by Layla Hagen
Donna nodded. “Sure thing. Why?”
“You never know when one might need blackmail material.”
“Well, I don’t have any on my phone, but I’ll dig some up,” Donna assured me.
“Oh, this is going to come in so handy. Just in case he needs cheering up sometimes. Or a reminder not to take everything seriously,” I said.
“He told us a while back that reporters were sniffing around.”
I nodded, sighing. “Yes, it’s been a bit weird. And I even had to pause my tour guiding activity for a while. I mean... I didn’t have to. The agency wants me to continue, especially because tourists were asking to be assigned to my group after the press made my name public. I was in the middle of a tour when the first pics came out, at least the ones where I was recognizable. It felt so uncomfortable, having them stare at me and asking personal questions.”
“No kidding,” Donna murmured. “That would be very uncomfortable.”
“I can’t believe he’s actually here,” Jana added.
“Why not?” I asked.
“Last time he came here, things were mad. It was at the height of their fame, when they’d released a hit,” Donna said.
Jana moved to the edge of her seat. “We went to the general store to pick up some supplies, and this huge group of people followed us. It was insane. When they saw Brayden, they started to literally walk all over each other to get to him.”
Donna drummed her fingers on the wheel. “I think he feels guilty about that, probably thinks he’s putting us at risk if he comes here.” She glanced sideways at me, and the corner of her lips lifted in a smile. “So thanks for talking him into coming to Esther’s birthday.”
“Oh... how did you—”
“Know?” Donna asked. “Just an educated guess. You’re good for him. Who knows, maybe you’ll even convince him to come home for Christmas.”
My stomach bottomed out. “I don’t think that will happen. I mean, he and I sort of agreed that we’ll only see each other until his world tour starts.” It was the first time I was saying it out loud, and I felt so hollow.
Jana smiled. “From the way he looks at you, I don’t think he’s going to let you go anytime soon.”
I smiled back but didn’t reply. I pressed a hand to my belly, trying to make that hollow feeling disappear.
***
Back at the house, we found everyone in a part of the yard I hadn’t noticed before. Brayden, his father, and two other guys were putting up some poles. A gray tarp hung between two of them.
“I’m Jerry,” one of the men said as we approached the group. The other introduced himself as Hank.
“Girls, are you going to help or just stay there and watch us?” Brayden asked.
“We’ll watch,” Donna exclaimed.
“I’m on board with that plan,” I added. Nothing spelled amazing day like watching Brayden flex those gorgeous muscles while they worked on the tent. And I had ice cream too. This day was glorious.
The guys gave us the side-eye, and I was enjoying it immensely.
“You’re not feeling guilty?” Brayden teased.
“Not at all. It’s not like we can put up the decorations before the tent is ready. And you don’t need us helping with the tent. Too many cooks in a kitchen and all that.” My voice dripped with sass.
Donna and Jana nodded approvingly.
After finishing our ice cream while watching the men work, we brought the boxes from the truck. The tent still wasn’t ready, but if we didn’t start putting up the decorations, we wouldn’t be ready in time for the party. Esther joined us too, mostly giving us directions.
The decorations consisted of strings of lights, green balloons, and some props for pictures. There was also a cute photo booth that needed to be built up from scratch. I wasn’t sure I could do it. I’d shamelessly relied on my brothers for this type of stuff my whole life. They’d helped me assemble my IKEA furniture when I moved into my first apartment in Philly, then again when I came to New York. Assembly instructions read like gibberish to me, but this one was mostly about folding paper. I peeked around, assessing if I could rope anyone into helping me, but everyone was busy.
Come on, Isabelle, you can do this.
Ten minutes later, I was sweating bullets, and I was pretty sure I’d folded the paper in the wrong direction.
“You look like you need help,” Brayden whispered from my right, startling me. I’d been so focused on the instructions that I hadn’t heard him walk up.
“Yeah, I think I misunderstood a few steps,” I whispered back.
He glanced between the instructions and the papers I’d already folded. The corners of his mouth tilted up.
I pointed at him. “Don’t make fun of me.”
He kissed the side of my neck quickly before straightening up again and looking at me intently. “Or what?”
“Or... you’ll be sorry.”
I didn’t sound too threatening, but to my defense, when he trained those gorgeous eyes on me like this, I was lucky I could gather my wits at all. I deserved points for that.
“Am I now? How about I throw you over my shoulder and take you out of here? Then I can show you exactly how not sorry I am.”
“Now what kind of excuse would be acceptable for you to get away with that?”
“You don’t know my family yet. We don’t need an excuse for that in the Clarke family.”
He leaned forward a few inches, and the smell of his cologne just took my breath away.
“Is this the country guy inside you?”
“Hell yes.”
Smiling, I winked at him. “I like it. And you’re welcome to show me that side of you in a lot of detail. As soon as we finish this photo booth.”
I focused on the instructions again but was acutely aware of Brayden moving right behind me, bringing his mouth to my ear.
“That will take no time at all. And then I’ll have my way with you.”
Goose bumps formed on my arms. My God, his voice was so deliciously sexy.
We both worked on the booth, and under his guidance, I managed not to screw up the rest of it. He’d been right, it was easy to set up. But after we finished it, Esther asked me to hang the balloons all around the perimeter while she and Brayden went about hanging the strings of lights.
I finished twenty minutes later and went inside the house for a drink. My throat was dry and raspy.
Esther was in the kitchen, and she poured me a glass of mineral water, adding a slice of cucumber and two slices of orange inside.
“Why do we need the tent at all?” I asked after gulping down the drink. “The weather is so beautiful.”
“Oh, we’ve had a couple of years where it turned from sun to rain in less than an hour, and we had to move the party indoors. It’s safer if we just put up the tent.”
“You’re right. I didn’t think about that.”
Esther came around to me, putting an arm around my shoulders, smiling at me. “Thanks for bringing my boy home. I’ve missed having him here. He can be so stubborn.”
“What’s that, Mom?” Brayden’s voice boomed from behind us. “You’re bad-mouthing me too?”
Esther let go of me as we both turned around.
“No, your mom was giving me valuable insights,” I said, holding my chin high.
Brayden pinned me with his gaze, smiling wickedly. “Mom, I want to show Isabelle around before the party. Do you need me to do anything else before?”
“No, no. You kids go and have fun. There’s nothing left to do anyway.”
Was this the part where he wanted to make good on his promise to have his way with me? By the intense look in his eyes, the answer was a resounding yes.
Esther returned to the yard, carrying drinks on a platter for everyone.
Once we were alone, he took my hand, pulling me toward the main entrance.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“I want to show you around. You haven’t seen the country part yet. W
e have huge fields behind the house.”
“Wow. The ones I saw through the window upstairs?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I know this will sound silly, but I hadn’t realized those belonged to you. Is the security detail following us?”
“No, we’re staying on the property. They’re guarding the perimeter.”
We went out through the front door, then through a narrow path between the house and the fence that opened up into a cornfield. It stretched out so wide that I couldn’t see anything past it.
“Do you want to see where I wrote my first song? Part of it actually made it into the lyrics of our first hit.”
“Sure. Show me everything.”
Taking my hand, he led me along the pathway snaking between the cornstalks. It was all new to me. As a kid, I’d also spent most of my time outdoors, but we only had fir tree forests near our house.
“These used to be two separate farms. My parents were neighbors as kids. After they got married, they took down the fence separating the properties.”
“Neighbor to lovers? That’s so romantic,” I said. “They seem very happy.”
“They are. They’ve always had a strong marriage, full of respect. They’re great people, and they’ve always been supportive. They were never annoyed that I was spending so much time with my music instead of helping around the house.”
I liked the excitement in his voice. He looked genuinely happy reminiscing and sharing it all with me. This was a part of himself he didn’t reveal to the public, but he wanted me to know. It made me so happy!
A barn appeared in our line of vision, and we headed toward it.
“This was my ‘headquarters.’ It was rarely used, so I was mostly on my own here.”
We stopped in front of it. He opened the door, and the smell of hay was thick inside. There were several heaps around us, but it was mostly empty. I imagined it was filled at the end of summer.
“By the way... rumor has it that you played the guitar. Why switch to piano?”
“I got the guitar as a gift from an uncle and went along with it. It was a great way to explore music. In my freshman year at NYU, I tried out a piano. It was love at first sight.”
“Why did it feel different?”
“Because when I’m sitting at a piano, the world around blurs. It’s like background noise. Even in concerts. Especially in concerts.”
“Ah, that would explain why you’re sitting at a piano 99.9 percent of the time during a concert.”
He whirled me around so we were face-to-face. “I thought you hadn’t watched them.”
I smiled slyly. “Not when I first met you, but I’ve caught up in the meantime. Especially in that week when you were in Nashville. I binge-watched your concerts. You look hot at the piano. Buuut Lars is no slouch with that guitar.”
“Don’t try to make me jealous.”
My smile turned into a grin. “I wasn’t... but I see you’re jealous anyway.”
“Seems I can’t help myself with you.” He looked at me intently. “Thank you for talking me into coming here. And for joining me.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck, rising on my toes. “My pleasure. I really like your family. They’re friendly and fun.”
“They like you.”
“How do you know?”
“Because they told me in no uncertain terms. Dad made a point in emphasizing I shouldn’t mess it up. He’s rarely serious, so he means it.”
“Now you’re just giving me more reasons to like your parents.” I gave him a quick peck on the lips and shimmied against him, deciding to rile him up a bit. “Now... we’re in a barn, and you made a big deal out of being a country guy. How about proving it to me?”
Chapter Seventeen
Brayden
“I’ll show you proof.”
I wrestled her deeper inside the barn, kissing a line from her temple to her cheek and then farther down her neck.
Laughing, she nearly lost her balance, but I held her waist firmly.
“Hey, can you show me what’s beyond the barn too?”
“Later,” I growled.
I hadn’t expected Isabelle to not only fit in my old life so well but to embrace it like this, hitting it off with my cousins, bonding with my mother. I’d kept this side of my life so tightly under wraps, not wanting the press to hound my family, that I wasn’t used to sharing it with anyone. I wanted to show everything to Isabelle, and not only because I didn’t want to keep anything from her. It was a true delight to experience things through her reactions. It was like rediscovering a part of myself.
She sighed, moving her hands under my shirt. Her intention was clear. She wanted to yank it off.
Pulling back, I smiled down at her. I’d wanted to kiss and explore her all day, but I’d had to hold back. All that need had bottled up, and now I was on the edge.
I took off my shirt, and Isabelle looked down at me slowly, then back up.
“We’re surrounded by hay, and you’re shirtless. Doesn’t get more country than this, does it?” she teased.
I laughed. “Yes it does. I want you naked. Completely naked.”
She swallowed hard, sweeping her gaze around us. “Here?”
“Yes, here.” I closed the distance between us. Tipping my head, I captured her mouth, kissing her hard and deep. Gripping her hips, I pulled her against my erection. She moaned, then slid one hand between us, undoing the button of my jeans. She lowered her hand inside my jeans and boxers, touching my cock.
“Isabelle,” I groaned, driven purely by instinct. I pulled her dress up her legs, then yanked it over her head. Fuck, I loved seeing her like this, only wearing lingerie, waiting for me to do whatever I wanted to her.
And what I wanted was to make her come.
I kissed a straight line from her shoulder up the side of her neck at the same time as I moved my fingers along the rim of her panties. I liked teasing her like this, slowly building up the anticipation. Her breath was frantic, her hands desperately roaming on my chest. Every time she wanted to dip a hand inside my pants, I stopped her.
“I want you to come first. Then you’re allowed to touch me all you want, Isabelle.”
She gasped, rocking her hips against mine. A faint blush spread on her neck. I parted her legs with my knee, moving two fingers over the fabric covering her pussy. I kissed her hard, moving my tongue and fingers in the same rhythm. The more I touched her, the more impatient she became, and when she soaked her panties through, she turned completely wild. She took control of the kiss, and of her pleasure, grinding against my hand at her own pace.
She was so damn sexy that I was about to explode in my pants. I felt her body tighten up and knew she was getting closer to her climax. I slipped my hand in her panties, touching her bare skin. Her legs wobbled. She stretched a hand behind her, as if looking for something to grab for support. I walked her backward to the nearest wooden pole, holding her firmly by her waist. I wanted her to focus on nothing but her pleasure. I circled her clit slowly, enjoying the way she rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes.
She exploded, groaning against my mouth. Her back arched, and her legs became weak. I loved watching her give herself completely to the pleasure. I was torn between wanting to watch her and wanting to taste her. She shuddered in my arms, humming, until her body relaxed again. She kissed my chest, then moved farther down. I grabbed the pole with one hand, watching her. When she reached my navel, she looked up with a smile.
“You have excellent self-restraint. I think you deserve a prize.”
“I agree.”
She pushed down my pants, then my boxers. I didn’t hesitate stepping out of them. She traced the V-lines going from my pubis downward with her thumbs and then her tongue. My cock was pressing against the side of her neck, and that bit of skin-on-skin contact was making me crazy.
Isabelle looked up at me, licking the tip of my erection before wrapping her lips around it. She moved her head back and forth, driving
me insane. Pleasure pulsed through me, already messing with my senses. My thoughts were a whirlwind, but one stood out: Isabelle was all mine.
She looked up at me, and seeing the lust in her eyes only intensified my pleasure. This was too fucking good. I was close to the edge. So damn close.
Isabelle pulled back, pressing the flat of her tongue against the tip. I buckled forward as pleasure shot through me. She kissed up my torso until we were face-to-face. Taking a step back, she unclasped her bra before pushing her panties down her legs, shimmying her ass to taunt me. I barely remembered about protection and grabbed my wallet. I was so on edge that rolling the condom over my erection drove me insane.
Isabelle was moving around me, kissing my right arm, then my back before moving to the left arm. I whirled around so we were facing each other once more. With one hand, I grabbed the back of her head, tilting it back until I had all the access I wanted to kiss her.
I cupped one ass cheek with my other hand, pressing her against my cock. We both groaned, stumbling backward. I used both my hands to lift her up. Propping her against the nearest wall, I sank inside her to the hilt. My knees buckled from the shock of pleasure coiling through me.
“Fuuuuuuck.”
I inhaled through my nose, exhaled through my mouth, trying to contain the climax for a while longer. She’d brought me close to the edge with those plump lips, but I wanted her to come again before I gave in to it.
I moved my hips in a relentless rhythm, kissing her neck and shoulders and every part of her within my reach. I wanted to own and explore every inch of her. She wiggled her hand between us, touching her clit. Fuck. I couldn’t fight my climax any longer.
I moved even faster, with reckless abandon, flesh slapping against flesh, our moans filling the space. I came the second I felt her tighten around me, hearing her chant my name.
I’d never climaxed so powerfully. My vision blurred at the corners. My breath caught. My lungs were burning, as were my muscles. I lowered Isabelle to her feet, keeping a hand firmly around her waist. I needed a few minutes to regain my composure. Hearing her laugh softly against my chest made me smile.
“We’re a mess,” she whispered, looking up. We were both sweaty and utterly spent. “Mr. Clarke, I didn’t think you had it in you to defile this place like that.”
