From . . . Stone.
The email is titled: Candy and Puppies Included in This Email.
I laugh quietly, as Terrence murmurs, “Candy.”
What the hell? Stone is emailing him too?
I thought it was just to me.
Turns out the note includes everyone on the team—Candi, Zane, Terrence, Cruz, Veronica, me, and countless others.
Dear peeps,
Congrats on a kick-ass concert series! We are talking best ever in the history of concerts. And I couldn’t have done any of this without all of you.
You are wonderful, beautiful, and talented, every single one of you, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
But there are other ways to thank the people who make you look good, keep you safe, and help you put on a show.
You’ve all been bonused for your work on the show. It should be in your accounts now, or so the bank says.
THANK YOU.
Xo
Stone Zenith
With a burst of excitement, I click over to my bank app. When I steal a glance at Cruz and Terrence, they’re doing the same.
And when I open it, my jaw falls to the floor.
Cruz’s drops to the basement.
Terrence’s hits the center of the earth.
“Shit, your boyfriend is generous,” Terrence says slowly, awestruck.
I stare at my bank account. I can barely move. This feels so unreal. The hair on my arms stands on end. My throat is dry. Cruz’s eyes are the size of a cartoon character’s. Terrence is frozen, still hasn’t moved. So, I can’t be reading this wrong.
I look back at my phone.
At the number.
Fifty thousand dollars.
“Holy shit,” Cruz whispers. “Fifty grand.”
“Fifty flipping grand,” Terrence echoes.
A grin spreads like wildfire across my face.
I can’t believe what my boyfriend did.
But then again, I absolutely can.
I stalk into his suite that night, off duty and loving it. The second I see him, I grab the neck of his T-shirt, jerk him against me, and growl, “I know what you did.”
He grins like a cat. “Whatever did I do?”
“You made it impossible for me to turn down your offer.”
His eyebrows wiggle. “No idea what you’re talking about.”
I haul him closer still, yanking on his hair. With his head tugged back, I kiss his neck. I’m breathing hard, already turned on. “You know what you did with those bonuses.”
“Thanked everyone?”
I hum doubtfully as I blaze a trail of kisses along his flesh, letting go of his hair and biting his earlobe. “And paid off my debt.”
“Oh. That. I’d nearly forgotten,” he says, all breezy.
“Yeah, right,” I say, licking the shell of his ear.
He melts against me. “I just wanted to thank everyone for a great show. Can’t believe you doubt my intentions.” His voice turns husky as I smother his neck with kisses.
“I don’t doubt you. I love your intentions. I love your mind. I love your heart.” I drag my lips over his jaw, kissing his stubble, inhaling his sexy, sinful scent. I stop when I reach his lips, then pull back to meet his eyes. “Did you do that for me?”
“I did it for all of you,” Stone says, then slides his fingers through mine. His touch is so tender—like his voice is right now. “And for you. I don’t want you to worry about anything, J. Well, except for helping me find a new bodyguard who won’t give a shit that I’m the kind of guy who likes to have his paws all over his boyfriend in public.”
I laugh, sliding my hands up his back. “And in private too.”
He rolls his eyes. “Duh. That goes without saying.”
I turn intensely serious for a few seconds, holding his face. “Thank you. I paid off the motorcycle. I feel like I’m free,” I say with relief coursing through me. “And the rest will go to starting the new company. Cruz and Terrence are going to put some of theirs to our new venture too. You’re fucking amazing.”
His lips curve into a crooked grin. “And I’m amazing at fucking. But if you want to be sure, you can just bend me over the couch and remind yourself how good it feels to slide your cock inside me.”
I curl a hand around his ass. “You are filthy, and I love it.”
“Right back atcha, big guy,” he says, slipping away from me, stripping off his tee, unzipping his jeans, and then working open the buttons on my shirt.
And when we’re both down to nothing, when he’s ready and open, I do as he requested.
I fuck him.
Having him.
And loving him something fierce.
The next day, we head to the airport together. He heads up the steps to his Gulfstream first, his hand in mine. He lets go when he steps on the plane, fist-bumping the pilot.
I stop at the door, take a beat, and look around, swinging my gaze behind me to the tarmac, in front of me to the galley.
Is this my life?
I’ve been on this plane many times before, but never like this—as his boyfriend.
A rock star is my boyfriend.
But that’s hardly what’s so surreal about this moment, surrounded by the trappings of the lifestyle.
It’s not the fame.
It’s the luck.
That here I am after heartbreak, after loss, after my heart was shattered, and I’ve found something new.
Something wonderful.
Someone I want to love for the rest of my life.
My heart thunders in my chest.
I join Stone in the back of the plane, wrapping an arm around him, emotion clogging my throat.
“Hey,” I say softly.
“What is it?” A crease knits his brow.
“You know I don’t love you for your plane, right?”
He laughs, his green eyes flickering with mischief. “Don’t worry, J. I know you love me for my dick.”
I’m undeterred though. I wrap my hand tighter around his bicep, my thumb sliding over his ink. “Know this. It’s you. It’s not anything else. It’s not anything you have. I’d get on a tiny plane, a commuter train, a beat-up car, or an old rowboat with you. We could stay in a motel on the side of the highway. I’d come home to you in a studio apartment.” My hand travels to his heart, and I spread my palm over it. “This is why I love you. For this.”
He swallows roughly, his eyes shining. “And you wonder why I write songs about you.”
Our lips crash together, and we kiss—a long, slow, deep kiss that feels like a promise.
Later, as we’re cruising over the country, he takes me to a private room in the back of the plane. It’s small, like a sleeper cabin on a train.
But it does the trick.
I might love him for his heart, but he’s right—his dick is definitely an attractive part of the deal.
I show him how much I love the whole damn package of Stone Zenith.
40
Stone
It’s weird having a new guy watching my back.