Broken Dreams (Broken Series) (14 page)

“This is my domain,” I said with a scowl. “And I will have you.”

She erupted in more giggles and then managed to buck me off her. I wasn’t expect
ing
her to push me, so I ended up on my ass on the floor. I sat there, staring at her as she peeked at me above the comforter.

“Apparently, it’s not your domain as much as you thought,” she teased.

I growled and moved to get up. She was off the bed before I could catch her and she ran to the bathroom. I was one step behind her, and when she stepped into the shower stall, I knew she had nowhere to run. Instead of covering herself and hiding, though, she surprised me. She turned on the water, got the temperature just right
,
and then
turned on the showerheads, one on each side of the stall. She crooked her finger at me and then ran her hands down her body, the water creating beautiful imagery for my growing erection.

“Get in here,” she muttered when I didn’t move.

I grinned and went after her, pin
n
ing her gently against the wall and kissing her passionately. I didn’t let up on my assault, either. Her blonde hair
was wet in my hands and I held her still for my kiss. She squirmed but seemed to enjoy herself.

“I’ve never had sex in the shower,” she admitted when I finally let her breathe.

I felt myself grow harder at that.

“First times are my specialty,” I said, referencing the fact that I took her virginity years ago.

And just like that, we were
both
ready for round four.

Chapter Fifteen

Rainey

Sex in a shower was a new experience, but I quickly learned that no matter how much stamina I thought I had, Baker had more. The man was a sexual beast! If I even hinted at sex, he was ready. It was enlightening and oh, so sexy.

After our romp in the bathroom, I pleaded with Baker to leave me alone in the amazing shower for just a few minutes. He hesitantly agreed with the promise that we would have more shower fun tomorrow. I asked him to bring my bags into the bathroom, too, which he did without a complaint.

With soaking wet hair, I wrapped a towel around my body and used a hand towel to wipe away some of the fog from the mirror. I clicked on the hair dryer attached to the wall and waved it over the mirror, watching as the fog cleared. Once I could see myself, I flipped my head upside-down and turned the dryer to my hair. I ran my fingers through my hair to help the process, but it took
forever
. Once it was mostly dry, I shut it off and stared at myself in the mirror. There was still a slight fog, but I noticed a few bruises right away.

Baker was going to flip.
Luckily
for me, they were all in places my dress for the night would hide. I smiled in anticipation. Baker was in for a real treat. I pulled out my
makeup
, deciding not to wear too much. There were a few love bites on my neck that needed covering, but other than that, I only applied eyeliner and mascara, going for a more natural look. The dress was going to overpower any
makeup
I could put on, anyway.

I plugged in my curling iron and waited impatiently for it to heat up. Once it was hot, I curled strands of my hair around it, just to give it a wavy look instead of curly-cues. When I was satisfied with how it looked, I unplugged the iron
, blowing
out a breath as I shed the plush white towel. Even after all these years, I never got used to seeing myself as a thin person.

I knew I was, of course. It was just hard to see myself other than the plump high school girl I’d always been. And I’d never felt as comfortable in my own skin as I did when I was with Baker. He made all self-consciousness disappear when he worshipped my body. His tender loving of me was no different than when we were kids, either. He had adored my curves then, when I was chunky. He gave me courage to appreciate my body. It was his blatant sexuality and confidence in himself that would have given me hope for a future.

If only…

But I refused to think about it. Baker and I agreed on the trip to Vegas that we wouldn’t discuss my leukemia or the future. We both wanted to just forget the world and enjoy the right now. So that’s what we did.
Four times.
How on earth the man could keep it up so often was beyond me. Not that I was complaining. He was like a sexual hero. My own personal sex ninja.

I smiled at the thought and unzipped the garment bag Baker had carried in and set on the hook on the back of the bathroom door. I pulled the sleek black dress out and gingerly stepped into it. There was a zippe
r on the side and as I pulled it up, I tried to not feel exposed. The dress was probably normal on my five-foot-five aunt, but I had at least four inches on her, most of which was torso. The hem barely came to mid-thigh. If I bent over, the world would see all my business. I would have to remember that, in case I dropped anything tonight.

As revealing as it was, it fit perfectly. A short line of cleavage was visible above the neckline – enough to be sexy but not so much as to be slutty. It was like the dress was made for me. I opened my
duffel and found the black heels I had packed, setting them on the floor. They were open-toed, so my bright pink toenails would stand out against the dark color. With a little trepidation, I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the bedroom, ready for Baker’s taunts.

To my surprise, the room was empty. The bed had been roughly made, too, which I found absolutely endearing. Few men would have taken the time for such a menial task. I strutted across the floor, my heels clicking all the way as I made my way to the in-room bar. Baker was behind it, pouring drinks. My heart stopped for the barest of seconds at the sight of him.

Gone was the casual, redneck-ish guy from Casper, Maine. This new Chris Baker could give Brad Pitt a run for his money. His blonde hair was gelled and spiky, his eyes vibrant, but it was his attire that caused me pulmonary stress. He wore a charcoal gray, pinstriped three-piece suit that matched his eyes perfectly. The button-up shirt underneath was crisp and brilliantly white. A gray
-
and
-
white striped tie hung off the collar, loosened but sexy as hell. He glanced up at me and I think my stupid stare was mirrored in his eyes.

We stood there, less than ten feet apart, staring at one another for probably an entire minute. “You look amazing,” he finally spoke.

“Ditto,” I replied, still unsure if I could formulate a full sentence.

His eyes dilated as he eyed my bare legs. He gulped. “I’m making myself a drink. Do you want something?”

Nausea spread through me. “I’ll just have some water.”

“You okay?”

“Oh
,
yeah. Just no alcohol
.
” I gave him a smile.
I walked over and accepted the bottled water he held out to me
, giving
him a quick peck on the cheek
,
and then pulled away. “So what’s on the agenda tonight?”

“It would seem we were both thinking that tonight would be a bit fancy,” he gestured to our attire
,
“
s
o I think we’ll head out to a nice, romantic dinner and then walk the strip a bit to see which casinos we want to bet in.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “Are you ready?”

“Yeah, but first, I want to show you something.”
He turned off the lights and for the first time, I realized that the windows were covered. The room was immersed in darkness.

I wasn’t afraid of the dark or anything, but when Baker’s hand brushed mine, I jumped a little.

“Easy,” he whispered, his mouth close to my ear. “Come with me.”

I gripped his hand like a vice. “Don’t let me fall,” I begged.

“Never.”

A shiver went down my spine as I considered his words. I knew, without a single doubt
,
that Baker would always be there to catch me if I ever did fall. I blinked away the tears that formed as I thought about how little time we had together. When we reached the window, Baker let go of my hand to pull on the string
and
spread the curtains covering the window.

It was only just after seven in the evening, but the sight I was presented with was breathtaking. The sun was low in the horizon, mixing with the vibrant blue and purple of the darkening sky to form a hazy pink sunset that was absolutely stunning. I stepped closer to the window, putting my hand on the thick glass, wistful for as many sunsets as I could take in. Baker stepped up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist,

I held on
to his arms, clutching him to me. He was, in every sense of the word, my rock. In the short time we’d been
dating
, Baker had become so important to me. I leaned into him, both literally and figuratively. He held me tight and I was comforted by his presence. At that moment, I realized there was no place on earth I’d rather be than with him, no one else I’d rather spend my last few months of life with. I could spend my last days doing something as crazy as going to Vegas, but it was only going to make me happy spending that time with him.

I turned to face him, searching his silver eyes with mine. “I love you,” I blurted.

His eyes went wide, his skin pale. For a second, I wondered if it was too much for him. But true to his nature, Baker plastered on his signature grin and winked at me.

“I love you, too,” he pledged. He tipped his head toward me and pressed his lips to mine. His touch ignited a fire within me and I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Easy,” he said again with a laugh. “We have plenty of time for that later. But if we don’t leave right now, we’re going to miss our reservation, and
that
would be a shame.”

He disentangled himself from my grasp, tightened his tie, and grabbed my hand to lead me back to the elevator outside our suite. The elevator ride was spent with me standing there, looking flushed and on fire while his thumb rubbed soothing circles across the top of my hand. Even when we weren’t speaking, he was comforting me.

By the time we reached the lobby, I was a mess, sighing almost continuously. This was the perfect getaway for us, no matter what came later. We would face our future, or lack thereof, with dignity and trust in each other. Love was going to change us both completely.

Chapter Sixteen

Baker

Hearing the words I longed to
be spoken from
her lips surprised me, b
ut even further, filled me with a sense of completion. It felt like I’d waited so long to hear her tell me she loved me, and then when she did, it was every bit as amazing as I imagined it would be. From the look of surprise on her face after she said it, I guessed she hadn’t intended to say the words aloud.

That was fine with me, though. She did say them, and I wasn’t about to let her forget.
I knew I never would. As much as I loved her, it was a little more difficult to figure out why she loved me. I was just an average guy who fell in love with the perfect girl next door. And logic screamed at me that she wasn’t perfect. No one was. But Rainey was about as perfect
for me
as a woman could get. She tolerated, maybe even understood
,
my deranged sense of humor, had a laid-back attitude toward life, and was one hell of a girlfriend.

She’s dying.
I shook the negativity away, knowing that dwelling on the fact that she was going to die would only drown my happiness. I wanted to just enjoy our time together. However long we had left.

We walked out of the hotel and out onto the strip. Her eyes lit up like a little kid when she realized all the lights were starting to
glow
. The brightness was nearly blinding, but we managed. I clasped her hand in mine with no intention of letting go. No matter where this night led, she was going to stay by my side all night. I planned to soak up every moment with her.

“So what’s for dinner?” she asked as we walked along the sidewalk.

“The
Bellagio,” I answered.

“Oh! Do I get to order the most expensive thing on the menu? You know, since this is like a real date?”

I looked at her sternly. “I expect you to eat your weight in food.”

She burst into laughter. “I might just do that. I’m famished from all the activity this afternoon.”

I just grinned at her, knowing we would be repeating the events of this afternoon again when we got back to the hotel. But food was definitely on the list things that had to happen first. And I’d heard nothing but good things about the Bellagio. Plus, the casino was right there, so we could gamble a little.