He’s a rock star with wild secrets.
She’s a broken woman with a dark past.
When Wes Baron‘s sexy rocker antics jeopardizes his position with Muse of Darkness, the band manager books him as the main attraction at a fundraiser. Celebrities and good causes. What could go wrong? Too bad the strict head of the orphanage despises rockstars. Even worse, Wes can’t wait to make her beg… for his help.
Maria Augusto has saved her precious kids before without resorting to groveling. She won’t start now just to please a selfish rock’n’roller. Rumor has it, Wes engages only in the wildest, sexiest parties and Maria has put her unbridled days behind her. She can do without him just fine. If only she could get rid of the attraction as well.
But as their sparks of hatred at first sight transmute into flames of desire, Maria and Wes will discover if their passion between the sheets can last forever. Or if their differences in real life will drive them apart. If they don’t make a decision fast, they will both lose everything they’ve worked hard to accomplish.
One-click this book today to find out what they decide to do.
This reimagining of Sound of Music will make fans of Kylie Scott, Jaine Diamond, and Alexa Padgett swoon.
The book deals with sensitive topics such drug abuse, addiction, and sexual assault. Although situations are not depicted in detail, they might trigger some readers.
No cheating or cliffhangers.
Sneak Peek
Warning: Heartbreaking Content Ahead
Wes by Liz Gavin
copyright@2022
Chapter 20 – Wes
The restroom door flies open, hitting the wall with a bang. A distraught Maria rushes past me like a whirlwind, or like all hounds from hell are at her heels.
I take off after her, catching up at the sidewalk. I hold her wrist, “Hey, what happened in there?”
She yanks her arm free; her eyes scorch me with their flaming rage. “Keep your paws off me, you cheating son of a bitch.”
If a ten-wheeler ran me over, I would probably feel less squashed than I do now. I take a step back as my brain runs different scenarios, trying to understand what has set you off.
Someone has obviously gotten to her with some bullshit about me just to get this exact reaction from her. I shove both hands into my hair, pressing the sides of my skull, watching her fumble with her purse. My mind flips an imaginary Rolodex of former sex partners trying to find a viable suspect.
“Fuck!” I mumble under my breath. There’s just too many to pinpoint one, or a dozen.
This is going nowhere, and Maria has found her cell phone. Camera flashes go off around us, the bright lights bounce off the black sequins of her long-sleeve top. She shoves the phone into the back pocket of her jeans and crosses the lapels of her white wool coat in front of her, hugging her waist.
Drooping her shoulders as if to protect herself from the icy breeze, she pierces me with a hard stare. “How could you do that to me, to us?” Her voice breaks, shattering my heart. She shakes her head multiple times and when I open my mouth to ask what she means, she raises a hand in the air. “Don’t insult my intelligence. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”
I slap my thighs as desperation grips my chest squeezing it until I can’t breathe. I scoff, glancing around as if I could find the key to her riddle somewhere other than us. Bystanders hold their phones pointed at us. I don’t give a rat’s ass if they record the whole thing and publish all over the place. My only focus is getting some sense into Maria’s head without ticking her further.
I raise my hands in surrender and try to reason with her. “I get it. Someone showed you something that looked bad.”
“You think?” She retrieves her phone and unlocks the screen. Eyes glued to whatever she’s texting, she adds, “Don’t ever use that patronizing tone with me again, asshole. I’m not a toddler you have to convince to eat their veggies.”
As her chest heaves, I realize her rage is growing. I can’t argue my case without nothing what the hell it was she saw. And what in fuck’s name she thinks she knows.
I take a couple of deep breaths to calm my own demons down. I need to think clearly here.
“Maria, what exactly did you see?”
She drops her phone inside her designer purse, wrapping her fingers around the golden chain hanging from her shoulder, she juts her chin up. Despite the defiance in that gesture, it’s the profound disappointment in her blue eyes that razes me.
“Ms. Claire Williams was so kind to show me a video and some pictures on her phone.” She pauses as if for effect, but the hard swallow bobbing in her throat tells me otherwise. “You star in all of them. The ones from last week really caught my attention because you’re two were snuggling up against the cold weather of San Francisco.”
Relief washes over me. “That’s a stinking pile of horse manure.” Holding the little finger of my left hand, I list my reasons. “One, I’ve got no clue who this person is. I have to be honest, I might have met her at some point in my life but I don’t know her.” I stress the last two words to get my meaning across.
Epic fail.
Maria huffs. “I’ve no doubt it’s hard for you to keep track of all of your women, huh?”
Her sarcastic remark punched me in the gut. I gasp for air.
She hugs her midriff tighter and looks over my shoulder at some spot up the street as if searching for someone. She must have summoned her driver with that text. I’m running out of time.
“Two, and really the most important point I’m trying to make, I haven’t cheated on you.” I enunciate each word as if they slashed me because they do. Just the thought that she believes I’m capable of doing that makes my stomach churn. I shake my head to get rid of the queasiness as well as to deny her allegations. “They are old pictures for sure. There’s no other explanation.”
Her eyes brim with tears but she doesn’t allow them to roll down her face. “Oh, but there is an undeniable one.” She pauses, her nostrils flare for a couple of beats with her sharp intake of air. She murmurs, “You were wearing this fucking thing.” She slaps the logo on the front of my jacket.
But it’s the pain in her voice that crushes my heart.
“That is just not possible. The photos have obviously been modified.”
Suspicion drips from each of her words when she spits them out, “She made a point of calling my attention to your jacket. How else would she have known what it meant to me? Or what I thought it meant to us?”
At a loss for words, I gape at her.
She grunts. “Exactly. You can’t gaslight me or charm your way out of this one. A picture is actually worth a thousand words.”
Her limo pulls up to the curb in front of us and when Jim opens his door to get out of the car.
She snaps at him, “I’ve got this. Keep the engine running.”
Swinging the car door open, she plops herself onto the seat and grabs the handle to close it.
I grip the top of the damn thing, prying it wide open and propping a foot on the floor of the car to get inside.
She kicks my shin, demanding, “Get out. Just go! I can’t look at your lying face for even another second.”
I retreat and plant my foot on the pavement. But I bend at the waist and bring my nose to an inch of hers. The grief in her the depths of her eyes and the determination on the hard line of her jaw match mine.
Despite the clogging in my throat, where the slivers of my broken heart slice a thousand tiny cuts, I rasp, “I fucking love you! Doesn’t it count for anything?”
“No!” She shoves my chest with both hands. “Not right now.”
Caught by surprise, I stagger backwards.
She shuts the door and Jim speeds away.
I ball my hands into fists, drop them to my hips, and stand on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant, like a broken lamppost. Feeling just as useless, oblivious to my surroundings, and stunned by what has just happened, I groan. I watch the red taillights of the black car disappear around the corner, two blocks down the street.
I drag my stare down to my feet, blinking as I try to jumpstart my brain. I’ve got to do something, but what? How can I convince Maria she’s mistaken? I have to show her she’s been played. How do I do that?
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