by Lisa Cardiff
Cam’s gaze wandered over to Taylor for the hundredth time since the meet and greet had started and she flashed him a little sexy smirk as she flipped her hair behind her shoulder. His insides were twisting with excitement and a hundred other nervous emotions as his foot bounced up and down under the table. He couldn’t wait to drag Taylor back to their hotel room and show her what he had been working on all afternoon, but at the same time, he knew how volatile Taylor could be and he didn’t want to scare her away. He hoped he struck the right balance tonight between showing her how much he cared about her and not making her feel anxious and overwhelmed.
“Relax,” Marcus said, leaning into him. “You look like you want to devour her and Alec looks like he’s coming out of his skin.”
Cam peeked at Alec. He was scowling at him and none of the fans were within five feet of him.
“See,” Marcus said.
“Fine, I’ll stop.”
The minute his manager signaled five minutes until the end of the event, he breathed a huge sigh of relief. The flirting, teasing and innuendo that happened at these types of event used to get his blood pumping, but it didn’t do anything for him today. The only person he wanted to hear anything remotely suggestive from was Taylor. All these other women didn’t appeal to him anymore. In fact, he could hardly remember why they appealed to him in the first place.
When he signed his final autograph, he jumped out of his seat heading directly for Taylor. He didn’t care what the rest of the band had planned for the evening. He wanted to spend the next ten hours with Taylor without interruption. What could be better than that?
“Are you ready to get out of here?” he asked, placing his hand on her lower back.
“Are you in a hurry?” she shot back, smiling her blinding megawatt beauty that so rarely made an appearance. He decided at that instant that he’d do anything to see it more often. It rocked his world.
“Tonight, yes. I have a surprise. Remember?”
She looked down, her tongue moistening her lower lip and he fought the urge to crush his lips against hers. Too bad it would cause a scene, otherwise he wouldn’t hesitate to act on the impulse. “I think you mentioned something about it.”
“Don’t tell me you’re nervous.”
“I don’t like surprises.”
“Well then, get ready to change your mind because I’ve worked really hard on this and you better like it,” he teased.
“Or what?”
“You need to fake it,” he answered, looking away momentarily. He hadn’t done anything like this for a woman in years and it made him a little nervous.
“For you, I’ll do almost anything,” she said. Leaning closer to her until their noses nearly touched, he could see the four different shades of blue in her eyes. He could spend hours lost in them, memorizing every detail.
“What a coincidence. I feel the same way.”
“Let’s go check out my surprise.”
“Right.” He drew back. “Let’s do this.”
***
“The hotel,” she said stepping into the elevator. “This is my big surprise.” She smiled letting him know she was kidding. The entire drive to the hotel, she had guessed a million and one possible things he could have planned for her tonight, but Cam just smirked and shook his head, refusing to give her a single clue.
“You’re such a little kid.” He pulled her from the elevator and stopped in front of their hotel room.
“Whatever. You’re not much better. You’re practically tormenting me with this surprise.”
He pulled a black blindfold out of his pocket. “You need to put this on.”
“No way,” she said instantly stepping back. She hated not being able to see. Locking her in a dark closet for hours on end as a child was her mom’s version of time out for bad behavior. Unfortunately, her mom left her in there overnight.
He lifted it up, swinging it in front of him. “No blindfold, no surprise.”
She studied her feet unable to respond.
A shadow passed across his face. “Tay, what’s wrong?”
“I don’t like not being able to see.”
He nodded as though he understood and he probably did. He had the uncanny ability to understand her without exchanging words. “Do you trust me?” he asked his face serious, but kind. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you and it’s only for a few seconds until I get you in the room.”
She rubbed her hands against her legs for a second before answering. “Fine.” She turned her back to him, so he could tie it around her head. “But if I want it off, you have to listen to me.”
He secured the knot, and she felt his fingers drop to her shoulders, down her sides and then they stopped at her hips. He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder and she shivered at the familiarity of his lips against her skin.
He removed one of his hands from her hip and she heard the click of the door.
“Take about five steps forward,” he said, guiding her into their room with his hands on the tops of her shoulders.
“You’re not going to let me run into anything, are you?”
Cam laughed, his warm, minty breath brushing across the side of her face. “Never, silly girl.”
“I object,” she said as the faint sound of accordion music drifted through the room.
“To what? The music.”
“No. For the record, I’m not silly and I’m not a girl.”
“Your objection is duly noted.” She felt his hands on the back of the blindfold. “Are you ready to see?”
“Please.”
She gasped. “You didn’t,” she whispered. “A café in Paris.” A little round table with a white tablecloth sat next to their bed. Cam had placed a black metal Eiffel Tower stuffed with white tulle and miniature lights in the center of the table.
On one side of the table, there was a platter filled with cheese, duck pate, grapes, and thinly sliced French bread. On the other side was a bottle of champagne in a shiny silver chiller.
“Do you like it?” Cam asked, watching her face.
So much so she could scarcely breathe. Nobody had ever done anything like this for her before. She threw her arms around him and kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose and then his lips before she leaned back. “I love it.”
His lips curled up at the corners. “Good.” He pulled out her chair. “Sit.” Lifting the champagne bottle, he wrapped a white towel around the top, opened the cork and poured them each a glass without spilling a drop.
“You’re pretty good at that. I’m impressed. I would’ve spilled half the bottle on the floor or injured someone.”
He moved his chair so he was next to her rather than across the table and sat down. “I used to bartend.” He shrugged. “It’s all about towel placement and holding the bottle at a forty-five degree angle.”
“Ah…that makes sense.”
“So,” he said, a little nervously. “What do you want to eat?”
“A little of everything.”
He filled both of their plates.
“When did you have time to do this?”
“I’ve been working on it for a week, so today I just had to coordinate a few details, but the idea came to me when you told me that you wanted to go to Paris.”
“Really?” she asked, a few tears threatening to spill.
“Hey,” he said, cupping her face with his hands. “No crying. I still have a couple more surprises. Don’t fall apart yet.”
“You do?” Her eyes widened. She couldn’t believe there was more.
Cam leaned over and grabbed an envelope and a small rectangular box from the floor under the long tablecloth. “First open this,” he said holding out the envelope to her.
She tore the corner of the envelope and slid her finger along the seam. Inside she found a couple sheets of paper. She opened the papers and quickly scanned over the information. A huge smile spread across her face. “A trip to Paris. Is this real?”
“Yes,” he said laughing.
“That’s why it’s not for a month. I researched it and you can get a rush on the passport. You should be fine if we get the paperwork together right after the tour ends.”
“Wow.” She didn’t know what to say. “This is the best present ever. I still can’t believe you remembered me telling you about Paris.”
He leaned his forward against hers. “I remember everything about you, everything you say, every smile in your arsenal. I remember it all because you’re important to me.”
Everything fell quiet for a few moments, even the accordion background music and his hands trailed under the hem of her shirt and along her ribcage. Times like this made her believe in love, and most importantly, in them. “I remember everything about you too.”
Smiling, he lifted his forehead from hers. “One more present.” He handed her the rectangular box wrapped in glossy white paper with a navy ribbon.
Her hands shook as the slipped the ribbon off the box and gently pried the corners of the paper open. She didn’t get many gifts as a kid. Her mom remembered her birthday on occasion, but more often than not, the gifts were something she received for free with the purchase of perfume or makeup for herself. One time she made the mistake of trying to switch it out for something else only to have the salesperson gently explain that it was part of a free gift with purchase promotion. She’d never made that mistake again.
Inside the box was a long silver necklace. She lifted it, dangling the chain from the tips of her fingers as she inspected each of the three charms on the chain—a star, a cursive T and a guitar. She slipped it over her head. “I love it.”
“The T is obviously for Taylor. The guitar is for me.” He lifted the charm turning it between his thumb and his index finger. “And the star is because I’m kind of hoping you won’t need to tattoo another one on your wrist.” He looked up at her and his smile stole her breath. “Don’t get me wrong. I think they’re sexy as hell, just like everything about you, but in the future I’m hoping all your stars come from happiness rather than from overcoming heartbreak.”
“It’s amazing, Cam, in so many ways.”
He kissed her, slowly, exploring her as if it were the first time he felt his lips against hers. Every motion and curl of his tongue was deliberate and intensely satisfying. When he pulled away from her a couple minutes later, her lips tingled in the best possible way. “I’m glad. I love it when you’re happy because that’s all I want.” He pushed her hair away from her face and bent toward her, his mouth hovering near her earlobe. “Truly. I’d do anything to make your dreams come true.”
With her mind reeling and her heart pounding out of her chest, she stared forward, hardly moving. Cam really planned on keeping her in his life after the tour ended. He wanted to go to Paris with her in little over a month. He wanted her.
He lifted her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles. “You’re really quiet. Did I scare you?”
“No,” she said automatically even though she suspected a small part of the adrenaline pumping through her body at that moment came from fear. Fear of being in a relationship with someone who she actually wanted as much as she wanted her next breath. Fear that he’d realize she wasn’t worth his affection. Mostly, though, she was in shock that he had gone through all this trouble for her. She had never felt so loved. In fact, it was the complete opposite of anything she had ever felt from anyone in her life and the feeling was overwhelming in the best possible way.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded.
He wrapped his arm around her and lifted her onto his lap. “Are we still okay?”
“We’re perfect, better than okay.” She kissed him softly on the lips, and then pulled back an inch, hovering just out of reach.
“I wasn’t trying to push you into anything. You can say no to Paris if you think it’s too much, too soon.”
“Like I said, it’s perfect.” She shifted her body so that her legs straddled his waist. “But there is one thing you overlooked.”
“Hm?” His fingers danced along her arms and then down the sides of her body as he showered her jaw line, her neck and her shoulder with slow, seductive kisses that made her melt. “What’s that?”
Her hands found the bottom of his shirt and she pulled it over his head wanting to feel and see his beautiful, golden skin. “I always imagined that one of the perks of dating a rock star included getting my very own song.”
He laughed, a wry smile slanting across his face as his fingers untied the knot holding up the back of her shirt. It fell down, pooling in her lap and exposing her bare breasts. “That’s an interesting theory, but if that’s what you want, you’re dating the wrong member of Chasing Ruin.”
“Right, Jax writes most of the songs,” she murmured, angling her body so that she could feel the friction between their bared skin as she subtly rubbed against him. “Women really love him and his …”
“His what?” he asked looking displeased.
“His sexy, sensitive side.”
“Jax isn’t the only sexy member of Chasing Ruin.”
“I agree. You’re definitely sexier than him. No contest.” She held in a laugh when she saw the satisfied smile tickling the edge of his lips. “So no new inspiration to write lyrics, huh?” she teased, pressing her body into his, loving the feeling of them melding together.
“Plenty.” Eliminating any space between them, he pressed his lips against hers, demanding everything she had to give and more. It was a hard, possessive kiss that left her breathless and flooded her with sensation.
Holding her close, he stood and carried her to the bed. He eased her back onto the bed, never fully breaking contact with her. “So about this song,” he whispered as nibbled along her mouth to her collarbone and back up to her neck. “I’ve been thinking…”
“In the last couple minutes,” she said absently as she felt his body lift from hers and he slipped her pants down her legs, trailing kisses down her legs.
“Yes,” he chuckled.
“About the song?”
He unzipped his pants and stepped out of them. “I think it could go something like this.” He hooked his thumbs into his navy boxer briefs and slid them down his hips and her mind was on anything but the song he wanted to discuss.
He covered his body with hers, his legs between hers, his face resting against her chest as he looked up at her through his dark eyelashes and he started to sing. His voice was low, raspy and filled with emotion.
I was lost, so far gone
Regretting everything and everyone
Not quite broken
Not quite whole
Then your eyes found mine
Bright as the stars
Branded in our hearts
Burning into my soul
Filling my emptiness
With every look, every breath, every kiss
You give me a reason to live again
You redeem me
You redeem me
Nothing except the sound of their breath dancing between them filled the room; almost like the chorus to the lyrics he had just finished singing. She had nothing to add. Words escaped her because she felt as if she could have sang them to him. The song was simple, perfect and beyond compare. “Did you just make that up right now?” she finally whispered hating to break the moment.
He lifted his head, bracing his hands on either side of her head, his blue eyes searching hers. “Do you like it?”
“I love it. No, love isn’t strong enough, but I can’t find the right words.” She smiled. “Apparently you’re the wordsmith, not me.”
“The words have been floating around in my head for a week and they finally came together this morning. I wasn’t ready to share them with anyone, but when you mentioned it, I went with the moment. It’s only fitting that you’d be the first person to hear them.” His hands toyed with her hair, his fingertips gently caressing her scalp. It was becoming a habit of his to play with her ha
ir. Not that she’d complain. She loved every minute of the attention.
“Well, you could give Jax a run for his money.”
“Maybe,” he answered, as bent his head to brush a kiss across her lips. “We didn’t eat anything. Are you hungry?”
“Not really.” She closed her eyes. More than anything, she felt tired. She’d spent the day in a blur of tears, anger and now total peace and happiness.
“You’re tired,” he said, kissing each of her eyelids.
“Not really,” she mumbled pulling his body toward hers. She’d prefer to curl up and snuggle next to his warmth, but that seemed a little lame considering all the work he put into the evening.
“Yes you are.” He chuckled as he rolled off of her and turned her body to the side so they faced each other. His fingers trailed up and down the delicate skin of her waist, resting on her stomach, making her tremble.
“Maybe a little, but that feels nice.” Her voice trailed off at the end of her sentence.
“Go to sleep, Tay.”
“No,” she said, shaking her head slightly without opening her eyes. “We were in the middle of something.”
“Something that can wait.”
“Are you sure?” she asked, her fingertips tracing the contours of the long, lean muscles on either side of his spine up to the strong slope of his shoulders.
“We have as much time as we need. There’s no reason to rush to the finish line. I want to take care of you.”
“You already are.”
He pulled the blankets over them and kissed her softly on the lips. “I’m glad you think so.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
The minute the bus entered the Seattle metropolitan area, her heart sped up and she felt as if she was coming out of her skin. Some of the landmarks caused an intense longing to course through her body, but at the same time, the thought of being in the same city with Miles made her a little nauseous and anxious.