Page 69 of Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars (Rock Canyon, Idaho 2)

She wanted to fix it but had no idea how to repair the damage she had caused. Despite the times he seemed to have really pushed aside what she’d done, she knew it wasn’t that easy. People just didn’t get over things like that. Especially people with the kind of trust issues Travis had.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to get back into the swing of her story, trying to decide what her hero did after her heroine pushed him into the water. Where did they go from there? She supposed she could have Lady Emily run away as fast as her dance slippers would take her, but that wasn’t very mature. If she had any backbone, she would stand her ground and defend her actions.

Or she could apologize over and over and then avoid the man.

Hands fell on her shoulders from behind and she jumped in her chair, swinging around guiltily to face Travis.

“Well, that didn’t take long,” she said, her smile tight and nervous.

“Yeah, he was out before I finished the chapter. So, how’s the poor guy in the water?”

“Wet.” Trying to steer her mind away from the fact that his hands were burning a hole through her clothes, heating up the skin beneath and making her squirm, she said, “Charlie had a big day.”

His hands dropped and he took the seat next to her at the kitchen table, scooting his chair closer to hers. “Me, too. It was a really good day, too.”

She swallowed hard. “Yeah, it was.”

“So, it got me thinking. About us.”

Those two words sent her heartbeat into overdrive. “Yeah?”

“Why don’t we have a do-over date? Since our first one didn’t go so well, I was thinking we could try again and go from there.”

Gemma didn’t move as he leaned over and grazed her lips in a soft kiss, but her whole body went on high alert: hot, tingly, and quivery.

“Gemma, will you go out with me?”

One of his hands released hers, and he softly trailed his finger down her cheek. His eyes were open and staring into hers.

“I feel like we’re back in high school,” she whispered, resisting the urge to brush back a curl from his forehead.

His mouth spread into a wide grin. “If we were still in high school, we’d be making out by now.”

Her surprised laugh was cut off by his kiss, and she didn’t protest. It felt too good to say no.

Travis pulled her out of her chair and onto his lap, taking the opportunity to wrap his arms around her, holding her in place. “No escape.”

Gemma whispered, “I didn’t know I was trying to.”

Those were the last words spoken between them as they kissed, touched, and rubbed against each other. Gemma really did feel like a kid again, sneaking Travis into her room after bedtime and fooling around quietly so they wouldn’t wake her parents.

Only now, it was their son upstairs.

She pulled back reluctantly. “We should stop.”

He didn’t protest, but he didn’t release her either. “You never answered me.”

“About?”

He punctuated every word with a kiss to her cheek, neck, nose, and mouth. “Will . . . you . . . go . . . out . . . with . . . me?”

He was trying to move on and start over. He’d promised to keep the press under wraps and protect Charlie and her from any backlash. He was willing to forgive her for her past mistakes. Didn’t she owe it to herself and Charlie to do the same? To take a chance and trust him again?

“Yes. I’ll go out with you.” Disentangling herself from his arms and standing up, she added, “Now off with you. I have to write.”

He stood up from the table but captured her chin in his hand. “Get Charlie a sitter tomorrow. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

He bent over and gave her a hard kiss on the mouth before turning around and heading to his room. She heard the sound of a squeaky meow and looked down to find Stormy, her little head cocked to one side.

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