She stared into his playful eyes and became lost…that easily. For all the panic, all the worries and concerns a second ago, suddenly, she had none. Because the truth was, she was tired of always being someone who had to be strong and figure everything out. For once, she wanted to shut her mind down and let her heart lead the way.
And her heart and body wanted more of him. “When you look like that and come bearing donuts, yes,” she said.
Travis barked a laugh, and she loved the way his eyes warmed. “Passed over for donuts. There goes the fantasy.”
She grinned. “But they are warm and sugary.”
“I’m warm, and hell, am I not a little sweet, too?” He smiled back, entering the bedroom and placing the donuts on the nightstand.
She rose onto her knees as he reached her, and just as his lips nearly touched hers, she whispered, “Give me a little sugar then and let me find out.”
One hand in her hair, the other on her cheek, his tongue slid oh-so-perfectly across hers. The power of his touch branded her, raising a flurry of heat within.
When he backed away, one brow was arched. “Well?”
“You’re right,” she all but purred. “You’re better.”
* * *
Later that night, after spending the day in and out of bed with Rae, Travis pulled his rented 1970s Ford truck—the same type of vehicle he’d had back in high school—up to the main gates of the Mustang Drive-In, or the Must-Bang Drive-In as it’d been called back in the day. He couldn’t remember a day like he had today. Doing nothing with someone, and yet it felt like everything. The coldness that had invaded him lately slowly began to thaw. She did that to him. It was all Rae. Her warmth.
At the fork in the road, either heading down to the rows of vehicles waiting for the movie to start or going right toward the concession stand, he took a left, traveling up the thin road toward what used to be their spot every Friday night.
Up on a small hill were two big shade trees, and in between those trees, was the perfect place to not only watch the movie on the big screen in the middle of the field, but also a clearing private enough to handle their teenage hormones.
Sitting next to him on the bench seat, Rae leaned forward and glanced out the window and smiled. “I can’t believe our spot is still here.”
“I can’t believe the Must-Bang Drive-In is still here,” he said, pulling in between the trees and putting the truck into park.
“It’s crazy, right?” Rae laughed and exited the truck.
As he’d done so many times when they were younger, he grabbed the blanket next to him and joined her outside. At the back of the truck, he found her looking as sexy as ever in a short, lacy, soft pink dress and ballet shoes that had ribbons that tied up her legs. He doubted he’d be able to keep from looking at those legs all night. He dropped the tailgate and asked her, “Does Rhonda Little still own the place?”
“I think so, yeah,” Rae said, helping him settle the blanket into place on the tailgate.
“It’s so strange, you know?” He held her by the waist and hoisted her onto the back of the truck, her legs dangling.
“What’s strange?” she asked.
The truck bounced under his weight when he sat next to her. “How so many things have changed, and yet…how things are still the same. I gotta say, it makes it easier to come back and remember who you were and where you came from when everything you left behind is all still here.”
“That’s so very true.” She gave him a sweet smile, and likely unaware of how damn sexy he found her lacy shoes, swung her legs back and forth, tempting him to wrap those legs around his shoulders. “So, can I ask you a question you might not want to answer?”
He blinked, glancing back into her eyes. “Of course.”
“Okay, so…”—she watched him carefully—“you said the guys in the band are married, but why aren’t you? I can only imagine you’ve had a line of women holding out their hands, waiting for a ring.”
He chortled. “Is that what you really think?”
“You’re quite the catch.” She grinned.
“I’m glad you think so,” he replied, taking up her hand, hoping what he said next wouldn’t shock her too much. “But to be perfectly honest, I haven’t had a serious relationship since you.”
Her brows shot up. “Never. Not once?”
“Never. Not once,” he confirmed.
The music and laughter from the crowd awaiting the movie began to drift up, as her eyes searched his. She finally asked, “Care to explain why you haven’t dated seriously?”
He wondered how she’d read into his admission. But he knew the woman next to him, and he also knew she’d need all the answers before she formed any opinions. “You know at first, things were…” He stopped where his thoughts were about to take him and smiled at her, sliding his fingers across her bare thigh beneath her dress. “Are you sure you want to hear this?”
“Yes, I want to know,” she said with a laugh and waved him on. “Go on, just spare me the intimate details.”
That was easy to do. He drew in a deep breath to gather his thoughts. “All right,” he said, hoping he wouldn’t regret this. “When everything started happening for the band and me, things were very casual with women.”
“So, you fully lived the rock-and-roll lifestyle, drinking into the morning and banging anything that walked into the night?”
He chuckled and shook his head, sliding his thumb across the back of her hand. “I can always count on you to tell it like it is.”
Even if that bit of truth put him in a terrible light, he carefully looked for any hint of unhappiness from Rae but found none. Always the supporter, she’d likely only see the good in him at all times. Because that was Rae.
“Well, did I get it right?” she asked, swinging those sexy legs in front of her again.
“Something like that,” he agreed gently, forcing himself to look into her pretty eyes. “But the thrill of women and parties and all of it got old really fast. You know, there were times I’d go to sleep in my bed and wake up beside a woman, having no idea how she got there. I didn’t know if we’d slept together or not.”
She nibbled her lips and then shrugged. “I wouldn’t feel torn up about it; they wanted to be there.”
“They did, you’re right,” he said in full agreement, hanging his head, staring down at her fingers twined with his. “That’s when I realized there was something worse than waking up and not knowing them.”
“What’s that?”
He glanced up at her. “Waking up and realizing they didn’t care about what happened the next day anyway. All they wanted was that night. The glory and the ability to tell their friends we had fucked. I was nothing more than a popularity contest amongst the groupies.”
Classic Rae, she began smiling at him. “If you want me to feel bad for you because you got amazing sex with random women—”
“I never said it was amazing.” The louder music now drew his attention, and he glanced out, seeing the screen come to life, illuminating the dark field, showing how many vehicles were there tonight.
She let the silence stretch out between them only for a minute before she guided the conversation along again. “I take it then that one-night stands were eventually something you didn’t want anymore?”
“That’s right,” he said, turning to her again, and the light from the screen showed the soft look in her eyes. That’s what he liked about Rae. She never let him throw a pity party long, but she’d happily pull him out of the darkness with her warmth.
“Okay,” she continued, tucking her hair behind her ear, “if one-night stands didn’t work out, then why not start dating?”
“I tried, and failed.”
“Why?”
Because I should be with you, his heart roared. Though it wasn’t that simple either. Because for her to be with him, she’d have to give up a lot. But he’d seen the article that stated she had nearly reached her goals, and he wondered if maybe she was ready t
o move on from Catfish Creek. That’s what had brought him home.
But there were other reasons he could never forget her, not even ten years later. She gave him something no other woman had. “When I went on dates, all they saw was the rock star, not Travis Walker. They wanted the show. They wanted the party. They expected fancy dinners and extravagance. They hungered for the tabloids. But no one, not a single woman, ever went past two dates because they weren’t with me for the right reasons.”
Emotion filled her face at the realization of everything he wasn’t saying. She inhaled deeply and looked out in front of her, staring at the movie screen. “I do know what you mean,” she eventually said. “I tried dating, too, and it didn’t go so well either.”
“I can’t see how that’s possible.” She was perfection.
She laughed softly at the compliment. Never able to receive them well, she looked at him with shy eyes. “It’s hard to explain, but the guys I met, they just weren’t…enough.”
“Enough?”
“Enough passion. Enough soul. Enough heart.” She glanced down at her legs. “I don’t know how else to explain it than to say, they just weren’t enough. I tried, especially with my last boyfriend because my mom was getting on my case about being single. But in the end, boredom set in, and that was that.” She raised her head and gave a little shrug. “We can’t be good at everything I suppose, and we nailed our professional dreams.”
“We did,” he agreed.
But his professional life hadn’t been on his mind lately. He wanted more, and he wanted to find his way back to the happiness he once had. He couldn’t help but think that more rested with the woman next to him. Christ, he didn’t have it figured out, but being back here, with Rae, everything felt…right.
“And yet,” she said, drawing him out of his thoughts, “do you ever wonder if something’s missing?”
Now it was his turn to dig a little into her life, especially considering this topic interested him greatly. “What could be missing from your life?”
“I don’t know exactly.” She sighed and leaned back, resting on both hands behind her on the blanket, then glanced up at the starry sky. “It’s like I planned my entire life, and it all unfolded exactly as I wanted it to.”
He stared at the long line of her neck, at the way her hair hung down, of the way she arched her back, pushing her breasts out. “Why do you make it sound like that’s a bad thing?”
“Because I’m starting to wonder if it is a bad thing. Here I am, just about to reach my thirty-year goals at the age of twenty-eight. I should be happy, thrilled, feel fulfilled.”
“And yet…?”
Head still tilted back, she looked at him. “Should life be so planned?”
“For Rae Evans, yes,” he replied with a smile. “Remember when you used to plan our weekends down to the hour?”
She laughed quietly, glancing back up at the stars above her. “I still have an hourly planner with sticky notes, and I’m pretty sure I couldn’t live without it.” Her smile began to fade. “But here I am with everything I wanted. I have a house, a successful clinic, and no debt to speak of, but…”
“Something’s missing?”
“Something’s missing.” She looked at him and gave a tight smile. “I guess I didn’t realize just how much until the reunion.”
He let that truth settle between them as he glanced out at the movie that now played on the screen. It seemed like he was searching for a way backward, and Rae searched for a way forward. But he wondered if they would still end up in that same spot as before, somehow never able to come together the way they should.
Down below them, most people sat in their cars, but some were like him and Rae, sitting on the backs of their trucks. Memories bombarded him, good memories. Times when things were a lot less complicated but still emotionally messy.
As the movie played on, he thought Rae might stay quiet and watch in silence as she used to do, but she surprised him.
“Do you ever miss what we had?” she asked gently. When he turned to her, he lost his breath at the emotion in her eyes. “Not who you were back then. But what we had together? What that kind of love felt like?”
He reached up and touched her face, needing to get closer. When she looked at him like that with such feeling, it destroyed him. “Yeah, I miss us,” he said, taking her hand into his.
She shut her eyes and leaned into his touch. “If only we could freeze time.”
He slid his thumb across her soft cheek, then, unable to stop himself, he caressed her bottom lip. “If only…”
Her eyes opened, heat in their depths. “I want you, Travis.”
Christ, he didn’t even recognize this Rae, and it fucked with his head. She’d always been so shy, so quiet, so perfect…and yet, he preferred her like this. He’d loved her as a girl. He’d ravish her as a woman.
“What do you want from me?” He pressed harder against her bottom lip, watching intently as her mouth parted, a breathy moan escaping.
She leaned closer to him, her lips right there, and whispered exactly what he needed to hear, “Take me like you did that night.” She flicked her tongue out, connecting with his thumb.
“What night?” he growled, ready to give her whatever she wanted.
“The night before you left.”
CHAPTER 6
With stars spattering the sky above her, Rae followed Travis as he led her to the inside of the truck, his gaze following her with each step he took backward. He moved in the same manner that he had that night ten years ago. It’d been here, right as the movie started, that he told Rae that he was moving to New York to pursue his dream. There’d been laughter and joy. There’d been tears. But there’d also been so much more. Something that had affected her in ways she couldn’t have imagined. The way he’d touched her that night and the way he looked at her were imprinted on her mind. That was the look, the feeling she’d measured every man against since—and was why she remained single.
No one compared. Not a single man. No one ever cared about her like Travis had.
Once he reached the truck’s door, he smiled. “Just like before?”
“Just like before,” she whispered, feeling the heat rising within.
His playful smile remained as he dropped to one knee, and the light from the truck spilled out into the night. With his heated eyes on her, he slowly ran his hands up her bare legs, dragging the heat of his touch upwards. “Is this what you remember?” He tucked his fingers into her panties and pulled them down. “Me, touching you like this?”
She nodded and shivered as Travis turned on the switch and focused all his blisteringly hot attention on her. She stepped out of her panties and said, “You look different now.”
“How so?” he asked softly.
“Stronger. Sexier.”
The lust in his eyes stole her breath. The promise in their depths doused her in need.
“Ah, baby, I like when you look at me like that.” He rose and stepped closer, his hard chest to her soft breasts. “Because I want you just as much.” He pressed his hand against her back, pulling her to him. “Every kiss. Every touch. Every moan you ever gave to me. It’s all there in my mind, Rae.”
She gave a breathy gasp as his hard cock pressed against her belly, and her chest rose and fell in anticipation. He slid a hand across her cheek and licked his lips, brushing his thumb across the soft flesh before he sealed his mouth across hers. His kiss held the same desperation she’d sensed back then. The desire to keep hold of something, but the reality that he had to let it go. His mouth was firm, his tongue was hot, slowly stroking hers, making her ache to feel that tongue between her thighs, and she grabbed his shirt, desperately needing to get closer.
His chuckle shivered across her. “Can’t wait?”
“Don’t make me,” she breathed.
He leaned away, once again dragging his thumb across her bottom lip. Eyes on her, he watched her, and she watched him right back, any barriers between them now gone,
only their lustful intentions between them now.
The voices from the movie carried over the hot, dry air, but she’s wasn’t thinking about the film. She was only thinking of him. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about that night before he left that had made their sex so incredible. Maybe it was the intensity they’d felt knowing he was leaving, or maybe it was something else entirely.
He climbed onto the bench seat in his truck, pulling her up to straddle his waist, and that’s when she wondered if it was the tightness of the space that made this so intense, so intimate. There was nowhere else to look but right at him. They were as close as they could possibly get, with nothing between them, not even their secrets. They’d bared it all to each other a long time ago.
Sitting atop him, she reached over and shut the door, the voices outside turning muffled now. The light from the movie glowed through the back windshield as she cupped his face and brought her mouth to his. The odd, unexplainable attraction between them created energy she couldn’t control. The same chemistry she’d sought to find with someone else and simply couldn’t.
Below her, and between her thighs, she felt his fingers unhooking his belt. She rose on her knees, getting out of his way and angling her head against the roof. His lips continued their dance against hers as he pushed his jeans down to his knees. Growing more and more impatient, she sucked on his tongue and bit his bottom lip. She was already so wet and warm, eager to have him.
He gave a guttural moan, urging her on, and she slid her lips to his neck, slowly swirling her tongue up his salty flesh, nibbling on his ear the way he used to like. When he groaned deeply, she used her teeth to bite the sensitive flesh.
“Baby girl…” His throaty moan clenched her sex, as one of his hands cupped her nape, pressing her against him, telling her he wanted more of her mouth.
While she was changing the game, doing something she hadn’t done that night ten years ago in the truck, she slid off his lap and gave him a quick smile before she glanced down. His cock jutted rock-hard before her, awaiting her. “This needs to go,” she said, reaching for his shirt. He had it off a second later, and she began tracing her hands over his chest and down his six-pack abs until she reached the V where she found his erect dick. She grabbed him and stroked, and then she took him into her mouth, right to the hilt.
Rock Star Page 6
