The Songwriter (11 page)

They walked into the bar which was packed. They grabbed a table and Gwen winced when the local women caught sight of Johnny and converged like cattle. Gwen drank
three mojitos and was practically kicked off the table when Oliver came with his entourage. Gwen joined the dancers in the middle of the bar and lost herself in the rhythm of pumping music and let loose. There was so much pressure being onstage and she just wanted a moment to be normal, have a few drinks and dance.

When hard arms slipped around her waist she looked up, ready to tell the guy to back off but the words died on her lips.
It was Trey who had his arms around her and his eyes were dark as he leaned down so she could hear him.

“
Your man is making out with some woman in the corner,” Trey said.

Gwen shrugged.
“That’s Johnny.”

He gripped her waist.
“So you two aren’t dating?”

“
No.”

He didn’t say anything more. When she pulled away, he let her go but he shielded her from getting jostled in the crowd, not that she cared. When some guy tried to cut in, Trey shot him a look that made him back away quickly.
Gwen dashed to the bar so she could down another mojito. Trey followed but didn’t drink anything. Feeling pleasantly fuzzy, Gwen waded back into the fray and he followed. When she went back to dancing she kept bumping into him. She turned and courtesy of her platform shoes was closer to his ear than she normally would be. She wrapped one hand around his neck and went on her tiptoes so he could hear her.

“
I’m still mad at you!” she said.

Trey shrugged as if he didn’t care which
pissed her off. She went on tiptoe again, pressing her body against his so she could get to his ear. Was it her fault he was so tall? His hands moved on her waist and his hand touched her skin as her halter shifted. She ignored the urge to raise her shirt so he could put that hand on more of her body. She was so hot!

“
You don’t have to protect me from men. I can take care of myself!” Gwen hiccupped.

His eyes gleamed.
“Really?”

“
Yes!”

Trey cupped her chin, leaned down and covered her mouth with his. Gwen went rigid with shock. S
he froze against him, eyes wide as people continued to dance around them. When Trey pulled back, she licked her pulsing lips and saw him do the same. She stared at him, completely flabbergasted.

“
Let’s go,” he said and pulled her off the dance floor.

He kept a hold
on her as he walked them out of the bar and down the sidewalk back to the lot where the buses were. The night was pleasantly cool, but courtesy of her drinks she felt steamed and the pace he set made her head swim.

“
What the hell are you doing, Trey? Let me go!” Gwen said loudly.

“
We need to talk,” he muttered.

“
No kidding! You just kissed me. Are you having some kind of Natasha withdrawal?”

She
couldn’t wrap her mind around what just happened. Trey must be upset. That was the only reason she could think of that would cause him to kiss someone he didn’t want. She’d known him thirteen years and not once in all that time had he ever made a sexual move on her. Those chaste kisses he’d been giving her were what a grandpa would give to his granddaughter, so those didn’t count. The world tilted sideways and she stumbled. How many mojitos did she drink?

“
Why do you always bring up Natasha?” Trey asked.

“
Because she’s the big elephant in the room! I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for her.” When she saw the anger on his face, she patted his chest sympathetically. “You’re used to getting laid and she or someone else is usually around-”

Trey
glared at her. “What are you talking about?”

She smacked his arm and he finally released her.
“I
know
you, Trey Phoenix! You don’t know what it’s like to be single! Whenever you weren’t with Natasha, you were with someone else. You don’t know what to do now that you’re single and on the road. You’re even kissing me for God’s sake and I’m not even your type!”

“
Who said you’re not my type?”

“
Um, I don’t know any guy that would walk away from a half-naked woman!”

“
You were hysterical!”

“
Whatever. You walked away from me and the other day you said you don’t see me as a woman!”

“
You were talking about having sex with Gabe!”

“
I’m not your type.”

“
You’re wrong.” When she just stared at him he exhaled through pursed lips and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t want to see you with Gabe or Johnny.”

“
Why?” she said, swaying on the spot.

“
Why do you think? I don’t want them touching you. You should be with me.”

The mojitos caused her to survey him more objectively than she normally would have. Trey was gorgeous, sexy and charismatic- as were most performers. He was her teenage
crush that she never got over and his butt was perfect.

“
You’re kind of a man whore,” Gwen giggled.

Trey narrowed his eyes.
“No I’m not.”

“
You are.” Gwen wagged her finger in his face. “I don’t date anyone in the music business.”

“
Why?”

“
Because everyone in the biz dates everyone and no one is faithful. No one stays together.” Gwen skipped down the sidewalk. She felt so alive, so happy. “That’s why I went back to White Mist to find me a nice, simple guy.”

“
And did you find him?” Trey asked, keeping pace with her.

“
I did!” Gwen shouted triumphantly and then bent over, laughing.

“
Shit. You’re drunk.”

Gwen smothered her laughter and walked sideways.
“I may be a little tipsy but that’s okay.”

Trey put his arm around her so she wouldn’t start walking on the street.
“So you don’t date anybody in the biz and you found the perfect guy in White Mist.”

Gwen smiled.
“I did. He was perfect.”

“
And what happened to him?”

“
He asked me to marry him.”

Trey stopped dead.
“He what?”

“
He asked me to marry him and I said yes.”

He gave her a little shake.
“You’re married?”

Gwen
cackled. “No. I didn’t fit with the perfect man. I didn’t fit in my hometown either. I went back to New York.”

Her eyes closed and Trey realized Gwen was fading fast. He started walking again, mind whirling. She’d been engaged? Why didn’t he know that?
Because Gwen didn’t talk to him about her private life. She met him in different cities and helped him write songs, but she never told him about her love life or what she did outside of the music biz and he hadn’t asked. God, he was an ass!

They were almost at the lot when Gwen went unconscious. He hauled her over his shoulder and carried her to his bus. He
lay her on his bed and looked down at her for a long minute before he went out to the main living area of his bus and paced. He thought he knew Gwen- her personality, her strengths and fears and now he felt as if he didn’t know her at all. She was one of the most complicated women he’d ever met and he was going to figure her out if it was the last thing he did.

Gwen stumbled into Trey’s living room with oversized sunglasses over her eyes. Her clothes from last night were in a crumpled ball under one arm and she was dressed in one of his shirts that hit her at mid-thigh. Her stomach rolled and she put a hand over her mouth, willing herself not to throw up. Trey was nowhere in sight and when she stepped out of his bus she saw that everyone was in full swing for the show tonight
which was only a few hours away. People did double takes as she located her bus and tried to make it there without falling over.

“
Where the hell have you been?” Johnny demanded, hands on his hips.

She threw her bundle of dirty clothes in his face.
“I have a hangover. Do something for me.”

“
Whose shirt is that?”

“
Trey’s.”

A beat of silence and then,
“You slept with him?”

“
No. I was out cold before we reached the lot. He must have put me in his bus to watch over me or something.”

Barbie and Cassie came on the bus with their tools and paused when they saw her in the shirt.

“Don’t ask,” Gwen warned. “Johnny, you’re usually hung over. Do something!”

While Barbie and Cassie chattered about the phone numbers they got last night
, Johnny plopped fizzing water in front of Gwen, which she immediately drank. When Johnny set a Bloody Mary down in front of her, she froze and glared up at him.

“
I swear I’m not trying to kill you. It’ll help,” Johnny said and started frying bacon and eggs.

She ate and drank what
ever Johnny put in front of her. An hour and a half later when Angie pounded on Gwen’s bus to call out the time she felt much better. As Barbie and Cassie did her hair and makeup, snippets of the conversation she had with Trey floated back to her. A part of her wanted to ask him what that kiss was all about, but the cowardly part of her told her to forget it. Did she really call him a man whore? God, she was never drinking a mojito again! Had he been drinking too? Maybe last night was all a drunken mistake.

“
So nothing happened with you and Phoenix last night?” Johnny muttered as they walked back stage.

She could hear Trey singing and just the sound of his masculine
voice raised the hairs on her arms. Maybe she didn’t remember much about last night but she remembered enjoying his kiss and his hands on her skin-

“
Gwen!”

“
What?”

“
Did anything happen with you and Trey?”

“
You’re one to talk! He told me you were with some woman.”

“
I was doing research, you know, searching for
inspiration
for the new album,” Johnny said defensively.

“
I don’t know what happened last night. Did you see him drinking?”

“
I didn’t see him at all and I lost track of you once you started dancing.”

Gwen tried to remember her conversation with Trey
, but it was fuzzy and it didn’t make sense. She called him a man whore and she mentioned Natasha and then she talked about the perfect man…?

“
Trey’s probably going to make a move on you.”

That jerked her attention back to Johnny.
“What makes you say that?”

“
He’s been breathing down my neck ever since I got here. He kept you onstage the other night because he saw me waiting for you. Gabe told me Trey warned him off.”

Gwen stared at him.
“Gabriel Heely?”

Johnny nodded impatiently.
“Trey told Gabe to stay away from you.”

“
But he doesn’t want me!”

“
He wants you alright, he just hasn’t made a move.”

“
That’s crazy!”

“
What you and Trey have onstage, is it real or fake?”

Gwen squirmed.
“A mixture of both.”

“
I hate to say this, but I don’t think anyone but Trey would be able to bring out the singer in you. You and Trey have always been close and the way he watches you… He wants you alright.”

Gwen sp
uttered and Angie gave the two minute signal. Johnny ushered her onto the platform. She could hear Trey playing his guitar for all he was worth and her mouth watered at the sound of his voice.

“
I know you want him but the question is can you handle him?”

“
I know what kind of guy he is.”

“
But you still want him?” She nodded and he sighed. “Well, shit. I hope you know what you’re doing Gwen.”

“
I do,” she said and the platform began to move.

This time when she hit the stage
, she didn’t need a moment to calm herself. She looked out over the arena gravely as she began
The Better Man
then looked straight at Trey and the air sizzled between them. This time there were no jitters or nerves. Her blood bubbled in her veins as he made his way towards her. When they walked down the steps to the main stage and her cowboy boots peeked out from under her gown, the crowd went wild. Trey had his guitar strapped on so she reached out and ran her hand down his arm during
Touch Me
and even pulled his head down for a moment so their lips were a breath apart. His eyes were bluer than ever. The crowd hooted and yelled for them to kiss. She had to take a deep breath as she pulled away and walked offstage to change. Johnny stood on the side, shaking his head.

“
Baby, you’re playing with fire.”

“
Johnny, I’ve always been the responsible, careful one and just once, I want to do what I want.”

“
You can do whatever you want. I just hope you don’t regret it.”

She glanced onstage at Trey.
“How can I?”

When Gwen went on for her second set
, Trey was waiting for her. There was more touching, more smoldering looks and she shimmied and stomped across the stage. She felt invincible, alive and unbelievably hot. Trey Phoenix watched her with eyes that blazed with desire and she reveled in it. She sashayed off the stage and when Trey followed, it wasn’t an act. His eyes made fervent promises as he turned back to his fans.

Giddy as a schoolgirl
, Gwen rushed to her bus and showered and changed… all with Johnny hovering like an anxious father. For the first time, Gwen decided to watch the show and edged her way to the stage where hoards of women jumped up and down and sang along with Trey.
None of the screaming fans realized the woman in street clothes standing among them was the same elegant lady who’d been on stage twenty minutes ago. Trey noticed her immediately and her body flooded with need as their eyes met. Despite the fact that he stood on a stage ten feet away and she was surrounded by hundreds of people down on the arena floor, she felt as though he were stripping her bare and kissing a line down her throat.

I can give you what you need

Give me one night that’ll last forever

You knew this was inevitable

Don’t make me wait

Trey’s
voice filled the stadium and he stared right at her, demanding a confirmation she knew she couldn’t put off any longer. She was tired of denying what was between them, tired of being so careful. She hadn’t dated since the disastrous end to her engagement. She spent most of her time in her apartment with her instruments, putting her soul on paper so she could get Zach out of her system and move on. She had to stop worrying about the repercussions and just live for today. As she watched Trey, she knew she would rather have him for one night than not at all. Whatever the price, she would pay it.

She nodded and although it should have been impossible for him to see
her with the lights blazing in his eyes, he punched a fist into the air in response. The girls went wild as he came to the edge of the stage and reached out to her. Arms shot out on either side of Gwen, straining towards him just to feel the brush of his hands. His eyes glinted in the light as Gwen crossed her arms over her chest, refusing to play into his hands in front of thousands of people. Yes, she’d agreed to sleep with him but she wasn’t about to show the world another fallen woman.

“
Where’s Gwen?” Trey demanded.

“
I don’t know,” Angie said distractedly.

Trey planted his feet when she tried to urge him
towards a reporter. “Find her.”

Angie blinked.
“She’s probably in her bus. Why-”

“
No. She was in the crowd. I’m doing one interview and then I’m done for the night.”

He wasn’t about to let her renege on their deal. She said yes. He was
n’t sure what happened between last night when she called him a man whore and when she woke up this afternoon and he didn’t care.
If need be, he’d find a cameraman who caught that tiny nod she’d given him.
He had witnesses damn it and he was done waiting. He wanted her. Now.

Halfway through his interview
, he saw Angie approach with Gwen and he relaxed a little. Both women talked easily and he wrapped up the interview before Gwen could disappear. Gwen was dressed casually in a tight jean skirt and a bomber jacket. He didn’t care if he was about to ruin their friendship. He’d never waited this long for anyone and he was done being the gentleman.

He held out his hand to her. She paused for a moment and the tips of his fingers tin
gled with the need to reach out, take her hand and seal their deal but he held himself back. He wouldn’t force her. He wanted her to want this as much as he did. They stared at one another. Her face was unreadable and he felt his gut sink. Just when he was about to drop his hand, she took it. They walked backstage and he ignored Angie’s perplexed expression.

Neither said a word as they emerged from the building
and he led them straight to his bus. He locked the doors and pulled her into the bedroom. When he shut the door, he turned to her.

“
You said yes.”

H
e felt the need to confirm so there were no misunderstandings. Gwen smiled and everything in him relaxed.

“
Yes. I did.”

“
You called me a man whore last night.”

She grinned.
“I vaguely remember that.”

“
What changed your mind?”

Gwen
came towards him, rested her hand on one side of his face and kissed him. Her kiss was confident and bold. He groaned into her mouth and felt her smile against his lips. His heart rate went into overdrive as she pulled away.

“
Johnny told me you warned Gabe off.”

It took several moments to process that and then,
“Gabe’s a gossip.”

“
Is it true?”

“
Yeah.”

“
Then I’m glad he’s a gossip.”

Trey
maneuvered her over to the bed and unzipped her bomber jacket and trembled when he realized she wasn’t wearing anything beneath it.

“
Are you trying to kill me?” he murmured.

“
I want to stand out,” she teased.

“
You already do.”

Gwen went down easily as Trey pushed her onto the bed. He held open the jacket and examined her breasts with a dreamy smile on his face. She felt as if she
had three more mojitos. She was giddy with excitement and lust and she laughed. He grinned as he leaned over her and took her breast in his mouth. Her laughter faded and she squirmed as his tongue did wonderful things to her.

She wasn’t aware when Trey got rid of her skirt
, so she jerked when his mouth left her breast and licked his way down her abdomen to her core. He draped her legs over his shoulders and she screamed. Zach never went down on her and she thanked God she hadn’t married him because she wouldn’t be doing this now. She clutched Trey’s mouth to her with quivering thighs and fingers twined in his hair. She swore she felt his mouth curve into a smile. She writhed against him and screamed his name as she came.

When
she could think again Trey was inside of her and kissing her breathless. She could taste herself on him and he was throbbing inside of her as he thrust. His breath was harsh as he raised himself and looked down at her.

“
Can you take it hard?”

She smiled.
“As hard as you can give it.”

“
Thank God,” he groaned. “I can’t wait.”

He sat up, gripped her by the shoulders and pounded into her. Gwen watched him
hungrily. Seeing him like this as he thrust into her, eyes glazed with need for
her
, Gwen soared over the edge again. He shouted as he felt her contract around him and he climaxed with her. He slumped over her and they stayed that way for several minutes.