7. Suzie
Suzie
I can’t believe I had sex with Gavin Ross. That thought ran through my mind at least one hundred times after Gavin dropped me off at home the next morning.
He ’d woke n up me , as streaks of red and orange infiltrated his bedroom , with kisses all over my overheated, naked skin. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming until his tongue flicked across my nipple, a move that yanked me from dreamland and right into a real - world fantasyland where Gavin spent endless minutes with his lips on my flesh, bringing me to the brink of ecstasy before pulling back and doing it again.
Then it was my turn to get my lips and tongue and teeth on him. The low grunts and sexy growls when I slid a tongue over his nipples, when I took him deep in my mouth, were sounds that would be etched in my mind for all of eternity. It had been the perfect start to the day.
The part I couldn’t stop thinking about, though, came later, long after we were dressed and I had limped my way up the stairs to my house, with Gavin at my side.
“When can I see you again, Suzie?” He stood in front of me with a sexy little smile on his face, one hand still on my back in support.
I let out a semi-frustrated sigh and shook my head. “You don’t have to pretend that was anything more than one night, Gavin.”
“What? Why does it have to be just one night? And more importantly, why would you want just one night? It was a night worth repeating.”
True, I knew those fantasies would fuel me for weeks, maybe months to come. “Gavin, please.”
“No, I’m serious. Tell me you only want one night, and I promise to give up after a week of trying to change your mind.” He winked and I smiled, because it was impossible not to smile when Gavin was around.
Did I only want one night? Hell no. “It’s not that.”
“Good.” His shoulders relaxed. “Because last night, the whole night, was hot as fuck and I’ve got at least a dozen different ideas of what else I want to do to you, how I want to make you come.”
There was no point pretending this wasn’t what I wanted—it was, and that admission allowed all the tension to flee my shoulders. “Fine, we can see each other again. But not out in public.”
“Ouch.”
“Sorry.” I smiled and put a hand on his shoulder the moment we were inside my house with the door closed. Finally. “It’s not that I’m ashamed—obviously, you’re gorgeous and charming. But when you leave, I don’t want the whole damn town pitying me and thinking that you left me lovelorn.”
“And if I do leave you lovelorn?”
I wouldn’t let that happen. “It’s still my business and mine alone, thank you very much.”
His smile brightened and his eyes lit with surprise. “Agreed. But what about me? What if you leave me lovelorn?”
I laughed. “Unlikely, but thanks for that.”
He shrugged and took a step closer. “You never know, Suzie. You don’t give yourself nearly enough credit.”
Before I could form a protest on my lips, Gavin’s lips were there, sliding against mine while his big, capable musician’s hands slid down my back and gripped my ass to keep me close. The kiss went on and on until I was breathless and panting.
And smiling. “Gavin,” I sighed.
He smiled in return and took a step back, bumping into the door in a rare show of uncertainty. “See you soon, Suzie Q.”
“Wow.” Persy’s husky voice interrupted my thoughts and I blinked to find her standing on the other side of my desk, arms crossed and a knowing smile on her face. “That was some world-class daydreaming going on just now. I wonder if it has anything to do with Gavin Ross dropping you at home this morning?”
Damn. I was hoping that my early morning escort had gone unnoticed, but I should have known word would get out—most of my neighbors were over sixty years old, up at the butt-crack of dawn to water their lawns or keep an eye on things.
“No, it has nothing to do with that. Not how you mean,” I lied to my closest friend with a straight face. “I was trying to run off a platter of nachos and sprained my ankle just outside his cliffside mansion. After a brief trespassing accusation, Gavin was nice enough to help me out.”
“All night?” Persy’s raven eyebrows rose in suspicion. “Was it a twisted ankle or an amputation?”
“Funny.”
“Not a joke, a sincere question.” She closed the door and walked around the desk to take a look at my ankle. “It’s a little swollen and bruised, but not too bad.”
“Gavin had ice packs. And lasagna. And wine,” I admitted for some crazy reason. “Nothing to gossip about.”
Persy looked up with a smile playing on her red lips. “Dinner and an overnight stay with a rock star and there’s nothing to gossip about? Nothing at all?” She stood and leaned on my desk right beside me. “I’m calling bullshit, Suzie. Spill the beans and do it fast, or I’ll march over to Ryan’s place and get him to ask Gavin.”
My eyes rounded in shock. “You wouldn’t.”
“I absolutely will. I love Ryan, but I would also love nothing more than to live vicariously through your love affair with Gavin.”
“Love affair?” I scoffed at that. “He is world famous and crazy rich, what would he want with a small-town hospital administrator?”
“First of all, you live in a small town, but JRMC serves the whole damn county, so don’t downplay your accomplishments. Second, Gavin seems like a man with good taste, and I’ll bet you’re a freak down deep.”
“A freak?” I felt heat spread across my cheeks and put my hands to cover it. “Me?”
“Oh, yeah. Those glasses are a classic misdirect. And that blush? You can’t talk about it, but I’ll bet you get down when you have a man at your naked mercy.”
“Maybe, but that man is not Gavin Ross.”
Her violet eyes stared at me for so long I had to press my heels into the floor to avoid squirming. “I don’t believe you. I’ll get the truth out of you sooner or later.”
She probably would, but if given the choice, I picked later. “Did you come up just for gossip or is there something I can help you with?”
I realized my mistake a moment too late. My annoyed, super-professional tone was a dead giveaway that I was hiding something.
“Not just gossip. Drew. I can’t find him, and I have a consult for a fourteen-year-old football player.”
Oh good, something else to focus on other than my night with Gavin. “I’ll find him and send him your way,” I told Persy, turning to my computer in hopes that she would get the hint.
Finding my brother gave me something to focus on other than my foolish infatuation with a rock star who made my toes curl, but who also made me smile. It was impossible not to want to see him, to do him, again and again. I knew I was being silly and reckless, and I knew I would fall for him before he picked up stakes and ran back to Hollywood.
If I was going to do this—and there was no way I wasn’t going to do this, do him—then I had to be okay with being nothing more than something to do to avoid boredom. I had to resign myself to being a rich rock star’s small-town distraction. Was I okay with it?
Yes. The answer came quickly and surely. I wouldn’t lie to myself about what this was, but I would enjoy every moment I got to spend with the handsome and charming man. I wouldn’t let myself believe it was more than a fling, because when he inevitably left, I wanted to look back on our time together fondly. I wanted to smile at the memories, not cry. I didn’t want to tuck the memories away because they were too painful to relive.
This could be a wonderful vacation for both of us.
No, not could be. It would be.
I’d make sure of it.