Last Dance (Rock With You #3) Rock Star Romance Read online

  Last Dance

  By Adriana Hunter

  Rock Star Erotic Romance

  Rock With You (#3)

  Adriana Hunter

  http://www.AdrianaHunter.com

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  This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations and places are solely the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, including events, areas, locations and situations is entirely coincidental.

  “It can’t be mine, Melody.”

  Logan’s face reflected the shock Melody felt, like a sucker punch to the gut. She was numb, barely able to think. The only thing that kept replaying in her mind was the lilting Scottish voice on the phone, the voice of Logan’s ex-fiancé, Claire, telling him she had his baby.

  “There can’t be a baby. Or, it canna be mine.”

  They were sitting on the couch at the hotel, the phone still lying between them. Logan had ended the call abruptly; the call they’d both been dreading but knew had to be made. The call that had the potential to change everything, ruin everything. Or so Melody thought at the moment. I can’t deal with this now.

  “Melody. Say something, anything.” Logan face was a maelstrom of conflicting emotions, his eyes desperately searching hers.

  “I’m not sure yet what to think. You said that she…she’d told you…she said she didn’t want children.” Melody’s voice trailed off into a whisper.

  “Aye, she did. And if she’s got a baby, she’s gotten it with someone else.”

  “How can you be so sure? She could have been pregnant when you left her.”

  Tears stung her eyes and even as she tried to hold them back, they spilled down her cheeks.

  “Melody. I knew the girl. I was going to marry her. I’d think I’d have known…”

  Melody’s harsh bark of a laugh startled them both. Logan tossed the phone on the table, sliding across the cushions to Melody. She tried weakly to push him away, but he pulled her against his chest.

  “I know this isn’t what you wanted to hear, but there it is. We know now what she’s after.”

  “Do we? All we know is there’s a child and she wanted you to know. And that she says it’s yours.” Melody’s voice broke, tears overwhelming her, her words coming out between the tears.

  “We don’t know anything else. Does she want you to support it, or her? Or be part of its life? Or hers?”

  He didn’t answer her and that worried her more than what Claire had said. It was a long time before Melody relaxed into Logan’s arms, letting the tears flow unchecked. It was even longer before she sat up, wiping her nose on the back of her hand.

  “I’m sorry, Logan. This isn’t what I was expecting, by any means. I guess it took me completely off guard. Her wanting to meet you even more so.”

  Logan sat forward, running one hand through his hair. “Aye, it is a shock. I never would have thought this. I expected her to beg me to return, or something like that, but not this.”

  “So, she said she’s in New York now. She must have followed you from Inverness. Where do you think you’ll meet with her?” Melody struggled to remain calm.

  Logan shrugged. “I don’t know yet. Not here, not at the hotel. I don’t want to see her here.” He glanced at Melody. “You’re frowning. What is it?”

  “I think she wants something. Something she didn’t want before this. What made her surface now…suddenly?” Melody hesitated. “I want you to think about meeting her at my office.”

  Logan regarded her for a moment. “You want to meet her?” His voice was reserved, his face closed.

  “No, not particularly. But she may want something from the lawsuit. That’s been splashed all over the tabloids. There may be a connection in her mind, something she feels she’s owed…or she can get, now that she knows you’re vulnerable. As your attorney, at least I can look out for your best interests.”

  Logan stood, long legs taking him across the room, pacing back to the table. His hands were back in his hair and by now it was a disordered tangle falling around his face. She’d never seen him this distraught, even after breaking up his band, even after seeing her in the arms of Ryan Marshall.

  But she felt powerless to comfort him. Her heart was torn and she didn’t know how to feel, how to reach out to him, and to protect herself. All she could do at the moment was think like his lawyer, cold and analytical. As if that’s any easier.

  He was standing by the window, looking out over the dark skyline of New York. She could read tension in every part of his body, in the tilt of his head, the set of his shoulders. And she knew what she had to say, what she was compelled to ask, was only going to make things worse. She tried to keep her voice neutral, tried to ask as his attorney, not as his lover. But she failed miserably and her voice broke.

  “Logan, if this is your child, this is what you’ve wanted, isn’t it? You said you wanted children. You’d want to know, you’d want to see it…see her.”

  Logan turned, and in the doubt in his face, she saw her answer. Any resolve she’d built to remain detached crashed down and the tears started again and this time, she couldn’t face Logan. She fled down the hall, closing the bedroom door behind her.

  * * *

  She woke when Logan opened the door and came into the bedroom. He moved about quietly for a few minutes, undressing, putting something in a dresser drawer, and then she felt the bed move as he climbed in. Wordlessly she turned to him, and his arms went around her shoulders. She pressed her face against his neck, her words muffled against his body.

  “I’m sorry, Logan… I’m so sorry…” Before she could continue, he tilted her face to his, ending her words with a gentle kiss, but a kiss so full of love, the love she knew he had for her.

  He stroked her face gently as he spoke. “I know. It’s alright. You ran away, like I did. But ye didn’t run that far, so I let you be. And I thought you needed some time by yourself.”

  Melody curled against him, the warmth of his body, his scent, all comforting and familiar.

  “It was silly… an emotional reaction.”

  “Aye, but if ye didn’t have emotions, ye wouldn’t be nearly as loveable as you are.”

  Even though his words were light, his tone was serious. “We need tae face this together, Melody. We’ve made that promise to each other, to be here for each other, always. Nothing that happens will drive me away, ye ken, don’t ye? I love ye, Melody. That will never change, ye ken?”

  His voice had grown husky, his accent broadening, as it did when he was upset. She touched his face, and felt the warmth of a tear beneath her fingers. He caught her hand, kissing her fingertips before holding it against his chest.

  “I love you too, Logan. And I know what we said.”

  “Do ye still believe it?”

  “With all my heart, Logan. With all my heart.”

  * * *

  Logan was already out of bed when Melody awoke. She glanced at the clock, groaning. It was early and she could still have hours of sleep. But she slipped on her robe, padding down the hall to the hotel suite’s living room. Logan was sitting at the table by the window, dressed in just sweatpants, an untouched cup coffee and his notebook in front of him staring out at the sooty gray sky. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and closed her eyes, resting her head beside his. He reached up, his hand soft against her cheek. They stayed like this for a long moment before Melody spoke.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I couldna sleep. Too many thoughts in my head. I left you the
re though, in bed. You looked so peaceful I didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

  She poured herself a cup of coffee, taking a seat in the chair across from him. “Have you made any decision about what you want to do about Claire? I still think meeting her at my office would be best.”

  “Aye. I know. I’m not pleased with the thought of the two of you in the same room together, for the pain it will cause you.”

  Melody sipped her coffee. “Right now, I just want this to be over with. Getting her to tell you exactly what she wants, making it clear what responsibilities…if any…you have, I think that’s what we should focus on.”

  Logan’s quick smile was there, but it didn’t quite reaching his eyes. “You’ve gone into lawyer mode, haven’t you? That’s how you deal with things, make them clear and rational.”

  “I have to, in this case. There’s no other way for me to think about this now that’s not going to drive me crazy. I let Ryan and his harassment get to me, let it eat at me. I’m not going to let this situation do the same.”

  She reached across the table, taking Logan’s hand. “We are in this together, like you said last night. But we both can’t be emotional wrecks. Let’s just look at the next thing to do with Claire and see where that takes us. Will you call her today?”

  “I will. And you…what are you going to do about the next thing in front of you? About Victoria, I mean. If you think she was somehow spying for Ryan, do you think she’s still giving him information?”

  Melody sat back. “I don’t know if she is, or if that still matters, if she was. I don’t trust her and I’d honestly like to fire her, but ironically she’s really good at her job. And I really can’t prove she spied for Ryan. I just have my hunches. I’d rather work with just Lori, but this interim partner thing, plus my case load and with Ryan gone… it’s too much for just one paralegal to handle.”

  She idly played with the spoon on her saucer, her brow furrowing in thought, the conversations she’d had with Victoria running through her mind.

  “We need to be careful though, if Claire does come to the office, or even if you do. Victoria can’t know the real reason she’s there. I can tell her it’s for your lawsuit, because I know she’ll ask. It was twenty questions the other day about why you and I came to the office at the same time. If she gets wind of the real reason Claire is there, and if she is somehow connected with Ryan, it has the potential to go very badly. For all of us. I want to avoid that at all costs.”

  Logan’s laugh made her look up. “You’re not really cut out for the cloak and dagger routine, are you? You’re not a John Grisham lawyer, facing men with guns in the alley?”

  “No, not at all,” she said, shaking her head. “Thinking I saw someone here and then outside the hotel was bad enough. It could have just been a hotel guest, for all I know, and now I’m not even sure what I really saw.”

  Melody replayed the images of the man stepping from the shadows, a hat over his eyes as he watched her cab pull away from the hotel.

  At the time, she thought it had looked like Ryan Marshall. Ryan was obsessed with her, but she wasn’t sure he’d go so far as to stalk her outside Logan’s hotel. Nonetheless, the whole incident had unnerved her.

  “I think it was one of Ashton’s photographers, if anyone. Don’t you? I mean, he sent all those photographs he had taken to Ryan, those pictures of you with different women. He might have known where you were staying now.”

  Logan shook his head, rising from the table. “I don’t know to be sure. Ashton’s a crafty bastard and so is Ryan, for that matter. Just be careful. There was one picture with you in it, so Ashton knows who you are.”

  Melody’s frown deepened as she sorted through the chaotic thoughts running through her mind. “I’m not so sure about that anymore. Listen, that photograph was taken over a month before I took your case. I wasn’t your attorney then. There wasn’t even a case at that point. I’m not famous, not a model or an actress, not in the same league. If Ashton took that photo, what could he have done with it? No one would have cared who was in the photo. Except Ryan.”

  “You think Ryan had the photo taken? That he was following you, not one of Ashton’s photographers following me?”

  “I think so. He used it to harass me, playing the hunch that we were really having an affair. But I think he took it for other reasons, some perverted personal reason of his own. It just came in handy later.”

  “So his hunch proved the photo, not the other way around?”

  “Yeah, something like that. I think I want to look at those photos again. Maybe there’s something different about that one. Maybe I missed something. Or maybe Lori knows something. She would have signed for the package from the courier.”

  Logan shook his head. The worry lines were back on his face, furrowing his forehead, etched around his mouth. She rose, walking across the room to him. He wrapped his arms around her, his hands sliding over the smooth silk of her robe. His lips found hers, his kiss gentle at first, but growing more intense the longer it lasted. After a time he broke away with a deep sigh, looking at her with a far-away expression on his face.

  “It’s a good thing you don’t have a cat.”

  “A cat?” A small burst of giggles escaped her. “Why on earth would you say that?”

  “You’ve moved in here, brought your favorite robe. I noticed it the other day, when you came back from your apartment. It’s a vast improvement over the hotel robes.”

  He was slowly undoing the sash of her robe, his fingers gently tugging at the knot. “You’d be needing to leave to tend to it. I have nothing against them, I like cats well enough. Never could have one though, being on the road so much.”

  She caught the glimpse of a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You’re living on the road then, here with me, in a way. And we do quite well at it. You’ve brought your favorite robe. I noticed it the other day, when you came back from your apartment.”

  He’d undone the sash now and her robe parted slightly. Logan’s eyes were heavy-lidded as they traveled over the exposed curve of her breasts peeking from the silk.

  “How do you know it’s my favorite?” Her voice was a bit breathless, waiting for him to touch her, aching for his touch. They’d fallen asleep in each other’s arms the night before, but they hadn’t made love and beyond the simple physical release of sex, Melody was craving Logan, needing to lose herself in him. Something unsettled still remained between them and she wondered if Logan felt it as well.

  “It’s a bit worn, here…” His fingers ran along the front edge of the robe. “…and here.” He held up the end of the sash. There was a tiny frayed end.

  “You should be a detective.”

  “I just notice things. And with you…” His hands slid beneath the silk, holding her lightly at her waist, sliding his thumbs up the full curve of her breasts.

  “I notice everything.”

  Melody’s breath caught in her throat, her body reacting to his touch. Her hands rested on his chest, and she tilted her face to his as his hands rose up over her breasts and down her arms. The robe slipped from her shoulders, and her arms found their place around Logan’s neck.

  “Logan…I missed this…missed us, last night.”

  His hands were roaming over her back, reaching down to cup her gently, pressing himself against her stomach. The thin material of his sweat pants did little to disguise his arousal.

  “I know. I miss us too. It was…I wasn’t sure if that’s what you wanted, if you wanted me.” He lifted a brow. “But I’m thinking it is the thing you want now. Am I right?”

  “Yes, more than you know.” She pulled him to her, her lips finding his. The kiss was long and sweet, and she felt Logan’s need for her, much as his desire.

  Melody tugged at the elastic of the sweat pants, finally pulling them down Logan’s hips. It didn’t matter to her where they were at the moment, whether it was in the living room of the suite or not. She wanted him now and she broke away from hi
m with a gasp.

  “Logan…now. Please.” Her voice was tinged with wanting, with her naked need for Logan at that very moment.

  Logan’s gaze, his eye locked with hers, reflected everything she felt, the need, the desire to find each other again, to make things right between them. He nodded his head before lowering her gently to the floor.

  His lips were already on hers before they settled on the carpet, and there was an urgency to his movements, his knees pushing her legs apart, his hands beneath her, lifting her to him.

  As he took her, she gasped, meeting him fully with her body, letting the weight of him hold her down, pin her to the earth.

  It was brief but all consuming. Melody raked her nails across Logan’s back, crying out, tears of joy mingled with longing springing to her eyes. Logan buried his face in the familiar nook of her shoulder, his cries mixing with Melody’s, blending together in a passion-filled duet.

  As brief as it was, it was exactly what Melody needed. The deep unsettled feeling was gone, replaced with a calm sense that even if everything was spinning out of control around her, none of that could touch them, touch this place where they came together as one.

  Logan slowly raised himself above her and Melody held his face in her hands. She could feel the flush still staining her cheeks, feel her heart beating against Logan’s chest. “I’ll always want you, Logan, no matter what. This…this makes me whole, keeps me sane.”

  He was still breathing hard, his words coming between gasps for air. “Aye. I’ll remember that for the future.”

  * * *

  Melody left for work, Logan promising to call Claire to try to set up some kind of meeting. Melody’s mind was spinning, trying to think of all the things the girl could want, trying to think of how she should advise Logan as his attorney. Anything but how she felt about Claire, and Claire’s assertion that the child was Logan’s. That thought was too painful to touch.