Rising, he extended a hand. I laid mine on it and felt his strong fingers close.
He sang a song I didn’t recognize, but I didn’t care. The husky timbre of his voice stroked my spine, sending shivers running up it. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and we moved to the sweet melody like we’d danced to his singing a thousand times before.
He’d been incandescent on the stage, the crowd going crazy for him. Now, with only me as an audience, his performance was intimate. He was singing only for me, his body against mine, his breath fanning the side of my neck as he crooned one love song after another, making my heart throb, my insides hot and liquid.
And I finally realized—and accepted—that I was in love with this rock star.
Chapter Forty
Emily
My phone pinged and buzzed nonstop. I ignored it while we had our champagne and danced. But eventually I had to take a look at what all those messages were about. They might be just a bunch of “congrats,” but they might be “Oh shit, something went wrong.”
Besides, I needed to contact Holly with the screencap Mom sent as proof. Since it was easiest, I texted her.
–Me: I won the bet against my dad. Here’s a screencap of me being number one on Amazon. Please have the ads go out this weekend. Thanks.
I then sat in front of the coffee table and checked my messages and email, responding to them as quickly as possible. The phone rang with a call from Dad. I smirked. Should I bother or not? Well…maybe I should answer. And gloat. It could be part of the celebration.
“Yeah?” I said, my tone all smug. But he deserved that.
“Welp, looks like you finally hit number one.”
I frowned. He didn’t sound angry. More like…self-satisfied. What the hell? “Yeah, you lost,” I said, in case he’d forgotten about the bet. Or thought he could wriggle his way out of honoring it.
“No, not really.”
“Oh yes you did. I’m number one, which you said I’d never achieve. So Holly’s going to use your money to put out those ads.” And Killian and I would be dancing with the ads spread out around us.
“I didn’t lose anything. I’m the one who made sure you could be the best you could be.”
What the hell? “How? With your fake nasty review team? Or with your very real nasty attitude?”
“Without me to motivate you, you would’ve been just a mediocre writer. Most novelists are lucky to make twenty grand a year. But thanks to me, you’re already a bestseller. Because I lit a fire under your butt and made you work hard!”
For a moment, I couldn’t even react. It was that ridiculous. But then, I should’ve expected he’d find a way to twist this so that no matter what happened he was still the winner. “So if I hadn’t hit number one, that’s when you would’ve lost?”
“No, because I would’ve won the bet.”
Heads I win, tails you lose. It pissed me off, but I knew the longer I argued with him, the angrier I’d get. And he would never realize or accept he was wrong. It was best to cut this short, because my inbox was exploding. They mattered more than him, which was sad but true. “You know what? I never needed you to be successful. So screw you and your idiotic justifications.”
He tsked. “Come on, now,” he said. “Credit where credit’s due.”
Of course. It w
as all him. All through my life, everything I’d accomplished was due to him, not due to my hard work. Suddenly, I was too furious. Just sick of his trying to steal the spotlight from every good moment in my life. “Fuck you,” I said between clenched teeth. “Don’t ever contact me again, because I don’t need your brand of motivation. And you know what? I’d be a lot happier and more successful without you and your toxicity in my life!” I hung up, a growl stuck in my throat.
My phone pinged again, jerking my attention from my rage. A text from Holly popped up.
–Holly: Congratulations, and thank you for the screenshot. I will have the ads go out as agreed.
I stared at the text, then let my lips twist with bitter triumph. It didn’t matter how Dad had tried to spin this. This weekend would be extra delicious, since I’d be at the signing to celebrate this with my friends. And Killian and I would have delicious, mind-blowing sex—again—on Sunday when I got back to Kingstree.
* * *
Killian
While Emily made sure nothing urgent required her attention, I propped my feet on a chair and picked up my phone off the dining table to look at her social media profile. Her team had to have posted about her topping the chart for the first time. I had a secret private profile that I used online, and I wanted to like the post and congratulate her there, although I’d already celebrated with her in person.