Dare to Rock (6 page)

“Actually it’s very much your business.” He strode over to her, bracing his hands on either side of her body, forcing her to lie down on the mattress.

The scent of vanilla and rain permeated his senses, nearly knocking him on his ass as desire rushed through him. He wanted nothing more than to toss her on the bed, strip off her clothes, and bury his cock deep in her wet, willing pussy. That wouldn’t happen if she thought he had a thing for Lola. He never had.

Avery stared up at him, eyes wide, waiting for his next move. He could get lost in those eyes. Write songs about the color and how the hue darkened when she was aroused. Damp. Wet for him.

He cleared his throat. “Let’s get something clear. I never wanted to sleep with Lola. She had a crush on me, but one kiss cured that. For me, it was like kissing my sister, and for her, she realized her feelings for me were more about comfort and family than sex. So no, Lola doesn’t do it for me.”

“Oh.” Avery’s tongue darted out, slicking over her sweet lips.

“You, on the other hand, do. You make me fucking hard every time I lay eyes on you.” But he couldn’t act on those desires and keep her in his life.

He’d have to win her over slowly. Gain back her trust.

This was too much too soon. He knew it. He drew on all his inner strength, kissed her hard, and pulled her back up until she sat on the bed.

Then he walked to the other side of the small room. “When the rain lightens, we can make a run for the car.”

“Sounds good.”

“More champagne in the meantime?” he asked, turning back toward her.

She lifted her shoulder, and even that little gesture turned him on.

“No thanks. I think I’m good.”

She pushed herself back against the pillows, giving him a flash of pink lace between her thighs. He swallowed a groan and discreetly adjusted himself before settling next to her.

“So tell me more about you and your career. What was L.A. like?” she asked him.

He rested his head back against the pillows, but the small bed kept them in close proximity. He needed this subject change and distraction.

He thought back to the early days in California. “L.A. was a crazy scene. I loved it at first. We played gigs and bars for very little money, hoping for exposure. Eventually Simon, our manager, spotted us, and the insanity started.”

She rolled to her side and glanced up at him, clearly interested in his past. “The groupies and women?”

He winced but pushed on. “Yeah. I was eighteen, and everything was new and exciting.” He knew that while he’d been young and stupid, enjoying life too much, he’d left her behind and hurt her in the process. “It’s not that I didn’t miss you … I did. I just—”

“You had a dream, Grey. I don’t blame you for chasing it.” He didn’t want her forgiveness, not when he should have, could have handled leaving better … for both of them. But he’d wanted out of his parents’ house as much as he’d wanted to play for a living.

He swallowed hard. “I saw you, you know. Everywhere I looked. The women didn’t mean anything. It was easy sex just like the drugs and alcohol were easy. But when I closed my eyes, I pretended they were you.”

Her eyes dampened, but he didn’t want to hurt her more by dwelling on the past. He’d just wanted her to know he hadn’t left and forgotten.

“What changed for you?” she asked.

“Milo got heavier into the drug scene, and things became clearer for me. I realized I loved the music but not the lifestyle.”

He laid an arm over his forehead, staring at the ceiling. “Lola and I knew we were done long before we all agreed to call it quits. I reconnected with you … or tried to. Then Milo OD’d, and all my focus had to go into being there for him. I didn’t mean to stop the gifts or texts, but it was a rough time.”

“Grey,” she said, her voice a light in the darkness that blanketed him whenever he thought of Milo.

“He’s okay. He’s still impatient, which is cool. He seems committed to getting better, finally.” He held on to that bit of hope for his friend.

“Thank you for telling me.” She reached out and touched his forearm, her soft touch a balm for the pain in his soul.

He glanced her way. “I don’t share with anyone,” he told her. “Even Lola has to pull things out of me … but it feels right with you.”

“So that hasn’t changed either. Our ability to open up and talk to each other.” A soft smile lifted her lips.

“Thank God for that.” He grinned in return. “So how are your brothers and sister?” he asked, curious about her family.

“Olivia is amazing. Like I told you, she’s married to Dylan Rhodes. They both work for the Thunder. She’s pregnant and due in a few months. I’m going to be an aunt again!” The excitement in her voice was tangible.

“Again?”

“Yes. Ian has a baby girl. Rainey Noelle. She is the sweetest thing ever … except that she has her daddy’s stubbornness. And Scott’s going to be a dad too. He’s with a woman who was already pregnant … long story, but they’re really happy. Just Tyler’s still single. And me.” She looked away at that admission, obviously not wanting to get into heavy relationship discussions.

Fine by him. He had a plan to build slowly. As long as she was here, he could live with that. “So your brothers are settling down, huh?”

“Yes, but not mellowing out,” she muttered, and he caught the subtle warning in her tone.

“In other words, I’d better watch out?” Her older brothers had always been protective of Avery and Olivia, and clearly that hadn’t changed. Grey had a hunch the Dare brothers wouldn’t like him coming back into Avery’s life.

She nodded, indigo eyes as serious as ever. “I’d steer clear if I were you.”

“I’m not worried about your brothers, sugar. If I run into them, I’ll deal.”

“But—”

He placed a finger over her soft lips. “You’re worth it.”

Her eyes softened, and she touched his cheek, her gaze warm on his. Desire flitted across her pretty face, her eyes darkening, her breath a short hitch.

His body still beat with awareness from their make-out session on the deck, the memory of her wet heat rocking over his cock still teasing and testing his restraint. He wanted nothing more than to thrust into her hard and fast,
now
. And they were alone on this yacht, nothing stopping them from that kind of reunion. Which meant he was hanging on by a damned thread.

He removed her hand from where she’d been stroking his cheek. “I’m doing my best to be a gentleman.” And he had a painful case of blue balls to show for it.

“That’s sweet but unnecessary,” she all but purred.

He pulled her wrist to his mouth and licked her hammering pulse.

She sucked in a shallow breath, trembling at his touch.

“A little while ago, you were still unsure of me and my life. I’m not going to screw up a second chance by fucking you tonight and dealing with your regrets in the morning.” Nobody would believe Grey Kingston was turning down sex.

“I won’t have regrets,” she whispered, but he could tell she wasn’t as sure as she sounded.

“You might.”

She opened her mouth to dispute his words and sighed. “You’re probably right.”

Her words hurt even if he’d already suspected as much.

“So what do you suggest?” she finally asked.

He blew out a long, frustrated stream of air and pulled himself together. “More get-to-know-you dates. More making out—but not tonight, on this bed, when you’re wearing nothing but my shirt and barely there panties I want to rip off with my teeth.”

“Oh my God.” She visibly shook at his pronouncement, her nipples hardening beneath the faded tee shirt.

“Yep. Now you understand.” He swung his legs over the bed and rose to his feet. “Let’s see if the rain’s let up.”

“Good idea,” she said in a trembling voice.

He walked out of the room and climbed up top, relieved to find the rain had slowed to a drizzle.

“We can head back to the car,” he said as he returned.

“Good.” She held her wet dress in one hand.

He left his jeans and shirt on board. He’d pick them up tomorrow. “What are you doing next Thursday?” he asked, unwilling to take her home without making plans to see her again.

“During the day I volunteer at the Miami Children’s Hospital with cancer patients.”

He turned to her and stared.

“What?” she asked.

“You amaze me, that’s all.”

Grey hadn’t known Avery when she’d donated bone marrow. He’d entered her life in high school. But she’d confided in him just how difficult that year and those afterwards had been, both the revelation that her father had another family he spent more time with than hers and the fact that he’d needed one of her full siblings to donate in order to save one of his other kids. Avery had been the best match, leaving her feeling used and hurt. Yet here she was, years later, donating her free time to help other children who were in her half sister’s position.

God, she was something else.

“It’s nothing huge,” she said, deflecting. “I bring my iPad and makeup. I look through online magazines and sites with the girls and teach them how to feel better about themselves while they’re going through treatment.”

“That’s cool. It really is.”

She smiled at him, and it fucking lit him up inside. “How about afterwards? Want to meet Rep and Lola? They invited me over, and I know they’d love to meet you too. No groupies,” he promised her before she could find that as a reason to say no. “Just some good friends hanging out.”

“Okay.”

He blinked. “Just like that?”

She studied him for a long while. “Just like that.”

*     *     *

Avery spent Sunday doing laundry, cleaning the apartment, food shopping with Ella, and trying not to think about her feelings for Grey. She wanted distance from his hands on her body, his lips on hers before she could put things in perspective. And since Ella had so much to tell her about her job and the dinner with an up-and-coming designer, Avery managed not to daydream. Too much.

Of course Ella wanted details about Avery’s weekend, and she had to fill those in too. Still, she survived Sunday, and she woke up Monday knowing she had a full day’s worth of things to do to keep her busy. Before she could leave the apartment, she had to check her blog and answer messages. Another way to keep her mind off of Grey Kingston.

Except today’s blog extolled the virtues of her favorite Nars blush, and wouldn’t you know, it was called Orgasm. The well-known product had held a place on most
Best Of
lists in major magazines since the mid-2000s and was a cult classic worth mentioning yearly. But today, it merely served to remind her that she had spent the night alone on a yacht with her gorgeous ex, and she hadn’t had one.

Nope, not an orgasm to be found for Avery because Grey had decided to play things safe. At this point, Avery believed she might be thinking more clearly today if he hadn’t held back. If he’d let them both give in to the simmering sexual desire that was so obviously between them. But he hadn’t. And she admired his restraint.

It also scared her because she’d been wearing nothing but his shirt and barely there panties that he, quote,
wanted to rip off with his teeth.
Her entire body trembled at the memory of his words. Her sex clenched, empty and needy. If he’d been able to walk away from that desire, he had a wholly different agenda … and she didn’t know if she’d survive whatever it was.

He wasn’t the easygoing Grey she remembered. He was more dominant in his speech, more frank about what he wanted. And that kiss? He’d controlled it and her, until she’d have done anything just to get more of him. But as much as she wanted him, as much as they had in common, she still believed there were too many differences to overcome.

She had a half a week before she had to worry about dealing with him again, and so she settled in front of the computer to work. On Orgasms.

She answered some reader questions, going back over the weekend’s posts before turning to today’s blog. She pulled up the comments and began to read, startled and annoyed to find troll comments under a variety of different screen names. Words like skank and whore greeted her, and she immediately deleted them, hoping she’d discovered them before too many viewers had seen them too.

She didn’t let them get to her. The Internet was full of mean-spirited people who took pleasure in bashing people under the guise of anonymity. She put the insults out of her mind and focused on discussing why the shimmery peach-colored blush worked on so many different skin tones, as well as answering the typical jokes about the product’s name in good humor.

Before she signed off for the morning, she refreshed the screen one more time to see if she had anything else to answer. The troll comments had returned, coming in heavier than before, this time adding names she wouldn’t repeat out loud alone, never mind in public.

So bizarre. And annoying.

She groaned and called her web people, knowing she needed to have them lock things down before the ugliness spread. They had to shut down comments for the day. And the whole mess took up the better part of her morning, forcing her to reschedule a nail appointment with a new salon she had hoped to feature in one of her local postings. Finally, she finished with the web hosting company and hung up the phone, praying they’d fix the site before the end of the day.

She headed over to an outdoor café for lunch, to meet her sister, Olivia, her sister-in-law, Riley, and her soon-to-be sister-in-law, Meg. When she arrived, the others were already at a table beneath a large umbrella.

“I’m so sorry I’m late!” Avery said, pausing to give each woman a hug and a kiss before settling into the empty seat between Riley and Olivia.

“Relax,” Olivia said. “We are. It’s fine. Nobody has to rush back to work.”

“Yep, summer for a teacher means time off,” Meg, a pretty and very pregnant brunette, said with a relieved smile.

“I’ve been working less and less hours,” Riley admitted. “I really love being home with Rainey.” She shrugged at the admission.

Avery grinned. “Your little girl is a handful.”

Her sister-in-law pulled her long curls behind her and laughed. “Blame your brother for that part of her personality.”