Forbidden Serenade

Chapter Ten

My eyes snapped open. My gaze flickered around the unfamiliar room. Muscular, tattooed arms wrapped around me and held me pinned against a solid chest behind me. Last night's events rushed to my mind. My lungs expelled all air as it felt like I was being squashed by invisible walls.

I had sex with Elijah Wyatt.

What the hell was I thinking? He was only twenty-one! I was a mother to a sixteen-year-old who had a crush on him. Had I lost my mind? This couldn't be. Panic surged through my veins, bringing with it a tsunami of questions. What if my kids found out? What would James say? And my brothers? This couldn't be happening. Shouldn't be happening. I was an adult, and he was nearly a kid.

Carefully lifting his arm, I slid out of Elijah's embrace. He snored softly, sound asleep. His hair was messy atop his pillow. He looked so peaceful and still stunningly gorgeous. There was a vulnerability in his features. An innocence. He wasn't a world-famous, charismatic rock star capable of convincing any woman into his bed. I hesitated a moment, my treacherous hormones screaming for one last kiss. One last round with him.

But it couldn't be.

It shouldn't have happened.

I tiptoed through the room, grabbing my clothes and belongings and dressing as quickly as possible. Glancing one last time at the handsome rock god sound asleep, I slipped out of the room. I rushed through the hotel hallway, terrified someone was going to catch me in my walk of shame from his hotel room.

No one saw me. No one paid me any attention as I rushed outside with humiliation burning my cheeks.

Squinting in the morning sun, the fact I hadn't driven here slapped me in the face. I had to get out of here. My mind kept screaming at the reminder. Elijah could wake at any minute. Or someone could drive by and somehow know I had incredible sex with a young man I hardly knew.

I had to get out of here.

Pulling my phone out, I called the least judgmental person I knew: Callie.

"Hello?" she answered, her voice chipper.

"I need you to come pick me up." My words came out rushed and fast as I gripped the phone tightly in my hand. My eyes shot around, anxious at seeing someone I knew. "I need you to come get me right now and take me to Logan's restaurant. And I need you to not ask me questions and just hurry. It's not life or death, but it kind of is, so please hurry."

Her familiar laugh rang through the phone. "I'll be right there as soon as you tell me where you are."

***

Tapping my hand against the steering wheel, I kept my mind focused on the present moment. It had been nearly a week since I'd slipped out of Elijah Wyatt's hotel room. Callie, true to her nature as a good friend, hadn't asked for an explanation. She simply told me she was always available if I wanted to talk.

I kept my lips shut. No one could know any aspect of what I'd done with Elijah. My mind tormented me with the reminder of our encounter and how wrong it felt. I was an adult woman who had preyed upon a young man. It wasn't socially acceptable. What would people say? What would my kids think?

It would destroy my life and theirs.
Despite all that, something inside me ached for him. I hated the conflicting emotions. I hated the guilt that consumed me over what I'd done, and at the same time, I longed for him to touch me again.

Was a one-night stand truly that bad? Because of how young I'd become devoted to James, I never even had the opportunity to experience one. But I was a mother now. It felt wrong somehow to be preaching morals and values to my children while I was falling into a bed with a man I hardly knew. A man much younger than me.