The Rock Star's Baby Bargain - Lili Valente Page 0,37

I ask her again, letting my arm stretch across the back of her chair.

She smiles brightly. “Yeah. Great.”

“You look like you’re about five seconds from crawling under your chair to hide.”

She glances down at her hands clenched in her lap and laughs. “Sorry. I’m being silly. Please ignore me and my overactive imagination.” She sits up, rolling her shoulders back as she reaches for the bottle of homemade salad dressing. “Let’s dig in. I’m famished, aren’t you?”

“Starving, but it’s not silly to be spooked. And the offer still stands, Cee. We can find somewhere else to stay if you don’t feel comfortable here.”

“No way. We’re staying. This place is great.” She turns to me, her gaze softening. “And my grandma used to call me that. Cee. Well, Cee-Cee, for my first and middle names.”

“What’s your middle name?” I want to know everything about her. I want to collect pieces of her story and horde it like a dragon guarding his treasure.

“Claude,” she says, giggling as my brows lift. “I know. My mom decided to name me after her grandmother if I was a girl and her grandfather if I were a boy. But she was so messed up by whatever drugs they gave her in the delivery room that she ended up naming me both.”

I lean in, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I love it.”

“Now, your turn.” She scoots the salad dressing my way. “Tell me something embarrassing about you.”

“That’s not embarrassing. It’s cute. Anyone ever call you Claude?”

“Just Theo when she’s drunk and arguing with me about sex toys.”

I cough. “What?”

“I sell sex toys as my side hustle,” she says, matter-of-factly. “You didn’t know?” I shake my head, fighting to keep my thoughts from running wild. I really am starving and need to get something in my stomach before I race Colette to the bedroom, where I intend to make her come for me at least twice before we find something else to do to keep our mind off sex until morning.

I dress my salad and grab my fork, digging in as Colette continues with a shrug, “I thought everyone knew. It was such a scandal at first. All the old ladies in Hidden Kill Bay could talk about. You would have thought I’d started selling crack rock to babies, not BPA-free dildos to consenting adults.”

“And Theo likes to argue with you about them because…?”

Colette lifts a hand to cover her mouth, frowning as she finishes chewing. “I’m not sure I should share that with you.”

“Why not?”

“You and Theo don’t talk about your sex lives… right?”

I tip my head. “Not lately, no. We used to. When we were younger. Nothing too graphic, but I think we both appreciated having a friend of the opposite sex to mull things over with. Just to make sure we weren’t doing it wrong.”

Colette rests a light hand on my thigh under the table. “You’re doing it right. All of it. In case you were wondering.”

“Yeah?” I dip my head, brushing my nose against hers as I angle for a kiss.

“Yeah,” she murmurs, leaning back. “I have salad dressing breath.”

“You do. It’s pretty gross,” I tease, kissing her softly, loving the feel of her lips curving into a grin against mine.

It’s been a long time since I’ve smiled and kissed at the same time.

Too damned long.

“Then stop kissing me, jerk,” she says, pushing playfully at my chest.

“I can’t.” I brush my lips against hers again. “You’re irresistible.”

She sighs. “God. You, too. How are we going to make it until tomorrow morning?”

“More of what we did this afternoon. I think I’ve proven I can control myself.”

Colette scoots her chair back, moving out of reach with a stern shake of her head. “No. No more of that,” she insists. “At least not tonight. I can’t take it.”

I blink, surprised by the pain in her eyes. “I’m sorry. I thought I took care of you, Cee. If I didn’t, you should have—”

“No, you did. Of course you did. Don’t be silly.” She cuts me off, fluttering her fingers as she pushes her half-eaten salad away and reaches for her still-steaming bowl of chicken and dumplings. “I can’t wait for the sinful stuff anymore. I have to see if these dumplings are as buttery and delicious as they smell.”

“Colette.” I curl my fingers around her knee. She stiffens as I add in a softer voice, “I thought this afternoon was good. Great, even. You need to tell me if it wasn’t. I don’t ever want to do