His Curvy Bride - Nichole Rose Page 0,20

I tell Bentley for at least the eighth time.

He growls and then mumbles under his breath that he should have tied me to the bed so I couldn't get out of it this morning.

I shake my head at him and smile, looking out the window as he navigates traffic on Music Row, headed toward Saunders Management. We've already been by my apartment so I could change clothes and get ready. He also made me pack a bag to spend the night with him again.

He's kind of grumpy in the mornings. It's adorable. I'm not sure how someone as big as he is can be adorable, but he is. I love that he doesn't want to be away from me for even a day. I don't really want to be away from him either, but I can't just call in even though that's exactly what I want to do so I can crawl back into bed with him.

He slept half on top of me last night like he was trying to make sure I couldn't sneak out of his bed. Not that I planned on doing that. Riley did it to Cash and it didn't work out very well for her. I'm learning from her mistakes. Besides, I like sleeping with Bentley.

Not that we slept very much. He woke me up twice last night to make love to me again. Every muscle in my body is sore this morning, but I like the way it feels. I don't ever want to stop feeling like I do right now.

I'm so in love with him it's kind of ridiculous. I want this more than I've ever wanted anything before. I want to belong to him and I want him to belong to me. I want to go to sleep with him on top of me and wake up with him eating me like I did this morning. I want to take showers together and share coffee and cuddle in the kitchen. I even want him to be grumpy about taking me to work like he is right now.

The thought of anything taking that away from me makes me want to cry.

"What time will you be finished today?" he asks, lacing our fingers together and then pulling them up to his mouth to sprinkle kisses across my knuckles while we wait for a red light. "I'll pick you up."

"Um, probably not until late. Riley has a board meeting and we have a million other things to do today." My brows furrow as I think about my list of things to accomplish today. Since I didn't work yesterday afternoon, the list is incredibly long. Especially with Logan doing the press circuit to promote his new album and Kasen getting his EP ready. Which reminds me…. "You and Kasen need to come in for a strategy meeting sometime this week."

"If we do it today, can you leave early?" he asks, making me smile.

"No."

He scowls like he doesn't like that answer.

"What are you doing today anyway?" I ask him, trying to distract him before he decides to kidnap me instead of taking me to work.

"Gotta stop by the studio to hear the final product before we send it to the label for approval." He cuts his eyes in my direction and then glances away. "We have to decide which version of the ballad to use."

I bite my lip, my nerves quickly fraying at the reminder. The thought of putting myself out there again terrifies the hell out of me. But Bentley deserves the best possible chance, and he's right about the song. The ballad is good with me singing backup. It's incredible with us singing together.

I want to tell him to use it, but my stomach churns, fear pressing against my chest until breathing hurts a little bit. I try to push it away, try not to think about it. It's hard to do when all I want to do is hide in my little bubble, safe from the criticism and judgement of the rest of the world.

"Come to the studio at lunch," he says, squeezing my fingers as he pulls up in front of Saunders Management. "I want you to be there so you can hear for yourself how incredible this song is because of you, little dove."

"Okay," I agree, more than willing to spend my lunchbreak with him. Maybe hearing the song again will help me get over my fear and make the right decision. I grab my purse and unlatch my seatbelt.

"Stay right there,"