He’d backed me into a corner, almost literally, to steal a kiss, but for a few blissful moments, all I could do was grab the front of his shirt and pull him closer. My head and heart told me I was being stupid, but my body didn’t care. It craved his touch like some sort of drug.

And that was the thought that finally broke through, giving me the strength I needed to push him away.

“You can’t do that.” I glared at him and tried to pretend that my hands weren’t shaking. “You can’t come in here and act like a kiss is going to make me forget what you did.”

The muscle in his jaw popped, and he looked at me intently. “What you saw and what I did are two different things.”

I wanted to believe him, wanted to believe that the real him was the man I’d seen with those kids and with the veterans. The man who, contrary to everything I’d ever believed, I’d slept with.

“I might’ve been a virgin until recently, but I’ve never been naïve.” I started to put my hands in my pockets and then remembered that these pants didn’t have any. “I know how guys like you think. It’s sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll, right?”

“Paige–”

“And don’t try to tell me that you’re different,” I interrupted before he could say anything sweet or charming. “My mother spent more than six years on the road with one rock band or another, some big names, some not. And she fucked a lot of them. But that’s all it was. Never anything more. They didn’t treat her badly, but when she got pregnant with me, she didn’t even think about trying to figure out who the father was. She knew that, no matter who he was, he wasn’t responsible enough to take care of a kid, even if he wanted to be involved, and she wasn’t going to subject me to that.”

“That’s not fair, Paige, and you know it.” His eyes flashed. “You can’t hold me responsible for things other people did more than twenty years ago.”

“I’m not,” I snapped. “I’m just saying that I know how musicians like you are. You drink, and you fuck around, and you trash hotel rooms and do drugs–”

“I don’t do drugs,” he said through gritted teeth. “And yes, I did those other things, but that’s in the past.”

“A few hours ago isn’t far enough in the past to be using it that way.”

He shook his head, the anger on his face changing to desperation. “Will you just listen to me? Hear me out? Please.”

I clenched my jaw and nodded once. I’d listen to him, and then I’d tell him to leave.

“Chester called me and asked me to come over so we could talk about some business stuff,” Reb said. The words began pouring out of him. “When I got there, Mitzi was there, and all sorts of shit was there too. She was using, and Chester asked me if I wanted a drink, but I said no. I got a bottle of water, and when I went to the bathroom, I left it on the table. I didn’t think they’d do anything to it.”

I held up a hand. “Are you saying they roofied you?”

He shrugged. “I guess you could say that. Everything after that is fuzzy or completely blank. I only know you were there because when I woke up, Mitzi told me. She said that they’d given me some Valium.”

“Why would they do that?”

“She said Chester has some half-assed idea that people are going to think I’m going soft if you clean up my image too much, but I think he’s doing it because he knows I’m getting sick of his shit and he thinks he can use the story to make it so another manager wouldn’t want to take me on.”

What he was saying made a sort of sense, but I latched onto one word more than others. “What story?”

Reb flushed with anger and embarrassment, and ran all ten fingers through his hair. “He took pictures and video that makes it look like I was…well, that I was doing what you thought I was doing. He’s out selling it now.” He started to reach for me, then stopped himself. “Wait…can I ask why you were even in his office?”

Damn, the check. “My company received a bounced check for our services, and I was sent to get another one.”

He gaped at me, shaking his head. “My check bounced?” He ran another hand through his hair, this time pulling at the roots. “That can’t be possible…unless…dammit! Chester!”

I watched his face morph through a variety of emotions and he attempted to process all that his manager may or may not have done. “I’m sorry.”

He shook his head again and met my eyes. “All of that can wait. What I want you to know is that I could have gone after Chester to stop him from publishing those lies. I want you, Paige, more than I’ve wanted anything in a long time. You’re what matters to me.”

I shook my head. “I believe you, but wanting me isn’t enough for me to think this is a good idea. I shouldn’t have let anything happen in the first place.”

I believed what I was saying, but I wasn’t telling him the whole truth. I didn’t tell him how much it had hurt me to see him like that, and how I knew I needed to get out now before I got in too deep. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to survive having my heart broken by him when he inevitably moved on. Because him staying with me wasn’t something I could imagine. Not when he was keeping a part of himself from me.

“You need to go.” I couldn’t look at him.

“Please, Paige.” He moved closer, but I still didn’t raise my head. “Give me a chance to prove to you that I’m different. If I can’t, then I’ll leave, and I’ll never bother you again.”

I didn’t want him to go. I wanted to try, to see if we could make things work. But if I was going to take a risk, he needed to do the same.