Joy Ride by Desiree Holt (bill gates best books TXT) 📗

cheeks, her eyelids, her forehead. “You know tomorrow’s our last night at Aftershock. Then Sunday, it’s the big concert.”

“Excited?” she asked. Would she see him next week? See him at all after the big concert?

Will Lacey be there? The little bitch. I should turn Annie loose on her.

“Yes and no.” He eased himself slowly from her body, disposed of the condom, and pulled her against him. “This could be a really big break for us. And in this business, they’re very hard to come by. You have no idea the intensity of the competition. Everyone who’s ever played a high school dance is knocking on the doors.”

“But Lightnin’ is going to get that chance, right?”

“Yeah, thanks to Rick knowing Butch Meredith. It’s a long story, one of those one-in-a-million things you hear about. Usually for other people. I’ll tell you about it sometime. Anyway, when the opening act for this show had to cancel, Butch called Rick and here we are.”

“And if this goes well?” she persisted. She was so conflicted, on the one hand hearing his excitement and wanting success for him. On the other, she was afraid it would be the thing drawing him away from her.

Be unselfish for a minute, Emma.

But there was the fear, filling her again as she waited for his answer.

“Hopefully more concert dates with them. Maybe interest from the record label. And more money.”

“A lot more women, too, I’ll bet.”

Emma, why can’t you keep your mouth shut?

Marc went absolutely still. “Are you worried?”

She tried her best to sound nonchalant. “I have no claim on you.”

He cupped her chin and tilted her face toward his. “You know, you could if you wanted to.”

She shifted her gaze away from his. All of her emotions warred inside her. She wanted Marc, her Guitar Man. Wanted a life with him. Wanted a joy ride that never ended but carried them into the future. Could she actually fit into his life? It’d be harder to fit him into hers, right? If only she could make a decision and stick to it. But vestiges of the old Emma clung to her like ancient cobwebs, tangling her mind.

“You don’t understand. ” I’ve still got one foot in my other life and can’t seem to pull it out.

“Why not? What are you afraid of?”

That I won’t be enough for you. That in the end, despite what you say, you’ll want a woman like Lacey who fits more into the scene. Someone who knows the ins and outs. Who won’t accidentally say something stupid. Who won’t embarrass you.

Emma worried about that almost as much as anything else. She saw herself as not cool and untrendy. Someone who could easily put her foot in her mouth and say the wrong thing at the wrong time.

“Nothing. Nothing at all.” She wriggled from his grasp and pushed herself to a sitting position. As long as he held her like this way, she couldn’t think straight. And she wanted desperately to believe nothing he said would change. “Hey, didn’t you say you had my concert pass here?”

“Okay, okay, I get the hint.” A muscle jumped in his cheek. “But this conversation is far from over.”

“My pass, big guy?” Emma hated the uncertainty lingering in her brain. Just when she thought she had things under control, she’d had that sort-of confrontation with Lacey and she couldn’t get the redhead’s words out of her mind. Despite the fact that Marc kept insisting there was nothing between them, it brought all of her insecurities to the surface again.

Please, please understand, Marc. My Guitar Man.

He tensed for a moment then pulled her back into his arm. “Sure do. I’ll give it to you before you leave.” He licked her jaw lightly. “You know where the Amphitheatre is, right?”

“Of course.”

“Okay, go to the back gate. It’s where the roadies and performers enter. There’ll be a guard there. Show him your pass and he’ll direct you to the door you’ll use. The guard there will tell you where our dressing room is, but I’ll try to keep an eye out for you.”

“What time should I get there?”

“We go on at eight, so if you get there at seven I can hang around the door looking for you.”

“Then that’s what I’ll do. And I’ll be on time. Definitely.” She snuggled against him, pushing back her own misgivings to assure him. She shared his anticipation and knew what all this could mean for him, and she did want him to have this success. “I’m really excited about this, Marc.”

“Excited enough to tell me your name?”

Her stomach tightened at the thought but she’d made a bargain with herself. “Maybe. Depends how good your performance is.”

“How about my performance tonight?” He grinned. “The one right here? Doesn’t that earn me points?”

“Hmm. I don’t know. “She trailed her fingers over his stubbled cheeks and the line of his jaw, pressing her reawakening body against his. Sliding one leg over his, she rubbed her sex against his cock, feeling it pulse in response. Yes! “Maybe I should ask for a repeat just to make sure.”

“How about a shower first?” His mouth curved in a predatory smile. “We do real good in the shower.”

Hunger, so recently satisfied, surged through her again. “Yes, we do.”

They took a long shower, leisurely soaping each other and teasing each other to a fever pitch of desire. Then they made long, slow, lazy love. Touching each other everywhere. Tasting each other. Emma had never spent such a sinfully satisfying night in her life.

“One of these nights,” Marc told her in his deep, slow voice, “I’m going to show you a few things we haven’t even tried yet. Think you’ll be ready for me?”

She tried to read the look in his eyes. But all she saw was intense heat. She tried to imagine what things he could be referring to. Maybe something from the erotic romances she read and wrote? Acts she’d conjured up in her imagination? A shiver of anticipation glided over her. “I