The Heir Affair (Las Vegas Nights 5)

“You’re driving?” As tired as she was, going home held a lot of appeal. She could be in her own bed by morning. “How long will that take?”

“About five hours.”

“I was thinking about heading back to Las Vegas as well, but it’s probably too late to catch a flight.”

“You can ride back to Las Vegas with me,” Craig said.

“I’m so tired, I doubt I’d be much company. And I have to drop my rental at the airport.”

“I could follow you there.”

“Okay.” This was crazy. She should just find a hotel or better yet, go back to Kyle’s house. But something elemental was driving her to run.

Maybe she was overwrought or just too tired to think straight, but an hour and a half later they were clear of LA and she was staring out the window at the darkness of the desert, her mind strangely numb. With her album done and her future with Kyle up in the air, she felt like a bit of dandelion fluff caught in a breeze, blown this way and that. She had no idea what she planned to do when she got back to Las Vegas or what she intended to do about her relationship with Kyle.

After last night, one thing was clear. If she didn’t stop running he might give up chasing her. And judging by his lack of response to her earlier text, maybe he already had.

Twelve

Melody woke to daylight and blinked her eyes. As she lifted her head from the passenger-side window, her neck screamed in pain. She rubbed at the cramped muscles. It took her blurry mind a few seconds to orient her to their location. Still on I-15, moving parallel to the Strip. She glanced at the dashboard clock and saw that it was close to seven.

They’d stopped in Barstow for gas and something to eat, giving Craig an opportunity to rest and load up on coffee. Once back on the road, she’d been unable to keep her eyes open and managed a couple hours of sleep. But it wasn’t enough. When she got back to the guesthouse, she intended to crawl into bed and sleep the rest of the day.

“How’d you sleep?” Craig asked.

“Not bad.”

“Another twenty minutes and you’ll be home.”

“I can’t wait.” Silence filled the car as Melody yawned. “I know I already said this, but it was really nice of you to drive all the way to LA to hear me sing at The Roxy.” She chuckled. “Especially when you hear me singing all the time.”

“It’s different when it’s a concert. You have no idea how much you shine on stage, do you?” His eyes lingered on her, bright and filled with admiration.

“You’re right about singing being different in front of an audience,” Melody said, her gaze returning to the road ahead of them. “The energy was fantastic last night. Over the last few weeks, I’d been considering giving up my singing career and just going back to songwriting. But last night gave me hope.”

“I suppose Kyle would prefer that you quit performing.”

“No. He’s always been supportive of my career.”

But he had shared his concern about her going on another major tour like the one with Nate now that she was going to be a mom. And in truth, she couldn’t imagine leaving her baby for any extended period of time. Yet, life on the road would be hard on kids with the constant moving from one city to the next.

“You shouldn’t stop singing. You could be a great star.”

“That’s never been one of my goals. I love music, but there are sacrifices involved with becoming famous. You give up your privacy.” She supposed that was already the case since she’d started dating Kyle. He had a pretty high profile lifestyle as a former pro baseball player and partner in the LA Dodgers.

“It must be hard having so many people love you.”

“I don’t know about love me.” She gave a self-conscious laugh. “I like to think they love my music.”

“But you’re so wonderful,” Craig went on. “Not only are you incredibly talented, but you’re really nice. People around the studio are always talking about how you know everyone’s name and how you help people out all the time.”

He was making her sound a lot more impressive than she actually was. It was a little embarrassing.

“That’s sweet of you to say. I guess I remember what it was like starting out. If it wasn’t for Nate I wouldn’t have considered singing professionally. He encouraged me to get on the stage. How can I not pay that forward?”

“It’s more than just that. You are a truly kind and thoughtful person.”

Melody needed to turn the conversation away from her. “I really enjoyed meeting Sasha. You two make a very cute couple.”