Sidewalk Flower (10 page)

What had she done?
 
Lucky’s entire body stiffened, seemingly on
full alert.
 
Before he spoke, he shifted
his hips in the driver seat and cleared his throat.

“It was nothing.
 
You’re probably tired.
 
I’ll wake you up when we get there, okay?”

“Sure.”
 
She didn’t like not knowing what had turned him down into this less
amiable version of himself.
  

She pressed the stereo’s seek button,
looking for a CD to ride comfortably with until they reached the town of
Shawnee.
 
Not feeling in sync with the
first selection, she hit next.
 
The deep
male voice joined the drum and guitar that she loved.
 
She remembered the night Jaxon had written
this one. They had still been roommates at the time.
 
She missed him.
 

* * * *

Lucky straightened in his seat.
 
He didn’t blame her for the earlier
slip.
 
The way she had
sighed and then bitten her lip
, Oh, Jaxon
,
coming out in her soft spoken tone.
 
But her two small words left him wondering if she wished he hadn’t come
along.
 

There was something in Oklahoma that she
refused to discuss.
 
Even after speaking
freely on other subjects, she had failed to explain what exactly was happening
tomorrow.
 
She hadn’t invited him to come
along and he knew that whatever it was, Jaxon was originally supposed to have
gone with her. The time he’d brought it up, she automatically began rubbing her
wrist into her leg.
 
And the time he had
asked her about going to live with her gramma, she’d done the same thing.
 
It seemed to be an involuntary reaction of
hers.
 
He wanted to help her but she
would have to be honest about her feelings for his cousin.
 

Her eyes closed while they made haste
through the roadside rural towns.
 
Trista
began to sing the chorus of a song he had never heard but one she obviously
knew by heart.
 
He wished he could forget
about the road long enough to sneak a peek at how she looked singing.
 

Probably adorable and every bit as
beautiful as the night he had walked up to her Jeep, knowing instantly she was
there to pick him up.
 
The way his heart
had drummed in his chest when he realized how lucky he was to be on the road
with her.
 
But how restrained he’d have
to be in light of all that.

But he couldn’t compete with a rock
star.
 
He was just a country boy who made
wooden furniture.
 
A
guy who lived in a small house on his dad’s land.
 
If Jaxon held her somewhere inside where even
she didn’t realize, what were his chances with a girl like Trista?
 
He was clearly not in this for just one night
and he clearly had to make something of this trip because he had a feeling
someone was going to need him, even if she refused to see it.

Chapter
Five

“Lucky, Lucky, we’re here,” Trista
whispered, leaning close to his ear.
 

“Wha—?
 
Where?”
 

“Shawnee, Oklahoma.
 
The hotel.
 
We’re here.”

“Okay.”
 
His voice sounded gruff as he coughed out the single word reply.

A couple hours ago he’d started
rubber-necking it and she’d threatened to toss his bag out the window if he
didn’t switch back with her and let her drive.
 
She thought he’d be glad her lead foot and the ear-splitting metal rock
had not only served to keep her awake but had gotten them here in one
piece.
 
Unfortunately, it seemed to have
kept Lucky up too.
 
He had flinched each
time she hit a bump in the asphalt or drove the tires too close to the raised
grating on the side of the freeway, proving he’d never quite made it to
sleep.
 
Now, as he unfolded himself and
stepped out of the Jeep, she smiled apologetically as she left him to check
them in.

When she came back, his body was
overloaded with all their bags.
 
“Thanks
for getting that.
 
Here, let me get mine
from you.
 
We’re upstairs.”

She extended a hand but he answered her
brusquely.
 
“That’s okay, I’ve got
it.”
 

He was obviously tired and for the first
time—grumpy.
 
She blew it off.
 
It was nothing compared to the hollering that
tore through the slim aisle of Sin Pointe’s private jet whenever she failed to
keep the blackout shades completely closed.
 

The thought reminded her that in a few
short weeks, she’d be back on the road with them touring for their new
album.
 
Although from where she was
tonight, it seemed incredibly distant.
 
She led Lucky to the elevators.

“This is us.
 
I hope you don’t mind but I just got the one
room.”

Lucky’s shoulders popped back like he’d
just had his posture corrected by a cotillion teacher.
 
“No, I don’t mind.
 
Are you sure about that though?” he asked.

“Yes.
 
Very.”
 
Hopefully soon, Lucky
would believe her when she said that compared to her perverted friends in Cali,
he was no threat, whatsoever.
 
She slid
the key card into the slot until the green light appeared.

When she had the door opened and then
flicked on the light, she cursed.

“What’s wrong?”
 
Lucky stepped inside and closed the door
behind him after setting their bags close to the cooling unit.
 

“I swear to you, I asked for two beds.”

She waved her hands over the space in
front of them where only one queen-size ensemble stood.

Well, somebody was awake now.
 
He coughed then said, “I believe you.
 
It’s okay; I can sleep on the couch.”

They looked over to it together.
 
If Trista sat down and stretched her legs
out, they would hang over the other end at mid-calf.
 
And she was only five-feet-four inches tall.
 

“That won’t be necessary, Lucky.
 
It would be very funny, but no.”

“Well, I don’t want you to have to sleep
there either,” he said.
 

She picked up on the suggestion in his
voice right away.
 
If only he knew she
had no intentions of either of them bunking down on the little couch.
 

Looking at his plentiful arms, she
couldn’t help but rub hers and wonder what it would feel like to be wrapped up
in something so warm and wholesome.
 
Even
just for the night.
 
Especially
this night.
 
She leaned her upper
torso a little to the right and let her neck roll slightly to the back.
 
The stretch felt good as she tried to release
the pent up stress squeezing her muscles.
 
Biting her bottom lip and then letting it ease back to its natural
place, she made him an offer.
 
“I
wouldn’t mind sharing the bed, if you’re okay with that.”

His answer was to step closer and take
over the attempted warming of her arms.
 
“You’re cold.
 
They keep this
place like a freezer.”
 
And then he let
out a big breath.
 
And
swallowed.
 

Was he avoiding her offer?
 
She warmed at his old-fashioned charm but
desired the passionate kisser that he seemed to be keeping at bay.

“These places are always like this.”
 
She glanced up, hoping to catch his handsome
face in a smile but instead, found him frowning.
 
She hadn’t meant to remind him how often she’d
been in hotel rooms but it appeared that’s exactly what she’d done.

 
“Here,” he
said,
his
voice so smooth and low she could taste him like she could taste rich, velvety
dark chocolate if she thought about it long enough.
 

She wondered what he was about to offer
when to her extreme surprise, he undid the red pearl buttons of his western
shirt, letting it slide off his long-limbed body with the unexpected grace of a
dancer.
 
Oh no
.
 
She meant oh yes, but
knew
oh no
was the correct
response.
 
Quickly, he wrapped it around
the back of her shoulders and gathered it at the front, holding it closed with
his hands.

“Thank you,” she whispered, appreciative
of the gesture. Not only for the instant heat
his body had
lent to the fibers in the fabric but also because she could finally appreciate
the tanned skin of his chest, now that they were alone.
 

Alone.
 
Together.
 
A crazy need twisted its way through her
jaded heart.
 
A touch
from someone good.
 
Enough to warm and calm her for the night and propel her through
tomorrow.
 
That’s all she was
asking.
 
But Lucky wouldn’t be easy to
convince, she already knew that much.
 
And although it would probably do the trick, she wasn’t willing to show
him how much she needed it.
 
A sigh crept
out as she gave up on the pointless idea.
 

Lucky kept hold of the shirt gathered in
his fingers in front of her.
 
Would he
let it loose already so she could get on with the night alone?
 
She eyed one far corner of the bed.
 
But she was still cold to the touch and he
voiced his concern.
 

“Would you like me to raise the
thermostat?” he asked.

“No, it’s okay.
 
I’m fine.”

But she wasn’t.
 
She was starting to shiver.
 
Lucky pulled her into his bare but heated
chest and wrapped his arms around her back.
 
She could have cried right there.
 

“Hey, you’re shaking—a lot.”
 
His squeeze felt like a magical protective
cloak from everything bad in the world as it tightened around her.
 
“Listen darlin’, all the things we’ve been
talking about...I meant it when I said I respect you.
 
I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.
 
You know that right?”

“You don’t, Lucky.
 
If anything, you make me—happy—and very
unladylike in my thoughts.”

He smiled and pulled her into him even
more.
 
His torso was strong, his skin
soft but taut.
 
When her chest touched
against his stomach and her hips rested at his groin, she knew it would be mere
seconds until he’d step back, realizing how close they’d become.
 
While it didn’t come from her heart, she went
ahead and started to pull away first.
 
This had to be uncomfortable for him and she owed him some gratitude for
the kindness he’d already gushed onto her.
 
But in the next moment, his lips slowly came down onto
hers,
deepening with each step he took toward the bed.
 
Surely Lucky wouldn’t want a kiss this
amazing to end either.
 
When the backs of
her weak knees met up with the mattress, she knew he would decide one way or
the other.
 
She ran her tongue along his
lower lip, hoping she tasted as irresistible to him as he did to her.
 

* * * *

It took Lucky a minute to recover from
the inferno Trista’s tongue had started in his blood.
 
He pulled down the fancy maroon comforter
along with a red wool blanket and a crisp white sheet so he could help Trista
into bed like he’d planned before he’d lost it and kissed her just now.

Lord
help
him
because she was something special.
 
He
knew it already.
 
How many hours driving
through pitch dark Arkansas had he spent being both thankful and sorry for the
way she made him feel?
 
Asking for enough strength to keep his will solid.
 
To do right by her.
 
Finding the perfect timber for his specialty
hand carved pieces of furniture took longer than three days.
 
Yet he’d found this woman over the weekend
and she’d already driven him half crazy and completely enamored all at
once.
 
He had to find a way to slow their
pace though.
 
Trista had said more than
once that she appreciated his goodness.
 
He understood she meant the way he hadn’t taken advantage of her like
most other guys.