Live for You (18 page)

A glimmer of something
wicked appears in his eyes, then he flips me onto my back, his
mouth trailing down my stomach. “We could. Something like this,
maybe?”

“
Yes, oh yes.” My hands
grip the sheets, then his hair as he goes lower.

He takes the time to kiss
my scar, tongue tracing a design that leaves me shaking. He presses
kisses along the curve of my hip, rubbing his thumb over my tattoo,
before paying extra special attention to my inner
thighs.

His thumbs part me. “All
this sweetness.”

Then he licks me and my
eyes close. I let him take control as he makes me cry out his name
and arch my back. A slow glide, a rough slide of his stubble and
I’m shaking. Closer and closer to the edge I get, but he won’t let
me fall.

“
Please…please,” I beg,
not recognizing my own voice.

He sinks two fingers inside
me and hits a place that makes me buck against his mouth. I look at
him, my vision heated and blurry. I watch his head move, his black
hair teasing the skin of my inner thigh as his mouth and tongue
completely devastate me. Another flick of his tongue and thrust of
his fingers and I tumble over the edge, screaming his name, yet
knowing he’s there to catch me as I fall.

Chapter
Eighteen

Cole

Rae’s curled up to me, our
legs tangled in one another. She has on my shirt, but it’s up
around her waist and her ass is bare in the morning
light.

I cup a cheek and she
makes a sleepy little moaning sound. Despite our night of
doing
other things
to each other, my morning wood goes from a semi to a full
blown erection in a matter of seconds.

Must buy
condoms
.

Letting go, I roll to one
side and search for my phone, finding it under my pillow. I check
the time. I’m late. “Arrg.” I smack the headboard with my
fist.

Rae comes awake with a
start. “What’s wrong?”

I jump out of bed, and grab
my jeans, sliding them up and over my boxer briefs. “I was supposed
to meet this guy.”

“
About what?” she asks as
my shirt hits me in the head and covers my eyes.

“
You’re nude, aren’t you?”
My fingers freeze on the last button of my jeans.

“
I wouldn’t be so cruel.”
I hear a door open and close. “I put on a robe. So you’re meeting a
guy about a dog?”

I pull the t-shirt the rest
of the way over my head. It smells of both of us. I might not ever
take it off. “About an apartment, actually.”

Her brows rise. She’s
wearing a cow print robe that covers her from throat to feet. Oddly
enough, I think it’s hot on her. “So y’all are moving?”

Sitting down in a huge
chair by the window, I shove my feet into my work boots and lace
them up. “Just me.”

“
Oh.” Her brow creases.
“What about Kelly and Parker?”

“
They’re welcome to
visit.” I stand and grab my keys and wallet from her dresser. “You
are, too, you know.”

She’s still standing there,
that same crease in her forehead while she’s trying to connect the
dots. “But what if your momma goes—”

“
Don’t,” I say, then
exhale and rub my hand across my face. “Look, you wouldn’t
understand. So I’d rather not—”

“
I rather you would.” She
crosses the room and steps on top of my boots. They’re steel-toed,
so she could jump up and down on them while wearing heels, and I
wouldn’t feel a thing. “It’s what people in relationships
do.”

“
Really?”

“
Yeah, really,” she says,
shoving her finger in my chest. “It’s the adult thing to
do.”

I can’t help but be amused
by her display. Her head is tipped back and she stares up at me.
The height disparity between of us is laughable. Yet here she is,
lecturing me like I was five.

“
Fine, Miss Given, but you
have to tell me one thing about you that I don’t know.”

She bites her lip, her
bright eyes dimming. I almost take back my words, but she nods and
whispers, “I ran away from home to come here. I cut my hair,
pierced my nose and bought a whole new wardrobe so the press
wouldn’t recognize me and follow.”

I tuck a piece of hair
behind the top of her ear. “What happened to make you run away?”If
someone has hurt her, I’ll hunt them down and beat the shit out of
them.

Her head shakes. “You said
one.” She steps off of my boots and crosses her arms. “Your
turn.”

I rub a spot over my ear, a
habit that I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of, no matter how hard I
try. “I got kicked out of my house because I wouldn’t tell my
mother where I’d hidden her money. I was supposed to meet the
leasing manager over at Forrestville Apartments, but now he
probably thinks I’m some kind of loser. I mean, if I can’t even
show up on time, how in the hell can I pay my rent on time or at
all, right?”

She rubs one arm, her hand
disappearing and reappearing under the huge sleeve. “What if…what
if you stay here while you look for another apartment?”

“
What about your
Nana?”

“
I think she’d be all
right with me helping a person in need.”

I grab the belt of her
robe and tug, letting the material fall open. “What about a
man
who has a
need
to be inside of
you?”

Rae gives me a coy look,
tracing a finger down the center of her chest. My mouth runs dry as
she circles one of her nipples. “Then that man better get himself
some condoms.”

My suave response: To stare
at her like a pure idiot. “Ah…um.”

“
I’m getting in the
shower.” She flounces away from me, her laughter trailing behind
her as she leaves the room.

***

After buying a warehouse
sized box of condoms and checking the bulletin board at the Piggly
Wiggly for any apartments for rent, I head back home. Correction: I
head to Rae’s Nana’s house.

I beat out a staccato
rhythm on the steering wheel while waiting for a red light, then
hit the gas as soon as it turns green.

I drive past Kelly’s
school. I miss her so much it hurts. I’ve only been gone for two
days, but I haven’t seen her since last Friday. And I feel like I’m
missing something or someone.

Usually Kelly’s all up in
my space, in my lap and following me around. Today I was supposed
to take her to her first ballet lesson.

Hell, I don’t even know if
she made it to school today. Who knows if Crystal bothered to get
herself out of bed to fix breakfast or Kelly’s hair.

I scroll through my contact
list and give Kelly’s school a call.

The secretary picks up the
phone on the second ring. “Forrestville Elementary. This is
Georgia.”

“
Hey, Miss Georgia. This
is Cole Morgan and I was just checking to see if Kelly had made it
to school okay?”

“
Oh, she missed the bus,
but Parker drove her up here. That boy is so sweet.”

I grin, tucking that little
compliment back for later. “I’ll be sure to tell him.”

“
Cole?” Her voice lowers
and my gut starts churning. “Y’all’s momma was up here and she’s
taking you off of the approved list. So, I won’t be able to give
you any more information about Kelly.”

Fuck. What the hell was
Chrystal’s problem with me? It couldn’t be just because I look and
sound like
him
.
There had to be more to it. A person couldn’t be naturally that
hateful of her own child.

“
That’s okay, Miss
Georgia. I understand.”

Sympathy laces her voice as
she says, “I’m so sorry, honey. You’ve always taken such good care
of that little girl. Tell you what, I can’t break the rules, but I
can call the other people on the approved list.”

“
And who would they be?”
My mother’s drug dealer or last boyfriend?

“
Your brother and Violet
Givens.”

I grind my teeth together
so hard that I’m sure Georgia can hear them. “Thank you,” I bite
out. Then I cut off my phone, barely restraining myself from
throwing it out of the window.

Taking a deep breath, I try
to reason with my Hulk Smash side. No need to get upset. Parker is
still there. He can watch out her Kelly. Besides, Rae doesn’t need
to be on the receiving end of my less than bubbly mood.

Tonight, for once, I’ll
maintain. At least I’ll have work to take my mind off of
things.

My hand shakes as I turn on
the radio.

Maintain, I remind myself.
I can do this.

But my hand doesn’t stop
shaking, so I turn the Jeep around and head for Sully’s, calling
Wyatt and hoping like hell he can help me out.

*** *** ***

Violet

Tonight I’m going to work
with Cole. It’s his turn to close and since I’d rather spend time
with him than anyone else, I volunteered to go.

Okay, so I invited myself
to go with him.

I dress for the part,
slipping into a short pink skirt and chevron printed orange and
white top with heeled leather booties in bright white. Something
I’d ordered online last week.

Today while Cole was off
running errands, I washed out all the purple in my hair and dyed
the ends bright pink. It’s finally long enough to actually do more
than spike it up or pin it to one side. Hence, the really cute
white headband holding my hair back from my face.

I’ve decided to merge
Violet Lynn with Violet Rae or just plain Rae.

Whatever or whoever I am, I
still love dressing up, but I also love my short hair. I love my
nose piercing. Even if Nashville comes calling again, I’m not too
sure I’ll be ditching the things I love.

And I, for damn, sure won’t
be ditching the people I love.

I make my way to the living
room where Cole is waiting. When I arrive his profile is to me and
I inwardly sigh at the sight.

He’s wearing a plaid shirt
that stretches just right across his broad shoulders and a pair of
dark jeans that hang low on his hips. There are leather wraps on
each wrist and his ear gauges are a size larger than
usual.

I’m positive I’ll
spontaneously combust when he actually turns and gives me the full
frontal.

“
Ready?”

He turns and my knees go
weak. “Oh yeah,” he says, his low voice washing over me. Heat burns
though me. Brows raised, his dark eyes slowly roam my body, giving
me not a once, not a twice but a four times over. “I’m so kicking
someone’s ass tonight.”

I sashay over to the table
in the hallway and bend over to pick up my purse, flashing him in
the process. “I thought you were a bartender?”

“
No. Not just no, but hell
no, Rae.” His heavy steps make the hardwood floors creak. “Go put
on some panties.”

Turning to face him, I
sweetly say, “I will if you will.” Earlier in the evening I’d
sneaked a peak at him getting dressed. He’s all commando
tonight.

His full lips thin, then
his gaze drops to my chest. “You are wearing a bra, aren’t
you?”

I smile in
answer.

“
Rae, please don’t tell me
you’re not wearing a bra.”

“
Okay.” I dab a bit of
lipstick on my bottom lip and snap my purse closed. “I won’t tell
you.”

“
Violet Rae
Givens
.” He actually growls my entire
name.

Tapping my wrist, I say,
“Tick tock, Mr. Bartender. Can’t be late for helping people getting
their drink on.”

***

When we get to The Double
Deuce, Cole takes me in through the back. We go down a long
hallway, passing a kitchen, some dressing rooms, a couple of
bathrooms and an office.

He steers me to the end of
the bar, the one closest to the wall and the cash register. “Sit
right here, where you belong…with your high heels on,” he sings to
me.

The musicality of his voice
throws me. So does his song choice. “Lady Gaga?” I ask, wondering
if he’d somehow sneaked a few shots as soon as we got
here.

“
It’s on the jukebox.” He
braces his hands on either side of me, forcing my legs wide so he
can get right in the middle. Cold air rushes up my skirt. “Dammit,
Rae. I thought you actually put some on.”

I bat my lashes at him. “I
promise to sit very lady-like the entire night.”

“
You’d better,” he
mutters, then leans closer. “Anyone gives you shit, you yell for
me. Not a lady-like yell either. A rebel yell that’ll bring down
the roof.”

I tilt my head to one side.
“What kind of place have you brought me to, Mr. Morgan?”

“
I’m serious,
Rae.”

“
I know you are.” I kiss
him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“
What can I get you to
drink?” he asks.