by Piper Rayne
She wasn’t the sort of woman to accompany a stranger to his hotel room, whether the stranger was famous or not. He was right about that. But she’d done it with him. And it hadn’t been fear or a sense of danger that made her put a stop to the proceedings, get dressed, and call a cab to take her back to her own hotel. In fact, she hadn’t felt any fear at all with him. She’d felt safe, as though the two of them had known each other for years.
His thumbs were rubbing gentle circles at the base of her neck and just that tiny gesture had her toes curling against the bare wood floor.
“I liked you, Mai with an I. I wanted to spend the night with you. Wanted to have breakfast with you in the morning. Wanted to hear you sing again.”
“Well, you’ve heard me again now. And pound cake and iced coffee counts as breakfast in some quarters.”
He leaned his head down next to hers and stared out into the storm. “Looks like I’ll be spending the night here, too.”
“Your life is officially complete.”
“Your snarky sense of humor is coming back to me now.”
“Sorry.”
“No apology needed. I liked your snark. It made me think that perhaps you didn’t know who I was.”
“I knew. I just didn’t want to fan-girl all over you.”
“Somehow I doubt you’re really a Pulse fan.”
A tiny laugh escaped her lips. “Not really.”
“Now I like you even more.”
There was a snarky reply right on the tip of her tongue, but it was interrupted by the crash of a small tree branch against the window. Reflexively, she jumped back … into his hard chest.
Hard naked chest.
She held her breath and watched the window, waiting for a crack to appear. When none did after a minute, she exhaled.
“We shouldn’t be standing right next to the window.” He tugged on her shoulder to move her away.
For the second time that evening, she followed him to one of the leather sofas at the rear of the shop. She let him take a seat while she felt her way in the darkness to the merchandise shelf along the back wall.
“Where’d you go?”
The sofa’s leather creaked beneath his weight.
“I’m getting a candle. It’s coffee-scented, though.”
He laughed. “You’ll get no complaints from me there. I’ve yet to be on a tour that wasn’t fueled by alcohol and coffee.”
“Sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll?” She felt her way to the drawer behind the counter where she kept a lighter. A minute later, the candle flared to life on the wooden table Ian had dragged over to the sofa earlier.
“There. This is either romantic or apocalyptic.”
He pulled her onto his lap. His thigh muscles were hard beneath her legs. His bare chest was so close she could smell his skin. And the way those perfectly shaped lips were parted … well, it was making her body remember London, remember how his lips felt on hers. She was still mesmerized by those lips when they spoke again.
“Well, if this storm is the end of the world, I’d like to go out with a little romance.”
Two years later and she was having the same effect on him. Every inch of his skin craved to be pressed against hers. He wanted to touch her and listen to her sing and have a conversation with her and make love to her all at the same time.
Anyone who knew the Ian Youngblood would have said he’d gone round the bend. In reality, he had always wanted this kind of woman, a woman who would make him feel as though he knew everything and nothing. He’d just never met one.
Until the karaoke woman in London.
Until Mai with an I.
Mai.
Who ran a coffee shop in a tiny town on the Chesapeake Bay. He could spend all summer here. His manager would flip, but Ian didn’t care. Alex was in rehab again. Their tour was “on pause” again—code for temporarily cancelled. Their appearance at a big west coast music festival was in doubt. Frankly, Ian was tired of living his life subject to the waxing and waning of his bandmate’s drinking problem.
Also—he was just plain tired.
The woman sitting on his lap, however, made him feel alive—from the moment he’d first heard her sing, from the moment she’d first laughed at his lamest joke, from the moment his lips had first brushed hers. Then she’d had second thoughts and walked out of his life. That he had miraculously found her again? I must have done something right in a past life.
And what he was feeling? She was feeling it too right now.
Her brown eyes had darkened to the color of espresso. Her chest was rising and falling like the rhythmic sputter of a coffee maker. Her bare thighs were trembling against his—and it had him hard as a rock, a fact he couldn’t exactly conceal beneath the white towel.
“You’re feeling this, too,” he said, pointing out the obvious. Her nipples were hard beneath the thin cotton of her tank top, and the rush of blood in his ears was like a roar. “And we have some time to kill.” He glanced toward the street and the raging storm.
“We don’t know anything about each other.”
“What do you want to know? Ask me anything. Finish our twenty questions. I believe I answered about five. So you have fifteen left.”
She rolled her eyes and he wasn’t sure whether she would take him up on it or not. He watched her weigh the idea behind her lovely face.
“Have you ever had your heart broken?” she said at last. “And don’t say when I walked out of your hotel room.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“My lifestyle is not conducive to serious relationships.” He paused. “But you did break my heart, a little.”
She swatted at his chest. He grabbed her hand and kissed her palm.
“Explain that.” She tried to tug her hand back, a move he decided against allowing. He kissed her thumb and then her index finger before answering.
“That night—I wasn’t sure whether you knew who I was.”
“I pretended not to. More for me than for you.”
He nodded, acknowledging the admission. “It was a pleasant change of pace to be around a woman who wasn’t angling for something from me—an introduction or a social media selfie or bragging rights. It was a little glimpse into normal, you know?”
“A lot of people think normal life is overrated.”
“Do you think that?”
“No. I like my quiet normal life here.”
He kissed her middle finger. “When you’re twenty-one, the life of a rock star sounds amazing. And for awhile, it was. I can’t deny that. But now? Eight years later? I’m getting a little old for it.”
“There are some aging rock stars who would beg to differ.”
He shrugged and kissed the last two fingers. “They’re entitled to live their lives as they see fit. In the beginning, I drew so much energy from the crowds, from the attention. But now, it’s just a drain. Honestly? A lot of nights I’d rather sit in the hotel in my underwear and eat room service nachos and binge on Netflix.”
That drew a smile from her.
“So, yes, my heart cracked a little when that beautiful, normal woman up and walked out on me.” He closed his lips around her pinky finger, enjoying the way it made her mouth drop open to take in air. “That was probably more information than you wanted.”
“I’ll give you credit for two questions.”
“Only two?” He smiled as he sucked the next finger into his mouth.”We’re going to be here all night.”
“We’re going to be here all night anyway. In any case, you seem to be holding up fine.” She glanced down at the hard lump beneath the towel.
“So what’s the next question?” he asked. She fought not to squirm on his lap as he closed his lips around another finger. He ran his tongue up to her fingernail. She lost that fight. “But after ten questions, I’d like a kiss.”
“Fine. You’re up to nine.”
He sucked on her thumb, more insistently than he had her other digits. It was taking all
his willpower not to thrust his hips toward her.
“If you’re not happy, then why not quit? Why not do something else? I imagine you’ve made enough money.”
“I have. Also made enough money for everyone around me. But there’s a tour the band is contractually obligated to finish, as well as a music festival later this summer—provided my bandmate gets released from rehab in time.”
“I saw something about that. Sorry.”
His tongue drew lazy circles on her palm. “Thought you weren’t a fan.”
“Idle curiosity.”
He laughed into her palm and her muscles clenched against his quads. “That’s ten questions now, Mai with an I.” He gave her palm one more kiss and pulled her down to him. He started the kiss slowly, a feathery nip at her lower lips, gauging her seriousness, giving her a chance to back out. When she began to kiss him back, however, all bets were off, and he pressed his lips firmly against hers. She tasted like coffee and cake, and he imagined that was the way she tasted all the time. A man could get used to that. Smoky and sweet. He was aroused before they began kissing—now the feeling was multiplied.
How many nights had he lain awake, remembering what it felt like to kiss her? Too many to count. On the one hand, yes, she had made him feel normal that evening in London. But on the other hand, kissing her didn’t feel normal at all.
It felt extraordinary.
He wasn’t one to believe in love at first sight. But a connection at first sight? Yup. He definitely had felt a connection to this woman the moment she opened her mouth and began to sing.
“Maybe we should skip the rest of the questions,” she whispered into his lips.
“I don’t think so,” he whispered back, breaking the kiss. “I’ve waited two years for this. I want you to have all the information necessary to make an informed decision.” He wanted to carry her upstairs to her bed and ravish her all night long. But he wanted her to be one hundred percent certain about it.
“What’s your favorite color?” she asked.
“Orange.”
“No one’s favorite color is orange.”
“You didn’t say I had to answer the questions truthfully.”
She bit back a snort-laugh and it was so effing adorable, he almost relented on the remainder of the questions. Almost. He wanted to tease her a while longer.
“Sun sign?”
“Leo.”
“Shoe size?”
“Ten and a half.”
“Coke or Pepsi?”
“Dr. Pepper.”
She was clearly rushing through questions. He took that as a good sign.
“Did you have the lead in any school musicals?”
“I had the lead in all of them.”
“Really?”
“You sound surprised. I was Tevye, Danny Zuko, and Finch. What about you?”
“I was Annie—and yes, I wore a red wig. And Anita and Cosette.”
“I’m impressed.”
“Spirit animal?”
“Owl.”
“Really?”
He shrugged. “First animal that came to mind. Chestnut tree.”
“I wasn’t going to ask that one.”
“Biggest regret?”
“Auditioning for a certain televised talent show.”
She studied his face for a long moment. Probably trying to decide whether or not to believe him.
“So what did you want to be when you grew up?”
“A fireman. Then an astronaut. Later, a rodeo rider.”
“What happened?”
“I’m terrified of heights, so that ruled out the first two. And I grew up in Pittsburgh, not a part of the world known for its rodeo circuit.” He ran his thumb over her lower lip. “That’s twenty, I believe.”
Chapter Five
“Wrap your legs around me.”
His hands cupped her bottom and pulled her into his hips. She hooked her ankles behind his waist, and he stood, lifting her up. The towel immediately dropped to the floor, leaving nothing between her bare thighs and his erection. Every step he took toward the back staircase pressed it harder against the aching spot between her legs.
Men-wise, her life had been pretty quiet in the past two years. The breakup with Kyle had left her so heartbroken and disappointed that she’d thrown herself into Two Beans. Her business was something she had control over. The more love she put into it, the more the town loved and supported it.
But it didn’t keep her warm at night. It didn’t fill that emptiness she woke to each morning, an empty bed, an empty kitchen table. No one to drink coffee with, just her and her alone.
Ian Youngblood wasn’t going to be that person, either. Obviously. But maybe he could help her get her mojo back. She’d had a few online dates here and there since Kyle, but nothing that had materialized into anything long term. She was ready for long term, for marriage and kids and a single family home and a white picket fence.
She just had to find someone who wanted all of that—in St. Caroline. Small town life wasn’t for everyone. It definitely wasn’t suitable for a big time rock star like the one carrying her up to bed. He could break her dry spell, though. She’d settle for that.
At the top of the stairs, he shifted her weight in his arms and pushed open the door to her apartment.
“Which way?” he asked.
“Left.” Her bedroom was over the front of the shop, facing the street. Outside, the wind and rain still howled ferociously. She hoped the sandbags would hold.
In her bedroom, he gently set her down on her feet.
“Now, where did we leave off in London?”
There was a hungry look in his eyes, but Mai was ready to be devoured. She lived her life responsibly—too responsibly, she was beginning to think—but for one night, she wanted to shed responsibility and just live. No one need ever know that she’d hooked up with Ian Youngblood.
“I believe I had just finished putting my clothes on, so we should work backwards from there.” She grabbed the hem of her tank top and pulled it over her head. Ian’s eyes dropped to her breasts, which were covered in a wispy blue lace bralette. “And I believe you were just like that.”
She looked his naked body up and down. She used to think that rock stars were all skinny and pale. Ian clearly worked out and spent time in the sun. He was nicely muscled without a visible tan line. The thought of him sunbathing in the nude released a rush of heat in her veins.
She undid the button and zipper on her cutoffs and let them fall to the floor, kicking them away from her ankles. He stopped her when she reached behind her back to unhook her bra.
“Let me.” He moved behind her, brushing her bare shoulder as he went. “If memory serves me correct, I took this off.”
She still wasn’t sure how much of this smoothness to believe. His memory was, in fact, correct. But it seemed impossible that he would remember every little detail of that night. She did—but then again, she was just a regular person. Of course, she would remember an event as out of the ordinary as nearly having sex with a celebrity.
His fingers made quick work of the hooks and he slid the straps off her shoulders. When he cupped his palms over her breasts, she was certain she was about to faint. Then his lips touched her skin, slowly moving from the point of her shoulder to her collarbone to the side of her neck. Confident, but patient, kisses. He was in no hurry.
It was the kiss on her jawline that caused her to sway unsteadily on her feet. This must be what they mean by swooning. Ian’s hands steadied her, which was a good thing because what he whispered into her ear would have turned her legs to jelly.
“Take me to bed.”
His hand slid slowly down her arm until it reached hers. His fingers threaded into hers, and she led him to her unmade bed. If only she had known … How could I have known? She had expected only one storm named Ian.
“Sorry,” she apologized for the state of the bed.
He pulled her into his body, his chest hard against the taut nipple
s of her breasts. “Mai with an I, we’re going to destroy this bed tonight.”
She had no words for the sensation zipping through her nerves. Her skin was so on edge she could feel the stillness of the air around them.
“Kiss me,” she said.
He bent his head to hers and found her lips. His palms cradled her head, and she gave into the kiss, melted into it. Groaned into it as his tongue worked its way into her mouth. She opened her lips and let her tongue dance with his. She wanted this man, wanted his body in a way that she had never wanted Kyle’s. Sex with Kyle had been fine, good, nice. But he had never made her feel this way—like her skin was inside out, like she needed to be filled with this man right now or her body would collapse in on itself.
Ian had made her feel this way in London, too. It had felt wrong then—she’d thought she shouldn’t want another man so soon after Kyle.
It felt right, now.
Oh so right.
She pressed her hips into his and they stumbled their way onto the bed, legs and feet tangled together. She ended up on top of Ian, her legs straddling his, his erection proudly pointing up at her.
“Have your wicked way with me, Mai with an I.”
She bent over and kissed him hard. If she had one night with this glorious man, she was going to make the most of it. When he walked out of her life in the morning, she didn’t want to wish that they could have another night together. She wanted all of it—everything—tonight.
He opened his mouth and welcomed her in. Their teeth tapped. Their tongues caressed. She felt a shiver roll down his spine. It was the same one that had just raced down hers. They kissed deeply like that until she lifted her lips to move them to new real estate. His forehead, his jawline, the indentation at the base of his neck. She kissed her way leisurely around his body. His calloused palms, the inside of his elbow … a playful bite on his bicep. She wondered whether he liked having his nipples sucked. She flicked her tongue over one, then closed her lips around it.