knuckles over my cheek. “I’ve been trying to give you space and time. That’s all.”
“Oh.”
He leans in and presses a soft kiss against my lips. “I hate leaving again too.”
While I’m sad he’s leaving, Chaser’s been my anchor in a tumultuous sea these past few days. I won’t do anything to make him feel worse. “Vegas will probably be a fun show. I’ve never been. I wish I could go with you.”
“But then I’d drag you off to the first chapel I find to get hitched and we wouldn’t have your dream beach wedding.”
“I’d be okay with that,” I whisper.
“I wouldn’t. You deserve to have everything the way you want it.” He pauses. “And Vegas would probably be the worst place to have a secret wedding. Word would get back to your father in no time.”
“I definitely don’t want that.”
He holds up two T-shirts. “Help me decide. Black or dark black?”
“What, no light black?” I tease. Leaning up, I run my hands over his chest. “What are you planning to wear to the Elimination Date premiere?”
“I’m not planning anything.” He kisses the tip of my nose. “That’s a girl thing. I’ll throw on the first clean items I find. Are you looking forward to it?”
“Yes. It’ll be fun. I’ll have you home for a few days. Get to hear your song in a movie.”
“I’m not sure I’ll believe it until I actually hear it. Still convinced we’ll get a phone call saying it’s been cut.”
“They better not,” I growl.
“So feisty.” He kisses my cheek again and then returns to packing.
I slap my alarm off the next morning. Next to me, Chaser groans.
The script I tossed on my nightstand last night catches my attention. I never even flipped it open. I sit up and pluck it out of the envelope, flipping through pages for the scenes I’m in.
“You’re cute when you’re so focused,” Chaser whispers.
I glance down and find him staring up at me. “Creep.” I whap him with my script.
He curls his hand around my leg and pulls me closer. “What’s happening this week on Shallow End?” He gasps and widens his eyes. “Will someone confront their stalker?”
I fall over laughing. “We’ve only had three stalker story lines.”
“I love making you laugh.” He tickles his fingers over my ribs and sits up, pulling me into his lap.
“Stop! I need to finish this.” I frown, flipping through the pages. “I think they’re bringing in sharks?”
“Isn’t it set at a pool?”
“Yeah, but they let us go to the beach sometimes.”
He starts humming the theme from Jaws and nibbles on my arm.
“You’re…” I’m laughing too hard to finish my sentence.
“What, little dove?”
“Dangerous!” I slap his chest and try to wriggle out of his lap.
His eyes spark with the fire that excites me every time it blazes and his arm clamps around my waist, holding me tight. “Yeah, but I’m the best kind of dangerous.”
“How’s that?” I gasp, rubbing myself against him.
He runs his fingers under the edge of my underwear, slowly peeling the material out of his way. “Because all I want to do is make you happy.”
I gasp as his knuckles brush against my skin. My whole world shrinks to where his thumb rubs over my clit. “Oh,” I moan, “That’s making me very happy right now.” Heat slides down my spine, intensifying the ache between my legs.
He leans forward, kissing the column of my throat. “Do you want me to make you come?”
“God, yes. More than anything.”
“How?”
My heart pounds with nervous anticipation. I reach down and move the sheet out of my way. Slowly, I slide my hand up and down his erection. “On your cock.”
Tension has his muscles locked tight. “My pleasure.” The desire coiled in his hoarse voice and the heat of his skin drives my need higher. He squeezes my hip. “Come here,” he whispers.
I straddle his lap, positioning myself over him. He slides my underwear to the side and continues stroking me. Slowly, I lower myself over him, gasping with excited pleasure when he nudges my entrance.
A flash of pain crosses his face. “Easy. You don’t have to—”
“No, you feel so good.”
His muscles shake with the effort of holding back. While I slowly rock my hips, taking him inside. I pant and shudder as he spreads me open. “I feel you everywhere,” I whisper.
“Don’t be upset if I don’t last long.”
I wrap my arms around his neck. Our foreheads meet and I roll my hips with more urgency while staring into his eyes.