over his bottom lip. She licked the tip, making him forget all about his stomach. “Mmm, mustard. I’m sorry.”
“No, you’re not.” Chance took her to his bed and gently settled her on top of the comforter. His bed that had been lonely as hell, and only felt good when she was in it. “And I’m not in the least bit sorry. I’ll eat later.” Reaching down, he tugged off her cowboy boots and tossed them on the floor.
“I also think we should finish our breakup album,” she said, looking up at him with shining eyes. “And the last song should be about getting back together.”
“I’m going to call it Rusted Truck and a Cadillac.” He tore his shirt off over his head and bent down to climb on the bed with her.
“I can smell the Grammy already.”
“Then we’ll have a perfect pair. Like us. Good plan.” Chance brushed her hair off her face. “Hey. I love you.”
“I love you, too. So much. More than is natural.”
He shifted his hand down her chest and cupped her full breast. “It feels pretty natural to me.”
His dog jumped up on the bed next to them. “Get,” he told Dolly. “Mama and Daddy have to pay the bills.”
Jolene laughed. “What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know. It just sounds like what you tell kids when you’re knocking boots.” He stood up and pulled the dog to the door and tossed her out and slammed the door shut behind her. “We don’t need an audience and she’ll be happy as soon as she finds the sandwich on the table. Now where were we?”
“Knocking boots.”
“Right. Third time’s the charm.” Chance paused, staring down at Jolene. “Damn. You are looking fine, JoJo.”
She was a sexy little package, resting on her elbows, shirt creeping up so he had a glimpse of a ribbon of her skin, showing off the dip of her waist. He had missed her. Leaning down he gave her a long, questing, possessive kiss on her full lips. He breathed in the scent of her floral shampoo and brushed his mouth across her jawline, down into her neck. Her skin was warm and she shivered in response to his touch.
Slowly, savoring, studying her features, he took in her pert nose, her plump lips, her sparkling eyes. Then he eased her shirt up over her head, and drew her jeans down over her hips. She let him set the pace, and she didn’t speak. She just ran her fingers over his chest, and licked her lips in a way that drove him crazy. He was hard, ready to take her, but wanting to just appreciate her.
“Oh, baby,” he murmured, kissing the swell of her breast. “I want to taste every inch of you.”
Jolene sighed, and reached behind her back, popping her bra open. “I could say about a million clichés right now, but all you need to know is that I love you. I love you with every ounce of my being and when I’m with you, I feel whole.”
His chest tightened. He brushed a hand over her cheek, running his thumb over her lip. “I have no words big enough, so I’m just going to show you how I feel.”
There was no sense of time or place. Just flesh on flesh, his lips and hands moving all over her, wanting to touch and taste every inch. By the time he skimmed her panties down over her hips, she was panting and he was enjoying the agonizing anticipation.
When he finally pushed inside her body in the ultimate partnership, Jolene was calling out his name and nothing had ever sounded sweeter.
“Chance, yes.” Her eyes were glazed.
When she shattered, he went right along with her, and they were together, in harmony.
Epilogue
Jolene stood on stage at the CMAs, next to Chance, wearing a tiny sequin dress in cobalt blue and a huge grin. She loved moments like this, the crowd cheering, the lights hot on her face, her favorite guitar player by her side. This was the success she had dreamed of, taking the stage at the Opry, all of country music’s finest sitting down in front of her while she sang for them.
“Thank you, thank y’all so much!” she said into her mic, raising her hand in a wave and blowing the audience a kiss. “We’re so happy to be here.”
They were. She and Chance had managed to have another hell of a year, but this time it hadn’t resulted in tossed guitars and insults being hurled at