Meeting Trouble (New Adult Rock Star Romance) (13 page)

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” His brow knitted when he frowned. “You think I haven’t considered ditching this whole tour to stay here with you? I’m this close, I swear it.
This close
.”

He showed me how close with thumb and forefinger, a sliver of space between them.

“You know how crazy that is, right?” I asked.

“Yes.”
He shrugged. “You make me crazy, what can I say?”

“You
asked me what I wanted last night,” I reminded him, lifting my head to meet his eyes. “But Rob… what do
you
want?”

“Are you kidding me?”
He blinked in surprise at my question. “My God, Sabrina… if you don’t know by now…”

“I guess…
” I swallowed at the way he was looking at me. I’d seen him angry, but never at me. I dropped my gaze, struggling with the words. “I just want to be sure. Lay all the cards on the table.”

“Look at me.”
He lifted my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes. He was mad all right, but there was something else there, something deeper and more compelling. “I’m falling for you so hard I can’t see straight. The answer to whatever question you’ve got rolling around in your head is yes. Yes. I’m so yours it hurts. And it happened so fast I’m still trying to get my wind back.”

“Me too,” I whispered, blinking back tears at his words.
Falling for you so hard I can’t see straight.
That about covered it. I couldn’t do anything straight with him around. This weekend had been an endless spiral, all soft edges and dizzying curves. “So what are we going to do about it?”

“I don’t know yet.”
He ran a hand through his hair, staring up at the ceiling.

“We’re running out of time.”

“I know.” He threw an arm over his eyes with a groan. “I’m working on it.”

“What does that mean?”
I asked, nudging him.

“It means we need to go christen the shower.”
He peeked out from under his arm, grinning at me.

“Now you’re just trying to distract me!”

“Me?” He protested. “Never!”

Then he was tickling me, his fingers finding all the right places
, making me howl with laughter. I finally escaped, breathless and panting, running down the hall to the bathroom. I shut the door but didn’t lock it, leaning against the counter, trying to catch my breath.

I thought he was right behind me but I didn’t hear him so I took the time to pee. I finished, going to the sink to wash my hands, wondering where he’d disappeared to when he surprised the hell out of me.
I screamed when the door burst open and Rob stood in the doorway wearing nothing but a great big grin.

“Heeeeere’s Robbie!” he announced, brandishing a fork, playing out a scene from one of his favorite horror movies,
The Shining
—we’d discussed the merits of the Kubrick version vs. the television miniseries quite seriously in bed the night before.

“Robbie?” I snorted laughter. “And a… a fork?”

“Guess it would it have been better with an axe,” he agreed, shutting the door behind him.

“Or at least a sword.”

“Ah well.” He tossed the fork into the sink. It still had bits of chocolate cake on it. He must have gotten it off my dresser, where I’d left my plate. Trevor had a birthday and came by to give me one of his birthday cupcakes on Friday. It seemed like a million years ago now. “So much for
The Shining
… let’s reenact something else.
Last Tango in Paris
maybe?”

I squealed when he reached me, his hands
moving around to grab my behind, squeezing and spreading.

“
No way!” I protested, laughing and twisting away from him, reaching in to start the shower. “Besides we don’t have any butter.”

“Oh that can be remedied.” Rob was behind me now as I adjusted the water temperature.

“How hot do you like it?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

“Very hot.” He grinned at me when I glanced over my shoulder at him. “Ohhh you mean the shower.”

I stuck my tongue out at him and stepped into the shower, pulling the curtain closed.

“He
y!” I called, hearing him pee. “No replays of
Psycho
with forks, got it?”

“I think we’ve
come up with the newest internet sensation. Horror movies played out with forks!” He opened the curtain, gaze raking over me.

“No forks in the shower.” I took a step back, letting him in. I was in the middle of washing my hair and when I closed my eyes, tilting my head back to rinse, I felt Rob’s hands on me. He used all the suds from the shampoo, making my body slick under his hands, but they were rinsed off too soon. He grabbed the soap instead, lathering it up and pressing me with my back against the wall.

“You’re so beautiful, Sabrina.” He soaped the rounded hills of my breasts, lingering on my nipples with his thumbs. His hands were solid and warm as he followed my curves, down my waist, over my hips, dipping one hand between my thighs to wash me there too.

Then he turned me around, taking my hands and putting them over my head, palms flat against the tile. He soaped up my back, his fingers tickling my ribcage, but I wasn’t laughing now. I moaned when his slippery hands moved over my behind, reaching between my legs to cup my sex.

“Time to christen the shower,” he murmured, adjusting behind me, trying to get the right angle, and he found it. I gasped when his cock impaled me from behind, driving me against the wet tile. The shower pounded against our skin, washing away all the soap, but we had our own natural lubrication. I was wet for him.

The heat of the shower and the hard slam of his cock made me dizzy and wobbly. I braced myself against the wall with one hand, arching, giving him better access. He slid in even deeper, groan
ing at the new sensation. I slipped my other hand down between my legs, feeling him sliding in and out of me, the soft slap of his testicles against my clit almost enough to send me flying.

I spread my lips with my fingers, feeling that rhythmic slap as he thrust into me, his hands gripping my hips hard. My clit ached to be touched and I complied without even thinking, rubbing it in fast little circles. It wasn’t going to take me long to catch up to him, not this morning.

“Oh baby, please, make me come,” I murmured, my cheek pressed against the tile. “I want to come all over you.”

He moaned, driving into me from underneath, getting so deep it almost hurt, but it was perfect, just what I wanted. I furiously worked my clit, panting with the effort
, thighs spread wide, muscles taut. Rob reached around with one hand, grabbing my breast, tweaking my nipple, sending hot, electric shockwaves down to my sex.

“Oh God!” I cried, fingernails futilely raking the tile. “I’m gonna come!”

Rob grabbed me, turning me around and sliding me up, up, up the tile wall. I gasped and reached for him, trying to keep my balance, but he had me, legs over his shoulders, mouth covering my sex.

“Ohhhhhhh fuck!” I moaned, his tongue taking me over the edge, just three licks—one, two, three—and I was coming, my heels digging into his back, my hands buried in his hair. I shuddered and twisted and bucked on his shoulders but he never unfastened his mouth from my sex, as if he could draw every last bit of my orgasm right out of me.

When he let me down, he cradled me against him, kissing my cheeks and chin and forehead, letting me slowly come back to earth. I felt his cock, still hard, against my thigh. I reached down, smiling, dreamy, stroking him gently. He groaned, thrusting into my hand.

“What do you want, Rob?” I asked, rubbing my thumb over the tip. “
Do  you want to be inside me? Or do you want my mouth?”

“Your mouth,” he replied hoarsely.

Then I was on my knees, drowning in the deluge from the shower, but I didn’t care. His cock was in my mouth, nearly all the way down my throat, making me gag, but I still didn’t stop. I wanted him, all of him. Rob leaned back against the tile, moaning when I cupped his testicles gently in one hand while I used the other to pump his cock into my mouth.

“Oh yeah, that’s such a good girl.” His hands moved in my hair, pressing me in to him, his cock swelling in my mouth. “You’re going to make me come!”

I couldn’t say a word—my mouth was too full of him—so I just worked harder, hand, mouth, tongue, all moving at once, urging him on, wanting to take him there. And then he was flooding my mouth with semen, so much of it I didn’t have any choice but to swallow, milking him with the soft suction of my mouth, every last bit down my throat, burning like fire in my belly.

Rob pulled me to standing, holding me against him, both of us panting.

“Bathroom sex,” he said, voice hoarse. “Check.”

“Every room in the house.” I smiled, thinking of what he’d said about me thinking of him no matter what room I was in. I knew he was right. I was going to think about him in the kitchen, on my couch in the living room, in the bathroom, and especially in my bed.

Every room was his now. He’d marked his territory.

But what I didn’t tell him was that none of it was necessary.

I was already his.

Chapter Eleven

We braved Leo’s on a Monday between the before-work breakfast clientele and the lunch crowd and it was as empty as I hoped it would be. Jodie was working and sat us in the same booth after she assured me she didn’t get in trouble for her little stunt the day before, pulling the alarm so we could make a quick escape. We each ordered the same thing—a repeat of yesterday, minus the rabid fans.

But instead of digging straight away into his eggs, this time Rob took his sunglasses off all on his own. He reached over and took my hand, meeting my eyes over a plate of French toast I felt too nauseous to actually eat. I didn’t want to look away, didn’t want to ever stop looking at him, solid and real sitting right across from me, but it was hard to maintain eye contact knowing it wasn’t long bef
ore we had to say goodbye. I knew he had to be able to see the sadness in my eyes.

“Listen, Sabrina, I’ve been thinking…”

“Uh-oh.” I smiled.

“Seriously, listen
,” he urged. “I want to see you.”

“I’m right here.”

“Yeah, but before long I’m going to be out there.” He nodded toward the door and I sighed. “I was wondering if you would consider coming with me?”

“Out there?”

“On the road,” he said. “Yeah.”

I shook my head.
“I can’t leave my job.”

“I can give you a job,” he replied.
“There are plenty of jobs on the road. Hell, you can even sing backup if you want.”

“What about all my kids? I can’t just leave.”
Me, sing backup? Was he kidding? “When does the tour end?”

“April.”

“It’s February.”

He nodded.
“I know.”

“And then there wil
l be more albums, another tour,” I reminded him.

“Yeah
.” He couldn’t deny reality any more than I could, not now, not today.

“And your wife.”

He sighed.

“Now
you
listen.” I squeezed his hand, finally ready to tell him my sticking point, the one thing that kept me from going completely off the deep end with this man. “I’ve been pretending she doesn’t exist, but the reality is, she does. You’re married. And I can’t be with you if you’re still with her.”

“We’ve b
een separated for almost a year,” he replied. “But divorce… well, it’s complicated. Especially when you have as much money as I do. And she refused to sign a prenup.”

“And you married her anyway?”

“I was young and stupid.”

“And in love?”
I asked softly.

“I would have said so, before I met you.”

I blinked at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That I—
”

“Don’t say it.
” I pulled away from him, shaking my head. “You’ve only known me…”

I
got my phone out of my purse. “Two days, sixteen hours and thirty-four minutes…”

“You’re counting?”
He laughed.

“Counting down to when you leave
and I wake up from this dream.” I picked up my fork, poking at my French toast. I wasn’t going to be able to eat it.

“What if I file for divorce?”
Rob asked, chewing a bite of his omelet thoughtfully.

“You would do that?”

“For you, I would do anything.”

“Except give up being a
rock star to stay here with me,” I said softly.

“Believe me, it’s far more tempting than you think
,” he replied. “Is that what you want me to do?”

“No. Not really, no.” I would never want him to resent me, and I knew if I asked him to stay, he would. And he would regret it
and ultimately blame me. Besides, I couldn’t take Rob Burns away from the world. He deserved to be where he was—he was following his calling. I couldn’t bear to take him from that.

“I want you, Sabrina,” he said, leaning on the table, getting as close as he could, his eyes dark pools. “And
I will move heaven and earth to get you.”

“And then once you have me?”

Because that was really the question. What then?

“I will hug you and squeeze you and call you George…”

He made me laugh, but it was serious too. I could picture us together, like we had been all weekend, but I couldn’t imagine us out there, in the real world.

“How will it work?” I asked.

“I don’t know.”
He sighed. “Life on the road… it’s like living in a tunnel. You travel all the time with blinders on, from one place to the next, show after show. The towns all start to look the same, people too. Everything feels narrow, constricted.”

“The tunnel.”

“Right.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if I’m cut out for tunnel living.”

“All I’m asking right now is that you be my light.” He had my hand again, this time tracing the pale blue veins in my wrist.

“At the end of the tunnel?”
I smiled.

“Yeah.”

“I don’t know, Rob.” I was thinking of Josh and how we’d talked about trying to stay together, even though he would be so far away. “Long distance relationships are so hard.”

“I’d be happy to have you with me.”

“In the tunnel?”

.“You’d still be my light.”
He lifted my hand and kissed the inside of my wrist.

“But what if it doesn’t work out for us? What if I give up my job and everything and come with you and then things fall apart?
Then I’m left with… nothing.”

“Practical Sabrina.” He dipped his head to catch my gaze. “
Where’s Wild Sabrina? Can I talk to her?”

“Two sides of the same coin.
” I shrugged. “If you weren’t married, I think Wild Sabrina would run away with you right now.”

“
I didn’t hide it from you,” he reminded me. “You’ve always known I was married.”

“Ah. But
that’s different!” I protested. “Wild Sabrina could rationalize with Practical Sabrina on that point because it was only a few days. One perfect day, remember? Then it would be… over.”

“So that’s that.” Rob’s hand tightened in mine. “
Practical Sabrina has the final say. It’s over.”

“It’s not that simple,” I argued. “
Practical Sabrina, Wild Sabrina—they’re both me. I’m torn. I’m confused. I don’t know what to do.”

“What does your heart say?”

“Thump thump,” I replied with a smile. “It’s not much of an answer.”

“Close your eyes.”

I shook my head. “No, not here.”

“Close your eyes,” he insisted and of course I did.
“What do you want?”

He knew. He had to know. My heart knew it too.

“You,” I whispered.

“There’s your answer.”
He squeezed my hand, looking satisfied as I opened my eyes. “I’m yours if you want me.”

Oh my God, how could I possibly say no to this man?

“I do want you,” I choked out. “I do, Rob, but…”

“I guess the question then is how much.”
He let go of my hand, sitting back in the booth, looking at me.

“
No, that’s not the question,” I said.

“What is?”

I shook my head. “If I knew that, maybe I could answer it.”

Rob glanced at his watch.
“Bus leaves in an hour. I promised Ty I’d be there.”

I nodded. I knew exactly what time it was—and just how long we had before the bus left with Rob in it.

Jodie came by with the check and Rob pulled out his wallet, paying for yesterday’s breakfast as well as today’s. He remembered the name of her son—Cody—and Jodie simply beamed at that.

“Will I see you in here tomorrow?” Jodie asked hopefully.

“Afraid not.” Rob shook his head. “Heading out on the road again today.”

“Aw, that’s a shame.”
Jodie looked between the two of us. “You two make such a cute couple.”

“Yeah, I can
just see us splashed across all the tabloids,” I joked, drinking my orange juice. At least I could finish that.

“Rob and Sabrina.”
Jodie mused. “Robalina!”

That made Rob laugh, but I barely managed a smile.

“Come on, let’s go,” Rob said when Jodie headed back to the kitchen.

I left most of my French toast untouched, not knowing if I’d ever be able to go into Leo’s again without thinking about Rob. It was probably ruined for life—along with the DIA,
Bangkok Cafe and my entire house.

“You ready?”
Rob asked as he buckled his seat belt.

“I want to show you something,” I said.
“It’s on the way. Do you mind?”

“Sure.” He shrugged.
“They won’t leave without me. Let’s go.”

I drove without thinking, knowing the way by heart. We didn’t talk until I pulled up to the building, red brick, low and flat
.

“Where are we?”
Rob asked, looking out the window.

“This is where I work.”

He perked up. “This is your school?”

“Come on.”

He followed me into the building. It was quiet, our shoes squeaking on the tile floor.

“Is anyone here?” Rob whispered like we were in church. “
I thought it was a day off.”

“Secretaries
and the principal will be here,” I said. “Teachers and students got the day off.”

I turned the hall and opened the first door on the right.

“Your classroom?” Rob asked as we stepped inside.

I flipped on the light. The bulletin board this month was covered with pictures of musicians—Mozart, Bach,
Beethoven, all the big names. I’d drawn mustaches on all of them and at the top I’d stenciled, “I mustache you a question—do you know these musicians?” The kids loved it.

“
I grew up here,” I told him, watching as he walked around the room, touching things, exploring. “This was my school.”

“You went to this school?”
Rob had picked up my guitar and was idly strumming now as he wandered.

“My
dad was a Detroit cop. There used to be a residency requirement. If you worked in Detroit, you had to live there.”

“Are you kidding me?”
Rob’s eyebrows went up in surprise.

“Oh, it was very safe. We lived in Cop Row.”
I smiled, recognizing the song he was playing—
You Can’t Break a Broken Heart.
“An entire city block full of cops in the middle of downtown Detroit. No one ever bothered us.”

“I bet!”
He laughed, giving up the guitar and picking up my ukulele.

“My mother taught at Wayne State. She was full-time faculty for a long time but then they started
cutting back and in spite of the years she’d spent teaching, they made her part time, adjunct faculty. She was ready to retire by then anyway.”

“Do they still live in Cop Row?” Rob seemed fascinated by this idea of an entire block of police officers living together.

“She and my dad moved to Florida right around the time I graduated from college. They wanted me to go with them but I stayed here. By then they’d lifted the residency requirement and I could teach downtown but live outside of the city.”

“Lucky you!” Now he was playing
Over the Rainbow
on my ukulele.

“They didn’t want me to stay. My dad was worried about me, a single girl alone in the city. My mom was too I think. It had been safe when we all lived in Cop Row but he didn’t like the idea of not being around to look out for me.”

“Why did you stay?”

I shrugged.
“It feels good to give back.”

“You know what else feels good?”
Rob set the ukulele aside and came over to put his arms around me. “I mean, besides you?”

“Hm?”
I rested my head against his chest. His arms had started to feel like home.

“Getting something you’ve always dreamed of… something you barely allowed yourself to think about because you wanted it so much.”

“I never dared to dream about anything beyond this,” I whispered.

“I know.”

I lifted my face to look at him. “I like this dream.”

“It’s a good dream,” he agreed, glancing around the room. “
But maybe… there’s a better one. If you set your sights a little bit higher.”

“Maybe.”

“I can guarantee it,” Rob’s arms tightened around me. “Just say the word. I can make all your dreams come true.”

“That’s a powerful claim.”

“I have magic sunglasses,” he reminded me with a grin. “I can do anything.”

“Come on.
” I laughed, twisting out of his arms and heading for the door. “Don’t want you to miss the bus and give Tyler a heart attack.”