Finally free, p.13
Finally Free, page 13
I could tell she wanted to protest, argue with me, maybe even tell me for the hundredth time how she didn’t have relationships, but I didn’t move my finger until finally, slowly, she nodded.
“Right here?” I asked. “Right now?”
Darla nodded again, and I kissed her—long, slow, and sensual. Her tongue wrapped around mine, all sweetness as she melted into me.
I could kiss Blaze forever and never tire of it. More than that, I wanted to kiss him forever.
That should scare the hell out of me. It should have me running out his front door, wearing nothing but his T-shirt that smelled deliciously like him. It should be enough for me to push him away, end this kiss and this…whatever it was we were doing.
But I didn’t. More than that, I didn’t want to.
No. I wanted to pull him closer, sink deeper into the kiss that was warming me from the inside. I wanted to wrap my legs around his waist and lock him in tight to me.
I wanted him.
But not just his mouth on mine or his cock buried deep inside me—although I very much wanted that, too. It was more than that. I wanted the playful banter between us. I wanted the flirty yoga sessions. I wanted romantic picnics in the middle of the mountains where he told me things he’d never told anyone before. I wanted the side of him that the public didn’t get to see. And I wanted to give him a side of me I’d never given anyone.
While he had his hands pressed on the marble countertop on either side of me, caging me into him, his mouth on mine, taking the kisses he wanted, pulling the passion out of me with slow strokes of his tongue, the reality of what I really wanted from him hit me hard.
More. I wanted more.
He’d just finished telling me that we could take things moment by moment, but I wasn’t stupid. I knew that’s not what he wanted. He just said that because that’s what he thought I wanted. Hell, it’s what I thought I wanted. Until now. Or maybe it was earlier. Or maybe it had been building. Or maybe…no. I wouldn’t admit that my friends had been right about anything. But…something definitely had shifted. And I liked it.
The sharp ring of a cell phone startled us from our kiss. “Ignore it,” Blaze murmured as his hands moved to my bare thighs.
“Gladly.” I threaded my hands through his hair and tugged him into me.
Eventually, my phone went quiet.
A moment later, Blaze’s phone vibrated on the countertop, followed by a loud blaring.
“Is that your ringtone?” I asked with a laugh as I pulled away. “It’s…”
“Offensive?” Blaze laughed. “It is.”
“You better check it,” I said. “Someone’s obviously trying to get a hold of us.”
Blaze groaned and reluctantly picked up his phone. “It’s Trent.” He looked up at me, his eyes wide. “Oh shit. The party—dammit. What time is it?”
Before I could answer, he pressed the button on his phone and answered the call. “Trent? I’m so—yeah. You tried texting?” Blaze pulled his phone away from his ear, scrolled through and grimaced before putting it back to his ear. “Sorry, man. And you tried Darla, too?” His eyes met mine, and I tried not to grin. “Yes,” he said into the phone. “I’ll be there. You know I will. Thirty minutes?”
Blaze looked at me with a question. I nodded, unsure of what I was agreeing to.
“We’ll be there.” There was a silence, and Blaze shook his head before adding, “Yes. We.”
When he ended the call, Blaze scrubbed a hand over his face and looked at me, his eyes full of apology. “I totally forgot. It’s that corporate thing that Trent asked me to do.”
“Is that tonight?” I looked around, as if a calendar might miraculously appear. “What day is it?”
I’d completely forgotten about Trent’s function, too. Not that I’d planned to go. Those fancy functions weren’t really my scene, even if they were going to be a benefit to the charity or program I was involved with. Trent had asked Blaze to sign some autographs and take photos at the club for some of their biggest vendors, and his development company would make a donation toward the treatment program. It was a great opportunity for exposure, and of course, Blaze had agreed.
“I can’t believe I forgot.” Blaze groaned. “What I really want to do is stay here and—”
“I’ll come with you.”
“You will?”
Normally, the last thing I would want to do is dress up, put makeup and high heels on, and go to a stuffy charity event, but at the moment, nothing was normal.
“You did tell him I’d be there, didn’t you?” I tilted my head and grinned.
“I did, but—”
“I’d love nothing more than to accompany you. But only if you promise me a dance.”
Blaze answered me with a deep kiss that threatened to make us even later than we already were.
Chapter Twelve
After two quick showers—I used the guest room because there was no way I’d be able to see a wet, soapy Darla and not want to fuck her against the tile wall, and considering we were already late, that was a particular activity that would have to wait for later—we stopped quickly at her house so she could change and do her hair.
I was used to high-maintenance celebrity women who needed an entire team to achieve less than what Darla accomplished in less than ten minutes. When she appeared on her doorstep wearing a fitted cream-colored dress that hugged all of her curves in a way that not even her spandex yoga outfit had accomplished, with her sandy blonde hair piled elegantly on top of her head, and just the slightest touch of makeup on her face, she took my breath away completely.
“You are absolutely stunning.” I kissed her chastely on the cheek because what I really wanted to do was scoop her up, take her back inside, and devour her body with mine.
Again.
It would have to wait.
Ten minutes later, we were walking arm in arm into the Aspen Valley Country Club. To my surprise, there were no cameras or paparazzi waiting outside the club. Trent had promised to keep things low-key, and I knew he wasn’t likely to alert any of the press. But after being spotted at the cafe the day before—had that already been twenty-four hours ago—I wouldn’t be surprised to see them within a day or two. I’d completely lost track of time with Darla. Not that I was complaining. I would have very happily stayed locked away in my house, exploring every single inch of her over and over.
With a shake of my head, I cleared those thoughts before they could take me down a dangerous path that would make me toss her over my shoulder and turn right around.
“Thank you for agreeing to this,” Blaze said. “I should warn you, I’m going to have to—”
“Blaze! There you are.” Trent appeared. “Darla. You look fantastic.” He kissed her on the cheek, shot me a quick look, and then turned his attention back to why we were there. “Sorry, Darla. I need to steal him away for a while. He’s late.”
“So I hear.” She grinned and slid her arm out of mine.
I missed the feel of her at once.
“Go do what you need to do. I’ll go find…”
“Britt is inside.”
“Perfect.” She smiled and was about to disappear when I reached for her hand and pulled her close for a quick kiss.
“I’ll come to find you for that dance as soon as I can get away.”
She let her lips graze my ear as she whispered, “I’ll be waiting.”
My body thrummed with the promise of later and what this woman did to me. I watched, completely mesmerized by her, as she walked away from me into the ballroom, only breaking my focus when Trent punched me in the arm.
“You’re going to have to fill me in on those details later.” He chuckled. “But for now, let’s go, man. I’ve held them off long enough. Your public is waiting.”
“Well, I was definitely not expecting to see you here tonight.”
Brittany didn’t even bother to hide the smile on her face as I walked up to join her.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said. “I was very happy when Trent told me that you were with Blaze and would be joining us tonight after all. Especially the part where you were with Blaze. I mean, obviously, I’m happy you’re here, too,” she added as an afterthought. “But you were with Blaze.” She wiggled her perfectly manicured eyebrows. “That is really good.”
It was really good. If she only knew just how good it was, she would lose her shit. And probably drag me to the bathroom to video call all of our friends. Brittany could be pretty composed most of the time, but I knew there were certain things that would wind her up. And this situation would be one of them.
Part of me wanted to tell my friend everything, including how Blaze made me feel inside when he looked at me as if I were the only woman in the entire world. And when he held me in his arms, and I could close my eyes and feel totally and completely safe and cared for. And how when we hadn’t been having incredible sex, we’d talked about every single thing that popped into our minds. Nothing was off-limits, especially the things that mattered. And that I’d never been able to talk to anyone else like that before, except maybe my best friends. But never a man.
I wanted to confess to Brittany all the ways that Blaze made my body feel when he touched me. How, despite the fact that I’d had many lovers, I’d never had one like Blaze. Like he’d always known me, or that my body was made for him and mine for his. That we could light each other up with only the slightest touch. That made every inch of my body respond as if it were on fire.
I looked at my best friend and for a moment, I considered telling her all of those things and more. But it wasn’t the right time. A charity event surrounded by Aspen Valley’s finest, or at least, wealthiest, was probably not the right place to confess such things to her. Besides, could I really tell her things I didn’t fully understand myself?
Instead, I ordered a drink from a passing waiter and casually turned around to face the room of people and said, “This is quite the shindig.” Despite my own business standing in the community, I didn’t usually go to these events. They were definitely more Abby and Brittany’s scene, whether they liked them or not. More and more, Jessie was also making appearances at formal events with Shane, but neither of them felt comfortable and often begged off, or made some excuse to get them out of it.
“It’s a pretty good turnout.” Brittany came to stand next to me. “It really is nice to see a friendly face,” she added. “Even if I am super surprised to see you.”
I grinned at her. “Something swayed my decision.”
“Something, or someone?” She laughed.
I wiggled my eyebrows in response and let my eyes travel across the room to where Blaze was holding court with the circle of fans, who were very obviously pleased he’d finally arrived. He happily smiled and made conversation while posing for various selfies and photos, all the while looking every bit the humble celebrity, and not at all like a man who was entitled to his fame. Not that it surprised me. Now that I knew him better, I would expect nothing less. He was genuinely a kind, caring man.
“He’s so good,” I said to no one in particular. “It’s no wonder people love him.”
What I didn’t say was that, maybe, I might even be starting to develop feelings that resembled love myself.
Who was I kidding? There were definitely some feelings of love. At least, maybe the way I expected love might feel.
For the first time in my life, it occurred to me that I’d never once been in love. I was forty-one years old and I’d been with dozens of men. I’d always had a good time, enjoying their company on my own terms. I’d worked hard to design my life so that I would enjoy every single day of it. But I’ve never, not one time, been in love.
And not until that very moment, standing in a ballroom full of people, watching Blaze from across the crowd, did I ever think for one second I might be missing out on something special. But now…
The waiter arrived with my drink, pulling me from my thoughts. I took a tentative sip, letting the liquid warm my throat, and turned back to my friend.
“So,” Brittany said, “are you going to tell me what’s going on? Or should I just fill in the blanks on my own? Because I think I have a pretty good idea of what’s happening. Or at the very least, my version of things would be—”
“I’d love to tell you, Britt.” I stopped her. “But the truth is, I don’t really know what to say.”
“You can start by saying that maybe we were right.” Brittany’s red-painted lips curled into a huge smile.
She wasn’t wrong. In fact, as much as I hated to admit it, I knew my friends were right. Would I feel this about Blaze if I’d taken him to bed the first night I’d met him? There was no way to know for sure, but I was pretty sure I wouldn’t. I could have acted on my physical attraction with Blaze the same way I always did with men. But I didn’t.
I didn’t.
In fact, it hadn’t been my friends who had encouraged me to put him off at first. I’d done that all on my own. And not because I didn’t think he was intriguing or sexy as hell or that I wouldn’t have a great time with him. Because I did. But, no…I’d put him off for some other reason, and I hadn’t even realized it. Those first few times I’d enjoyed flirting with him, but I’d always made it clear that I didn’t date celebrities. But that wasn’t true. Not at all.
It wasn’t until now that I’d even noticed something else had held me back from following my usual pattern.
“It looks like you’re thinking about something,” Brittany said. “Spill.”
I took a slow, thoughtful sip of my whiskey before putting it on the table in front of me and asking, “Do you think it’s possible that something inside me has known all along that Blaze is different? That maybe my subconscious, or a spiritual guide, or something bigger was at play, keeping me from ruining what could be something very special? Because I’m starting to think so.” I quickly tried to explain to Brittany what had just popped into my mind.
Maybe it wasn’t just the pact that had helped me see past my usual patterns when it came to Blaze, but something more. I knew she didn’t believe in the spiritual world the same way I did, and I didn’t care. Because whether it was true or not, it didn’t really matter. What mattered was that despite myself, I really did have actual feelings for Blaze. And I didn’t care what he said about taking it slow, for our relationship not having to be anything more than what it was. He’d said that for my benefit, but I knew in my heart that I wanted more.
Brittany and I spent the next few minutes talking. I brushed over some of the juicier details as I filled her in on the yoga class, subsequently going back to his house where time had slipped away, and finishing the story at pancakes, which brought us up to speed.
“I’d be lying if I said I was surprised,” Brittany said. “But also…I am surprised.” She laughed at herself. “But either way, I’m really fucking happy for you, Darla. You’re glowing, and I think the man we have to thank for that is on his way over here to see you now.” She lifted a manicured eyebrow.
I turned and put my back to the table to watch as Blaze began to make his way across the ballroom toward me. As he moved, people stopped him to shake his hand and say hello, take photos, and just generally bask in his celebrity. His progress across the room was painfully slow, but I wasn’t in a hurry. And the entire time, his eyes constantly returned to mine, holding them with a heat that made every cell in my body vibrate with anticipation of his touch.
Finally, he was in front of me, holding out his hand. “How about that dance?”
A wave of warmth flowed through me, and I couldn’t contain my smile as I took his hand. “I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”
Blaze pulled me close instead of taking me to the dance floor first and murmured in my ear, “I can think of a few things I’d rather do.” He pressed a cheeky kiss to the sensitive skin beneath my ear. “But this will have to do for now.”
Before I could respond, Blaze spun me around and onto the dance floor.
“You surprise me.” I laughed. “After seeing you do yoga, I wouldn’t have expected you to have such slick moves.”
“Oh yeah?” Blaze moved me easily so we were momentarily eye to eye. “I don’t know about that,” he said with a wicked little grin. “I think I showed you some pretty slick moves last night and then again the next day and then—”
“You’re not wrong.” Shivers rippled through me and straight between my legs.
“I didn’t think so.” Blaze easily spun me out and quickly back in, where he held me close. “I want to kiss you very badly right now.” His voice was deep, husky, and full of a need that matched my own.
I didn’t see any problem with that plan and moved in closer to press my body to his, but he held back. Full of questions, I looked into Blaze’s eyes.
“Muffin, there are a lot of people watching us right now.” His voice held a warning. “And a lot of camera phones.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
Something I couldn’t quite decipher crossed his face. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again with a slight shake of his head. “Not to me,” he finally said. “But I meant what I said earlier. This doesn’t have to be—”
I silenced him by pressing my lips to his. Because the very last thing I wanted to hear from his mouth again was how we didn’t have to be anything serious or put any labels on what we were doing together, or any other version of bullshit that he would say only because he thought it was what I wanted to hear. The truth was, the only thing I wanted to hear was the sexy groan that slipped from his throat when I reached up to thread my fingers through his hair.
Darla had no idea what she’d just done. Or maybe she did. But either way, I didn’t give a fuck. I knew with one hundred percent certainty that pictures and videos of us on the dance floor would be all over the internet within a matter of minutes. The fact that the girl from the coffee shop hadn’t sold the photo of the two of us together, or leaked my whereabouts to the press, was a miracle in itself.
