by Lisa Cardiff
Her eyes traveled the length of his arm and then she pushed his t-shirt up so she could see his shoulder. “But they don’t look like anything.”
“I know. They’re just something I attach to each particular memory.”
“Someday we’ll have to share,” she said, yawning. Her eyes were heavy. She couldn’t stay awake much longer.
“Someday,” he said rolling her away from him so her back faced his chest again. He kissed her neck and chills traveled the length of her spine. “Let’s take a nap and then we’ll eat dinner and do some sightseeing. Sound Good?”
“Okay,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes relaxing into his warm embrace. She liked being held by Cam more than anything she’d done in a long time. It felt right even though her heart stuttered with the realization. She’d told him they would have fun together, but this wasn’t what she meant by fun. Fun was making out in the bathroom after his performance or dancing a little too close at a club. Holding each other as they napped was something entirely different and more than she expected from him. She just hoped she and Cam were on the same page because she didn’t want to be hurt, not now, and not by him.
CHAPTER NINE
It was dark when Cam woke a few hours later. Taylor had rolled over during her sleep and her long leg was draped over his. He watched her sleep. He loved the delicate lines of her face and the way her soft porcelain skin contrasted with her dark hair. He twisted a piece of her hair around his index finger and her eyelashes fluttered before her eyes opened fully.
“Hey,” she said, her voice still gravelly from sleep.
“Hey,” he said back, returning her smile.
“Do you still want to go out?”
No. He’d like to stay in bed with her until the guys came to drag his ass out of her room for their next performance, but he knew he couldn’t do that. He wanted to spend quality time with her so she realized this thing with her meant something to him, and while he couldn’t do that with the guys breathing down his neck on the bus, he could do it tonight when they all had other plans. “Yes.”
Burying her head into his chest, she inhaled deeply. “I wouldn’t mind staying here for the rest of the night.”
“Just for a couple of hours. We’ll have fun.”
She frowned and he couldn’t stop himself from taking the opportunity to kiss her sweet pouty lips. She nipped at his lip and then pulled his bottom lip into her mouth sucking it.
“Mm…” he murmured, low and husky, as he rolled on top of her. He wrapped his hand around the back of her neck as he coaxed her lips open. His tongue brushed against hers repeatedly until she moaned into his mouth. Taylor drove him crazy in a really good way.
He pulled back and kissed the tip of her nose and each of her eyelids. “Don’t pout,” he commented with a teasing lilt in his voice. Sitting up, he adjusted his clothes. “Get dressed. I’ll be back in thirty minutes.”
“Where are we going?” she asked rolling to her side.
“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.”
Exactly thirty minutes later Cam opened the adjoining door between their hotel rooms. Taylor stood in front of the closet dressed in a black-cropped top with sheer lace covering her stomach and black skinny jeans. She was deciding between two pairs of shoes.
“Definitely the black strappy heels,” Cam muttered more to himself than her. He had all kinds of ideas for those shoes later tonight.
Taylor looked up, smiling at him from under thick black lashes. Her dark blue eyes were incredibly sexy, especially when she looked at him like that.
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of partial to the ballet flats,” she laughed. “But if you like the heels, I’ll wear them.”
“The heels,” he said again, smiling playfully.
Bending, she slid on the heels, buckling them around her ankles.
When she stood up, Cam closed the space between them, pulling her hips against his. “You look amazing.”
She grinned back at him. “So do you. I don’t think I’ve seen you wear anything except jeans. You clean up nice.”
Cam was glad she noticed. He wanted the night to be special, so he’d exchanged his normal worn jeans for black pants and a dark blue collared shirt. He’d rolled up the sleeves exposing his forearms, but he wasn’t sure if he liked the way he looked. It felt too formal and confining, but if Taylor liked it, so did he.
“Thanks,” he said grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the door. “Let’s get out of here before I change my mind.”
When they stepped out of the room, Jax and Bre were standing outside their hotel room three doors down.
“Cam,” Bre said smiling and then her eyes dropped to Cam and Taylor’s interlaced hands before she met his eyes. Cam recognized that look—stunned disbelief.
Fuck. Cam dropped Taylor’s hand and he quickened his pace, hoping Taylor would follow his lead. He didn’t want to deal with Jax or Bre’s questions, mostly because he couldn’t answer them. No, that wasn’t true. He wasn’t ready to answer any questions about Taylor.
He tried to stay away from Taylor for the past five days thinking that if he backed off a bit, he wouldn’t want her. But, unfortunately, by day four he was coming out of his skin. Every second he couldn’t touch her made him increasingly on edge to the point where he had little enthusiasm for the show last night. Normally, being on stage was his only escape from his fucked up life where he could focus on playing music and all his regrets melted away, but that didn’t happen last night. All he could think about was making it to Las Vegas so he could have some time alone with Taylor again.
“Hey,” he nodded at Jax and Bre, pausing in front of them. “What are you two doing tonight?” he asked, not even remotely interested in the answer. Too bad he couldn’t just keep walking and pretend as if he hadn’t seen them.
“We have dinner reservations,” Jax answered smiling at Bre. “What about you?”
Cam looked over his shoulder. Taylor stood about ten feet away, purposely not joining the discussion. “Not sure. I might meet up with Marcus and Alec and go to a few clubs or gamble.”
“Taylor,” Jax said looking over Cam’s shoulder. “Are you okay with that?”
“I’m fine with whatever,” she answered shrugging her shoulders.
“Have you eaten?” Bre asked.
“No,” Cam said rocking back on his heels.
Bre looked at Jax. “You can join us.”
“No, thanks. We’re good.” He didn’t want to get sucked into dinner with Bre and Jax. He had spent the last thirty minutes scrambling to make plans and they didn’t include spending the night with Jax and Bre.
“Why don’t you ask Taylor what she wants?” Bre said chuckling, but Cam could tell the laugh was a poorly executed attempt at covering her rebuke. “You’re not acting very considerate.”
“Don’t worry about me. Cam’s been really considerate this past week. I don’t have any complaints,” Taylor said lifting her hands in front of her briefly before dropping them to her sides. “He’s been really easy to work with.”
“Are you sure?” Bre said with her eyebrows arched. Damn Bre, why couldn’t she leave it alone? The look on her face told him she smelled blood and was going in for the kill.
“Bre,” Jax said, pressing his hands on the top of her shoulders, rubbing her consolingly. “Let it be.”
From the facial expressions bouncing between them, Bre and Jax appeared to be having some sort of silent debate, but he didn’t want to stand around and wait for the conclusion. Reaching behind him, he grabbed Taylor’s hand, pulling her forward. Screw Bre and Jax. He didn’t want to waste any portion of his night with Taylor. They could think what they wanted. At that moment, he didn’t care. He’d deal with the consequences later.
“See you, later,” he called out over his shoulder after he pressed the elevator button.
When they stepped on to the elevator, Taylor slipped her hand from his hold and folded her arms across her chest.
>
“Are you mad?” Cam asked. She agreed to keep their relationship secret for the time being, so he didn’t think she should be mad, but clearly something altered her mood and not in a good way.
Worrying her bottom lip, she turned to look at Cam. “No. Not really. I just…I don’t know.” Her words trailed off as she looked at the floor.
Not the answer he wanted. Cam sighed touching his finger to her lip to stop her from biting it. “Explain.”
“I thought when you mentioned doing something with me, you planned to spend some time with just the two of us tonight—not Marcus or my brother.” Sucking her lower lip back into her mouth again, she dropped her head toward the floor, the patterned carpet absorbing her attention. “It’s fine. Whatever you want.”
“I do want to spend time alone, but I didn’t think I needed to share that with Bre and Jax.” His eyes searched hers for any clues hinting what she was thinking, but her face didn’t give anything away.
“You don’t want Bre to know about us,” she said, her voice utterly flat and emotionless.
“No.”
“Oh,” she said suddenly more interested in the elevator buttons than any human could be.
He wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her close to his side. She tensed. “It’s not like that.”
“It doesn’t matter. We’re just having fun. That’s what we agreed,” she said, her eyes looking everywhere but at him and he hated it.
“Tay,” he said, squeezing her waist. When she still wouldn’t look at him, he tipped her chin up with his other hand. “I don’t care if Bre sees me with someone else, but I don’t want the guys to know about us yet, especially Jax. He’d probably want to hire someone else to finish the month and I don’t want that.”
“You don’t?” she asked.
“No. You said you needed this job and I don’t want to screw that up for you, and…” Cam hesitated. He didn’t know how much he wanted to share with her. He had feelings for Taylor, but it’d been so long since he’d wanted more than a good time with anyone that he didn’t know how to play the game anymore. He ran his hands through his hair. This was hard. He didn’t want to promise her anything when he didn’t know what he could give, but he didn’t want her to walk away either.
“And?” Taylor prompted.
“I like having you around. I don’t want you to leave. You’re good for me.” And that was the truth. He felt more balanced and centered than he had for years just knowing she was watching and waiting for him. She made him want to be a better person and stop the downward spiral of self-destruction. He didn’t know what that meant except that right now in his life he needed her. That would have to be enough for now or at least until the tour ended because he didn’t want to turn Taylor into another complication. Simple was safe, good, and just what he needed.
“I don’t want to leave you yet, either,” she answered, her voice soft and naked as she tipped her face up to look at him.
Cam smiled as her body relaxed against him. “Good. Let’s go have some fun.” The elevator door opened and he dropped his hand to her lower back guiding her through the doors.
“Where to?” she asked turning to the side as she pushed her long dark hair from her face.
He loved the way her hair framed her dainty features and the blue streak was sexy as hell. “Venice,” he answered even though he’d rather get back in the elevator and spend the night touching her everywhere and anywhere she’d let him.
CHAPTER TEN
Taylor stood in line, Cam’s arm wrapped around her waist, her head resting next to his shoulder, waiting for the next available gondola. When Cam had told her he wanted to take her for a ride before dinner, she laughed. She couldn’t believe he was serious. It just didn’t seem like something bad boy Cam would be interested in doing. It was a little too nice, too touristy and a million other things that didn’t fit, but it meant spending time alone with him, so she wouldn’t complain. Especially when he kept touching her as though he couldn’t get enough of her.
After nearly twenty minutes of waiting, they reached the front of the line. Cam stepped in the gondola and grabbed her hand, helping her into the red scalloped seat. Luckily, Cam paid for a private ride because she didn’t want to share Cam for a minute tonight. Having his attention focused on her was like a drug, one that she didn’t think she would ever stop needing.
As the gondolier pushed away from the dock, Cam put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her tight to his side. She leaned her head against his chest, inhaling his woodsy scent as she slipped two of her fingers between the buttons of his shirt. Was it bad that she craved the feel of his smooth bare skin under her fingertips? She traced every inch of skin she could reach without releasing one or two buttons and slipping her entire hand inside his shirt. His beautiful golden skin had haunted her dreams over the past week and she wanted to make sure she would see every inch of it by the end of the night.
When the gondolier started to sing, Taylor closed her eyes dreaming about spending real time with him, not time mandated by her job, the tour, or their proximity. Shaking her head, she forced the thought away. Live in the present and be happy, she chided herself, because she’d never been able to count on the future.
Cam’s fingers trailed along her neck, dipping into the top of the boat neck of her shirt and chills danced down her spine. “What are you thinking about?” he asked, his warm, minty breath tickling the top of her head.
“Nothing,” she muttered, afraid if she told him her thoughts he’d jump out of the gondola and lock himself in his hotel room. Cam didn’t do the one woman, monogamous thing, or at least not since Bre, and not even then from what she heard from Alec. She’d enjoy the next twenty or so days and walk away with her heart intact.
“Hm…” he said. His free hand drifted up her leg to her hips, pausing on the sheer lace covering her flat stomach and her muscles lurched. “That’s not very encouraging.”
She lifted her head, looking into his deep blue eyes that glimmered wickedly. “Why not?” she asked, perplexed.
He chuckled. “I’m trying to impress you and instead of thinking about me, us, or our romantic gondola ride, you’re thinking about nothing.” He lifted her hand, brushing his lips across her wrist and goose bumps erupted along her arm.
Toying with his shirt, she flicked one of his shirt buttons open before sliding her entire hand over his hard chest. “I guess you’ll have to try a little harder to gain my full attention.”
“I guess I do,” he whispered as he cupped her chin, his thumb whispering across her cheekbone. “You’re so sexy when you look at me like that.”
“So are you going to kiss me?” she asked, feeling brave and needy at the same time. He twisted her into emotional knots—hot, cold, confused, happy, aroused. Could she experience them all simultaneously?
He hesitated, looking apprehensive as he sucked his lower lip into his mouth briefly. “Here?”
“Yes please,” she responded her voice more breathless than she intended, her eyes unable to move from his, as her hand brushed over his nipples.
“Since you asked so nicely…” His voice trailed off as he shifted forward, claiming her mouth with his, the kiss possessive and drugging. He bit her lower lip and she gasped, the sensation of pain mingling with pleasure screaming through her lips. Without pausing, his tongue slid into her mouth, tangling with hers and causing a dizzying warmth to spread through her body. Lost in the moment, she didn’t care about anything except the feel of his mouth dancing against hers and the heat of his hands as they roamed under the hem of her shirt, caressing the bare trembling skin of her stomach and her sides. It felt insanely good—shockingly good—and it took every last reserve of her willpower to stop herself from crawling into his lap or laying down on the bottom of the boat, offering her body to him as a pagan sacrifice.
He broke the kiss. The low light streaming from the buildings lining the man made canal highlighted his strong features and the faint glimmer of a satis
fied smile on his lips. He looked sexy as hell and her heart jumped against her chest.
“Is that better?” he asked.
“Huh,” Taylor said, her eyes heavy-lidded and dreamy, still savoring the taste and smell of him.
“Are you thinking about us now?” he asked trailing his finger over her damp lips.
Taylor forced her eyes to focus on his face and he was grinning down at her. “You’re getting there. I think you still have a lot of work to do to earn my absolute, undivided attention.”
“I plan on doing exactly that all night,” he said, his voice darkly seductive. She should be wary, but right now all she wanted was more, more of him, more time.
The gondola stopped moving and she noticed they had returned to the loading area. Cam slipped his fingers through hers as he helped her out of the narrow black flat-bottomed boat.
“Where to?” she asked.
“If you could go anywhere tonight, where would it be?” Cam glanced at her from the corner of his eye.
“Anywhere in Vegas or anywhere in the world?”
“Anywhere in the world.”
She laughed. “Why, are you planning on making it happen?”
His gaze lingered on her face for a few moments. “Maybe not tonight, but some day,” he finally answered, brushing a kiss across her cheek.
“Hm…that’s a hard one.” She hadn’t traveled many places in her life. She and Alec grew up in a crappy town in Montana. She went to college in Seattle and now she lived with Alec in California. If not for this tour, those three places would be the sum of her travel experience. Then it hit her.
“Alec read me a book when I was little about a little girl in Paris and I would tell my friends my dad moved there for work instead of admitting he died. I’d tell people that I spent my summers there and I’d fabricate all these elaborate stories about what I did—trips to the Louvre Museum, eating fois gras, exploring the Eiffel Tower at night, picnics in Jardin de Reuilly. Google was busy at my house.” She shrugged sheepishly. “Silly, huh?”
