“He didn’t have one there until this January. He even made me attend the ribbon cutting ceremony.” She stuck her tongue out as if she’d just eaten something truly vile.
“I’d be proud of my dad if he was that successful,” Lindsey said.
“He’s proud enough of himself for the both of us,” Dawn muttered.
Kellen and Dawn definitely came from two entirely different worlds—ribbon cutting ceremony. He didn’t have a dad to be proud of, and the one who’d knocked up his mother wasn’t worth his weight in mud, much less gold. But he and Dawn had far more important experiences in common. Music filled his soul and hers, so material differences didn’t matter. Did they? They didn’t matter to him, and it seemed they didn’t matter to her either.
Owen laughed unexpectedly, and Kellen glanced his way to discover that he was on his cellphone again. The obnoxiousness of his laughter meant that he was talking to Caitlyn for the eleventh time that day. Yes, Kellen had counted. He wondered how Caitlyn was dealing with the knowledge that Owen had been volunteered to be a baby daddy, because Kellen wasn’t dealing very well with Owen’s predicament at all. And not only because Lindsey looked so much like Sara. He knew what kind of man his best friend was: too trusting, too giving, too easy to take advantage of. And while Kellen admired Owen’s open mind and gentle spirit, he knew Owen could fall prey to someone with an agenda—like a woman with a baby on the way and apparently no one to help her out.
Then again, if Owen took Lindsey home over the weekend and left her there, Kellen wouldn’t have to spend the rest of the tour watching his every move because he couldn’t shake the feeling that Lindsey and Sara were cosmically linked and that Lindsey had been sent to spy on him and make him feel guilty for liking Dawn so much. For lusting after her.
Kellen’s fingers returned to the silver band of Jacob’s watch, rubbing it absently, as if Sara could hear the apology behind that repetitive motion.
The bus shuddered and the pitch of the engine lowered as the lumbering vehicle slowed to pull off the road.
“Finally,” Adam said. “Is it just me or do these bus rides get longer and longer?”
“It’s just you,” Gabe said. “They just seem longer because you can’t wait to see Madison.”
Adam flushed, but he didn’t refute Gabe’s claim.
“I wonder if I have enough time to rent a bike before I pick her up at the airport,” Adam mused.
Kellen chuckled to himself but didn’t point out the folly of picking up someone at the airport on a motorcycle. Let the dumbass figure out where to store her luggage on his own.
“So do you think you can introduce me to Taylor Swift?” Lindsey asked. She’d been doing some online searching and had found a picture of Dawn with Taylor Swift posted somewhere.
Dawn shifted on Kellen’s lap, straining her neck to peer out the window across the aisle as if she hadn’t heard her.
“You two are friends, right?” Lindsey pressed.
“I’ve met her. That doesn’t make us friends,” Dawn said.
“How about Jennifer Lawrence, then?” she asked, lifting her phone to display a picture of Dawn with the beautiful starlet. “Are you two close?”
Dawn patted Lindsey on the shoulder. “You’re barking up the wrong socialite tree, hon. It’s really not my scene.”
“But it could be if you wanted it to be,” Lindsey said, reaching over to squeeze Dawn’s hand. “Come on. Let me go with you to just one Hollywood party. I’ll love you forever.”
“I get flustered in the company of stars,” Dawn said. “I don’t belong among them.”
“Sara, quit pestering her,” Kellen said with a weary sigh. “Dawn is not going to introduce you to the rich and famous.”
Dawn’s head whipped around, her eyes wide as she gawked at him. He supposed she didn’t appreciate him fighting her battles.
“My name is Lindsey,” Lindsey said, covering her chest with one hand. “Jeez,” she said under her breath, climbing to her feet. “At least Owen remembers my name.”
Kellen stared after Lindsey as she headed toward Owen to bug the shit out of him some more.
“You called her Sara,” Dawn whispered.
“I did?”
Dawn nodded, and Kellen’s stomach twisted into a sick knot. Lindsey did look like Sara, but they weren’t much alike in personality. How could he have made such a mistake?
“I think I need a drink,” he said, even though alcohol had never been his go-to crutch.
“It’s a little early for that, even in New Orleans,” Dawn said. She shifted off his lap and took his hand, urging him to stand. “I’m sure there’s something we can do to keep your mind off your worries.”
Her voice had taken on a sultry timbre that claimed his full attention, and the suggestion in her eyes made his cock stir with interest. Oh yes, he was sure they could find something to occupy his mind, his hands, and especially his stupid mouth. And if Lindsey was out of sight, surely Sara would be out of mind.
Chapter Two
Dawn craned her neck to peer out the side window of the tour bus. As they passed familiar sights of New Orleans, she was struck with nostalgia. If her career path had gone the way she’d originally intended, she would have become a jazz pianist instead of a classical one. For that reason alone, New Orleans was one of her favorite cities. Right after she’d graduated and her ex had gone to China to find himself—without her, thank God—she’d spent a year in NOLA trying to make it as a jazz performer. A fun year, but ultimately, just as Daddy had predicted, a failure.
When the bus pulled to a halt behind the venue where the band would play that night, Kellen couldn’t get off fast enough. Maybe it was because she’d suggested they could get intimate, but more than likely it was because Lindsey was near. He took Dawn by the wrist and they were halfway to the backstage entrance when she realized she’d left her bag behind.
“Forgot my purse,” she said, drawing to a halt so abruptly that Kellen stumbled.
“I thought you wanted to take my mind off my worries,” he said.
“I do. But if I don’t get my purse, I’ll be the one with my mind riddled with worries.” She already had that familiar panicky feeling she got whenever her purse wasn’t within reach. She’d never understand the trend of carrying nothing but a cellphone.
“I’ll grab it for you,” he said, brushing a kiss against her cheek before dashing toward the bus.