Page 27 of Good Girls Don't Date Rock Stars (Rock Canyon, Idaho 2)

Travis’s mouth was pressed against her ear. “Come on. We’ll watch a few ceremonies and laugh.”

His warm, coaxing tone and the soft kiss on her forehead made her lean toward him and close her eyes, contentment warming her. His lips slid down, brushing the shell of her ear, and another one of those shivers shot from her neck to her lower back and spread through her as he whispered, “I dare you.”

Chapter Six

* * *

The next morning

ROLLING AGAIN TOWARD the edge of the large bed, Gemma swung her legs over and tried to stand quietly, swaying a bit.

Oh, God, what did I do?

The room was still dark, despite the bright light outside, which meant it was probably early in the morning. Snapshots of sitting on Travis’s lap in a well-lit room and watching couples kiss under an arch of roses flashed through her mind.

“Do you, Gemma Anne Carlson, take Travis Charles Bowers, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

“Shit.” She clapped her hand over her mouth in alarm, shooting a panicked glance toward the bed, but Travis didn’t stir. Had they really done it? Was it legal if you didn’t remember? She wanted to wake him up and scream at him, but her whole body shook at the thought of facing him.

A weekend of fun. No-strings-attached-forget-him-when-he’s-gone fun. That’s all she’d wanted. She’d wanted to feel like more than just Charlie’s mom, someone daring and sexy. Now she was standing over her husband, and all she could think about was putting as much distance between herself and Travis as she could possibly get.

Searching the room for her clothes, she gathered them in her arms and quietly made her way toward the door. She opened it as gently as she could and slipped into the adjacent living room without breathing. Turning on the light in the entryway, she dressed in a hurry, her eyes darting back to the closed bedroom door. The sparkly diamond on her hand continued to draw her attention, mocking her as it twinkled.

“Will you love her, honor her, and keep her in sickness and health, forsaking all others, for as long as you both shall live?”

Seamus. She remembered Seamus. Gemma remembered laughter, and bits and pieces, but it was all a jumble.

She snapped her bra into place, but her panties were nowhere to be found. Not willing to go back in to find them and run the risk of waking him up, she pulled on the poufy dress, adjusting it as best she could. With no way to lace the corset back, she gripped the top of the dress with one hand and picked up her shoes purse and the skirt of the dress in the other, and practically ran to the suite door in her bare feet.

This was insane; how could she have been so stupid? What had possessed her to get married in Vegas? Alcohol was no excuse; deep down she knew that. No, it was her fault she had taken a complicated situation and turned it into a maze of epic proportions.

Who the hell doesn’t remember getting married? Opening the door slowly, she poked out her head and looked for signs of life. The hallway was quiet, and saying a little prayer, she slipped out of his room and hobbled to the elevator. Trying to keep her dress up was a chore with her other hand full, and she ended up pushing the elevator button with her elbow, still hoping Travis wouldn’t wake up and come looking for her. Or that some stranger wouldn’t come out and see her walk of shame.

“I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

The doors opened and the attendant poked out his head. “Going down, ma’am?”

Gemma stepped in with a loud sigh and told him her floor, making sure to keep her back to him. If he thought anything of her odd behavior, he didn’t mention it. She tried to fight the tears filling her eyes, but her vision still blurred.

God, how could she face Travis? Chances were he’d agree they’d made a mistake and would want their marriage annulled, but what if he questioned why she wanted one? Why wouldn’t she want to stay married to a handsome, successful man?

Because I’ve been keeping too many secrets and they’re all about to come crashing down around my head?

But her biggest fear, the one that really made her want to run for the hills, wasn’t that Travis would agree to an annulment but that he wouldn’t. If he told her he wanted her, wanted this, she wouldn’t be able to walk away.

And then she’d have to tell Travis about their son, and if things didn’t work out, it would devastate Charlie. To get a taste of being a family only to have it end when they couldn’t sustain it? She couldn’t do that to him. Charlie had only known love and security; she’d tried to protect him as best she could. She didn’t want his heart broken.

She’d heard what could happen to normal marriages, let alone the ones that left the couple separated for long months. Celebrity couples were always splitting up due to scheduling conflicts and infidelities, and if she took a chance with Travis, that’s where she’d end up. She’d read the books and seen the movies of the week; they would split, and their private business would be all over the place.

And if Travis requested visitation, Charlie would be shuffled around the country on his t

ours, surrounded by strange people, unprotected. What if whoever Travis hired to babysit Charlie didn’t watch him and he got lost or hurt? She was very careful about who she let into Charlie’s life, but if he was with Travis, she’d have no control. No way to keep him safe and sheltered. All the normalcy she had struggled to provide for him would be gone.

Squeezing her eyes shut against the headache and tears, she leaned against the wall of the elevator her knees weakening as her stomach turned over. The ride was quick, and Gemma tried to act natural as she sidestepped out of the elevator, giving the man a weak smile He returned her smile and she continued to moonwalk away until the doors closed.

Alone at last, she sped to her door and dropped her shoes on the ground, frantically searching for her hotel key card in her purse. Finally finding it, she shoved it into the slot and rushed in, reaching back to grab her forgotten shoes. Shutting the door, she stepped out of the cupcake gown and threw it across the bed, the once beautiful gown now a shameful reminder of her actions.

“You may now kiss your bride.”

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