Page 3 of Fake Fiancé for the Billionaire Rockstar

Brent and Jace are the only ones who seem to have a good head on their shoulders, even though Ryker and Evan are about as in love as everyone else is. Despite everything thrown their way, I admire how easily everyone has gotten through their hardships together.

If only I could find that, then my family would stop nagging me to stop being a workaholic and focus on my love life.

I’ve told them enough times that when I meet someone, they will be the first to know, but it doesn’t stop them from constantly checking up on me to see how the dates are going. I don’t have the heart to tell them the truth — that the last date I went on was three years ago and I don’t have a desire to go on another.

I shake my head and my wayward thoughts, then round the corner backstage and come to a stop at the edge of the stage. Donny seems more relaxed than he did earlier, and the others are nodding their heads to the music they’re creating.

At least they aren’t messing up the rehearsal.

When I look back at Donny, he cuts his attention over to me and winks with a smirk that has a shiver running down my spine to the warm place between my thighs.Thisis why I have to make sure he doesn’t want anything to do with me, because my body can’t seem to understand he’s off-limits.

Off-limits in my mind, anyway. The guys have proven throughout the time I’ve been with them, and even before, that they aren’t as strict about a workplace romance. As if on cue, Mia comes to a stop at my side and darts her attention around the room.

Despite Mack being locked up, Mia always ensures that no one else is going to harm her husband. She’s got the newest addition to their family clinging to her chest in a carrier, and I reach out, gently running my hand over her soft patch of hair. It’s not as loud, so I guess it makes sense that Mia would bring their little girl for a quick visit right now.

The music comes to a halt, and the guys shuffle from the stage, each of them grabbing a cold water bottle from the cooler I placed at the bottom of the steps. Evan’s eyes light up when he sees Mia, and I watch as he immediately takes his daughter out of her carrier with a smile on his face.

My eyes sting, hating that this isn’t something I have by now, and I hurriedly turn my attention to everyone else. Jace is already hurrying past, eager to get to Mallory, and Brent is putting his phone to his ear with a smile on his face—which means he’s talking to his own wife, Julia. Donny is the odd one out, and he’s looking right at me.

I mask my emotions, scowl at him. It’s meant to tame the hunger and insecurity inside me.

It doesn’t work.

Being near him makes me want to do things I’d never normally do. Things I definitely don’t have time for.

Or so I thought.

As I turn to leave, Donny’s voice cuts through the silence. “Carmen, wait.”

The urgency in his tone stops me cold. I turn, my heart in my throat.

His eyes lock onto mine, intense and unreadable.

“There’s something you need to know.”

2

Donny

To say I’m surprisedis an understatement.

When I waved at Carmen to play the drums, I expected her to bomb. Instead, she nailed it. Even Jace’s jaw dropped, and that guy never reacts to anything. Watching her fingers fly over the drums, her body moving with the rhythm... damn. How does she keep surprising me like this?

I wish I could lie and say that there’s no attraction there for Carmen, but I can’t. She’s got this beautiful auburn hair that she seems to always have in a perfectly slicked-back bun, which only makes me wonder what it would look like falling over her slender shoulders.

Her eyes caught my attention first, though — a beautiful bright green that looks on the verge of blue. I was almost certain she wore contacts, but I’ve never once seen her take them out.

Every time she looks at me with those eyes, even if it’s just to glare, my heart races. It’s getting harder to hide how much she affects me.

The elevator opens to my penthouse, and I step into the silence. Usually, I love the quiet. Today, it feels suffocating. I miss the chaos of the old days - Ryker’s mess on the kitchen counter, fighting Evan for the TV remote. Now it’s just me and my thoughts. Thoughts that keep drifting back to Carmen and the way she looked behind those drums.

They all have families now.

There was a look in Carmen’s eyes when we stopped our rehearsal, the way she watched Evan and Mia with sadness in her gaze. It looked as though she was mourning the fact that she doesn’t have what they do, and in a way, I can relate to that. I had always imagined I’d have a family someday, but the day never came and I put all my focus on the career I’ve got.

For a brief time, I had to walk away from the band because my grandmother got sick and I was the one who took care of her. I love my parents, but the idea of them taking care of my grandmother left me with a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. Mack was more than accommodating to everything, telling me that I could take all the time I needed for my family.

My grandmother’s passing hit me hard. She was the one who nurtured me, always making me believe in my dreams. It took a few months to finally make the move and rejoin the band. I spent most of the time after her death drinking beer and trying to numb the pain, even if only for a little while. When I caught up to the guys in the middle of their tour, I knew not to expect Mack because I had been paying attention to the media.

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