Chapter 3
3
ALLY
O kay, now I’d officially lost it. I’d gone around the bend. I, Ally Landis, had invited myself to spend the night with a hunky country star turned reclusive mountain man.
I blamed it on him. When I walked up to his gate, I still had some of my wits about me. This dude was scrambling my brainwaves and melting my heart in the process.
“I’m a virgin,” I blurted.
I didn’t think he could look any more surprised, but of course that announcement widened his eyes even farther. No, I wasn’t some groupie who was throwing herself at him. It had absolutely nothing to do with his fame, his money, or his music.
Well, maybe his music had a little to do with it. It was impossible to forget some of the romantic love ballads he’d written. But it wasn’t like I was a fan or anything. Sitting across from him now, though, it occurred to me that beneath that steely exterior lay the man who wrote “You Have My Heart.”
“So you’re offering to sleep in my bed?” he asked.
Was it my imagination, or had the bulge in his jeans grown more pronounced in the past minute or so? Yes, it was definitely bigger. Was I doing that to him?
“Sure.”
“Am I allowed to be in the bed with you?” he asked. “Or are you just graciously offering to let me sleep on the couch?”
“I wouldn’t make you sleep on the couch in your own house,” I said. “I’m offering to share your bed. Naked.”
Yes, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense to lose my virginity to the hottest man I’d ever seen. A man who was now famous enough that most of the country knew his name, even if they were completely clueless about country music.
“You just met me,” he said. “You don’t know anything about me.”
Oh, crap. I knew plenty about him, as did everyone else. I knew he had commitment issues and could be a downright dick when it came to the women he dated.
The weird thing was I didn’t see signs of any of that when I looked at him. There was kindness in his expression. But maybe that was how he operated. Maybe he love-bombed the women he was with, then turned on them quickly. Guys did that sort of thing—or so I’d heard.
But sticking around tonight would serve two purposes. I’d have the best story ever for my first time, and it would keep me in his house longer. In fact, in the morning I could snap a picture of him while he was sleeping, then I’d sneak out, hop in my car, and drive back to the hotel to pack up my stuff and get the hell out of town. He’d never know what hit him until the story broke.
“I can’t sleep with you.” He shook his head, then laughed. “I haven’t taken a woman’s virginity since I was a virgin myself.”
That surprised me, but I wasn’t sure why. I figured this guy slept with all kinds of women. Wasn’t that what single, mega-famous dudes did? There had to be a virgin or two on his long list of groupies.
“How do you know?” I asked.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “How do I know what?”
“That you haven’t slept with a virgin. Plenty of women hide it.”
“There’s no hiding it,” he said. “Guys can tell. You can feel that membrane.”
“That whole hymen thing is a myth,” I said. “It exists, but a tampon can break it.”
He winced. “Good to know. Still, a guy can tell.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Then show me.”
Man, I was daring. This wasn’t like me at all. My friends would be shocked if they saw me acting like this. I was the one who insisted on holding out for a guy who truly deserved my innocence. Yet here I was, offering it up to a guy I barely knew. A guy who was well known to be a playboy.
“Show me how you can tell I’m a virgin,” I said in case he didn’t understand what I’d meant.
I set the water on the coffee table and stood, reaching for the fastening of my jeans. Adrenaline surged through me as I saw the look in his eyes. He wanted me. This guy with the soulful eyes and rock-hard body wanted me , Ally Landis.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I unzipped and shoved down my jeans, stepping out of them before unbuttoning my blouse. Through it all, he kept his eyes on my face, but that bulge was getting even more pronounced.
I stopped short of removing my bra and panties. I couldn’t bring myself to stand in front of him completely naked.
Seconds ticked by with nothing happening. Then suddenly he stood, reaching for the hem of his T-shirt and lifting it over his head.
As he worked on removing his jeans, I couldn’t take my eyes off his torso. Dude was cut . Had he always looked like that, or had he been working on it since moving up here to hide from everyone?
“What happens next?” I asked once he stood wearing only a pair of briefs.
“Now you get that hot body over here so I can kiss you,” he said.
Those words went straight to my core. I squeezed my legs together as I tried to find the courage to take that first step forward.
Once I did, he moved too. We met halfway, my socked feet cushioned by the thick rug. As his arms went around me, a sigh escaped my lips. The moment was so perfect, it was almost overwhelming.
He didn’t kiss me right away. Instead, he held me, looking down at me with a desire like nothing I’d ever seen. Did he look at every woman like that before kissing them? If so, I could see how he’d broken so many hearts.
I wasn’t going to fall for this guy. I wasn’t going to fall for this guy. I wasn’t?—
His head lowered, his lips finally touching mine. As his tongue separated my lips, I couldn’t stop the moan that escaped.
That seemed to push things to the next level. He deepened the kiss as his fingers worked my bra strap, easily unfastening it. As it fell to our feet, I rose on tiptoe and pressed my chest to his.
This time, he was the one who moaned. And then he ended the kiss and stepped back. For a heart-dropping second, I was sure he was about to end this—that he’d had a change of heart.
But instead, he took my hand and started walking. I wasn’t sure where we were going, but I’d follow him anywhere at this point.