He pulls himself up. “Sorry,” he says again. Then he pauses. “Nancy, did I hurt you?”
I shake my head. “No. Why?”
He brushes something from my cheeks and says, “You’re crying.”
“Oh,” I say, sniffling. “Sorry.”
“No. Don’t do that.”
“What?”
“I feel like you’re moving away from me.”
I know what he means, but I have never been good with these kinds of talks, especially with a man.
I open my mouth to say something that is probably stupid, but he stops me.
“No, seriously. You don’t have to tell me what is getting to you right now if you don’t want to, just don’t cut yourself off from me. Please. It took us so long to get here.”
He reaches up and brushes his hair back from his face.
“Okay. And it wasn’t anything bad. I was just thinking this is the most relaxed I’ve been in a long time.”
I can tell that he knows I’m not being completely truthful with him. What am I supposed to say? Oh, hey, we still have issues with our show, I have a stalker, and yeah, I’ve loved you for almost three years and want to have your babies.
He kisses my nose—the man is so affectionate he might kill me with kisses—and smiles. “Okay. How about we have some dinner?”
“Sounds good.”
He pulls out of me, then slips out of bed, before leaning over and pulling me off the mattress and tossing me over his shoulder.
“Travis!”
He chuckles. “You are going to help me cook, whether you like it or not.”
I’m laughing as he takes me into the bathroom. I shove my worries aside and, just for right now, I am going to live in the moment.
Chapter Twenty-One
Travis
It’s the night of Estella’s birthday party, and I want to be anywhere but at the Howard Mansion. Growing up, I never thought I would end up here at a party. We came to visit Nancy from time to time, but it was a bit of a ways out of town, and my grandfather never wanted to drive us out here. So Nancy would have one of their drivers come get us. Many times, she just picked us up and we hung out around town. There was always a part of me that thought Estella didn’t want us around. They were the landed aristocracy, and I guess you could call us the serfs. Or…worse. My grandfather was a lazy jerk, who refused to do half the work on our sad little farm.
Juniper is a small Texas town that looks like a working-class kind of town. But when you add in all the money in and around town, it changes. Nancy’s family owns a lot of things, including a massive cattle ranch, and they are by far the richest, but they are not the only group of one-percenters we have in our midst. And when Estella throws a party, they come out of the woodwork.
I look around at the people milling around and recognize a few. At one time, Josh’s father would have been here. I wonder if Josh didn’t get invited or if he didn’t want to come. Probably the latter. Of course, I look over at Bree Russo and think if he had known she was going to be here, Josh would have been too.
I glance over at my companion. Nancy hasn’t said much since we arrived. She avoided most of her family, talking to a few people from town that I know she likes. Other than that, she acts like she would like to be here than anywhere else.
“Hey, we can leave whenever you want. Just say the word and we are out of here.”
She glances at me, a small smile curving her lips. I find myself falling into those sapphire blue eyes. They’re sparkling up at me, as if we share some private joke, and I can’t fight the happiness that fills me. She takes a sip of Russo Winery Chardonnay before she answers.
“I’ll have to kiss the ring before I can.”
I nod and look around, sipping at my own drink as I take in the clusters of people. Nancy actually considered not showing up because of the stalker. I knew it was just an excuse, but I would have agreed with her because I’m helpless to say no to her. She’d offered to come by herself, but there was no way I was going to allow that. She’s fragile right now, and since her family is the most passively aggressive group of people, I figure I’d be here as her backup.
So, between her family and our worry over a possible stalker, I’m a little on edge. Then there’s her dress. I glance at it as I take another sip of my beer. It’s the same shade of blue as her eyes, and she’s made up really pretty. I prefer her when she’s in a flannel shirt, jeans, and work boots, but I guess she’s sexy like this too. The dress hugs every one of her curves. When I first saw it, I thought it was demure. That is until I saw the back of it. While it shows no cleavage, it plunges all the way down her back, stopping right above the dimples in the small of her back. I know they’re there because I traced them with my tongue this afternoon when we had another round of out of control fucking. While we aren’t hiding away from the world, we’ve limited our outings, and it gives us a lot of time to ourselves.
I have always been pretty blatant in my sexuality. I have never shied away from the fact that I’m a man who likes sex. But this is other level shit happening. No matter how many times I have her, it never seems to quench my thirst.
“Are you going to brood all night?”
I glance down at her, surprised. “I’m not brooding.”
She chuckles. “You are doing a good imitation of brooding then.”
I smile at her. I can’t help it. When she’s happy, I’m happy. I slip my arm around her, enjoying the way she leans towards me. I didn’t know if she wanted to make us public. We haven’t really told anyone—not even Syd. But after tonight, there will be no doubt about the fact. There are press people here, so the pictures will be out at some point. Dammit, we should have told Syd.
“What’s going on in your head?”
I look down at her again and for a second, my thoughts grow fuzzy, and I can’t seem to form words with my mouth. She’s stunning all the time, but right now, she’s shining. Her hair is up in a complicated twist with strands artfully dangling down. She has makeup on, including some red lipstick that I just want to smear all over her face by kissing her. She’s wearing heels so she isn’t that much shorter than me. Most men not related to her would say this is the woman they’d prefer to have on their arm. Me—I want the girl with a ponytail, no makeup, and a hammer.
“Stop looking at me like that. We have to stay for a little bit at least.”
I lean down and touch my forehead to hers. “I was just thinking that you’re the most beautiful woman here.”
She moves away as she rolls her eyes.
“Nope, come back here. Let me finish.” That catches her attention. “You are the most beautiful woman here and that dress is amazing. But you know what? I like the whole package.”
“The whole package?” I don’t miss the way her voice becomes all light and feathery.
I nod, leaning closer so I can keep this between us. “All these fancy duds are nice, but I find you even more fuckable when you’re in your work gear. Tight pair of jeans, a t-shirt that shows off your tits, and your work boots. Gets me every time.”
She pulls back. “Really?”