He smiled, slowly, letting the full implication of her words sink in before asking, “Are you? Stuck with Ward Miller, the musician?”
She searched his face. “I want to be. Of course I want to be. But I don’t want half measures. I don’t want only part of you. And I don’t want to share you with her.”
“You won’t be,” he assured her. And for the first time, he realized how true that was. Whatever love he’d had for Cara, it would always be a part of him, but it was a part of his past.
He cradled Ana’s face in his hands and leaned down, gently pressing his lips to hers. He wanted to show her his love in that moment, but she would have none of his tenderness. She pulled him to her, opening her mouth beneath his. There was no playfulness in her kiss, no gentle exploration. There was only passion and urgency and longing.
When he finally pulled back, he knew he needed to offer her one more chance to walk away, or at the very least to negotiate terms. “If I’m going to do this—stage a comeback, I mean—it’s not going to be easy. There will be long hours in the studio. Probably a tour. And I’d need you to come with me.”
Her brow furrowed as she considered, but she nodded. “Okay.”
“And some of the songs are going to be about you. About us. Having your life up there on stage, for everyone to see, it’s not easy. I need to know you’re okay with that.”
She pulled his head down for another kiss. “I’ll make it work. Besides, I have it on good authority that it’s easier for men to express their emotions through music. Besides, I’m pretty fond of your guitar playing.” She swallowed back the tears that threatened to choke her, then added, “That new song isn’t half-bad, either.”
He bumped her forehead with his own. “I may not say this enough. But I love you. Love you like crazy. And the thought of losing you scares me more than the thought of never recording another album. More than the thought of giving up the Alvarez forever. If being with you meant choosing to give up music forever, I’d pick you.”
“I’m not going to ask you to do that.”
“Thank God. ’Cause I really liked being back up on the stage.” He leaned down and bumped his forehead against hers. “Thank you for pushing me. I needed that. I needed you.”
Which she figured was just about perfect. Because she needed him, too.
Want to get to the root of Rafe Cameron’s desire for
revenge against the Worths?
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RAFE & SARAH—PART TWO
Vista del Mar, California—14 years ago:
Whoever decided flowers made the perfect Valentine’s Day gift never spent backbreaking hours at a greenhouse shoveling manure.
Muscles shouting, Rafe Cameron scraped the remaining muck from the truck bed and walked to the pile five feet away behind the Worth family’s glassed nursery. Sweat soaked his back and beaded his brow even in the fifty-five degree February weather. He’d ditched his pullover straight away, good thing since now his T-shirt and jeans were caked in filth.
But he was lucky to find a job to make extra money before school since afternoons were already filled with work at the construction company. Money was tight and he needed the additional cash to treat Sarah to a real Valentine’s Day, a dinner out at that new fancy place in town, Jacques’. Not some cheapskate date like the ones they’d gone on over the past month.
Ice cream at the beach—then making out.
Sodas while driving around—followed by making out.
Free concert at the park—and more making out.
Rafe speared the shovel into the pile and leaned on the wooden handle to catch his breath. Hell, it was a wonder he had time for a girlfriend to give flowers to, anyway. He hadn’t meant to start dating Sarah Richards, but then he’d kissed her that night a month ago when he’d picked her up from her job waitressing at the snobby Beach and Tennis Club.
Now here he was, working for that scumbag Ronald Worth, the richest dude in Vista del Mar. At least he didn’t have to see Worth. Technically, he’d gotten the job from Worth’s gardener, Juan Rodriguez.
Still, his senior English teacher would call this short-term job the ultimate in “irony” since he’d always sworn nothing would make him kowtow to Worth’s millions. Except he’d started dating Sarah, which changed a lot of things fast.
Funny what a guy would do for a girl, but then it must run in his genes. His dad had sure worked his tail off to pay medical bills piled higher than the fertilizer reeking up the morning air…not that it had mattered in the end since she’d died anyway. Hannah. His mother. And now his dad had started up a friendship with Penny.
Rafe threw back his head and stared at the cobalt-blue morning sky until the sun burned away the lame moisture in his eyes.
Focus on the right now. Besides money for a date, he needed a proper Valentine’s bouquet to give Sarah when she got off work tonight. The job was doubly perfect in that Mr. Rodriguez had offered to wrap up some flowers as part of the pay.
The gardener—a middle-aged, Zen kinda dude—clapped him on the back. “N0, you have worked enough this week. Go shower up before you are late for school. As I tell my little Ana, education is important.”
“I agree, sir.” His dad hammered the same thing into his head often enough.
“The flowers of your choice will be wrapped and waiting with floral tubes of water on their stems. But make sure you keep them cool, in your refrigerator when you go home to shower.”
“Thank you for helping me out with this job and letting me come in so early.” He peeled off the disgusting glove and shook the older man’s hand. “I won’t forget it.”
“No thanks are necessary. You are a hard worker. Do the same favor for someone else someday. That is how the world should move, people helping each other out, helping each other find fulfillment and happiness in the moment.” Rodriguez reached into his pocket and pulled out a check.
Rafe stared at the Worth Industries label scrolling across the top, a company that had once carried his parents on their payroll, a company that fired his parents unfairly, taking away their income, their health insurance, their future.
He fought hard against the urge to crumple the slip of paper. “I won’t forget.”
Damn straight, he had a long memory, as Ronald Worth would one day find out.
Rafe’s hair was wet and she wanted to touch it.
In the high school parking lot, Sarah sat in the front seat of Rafe’s El Camino, making the most of the final five minutes before the bell rang. Her fingers itched to stroke over his damp, swept-back hair, a darker shade, almost brown when saturated with water. Threading her fingers through his thick hair was such a turn-on.
Okay, everything about Rafe was a total turn-on.
Happiness sang through her veins. It was the best Valentine’s Day ever and she wanted to soak in every second. Even though it was basically a day like any other at Vista del Mar High, everything seemed crisper, brighter. Details, she wanted to remember each and every one.
A sophomore couple wove through cars, arms around each other in spite of the ban on PDAs on school property. A trio of basketball cheerleaders raced past, carrying boxes of heart-shaped lollipops for a Valentine’s Day fundraiser.
Officer G drove his cruiser slowly in front of the brick school, always on the lookout for drugs. And if he couldn’t find those, he seemed just as content to nab anybody going two miles per hour over the speed limit. Yep, it was a school day like any other—except school wasn’t half as boring these days. Since Rafe. She snuggled deeper into the seat that smelled like Rafe…and something else.
Frowning, she sniffed again, confused by what teased her nose. “Your car smells like perfume.”
He raised an eyebrow, lazy, slowlike. “Are you accusing me of cheating on you? Because honest to God, Sarah, I don’t know when I would find the time.”
“Are you accusing me of being jealous?” And maybe she was a little. The thought of him being with anyone else made her chest hurt.
“I don’t have time for games either, Sarah.” His blue eyes went sort of cold.
Rafe sure didn’t have much of a sense of humor, but he’d said one time that it worked out okay since a smile from her chased away his bad mood.
So she smiled now, enjoying the way she could make him happy. “And yes, I also know you don’t have time for another girl.”
“Good.” He smiled back.
She gave into temptation and skimmed her fingers over his damp hair. She still couldn’t believe she had the right to do this anytime she wanted. A shiver of excitement skipped down her spine. His blue eyes lit with a look she recognized well from make-out sessions on Busted Bluff.
Swallowing hard, she pulled her hand away before they started necking in the high school parking lot and got busted for real—and not on the bluff. “I was just curious if maybe your dad used your El Camino for a date.”
His grin faded along with the light in his eyes. “He didn’t use my truck and he doesn’t date.”
“Not even Penny?”
“They’re friends and they spend time together, but it’s not really dating,” he insisted with too much force.
Abruptly, he opened his door and stepped out into the parking lot packed with teenage-style wheels and students rushing toward the concrete steps.
Rather than wait for him to open her door the way he always insisted on doing, she leapt out after him, hauling her backpack hooked on her elbow by one strap. Guilt stung and blood rushed to her face. She shouldn’t have been so pushy. But he didn’t talk about himself much and she wanted to get closer, to understand him better.
Sarah met him in front of the hood, dropping her backpack to the ground so she could hold his face in her hands. “I’m sorry.”