Heart of the Music (Saints & Sinners #1) (4 page)

 “We’re fine,” Jarrod replied. “What happened?” he asked the man, desperate to know how long they would be stuck in the elevator.

“The storm blew out the power source, sir. We’re trying to get it fixed now, but it might take a while.” The man sounded just as annoyed with the situation as he was, but when he looked at Trish, he had to admit there were worse things in life than being stuck in a confined space with her.

 He saw panic rise in her again when the man’s words registered. “How long is a while?” she asked.

 “Ma’am, our mechanical team says that it should take about an hour for us to get the power back on. Is anyone else in the elevator?” the man asked.

 “No. It’s just us two. Listen, this is Jarrod Banks. Is there any way you could let the guys, who are probably all in the lobby right now, know what’s going on?”

“Of course, Mr. Banks. You two just sit tight and we’ll have you out of there in no time.” The pitch of the man’s voice told Jarrod he knew exactly who he was. He was happy to use his celebrity status to get things done, but for the first time, he hoped the guy wouldn’t rush to get them out.

 “Where the hell are we going to go?” Patricia mumbled under her breath. He couldn’t help but smile at God’s sense of humor for sticking them in a broken elevator after the night they had spent together. He needed time alone with her, to break through that shell of hers. He knew she had the same feelings for him as he did for her, and this game they were playing had lasted long enough.

“Trish, stop pacing. You’re giving me a headache.” Jarrod sat on the elevator floor, watching her walk back and forth, and if she didn’t stop soon, she was going to burn a hole through the floor. It was something she always did when she was nervous; it was fucking adorable.

“How can you be so calm about this? We’re stuck in an elevator, Jarrod!” She almost screamed the words in her panic while still walking the elevator floor.

“I know where we are, Trish, but burning a hole in the floor, and yelling at me won’t make the elevator start working any sooner,” he told her, a bit aggravated with her attitude.

“I’m sorry,” she said, sitting down beside him. “I didn’t mean to scream at you. I’m just freaking out a little.” He put his hand on her thigh and felt her shiver at his touch. It was now or never.

Patricia

Stuck in an elevator with Jarrod. What had she done to deserve this? Especially after the moment they’d shared that morning. Her senses were on high alert, and being so close to the man responsible for her heightened sexual need was not helping. The moment his hand made contact with her thigh, she bit back a moan of pleasure. A simple touch from him always had her melting and the need for relief of any sort became overwhelming. How was she going to survive this?

“Do you remember the night we first met?” he asked her, his eyes focused on the wall in front of them.

“Jar, what are you doing?” she asked with tremors in her voice. She couldn’t help but wonder where he was going with this. The one thing she did know was that taking a trip down memory lane would not help her get her feelings under control.

“I’m making conversation, so indulge me, okay?” he said, squeezing her thigh harder. She closed her eyes, memorizing the way his touch felt.

For a minute, they both stayed silent, until finally, she decided to end the building suspense. “I remember that night. I’d had one of the worst weeks of my life at work, and I was really looking forward to going out. It was the funniest thing because when you guys stepped onto that stage to play, it was like everything that had gone wrong just vanished into thin air. You guys were so good. I just knew you had what it took to make it. Not even two songs in and I had already made up my mind to work with you guys.”

“You want to know something funny about that night?” he asked, not moving his hand. He locked his eyes on her, knocking the breath out of her lungs with the pure lust in them. “You were the first thing I noticed when we stepped onto that stage. I saw you at the bar, a drink in your hand. You caught my eye from the get-go.” He didn’t give her a chance to say anything; instead, he continued this trip down memory lane.

“You were so damn beautiful that night. You had your hair up in a ponytail with painted-on jeans and a red silk top that was so damn hot. Every guy in that bar was looking at you, but you seemed so clueless of all the attention you were getting. I sang every song for you that night, and when you came backstage, I was feeling so slick thinking you were feeling what I felt. Do you remember the first thing you said?”

The only thing she could think about was how could he even remember all of that? It had been five years, and though she remembered every detail about that night, she would never have imagined that he did too.

She took a deep breath and tried to keep herself calm as she spoke. “I said, ‘It’s more about what I can do for you. Have you ever thought of getting a publicist? Because I’m your girl.’ You looked so shocked that for a minute, I thought I had something in my teeth.” She laughed at the memory of his face when she’d spoken to him. It was the night when everything changed. Her career and her life transformed, because meeting Jarrod had ruined her for any other man.

“You were so damn sexy and confident. I don’t know why, but I just knew you were the right fit for us. And then it hit me: I couldn’t hit on you or sleep with you if you were going to be working with us.” She couldn’t quite decipher the look on his face, which was strange, because before that moment, she thought she had known his every expression. But the one he was giving her was new, and made her heart beat faster.

She couldn’t do anything but laugh. He was making her nervous, and when she was nervous, she laughed. It was her way of dealing with feelings she didn’t know how to handle. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally stopped chuckling, and the look on Jarrod’s face went straight to her core.

“You want to tell me why that’s so funny to you?” he asked her, making sure she knew he was annoyed by her reaction.

“Come on, Jar,
you
wanted to sleep with
me
? There were so many beautiful women there that night that I didn’t even have a chance with the bartender, and you expect me to believe that
you
, Jarrod Banks, wanted to sleep with this?” she told him, running her hands in the air over her body.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” he questioned her in disbelief, taking her aback. “You were the single most beautiful, sexy woman in the bar that night. I didn’t want to sleep with you; I wanted to fuck the hell out of you. When you came backstage that night, the minute I saw you, I was rock hard with only one thought running through my head: Where was the closest room I could fuck you in?”

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She cursed him for doing this now when she couldn’t escape the conversation. “Why are you doing this now, Jar?”

He didn’t answer her question; instead, he just kept reminiscing. “Do you remember that first show we did in Florida during spring break?” Whether she liked it or not, he seemed determined to do this. When Jarrod was firm in getting something done, she knew trying to stop him was a waste of time.

“You were so happy we got the gig and didn’t give a damn that we had to stay in a cheap motel on the side of the highway, because we got to play, and that was all that mattered. When we went to the beach, you looked so damn cute wearing that coverall, big hat, and sunglasses while sipping on your cold beer. You lay there, watching us as we played volleyball and went for a swim, but you never got in the water. I didn’t understand why, because it was so damn hot that day. I knew you and Sam were close, so I asked him. I thought maybe you were scared of the water, and then he told me it was because you didn’t want any of us to see you in a swimsuit. I couldn’t believe it, and I sure as hell didn’t understand it, because you were the sexiest woman on that beach. Do you remember what I did?”

When she got out of this elevator, the first thing she was going to do after taking a cold shower was kill Sam in a very slow and torturous way. She remembered that day like it was yesterday, not four and half years ago.

She didn’t know what possessed her to answer him, but she did. “How could I not remember what you did? I was sipping on my beer, enjoying the view of you guys shirtless, sweating, and playing volleyball—” He laughed at her comment, and she noticed he blushed. “Come on, as if you didn’t know you were the hottest guy on the beach that day—you guys probably still would be today, too. Anyways, you came over to me asking me to go swimming with you, and I told you I was fine staying right where I was, but you weren’t having it. After a few tries, you stopped asking and went back to play volleyball. I thought I was good, and then you came back to ask me if I wanted to go scuba diving. You knew I wouldn’t be able to say no to that.” She took a moment to gather her thoughts as she relived that day. He had been relentless, and looking back, she was thankful for it because it had turned into one of the best days of her life.

“But you know what got to me most that day? It was the fact that you remembered how obsessed I was with scuba diving. After you said those words, I didn’t care one bit about what I looked like in a bathing suit. I put my beer down, took my hat and sunglasses off, and slipped out of my cover-up.” That day had been so special for her. It was one of the first times in her life where she fully let go of her insecurities about her curvy body. It was a day that changed how she looked at herself. She still had those moments of doubts, but she was happy with her body now. He had helped her accept her curves; he’d made her feel beautiful.

He gripped her thigh tighter and pulled her leg closer to him. “When you took off that cover-up, I forgot how to breathe. I had pictured your body so many times before then, but nothing measured up to the real thing. To this day, that is one of the best days of my life. We went diving, and the look on your face was priceless. Then we spent time on the boat catching some rays, and you were so at ease that you forgot all about your insecurities of me seeing you in a swimsuit. When we got back to shore, we changed and went out for a drink at this little roadside dive bar. We talked until 3 a.m. It was perfect.”

They both sat there in silence for a few minutes until she spoke up. “You do that to me.”

“I do what to you?” he asked her.

For a minute, she let herself be vulnerable. “You make me forget all of my insecurities. It doesn’t matter what they are or who created them. Every time you look at me or touch me, they disappear.” She took a deep breath as she waited for him to say or do something.

When he didn’t speak, she decided that since they were going down memory lane, she would clear up some of her own questions. “Why did you stop that night?” She didn’t have to tell him what night she was talking about; she knew he would know exactly what she was referring to. But just in case, she went on, “All night, I was watching you with that blonde bimbo, and I couldn’t see what you saw in her. Then you came over and we started drinking. We were having fun, but then you… you…” She couldn’t look at him as she continued reliving one of the most humiliating moments of her life. “And then you kissed me and I….”

“And you what, Trish?” He took her face in his hands and turned her, so she had no other choice but to look at him.

“Damn you, I was so turned on. It was like you were reading my mind that night, like you knew what I wanted, what I needed, but then you stopped. I was so angry. I was so hot and you left me like that. You said you wanted me sober and alert when you fucked me, as if you were ever going to fuck me. I went home that night and I… oh, never mind.”

Jarrod

“What did you do, Trish?” He knew what she did, because he went home and did the same thing. But he wanted, no, needed to hear her say it. His original plan had been to get her to admit her feelings, but they were doing so much more than that. They were clearing up the past to make room for the future.

“Oh, God, I went home and I got myself off to the thought of us finishing what we started, okay? Are you happy now?” she told him, sounding out of breath.

“Did you imagine it was me touching you? ‘Cause I imagined your mouth on my cock as I got myself off that night.” He was hard as a rock right now, and his erection was pushing against the zipper of his jeans, threatening to embarrass him if he didn’t get a handle on things.

“Jar, we can’t do this. I can’t go down this road with you, because if I do, I won’t be coming back.”

That was all she needed to say, and with that, he made his move. “Then don’t come back.” He didn’t give her a second to think about what they were doing. He crushed his lips onto hers, finally taking what he’d been dreaming of since that night five years ago.

He wasn’t asking permission to kiss her; he took everything she had to give him and demanded more. She pushed him against the elevator wall and surprised him by straddling him. He took her face in his hands and kissed her with all the passion that had been building up. When she rocked her hips into his erection, he moaned her name as he took the kiss even deeper. He could smell her arousal in the air. When she bit his bottom lip, he groaned into her mouth and lost it. He took her ass in his hands and pressed her against his erection, giving her what she was silently begging him for. When she moaned against his lips, it told him all he needed to know. She needed this as much as he did.