I blow out a breath. “I guess there are times when you kinda forget. The paparazzi are in every part of your business. And then there was the whole court case. It was physically and mentally draining.”
“I can’t even imagine what that would be like.”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I say, meaning every word. “I never meant to keep somethin’ like this from you when you were so open and honest with me about yourself. I swear I was in two minds about what to do.”
“Well, we had just met, so I get it. It’s kinda surreal. I still can’t believe I’m sitting here with Rock Altman.” She shakes her head in wonder, and I can see from her sudden far-away gazethat her mind is ticking over. “I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t recognize you. You could say I don’t get out much.”
I reach to place my finger over her lips, leaning in, quickly replacing it with my lips.
“Don’t even,” I murmur against the softness of her mouth. “I’m the same Brett Turner that you met at The Perky Porch a week ago.”
“Are you sure?” she asks as she looks at me intently, our noses touch, and I peck her again on the lips.
“You’re seeing the real me.” I nod. “Not just the image. We had an immediate connection. You not knowing who I was kinda sealed the deal for me.”
“It did?”
“It’s a sure-fire way to find out if a girl really likes you. Finding love is a pretty hard task once people realize who you are.”
“Have you found love many times before?” she asks, her teeth biting down onto her lip.
I chuckle and unwrap my burger, shoving a fry or two into my mouth. “Here and there,” I say. “It can be a tough life for anyone, especially when I’ve been on tour so much in the past and rarely ever home. Though my last relationship made headlines for all the wrong reasons.”
She raises an eyebrow as she unwraps her burger and takes a bite, clearly not up to date on all the country music gossip. I don’t mind it; I think I’d rather her not know some of the things written about me, most of which are usually untrue or an extended version of the truth. But my relationship with Cally Sweetney was less than sweet in the end. “When my ex-girlfriend cheated she blamed it on me being away so much, even though she could have broken it off at any time.” I sigh, running a hand over my head. “The press just ate it up. There were always stories about me and other women, and I know I said it before, but Ican tell you now that I’ve never been unfaithful. She was the unfaithful one. Cally couldn’t wait to go running to a local gossip channel to sell out our story.”
“That’s awful,” she murmurs. “It would make it hard to know who the people you can trust are, or your real friends.”
“Very much so. They say it’s part of the biz, but it’s something I struggle with. Cally and I were serious, or at least, I thought we were. I didn’t care about the bad publicity over our split, but when lies are printed about me—that’s another matter. Then this whole stalker business popped out of the woodwork. It couldn’t have been worse timing. I pushed back my new album, fired my manager, and put all my tour dates on hold.”
She swallows as she takes it all in, her eyes wide and curious. “What are you going to do now?” She asks quietly on the breath of a whisper. And I know she wants to know the score between us.
I live in Nashville; she lives here in Alpine Falls, Wyoming. But my frame of mind has shifted. The thought of turning my life upside down for the right reasons might just be on the cards.
In fact, it could just be exactly what I need.
“Maybe I just throw caution to the wind,” I say, which isn’t what I’m used to at all, but seems fitting given the circumstances. And I’m ready to leap.
CHAPTER 21
Bailey
Okay, so I may have gone to the extremes with our hunkering down like a huge storm is about to hit, but Brett is relaxed and we spend the rest of the night engrossed in conversation. He opens up about touring, singing, and what it’s like being on top of the world. The highs and lows.
“It’s been a lot,” he says. “But I’m not gonna complain about the perks, there are many. And I love what I do, I just lost it for a while.”
“Tell me about your parents and your sister,” I encourage. I want to hear more about them.
“They’re amazingly supportive. I’m lucky that I got two parents who never forced me into anything. In fact, when I first told them I wanted to pursue music, they were skeptical that I could make it work as a career, but they’ve always been in my corner. My sister thinks it’s pretty cool, though,” he laughs. “She likes to hang with me sometimes on tour to check out the other musicians, so I’ve gotta keep a close eye out on her.”
I laugh too. “She sounds like fun.”
“A handful,” he says. “But she keeps me grounded and always tells me the truth. As does my best friend, Dale, he’s been a rock, just like Jed. I don’t know what I would have done without the two of them.”
“I’m glad you have good people in your life.” I truly mean that, it can’t be easy being a music god and having to worry all the time that people aren’t gonna go blab to the tabloids. “Did Zane know who you were when you first got here?”
“Nope. But Jed eventually filled him in.” He shrugs. “See, I have a face that’s easy to forget.”
“That isn’t true.”
