Looking For Trouble (37 page)

"Better late than never...how long is your
rehab?"

"The doc says that depends on my
determination. I have the routine, all I need is a place to work
out every day," Wade told her then ran his hand over her shoulder
and she shivered, as darts of electricity danced over her skin.

"Are you still gonna work at the Double B
when you get back to a hundred percent?"

"I'm not sure I'll be able to...they got the
bone chip off my spinal cord, but the cage is still there, and if I
fell off a horse again, it could be bad news. There's a helluva lot
of riding with that job. I just don't know what else I can
do...riding has been my life."

"There's a helluva lot you can do,
sugar...you could probably get a job with the rodeo administration?
Or give lessons to new cowboys wanting to learn bronc riding from
the best?" she suggested with a soft smile, then offered, "Or how
would you like to be a stage hand manager and daddy?"

"The daddy part is a given, but what does a
stage hand manager do?"

She gave him a wry grin and said, "Manage
the stage hands?"

He snorted then kissed her hair, "Smart
ass..."

"You'd coordinate moving and setting up
equipment for us at each venue, and make sure the guys putting the
stuff up, know where we want everything, and that they do a good
job of it, so nobody gets electrocuted, or hurt, especially at the
outdoor venues."

"So, I'd get to travel with the band? Do
that and take care of Angel while you work?"

"Yep...the label is leasing us a big tour
bus," she said and put her arms around him to give him a squeeze,
then said cheekily, "You could also be my bodyguard."

"Now that's a job I'd thoroughly enjoy...I
would make that a priority, because I love your body and wouldn't
want to leave it unguarded for a minute," he drawled sexily looking
down at her with desire sparkling in his eyes.

"I love you, Wade...please help me make this
work for all of us," she told him sincerely.

"I'm gonna make it my new life's mission,
sugar, making you happy, because I don't ever want to be without
you again," his said and his voice vibrated against her hair,
sending tingles over her scalp and down her face and neck.

Jess hugged him again, then said, "Let's go
get Angel from Sabrina and hit the road...I'm kidnapping you back
to Dallas with us...you game?"

"Does that scenario include you tying me up?
And then me escaping and doing the same to you, so I can have my
dastardly way with you?"

"It can include anything your imagination
can conjure up," she purred.

Wade growled then covered her mouth with his
in a kiss that heated those tingles she'd been feeling to red hot
waves of desire. She groaned, then panting, she pulled back from
him to ask breathlessly, "How's your back?"

"What back?" he asked, then kissed her
again.

Twisting in his arms, Jess straddled him and
pressed herself against his rock solid erection, which fit right
where she needed it to be. With a moan, she deepened the kiss and
moved her hips slowly against him, creating a rhythmic friction
that started a desperate fire inside of her, that would take a
whole lot more than the moisture pooling there to quench.

Wade moved his hands to her butt and pulled
her tighter against him, then threw his head back against the
headboard and rotated his hips with hers. His face was tense and
flushed, and he groaned when she leaned toward him and licked her
way up his neck to his ear, "I need you inside of me, Wade...I
need
you," she told him desperately.

He reached between them and undid the button
on his jeans, then slid the zipper down and shoved them down his
hips and he sprang free. He grabbed her hips and pushed her skirt
up, then grabbed the elastic of her panties and with a jerk, ripped
them off of her, then sat her down on top of him. Jess wiggled her
hips and took his head inside of her and moaned at the intense
sensations that radiated up her body.

His whole body tensed and he sucked in a
sharp breath, then held her still, and swallowed a couple of times,
before he said, "Oh, god, I'm not even inside of you, and I'm about
to come...you feel so damned good."

Jess lowered herself and took him farther
inside, then sighed when she was fully seated on him. His heat
inside of her stretched her tightly and she felt so full, it was
incredible. Catching short gasps of air, she looked into his eyes
and told him in a broken whisper, "I've missed you so much..." then
moved her hips to slide up his length, to set a slow sensual rhythm
that was like floating on a lazy river on a summer afternoon, full
of pleasure, but in no hurry to reach the end. She was just
enjoying the ride and basking in the emotions pouring through
her.

Leaning over him, she kissed his chest, then
licked his collarbone, before putting open mouthed kisses along his
neck. His arms tightened around her, and he huffed out a breath
then said in a gruff whisper, "Slow, baby...yeah, so good, sugar,"
then he moved his hand between them and found her heat and massaged
her in slow sensual circles.

Jess sucked in a surprised breath, as an
incredible orgasm snuck up on her. It took over every muscle in her
body, and sweet pleasure sent her flying toward the release she
needed so badly. With a whimper, she hit her peak, then her inner
muscles clamped down on him. Wade shifted his hips under her to
increase the rhythm, then dug his fingers into her hips, and tensed
under her, then threw back his head and roared his release. She saw
his pulse beating wildly in his neck, and his hands still held her
firmly against him, even after the tremors in their bodies
ceased.

"You, okay, baby?" she asked with concern,
hoping she hadn't hurt his back.

"No, I'm not okay..." he said then opened
his glittering brown eyes, and she tensed then tried to push
herself off of him, but he held her tight, and added in a choked
voice, "I'm better than I've ever been in my whole fucking
life...thank you for giving me another chance, Jess."

"I'm giving myself another chance too,
Wade...I've been miserable without you too. I've been cramming so
much into every day, just to avoid thinking about you, about us,
I'm totally fricking exhausted."

"I'm sorry for putting us through that,
baby...I was a moron," he said then grinned and that dimple she
loved popped out in his cheek.

Unable to resist, she leaned forward and
kissed him there. "Have I ever told you how seeing that dimple
turns my knees to jelly?"

He grinned wider deepening the indention,
and she shoved on his shoulder to sit up then said, "I shouldn't
have told you that...now you have a secret weapon," the she got up
and said, "Where's the shower?"

"Hand me that cane over there by the chair,
would you? I want to personally show you where the shower is," he
said and gave her another grin. "You look like a rookie at soaping
yourself up, and I'm a pro, so I'll show you how it's done."

Jess swallowed hard as she stopped by the
chair and saw the cane. The fact that he had to use one caused her
heart to pinch in her chest. With a trembling hand she picked it up
and carried it over to him, and set it by the bed. Her face must've
reflected her feelings, because he swung his legs over the side,
then grabbed her and pulled her to him. "It's not bad anymore,
darlin'....I was using a walker. I'm actually doing pretty good,
because I haven't had much else to do but work out...and
drink."

"Well the working out is gonna continue, but
the drinking isn't," she told him sternly.

"Yes ma'am...I know it was dumb," he said
then hugged her and put his head on her chest. "I'm not a drinker
usually, Jess...it's just been so fucking hard without you."

"Good...then you don't need to drink
anymore, because I'm here now...and Angel and I need you
strong."

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Wade was amazed at what went into packing up
a tour bus to hit the road with a band. They all had luggage and
instruments, and various other things to make the bus seem like
home for the next six months...not to mention all the baby stuff
they had to pack for Angel. But was damned excited and proud of
Jess, because Take My Breath Away was at number three on the
country record charts, after only being released on the radio two
weeks ago.

She and the band were frantically writing
and perfecting other new songs to fill up the CD the record company
was hounding them to cut. He'd been on daddy duty a lot, and loving
every minute of it. His baby girl had started verbalizing more and
she made sounds these days that sounded a helluva lot like da-da,
and when she did it, his heart got so big, it almost busted through
his chest. Life was damned good now, and he was gonna make sure it
stayed that way.

Jess met with Travis, Doug and the Feds
yesterday, and they told her they were going to pick up Ray Turner
today at the record company in Nashville, and file the charges
against him. They were going to freeze all of the accounts that
Doug had discovered, plus a few more, including his personal
accounts. According to the agent they met with, there was over half
a million dollars between the accounts, and they were going to
release the majority of it to Jess, as soon as things were settled,
and they could prove it was hers. She hadn't been kidding when she
said Ray Turner had been robbing her blind. God only knew how much
of the money he'd already spent.

After Wade finally picked up the check for
his rodeo earnings, he deposited it in his account, then he sent
Cassie and Luke a check for the fair market value of the land
they'd given him. He didn't feel right taking it, since he couldn't
work for them anymore. The house would be finished in a month or
so, according to the contractor, but Wade wasn't sure, when, or if,
they'd be able to move in, since they'd be on the road.

Once he figured out how all this opening
act, country star, thing went, he'd talk with Jess and figure out
what they needed to do with the house. He knew one thing though,
they needed a home base
somewhere
. Angel needed roots, and
they needed a place they could go to unwind, when Jess wasn't on
the road.

Jazzie walked by him with her arms piled
with pillows, and bumped him with her shoulder then said, "You
gonna stand there like a bump on a log, or you gonna get your butt
in gear and help?

"That load you have looks awfully heavy,
sugar...wouldn't want you to pull anything," he said with a grin,
then grabbed the pillows from her and walked toward the bus using
his cane. He knew she was just messing with him, because she could.
Jazzie always gave him hell, and he didn't mind at all, because he
figured out if she gave someone hell, that meant she liked
them.

"Hey, Tony," he yelled up the steps of the
bus, "Come and get princess's pillows would you?"

He poked his beaky nose over the top of the
pile of pillows then grinned and said, "We need another bus just
for Jazzie's stuff."

"Yeah, and Jess isn't far behind her, but
nobody beats my baby girl...she has more gear than both of them
combined," he chuckled and shoved the pillows at Tony.

"They start young with the luggage, that's
for sure," Tony agreed then turned with the pillows to walk down
the aisle.

Once Jess tossed the last little suitcase in
the compartment on the side of the bus and closed the hatch, she
stood there grinning at him with her hands on her hips. "Let's get
this show on the road, sugar," she said with a wink, then jumped up
and down clapping her hands. He walked over there and dropped his
cane, then picked her up and hugged her fiercely. "I'm so damned
proud of you, sugar."

"I'm proud of me too...this has been a long
time coming, and I have to pinch myself to believe it's really
happening," then she pinched his cheek, "And that you're coming
with me."

"I'm your
body
guard, he told her,
where else would I be?" he said in a low gravelly tone, then kissed
her lingeringly.

"All right you two, you're holding up
progress here, stop sucking face for a few minutes so we can load
up. There's a nice big queen size bed for you at the back of the
bus," Jazzie told them standing near the bottom step with her arms
crossed under her breasts.

Wade chuckled, then sat Jess back on her
feet and picked up his cane. "You getting, Angel?" he asked
Jess.

"I thought you'd already loaded her on the
bus?" Jess said with alarm.

He shook his head and told her, "No, you had
her inside with you and Tamara, while you packed up your makeup
kit."

"Where's Tamara? Jess said and frantically
looked around for her nanny. Even though Wade was going to have
Angel most of the time, he was going to be the stage manager, so
he'd need help too, which is why she'd still invited Tamara to come
with them.

Jazzie came back out of the bus and ran over
to them. "What's wrong?"

"Have you seen Tamara and Angel?" Jess
grabbed her shoulders and asked, and the tears in her eyes told
Wade she was really worried.

"Last I saw her, she was sitting out on the
grass holding her, while we were loading," Jazzie said then turned
to Tony, who was on the second step hanging out of the bus, "Tony,
check the bus and the bathroom, see if Tamara or Angel is in
there," then she turned back to them and said, "Hurry, let's go
check the condo."