“So you went over and fucked with him,” Lori said, the dimple on the left side of her mouth deepening with her smile.
“You know it.” Lita smiled then, too, recalling how he’d tried to ignore her but finally gave in. “He bought me a drink to shut me up. When I got up to leave, he stopped me. Something in his eyes, the slump of his shoulders, told me he was hurting. Lost. I told him that together we could be whoever we wanted and forget all the shit back home. We could get lost together.”
Rocky had leaned over and kissed her when she’d said it. His lips tasted of tequila, and he smelled like sand, sunscreen, and man, and suddenly she’d been lost as well. In him.
“I knew from the beginning that he was trouble for me. He has this vibe, you know?” She waited for Lori to nod in agreement. She probably didn’t have any clue what she was talking about, but it was nice to have her best friend validate her crazy anyway. “I’d watched him a while before I approached. He was by far the biggest man in that room, and yet, he was invisible. It’s his superpower—to disappear—until he wants you to see him.” She swallowed hard, pushing down the tears that threatened to make to her look like an idiot. “And once he let me see him…”
“You fell in love with him,” Lori whispered.
Lita couldn’t agree with that out loud. She could admit that he was the best sex she’d ever had, that he was the most fun, and the most interesting. Yes, she’d been infatuated with him, but not love. That emotion didn’t really exist. Not the kind that the movies, songs, and books talked about. Nobody stayed together forever. People didn’t find that one person who they were meant to be with. You only found perfect for right now and an indeterminate future.
“Let’s say that he captivated me. He is the ultimate in the unattainable, and we both know how much I love the chase.”
“Oh, Lita.” Lori leaned over and gave her a hug. “I know that you say you don’t believe in love—”
“I don’t know how I could. I grew up in a town that sells the concept of true love for everybody, and I’ve only seen it a handful of times in my whole life. Between my parents, they have nine marriages, and now they have an ‘open relationship,’ whatever that means.” She grabbed Lori’s hand and squeezed. “What you and Dash have? Not everyone gets that.”
“I don’t hear you saying that you don’t want it.”
Busted. She wanted it. She just didn’t count on getting what she wanted. But loving someone was like painting a bull’s eye on your chest and just begging someone to shoot you. Sooner or later, you were going down.
Hell. She’d never even gotten it from her parents. Estrella and Ian—as they insisted she call them—gave her the most affection they could for two self-centered people. They used her as a bargaining chip when necessary, shipped her off to boarding school when she wasn’t, and hired a series of nannies to watch her when she needed to be a prop. Her childhood had been unusual by any standards, and it had left her with an ache for the families depicted in her father’s Oscar-winning films. The kind that loved and fought fiercely, the kind that assured you that you belonged.
“How did you not recognize him? The Rift was huge even then,” Lori asked.
“He’d cut all his hair off and shaved his beard. I didn’t follow the American music scene that closely when I was living in Rome, and we used fake names.”
“What?”
“That was my rule, no real names. We had fun making them up: Scarlett and Rhett, James Bond and Miss Moneypenny. It was stupid.” It was also sexy and dangerous. She’d loved it.
Even in a town as big as L.A., it was hard for her to fly under the radar. With two incredibly famous parents, and their bevy of A-list celebrity friends and their kids, she’d grown up in front of the paparazzi cameras. Hell, her prom date had been featured in Seventeen magazine. Being Wilma Flintstone to his Fred had been like a vacation from her life. Looking back, they’d both been seeking the same thing and found it together. But in the real world, if you swam in the waters of fame and celebrity, she’d learned that success depended on harnessing that exposure and using it to your advantage. You took control, you controlled the spin, even if the publicity was bad. You could turn it around and make it a win. If you didn’t, someone else would, and you’d be left playing defense.
Unless you were Rocky Cardano, and you refused to play the game at all. He didn’t want it, and he didn’t need it. She couldn’t imagine her life without it.
He was one of those rare people who fueled his popularity by being invisible in the public eye. Because he was so private, the fans clamored for more. You seriously couldn’t plan or buy that kind of marketing.
“So what are you going to do about him now that you two seem to be getting along better?” Lori asked, her eyebrows waggling suggestively.
“Nothing.” She remembered his suggestion to go up to his room and continue the fun times last night. Was that offer still on the table? She shivered at the thought of finishing what they’d begun, and the concern that he’d wreck her heart again didn’t even slow her down. “Everything.”
Chapter Eight
“This houseboat was the best idea ever,” Dash said.
Rocky leaned over to snag a beer from the cooler on the top deck of the boat. The ninety-four foot luxury boat was a little bit on the side of overkill, since it slept thirty and the only people on it were the eight members of the wedding party and the crew of four, but it was the perfect way to escape the crazy. A morning spent swimming and playing in the water had been followed by a huge, delicious lunch catered by Sydney’s company and they were all relaxed and lazy as slugs.
They all needed the break. And since he had a cabin on the other side of the lake, he’d known the guy to call to arrange this short getaway.
“There’s something about pushing away from shore and being out here on Echo Lake that makes you feel like you are away from everything,” he replied, looking over his shoulder to where Dash and Lori were stretched out on a double sun lounger. “And the spiral water slide is kickass.”
Dash pointed at him, laughing. “You’re just an overgrown kid.”
“Guilty as charged.”
“Could you two shut up? Some of us are trying to relax in peace and quiet,” Lori said, her slender hand rising up from alongside Dash to wave over to where Lita was lying on a separate chaise. She was wearing a tiny, red string bikini that covered just enough to drive him crazy, to make him yearn to pull the ties and give him access to every part of her that begged to be touched, kissed, caressed. He took another drink from his beer, wondering if he needed another dip in the lake to cool off.
“Oh my love, did we disturb your beauty sleep?” Dash rose up on an elbow, leaning over Lori to deliver swift kisses to her face in spite of her flapping hands and giggles.
Rocky stole a glance over at Lita. She was watching the two of them, smiling at their antics, her lush breasts rising and falling with each huff of laughter. He was a big perv gawking at her like that behind his sunglasses but, damn, if God hadn’t wanted him to look, he wouldn’t have created them so perfectly.
Since he was already headed straight for pervy stalker hell, he decided to drink his fill of his favorite long, drink of water. She had to know how gorgeous she was, laid out on the lounger like a swimsuit model with her long legs, dark hair, and golden skin.
Everything about her screamed for any man within a ten-mile radius to stop and take a look, and Rocky wanted to take them all out for even existing in his imagination. There was something about Lita that brought out the possessive, macho asshole in him. How many times had he gritted his teeth when he saw her out with some other man, heard about her boyfriends on what passed for news in L.A.?
Lita glanced over in his direction, and their glances caught. Even behind the reflective sunglass lenses, the spark of awareness flashed hotter than the sun high up in the Montana summer sky. His entire body went on alert, poised for action that he’d been dying for since last night. Whatever had happened be
tween them four years ago, it hadn’t ended in Mexico.
Lori won the mock battle with Dash, sitting up cross-legged beside him, the sun reflecting off her huge sunglasses, dark blond hair tied up on her head in a crazy ponytail. “I didn’t get much sleep last night. I need my beauty rest.”
“And everything is fine with Callie and Jake today. I told you not to worry,” Dash said.
“They seemed good. Back to normal,” Lita said. “Where’d they go, anyway?”
“Down to their room to ‘take a nap,’” Lori said. “That’s code for sex.”
“Yep, I got that. I could use one of those,” Dash said. “I’m getting awfully sleepy. Sun. Big lunch. Bad night’s sleep. What do you say?”
“That sounds like a plan.”
Rocky turned away, trying to ignore the sound of them kissing and saying good-bye as they departed for their room. He lay back on his lounger, eyes closed, enjoying the moment, the peace on the water, listening to the birds overhead, the low hum of the boat’s engine.
He should have been dissolving into a puddle, lulled by the water and sun, but that was never going to happen with Lita just a few feet away and years of unfinished business between them. And last night,
Clearly, they needed to get this out of their systems. Maybe it had been the abrupt way they’d ended with no last good-bye fuck to bring it all to closure.
“How’s your head this morning?” he asked.
Several beats of silence went by, and he wondered if she’d gone to sleep as well, and then he heard the long sigh.
“It’s tolerable since I had food.”
“Good. Then we can discuss whether we are going to finish what we started last night.”
He heard her sit up, her voice a harsh whisper. “Well, four years has not mellowed you out at all.”
“Why should I mellow out? I’m just direct. That’s not a character flaw,” he answered, sitting up and facing her. They were so close he could extend his arm and touch her leg. But if he did, she might jump off the boat. “So what? You don’t want to have a little fun while we’re here? Callie and Jake are ‘napping,’ meaning that they are humping like bunnies down there. Dash and Lori are ‘napping,’ and so are Laz and Sydney, since we haven’t seen them since lunch.” He slid forward, wrapping a hand around her leg and tugging her forward, tracing his hand up her thigh until he could toy with the strings on her bikini bottoms. “I’m the only one not getting any and, it’s making me grumpy, since all I can think about is untying this and making you wet and hot for me like you were last night.”
“Oh.”
“Is that a ‘yes’ oh?”
“It’s a ‘this is a huge mistake oh.’” She put her hand on his, her voice low. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to get involved again.”
“Who said anything about getting involved? I want you, and you want me.” Rocky leaned in closer, nuzzling into her neck. A quick kiss under her ear and another lingering one in the hollow of her throat. She smelled so good, like sunshine and exotic flowers, and tasted of Lita, the slight tang of sweat and sunscreen. His mouth watered to slide lower and taste all of her, but she’d bolt at that move. Everything about her screamed flight risk. “I know I can make you feel good.”
“I know you can, too.”
He pulled back to look in her eyes. “Then will you let me?”
Lita stood abruptly, flinging her sunglasses down on the lounger and sidestepping his hands. “I need to cool off.”
And before he could grab her, she was shooting down the spiral slide and into the water below with a big splash. Did she think that was going to deter him? He loved watersports. Especially watersports with hot women.
Rocky tossed his sunglasses on the table, grabbed the top edge of the slide, and shot forward. The water was high-summer cool, a pleasant shock to his overheated skin but failing to lower his internal body temperature. Only Lita could do that, since she’d set him on fire all those years ago. Last night, hadn’t set the blaze, only shaken up embers that had been there all along.
Lita was swimming toward the back end of the boat where passengers loaded on and off jet skis or took a less adventurous path into the lake. She was fast, but his long legs helped him catch up quickly, and he wrapped his arm around her middle, pulling her against him just as she reached for the stairs.
“C’mon, Lita. Same rules as before. No Lita. No Rocky. We can be whoever we want to be,” he said, a small blast of triumph crossing over his face when she arched her neck in involuntary encouragement as he licked, sucked, and nuzzled the sensitive skin. She writhed against him, the water making their skin slick, encouraging the full-body contact. His dick, wedged in the cleft of her ass, hadn’t been so happy in a very long time. “Antony and Cleopatra? Kim Kardashian and Kanye West?”
She paused and slid him a look over her shoulder, her eyebrows scrunched together in disgust. “What? Take that last one back.”
She was laughing with him, the first step to playing along. Good sign. He turned her in the water, swimming backward until her bottom rested on the submerged lowest step.
“So that’s a yes?”
“You’re a manipulative jerk,” she said, but her hands digging into his shoulders, her legs wrapping loosely around his waist, contradicted her words.
“I’m sure your mother told you that it was the quiet ones you had to worry about.” Rocky leaned in for a kiss, making it sweet, persuasive, with enough tongue to make her respond with the tentative touch of her own. He groaned, his dick getting harder with her proximity. He wedged himself between her legs, letting the rock of the water grind him into the soft cleft of her body.
She broke off the kiss, her hand on his chest exerting the slightest pressure to give her distance. “Why?’
“Because I want you. Because I’ve always wanted you, and I don’t see any reason why we can’t indulge in a little fun while we’re here.” He slid a finger down her waist, hooked it under the tie on the side of her bikini bottom, before lightly running it back and forth from her hipbone to the sweetest part of her covered by the scrap of material. He was dying to dip lower and play until she shook and shuddered in his arms. “And our tequila-induced moment last night sparked a need in me to spend as much time as possible making you come.”
Lita shuddered at his words, her nails digging into his scalp, the pain heightening the pleasure caused by the clench of her thighs around him. His hard-on was squeezed between them; the movement of the water and the pulse of her reaction threatening to bring him to the edge before this even got started.
“I’m going to regret this,” she said, her hands traveling up to weave in his hair. Damn, but he loved it when she did that.
“Is that a yes?” She leaned up to kiss him, and he pulled back, pushing down the laugh at her pissed expression. “I need the words.”
“Yes.”
“I promise to make your regret worth it.”
They came together in a clash of lips, tongue, and teeth fueled this time by years of masturbate-in-the-dark, unfulfilled desire and desperation born of the knowledge of just how good this was going to be. Not an ounce of alcohol in sight.
If she regretted it tomorrow, there would be no easy excuse.
Rocky was never so grateful for the upper body training that allowed him to lift them both out of the water with a pull on the handrail. Lita wrapped herself tighter around him, kissing him as if her next breath had to be his own. He stalked across the small sundeck and wrenched the door to the hallway, which contained the sleeping quarters. His room was at the end of this hall, and he was grateful for his choice of location.
A kick behind him to close the door, two steps forward, and his knees hit the edge of the bed. He lost his balance and toppled them both onto the mattress. Rocky braced himself on his hands just before he landed on her completely with his bulk.
He leaned down, brushing a soft kiss against her lips, opening when she pursued him, indulging in the taste of her, the way she w
anted him.
“Hey, come back here,” she said when he broke it off, her hands trying to drag him back upward, but he shook his head.
“If I remember correctly, you really like this part.” He slid down her body, stopping when his mouth was level with her bikini bottom, the one covering where he wanted to be so badly his hands were shaking. He grabbed the ties on each side and pulled, the wet material snagging on itself, but eventually they gave way, and he was able to peel back the miniscule swatch of fabric to expose her to his gaze.
He lowered his head, shoulders pushing her legs wider to make room for his attention. He was too jacked up to make this pretty, to seduce her with butterfly-light kisses on her thighs. He parted her folds with his tongue, the first taste of her so sweet that he groaned low and deep in his chest.
She was wet, her rush of lube making her soft and slippery against his mouth. Her skin swelled, tempting him to kiss and suck, her thrusting hips telling him what she liked, what she loved, and what drove her out of her fucking mind. Lita’s fingers wove into his hair, her tight grip daring him to move, and sending spikes of pleasure/pain to his dick.
He reached down and shoved his swim shorts to his knees, taking himself in hand to stroke from root to tip, the moisture of his arousal making the glide slippery. Pleasure from his own hand, mixed with bliss from the taste of her, threatened to bring him off before he made her come. Unacceptable.
Rocky licked up her folds, finding her clit with his tongue, remembering the way she liked it—fast and hard—a brutal pace that would bring her to the cliff and throw her over. Lita was a woman who liked the free fall, who craved the edge. He remembered watching her skydive with a famous actor as part of her pre-Oscar interview of him. Her legs tightened around him, her gasps for breath loud in the room, thrumming in his veins.
Playing With the Drummer Page 7
