He glanced down at his body. “Well, getting out of these wet clothes will make me happy too.”
I smiled slyly at him and reached for the hem of his T-shirt. “I think I can help you there.”
A few moments later—though it took a lot of tugging, because wet clothes tended to be reluctant when it came to being removed—Mason stood in front of me naked.
Despite everything that had happened in the past twelve hours, my entire body buzzed at seeing Mason like this, and begged for a whole lot more. I needed to escape the memories of last night’s fire and of the damage left behind. I needed to escape my churning thoughts, even if just for a few minutes.
And I needed to do whatever I could to keep from going numb.
“Thanks again for doing that.” I pointed at the showerhead he had installed the other day.
“You’re welcome.” A smug smile slipped onto his face, along with a wicked spark in his eyes, but there was also an edge of uncertainty.
“Maybe we should christen it,” I said.
“What do you mean?”
“You know…” I reached up and ran the tip of my tongue against the edge of his ear, and smiled at his answering moan. “So, how exactly do we do this?” The romance novels I read always made shower sex sound easy, but I couldn’t quite figure out exactly how to do it—the mechanics sounded complex.
Mason stepped closer to me and traced his fingertips up my rib cage. “Are you sure about this?” His voice was a low, sexy rumble in his chest.
“Very.”
He cupped my breasts and I released a small whimper. His thumbs brushed against my now perky nipples. The whimper became a moan, and I leaned forward slightly, pressing my breasts against his warm, wet palms.
My fingertips caressed the ridges and valleys of his abs as I explored the sexy terrain. “Do you have any condoms with you?”
He had bought a box yesterday, since he’d already used the condoms he’d had stored in his wallet.
“In my jeans back pocket. Give me a second.” He slid the shower curtain to the side and stepped out of the tub, allowing some of the spray to follow him. He returned a moment later with the foil square. The man was a Boy Scout…always prepared.
He slipped a hand between my thighs and traced my folds with his fingers. At his touch, my legs practically buckled under me. I leaned back against the cool tile wall to keep from making nice with the floor.
“Look at me, Nicole. I want you looking in my eyes when I make you come. I want to see the effect I have on you.”
“As if you don’t already know.” I settled my hands on his shoulders as his fingers teased my clit. I moaned again as a warmth ignited between my legs.
“Eyes open, Nicole.”
I hadn’t even realized they were closed. I opened them and was met by Mason’s warm brown eyes, sparkling with challenge and lust. His mouth was close enough that if I stretched my head up slightly, I could kiss him. And I really wanted to kiss him.
Mason’s skilled fingers continued stroking me…until the warmth between my legs flared into a white-hot heat. “Oh God!” The heat commenced low in my belly, then quickly radiated outward, turning me into molten liquid.
And forget about keeping my eyes open. My head fell forward against Mason’s shoulder and I dug my fingers into his flesh.
Once the tremors had subsided, I glanced up at the man who knew how to turn me inside out. “Wow.”
The word was barely out before his mouth was on mine and we were kissing. His cock pressed against my stomach, letting me know that it yearned for its turn. I rubbed my body against it, eliciting a groan from Mason.
Pride rushed through me at the effect I was having on him. It made me feel strong and sexy. It made me feel desirable.
It made me want to harness this feeling for the next time I went out with a man. Maybe then my dates wouldn’t end the way they always did, with me unable to get away fast enough.
I paid no attention to the annoying voice that pointed out the guys weren’t the only ones to blame when it came to the dates being duds.
Mason gently turned me around so my back was facing him. “Do you want to stop or keep going?” he asked.
“Keep going.”
“Place your hands against the wall and bend over,” he growled in my ear, and a shiver of desire shimmied through my body.
I parked my hands on the wall opposite the shower and walked them down until my torso was parallel to the tub. Hot water would have rained against my butt, but Mason was standing behind me, blocking it.
I heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper as the steam from the shower hugged me. A moment later, the tip of Mason’s cock teased my entrance, then he slowly pushed himself inside me. He kept going until he was fully seated, filling me in more ways than I’d ever imagined possible.
His finger found my clit and teased it again. I gasped and my body rejoiced. As I came close to falling off the edge once more, he removed the finger from my happy zone and thrust his cock in and out of me.
It didn’t take much work on his side before the softest part of me clenched around his hardness, as if it wasn’t interested in ever letting him leave. And considering how the bathroom’s tile walls amplified my cries of ecstasy, I figured that everyone down the street now knew I’d just come hard. Again.
But if I was loud, that was nothing compared to Mason. As he came apart he let out a guttural noise that would’ve impressed a bull.
Afterward I expected him to pull out of me right away, but he didn’t. Instead, he bent over and rained kisses on my back. “Christ, that was hot,” he said, and no way was I going to argue with that.
His hands gently caressed my body before he finally pulled away. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said, then stepped out of the tub to dispose of the condom.
He returned a moment later, and with his strong hands and a vanilla-scented body wash thoroughly cleaned every part of me.
I couldn’t remember the last time a guy had made me feel this alive and this safe.
Chapter 14
Mason
Two days after the fire, Nicole and I drove to L.A. in my car. Heidi had been all for the idea of Nicole traveling with the band for the next three months. The two women had spent the remainder of the time Nicole and I were in Desert Springs planning out every detail of the new store. Heidi would keep Nicole updated on what was happening, and forward anything Nicole needed to deal with while she was away.
Now I just had to tell the band about her. I’d spoken with Nolan yesterday but hadn’t mentioned Nicole or what I had been doing while I was away. I had been telling the truth when I told her the band needed to hire someone to handle our social media. Until recently Jared and Aaron had been responsible for it. Our publicist had suggested we hire someone to take over the task, but I hadn’t exactly given the guys any choice when it came to Nicole. I had hired her without consulting them first.
I’ll admit that when I came up with the idea, I hadn’t really been thinking things through. I’d just known that for the past few days, before the fire, I’d been having fun. Sure, I loved touring and I loved my life in L.A., but something was missing. I still didn’t know what it was, but in the time I’d spent with Nicole, even after the fire, the feeling that something was missing was less intense than it had been before.
I didn’t know if it would vanish with her joining us on tour, but what I did know was that I wasn’t ready to walk away from her just yet. Eventually I would have to when she returned to her life in Desert Springs, but in the meantime we might as well enjoy ourselves.
We spent the rest of the journey talking and joking around and listening to my favorite rock station. I pointed out when the band’s latest single was on.
“Do the guys know I’m not some huge fan of the band?” she asked while we were stopped at a red light, and then blushed. “I mean, because, you know…” She gave a quick shrug.
“I haven’t told them. It’s actually better that you’re not a huge fa
n. Female fans tend to get all giddy around us. It’s impossible to even talk to some of them. It’s fine when they just want an autograph, but it wouldn’t be so great if they were working for us.”
“But eventually they’ll realize you guys are nothing more than regular people, and won’t act that way anymore.”
“One would hope. But in the meantime they’d be pretty useless. With you, we skip all of that.”
She laughed. “You do realize if I bumped into Luke Bryan, I’d be exactly like the fan you just described.”
“Who the hell is Luke Bryan?” The light turned green and I pressed my foot on the accelerator.
“Oh my God, you don’t know who Luke Bryan is?” she practically squealed.
“Not a clue. He’s not a singer from some lame boy band, is he?”
She laughed again. “He’s just one of the hottest singers in country music. He’s won numerous awards. I can’t believe you’ve never heard of him.”
I lifted one hand from the steering wheel and smacked my palm flat against my chest. “I must admit, Nicole, I’m heartbroken. You’ve never gushed over me that way.”
“You poor baby. I’m sure you’ll get over it.” Laughter filled her voice, reminding me once again why I’d asked her to join the tour. She enjoyed teasing me, but it wasn’t like she was attempting to get into my pants. Not that she hadn’t already been in them. Nor would I complain if she tried to get into them again.
We pulled up in front of Nolan’s house an hour later. The rest of the band had already arrived, their cars either on the driveway or parked in the street.
Nicole climbed out of the car, and I took the moment to enjoy the view. She was wearing a dark sundress covered with tiny pale pink flowers. The short, flowing skirt was the kind that would flash her ass and panties if a wind caught hold of it. She wasn’t wearing much when it came to jewelry, other than a narrow beaded bracelet in black and teal. But it was the short black cowboy boots with the rope design etched in the leather that gave it away—she wasn’t your usual Pushing Limits fan. She looked like she’d be more comfortable at a country music concert than she would be at a rock concert.
But either way she looked hot.
We walked to the front door, and I rang the doorbell. Rocky’s small yet determined bark answered from the other side. The door opened, revealing Nolan holding on to the collar of the eager eight-month-old golden retriever.
At seeing me again, Rocky yipped excitedly.
“Oh, aren’t you just adorable?” Nicole said, her voice pitched higher than usual. She knelt in front of the puppy and offered him her hand to sniff. Forget sniffing—he was more interested in jumping onto her lap, his front paws already there.
“Not quite Bernie, is he?” I said, smiling at Nicole’s excitement at seeing Rocky.
Nolan lifted his eyebrow in a question.
“Nolan, this is Nicole. She’s the sister of a friend of mine.” Who would kill me if he found out what we’d been doing the last few days. As it was, Nicole had made me promise not to say anything to Zack when it came to the fire. She didn’t want him to worry when there was nothing he could do.
He hadn’t even suspected that I would do the deed with his sister. But why would he? He didn’t know me as well as he thought he did. To him, I was probably the guy who had once been dragged down by a gambling addiction and drug abuse. Neither of those activities had given me the energy or drive to have a sex life.
And no, I hadn’t switched from one addiction to another—I hadn’t become a sex addict. If I went without sex for a period of time, I didn’t get the shakes and I didn’t get moody. I could survive.
Whether I wished to go without sex for a period of time was another thing. If it was offered, who was I to say no?
“She’s our new social media person,” I explained to Nolan.
A furrow formed between his eyebrows, unseen by Nicole, who was attempting to extricate herself from Rocky’s enthusiastic welcome.
When she finally succeeded, she stood up and held out her hand to Nolan. “Hi. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Nolan said politely, but I knew him well enough to understand what he was really thinking…and it didn’t bode well for me.
I mentally shrugged it off. We needed someone to help us manage our social media, and we couldn’t do better than Nicole. The guys would quickly realize this and would be thanking me in no time. Or at least I assumed they would be.
“Everyone’s out back,” he told us, pulling Rocky away from the front door.
I stepped into the house. Hailey had been busy while her boyfriend was touring. From what I could see, the inside had been repainted a light brown and the furniture seemed like a modern version of rustic, with lighter colors and clean lines. The only reason I knew those terms was because my aunt was an interior designer. Or at least she had been the last time I’d seen her and the rest of my family.
“Place looks good,” I said.
“Definitely an improvement over my old apartment,” Nolan replied, smiling in the same goofy way he always did whenever he was thinking about his girlfriend.
“Rocky!” Logan said from the kitchen doorway.
The puppy barked at his favorite four-year-old and bounded toward Jared’s son. Logan kneeled and let Rocky lick him. Nothing was cuter than a little boy giggling over puppy kisses, as he liked to call them.
Taking hold of Nicole’s hand, I led her over to the pair.
“Hi, Uncle Mason,” Logan said and signed, still kneeling. He held up his fist to me.
I fist-bumped him. “Hey, Logan, this is my friend Nicole. She’s going to work with the band while we’re on tour. Nicole, this is Logan, Jared’s son.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said to him.
“Do you curse like Uncle Mason?” he said, a hopeful expression on his dirt-smudged face.
I laughed. “Hate to disappoint you, buddy, but I’ve yet to hear her swear even once. Besides, I don’t think the dollar-per-swear-word rule counts for her. She’s a guest.”
Nicole’s gaze darted to me. “Dollar-per-swear-word rule?”
Nolan snickered. “Jared wasn’t thrilled when Mason cussed around his son, especially when Logan started repeating the words. So Aaron suggested that Mason had to cough up a dollar every time he cursed.”
I let out a mock huff. But I couldn’t complain. I would’ve felt the same way if our places were reversed. Although at the time, when Jared first adopted the payment rule, he’d had no idea Logan was his son. Probably just as well—otherwise he might have charged me five dollars per word.
“Let’s play, Rocky.” Logan charged outside with Rocky close on his heels.
“Logan’s hearing-impaired?” Nicole asked.
“No, deaf. But he has a cochlear implant, so he can hear a lot of what goes on around him. He just doesn’t like listening to music with it. He prefers to feel the vibrations through the floor.”
“Jared is the band’s guitarist, right?” At my nod she added, “That’s so heartbreaking that his son can’t listen to you guys play.”
I shrugged. “It is what it is.”
Outside, I introduced Nicole to everyone else in the backyard, including Hailey and Callie. Beckie was also there, standing next to Kirk—close enough for me to wonder if something was going on between them.
Like Nolan, the guys looked less than impressed when I introduced Nicole as our new social media person and said that she’d be joining us on tour. But also like Nolan, they managed to keep Nicole from guessing that something was wrong.
Food and drinks had been set up on the patio, and Aaron had returned to manning the grill. I grabbed a beer for myself and was pouring Nicole a glass of wine when Nolan approached the table.
“Band meeting in the living room,” was all he said before heading inside.
Nicole was busy talking to the three other women, all of them laughing at something one of them had said. I handed her the glass of wine. “The band i
s having a brief meeting to get me up to speed since I’ve been away for a few days. I’ll be right back.”
She smiled sweetly at me, and my cock twitched at the thought of those luscious lips on it.
Keeping that erotic thought in my head, I entered the house, braced for the interrogation I was about to face.
Chapter 15
Mason
I entered the living room to find Nolan, Jared, Kirk, and Aaron taking up all the available seating—leaving me with no choice but to stand. On the mantel, the antique clock counted down the seconds until they would deliver my sentence. Tick. Tock. Tick-you-are-royally-screwed. Tock.
“Did I miss anything while I was gone?” I asked, doing my best to buy time before the shit hit the fan.
Nolan’s gaze jumped from Jared to Kirk, then to Aaron. They nodded for him to speak. “You didn’t. But apparently we did,” he said. “What’s this crap about you hiring your friend’s sister without consulting us first? This band is a democracy. Which means we all get to vote on the person we want to hire—not just you.”
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to joke my way out of this, I held my hands up, surrendering to my fate. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Nicole sooner. Her brother is overseas, serving with the navy. He was worried about her when he couldn’t get hold of her, and asked me to see if she was okay.”
“I gather she was fine,” Jared said, sitting next to Kirk on the couch, his arms folded across his chest. “So why did it take you so long to get back?”
I snorted. “I would’ve thought you’d be too busy screwing your new wife to notice I was gone. Obviously you’ve got your priorities fucked up.”
He huffed a laugh. “Don’t worry about me, Mas. I’ve got my priorities figured out just fine. Kirk filled me in on your absence.”
“So if Nicole was fine,” Aaron said, “why not return to L.A. as soon as you figured it out?”
“Because I needed a break before we started touring again, so I decided to stay there for a few days.”
“What you’re really saying”—he leveled his gaze at me—“is that because you were too busy fucking your friend’s sister, you couldn’t be bothered to return until today?”
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