“I’m coming over.”

“Gabe, you can’t.” It was the next morning and I had to leave for the day’s filming in a minute, but I’d wanted to speak to Gabe first. I didn’t want to make the same mistake I’d made before about not telling him important things like, oh, my director could be my stalker. He wasn’t taking it well.

“I damn well can. I’ll go and tell the boys now—”

“No! Gabe, please don’t. I’m safe and it will ruin our plan.”

“Fuck the plan. I’m getting on a plane.”

“But what about the photo of Damon and Emilio—”

“Jesus, Chloe. What about you? What about your safety? Seeing as you seem determined not to worry about it, then you need someone with you who will.”

“That’s Viktor’s and Marc’s job. We can’t let that photo get out, Gabe,” I begged. “It will ruin Damon.”

“Then Damon needs to grow the hell up.”

“That’s not fair and you know it.”

“All I know is you’re there and I’m here and it’s shit.” The desperation in his voice hurt just as much as being apart did.

“Gabe,” I said softly, “you have two concerts to perform in London and then you’ll be in Paris. I’ll be fine until then. You can’t leave the band. They wouldn’t be able to play the show.”

“They’d find another drummer.”

“Is that what you really think? That you’re so easily replaceable?”

“You’re not. I know that much. Dammit.”

I couldn’t see him, but I could imagine him pacing his hotel room, one of his hands shoving his hair back.

“I miss you,” I whispered.

Gabe blew out a long breath. “I’m going crazy being apart from you and not just because of all this stalker crap. How are we ever going to make this work?”

I backed up to the bed and lowered myself unsteadily onto the edge. “What do you mean?”

“I’m here, you’re there,” he said plainly. “This could easily be our life.”

“We’ll make it work,” I said, my voice firm.

“Yeah, but when the band tours we can be gone months at a time.”

“Then I’ll come with you.”

“No, you can’t. Your career is important. I wouldn’t want you to give up roles for me.”

“Then what are you saying?” I hated hearing the waver in my voice, but I was just so tired. Jet lag, stalkers, my fraught relationship with my mother, and trying to make things work with Gabe had taken their toll on me.

“I’m saying it sucks, that’s all.”

“I’m more used to it than you are,” I said, determined to be upbeat for him. Chloe Kemp always saw the bright side and that wasn’t going to change no matter how crazy my life got. “Are you giving up on me, Gabriel da Silva?” I demanded.

He gave a tight laugh. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

“No, I’m not, but I’m your girlfriend and don’t you ever forget that.”

He chuckled this time and I leaned into the phone, enjoying the sound. I hoped the next week went quickly because I couldn’t wait to see him again.

His laughter faded and there was silence for a beat. “Someone gave up on me once.”

I gripped the phone tighter. “Who?”

“My ex-fiancée.”

My other hand, which was resting on the bed, clutched at the duvet. How did I not know about this? I was a huge fan of Gypsy Hour. Gabe had never had a serious relationship as far as I knew.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that,” I managed.

“No, you wouldn’t. No one does. She asked for it to be like that.”

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Gabe sighed. “We were together for eight years. She was my biggest supporter all that time when I was doing gigs around LA. When I wanted to throw the towel in and stop, she talked me around. I was performing in something like four of five bands, but still struggling to make ends meet. She supported me financially a lot of the time because she had a good job in an advertising agency.”

“I hate to admit it, but she sounds pretty cool.” From what he’d just told me, if it hadn’t been for his ex, Gabe may not be where he was today.

“Then Levi found me and I joined Gypsy Hour. Everything changed between us after that.”

“But why? Surely she must have been happy for you?”

“At first, yeah. But then the touring started. She felt like she lost me. It wasn’t until that point I realized how much she’d done for me. She’d helped organize my gigs, everything. Once Gypsy Hour came along she was cut out of all of that.”

“That must have been hard.”

“So hard that I found her with another guy when I came back early from a publicity trip. Some douchebag from work.”

“Oh, Gabe.”

“Yeah. She said she was lonely. It’s so cliché it still makes me sick. She claimed she didn’t want the spotlight of being the girlfriend of the drummer of one of America’s hottest bands. What she wanted was marriage and kids and a dad who would be around.”

“Then why did she push you so hard when you were gigging? That doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s what I couldn’t understand at first, too. With time I was able to see that she loved the idea of me being in a rock band, but the reality wasn’t what she expected.”

I could relate that. Ally had experienced something similar last year when she was falling for Jake. His reputation as the sexiest man alive and all the attention that came with it had almost been too much for her. They’d had some really tough times before they’d been able to make it work.

So many people thought acting was glamorous. Sure, there were the red carpets and the premieres and the awards ceremonies. What they didn’t see was all those hours of filming in uncomfortable conditions, the boredom of waiting around, the endless hours of hair and make-up and being away from home. Oh, and the constant media attention and occasional stalker. That was fun. Don’t get me wrong, I loved what I did for a living, but it had its downsides, too.

“Gabe, I’m so sorry. I had no idea.”

“Like I said, that’s the way she wanted it. Our relationship fell apart early on during that first tour and with her advertising background, she made sure no one knew.”

“That’s not actually all that easy. You guys were getting a heap of attention. How did she achieve that?”

“She told everyone she was my former manager. When rumors came out that we were in a relationship, she denied it and said all we had was a close working friendship.”

Gosh, I could understand her need to avoid media attention but that didn’t seem very fair. It was almost like she’d tried to wipe away any evidence of the relationship altogether.

“Well, I’m Chloe Kemp and the spotlight doesn’t scare me—in case you haven’t noticed.”

I swear I felt him smile through the phone. “Yeah, I kinda got that.”

“So don’t give up on me, alright? I know I’m still young but I’ve been in this industry a long time and I know what to expect. We can make this work if we want it to.”

“I’m not giving up on you, but you are young. Seven years younger than me. Is this what you what?”

“Um, yes.”

He chuckled again. “You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, you don’t need to settle for me.”

“Settle for you?” I said in disbelief. “So you think I should sleep with a few more people first then?”

My honesty made Gabe go quiet.

“Gabe?”

“Am I what you want?” His voice was so soft I could barely hear it.

“Yes. You. You’re all that I want, Gabe. The rest doesn’t matter.” The next part came out in a rush. “And I wasn’t sure when I should say it, but I’m pretty sure I’ve fallen in love with you, in case you haven’t already noticed.” I clamped my mouth shut.

Ah, hell. I had no idea about this relationship stuff, but I didn’t see the point in playing games.

There was more silence, stunned this time. Eventually Gabe cleared his throat.

“You love me?”

“Since that night you made love to me. I knew then.”

“I . . . I don’t know what to say. Shit.”

You love me? Stop, I thought. I’d surprised him and there was more going on here than I’d first thought now I knew how his last relationship ended.

“Shit,” he said again. “That came out totally wrong. I’m sorry. I think you’re amazing—”

“But?” I interrupted, laughter in my voice. Even I could see the humor in our conversation.

“Dammit, Chloe, no! You know that’s not what I meant. It’s just . . . ”

His voice trailed off and I didn’t rush to speak. I’d learned from Damon that sometimes you had to give people space.

“I don’t know why you’d fall in love with me,” he said eventually.

“What?”

“You heard me. You can do so much better.”

Tears filled my eyes. “Stop talking like that.” I hated the way he downplayed how special he was all the time. “I think you’re amazing, too.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying.”

A flash of memory hit me. The first time I saw Gabe backstage at my party. Those eyes that could see right into me and how I knew. Maybe it wasn’t quite love at first sight, but I just knew.

“Yes, I do. How about this? I won’t give up on you, if you don’t give up on me.”

I heard Gabe exhale a shaky breath. “OK. Deal. And—”

“Don’t say it,” I told him. “Not yet. When you’re ready. And I understand, I truly do.”

I heard him sigh. “I miss you so much.”

“Me too.”