Page 62 of Doc Rock
Never lost!
He lost her.
He was ripped apart by her disappearance, and Donnie wanted to explain it all in two short paragraphs.
Throwing the laptop down onto the sofa, he glared at his manager.
“Really? We sweep this under the rug?”he spat.
“What do you want to say to the fans, then?”Donnie’s voice didn’t even rise as he was used to dealing with temperamental musicians.It wouldtake more than a small temper tantrum to faze him.
“I—“ Ford hesitated. What did he want made public?
Donnie didn’t let him talk, instead ploughing on.“Do you want me to say that it ripped the heart out of the band? That we nearly lost you to drugs because of it. That you were gunning for a while to be a member of the twenty-seven club because you lost the love of your life. Because you lost your wife.”His eyes widened after he said that last sentence. He obviously hadn’t meant to drop the news to the other band members.
“She was your wife?”Scotty swung his legs off the coffee table and leapt to his feet.
“Yes,” Ford muttered. “She still is,” he added.
“Shit. Why didn’t you tell us? Fuck, you guys got married?”Joel was on his feet too, taking a big swig of his beer, as he shook his head at Ford, disappointment shining in his eyes.
“Yeah.”Ford sighed, and his shoulders slumped.“You’re right, Donnie. If Scotty and Joel agree, the statement is exactly what should be said.”
“Married,” Joel prompted.
Ford opened his mouth to answer, but a soft female voice, one that he would recognise anywhere, spoke before hecould.
“We were young and in love.”
Ford swung around to face the door. Sie had arrived while he was distracted with their statement. And she looked—Christ, she looked like he always thought she would. She wore black jeans, black baseball boots, and a black singlet that showed off her pale arms, which clearly neversawthe sun. Her eyes were ringed with eyeliner, just like she used to wear. Butit washer hair thatarrested his gaze. The blonde curls had been replaced with long, straight black hair.
The Sie he spent so many nights searching for in the crowd at their shows was standing in front of him.
He couldn’t stop his legs when they strode over to her, and before his brain caught up, he was right in her personal space, reaching out to touch her hair.
Her wide violet eyes shot up to his, and they gazed at each other.
Chapter 23
Mai
Mai rode in the back of the car that Donnie sent for her, fidgeting with the itchy wig she wore.
It had seemed like a smart idea to have photos taken looking like Sie Harrington rather than Doctor Maisie Jones. But now, as she sat in the wig that she bought online, she was bitterly regretting her decision.
Her whole scalp itched and prickled. The tight black jeans weren’t helping the situation either. She never wore tight clothes normally, and they had ridden up places she would prefer they didn’t.
And the bloody violet contact lenses, how the hell had she worn these twenty-four hours a day? She must have been a total idiot. She would much rather be wearing her glasses—which were stashed in her handbag—but she needed to be Sie for the photos, and pink glasses did not fit that image, so she poked her own eyeballs while cursing grumpily.
Was this a dumb idea? Should she just ask the driver to take her home again?
Pulling her phone out of her handbag, she Googled Sie Harrington and sighed. Where yesterday the stories about her were four pages into the Google results, they were now on thefirst page. They needed togetin front of this story before people came looking for her.
Stuffing her phone away, she stared out of the car window, watching as the houses gave way to bush on their way out of town to the place Ford was renting.
The closer she got to him, the faster her heart beat. She desperately tried not to replay their kiss over and over in her mind, but failed as all shecouldthink about was his lips moving over hers and the way itfeltso right, like coming home.
She lifted her hand, pressing her knuckles against her mouth. She needed togetover it; Ford would never forgive her for what she did. She didn’tknowwhy he kissed her, but she couldn’t become carried away reading things into it that weren’tthere.
