A Long Goodbye (14 page)

“Ah, yes, I have it right here,” he said to me, and then looked behind me. “Mr.?”

“Woody,” he said firmly.

“I can give you a room at the other end of the hall from Miss Trainor. That’s all I have on that floor.”

“Why don’t you check again? Matter of fact, do you have one of those suites that has more than one bedroom?”

Kurt went back to his keyboard and looked up smugly a minute later. “We do have one, but it’s expensive, Sir. It’ll run…”

Woody held out his hand and ushered me aside. “We’ll take it.” He handed him his credit card and I instantly went up on my tiptoes to try and see the name on the front. Woody spun me around as Kurt ran it through the doohickey. “Think Lu will have a problem with this?” Woody gave me a long, sweet soft kiss that made the butterflies instantly appear.

“Have a problem with what?” Lu boomed from behind us, but I could tell she was checking out Kurt as she asked us. “Woody got us a suite.” I slipped out his arms and moved to her. “I hope that’s okay?” I asked knowing she knew I was pleading with her to agree.

She eyeballed Woody for a second then swung her eyes back to me. “Do I have my own bathroom?”

“You do,” Kurt chimed in.

Kurt handed the keycards in a little envelope to Woody and we all headed up to the top floor to see the suite Woody paid for.

Lu wisely took the smaller room after we checked out the place even though Woody gave her first pick since she was being so cordial to him. She went in hers to get ready for the night and I followed Woody into ours.

One thing that I loved about fancy hotels was the bed. This one didn’t disappoint either. It was big, had plenty of fluffy pillows, the whole things done in a bright white colors with a small ocean blue colored pillow in the middle. I stared too long, or at least Woody thought so since he had me on my back before I had a chance to look out the window.

“I’m tired from driving all day. I feel like staying in, ordering room service, and making love to you all night long.” I sat up some to kiss him quickly, but Woody pinned my arms behind my head, and then proceeded to rain kisses all over my lips until his tongue plunged inside my mouth driving me wild. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him down until he gave in and was lying on top of me.

“You keep attacking me and we’ll never get out of this room,” I murmured.

“That’s the idea, sweetheart.” Woody nuzzled my neck, slowly working his way lower. He released my one hand, but still had the other pinned over my head. His fingers pressed into my hips for an instant before they slipped under my shirt. With skilled hands, he unclasped my bra and then ran his hand over my breast, teasing and taunting me with his kisses and with every heated touch.

I could feel his hard on digging into me, but I knew in the back of my head that Lu was expecting me to come out ready to get my wild on. “Woody?”

“Yeah,” he looked from kissing my stomach.

“Would you be adverse to a quickie?”

He gave me the most genuine smile I’d seen yet, and then laughed softly.

“What’s so funny?”

“You and the word quickie don’t go together that’s what. But if that’s what you want, I won’t argue.”

“All right then,” I agreed since I didn’t want to argue either. A quickie with Woody sounded kind of fun.

Woody was still smiling as he slithered up my body until his lips touched mine briefly. “All right then, what?”

I looked at him confused. I could’ve sworn I made myself clear as a bell. “Well then, make love to me quickly before Lu pounds on the door.”

He shook his head with a big grin on his face. Then without leaving any of the good stuff out, he made love to me quickly.

CHAPTER 24

DANE

The first night had been a bust. We were all too dog-tired to let loose until the wee hours of the South Beach clubs. Who the hell needed to stay out clubbing and drinking until five in the morning quite frankly, baffled the fuck out of me.

Ashton however couldn’t get over the way the town lit up at night. I loved watching her take it all in, smiling and taking photos of cross dressers, hobos, drunks, and scantily clad women walking the streets. People must have a lot of patience and a sense of humor to live in these parts to put up with all this fuss day in and day out. Me? I’d take a back road, a big creek full of fish and a pretty girl by my side over this any day.

Ashton had come to bed dressed in a sweet little black number last night that had me almost blow my load in my shorts before she made it to the bed. That sexy piece was balled up on the floor along with my briefs and Ashton was curled up in my arms, her soft hair flowing over my arm, and her leg tossed over mine. I played with her hair, letting the strands slip through my fingers until she stirred.

“What time is it,” she asked in a sultry bedroom voice.

“We,” I guided her hand underneath the sheet, “have been awake for a while and we want to play.”

I could feel her smiling on my chest. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Death by sex would not be a bad way to go, Darlin’, but I promised to help you with your list.”

She sat up, her chin resting on my chest, but her hand below where I had placed it. “Having sex morning, noon and night is not on my list.”

“We may need to modify that then. Cause I think it should be,” I said right before I rolled her over and kissed her.

She tried to pull her hand out, but I pushed it back down. “Woody I need to brush my teeth.”

“I don’t give a shit about your morning breath, Grace. Now stop worrying about it and give me a proper start to my morning.”

Lucky for me, Grace had no issues with starting the morning off right.

Grace was in the shower, so I stepped into the main room to start a pot of coffee. LuLu was already perched on the stool, stirring sugar into her cup. “Morning,” she said.

“Mornin’.” I smiled and then grabbed a cup from the cupboard and filled it up all the way thinking about how much I enjoyed waking up with Ashton on my chest.

“What’s that tattoo mean?”

I turned around. “Which one?” I’d forgotten to put on a shirt before I walked out not thinking about Lu being here.

“The one on your right shoulder.”

“It just means brother in Theban script.”

“So you have a brother?” I propped up against the counter, trying to figure out what she was fishing for.

I crossed my arms and eyeballed her. “I have many brothers, Lu. I was in the Army. Started off with the ROTC when I was eighteen.”

Lu kept looking at me weirdly without saying a word and it was making me more nervous than a cat under a rocking chair. Normally I wouldn’t care, but reading her eyes, I could tell something piqued her interest. She was smarter than I’d been giving her credit for. I glanced at her one more time before deciding it was best to make myself scarce until Grace appeared. She grabbed my wrist as I started to walk by. “Hold up a sec, Woody.”

Without looking down, her hand still gripped my wrist. “What is it, Lu?”

“Look at me again?”

Nervously, I swallowed the lump that suddenly formed in my throat. “Excuse me?”

She released her grip. “Like you did before. Look at me again.”

Stupidly, I looked at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I only made it a few steps away before she yelled.

“Ohmigod!” she shouted, causing me to stay put, since I was afraid of what was going to follow her outburst.

“I didn’t notice until just now.” She yanked out her cell, her fingers typing away until she finally looked back up to me. “Holy shit! I didn’t put it together since I never met you. But that tattoo. I knew I’d seen it before, and those eyes, well, they give you away. What I want to know,” she looked back down at her phone, “Dane Jonathan Woods, is what the hell you’re up to?”

Quickly, I took a seat, and then chanced a glance toward the bedroom door. Still in the clear, I faced Lu. “Look, LuLu it’s not what you think all right.”

“Well, I think you have about five seconds before Ashton starts to look for you, so spill, or I’ll tell her who you are and you can say adios to Ashton.”

“You can’t. I’ll explain everything to you, LuLu. I promise.”

She looked over my shoulders, whispering, “I hear her coming.”

“Please, Lu, I’m begging you not to tell her. She’ll be crushed if you do. It’s about her Daddy.” That shut her up and shut her up quickly.

“What did I miss?” Grace stood next to me, gently placing a quick peck on my cheek.

“Nothing. I was just asking Lu what she thought about Miami is all.”

“It’s gonna be so much fun here,” Ashton squealed, squeezing my hand. She looked to Lu next. “Don’t y’all agree?”

Lu did not look amused at all, in fact, Lu looked like she was about to spill everything to Ashton. Her arms were crossed, and her eyes bore into the pair of us, as she debated what she should do with her new information was my guess. “What’s wrong, Lu?” Ashton asked.

Her gaze shifted to Ashton. “It’s nothing. It’ll be fun.”

I blew out a deep breath I’d been holding since Ashton had walked out. I knew I dodged a bullet, but for how long was the better question.

After swimming all day and watching a few topless women strut by like their boobs weren’t bopping around, we headed up a few blocks off the beach to a tiny bar. The sun was scorching hot so we took a chance and headed inside. It was crowded with only the back corner having a few open seats. I gestured for the girls to take the vacant stools completely aware of Lu giving me the silent treatment all day and the stink eye right in front of Ashton. Luckily, Ashton was pretending the tension wasn’t there, or she flat out missed it. I was betting on the pretending.

The girl’s ordered some fruity tropical drinks while I settled on an ice cold Bud to cool me down. The one downfall to open-air bars and restaurants down here was the fucking heat. It was hotter than hell’s waiting room inside this bar.

After a few more drinks, Lu was getting loosened up and I was terrified she’d let it all come out to Ashton if she kept on drinking. A couple fellas’ had been eyeing her up for the past half hour so I waved them over. Ashton gave me a quick once over look without saying anything, but figured out what I was doing. “You boys from around here?” I asked handing off two beers.

“Nah, mate. We’re from New Zealand. I’m Brian and this here is Chris. Thanks for the beers,” he said clinking his friends then holding his bottle up to Lu’s.

Ten minutes later, Lu was off in a corner with Brian while Chris kept Ashton and I company. Not that I wanted it. But over the two, I’d take him right now.

“I can’t believe you,” Ashton whispered when Chris turned to check out a few girls walking in.

I shrugged taking another pull on my beer. “We won’t let her out of our sight, I promise. Let her have fun.”

“He better not be some rapist, or criminal, Woody, or I swear,” she raised her voice slightly.

I smiled. “Or what? What are you going to do me? Because I can think of a few things off the top of my head that we haven’t done yet.”

Chris gave the chin lift and moved on to some girl I noticed he locked eyes with while Ashton was busy pretending to be pissed at me.

She smiled and wrapped her arms around my neck. “Well, it’s real, real hot outside,” she said slowly in this sexy tone that already had me hard.

“You want to check that one off your list tonight?”

She pulled me in closer, her legs separating as I wedged in between them. “Maybe,” she whispered as she grabbed the scruff on my chin, pulling my mouth down to hers. All I could taste was the lingering coconut on her lips from her drink.

I had as hard a time with resisting that coconut taste on her lips about as much as her honeysuckle scent.

“Baby I think we should knock off two from that list tonight. We’ll swim in the dark and then I’m going to take you on that beach.”

Instead of heading back to the hotel to get ready, Brian and Chris convinced Lu to stay out and have a few more drinks. That meant Ashton and I were stuck on babysitting duty. One of the hotels had an outside bar that according to Brian didn’t get crazy until after midnight. I looked down to my watch; taking in the fact it was only after eight and the sun was still blazing down on us. Right now, I had only two things on my mind: swimming naked with Ashton and then sex on the beach.

CHAPTER 25

ASHTON

I’d already had three Pina Coladas from the first bar and now Woody was buying shots for all of us at the second club. Woody placed a shot of something sweet in front of me. I raised my eyebrows and firmly planted my hands on my hips. “Are you trying to get me drunk?”

“Little something to take off the edge,” he dipped his mouth until it brushed softly over my lips. “We’ll get you water next, and then we need to see Lu back to the hotel.

I shook my head. “She’s not going to want to head back this soon. Not now,” I told him as I pointed to her and Brian on the stool behind him making out.

“Fuck!” Woody exclaimed then downed his shot, and then proceeded to order another for himself.

Club music was pumping through the outdoor area, a stage was set up at the front end with a D.J. spinning his records making me want to get up and move. Woody was being somber and I didn’t like it one bit, so I tugged on his hand and placed it under the mesh dress I had on. Since we never made it back to the hotel Lu and I still had our bikinis on, but I had on a sexy little cover up to wear over my bathing suit.

“Dance with me, Woody.”

Woody’s hand slid up until his finger ran under the edge of my suit. He growled as he shook his head. “Don’t test me, Grace,” he said under his breath.

“What am I doing?” I asked, just as I scooted forward enough that his hand moved with it and his eyes locked with mine.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, because I will sure as hell take you inside that hotel and find a bathroom.”

“Well dance with me so I don’t have to tease you anymore?”

“That’s just gonna make it worse, baby. You want to dance, go ask Lu. I hate this techno bullshit.”