Gavin: Pure Passion (Hamptons Book 1) (26 page)

Six fifteen. I’m panicking as we arrive, because I don’t think Gavin’s still waiting for me. I jump out of the car and take off running, even though I shouldn’t yet due to the hematoma in my knee.

I arrive on the beach and stop short. There are loudspeakers and a little stage on the beach. An entire band is standing on it, but it’s not Downstair Alley. A few people are standing in front of them, hard to tell if they’re fans or just bystanders. Linden is holding Thalia in his arms, and the others are sitting off to the side. Gavin’s sitting on a stool onstage and looks down at his hands. “OK, looks like she isn’t going to come. We can clean up now,” he says into the mic as I approach him.

“You’re wrong, Gav!” Alexis calls out.

He raises his eyes and sees me, and then a wide smile stretches over his face. He looks over his shoulder and nods at the band. “Lane, I was going to declare my love to you, but because the guys thought my song was too kitschy, I decided on another one. These guys right here are D.A.C.C.P., and they’ve got a little more rock than us, which is why they’re supporting me tonight.”

I stop a few feet from the stage and look up at him. The people who were already here give me curious glances.

“All right, then,” Gavin sighs, locking eyes with me.

He starts to sing “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing”
by Aerosmith. The lyrics are all about not wanting to miss one moment with the woman he loves.

I cross my arms and raise one hand to my cheek to wipe away a tear.

I feel goose bumps covering my body while Gavin sings the chorus. Meanwhile, the tears are flowing freely.

“So, are you surprised?” Pax asks me over the music.

I look at him, overwhelmed. “Don’t tell me you knew about this, too.”

“We were all in on it. Each of us had one of those books to give to you today. Even Macey came here to give you one in the worst case,” he responds.

I look around to see if I can find her, but she’s nowhere to be seen.

“She’s at Ryker’s Bar, because she had to use the restroom.”

“Oh, right.” I turn my attention back to Gavin, whose husky, smoky voice sends one pleasurable shiver after another down my back.

Gavin sings the last line, and then he holds out his hand to me. “Lane?”

“Yeah?” I say, even though I know he can’t hear me from this far away.

“Will you come to me?”

I shake my head. I am not getting up on that stage with him.

“Fine, I’ll come to you, then,” he says, jumping down onto the sand. He drops the mic into the sand, where it lands with a muffled thud. He comes toward me quickly until he finally stops a step from me. “Lane, I—”

I interrupt him by flinging my arms around his neck. “I’m so sorry I hurt you,” I cry.

Gavin wraps his arms around me. “Actually . . . I was meaning to ask you something.”

“Whatever it is, my answer is yes,” I sniffle into his shoulder.

“You’re flying into space with me?” he asks quietly.

I pull back my head to look at him in pretend shock. “What? No!”

He lays his hands on my cheeks. He wipes away my tears with his thumb. “No, I was just joking . . . I wanted to ask you if . . . you’d be willing to give me another chance to show you how crazily much I love you?”

I close my eyes and listen.

“What are you doing?” he asks in confusion.

“I’m trying to listen to my heart,” I whisper.

“Say yes, dammit!” Pax yells behind me.

“I think your heart just called out loud and clear,” Gavin says quietly, stroking my neck with the back of his hand.

I open my eyes and gaze into his. “Actually, it whispered.”

“And I’m not her heart, I’m her conscience, and I agree with her heart!” Pax calls out, laughing.

“And what did it whisper to you?” Gavin presses without letting his gaze wander from mine.

“If you don’t take the chance, I’ll go on strike, and then you’ll be done for,” I answer with a smile.

“That’s enough for me,” he murmurs, lowering his lips to meet mine. I return his kiss with closed eyes, and I realize I missed being close to him. A sigh escapes as he parts my lips with his tongue. I welcome it, playing with it gently.

Then he pulls away. “What convinced you?”

“A book,” I answer quietly.

Gavin pulls me close again, and I snuggle up against his muscular chest. “We’ll make it through, no matter how many are against us. As long as we stand together, nothing can separate us.”

“All right, then,” I whisper.

“Whoever’s against you is going to get their ass kicked!” Macey chimes in.

I raise my eyes to look at her. I give her a smile, pulling away from Gavin and walking over to where she’s standing. “Hey,” I greet her with tears in my eyes.

“Oh, God, if you cry, I’m going to cry, too,” she says. And already tears are running down her cheeks just like mine.

We hug tightly. “I hate you, you know that, right?”

“Because I kept a secret for once in my life?” she asks in surprise.

“No, because you didn’t kick my ass,” I reply drily.

“Oh, so you don’t really hate me.” She laughs, letting go of me. “Now my makeup is ruined because of you.”

“There are worse things,” I reply, knowing full well that I must look like a monkey did my eyeliner, too.

“Go back to him, you shouldn’t let him wait after he organized all this,” she tells me, giving me a wide smile.

I hug her again. “Love ya, Macey.”

“Love you, too. Now go.”

After turning back around to face Gavin, I take off my flats and walk over to him. He gives me a warm look and inhales deeply. “Shall we go?”

“Where to?” I ask as soon as I reach him.

“Let me surprise you,” he responds, taking my hand.

I follow him over the beach for a while until we reach a Jeep parked in the dunes. “You’re bringing me to a car?” I check out the car; there’s a blanket on the hood.

“Exactly,” he replies and lifts me up, and then he follows me himself. Gavin leans back until he’s leaning on the windshield and pulls me into his arms. I lay my head on his chest. “Lane, I’ve got to tell you what I’ve been thinking.” He starts singing and my heartbeat accelerates.

I’m the happiest man, knowing you’re in the world

You’re the love of my life and the beat of my heart

It whispers your name with every move that it makes

With all that I am, I give you my love

I give you my love

I sigh happily. “I love you, too,” I whisper, raising my eyes to meet his.

“The song isn’t done yet, but I’ll play it to you as soon as I have a piano to play on,” he murmurs, kissing my brow. His fingers caress my hair while he gazes at me raptly. “I’m sorry I didn’t fight harder.”

“I don’t know how you could have, seeing how rarely I left the house.”

“Exactly, that’s why I had to convince them all to help me. Well, actually, the only one I had to convince was Etienne.” He grins at me.

I shiver as the wind picks up, but Gavin’s already prepared. He wraps me up in the woolen blanket, which doesn’t warm me as well as his body, but it does help.

For a while, we just lie there silently, watching the sunset. He strokes my neck gently while my fingers draw circles on his stomach.

“Would you take the job with us? We’d be together more, we’d never really have to be apart again.”

“Depends on my salary,” I tease him.

“I could pay you in sexual favors,” he says with a wicked grin.

“Not very useful, that won’t feed me, after all,” I joke back. Only now do I realize the double meaning there, and I know he’s trying to think of a comeback. “Don’t you dare say something funny now.”

Gavin presses his lips together before bursting into loud, hearty laughter. “I’m sorry.” He takes a moment to calm down again. “So, what do you say?”

“Do you really want me to?”

“Are you honestly asking me that?”

I nod slowly.

“I definitely want you to. When do you get the chance to have a choreographer who’s also your girlfriend?”

“No idea,” I reply with a smile.

“Well, I’m excited to be able to spend so much time with you. I don’t even want to let you go for tonight, but your brother said he wants you home by midnight.”

“Seriously?” I ask, vexed.

“No. You don’t have a curfew, actually.”

“You’re pretty naughty, you know that?”

“Yeah, but I bet you like it,” he responds, grinning.

I put my leg over his. “I think I’ll keep a few secrets to myself.”

“As long as you don’t make our love a secret, you can have as many as you want.”

“Can you forgive me for what happened at the hospital?” I ask him sheepishly, because meanwhile, my conscience is beating me up because I gave up on the relationship for a little while.

“After the first anger, I didn’t blame you anymore. I could even understand, babe.” He kisses the top of my head. “Don’t worry about it now. I did suffer like hell, but my love for you is stronger.” Then he sits up with me. “Shall we drive to my place? There’s a little surprise waiting for you there.”

“OK.”

Gavin jumps off the hood and lifts me down, and then he carries me over to the door, putting me down on the seat. Then he hurries to the front, throws the blanket in the back, and sits down next to me. He speeds through the surf, making the water spray all the way up to the windows. I’m glad they’re closed.

My surprise was a candlelight dinner in the garden of the mansion the guys live in. We sat in a pavilion that formed a trellis for some wild roses. Now we’re sitting together with some quiet music, talking about books. I for my part realize I’m more a fan of romance novels, while he loves fantasy. This way, at least, we won’t get in each other’s way with the books we want to read.

“Who’s your favorite character?” he asks me.

“I don’t have just one favorite, I have many,” I reply with a grin.

“Like who?”

I think feverishly which one is my favorite, but I really can’t decide. I don’t have just
one
book boyfriend, I have too darn many. Good thing it’s not polygamy, since those gentlemen don’t exist. “I can’t think of one.”

He laughs quietly. “You sure?”

“Well, actually . . . My favorite protagonist is Gavin McLeod in the book
How Fate Brought Me to My Dream Guy
,” I reply.

He gets up and comes over to my side. “May I have the last dance?”

I lay my hand in his. “You may have thousands.”

He pulls me up, laying his right hand on my back. Then he begins to move slowly with me. It’s more like a swaying back and forth, but it’s the most beautiful dance I’ve ever danced. “If there were a book about us, what would you call it?”

I tilt my head back and study his features. “I don’t know.”

“I’d call it
Dance of Hearts
.”

“How corny,” I exclaim in shock, and then I giggle.

“Or . . .
Finding Cinderella
.”

“That’s corny, too,” I state.

“True, but . . . wait a minute.” He pulls away, leaving me standing alone in the middle of the pavilion.

I follow him with my eyes, confused as he walks farther and farther away. I have no idea what he’s planning, but my curiosity is piqued. I’d like to follow him, but I work up all my composure to stay where I am.

I keep glancing at my watch, and after ten minutes, Gavin comes back into my line of sight. He’s carrying a box, or at least that’s what it looks like in the flickering light of the garden torches, and he smiles at me.

“Where have you been?” I ask.

“I went to get something,” he replies, walking past me so I have to turn around. Gavin pulls back my chair and motions for me to sit down. “Have a seat, babe.”

I sit down and look up at him until he suddenly drops down in front of me on one knee.

“What’s this?” I ask curiously.

“You’ll see in a second.” He frees my right foot from my shoe and opens up the box. “You didn’t want a Cinderella scene, but please do tell me why you didn’t address the subject of the shoes that you lost on the driveway anymore.” He pulls out one of my sneakers and puts it on my foot.

I laugh quietly. “And what do I have to do now that the shoe fits?”

“Promise me you won’t leave me again.”

I bend down to him as he’s tying a bow and kiss his cheek. “I promise.”

He immediately takes my face between his hands and gives me a deep kiss that I return with a sigh.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that you shouldn’t listen to your head, but always to your heart.

Chapter 17

Two weeks later

It’s been two weeks since Gavin and I got back together. Since then, we’ve spent nearly every free minute we could together. During our jobs, too, since I’ve been working for the guys for a week now. I had to choreograph a new music video for them, and luckily, I managed it just fine. It’s true, I could rarely dance the entire song in one piece, because my knee acted up, but we worked on a part every day, and that worked well.

Right now we’re in Orlando, because the last scenes of the music video are being shot here, and right after that, Gavin wants to go on vacation, and I’m coming with him. I’m going to meet his family, which I’m very excited to do since he told me a lot about them. His younger brother is coming to New York, too. He’ll be going to Juilliard to study acting and dance. Gavin’s really excited about that, which is why he’s postponed his plan to go back to Orlando for now.

“Cut. That’s it, guys!” Pete, the video director, calls. Joel and I are standing off to the side.

“That was great, Lane,” he praises me.

“Not bad for a one-night stand, huh?” I tease him, because he thought I was Gavin’s one-night bimbo a few weeks ago.

He blushes. “Yeah, that was pretty darn good for a one-night stand.”

I laugh quietly. “Thanks for giving me this job.”

“The guys didn’t take long to convince me after I saw you and Gavin on the dance show. I’m sorry you had to back out early.”

“Huh . . . I guess there are worse things. It’s just a shame about the bonus I could have gotten,” I reply thoughtfully.

“But now you have a steady job that pays you more than that one-time bonus,” he tells me with a smile.

“True, and I’m glad I accepted.”

“So are we, Madeleine. I’ve never seen Gavin so happy before, although I haven’t been their manager for very long yet.”

“Yeah, I heard why they fired the ex-manager.” The man had paid Thalia money to leave, and had told her it was from Linden. It was a mean scheme that nearly broke them up, but they’ve managed, luckily.

“I’d never dare to mix in with their lives. Sure, there are a few boundaries they should stick to, but love life isn’t one of them. They should just behave themselves in public and not cause any scandals, that’s already enough,” Joel explains to me.

“I don’t think they’re really the types for scandals, do you?” I ask.

“Most of them aren’t, but Azer is a drama queen,” he answers with a laugh. “I hope he can get a grip on that.”

“Hope dies last, as they say,” I reply with a satisfied smile.

“What are you guys talking about?” Gavin asks, coming over to us.

“We’re trash-talking you,” I reply with a wink.

“Well, I hope it was worth it, then.” He gives me a light kiss on the lips.

“The kiss was more worth it.” I give him the once-over. He’s wearing white swimming trunks with a dark blue floral print. They’re all wearing the same thing in different colors. “And this is a sight worth seeing, too.”

Gavin bends down until he’s level with my ear. “You should come back to my trailer with me, then I can show you what else is worth seeing,” he whispers.

“Ooh,” I say slowly and let him take my hand. “See you, Joel.”

“See you later, Madeleine.” He walks over to the director while Gavin and I walk over a dune to get to his trailer. The shoot took a few days, since the weather turned bad a few times, and they didn’t want any gray clouds in their clip. It could have been postprocessed, but the guys refused.

We enter Gavin’s trailer and he pushes me down onto the bed, which takes up most of the space inside. I giggle. “Hey, did the bikini girls get you all worked up, or what?”

He laughs. “No, just my girlfriend standing on the side in nothing but a skirt and bikini top.” Gavin slides onto me after laying me down on my back and gives me a passionate kiss. I find it hard to return every single kiss, which is why I resort to every other kiss. Then he nibbles on my lower lip, pulling down my halter-top and exposing my breasts. His fingers tease my nipples, and then they caress lower and lower, disappearing in my panties.

I moan as he caresses my clit.

“Oh, God, babe, you’re so wet.” He massages a little and then pulls back. “I can’t wait anymore,” he murmurs. Gavin tugs down my skirt and panties, then gets rid of his swimming trunks. He takes my legs and lifts them onto his shoulders, suddenly and mercilessly shoving into me. I scream because of the sudden stretching sensation, but it’s more a scream of pleasure. He thrusts into me so hard and fast that his pelvis slaps against mine. In this position I can hardly give any pressure, which is why I push my legs under his arms and wrap them around him. He gasps as I adapt to his rhythm. We keep driving each other further and further, even while he turns with me so I’m sitting on top. I ride him fast and enjoy how deeply he pushes into me. His thrusts make me arch my back, and his hands are kneading my breasts hard. Then he sits up. His tongue gently circles my nips until he playfully bites them. My moans become louder and I can feel the spasms in my abdomen, which make Gavin gasp out loud.

“Oh fuck, you’re milking me dry,” he murmurs. Then he grabs my hips, moving me faster still. He lifts me and sets me down so that he nearly has to push into me anew every time.

My moans turn into a hysterical scream of pleasure as I come crashing over the edge.

When he empties his load in me, he lets himself fall down backward with me. A few more short thrusts, then he stops, too. His fingers caress my back while I listen to his racing heartbeat. “Ooh, man.”

“I agree,” I whisper, placing a gentle kiss on the place where I can feel his heartbeat. I let him slip out of me and lie down next to him.

Gavin wraps his arm around me. “I love you, babe.”

“I love you, too.”

He turns to me and looks at me attentively. “What’s going on in your pretty head?”

“That I don’t want to lose you, because I’ve never been this happy before,” I respond quietly.

“Not even with your ex?”

“It was different with Jonah from how it is with you . . . We respected and liked each other, but we didn’t love each other so much, I think.”

His greenish-brown eyes start shining.

“And what’s going on in your head?”

“That I want to spend my life with you, because I shouldn’t let a woman like you get away.”

“Who said I was going to?”

“Your very comfortable-looking sneakers, here.”

I laugh quietly. “With knee problems, you don’t just take off running.”

“You’ll get those back under control, and then you’ll be my dancing queen again,” he murmurs and kisses the tip of my nose.

“I only want to be your choreographer . . . I’m giving up tournament dancing.”

“Are you sure? I thought that was always your big dream.”

“It was, until you came along, and now my dream is fulfilled,” I whisper.

He pulls me in close and kisses my lips. This man is everything I’ve ever wanted, even though I originally resisted his love so much. It was stupid of me. If I hadn’t, I could have been happy much sooner.