Take Me Home Tonight (27 page)

She deserved so much better.

And fuck him, but he wanted to claim her.

He leaned in and kissed her again, giving a gentle brush of his tongue. Everything about her softened. He took advantage of the intimacy and cupped the back of her head to give her an openmouthed kiss.

So sweet. So fucking sweet.

When she pulled back, she kept her forehead tipped against his. “Wow.”

He gave a soft laugh as his heart settled down. “You did great tonight, sweet pants.”

“Thank you. Thank you for bringing everybody. It made it a thousand times more fun.” Her tongue peeked out, moistening her lips, and he couldn't stop himself from going in for more. She tasted like tiramisu, a hint of coffee and sweet cream, and when she slid a hand up this thigh, he fell into her mouth, her scent, the pressure of her grip. He kissed her softly, gently, but deeply, wanting her to know how much she meant to him.

“
Calix
.” It took the snap of a linen napkin to the back of his head for him to realize his dad was trying to get his
attention. Terrence gave a chin nod to the other end of the table.

Calix turned to find the band watching him, cracking up. “Sorry, what?”

“Happy to clear the room for ya,” Cooper said.

Derek ignored him. “Listen, Em says the label's setting up our tour dates.”

Automatically, Calix looked to his mom. She sat still as a stone.

“You know we need a permanent keyboard player,” Slater said. “And we're not gonna find a better fit than you.”

Mimi squeezed his knee. He knew she wanted him to consider the offer.

He looked to his mom, who sat still as a statue.

“Thing is, man,” Derek said, “you're more than a keyboard player to us. Sure, we can find someone on keys, but you write with us. You get where we're coming from. Like Slater said, it's a good fit. You keep telling us no, but before we start a search, we gotta ask one more time.”

“I like working with you guys.” One more glance at his mom had the ravioli hardening in his stomach. “But I think you're best off looking for someone else.”

Mimi's fingers pressed into his thigh muscles. But when he turned to her, he caught his dad's expression instead. Brows pitched up, lips pressed together, he looked like he wanted Calix to take the job.

His dad leaned in close to his mom, gave her shoulder a squeeze as he spoke quietly in her ear. She gave no reaction.

“Calix.” Mimi's soft voice jolted him out of his thoughts. “It'll suck as much for them to hire someone else as it will for you when they do. Can you imagine a better gig? Please just think about it.”

Of course he wouldn't find a better gig. He'd give his left nut to join Blue Fire. Experience told him this kind of connection didn't come along all that often—if ever—in a musician's life.

But as he watched his mom's stony expression, his gut told him it just wasn't the right time.

And he was starting to wonder if it would ever be.

When her ass pitched higher, when her hips slammed back on him, Calix thrust deep and hard. “Fuck.” Jesus, look at her, up on her knees on his bed, so wet, so slick, so tight around him. Each time her ass hit his groin, she'd swivel, the movement sandwiching his cock tighter between her slick walls. The intense pressure sent him out of his mind.

A moan ripped from his throat at the sight of all that smooth skin, the shake of her ass cheeks as he pounded into her. Leaning over, one hand sliding up her stomach, he caught her breast in his palm, pinched her nipple. “Give me that mouth.”

But she was gasping, head lowered, and she just rammed harder back onto him.

“Mouth, Mimi.”

“I . . . God, I can't . . . oh, my God.” Lowering her head to the pillow, she made desperate sounds. She was close. One stroke of her clit, and he knew she'd explode. But he wasn't ready yet. He didn't want this to ever end. And he needed that fucking mouth.

He grabbed her braids, wound them around his fingers, and tugged her head back.

She cried out, her expression turning frenzied with lust. When she slammed back, grinding on him, he realized he'd found it. “
Fuck
.” This was her fantasy. Holy fuck. Electricity tripped down his spine, and his balls tightened.

One hand on her hip holding her tightly against him, the other pulling on her braids, his orgasm ripped through him. He came so hard, lights flashed behind his eyelids. Wild pleasure gripped him. Waves of it roared through him, the ecstasy unrelenting. Nothing had ever felt so good.

His thrusts turned more languid, each stroke offering a fiery rush of sensation.

When he calmed down, he released her hair, and she collapsed onto the bed, breathing heavily.

Holding the edge of the condom, he pulled out of her, then rolled it up in a tissue and tossed it in the trash bin.

“Shazam.” She'd turned onto her side, giving him a glimpse of her rosy cheeks, those plump breasts, and a look of utter satisfaction.

He burst out laughing, emotion spilling into his every crack and crevice, until it flooded him. She inched closer, hitching a leg over his, settling a hand over his heart, and he watched her drift off to sleep.

Moments ticked by. His body cooled. But sleep didn't come. How could he be wired after coming that hard?

That good feeling started to curl at the edges. Mimi had work in the morning, so he should probably get her home. Except she looked so peaceful, and she'd had a rough day, so he'd let her sleep a little.

But the restlessness only got worse. He reached for his cell phone on the nightstand.

He texted Lee.
Mom okay?

When she didn't respond, he carefully shifted Mimi off him and got out of bed.

He started to send another text, this one to his dad, when his phone rang.
Lee
. “What's up?”

“Why are you texting me about Mom at one in the morning?” Her voice was sleep-roughened.

“Is she still in the studio?”

“I don't know. I'm sleeping.” She let out an exhalation that let him know she felt put out. “I'll go check.”

“Thanks.”

“Hang on.”

As he stood in the living room, staring out the window into the darkness, he remembered Mimi's braids in his hand, the look in her eyes as he'd pulled on them while he'd pounded into her. The small of his back warmed. His cock wanted more.

Mimi's fantasy. Fucking hell, that woman slayed him.

“Lights off in the studio,” Lee said.

“Check her room.”

“I know. Give me a second. What's the problem?”

“Nothing. No problem.”

“You worried about her?”

“Can't sleep till I know she's okay.”

“Yeah.” She sounded softer. “Give me a second. If she's sleeping, I don't want to wake her.”

He heard a door creak, and then his sister said, “She's not in her room.”

Cold flushed across his skin. “Where the hell is she?” He stalked into the kitchen. Should he head up to the house?

“Hang on. Give me a second. All the lights are out.”

“Maybe she's on the beach?” Kind of late, but maybe she was taking a walk to help her fall asleep. “I'll head out right now.” He had the door open when he heard Lee suck in a breath. And then a whispered, “Oh, my God.”

Oh, fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.
One hand at the back of his neck, the other clutching the phone, Calix leaned his forehead against the cool wood of the door frame. In his mind's eye he saw his mom in bed, head flopped to one side, skin ashen.

“You won't believe this.”

“What? Tell me.”

“She's with Dad. She's in his bed.”

Calix let out a huff of breath, and it felt like someone had pried the lid off his brain, releasing all the pressure.

“Can you believe it? She's back in his bed. This is so awesome. This is the best thing ever.”

His body felt stuck with needles and pins, like it had fallen asleep and he was just getting sensation back in it.

“You there?”

“Yeah, Lee. I'm here. I'm just . . .” The cool air dried the perspiration off his skin, and his mind cleared.

“Me, too. She's okay. Ma's okay.”

“Thanks for checking.”

“Best reason ever to wake a girl up.”

“See you in the morning.”

“See you.”

All he wanted was to get back in bed with Mimi. The clambake, the cooking lessons, the wedding . . . she'd done this. She'd brought his mom back.

He thought of Blue Fire. And it brought a jolt of excitement to the center of his chest.

Because . . . well, what if the timing worked out after all?

*   *   *

The
sound of his ringtone had him jackknifing up in bed. His hand shot out, knocking the bottle of water off the nightstand. Finding the cell phone, he snatched it up. Didn't recognize the number.

“Hello?” Beside him, Mimi got up on an elbow.

“Calix?”
Gus.

“Where are you?” Calix couldn't identify the strange noises in the background.

“Suffolk County Jail. In Riverhead.”

A powerful mix of fear and anger made him sick to his stomach. “What happened?”

“Calm down. It's not a big deal. I got into a fight. But you need to come get me.”

“Suffolk County Jail?”

“Yeah.”

“
Goddammit
.”

“Yeah, I know. Just . . . come bail me out.”

“What did you do?”

“I'll talk to you when I see you.”

“On my way.” As he tossed the phone on the bed, he found
it empty. Mimi sat at his desk, face lit up from the screen of his laptop.

Her finger traced the thick blue line on Google Maps. “We take 48 to 25.” She wrote down the directions on a scrap of paper. “Got it.”

As he pulled on his boxers and jeans, he watched her getting dressed. “Just crash here. I don't have time to take you home.”

“What? No. I'm going with you.”

Like hell he'd take her to a jail at three in the morning. “No, you're not.”

She ignored him, continuing to get dressed.

“You need your sleep.”

Tugging on the elastics, she pulled her fingers through the braids, loosening them, as she headed into the bathroom. “Do you have an extra toothbrush?”

He hooked an arm around her waist. “Go back to bed. I'll get you home in time to make breakfast for the guys.”

When those beautiful green-brown eyes gazed up at him, the hard edges of the world softened. “You're not alone anymore, you big dummy. Now, can I have a damn toothbrush?”

He yanked open the bottom drawer of his vanity and rooted around for a new toothbrush. Handing it to her, he cupped the back of her neck and squeezed gently. “Mimi?”

“Yeah?”

His chest tightened with emotion. Having her with him . . . it made a difference. “Thanks.”

*   *   *

“What
the fuck, Gus?” At nearly four in the morning, the streets in Riverhead were deserted. Calix gripped the steering wheel as he eyed his brother in the rearview mirror.

“Sorry.”

Gus looked like shit. His hair was a mess, and he had a livid cut under his eye and a swollen lip. “Gonna need a little more than that.”

“Got in a fight.”

“Dammit, Gus, don't make me pull it out of you.”

“Fine. Laney's friends played in some shitty club tonight. She was pissed at me because I didn't want to go. They suck, man. Truly suck. I didn't want to go out—” He looked out the window, two fingers rubbing his temple. “She's
always
going out. Next thing I know she's gone. She calls me later, drunk off her ass, so I go get her. I'm already pissed because she doesn't listen to a damn thing I say. She just does what she wants when she wants, and if I have an opinion about anything, she gets in my face. So I find her at this club. Minute she sees me, she starts making out with the drummer. I knew she was doing it to get a reaction, so I pulled her off him and tried to get her to come home with me. But she got all crazy, started fighting and screaming. And that's when the shithead sucker-punched me.” Gus let out a breath, looking utterly defeated. “The whole thing was so fucking stupid.
I'm
so fucking stupid.”

Calix watched him in the mirror. This was the first time in weeks his brother didn't sound defiant.

“She's crazy,” Gus said.

Calix didn't say a word, but Mimi reached for his thigh and gave it a rub. Yeah, his brother was snapping out of it.

“I'm sorry, man.” Gus's voice sounded gravelly.

“You done with her?”

“Done. Seriously, man, done. I should've listened to you.”

“You want to get your stuff now?” Calix wanted to get this shit behind him.

“Nah, I'm beat. I'll get it tomorrow.”

“I'll come with you.”

“Might be best. She'll go nuts.”

“We'll take care of it.” He was so damn relieved to have his brother back. “Come back to my place. I want to get you cleaned up before Mom sees you.”

Challenge flashed in his eyes. “She can handle more than you think.”

“Let me tell you something. She's doing great right now, and I don't want anything to mess with that. You get me?”

He watched Gus struggle with the question. “Yeah, of
course.” And then he scrubbed his face with both hands. “I need to sleep for, like, a week.”

“Let me get Mimi home first.”

She turned toward him. “No, you don't have to do that.”

“You've got to be up in two hours to make breakfast. I'm taking you home.”

“Calix.”

But he wasn't discussing it with her. He needed to deal with his family, and she had a job to do.

*   *   *

With
a vegetable peeler, Mimi scraped beautiful curls off a chilled block of chocolate.

“What in the world is going on in here?” Lee came in and surveyed the kitchen. The two bright spots of pink on her cheeks and her windblown hair revealed the blustery spring weather that Mimi had missed since she'd been holed up in the Bourbon kitchen all day.

“Girl's been busy,” Jo said.

“I see that.” Approaching the island, Lee picked up a parfait glass. “Can I taste?”

“Are you kidding?” Mimi said. “You can set up a roadside farm stand. We've got enough to feed the whole county.”

The counters, the island, even the chairs had cookies, scones, muffins, cupcakes, layer cakes, mousses, and various quick breads. Yeah, they'd baked a lot. A glance at the microwave clock made her realize she'd been cooking nearly eight hours.

Thank goodness she'd left sub sandwiches in the fridge for the guys because she'd blown right through dinner.

Lee spooned some of the mango mousse into her mouth. “Oh, my God.” Her eyes went wide. “Oh, my flipping God. This is so good.”

“We've been working off basic recipes, substituting, adding, tweaking. At first I just did boring stuff like using applesauce instead of oil—”

“But then she got more confident,” Jo said. “That one's got pureed mango instead of butter, and it's damn good, if a little dry.”

“Try that one.” Mimi pointed to the variation of
tiramisu
she'd made with cream cheese and Meyer lemons. “It's to die for.”

Lee sank a spoon into it, and the moment she tasted it, her features softened with a rapturous expression. “This is unbelievable.”

Jo fought a smile. “Never seen you look like that with my food.”

“Maybe because your desserts always had wheat germ and bran in them.”

Jo grabbed something out of the fruit basket and lobbed it at her, but Lee ducked. “Hey.” She gaped at her mom. “You threw a
fig
at me.”

Jo shrugged with a smile. “You make MVP on your volleyball team three years in a row?”

“Possibly.” With a huge grin, Lee grabbed a muffin and tossed it at her mom. Jo caught it handily.

“You can thank the wheat germ and bran for that.” Just as Jo reached for a scone, Mimi stepped between them.

“Okay, before we get into an all-out food fight here, it's time to decorate.” She indicated an unfrosted chocolate cake. “It's one thing to have a tasty cake, but it's got to look pretty. And now that the Queen of Style's in the house, talk to me.”

Lee's smile dazzled with anticipation. “Oh, how fun. I'd love to do that. So, what're we talking about? Frosting? Sprinkles?”

“Sprinkles?” Mimi rolled her eyes. “I am not working with sprinkles.” But even as the words left her mouth, images popped into her mind. She saw vintage cake stands with fluffy white-frosted cakes. Some with flecks of shredded coconut, others with polka-dot sprinkles. She saw an antique pie chest with cookie sandwiches, the frosting in pastel blue, pink, and lavender. “I totally want sprinkles.”