Chapter Seven

 

Pierce

 

My brother’s warning was still doggin’ me the next day, so I went to someone who could give me some perspective, help me figure out whether I was being selfish to want Keira back.

Carolyn looked up when I walked in. “Hey, I thought I locked that door. We don’t open for another hour.”

“You mind if I sit for a minute?” I asked, gesturing to the bar stool where she stood. “I’d like to get your take on somethin’.” Carolyn and I had been friendly when Keira and I were a couple, and she was a straight-shooter, so I knew I could always count on her for the truth.

“Suit yourself,” she said with a shrug. “But I’ve still got some work to do before we open.”

“Don’t let me keep you.” I sat on a stool, facing the tables. I watched Carolyn wipe them down for a minute before I said, “So I guess it’s no secret I want Keira back.”

She snorted. “Yeah, you made that pretty obvious the way you were eye-fuckin’ her in here the other night.”

I crossed my arms, trying to keep a straight face. “Is that what I was doin’?”

She shook her finger in my direction. “Don’t you play dumb with me, Pierce. We all know what you were up to. And I heard you paid a little visit to that nice farmhand she was seein’.” She frowned. “What the hell was his name again?”

“Doesn’t matter. He’s out of the picture.”

“Yeah, you saw to that, didn’t you?”

“You think I was out of line?”

“That depends.” She stood upright, glaring at me. “You just messin’ with my girl or are you serious about y’all gettin’ back together?”

I could always count on Carolyn to cut straight to the chase. “I never stopped wantin’ her. That’s not the problem.”

“What is the problem then?”

“I don’t see her fittin’ into my world.” God, that was so hard to admit. I wanted nothing more than to build a life with her, but I didn’t see how it was possible. Maybe my brother was right. Maybe I was selfish to even try.

“Is that for you to decide?” she asked, spraying the table with some lemony polish.

I didn’t see why she bothered polishing the wood. Nothing would bring the shine back after all those years of use and abuse.

Her gaze dropped to the table, where my eyes rested, and she laughed as if she could hear my thoughts. “I know it’s silly, but I like the smell. Kind of covers up the dank beer smell that seems to linger in the air every mornin’ when I come in.”

I shrugged. “If you say so.”

“Are you tryin’ to avoid answering my question?”

I thought long and hard about her question, letting the silence stretch on while I watched her complete her task before reaching for a mop and bucket filled with soapy, lemony-scented water.

“You think I should leave it up to Keira to decide whether she could live with my lifestyle?”

“Well, duh!” She smacked her forehead with her palm sarcastically. “This is her life we’re talkin’ about, isn’t it? She knows what she wants and what’s best for her, doesn’t she?”

Carolyn was a sexy little green-eyed, ginger-haired pistol with a temper to match. I was half-expecting her to pay me a little visit in Nashville when she got word I did her best friend wrong.

“Yeah, but you can’t tell me she was happy with the way things were before.” I knew if Keira had confided in anyone during those days it would’ve been Carolyn.

“She was happy bein’ with you.” She raised a shoulder. “Seems that was all it ever took to make her happy.”

“If she’d moved out to Nashville, I’m not sure she would’ve been.” I’d agonized over that, wondering if I could really ask her to leave everything and everyone she loved behind for me.

“You do realize it’s a four-hour drive, right?” She frowned. “Yes, you’re on the road a lot. What would’ve stopped her from drivin’ out to see us whenever she got lonely? Hell, she could hop on a plane just as easily, but you know our girl, she loves the open road. The wind in her hair and tunes blarin’, that’s her thing.”

I smiled. “Yeah, I know.”

“You know she’s takin’ a bookkeeping course now, right?”

“No, she didn’t mention it.”

Not that I was surprised she hadn’t since it would be her summer vacation now, unless she took courses all year-round.

Last year, she’d decided to put college off until after we got married and settled. I was glad she’d decided to pursue it after… our plans fell through.

“Pretty versatile job,” she said, winking. “You can do it from just about anywhere, and if she got enough clients, it would keep her busy and fill those long days when you’re on the road. But I wouldn’t worry too much about that, you know Keira’s a people person. It’s always been real easy for her to make friends.”

“Then you’re saying you think we could make this work?” I raised a hand. “Not that I’m gettin’ ahead of myself or anything. She’s nowhere near bein’ ready for a commitment, I get that. But maybe, somewhere down the line, you think she could be?”

She nodded slowly. “I’ve known her a hell of a long time. She’s never wanted anything more than she wanted to be your wife.”

I grinned. Damn, it felt good to hear her say that. “Then I shouldn’t give up?”

“You’d be a damned fool to give up if you want her as much as you claim to.”

“I do. Shit Carolyn, I’d give anything for another shot with her.”

She swiped the mop across the floor a few times, before leaning on the handle and looking at me. “I heard y’all had a little fun at the drive-in last night.”

I swiped a hand over my face embarrassed. “Is there anything you girls don’t talk about?”

“No.” She laughed when I shook my head. “But if I were you, I’d strike while the iron’s hot.”

“Meaning?”

“You promise you won’t tell her I told you this?” she whispered, even though we were alone as far as I knew.

“I promise.”

“She kinda regretted not takin’ it further last night.”

I willed my dick to behave, but it wasn’t taking orders today. Just the thought of taking that next step with Keira had him getting all excited. “It’s probably best we take it slow right now.”

She rolled her eyes. “Since when do you ever take anything slow? You’re a pedal to the metal kind of guy if I’ve ever met one.”

I couldn’t argue with that. “But I can’t afford to fuck this up by pushing her too hard.”

“You think I’d tell you to do this if I didn’t think she was ready?”

“No, but—”

“I happen to know she’s at her brother’s house right now.”

“And you’re telling me this because…?”

“He’s out of town. She’s watering his plants and feeding his cat. He told her to make use of the pool too.” She glanced out through the twin windows spanning the front of the bar. “She said since it was hotter than hell she was gonna take her swimsuit with her and go for a dip.”

“Which brother?”

She had three older brothers—all mean as hell—not that I’d ever been intimidated. They made it clear as long as I didn’t live up to my reputation as a womanizer and treated their sister right, we wouldn’t have any problems. I hadn’t seen any of them since I’d been back in town, but I suspected we just might have a problem this time if our paths crossed.

“Glenn.”

“He still lives in the same house?”

“Yup.”

We shared a smile. “Thanks, Carolyn.”

“Anytime.”

I was walking to the door when I heard her singing softly. Some country ballad I hadn’t heard in years. Damn. I’d forgotten how good she was. “You wanna do a show with me?” I asked, turning back to face her before I reached for the door handle.

“What?” Her jaw dropped. “Me? You can’t be serious!”

I chuckled at her excitement. I used to get that excited about every performance too. I tried to remember when I started to lose that feeling. Probably about a year ago. When I lost my enthusiasm for life in general.

“Trev and I are gonna be puttin’ on a benefit show here for the military families. I’m gonna call in a few buddies from Nashville to perform with me, but I thought you might wanna sing a few songs. What do you say?”

She bit her lip before diverting her gaze. “Pierce, I’m not good enough to share a stage with you. Sure, I can hold my own singin’ here, and I’ve done a few county fairs and—”

“You’ve always wanted to do this, so why not give it a try?” She and I used to share the same dream. Mine had come true. Maybe hers could too. “Come on, you know I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t think you were good enough.” Before she could object, I said, “If you’re not workin’ tomorrow, stop by my mama’s place late afternoon. We can get a rehearsal in so you are ready.”

“Seriously?” She was breathing hard and she let the mop fall to the ground with a loud crash when she started jumping up and down. “Oh my God, this is so exciting!”

I laughed when she ran across the floor, lunging at me for a hug. “Jesus, girl,” I said, catching her. “Will you be careful? That floor might still be wet. All we’d need is for you to fall and break a leg before the show.”

“You are the best!” She squeezed me hard before peppering both my cheeks with kisses. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

“You’re welcome, darlin’.” I leaned in to press a soft kiss to her cheek. “But I should be the one thankin’ you. Thank you for listening to me and helping me with my girl.”

She grabbed my hand before I could leave. “Just so you know, I’ve always been rootin’ for you two.”

“Thanks, hon.”

“But…” She squeezed my hand. Hard. “If you ever hurt her again I swear to god I’ll hunt you down and—”

“I get it, I get it.” I held my hands up in surrender. “You don’t have to worry, sugar. I’ll be good to her.”

She seemed to consider that for a second before she nodded. “I know you will.”

 

***

 

It wasn’t like me to be nervous, but ringing her brother’s doorbell made my gut clench. What if she sent me away? Or what if she wasn’t alone? Or…

Holy shit! She opened the door wearing—no spilling out of—a black string bikini.

“Pierce,” she said, resting an over-sized pair of glasses on her head. “What are you doin’ here? How’d you know where I was?”

“I paid Carolyn a visit at the bar. She told me I could find you here.”

“You were at the bar?”

I could hear the question she was afraid to ask. Alcohol had fueled too many of our fights. And I didn’t want that to happen, ever again. “Just to talk, not to drink.”

She nodded, seeming satisfied with my answer. “Come in,” she said, stepping back.

I crowded her against the door as soon as she closed it, resting my hands on her hips. “You always open the door lookin’ like this?” I asked, skimming her neck with my lips. Her nipples pebbled almost instantly.

“I knew it was you.” She rested her legs between mine, looping her arms around my neck. “I checked the peephole.”

“Oh yeah?” I was teasing her mouth with mine, just barely brushing her skin as I moved across her cheek and jaw before nipping her earlobe.

“And lost the cover-up,” she whispered, drawing my attention to a black cotton robe on a nearby couch.

“You wanted me to see you like this?” I asked, toying with the end of the beaded string. Two quick tugs, that’s all it would take to overdose on eye candy.

“Wanted you to remember what you were missin’,” she whispered, trailing her hands down my back to curl around my ass.

“Believe me, I remember every little detail.” My breath was fanning her ear when I said, “Like how much you used to love it when I licked you…”

She groaned, drawing me in tighter.

“Or when I bent your legs back and took you hard and fast—”

“Pierce. Pool,” she said, grabbing my hand and hauling me outside.

Her brother was a lawyer, and they had a nice home on a good-sized piece of property surrounded by mature trees. Very private.

She was eye-fucking me as she walked backward toward the pool, her eyes landing on the bulge in my jeans before she finally inched down the steps into the deep end.

I watched her reach behind her back and tug on the string before reaching under the water. A few seconds later both scraps of dark fabric landed in the water and my mouth was watering.

“Aren’t you gonna join me?”

I swallowed, reminding myself to breathe. “Don’t have a swimsuit.” My voice sounded hoarse like it used to back in the day when I’d smoke a pack of cigarettes.

“You don’t need one.” She licked her lips as she crooked a finger, beckoning me.

I tore my shirt over my head and watched her gaze roam my chest with appreciation. I’d spent the better part of the year working out my frustrations in the gym and I knew it showed. Some days the heavy bag was the only thing that kept me sane. Especially since I couldn’t take a drink.

She licked her lips as she glided to the opposite end of the pool. She stretched her arms out, resting them on the edge while her full breasts bobbed above the water, taunting me as I took my jeans off.

This was all about the anticipation, I realized. We hadn’t even kissed yet, but we knew this was going to happen—this moment that I’d been waiting for since I watched her walk out of my hotel room after throwing her diamond ring back in my face.

I dove in, wasting no time closing in on her. I came up from under the water, grasping her tits as my mouthed claimed hers.

She closed her legs around me instinctively, opening to me, inviting me to take her.

“Condom might be pretty useless here, baby,” I whispered, kissing her neck.

She moaned, tipping her head back as I sucked on her nipples. “Don’t care.”

She’d always been on the pill, not that I would’ve cared if she’d gotten pregnant. We both knew babies were an inevitable part of our future. But things were different now, I reminded myself. Our future wasn’t written in stone anymore. And she hadn’t worn my ring in a long time.

“You still on the pill, sweetheart?” I closed my eyes, bracing for her response. Of course she was on the pill. She’d had to be. She’d had other lovers this past year. I hadn’t.

“Yeah.”

I curled my hands around the pool’s ledge behind her, securing her weight between my body and the tiled wall. “And you’ve always been, uh, careful?” Fuck. I hated this conversation. I hated knowing my girl had been with other guys. That I’d driven her to that.

“We always used a condom.”

I sucked in a breath, trying to get the picture of her fucking someone else out of my head.

“Don’t do that,” she whispered, trying to guide my face back to hers. “Don’t think about shit like that now. Damn it, Pierce. You’re the only man I’ve ever made love to. That has to count for something, doesn’t it?”

“It does.” I closed my eyes, blocking out those images as I kissed her. She was mine now. That’s all that mattered. Those other dudes were gone, barely a memory. But I was her past. Her present. Her future, if I had my way. I’d been her first lover, and I’d damn well be her last.

I eased my hand between her legs while I watched her respond. Her mouth opened in a silent scream and I loved knowing that she was trying as hard as I was to hold back. We were outside, and while there was property surrounding us, there were still signs of life. Music, dogs barking, kids playing. No one could see what we were doing underwater, but my girl was a screamer, and the only way our tryst would remain private was if I swallowed those screams.

I kissed her while I thrust my fingers deep, arching just enough to make her pull my hair while her mouth devoured mine. I rubbed my thumb in circles over her clit while her teeth sank into my shoulder as she tried to remain quiet.

“Pierce,” she whispered, her eyes glazed as they met mine. “That feels…”

As soon as I felt her body tighten, I withdrew and plunged deep, filling her. I wanted to feel those tremors rock her body while she rode out her orgasm. I wanted to feel her heart pounding against my chest while she struggled to keep it all locked inside, even though she was so desperate to let it out.

“Torture, isn’t it?” I whispered, licking her ear. “Wanting to scream and knowing you can’t?”

“I’m gonna die.”

I chuckled. “But what a way to go, right?”

Her eyes came back into focus and she seemed to be scanning my face as I inched us over so she was sitting on a ledge, at the perfect height to take me. I forced her knees back, driving deep while our eyes fused together, neither one of us blinking or looking away.

“This is the way it was meant to be,” I said quietly, pushing even deeper when she gasped. “You and me. Like this.” It had been so long for me, yet I was nowhere close to coming. I wanted this to last forever.

She nodded, biting her lip while I fucked her hard, picking up the pace when she dug her nails into my biceps, letting me know she was close again. “I know.”

“Tell me,” I said, letting her legs fall as I brought her body close to mine. “Tell me it’s never felt like this with anyone else.” I couldn’t let that go until I knew for sure what we shared was special, unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

“You know it hasn’t.” She tilted her head back, her mouth wide as her tits bounced with the force of my thrusts.

“You are so fucking sexy.” I drew her nipple into my mouth, rolling it around my tongue while she tried to stifle a desperate moan. “Everything I’ve ever wanted, baby.” I was still licking, sucking, and devouring her between words and breaths, becoming as desperate as she was. “I could never want anyone else like this. Not ever.”

“Neither could I,” she gasped, gripping my shoulders while I drove into her like a man crazed by a force I couldn’t control.

I was trying to protect her back from the brunt of the impact against the tiled wall, but my brain was short-circuiting, driven by the harsh call of my need for this woman. I wanted to slow the fuck down, but I couldn’t, especially when she seized me, making it impossible for me to move, like we were fused together while she pulsed, her spasms shaking me.

I gave in, knowing I had no choice, but instead of roaring like I wanted to, I grunted softly, swearing before I claimed her mouth while she drained me.

We were both shaky by the time she collapsed into my arms, letting me hold her until we remembered how to breathe.

She tried to laugh, but it sounded like more of a sob than a giggle.

“Hey,” I said, drawing back to look at her. “You okay?”

She bit her lip before slapping a hand over her mouth.

Damn it. She was trying not to cry. My stomach lurched when I removed her hand before cupping her face in my hands, “Baby, don’t tell me you regret this.”

She shook her head, wide-eyed.

“Then what it is, sweetheart? Tell me what you’re thinkin’.”

The hot burn of her tears felt like they were scalding my hands and searing my heart. I didn’t want to make her cry again. Yet somehow, I had. Was my brother right? Were we destined to keep hurting each other if we didn’t figure out how the fuck to let go?

She wrapped her arms around me, holding on tight as she sobbed on my shoulder.

“Please don’t cry, baby.” She was slaying me. The tightness in my chest cutting off my air supply as I tried to figure out how to make her stop crying. “I’m sorry. So fuckin’ sorry,” I whispered fiercely. “If I’d known I was gonna hurt you like this again, I would’ve kept my distance.”

“No!” She was sniffling, her eyes still spilling tears when she pulled back to look at me. “These aren’t sad tears.”

“They’re not?”

“No.”

She kissed my lips, smiling when I frowned and shook my head, trying to figure out what caused her outburst. Keira had never been an overly emotional woman, and if she cried, it was always with good reason.

“I never thought…” She bit her lip, staring at my chest. “I just never thought we’d be together like this again. I convinced myself we couldn’t be. Because no self-respecting woman would be with a man who cheated on her with a groupie, right?”

Before I could interject, she said, “But then when I found out you hadn’t cheated on me, I had to try to process that. I mean, I wasn’t happy that you lied, but I understood it. Kind of.”

I wasn’t sure I understood it myself, but in my mind, I’d been doing the right thing—trying to give her the simple life she always wanted surrounded by the people she loved. Now I wasn’t sure what she wanted.

But finding out was my top priority.

“Now, we’re here.” She looked around as though she could scarcely believe she’d been brave enough, or dumb enough, to have sex in her big brother’s pool in broad daylight. “We’re together again and it feels so right.” Wrapping her arms around my neck, she whispered, “I never stopped loving you. You know that, right?”

If it were possible to bottle the elation I felt in that moment, I’d be a billionaire because no chemical high could ever compare. “I love you too, Keira.” I kissed her hard, needing her to experience the depth of my feelings. “So. Damn. Much.”