“This doesn’t have to change anything,” I told her.
Her eyes flashed with anger. “It changes everything. And you know it. That’s why you wanted to bring me here tonight. To let me down easy so I wouldn’t blow a gasket at the club.”
“And would you?” I asked.
She spun around. “You’re damned right I would. This is my dream, Jonah. I’ve paid my dues. I wear my scars. Every goddamned day!” she snapped as she tossed all the food back into the basket.
Was I crazy or were there tears in her eyes?
“And it’s going to happen for you. Why do you think I picked up that guitar for the first time? I see you, Lacy. You’re a star.” She shook her head.
“I should have known better than to go back to that stupid fucking club. This is my fault.”
She grabbed the basket and stalked toward my truck. I chased after her. “This doesn’t have to be either or, Lacy. Who says you can’t have both?”
She tossed the basket in the bed of the truck before she pivoted back to me. “Let’s see. Gaynell. Tony Paul. My mother. Did I miss anyone?”
“Yeah,” I told her as I forced her to face me. “I am not Gaynell. And I am not your mother. And I most definitely am not that fucker, Tony Paul. Dammit, Lacy,” I gritted as I took both her hands in mine. “I brought you here because I wanted to share this with you. I’ve been dying to get you alone since the first night I heard you sing. I’m falling in love with you, Lacy. Every single goddamned day.”
It was a brave admission, but I had nothing to lose. She tried to pull away but I held her fast. We stared at each other for a long moment before I pulled her close. She didn’t resist as I kissed her again. “Look at me, Lacy,” I told her as I lost myself in those beautiful eyes. “Open your eyes and really see what is standing right in front of you.” She tried to look away but I captured her chin and forced her to look into my eyes. “You’ve spent all this time loving the music. Isn’t it time you chose something that can love you back?”
She shook her head. “You don’t want to fall in love with me, Jonah,” she said.
I lifted her up into my arms. “Too late,” I whispered before I crushed my mouth on hers. I expected her to resist, to keep fighting, but it was like a dam broke. Her hold was strong as she wrapped herself around me, like she was bracing herself against a hurricane. Before I could pull away, she opened her mouth to deepen the kiss.
My resolve crumbled.
We devoured each other as I carried her back to the blanket, laying her gently on the old, soft material. She pulled me on top of her as I wound both hands in her hair. Her hands slipped down my back and into my jeans. When she grabbed my bare ass with her tiny hands, I shuddered against her. “God, I want you,” I breathed against her. “Tell me you want me, too. For God’s sake, Lacy. Tell me!”
It was her turn to shudder. “I want you, Jonah,” she finally admitted. I kissed her hard and she reached for me with the hunger of a woman who had never been properly loved. I planned to change that, starting now.
I ran my hands down over her shoulders and down her side, to slip under the shirt she wore. It was a button down shirt and I damn near tore every button off as I ripped it open. My mouth traveled down to her breast, toying with her through the bra until she was writhing against me. I was crazed as I unhooked that bra, capturing her hardened nipple in my mouth, sucking until she cried out loud.
Her fingers tore away the shirt I wore, and the T-shirt I wore under it. She trailed the hardened line of every muscle as she dipped her hands lower and lower on my torso, until she unfastened my jeans and slipped a hand inside.
I groaned as she encircled my cock with her velvety hand. She stroked slow as she encouraged my erection to grow until I was rock hard. “I’ve dreamed about you,” she whispered in my ear.
I shuddered as I unfastened her jeans and slid the denim, and the smooth softness of her cotton underwear, down her toned legs. She opened up to me like a flower as I slipped my hand between her legs. She was hot and wet and soft. I explored her thoroughly until she was grinding against my hand. I was relentless. I stared into her face, my eyes locked with hers, until I could make her come hard around my fingers. She gripped my bare shoulders with her fingernails, pleading me with a whimper. I didn’t stop until she was thrashing under me.
I sat up to remove my jeans. My dick sprang forward, long and hard and ready for her. There was just one thing I needed to know.
“Are you sure?” I asked her in between slow, open-mouthed kisses as I savored her mouth.
She nodded. “Are you?” she asked.
“I’ve never been surer of anything,” I said. I fetched my jeans for one last thing. I tore open that condom wrapper with my teeth. “Put it on me,” I said.
She rolled it onto my hardened shaft. I lifted her legs on my elbows and folded her practically in half. With a kiss I thrust myself into her, capturing her scream in my mouth.
This is what I had been waiting for, and it was so much more glorious than I ever dreamed. She was tight around me, molding her body to mine with every squeeze. I lost myself in her eyes as I fucked her. They widened with every thrust. Cries grew to screams as I rode her right to the brink, then I would slow down again until she was whimpering for release.
“You made me wait,” I told her with an evil grin. “I’m going to make you wait.”
She squeezed herself all around me until I moaned. “You’re the boss. Ace.”
I drove myself inside of her, quick as lightning, until she was right on the brink again. There was a gleam in her eye when she called me an asshole. I captured her breast in my mouth as I fucked her hard and deep, toying with her with my teeth until I was rewarded with a sharp cry of pleasure. I didn’t stop until her breath caught and she was on the precipice of coming.
“Jonah,” she whimpered.
I flipped onto my back and pulled her across my lap. She straddled me, rubbing herself against my hardened cock with an evil smile. “Should I make you wait?” she asked with an innocent raise of her eyebrows as she bit her lip.
I smacked her right on the ass, hard enough to make her gasp. “You’re the boss,” I said.
She sank herself on top of me. I watched her face contort with pleasure as she buried me deep inside of her tight pussy. It was like a dream as I watched her ride me, her hands running up her body to cup her breasts for me before she leaned down for a kiss. I gripped her ass in both hands as I kissed her hard, claiming her in every way I could think to do it.
Every guy wanted her but she was mine. At last she was mine.
I met each languid thrust, desperate to come. She ground herself down on me, taking her time with each thrust, delighting in every new sensation. I reached in between our bodies to touch her clit, which made her gasp out loud before she moaned loud and long.
It was all the encouragement I needed. I sped up my finger on that hard little nub until she was screaming on top of me, a quivering mess as she came hard. I felt her convulse around me, so I drove myself inside her until I thought I might disappear. Finally I arched my back up with one triumphant thrust, coming at last.
She collapsed against me with a breathless kiss. I closed my arms around her and gathered her close. “Worth the wait?” she asked.
I nodded. “I gotta be honest with you. This was not how I saw the date ending.”
She held me close. “Is it ending?” she asked as she squeezed herself around my wilting member.
“No, darlin’,” I promised. “This is just the beginning.”
Her eyes were dark and hopeful. “You promise?”
I kissed her hard in response, flipping her back onto her back for round 2.
15: Hold On Loosely
It was late by the time we made it back to Austin. She sat next to me in the truck, her possessive hand on my thigh. I had unlocked something in her, and it was a thing of beauty to watch it fly free. I wished I could take her home and make love to her all night. I knew I’d never
get enough of her. Every time I thought about her my body responded. I had never felt this way about anybody.
I toyed with her hair with the hand outstretched to the back of her seat, driving with the other and stealing kisses whenever it was safe to look away from the road ahead of us. It felt right. Everything in my life was aligning. Like magic. It was almost too good to be true. By the time we hit city limits, I had to ask, “Just to be clear, you’re okay with me performing on Mondays, right?”
Her eyes met mine. “Only a bitch would tell you no.”
I rubbed her arm. “You can tell me anything, Lacy. If you don’t want me to do this, you can tell me.”
“But it won’t change anything, right?” she asked.
I thought about it. “No,” I finally said. “I want to do this.”
She nodded but I felt her close herself off from me again.
“Hey,” I said as I glanced at her. “It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”
She nodded again but said nothing. Her eyes were practically childlike as she glanced up at me. “Promise me one thing,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“I get Tuesdays.”
Fire exploded in my veins. She was offering more than I ever dared dream. I grabbed her hand, kissed the tip of her finger before I crossed my heart. At the very next stop light, she rewarded me with a kiss so deep and long the people behind us had to honk to let me know the light had changed.
When we got to the club, we ended up making out in my truck long enough to steam up my windows. Her hand was down my pants and I couldn’t keep my mouth off of her body. I couldn’t wait to kiss every square inch of her. I wanted to take her again, but she regretfully pulled away. “Tuesday,” she promised as she opened the door. She got into her car and blew a kiss to me before she ambled away.
I rested my head on the back of the window to calm myself before I headed home. The day had worked out so much better than I had planned. Could it be possible? Could I honestly have a career and Lacy too? I just sat there for long minutes as I reveled in memories of the evening. If it was a dream, I was in no way ready to wake up.
A knock on my driver’s side window forced me to open my eyes. It was Jacinda.
Of course.
I rolled the window down. I realized her car was parked next to mine, which wasn’t there when I got there. Evidently she showed up sometime during the epic make-out session, when I was too distracted with Lacy to notice anything that happened outside the cab of my truck. But if Jacinda expected me to apologize, she was in for a long wait. I had made no bones to anyone that Lacy was the one I wanted. Now that I had her, no one could say shit to me about it. “What?” I asked.
She glanced around the steamy cab before she leveled those dark eyes back on me. “Just do yourself a favor, cowboy. Use protection. The only thing more dangerous than a Lacy that hates you is a Lacy that loves you.”
She sashayed off toward the club.
With a growl I started my truck and revved out of the parking lot.
Lacy and I continued to rehearse over the phone for the rest of the week, though the later the calls got, the dirtier the conversation. I told her in implicit detail what I would do to her when I got her alone the following Tuesday. I was going to rent a hotel room and pamper her like she should be pampered, and we would never have to leave the privacy of those four walls.
“All I really need is you and an old blanket,” she told me in a soft voice that made me shiver as though she had touched me.
“God, baby. I can’t wait to see you.”
“Me too,” she admitted. “But you may save yourself some trouble if you don’t make it too obvious at the club.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, much sharper than I intended.
I personally couldn’t wait to show her off to everyone at the club. She was my woman now and I wanted everyone to know it.
“Gay won’t be pleased,” she said. “And Jacinda will carve my heart out with a rusty spoon.”
I chuckled. “They can deal with it. I’ve never made any secret to either of them that I wanted to get close to you.”
She fell silent for a minute. “Yeah. I suppose you haven’t.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Nothing,” she lied.
I didn’t pressure her. If nothing else, I learned it was much better to let Lacy work her way around to giving of herself willingly.
By Thursday I was chomping at the bit to get to the club. I gave my mother a hasty kiss before I rushed right out the door. I was surprised I didn’t get pulled over as I sped across town. I got there in record time, even before Lacy herself arrived.
I waited in my truck until she drove into the parking lot. I didn’t bother getting out of the cab as she parked and walked over to the truck. “Happy Thursday,” she grinned.
“It is now,” I said, though I didn’t make a move. Both hands were in my lap. “I got something for you.”
Her eyebrow arched and she leaned in to see. I lifted a white rose from my lap. She laughed. “That’s not what I was expecting,” she said as she took the rose from my hand and held it to her nose.
“You’ll get that later,” I promised as I opened the door and stepped outside. I grabbed her in my arms and brought her up for a steamy kiss. She was breathless as we broke apart.
“I missed you, too, Ace,” she grinned. She held the rose in one hand and my hand in the other as we made our way to the club. Gaynell was in the bar area talking to Jacinda when we entered. She spotted our chummy demeanor with a hard glare. Jacinda leaned forward and whispered something to her.
“Told you,” Lacy said. I held her hand to my lips to kiss her fingers in reply.
We headed to the stage first. We had already selected the set for the weekend during one of our phone conversations, so all that was left was to perfect the performances with the band. We had talked about making it more interactive with the audience, figuring the next time Jasper Carrington came sniffing around, he’d have a show to see.
I never asked her about her first encounter with Jasper. I figured she’d share it with me when it was time. But there was no denying that this next show was a make it or break it performance for her.
She affixed the rose to her microphone for luck and we shared a smile.
“Jonah, can I see you in my office, please?” Gay called from the dance floor.
I glanced at Lacy, who nodded silently. She had warned me Gay would not take our budding romance well, but I didn’t care. Gaynell could have control over my career. My heart and my body were not for sale.
I skipped up the steps two at a time and closed the door behind me when I walked into the office. She had already taken her place at her computer. “Do you have any social media accounts, Jonah?”
I shook my head. “I don’t do selfies. I don’t take pictures of my food. And no one needs to know what I’m doing 24 hours a day,” I shrugged.
“That may have been true when you were a nobody,” she said as she spun the monitor around. “But as a budding star, you need a worldwide platform to reach your fans.”
She showed me a new website that boasted my name and my photo on it, with links to every other social media website that was currently relevant. “I got it started,” she said. “But you’ll have to keep up with it.” I was stunned by the amount of followers I already had. Apparently gossipmonger Miles O’Rourke had uncovered my identity and was currently doing his flamboyant best to get me exposure.
“Why does this guy even care?” I asked her.
“Jasper paid him to,” she answered simply. “Jasper is a titan in the media. He knows that the message is king. For every thousand followers you get, you can sell one ticket or one album. It’s all a numbers game.”
I sat in the chair. “So what am I supposed to do with this?”
“Participate,” she shrugged. She pointed out that Ariel had already tweeted a welcome to me, which fueled the rumors that she had a n
ew boy toy.
“Wow,” I said. “That’s more than she said to me in person.”
I meant it as a quip but, again, Gay just shrugged. “It’s all about appearances right now. Give the audience something that they think they want and it’ll get their butts through the door. You’ll earn true fans once they hear you play.”
This was all going much too fast. I had just figured out I wanted to perform, and already she’s talking about fans?
“It’s a mixed blessing,” she advised. “The more you give, the more they’ll want. You’ll have to kind of play around with it to find that middle ground.”
“So, tweet hello but say no to fucking,” I said. My language didn’t faze her.
“If you’re good in the sack, you can fuck them all you want. Just don’t, for the love of God, knock anyone up.”
I braced, figuring that was where the Lacy lecture was supposed to segue. She didn’t bring it up, so I did. “Yeah, I won’t be screwing any groupies, Gay. I’m spoken for.”
She sighed as she looked at me. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that your whole PR campaign hinges on you being available.”
I shrugged. “Change it.”
“No,” she said in a low, slow voice. “I don’t think I shall.”
“I’m not going to perpetuate a lie,” I told her.
“Why not?” she said. “You’re perpetuating you’re anything other than some guy who just fell off the tractor.”
My face hardened and I stood.
“Sit down, Jonah,” she instructed. I paused long and hard before I finally relented. “I don’t think you’re quite clear on our relationship.”
“You pay me to sing and play. Pretty simple, Gay.”
“It’s simpler than that, Jonah. You signed a contract that gives me power to work as your agent. That means I get to sign off on all the decisions you make that affect your brand.”
Southern Rocker Boy (Southern Rockers Book 1) Page 15
