Love Me Forever
Page 8
“On that table,” she said, pointing.
Easing her away from him, he collected the box and set it down on the coffee table, then went to the kitchen for their wineglasses. After topping off their drinks, he set the bottle down beside the tissue box.
Jen drank some after blowing her nose, then sat back, still not looking at him. He waited, and when he decided she’d said all she was going to say, he spoke.
“I’m not going to jump on you for not waiting around to talk to me about your fears. That wouldn’t do either of us any good. You’d get defensive and I’d get cocky and we’d quit listening to each other.”
He plucked at a lock of her hair, stretching the curl. “If you aren’t working on Saturday, I’d like for us to go to Table Rock Lake and look at a building there.”
She frowned. “A building?”
“Yes. It’s on the water’s edge. There used to be a boat rental business there, before the economy sank. The price is good. I’m thinking it’s time to add to the number of my shops.”
Her eyes widened, but appeared unfocused, like the words weren’t sinking in.
“I never talked about business while you were in Kaanapali, did I? The shop at the resort there is my second. I started in Waialua with surfboards and branched out in snorkeling, adding even bigger equipment as the business grew. And when the resort owner ran into financial trouble, I bought him out.
“I can open shops anywhere people take to the water. There are a few lakes here in Missouri that are popular with the Jet Ski crowd. I can rent fishing boats. Lake of the Ozarks has water-skiing and wake boarding. I might even organize some tubing trips.”
He let her digest what he said, watching the light return to her eyes. Her lips twitched, her tongue tracing over them, and then she smiled. “It’s called floating.”
“What is?”
“Tubing. If you’re going to attract the locals you need to learn to speak like them.”
The urge to kiss her distracted him for a moment, but he pushed it back, fighting to remain serious. He took her hand and stroked her fingers. “Look, I can’t promise where we’ll end up, Jen. But I know where I’d like us to be. And I want to give us that chance.”
She met his eyes but didn’t speak.
“Opening a business in Missouri could be a great investment, whether you and I work out or not.”
She drew in a shuddering breath and he feared she would spring a leak again. He reached for the box of tissues and she pushed them away with a laugh. “I’m okay now. I think. I don’t believe I could cry if I wanted to, I’m dried up.”
Jen took a drink before continuing. “I am more sorry than I can say that I didn’t talk to you in Maui. Part of me wants to say I don’t deserve a second, or third, chance.”
He opened his mouth, but this time she stopped him.
“But I won’t say it. I make you this promise, Matthew Brashiers. I will try with all my heart to keep my insecurities from coming between us ever again. They are still a part of me, and I don’t know how long it will take me to get back to where I was before I married. But I’ll beat down any thoughts that doubt you.”
Leaning down, he planted a gentle kiss on her jaw, her cheek. She turned toward him, making the next one land on her lips. He moaned, sucking her lower lip between his, pressing his tongue deep into her mouth. He tasted the sweetness of the wine, and it mixed with the faint, floral scent of her perfume, increasing his hunger for her.
But he was afraid to rush her. He drew back, kissing a trail across her other cheek. He spoke between kisses. “One favor. Don’t…call…me…Matthew.”
He grinned down at her. “Grandmom usually had a wooden spoon in her hand when she called me that, and I knew I was going to get a whoopin’.”
She laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“Yeah, about the wooden spoon. But not about the tone of voice when she called me that.”
Jen nipped the tip of his nose, all traces of her tears gone. “Well, I know what to call you when I’m upset with you.”
“I’ll just have to make sure never to upset you.”
“I don’t see how you could.” The pad of her thumb brushed against the shadowy whiskers on his jaw line. “I want to make this work.”
“So do I.”
“I think I never stopped loving you, deep down.”
He smiled and teased her with a brief kiss. “Whatever I felt for you, it never faded. We’ve got plenty of time to put a name to it. I want you to come to me whole. Unafraid.”
When he caught her lips this time, all teasing vanished, replaced by pure heat. Six weeks’ worth of unfulfilled need. Six weeks’ worth of fear she was lost to him. As their tongues danced in each other’s mouths, her hands grasped at the back of his shirt.
He ran his palm up her arm, caressing her shoulder through the silkiness of her blouse. Gently, he pressed her back against a throw pillow on the end of the couch, never breaking contact with her lips.
He tugged her blouse free from her skirt, only to discover a slip between him and her skin. Undaunted, he stroked her back, then down her hip to cup her ass.
Jen’s hips rocked toward him. Finding the hem of her skirt, he slid beneath it, gliding over her pantyhose. The barrier of all her clothes frustrated him.
“Can we go someplace more comfortable?” he asked, sitting up.
She pushed her curls behind her shoulder and rolled to her feet, offering him her hand. “I know just the place.”
Watching her hips sway as she climbed the stairs in front of him proved too much temptation. He unbuttoned her skirt and slid down the zipper, holding the garment to let her step out without falling. “I have to admit, I prefer the way you dressed in Hawaii. So few undergarments.”
“Wait ’til the weekend.” She gave him a teasing glance over her shoulder.
The change in her was miraculous. Even more than she’d been in Maui, she seemed her old self. Confident. Flirty. This was the woman he’d loved so long ago. He vowed to do whatever he could to keep her feeling that way.
Jen flipped on the lamp, took off her slip and tossed it into a chair. She turned to face Matt, keeping her gaze on him as she unhooked her bra and slid her pantyhose and panties down her legs. She stepped out of them, pushed her hair back from her face with a saucy toss, and moved toward him. “Now who’s overdressed?”
“That’s easy enough to fix.” He stripped quickly, easing his briefs over his hardened shaft. It throbbed as if he hadn’t had sex in years. “Any other requests?”
As much as he wanted to let her lead, he couldn’t wait. The relief of knowing she was giving them a chance at a future overwhelmed his control. With one arm behind her back and the other under her legs, he lifted her, dropping her onto the fluffy comforter. “I need you too badly to go slow,” he warned.
The smile she gave him, slow, sultry, her eyelids dropping halfway, went straight to his balls. This was his woman.
She opened her legs to him and reached out an arm. He knelt down, carrying his weight on one arm as he plucked at her pink nipple. Normally he could spend half the night playing with her breasts, feeling her nubs swell, listening to the catch of her breath.
But tonight he needed to be inside her. Part of her. He reached lower, running fingertips over the pooch of her belly, heading straight for those curls. He spread her, tested her wetness. Pushed a finger inside.
Crying out her need, Jen flexed beneath him, rising to allow him deeper.
He stroked in and out. “You need this as badly as I do.”
“God, Matt. Fuck me, please. Now.”
Shifting his weight, he let his shaft dive into the hot sheath it craved. His groan vibrated through him. It took all his willpower to move slowly enough to let her catch up with him.
He suckled one breast, then the other as he let the tension build. Jen’s head tipped back, baring the pale skin of her throat. He licked the sensitive spot on the base of her neck. At her moan, he nipped her earlobe.
His speed increased as he could no longer hold back. “Oh baby, you feel so damn good.”
“I’m so close.”
Rocking to meet him, her hips kept up the pace, as did her cries. Then her muscles contracted around him and she arched and froze.
He let go and filled her, deep grunts escaping him as he pumped harder. The ecstasy of release rippled through him and at last, he stopped.
Resting on his elbows, he hovered above her trying to catch his breath. He feared he was dripping sweat on her but he couldn’t move. She lay still, also panting. A good sign.
He rolled to lie beside her. “I’m so glad you are willing to give me a chance to show you we can make it work. I love you, Jen. I know I said we could wait to give a name to what we’ve got, but I need you to know how I feel. I love how you still get shy at moments, and can be so bold other times. I love your laughter, especially when you can’t keep it controlled.”
“You mean when I cackle like a flock of chickens?”
“Any way you laugh works for me.”
“I think what I love most about you, Matt, is your patience with me. I’m a work in progress. I can’t promise I won’t backslide. But I love you enough to keep pushing through my issues.”
“I’m sure there will be days, too, when you wish you’d never met me. I still get intense with a new project now and then. But I try to leave that at work.”
She kissed his arm where it was propped by her head. “I trust you to do so. You are one of the best people I know. Toward everyone, not just me. You’re a good man, Matt.”
“And not only are you a good woman, my love, you deserve a good man.”
He couldn’t be happier than in this moment. Life was never easy, but it was good. Sharing his with Jen would make it beyond perfection. He was the luckiest guy on the planet.
Putting the entire depth of his emotion for her into his kiss, he proceeding to give her the first of what he hoped would be countless demonstrations of his love.
~*~*~*~
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And continue reading for an excerpt of The Rock Star’s Wedding.
The Rock Star’s Wedding
Chapter One
Her first cup of coffee had never tasted so good. With the warmth of the tropical early morning sun beating down on her, Kenzi Packard inhaled the rich hazelnut aroma while watching the rolling waves in the distance. After several years of vacationing locally, she and the girls had splurged and dusted off their passports.
Sitting at a hotel on St. Thomas with a view of the ocean, she had her best friends there to share this week in heaven, and no work phone calls to deal with. What more could a girl want?
“Chaz Marino is here,” Jasmine Wright said with a gasp. “On the island.”
Kenzi rolled her eyes. “Where did you get that info?”
Jasmine held up her smartphone. “It’s all over Gossip Ho’s website. He and Vanessa Edwards are getting married Saturday.”
Bree Simmons stretched her arms in the air and yawned. “How can you read that crap? Do you really think if Chaz was getting married he’d have told anyone?” She tipped her face up to the sun, closing her eyes with a sigh.
“The part that I don’t get is why he’d marry her after she and Harry Cabrera were so hot and heavy on the set of Drifting 3. Talk about foolish. I mean, he should have dumped her ass when those naked pictures first appeared.” Jasmine tapped and scrolled her way to who knew where on her phone.
Kenzi rose to refill her coffee from the little hot-drink maker the hotel provided, pausing with one hand on her hip. “I have two things to say about that. A, there’s no proof they actually slept together, and B, maybe he’s the forgiving type who believes in second chances. Isn’t that sort of romantic?”
“Romantic, or door mat?” Bree questioned back.
Kenzi walked away before she could hear what else they said about Chaz. She wasn’t about to admit she still had feelings for him-she hadn’t even admitted to knowing him, much less dating. When he’d dropped out of college at the end of their sophomore year to pursue his music career, she’d been sad, but not heartbroken. They’d talked and accepted the fact they wanted different things from their careers. She loved programming, anything to do with computers, really, and he lived music. Ate, slept and dreamt it. Now she had a job she loved, working for a gaming company, and he…well, he was Chaz Marino.
Her friends would freak if they ever found out she and Chaz had been a couple long before he and Joey Hughes formed their band, Marino. It wasn’t something she could just throw out there in the middle of a conversation, like, “Oh, you know, I used to do him.” And when they talked ex-boyfriends, there’s no way she could bring him up. He wasn’t some creepy-ass, cheating schmuck she wanted to forget. On the contrary, he’d been so good, he still showed up in a lot of fantasies. And damn, he was superhuman there!
Yeah, she definitely was not mentioning her relationship with him.
After her second cup of coffee, she was ready to run. Moving through her stretches in their room, she called out to the balcony, “Who’s running with me?”
Her question was met with groans and gripes, but they both came in to stretch with her. They took the elevator to the lobby and stretched again when they reached the street. The air smelled so good, clean and salty. The air in Oakland was probably just as clean, with it being so close to the Pacific Ocean, so maybe it was just the idea that she was in the Caribbean that made her think it smelled better here.
The three were silent as they gained their stride. Then they broke into the usual complaints.
“You’d think on vacation we could give up the routine,” Bree said.
“Sure,” Kenzi replied. “As long as we give up eating.”
“And drinking,” Jasmine added.
“Not likely.” Kenzi sidestepped some broken glass on the road without breaking stride. “Just think, running in the morning, snorkeling in the afternoon and dancing at night. We’ll actually lose weight!”
“And sleep for the entire week when we get home.” Bree jogged ahead so they could move single file as a car passed.
They followed the narrow road all the way out to the point before turning back. In the distance, Kenzi noticed a single runner coming toward them. A tall, slender guy, to be more precise. Creamy dark skin. Closely shaved hair. He had on large sunglasses, so who knew what he really looked like, but the rest of him was drool-worthy. Broad shoulders tapering to a narrow waist, chiseled upper arms. She could easily picture that body poised above her on the sheets.
He swiped the butt of his palm on the side of his face in a move worthy of an exotic men’s cologne commercial. His teeth flashed in a smile before disappearing behind full lips. Kenzi’s heart rate sped up. No way, it couldn’t be him. She only had Chaz on the brain because Jasmine mentioned him. This guy was leaner. Not scrawny, but wiry. Definitely buff.
And he was wearing Spandex running shorts. The Chaz she knew would never be caught dead in those.
The closer he got, the tighter her stomach muscles knotted. It was Chaz. Did he even remember her? Should she acknowledge him as a friend or play it cool? He was probably trying to avoid attention. Avoid cameras and shrieking fan-girls. She voted for cool. “Hey.” And kept jogging past.
“Lady K?”
Oh, shit. She turned and jogged in place. “Omigod, Chaz!” She sounded like a nerd. She felt like one. She had no makeup on. Her hair had last night’s mousse in it, yanked back in a ponytail to keep it from flapping in her face. And, her running shorts showed every ounce of the five pounds she’d gained since college.
“I thought that was you. It’s so cool to see you.” He stopped running and put his sunglasses on top of his head. “Are you stay
ing long?”
“Until Sunday.”
“Cool. Maybe I’ll run into you again and we can catch up.”
“Sounds great.” She ignored the piercing stares her friends were giving her.
“Great.” He turned and jogged away.
Kenzi did the same. Hopefully she could outrun the questions she knew were coming.
“Do you know who that was?” Jasmine nearly squeaked, her voice was so high.
Here it comes. “Um, yeah, I did call him by name.”
Bree trotted in front of Kenzi, spinning to jog backwards. “I’ve known you four years and not once did you mention him. He calls you by a nickname! ‘Lady K.’ What’s up with that?”
Jasmine punched her arm playfully. “You didn’t even say anything when I said he was on the island.”
Kenzi looked up at the crystal blue sky in frustration. “Will you guys keep it down? He can hear you. And how was I to bring up something like that without sounding like I was name-dropping? It’s not that big a deal.”
Bree turned around again to jog forward. “Not that big a deal. Hello. Chaz-freakin’-Marino.”
“Did you sleep with him?” Jasmine always got straight to the point.
“What kind of question is that?”
“I thought it was pretty straightforward,” Bree said.
“All right. We dated in college. He moved away and I stayed to graduate. That’s it.”
“Dated. Are we talking Cokes in the coffee shop or dinner followed by a little headboard banging?” Jasmine had such class at times.
There was no way they were just going to let this die. Rolling her eyes, Bree spilled the truth. “God, you guys drive me crazy! Okay, it was a real relationship. Could have turned out to be something if we hadn’t been traveling different paths. Do I need to remind you he’s engaged to Vanessa? I have no intentions-nor do I think I could accomplish-stealing him from her. There’s no point talking about what might have been.”
Thinking about him had never been painful, even after he became the name on every girl’s lips. He was a happy memory, nothing more. Now if she could just convince Jasmine to leave him there.