I’ve had a pretty great week so far, and now that my lunch
and meeting with Liam are over, I can focus on seeing my mother and
grandmother.

I head home and pack a bag for my
long weekend and then I pour over my notes from my meeting with Liam as I wait
for Blake to come over. He’s putting the finishing touches on his album today,
and then we’ll get some alone time before I go away and all hell breaks loose
with dropping our singles.

I finally get a text message that
Blake is on his way, and I excitedly head into the main part of the house to
wait for him. I can barely contain myself when I hear him outside and I throw
the door open to greet him.

“Hey, baby! What a greeting,” he
says, pulling me in for a kiss. I kiss Blake as if I haven’t seen him in
months. “Mmm, that’s a hell of a kiss.”

“I can’t help myself,” I admit,
pulling him inside. “How was your session?”

“It went really well. The guys and
I are real pleased with things. How was lunch with my mother?”

“It was really great. I enjoyed
spending time with her.”

“I’m sure she enjoyed it too.”

It’s too hot to even sit outside,
so we head back to my part of the house and cozy up on the couch together,
taking advantage of the AC.

“What’s in store for your weekend
in Bristol?” Blake asks, intertwining his fingers with mine and pulling my legs
up onto his lap.

“Not sure really. We’ll probably
just spend some time together and cook. Maybe do some shopping.”

Blake nods, running his hands up my
calf.

“The house has two showings this
week,” he says absentmindedly.

“Really? That’s good.”

“Yeah, it’s good. I think it will
be easy to show as my schedule gets crazier, since I won’t be around much.” He
pulls out his phone and starts scrolling through his calendar.

“Let’s not talk about how busy we
are,” I say quietly, taking his phone out of his hand.

“Okay,” he agrees as I crawl into
his lap and straddle him.

Blake places his hands on my
shoulders and slides down the straps of my dress. His hands travel across to my
collarbone and slowly move towards my breasts. I hike my dress up around my
waist and arch my back. My body hums to life under his touch.

It’s hard to imagine that I was ever
so frightened of Blake touching me again.

“Oh, Paige,” Blake groans, and I
roll back onto him, pushing my lips hard against his.

“I love you so much,” I whisper to
him, “I never thought I would feel this way about anybody. I never thought I’d
have another chance with you.”

Blake’s eyes are wild with lust,
and I can see how much my words move him.

“Paige,” he chokes.

He kisses me back, and we become a
tangle of limbs and hands as we make love on my couch.

“Paige honey, I’m so glad you came
this weekend,” my mother says, pulling me in for yet another hug.

“Me too, Momma. I’m sorry it took
so long,” I say, squeezing her back tightly. She pulls away and dabs at her
eyes. “Momma! Don’t cry.”

“I know! I’m such a big baby! It’s
just that I miss you so much!”

“I know, and I miss you too. But I
promise you, going to Nashville was the best decision I ever made.”

“Oh, honey, I know. I can see it.
You’re like a changed woman and it makes me so happy. Gosh, I never thought I
would see you like this.” She smiles again and shakes her head in amazement.

I try to imagine how I must come
across to my mother now. Before I moved to Nashville, I was just a shell. Just
existing and going through the motions, like a hamster spinning on a wheel.

Now, I feel like I have purpose and
I feel like I’m truly living a
life
now. For the first time in thirteen
years, I feel like I can really put the past behind me.

“I’m going to get down to Nashville
soon so I can see you in your element. And I want to see Blake too,” she says
winking.

“Actually,” I say slowly, “Blake
and I are set to perform at Bicentennial Park next week.”

“You are? Goodness! Why didn’t you
say something?”

I shrug sheepishly. “I don’t know.
I didn’t really want to talk business.”