“You want me?” I asked. “Is that what you want?”
Beckett bit his bottom lip and nodded. “Yes, Hadley. I want you. I want you so much that I have to restrain myself. I don’t want to scare you away, but you’re all I think about.”
I smiled. “I feel the same way, and it’s weird because I really hardly know you.”
I didn’t dare tell him that when I looked into his eyes I saw comfort, when he said my name I got weak in the knees, and in his presence was an inexplicable familiarity I’d never had with anyone brand new before.
He leaned down and kissed me again, his teeth tugging at my full pout. His lips were soft and his mind was made up. He stood up and pulled me into a standing position, resting his hands on my hips.
“You better not screw me over,” I whispered to him between kisses.
“Never,” he promised. He cupped my face in his hand.
I ran my finger down the length of his arm before interlacing my hand in his and leading him back inside. The second we made it to my bedroom, he hoisted me up around his waist and carried me to the bed, setting me down gently. Our gazes locked as I unbuttoned my blouse and he unzipped his trousers. I slid my leggings off my hips, exposing my silk panties, which he promptly tugged off.
His hands grazed over my pert nipples before slipping down my stomach and down between my thighs to my mound. With one hand on each knee, he spread my legs wide and lowered his mouth to meet my arousal. Tongue swirling and licking me into ecstasy, I had to fight off the waves of intensity that tried to wash over me. I didn’t want to come. Not yet.
The tender delicateness of his tongue dancing around my most sensitive areas left me aching for some real penetration. I reached down and tugged on his shoulder, urging him to take me. Beckett reached down and grabbed something out of his wallet. The glimmer of a small, gold square caught my eye as he ripped the package with his teeth and slid the condom on his fully engorged cock.
Beckett was every bit a man in every sense of the word, and the sheer size of him sent a tingle down my spine. He steadied himself between my legs and pressed his head at my entrance. With one gentle push, he was inside me. His head buried against the warm skin of my neck as his teeth playfully nibbled my ear.
Our bodies moved in tandem and no words were said, just breathless sighs and faint, titillated moans. I never wanted him to stop.
CHAPTER 7
Monday morning I awoke to an empty bed and a quiet apartment. The spot on the bed where Beckett slept the night before was cold and vacant and Pretzel was tucked deep under the covers warming my feet.
I never should have slept with him, I thought as regret coursed through my veins. I shouldn’t have rushed things. I should’ve stuck to my guns about taking things slow. It was so hard, though, when he’d look at me with those intense, steel blue eyes and lick those full lips of his. It wasn’t enough to breathe him in. I just had to have him.
I rolled onto my stomach and reached my arm out to grab the other pillow. I wanted to bury myself in softness and sleep as long as possible. Maybe I’d feel better after the pang of bad decisions died down a bit.
My arm scraped against something smooth and my head popped up. It was a note. I squinted in the early morning darkness that filled my bedroom as I tried to read it.
HADLEY,
HAD TO WORK. DIDN’T WANT TO WAKE YOU. HAD FUN. LET’S DO IT AGAIN…SOON.
BECK
I clenched the note to my chest before rereading it a couple more times. All the doubt and regret that plagued me a second ago had faded away on puffy white clouds, and as I smiled the glint of something on my nightstand caught my eye. He had placed the hydrangea bouquet in the Tiffany vase and left it on my nightstand.
My fingers fumbled to grab my phone off the table beside me. With half-blurry eyes I feverishly composed a message to Taylor.
NEIGHBOR GUY = AMAZING IN BED. THINK I’M IN LOVE.
I couldn’t press send quick enough. I had to brag to Taylor about how incredible Beck was. My body and soul were on fire and my mind was reeling just thinking about seeing him again.
I knew I’d promised not to rush into the next relationship, but something inside me told me not to let him get away. He was different from any other man I’d ever known.
Taylor was an early bird. She was the only person I knew who could function at full capacity on a regular routine of five hours of sleep per night. She was a sleep-when-I’m-dead kind of person, so it was unusual when she hadn’t texted me back in five minutes. I waited another five minutes before double-checking to make sure my message had gone through.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit,” yelled. I’d startled poor Pretzel awake and she unburied herself from the mountain of covers. “Damn it. Shit, shit.”
In my half-awake, blurry-eyed state, I’d accidentally sent the message to Beck instead of Taylor. My cheeks burned hot and mortified didn’t begin to describe how I was feeling.
“Oh, my god,” I said as I collapsed on the bed and threw my phone down.
The faint buzz of my phone alerted me when he replied a few minutes later with a simple wink face.
I picked up my phone and called Taylor, but not before triple checking the screen to make sure I was calling the right person.
“Taylor,” I sighed.
“Yeah, what’s going on? Why are you up so early?” By the sound of it she was jogging on her treadmill. The whir-whir in the background coupled with her breathy voice gave it away and further proved my point that she could never step away from her phone for even two seconds.
“You’ll never believe what I just did,” I said. I palmed my cheek, which was still burning hot with embarrassment.
“What did you do now, Hadley,” Taylor said in a mother hen tone.
“I sent Beckett a text that was meant for you.” I cringed. Saying it out loud made it a million times more real.
“What’d it say?”
“That he was amazing in bed and that I loved him.” I squeezed my eyes tight and bit my lip.
Taylor laughed. “Only you. Did he respond?”
“Yeah,” I said. “A wink face.”
“Weird,” she huffed.
“Why? What’s weird about that?” I asked.
“Any other guy would’ve probably ignore it,” she heaved. “I’m surprised you haven’t scared him away. It’s almost like he likes that you said that. You’ve been on, what, one date?”
“We’ve hung out a couple times too…”
“I’m just saying, I think it’s weird that he replied to that,” Taylor said, still breathless from her jog. I could hear the treadmill winding down in the background and imagined that she was climbing off and dabbing off her sweat with a towel. She was a fitness fanatic, but not by choice. She worked hard to maintain her svelte figure. One look at a brownie usually made her gain five pounds on the spot. “There’s something different about him, Hadley.”
Taylor was never the jealous type, but a small part of me had to reconsider that. “He’s just a nice guy, Tay. And he likes me. He said so. You’re reading into it too much. I’m going to jump in the shower.”
I hung up and threw the phone down on the bed. I let Pretzel outside and decided to hole up in my apartment for the day. I couldn’t risk running into Beckett. I needed a little time to cool off and not feel like such an idiot.
After several hours, Pretzel was begging to go outside again. She did her little dance at the door and paused just long enough for me to slip the leash on her. We stepped out to the hall, and I locked the door behind us.
“Hadley,” a voice said from several feet away. I felt Pretzel’s leash begin to unwind as she headed towards Beckett. Talk about timing.
I pulled my shoulders back and tried to hide the shame I’d been basking in all day. His lips curled into an amused smile as he picked up my dog and walked her over to me.
“Thanks for the, uh, kind words earlier,” he said. Of course he had to address the text.
“I am
so embarrassed, Beckett,” I said as I covered my face with my hands. “I didn’t mean it.”
“You didn’t?” One eyebrow was raised.
“I mean, I meant the first part but not the second,” I said. “I didn’t mean the love part. Not literally.”
Beckett laughed and tossed his head back. “I know that.”
“Thanks for putting the flowers by my bed,” I said. I needed to change the subject. Anything was going to be better than dwelling on that damn text.
“Of course,” he said. “I got to wake up to your pretty face. I wanted you to wake up to something pretty as well.”
I blushed. He’d never called me pretty before.
“I don’t know if you are into music at all,” he began.
“Um, that’s like asking if I’m into breathing,” I laughed.
“I’ve got two tickets to see a band this Saturday,” he said. “Winter Heart.”
“Are you kidding me, Beck?” I placed my hand on his firm arm and braced myself. “That is one of my all-time favorite bands.”
His expression turned proud. “So you’re coming with me.”
“Yes,” I said. “Yes, yes, yes. Absolutely.”
“Great,” he said. “Be ready by eight.”
“Did you know I liked them?” I asked him before he got away.
“You may have mentioned it,” he said with a glimmer in his eye. That boy didn’t miss a thing.
“When?” I couldn’t recall a single moment with him where I talked about my favorite band. Most people had never heard of them so it was usually pointless to bring them up.
“That first night at the bar,” he said. “When I met you.”
I jerked my head back. I usually didn’t black out or forget things after a night of drinking. I couldn’t have imagined talking to him about music that night, but maybe we did?
“Oh, okay,” I said as I studied his face. I forced myself not to read into the Tiffany vase, the favorite flowers, and the concert tickets, but my mama always said nothing was coincidence.
CHAPTER 8
We cozied up at a small, candle lit table in a local bar and waited for Winter Heart to take the stage. I’d seen them perform several times before, but there was nothing like watching a show with someone who was equally as crazy about the band. Taylor would go with me sometimes because she was a good friend and she never turned down a free concert. Simon had gone with me once before, but only because it was my birthday. I loved that Beck wanted to be there just as much as I did.
“Let me go grab us some drinks,” he said. He pressed his tie flat against his chest as he stood up.
He returned moments later with two martini glasses in hand.
I took a sip of my drink. “Lemon Drop? How’d you know I love these?”
“That’s what you were drinking the night we met,” he said.
I seemed to recall mostly gin and tonics, but he could have been right. Lemon Drops were usually my drink of choice and it wouldn’t have been out of character for me to order one that night after I was already three sheets to the wind.
“Thank you,” I obliged.
“I got us the best seats in the house,” he said. “See the ceiling and how it’s sloped over there and then that way?”
He pointed excitedly as his eyes lit up. I’d never seen him so excited before, as if something inside him was coming alive.
“The acoustics in here are phenomenal and you really get to experience that when you’re seated in the middle right here,” he looked around the room. Roadies began assembling the stage in front of us. He began rattling off stats and facts about guitars and drums and amps. It was all Greek to me.
“You sure do know a lot about music,” I said as I took another sip and ran my finger along the tabletop. “I didn’t know you were so into music. I thought you were more of a businessman.”
“Nah,” he said. “Music is my first love.”
“I didn’t know that about you.” I loved seeing him in his element. “My ex was into music too.”
I didn’t mean to bring him up, I really didn’t. It just slipped out so naturally since we were discussing music.
“Simon?” he said as he took a sip of his dry martini.
“How’d you know his name?” I asked through squinted eyes. I vowed never to say his name again the day I left that courthouse.
“Uh, you told me,” Beck said with furrowed brows.
“When?”
“That night at the bar,” he insisted. “You told me all about your divorce and your ex, Simon.”
It seemed plausible, but I had no recollection.
The house lights dimmed and the band casually took the stage indicating the show was about to start. I settled back into my seat and tried to focus on what the lead singer was saying. Random hoots and hollers filled the space around us as collective excitement filled the room.
After the set was over and the lights came on, the crowd began shifting and moving about the room, heading for bathroom breaks and drink refills. The bar turned into a bar once again as roadies cleared off the stage.
“Hey! Alex!” a guy with shoulder-length, blond hair in jeans and flannel popped out of nowhere and put his hand on Beck’s shoulder.
Alex?
“Hey, what’s going on, Joe?” Beck replied. A reserved smile washed upon him as his eyes shifted from Joe to me and back.
“Haven’t seen you in forever. Whatcha been up to?” Joe asked. “We miss you down at The Sleepy Hollow.”
The Sleepy Hollow sounded familiar, and I knew why. That was the bar that Simon used to frequent when he was trying to discover new acts in his earlier years. As time went by and he became more successful, he paid his minions to do the grunt work.
“Just working,” Beck said.
“You look so different now, man,” Joe said with a smile. “All fancy and shit.”
“Is that Paige?” Joe asked as he squinted across the table at me.
“No,” Beck said quickly.
“Oh, sorry, man,” Joe said, slightly embarrassed. “Well, I’m going to head out. It was good running into you, man.”
“Why’d he call you Alex?” I asked the moment Joe stepped away.
Beck’s lips curled into an endearing smile. “It’s a nickname. My last name is Alexander, remember?”
“I guess that makes sense,” I said. “Do you want me to call you Alex?”
He laughed. “No, call me Beck. I haven’t gone by Alex in a long time.”
CHAPTER 8
“Hadley, open up!” Taylor yelled as she pounded on my door bright and early Monday morning.
“I’m coming, I’m coming,” I muttered. She’d been stopping by announced more and more now that we were practically next door neighbors.
I flung the door open and she rushed in. “You need to sit down.”
Her eyes were serious and she clearly meant business.
“Why?” I asked as I shut the door behind her. “Why are you being so weird right now?”
“I have to tell you something,” she said before adding a dramatic pause. Any time she had big news to tell me, she’d take forever and draw it out on purpose. She lived to see the reaction on my face. “So I asked around about your little boyfriend.”
“Beck?” I said. “Why?”
“All the stuff you’ve been telling me about him,” she said. “The way he acts. The things he knows. Something’s not right.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay…”
“So I asked around about him,” she said. She clasped her hands together into a praying position and pointed them towards me. “No one’s ever heard of Beckett Alexander.”
I laughed. “You’re being ridiculous right now. I love you, but this is just dumb.”
Her face fell. She hated that I wasn’t taking her seriously. “Hadley, I asked, like, at least twenty people about him. And had them ask around too. I asked people in the upper echelon of Manhattan, and no one’s ever heard of the guy. For some venture cap
italist with all those investments and connections, don’t you think that’s sort of…odd?”
“There are twelve million people in the New York area, Taylor,” I groaned. “You think since twenty of them don’t know him that something’s up?”
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