Ruby Tuesday (12 page)

Ruby Tuesday

“So you’re giving me the choice?” she asked.

He nodded.

“And if I said I wanted to reject all those options, you would respect that?”

“Of course I would. You said yourself the night we met, you don’t write songs for fame or fortune. You write them to share with the people you love. I respect that,” he grinned, “even if I do think you’re crazy.”

She laughed sadly before sobering up. Too much was happening too fast and she found herself floundering in a sea of indecision. “What if I said I wanted to stay here?

What would happen to the songs we’ve been working on?”

“I guess we’d have to decide what to do with them. They’re your songs too, Ruby. I wouldn’t steal them from you.”

She turned away from him, her pulse fluttering at the sound of her pop’s nickname in his sweet voice. Her mind and her heart were dragging her in a million different directions. If she went with him, her life would definitely change, but not necessarily in ways that would bother her. After spending the week working on the songs for his album, she’d been bitten by the bug. She wanted him to record the songs and she prayed he would find success in his solo career because he was truly talented and he deserved it.

But the idea of recording her own songs? It was a dream she’d never let her heart linger on, never considered a true possibility. Now Sky was offering her the chance of a lifetime and, as much as the idea terrified her, she knew she wouldn’t say no.

Her deepest concerns about leaving centered not on the music, but on him. He’d released her from the contest because he thought she would hate a life in the spotlight.

The fact was, she would hate a life without him more and the longer she stayed with him, the more painful it would be when they went their separate ways.

“If you’re worried about being alone with me, gypsy…” he began, stepping closer, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind. She leaned back into his embrace, 91

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relishing the warmth of his body. “The promise still stands. I won’t take anything you aren’t willing to give.”

Damn him, she thought. Couldn’t he see? Didn’t he understand? There was nothing she wouldn’t give him. She closed her eyes, fighting to stem the tears threatening to fall.

“Well, then I suppose all that’s left to do is pack. We have a grand escape to execute,” she said, forcing the words through the tightness in her throat. She could do this. She had to.

“We?”

She turned and kissed him lightly on the cheek. “We have an album to finish. I don’t renege on bets. Irish pride won’t let me.” He grinned. “Is that right?”

“Well, that and
Maybe Tomorrow
would make an awesome duet.” He nodded and walked back to the bedroom to gather his things. She started to follow, surprised when Ewan returned to the apartment.

“Hey, Teagan,” he said. “Wait up.”

“What are you doing back here?”

“I wasn’t sure I’d have a chance to talk to you alone before you left. I wanted to say, well, just be careful, sis.”

She smiled at his kind words. “I’ve spent my life being the queen of careful, Ewan.

It’s time for me to spread my wings a bit. I mean, who would have imagined me doing something so adventurous?”

“Yeah, well, I’m happy for you—with the music and all. You’re talented and you deserve this shot.”

“But…” she said when she sensed he had more to say.

“But I’d hate to see you end up as one of Sky Mitchell’s flavors of the month.” Her heart lurched at the thought. Had Ewan seen through her lame attempts at hiding her feelings? She studied his face and decided no. He was simply being her 92

Ruby Tuesday

wonderful, loving, overprotective brother. She forced a grin to her lips. “No worries, Ewan. Given the fact Sky’s taste usually runs from the exotic fashion model to the spicy Latina star, I don’t think there’s much chance he’ll settle for plain old vanilla.”

“Ah, Ruby,” Ewan said. “With all those colorful clothes and feel-good songs of yours, I never saw you as vanilla. Rainbow sherbet, at least. Hell, maybe even bubble gum.”

Teagan laughed. “Bubble gum. Yummy.” She bent forward and kissed her brother on the cheek. He surprised her by grabbing her up in a big bear hug. “Thank you, Ewan.”

He shrugged off her words, visibly embarrassed by her gratitude, and walked back downstairs. She looked around the apartment and took a deep breath. Regardless of how things ended in the cabin, she knew she was taking the first step toward leaving her childhood home. She’d expected to feel sad, scared, but instead she was overcome by a wave of positive, energized confidence.

I can do this.

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Chapter Seven

They managed to give the paparazzi the slip in a car chase that would have made James Bond proud. Sky grinned when he recalled the enthusiasm of Teagan’s brothers as they drove away from the pub. The Collins men would make great bodyguards.

There didn’t seem to be any challenge the men weren’t up to when it came to tricking the cameramen. From bar brawls to racing through the busy city streets, they’d yet to let him down.

He unlocked the door to the small cabin Aaron’s family owned. The man hadn’t lied about the size. The entire structure was little more than a combination living room/

kitchen, a bedroom and a bathroom. Teagan peeked in each room then flashed him a relieved grin. “For a minute there I was worried we’d have to use an outhouse.” It was early November, but Virginia seemed to be experiencing an Indian summer.

“At least there’s a fireplace and large supply of wood if winter decides to kick in while we’re here,” he said.

“It’s beautiful. The trees are still so colorful. Once we got away from the paparazzi and out in the country, it was a relaxing drive.” He agreed. Aaron had offered them the perfect escape and he’d have to find some way to properly thank the man. “Well,” he said. “We’ve got enough groceries to last us awhile and I don’t have to return to Baltimore until the week of Thanksgiving. That gives us three uninterrupted weeks to work our magic. You feel up to it?” She smiled and nodded. “I was a bit nervous about leaving the apartment, but I have to admit this cabin seems to be the answer to a prayer. We won’t have to deal with any of my brothers or sisters tromping through the room every few minutes to see how we’re doing. I feel really good about this.”

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Her optimism was infectious and he shared her sentiment. They’d been granted a timeout, a brief respite from the real world where they could really focus on what mattered most to them—the music.

As soon as the thought passed through his mind, he realized that wasn’t actually the reason he felt so happy. He was alone with Teagan for the first time in their short relationship. Though the promise still hovered between them, he looked forward to spending day after day, hour after hour getting to know her. There were large gaps in his knowledge of her that he was anxious to fill. Every step that brought them closer proved there were still miles separating them.

“I suppose we should get the groceries and our suitcases from the car.” She headed for the door and he followed. For the next hour, they unpacked their clothing, food and instruments, chatting about this and that as they worked.

There was one bedroom in the cabin and it was furnished with only a queen-sized bed. They both avoided discussing the sleeping arrangements over dinner, opting to build a fire and begin work on
Maybe Tomorrow
. Teagan agreed to try to rewrite the song as a duet, but insisted if she didn’t like the changes, he wouldn’t record it—with or without her. They argued over pacing and some changes he wanted to make to the lyrics until nearly midnight, when he declared they should call it a night. They could finish the song and the fight in the morning. It was getting better, but Teagan was proving to be very stubborn about maintaining the acoustic guitar.

“Guess we should hit the hay. I’ll sleep on the couch,” he added, when he noticed apprehensiveness creep into her eyes as her gaze darted toward the bedroom.

“No,” she said. “Don’t be silly. We’ve been naked in each other’s arms for a week.

We can surely sleep in the same bed in our pajamas.”

“I sleep naked,” he said. It wasn’t completely the truth, but the devil inside prodded him to push her. She’d annoyed him with her demands regarding the song and he was just petty enough to get a bit of revenge.

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Mari Carr

“Ewan must have been thrilled to see the back end of you as you left this afternoon then.”

He laughed at her dry wit, reaching out to pull her close. “I want to sleep naked with you.”

“I wear pajamas—tops and bottoms and underwear and socks. Sometimes even a bra.”

“Liar,” he teased.

“Well, I will be tonight.”

He shook his head. “No. Tonight we’re both sleeping naked.” She fell silent and he waited for her to deny his insane request. He was being demanding and he knew it.

She studied his face for a moment and he realized she was considering his words.

Surely she wouldn’t agree, would she? His heart raced at the idea of sleeping with a naked Teagan in his arms all night. Before they’d begun this conversation, he hadn’t realized how much the idea appealed to him.

“Fine,” she said so softly he wasn’t sure she’d spoken at all. She walked toward the bedroom and he followed, wondering what sort of Pandora’s box he’d just opened.

Christ. He’d given his word not to have sex with her. He’d vowed to respect and protect her virginity. How the hell could he do that and still retain his sanity? He feared tonight would test the limits of his restraint more than he could withstand.

As they entered the bedroom, he stood in the doorway, spellbound as she slipped her sweater over her head as casually as if they’d done this every night for years. She removed her jeans and undergarments just as easily. He nearly bit his lower lip off when she bent over to pull down the quilt and sheets coving the bed. She crawled in, looking at him expectantly.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

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Holy hell no
, he thought. For some reason, everything she was doing felt very, very right. “Lie on your stomach,” he said.

She grinned at the commanding tone in his voice. “More games?” He nodded, struggling to return her smile. He needed to keep things light, keep this thing growing between them casual. He could do casual. Fuck, casual was
all
he could do.

She rolled over, treating him to the image of her shapely, smooth back and firm buttocks. His cock rose from zero to sixty in under a second and he hastily pulled off his own clothing, haphazardly discarding them on the floor.

She laughed at his obvious eagerness. “We have all night,” she reminded him.

“Don’t remind me, gypsy. I’m a man on the edge here. I have too many things I want to do with you—
to
you.”

“Sky, about the promise—” she started, but he cut her off.

“Say no if it goes too far. I swear to you I’ll stop.” She didn’t say anything and for a moment, he thought he saw the briefest glimpse of disappointment in her eyes. Did she
want
him to fuck her?

The moment the thought crossed his mind, he dismissed it. He wouldn’t take her virginity. Not tonight. Not ever. Not even if she asked him to. This relationship—no, damn it, this
friendship
—was too new, too temporary for him to steal something so precious.

Cementing that thought in his mind, he formulated a plan. Their sexual games had been relatively vanilla since the night he’d introduced her to anal play, as he’d found himself satisfied to merely kiss and touch her. With other women, he’d always needed the roughness, the edge of pain. He’d loved pushing his bedmates to darker, wilder explorations. With Teagan, all of that stopped as he found he was genuinely content to merely hold her, caress her.

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He crawled onto the bed and on top of her, caging her below his body. He felt her stiffen slightly when his cock brushed against her back. Maybe it was time to take them for a ride on the wild side. Maybe that would help him get on more even footing. He was skirting the edge of quicksand with her and he knew it.

He bent down and pushed her long, lovely hair over her shoulder. He pressed a kiss on the nape of her neck and as easily as that, she relaxed beneath him. Her calmness was short-lived when he guided his cock between her thighs. It rested against her pussy, the dampness there coating his throbbing flesh. He’d intended to leave it there for just a moment, but the second he found himself between her legs, all his good intentions—hell, all his common sense—flew out the window.

“Sky?”

“Shh. I promised,” he said, the words getting harder and harder to say. “Push your legs together. Just for a second. Hold my cock tight with just your thighs.” She obeyed, and for a moment he just savored the heat of her pussy against his hard-on. God, he closed his eyes and tried to remember why this was wrong. It felt so damn right. “You know how I rub your pussy, your clit with my fingers?” She nodded.

“Tonight I’m going to do the same thing with my cock. We’re going to go slow and easy and I swear to you, I won’t put it inside you. I just wanna feel those sexy juices of yours coating me, covering me.”

She trembled slightly and he grimaced. She wanted this as badly as he did, but he was a damn fool for initiating it. He was pushing himself to the brink of disaster but he didn’t care. He wanted her right now more than he’d ever wanted another woman.

He lifted his ass, slowly pulling his cock along the firm clasp of her thighs. It wasn’t as tight as he knew her pussy would be, but he didn’t mind. The sensations of this pretend fuck were enough for now. They had to be.

He moved slowly up and down, absorbing her heat, the fluid flowing from her. He reached under her, using his fingers to tease her clit. She groaned at the first touch, her 98