“Delia.” She leaned over the table closer to her agent. “I look like a frumpy suburban reject. At least cover for me while I run to the restroom. The contacts will be easy to deal with.”
“Too late, S. He got waylaid by a fan but he’s heading straight over here. Now play nice and don’t end up on page one.”
Wondering why Delia would caution her to avoid becoming headline news, like she didn’t know better, her agent slipped away from the table with a wave and smug leer.
“Well, shit,” she muttered.
“Never been greeted like that before.” A low masculine voice cut through her mental panic. The low timbre sent shivers over her while moisture gathered in the clenching emptiness between her thighs.
Taking a deep breath and saying a quick prayer for courage, she tilted her head back and gazed right into a set of shamrock green eyes straight out of her most decadent fantasies.
Chapter Two
Trying his damndest to hide an aching hard on, Kale fixed a calm expression on his face. No sense in scaring the crap out of the woman he’d been fixated on for almost six months. If she had any idea what she did to him, the gorgeous model would run screaming from the dimly lit bar.
A pretty blush covered her silky skin as her gaze darted everywhere but to him. Had Delia mentioned his slight case of fan worship to her client? Was that why she wouldn’t raise those fascinating lilac-colored orbs to meet his gaze?
Well shit. He roped his impatience into submission. After dancing through hoops to reach this point, face-to-face and with no media hungry reporters salivating around them, he intended to make the most of the opportunity.
“Mind if I have a seat?” he asked even as he pulled out the heavy brown leather chair closest to her and sank into the plush comfort.
A delicate bejeweled hand waved in his direction. “Help yourself.” Her voice came out husky and sent a surge of blood straight to his already throbbing cock. Shit, he’d likely come in his pants just kissing the woman.
“Serena” He stopped and tried to clear the desire out of his voice. “Ah man, this seemed like a much better idea in my head,” he finally confessed when she still wouldn’t even glance at him.
At his words her head jerked up, the midnight tail of hair swung across her face before settling back into the tight band. The dark eyes meeting his shocked him. They looked so wrong, so out of place in her erotic face.
“Better in your head?” The soft tones of her upper crust southern accent sent even more blood racing to his cock. Even as his brain attempted to jump back in the conversation.
“Yeah, you know planning out a speech ahead of time? Running the words through your mind to see if you come off sounding like an idiot or freak?” Exactly the way he felt right then, sitting beside her with both feet firmly stuck in his mouth. Put him in front of an arena jammed with people and he never misstepped. Toss one luscious curvy model his way, and his brain turned to mush while his cock took over all his thinking. Heat crept up his cheeks. “Again, sorry about interrupting. I’m usually a lot smoother than I appear.”
She laughed. “Since I’ve never seen you give a bad interview, I have to agree.”
“You’ve watched my interviews?” That was a good thing, meant she was into him, right? Or was she more interested in his status as a country singer than as a ranch owner?
“Some. I know better than to read anything written in the shag rags,” she said with a little shrug.
Shag Rags, the name celebrities gave the weekly tabloids that were more interested in who was fucking who than in real news. He always thought the name fit. Feeling less tense, he leaned back then draped an arm over the wide back of the chair “Most days I find it hard to believe anyone with an ounce of intelligence reads those things much less buys them.”
“Yeah well, the poor pet birds of the world need something to poop on.” The naughty grin she sent his way triggered an immediate reaction below his waist. If he didn’t get some relief soon, 501 might be permanently branded into the sensitive skin of his swollen cock.
The silence filled with charged energy between the two of them, exactly as he’d remembered from their late night TV appearance.
“Please hear me out, Serena, before this gets weird or you start texting fake emergencies on your phone, why don’t I tell you what’s on my mind. Like it or leave it, but we’ll at least have honesty between us.”
“Honesty is a personal quirk of mine. I’d rather be offended than lied to.” The sincerity shining in her brown eyes convinced him she meant exactly what she said.
Loving the adorable yet confused expression forming on her face, he didn’t wait for her approval. Even after rehearsing the words a million times before, he still stumbled over the phrases he’d carefully crafted.
“There’s something about you, Serena, that gets me right here.” He laid a flat hand over his racing heart. “I can’t explain it any better than that. I saw your face on a billboard in New York and made the driver stop the car. If you’ve been to New York, you know that didn’t make me a lot of friends, but I couldn’t help it. You draw me. My agent jumped through a dozen or more hoops trying to get in touch with Delia. When she refused to pass along my information and remained mum about yours, I got kind of desperate.” Damn, none of this was coming out as smooth and suave as he’d practiced. Even to his own ears he sounded like some ego driven celeb stalker.
Frustrated, he ran a hand through his already messy hair and blew out a breath. “It sounds creepy, I know. But I don’t mean to sound that way, and I sure as hell would never stalk you. My mama raised me right. She would grab that wooden spoon of hers and come after me if she could hear the way I’m screwing things up now.”
“A wooden spoon?” she echoed, her lips parting in surprise.
“Wooden spoon, spatula, her own shoes once or twice if nothing else was handy were her choices of corrective measures. Mama didn’t believe in coddling or time outs. If we screwed up, then we paid for it.” His childhood memories were filled with discipline, but also laughter, home-cooked meals, and family. “But there was plenty of love, food, and relatives, even a few pets, to go along with it. It was crazy, but I never once doubted where I belonged.”
“Sounds like you were a Norman Rockwell family complete with grandparents and the dog named Spot,” she teased, leaning closer to him.
Kale did his best to appear affronted. “I’ll have you know we never owned a dog named Spot. My family’s big on our Texas heritage so just about all out animals are named for a person, place or thing important to the state’s history. We had a horse named G.W., a cat named Houston, and my brother named his dog NASA.”
“And what historical names did you pin on your poor defenseless pets?”
He should have expected the question given the direction of their conversation. Still he knew his face reddened as he formed his response. Damn, nothing like humiliating yourself in front of the woman you hoped to impress. Clearing his throat he finally managed to answer her question while looking anywhere but at the woman in front of him. “Umm, I had a goat named Meatloaf. You know the singer. He’s from Texas, and I got the goat right as his song came out. The one where he’ll do anything but that.” His words tumbled out as if the faster he said them the less she’d hear.
Rubbing the back of his heated neck he kept going. “Had a gorgeous filly name Beyonce, and a potbellied pig named Anna Nicole.”
“Always a ladies’ man, huh?”
The sound of her teasing lightened his embarrassment and finally gave him the courage to meet her steady humor-filled gaze.
“So tell me, since you’re not a stalker what category do you fit in?”
“Your future lover,” he fired back and didn’t have long to wait for her reaction.
“Have you lost your mind?” Serena glanced carefully from side to side then casually over her shoulder. Not a person around paid attention to them or bothered to eavesdrop on their weird, unexpected yet sensually-charged conversation. “The last t
hing either one of us needs is to have our faces plastered over the media as the newest ‘it’ couple.” She waved a hand between them ensuring he knew exactly what she meant.
“Darlin’, the last thing I’m worried about is some desperate, greedy, low life reporter knowing I have the hots for you. Since everything’s true and all, I’m not going to deny it. Besides, it’s time you know a few things. Like you deserve to be with someone who appreciates who you are, not what you do. Someone who sees how hard you work, the loyalty you give rarely, but once given, you’re devoted to, to a fault. And most of all you deserve someone who’d love every curvy inch of your lickable, luscious body.” His damned hypnotic green eyes stayed locked on hers until he finally finished. “Soon you’ll understand that you deserve to be cared for, cherished, spoiled, and loved by a man who knows how to do it right and proper…for hours.”
Her heart raced, her palms grew damp he stared at her. Where’d the other side of this sexy male come from? Nothing she’d read in the fan blogs—yes, she was that desperate for news of him—or the shag mags mentioned his intensity. The world thought of him as its favorite boy next door, humble, agreeable and laid back. This Kale, the one sitting across from her in a San Antonio bar, shocked the hell out of her.
Maybe he’d been joking, thinking to tease the fat model. Not that she considered herself fat, more like curved in all the right places. Long ago and in a bathroom stall far away, she’d embraced who she was meant to be and refused to apologize for anything about her life or body.
Then again his voice sounded sincere, and his heated gaze had her pulse pounding. But she wouldn’t give in now, and not so easily.
Feigning ease she didn’t feel, she matched his posture. She shot him her best runway smile filled with straight white teeth, dimples and a predator’s interest. “So now you’re here to tell me how you’ve been turned on by me ever since you saw my face. You can’t get me out of your mind, and you know we’re meant to be together, but first I’ll have to let you fuck my brains out in order to make sure the chemistry is there.” She held his stare with her own. “How am I doing so far, cowboy?”
“Shooting blanks, but for the start. Yeah, I saw you and my cock got hard, but there’s much more to this between us. It’s why I’ve waited until I knew we could have privacy before approaching you. You’re too important to me to chance rushing you. One thing to remember, darlin’, I don’t lie, and I get real cantankerous when someone hints around that I do.”
The words he spoke bonded like glue to her love-starved soul. Oh, how much she wanted to believe him, but what if— She stopped the negative thoughts right there. It’d been years since she’d let the whiny, doubtful side of her subconscious take over her thinking, and she wouldn’t let them start back up now.
Thirty-four, successful, with great friends and money in the bank, there wasn’t much she wanted that she couldn’t have. What she didn’t have, money couldn’t buy—the love, trust and affection of a man who knew her, the Serena before the makeup and the attitude, and accepted every part of her. Could she be lucky enough, blessed enough, to have found everything she wanted sitting right across from her wrapped in a tall, sexy Texan package?
Only one way to find out. She slid out of the booth. “Let’s put your money where your mouth is, cowboy.” She held out her hand and sparks of need lit her insides when their flesh touched.
“I’m yours.” He pressed a soft kiss against the knuckles on her hand and her knees trembled at the erotic gesture.
“Oh, boy,” she whispered. Fascinated, she watched as his pupils widened until only a thin ring of green remained. “There must be something in the air around here.”
“Nothing wrong with Texas air except maybe it helps sweep away blinders and other nonsense that don’t mean anything in the end.” Kale didn’t hesitate and he didn’t bother to glance around to see who might have been watching them leave together. “What’s your room number?”
“Suite on the top floor.” She almost panted the words as desire pounded through her veins. One single touch lit her libido on fire like a match to kindling. This man with the smoky voice could take her from zero to sopping wet with a snap of his fingers. She didn’t care what he claimed, she was sure her aching desire came from the water or something, determined to blame it on Texas.
How much better would it be once they were alone and naked?
“Let’s go.”
The journey from the dimly lit intimate bar to the bright hotel lights and her contacts irritated her sensitive eyes. She slowed her pace while rapidly blinking her lids.
“Have you changed your mind?” Kale swiftly turned when she no longer trailed him. “It’s okay if you have.” He shot her his famous grin tinged with need, heat and humor she’d never seen on the cover of a magazine before. “It’s not like a case of blue balls will kill me. We can grab dinner, or I can have my truck pulled up and take you on a tour of my favorite places in Texas.”
“No.” She shook her head in case he couldn’t hear her whispered answer and cleared her throat before speaking up again. “No, I want you. It’s just a shock to have so much bright light blinding my poor corneas after being in the bar. Not to mention how annoying the contacts are after a few hours.”
“Good.” He nodded then clasped her hand again before tugging her behind his tall, muscular body to the private elevator hidden behind the concierge desk.
She dug the plastic key card from her pocket. “Here.” A surreal kind of calm settled over her as her soon-to-be lover slid the thin card smoothly into the lock then hit the button for her floor. Shouldn’t she be nervous? Have a stomach full of rabid, saber tooth butterflies?
Serena waited a moment, expecting the dreaded nerves to overwhelm her, but the longer she waited, the less uncomfortable the present felt. Kale’s natural, clean smell filled the rising elevator, a hint of musk, sunshine, and something that was all man. The scent wasn’t overpowering but comforting.
“I want to touch you so badly.” His heated husky voice scraped sensuously over her nerve endings.
“I want your touch on me…everywhere.” Desire pulsed through her, coating her voice.
For a moment he closed his eyes, tilted his head back and rammed his hands into the pockets of his well-worn jeans. He coughed a little before speaking. “Don’t.” He added, “I’m so close to the edge right now, my cock’s about to explode. Thinking of you in my arms is one thing, but hearing you say exactly what I want to hear is more than my poor brain can handle at the moment.”
She bit down on her lip and thought of the words dying to escape her throat. God, what was happening to her? Normally with her lovers, Serena kept her eyes closed, her back on the bed and her mouth shut. It took every ounce of her self-discipline to swallow the naughty words and heated desires rising in her throat. Yet for some reason, with this man, she wanted to sweep all caution aside and allow every single dark desire to come tumbling out of her mouth. Would he be repulsed? Or would he be man enough to love her with all the desperate intensity she craved?
Instead of torturing either one of them further, she glanced around the elegantly appointed VIP lift. Nothing obvious in the décor of the car screamed hidden camera, but she’d bet the net proceeds of her next runway gig, security cameras were narrowing in on them at that very moment.
“Some days it sucks to be so well known,” she muttered.
“Sucks is a little classier than the words bouncing through my mind.” Kale unexpectedly replied. “The only thing keeping my hands in my pockets is knowing in less than five minutes I can have my tongue in your mouth, my hands on your ass, and your sweet, wet pussy pulling my cock in.”
The hot need and craving behind his words caused Serena’s knees to buckle, and she had to grip the brass railing to keep from falling on her ass.
“Don’t say another word,” she threatened, swiveling her head in every direction, but the corner he occupied. “My brain’s not processing things normally, and I’m about two s
econds away from going to you, dropping to my knees, and sucking you down my throat.” Oh crap, had she really said that? Risked opening herself up to him even that small amount? What was it about this man that shoved her sense of self-preservation aside?
“Oh fuck, sexy, you’re trying to kill me.” He subtly shifted the evidence of his need pushing against the unforgiving metal of his button fly. “I wanted to take things slow, but now I don’t think I can. As soon as we get out of here, the nearest flat surface I can push you down on or up against just might have to do. My cock’s going to explode if I don’t get inside you soon.”
“Nope, just trying to even out the playing field.” A pulse of need speared through her womb sending thick honey to coat her already sodden underwear. “And who says I won’t be the one shoving you down and taking advantage? These are the days of equal rights, you know?”
“I’m not going to live through this.” He leaned his head back one cowboy-booted foot propped against the smooth paneling behind him. The soft cotton of his T-shirt molded to his muscled abs as his chest rose and fell in a fast, uneven rhythm.
She glanced at the lighted numbers above the closed doors. “Two more floors and we’re clear.”
After a long deep inhale, he captured her with the mesmerizing heat smoldering in the depths of his eyes. “Tell me now, Serena, are you sure you’re on board with what I want? Last chance to back out. If you want to slow things down, I’ll do my best to do exactly that. Or I can take you the way I’ve been aching to, fast, hard, and so deep you’ll swear you can taste my cock at the back of your throat.”
Chapter Three
Even now, so close to her floor and sexual freedom, he offered her the opportunity to walk away. When the serious expression crossed his too handsome face, a piece of her heart tumbled and fell at her feet.
“If I say no?” The thought of no never crossed her mind, but she couldn’t stop her brain from playing a little, kind of like pulling the tail of a tiger.
Blame it on Texas Page 2
