One Hundred Lessons (An Aspen Cove Small Town Romance Book 15)

by Kelly Collins

  "No."

  "Then let's get out of your head and into us. Only we belong in this bed. You didn't want the groupie here, and I don't want your ex. He was an idiot. A lesser man would have already finished in the living room when you were grinding on me. That was so hot." He slid his hand over her body and settled his palm over her breast. "These are perfect." He gently pinched her nipple, pulling a moan from her. "That response is everything." He moved his hand down her stomach until it rested on her mound. "This is a freaking playground for a man who knows how to use the equipment." His mouth followed the trail of his hand until he settled his shoulders between her thighs and let his tongue loose.

  Her body was a tightrope and her nerves the acrobat teetering and tottering on the edge. Every few seconds, she was certain she would fall forward and float blissfully back to earth, but she was tethered to Alex, and he kept her body ready to fly.

  Shuddering beneath him, she could no longer avoid the fall and tumbled fiercely, spinning, gasping, pulsing until she lay on the bed spent and panting.

  Alex was there to catch her.

  When their eyes connected, all she saw was a predator who had gotten his first taste. She was a mouse who'd entered the lion's den.

  "Did you like that?"

  What was not to like? "I now know why women are sneaking into your house."

  "Not for that. That's far too intimate for a stranger."

  Could a heart break from happiness? Was hers too full to hold the joy he'd given her? "Really?"

  He moved next to her and covered her mouth with his. She was on his lips, in his mouth, and hopefully protected somewhere in his heart.

  After a long kiss, he stood and dropped his pants. That hungry look in his eyes grew fiercer. "What do you like, Mercy?"

  She had no idea. She certainly liked what she'd experienced so far. "Do you have a menu?"

  He pulled a condom from the nightstand drawer and rolled it on. "Do you want me to make one?"

  She reached and tugged him on top of her—his heavy length pressing between her legs.

  "No, I'm feeling a bit greedy tonight. How about you give me all that you got?"

  And in one swift thrust, he did. He filled her in places she didn't know existed. It wasn't just body to body; they were soul to soul. If this was how the night started, she was sure there would be no sleep in their sleepover.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Alex called Louise to let her know he'd pick Maddie up and take her to breakfast.

  "Did you two have a nice night?" Louise asked.

  Nice didn't begin to describe what the evening was like. He had plenty of marathon nights in his past, but none left him feeling like he wanted more. His life was changing faster than his brain could process.

  "Thanks for watching Maddie."

  Louise laughed. "I like a man who doesn't kiss and tell. Not sure how hungry Maddie will be since the kids polished off two cereal boxes, but she'll be happy to see you."

  "Did she do okay?"

  "Something tells me Maddie's done a lot of sleepovers somewhere else."

  He knew it was true in the back of his mind, but it unsettled him to think that she'd been carted around and slept in strange places so her mom could get a fix or check off another bucket list person.

  "I'm sure you're right. Again, thank you."

  "Anytime. We loved having her."

  Hands slipped around his waist from behind, and a glorious set of lips kissed his bare back.

  "We've got thirty minutes to shower and get Maddie."

  She moved in front of him, and God did she look sexy wearing his shirt. Seeing her in his clothes was almost as good as seeing her wearing him.

  "A shower will only take fifteen minutes." She gave him that look that said she was ready for more.

  He lifted her up until she wrapped her legs around his waist. "You are my kind of woman."

  She leaned in and whispered. "Ready and willing?"

  "No, although I like that you are, you're so much more than that."

  "Tell me."

  "Lord, have mercy on me."

  "You've got about fourteen minutes to make that happen."

  He moved to the bedroom in a flash.

  They were five minutes late picking up Maddie, but she didn't seem to mind. When she noticed them at the door, she ran with open arms and went straight to Mercy. At first, it pricked at his heart, but one look at the two of them hugging, and he was sure if the tables turned, he would have run to Mercy too.

  "Are you hungry?"

  Maddie looked at him. "Can I have a pancake with chocolate chips?" She pronounced the L carefully as if making sure she got it right.

  "You can have anything you want."

  "Then, I'm hungry."

  He took her from Mercy and hoisted her to his hip, then turned back to Louise.

  "Thank you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate you watching Mads."

  Louise waved him off. "It wasn't anything we wouldn't do for another Aspen Cove family member."

  Was this what family was like? "I'm a little rusty on the family thing. I've never had one."

  She touched his arm. "They're a little like plants; you talk to them, water and feed them, and make sure they're taken care of. Some are prickly, and some are pretty and sweet. Some are downright poisonous, but they all have a place in our lives."

  Between Doc and Louise and Mercy, he was being schooled. He used to think he had it all figured out until he came to Aspen Cove, and they taught him that he didn't know squat about anything.

  When they got to the diner, he was starving and knew Mercy could eat a few blue-plate specials on her own with the calories she burned. Anyone that said he couldn't lose weight making love was crazy.

  Maisey came by and took their order. With her glasses perched low on her nose, she studied the three of them.

  "Looks to me like you've got a nice little family started here."

  Alex looked at Mercy, whose jaw had dropped.

  "It's not like that." Mercy blushed. "I work for Alex, and we're friends."

  If she'd picked up her knife and stabbed him, it would have hurt less. Hadn't last night proved they were more than friends? He'd never let a woman spend the night because that was far too risky. His father had warned him early on that if they stayed the night, they remained too long. Then again, his father was an asshole.

  "Hmm," Maisey hummed and looked straight at Mercy. "I learned long ago to stop lying to myself." She tapped her back end. "I'll never lose that last twenty pounds, and no matter what products I use, I'll never have the skin of a twenty-year-old, but the biggest lie I used to tell myself was that I didn't need love because I could love myself and that was enough." She glanced over her shoulder to see Ben sliding an order across the pickup window. "That man there proved I was wrong."

  She waited with her order pad and pen.

  Alex paused for Mercy to order, but he ordered for all three of them when she didn't. "Two blue-plate specials and a chocolate chip pancake." He winked at Maddie. "Extra chocolate, please."

  She bounced in her seat. "Thank you, Daddy, I w … love you."

  He reached across the table to tap her button nose. "I love you too, squirt."

  "See, love is special. You can't buy it, and you can't make it, it just is. When it's right, it's incredible." Maisey turned and walked away.

  "What did last night mean to you?" he asked once Maisey was gone.

  She studied him for a moment. "Everything."

  Had he been holding his breath? When she confirmed that it was something special, a whoosh left his lungs.

  "To me too." He didn't know what happened to the Alex who arrived in town. The man with the long hair and rock star attitude. Somehow, he disappeared, and the man he was becoming took his place.

  They finished their breakfast to the chatter of Maddie talking about Barbies and some kind of talking doll.

  "We're going to stop at the bookstore first, so Maddie and I can walk home from t
here."

  He paid the bill and left. Once outside, he kissed Maddie on the head and Mercy on the lips.

  "I'll see you for dinner. How about I bring a pizza from Dalton's?"

  Maddie didn't waste any time with her yes, and seeing how excited she was, Mercy seemed to acquiesce.

  "I thought you were tired of pizza."

  "I'm willing to sacrifice for the women in my life."

  "Pizza it is, then." She turned toward the bookstore while he climbed into his SUV and headed for the studio.

  Gray was the only one there when he arrived.

  "How's that cute little teacher? Are you banging her yet?"

  Alex's first reaction was to put a fist in Gray's face, but that would make for an awkward work environment. It was already tense between Deanna and Red. Indigo didn't need another conflict happening. That's how bands split up. Somehow it was always over egos and women.

  "Hey, man, don't talk about Mercy that way."

  Gray's brows lifted. "Holy shit. You are banging her."

  Alex's hands fisted at his side. He walked to his drums to put distance between them.

  "She's special."

  "Dude, you're such a cliché. Single dad doing it with the nanny."

  He took a threatening step forward. "I'm asking nicely that you don't talk about Mercy like she's some groupie. I like her. More than like her. She's good for Maddie and me. Hell, she might be the one."

  Gray held up his hands like he surrendered. "You're thinking with the wrong head. When it comes to women, the head on your shoulders shouldn't be ruling your world. I'm not saying you can't appreciate her or treat her right, but you know it never works out. Think about all the shit you'll go through. The jealousy alone is a killer, and then you have to choose between your career and her. Women murder your dreams, man. I should know, I was married once, and still paying for that experience."

  Alex grabbed his drum key and tuned his set while waiting for the rest of the band to arrive.

  During their session, he considered all the ways Gray could be right and wrong.

  Jealousy would always be an issue, but that's where trust came in. When the day ended, rather than hang out and chat with his bandmates, he rushed to Mercy's with a fresh pizza.

  He found his girls in the backyard picking strawberries, and by the mess on Maddie's face, more ended up in her mouth than in the basket.

  "Hey," Mercy rose from her knees and walked straight to him, offering him a kiss.

  "I hope you don't mind that I walked in. You didn't come when I knocked, and the door was unlocked."

  She brushed her hands off on her denim shorts before she set them on his chest. "You can come in anytime you want." She lifted on tiptoes and kissed him slowly and thoroughly. If this was what coming home was going to be like, he wanted more.

  There was a tug on his belt loop. "Hello, Daddy."

  "Hey, squirt." Each time she called him Daddy, it melted his heart. He was so wrong to dismiss her initially. His past behavior put him at risk for fathering many children. While he always used a condom, he didn't think about the failure rate.

  Then the rage set in. Maddie wasn't even his, but he cared about her and for her. He had an opportunity to make her life better.

  "There's pizza in the kitchen."

  When Maddie ran off, he tugged Mercy closer to him. "I missed you."

  "I missed you too." She laid her head against his chest and inhaled. "You always smell good."

  "I shower."

  The sound of her laughter was as sweet as music. "I know. That was the second-best part of my day."

  "And the first?"

  "Before the shower."

  "We'll need to arrange for another sleepover soon."

  She stepped back and threaded her arm through his, and they walked into the house where Maddie already had the pizza box open. She held a slice in one hand and a pen in the other.

  Mercy opened the refrigerator and took out a pitcher of sweet tea.

  Maddie tore off a sheet of paper from the pad and handed it to him. On the front were three stick figures that he imagined were Maddie, Mercy, and him. When he turned it over to see what was on the back, his stomach dropped into his shoes.

  At the top of the sheet was the words Bucket List, and below in the number one position was groupie underlined.

  "Was that all this was?" He held up the list and stared at Mercy, who took the seat across from him. "Am I just a bucket list item to be checked off?" He glanced at the bottom and took Maddie's pen. "Here, you might as well scratch earth-shattering Os from the list." He drew a line through the entry.

  "Oh, come on, Alex. That's not what this is." She swiped the page and tossed it away, then handed Maddie a fresh sheet and a new pen. "Honey, can you draw your father another picture?"

  "Finish eating, Maddie, because we need to go home."

  Maddie scowled at him. "But I'm drawing."

  "I know, sweetie, but Daddy has stuff to do."

  "Alex, that sheet is BS, and the only reason groupie was at the top was because my mom told me to become one just once."

  "You succeeded and didn't even have to break in; I invited you. Sorry I can't help with number three because I've already got one child, and I'm not looking for another."

  "Stop." She reached for his hand, but he yanked it away. "Let's talk in the other room." She eyed Maddie and nodded toward the living room.

  He followed her. "Stop?" He attempted to keep his voice low, but he was a hair away from yelling. "You're just like the rest. Let's land a night with the drummer and see if he's good with his stick."

  She faced him and fisted her hips. If he weren't so crushed, he'd think she was cute with her defiant stance. "You know, if we're going to have a relationship, you have to trust me."

  "Relationship?" He cleared his throat. "I don't have much experience with them, but I'm fairly certain they don't start with a bucket list where the first entry is a groupie, and the last is earth-shattering Os."

  She stalked forward and poked his chest. If she were a man, she'd be laid out on the ground, but he'd never hit a woman.

  "I'm not a groupie."

  "Is that why you shoved your underwear in my fence?"

  She rolled her eyes. "Okay, I went over to your house to do a groupie thing, but that was the extent. And I chose your house as opposed to the others because you're not my type."

  His insides twisted like his intestines were wrapped with rusty wire. "I was sure your type last night."

  She let out a muffled scream. "Oh, my God. Listen to me. You had long hair, which is not my thing. Your house seemed to be a fan favorite, so I figured I could rush in and rush out without getting caught. Then I met you, and everything changed. You were a complete asshole, but a hot asshole. When you brought Maddie because you needed me … well, all I can say is every day since then I've fallen for you. And last night … that was the most amazing experience of my life. Believe me, or don't believe me, but it's the truth." She put her palms together like a prayer. "I hope you believe me because I can't imagine my life without you now that I've had you."

  Every word sounded sincere. How could he argue with what she said? Everyone does stupid, silly stuff. "You didn't like my long hair?" He opened his arms, and she fell into them. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

  "No more groupies for either of us, okay?" she asked.

  "How about you be my one and only groupie?" He squeezed her tightly, never wanting to let her go.

  "That's a deal."

  Maddie walked out of the kitchen with a new picture. Her stick figure father held her hand, and on her other side was a woman, but in the sky was another.

  "Who's this?" He pointed to the stick figure with the long hair holding her other hand.

  "That's Mercy." Her pizza-sauce-dirtied finger pointed to the sky where a woman floated. "That's Mommy, and she's happy I'm here."

  Chapter Eighteen

  It had been three days since they argued—thre
e days of kisses and stolen moments.

  An hour ago, Katie invited Maddie over on the pretense that her daughter Sahara needed a play date.

  When Mercy texted Alex that Maddie was playing at Katie's and she was home alone, he said he'd be there in minutes.

  She had no idea what he would tell the band, but it made her feel important that he dropped everything for her. Not once in her adult life had anyone put her first, and the feeling was addictive.

  Waiting, she sat at the table and wrote several checks to bill collectors. The eight hundred dollars a week she charged Alex was a boon and a bane. She needed the money desperately, but guilt ate at her for charging him so much. Then again, when they negotiated the price, she wasn't in love with him. That scary feeling of want and need and desire crawled into her heart and curled up all cozy and warm. Was what she felt for Alex, love? She couldn't figure out any other emotion that made her feel this good.

  A soft tap sounded at the door, and her blood rushed through her veins, heating her body. Alex was here for her.

  Her heart hadn't beat this hard since her wedding day, and in all honesty, that wasn't excitement, but anxiousness that had it doing double time. There was no wedding dress, no veil, no wedding party. She stood in a courtroom in front of a judge, because it was financially practical, but it seemed as though it was more of a punishment than a joyous occasion, almost like she signed up for a life sentence without a chance of parole, or so she thought.

  When she opened the door, she found Mr. Sexy leaning on the doorframe.

  "Delivery for Ms. Mercy."

  "Did I order something?"

  "You did, and I'm here to deliver."

  She stood aside and let him enter. If her grin got any wider, her face might split. "I like my deliveries hot."

  He pushed the door shut and reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head.

  Holy hell, he was a work of art.

  "You make me burn inside, but only you can judge whether or not I'm hot." He stalked toward her. "Now, you, on the other hand, are sizzling." He walked her back until she hit the wall. " What's hot is standing right here, pushing you against the drywall and kissing you like I never want to stop."