by Shelly Bell
“The only thing I want for breakfast is you. Turn around and bring that pussy up to my mouth.”
Her breath hitched, and her beautiful brown eyes widened. Some of her shyness had returned in the light of day. A couple months with him, she’d learn to obey him in bed without a second thought. When she did disobey, he’d finally get to spank that perfect ass of hers.
Before she had the chance to scoot forward, he squeezed her round globes and rubbed his palms over them, exploring the curves. Experimenting, he ran his fingers up and down her crack. She gasped, shuddering. He raised his hand to spank—
A firm knock fell on the door. “Wake up, man,” said Cole. “We’ve got storms developing thirty miles from here. Time to go do our bon voyage spiel and get going.”
The photographer had lousy timing, but he was right. Drake had a job to do.
He rested his spanking hand on her spine and held her gaze as he shouted, “Give me ten, and I’ll meet you down there.”
Her sorry attempt at a smile didn’t reach her eyes. She pressed a chaste kiss on his lips and lifted herself off him, then padded across the room. He watched her go until it became impossible when she shut the bathroom door.
He shouldn’t feel like someone had punched a hole through his chest and placed his heart in a vise. He’d see her again in a few weeks when he moved to Chicago, but something about this moment felt like good-bye, and he didn’t know why.
Had he failed to convince her how good they’d be together? Sure she’d contended she wanted a one-night stand, but after their time together, she couldn’t still feel that way.
Drake rolled out of bed and tugged on a pair of jeans and a semiclean Blow Me Away polo shirt. He wouldn’t miss living out of a suitcase. While he loved owning his own business, he’d never intended to continue personally leading the tours. Now that it had turned a profit, he was eager to hire some fresh blood to run the day-to-day operations, and as he’d learned last night, Jack and Cole felt the same.
Allie came back into the bedroom, keeping her gaze on the worn beige carpet. She picked her skirt and tank off the floor and dressed like their parents were about to walk in on them.
He couldn’t stand how quickly the mood had changed since the knock on the door. “What’s your hurry?”
“You heard Cole. You’ve got to get going,” she said, shrugging on her shirt, “and I want to take a shower before the cab takes us to the airport.”
“I’ll take you.”
She still wouldn’t look at him. “No. That’s silly. Taryn and I had already planned on it because you had work to do before the next tour group arrived. Don’t worry about it.”
How could he explain she already meant more to him than his company? He’d never expected it. Hadn’t thought he wanted it. Now he couldn’t imagine his life without her. “That was before.”
Her hands stilled on the button of her skirt. “Before?”
He stalked to her and forced her gaze from the floor to his face. “Before you. Before us.”
She leaned in, her expression softening. “Drake—” Her cell phone buzzed in the skirt’s pocket. She fished it out and checked the screen. “I have to take this. Hello? No, I’ll be right there.” She paced away from him nervously. “No. Seriously, don’t.” Crouching, she picked up her damp bra and panties and stood, shoving them in her pocket. “We’ll see. Bye.” She disconnected and tucked the phone into her other pocket.
When she turned around, the softness had disappeared and the detached Allie had returned. Foreboding kicked him in the gut. He hadn’t changed her mind last night. She didn’t want anything more from him than this one-night stand.
“That was Taryn. She knows I didn’t come back to the room last night.”
“Does it bother you she knows we slept together?”
She gave a stiff smile. “No. She’d encouraged me the entire trip.”
“Yeah, me too.” His sister had definitely pulled both their strings these last few days. He didn’t know whether to thank her or throttle her. Whether or not Allie wanted to pursue a relationship with him, he had to come clean about his new job. “We should talk.”
“No.” She headed toward the door. “I don’t want to ruin what we had by talking. If things were different…” Her eyes turned glassy as though she held back tears. She shook her head. “Let’s leave it the way it is. One night only.”
He couldn’t let her go before she learned the truth. Striding to her, he prayed she’d forgive him, and in time, reconsider their future. Because he sure as hell wouldn’t give up on them. “There’s something you should know.”
Another knock sounded on the door, and he sighed in frustration. “Who is it?”
“Jack. Open up, man, or your sister’s liable to go all ninja on my ass.”
“I’m a little busy at the moment.” At this point, he didn’t give a shit what Taryn did to his friend, so long as everyone would give him and Allie a moment alone.
“Get unbusy ’cause I’m not leaving,” Jack said.
He let Jack inside the room and maneuvered himself in front of the open door to block Allie from leaving.
His friend’s gaze shot from him to Allie. He raised a brow and grinned. “Guess Taryn’s matchmaking scheme was a success. I’m happy for you two. Weird how things worked out with you both working at the same station.” He moved to the bed and sat on the edge. “Taryn thinks its serendipity or some shit like that.”
Allie paled and pressed a hand to her chest. “What did you say?”
Jack and his big mouth. If Jack and Taryn hadn’t interrupted, Drake would have told her.
Clueless to his mistake, Jack said, “Serendipity. You know, like fate.”
Drake reached for her, needing to touch her, to calm her, but she shrank from his touch and dodged him. “No, not that. What you said about working at the same station.” She turned her gaze on him, silently pleading for Drake to explain it was all a misunderstanding. “What is he talking about?”
Jack looked sheepish. “Fuck a duck. Since Taryn knew, I thought Allie would have too.”
He wasn’t angry at his friend. Allie should’ve learned the truth from him and not a six-and-a-half-foot tattooed stranger. “I tried to tell you. You didn’t want to talk.”
“You lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie.” The moment the defensive words slipped from his mouth he knew they were a mistake. He wanted to rewind time, so she wouldn’t look at him like he was the stranger.
“No, you just allowed me to believe we wouldn’t see each other again.”
A pounding fell on the door. “Let me in, Drake. I know Jack’s in there,” Taryn said.
He reluctantly opened it, and his sister barreled past him.
“Drake, at least withhold your judgment until you hear my side of the story.” Taryn stopped in the center of the room and frowned when she saw her best friend in tears. “What’s going on in here?”
Allie bit her trembling lip and folded her arms over her chest. “Are you ready to go? I really want to get to the airport right now.”
His sister didn’t speak, eying both Allie and him warily. “Yeah. Give me a minute to say good-bye to my brother.” She watched her friend leave before turning to him with her hands on her hips. “What did you do to her?”
He held his hands up in surrender. “Nothing, I swear.” Knowing when he was full of shit, she tapped her foot and waited for him to continue. “I may have forgotten to tell her about my new job.”
“Let me get this straight, you had sex with my best friend last night, and somehow the fact you were moving to Chicago to take a job at the same station where she works never came up in conversation?”
He squirmed under his little sister’s look of disdain. “It’s complicated.”
Jack laughed and coughed the word “pussy” into his hand.
Asshole.
“Something I believe you could relate to, considering the secrets you and Jack are obviously keeping from me,” Dr
ake said.
“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Jack said, no longer laughing. He stood and stalked to Taryn, leaning to speak in her ear. “You and me. Not finished.” He gave a curt nod to Drake and swaggered out the door.
“Do I want to know?” he asked, hoping she’d say no. He really didn’t want details about his little sister’s love life, especially when it had something to do with his best friend.
“I doubt it.” She poked his chest with her finger. “Let’s discuss you. How could you not tell her?”
“Me? Why didn’t you? I didn’t find out until last night while you’ve known all along, Little Miss Matchmaker.”
“I thought I’d surprise you both.” She waved her hands. “Surprise,” she said meekly.
He couldn’t lay the guilt at her feet when it wasn’t her fault. He wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t blame you. You had good intentions. When I found out she lived in Chicago, I should have told her about the job even though she would’ve used it as an excuse to push me away. I had one night to convince her, and I blew it.”
She patted his back. “Maybe not. Give her some time. She’s been through a lot this year, and as hard as she tries to pretend she’s completely healed—”
“What do you mean? I thought she’d beaten the cancer.” His heart jumped into his throat, and he pushed back from the hug.
“She did. Physically, she’s fine, but emotionally…she’s not over it. ”
Like he’d discovered the missing puzzle piece, everything clicked into place. Allie was scared. That solid brick roadblock she’d erected with her wish for a one-night stand on the condition they’d never see each other again suddenly made sense. The problem was he wasn’t sure he had the proper equipment to knock it down.
He had to let her go.
Chapter Seven
Once again, Allie found herself in the backseat of a minivan, rocking to and fro, holding her palm over her mouth. Only this time she wasn’t carsick. She was heartbroken.
After she’d left Drake’s room, she had quickly changed into clean clothes and then swept up her things and tossed them in her suitcase before heading to the front desk to check out. She didn’t want to run into him again, so she’d texted Taryn to meet her outside. Thirty minutes later, they’d left the hotel—and Drake—behind, on their way to the airport in a taxi.
Taryn took her hand and squeezed. “You were kind of harsh on my brother.”
Allie exhaled. She knew her friend wouldn’t stay silent for long. “I’m sorry you had to hear that, but he lied to me.”
“Sweetie, I’m not saying you’re wrong, but I’m not saying you’re right either. Let me ask you this. If Drake had told you he was moving to Chicago, would you have slept with him?”
Tired in more ways than one, she rested her head on the window. “No.”
“Do you regret last night?”
Flashes of their time together played in her mind on a loop. She couldn’t shut it down, as hard as she’d tried. When she closed her eyes, she could smell his stormy scent in the air, taste the salt of his skin on her tongue, and feel his hot length buried between her thighs. “No. It was the best night of my life.”
“Exactly. Look what you would have missed.” Taryn wrinkled her nose. “Please, no details.” She shrugged. “So he lied. Are you telling me you’ve never lied before?”
She bristled. “I don’t lie.”
Taryn gave her a smug smile. “How about when you said nothing happened between you and Tony Michaels our junior year of college?”
Oh God, I’d forgotten all about that. “I… What are you talking about?”
“I know you two made out.”
Taryn didn’t sound angry, but Lord knew she had a right to. All through school, Taryn had crushed on the star quarterback.
One night, when Allie was home for the weekend, she had wound up at the same party as him. After listening to her drone on for an hour extolling her best friend’s virtues, he’d shut her up by kissing her. And she’d let him. Then stayed silent about it to her best friend. How did Taryn find out?
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m a horrible friend. I knew you liked him, and I made out with him anyway.”
“Yes, but you didn’t lie about it. You didn’t tell me, and I never asked. As luck would have it, it worked out for the best. A few years ago, I ran into him.” In typical Taryn fashion, she paused dramatically for effect. “At a family reunion. He’s my second cousin on my Dad’s side.”
“Ew. How could you not know he was your cousin?”
The cab merged into airport traffic and headed toward their air carrier.
“You’ve been to my family’s barbecues. My cousins each have something like eight kids. Who can keep up?” Taryn retrieved her credit card from her purse. “You saved me from making out with my cousin. See how sometimes lies of omission can work out for the best?”
Allie laughed despite the pain lancing her heart. “That’s a bit of a stretch, but I get your point. I didn’t lie to hurt you, and it all turned out all right in the long run, but it’s different for Drake and me.”
Taryn took her hand and squeezed. “It’s time to take a risk, don’t you think?”
Taryn was right. People lied all the time, including her. She’d used it as an excuse because if she hated him, she wouldn’t miss him. Wouldn’t ache every time she saw him at work. Wouldn’t dream of how good it felt to make love with him. But it wasn’t fair to him. He needed to know the real reason they couldn’t be together. All she knew was she couldn’t leave him this way.
As their taxi pulled to the curb in front of departures, Allie made a decision. “I can’t fly home today. Not before I talk to Drake.” She’d have the cab bring her back to the hotel. Then she remembered what Cole had said when he’d knocked on their door this morning. “How am I going to find him? They were going out to chase storms before meeting up with their new tour group, and I don’t have their itinerary.”
“It’s a good thing I love you,” Taryn said, handing the driver her credit card with one hand and hitting Dial on her cell with the other. Allie heard a male voice coming out of the receiver end of the phone. “No, I didn’t change my mind. I’m calling for Allie.” She slid a glance at her. “My girl’s pretty wrecked too. That’s why I need to know where she can find you.” She grabbed a pen and a receipt from her purse and scribbled on it. “I don’t care what you have to do, just get him there in two hours. No, I so don’t owe you a thing. Yeah, whatever.” Hanging up, she handed her the slip of paper. “They’re on their way to Norman. Jack will pretend his minivan broke down and get Drake to pull over by the state park. He gave me the crossroads.”
The driver returned the credit card, and Allie and Taryn slid out of the van.
Allie’s hands shook, and she tapped her foot on the concrete impatiently as she waited for her luggage from the trunk. “You know, I could call Drake and tell him I’m staying.”
Taryn’s eyes gleamed with mischief. “Where’s the romance in that?”
She followed Taryn to the bank of computers and watched her friend check in for the flight. “Are you ever going to tell me what’s going on with you and Jack?”
Taryn didn’t look up from the computer. “I’m pissed because he won’t give me a divorce.”
Divorce? When did they get married? Didn’t she hate him? Why didn’t she tell me? Does Drake know?
Taryn held up a hand to silence the billions of questions she knew Allie would throw at her. “That’s all I’m going to say. Let’s focus on you and my brother for the moment.” After the attendant took Taryn’s suitcase, Taryn put her newly printed boarding pass in her purse, grabbed Allie’s hand, and yanked her toward the escalators. “We need to rent you a car.”
Thirty minutes later, they hugged good-bye and Allie drove off to find Drake in the middle of nowhere in a rented car she wasn’t familiar with in a state where she didn’t know the roads. Thank God
for cell phones and MapQuest.
She merged onto the highway, grateful for the light traffic, and finally relaxed, knowing she had twenty minutes before she’d have to look for the exit that would lead her to the state park. She drove on autopilot, her mind wandering. What if he won’t forgive me? What if he changed his mind and he doesn’t want me? What am I going to say?
Biting her lip, she tapped her fingers on the center console. It felt as though butterflies the size of toy poodles were trapped in her stomach. It didn’t help when the sky darkened and it began to rain. She leaned forward and looked up, spotting the ominous shelf cloud ahead. Great, she was driving into a severe thunderstorm. At least she didn’t have to worry about a tornado, since they rarely formed from these particular clouds.
Fat raindrops and penny-sized hail splattered onto her car. The pine trees lining the highway bent and swayed, and the wind pushed against her car. Fighting to stay in her lane, she tightened her hands on the steering wheel. Lightning flashed, momentarily blinding her, and she blinked to clear her vision. The boom of thunder shook her car and made her jump in her seat.
She couldn’t let a little rainstorm stop her from her destiny with Drake.
She’d allowed fear to dictate her life for as long as she could remember, and she refused to permit it to continue. Breathing deeply, she embraced the woman she’d become—Tornado Allie. Even if he rejected her, at least she’d taken the risk.
She exited the highway and, at a stop sign, reread the directions. Continuing to drive, she was thrilled to see signs for the state park every mile. When she made the final turn, she couldn’t help smiling, excitement zinging through her body.
Drizzling steadily, the severe weather had dissipated, leaving behind beautiful bubble-like mammatus clouds, formed by sinking air, the sky various shades of orange and pink.
And there, underneath it all, was Drake.
Three minivans sat idle by the side of the road, Cole, Jack, and Drake talking animatedly. Symptoms of Drake-a-titis returned with a vengeance as she parked behind the vans. With shaky hands, she unwrapped a cherry sucker and popped it in her mouth before she slid out of the car and strode toward Drake.
