Music of the Heart (19 page)

              We drive towards downtown and I’m getting excited to see where we are going.  He pulls into the valet of the Omni Hotel and I look at him like he’s crazy.

              “Please tell me you’re not taking me on a CNN tour?  Because let me tell you now, that does not interest me.  Or… wait a minute?  Surely you didn’t book a room to try and get lucky?”

              He just laughs and gets out of the car.  Before I can open my door, he is there pulling me out.  I grab my purse and when I turn back to him, he leans down to plant a kiss on my lips.  I see him slip the keys in the hands of some man and then he leads me away by the hand.

CROSS

              I couldn’t resist stealing a kiss from her.  I have connections at the Omni Hotel so they agreed to watch my car for me while I take Ashleigh all around Atlanta on foot.  I slip on my sunglasses and zip up my jacket.  Thankfully, even though it is January, it’s not too cold. 

              “So, are you going to tell me where we’re going?”

              I look over at her and smile at how naturally beautiful she is.  Celebrity or not, she doesn’t have to make her face all up and I love that.

              “Well, since you’re like a little kid and won’t stop asking me, I guess I’ll have to tell you.  We are starting at the aquarium and then headed to the World of Coca-Cola.  That’s all you get for now.  I’ll tell you more later.”

              She is like a little kid, she’s so excited. 

We get to the aquarium and bypass the lines.  She looks over at me with a curious look and I just whisper to her the word connections.  Being who I am allows me some perks in this city.

              We spend close to two hours in the aquarium and I enjoy every minute of watching how happy it makes her.  She’s most excited when we go for a private tour of the dolphin encounter.  Once we’re done walking around, we go over to the photo kiosk and I buy the pictures they took throughout the day.  Then we head into the gift shop.  She picks out a few things for her niece and gets herself a coffee cup.  I pay for everything even after she protests and we head out the door.

              Thankfully, we didn’t get noticed in there but that changes once we get by the entrance to the World of Coke.  I see a group of college aged girls and guys ahead and I know the minute they notice who she is.

              “Oh my gosh!!  You’re Ashleigh Kennedy!  Can I please have your autograph and a picture?  Wait a minute, your Cross Hamilton!  Oh my gosh, I am dying!”

              This goes on for a while and then we finally make our way into the World of Coke.  We go through the tour, see the movie, get our picture taken with the bear and sample cokes from all over the world.  By the time we are done, it’s 5:30 p.m.  I have a tourist dinner planned but before that, I take us over to Centennial Park. 

              “It’s so beautiful here.  I love the light and water show they put on.”

              “Come on.  I want to take you somewhere else.”  I grab her hand and walk her over to the SkyView Atlanta.

              “You’re crazy if you think I’m getting on that ferris wheel.  I am not a fan of heights.  No thank you.  We can move on to your next tourist attraction please.”

              “No ma’am Ashleigh.  You are going on that ferris wheel with me and you are going to have the best time of your life.  Come on.  Do it for me.”

              She looks at me with a small grin and just shakes her head.  I take that as my cue to drag her over to the line to wait our turn.  While we’re waiting, I stand behind her and wrap my arms around her shoulders to keep her warm.  She relaxes against me and leans her head over to one side.  This feels perfect.  She fits perfectly in my arms and that makes me more than happy.

              We finally load into our gondola and start moving up.  I bust out laughing at her because she is huddled up, covering her eyes.

              “Ashleigh, what in the hell are you doing?  Uncover your eyes and look at this amazing view.”

              “No, I will freak out if I do that.”

              I pry her hands away as soon as we reach the top.  There is no way she is missing this view.

              “Open your eyes Ashleigh.  I really want you to see this.  You think Atlanta looks beautiful normally… you should see it right now.”

              She breathes heavy and then slowly opens her eyes.  The look on her face is more than enough and I can’t help what I do in this moment.  I lean over, grab one side of her neck and pull her to me.  I cover her lips with mine and kiss the hell out of her.  After a few minutes, she pulls away and just looks at me.

              “What was that for?  I mean, don’t get me wrong, it was amazing.”

              “That was me trying to show you how I feel.  Ashleigh, I’m pretty sure I’m falling for you.  You have seriously owned my heart from the first time we met.  I want you in my life.  I need you in my life.”

              “Cross, I don’t know what to say.  You have consumed me and my thoughts since October.  You are everything I want in my life although I’m pretty sure you may break my heart.”

              “Hey, that will never happen Ashleigh.  I will not break your heart.  I promise you that.  No matter what anyone else says about me, I have no plans on hurting you.”

              The ride ends after a few more kisses.  We hop off and I walk her towards Hard Rock Café. She wanted a touristy place.  I called ahead to put our name on the list so when we got there, we only waited about 10 minutes to be seated. 

              We are definitely noticed in here.  Ashleigh is always very gracious to fans and signs autographs and takes pictures.  After about twenty minutes of it though, I can see the look on her face and I know she wants some normalcy.  I ask our waiter if he could help me out.  The manager comes over and asks the other customers to give us some peace for a while so we can enjoy our meal.  Ashleigh promises to sign more autographs and take more pictures after we eat if people want to hang around.

              We enjoy a nice meal together and by the time we’re done and I buy her a few things in the gift shop, people have realized I’m the person with her and outside the gift shop doors is a crowd of people waiting for pictures and autographs.  We spend about forty-five minutes doing this and finally break away from the crowd.

              As we are walking back to get the car, I ask her, “Do you want to head to a bar in Buckhead and get a night cap?”

              The look on her face when she answers me is more than enough to tell me what she wants.

              “No night cap.  Can we just go back to my house?”

Chapter Twenty-Two

ASHLEIGH

              As we are driving back to my house, I start to nod off.  I’m so tired but I really wanted to spend more time with him when we got home.

              Before I know it, I feel someone pick me up and walk me inside my house.  I feel us going up the stairs and then I’m being laid down on the bed.  I hear noise in my room and startle awake.

              “What are you doing Cross?  You’re not leaving are you?”

              “Ashleigh, you fell asleep.  I was trying to find you some pajamas so I could wake you up for you to change.  Then, I was going to head home.”

              “No, Cross.  Please don’t go.  Stay with me. Come lay down in the bed.”

              Apparently, I pass out from exhaustion because when I wake back up, I glance over at the clock and it says 3:30 a.m.  That’s also when I realize there is a very heavy arm across my stomach.  I turn to look and see Cross sound asleep.  I turn over the best I can without waking him up and just stare at him.  Lord, he’s even better looking than I realized.  As if he can sense me staring at him, he opens his eyes and smiles.

              “Hey.  What’s wrong?  Do you need something?”

              “No.  I’m fine.  I just woke up.  I do have to pee though.  I’ll be right back.”

              I walk into my bathroom and realize I never put on pajamas.  I go back into my closet and grab a pair and then head back to bed.  Noticing Cross is not here, I start to wonder where he went when he walks back in.

              “Sorry for disappearing.  I needed the bathroom as well and grabbed us both a bottle of water.  I see you finally changed.  Sorry, I didn’t feel comfortable trying to get you changed.”

              “No problem.  Thank you for getting me into bed though.  Sorry, I flaked out on you last night.  But I am glad you stayed.”

              Before I know what’s happening, Cross storms over to me and slams his mouth on mine.  He backs me up to the bed and I fall down on it.  Crawling up the bed, he continues kissing me and I start to feel any control I have slipping away.  Our hands start roaming all over each other and I can’t get enough of him.  All of a sudden, Cross pulls away and stops kissing me.

              “Wait.  What’s wrong?  Why did you pull away?”

              “Ashleigh, are you sure this is what you want?  I don’t want to push you into anything if you’re not ready or you’re not sure.”

              “Cross, if I wasn’t interested, I would have already stopped you.  Trust me, I want this.  And I want you.”

              He stands up and pulls me with him.  I let him take the lead and he begins to kiss me slowly this time.  Kissing Cross is like heaven to me.  He has these full lips that fit perfectly with mine. 

We kiss like this for a bit longer and I’m itching to touch him all over.  I move my hands to his waist and begin to lift his shirt.  He breaks from my mouth and takes his shirt off.  Damn, he is ripped.  His body is perfection.  He notices my staring and a smirk comes across his face.

“See something you like baby?”

“You have no idea.”  I pull him back to me and we continue to kiss.  It’s doesn’t take long for him to break away again and this time, it’s my shirt he removes.  I feel very self conscious as he just stares at me. 

“Ashleigh, do you know how perfect you are?”  He continues kissing me and we end up on the bed.  Moving away from my lips, he becomes very attentive to the rest of my body.  He grabs both of my hands and holds them above my head as he begins kissing down the side of my neck down to my shoulders.  As he makes his way around my body, he starts trailing his tongue down to my breasts.  I almost came off the bed as he licks each nipple and then continues trailing his tongue down my stomach.

He looks up at me one last time with a questioning look on his face. 

“Ashleigh, are you one hundred percent sure you want this?  This is the last time I will ask.  Once I go any further with you, there’s no going back.”

“Cross, just shut the hell up and make love to me.”

With a deep grin that shows off his dimples, he kisses my stomach one last time before he sits up and removes my panties.  I feel very exposed but it doesn’t seem to bother me around Cross.  I look at him and see him pulling off his boxer briefs.  I know my eyes get huge when I see all of him.  If I thought he was perfect before, he is beyond perfection now. 

He starts kissing my feet and up my legs.  Thank God I shaved my legs yesterday.  When he gets to my thighs, I shiver.  His lips lead him higher and higher until he places a kiss right on my sex.  He swirls his tongue around my clitoris causing me to pull his hair. 

“Aahhh,” I moan as he continues licking and lapping me until I feel the start of an orgasm.  Sensing I am on the edge, he moves his way back up my body until he reaches my lips and assaults my mouth with his kisses.

As we kiss, he rolls our bodies over until I am on top of him.  I pull away this time and start to edge down lower to return the favor to him.