Trapped Under Ice (15 page)

“Go to sleep!” Beth snapped. She buried her head in his shoulder again with a huff of frustration.

Chad tried to sooth her. “It’s okay.” He kissed her hair.

“No it’s not!” she crossed her hands in front of her chest self-consciously. “And you keep those lips to yourself!”

Chad withdrew his hands, holding them up in innocence and backing away, laughing. “Okay! Okay!”

Beth frowned at him for several seconds, her shoulders tense, but then sighed. “I guess there’s nothing I can do about it now. What’s done is done.” She moved to stand up. Chad beat her to his feet and reached down to help her up the rest of the way. “I’m going to sleep now so that YOU”—she stabbed him in the chest with her finger with each word—“WON’T TEMPT ME ANY MORE!” To his credit, he didn’t mention that she was the one that pulled her blouse open.

“Okay.” He chuckled and she let her face relax into a smile.

He walked her to her door; his room was directly opposite. They stood, each with a hand on their doorknob.

“Good night, Beth,” he said softly.

“Good night.”

They entered their rooms and shut the doors, peering at each other through the cracks as they closed. Beth let out a frustrated scream.

“I need a long bath!” she said out loud, though there was no one to hear her.

A half hour later, she came to bed with wet hair. She had let herself slip under the water when reliving his kiss in her mind. Lying in bed, she thought about the fact that he was just yards away, and had trouble sleeping.

***
         

In the morning, they enjoyed breakfast together in the hotel’s dining room and then came back to the room to play cards with the girls. The laugher and the ribbing reminded Beth of family times with Paul, putting puzzles together with Cassie or playing a game. It warmed her and pained her at the same time.

At one, Chad walked them out to their car, insisting again on carrying the luggage. Once everything was in the trunk and the girls were in their seats, it was time to say goodbye.

Beth opened her car door, but didn’t climb in. Chad stood with his hand on top of the doorframe.

“Sure you can’t stay longer?”

Beth grimaced. “We have to get back in time to shower and get ready for four o’clock Mass. We’re already pushing it.”

He reached out and ran his hand up and down her arm with a sigh. “It was worth a shot.” He leaned his head into the car. “Bye, girls!”

Cassie looked up from something she was showing Jessica. “See ya, Chad! Thanks for everything!”

“No biggie. Good to see you again.”

“Bye. It was nice meeting you,” Jess added politely.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, Jess.”

Chad looked at Beth. “I had a great weekend.”

“Me, too.” She smiled, then wrapped her arms around him.

“You’ll call me tonight?”

She pulled back, but found she had a lump in her throat, so she just nodded and turned to get behind the wheel.

“Drive carefully,” was his last instruction before closing the door. He stood back, sticking his hands in his jeans pockets, and watched them drive away.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Beth lay snuggled in her bed in an oversized t-shirt. Her laptop rested on her legs. Her fingers weren’t flying over the keyboard, though, because she was on the phone with Chad. It was late, Cassie should have been in bed, but she was still taking her shower after studying for a big test with Jessica. “That’s a deal breaker. I’m paying for half or I’m not coming.”

“Beth, do you have any idea the disgusting amount of money I made last year just for singing?”

“Singing and shaking your bootie,” she corrected.

She could tell by the way that his voice warmed that he was smiling. “I do
not
shake my bootie.”

“Oh yes, you do.” She dropped her voice. She set her laptop aside and threw the covers off. “And it’s very hot, by the way.” She crept over to the door and listened for
Cas. It seemed quiet.

Chad shifted gears. “You bet your sweet ass, it is!”

She turned away from the door with a sly grin. “Oh,” Beth returned coyly. “You think my ass is sweet?” She took a few steps toward the bed, her bare legs feeling chilled. What he said next had her stopping for a second.

His voice purred in the unique way that was totally Chad. “Baby, sweet doesn’t even begin to describe your ass.”

“Oooh!” She squealed in delight. Then, “Oooh! Cas! I th-thought you were in bed.”

“Going there, just wanted to say good night. That wouldn’t be Chad telling you that your ass is sweet, would it?”

Beth frowned. “Cassandra! Really!” But her giddiness took over. “Well, it’s not your Aunt Cali!” Both girls giggled.

“Beth, I’ll let you tell Cassie good night. Roger is pounding on my door and evidently isn’t buying that I’m not in here. I’ll overnight the plane ticket tomorrow.”

She hung up with Chad, and gave Cassie a hug good night. As she crossed to return to her bed, she caught her reflection in the dresser’s mirror. She was wearing one of Paul’s old Mizzou shirts. The smile faded from her lips. She stared at her image, noting the sadness in her eyes, weighing her shoulders down. Slowly, she pulled the shirt off over her head. She folded it up and laid it on the dresser, smoothing it out with her hand. She turned away and crawled under the covers in just her bra and her undies.

***              

Later that week, Beth found herself winging her way to Kansas. Chad had arranged for a rental car for her so that she could drive to the stadium where they were playing. Roger was the first to see her backstage after the concert.

“Beth!” he shouted, spotting her down the hall. He enveloped her in a hug. “How are you?”

“Good! How was the show?”

“Awesome, as usual. How are you? How’s Cassie doing?”

“We’re both fine. Thanks for asking.”

“Good. Now, I know you’re not here just to be with my outrageously cute self, which I find highly disturbing by the way. Chad’s in our dressing room, down the hall, second door on the right, not the bigger one across the hall, Keith and David commandeered that,” the bassist added with a frown. “But he may have already hopped in the shower. He didn’t want you to see him all sweaty,” he informed her with a teasing smile.

***
              

Beth entered the dressing room, which was smaller than the one in St. Louis. She could hear the shower running behind the bathroom door. She sat on a stool and waited impatiently for Chad to come out. After a few minutes, she thought idly, “I wonder if rock stars sing in the shower?” She crept forward to put her ear to the door, and when she did, it swung open. She hesitated for only a second, then snuck inside and closed the door behind her. There was no sound besides the running water from the other side of the curtain. She had a sudden urge. This relationship made her feel young and reckless.
Dare I
?

On a whim, she peeled her clothes off, and then as quietly as she could, slipped into the back of the shower. She
slid her hands around Chad’s waist, her body pressed against his. He leaned back against her, his body relaxing for a minute, and then turned around to kiss her.

“Hey.”

She was surprised by his total
lack
of surprise. “I could be a crazed fan! Do you often have women in your shower?”

Chad bent down to kiss her protests away. “I could see you in the mirror.” Beth looked over his shoulder, through the crack between the curtain and the wall, and sure enough, the mirror offered a plain view of the rest of the bathroom.

“Well, all right then.” She let her fingers slide up his wet back.

Chad pulled her farther into the shower so the water could warm her from head to toe. He brushed wet hair back from her face and just gazed at her for several seconds. “I missed you.” His gravelly voice filled the space between shower wall and curtain, and he began to kiss her in earnest. “This could get dangerous,” he added seductively.

She nipped at his bottom lip. “Yeah, well Danger is my middle name.”

“Hmm…Beth Danger Donovan, interesting.”

“Oh, shut up and kiss me, you fool!”

“Yes, ma’am.” He clutched her closer. “Thank goodness for handrails and nonskid mats, eh?”

The couple was spending some time rediscovering each other’s bodies when there came a knock at the door.

“Chad? Chad? Have you seen Beth? I told her how to get here, but I wonder if she got lost?”

“Beth? Beth who?” Chad answered with a grin.

Beth slapped him on the chest. “Chad,” Beth whispered urgently, “what are we going to do?”

He kissed her neck. “Well, I’ve got several ideas along those lines.”

“Chad! Stop! He’s going to know I’m in here.”

“Well, darlin’, what did you think he would think when he saw your wet hair?”

“Oh, I hadn’t thought that far.” She considered her options. “It’ll dry in a half hour.”

“So, we’re going to stay in here for a half hour? Don’t you think that will look a little suspicious?” he teased her.

She frowned. “You are getting way too much pleasure out of this.”

“Actually, I was hoping for a little more...”

“Chad, stop!” She giggled and squirmed in his arms.

“All right.” He made an attempt at seriousness, thinking for a moment. “I’ll get out and lure Roger away from here, offer to go and get a beer. Yeah, that’ll work. Then, you sneak out and we act like you had to go back to your car for something.”

Beth smiled at him. “Brilliant.”

They got out of the tub and toweled off. As Chad slipped his jeans on over his long legs, Beth couldn’t help admiring his physique again. She loved the way his legs seemed to go on forever and wished they were wrapped around her. Beth stopped him before he put his shirt on and brought her mouth to his without saying anything. He smiled at her, his hand gently cupping her chin as he pulled her in for another kiss, and then he slipped his shirt on and left the room.

Beth could hear the two men talking, and then the outer door closed behind them. She grabbed a blow-dryer and quickly dried her hair. Then, she set off down the hall in the direction of the most noise. She entered a small room with a couple of vending machines, a handful of chairs and tables, and a cooler, which she guessed supplied the beer the band members gathered around the small table were drinking. Roger leaned back in his chair with his foot on the cooler.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

“Huh?”

“Chad said you had to go back because you left something in the car. Did you find it?”

“Oh yes. Yes. I left…my purse. But I’ve got it now.” Beth tapped the purse draped over her shoulder as if to prove it.

“Yeah, but darlin’, didn’t you have that with you when I saw you in the hall earlier?”

“Oh yeah.” She thought in haste. “That was the funny thing. I had it all along.”

Roger leaned forward with his arms on his knees. “You’re a terrible liar.” He started snickering and Chad joined in.

Beth shot an accusatory look in his direction, but he just shrugged. “He heard us.”

Roger added, “You better never play poker.” This set them off in another peal of laughter.

She could feel the heat rise in her cheeks, which only served to make her madder. With a hard stare, she growled, “Get me a beer, asshole.”

“Oooh. You’re sexy when you’re mad,” he retorted, opening up the cooler and handing her a bottle.

Chad grabbed Beth as she walked over and pulled her into his lap. “Just ignore him.”

But Roger wasn’t finished having fun. “So how did you get your hair dry so fast?”

She looked at him evenly. “Blow-dryer.” She took a pull on her beer, never breaking eye contact.

Keith’s figure suddenly filled the doorway. “He-ey. What’s going on, dude?”

Roger eyed Beth mischievously. Chad shot him a warning glance, which he appeared to ignore. He waited a beat.

She slowly stood up and sauntered over behind him, bending down to whisper in his ear, “I have a beer and I know how to use it.”

“M-
mmm,” Roger hummed, appearing thrilled at the sound of her voice so close to his ear. He craned his neck to peer up at her. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?”

He eyed her, seeming to gauge her level of seriousness, then turned to Keith with finality. “Nothing. Nothing’s going on in here, man.”

“I get it, dude...”

“WHAT HAPPENS IN THE DRESSING ROOM, STAYS IN THE DRESSING ROOM,” they all said at once.

“That’s cool, dude.”

“You guys are scary,” Beth commented with a shake of her head.

David stuck his head in the room. “Ready?”