All He Feels - Dax & Ginny (Crossroads Book 11)

by Melanie Shawn

  “I’ve been good. How about you?”

  Dax nodded. “Good.”

  “How were your holidays?” Ginny cringed inwardly. Normally, she was a pro at small talk, she shined in meet and greets, but right now she was falling flat on her face.

  “Good, I went home and saw my mom and sister.”

  Ginny remembered Dax telling her that he was close to them both. His dad was a police officer who had been tragically shot in the line of duty when Dax was ten. He said that his family had always been close but losing his dad had brought them even closer.

  “What about you?”

  “Oh, I um, was on the road for the Down Home Holidays tour. I spent Thanksgiving in Toronto and then Christmas Eve in Seattle and then was back home in Nashville on Christmas for my mom’s wedding.”

  “Your mom got married?” Dax asked.

  “Yep.” It was odd for Ginny to be around someone who didn’t know every detail of her life because they didn’t read gossip magazines or online headlines. She was no psychologist but she assumed it was one of the reasons she felt so safe around Dax, even though they barely knew each other. “It was beautiful and I surprised her with a honeymoon. She left this morning.” Ginny wasn’t sure why she’d added that part.

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah, so,” she let out a nervous laugh. “I guess you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here.”

  Dax’s only answer was a smile. Her statement had been rhetorical, so she hadn’t expected him to answer but she still felt on the spot. Knowing that her gathering up courage time had officially run out she took a deep breath and dove into the deep end of the confession pool.

  Her heart was pounding like the police on the door of a drug raid. “Well, um, remember when we talked about my new album and the possibility of Chase producing it? Well he is and for the next month I’m going to be in town working with him. Um, and you had mentioned that if I was going to be in town I could stay here. With you.”

  Chapter 3

  Did she just say that she wanted to stay here? With him?

  When Dax had looked through the peephole and seen Ginny on his doorstep, he hadn’t believed his eyes. Now she was saying that she was going to stay with him and he couldn’t believe his ears.

  “What?” He was sure that he’d heard her wrong.

  She licked her lips nervously and his body responded as if it was a seductive motion instead of one fueled by anxiety. He lifted his eyes to meet hers, hoping to distract himself from the damp glisten of her full lips that were calling to him like a beacon in a storm.

  “Um, yeah. You said that instead of me going to a hotel or an Airbnb I should stay here. I mean, I’ll pay, of course. You know, rent a room. If not, it’s no problem.” She could hear herself rambling but was powerless to stop it. “I don’t have to stay here. I just thought…well, I felt so safe here and no one would bother me. It’s no big deal. You were probably just saying it not thinking I would ever actually show up…”

  “I only have one bathroom working.” First, he hadn’t believed what he’d seen, then he hadn’t believed what he’d heard, now he couldn’t believe what he was saying.

  Was he actually trying to talk her out of staying with him? That was insane. All he’d been able to think about since she’d left was seeing her again and now, not only was she standing in front of him but she was asking to stay at his house and the first word out of his mouth was “what” and not “yes”?

  “Oh, okay…” She started towards the door. “Well, thanks. I’m so sorry I bother—”

  Shit. She was leaving. Thankfully, that snapped his brain into action.

  “No, you didn’t…you’re not bothering me.” He cut in as he stood and stepped towards her. “I just…there’s only the one bathroom. That’s all. I didn’t mean that you couldn’t stay. I want you to stay.”

  Indecision filled her baby blues and Dax could see that she wasn’t sold on his sincerity. He started to make his case again, but just as he opened his mouth a song started playing. Loudly.

  “Sorry.” Ginny shook her head as she reached into her pocket. “I have to take this.”

  Her lips turned up in a tight smile as she brought the phone up to her ear. “Hey, Mama.”

  The cheery tone was in direct opposition to her tense expression. Dax remembered the call she’d taken from her mom the night that they’d stayed up all night talking. She’d had the same strained look on her face that she wore now. From what she’d said she and her mom were really close. In fact, sometimes she said she felt like they were too close.

  She turned so that her profile was facing him and he took advantage of her preoccupation to study her. Her hair was pulled up with small wisps framing her heart-shaped face. His eyes traveled along the slope of her upturned nose. He tried not to linger on the fullness of her lips, knowing that would only get him into trouble. She had the kind of luscious lips that reduced men to grunts and chest pounding. The kind that caused beads of sweat to form on the back of men’s necks at the thought of what those pillow perfect lips would feel like pressed against their own mouth and wrapped around their dicks. It wasn’t a conscious thought. He hadn’t meant to imagine it. That’s just the image her mouth inspired.

  “Yes, I’m here. Safe and sound.”

  She licked her lips again and he knew that if he continued to stare, the place his mind was going would stand up and demand attention. He continued lower, down the graceful and delicate lines of her neck and collarbone. The red, long sleeve cotton shirt that she wore was not form fitting or revealing in the slightest. The material covered her upper body completely, the neckline started just below her collarbone and continued down over her hips. But the area that kept demanding his attention was where the material pulled tight across her chest. He felt like he was back in middle school before he’d seen or touched a pair of boobs, when they were still this great mystery yet to be discovered.

  To Dax all women were sexy. He’d never gone through the girls are gross and have cooties stage. He’d always loved women in all shapes, sizes and colors. He loved short women, tall women, curvy women, skinny women, fair to dark skinned women and everything in between. His hormones did not discriminate. He was an equal opportunity appreciator of the opposite sex. So it wasn’t surprising to him that he found Ginny sexy. What was surprising to him was the magnitude of her appeal.

  Dax had been with his fair share, probably more than his fair share of women. His experience had given him perspective but in some ways had jaded him. He knew that lust could easily be mistaken for love. He knew that desire could be misconstrued as devotion. He knew that compatibility could be misinterpreted as commitment. He knew that feelings were fluid. They could and would change. They weren’t something that you could depend on. They weren’t something that you could control. They weren’t something that you based decisions on.

  So finding himself so overwhelmed by what he was feeling was not something he was used to.

  “Um, I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know when I know.” Ginny sliced a look at him out of the corner of her eye. “I’m fine, I promise. Just have fun and don’t worry about me.” There was a pause and the smile on her face grew slightly bigger. “Well, then at least have fun.”

  Dax put his hands in his pockets and dropped his gaze down at the floor. He knew that his body would definitely start to show a reaction if he stared at her any longer.

  “Okay, mom. I will. I promise.”

  He could hear the tension building in her voice and he lifted his eyes to see that her eyes were closed and she was letting out a slow breath. Her shoulders rolled back as her head nodded. “I am. I just got here but I’m going to write after I get settled and take a nap and I’m meeting Chase for our first session tomorrow.”

  The realization that she was here and she wanted to stay with him finally cemented itself in his foggy brain. He determined in that moment that there was no way she was going to stay somewhere else.

  As he waited fo
r her to get off her call he started planning what he would say. How he would explain his odd behavior. He’d been accused, more than once, of being honest to a fault. His mom and sister had referred to it as him having no filter. He’d always maintained that he just didn’t see any point in lying. The truth always had a way of coming to light, why not just start with it.

  So instead of trying to cover up why he was shocked to see her, he planned on telling her that he’d been thinking about her. A lot. And that he’d love for her to stay with him so they could get to know each other better.

  “Okay, I’ll talk to you soon. Tell Brad I said hi. Love you. Bye.”

  She replaced the phone in her pocket and turned so that she was facing him again. When her sky-blue eyes met his, her stare hit him with a force that made his chest tighten and he found it difficult to breathe. It was so intense he felt it like a punch in his solar plexus.

  “Sorry about that.” She motioned to her pocket. “My mom worries about me.”

  “You’re beautiful.” Those weren’t the words he’d planned on saying but they were the ones that came out.

  “Oh…” Her already round eyes widened and a flush of color tinted her cheeks. Her gaze dipped lower and when it returned there was even more uncertainty in it. “Thank you. Um, well, I’m sorry I just barged in like this. I don’t want to take up more of your time so I better—”

  “Stay.” He took a step forward. “Please. I want you to stay here. I’m sorry that it might not have seemed like that, but I was just so surprised to see you…I didn’t expect to see you…”

  “I know. I thought about calling but, I didn’t know what to say.” She let out a forced laugh. “I’m not sure why I thought showing up and not knowing what to say in person would be any better, but that was what I went with.”

  “I’m glad you did.” His own phone buzzed and he looked down to see a message from Seth. The meeting at Elite had been moved up thirty minutes, which meant he’d have to push the meeting at The Plate and also, he needed to leave now if he was going to make it on time.

  “Is everything okay?” Ginny asked.

  “It’s fine. Just work.” He didn’t want to leave. Not until they had a chance to talk. Or at least until she agreed to stay.

  She bent down to grab her suitcase. “I don’t want to keep you.”

  “You’re not.” He closed the short distance that was left between them. She had to tilt her head back to meet his eyes. “Please stay. I want you to stay. Here. With me.”

  * * *

  Dax was less than a foot in front of Ginny saying the words she’d been crossing her fingers, toes, arms, legs and eyes that he would say. So why was she hesitating? Why wasn’t she eagerly agreeing to his terms?

  She didn’t know for sure but she thought it may have to do with being overwhelmed by Dax’s nearness. Before her stood over six feet of all-male goodness. He radiated an intoxicating mixture of confidence, power, security and authority. It was a lot to take in from across the room, but up close and personal it was making her dizzy. Could you get drunk on someone’s energy?

  Everything was a little fuzzy. In fact, as she looked up into Dax’s yellow green eyes she was having a difficult time putting even two words together. Her mind was foggy, like a lust front had moved in and made visibility impossible. If this was how affected she was when he hadn’t even touched her, she had no idea how she would respond if things actually went as she’d hoped.

  She was beginning to think she was out of her league. Dax was playing in the majors and she’d never even stepped up to bat in little league. Maybe she had overestimated herself. Maybe she wasn’t ready to follow through on her plan. Maybe she should get out of here before anyone—her!—got hurt.

  “Please.” His gravelly voice rumbled and the look in his eyes made her knees go weak. “Stay here. With me.”

  Yes! Her inner voice screamed.

  She took a deep breath hoping that when she answered with her outside voice it would be with less enthusiasm than her inner voice had been. “If you’re sur—”

  “I’m sure,” he interjected before she had a chance to finish her sentence.

  “Okay.” She nodded as nerves and excitement battled to be the victor in the emotional war that was currently being waged inside of her.

  “Okay.” The sexy grin that spread on his face made her already weak knees go full noodle. She wasn’t sure how much longer she’d be able to stand on her own.

  Thankfully, he reached down and grabbed her suitcase so at least she didn’t have to worry about trying to drag it on Jell-O legs. “I’ll take this back and grab you a key.”

  Once more, she nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She followed behind him and Capone was following behind her. She watched the muscular lines of his back through his thermal shirt as he walked with purpose. The hallway was not particularly narrow but between his wide shoulders and tall frame he took up a good portion of it.

  When he didn’t stop at the guest room, Ginny’s stomach tumbled like towels in a dryer. She definitely wanted to share his bed before the month was over and she knew that the clock was ticking, but this was fast even on her time frame.

  He placed her bag inside the master and she moved into the room beside him. Her palms were damp and her heart was thumping against her ribcage. The bed that sat at the far wall was large and she imagined the two of them in it.

  “I’ll grab some things when I get home tonight but the bottom drawer is empty and the closet should have some room.”

  “Grab some things?” she repeated.

  “Yeah, to take to the spare room.”

  “The spare room?”

  His eyes narrowed slightly, like he wasn’t sure if she was messing with him. She wasn’t. She really had no idea why he would take his things to the guest room.

  “Right, cause I’m going to be staying there.”

  Her brow furrowed. “You are?”

  “Yeah. You can take this room and I’ll crash in the one next door.”

  “No.” She shook her head and grabbed the handle of her suitcase. “No way. I’m not taking your bedroom. I’m staying in the guest room.”

  He held on, not letting the luggage out of his grasp. “No. You’re staying here.”

  She recognized the stubborn glint in his eye. It was familiar because she had seen the same one in her own eye a time or two. She’d always had a stubborn streak. It wasn’t often that she put her foot down, but when she did, it didn’t budge. This was definitely one of those times.

  “I am not kicking you out of your room.” She pulled again.

  “I know.” He held it in place. “You’re not.”

  “You don’t have to do this.”

  “I know I don’t have to,” he emphasized. “I want to.”

  Between them Capone barked happily at the game of tug of war. He ran in a circle around them, slobbering and grunting. As entertaining as this was she knew that there was no way she could beat him with sheer strength so she took a different tactic. There was no reason to engage in a showdown. He was going to go to work and she’d have plenty of time to put her things wherever she pleased.

  She dropped her arm and smiled. “Fine.”

  “Fine?”

  One shoulder lifted in a passive shrug. “Fine.”

  His fingers still remained clasped around the handle and he stared at her in an assessing gaze. “When I leave you’re going to put your things in the other room, aren’t you?”

  “That’s a very real possibility.” She grinned up at him.

  She could see a flutter of amusement flash in his eyes before he took a serious tone. “Ginny. I want you to stay in here.”

  Mimicking his voice she replied, “Dax. I want you to stay in here.”

  “Ginny.”

  “Dax.”

  He shook his head and let out a small sigh as his phone buzzed again. After checking it, he cursed under his breath, grabbed a key off of the dresser and handed it to her. “I have to go.
I’m not sure what time I’ll be back. There are some leftovers in the fridge and stuff to make sandwiches. Make yourself at home.”

  “I will, thank you.” She would make herself very much at home in the spare room.

  He started heading out of the room, but paused at the door. “Do you still have my number, in case you need anything?”

  “Yep.”

  “I thought I would double check.” The side of his mouth turned up in a teasing grin. “You know, since you haven’t used it.”

  She couldn’t help the smile that pulled at her own lips. “I still have it.”

  “Good.” His grin grew larger and the look in his eye held her captive even after he disappeared from the doorway.

  A warm fluttering feeling spread through her and she bit her bottom lip as she glanced down at the ground. It was the same feeling she got every time she thought about the night that they’d spent together.

  When she heard the front door shut she dropped to the floor and ran her hand over Capone’s head.

  “Okay, now what?” she asked as he rolled onto his back.

  As she scratched his belly she plotted out her next move. She’d heard people use the phrase that this was the first day of the rest of their lives but had never really understood what they meant…until now. It was a new year and a new her. Her mom was married, so it wasn’t just the two of them anymore. She’d left her label, fired her manager and was staying with a man that she might not be in love with but was definitely in crush with.

  Her New Year’s resolution was to become the best version of herself. The real her, not what anyone else saw her as. In that vein, she wanted to eat healthier by cooking her own meals instead of eating take-out, make new friends—real friends that had nothing to do with the music industry, possibly fall in love, definitely lose her virginity, and hopefully find out more about the second half of her DNA.

  She pulled out the photo that she’d had in her possession for a year. The picture featured a man in swim trunks on a beach carrying a boy on his shoulders. The photo was worn and the writing on the back was faded and some of the letters were missing but she was able to make out the words “Whisper Lake” (although the i and e were blank) and beneath that read, “The Colonel” (but there was no l) and “son Donny, age four.”