Turning my head, I see him leaning against the bus. His legs are crossed at the ankle, his black eyes focused on me and his hair still wet from his show, long and messy. He looks lickable, he looks like every dream I’ve ever had come to life.
I wish that I could keep him, always.
“It’s time, Beaumont. We were living in dreamland if we thought we could do this.”
He shakes his head, pushing off of the bus and closes the distance between us. My breath hitches when one of his hands clamps down around my hip and the other around the back of my neck before he none-too-gently yanks me against his chest.
“You’ve let people plant seeds, you’re waterin’ them right now and they are fruitless, darlin’ girl,” he growls. “I can’t stop that from happening. All I can do is tell you that I’ve been nothing but honest. I don’t want Andi. I don’t want anyone else but you.”
Inhaling a shaky breath, I hold it in when I feel his lips touch mine, just for a brief moment. He lifts his head and his eyes find mine. His are liquid, glittering with anger, but I could get lost in them just the same.
“I have,” I admit. “But every question that I ask when I attempt to dig a bit deeper into what you’re not telling me, it helps to fertilize those seeds, Beau.”
He snorts. “Yeah, Hutton. Fertilizes them with shit.”
“Maybe so, but did you pay off four women you dated? Because you didn’t tell me the amount. Just that you did. I want to know why,” I demand.
I expect him to push me away, but he doesn’t. Instead he pulls me even closer against his body. His lips touch mine with just a hint of a brush. He doesn’t move his head away from me, or his mouth away from my own before he speaks again.
“Paid one off because she was going to go public with my drinking. Another, I paid off because she had video of us fuckin’ and I didn’t want that shit going viral. The third it was because she and her friend came in and we had a foursome with Austin. They were going to go public with that. The fourth, it was because she tried to claim she was knocked up with my kid and she was going to go public with a statement saying that I forced her to get an abortion.”
I gasp at his words. Closing my eyes, I let out a long exhale.
“Ask me,” he demands.
“Are they all true?” I ask, not wanting to pick out the one that I want to know the answer to the most, the last one.
He nods with a short jerk of his head. “All but the last. She was never pregnant and I would never ask a woman to do that, not fuckin’ ever. Saw how it fucked up Wyatt for fifteen years. Never want to fuck myself up worse, or fuck someone else up like that, not ever.”
Lifting my hand, I cup his cheek. I need to feel his beard beneath my fingertips. It’s soft and I can’t believe that this could be the last time. I just don’t see how we’re going to work, no matter how badly I want it to.
No matter how much I’ve fallen for him, fallen in love with him.
I just don’t see how this can go on. How I can live a life like this, a life where my privacy is nonexistent, a life where this man that I’m supposedly with has paid off women to keep his secrets, to keep him from being in the middle of scandals.
“I’m not that man anymore, Hutton. I wasn’t sober, I wasn’t making good decisions. I’m different. I’ve changed,” he promises.
I shake my head. I want to believe it, I want to believe every single word and a part of me does. But part of me doesn’t at the same time.
“I just can’t help but feel like all of this is going to explode,” I whisper.
He chuckles, touching his mouth to mine again. “It could. Fuck, I hope you always explode on my cock,” he says with a smirk. “But you and me, we’re going to be okay, as long as you don’t believe everything that you hear.
“Daniel wants me with Andi for his own reasons. He wants to make money off of us being an IT couple. Austin wants me single so that we can continue living a life of debauchery. Neither of them cares if I’m truly happy.”
“And I make you that?” I ask on a rasp.
Beaumont is silent for a moment, then he shakes his head before his lips crash against mine. He kisses me so hard that I gasp as my breath leaves my body. He turns us and backs me up against the bus, my body slamming against the side. I moan when I feel his hips against my belly, his hard length beneath his jeans pressing against me.
He rips his lips from mine, his chest heaving with his breath as he looks down at me. His hand is still tangled in my hair at the back of my head, his other one is gripping my hip tightly and his eyes, they’re sparkling as he stares down at me.
“I’ve never been happier than I have been with you. Jesus fucking Christ, Hutton. I don’t know how else to fucking tell you, don’t know how to show you just what you mean to me. Tell me, how do I make this fucking shit sink in?” he demands.
Tears fill my eyes, except this time they’re not from sadness, no, this time they’re from overwhelming happiness. Cupping his cheeks with my hands, my tears fall down my cheeks as I look up into those glittery brown eyes that own my soul.
“I’m sorry. It all felt like too much,” I whisper.
He nods. “I get that, but never run off half-cocked. Always ask me, please God, fucking ask me.”
Nodding, I rise to my toes and press my mouth against his own. “I will. I’m sorry, it was just a lot. Forgive me?” I breathe.
He snorts, his tongue sliding along my bottom lip. “Always, Hutton. Fuck, not much I wouldn’t forgive you of, darlin’ girl.”
He kisses me against the bus for a few more moments, then he takes a step back, those brown eyes focused on me and he grins. “Need you, Hutton.”
“Want to go back to the hotel?” I ask.
He looks back at the parked SUV, then shifts his gaze to me. “Can’t wait that long.”
“In the car?” I hiss. “Didn’t those pictures teach you anything?”
His smile is huge, his hips grinding against my belly again and he hums. “Limo tint, darlin’. Come fuck me in the back of that SUV. Show me how wild my girl can get.”
Chapter Thirty
HUTTON
Laurie and I stand at the sidewalk of the hotel while Jesse and Beaumont load up our luggage in the back. I can’t take my eyes off of Beaumont. Last night, after he took me in the back of the SUV that I’m standing in front of, we came to the hotel and we made love again. That’s exactly what we did too—made love.
I’m still not convinced that this will last between us. That this is what he truly wants. Being with me isn’t easy, not with his fame. I’m honestly not sure how much I will be able to handle, this world he lives in is nothing like I’d ever imagined and I’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg.
Beaumont makes his way toward us, his lips twitching into a small smile, but his eyes aren’t smiling at all, in fact they look sad. I’m sure that mine mirror them as well. Without speaking, he cups my cheek and my breath hitches when his lips touch mine.
“Two weeks isn’t so long.” He grins against my mouth.
Smiling, I shake my head. “It’s not.”