Chapter 23
Avery couldn’t believeShane was at the bar. It couldn’t be a coincidence. She tried to ask Lauren if she had posted on social media, but then a guy with tattoos and long hair approached them and Lauren just about fainted. It turned out he was the drummer for Annie Oakley, a country band. Lauren was drooling and they had to move further off the dance floor because people were starting to ask Michael if they could take selfies with him.
Lauren had told her when they’d arrived that her boyfriend of a few months had just broken up with her via text, so Avery was happy for her she was getting a distraction as cool as meeting one of her country music crushes.
But she’d already had two beers herself and Shane being there was just… tempting. She was worried she might do something stupid.
It wouldn’t be fair to ruin Lauren’s fun. She would just be polite, talk, have another beer, and try her best not to stare at Shane and think he was the hottest man in the bar. Michael was friendly and he seemed to know about her meeting with Jolene, so she figured Shane had mentioned it. She tried to stay by Michael, asking him questions and chatting, but Lauren kept stealthily edging her out of the conversation to snag Michael’s full attention. It was clear she was completely and totally in lust with the drummer.
The least Avery could do was let her have a breathless flirt fest.
That left her with Shane, who had returned to the bar. She sipped her beer and looked at him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. He smiled at her, that easygoing, charming smile he wore so frequently.
“Would you be mad at me if I said you look beautiful right now?”
“Yes.” Which was such a lie. She wanted to hear him say sweet things to her, at the same time she knew it was so dangerous. Her attraction to him was too great to remain aloof, and she didn’t trust herself not to melt like butter when he turned those sultry eyes on her like he was now.
“Then I won’t say it.”
“Did you know I was going to be here?”
“No, this is actually a coincidence, I swear.” He held his hands up.
A girl jostled her and her beer sloshed onto her chest. She gave a startled cry. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was unexpected and cold.
Shane reached out and wiped at her sleeve with his hand. “Got it.” His eyes were dark as he looked down at her, and she could see that he remembered, just like she did, what it had felt like to have his hands caressing her bare skin.
Just the mere act of him touching her arm made her breasts heavy, her nipples tight, her inner thighs ache. Damn it. She turned to Lauren for help, but her friend was doing a shot with Michael. That looked like something Avery wanted no part of, so she quickly pulled away, excusing herself to go to the ladies’ room.
She was afraid she was going to cry. She could feel the tears pressing hard, relentless. The office gossip had been too much. She was vulnerable and she had wanted to release tension, not spend the night evading the source of that tension. That sexual tension was too much on top of worrying about her co-workers and their opinions all week.
Lauren was right. She needed to toughen up.
Instead of going to the restroom she bolted out the front door of the bar and leaned against the brick wall, breathing deeply the cool night air. The bouncer at the door gave her a curious look but didn’t say anything. It was too hot inside, too many bodies. The music was too loud. She sighed and pressed at her stomach, which was churning.
She was debating texting Lauren that she couldn’t go back in when Lauren came out, laughing, arm looped through Michael’s. “Hey, there you are! Shane said you were in the ladies’. He’s waiting for you inside.”
“I got hot in there. I needed some air.”
Michael lit a cigarette and offered it to Lauren. She took it and put it to her lips. “We’re going to the place a few doors down. Michael says they have the best whiskey ever there and he knows the bartender.”
Avery wondered how drunk Lauren was. She looked mighty cozy with the drummer. “Okay. I’ll go get Shane. We’ll be there in a minute.” She couldn’t let Lauren go off alone with Michael and do something she might regret.
“Toodles!” Lauren said, giving her a finger wave.
“Does Shane know the place?” Avery asked Michael.
He nodded. “Absolutely.”
“Okay. See you there, then.” She forced herself to go back into the bar. Shane frowned when he spotted her.
“I thought you were in the restroom.”
“I went outside for air. Lauren and Michael just left. I told them I’d get you and we’d meet them there.”
Shane drained his beer and set it down on the bar. “Okay, then.”
When they got outside he looked down at her. “Where did they go?”
“He said the place has the best whiskey ever and he knows the bartender. What does that mean?”
Shane started laughing. “He means his house. He’s taking Lauren home with him.”
“What?” She dug in her purse for her phone. “I don’t think Lauren picked up on that. She might not want to do that.” She found her phone and started texting.
Where are you?
I’m having the best time ever. OMG HE’S SO HOT.
Lauren had already had three Jack and Cokes and then had taken a shot of who knew what with Michael.
Are you sure?
Yes. I’m totally going to fuck his face off.
Okay, then. Avery envied Lauren’s decisiveness. She got another text.
Are you okay to get home? Because I’ll see you Monday with a story to tell.
I’m fine. Have fun! xoxo
Lauren didn’t reply. Avery looked up at Shane. “Is she safe with him?”
Shane nodded. “Yes. He’s a giant flirt but he’s totally harmless. If she’s looking for a good time, he will definitely give it to her.”
“Aren’t you mad he just left you like that?”
“No. We do that to each other all the time. You can’t be sensitive about it.”
Avery knew she was sensitive about everything right now. Very sensitive. For some reason his words rubbed her completely wrong. “Is that just how it goes? Is that what this is?”
“What what is?” Shane tipped her chin up. “You know what this means though. We’re finally alone. It’s about fucking time.”
Her emotions were too raw. She jerked out of his touch.
“You still don’t get it!” she said. “If I get fired, it’s over, Shane. Do you know what they’ve been saying about me at work? I heard people talking. Saying that I sucked your dick in exchange for face time with Jolene. That I’m a shit songwriter who doesn’t deserve to have a song on hold, but that slut beats talent.”
He looked extremely shocked and chagrined. “Wait, what? Are you serious?”
“Yes, I’m dead serious. Unfortunately. I told you this would happen. How do you think Pat is going to feel about this being the dynamic in the office? If she fires me, no other publisher will ever hire me. I won’t be able to pay my rent and what’s the point of staying anyway if I’m untouchable? I’ll end up going home and that’s it.” She threw her hands out in an exaggerated gesture, making an x. “I’m done. End of story. My career over before it even started.”
His face sobered. “Avery. I’m sorry. I’m not trying to upset you. I didn’t know it was this bad for you. I thought—hell, I don’t know what I thought. I thought people would gossip, but people always gossip. I didn’t know it would hurt you like this.”
She was crying, and it mortified her, but she was too upset to get a hold of herself, anxiety clawing at her as the tears ran down her face. “The stakes are huge for me. There’s nothing for you to lose. I have everything to lose. You know I’m attracted to you. I want you, okay? I wish more than anything I could have another night like the first one. Can’t that be enough for you to declare a victory for your male ego and just leave me the hell alone?”
Blame it on the beer or the lack of sleep but the torrent of words just flooded out of her while he stood there, on the sidewalk, watching her, waiting for her to finish. He didn’t interrupt. He didn’t scoff. He didn’t frown. He just waited. Then he nodded his head.
“I never meant to cause you trouble and I don’t want to hurt you. That’s the last thing I want. I just wanted to get to know you, Avery, honestly. That’s what I wanted. I want to be with you.” He reached his hand out and stroked her cheek with the back of his knuckles. “You’re a special woman and I want a relationship.” He dropped his hand, ran it through his hair in frustration. “What I want with you is, well, hell, someone to make love to and to make memories with. You don’t even know how easily I could fall in love with you if you give me any encouragement at all.”
Oh, God. No, damn it, no, why did he have to say that? Why was he looking at her like that? His brown eyes earnest. Honest. Those words could kill her. They made her ache with longing for him.
“Actually, that’s not true,” he said. “I’ve already fallen in love with you.”
Her heart was about to burst out of her chest. Shane Hart was telling her he loved her. “You barely know me,” she whispered, though she had clue why the hell she was trying to talk him out of it. The man loved her. He loved her. It was incredible, it was magical, it was amazing.
“I know you’re the first woman to make me feel like this.” Shane reached out and brushed her hair back. “If everyone already thinks we’re hooking up, why don’t we really give them something to talk about? You and me, together. A couple. Nothing in the shadows, no sneaking around.”
“If I hadn’t been the one to leave that morning, would you have given me your number?” She had no idea why that mattered but she was completely rattled and needed to say something.
“Yes. I was already preparing to ask you out before we fell asleep.” He tapped his chest. “You touched me here, woman, and no one has done that ever. Do you understand? I don’t even need to be involved in the demo for the song if it’s going to complicate things. I can just totally bow out. I’m not Hart-Rivers’ producer. I just wanted to be involved.”
She had wanted him to be involved. She stood there, chest heaving from her outburst and his words, not sure what to do. Suddenly it felt like the most horrible thing in the world to lose the chance to be loved by Shane.
The last few weeks, hell, the last three months of wondering “what if…”, swelled up inside Avery and she didn’t think. She just stepped forward, grabbed Shane by the shirt with her fist and yanked his head to hers. She kissed him hard, grinding her hips against his, throwing her arms around his neck. The last kiss they had shared, after the meeting with Jolene, had felt like they could get caught at any moment. It had been a guilty kiss, fraught with anxiety. This was a kiss without caution. It was hot lips and damp tongues and anxious, aroused breathing. It was grappling and desperate and emotional and she poured her heart into it.
When she broke it off she rocked back on the high-heel boots she’d borrowed from Lauren. “Take me home with you,” she demanded.
His eyes were dark with desire and he rubbed his jaw, his mouth damp from their embrace. If she were him, she would question her sanity, demand answers. But he didn’t. He just nodded. “Whatever you want. Always.”
She was being impulsive. She knew that. But there was no resisting him and what he was offering her. She was pretty darn sure she could fall in love with him too, given half the chance, but right now she just knew she wanted to be alone with him.
“I want you,” she told him.
He didn’t ask her if she were certain. He just said, “My car is down the street.”
Avery shoved her phone back into her purse and started walking in the direction he pointed.