Vintage Volume One (15 page)

twenty-six

“What are you doing here?” I whispered in the dark.

“I had to see you.”

“I thought you were somewhere between Albuquerque and Texas. Which is a city and a state, by the way.”

He chuckled. “I was. I came back for you.” Parker’s lips dragged across my skin, leaving tingles in their wake. It was dark, but I could smell him in my room. He smelled like sunshine, a bright contrast to the pitch blackness of my bedroom.

“How did you get in here?”

“That key you gave me.” His voice was lost in the skin of my abdomen.

Giving him a key to my condo was the same thing as giving him a key to my heart. A key to my condo—my most private place, the place I called home—held the same meaning as letting him into the private confines of my soul. I didn’t remember giving him a key.

“Flip over,” he said. “Grab the headboard with your hands.” I followed his directions. He pushed my shirt up, exposing my back.

It was too dark for him to see my tattoos, but it didn’t stop him. “I told you I wanted to lick every inch of your back.” Kisses trailed down my back. I felt a dart of a tongue followed by a hot breath of air. More tongue and the scratch of his scruff along my skin.

He ripped my shorts with my panties down my legs. I kicked them off. I was useless lying on my stomach. My arms were stretched above me, and he took full control of my body.

His mouth moved across the planes of my back. His fingertips trailed down the curves of my back, over my ass, and down into my pussy. He pushed a finger in and held it there for a few seconds before backing it out. He continued to kiss every part of my back while he fingered me, my body grinding down to meet the thrust of his fingers. The angle was perfect, offering me a dizzying pleasure as I gripped the headboard in my hands and pushed down onto his strong fingers. I unraveled beneath him, my body bursting into an intense orgasm that drove all coherent thought from my mind.

I released the headboard from my grip, flexing my fingers to get the blood flowing back into them. I flipped over, ready to return the favor, but as my eyes focused in on the room around me, I realized it was empty.

And it was light.

Another dream, this one even more vivid than the last.

Every part of me wished that Parker was beside me in my bed instead of on a bus somewhere in the middle of the United States.

My body ached. I flexed my fingers and realized that they ached, too. I must have been gripping something just as I’d been gripping the headboard in my dream.

I ran my fingertips under my shirt, brushing against one of my nipples. It hardened. I gasped with the pleasure of my own touch.

I had to alleviate the ache between my legs. As much as I wanted Parker in my bed with me, this was going to be a long four weeks without him.

Hell, it was going to be a long four weeks surrounded by
people
. I didn’t know when I’d get enough time alone to do this again.

So I settled back into my bed, dipped my fingertips into my panties, and took care of the writhing ache that being apart from Parker left in me.

My fucking alarm clock interrupted me just as I was about to hit my release. I hit it harder than I should’ve and finished taking care of myself. A glance at the clock when I finished let me know that I didn’t have much time to kill—just enough to shower and head over to my dad’s house, where my car would be parked for the next month.

I hauled my suitcase down to my car, spotting Bruno sitting across the street. I was told to ignore him, to continue with my life like he wasn’t watching, but I gave a small wave in his direction. It was hard to see his expression through his blacked out windows.

I threw my suitcase and a few other odds and ends in the backseat of my car, and then I started it up and headed toward Santa Monica Boulevard, my normal route toward Hollywood Hills where my dad lived. Traffic was light, but as soon as I turned onto the main road, a car got right on my ass.

I slowed down, hoping the asshole would go around me, but he didn’t. He stayed on my ass. I wasn’t as scared as I’d been the last time I was followed. This time, at least I knew that Bruno was somewhere behind me.

But being followed like that still filled me with anxiety, especially after my dad had filled me in on some of the puzzle pieces of Damien’s past with Randy.

My cell phone rang, its jarring jingle startling me.

I grabbed it off the seat next to me, checking the screen. It was an unknown number. I slid the screen over to answer it, tossing it back on the seat and talking through my Bluetooth. “Hello?”

“Ms. Price, it’s Bruno. Keep going straight and don’t hang up. Change lanes for me, please.”

I didn’t know jack shit about Bruno, but my dad had hired him, so I had to trust him. I did as I was told, signaling my intention ahead of time. The car behind me didn’t signal, but it did follow me into the other lane.

“Motherfucker,” I heard Bruno mumble.

“Is everything okay?” I asked, my voice small.

“Yes, ma’am. Just keep driving.”

“Where do I go?”

“Ms. Price, head back into the right lane. Just follow my directions, and don’t worry. I’m right behind him.”

I took in a calming, cleansing breath, glad that my dad had stuck Bruno on me despite my weak protesting.

“Just keep heading toward your father’s house for now. I’m running his plates.”

It was an easy drive. There was hardly any traffic on a midweek late morning, and it would have been peaceful to drive in the serenity of the outskirts of Los Angeles at this time of day if I hadn’t had someone following me.

“Ma’am, take a left on Fairfax.”

I followed his directions. It was the street I normally took toward my dad’s, anyway.

“I’m going to take care of him. You keep going toward Mr. Price’s house. Drive cautiously. Watch behind you. Call your dad immediately if you think someone else is following you.”

He cut off the call, and I kept driving toward my dad’s. I took a right on Hollywood Boulevard, and I looked behind me. There was no one back there anymore.

I wasn’t sure what Bruno meant by taking care of him, but he’d been good on his word.

I took another cleansing breath, but this one was a hell of a lot shakier than the first one I’d taken on that ride. Parker flashed through my mind, and it felt like the only thing that would make me feel better were his arms wrapped tightly around my torso.

I missed him.

I missed him more than I thought I would.

He’d become a fairly permanent fixture in my thoughts despite the limited time we had together. Knowing that we’d be apart from each other for the next month was daunting.

But I had plenty ahead of me to focus on. Time on the road would certainly become long. Missing Parker would get even harder, but hopefully getting away from California would help me escape the anxiety-filled drives and strange occurrences that I’d chalked up to Randy.

I hoped that a month was long enough for Randy to deal with the fact that my dad had married Jadyn. I hoped maybe he’d just build a bridge and get over it.

Hopes were funny things, though.

Much like dreams, it was easy to build up hopes in my mind. But most of the time, reality tended to turn out a different way.

twenty-seven

I pulled into my dad’s expansive driveway. He was waiting there, motioning for me to pull into an empty space in his six-car garage.

Once I cut the engine, he clicked a button and shut the door.

My dad pulled me in for a hug when I got out of the car. “You okay, CC?”

“I’m alright.”

“You’re shaking.”

“It was scary.”

“Having Bruno watch you doesn’t seem like overkill now, does it?”

I shook my head, fighting back the tears that I felt burning behind my eyes. I couldn’t start my month long stint as my dad’s personal assistant by crying.

I pulled back, because if I let my dad hug me any longer, the dam would burst. Between missing Parker, fear for my safety, and relegating my history with Damien to the past, I was on emotional overload.

“It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m ready for this tour. I’m ready to be the best PA you ever had.”

“Rebecca’s got some pretty big shoes to fill.”

“I’ve got this,” I said, forcing a smile that I didn’t really feel.

Jadyn Snow and her four suitcases waited by the door.

“Hi Mommy,” I said. She rolled her heavily made-up eyes.

“You okay, Roxanna?” she asked with barely concealed false concern. I hoped my dad caught on, but he was busy talking to George.

“I’ll be fine. Rough start, but it should all be behind us now. Did you pack enough?” I motioned toward her suitcases.

“A girl’s got to have some choices.”

“Or an entire wardrobe,” I muttered. Traveling with Jadyn Snow was
not
going to be the highlight of the next four weeks.

George hauled our bags into the Tahoe. Another of George’s security contacts drove us to the airport so he could take the Tahoe back to my dad’s place since George was going with us. The five of us headed toward the airport.

“Any news on who was following me?” I asked my dad. He made some non-committal grunt, and that was the end of it. He may have known something, or maybe he hadn’t, but either way, I wasn’t getting anything else out of him.

Sometimes I hated that I gave in so easily, but I’d learned long ago that putting up a fight just wasn’t worth it.

I pulled out my phone to text Parker. I didn’t want to worry him, but I did want to hear from him. I just needed that one brief moment of connection, even if it came in the form of a text. I needed to know that he was thinking about me.

On my way to the airport and missing you.

I was all the way through security and sitting in the first class lounge before a reply came. I was sitting by myself in a chair in the corner. I had my earbuds in. Flashing Light was the only album I’d downloaded to my playlist. It was all I wanted to hear.

My dad never sat at the gates; he preferred the stuck-up first class lounges where he was able to obtain a few moments of peace before his flights. When he sat at the gate, too many people recognized him.

I hated first class lounges. Maybe I was the more pretentious of the two of us for feeling that way, but I didn’t like sitting with the rich and famous, eating free apples and drinking free glasses of wine when the people in there had bundles of money to pay for that shit.

I smiled as I read his text.
I miss you, too. On the bus. Just woke up.

It’s after noon. #Lazy

Not much else to do on a bus but sleep or watch TV. #Bored

I supposed that was true enough. My phone buzzed with another text, but I was listening to the voice that came over the loudspeaker informing us that our flight was on time. Boarding would begin in a few minutes. First class would board first, which meant of course that we would get on the plane first. But my dad always waited until the very last minute possible to make his appearance. I guess it gave him some privacy. I headed to the restroom quickly—I hated the tiny ones on planes—and when I returned to where my dad, Jadyn, and George sat, I finally checked the last text Parker had sent me.

And text my girlfriend, of course.

Girlfriend? He’d called me his
girlfriend
? And that was the text I’d waited to check?

A little tingle stuttered in my chest.

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

Another text came through while I debated how to reply.

Okay, just ignore that last text. No reply for a full ten minutes can’t be good.

I grinned at my phone. He clearly felt as out of place in this relationship as I did. Maybe that’s what made us so good together.

Not ignoring. I wouldn’t do that to my boyfriend.

My phone rang a second later.

“Aren’t you on the bus?” I answered.

“I don’t give a fuck. I needed to hear your voice.” Parker was quiet, and I hadn’t realized how much I had needed to hear his voice, too.  I stood and wandered over to the window, and then I told him that.

“You okay?”

“I’m okay.” I watched a plane gain speed and then take off. Planes always sort of amazed me. How did they stay in the air with all of those people, the luggage, the drink carts? Fascinating.

“You sound like you’re not okay.”

“Just some stuff this morning.”

“Tell me.”

“Someone was following me on my way to my dad’s.” It slipped out in the interest of honesty. Parker was easier to talk to when his intense eyes weren’t staring holes through me.

“Following you?”

“Like right on my ass. My dad had a security guy watching me, and he took care of it.”

“What does that mean?”

I watched the next plane in line get ready to pick up speed. I sighed. “I don’t know.

“The verbal equivalent of a shrug.” He said it lightly, and I chuckled.

“My dad wouldn’t tell me. I don’t even know if he knows. But I made it safely, and I’m about to board my plane.”

My dad snuck up behind me and tapped my shoulder. “You ready?” he mouthed when he saw that I was on the phone.

I nodded.

“I have to go. My flight’s leaving soon.”

“I miss you.”

“Miss you, too.”

We hung up, and I felt warm all over. He’d called me his girlfriend. He was off doing his musical thing, but girlfriend spelled commitment. It meant that he saw me the same way I saw him. He saw more than a few fun nights together. He saw a future.

I floated toward the plane, glad that at least something was going right in my life.

Our flight was about five and a half hours long. My dad and Jadyn sat behind me. I sat alone, the first class seat next to mine empty. It was nice because it gave me some time to just sit and think by myself.

I pulled out my journal, and I scribbled a few lines about Parker.

Happiness. Love without the words. His eyes, his hair. His tattoos. God, those tattoos. Protection. The way he cares, the way he fucks. Together we are strong. Powerful. Intense. Unbreakable. Forever?

I didn’t use his name. Writing in my journal had become both necessary and therapeutic. I stared down at my words, feeling everything that I’d written on that page.

How was I to know that all I was doing by writing those words was completely jinxing myself?

But worse, how could I have known that one of the words I’d written would turn out to be a complete and utter lie?