Crash and Burn (Love You Like A Love Song #1)
Page 5
His quiet strength and intense gaze made her ache in all the right places. She barely knew him, but something about him made her feel reckless, and wild, and needy as hell. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since he’d left the store yesterday. Knowing she’d see him again Sunday morning made butterflies swarm in her stomach. She hadn’t been this interested in a guy since…well, ever.
“I have this crazy need to kiss you.” He leaned over to whisper the words against her ear and his hot breath raced down her neck and onto her bare shoulder like a lover’s caress. He stayed there for a few seconds, with his cheek pressed to hers, nuzzling her ear with his nose.
Music and conversation flowed over them until she felt like they were in a bubble, in their own little world. Was this the same uptight, suit-wearing rich boy who’d been in the store yesterday? More importantly, what was she going to do about him? Kiss him, like he wanted? Or kick him to the curb?
She considered both and closed her eyes as the heat emanating from his body sank straight into hers and ran over her good sense as easily as a bulldozer could flatten daisies.
Okay, so she really, really wanted to kiss him. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair and mark him somehow, claim him. Maybe blow his mind a little.
There was that. Now that the offer of a kiss was on the table, she discovered that she wanted to know what touching him, tasting him would be like. Wild or mild? Would he make her burn, or leave her cold? Was he as reserved as he’d seemed yesterday in the store, or did he hide his true self behind that button-down shirt and tie? Maybe he was like her, his true nature always hidden behind a mask.
“Do you have a crazy need to kiss me, too?” His second question made her knees shake and she lifted her hands to his arms to hold on. She was in trouble here, and he hadn’t even kissed her yet. “My brothers think you’re going to send me packing. I’m sure they’re already placing bets on it over at the bar.” He tilted his head toward the bar.
She turned her head, and sure enough, three pairs of intensely interested eyes were focused on the two of them.
His shoulders filled her senses as he leaned over her. His size closed her in, made her feel feminine and protected. Her mind registered the seductive thought, but she let it go in favor of another observation.
“They’re all hot.” She hadn’t meant for that fact to fly out of her mouth, but the moment he had made skin-to-skin contact with her arm, her brain had apparently disconnected from her mouth.
“And I’m not?” He pulled back to look at her and she turned to him, their faces so close to one another that she could count the splinters of gold that streaked through his dark eyes.
“I didn’t say that.” He was hot, all right. And every thought of self-preservation evaporated from her head like a drop of water on a hot plate. Eva James was fully in command at the moment, and her uninhibited alter ego demanded to kiss him. If she were Erin right now, in her blue jeans and T-shirt, she might shy away from the idea. But she wasn’t boring Erin right now. She was Eva, and Eva James wanted to do more than just kiss him. She wanted to run her hands across his chest and bury her fingers in his hair, not to feel the soft strands, but to hold him close until she was damn good and ready to let him go. Eva, the wild one, wanted to rub her body against his and wrap her legs around his hips, wanted him to lift her up and shove her back against the wall. Eva James didn’t want to kiss Chance, she wanted him to kiss her…everywhere.
“Do you want to kiss me?”
Erin licked her lips. He wasn’t mauling her or pawing at her, he hadn’t shoved her against the wall and taken what he wanted. He was asking her. Giving her control and being a gentleman about it. And that, combined with the fact that she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since he’d walked out of the shop yesterday, had her nodding her head before she’d even answered his question.
“Yes.” Erin dropped her head back with a soft moan as Chance’s lips traced heated patterns across her cheek. He shifted slightly, holding her face still with gentle hands as he took his sweet time lowering his mouth to hers.
She could hardly breathe. Her whispered admission had sent her over the edge and into the dark abyss where common sense and reason ceased to exist. He leaned forward and the kiss started as a gentle exploration, as if he needed to coax a wild animal, like he was afraid she’d run.
No way. She wrapped her arms around him and held him still, a prisoner to her touch, to her heat, until his arms crashed around her waist and he crushed her to his chest. He took the heat up a notch, and she was right there with him.
He didn’t taste her, he plundered and explored. His kiss branded her with the faint taste of whiskey and heat. He owned her mind and her body in that moment. He left her nowhere to hide and no room to retreat. She was on fire and her world narrowed to the exotic taste of his mouth, the strong arms that circled her waist, the aggressive heat of his body pressed to hers, and the soft glide of his hair in her fists as she pulled him closer, demanded he give her more.
And more.
She whimpered and the needy sound barely registered. In some far away, logical place in her mind, she knew she’d never made that sound before. It should have served as a warning, instead it pushed her further into madness. She never wanted to stop…
“Hey! What the hell, Erin? We have a set to finish here.” AJ’s irritated voice penetrated the fog of lust that surrounded her and Erin crashed back to reality.
Oh, shit. What the hell was she doing?
Her brother stood less than a foot away, scowling.
“Sorry, AJ.”
AJ crossed his arms and stared at Chance with a less than friendly gleam in his eye. “Get your hands off my sister before I kick your ass.”
Chance wasn’t looking at her brother, he was staring at her. “What are you doing after the set?”
Erin studied the heated look in Chance’s eyes and realized two things. One, she really, really wanted another kiss. And two, a single kiss wouldn’t be enough. She wanted him naked, hot and hard, claiming her body in the most elemental way possible. Every cell was lit up with desire. She shook with it, her hands trembling so badly she was afraid she wouldn’t be able to play her guitar.
“Are you free after this?”
“Come on, sis. Let’s go.” AJ’s demand coincided perfectly with Chance’s question.
“I’ll talk to you later. Okay?” Erin disentangled herself from Chance’s embrace and wanted to roll her eyes at herself when she instantly felt cold without his touch. She reached up and wiped the bright red lipstick stain from his mouth with her thumb. Damn. Even with her heart bleeding a little bit, all she could think about was kissing him again. Stupid.
But what if she let Eva have some fun for once? What would it hurt? She had a hot guy interested in her, and she wanted him. Maybe it was time to stop whining and let Eva get exactly what she wanted for once. And what she wanted was Chance Walker.
“Okay. Find me after the show.” She stepped back and he tangled his fingers with hers as she walked away and hung on to her until the last possible moment. It was like a scene from a movie, and her heart wobbled a little in her chest as he squeezed her fingers and made her feel like he didn’t want to let her go.
As she walked back to the stage, the little nagging voice began to berate her. If he wanted her so much, why hadn’t he made a move during his guitar lesson yesterday? They’d been completely alone for over an hour. He hadn’t asked her out for coffee, or told her he’d like to call her. He hadn’t even flirted with her. And now, just because she was dressed up, he cornered her in the middle of a bar and kissed her like there was no tomorrow?
Erin sighed. One more conquest for the sexy Eva James. One more man who only wanted to have hot sex with the hot lead singer of Fourth Strike, but who didn’t even notice the oh-so-average Erin Michaelson, struggling guitar player and song writer.
But if I’d been Erin tonight, I would have missed out on one hell of a kiss.
Decision made, she did her best to dismiss the kiss from her mind. All she had to do was make it through the rest of the night.
AJ stayed beside her and held out his arm like a real gentleman to help her climb back up onto the stage. Back in the spotlight, she shook her head to clear it and lifted the bass guitar strap onto her shoulder.
“You ready?” AJ’s question turned off the thought process and Erin smiled at the crowd, stepped up to the mic, and announced their next song. She was on autopilot now.
Her gaze drifted to the bar, and Chance’s brothers, as she finished the first song. Chance had his back to her. Two of his brothers, one big blond dressed like a cowboy, and the other in slacks and a button-up shirt, were pressed in close, talking to him. But the brother on the end looked like a biker with black hair and tattoos poking out from under the neck and arms of his shirt. A black leather jacket was draped over the back of his chair, his chest was massive, his scowl deep, and he stared at her like she was the devil incarnate.
She glared back at Chance’s brother with a challenging stare of her own. She hadn’t backed down to a bully since she was ten years old. Damned if she was going to start tonight.
When they finished the set, Chance was waiting at the bar, watching her. His gaze had been burning her up for the last half hour.
Why did he have to be so irresistible? Why did he have to be so big and warm, and taste like whiskey and hot sex? Every time she gave in and looked his way, she wanted.
Tough. She didn’t need her heart broken. That was the bottom line. A man who wasn’t interested without the wig and some makeup might as well have the word heartbreak written across his forehead in giant, neon-green letters.
She gave AJ and Todd the silent, prearranged, I’m-sneaking-out-the-back signal and hopped off stage to disappear before Chance could catch up to her. She caught Chance’s movement from the corner of her eye, but she knew AJ and the guys would intercept him before he could follow her out. They’d done it before, when a guy got too drunk, or too pushy, or if she just wasn’t interested.
None of those applied tonight. But she ran anyway. Playtime was over and it was time to go back to her real life.
Shivering, she unlocked the van’s doors and slid into the passenger seat to wait for the guys. The band would load up their gear and she’d drive home, alone, as usual.
Heartbreak averted. She reached up and tugged out the extensions she had in her hair. Time for Eva to slip away and Erin to return.
“Yay, for me.” Her overheated and needy body did not appreciate her decision to leave Chance in the bar, or her sarcasm. She stared out the windshield, waiting in silence until a knock on the window made her jump.
She looked over to find Chance Walker’s face scant inches from hers on the other side of the glass.
Chapter Four
Chance waited to see what Erin would do now, talk to him, or blow him off.
She had run after the gig, which was bad news. But earlier tonight, she’d kissed him back. Oh, fuck, had she ever kissed him back. He’d been burning up for the last hour and a half, watching her, waiting to claim those lips again.
And then she had run away like a scared little rabbit.
The ancient blue van was old enough to have manually controlled windows. Fascinated by the play of light in her hair, he watched her sway as she worked the handle around in circles to roll down the window so she could talk to him.
“Hey, Erin.”
“Hey.” Her eyes were dark and wary. How many jerks had hit on her at a bar? How many had followed her out the back to the van? Judging by the resistance he’d gotten from her brother and the other two band members, the answer was a lot. Too fucking many. He’d finally given up shoving past them, gone out the front door and jogged around the building to the back.
“Guess I came on a little too strong, huh?” He ran his hand over the back of his neck in a nervous gesture that made her want to forgive him anything. “Want to go get some coffee? Or something to eat?” It felt like his heart stopped beating as he waited for her answer. He held her gaze and willed her to take a risk.
“Where would we go? Everything’s closed.” That wasn’t a no. However, it was one o’clock in the morning. But it was also the weekend. Hell, he’d offer to take her home and make her something in his own kitchen, but doubted that would go over well right now. And, he had to admit, the idea of having her alone in his house sent his thoughts onto all kinds of tangents, every single one of them ending with them both naked. She was making him completely crazy.
“Anywhere. There’s a twenty-four hour waffle house a couple blocks from here.” He shoved his hands in his pockets to ward off the chill and stepped back from the door to give her some space because he couldn’t stop staring at her lips. And her neck. And the curve of her cheek. “Come on. Live a little. We can walk, I’ll buy you a waffle, and then I’ll drive you home.”
Erin tilted her head, looked out the front windshield, then hung her head for a few seconds as he wondered what kind of debate was going on in her mind. Was she scared? Did she already have a boyfriend? He’d checked earlier, no wedding ring. So, as far as he could tell, she was single. Which proved that every man in the city was a complete and total idiot.
She lifted her head and turned to meet his gaze. The strange amber color of her contacts gave her a totally exotic look, but to his surprise, he wished she would take them out so he could see her normal blue-gray again. The colored contacts made it too hard for him to read her, to know if she was interested, or if he was just wasting his time.
Instead of answering, she opened the van door and got out to stand in front of him. The top of her head just reached his lips, and if he’d wanted to lean forward, he could have buried his nose in her honey-colored hair.
He turned and held out his arm for her, breathed a sigh of relief when she wrapped her hands around his elbow and followed him out of the dimly lit parking lot. They were near a busy section of downtown, so once they cleared the back of the building, there were people out everywhere, bar hopping and having a good time.
“So, where are we going?” Her question made him realize just how much trust she’d given him by accepting his offer. She had no coat, no purse, and no phone that he could see. And she was shivering. March in Colorado could still get cold at night.
“Well, since I figured you won’t want to walk ten blocks in those heels, I think we have two options, Teddy’s or waffles?” Teddy’s was a popular bar, and the waffle house was directly across the street.
“Okay.” She pulled a cell phone from some mysterious place women stick things in their bra and he grinned as she sent a text to her brother to let him know where she was. That done, she tucked the phone back into its secret hiding spot with a mischievous tilt of her lips and slid her arm back through his. “I didn’t want the guys to worry about where I was.”
He pulled her closer by locking his elbow to his side and placing one of his hands over hers. She shivered and he wished he’d brought a coat to drape across her shoulders. “So?”
“Waffles.” She grinned up at him and he smiled back, happy just to be with her.
He ignored every single man they walked by, because every single one of them looked their fill. But she was his right now, and they could all be green with envy and kiss his ass.
They arrived a couple minutes later and Chance held out a rickety old chair for her before sitting down on her left at the four-sided table.
The tables were black topped with strips of silver metal wrapped around the edge. The place was old-fashioned, with stand-up napkin dispensers at each table that stood proudly next to a selection of five flavored syrups: maple, blueberry, apricot, strawberry and cherry vanilla.
The place was about half full and the waitress took their order right away. Once that was done, and the menus gone, he studied Erin’s face as she played with her straw wrapper, folding it and refolding the paper into tiny white rectangles.
“So, when you said you had another job and that you worked late, you meant the band?”
“Yes.” She looked up at him through long, fake lashes and he watched, fascinated, as a faint blush spread over her cheeks.
“How long have you been in a band?”
“Five years.”
Holy shit. “You must have started young.”
“I was seventeen.”
“So, you’re twenty-two?”
“No. I’m twenty-four. I took two years away from music and went to college.” There was an untold story there, so he waited and was rewarded when she continued. “I hated every class. Every minute I felt like my music was dying inside me. I couldn’t take it. I was skipping class to scout local bands so I could stay up on what was going on in town. After a while, paying for college was an obvious waste of money. So, I quit. AJ and I recruited Todd and Ricky, and we started the band.”
“What was your major?”
She looked at him. “I never declared one. What was yours?”
“Psychology, until I took the first actual psychology class. Then I switched to criminal justice, then law school. I don’t care what makes people do what they do, I just wanted to make sure they had to pay the consequences for their actions.”
“So, you’re a criminal lawyer?”
“No. Civil. I handle divorces, child custody, parental rights…”
She choked on her water. “The fun stuff then.”
“Yeah. The fun stuff.”
“You’re insane.” She shook her head. She had a small grin on her face, but pain behind her eyes. “I couldn’t do that.”