My chest tightened, but in a different way than when I was hit with anxiety. It was love. My family honestly loved me and they weren’t going to let me fall and they’d sure as hell never leave me behind.
“So yeah,” Mack continued. “I can just transfer her the total amount and then she’s technically off the payroll.”
“That should make her feel less like a prostitute,” Daisy agreed, but I fucking hated the way she said it. “I mean, I’d feel like a prostitute if the guy I was sleeping with was paying me.”
A collective groan came from all of her brothers, which only made her snicker. It didn’t matter how old she got, she was still our baby sister and there were some things we never wanted to think about.
“All right. Let’s get on with our day,” Mack told us.
Daisy was the only one to leave the room. What were the rest of us going to do when our girlfriends were gone without us? On the road, there wasn’t a lot to pass the time.
“When’s Bri joining the tour?” Van asked.
“I think in a few days,” I told him, but I’d been looking at Mack and noticed the way he froze when Van had mentioned her name.
Bri and Mack had never gotten along well, but I assumed he’d just avoid her as much as he could while she was here. Yet I got the definite impression that he really wasn’t looking forward to it.
15
Ella
Four days after my breakfast with the girls, there was an actual break in the tour. People scattered like rats fleeing a ship, but in a good way. I just couldn’t think of a good reference for that.
We’d left the show last night to arrive in Phoenix by the morning. Then the band was off until tomorrow afternoon. I didn’t remember any of them saying they had specific plans, especially because I knew that Daisy’s friend Bri was finally joining her tomorrow and she was incredibly excited. It made me miss Emery. I tried calling her every single day, but it wasn’t the same as hanging out and it didn’t always work. She had a life back home.
I spent ten minutes on the phone with her before Daltrey appeared before me and I knew it was time to go. She made me promise to call when I had the chance or when I was back on the bus so I could talk longer.
Still, we would be staying in a hotel tonight and had the entire day together. Actually, Mack got everyone early check-in at the hotel, special arrangements I was sure, because they were now well known as Pushing Daisies, so we were able to get settled in the late morning.
I wondered if we’d even see the others, but Daltrey said he hoped not. He wanted the twenty-four hours with just me.
Mack had stuck to his word and paid me in full yesterday, then we’d formally dissolved our work contract. He’d said I’d done what he’d needed me to do and he understood why I was uncomfortable to continue as we were, but he hoped I’d be sticking around because he liked me for Daltrey.
That was more family approval I thought I’d ever get from anyone I dated’s family. I’d happily take it.
The one thing I loved about the Thompsons, or at least the siblings, was that they didn’t seem to care whether I was poor or had a shitty family. They only cared about me now.
I thought I’d only ever have that with Emery.
Daltrey had asked if I wanted to go somewhere super nice or laid-back. That was the only say I was going to have in the plans because he wanted me to be comfortable and not have to shop if I didn’t have anything fancy.
I chose laid-back. I wasn’t a fancy girl, at all. After that, all I knew was to be ready early.
Which was how I found myself sitting on the corner of the bed at the hotel, dressed in a pink, flowy skirt and a white tank top, with my hair down and bent in waves, and sandals on my feet, listening to the water running in the shower.
He was taking forever.
I flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Didn’t even move when I heard the shower turn off. Didn’t even flinch until I felt his hands on my thighs, pushing my legs apart.
“Or we could stay in,” he said, sounding out of breath. His hair was dripping and he had a towel around his waist, those tattoos on full display. I didn’t know what it was about his markings, but they were sexy as hell.
“Uh, you promised me a night out.”
“Yeah, but—” He ran a knuckle up my thigh, under my skirt, and across my clit.
“You’ve seen it all before.”
“And yet I thirst for it again and again. It’s never enough.”
I propped myself up onto my elbows. “What if I promise to be naked and waiting in bed as soon as we get back?”
He chuckled, which made two drops of water splat onto my face. I winced at the cold and it was a good cover for how easily I was about to give in to what he wanted. Because it was what I wanted as well.
“Let me get dressed.” He flung the towel off him and walked back to his bag naked, allowing me to admire him without feeling like a creeper.
Daltrey was beautiful. Tall, muscled, though not bulky, with strong hands that I knew exactly how talented he was with. Everything about him said he was strong, but he didn’t need to prove that to anyone by being obsessive in the gym. In fact, I didn’t know how the guys kept their bodies toned the way they did. Unless they worked out at the venues. I wasn’t always there when they were in the venue.
These last four days, I’d noticed a difference in him. The meds were definitely starting to work, even if not fully yet.
Daltrey was becoming more comfortable with himself even when I wasn’t around and I loved it.
“Ready,” he said as he spun around, catching me watching him. “You keep looking at me like that and we won’t be leaving.”
I furrowed my brows. “Like what? I wasn’t looking at you like anything.”
“You looked like you wanted to wrap your lips around my—”
“Let’s go.” I hopped up off the bed because that was exactly where my thoughts had been going and I would never admit that to him.
Daltrey had a car waiting for us and when he told me that, I thought he meant like an Uber, but no, it was a rental and he was driving. I didn’t know where we were going until he pulled into the Desert Botanical Garden.
“How did you know this was here?” I asked him as we got out of the car. He met me in front of it and took my hand.
“Google.”
I snickered, picturing Daltrey googling date ideas for tonight. “Well, it’s beautiful. I wouldn’t have thought there’d be so many different plants in the desert.”
“Have you never been to the desert before?” He slid his hand into mine as we walked.
“There weren’t a lot of vacations when my only adult caregiver didn’t know where she was half the time.”
He winced. I hadn’t meant for it to come out the way it had, but it was the truth and there was no hiding that. “What about you?” I asked. “Did you take a lot of vacations when you were a kid?”
“Yes, but it makes me sound like a rich kid.”
“Weren’t you?”
“No.” Which was surprising. From where I stood, they had the world at their feet. It wasn’t a bad thing. “I mean, we didn’t worry about things when I was little. My parents didn’t fight about money, but I wouldn’t say we were rich.”
Once we made our way around the gardens, the sun was getting lower in the sky. Not setting just yet, but enough for me to know we’d been here a while. Hopefully, that was his intention because I definitely hadn’t hurried through.
“I called in another favor,” he said when we got out of the car again.
“It’s nice to have people owe you favors.”
“Honestly, it’s not me they owed. Lawson knows a lot of people and as much as I hated going to him, I did. This place is supposed to be amazing.”
I stopped in my tracks. “This place is famous, Daltrey.” Even I’d heard about it. Celebrities came here special for the pizza. As in they made special trips for it and the pizzeria had been voted the best in the countr
y multiple times.
“Normally, it’s like a two-hour wait, but Lawson called us in a favor.”
“I don’t want to bump people who have been waiting.”
“We won’t be.” He pulled open the door and let me go in first. “I said we’d be here at seven and we are. They kept the table for us.”
He was right. We were seated and eating in almost no time. Apparently, he’d ordered ahead of time which explained why he’d asked what I like on my pizza. I’d thought it was a random get-to-know-you thing when in reality he’d had an agenda.
“Oh my god,” I said with a moan. “This really is the best pizza in America.”
“Damn, that’s delicious.” He took another bite and savored it before asking, “Now that you’re not working for the band, what do you think you want to do?”
I raised an eyebrow. “Are you afraid that I’m thinking about leaving?” He nodded but didn’t speak because his mouth was full of cheesy deliciousness. “I don’t know what I want to do yet, but I figure until I come up with something, I’ll stay here with you. Or until you want me to leave.”
“I don’t ever want you to leave.”
I chuckled. “You say that now because this is all new. You might get tired of me being in your space at some point.”
“Not possible.”
“It doesn’t mean you don’t still want to be with me, but people need space, Daltrey. It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
He reached across the table to take my hand into his. “I know that, but there are ways to get space on the road. I want you here as long as you want to be.”
“OK.” I tucked some hair behind my ear. “Well, we don’t really have to worry about it right now because I have no idea what I want to do with my life. If I can avoid going back to waitressing, I’ll do that. But…” I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never really had options before.”
Daltrey ran his tongue over his top lip. “Paige is a nurse. Is that something you’d be interested in?”
I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. “I don’t think so. That means school and I wasn’t the best in school. Lots of math and science too, I’d think.”
“Were you not the best in school because it just wasn’t for you or because you had too much else going on? You said you’d been working since you were fourteen.”
I chewed on the corner of my mouth while thinking about how I wanted to answer that and I realized something. He wasn’t far off. It wasn’t school that had been the problem. It was having to be the adult when I’d been fourteen.
“I think… it was actually being too busy. In high school, I had two jobs, which wasn’t actually allowed, but I did babysitting for a couple of people nearby, so no one knew about that money. I had kids I’d watch after school. Then different ones on the weekend because of how the mom’s shifts worked. And then I had my actual job that I worked twenty hours a week at McDonald’s.” I brought my gaze up to his. “I guess that’s a lot.”
“That’s an awful lot, Ella. When did you have time to study?”
“I didn’t. Emery helped me out so I didn’t fail, but I barely cracked a book in high school.”
“And I know it’s not because you aren’t smart, so don’t rule out things just because they would involve school.”
He had a good point. If I did that, I’d never be anything other than a waitress. And there wasn’t anything wrong with being a waitress. My job was actually a good one. It just wasn’t what I’d thought I’d be doing with my life if I’d had any choice in the matter. What I thought I’d be doing, I had no idea. I supposed I needed to think about that.
We finished dinner and after Daltrey left a very generous tip, we headed back to the hotel. Someone else must’ve been taking care of the car because Daltrey dropped the keys off at the desk before we headed up. There was no doubt in my mind that we’d be spending the rest of the night in.
As soon as the door to our room closed, Daltrey pushed me against it, pinned me between his hardness and the wood behind me, then slid his hand up my leg until he hit panty.
“I’ve been wanting to do that all night.”
“Well, there’s nothing stopping you now, is there?”
His free hand joined the other under my skirt, then he yanked my panties down. He wasted no time sliding his fingers across my pussy, which was already wet for him. That had started the moment my back hit the door. I braced myself with my hands on his shoulders as he kissed me hard and fast. This was no lazy kiss. He meant business.
I thought he’d undress me right there, but instead, he dropped to his knees and got lost under the fabric of my skirt. Holy shit, he was like a man starving. He clasped his hands around my thighs and lifted me off the floor while his tongue worked me over.
This was the single hottest thing that had ever been done to me and I didn’t care if that was slightly pathetic.
Once I came, he set my shaky legs on the floor and leaned back while looking up at me. He wiped a hand over his mouth then stood up.
“Shirt. Off.”
His wish was my command. I yanked it and my bra off as we walked toward the bed, where he tossed me into the middle and yanked my skirt down.
Then he was on me, alternating between kissing me and nipping at my skin. Somehow he managed to get his clothes off without me missing his presence over me. It wasn’t until he went for a condom that he wasn’t touching me in some way.
When he was back to the edge of the bed, he twirled his finger, indicating that I should flip over onto my stomach. Once I did, he pulled me to the edge so far that my feet were next to my ass. It was an interesting position and one that left all of me exposed to him.
It took some work, but eventually, he sunk all the way in and I felt fuller than I’d ever felt before.
Daltrey was gentle with me as he slid in and out, allowing me to become accustomed to him. He leaned over, kissing my shoulder, scraping his teeth across my skin. I tried to look over my shoulder at him, but my hair was in the way. He must’ve noticed because the next thing I knew, he’d brushed it all to the other side.
I couldn’t do it myself because I was barely balancing as it was. The loss of one arm would send me tumbling and the last thing I wanted to do right now was fall over.
Once I had a clearing, I turned as far as I could, hoping he’d be able to kiss me. Daltrey didn’t disappoint. His lips were on mine, even if it was a little awkward.
He wasn’t being too rough with me, but I knew I was going to be sore after this one. But it was the best kind of sore that I knew. I had no idea how much time had passed because I was lost in the ecstasy of what he was doing to me. He reached around to draw circles on my clit, which sent me reeling without much effort. He followed closely behind me.
Daltrey slowly pulled out of me and as soon as he did, I missed him being inside me, but I collapsed onto the bed anyway. My muscles had not been prepared for that.
“Give me a minute and I’ll help you clean up,” he whispered against my back.
“I don’t need—”
But he was already gone.
I didn’t need his help, but after I peed, he insisted and since it seemed important to him, I let him help me wash up and put on some clean pajamas before we both cozied down into bed.
“We weren’t ready before and I have no idea if you are now, but I love you, Ella.” His voice was soft and vulnerable. I was tucked into his side with my head on his shoulder. It took everything I had left in me to reach up and kiss his jaw.
“I love you too, Daltrey.”
That was the last moment I remembered of that night because sleep was calling and I didn’t have the energy not to answer.
16
Daltrey
I woke the next morning and the first thing that I remembered was the amazing night with Ella last night. The sex had been… the best I’d ever experienced, but it was the other stuff. Lying here in bed with her, which I’d rarely wanted to do with anyone else. I’d watched her fall
asleep pretty quickly and as much as I hadn’t wanted to, I’d nodded off as well.
I could’ve spent all night watching her sleep. Now I slowly slid out of bed and took a quick shower. When I got out, I only put on my boxers.
Today, it was back to work. At least now, because of Ella, I was enjoying performing more and I needed to get moving because I had a therapy appointment later in the early afternoon. With check-out and everything, we needed to get moving if she wanted to shower before we left. It wasn’t that often a totally free shower was just sitting there. Ella wouldn’t want to pass up the opportunity.
Normally, on the road, we just showered at the venue. No one ever showered on the bus. It was small and the water pressure was barely that of a light rain. Plus, then we’d have to empty the tanks more often. Jurnie, Lexi, and Ella used our dressing room to shower every day. Not together that I knew of, but they could have since it was just a large room with a bunch of showerheads on the wall. After all, this was where hockey teams and shit played. We guys didn’t care much. We’d all shower at the same time, but I thought the women took turns.
“Hey, baby.” I rubbed my hand up and down her side. “Time to get moving.”
She groaned and kept her eyes shut, which made me snicker. We’d been up late last night.
“Nope. Got to get up.” I gave her ass a light slap. “Unless you want to miss out on a shower here at the hotel.”
Her eyes popped open and she said, “I’m up. Did you want to go first?”
“Already took one.” I shook my still-wet hair at her, causing small droplets to pellet against her skin. “Figured you could get a little more sleep while I did.”
“You’re the best.” She cupped my face then kissed me quickly. By the time I could react, she was sliding off the bed and no matter how many times I tried to grab her back, she avoided me. “No, no. You said if I don’t go shower now, I’ll miss it. I’m not missing it.”
Daltrey (Pushing Daisies Book 4) Page 13