“You taste like cheese, beer, and a bad night, baby.”
In typical Loren fashion, he cruelly shoved me out of the clouds he’d placed me on. I recoiled in horror at the reminder that while Loren looked like a magazine spread, I haven’t even brushed my teeth.
I turned to run for the bathroom and my toothbrush when he grabbed me and spun me back around.
“I came to tell you that we’re back on the road soon. I didn’t mean to kiss you, but I’m not sorry.”
“Don’t do it again,” I forced myself to plead.
“Nah, I’ll definitely do it again.”
“Loren—”
“It won’t be your fault,” he interrupted while pulling me close. “You can’t help that I don’t want to resist you.”
I frowned at Loren while pretending my heart wasn’t shoving shit aside to make room for him. “You almost sound like you’re in love with me,” I tried to joke to break the tension.
Loren didn’t even blink. “If we’re not careful, I will be,” he told me seriously.
My lips repeatedly parted and closed until a sane response came to mind. He’d given me no reason to believe him, and yet…the meadow my brain was telling me I smelled right now urged me to. I still hadn’t figured out this new emotion. Only that Loren triggered it.
I so didn’t need this right now.
“What am I supposed to do with that, Loren? We barely know each other.”
Our second kiss came sooner than later. It was slow and gentle. The kind that lingered long after the culprit was gone.
“Whatever you want,” he whispered against my lips. His head popped up, and then he was giving me a hard look. Stern on Loren was a foreign look, yet so fucking good. “As long as the answer isn’t no.”
“It has to be.” I pulled away, and he let me. “You know my secret.”
“Thanks for reminding me,” he responded, lips curled. He was definitely pissed now, but I sensed it wasn’t at me. “Who the hell told you that you were a nympho? Was it by chance a licensed professional?”
“I’m serious, Loren.” I shook my head when my voice failed me. I could feel shame clawing at my skin. It was still too familiar. “You can’t joke about this.”
“Believe me, no part of me finds this funny. I didn’t take it seriously until I realized that someone put this shit in your head. Give me a name. I want to deal with them.”
I shook my head while looking down at his Derbies. “You didn’t know me then. I crossed too many lines, and I hurt too many people. I was willing to let it destroy me.”
“Show me someone who hasn’t made mistakes when it comes to sex, Braxton. If I could remember their names, I’d tell you a few I wished I’d met when I was sober,” he mumbled.
I didn’t want to laugh, but I did. Inside. “If you had an upbringing like mine, you’d understand. They say it takes a village to raise a child. Mine wasn’t the most forgiving.”
He grabbed me again, holding me by my hips, but it was his eyes that conquered me. Not his hands. “How can I convince you?”
“You can’t.”
“Have you met me?” he shot back, his voice deep and low. When he kissed me again, he tasted like morning dew. I couldn’t get enough. When he finally pulled away, it took us both a moment to catch our breath. “I can run circles around your demons, Braxton. Just let me in, and I’ll handle the rest.”
The romantic I kept in line with a bat and knuckle dusters sighed in appreciation. He was saying all the right things. Naturally, since it was Loren, I was suspicious. “If this is some ploy to sleep with me, I’ll make you sorry.”
“Fuck, you’re sexy.”
It was hard not to fall for his gorgeous smile that lit up my entire life, but I managed. “You won’t think so when I slip orange dye in your shampoo or shave your eyebrows while you sleep.”
Sliding his hands into the pockets of his jeans, he stared at me for a long, long, long time. “Duly noted, baby.”
Denver, as it turns out, was a thirteen-hour drive from Phoenix. Add in the frequent stops, including our current one in some town bordering Colorado, and I wondered if we’d ever reach the city. We didn’t have another show until Friday, which gave us two days to find trouble.