Chapter 4 #3
He’d only thrust half a dozen times before she came so hard her teeth rattled.
Andi’s head dropped to the pillow as she screamed her release into it. At this point, someone was likely to call the cops. She had never been this loud in the bedroom.
Every orgasm that came before this one suddenly paled in comparison and she understood now why they’d never produced any sound louder than a whimper.
She hadn’t quite landed—Jesus, was that a second orgasm or was the first one going into overtime?—when Joel joined her, coming as well.
“Andi,” he gasped, calling out her name as he jerked, then shuddered through his own climax. “Baby. Fuck. Beautiful.”
They remained there, locked together for several minutes, both of them panting their way through the intense pleasure lingering.
Then, Andi’s legs gave out and she fell to her stomach, face down on the bed. Joel dropped down, lying beside her, his hand resting on her bare ass.
She turned to look at him, aware that in just seven days, she had fallen madly in love with this man.
She wouldn’t say the words aloud because it was way too soon, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to acknowledge them, wasn’t going to welcome him into her heart.
Joel squeezed her ass, smiling. “Yeah. I’m falling in love with you too.”
She blinked several times, wondering if her mind was playing tricks on her. Obviously, she didn’t hide her surprise or confusion because Joel merely chuckled, slapping her ass playfully.
Andi wanted to remain in this bubble they’d created, wanted to float away on this feeling, never to return, but as the last vestiges of her orgasm faded, reality reared its ugly head.
“Joel,” she started.
He shook his head. “Me first.”
She frowned, then nodded. Mainly because, while the worries churning inside her weren’t going to go away, she didn’t really want to ruin this moment by expressing them.
“I need you to take a leap of faith.”
“What?” she asked.
“You’ve spent your entire life doing what you had to to survive. Your drive and your strength paired with your optimism are what drew me to you right from the start.”
Andi didn’t see herself as strong, just practical.
Joel was undeterred by her expression. “I know you what you’re thinking. That those dreams of yours are too big to fit into the everyday life you maintain to keep your family afloat.”
“I need those three jobs. Quitting isn’t something—”
He shushed her. “I’m not asking you to quit them all. Not yet,” he added. “But at least one—hopefully the convenience store—could go now.”
Joel had commented several times this past week that he didn’t like her working at the convenience store, which was located in a less-than-ideal part of the city.
She started to shake her head, but he cut off her refusal.
“I’m signing you to a recording contract.
Tomorrow, we’re going to hash out the particulars and start laying down some tracks.
Tuesday, we both travel back to Baltimore where we’ll continue the work in a studio I’ve secured there.
We’ll begin with “Bigger Dreams,” but we’re going to record all of those songs you sent me. ”
On Wednesday of this week, he’d asked her to send him recordings of three of the other original songs she had performed the night he came to Pat’s Pub.
“I played them for my business partner, and he was as blown away by them as I was. Your talent is wasted in Baltimore, Andi. It deserves a larger platform, and dammit, you deserve a real spotlight.”
Every word he spoke felt like the answer to a prayer.
“Can I guarantee you stardom or success?” he continued. “Of course not. But I do believe, all the way to the depths of my soul, that you have what it takes to make it big in this business. All I’m asking is that you take this chance, this leap of faith.”
“My family—”
“Will still be provided for. Contract, remember? I’m sure what we’re offering will more than beat what you make at the convenience store and hotel combined.”
She narrowed her eyes, but once again, he was two steps ahead of her.
“And no, the contract has nothing to do with what happened just now. I have never mixed my professional life with my personal one, but Andi, I can’t do half measures with you.
I want everything with you. To be honest, it’s why I requested those recordings to play for my partner.
I wanted to be sure I wasn’t blinded by you. ”
“You weren’t?”
“Andi, he literally called me twenty minutes after I sent them to him and said if I didn’t sign you to a contract, it would be the biggest mistake of my life.”
She smiled. “Wow.”
“Yeah. Wow. I know you’re scared, that you’re worried, but if you can just hang in there until tomorrow, I swear I’ll set those feelings at ease when you read the contract and hear my plans.”
“Leap of faith,” she said, repeating what he’d said earlier.
He nodded. “Will you give me a chance to prove this can work?”
Andi bit her lip, even though there was really only one answer.
Because she did trust him.
With her body.
With her heart.
And…with her future.
“Yes.”