To Cherish and To Hold (Love of a Rockstar #1.5) (13 page)

“I offered to double Hendro’s bonus if he got the downstairs in working order. The upstairs is still a mess of wires and exposed walls.”

He relayed this information with a nonchalant tone as if it wasn’t a huge deal that he orchestrated a wedding in a mere twenty days. My heart burst at the seams with love.

I gazed at his handsome face. “You need to learn how to take credit when credit is due.”

Luke smirked. “Only if I get a kiss.”

Leaning across the table, I planted my mouth against his. He tangled his fingers into my hair, deepening the kiss and sending a heady need to course through my body. Luke had the unique ability set me on the edge with a simple caress. It was the way he did it with such breathtaking gentleness, yet unbridled passion.

Pulling back ever so slightly, his hands moved to my waist. As we locked eyes, restraint glimmered in his gaze. “You deserve more on your wedding night than getting fucked on the island of a kitchen. You deserve champagne, rose petals, the whole nine yards.”

I cupped his cheek. “That’s a sweet sentiment but frankly I don’t care where we have sex as long as you’re naked and between my legs.”

Luke’s eyes darkened to a navy blue. “Is that so?”

I nodded.

“Then lie down and take off your underwear.”

“I’m not wearing any.”

A growl escaped his lips as his willpower unraveled, exactly what I wanted to happen. Since finding out about our unborn child, Luke had been extra gentle during sex. While that was all fine and dandy, I missed the sensation of him filling me to the very brim until my lungs begged for air. Complying with his orders, the cold metal met my bare thighs as I bunched my wedding dress around my waist. Luke bore down upon me as his heated gaze caused anticipation to flutter in my lower stomach. I snagged my lip between my teeth, waiting for him to speak.

“I’m going to take my time with you until you’re begging for release.” Luke’s velvet coated voice teased my nipples to a peak.

Staying true to his promise, his finger dipped inside me and before I could gasp, a second finger was added. My back arched off the table as Luke’s thumb kneaded my pulsing clit. He swallowed my moans of pleasure. A fierce and furious need built, lifting me the very heavens. As I was about to tip over the edge, Luke’s touched ceased. A thousand curse words were on the tip of my tongue. The look in his eyes killed them in their wake. I wasn’t the one in charge. He was and he would do with me as he saw fit. Luke continued his relentless assault with his tongue and hands, bringing me to the brink and back again. By the time his hard thickness got positioned between my thighs, I was delusional with desire. Pinning my hands above my head, Luke took no mercy. He thrust, hard and deep in one single stroke that stole the air from my lungs.

“Is that you want baby?” Luke pulled out and thrust again. “Tell me. Is that what you want?”

“Yes! Don’t stop.”

Finally, the orgasm I’d been chasing crashed down upon me. I cried out and threw my head backwards as tremors racked my body.

My hands smoothed my dress to its former state. “This is defiantly the weirdest place we have had sex.”

“You don’t remember Halloween of 2010?”

I frowned slightly; attempting to latch onto the memory he was referring to. When I did, a laugh bubbled free.

“That’s right. We had sex against that old creepy tree in the cemetery.”

“It ripped your dress.”

“And my stockings.”

“And your underwear.”

“YOU ripped my underwear.”

Luke flashed me a wicked grin. “I know.” Playfully swatting his chest, he grabbed my hand and kissed my knuckles. “I’m glad to see our sense of adventure hasn’t died in our old age.”

“We are in our twenties—hardly old.”

“Speak for yourself. When I get up in the morning, my knees creek.”

“Well, for an old man you are a fantastic lover.”

Our food sat on the island, untouched. What a shame. I grabbed the container of vegetables and dug in. They were lightly seasoned with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon. Surprisingly delicious, even cold.

Luke bit into a roll. “So I’ve been thinking….”

Whenever he broached a topic in that manner, I immediately went on self-alert. My spine straightened.

“If I go on tour again….”

“Again? I thought this was the last tour for Five Guys.”

He shrugged, trying his hardest to not look guilty. “It is, but I’m thinking about starting a new band. As a hobby, of course, under my own record label. Depending on how it goes, we could do small tours up and down the west coast.”

Luke was a musician through and through. Just like how I was a baker. Without our passions, our lives were devoid of color. I couldn’t accept him to function in a black and white world because of my own selfishness.

I smiled. “That’s a wonderful idea.”

He beamed from ear to ear, radiating happiness. “Really? Because the concept of creating my own record label has been on my mind a lot lately. Since, I have first hand experience as a musician, I could rework how the entire system operates. Make it more personal, not so corporate.”

“And you already have connections.”

He nodded his head. “Exactly! There are a lot of bands out there who are unhappy with their representation.”

Caught in a whirlwind of inspiration and excitement, Luke talked a mile a minute, explaining exactly what his hopes and dreams were for this newfound concept. As I watched his hands fly in the air around him, unadulterated bliss hit me square in the gut. Although our wedding hadn’t gone off without a hitch, I knew one thing. There is no one I would rather ride the rollercoaster called life with than Luke.

“M
om, is Daddy home yet?”

Outfitted in her Cinderella pajamas, Nil walked into my bedroom half past seven in the morning. She had been doing the same song and dance since Luke left on tour, two weeks ago. I lifted the corner of my duvet and she crawled into bed with me. Her hair, perfumed with baby powder, was a reminder of how in five months or so, another child will be joining us. Another reminder wasn’t needed though. His or hers karate style kicks were growing more frequent. Luke and I had created a miniature fighter.

My arms cradled Nil against my chest. “I told you Daddy would be home on the thirty-first. What is today?”

“The fifteenth.”

“Two more weeks to go.”

She let out a dejected sigh, matching my own mood on the subject. Nevertheless, Luke hadn’t only gone tour for Five Guys. He’d gone on tour with the goal to seek out other musician’s opinions on records labels. What they would change, what they liked and where they thought record labels would be in twenty years. Armed with this information, he and Matthew would come back to Seattle and proceed with whatever the first step was. I had faith he could still juggle Norma Jean’s with this new endeavor. The man had multi-tasking down to a science. Right now though, the restaurant had to be put on hold while we fixed the plumbing. According to Hendro, the pipes were almost fifty years old. He was shocked they hadn’t burst sooner.

Drifting back to sleep, I fell into a dreamless slumber. My exhaustion knew no bounds at this point in my pregnancy. It was weird how each month differed from the last. I wished the energy I had a couple of weeks ago would return. Then, my mile long to-do list wouldn’t keep getting longer. A couple of hours or minutes later, the smell of coffee wafted under my nose. Like a zombie rising from the dead, I opened my eyes.

Camille stood over me, holding a paper cup. She flashed her pearly whites and silently pointed to the living room. I gently pushed Nil off my arm. She groaned but continued to doze. Curled tightly in a ball with her hand tucked under chin, she looked like an angel. When I padded into the living room, Camille handed me my life support, coffee. Taking a large swig, it scalded my throat but the effects of caffeine buzzed through my veins. That’s all that mattered.

“It’s decaf,” Camille admitted.

Guess the placebo affect was real because I did feel more alert. Downing another gulp, the difference couldn’t be defected. Decaf coffee tasted like—coffee.

“Thanks. You are a true friend.” My butt plopped on the couch. “What brings you by on this fine morning?”

“Nothing in particular. I had a break in between classes and thought you might need some cheering up.”

I immediately perked up in my seat. “You know what would really cheer me up?”

Camille waved her hands in front of her face, frantically. “No! No, no, no. We are not going there.”

“We are. I deserve an answer.”

“I told you my answer. Mathew and I hadn’t met before that night. He’s just simply one of those people who gets underneath your skin.”

“Being best friends for as long as we have, I have the right to call bullshit.”

“You do, but I don’t know what you want from me.”

I sighed heavily at her pure stubborn will power. Camille had been sticking with the same story since I’d first asked about her and Matthew. She could lie till the cows came home, but her poker face needed improvements. She was a therapist, not an actress after all.

“The chemistry exploded around you two,” I stated. “And I saw how you kept looking at him when you thought he wasn’t doing the same.”

Her features tightened. “Marlene, drop it. You are not playing matchmaker.”

“Why not? Matthew is a good man. He worked on Norma Jean’s as if it was his own restaurant. Plus, he gave Luke and me the crown molding for free. That high quality craftsmanship easily cost Matthew two grand.”

“I don’t care if he is the Dalai Lama. I don’t want anything to do with him.”

“The other day, you gave your sandwich to a homeless man on the corner. On Saturdays, you volunteer at the rehab center, counseling former drug addicts. Yet you are treating Matthew, a ‘stranger,’ as if he has rabies.”

Camille quickly arose from the couch as if she had been jabbed. Her mouth set into a thin line while her eyes blackened. “I said drop it,” she bit out.

“We promised not to hide any secrets from each other.”

“Some secrets are worth hiding.”

“Yeah?” My voice incased in ice. “Well you don’t have a very good track record of which secrets are worth keeping and which aren’t.”

“Oh my God! That was a stupid mistake. When are you going to move on? Luke is your husband now. You got the picture perfect family you always wanted.”