CHAPTER FOUR
Meg kicked off her suede cowboy booties once the hotel room door closed behind her. As she changed into a camisole and yoga pants, she said aloud, “I’m such an idiot. He wasn’t into me.”
She stared at herself in the mirror as she washed her face and brushed her teeth. He just wanted to pack the party with drooling, adoring fans, and I wasn’t willing to be part of the crowd surrounding him tonight. I’m going to be thirty in less than three years, and I haven’t had sex in nearly a year. I reek of the stench of someone who was dumped. As much as I hate to admit it, maybe Susan is right. Maybe I should move home, and start over.
Meg placed the latest novel from her favorite author on the nightstand. She was removing the bedspread from the bed when she was startled by the sound of pounding on her hotel room door.
She walked over to the door, and looked through the peephole. She felt her heart race and her knees get weak when she saw Sky Johnson standing on the other side of the door.
He resumed pounding on the door. “Meg? Meg? Are you in there?”
Meg frowned as she unlocked and opened the door. “What do you want?”
The grin on Sky’s face faded when he heard the hostility in her voice. He ran a hand through his hair, and said, “I…um…I just thought maybe we could get to know each other. You know, spend some time together.”
“You’re kidding me, right? You ignored me earlier, and now you want to get to know me? Forget it.” Meg slammed the door shut and locked every lock. She leaned against the closed door, her weak knees and racing heart telling her to open it and let Sky into her room.
“What the hell? Meg?” When she didn’t answer, he began pounding on her door again. “C’mon, baby, I just wanna talk to you.”
She turned around and slowly opened each lock, before cracking the door open and peering through it. “What’s wrong with you? You’re causing a commotion.”
“And I’m going to continue to cause a commotion until you give me a chance to explain.” When Meg hesitated, Sky pressed his case. “I’m sorry about before. I tried to shake loose from the groupies, but you barely gave me a chance. You left after only a couple of minutes.”
Meg stared into his blue eyes, and tried to evaluate his intentions. What the hell…why not? After all, Susan said the best way to get over a guy is to get under another one. She sighed deeply. “Come on in, I guess.”
Sky looked Meg up and down. “I didn’t realize you were in your pajamas already. Were you really going to go to sleep?”
“I normally don’t go to sleep this early, but, yeah. I was going to read for a while.” When he continued to stare at her, Meg said, “You said you wanted to talk. What do you want to talk about?”
He stared at the floor, ran a hand through his light brown, shoulder-length hair and sighed. “I don’t know. I just knew that I wanted to get to know you.”
Meg crossed her arms over her chest. “So what you’re really saying is that you just wanted to get laid.”
Sky’s head snapped up, and his cheeks turned beet red. “What?”
“That’s your reputation. Isn’t that what you do with a different girl in each city?”
“Shit. That was really low.” He turned and began to walk towards the door. “There are plenty of girls back at the party. I could hook up with any of them,” he said over his shoulder.
Meg’s face fell. “Wait! I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. You’re right, that was pretty low.” She walked over to the mini refrigerator under the small desk. “Do you want something to drink?”
Sky stopped in his tracks and turned around. “Sure. What do you have?”
“Slim pickings. Beer or water.”
“I’ll take water,” he said, and watched as Meg leaned down to extract two bottles of water from the refrigerator. Damn, she’s even prettier in her pajamas and without makeup.
Meg tried to hide her surprise at his choice of beverage. He has a reputation for hard partying, but maybe that isn’t really true. As she handed him the bottle of water, her hand brushed his, and it took every ounce of self control not to fall into his arms as the electricity crackled between them. Now what?
After an awkward pause, Meg asked, “Do you want to have a seat? You can have the chair, and I’ll sit on the bed.”
Sky looked around the room, and observed with a sly grin, “That desk chair doesn’t look very comfortable.”
“Oh…umm…,” she sputtered. “Umm…I guess we can both sit on the bed.”
“Yeah, that sounds good.” He sat on the edge of the bed closest to the door, and over his shoulder, asked, “You don’t mind if I take my boots off, do you?”
Meg swallowed hard. “No, I don’t mind,” she said, as she sat on the opposite side of the bed and watched Sky remove his boots before swinging his legs up onto the bed.
“Don’t sit all the way over there. Come here, baby,” he half-whispered, as he patted the mattress.
Her heart pounded as she inched her way over towards him. This is way out of my comfort zone, Meg thought. But why not? It’ll be a story for me to tell one day when I’m old and in a nursing home. My one night stand with country music superstar Sky Johnson.
“Don’t be nervous, baby.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. “It’s okay. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” he said as he ran his fingers through her long hair.
Chills ran up and down Meg’s spine at Sky’s touch, and she involuntarily gasped. “It’s just that it’s been a while for me,” she mumbled.
“Shhh…,” he said, as he eased her back until her head was resting on a pillow. He propped himself up on one elbow and played with a strap on her camisole with his free hand, before leaning in to kiss her again. “You’re so pretty, Meg. So pretty.”
Meg struggled to maintain her composure, but was sure that her heart couldn’t beat any faster. As he leaned in closer, she caught a whiff of his clean, woodsy scent, and thought she would faint with desire. “Sky…” was all she managed to utter before his lips were on hers again.
Sky’s hands began to roam Meg’s body as he shifted his weight on top of her. His lips parted hers, and his tongue began to explore her mouth. “Damn, Meg, you’re so hot,” he whispered in her ear as he nibbled at her earlobe before devouring her neck.
Meg ran her hands over the t-shirt that did nothing to conceal Sky’s taut, muscled body. She held him tight, and a moan escaped her lips as he slid a hand underneath her camisole and grazed her breasts.
Suddenly, he released her and abruptly sat up. “I’m sorry. I can’t do this.”
“What’s wrong?” Confused, Meg sat up as well, and when he didn’t answer her, she continued. “Is it something I did?”
“No, it’s just…I really meant it before when I said I wanted to talk. And then I acted like a himbo all over again. It just doesn’t feel right with you.”
Meg was dumbfounded. “A himbo? What’s that?”
His face was grim as he turned towards her. “A male bimbo. A gossip rag called me that a couple of weeks ago. And the sad thing is that it’s true. Even you said it before – that I was only here to get laid. I’m trying to shake that reputation, but it’s not easy.”
Meg frowned. “I’m sorry I said that earlier. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”
Sky sighed. “Yeah, I’m sure you didn’t. Most people never consider the fact that I might actually have feelings.” He sat up and reached for his boots.
“I’m sorry again,” she repeated. Please stay. Please don’t go.
Sky dropped the boot from his hand and exhaled. He hung his head low, and sat there silently.
“You know, I’m not a fan of the tabloids either,” Meg offered, trying to ease the tension.
“What do you know about them?” Sky swung his feet back up on the bed and collapsed against the pillows. “You have no idea what it’s like.”
“Actually, I do know. Not personally, but my cousin has been the subject of many tabloid stories, and she hates it. I try not to read them, and I don’t believe half of what they print.”
Sky was intrigued. “Your cousin?”
“Yeah. She’s a model. Or at least she was one, until she got married. It’s a long story.”
They lay silently on the bed for a few minutes, with only the sounds of their breathing piercing the silence. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Meg spoke. “You said before that you wanted to talk. I’m happy to listen,” she said, her voice just above a whisper. “It seems like you have a lot on your mind.”
“Yeah,” he said with a sigh. “I’ll be right back.” He jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom.
Sky stared at his reflection. I’ve never talked about this to anyone outside my inner circle. Can I trust her? She seems different than the rest. But, then again, I don’t know her.
He took a swig of mouthwash from the small bottle on the sink, and swished it around his mouth, before spitting it out and rinsing his mouth with water. Jack says I’ve got to talk about it, that it’s the only way I’ll ever be able to deal with the ‘demons’, as he calls them. He knows how bad it was. He was there.
“Jesus, help me,” he whispered, as he ran his hands through his hair. Get a hold of yourself, Sky, he thought. I may as well talk about it tonight. If there ever was a night to talk about it, it’s tonight.
After splashing some cold water on his face and toweling off, Sky took a deep breath and opened the bathroom door. When he returned to the bedroom, he found Meg lying on her side, under the stiff, white hotel sheets.
“Hope I’m not keeping you up,” he said. “I can go if you want me to.”
“No, not at all,” she said in a sleepy voice. “I told you I’d listen to you.”
Sky narrowed his eyes. “Can I trust you?”
“Yes.” Meg shifted her body, propping herself up on one elbow. “I promise.” She peeled back the covers on Sky’s side of the bed, before lying back down. “I promise,” she repeated.
He hesitated as if trying to decide what to do, before removing his socks, t-shirt and belt.
Meg’s eyes grew wide. Good Lord, that chest, those abs, those broad shoulders. I’ve never seen a more gorgeous man in my life. She thought her heart would beat right out of her chest when he climbed into bed and lay down next to her, bare-chested but still wearing his jeans.
He took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. “I don’t know where to start.”
They lay on their sides, facing each other in silence, before Meg finally spoke. “The beginning is usually a good place,” she said, in a soft voice.