excited Frankie, who gripped my face and dragged me down. The cool press of her lips beckoned to me, so I was not going to argue with the lady. I half-picked her up and dragged her against me as I let her own the kiss. The happy little sounds she made went straight to my dick, but the layers of clothing kept that fact to myself for the moment.
When she lifted her head with a breathless laugh, I eyed her. “Good news?”
“Good news?” She thumped me, and I laughed. “That’s the best news, you jerk. Why didn’t you tell me sooner? We should have been celebrating you.”
Behind her, Coop and Jake let out twin breaths of relief, and Archie chuckled as he put his phone to his ear and paced away from us. Knowing him, he was planning a celebratory dinner.
“Celebrating us,” I reminded her. “And I wanted to have all the information before I told you, but…we had to get through the rest first. You had enough on your plate. If this turned out to be some bogus idea or bullshit offer…”
Touching her tongue to her teeth, she studied me and then pressed her lips to mine. “I love you, even when you suffer in silence by yourself when you should have been shouting it from the rooftops.”
I chuckled. “I wasn’t suffering in silence, Angel. I promise. And I talked to Arch.”
“Cause Archie fixes everything.” She glanced over her shoulder to where he’d gone with the phone. “Five bucks says he’s planning a celebration for the hotel.”
“No takers,” Jake answered with a laugh before he clapped me on the back. “Congrats, man, congrats to you too, Baby Girl. This is awesome.”
I let Frankie go for hugs from the guys, and then Jake started urging us toward the SUV that had been running and warming up while we talked. Coop stole into the backseat with Frankie, but Jake gripped my arm before I could follow.
“Tour?” He looked at me.
“Yeah, that’s one of the things I’m asking about. And before you flip a switch, I don’t want to take her away from you guys…”
“Fuck that,” Jake said with a laugh. “I wanna go. So I can beat the hell out of anyone that tries to hit on her.”
Oh. Fair point.
“You don’t get to have all the fun.”
All the fun.
“Dude, you got a potential recording contract. That’s huge. You’re allowed to be excited.”
I was excited, but at the same time…
“Wait until they start recording,” Archie said as he walked back to us. “He’ll be insufferable. Until then, we celebrate for him.”
At the hotel, I pulled her back to me as the guys headed inside. “We’ll be up in a few,” I told them, and they waved. They got it, and Frankie turned to study me. “Do I owe you an apology?” I’d been thinking about it on the way over. I’d expected a lot of questions, but all she’d asked was how I was feeling about it.
“Why would you?” She frowned. “Because you didn’t tell me right away? Or because you’re not even letting yourself feel this yet?”
Gathering her hands in mine, I glanced around. The air outside was damn frigid for March, and we were thinking about moving to the frozen tundra of the north for school. We were nuts. Then again, I’d live in Barrow, Alaska, where it didn’t see sunrise for months in the winter, if it meant being with her.
“I want it to be perfect, and I don’t want anything to bite you.”
“Take me out of the equation for a minute…”
“Impossible.”
“Please?” She tilted her head, and with one simple gesture, she had me in the palm of her hand. “Just take me out of the equation. If it was just you getting offered this deal, what would your reaction be?”
I tried. I really did. “Moderate excitement and probably dread.”
“Dread?”
“If it was just me, then going to record or touring would mean leaving you. I wouldn’t drag you out of school. As it is, I’m worried about how to balance all this against school for you.”
“And if we could sign it tomorrow and I said it didn’t matter, we’re doing this together because it’s important to you?”
I grinned. “I’d love that.” More, I’d revel in it. “I know I’ve been twisting your arm for this, so if you don’t want this—”
She stopped me with two gloved fingers against my lips. “I want you and everything that entails. I love singing with you. I can’t believe how I sound when