needed to know.
To try to bring himself back, he laced his fingers with hers. He’d picked the hand that still bore Snake’s ring. That should’ve been a cold shower to his libido, but it wasn’t. Not today. Logically, he knew he couldn’t expect her to turn her back on her past so soon. If he wanted her to be his—and fuck, he did—he had to give her reason to want to be.
“I don’t come out here enough anymore. Barely check out the view. I love it, but I’ve gotten too used to it.”
“How could you get too used to this?” The delight in her tone could have buoyed him for weeks. “It’s like a fantasy. The warm breeze, the smell of the sea, the sun starting to sink into the ocean…”
“I guess sometimes you stop seeing what’s right in front of you.” He toyed with her hair, turning a handful of it to study the twined colors of red and gold in every strand. “That’s why I saw you but I didn’t see you for all that time. I’d slotted you away as forbidden and looked right through you. My loss,” he said as she turned to face him.
She studied him for a long moment with the pink and orange hue of the setting sun haloing her head. “Not just yours. I didn’t see you either.”
“I was the last thing you wanted to notice. You’ve had enough of dealing with guys in bands.”
“Yeah.” She lowered her gaze, her lashes fluttering against her cheeks. “Axl comes first in everything. I can’t risk him.” She took a deep breath. “Michael, what I do affects him. I can’t make a mistake and hurt my little boy.”
“I understand that. And he’s so lucky to have you. My parents—” He broke off and stared into the distance at the crying seagulls. “Me and Mal weren’t their priority, put it that way.”
“Mal?”
“My older brother. Irish twins.” Michael smiled and curled her hair around his fingers. “He was on the drums at the House of Blues. Giant bald dude. Looks like me not at all. Doesn’t act like me either. Rarely says a word unless he feels like it, and most often they’re rude.”
“Your brother is in your band?”
“No. He’s not. He has no interest in that life. He just pinch hit for Ry when he injured his wrist. We made a deal. One night only, then he split.”
“But that night he was amazing. I mean, I wasn’t really focused on anyone but you, but I could tell he was really good. I kind of pay attention to drummers, you know, after Snake.”
Michael tipped up her chin, relishing the ruddy flush of her cheeks. Her feelings telegraphed onto her beautiful heart-shaped face like a projector on a wall.
No wonder he was transfixed.
“You were focused on me,” he said quietly. “Just like I was focused on you. Only you. For the last week, you’ve been like a spotlight. You’ve blinded me. I can’t see anything else around your glow.”
“It’s attraction.”
“You’re right. It absolutely is.” He swayed closer, knowing she would be able to feel how hard he was for her. Constantly.
Wanting Chloe had become a primitive beat in his blood. He couldn’t imagine living without that all-consuming need ever again.
“That’s just not all it is.” He traced the bow of her mouth. “I want to get to know all the things I don’t know about you. All the hidden chambers and vaults you hide away to keep them safe. You can open them for me.”
“Let’s say I do. And you get bored. You go on tour, and that pretty Tabitha girl shows up in your dressing room. Then what? I shouldn’t even have a right to get mad, because we did a crazy thing.” Chloe flicked her windblown hair out of her eyes. The sun was lowering in the sky, and with it, up came the chill. “Who gets married after a couple of hours?”
“Two people who’ve been looking for something, and finally found it.”
Her gaze shot to his and stayed. “That’s not enough to build a life on. Chemistry fades. The excitement will fade. It has to.”
“So we don’t build a life yet. We build a relationship, day by day.”
“But we’re married. We’re supposed to have all of this figured out, and how can we? I had to run from reporters to even get here. My picture is everywhere. Today I lost—” She swallowed hard. “I lost so much, and now this is what’s left.”
Of all the