Though Belle’s decision to give me another chance sounded reluctant, I could’ve kissed the shit out of her when the word of assent fell from her lips. Hell, I’ve been waiting for the chance to kiss her for hours. This may have started out as Reggie’s solution to helping with my stutter, but I meant every word I said. I plan to worship her body and spoil the shit out of her the way I should’ve all those years ago.

Kissing her before I’m confident that she’s ready would be an asshole move. So when we share a cab that will take her back to her apartment before I return to the hotel for the night, I keep my hands to myself and stay close to the window despite the painful hard-on pushing at my jeans that refuses to soften.

“Here on the left,” Belle tells the driver. She shifts in the seat to face me, chewing on her bottom lip thoughtfully. She may have morphed into a sexy as hell woman, but she’s still so damn cute at times like this. “Do you…I mean it’s still early, and I think Mel’s home, so…yeah.”

A deep grin stretches across my lips. “Are you inviting me up to your place?”

“Just to talk,” she clarifies.

“To talk,” I agree with a dip of my chin.

She pays the driver and we both step out onto the snow-covered street facing a row of modest brick townhouses. The quiet neighborhood appears to be well maintained and maybe even family friendly as there’s a newer playground across the street. I’m fucking ecstatic to see she’s in a much nicer place than that shit-hole apartment in Vegas.

“I didn’t know they were forecasting this much snow,” she says over her shoulder as she leads me up a set of steps. “It would suck if your fans couldn’t make it to the concert tomorrow.”

“I don’t care who makes it as long as you’re there.”

Keys in hand, she spins around. Her expression is neutral as her eyes focus on mine. “I don’t remember agreeing to come yet.”

Oh, I’ll make you come, baby, and I don’t just mean to the concert. Clearing the deliciously dirty thought from my head, I lift one shoulder. “You will.”

“Guess you never lost your confidence.” With a short laugh, she turns back to unlock the door.

We enter into a little hallway split by a stairway going upstairs. Well preserved dark wooden floors and matching trim give the place character, although not as much as the little touches added by the two roommates. With one glance I feel more at home in her place than in any of the random apartments I’ve rented with Reggie the past few years.

Belle points at a bright rug underneath a set of hooks. “Better leave your wet shoes there or Mel will murder us both. She’s a total neat freak.”

“I can’t wait to see her again,” I say, chuckling.

As I’m kicking off my white Chucks, a smaller set of all-black Chucks fly through the air past me, landing in a heap on the rug. I was so busy admiring her body that I hadn’t noticed what kind of shoes she was wearing. Goddamn, she’s fucking perfect. Half the chicks I’ve seen over the years are into outrageously high heels and boots. Not that I’d mind seeing Belle in a pair of those, especially if she wasn’t wearing anything else.

“Mel isn’t here,” she blurts behind me. “I should’ve known—all the other lights were off.”

Once I’ve kicked off my other shoe, I slowly turn around. “If you don’t want to be alone with me, I get it. I can go.”

Shaking her head, her big brown eyes darken for a second before she comes at me, shoving me against the wall and reaching underneath my t-shirt. Holy shit. Am I dreaming? Though her hands are still chilly from being outside, the burn against my skin has me so hard that I let a small groan slip. As a delightful burn shoots through my balls, I suck in my next breath, eagerly anticipating her next move.

“Were you planning to kiss me at any point tonight?” she asks, licking her lips as her greedy fingertips trace the lines of my abs. I’m confused as shit since her voice sounds more accusatory than anything. Is it a trick question?

After several attempts to swallow, I shake my head. “I’m not doing anything unless you ask for it, baby. This time you’re calling the shots.”

Her lips part as she grinds her tight little body against mine, eyes dancing with want. The scent of sweet tequila on her breath and the perfume of her hair or whatever makes her smell so fucking good blend together in an indescribable mix. Holy shit, I want this woman even more than I wanted her when we were kids.

“Hmmm…how about now?” she purrs. “Still going to wait for me to ask for it?”

I drop my head against the wall, groaning. “Shit, Belle. I’ve never been this damn hard. Keep it up and I’ll be performing with a sprained dick.”

“I think I like that idea.” She rises on her toes to drag her warm tongue along my throat in one excruciatingly slow motion that seems to have a direct line to my dick. As she reaches my chin, she pulls it down with her fingers so our eyes are level. “Maybe I should tie you down on my bed and have my way with you. Suppose your band would know where to find you if you suddenly went missing?”

Groaning again, I don’t know how I resist the urge to kiss the fuck out of her smart mouth. Who is this woman, and what has she done with my sweet Belle? Not that I’m dumb enough to complain, but it makes me livid with myself for letting her go so easily, giving her a chance to explore her kinky side with other men. The idea of being tied up by her has my balls pulled painfully tight.

“It’d be worth missing opening night to finally be with you again.” I grab onto her narrow hips. “What happened to you, Belle? Why didn’t you answer my calls or return my messages? It was an asshole thing to accuse you of lying about being a virgin, but I needed you, wanted—”

“Maybe we shouldn’t go down this road again,” she says. Then she’s pulling away from me, her expression stone cold as her eyes draw down to the floor behind me. What is she hiding? What is she so afraid to tell me? “You’re going to be ridiculously famous after this tour, and you don’t need me—”

“That’s where you’re wrong.” I nudge her chin upward so I can look into her beautiful eyes, hoping to find a hint of the truth. “I’ll always need you…love you. I think we were both at Vinnie’s that night because we are meant to be in each other’s lives. Shit, Belle, we’re both musicians. And we’re no longer separated by thousands of miles or controlling families. If that’s not a sign this thing is meant to happen—”

“But we are going to be divided by thousands of miles after tomorrow.”

The thought of being separated from her again is damn near crippling. I refuse to let this second chance go to waste. She was always meant to be mine. This time I won’t let her go for anything.

“Come with me,” I blurt. “On tour.”

“What?” She lets out a nervous little laugh. “You’re leaving in what…a few days?”

“Two.” Excited as shit by the idea, I stick my hand beneath her dark, thick hair and grin. “We’re on the road for three months, then we have a two week break before touring for another three. We could do whatever you want in those two weeks, but in the meantime, we’d get to spend every single day together.”

She shakes her head, color draining from her cheeks. “You want me to just leave my band? My job? I can’t stick Mel with half the rent. And I told you I give lessons to underprivileged kids.”

“I’ll fire my vocal coach and pay you to work with me instead—enough that you wouldn’t have to worry about paying rent. I don’t like the pretentious prick my manager hired anyway. You could continue teaching lessons online.”

For a moment she looks as if she’s actually considering my offer, then her lips screw up with a deep scowl. “I doubt any of them have access to the Internet.”

“I’ll find a way to arrange for it to happen.”

“What about my band?”

“You said you don’t draw big crowds, right? Maybe a break would be a good thing. My manager could help you come up with ideas to reinvent yourself while you’re on the road. If that guy Chaz and your drummer care about you, they’ll want you to do whatever makes you happy.”

She pulls away, her eyes drawing over to the stairway as she runs a hand through her dark hair. For the first time, I notice a small little scar lining the right side of her jaw. It’s light enough that I would guess it to be an old wound. Did someone cut her?

“This is fucking crazy,” she mutters, as if talking to herself. “It’s too much to process in one night. We haven’t seen each other in forever, and you’re asking me to drop my life to be with someone who’s little more than a total stranger.” Her eyes find mine again, and I hold on to the small spark of yearning still there. “How can you be so sure that I’m still anything like the girl you once loved?”

“I know you’re not that girl from camp anymore. It’s part of the reason I want you with me…so I can get to know the beautiful woman you’ve become. Inch by inch.”

Her cheeks flush. “You’re assuming I’m still attracted to you.”

With one step, I wrap her up in my arms and draw my face down to meet hers, our mouths tauntingly close. She sucks in a deep breath, looking down at my lips while licking her own.

“The magic is still there, sweetheart,” I say with a dark growl. “I could see it in your eyes all night, every damn time you looked at me. Now that we’re older, I have a feeling we’re going to blow each other’s fucking minds. I was your first lover, and I plan on doing whatever it takes to convince you that I should be your last. Like I said, I want to make it up to you for hurting you all those years ago, even if that means I have to spend the next six months with my tongue buried between your legs.”

“Oh…my…shit,” she mutters in a breathy voice. Her lidded gaze flickers between mine and my mouth like she’s waiting for me to kiss her.

“There’s nothing sexy about sharing a cramped bus with a bunch of smelly guys, but there’ll be nights here and there that we can stay in a hotel so I can properly worship your smoking hot body.” I pause for a moment, reveling in her shallow, uneven breaths, knowing she’s ready to give in. “I can’t promise you a glamorous life, but I can promise I’ll do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“I need…oh god…” she pants, digging her fingertips into my back. “Kiss me, Roman.”

“Are you sure?” I ask with a smirk.

She looks half asleep when she nods, rising to her tiptoes. I set one hand on the back of her head beneath her thick hair and slowly bring my lips down to meet her mouth, pressing a dusting kiss against her lips. It’s a tease, a test of our limits and desires. My dick begs for more, but it’s important that she’s the one calling the shots.

As I start to pull back, a nearly demonic sound falls from her lips. Her arms wrap around my neck, dragging me down to her for another kiss—this one bruising and fervent with tongues and scraping of teeth. With the first taste of her sweet breath and stroke of her soft lips, I’m a goner. It’s all I ever wanted since the day I left Vegas, and I don’t know how the hell I’ll ever stop myself from fantasizing about this moment every minute of every day that follows for the rest of my life.

She’s exceptionally small in my arms, fragile. When I gently thrust my hips against her I almost worry she’ll break—at least mentally. But I need more of her. I need to bury myself balls deep and remind her how good it was before everything fell apart. As much as I try to hold back, my body takes over. I’m suddenly grabbing onto her tight ass, lifting her up to straddle my waist.

She tugs my hat off my head and buries her fingers inside my hair, scraping her nails over the base of my skull while sucking my tongue so damn hard that I can’t manage a clear or rational thought. Then she’s moaning into my mouth in a throaty sound that nearly has me jizzing in my pants, and my fucking mind goes black.

“Belle…fuck!” I snarl, panting heavily against her swollen lips. “I need you, baby. Let me fill you. Let me remind you how fucking amazing we are together.”

“No,” she says quietly, leaning in so our foreheads are pressed together. “Before I let you back into my life that way, I need to sleep on this crazy-ass idea. We both do. In separate beds where we aren’t tempted to do more of this.”

“I won’t change my mind.”

She lets out a little sigh and pulls away. “Let me go, Roman.”

I tighten my grip on her ass. “No fucking way. I was dumb enough to let you go once. I won’t do it again.”

“I mean set me down,” she clarifies, following up with a quiet, unhumored laugh.

“Oh.” I help her back to her feet, feeling pained the moment her body’s away from mine. “Regardless of what you decide about going on this tour, will you at least be there tomorrow night?”

Her tender lips quirk with a cute little smile. “I suppose I better find out if you’re any good before I agree to this insane idea.”

“Thank fuck,” I cheer, tipping my head back. At this point my stutter is the furthest thing from my mind. I doubt I could function in general if she hadn’t agreed to be there. Snatching her back into my arms, I kiss the side of her head. “I’ll make the arrangements. All you have to do is show your ID at the gate a few hours before the show and they’ll escort you backstage.”

“Just because I’m agreeing to be there doesn’t mean anything, except that I’m your friend and I want to be there for you. What you’re asking…it’s pretty major. Forty-eight hours isn’t exactly enough time to put my ducks in a row for the next half a year.”

“If you agree to do this, I’ll do whatever it takes to help work out the details,” I promise as I squeeze her tight. “Now give me your damn phone, woman. I’m going to enter my number, my email, my buddy’s number, my manager’s…hell, I’ll even give you the number of all the roadies. There isn’t a damn thing that’s going to separate us this time.”

Though she laughs in response, I hate myself for making a joke out of something that once almost destroyed us both. I sure as fuck better not have jinxed whatever chances we have of staying together. This time I plan to do whatever it takes to keep her in my life.