“And since you’re my bodyguard, I know you’re all about being safe.” She squeezed him and leaned forward to nuzzle his jaw. “I love you, Chase.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he rolled them until she was beneath him. Surrounded. Loved. Finally. “I love you too. I’m so honored you’re going to share your dream with me.” He swallowed hard. “And someday, if you’re comfortable, you can share the ones at night with me too.”
Her heart started to race, which made no sense at all. “Oh. Those.”
“Yes. Those.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “Jax told me what happened with your dad. I’m so sorry. And I can promise you, you won’t ever wake up alone again.” As her eyes filled yet again, he screwed up his mouth. “I mean, unless you want to. Jesus, this not insisting thing is really hard.”
She laughed and fisted a handful of his silky hair. “I appreciate the effort. Speaking of efforts I would appreciate right now…” She waggled her eyebrows and glanced toward his jeans. “Want to suit up so we can get this show on the road?”
“I do like a commanding woman.” Flexing his deliciously muscled back—and dang, that deuce card tattoo on his shoulder blade was hot—he leaned over her to grab his jeans.
If she smiled any wider, she’d crack her cheeks. God, she’d never been this hap
py. Never believed she could be. It scared her to think about the bends and valleys in the road ahead, but knowing he would take those curves with her made all the difference. “So I’ve heard, Dixon.”
When her cell rang, she pushed him aside and he almost fell off the mattress, making her laugh as she tried to help him hang on. “Damn, woman, kill a dude while he’s in a vulnerable state.”
“Sorry. I know that’s Cass and she’s probably freaking out.”
Chase emerged condom in hand and rolled back on the bed. “When isn’t she? She knows damn well she shouldn’t be getting herself worked up, but she does it all the time.”
Summer shoved her thumb under her thigh before she could drag it to her mouth. She’d have plenty of time to gnaw on her nail and worry about her best friend’s health later. Cass was fine. She knew how to manage her situation, and besides, Jax would be sticking in town while she and Chase were on the road. He would make sure Cass took care of herself.
She hoped.
“Yeah, but this isn’t her fault.” She glanced in the direction of her still ringing phone. “You told her I was tied up—”
“Huh. I did do that, didn’t I?” Grinning, Chase reached for her. “Want me to tie you up for real so it’s not a lie?”
Laughing, she pulled on his hair as her cell fell silent. Praise be. “Tell me why I love you again?”
“My first guess is my stunning good looks and magnificent sexual prowess.”
“Can’t argue with either of those.”
“And that I love you more than anyone else ever will.”
“While I love you right back.” She wiggled beneath him, urging him to hurry up. Would it always be like this between them? So frantic? God, she hoped so. “Good reasons, all of them. But you forgot your sharp mind, quick wit, caring heart and buff muscles.”
The phone started to ring again, Chase’s this time. They both groaned, though it took Summer a minute to recognize the ringtone. The theme from Jaws? “Nice ringtone for your sister, Chase.” A giggle escaped. “Really nice.”
“You should hear yours.” Waggling his eyebrows, he stretched his leg over the side of the mattress, ostensibly to kick his cell under the bed. Where it continued to ring ominously while Summer laughed and he ranged his long, sexy body over hers. “Now where were we? Oh yes, my attributes. You didn’t mention my remarkable penis.”
“It goes without saying.”
“It does. And it’s about to go right now.”
As he slid inside her, she gazed up into his eyes. There, she saw everything she’d ever needed. “Now my dream’s really come true.”
Epilogue
Summer bounced on her seat and tried to tamp down on her excitement as she finished lining her eyes. Charcoal streaks wouldn’t improve her look. Now if she could only keep still.
She’d come full circle back to The Platinum Club. The place that had started it all.
On stage, her band tuned up. Hers. She had an actual band. A small one, granted, but still hers. Sunny Z and the Renegades—they’d come with their own name and she hadn’t had the heart to suggest they change it—had been on their coffeehouse and pub tour for nearly six months now. They weren’t exactly household names yet, but they were on their way.
She’d gotten to see so much of the east coast and Frank had mentioned her branching out to the Midwest before they’d gotten some record company interest. The next thing she knew she had a brand new manager to go with her booking agent and she’d begun talks to make an EP of four or five songs.