Chapter 3
A soft snore was the only sound bouncing around the four familiar walls of my loft bedroom. Lane’s head rested against my chest while she curled her fingers into a loose fist on my stomach. I played with a strand of her hair between my fingers as my eyes roamed over every inch of her exposed olive-toned skin. The fact she was comfortable enough to sleep practically right on top of me made me grin like an idiot. She was truly my soul mate. It was practically like we were the same person.
I wasn’t sure how long I laid there and stared at her perfection, but it was long enough that the sun rose a little higher and struck my bed at the perfect angle to shine right on us.
My God, she really looked like a fucking angel. I still had a hard time believing she came back to me. She’s really too good to be mine.
Lane stirred a little in my arms, and I rubbed the bare skin of her shoulders with the pads of my fingers. “Good morning, sleepy-head. Do you want breakfast?”
She snuggled tighter into me and giggled. “Mom’s not here to supervise your pancake flipping skills this time.”
“Hey.” I nudged her a little. “I resent that. I’ll have you know I’ve mastered the perfect pancake now.”
She sat up and pulled the quilt around her chest before swinging her legs over the side of the bed.
The bed suddenly felt colder without her in it. “Where are you going? Come back.”
She shook her head. “Oh, no. I have to see the master of pancake making in action.”
I sat up in bed and pulled her back against my chest. I kissed the soft skin on her neck while I inhaled the scent of her fruity shampoo mixed with her perfume. “Are you sure you don’t want to come back to bed?”
I continued to tease her and allowed my lips to linger at the pressure point just below her ear. She cocked her head to the side, giving me better access, while she squirmed against me. This newly found little area seemed to be the spot of her undoing. Every time I went for it, she went a little crazy, which in turn, excited me even more.
“Please come back to bed?” I whispered roughly, as I ran my hands up her sides before reaching around and slipping her breast into my palms. “Please?”
I knew it seemed crazy to crave someone so much, but I couldn’t help it. I was fucking addicted to her.
“Noel…” The way she said my name made me bite the inside of my lower lip. It was rough and slightly breathless. I knew she wouldn’t be resisting me too much longer. She enjoyed sex just as much as I did. Hell, she liked it so much she forgot to eat half the time.
“Come on. A morning quickie, then I promise to keep my hands to myself until tonight.”
She whipped her head towards me and raised an eyebrow. “You? Keep your hands to yourself? Sounds like an easy bet I’d be able to win.”
A grin tugged at my lips. She was right. I probably wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off her completely, but I’d be damned if I let her see just how much of an effect she had on my self-control. Damn it. I needed to keep some fucking man cards here.
“Careful, you’re opening yourself up to a dangerous situation. I don’t think you can go an entire day without touching me either,” I quipped right back at her.
She turned to face me while still holding the blanket tight around her chest. “I think I can.”
I tilted my chin and stared down at her. “You do, do you?”
Lane nodded with a smug smile. “Absolutely.”
The stubble along my jaw was rough as I ran my hand across it. “I say we make a bet.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Set your terms, Mr. Falcon.”
This was getting interesting and could work to my advantage. “If I win, you have to hold off on moving back to Texas and come back on the road with me.”
Her gaze roamed over my face as she bit her bottom lip. I knew this look, too. It was her ‘weighing every option even though I really want to do it’ face, which meant she was considering it.
After a couple long moments, she tilted her head to the side. “Deal. But if I win, you don’t get to complain about my job anymore, regardless of what it is.”
Hmmm. I was not expecting that curve, but I had faith in myself that I would be the victorious winner in the situation and get my way. After all, I would do anything to keep her with me, even if it meant restraint on my addiction of touching her for one day. In trade I’d get another couple months of her constant companionship on the bus. The longer I kept her on the bus, meant the longer I had to work up the nerve to pop the question of marriage and let her get comfortable with the idea of becoming mine forever.
“You better pack your bags, baby, because you’re heading for another extended stay on Big Bertha.” I waggled my eyebrows at her.
Lane shook her head. “We’ll see,” she said in an almost sing-song voice.
“Come here, you,” I growled as I pulled her back down for one last round of mind-blowing sex while I was still allowed to touch her.
She squirmed and giggled beneath me as I traced her face with the tip of my index finger. Her green eyes stood out against her olive skin. They were beautiful. It was possible that I might be able to stare into them all day without moving.
Jeesh. What was she doing to me? I was becoming a total pussy.
She swallowed hard and then licked her lips. The mood between us shifted from playful to serious in nearly an instant. The rhythmic pace of her chest increased in speed and I bit my lip as I felt my cock harden against her body.
Even though I couldn’t get enough of her body, this crazy chemistry I felt between us stemmed from more than just sex. We had something here.
Love. And it was undeniable.
Every time I thought it wasn’t possible to love her anymore, I found my heart swelling more each second I was around her. “I love you so much that sometimes it hurts.”
The delicate fingers on her right hand cupped my cheek, and she ran her thumb across my lips. I shut my eyes from the pure exotic pleasure of her intimate touch. Tremors shot down my spine, and my mouth hung open slightly. Lane used that as an invitation to slip her thumb into my mouth a little. I closed my lips around it, tasting her flesh with my tongue.
How was it possible for someone to taste so fucking delicious?
“Noel, I want you,” she whispered.
Lane pulled her thumb from my mouth and ran it down the center of my neck, crossing my Adam’s apple before she curled her fingers around my neck and pulled my head down. Her lips crashed into mine, and a wave of emotions flooded me. I couldn’t be without this. Not for even one damn day. I had to win this bet.
****
Cooking breakfast went relatively smooth. Lane even raised her eyebrows in surprise after I flipped a couple perfect flapjacks onto her waiting plate. Neither of us made a move to touch the other. It was clear that it was game-on at both ends. We were so competitive with each other it was sometimes ridiculous.
We sat across from each other at my small, wooden kitchen table. The late morning sun shined brightly through the windows and lit up every inch of my country-style kitchen. She looked adorable wearing only my t-shirt and her panties with her hair still loose and wild from all the time we spent in my bed earlier.
Lane spread butter across the top of her pancake and drizzled syrup all over as a finishing touch. Just to torture me, she began to lick syrup from each of her fingers in a way that reminded me of a hot porno.
The wheels in my brain turned as I watched her provocatively clean each of her fingers free of the sticky substance. It wasn’t hard to picture her pouty lips wrapped around my cock. The mere thought of that caused an ache in my crotch as I felt my dick harden. I have to admit, I would lose my fucking mind if she kept this shit up all damn day. A man can only resist so much temptation.
I gripped the fork in my hand tighter, trying anything to distract me from the thoughts rolling through my head.
Lane smiled and licked her lips. “What’s wrong, Noel?”
A rough breath purged from my mouth. “You’re kind of evil, you know that?”
She placed her hand on her chest and raised her eyebrows in mock surprise. “Me?”
I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to run around the table and grab her into a huge bear hug for being such a smart-assed tease. “Don’t play innocent. You know you’re cheating.”
She shook her head as she cut into her food with a triumphant smile. “You didn’t set any rules in this little game, so how is it that I’m cheating exactly?”
Damn it. She’s right. I should’ve been smarter about setting up this bet. Lane knew I got turned on like a fucking light switch, and she was using that to her advantage.
I leaned back in my chair and stretched out my right leg then quickly pulled it back for fear of accidently touching her with my foot. I clawed at my bare chest out of pure frustration.
Lane snickered after she swallowed a bite of her breakfast.
I shook my head and raked my fingers through my hair. “What I wouldn’t give to give you a good spanking right now.”
“Well, why don’t you?” She licked her lips slowly just to tease me.
A sarcastic laugh tumbled from my mouth. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
She cocked her head to the side while her gaze roamed from my face down to my chest. “You have no idea.”
Her words nearly sounded like a purr. I tossed my fork on the table, ready to spring into action and give her just what she had requested, then had to steady myself with a few calming breaths. I couldn’t take another fucking minute of this. If she kept this shit up, I would most definitely lose and would never be able to finagle another way to get her back on my bus.
I shoved my chair back, leaving my stack of pancakes untouched.
“Where are you going?” Lane cried as I leapt from my chair. “Come back!”
I shook my head. “No way. I’m winning this fucking bet. You fight dirty.”
She poked her lip out. “Okay, I’m sorry. I’ll play fair. Just come back and eat your breakfast before it gets cold.”
My eyes narrowed, but I didn’t make a move to sit back down. This made me seem like a pouty little bitch, but there was no way I was going to sit across from her while she continued this torture. If I had to keep my distance for the rest of the day to make that happen, then that was what I was going to do.
Lane crossed her fingers over her heart. “I’ll be good. I promise.”
I watched her expression sadden for a moment. That look on her face was nearly worse then the seductive one she teased me with only moments ago. Both made me ache to touch her. To hold her in my arms and give her exactly what she needed.
Instead of touching her, I sighed noisily before I plopped back down in my chair.
She smiled. “Thank you. Now eat.”
We made it through the rest of our meal without another fight. We talked casually about past friends from high school and what they were up to now. Lane assured me I was definitely the most successful person from our graduating class, while I begged to differ. She was amazing and easily the smartest person I knew.
I cleared my throat. “You know there is one other thing I owe you an apology for.”
Lane propped her chin up with her right palm. “What’s that?”
“I’m sorry about your job. I know how much it meant to you, and I feel sort of responsible for fucking it up for you.”
She shrugged, but her face showed it was still a sore subject. “Diana Swagger is a bitch. Going on the bus with you and her tricking me into that stupid contract just showed me her true colors earlier on. That woman would’ve never taken me seriously. She told me that to my face. To her I was there for looks. Hell, in her mind I’m sure she would’ve tried to force me to be your sex slave if it meant getting Black Falcon’s marketing rights.”
“I detected a sleaze factor from her when I chatted with her on the phone about you, but I still made that deal with her anyway. I guess I was so desperate to get you back, I was willing to make any deal I needed to in order to get you there.” Guilt poured over me. Never in my life had I felt as slimy as the day I made that deal with Diana. It was wrong, and I knew it. After Lane walked in on me with the two topless groupies and then the horrible dinner we had, I knew she would never speak to me unless I forced her. My anger when we first reconnected overwhelmed me, and I lashed out at her every chance I could. I was still hurt by her leaving me at the time. I wanted to get back at her, showing her everything she missed out on, and to prove deep down she still wanted me just as much as I wanted her.
Lane stretched her arm across the table and began to reach for my hand. I grinned at how easy winning this bet was about to be, but she pulled her fingers into a tight fist at the last second. “Damn it. I almost forgot.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you go ahead and lose so we can get this over with. You know you want to come back on that bus with me just as much as I need you there.”
“Because I’m tired of fighting with you over a stupid job. Winning this bet means you aren’t allowed to complain at all, and I like that idea.”
It was never her job I didn’t like. It was the idea of her using it as an excuse not to give in and finally be with me that pissed me off. I’d admit that it would be hard to allow her to tie herself down to a job in Texas without bitching. If she took a job, she wouldn’t be able to just drop everything and join me on tour like I wanted. Being with her all the time was my main goal.
“What?” she asked, shaking me out of my thoughts.
I chewed on the skin on the corner of my thumb. “Nothing, I guess. It’s just I was hoping you didn’t have to take another job right away. I like the idea of you with me on tour.”
She sighed. “Noel, you know I want to be with you too, but I have to find another internship somewhere so I don’t throw everything away. I don’t really have a choice. I need experience in the marketing field.”
“I know, but I don’t want to let you go. I just got you back.”
Lane stood up and came around the table, stopping at my side. “Let’s call truce. You’re right. I don’t know if I can be away from you either.” She held out her hand to me. “At the same time, so we both win. I’ll come on the bus with you for a while, if you promise not to bitch whenever I do find another internship or job.”
I stared at her hand. This was really the best of both worlds here. One, I could finally touch her again, and two, she’d be on Big Bertha with me. I slid my fingers, which fit perfectly around her tiny hand. Finally having her soft skin against mine sent a tingle up my arm. “Deal.”
I slid my chair back and pulled her down into my lap. Her dark hair tickled my nose as I leaned into her and wrapped my arms around her waist. She tossed her arms around my neck and then laid her head on my shoulder. For moments like this with her, I was willing to be anything and everything that she needed, even if that included learning to live apart from her from time to time. Her happiness meant everything to me, and I would try my damndest to always keep a smile on her beautiful face.