Chapter 1
TAYLOR
Chomping down on a delicious,salty pretzel, I keep my eye on the coffee shop across the street from where I’m sitting in my car. More specifically, I’m watching the unbelievably gorgeous man sitting outside said coffee shop. Despite the baseball cap that sits low on his head and the dark-tinted shades covering his eyes, both trying to conceal his identity, I know exactly who the man is. I’d know him anywhere. I could be in a room full of people when he walked in with my back facing the door, and I’d still know he was there. That’s how attuned I am to him.
Asa Sharpe. Lead guitarist for rock band, Grey Water. The guy I’ve obsessed over for the last twelve years. The guy I’m going to one day marry and whose kids I’m going to bear.
Okay, so maybe not the last part. At least not in reality. But hey, a girl’s allowed unrealistic fantasies, right?
I watch as Asa picks up his coffee and slowly brings it to his lips. His attention stays focused on the notebook sitting on the table that he’s been writing in for the last half hour. Without knowing what he’s writing, I know it has to be a song. I’ve studied and stalked Asa long enough to know he always has a notebook with him for when inspiration hits. He doesn’t write all the songs for Grey Water—it’s usually his band mate, Matteo, who writes them—but the ones he does write, the fans go wild over.
Asa lifts his head and slowly looks around. When he casually looks my way, I jerk my head forward, pretending to look at the newspaper I have opened and propped against my steering wheel, when he casually looks my way. I keep him in my peripheral vision, so I know when he looks away. He looks at me a moment too long, and I wonder if I’ve been caught, but then he drops his gaze back down to his notebook. I let out a little sigh of relief.
Stalking is a risky business. I usually do mine over the internet, which makes it a bit easier. When he’s not on the road doing concerts, he’s in San Diego where he has a gorgeous home on the side of the a mountain. The band recently signed on with my sister, Penelope’s, PR firm. That’s why he’s here in Silver Falls.
The thing is though, they finalized the contract via the phone a few weeks ago. So why is he here? There was really no need for him to come to our small town. Penelope does most of her work with her clients over the phone. That, or she flies out to meet them. I’d ask her, but her lips are sealed tighter than Fort Knox when it comes to Asa. She obviously knows about my obsession, and she’s done her best to keep me away from him. She’s worried I’m going to do something stupid and embarrass her.
I roll my eyes at that thought.
I munch on another pretzel just as my phone vibrates in my cup holder. Without taking my eyes off Asa, I pick it up and press the Accept button.
“Hello?”
“Whatcha doin’?” My sister‘s voice meets my ear.
Realizing too late that I should have let the call go to voicemail, I quickly come up with a lie. “At home, catching up on laundry.”
“Oh, really?” She draws the words out. “That’s funny, because I could swear that I’m looking at you right now, sitting in your car across the street from The Coffee Bean.”
Well, shit.
Jerking my eyes away from Asa, I look around until I find my sister standing on the street a couple of car spaces ahead of me on the opposite side of the road. She lifts her hand and wiggles her fingers at me.
“You wouldn’t be spying on a certain rock star, would you?”
I narrow my eyes, and I know she sees because I can see her big grin from my car. “What’s it to you?”
She lifts a shoulder then props it on an old phone booth that hasn’t been used in ages. “Doesn’t mean anything to me, but I bet Pen would flip her shit if she knew you were stalking her client again.”
A growl slips past my lips. “You keep your mouth shut.” The last thing I need is Penelope on my ass again.
Her laugh fills my ear at the same time I see it on her face.
“My lips are sealed,” she says, before tacking on, “so long as you have my back when I need it.”
The thing with my sisters and me, is that the four of us were born within minutes of each other. We’re all close, just as we are with our older brother, Wesley, and for the most part, we get along. We’d die for each other, and if it came down to it, we’d kill for each other. No one is more important than our siblings. But we also know exactly what buttons to push, and we push them often. We test, we pull, we aggravate the hell out of each other, and we take advantage when we need something, so long as none of us gets hurt in the process.
My feelings toward Asa are no secret, and Harley knows she can get me to promise anything when it comes to him. I don’t even have to think about my answer before I give it to her.
“Yeah, fine, whatever. Just keep your trap shut.”
I swear the laugh that comes from her is evil. “Deal.” With the phone still pressed to her ear, she spins away and walks inside the little boutique store beside The Coffee Bean. Soft, classical music comes across the line.
I switch my attention back to Asa.
“Why don’t you just go talk to him?”
I scoff. “Yeah, right. I may like to pretend I’m going to marry him one day, but we both know he’d never give me the time of day. I’d end up making a fool of myself.”
“You won’t know unless you try.”
“I’d rather just keep my fantasy than chance having it busted.”
She snorts. “You’re pathetic.”
“Okay, well, now that we’ve settled that, I’m hanging up now.”