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  “I’ve wanted to do this all night.”

  “Oh, God,” she managed, as he lowered his mouth to her sensitive flesh. She watched him, just for a moment, before she threw her head back, gripping the rails on either side, and screamed her pleasure.

  After she’d melted into the stairs, he eased back and pressed a kiss to the inside of her thigh, then grinned. He rose and drew her to her feet. When she swayed on orgasm-weakened legs, he tucked his shoulder into her belly and lifted her, bare ass up, and carried her up the stairs. He tossed her onto the mattress, breathing a little heavy, and opened his jeans, one-handed, as she stripped off her shirt and bra.

  Both were naked when he came over her, only the rustle of plastic slowing him as he sheathed himself. Then he was inside her, stretching her still-pulsing flesh, filling her. She lifted into him and tucked her feet against his ass, holding him deep inside her for a long moment, looking into his laughing brown eyes before they deepened.

  “I need to move.”

  She loosened her grip and he withdrew, almost completely, before thrusting, deep and sure. Then again and again, stoking her desire back to its earlier fever pitch so that she shifted, angling her hips so each stroke brought her closer, every sensation spiraling tighter, winding her up. When he added his touch, she spun apart, crying out, clasping around him, digging her fingers into his arms to ground herself.

  He groaned, stiffened, his body a rigid line over hers as he came. Then he kissed her, long and sweet, before withdrawing from her and pulling her close.

  “I’ll be back,” he said as he stroked her hair back from her face.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Nashville. Then a few other places. But I’ll come back for you. You believe me?”

  She shifted to look up at him. “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Because I didn’t come back last time. And you don’t exactly trust.”

  She slid her hand over the hair of his chest, unable to comment because he was right.

  He lifted his head from the pillow. “You don’t believe me.”

  She couldn’t lie to him, though she was damned good at lying to herself. “I don’t need you to come back.”

  She expected him to withdraw, to get mad. Instead, he flipped her onto her back, pinning her arms to the mattress, his erection growing against her belly.

  “This after I made you scream twice? Maybe I need to do more persuading. You need me in your life, Beth. You want me here. In your life. In your bed.”

  She let him kiss her because he was so good at it, let him arouse her because it felt so good. Even let herself think, I love you, as he glided inside her body, his weight over her. But she didn’t let herself believe his promise.

  Chapter Eight

  The bar was even busier the following night. At first Beth attributed it to being Maddox’s last night. But so many of them were alone, and not making an effort to make friends. More reporters? It was possible. And the way they were looking at her…oh, hell. They were reporters. What did they know about her?

  If it wasn’t so busy, she’d get Quinn to let her go, but she couldn’t do that to him. Briefly she considered consulting Leo, who was a reporter, about what to do, but Trinity was already doing so much for them, she couldn’t ask. So she’d ignore them and pretend she was no one.

  Only Maddox didn’t let her remain anonymous. He watched her and grinned when he caught her attention. God, everyone was going to know what they did last night, the way he was looking at her. Did he have no sense of self-preservation? Didn’t he know they were reporters?

  He gave the band a break, then dragged the microphone closer to a stool he’d been using off and on. “I’d like to play a song for you guys that I haven’t played in a lot of years, but being back here reminded me of sitting on the hood of my car and playing it for a special girl.”

  Oh, hell, no. She froze in one spot, her gaze riveted to the stage. He bent for a guitar case, but instead of the expensive acoustic he’d been playing, he pulled out a battered Gibson.

  The one she’d bought him fourteen years ago.

  He met her gaze across the room and leaned toward the microphone. “This guitar has seen me through a lot of hard times. There were days it, and the belief of the person who gave it to me, were the only things that kept me pursuing my dream. So Beth, this one’s for you.”

  He strummed the first notes of the old KISS ballad, and she was swept back to those long-ago summers when he would sing her that song. It wasn’t only on the hood of his car, but he’d even sung her lyrics when she’d been working at the diner or when they’d been walking to the park. She hadn’t been able to listen to the song since he went away.

  Suddenly, her arms were lighter and she looked up at Quinn, who’d taken the tray from her.

  “Go to him. The man is telling you he loves you.”

  “I—can’t. All these people.”

  “Beth, for crying out loud.”

  “He’s leaving.” Her gaze drifted back to Maddox, his fingers folded around the neck of the guitar she’d given him, the body scratched, missing the veneer in some places. He said he’d be back. He hadn’t lied to her since he’d been here. Could she believe him? Could she hope? The way he was watching her, his eyes full of promise…

  Her feet were moving before her mind could send them the signal that this was a bad idea, falling for him again, declaring her feelings in front of the whole town, the whole world. But as his voice dragged out the last note, he set the guitar down, his arms open and ready as she came into them. Cheers swelled around them when he lowered his mouth to hers, stroking her hair back from her face. And then she heard nothing but his breathing, felt nothing but his heartbeat as he kissed her, long and sweet.

  “I will come back,” he promised quietly.

  Suddenly, she didn’t want to leave his arms. She would have to go back into the crowd, have to face their curious expressions and comments. Here in Maddox’s arms, she was safe.

  “I have to get back to work.”

  “Come home with me tonight. I leave at first light.”

  “I can’t. Linda.”

  “I already talked to Adam. He said he’d stay with Linda and Jonas tonight.”

  Her face heated. “You talked to my brother about spending the night with me?”

  “He knows it’s my last night in town. He wants you to be happy.”

  She cocked her head and scowled. “And you both decided if I got laid—“

  “If we spent the last hours I have in Bluestone together,” he corrected. “Now, go back to work so we can get out of here.”

  Her heart thrummed with nervous anticipation as she turned back to the crowd. She let her imagination wander to what it would be like to spend a whole night with him, without worrying. They could make love, fall asleep together, make love again, have breakfast together, all the things real couples did. Her excitement almost allowed her to ignore the speculative looks from the customers, the intrusive questions from the reporters, the hang-dog look from Dale.

  She eased through the crowd toward him and laid a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry, Dale.”

  “It’s good that you’re happy.”

  But something in his voice shamed her. “I wasn’t unhappy before.”

  “But you weren’t happy. And I thought keeping my distance was the right thing to do.” He glanced toward the stage. “I see now I should have pressed.” He looked back at her. “But I guess it wouldn’t matter. I’d lose you to him anyway.”

  Pain stabbed through Beth. Did he really think so?

  He must have seen her expression because he leaned back. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. If I know anything about you, I know you’re loyal.” He rose slowly, pulling out his wallet to pay.

  She didn’t know what to say. She could hardly say she hoped he found someone too, since she hadn’t allowed herself to believe she and Maddox were headed for a happily ever after. She hadn’t let herself wonder what their future wo
uld be like. Nashville or Bluestone? Leaving Bluestone had been her dream for years, but now she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.

  Dale leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I hope you can let him love you, Beth.”

  Before she could respond, he walked out of the bar.

  Thankfully, Quinn kept her hopping the rest of the night. She had no time for the reporters who kept placing orders so she would wait on them and they could ask her personal questions. And she didn’t have time to worry about spending a sanctioned night with Maddox.

  And then the bar was closing up and Quinn shooed her out before she could do her sidework.

  “Just don’t make it a habit,” he muttered, closing the door behind her before she could point out that he was the one preventing her from doing her work.

  Then she looked down and saw Maddox waiting for her by his truck. All she could think as she approached, her steps dragging, was that she didn’t even own a pair of sexy underwear.

  But the look in Maddox’s eyes as he straightened made her think maybe he didn’t care. He caught her midstep, one hand around her back and the other under her hair, and he kissed her.

  She leaned into it a moment before she remembered the reporters who had dogged her all evening. She pressed her hands against his chest. “Let’s get out of here.” Her own breathlessness surprised her.

  He stepped back, his lips curved, and handed her into the truck.

  ***

  She had just been here last night, so why was she so nervous now? Maybe because he hadn’t stopped touching her on the drive, his fingertips tracing patterns on the back of her hand. Funny how that simple caress made every cell in her body think about sex.

  Her pulse was thundering when he stopped the truck. He turned and grinned at her, and the next thing she knew, he’d scooped her into his lap, sliding from beneath the steering wheel at the same time. Before she could catch her breath, his mouth was on hers, his hands gripping her hips, dragging her forward against his erection. She moved against him until he reached for the button of her jeans, then she pushed against his shoulders.

  “Inside.”

  “Trying,” he said with a chuckle, working her zipper down.

  “The house. Inside the house.”

  He dropped his hands and gestured for her to lead the way, but the moment they were inside, he turned her against the door, catching her mouth in a kiss as he peeled open her jeans and shoved them down. She gasped into his mouth when he lifted her against him, guiding her legs around his hips. He turned and she giggled when he started up the stairs.

  “You can’t carry me.”

  “You doubt me?”

  “I don’t want you to miss your concert because you’re in traction. I’m almost as tall as you are.”

  He let her slide down his body, holding her close, hip to hip, as he backed her up the stairs like a long slow dance, his jeans rasping against her bare legs. Her entire body was ready to burst into flames when he turned her into his bedroom. He didn’t release her right away, but swayed with her, moved with her to music only he could hear. She followed, enjoying the sensuality of being half-dressed in his arms, of the way he was looking at her like she was the only woman in the world.

  She slid her hands up over his chest, feeling his chest hair beneath the soft cotton. Jesus, how could she be so turned on? He trailed his fingertips down the side of her throat as he flipped her hair over her shoulder.

  “God, you’re gorgeous.” He followed the caress with his lips, then straightened to look into her eyes. “I love you, Beth.”

  She jolted, and he kissed her mouth, as if he knew she couldn’t say it back, and didn’t want to hear her stammer out an excuse. But a moment later she forgot all about his reason for kissing her and lost herself in it, in him, the way he tasted, the way his hands felt on her body, stroking up the small of her back, beneath her top, unhooking her bra. In a moment, she was naked, leaning into the heat of him, pulling his shirt free of his jeans, then off.

  Then she was on the bed, legs hooked around his jean-clad hips, moving against him as he kissed his way down her body, whispering those same words against her collar bone, her breast, her belly. With a few well-placed strokes of his tongue, he sent her screaming over the edge, then carried her higher as he entered her in a single stroke.

  He held still for a long moment, curving his hand around the back of her neck, tilting her head so she looked into his eyes as they began to move. She didn’t need to say the words back to him, knew he could see the truth of them in her gaze. Every instinct made her want to close her eyes, but she didn’t. He smiled, as if he understood the battle she fought with herself. He laced his fingers through hers on the mattress, and showed her what love was.

  Chapter Nine

  Beth arched her back and squeezed her eyes tighter as a tickling touch trailed down her spine. She twisted her head and opened one eye to squint at Maddox. Her stomach dropped to see that he was already dressed—though the reason she slept so soundly was because he’d kept her up half the night making love to her. Beyond him, she saw his duffel on the wide rail of the stairs. Even though she knew he’d planned to leave, the sight of the duffel, and his cream-colored hat sitting on top of it, took her breath. He said he was coming back. He said he loved her. And she wanted to believe it, especially after everything they’d experienced last night. But she couldn’t let herself hope.

  “Hey.” He tilted her chin so she looked at him. “It’s just for a few weeks. I’ll be home soon, probably sooner than you want.”

  She swallowed her fears and rolled onto her back. His eyes darkened when his gaze flicked to her bare breasts. “No doubt.”

  He groaned and cupped a breast in his hand. “You can come with me.”

  “I can’t,” she said, though her reasons for saying no had eroded—Linda was done with summer school, Adam was in town. Only the money she needed to earn for her father stood in her way.

  “Then I’ll be back. But first, I need to get you home so I can get to the airport.”

  She would not cry as she got dressed. She wouldn’t cry as he locked up the lake house.

  “You and Linda and Jonas can feel free to stay out here,” he said. “Not a lot more room, but a change of scenery.”

  “I couldn’t stay here without you,” she said. God, what was wrong with her? He’d told her he loved her. She just couldn’t take any more from him. “Besides, I couldn’t walk home from Quinn’s.”

  He dipped his head to kiss her, then put on his hat and guided her down to the truck. They drove to her house in silence, and when they turned on her street, she was surprised to see more cars than usual. Reporters, she realized, and tensed. Everyone would know she’d spent the night with him.

  But their appearance didn’t faze Maddox. He turned off the engine, walked around the truck to take her hand and lead her to the porch, then pulled her full against him for a good-bye kiss that melted everything in her—and left no doubt in anyone’s mind what they’d been doing last night.

  “I love you, Beth,” he said again, lifting his head to look into her eyes.

  The kiss, the words made her forget they were being observed. She touched her fingertips to his jaw and opened her mouth to say them back to him, the first time she’d said them to a man since he left fourteen years ago.

  Instead, she managed only, “I’ll miss you.” She turned into the house and burst into tears, wishing she could erase the hurt she’d seen on his face.

  The next few days were a whirlwind of preparation for Trinity and Leo’s wedding. Beth barely had time to sit, much less mourn Maddox’s absence. The church needed to be decorated, and the bar where the reception would be held, much to the dismay of Trinity’s parents. But no place else in town was big enough. Beth dragged Linda along to help, needing to keep busy herself, and wanting to keep Linda out of trouble.

  Saturday morning dawned bright and cool, a gorgeous day for a wedding. But by the afternoon it clouded up, and when it w
as time to get dressed, Beth was rethinking the cloth sandals she’d bought for the occasion. Water ran in the streets, thunder boomed, lightning flashed.

  But no one was going to miss this wedding. Adam drove them down to the church, dropped them off in front before he went to park. Jonas had been fussy all day with the thunder, and Linda jiggled him against her shoulder to calm him. Of course he puked on her dress, so she had to duck into the bathroom to clean both of them up, leaving Beth on her own to find a seat. She took one near the back, still not quite feeling like she belonged here. For goodness sake, she hadn’t even been to church since her mother died. Probably they should think about getting Jonas baptized, because her mother would want that, but she didn’t know the first step there. Maybe Trinity could help.

  The gloomy weather outside made the stained glass windows appear dark, and Beth shivered at the next rumble of thunder. The flowers on the altar, all white, didn’t seem like Trinity at all. Beth expected more color. Adam came in, drenched despite his umbrella, dragged a hand through his hair and joined her in the pew. Linda brought Jonas just as the maid of honor, Lily Prater, stepped onto the white paper runner, wearing a lovely blue satin dress. Beth had never seen Lily in a dress. She craned her head to see that, yes, Lily was wearing sandals and not her usual work boots. If Beth wasn’t mistaken, her toenails were even painted.

  Trinity didn’t have a large wedding party, just Lily. And Leo split best man honors between his son Max and Quinn, which Beth thought interesting, since Leo had just returned to Bluestone a few months ago. The doors to the vestibule closed, then opened after a ceremonious moment, and Trinity stepped out on her father’s arm.

  Her dress was a silky ivory, so old-fashioned Beth wondered if it belonged to someone in her family before. Her blonde hair was swept back in an elegant chignon, and she wore no veil and no flowers in her hair, though she carried a bouquet that draped over her hand. Her expression was full of anticipation, though her father’s was stern. No wonder Trinity was happy.