It Must Be Your Love: The Sullivans (31 page)

She could still remember how much it had hurt to see him again, how impossible it had been for her to stop looking at her computer screen. And, despite how badly he’d hurt her, she’d been helplessly spellbound by his performance.

At his look of surprise, she said, “You’re amazing on stage. I’ve never seen anyone sing a song the way you do, with your heart and soul in every note, every line. Even when I told myself I couldn’t stand the sight of you, I couldn’t look away...and I couldn’t stop falling even more in love with you.”

He kissed her once, twice, then again and again until all the other things she’d been planning to say to him about not feeling right that he was giving up his passion for her spun right out of her head. Only the sounds of their simultaneously ringing phones could have brought them up for air.

“Speaking of shows,” she gasped as she worked to get her breath back, “I’ll bet that’s Carol wondering where you are.”

“And Orlando reminding you of all the people who need you to find them the perfect home today. Which means I should probably let you go, shouldn’t I?”

“I guess so.” She wrapped her arms even tighter around his neck, even though he was right that she had a handful of very important showings scheduled that day. “Although now that I’m done with breakfast, I do need to take a shower. You know, a little soap,” she teased as she thought back to their super-sexy shower on his tour bus in Oregon, “a little shampoo.”

Less than a heartbeat later, he was pushing back from the table and carrying her out of the kitchen and into the large and luxurious master bathroom. “I almost can’t believe I’m going to finally get to watch those bubbles roll down over your naked skin.”

“Those waffles you made us for breakfast were so good,” she said as she looked up at him with a grin that promised to match his wickedness from their lovemaking earlier that morning, “I may even let you watch even more than that.”

His groan—and then his kiss—told her exactly how much he liked that plan.

* * *

By that afternoon, when Billy let him know that Mia had arrived at the back entrance to the stadium, Ford felt like he’d been waiting forever for her to show up. He was surrounded by his crew and Natasha and her cameramen, but when Mia walked in wearing that little silver dress, everyone but her instantly ceased to exist.

“Mia.”

He had to kiss her once, twice, and then again a third time before he could even begin to pull himself together. He was so proud of being able to finally call her his girlfriend as he introduced her to everyone...but at the same time, it nearly killed him to have to wait any longer to be alone with her again after the endless hours he’d endured without her since this morning.

Natasha’s grin was that of a triumphant matchmaker, and all the guys in his band and crew were giving him a “way to go, man,” look. But the second she shook the hand of his last crew member, he made the world’s crappiest excuse for dragging her into his dressing room, and didn’t give a damn that everyone knew exactly what the two of them were about to do.

He was a rock star, wasn’t he? Might as well live up to the hype for once in his life and do something dirty in his dressing room...especially when he had the prettiest, sexiest woman in the world to do it with.

As soon as they stepped into the small dressing room and Ford locked the door behind them, Mia made a beeline for his guitar. She ran her hand over it, admiring its curves and hollows, then picked it up from the stand and lifted it over her head.

“I’ve always wondered what this feels like.” She stroked the dark and shiny mahogany reverently before looking up at him with a naughty grin. “No wonder you like holding it so much. It feels good. And sexy, too.” She ran a nail over a string and seemed surprised when sound rang out from the large amp beside her.

He had a sudden vision of Mia lying on his bed naked with the guitar draped over her gorgeous curves. With the guitar still strapped across one of her shoulders, he lifted her up to sit on the amp it was plugged into and stepped between her legs. Their mouths met, hungry after their hours apart. Her hands tangled in his hair, he pulled her hips in closer to his, and though his guitar should have been in the way, he didn’t feel any rush to take it off her.

On the contrary, having the woman he loved holding on to one of his most prized possessions was a total rush.

His hands automatically roved up from her bottom to her waist and breasts. He wanted to pull down the slim strap holding up her dress, but while last night, and this morning, he’d given up all control, now he tried to find it again so that he didn’t overwhelm her.

“I know it’s too much,” he said as he buried his face in her sweet-smelling hair and tried to get a grip. “Even after I’ve had you a half-dozen times since last night, I still need you too much.”

“It’s
not
too much. It could never be enough.” Where his hands had stilled on the bodice of her dress, she moved hers to help him pull the fabric down. “I want you just as badly, Ford.”

She punctuated her words by giving a little wiggle from where she was sitting on the amp. When her breasts popped out of her bodice and lay soft and perfect along the top edge of his guitar, all Ford could do was stare. Especially when Mia slowly began to slide her body and the guitar in opposite directions so that cool wood teased her nipples the way his hands and mouth had just hours earlier.

“Wanna play me, rock star?”

“Hell, yes. But you need to be naked first.”

Her eyes went wide for a split second before they darkened with the unquenchable lust he knew had to be mirrored in his own eyes. “I’ve been waiting hours and hours to get naked with you again.”

If it had been any other dress, he would have ripped it off her. But this one represented too much of their history—past, present, and hopefully future—to ruin it in the heat of the moment.

His hands were shaking with need for her so she had to help him slide it down and over her hips. Wearing only little red lace panties, sitting on top of his amp with his guitar on her lap, she was every teenage boy’s fantasy—hell, every man on the planet’s fantasy—come to life.

Kneeling in front of her, as he reached behind his guitar for the lace, he pressed soft kisses to her calves, her knees, her thighs. “Lift your hips again, baby,” he urged her and quickly he had her panties off and balled up in his hand.

He tucked the lace into his pocket, then took a step back to look at and drool over her some more. She was already more than he could handle—the beauty of her flushed skin, the way she trusted him to strip her clothes off with dozens of his crew roaming around just outside the dressing room door—when, in one slow, seductive movement, she lifted one leg up onto the amp. With the guitar barely covering her, Ford knew he didn’t have a prayer of lasting much longer. Jesus, at this rate, he was going to explode without ever unzipping his jeans or touching her.

She licked her lips, then said, “I’m ready to be played now.”

On a groan, he quickly moved behind her. He grabbed a condom from his back pocket before shoving his pants down to his hips. He quickly slid the condom on before lifting her by the waist so that he was the one sitting on the amp...and she was sitting on him.

As he brought her down over him one hot inch at a time and she leaned her head back against him, her eyes fluttered closed.

“Watch us, baby,” he urged her. “Look how beautiful you are.”

He could feel how much effort it took for her to open her eyes, but that moment she caught sight of the two of them in the mirrors told him his request was exactly the right one.

“Oh God, Ford. This is so hot.” Her words rasped out of her throat. “I love it.” She held his gaze in the mirror. “I love you.”

“Hold on tight to the guitar,” he told her in a low voice, and as soon as she obeyed his heated instructions, he began to thrust his hips up against her, going deep, then deeper still as he used his hands at her waist to guide her body nearly off, then back down over his erection again and again.

Her fingers slipped and slid over the strings and the accidental music she made as he took them both closer and closer to the edge joined their moans and gasps of pleasure.

“Yes. Please. Harder.” Her eyes had closed again, but he knew she didn’t need to watch anymore, because both of them already had this perfect, sexy moment backstage burned into their memories forever.
“Now!”

Burying his face against the nape of her neck, he thrust into her one last time, then held her tightly against him as she climaxed…while the one surprisingly perfect chord she played rang out as the soundtrack to their lovemaking.

Chapter Thirty-two

Mia loved being in Ford’s audience with her parents and brothers. Considering how much Ford meant to her, it was strange to realize she’d only ever seen him play one show—the night they met. He hadn’t had any more tour dates that week they’d holed up in the hotel, and then after they’d broken up, she couldn’t bear the thought of watching him play. As excited as the capacity crowd clearly was for him to take the stage now that the opening act was over, Mia knew no one’s anticipation could match her own.

Her parents had arrived not long after she’d emerged from his dressing room. Her mother gave Ford a hug and her father’s handshake was warm and totally welcoming. Dylan had arrived next, looking like he’d come straight from one of his boats again. But where, Mia wondered, was Adam?

Reading her mind, her mother put a reassuring arm around Mia’s shoulders. “He’ll be here. Don’t worry.”

As though those were the magic words, Adam suddenly appeared. He was trying to act cool about their special boxed-off seats right at the front of the stage, but Mia knew it was his rock ’n roll dream come true.

Tempted to punch him again for making her worry that he was still upset about her dating Ford, Mia handed him her Slushie instead. If their positions had been reversed and her brother was falling for a woman whom she wasn’t sure would stick around through thick and thin, Mia knew she wouldn’t be able to keep her mouth shut, either. They loved each other too much to stand by quietly while someone hurt them.

Adam took the peacemaking drink from her and after a long sip where he demolished half of it, the lights on stage and throughout the stadium went completely black. The hooting and hollering began in earnest alongside the chanting of Ford’s name.

And then there he was, her beautiful rock star, standing in the middle of the spotlight, effortlessly commanding the attention of the massive crowd.

From the first note he played on the same electric guitar that she’d held in his dressing room while he made love to her, Mia was utterly spellbound. His songs, his musicianship, his humor, his intensity—every single aspect of Ford’s show was simply mind blowing. Add in the fact that he singled her out in the huge crowd and sang all of his love songs straight to her, and Mia ended up so lost in the music that ninety minutes later she was more than a little surprised when the lights suddenly went up for intermission.

After her parents and Dylan told her how great they thought Ford was, then left to go pick up some T-shirts for everyone before he came out to play his second set, she knew Adam had stayed behind because he wanted to say something to her.

“You were right,” he grudgingly admitted. “Ford’s a good guy. “

She grinned, thanking God that her brother didn’t have the faintest clue what Ford had done to her in his backstage dressing room two hours earlier. “I know. And I want you to know that you shouldn’t feel too bad about the way you behaved through most of dinner, because I’m planning on being just as tough when you finally fall in love.”

Clearly intent on ignoring her sisterly threat, Adam gestured toward the massive crowd behind them. “I don’t know many people who would give all this up the way Ford said he’s going to. He really does love you, Mia.”

She knew her brother was only trying to finally say the right thing and let her know that he approved of her relationship, but instead of relaxing her, the reminder that Ford intended to give up shows like this for her made her chest clench tight.

Adam was leaving their box just as Natasha stepped into it. “I’ve never seen Ford perform like this. Honestly, it’s one of the best rock concerts I’ve seen in my entire life. I knew you’d be good for him, Mia, but I had no idea that the change would be
this
big. He was amazing before, but now...” The filmmaker grinned. “Well, I don’t need to tell you. You were here. You saw it for yourself.”

And she had. She’d seen how happy he made people. How deeply he inspired them.

She’d told herself that she needed to see for herself whether he was truly giving up touring because of her, or if he was ready to retire from shows anyway. Now she knew the truth.

Ford should be
nowhere
close to retiring.

Right when she had finally admitted to both herself and Ford that she loved him with every last piece of her heart, Mia had to face the painful truth: He didn’t belong stuck in a waterfront house in Seattle with her trying to keep himself busy with projects while she ran her real estate business.

He belonged to
this.

Natasha pressed her finger to her earpiece and listened carefully for a moment before nodding her head and saying, “Sure, I’ll let her know.” She looked at Mia. “Ford would like you to come backstage before he goes back on.” Natasha laughed and rolled her eyes. “Typical rock star stuff, right?”

Mia made herself laugh along with the other woman, even though she could no longer ignore the twisting of her gut. And the snippets of conversation she heard from Ford’s fans as she walked past them to get to the side of the stage only reinforced what she now knew she’d need to do.