Country gold, p.17
Country Gold, page 17
“Sit with us,” Kit said, and gestured to Mrs. Wilder and Sir Clint. “This is Clint. I’m not kidding. Clint.”
“We’ve met,” Luke said as he took a seat across from Kit.
“How are you, son?” Sir Clint asked. “Did you try the blueberry scones as I advised?”
“I did. You weren’t lying.” He grinned.
“We were just discussing our day,” Mrs. Wilder said.
Kit sighed loudly and tossed her cloth napkin on the table. “I’d be thrilled to plan my day, but first I need to find a room.”
“Kit—” Mrs. Wilder began.
“You don’t have a room?” Luke said.
“I’m staying with Sabrina, but hoo boy my daughter is messy. And besides, we’re both a bit of a clotheshorse so I need some more room.”
“Apparently you’re the cause of zero vacancy,” Clint said. “My congratulations to you.”
“We appreciate your staying here.” Mrs. Wilder added.
“It’s not a problem.” Luke leaned back in his chair, trying to gracefully accept all the gratitude he didn’t deserve. He’d come for Lexi but if he’d been able to help the B&B in the process, it was extra.
“Yes, thank you, Luke,” Kit said as almost an afterthought. “It’s just what the B&B needed. I had no idea we were struggling so much.”
Luke noted the “we” though he had the distinct impression that Kit had never been much involved much with the Wilder Sisters B&B.
“Have to admit,” Luke said, daring to look past his tablemates, and finding too many open-mouthed looks in his direction. “It’s a little…distracting.”
“Yes,” Kit said. “You all never stopped to think of what this might do to Luke’s creative well. Too many fans insisting on his attention when he should be writing.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” Mrs. Wilder, the kindest woman Luke had ever met, said. “I’m sure we didn’t mean—”
“Don’t worry. I’m hanging out in my room, mostly,” Luke said. “And getting a lot of writing done.”
“Which room is that?” Kit asked.
“The…pink one.”
Kit laughed. “The Mermaid Room. My favorite. How on earth did you wind up in there?”
“I understand he got moved when he extended his stay because the Captain’s Room had been booked in advance,” Mrs. Wilder said.
Luke nodded, remembering fondly how he’d stayed not just because he wanted to, but because Lexi admitted she needed him. “That’s right.”
“The Mermaid Room is hardly the right room for you,” Kit said. “Maybe we could move you.”
“He’s already been moved once,” Mrs. Wilder said. “I’d hate to do that to him. Besides, we’re booked now. It’s the reason you can’t have a room.”
“Yes, you’re right. You’re right. What to do? What to do?” Kit put her chin in her hand and looked wistfully to the crashing waves in the distance.
He knew exactly what she wanted. “You can have my room, Kit.”
“What?” Mrs. Wilder said.
“Son—” Clint started.
“I’ll still pay for it. I don’t mean that,” Luke said. This was one way he could help financially, and Lexi would be none the wiser. “Truth is the pink isn’t my thing.”
“But where will you stay?” Mrs. Wilder said. “Somewhere in town?”
“I’ll figure something out. Maybe I’ll camp out on the beach.” At Mrs. Wilder’s horrified expression, he added, “Kidding.”
“I don’t want to put you out,” Kit said.
She did, but no matter. “No problem.”
“If you insist,” Kit said, ending the discussion. “That’s kind of you.”
“Yes, it is,” Clint said. “You’re a gentleman.”
Yeah, he was such a great guy. He had to agree. Had just managed to get himself kicked out of the only room available, so that now he’d have to stay with Lexi. Too bad. A few minutes and some small talk later, Mrs. Wilder and Clint excused themselves. They had plans for the day. Kit, of course, stayed. Luke was not surprised.
Sabrina approached from a table where she’d been chatting with guests and refreshing their coffee. “Good morning, two of my favorite people. Coffee?”
“No, thanks.” Luke covered his mug. “I’m good.”
“Yes, honey. Thanks. You look so pretty today,” Kit said, beaming.
“Thanks, Momma. I haven’t worn this old thing in ages.” Sabrina poured coffee and turned to stage whisper to Luke. “You’re biggest fan is at the table behind us. Two from that, is your next biggest fan. And three from that, watch your step. Shark territory and infested waters.”
“Good to know.” Once again, the Wilder sisters all had his back. His second family.
Once Sabrina was off, Kit turned to Luke, all pretense dropped. He could see it in her crazy-chick eyes. She was three-fourths of the way to her Grand Plan, coming in hot. And he was going to help her.
“Can I be honest?” Kit said.
“Yep.”
“Whether you and Lexi reconcile or not, I think you and I both agree that she belongs back in Nashville. On the road and in a recording studio. Singing, performing, and writing songs. Not running a B&B.”
“Agreed.”
“So…I can count on you? To put in a good word with the powers that be, to get Lexi back on track with her music?”
He leaned back in his seat. “Kit, far as I’m concerned, I’ll take her back to Nashville with me, kicking and screaming all the way. It just would be much better if she agreed it’s where she belongs. It would make for an easier plane ride. Kidding about the kicking and screaming, of course.”
She winked. “Sounds like we both have our work cut out for us.”
While he didn’t necessarily like having Kit for a partner, he worked with what he had. Always had. He, more than most people, understood that partnerships were at times formed out of mutual need more than respect. But he did respect Kit, first and foremost, because say whatever else you could say about her (and there was plenty he could say, much of it not nice) she loved her daughters. Wanted the best for them. She loved Lexi. He loved Lexi.
They had a common purpose.
Bringing her home.
Chapter 18
“You can’t always control who walks into your life, but you can control which window you throw them out of.” ~ Meme
At the end of the day, Lexi only wanted a guitar in her arms. The song with Luke had fired her up. She’d spent the rest of her day making up songs while she worked. Songs about colorful towels. Songs about blue sheets. A song about Olga and Tony, which caused the cook to laugh at Lexi in delight. There were songs about some of the most interesting guests at the B&B. She imagined that an older couple she’d spied walking along the beach during her break had a long history. They’d come to the B&B to re-awaken what they’d had once. It was their last chance. That song she’d titled, Last Chance Hotel, but it was too short.
It was as if she was twelve again, writing songs on the way to school and singing them to her sisters in the evening. Either way, her creativity had definitely been split wide open. None of these songs and lyrics was anything she could use, but at least she was on to something more. Something better. It was exciting to feel the inspiration punching through her spirit again, with actual enjoyment instead of the overwhelming and intense pressure to perform. To sell.
She fairly danced her way to her cottage, but when she opened the door, there was Luke sitting on her couch, playing his Gibson. She stopped in her tracks, simply admiring how wonderful he looked decorating her couch. How nice of him. The muscles of his forearms bunched as his arm worked up and down the neck of the guitar. The smile he slid her was easy. Slow. Sexy.
“Your mom wants the pink room.” His fingers continued through a chord progression. “I let her have it.”
“You…you did?” Her skin tightened with that wonderful feeling of desire and deep affection.
“Yeah, I was a real nice guy. A gentleman, Sir Clint said. That’s high praise coming from him. Imagine me, a gentleman.” He stopped playing and set the guitar to the side.
She was still rooted to her spot by the door, wondering how her mother had managed this feat. The woman had talent, she’d say that. Luke had never been crazy about her, and so he wasn’t likely to indulge her.
“She has an ulterior motive. She just wants us to get back together, so you can help my career. That’s all.”
“Yeah, and I’m okay with it.” He stood.
“But—” She’d been about to say that Kit’s purpose was wrong and self-serving, and that she’d simply tried to use Luke to get what she wanted. She’d never wanted him for Lexi until he’d made such a monumental success of himself. He had to know that. She didn’t want to say it out loud and hurt his feelings.
“Hey, turns out there’s a first time for everything.” He simply stood, hands in the pockets of his faded low-rise jeans, rocking back on his heels. “Your mother and I on the same side.”
Lexi didn’t like Mom using Luke as if she had any right to. And she didn’t like either one of them conspiring together, for whatever purpose they were conspiring together. She would be the one to make the decisions in her life from now on. For years, she’d had no choice. Now she did. This was something she’d need to explain to both her mother and Luke. There would be no more managing Lexi Wilder. She’d manage herself, thank you very much.
It didn’t change the fact that he made her bones liquid just by giving her a simple crooked smile.
“Lex?” he said, cocking his head. “You still with me?”
Something loosened inside. Something crazy. Irrational and yeah, just a little buck wild. She took two steps and launched herself into his arms. Fortunately, he’d braced for her the moment he’d seen her coming and caught her easily. He had one arm tight around her waist, and lowered the other one to her butt.
She buried her face in his neck, taking in a long deep breath of his earthy, beachy, and one hundred percent male scent. “Here I am.”
“Here you are, baby.” His lips trailed a line of wet, hot kisses down her neck as he moved through the French doors to the bedroom.
He threw her on the bed and began divesting her of her clothes quicker than she’d believed possible. Shirt, bra, jeans, and panties took flight. Then again, he was always a bit of a magician that way. She helped pull his shirt off, and the rest followed. Quickly. They both worked fast, their breaths coming shallow and ragged. She wasn’t interested in tender and slow. He seemed to agree this time, his kisses coming faster, deeper, and more desperate. For her part, she clawed at his back, trying to pull him closer.
They’d used protection for years, but she didn’t think about it now as Luke moved swiftly inside her with one powerful thrust. Then, he moved fast, his strokes steady and deeper each time. Lexi threw her head back as the intense pressure rose inside of her. When Luke hooked his arm under her knee and pulled up, he went deeper still. She lost her mind, grazing her teeth along his shoulder. Coming closer and closer to that peak where she’d lose herself. Where she didn’t know where she ended, and he began.
The pulsating waves of pressure built deep inside her, pressing down and radiating through her body. Spreading like wildfire in her blood. When she couldn’t contain it any longer, she cried out, her body shaking and convulsing. He followed her a moment later, and by the way he did, she could tell he’d been holding back and simply waiting for her. Even here, even when it was fast, he always took care of her.
“Baby,” Luke groaned into her mouth. “Are you trying to kill me?”
Breaths still coming slow and thin, Lexi framed his face. “Did... I… tell you that I missed you?”
His lips twitched. “No, but I think you just did.”
“Right. Boy, did I miss you.”
“Right back at ya.” He rolled on his back, taking her with him and tucking her into his side. “You won’t have to miss me again. If you come with me to Nashville.”
And there it was. Her body became one tight coil, and she moved, trying to pull away from him. But he only tightened his hold.
“We said no promises.”
“You said that. I didn’t.” He buried his face in her hair, and she heard his somewhat muffled voice. “I have only one promise to make. Never take you for granted again.”
“Luke—”
“No, don’t argue with me. I love you, and I always thought I’d have you by my side. It was a mistake to assume that.”
She felt the fresh salty wetness of tears. It was too soon to think about all this. She’d wanted to enjoy his last week here with him without thoughts of wondering what would happen when he left. How she’d feel when he left. Life was too short, and there was plenty of time to be sad and depressed.
Such as after he left, and she stayed.
When she didn’t respond but simply sniffled into his neck, he pulled her back by the nape of her neck. “Can you tell me you don’t love me anymore?”
In all honesty, she couldn’t say those words. If she did, she’d be lying. She might get away with that for a short time, but to what end? He’d see right through her.
“I…can’t say that.”
His lopsided grin took that in for a minute. “So, you love me?”
“I do, you idiot.” She finger-thumped his chest. “But it’s not that easy. I’ve started a life here. My sisters are here, and they need me. Especially Sabrina. Gran needs me, and the B&B needs me.”
“And I need you.”
Her heart tugged at the romance behind those four words. “But you’re a big guy, and you’ll be alright without me.”
“No, I won’t.” His hands tightened around her.
“There’s always…long distance.” But she knew that would never work. It hadn’t worked.
“We already tried that.”
She sighed because he was right. With the pressures of fame and the road, of Nashville and all its many intricacies, being apart wouldn’t work. Not for long.
“I don’t want to talk about it now.” She nestled further into his arms, lowering her head to kiss one solid pec. “There are other things we could be doing, and we’re wasting time.”
He chuckled, then in one swift move pinned her under him. “Tell me again.”
Of course, she knew exactly what he wanted to hear. But giving it to him immediately would be far too easy. Did she mention how much she loved teasing him? “I said there are other things we could be doing.”
“Yeah, not that.” He pressed into her. “Tell me.”
“We’re wasting time?” She batted her eyelashes.
“Try again.” He gazed at her from underneath his lashes. “Tell me.”
Because she’d tortured him enough in the past week, she threaded her fingers around his neck and tugged him close enough to share a single breath. “I love you, Luke.”
“Yeah?” He smiled with satisfaction, dark eyes shimmering. “I know it. Love you too, baby.”
And for the next few hours, he proceeded to show it…very well.
Chapter 19
“The only kind of exercise I get is jumping to conclusions.”~ Meme
The next few days passed in a haze of sex, music, work, and also more sex, with occasional breaks for sleeping, eating, and sex. Lexi spent her nights with Luke and her days trying to get something else done. Luke was still writing, doing phone interviews with Nashville and local radio stations, and any press he could manage long distance. She was still folding towels and sheets while writing songs, visiting Olga in the kitchen and Jessie in the office. And mostly avoiding Mom, who was spending her time taking care of Sabrina, taking her away from what little she did do around here.
Soon enough, Lexi would have to think about Luke going back to Nashville, but for now she simply refused to contemplate it. This was easy enough to do since every time she thought of him leaving, her throat closed up. A pebble that was much more like a boulder lodged in her throat. She’d chosen instead to simply enjoy him. Enjoy the way he made such male sounds, his voice rough and rumbling in her ear talking dirty. His beard, a delectable combination of rough and soft on every part of her naked and exposed body. She enjoyed the tightness in his shoulders when he worked to hold back his own orgasm longer. When he told her he loved her over and over again. When he crawled up her body.
Lexi was simply grateful that her mother had stayed out of her and Luke’s way and hadn’t pressed her about leaving for Nashville with him. Lexi was in a tough enough position without the added stress from Mom. Half of Lexi couldn’t see staying in Whistle Cove without Luke. The other half couldn’t see leaving her sisters behind.
For so long, they’d been the three musketeers. Just the three of them, holding each other up and having each other’s backs. How could she have their backs all the way from Nashville? How could she possibly have a career without Sabrina and Jessie at her side? Even if Sabrina had given Lexi the green light to go ahead, that wouldn’t make this any easier. Jessie would be fine because she enjoyed her work at the B&B, was good at it, and never had the same passion for music that Sabrina and Lexi did. But Sabrina. She’d never be able to work at the B&B long-term. It would be like trapping a firefly under a basket.
Lexi had to fix that and so many other things. And as Luke frequently reminded her, she had to think of him, too, because that’s what people who loved each other did. And she did love him. Too much sometimes. She was pretty sure he’d disagree there was such a thing as loving him too much, but what could she call it when she’d almost be willing to give up her own happiness for his? Too much love, that’s what.
She was on her way to the weekly meeting with Jessie when she overheard her saying, “Enjoy your stay.”
“I’m sure I will,” a man said with a deep southern drawl.
