Page 20 of Laying it Bare Backstage

His face split into such an enormous grin, it had to have ached. “There is no way you could wear out your welcome when I love your being here. Besides, since we’re a couple we should be having sleep overs, frequently. For right now, they will all have to take place at my home.” He dropped a quick kiss onto my lips. “I had planned to take you out to dinner tomorrow night, but with these new developments I thought maybe you’d want to double date with Ivy and Ascher. I know you had said you weren’t ready for her bombarding you with texts or talking your ear off on the phone, but maybe it would be nice to hang out with them and you can have some girl time. And we can talk about things in a relaxed setting in a normal conversation rather than an inquisition.” He tunneled his fingers into my hair and massaged the back of my head.

“That would be so much better than having to relive the entire incident again. I’d rather her just see that I’m doing okay. Why are you so perfect?”

“I don’t know that I’m perfect; I think it’s more because you’re it for me. And I want to make sure I take care of you, in all ways.”

Being with him was really easy. Even when the slightest niggle of uncertainty crept in occasionally, it wasn’t anything overwhelming. And I still had to bat down my insecurities sometimes, but at least they hadn’t been constant. Like right now when I worried what would happen between us when he had to go on tour again. Would he tell me good bye for the months? I believed him when he had said that he hadn’t been with anyone in a while. And at the concert, he wasn’t hanging out with the rest of the guys. He had been in a separate room. And if there had been a groupie in there – but for some reason I didn’t believe he lied to me – as soon as she had heard another girl’s voice, she would have been marking her territory or at least looking to show off her conquest. It wasn’t like we had stood there for only a few minutes. There had been plenty of time for her to make her presence known – those types didn’t hide. Besides, he had just told me he was falling in love with me and that I was perfect and it for him; what more did I expect? I expected to pull up my big girl panties – although at the moment I wasn’t wearing any sort of panties– and move past these insecurities. Other than his little trickery this morning – that I had already admitted I liked because I thought it was romantic – he had been perfect. Only I could ruin an amazing time by getting trapped inside my head. It was time to shove those thoughts aside for another day. We had time to discuss his tour plans when the dates were finalized.

So, instead I decided to take care of my bladder and splash some cold water on my face. “I have to agree. You’re it for me too.” Slipping from his arms, I rolled to climb out of bed.

But his arm captured my waist. “Where are you going? You’re stuck in my room now.”

“I have to pee.”

He chuckled. “Oh, I didn’t think of that. It probably wouldn’t hurt for me to make a trip too.”

Sliding from the bed, I headed to his connecting bath to take care of business and then splash cold water on my face in the hopes of shocking my head back into the now. We’d find a way to work things out. Until he gave me a reason to believe otherwise, I trusted that he would never hurt me. It was my self-doubt not his actions that had planted those thoughts. Finished with my cool down, I dried my face off with a towel and stepped back into the bedroom.

On his way to the bathroom, Teak glided his fingers up my arm. “I can’t resist touching you. Maybe it’s so I can convince myself you’re not just my dream. Although like I said before; I’m damn sure you were who I was thinking of when I wrote that song.” He shot me a wink and disappeared into the bathroom.

Yeah, he was freakin perfect. Padding around his room, I searched for my discarded pajamas.

When he walked back out a couple minutes later, his mouth dropped open. “Don’t you dare cover up that beautiful body of yours.” Stopping in front of me, he took my hand and led me to his bed. “Sleep naked. I know I can’t keep my hands to myself, but I promise I’ll keep my dick to myself.”

Hmm, I wasn’t on board with that idea. So before crawling back in, I gave him a saucy grin. “I don’t think I’ll mind one bit if you don’t keep that promise.”

His lips curled into a predatory smile as he tackled me onto the bed. “That was all I needed to hear from you.” And he did break that promise, magnificently, before we finally succumbed to sleep.

The next morning, waking up in his arms, in his bed, surprisingly didn’t have me feeling the slightest bit awkward. Everything with him just flowed naturally. Not that I wouldn’t work on a relationship with him becauseallrelationship required work. But with him I really couldn’t constitute what I had to expend as work. It was just innate. And it was wonderful.

His arms tightened around me as he nuzzled my hair. “Good morning. What has your wheels spinning first thing? You’re not in your head, are you? You’re not regretting anything about last night?” His gruff voice tickled my ear.

“Good morning to you too. And I was just thinking how relaxed this relationship is. I don’t feel the need to pretend or force things just to make sure it works. I can just be me and that’s enough. And it’s a great feeling.” I rolled over to face him and gave him a peck on the cheek. “And how could I regret anything? That was hands down the best sex I’ve ever had. And you made it really easy to want to be here.”

“Good, because I’ll do anything to make you want to stay here.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Let’s go make some breakfast before I change my mind and have you instead.” He shot me a wolfish grin before sliding out of bed and into the bathroom.

When he was finished, I took my turn and then slipped on my pajamas before joining him out in the kitchen.

“How about some French Toast and bacon?” He had tugged on his running shorts from last night, but I still got an amazing view of his chest and abs. Reminding me about how I traced and licked my way down them during our second round of sex.

My cheeks heated. I had never been the aggressor before, but he brought out that side of me.

“I doubt you’re embarrassed about my breakfast choice; so why don’t you get your mind out of the gutter and help me make some food. Otherwise, my mind is going to join you and the only thing on this counter getting any action will be your luscious body.” He waggled his eyebrows at me.

“Your comments are not helping my trashy thoughts any. What do you want me to do? I mean, how do you want me to help you with breakfast?”

After he handed me ingredients, we set to work in a comfortable routine. Breakfast was filled with easy chatter. When we were finished, we headed to his room to change our clothes.

“You don’t have to hang out in my living room or on my deck if you’d rather head down to the beach or if you have something else you needed to do today before Ivy and Ascher come over. I’m only keeping you prisoner at night in my bed.” He gave me a crooked grin as he fished a pair of gray shorts and a navy t-shirt out of his drawer. After slipping out of his running shorts, he tugged on the fresh clothes and headed to the connecting bath.

I grabbed a pair of light blue shorts and a white floral tank top and changed. Then I tossed my pajamas onto his bed.

He stepped out a few moments later. “It’s all yours.” Walking over to me, he wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me into him before pressing his lips to mine. His tongue slipped inside my mouth and dueled with mine. He tasted like mint and sexy Teak.

“I don’t mind hanging out here. Any other Sunday, I’d be cleaning the house and doing laundry and then lazing around reading a book or something. The house will have to wait for cleaning. But depending how long it is before I go home, I’ll need to wash clothes.”

“Which you can do here. I mean, I hope I don’t sound demanding. I won’t stop you from going home, but I’d rather you stay here until things are cleared up. And even after, but we’ll talk about that later. We have some time to figure things out. No pressure. We’ll take things one day at a time.”

His words made butterflies swirl in my stomach, in a good way. “You know I want to be with you, but I agree let’s slow some things down, even though we’ve already jumped the gun on certain parts, but that’s okay, and take care of this craziness first. Then we can concentrate on us and what happens in the future.” Also hearing him say that helped cement my belief that when his tour came around, we’d figure something out that suited the both of us. “I’m sure I can find something to entertain myself and I brought books.” Untangling myself from his arms, I headed to the bathroom while Teak stepped out into the hall. At the sink, I brushed my teeth, added a little eyeliner and mascara, and tugged my wide comb through my curls.

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