30 #2
Too agitated to sit still, Rhett paced around the dressing room after Sara left.
Batshit happy, huh? What if he went batshit crazy?
Worse, what if he had some batshit girl waiting for him?
Oh, Christ, she hadn't thought of that before.
Why did she have to think about it now? But, no, Sara would have said something.
And if there was a girl, Sara would probably arrange for T or Owen, Ross's security guy, to get rid of her.
Yeah, that ought to make Rhys really happy.
First they forge his initials on a backstage pass for the woman who dumped him during a video call, then hustle his current girl out the door. Batshit indeed.
She stopped next to the recliner and picked up the suede jacket. Burying her face in it, she breathed in the scent of dark chocolate and rum, so familiar and so intoxicating. If he rejected her now, she didn't know how she'd be able to stand it.
The sound of voices drawing near sent a jolt of adrenaline zapping through her bloodstream. She picked out the boisterous sound of Ross's laughter, and the slow, honey-infused drawl of Drew's reply. Oh, God, this was it.
She put the jacket back on the chair, and stood frozen, her fingers twisted together so hard it hurt. The rattle of the doorknob seemed as loud as a .336 Weatherby rifle shot.
Rhys stepped into the room, using the ends of the towel draped around his neck to mop up the sweat that still streamed down his face.
Absorbed in his own thoughts, he almost reached the spot where she stood rooted to the floor before he noticed her.
Surprise sharpened his features, and he came to a halt in mid-stride, staring at her like she'd just materialized in a swirl of brimstone.
Everything she wanted to say to him vanished. Gone, like it'd never been there. At a loss, she raised one hand and managed a weak "Hi."
"What...?" Rhys still gave every appearance of a man who'd just had a large ball of snakes flung at his head. He blinked a few times, then ran the towel over his face again before tossing it aside. His mouth opened and closed several times, but apparently his mind was as blank as hers.
If someone didn't say something soon Rhett was afraid they'd still be standing there gaping at each other when security closed the Forum for the night.
Or maybe the cleaning crew would arrive in the morning and have to vacuum around them like a couple of flummoxed sculptures.
They could entitle the tableau "How To Stump A Rock Star. "
Since her carefully scripted words were now part of the ether, she opened her mouth and spoke from the heart.
"I should never have broken up with you. I miss you so much."
Rhys closed the gap between them with two long strides, and his heated hands framed her face. "Christ, Rhett, I miss you, too. I'm sorry about the way I behaved that night."
"I'm sorry I did it. I wanted to call and take it back, but you were so mad at me—”
"I wasn't mad at you," he interrupted. "I was livid at myself. I would have called you back, but I smashed my phone." His fingers tightened in her hair. "I want to hold you so bad."
"I want you to."
He plucked his soaked shirt away from his chest in answer, but Rhett shook her head.
"Do you think that matters to me?" She wound her arms around his waist and pressed against him, unmindful of the sweat that soaked through her shirt. "I just want to feel you next to me."
Without a word he wrapped her in his arms and buried his face her hair. Rhett closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. For the first time since that terrible night in August, she relaxed. All the tension and anxiety that wracked her drained away at the feel of him against her.
Warm fingers lifted her chin, and Rhys pressed soft kisses on her lips.
"You taste so good. I've missed these lips.
" He stopped to kiss her again. "And the way you smell.
That scent has..." Another kiss. "Has haunted....
" The next kiss was longer and deeper. "Haunted my dreams. Jesus, Rhett, I can't stop kissing you. "
"Then don't."
With a groan Rhys took her mouth again in a kiss so full of pent-up heat and passion and longing and desire that Rhett wouldn't have cared if they did stay that way all night. She kissed him back with the same need until he took her by the shoulders and pushed her back a bit.
"All right." He was breathing as hard as he had when he came off the stage. "I'm going to go shower, and then we're getting out of here."
Knees still a little weak, Rhett held onto his forearms to steady herself. "You don't have a Meet and Greet?"
"You think I'd waste my time with that when I could be getting you into a bed? No, we're taking the car directly to Drew's house. That's where I'm staying tonight," he added as her mouth dropped open in surprise.
"No bus this time?"
"Abso-fuckin'-lutely not. We have a jet for this tour.
We all decided we're too old and lazy to be shuttled round the country on a bus.
We don't have to fly out to San Francisco until tomorrow afternoon.
Which means I have all night to show you just how much I've missed you.
" With obvious reluctance he took his hands from her shoulders and stepped back.
"Right. I'll shower and then we'll go." He pointed at the couch.
"Sit there and wait for me. Don't leave. "
Rhett shook her head with a smile as she sat down. "Don't worry," she told him. "I'm not going anywhere without you."
EVEN THOUGH THEY were both showered and dressed by late morning, they couldn't seem to get out of the bed.
It was like they were both trying to make up for lost time, to erase the months of silence and hurt by refusing to be separated even for an instant.
Rhett snuggled closer to Rhys's chest, loving the way his arms tightened around her and the brush of his lips across her hair.
"I'm glad you're coming to San Francisco with us," he murmured. "You should stay and go to Portland, too."
"Really?" A shy excitement made her tingle. "You'd let me tag along?"
His chest vibrated with laughter against her cheek. "Damn straight, Beautiful. Then on to Seattle, and then Vancouver."
"Oh." Disappointment wiped out the tingle. "I can't go to Canada. I don't have a passport, and I'm pretty sure I can't get one in three days."
"That's something you'll have to remedy. You'll definitely need one when I take you to England."
It took a moment for the words to sink in and make an impression on her brain, but when they did, she sat up and looked at him in shock. "You're taking me to England?"
"Yeah." He grinned and tapped her nose. "We can't stay in Texas all the time, right?"
And the tingle was back, only this time it was more like lightning bolts of bliss. "You're coming back to Dallas?"
"That's where you are, so that's where I'll be." He put his hand behind her head and pulled her forward until he could press tender, scorching kisses on her mouth. "I want to be where you are. I want us to be together whenever it's possible. I hate being away from you."
"I hate it, too," she whispered just before Rhys deepened the kiss and blotted all words from her head.
Rhett gave herself over to him, reveling in the touch of his lips on hers, the welcome intrusion of his tongue, the warmth of his hands on her cheeks.
Inside her something long-buried broke open, and she almost sobbed at the delicious heat that swept through her.
She'd fought against it for so long, and refused to let it out, especially when she thought she lost him.
But now that she was with him again, she couldn't deny it.
She was in love with him. Just when it happened, she couldn't be sure, but the moment she laid eyes on him the night before, she'd begun to acknowledge it.
Now she embraced it as tightly as she was embracing him, and it rocked through her with the strength of an 8. 5 magnitude earthquake. She loved him.
Something must have alerted Rhys to a change in her.
Maybe it was the way she kissed him back, maybe the feel of her arms around his neck was different, or maybe it came out of her skin like rays of burning sun.
But somehow, he knew something was changed, because he drew back and looked at her, a question in those dark blue eyes.
After a moment, the question faded to be replaced by certainty.
He pulled in a deep breath and started to smile.
"What is it, baby?"
Her own lips curved into a trembling smile. "Rhys, I—"
The ringtone of his cell phone interrupted the moment, and she remembered that day at the piano when Ross called at a very inopportune moment. She felt relief that day since things had been moving so fast. Now she was tempted to grab the phone and fling it out the window.
"Ignore it," Rhys said. "What were you going to say?"
Rhett shook her head. The moment was ruined, and she'd have to wait to tell him how she felt. "No, see who it is. I'll wait."
His sigh was distinctly irritated as he leaned over to check the phone's screen. As he got a good look at it, he stiffened.
"Jesus, it's Sienna. She hasn't spoken to me since August."
Lips tight, Rhett sat back on the bed. Was the kid clairvoyant or something? It was almost like she knew what she was interrupting by calling her father at this moment. Through narrowed eyes she watched the indecision flit over Rhys's face.
"Well, answer it," she finally said. "If she's calling after all this time she must want to talk to you."
After the briefest hesitation, Rhys swiped his finger across the screen and put the phone to his ear. "Hello, Sienna." He fell silent as he listened to whatever his daughter was saying, nodding as though the kid could see him. "I know. I know, sweetheart, and I understand."