Rocking a SECRET (22 page)

“Never. I would never take that room from
you. My Bombshell needs room for all her pretty things. I was just
messing with you.”

“Thank God. I mean, I love you, but that
room is my happy place.”

“I’ve done some very happy things to you in
that room.”

“Yes, you have.”

“I’m about to do some of them to you in this
room,” I tell her as I lay down and pull her on top of me.

“Not if I do them to you first,” she says as
she slides onto my cock.

Kace

We spent all night and most of the early
morning making up for the time we lost with each other’s bodies
these past weeks. Today, I’m going to start to make up for the lost
time of being romantic and in love. I have the perfect day planned
for us.

“Are you ready for our date today,
love?”

“Date?”

“I owe you the perfect date to make up for
the one I ruined.”

“Oh. You don’t have to do that. I thought
we’d go home today. I was going to hang out with my friends
tonight.”

I’ve already taken care of those plans, but
I’m not going to tell her about it. Why she hasn’t told me it’s her
birthday today is a little beyond me, though. I almost told her
“happy birthday” when I made her come right after midnight, but I
figured she had a reason for not letting me know. Hopefully, she’ll
either tell me—or I’ll figure out why she won’t—before tonight. I
only know because Brett told me.

“Umm…okay. I guess we can go back to Vegas
if you don’t want to spend the day with me here.”

“That’s not it, K. Of course I want to be
with you. I’ve just had plans for tonight for a long time.”

“I get it. I wouldn’t take you from your
friends. How about if we do most of the date? We’re two hours ahead
here, so if I get you on a plane by 7, you’ll be in Vegas around 8.
Is that too late?”

A big smile lights up her face as she
reaches over to kiss me. “That’ll work. I’ll tell Tegan to let the
girls know. I’m assuming she’s here in the house with Wayne.”

“Fuck if I know. I’ve only been concerned
about the whereabouts of one woman.”

“I haven’t been out of your sight for more
than a couple minutes since the gala.”

“I know. It’s been perfect.”

“Yeah. It really has.”

“We should get in the shower so we make it
out of here in time for breakfast at Kerby Lane.” It’s an Austin
institution, and I know she’ll like it.

“I don’t take that long to get ready,” she
says, clearly offended.

“I know, but I’m planning to make you come
at least two more times before we leave. And I know how much you
love it in the shower.”

“I do. All that water running over your sexy
muscles and cock. And your ass. I don’t talk about your ass much,
but I really do love it.”

“Why thank you. I enjoy watching the water
run over all of you, too. It’s one of my favorite things.”

“So what are we doing out here?” she asks,
hopping from the bed to run to the bathroom.

“Vixen. That’s your third nickname. Vixen,”
I say when I walk in and see her already under the water.

“Nope. Two is enough.”

“Two is never enough,” I tell her as I join
her.

Forty-five minutes later, we’re in my car
headed for the diner. Stella rests her head on my shoulder and I
keep my hand on her thigh. We don’t have a long wait, but we keep
our hands connected, regardless. It’s like neither one of us wants
to let the other one go, ever again. I’m totally fine with
that.

After we’ve thoroughly stuffed ourselves on
specialty pancakes and omelets, I drive us to our next stop. I park
on the side of the road and lead her into the park, smiling as I
look over at her. Stella looks adorable today. I told her she
needed to wear boots, jeans and a long sleeved shirt. She had two
of the three, but had to borrow one of my button downs. I love
seeing my plaid shirt on her.

She has her hair in a ponytail, and I reach
out to pull it lightly. “What was that for?”

“I always want to pull your hair when you
have it up.”

“Then why haven’t you?”

“I’m not really a hair guy, so I think of it
but never have an overwhelming need to do it.”

“Even though I pull your hair?”

“I love when you pull my hair. It usually
means I’m driving you wild and you’re about to come.”

“Yeah, it usually does.”

“What do you think?” I ask as I turn her
around to see where we are.

“Wow? This is cool. Really cool. What is
it?”

“Graffiti Park. I thought you’d like it. We
can climb all the way to the top, but we have to be careful to
watch for poison oak. That’s why I needed you to be covered
up.”

“Let’s go,” she says, pulling me behind
her.

Stella climbs the walls like it’s nothing. I
don’t know why I’m surprised, but I am. And also really turned on,
which is my default state when she’s around, but still. I love that
she just adapts to anything. She can go from designer clothes to an
old flannel and jeans and be just as sexy and comfortable in both.
When I finally catch up to her, she kisses me hard before pulling
out her phone for a selfie of us with the city in the
background.

“Best bi-I mean day ever. Best day
ever.”

Why won’t she tell me it’s her birthday? I
don’t get it, but I continue to play along. When we get back down
to street level, I walk her over to an artist working on a piece.
She gasps when she sees what it is.

“Kace, you did this?”

“I hired him, if that’s what you mean. Do
you like it?”

“I fucking love it. Oh my God. Can we get a
picture?”

“Yes. We definitely need one.”

I hand my phone to the artist, and he snaps
a pick of us in front of “us.” Owen Griffin helped me find the
artist. I commissioned him to draw our caricatures inside a heart
with the words “The boy and the bombshell forever” written above
them. It came out great, and while I know someone will come by and
paint over it eventually, I love that I could give this to her on
her birthday, even if I’m not supposed to know.

My next surprise is a change of clothes. I’d
been told that we might get muddy, so I packed stuff for myself and
asked Tegan to bring me clothes for Stella. She’s known about all
my plan. All of Stella’s friends know. They don’t know she hasn’t
told me it’s her birthday, though. I’m not as cool about it as I
want to be. It actually hurts a little. Okay, a lot. And I really
just don’t get it.

* * *

Stella

Today is my best birthday ever. Starting
with the awesome orgasm I got after midnight, and continuing
through all the cool things Kace planned for us so far today. I
can’t wait to see what’s next.

We just changed clothes and I am loving the
outfit Tegan packed for me. I’ve got on my favorite skirt, which is
black and covered in chains. A soft white tee and one of my black
leather jackets complete the look. I taught her well, and she did
good—except for the damn boots. Yes, she packed me rhinestone
encrusted black cowboy boots. They
do
look cool with the
outfit, but I’ll never tell her that.

“Of course she packed you cowboy boots. They
look great, though.
You
look great.”

“Thanks. So do you.”

He really does. He has on dark wash jeans,
and an emerald green tee under a brown leather bomber jacket. He’s
the best part of my birthday, even though I haven’t told him that’s
what today is. I want to, but then he’ll feel obligated to buy me a
present or change his plans. I want to just have fun, and not put
any pressure on him. He’s already cutting our day short to fly me
back to my friends.

“Are you ready for our next adventure?”

“Yes.”

He surprises me by taking my hand and
leading me down the street instead of into the car. As we turn at
the next light, my eyes go wide. There are all kinds of funky
looking boutiques and restaurants. I want to go into them all.

That’s exactly what we do for the next few
hours. I go crazy in the vintage stores, and end up having a ton of
things shipped back to Vegas. Kace insists on paying for
everything, and since most of the salespeople recognize him and ask
for autographs and pictures, I let him because I don’t want to
cause a scene that will end up on YouTube. I’m going to pay him
back, though. We can fight about it in private.

We’ve just had an amazing meal at one of the
cafes, so now I’m ready to keep looking. Kace looks at his watch
and gives me a sad smile. “We’re going to have to head back to the
house for Tegan now if you want to make your flight time.”

“Oh. Yeah. We better go.”

I don’t want to. I want to stay here with
Kace, shopping and laughing before going home to make love all
night again. But I made plans, and while I could’ve canceled them,
I didn’t. And it wouldn’t be fair to my friends if I canceled now.
I know it’s not fair to Kace that I’m cutting our magical day
short. Or that he didn’t know it was my birthday, but I’ll tell him
later how special it’s been for me.

We pull into the driveway of his house and
see that only a few lights are on. Kace starts to get out, but I
have to clear the air on something first. “I’m paying you
back.”

“What?”

“For all the stuff today. I can’t let you
pay for all of the things I got. It’s a lot of money.”

“I fucking have a lot of money, Stella. I
wanted to spoil you today. What am I going to do with it if I’m not
spending it on the people I love?”

“This isn’t a negotiation, Kace. I’m
paying.”

“Whatever. I’m not in the mood to go inside
right now, so just go do what you need to.”

“Kace.”

“Please just go, Stella. I need a few
minutes to calm down because I’m really, really pissed right
now.”

“Okay. I’ll be back soon since I don’t
really have anything to pack.”

He doesn’t respond. And here I thought today
was my best birthday. Now I think it may be my worst. I walk up to
the front door and push it open. All the lights go on as my friends
yell “surprise.” Oh my God. No.

I turn and see the tail lights of Kace’s car
leaving the driveway. He knew it was my birthday and did everything
he could to make it special, including having all my friends flown
in. And now I ruined it all. Again.

“Are you okay, Stell? Where’s Kace?” Tegan
asks me

I turn and put a smile on my face. “I’m
great, just really surprised. I can’t believe you’re all here. Kace
had to take care of something. He’ll be back.” Maybe.

“Let’s go upstairs so you can put on the
cool dress he bought you,” My mom says to me. “We’ll be back soon.
Well, maybe not soon. So just have fun.”

I should’ve known something was wrong when
she rushed me up here. She’s barely closed Kace’s bedroom door when
she turns to me with a death glare. “What the fuck is wrong with
you?”

“Don’t hold back, Mom”

“Just tell me why.”

“Why what?”

“Don’t play dumb. You didn’t tell him it was
your birthday? Even after he was doing things, and buying things
for you all day? And then you said you were going to pay for the
things he bought you—for your birthday— and that he had no choice
in the matter.”

“I didn’t know they were for my
birthday.”

“Because for some reason, you didn’t think
you should tell him.”

“I didn’t want him to feel obligated to do
something special for me.”

“He would’ve done all this for you, even if
it wasn’t your birthday. But it is, and he wanted it to be special
for you. He wanted to
share
it with you. He planned a pretty
awesome day for you, and bought the dress you’ve been wanting
without anyone even telling him you wanted it.”

I turn to see the dark green dress on the
bed. Oh my God. I’ve wanted the dress for months. I could’ve bought
it, but I wanted something to wear it for. Something special.

“You didn’t tell him?”

“No.”

“Kevin?”

“No. When he asked me to put it out for you,
along with the accessories, I told him and he was so happy.”

“Shit.” I’ve screwed up. Really, really
screwed up, and I have to find a way to fix it.

There’s a knock at the door, and then he’s
walking in the room. “Hi. I just wanted to grab my suit so I could
change in the guest room. I’ll be out of your way in a minute.”

“Kace, I’m sorry.”

“No worries. It’s not like we’re serious or
anything. We’re just having fun, right?”

No. Please no. “You asked to move in with
me.”

“I’ll find something else,” he says with a
shrug.

I can see the hurt he’s trying to hide cross
his face, as he tries to pretend that this is nothing. That
we’re
nothing. It kills me that I put the pain there. And
this time I have no one to blame but myself.

I walk over to him, and hold his face so
he’ll look at me. “I love you, Kace Reynolds. I didn’t keep my
birthday from you to hurt you. I did it so you wouldn’t feel like
you had to do something for me. But you did everything for me
anyway. All I could think about all day was how this is the best
birthday I’ve ever had. Starting at midnight, and going until I got
out of your car.”

“Your friends are here for you. You’ll have
a great time.”

“Only if you’re next to me, holding my hand
and trying to cop a feel without my mom seeing you.”

“I haven’t left the room yet.”

“Nothing shocks you, remember?”

“Leaving now.”

“So you want our date to continue?”

“I want it to never end. Please give me
another chance.”

“I’ll give you a million chances as long as
realize that this is real, Stella. What we have is real. There’s no
ring yet, but there will be one day. Along with a wedding. It can
be in a drive-thru chapel if you don’t want a big white one. But
one day, you’ll be my wife. At least I hope you will.”