Picture Us (Turn it Up Book 3)
Page 29
And just like that, he’s hooked me with the most original compliment I’ve ever heard - and probably the only one that he’s ever spoken to anyone… and he doesn’t even realize it.
As Mayzie and I get going, I chance one look over my shoulder at Tyler. After the way he made me feel just moments ago, without even trying, I just can’t help it. I’m warmly surprised to see him staring back at me with a look in his eyes that I just don’t expect. It’s like a combination of longing and disappointment. It doesn’t seem like the kind you see on a guy’s face when he just missed out on a piece of tail.
I give him what I hope is just a casual smile that doesn’t give away this new feeling I’ve developed, as I turn and leave, having no idea that Jack will soon get a call to go on tour, and that I won’t be back here for another three years.
BONUS SCENE#2
Jack
After a flight across the country, the SUV finally drops me off in the back parking lot of Vancouver’s biggest sports arena where a city of buses and trucks are congregated, and various members of our road crew are carting lights, speakers, and other fixtures included in putting on a rock show.
It’s the first day of another four-month tour, but we don’t actually perform until tomorrow evening. We get tonight to settle in on the buses and recharge after the trip. One of the lead road managers hands my suitcase off to me and I haul it up onto the bus, pulling it all the way to the back where a bedroom awaits, that I sadly have to sleep alone in for the next two weeks. I think it’s time Mayzie and I have a talk about this being the last tour she stays behind for the first couple weeks. It made sense in the beginning, as much as I didn’t like it, but now that we are a well-established touring band, I just don’t see why I should still have to go this long without my wife every tour.
I sling my suitcase onto the bed and unzip it, intent on grabbing the things I’ll need for a shower, and am surprised to find a black leather book laying on top of everything. It’s tied closed with a blue satin ribbon, and I pick it up as I sit down at the head of the bed, leaning back against the pillows.
I pull the ribbon apart and open the front cover of the book to see Mayzie’s handwriting inside.
Until I can be there…
It doesn’t take a lot of wracking my brain to realize what that could possibly mean, and I quickly turn to the first page and… Fuck… Me.
The first page is a photo of my wife sprawled across a bed clad in bright white linen. She’s in navy blue lace that makes her boobs and her ass look phenomenal, but not quite as amazing as the look of her skin against the bedspread and the bedroom eyes she’s giving me from the page.
God. Fucking. Help me.
I turn the page to find more of her in the same outfit but in different poses; some where her eyes are closed like she’s living in a fantasy with her thick black lashes fanned out on her cheek bones, others where she’s looking directly at me, her grey eyes piercing me with a look of desire.
I have to stop looking and drop my head back to scrub my hands over my face, trying to get ahold of myself. I’m going to have to rub at least four out before I can sleep tonight. What is she doing to me?
Once I think I can handle it, I turn my face back down to the beautiful album and turn to the next page where she’s… Fucking hell… she’s on her knees in a black and white Turn it Up t-shirt that slouches so low on her, I’m getting a great view of the silky skin on her shoulder and can almost see – dammit! Her head is leaned back with a hand in her hair and her eyes closed, the way she looks when she’s riding me. I have to undo my jeans now because my dick is so fucking hard they’re threatening to cut off its circulation.
As if possessed by the fucking devil, I turn more pages to find more unbearably sexy photos of my wife in my band’s t-shirt, mixed with more of her in the lingerie, all of them with her showing me how much she wants me. And then I get to the page that’s my fucking undoing. She’s wrapped in the sheets wearing nothing at all. I see the complete slope of her back and the curve of her ass as she lays on her stomach, resting her head on her hand, her fingers threaded in her hair as she gives me a serious look of want, her beautiful pale pink lips slightly pouted.
For the love of fuck, I’m going to die. I reach behind me and pull my t-shirt off because I’m fucking sweating now, and by the time I get to the last page, I’ve had about all I can take. I snatch my phone up from where it was lying beside me on the bed and dial her number.
“Hey,” she sweetly coos when she picks up.
“Start. Talking!” I order firmly, but still making sure she can hear my smile.
“What?” she asks, innocently.
“Don’t play with me Mayzie Krasinski. You know I’m talking about the little present you hid in my suitcase,” I say with sweet admonishment.
“Do you like it?” Her tone rises with a hint of hope in it.
“Like it? Like is not the word for this, baby. Love isn’t even a good enough word for this.”
“You sound upset.” I hear her voice drop a little.
“Baby, I’m going out of my fucking mind over here. Are you trying to kill me?” I chuckle incredulously.
“Just thought you’d like to have something to look at until I get out there,” I can hear the teasing shrug in her voice.
I close my eyes and let out a sigh. How the fuck did I get so lucky?
“It’s amazing. You’re amazing,” I tell her tenderly, and hear a warm sigh of her own in reply. I decide I want to see her face. I get up and walk over to the door, just as Chris appears in front of it holding up a bottle of Jack Daniels.
“Hey Jack!” He exclaims, pointing to the bottle thinking he’s being hilarious with the name. “Wanna hit the-?” I cut him off by shutting the door and locking it. I can hear his muffled voice telling someone. “Uh… he seems to be on some kind of conference call with Mayzie. Think he’s going to be a while…”
“I want to see you,” I tell Mayzie as I hang up and immediately touch the video icon by her name. She answers, and fuck me ten times over, she’s wearing the same t-shirt from the photo album.
“Hi,” she greets me with her knee-buckling smile that always gets me. I make my way back to the bed.
“Hi sweetheart,” I give her my own smile with a raised eyebrow. “You’re beautiful you know that?” She answers by turning her smile sensual. “I fucking love those photos of you… but they’ve started a serious situation over here,” I tell her, as I sit down and lean back.
“Yeah?” she asks, her voice lowered.
“Yeah. You want to help me out with it baby?”
She nods softly. “What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to touch yourself the way you want me to be touching you,” I tell her as I reach into my pants and grab onto my aching cock. I groan as I see the passionate storm brewing in those grey eyes, and I can tell she’s rolling on our bed. I let out a heavy breath as I see her hand disappear below the screen and a moan escapes her lips.
As we make each other feel good, and wanted, through our phone screens, I can’t help but revel in how much I love her, and no other woman could make me feel switched on in a million different ways. And I get a cosmic inkling that something amazing is going to happen on this tour…
Acknowledgments
I’m starting this one off by thanking my editor. Katy, above and beyond, going the country mile, giving more than asked, none of these terms covers what you do for these books. I swear, you live and breathe these characters as much as I do. Thank you for putting up with my neurotic ass and for being my friend at the end of the day.
To my beta team:
Amy, thank you for taking the time to make sure I stay in line with my stories and characters and for your expert advice. It truly helps these books to be their best. I cannot wait to work with you on more in the future (although I won’t say on what right here).
Danielle, thank you for joining my team, for the helpful feedback you’ve given me, and all the consul
ting and advice you give me on getting this book in front of readers that will love it; for being a new great friend and playlist consultant!
Karan, thank you for reading and for giving helpful and honest feedback that helps guide me when shaping the story. I appreciate your help so much.
Anastasia. My girl who spends her days buried in a heap of books but still made time to read through this one and give me your seasoned advice. Your friendship is unimaginable, and I don’t know what I’d do without your support, your encouragement, and your guidance. Love you.
Carian Cole, amazing dynamic author of one of my favorite series (Ashes and Embers, if you haven’t read it, get on it, readers! Life changing!) You formed Write Now, Worry Later, a safe haven for me and other authors to grow, blossom and learn, and selflessly shared your experience and guidance. Without it, I just plain would not be publishing my third book right now. Thank you.
Lori Jackson… you’ve done it again with that beautiful, brilliant mind of yours! Thank you so much for yet another breathtaking cover. It’s a gorgeous magnificent bow that completes Tyler and Annie’s story like no other! Thank you for working with my annoying ass, once again. XO.
Eric McKinney, thank you for being so amazing to work with. For not just shooting gorgeous photos, but actually working with me like a partnership, helping me choose the best one to represent this book, and for just plain being an awesome human. Thank you.
Jered Youngblood, thank you so much for giving a face to Tyler. It truly helped with writing this book. Thank you so much for being a part of this.
Michelle, thank you for loving these stories and their characters so much. You give me so much support and do so much for this series. Thank you.
Linda and your team at Foreword PR, thank you for EVERYTHING you do, because you seriously do everything to get the word out on these books. I love how hard you work to present the book so beautifully and are always there for me to guide me down the road of promoting and publishing. Thank you so much.
Lyndee and Miura, my sweet little girls. Thank you for not being too terrible whenever I was trying to write this, and for putting up with the zombie mommy it sometimes turned me into. I love you both more than anything in this world.
Cam. Wow… you’re still here. Thank you for always working so hard, and for being so supportive of me doing what I love. For being an amazing daddy and taking such good care of all of us. I love you. You’re hot.
READERS!!
Thank you so much for picking up this book and letting Tyler and Annie into your lives! I love writing these stories and it means so many worlds to have all of you to tell them to, especially all of you that have never even met me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Also by Natalie Parker
If you loved Annie and Tyler’s story and want to see their first appearances, check out these other books by Natalie Parker:
See Her, Turn it Up Book 1
Still Her, Turn it Up Book 2
Playlist
I’m so Sorry – Imagine Dragons
What Lovers Do – Maroon 5 feat. SZA
Missed Connection – The Head and the Heart
Closer – The Chainsmokers; Halsey
Con Calma – Daddy Yankee, Snow, Katy Perry
My Oh My – Camilla Cabello
Freak Like Me – NoMBe
Lose Somebody – Kygo, One Republic
Lonely – Diplo, Jonas Brothers
Free and Lonely – X Ambassadors
Oh Yeah! – Green Day
Freaking Me Out – Ava Max
Surrender – Walk the Moon
Baby Can I Hold You – Boyzone
Bones – Marren Morris
Takeaway – The Chainsmokers, Lennon Stella
Prayed For You – Matt Stell
When Will I Be Loved – The Everly Brothers
Danza Kuduro – Don Omar, Lucenzo