Page 14 of Trapped with the Growly Rock Star

“It's just…” She pauses, biting her lip, a blush creeping up her cheeks. “I know how women throw themselves at rock stars. All the parties, the groupies…” She waves her hand vaguely. “I want to believe you're different, but how can I be sure?”

I exhale sharply, raking my hand through my hair. “You know I'm not a party guy anymore. The rock star lifestyle nearly killed me. And I'm not the least bit interested in reviving that part of my life.” I pause, trying to find the right words to express the depth of my feelings. “Hallie, you… You make me feel alive. With you, I can be myself. It's been a long time since I felt that way.”

She searches my eyes, desperately searching for truth in my gaze. “But can you promise you won't fall back into old habits?”

I step closer, wanting nothing more than to erase the uncertainty in her eyes with my touch. “I can promise you this,” I begin, my voice unwavering. “I've never felt like this before. About anyone. You... You make me want to be a better man.”

Hallie's breath catches, but she still looks unsure. “I want to believe you. So much. But what happens when the real world comes knocking?”

Yeah. The real world. The one that made me turn to alcohol all those years ago. Who am I kidding? Maybe I can’t make ironclad promises. Nobody has a crystal ball.

I take a deep breath. “I won't deny my past, Hallie, but I don’t know how else I can explain to you that I'm not that person anymore.” I pull away from her, suddenly irritated. “I truly don’t know what else to say to you.”

She lets out a shaky breath and crosses her arms over her chest. I see the battle within her. She swallows and glances down at her bare feet. “Then maybe it’s just too risky for me to trust you with my heart.”

It feels like a slap to the face, and I want to crumple. Instead, I head to the sink and start cleaning up the dishes.

I shrug. “In that case, maybe you should just go,” I hear myself say, and it sounds so foreign—like someone else is saying it. An asshole.

She just scoffs, and then I hear her walk away. Probably up to the bedroom to get dressed.

And my heart twists painfully in my chest.

CHAPTER7

HALLIE

Isit at my desk, my fingers nervously drumming on the wood. It's been a week since my argument with Lennox. I’m still an emotional wreck, driving Juniper up the wall with how much I talk about him—my constant outbursts, spontaneous tears, and pitiful weepy tirades. I decided not to tell my family about what happened. Ciara will still get her Christmas surprise, of course, but they don’t need to know the details surrounding the night I got his autograph.

Dammit, I miss him.

The small Deepwood Mountain Sheriff’s Department office is unusually quiet today. Like, where the hell is everyone? Juniper’s been MIA for nearly half an hour. I haven’t seen Sheriff Quinn come through for ages. Deputy Barlow hasn’t popped in to ask if I needed something from the vending machine, like he always does at least once during my shift.

Even the calls have been light. All I hear is the soft buzz of the fluorescent lights above.

If someone doesn’t appear soon, I’ll have to jump to the only logical conclusion—zombie apocalypse.

I huff, my mind drifting to Lennox—to the snowstorm, our intense connection, and the implosion that left my heart more broken than I would have thought possible after just one night.

I thought he understood me. But maybe I was wrong. Maybe I asked too much of him. MaybeI’mthe one with trust issues.

Grr.

The door to the dispatch office opens and I lift my head, ready to give an earful to whichever one of my colleagues for leaving me to deal with the zombie apocalypse alone.

My heart stops as I lock gazes with the most breathtaking pair of gray eyes I’ve seen.

Lennox.

He stands tall and ruggedly handsome in the doorway, guitar in hand, looking like he's just stepped off the stage and into my world.

He begins to strum his guitar, and then his deep, gravelly voice fills the room, singing words that pierce straight into my heart:

In the stillness of a mountain retreat,

My muse, a fiery vision, I did meet.

When passion's flames ignited the night,

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