“Changing the subject. Fine. We need to figure out our set, then practice those songs. We need a day, but I have to make sure everyone is free. Since we aren’t recording an album, they are off doing other things. If my usual band isn’t ready, I have a few backups I can call.”
“Sounds like a lot.”
“No, it’s just logistics. We can do it. Let me text Carie while I’m thinking of it.” He did and she answered right away. “She’s excited and will get the word out and she’ll find out when you can tour the place.”
“Preferably after school is out.”
“Right. No need to have the kids mob us.”
“Us? You’re going to be there?”
“I need to see the venue.”
She nodded. “Yes I guess you do. You’ll need to check sound and lighting?”
“Yes, very good. We could make a roadie out of you yet.”
She laughed. Her sandwich was gone. She consumed it as if she hadn’t eaten in days. He hoped that her renewed appetite was a good sign.
“I don’t think I’ll quit my day job.”
“Probably better pay and better hours. A roadie’s day is pretty long. They get to the venue hours before I do.”
She cocked her head. “Do you have any odd thing you like backstage?”
“Bottled water and Diet Cokes.”
“No candy or weird food?”
“No candy. No weird food. I usually can’t eat too close to a performance. I usually have butterflies.”
“You get nervous/?”
“Yes, I do.”
“I would not have thought that.”
“People are paying for a good time. That’s a lot on one person’s shoulders.”
“Never thought of it that way.”
“When a performer stops getting nervous that means they stop caring and should quit,” Colin said.
She seemed to mull that over. “I’m craving potato chips. Any in the house?”
He laughed. “Yes.”
He pulled a bag out of the cupboard and opened them for her. She took one, then bit it. Her eyes closed. “For some reason, this tastes better than usual.”
He watched her eat it as if she was having a sexual experience. Turned him on for sure.
***
Tamra woke the next day with Colin in her bed. He’d charmed his way in with the promise that he would keep his hands to himself. Right now, he was wrapped around her. She couldn’t move, but she didn’t think she wanted to.
She needed to scratch her nose so she did and he pulled her closer. Guess she wasn’t moving.
She turned her head to study him. He had the longest lashes she’d ever seen on a guy. His mouth came to a perfect bow and if he had been a girl he would almost be pretty. Until you looked at his rugged and sharp jaw. That was all man, as was the smattering of hair on his chest and the fine planes of his muscles.
“You like what you see?” he said, his voice still rough from sleep.
“How did you know I was staring at you?”
“I can feel your breath on me and it wasn’t the rhythm of sleep.”
He opened his eyes and looked at her. She smiled. How did this man want her? He could have anyone and he was her wrapped around her, his eyes dark with passion. He hadn’t moved, just stared at her as if willing her to want him.
She put a hand on his chest, feeling the muscles underneath his skin. They were sharp and lean and spoke of power. This amazingly attractive man, probably the subject of many young and not so young women’s dreams, was in her bed. Had insisted that he wanted to sleep next to her.
Even if she didn’t want to have sex. Though she was changing her mind on that and she was close enough to him to know he wouldn’t turn her down. She put a hand on his face. “How did you get here?”
“Remember? I turned on the charm and you let me into your bed.”
“Like the big bad wolf?”
“Nah, a harmless puppy.”
She laughed. “Colin, you are anything but harmless.”
“I like how you say my name,” he said.
“Hm.”
“You are still not committing to anything? I will wear you down, eventually.”
“Why are you working so hard?”
He leaned toward her and kissed her softly. “Because I’ve never felt like this. I don’t ever want to lose this feeling.”
How could she not love him? She didn’t want to. Nor could she verbalize her feelings. She wasn’t ready to. Would he wait? She hoped so, because she just couldn’t say those words until she was more sure about him. And more sure about herself.
Where was this going? She had no idea.
“Such deep thinking for first thing in the morning,” Colin said.
“True. Let’s not think. Let’s just do.”
***
Colin let go of her and Tamra took off her shirt. He smiled because he knew what was next. And his friend in his pants could not have been happier.
She shifted towards him. He took command of her lips. Her fingers jammed into his hair and held his face close to hers. His tongue darted in and out searching for hers. When they connected the jolt went all the way to his toes.
He stopped kissing her. “You sure?”
“Yes. I don’t want to think. I just want to be. Be here with you.”
He smiled, his hand covering her breast, his thumb rubbing her nipple, bringing it to life. She moaned, her eyes falling closed, her fingers tightening in his hair.
“You are so beautiful,” Colin said.
She was. Just simply beautiful. Her skin was flawless and her eyes that deep blue. She opened those eyes to look at him. Then her hand slid down the length of him.
“I don’t need much foreplay. What I need is you inside of me.”
He shucked off his boxers as she slid her pants off. She straddled him before he could make a move. She was on him, her hips rocking and moving up and down along his length. “That feels so good. You feel so good. I missed you.”
“You missed my body.”
“No, I missed you, too. I missed be able to touch you. Show affection. Please don’t shut me out.”
She didn’t answer, but kept with her rhythm until he could feel her clenching around him and he followed her over the cliff. She collapsed onto his chest, her breathing heavy. He wrapped his arms around her, never wanting to let her go.
“It’s hard for me, Colin.”
“Yes, it was hard for you.”
She pinched him. “That’s not what I mean. It’s hard for me to trust.”
“I get that. Tell me about that man. What did he do to you?”
She nuzzled his neck. “He made promises and didn’t follow through. Then when I broke up with him he didn’t stay away.”
He rubbed a hand down her arm. “He stalked you?”
“He made some of my private life public on his Facebook page. He revealed things that I had told him in confidence. I trusted him.”
Her voice broke. He held her tighter. She was reliving it all. A shudder went through her and he was sorry he’d asked. He needed to know. He had to have some idea what he was dealing with.
“So for our relationship to become public, you are giving up a lot?”
She sniffed. “Yes.”
“Then I know you love me. You’re putting my needs above yours so that I’m safe.”
At that moment, he fell even deeper in love with her.
***
Tamra, feeling better a few days later, did the walk-through with Kelly, Bruce and Colin. Colin was taking notes for his crew. The rest were going over the plans for security. The concert would be on a Saturday afternoon so that no one could lurk after school and hide in the building.
“We’re taking every precaution,” Tamra said to Colin.
He stood in the middle of the gym, looking around at the venue. “I know. I trust you.”
They hadn’t spent a night alone since he’d charmed his way back into her bed. She was enjoying
the sex, that was for sure. Her heart was also melting. She couldn’t imagine what life would be like without Colin.
She still hadn’t told him her feelings. She truly appreciated his patience, but she just wasn’t ready. He said it often enough.
Kelly had a map of the school including all of the entrances that had to be covered. They sat at one end of the gym, not wanting Colin out of their sights.
“I think we can hire some local cops to cover some of these doors,” Kelly said.
She wrote that down on her pad of paper. Tamra knew she’d take care of that. Tamra’s job was to be a shadow to Colin when he wasn’t on stage. His cousin would be ready with the car at the back of the school for when the concert was done.
Normally, Tamra would have let him do a meet and greet, but she couldn’t risk it this time. Instead, if the stalker was caught, he’d give them some backstage passes to auction off for the charity and then some of his fans could meet him then.
He’d chafed at the idea, but she’d convinced him this was necessary.
“Once you know names, arrange a meeting so I can brief them,” Bruce said.
He would do the work on the ground, coordinating all of the men. Kelly would arrange any other detail. They had a good plan. Colin would come in and leave by the back door. If the driveway was blocked, his cousin could drive across a field. From that field there were three ways out.
Tamra’s first priority would be to get Colin out of the school if anything suspicious happened. She’d have one of her men as back up.
Colin knew he had to do whatever she said.
“I think we have it all together,” Tamra said.
“I’m confident that we’ve covered every contingency,” Kelly said.
Bruce nodded. “I wish we could do a dry run.”
“Not going to happen. There are a few things going on in this gym for the next week. Other than midnight, we can’t get in here,” Tamra said.
Bruce frowned. “Okay. Then we’ll have to hope this all goes smoothly.”
“Well, we want to flush out this person, so not that smoothly,” Tamra said. “If it all goes how we want it to, we’ll catch the person.”
“Yep. I don’t often hope for a plan to go awry, but that’s the best case scenario,” Kelly said.
And then Colin would be safe.
***
“I don’t feel it’s safe for you to go,” Kelly said.
“But, Mom, I can be in the crowd and I’ll do whatever you or Aunt Tamra say to do,” Sophie said.
She was set on going to the benefit concert and Kelly was set on her not being there. The situation was shaky as it was. She didn’t want to have to worry about her daughter also.
“No, it won’t be safe. I don’t have time to keep an eye on you.”
“What if I get Dad to come?”
“He isn’t trained to do what I do,” Kelly said.
They were in the car on the way home from Sophie’s dance practice. Neither of them had eaten dinner yet and Kelly didn’t want to have this conversation now, let alone on an empty stomach. Her head was light. She just wanted to eat.
Sophie went on and on about the event.
“You’d think that you’d be happy that you’ve been able to meet Colin. Why do you have to bug me about this?”
“Because it’s a concert.”
“He’s going to sing three songs. That’s it. Not a full scale event. The sound system won’t be as good as his.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s Colin Brennan.”
She almost relented at that moment. Just to shut up her daughter, but she’d never been that type of parent. She didn’t discipline by expediency, but right now she wanted her daughter to stop talking.
“Sophie, I’m hungry and tired. All you are managing to do is irritate me. You know the answer if you irritate me.”
Sophie pressed her lips together and Kelly was thankful for the silence. She could think about what to serve for dinner and what she had to do to keep Colin safe. Not only would she never forgive herself if something happened to him, her company would never survive the bad press.
She pulled into her driveway and realized that a strange car was parked in front of her house. Larry disembarked, a big smile on his face.
“Hi, Larry,” Sophie said.
Suddenly the sullen teenager was gone.
“Hello, Sophie,” Larry said.
“I have to go start my homework? You staying for dinner?”
“I brought dinner,” he said.
“Pizza?”
“No, something else, but I think you’ll like it.”
“Okay.”
She bounced off into the house. Kelly eyed him.
“I figured since I already met Sophie that it might be okay to have dinner with you two. And I brought dinner.”
She cocked her head. She couldn’t be mad at him so she smiled. “What did you bring?”
“It’s a surprise.” He walked closer to her. “Will your daughter be traumatized if I kissed you?”
Kelly wanted to kiss him back so she wasn’t sure her answer was true or self-serving. “No.”
So he kissed her. A sweet brush of his lips. “Let me get the bags.”
“I can carry something.”
“No, I’m good. How was your day?”
He hefted two paper bags into his arms then fell into step beside her.
“Okay until I had to listen to my daughter whine about why I should let her come to Colin’s benefit concert.”
“You don’t think she’ll be safe?”
“No and I can’t keep an eye on her and do my job.”
“What about this. I can keep an eye on her. There’s really nothing I can do to keep Colin safe. I could keep Sophie with me and that will free you up,” Larry said.
“And you get to be the hero with my daughter.”
“That is a nice side benefit.”
She held open her front door for him.
“Why you trying so hard?”
“Because I really like you, Kelly. And Sophie is part of the package. If she likes me, all the better.”
He followed her into her kitchen. Kelly motioned that he could put his bags on the counter. His answer made her think about him more. Where was this going? Was she intending this to be serious?
Why not? What did she have to lose? Larry was a great guy.
CHAPTER 22
Larry held his breath. He didn’t know Kelly’s intentions, but he knew his. This was why he’d come out of Manhattan on a weeknight and brought food. This was why he wanted Sophie to like him. This was why he was trying so hard.
He really liked Kelly and wanted her to like him back. Sounded so high school, but it really was that simple. He wanted more from Kelly than he’d ever wanted from anyone before this.
Even with Sophie as part of the package and the added baggage of an ex-husband. None of that mattered. He didn’t see any of it as obstacles. Just part of what he needed to deal with.
“That was very honest. Just so you know, I need to take things slowly if this is more than a fling.”
He kissed her nose. “I’m fine with that. Now, I have some things that I need to heat in the oven.”
She pointed to her oven. “I’m getting out of these clothes. I’ll be right back.”
Larry busied himself putting the various containers into the oven to warm up. The trip had been longer than he thought it would and the food had gone a little cold. He hummed as he worked, happy to be in a house with Kelly.
With the woman he loved. That made him stop. He did love her.
“Something smells good,” Sophie said from the doorway.
“Did you finish your homework?”
“No, but I’m too hungry to work.”
He pulled a breadstick out of the oven. “Here. Munch on that while you wait.”
“Garlicky. It’s good.”
Sophie took another bite then set the table. Kelly came in and eyed her daughter as if they’d ju
st met. “Thanks Sophie.”
“The sooner the table is set, the sooner we eat.”
“It’s going to take a few minutes to heat up,” Larry said. “I can’t make it go any faster.”
Sophie shrugged. “Then I’ll take my breadstick and do some more work.”
“She likes you,” Kelly said when her daughter was out of earshot.
“Good. I hope her mother does, too.”
“How can I dislike someone who brings me dinner on a busy night that we might have eaten cereal instead?”
“Cold cereal?” Larry said.
“Yep.”
“Then I’ve saved the day.”
He took her in his arms.
“I guess you have.”
“Think about what I said about Colin’s benefit concert. I don’t mind keeping Sophie with me.”
“I’ll think about it.”
***
Colin woke in the middle of the night, the day before his concert. Tamra wasn’t in his bed. He pulled on some boxers then left his bedroom to find her.
She was in the kitchen, in front of her laptop. She’d put on one of his shirts and some shorts. He paused in the doorway, his love for her welling up in his heart. She was so beautiful and she had no idea. Maybe that made her more beautiful.
He must have made a noise because she glanced over her shoulder at him. “Hi. Did I wake you?”
“No, my missing you woke me up.”
She smiled. “I’m just going over our plan for tomorrow one more time.”
“You don’t think you’ve done that often enough? You can’t change anything now.”
“I couldn’t sleep.”
He came up behind her and put his arms around her middle, his head resting on her back. “I’m sure we can think of something more interesting to do than to go over plans that are as foolproof as they ever will be.”
“I can’t help but feel we’ve missed something.”
“You haven’t. The only thing we didn’t get to do was a dry run. We’ll be fine. We’ll be back here at the end of the concert, celebrating success.”
“Why are you so sure?”
“I just am. Now shut down that laptop and come back to bed. I need some loving.”
“You need some sex.”
“Same thing. And you need it too to get back to sleep.”
She did as he asked then he took her hand and led her back to his bedroom. She went willingly. Tomorrow would be pivotal. If his stalker was caught, then Tamra’s job would be done. He had to convince her that she needed to stay in his life. In his bed. In his house.
Rock Your Body: A BWWM Romance Page 26
