CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
“PARTY!” An hour later, Mal was in loud, manic mode.
He only had a bottle of water in his hand. Our words had gotten through to him at least. Just like the first night I met him, he stood on top of a coffee table, doing his groove thing. There were a lot of women willing to heed his party call. Plenty of slick, shiny women watching my man with avarice in their eyes. It was something I’d have to get used to. I couldn’t kill all of them. I mean, where on earth would I hide so many bodies?
This dating rock stars business was harder than it looked.
One such young lady tried to climb up onto the table with him and no. Not even a little.
I grabbed her arm. “Not happening.”
“Get your hand off me,” she spat.
“PUMPKIN!” shouted my drumming delight from above.
Holy hell, my ears. They were ringing.
The woman gazed up and gave Mal a foxy grin. Her facial expression when she turned back to me was not as warm.
“Sorry,” I said (blatant lie there). “He’s taken.”
“Who the hell are you?”
“I’m pumpkin.” The “ha, bitch” was silent, but make no mistake, it was most definitely there.
She did some strange squinty-eyed thing and then about-faced, disappearing into the crowd. There was a flash of shiny silver stilettos and she was gone. Awesome shoes. I’d worn my usual boots and a skirt, denim this time, a black long-sleeve shirt and some chunky resin jewelry finished me off. Deep down inside, I had no idea how a rock star’s girlfriend was supposed to dress, but for comfort would do. Those shoes though, I’d really like to know where she got them. Chances of her telling me now had to be somewhere between nil and none.
Lori and Neil were still stationed on the couch in the corner. David and Ev kept them company while I guarded my man from other women. Or something like that. Honestly, I wasn’t having a very good time. The argument earlier had left me on edge and I didn’t fit with this crowd. There were music reporters and industry types, a mixed assortment of the rich and famous all gathered together to kick off the tour.
“Pumpkin?” Mal called again.
I turned to face him.
“Oh, there you are. Hey. I have an announcement to make,” hollered Mal. “Everyone. Yo!”
The crowd quieted, all heads turning his way. I didn’t have a good feeling about this.
“Lot of shit’s been happening lately. Got me thinking about things.” He gazed over at his parents. “Life’s short and you gotta make it count, take the time to be with the people you love. Keep ’em close to you. So I, ah … I’ve come to a decision. Right here, right now.”
He stared down at me, his brows nearly meeting above the straight line of his nose. And then, he sank down on one knee, on top of the coffee table. His hand reached out for mine and I took it, fingers numb with surprise.
“Marry me, Anne.”
My heart stopped. Holy fucking hell. He couldn’t be serious.
“What?”
“Yeah, marry me tonight,” he said, his voice clear to one and all. “We’ll fly down to Vegas on the red-eye. Be back in time for breakfast.”
Flashes went off around us, blinding me. But nothing else existed. There was only his beautiful, hopeful face, fading in and out of view.
“…So romantic,” whispered someone nearby.
“We can take the guys with us,” he said. “Go pick up Lizzy on the way. Even bring Reece if you want.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“I’ll buy you the biggest fucking ring you’ve ever seen.”
No, really, was there no oxygen in this room?
“I know this is soon. And I know you’ve got some issues with marriage, but this is you and me. We’re solid.”
No, we weren’t. We’d just had a fight. We were always having fights and it’d only been … fuck, how many days? Yes, we could be good together. But we were only beginning; no way were we ready for this.
“C’mon, Anne.”
“It’s only been a week …”
“I need you to do this for me.”
“I’ll marry you, Mal!” Some bitch at the back of the room shouted. Others muttered their agreement.
“Why?” I searched his face, my heart beating overtime.
“Lots of reasons.”
I shook my head, stupefied.
“Please,” he said, staring into my eyes.
Neil was supporting Lori, they were standing right there, not four feet away, watching the whole thing. My stomach turned upside down. There was such hope on Lori’s face. She had her hands clutched to her chest, her eyes shining with unshed tears. Ev stood just past her with David and her lips were drawn, but her eyes … Fuck, they all actually thought this insane idea might work. Well, I guess Ev would, she’d done some crazy stuff in Vegas herself.
But this wasn’t romance. This was insanity.
“I need you to do this for me,” he repeated. “Take a chance, Anne.”
Take a chance on heartbreak and abandonment. All the pain and suffering I knew so well. I barely had a grip on being in a relationship and he wanted to make it legal and binding forever and ever until someone up and decided they’d had enough.
My shoulders curved in. “Mal … don’t.”
His gaze darted over my face. “You and me in Vegas. C’mon, it’ll be fun.”
I stepped closer to him, trying for privacy. “I can’t marry you just to make your mom happy.”
“It’s more than that.”
“It’s not. If it weren’t for her being sick, there’s no way you’d be asking me this right now.”
“But–”
“I’m sorry. No.”
“Anne …”
I could see the exact moment he realized he wasn’t going to talk me into it. That he wasn’t going to get his way. His jaw hardened and he dropped my hand. In one smooth move he jumped off the coffee table and headed for the door. Any possible words stuck in my throat, choking me.
There he went. Going, going, gone.
He was gone.
Every eye in the room was on me. David followed Mal, and Ev appeared at my elbow. They really did have this shit down by now, managing drama the Stage Dive way. Jimmy and Ben stopped Adrian from following David and Mal. The manager gave me a look strongly encouraging me to curl up and die. I was so sick of this.
Something broke inside. The pain was excruciating.
It was really best just to get this dealt with.
Lori’s look was hesitant, sad. “Oh, Anne …”
“I’m sorry,” I said, and then I got the fuck out of there.
***
Mal didn’t return to our hotel room that night. There was no message from him the next day either. I went home.