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

  “Yes, he is.” Melody sighed. This is getting tiresome.

  “Did you see the change of attorney notification? Isn’t that…odd? Do you know why that happened?”

  Melody cocked her head, pursing her lips, as she regarded Victoria for a moment. “Yes, I did see it. No, it’s not really odd. It does happen, for a variety of reasons. And no, I don’t know why in this case.”

  “But we…” Victoria started to speak, but her phone rang. She turned away, picking up the receiver.

  Once in her office, Melody closed the door behind her. She shuffled around on her desk until she found Logan’s file. The change notification papers were still clipped inside, where she’d left them. And still not date stamped, which Victoria should have done. Okay. That’s the odd part, Victoria…how do you know about them if you’ve apparently never seen them?

  Melody shook her head. “I’ll deal with that…and her…later. First…”

  She scooped up the phone, dialing Joe Hunter’s office. They spoke briefly and when Melody hung up, she did a little dance in her chair.

  “Okay, Ryan. I think you’ve finally out maneuvered even yourself.”

  For the rest of the day, Melody anxiously watched the clock, waiting for the appointment with Claire and Logan. In her heart she knew Logan was telling her the truth, that whatever Claire had to say about the child…Logan’s child…wouldn’t change anything between him and Melody. But she knew that wasn’t always the case.

  Children changed everything. It could be no other way. And Melody knew that no matter how torn she was, how upset she became over this, standing by Logan was only thing she could do, for him, for their relationship. And welcoming his child into their…into her life…was what she would do. If it came to that.

  But that didn’t mean she had to be happy hearing about it, especially from Claire and especially now. Melody knew this meeting was going to be difficult for all of them and there was nothing she could do for Logan today, other than be his attorney. At least not until she left the office and returned to their hotel.

  Their hotel.

  It came almost as a surprise to realize she’d been living with Logan almost as long as she’d known him. The last time she’d gone back to her apartment for yet another change of clothes, the place had that smell unused places get, of dust and stale air. Her apartment phone’s answering machine was full and she listened with a guilty conscious to the messages, making notes of who to call back.

  Then she’d packed another bag of clothes, picked up her mail from downstairs and gone back to Logan. The apartment no longer felt like home. The suite at the hotel had become their haven, their refuge. Melody felt the heat rise in her cheeks. We’ve pretty much initiated the entire suite, at least every horizontal surface.

  She wondered though, when this was over, the trial settled, Claire behind them—or at least no longer harboring secrets—where they’d go, where they would live. Logan talked about taking her to Scotland, but they’d never really talked about concrete future plans. Would we live together?

  Melody gazed out the window, idly wondering what life on the road with Logan would be like. Would she like being in a new city every few days? Would they get on each other’s nerves, constantly moving from place to place? She’d never really traveled, never been much further than upstate New York, not counting her mad dash across the Atlantic to Scotland.

  With a shake of her head and a rueful smile she brought herself back to reality. There were too many things in front of them right now. There would be time to sort out the future once they had the present under control. Or I hope that’s the way it works.

  Promptly at one-thirty, her office phone rang. Logan was in the lobby and she walked past Victoria and took the elevator down to retrieve him. When they came back to Melody’s floor, Victoria had her head down, reading papers. At the sound of Logan’s voice, her head jerked up.

  “Oh, Mr. MacKenzie, hello. Melody, I’d have gone down…you didn’t need to…reception didn’t call.” Victoria turned to her phone, frowning at it.

  Melody waved her hand dismissively. “No problem. I wasn’t busy.” Logan walked into her office and Melody turned back to Victoria.

  “There will be a Claire Blackwood joining us in about half an hour. Can you bring her up?”

  Victoria nodded and Melody closed the door. Logan was standing by the window, looking down on the street below, worry and anxiety casting shadows across his face. He was dressed in a conservative black suit and white dress shirt, the same suit he’d worn to the first meeting she’d had with him here at the firm.

  It seemed so long ago that she’d sat across from him, so angry and hurt, believing he’d taken advantage of her, used her for a one-night stand. But they’d come so far in such a short time. Melody’s heart ached to reach out and comfort him, touch him…hug him, but she didn’t. Instead she took a seat at the work table, opening the case file.

  “Logan. Come sit down.”

  He turned from the window and pulled out the chair across from Melody. “I suppose there’s a no touching rule in force today?” He shook his head. “I should have taken ye this morning, when I had the chance.”

  Melody smiled. “And I should have let you. But…” She held up her page of notes. “I wouldn’t have had a chance to follow up on this.”

  “Oh, the mysterious scribbles, the page torn from my notebook, I notice. What was the big secret?”

  “Actually, it turns out it’s something quite simple, something that I think Ryan Marshall, in his haste to undermine me and my career, overlooked.”

  “And that thing is?”

  “He’s still a partner at Avery Marshall and Shaw.”

  Logan shook his head. “I’m not the lawyer here. But I get the sense you’re telling me he can’t represent Ashton if he’s still a partner here?”

  “Exactly. If he’s still practicing with our firm, it’s not possible. Especially since he was involved in your case, and had, at one point, appointed himself lead attorney.”

  “So, does this mean my case goes away? What about Ashton’s counter suit?” Logan had his elbows on the table, anxiously leaning forward, tension rolling off of him in palpable waves.

  “We can ask to settle out of court, if Ashton agrees. I suspect he won’t though.” Melody shrugged.

  “But it means Ryan cannot represent Ashton. It would keep Ryan from having your case thrown out of court because of our…because of us.” A wave of guilt washed over Melody. And that saves my professional skin, but doesn’t do much for your case, Logan.

  “We’ll need to sit down tonight and make some decisions. Your case is still viable, still important. But if Ryan represented Ashton, there’d be no hope in winning. He knows too much…about too many things.”

  There was a knock on the door and Logan stood the same time Melody did. The door opened and Melody drew in a sharp breath.

  Victoria ushered in a beautiful girl, tall, with flaming red hair that fell past her shoulders in soft waves. Dressed in jeans and simple blouse, she looked fresh-faced, the girl-next-door, only from Scotland. Melody tried to recover her composure and pasted what she hoped was a professional smile on her face and extended her hand.

  “Hello. I’m Melody Lawson. I represent Mr. MacKenzie in…I’m Mr. MacKenzie’s attorney.”

  The girl wasn’t even looking at Melody. Her eyes were fixed on Logan. She took another step into the room, walking past Melody’s outstretched hand.

  “Logan. You’re here. I didn’t think…I mean, I know you said…but…” Claire’s voice broke and she reached for the back of the chair in front of her, steadying herself.

  Melody glanced at Logan, whose face was unreadable. He hesitated a moment before pulling a chair out for Claire.

  “Claire. I canna say I’m glad to see ye, but you’re here. So let’s do what we said we’d do. Sit and let Melody…let Ms. Lawson ask her questions.”

  Claire was staring open-mouthed at Logan, but she sat in the chair he
indicated, perched on the edge as if she were going to bolt from the room. Logan looked across the table at Melody, waiting for her to take her seat before sitting back down in his chair, back straight, shoulders tensed.

  Melody tried very hard not to be intimidated by Claire’s beauty. She had never imagined what Claire would look like, and Logan had never talked about her, other than explaining who she was in the briefest of terms. The girl he had wanted to marry.

  But her clear skin, green eyes and delicate features made Melody suddenly feel insecure and vulnerable. More so since she couldn’t decipher anything from Logan’s face. His expression was closed, shuttered. He’d looked that way in Scotland, when she’d finally found him, before she’d had the chance to explain about Ryan.

  She took a deep breath, trying to regain her professional demeanor. Clearing her throat, she picked up her pen and pulled her notebook closer.

  “Shall we begin?”

  Claire finally turned to her, as if realizing for the first time Melody was in the room with them. Her eyes traveled over Melody’s clothes, lingering on her necklace and watch. When her gaze finally met Melody’s, there was fear and something else, something akin to jealousy. Melody wasn’t quite sure what she was seeing in the girl’s eyes, but she didn’t trust her.

  “I’d like to begin by saying while this is an informal meeting, you are under oath, and I would caution that you should tell the truth…”

  “I have no reason to lie.” Claire’s voice was brittle, high-pitched.

  “I’m not implying that you are, or that you will. I’m simply stating that the truth is the best path.”

  Claire turned large eyes to Logan. “You believe me, don’t you, Logan? About it…about your baby? It is yours…”

  “Claire, I don’t ken what to believe.” Logan leaned forward, his face an emotionless mask. “Ye did sleep with my best friend, ye ken. And I dinna ken, or care, if it was the first time, or the last.”

  Melody watched as Claire’s face slowly dissolved into tears. She glanced at Logan, caught his bewildered look and looked back to Claire.

  “Claire, I know this is hard for you…” Melody began, but realized Claire wasn’t listening to her.

  Claire was shaking her head, her eyes still fixed on Logan. “But Logan, ye wanted this. You’ve wanted children, said so, since I’ve known you. And ye have one now, a son…what ye wanted.” She leaned forward, her eyes searching Logan’s face.

  Logan closed his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath. “Claire. Not like this.” He shook his head. When he opened his eyes, they were cold. “This is not how I wanted to start my family, not with betrayal and deceit.”

  “But…this is what you want.” A stubborn tone had crept into Claire’s voice and she repeated her plea. “Ye want this. How could ye not?”

  “I want children, more than anything. But how can I trust you, Claire. Ye slept with another man, in our bed. What am I to think?”

  “Ye can think that I was scared, that ye ran out on me, left me there. Because I was. I dinna ken what to do.”

  “And ye don’t care how I felt in this? How ye tore out my heart, broke any trust I had with ye? How am I to make that right here?” He thumped his closed fist against his chest.

  “No…I mean, yes, I care. Of course I care. I loved you…” Her voice had taken on a petulant tone and her bottom lip slid out in the beginning of a pout.

  Logan held up his hand, cutting her off. “Do not say that. I don’t want to hear it.”

  “Excuse me.” Melody rapped her knuckle on the table, her eyes a blazing swirl of emotion. “I think we’re straying off topic here. It’s very easy to determine if Logan is the father or not. And that’s all we really need to do…you produce the child for a blood test and…”

  Claire’s face blanched white, the pout replaced by a look of wide-eyed shock.

  “No! It’s not…that’s not how this goes…he said…all I had to do was say it’s yours.” Claire began crying, her cheeks turning pink, her nose beginning to run. She sniffled and Melody reached behind her, grabbing a box of tissues from the bookcase, sliding it across the table toward Claire. The girl took one, blowing her nose loudly.

  “What do you mean, this isn’t how it goes?” Melody kept her voice neutral, watching intently for any reaction from Claire.

  “And who is ‘he’?”

  Claire’s eyes darted between Logan and Melody, looking for all the world like a scared rabbit. Albeit a rabbit that was lying.

  As much as she wanted to dislike her, Melody could see the girl was terrified of something…or someone. And Melody didn’t think it was either her or Logan.

  “If I tell you, you can’t say I told.”

  Melody nodded.

  Claire took a deep breath, the fight for control of her emotions clearly evident on her face.

  “It was Mr. Ashton.”

  * * *

  Claire’s words seemed to hang in the air. In the silence that followed her statement, Melody looked at Logan. His face was no longer emotionless; his eyes had darkened with anger, his mouth a tight straight line. She could see a muscle twitch in his jaw.

  “What did Ashton tell you to say?” Logan’s voice was cold, his words clipped.

  Claire’s words came in a rush, between lessening sobs. “He called me, said I should tell you I have your baby. That you’d do anything to avoid the publicity…because of the lawsuit.”

  Melody frowned. “You do have a baby?”

  Claire nodded, turning to Melody. “Aye. I do.” She glanced at Logan before lowering her head. “It’s not yours, Logan…Mr. Ashton told me to say that. But it’s not true.”

  “Whose baby is it, Claire?” Logan’s voice had lost its hard edge, but he was still visibly angry, his words coming slowly, deliberately.

  The reply was almost inaudible. “It’s Danny’s.” Claire twisted a tissue into a knotted rope, shredded bits falling on the table.

  Logan rose abruptly, shoving his chair away from the table. He strode to the window, looking down onto the street. Melody could hear his fingers tapping on the windowsill.

  “Who is Danny?” Melody asked. She thought she knew the answer, and as much as she knew it would hurt Logan to hear, she needed Claire to tell her. But it wasn’t Claire that answered. From across the room Logan’s voice reached her, the pain so evident Melody felt tears well up in her eyes.

  “Danny was my best friend. Danny…” Claire’s face had gone even paler, the copper freckles on her nose standing out in sharp contrast, as Logan went on. “Danny was the man I found her in bed with.”

  He was still facing the window, his back to Claire and Melody.

  “Is that true, Claire?” Melody asked.

  Claire nodded. There was a beat of silence and then Logan turned sharply.

  “Say it…admit it, Claire. Tell her…tell me…whose baby it really is.” Logan’s voice was rough with emotion and the anguish on his face made Melody’s heart clench.

  “Logan…” Melody shook her head slightly.

  “No. She needs to say it. I need to hear her say it. I think she owes me that bit of truth.”

  “It’s not yours.” Claire’s voice was dull, her head down, the words mumbled.

  He walked back to the table, dropping heavily into his chair, leaning toward Claire.

  “And the truth of our relationship? Did ye ever intend to marry me, Claire?”

  Claire’s head came up. “How could you doubt that? I love you, Logan. I always have…”

  “Ye loved me enough to sleep with my best friend? How does that show ye loved me?” The pain in Logan’s face had settled in his eyes. Melody longed to reach out to him, but clasped her hands in her lap to keep from doing just that.

  But it was Claire’s hand that shot out, covering Logan’s hand where it lay on the table. Melody felt a palpable jolt in her stomach at the sight of Claire’s slender hand touching Logan’s. He didn’t pull away from her touch but he didn’t return the gesture.
r />   “You were gone…with the band, on the road all the time. I was lonely. Danny would come round, just like he did when you were home. We just…it wasn’t planned. It just happened.”

  “And the baby? Was that planned?”

  Claire shook her head. “No. It wasn’t. Ye have to believe me, Logan.”

  Logan pulled his hand away from Claire, running it through his hair.

  “Ye could have told me you weren’t happy, Claire. Anything but finding ye in the arms of my best friend. Anything but that.”

  Melody leaned forward, clearing her throat. She was losing control, of the interview and her own emotions. She wanted this to end, for Logan’s sake, and her own, but there was still questions that needed to be answered.

  “Claire. Danny is the father?”

  “Aye. Danny is the father.”

  “And Jack Ashton told you to call Logan, to tell him the baby was his.”

  “Aye.”

  Melody tapped her pen on her notepad. “Why? What was the reason for this?”

  “It was to…he said it would discredit Logan, make him look bad. He said I should go to the papers then, tell them that Logan had denied the baby.”

  “But the baby has nothing to do with the suit.” Logan turned to Melody. “What sense does that make?”

  Claire shook her head. “Not discredit you with the courts. With your fans. It would be all over the papers. He said even if you won the case, you’d have no fans left. They’d all leave you.”

  “And insisting on meeting in public? That was Ashton’s idea as well?” Logan’s tone was incredulous.

  Claire nodded. “He said he’d have someone taking photos, of us. Those would be in the papers too. I was supposed to cry, make a scene.”

  “My God, the man will stop at nothing to see me ruined.” Logan turned to Melody. “He had to know it would be easy enough to prove I’m not the father.”

  Melody sat back, blowing out a breath. “Logan…you know how the tabloids are. They’d only print that you’d abandoned your child, with a picture of the crying mother beneath the headline. No one would care that it wasn’t yours. You’d be tried in the public’s eye well before anything ever went to court.” Melody turned back to Claire.