33
A good thing never ends.—Mick Jagger
“What time is it?"
Rhett rolled her head on the pillow until the LED display of her alarm clock came into view. "Twelve-thirty. Why?"
Rhys threw an arm and a leg over her body and snuggled closer. "Feel like taking a ride?"
"I thought I just did." Closing her eyes, Rhett sighed in contentment as Rhys's lips curved into a smile against her neck.
"Mm. Yes, you did. But there's something I want to show you."
"I thought you just did."
Laughing, Rhys rose up and leaned over her, his hair like a sun-streaked curtain around them. "Come on, love. I've been keeping this secret for a while now, and while we've actually got some extra time I want to show it to you."
She couldn't help but smile at his excitement. "And this involves a car ride? But that would mean getting out of this bed and into a shower."
"Would it make you move any faster if I threw in stopping at your favorite drive-thru to pick up lunch on the way?"
"Tacos?"
"That's my girl." Rhys climbed off the bed and took her hands to pull her into an upright position. "Come on. I'll drive."
An hour later they sped northeast out of town.
They left the city sprawl behind and passed wide open fields dotted here and there with cattle.
Rhys refused to answer any questions about their destination, so Rhett finally gave up pestering him.
Besides, it was nice to just ride next to him, munching on her tacos as he sang at top volume along with whatever song came on the radio.
About forty-five minutes out of Dallas, Rhett noticed a long stretch of wrought-iron fencing on their left. It wasn't ornate or fancy in any way, but it was so different from the regular ranch fences that it caught her attention.
"Look at that old iron fence. It must stretch for miles. I'll bet that set someone back some bucks in its day." Since Rhys decreased their speed, she could see it better. "It needs some work, though. If someone doesn't get to it soon it's going to rust right through."
"You're right. It does need some attention.
" He slowed the car more and clicked on the turn signal.
Just a few feet further, he pulled the car between a gap in the wrought-iron fence and onto a rutted dirt lane.
With a grimace on his face, he babied the Jag through potholes and ruts as Rhett grabbed the Oh-Shit handle over the window to keep from being bounced out of her seat.
"Fuck me, this is worse than I remembered. "
"Dang, Rhys. Is your surprise out here?"
Out of the corner of his eye, he cast her a look of mild exasperation. "No, I just thought we'd give your shock absorbers a nice workout. Of course my surprise is back here. This lane wasn't this bad the last time I was out here. That was before I went to Chicago, though."
Rhett's curiosity grew higher as they slowly made their way forward.
Despite the state of the lane, it appeared to be in use.
Tire tracks, some of them the width for large trucks, were visible in the dried mud between the weeds that sprang up in the middle of the lane.
To their left stretched a long row of post oak, and Rhett marveled at their size.
As huge as the trees were, they must have been growing there for hundreds of years.
Their branches overlapped and were so dense that nothing behind them could be seen, even though they were bare of leaves.
The lane began to curve gently to the left, to pass behind the row of oaks, and Rhett noticed Rhys leaning forward, his face alight with anticipation. She leaned forward, too, eager to catch a glimpse of this surprise he kept secret until now.
As they rounded the trees, Rhett caught her breath in delight. There before her, surrounded by trucks emblazoned with the logos of construction companies, was an enormous white farmhouse that crowned the top of a small rise. In fact, enormous didn't even begin to encompass its size.
Set off the ground, it rose three stories into the air and was set off by a square cupola at its exact center.
Covered in peeling white paint, it had no real shape but appeared to have been added on to whenever it struck someone's fancy.
A rounded corner topped by an egg-shaped turret with an honest-to-goodness spire on top must have been part of the original house.
The age of the rest of it was anyone's guess.
Rhys brought the car to a stop. "What do you think?"
"Oh my God, Rhys." She couldn't take her eyes off the beautiful sight in front of her. "Is this yours?"
"Yes, it is. Well, it's actually owned by RJC Enterprises, but that's me, so it's the same thing. I bought it as a birthday present."
She finally tore her gaze away from the house to look askance at him. "Your birthday isn't until next week. If you bought it before you went to Chicago, that means you've had it since last summer."
With a gentle smile, he put a hand lightly on the back of her neck. "It wasn't a birthday present for me, Beautiful."
As the impact of his words hit her, Rhett's throat squeezed tight with emotion. "You... she whispered. "I...oh, Rhys." And she burst into tears.
"Baby, don't cry." He unbuckled his seat belt and tried to embrace her across the car's center console. After a few moments with no success, he got out of the car, came around to her side, and opened the passenger door. "Come here."
Rhett climbed out and buried her face in his shoulder. "I can't believe you did this."
He rocked her gently back and forth, holding her close.
"I was terrified you were going to buy that death-trap in Dallas, so I put Flynn to work to find something comparable.
He found this about a year ago. It's been in the same family since it was built in 1890, but all the surviving members have moved away and none of them want it anymore.
Flynn came out, looked it over, and emailed me photos.
We had to go through some lengthy negotiations, but they finally realized they weren't going to get a better offer, so I bought it.
" A soft sigh stirred her hair. "I was going to show it to you on your birthday, but instead I turned into...
what did you call it? The biggest idiot in the world, right?
There were times when I didn't think I'd ever be able to bring you here, but I went ahead and hired Mel's friend Gary to start work on it anyway. "
"You mean they've been working on it this whole time? Even when we weren't together?"
"Weather permitting. They had to put on a new roof, install new plumbing, and rewire the thing from top to bottom, as well as strengthen the structure so it wouldn't fall down.
But I told Gary to keep as many of the original finishings as he could.
They've almost completed all those mundane tasks, so you can go right in and start making it look the way you want it. And when it's livable, we'll move in."
Her breath stopped and she froze for a moment in his arms. "We?"
"That was my plan. If you want to, that is."
Though he meant to sound matter of fact, Rhett heard the thread of uncertainty in his voice. She wiped the tears from her cheeks and threw her arms around his neck.
"I want to. I've never wanted anything so much."
Further words were impossible as Rhys captured her mouth in a kiss that scorched through her until her toes curled. At long last, he pulled back enough to look into her eyes.
"And that's my birthday present taken care of. Come on, Beautiful. Let's go look at our house."
The next night she walked hand in hand with Rhys toward the backstage door.
With each step she took, the dread and panic swirled through her in ever thicker clouds.
She'd done a good job of pushing it aside all day so she could enjoy her time with Rhys and with Illicit.
The concert was a tour de force of release-the-Kraken rock thunder, and the atmosphere backstage was almost as entertaining.
Mel had declared that morning that she always wanted to be a groupie, an announcement that caused Rhys to choke on his coffee, and swept into the midst of the band, charming all of them.
It quickly became clear that Mel was most interested in charming the pants off Drew Cooper, and it was almost funny to watch him fall for her.
Best of all, Rhys had blown off the aftershow meet and greet and spent that time privately with Rhett in an inner dressing room for one last goodbye shag.
But now he was going to get into a Town Car, go to the airport and fly off to his next show. Houston? New Orleans? Rhett couldn't remember, she didn't care, and she couldn't stand it. With a choked sound, she came to a halt, unable to go further.
"Rhett? What is it, baby?"
"I can't. I can't be calm about this. I can't act like everything is okay." She gulped down a sob. "Rhys, I'm so afraid."
A look of understanding crossed his face, and he pulled her aside, motioning T to go on ahead of them. "Everything's going to be fine. I promise. Nothing's going to happen."
"You didn't think anything would happen before, but it did." She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close, ready to use her body as a shield to keep him safe. "That guy ran you off the road and came after you with a gun."
"Rhett, listen to me. Yes, it happened, but it proved how prepared we are for something like that."
She shook her head, negating his assurances. "T and Drew got hurt, and—”
"T got what amounted to a scratch on the arm, and Drew got a bruise.
And he wouldn't have gotten that if he'd been wearing his seat belt.
Rhett, our security knows their business.
Jax and Owen were there to back up T, so were Mike and Devin, and Alex had stopped in front of the truck.
" He brushed his lips through her hair. "I know you're scared, but I'm well protected. "
"But the guy ran you off the road, Rhys."
"And now that we know something like that's a possibility, you can rest assured it will never happen again."
He was lying. Not only did she see it in the way he wouldn't meet her eyes, but she wasn't that stupid, either.
There was no way he could guarantee something like that.
Those trips to and from the airport and public appearances left him vulnerable to any kind of attack.
But just like he couldn't guarantee his safety, there was nothing she could do about it, either.
To send him off with tears and panic wouldn't do him any favors, so she swallowed further pleadings and firmed her shoulders.
"I'm sorry I'm being an idiot." She shook her head. "I just never thought about things like this before."
"Rhys?" The deep, gravelly voice of T came from somewhere behind them. "We need to get on the road."
"Coming." Rhys lifted Rhett's chin and kissed her softly. "I have to leave, baby. The plane's waiting."
Rhett closed her eyes and breathed deep. From somewhere inside she found the courage to release her death-grip on his shirt and take a step back. "I know. I'm okay now."
Rhys put his arm tight around her shoulders and led her through the door. A cold wind whipped her hair around, and she told herself it was also the reason tears came to her eyes.
Mel and Drew stood by the open back door of the second of a row of five Town Cars. Rhett noticed the police cars with lights flashing at the front and the rear of the convoy, but it didn't reassure her in the least.
Rhys stopped and turned her to face him. "Trust me, Rhett. I'm coming back safe and sound. I'll be back at the end of May, and we'll start making our home together. I love you, Beautiful, and nothing is going to keep me away from you again."
She mustered a smile. "I love you, too. Call me, okay?"
"Every night." He kissed her, soft and warm and real. "Everything will be fine."
The wind blew his hair across her face, and she filled her lungs with the scents of chocolate and rum before she released him.
He climbed into the back seat of the car, followed by Drew, and after a brief pause, the convoy pulled away from the arena. Rhett watched until the last taillight disappeared into the night, taking her heart with it.
THE END of Book One
Rhys and Rhett's story continues in Just What He Needed,
Book Two of the Illicit series. Keep reading for an excerpt!