Grinning, he pours the beer into the glass and hands it to me. “What, you don’t share?”
I smirk back and before I can answer his warm breath is on my skin. When his parted lips kiss my neck and his tongue teases my flesh, I grip my glass tighter and ask, “You’re working late. Are you almost done?”
Ellie responds for him. “Well, you know since he,” she says, pointing to River in case I don’t know who she means, “is so hard to pin down, I have to take advantage while I can.”
For some reason her tone bothers me, but I still shoot her a glad he could be of service smile. Then I tell River, “I’m really tired. I’m going to take these boots off and lay down for a bit.”
He presses a kiss to my cheek before sliding his tongue to my ear and whispering, “Wait for me and I’ll do that for you, just let me wrap this up.”
Ellie quickly interjects, “River, we’re not finished yet,” and I wonder how she could hear us over the music and why she was even listening.
But I’m not going to stick around and argue with her. Kissing River one more time, I head to our bedroom.
Moments later, I’m chewing some ice and standing at the window in front of my hope chest, just blankly staring at the Hollywood sign when I feel his hand at my waist. He swipes my hair to the side with his other hand. Closing my eyes, I lean into him. He moves his hands to my stomach and presses his body against mine. “What do you say we take off more than just the boots?”
I laugh. “Are you drunk?”
“Who, me? Why would I be drunk after I had to spend the day discussing the ins and outs of every stage at every stop? I still don’t get why Xander couldn’t have taken care of all that.”
I stretch my arms around his neck and tilt my head to the side. “Well, I think that would be because Ellie wanted you to help take care of it.”
He pulls me flush to him and I can feel his hard body against every part of me. “She doesn’t bother you, does she?”
“No, not really. Why would you think she bothers me?”
His fingers are inching inside the waistband of my jeans and his mouth moves up and down my neck. “I don’t know, because she bothers me,” he laughs and I join in.
His other hand untucks my shirt and then moves up to slip inside the lacy cup of my bra. His hand fits perfectly around my small breast. He murmurs against my ear, “Do you want to talk about your lunch with Grace now?”
“Not when you’re drunk, I don’t,” I say, angling my head so that his lips can find mine.
“I’m not drunk, I only had two beers.” I’m not really listening as his lips travel down my neck and place openmouthed kisses along my skin.
He gently bites down on my lower lip. A quiver of sensation washes through my body when his lips lock against mine. Turning around, I wrap my arms around his neck and look into his eyes, which are blurred with desire. “I thought we could talk later,” I purr as I slide my hand down the front of his jeans.
With the stereo on, the only other sound in the room is his low but unmistakable growl as he pushes me toward the bed. Falling on it, he hovers over me and I crawl back on my elbows and he follows on his palms, his knees sliding up the sheets. My hands glide up his flexing back and I relish the feel of each and every muscle. His mouth covers mine and we drink each other in.
Suddenly, the door opens. “Hey man, let’s make like Linda Lovelace and blow.”
We both look over and Garrett stands there with a shocked look on his face. “Shit, man, I didn’t know Dahlia was home.”
River and I look at each other, laughing uncontrollably and Garrett rushes to close the door, leaving it open a crack to say, “Nix is ready to go. How much longer do you need?”
River collapses next to me and throws his arm over his forehead. “Give me five minutes.”
I roll onto my side and rest my head on my hand. “Where are you going?”
“We’re going. Sorry I got distracted and forgot to mention it. Ellie wants to introduce the band to some of the setup crew and wants us to play a few songs for them, to ‘get them in the zone,’ as she put it. She’s arranged for all of us to meet at Smitten’s tonight. I guess she has a limo coming to pick us up.”
“Of course she does.”
“She does bother you,” he says, leaning over to kiss the bare spot on my stomach where my shirt has lifted.
“Well, it’s more like her giant boobs bother me.”
He laughs and looks up at me. “Didn’t really notice her boobs,” he says, pulling my shirt up the rest of the way, exposing my bra. He runs his tongue up my stomach to my chest and once he lifts my bra he says, “I only notice yours.” He nips my shoulder before locking his mouth around my nipple. With a quick flick of his tongue, he licks me and it instantly hardens.
My fists clutch the sheets as my back arches. “I want you.”
Just as his hands fly to the button of my jeans, there’s a pounding on the door. “Come on, Loverboy, get the Muse and let’s go,” Xander shouts.
Sighing, River mutters, “Fuck,” under his breath and then yells, “Go without me.”
“Not happening. I’m coming in, so you better be decent,” Xander warns and I quickly pull my shirt down as he opens the door.
I’m sitting up on my elbows as River once again throws his arm over his forehead. He doesn’t even look at Xander when he says, “Seriously Xander, don’t you have anywhere else to be than up my ass?”
Xander approaches the bed and jerks River’s arm, making him sit up. They stare at each other and Xander narrows his eyes when he says, “I’ll be more than up your ass if you don’t get your head in the game, bro. I’ve had enough of your shit. Now let’s go, the limo’s waiting.” He doesn’t wait for a response; he just turns and walks away, slamming the door behind him.
Smitten’s is packed when we walk in. I hear the song “Done” playing and look over to the band. I haven’t seen them before but everyone’s mouthing the words and dancing. They really have the crowd entertained.
River laces his fingers in mine and weaves his way through the crowd. I immediately notice the archway in the back leading to the poolroom is covered in plastic. I tap him on the shoulder and point to the construction. “What’s going on over there?”
Chuckling, he informs me, “Smitty is remodeling the old poolroom. Turning it into a state-of-the– art billiards room, I guess.”
Once we reach the bar, he orders us two beers and one glass with ice. While we’re waiting he leans against the bar and seems to stare off into space. I’m starting to get more concerned about the stress this tour is causing him. Once our drinks arrive, he pours my beer into the glass and hands it to me. Then he says into my ear, “Sorry about earlier. I promise to finish what I started later.”
I can’t resist tracing the letters on his Ramones T-shirt when I tell him, “Way to get a girl all hot and bothered and leave her hanging.”
“Dahlia! There you are,” Bell shouts from behind me.
When I turn in her direction I notice she’s wearing the birthday present I gave her, a Love Quotes scarf. It complements her black jeans and white-lace top perfectly. I smile and tug on the scarf, “Hi, Bell. How was your date?”
“Amazing. It’s work that’s killing me. Xander has me jumping hoops for this tour now that he knows I have another job. With both jobs, I feel like I don’t have enough time for a boyfriend right now.”
“If you really like him, tell him that. I’m sure he’ll understand.”
River pulls me back against him and Bell appears to suddenly realize it’s her brother behind me. “Nice cover-up you and Xander pulled on Mom about the eye, but she saw right through it, you know.”
Xander approaches us, motioning for River to follow him.