Only The Beginning (Rockin' Country) (21 page)

“I needed that too,” she admitted as she reached up to his face and took his sunglasses off.

“Sometimes I like to see those eyes.” They were impossibly green against the backdrop of his face. He had gotten a little bit of sun since the last time she had seen him, and his freckles were much more prominent, causing his eyes to pop. She could just imagine how he would look after three days in this paradise.

“All you gotta do is ask,” he told her, his hands caressing her lower back. “I’ll give you pretty much anything you ask for, all you gotta do is say the word.”

That was power, a lot more power than she had ever had before. The feelings weren’t scary, but the power was. Power could hurt, and she hoped with everything that she had, they wouldn’t hurt each other.

“So we’re having sushi later?” she asked, putting her hands on his shoulders.

“We are.” He placed a kiss on her chin. “You need to text Shell and let her know that we’re meeting at six. Mom and Dad can’t party like they used to.” He kissed her nose. “Which is a good thing because I have such plans for partying with you later.” He kissed the side of her neck, using his tongue to lick a trail to the juncture where her neck and shoulder met.

She gripped his shoulders. “You do, do you?”

“I do, I can’t wait to get you alone. I mean, it’s cool and all that you can meet my parents and all our friends can come, but I need some Garrett/Hannah time.”

She needed that too. It had happened so quickly, the fact that she ached to have time with him, that she hadn’t even noticed it. But he was right; they did need some time alone. There were still things that they hadn’t learned about each other that would take time, and that time would need to be between the two of them. They didn’t need an audience to move their relationship forward. They needed peace, quiet, and possibly a few mixed drinks.

“I do too,” she bit her lip. “After sushi we hit the hotel room with some drinks?”

“Sounds like a plan to me. We can always go out tomorrow night. And I can always tell my parents I have jet lag.”

“Do you think they’re going to believe you?” She nodded her head to where they sat in the water, drinking from plastic cups.

“Probably not, but to be with you, I don’t care.”

That was one of the things she liked most about him. He didn’t mind expressing his feelings to her, and that was something that she needed. Ashton had been such a closed book when it came to how he felt. With Garrett, if his sunglasses were off she could look in his eyes and see what his feelings were. Looking there now, she saw an honesty that hadn’t been there before.

“Then I don’t care either. After sushi, it’s me and you, Garrett Thompson. You better bring your ‘A’ game,” she grinned.

“Babe, my game is always A+…you better bring yours.”

*  *  *

G
arrett sat on the bed of the hotel room he was sharing with Hannah and watched her put on her makeup. This was different for him out of all the other relationships that he had been in. Even with Vanessa, who had traveled with him, it hadn’t been this intimate. He theorized that maybe this time it was because he was older and he could appreciate the little things about being with a woman that he hadn’t before.

“Why are you staring at me?” Hannah asked, turning from the mirror where she was sweeping blush across the apples of her cheeks.

“Can I not just look at you?” He grinned.

“I guess so, but it’s sort of unnerving.” She turned back to face the mirror, using a mascara wand this time to put color on her lashes.

“It’s nice, ya know?”

Hannah looked back at him. “What’s nice?”

“The fact that you’re standing in front of me in just a bra and underwear. I’m enjoying the view.”

Flipping the mascara wand up on its end, she put her arms across her stomach. “I’m working on not being embarrassed to be myself in front of you.”

“Good,” he smiled. “I’m really glad to hear that.”

“You’re making me feel like a piece of meat, though,” she laughed. “Sitting there staring at me like that.”

He didn’t say anything when she turned back around to finish applying her mascara and then moved to her lip gloss.

“You’re pretty patient to be sitting there, watching me do all this.”

He watched as she plugged in what he assumed was a curling iron, but it looked a little bit like a wand. “I’m enjoying myself, to be honest with you.”

Grabbing up a section of her hair, she turned to face him, hitching her hip out. “Why don’t you get ready? Because as soon as I’m done with my hair, all I have to do is put my dress and a jacket on.”

“I guess I could,” he sighed as he got up off the bed. “Why are we hanging out with the rest of them and not just ourselves tonight again?”

She laughed. “You’re crazy. But they are your family, and we do have friends here too.”

“I know, it’s just…” He couldn’t exactly put into words what he wanted to say, but he crowded against her in the bathroom, needing to be near her.

“We just don’t get to spend much time together?” she supplied for him.

“Yeah, but I get what you mean. I don’t get to spend much time with my family either. I’m just kind of selfish when it comes to you.”

“I’m good with that.” She leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek.

He turned his head at the last second and captured her mouth with his lips. “Please tell me this dinner is going to be quick,” he whispered against her lips.

“It’s sushi.” She turned back towards the mirror, meeting his eyes as she lifted her arms over her head to curl one more strand of hair. “Sushi is never quick.”

“I know.” He rubbed his hands over his face. “You’re right, I need to enjoy the time I have with my parents.”

She grabbed her perfume and sprayed it on her neck and wrist before turning back around to face him. “It’s true. My parents hardly ever get to come out with me, and I’m sure yours miss you. Are you an only child?”

He couldn’t believe that they had never talked about that, but it just proved that they did indeed need more time together. “I have a sister, she’s younger than me.” Even though Hannah was a fan, she wouldn’t know that. He purposely kept her name out of the press. Just because he was famous, didn’t mean she had to have her life intruded upon.

“Where is she?” Hannah asked as she walked into the bedroom and went to the closet. They had been lucky to get a suite with a living area. And of course, they were going to be there for a few extra days.

“She’s in college right now. Stacey’s in her senior year. I invited her, but she was worried about getting behind. Graduation is in May, so I can understand it.”

“It’s weird that we’ve been talking for such a long time and we haven’t gotten into stuff like that. I’m an only child.” She wrinkled her nose. “I think that’s why Shell and I are so close. She’s the sister I never had.”

“There are perks to that, trust me. She drove me insane when we were younger. Now I’m pretty proud of her. One of the best things I’ve been able to do is put her through college. My parents wouldn’t have been able to afford it on their own. It’s not like I take care of them, they don’t really let me because they say I’m the child, they’re the parents and they should be the ones taking care of me,” he grinned. “But they let me take care of her.”

“What do your parents do?” she pulled her dress out of the closet and slipped it over head. It was very spring-like, and she loved the blue and white color of it.

“Mom works for the city and dad works in a factory. They’ve had the same jobs for about the same amount of time they’ve been married. I keep bugging them to retire. They could take early retirement next year, but neither one of them really pay any attention to what I tell them they should do.”

As he talked, he was also changing, and she frowned when he put on a button down shirt. “Is something on it?” he asked, looking down the front.

“No, I just don’t like that it covered up your arms,” she admitted.

“This obsession you seem to have with my arms is cute, I like it. Unfortunately, my mom isn’t a huge fan of my tattoos. Plus the place we’re going is nice, so I’m trying to look nice too. I don’t want to look like a piece of shit next to a hot woman, now do I?”

She eyed him up and down. “You look like a lot of things, Garrett Thompson, but a piece of shit ain’t one of them.”

He grabbed his chest and fell back onto the bed. “You cussed, oh my God.”

“I do every once in a while. I just have to really feel strongly about something.”

Garrett sat back up and looked her in the eyes, his twinkling. “But you’ll never say fuck, right?”

She pursed her lips at him and scrunched her nose together. “It would have to be something very bad to make me say that.”

Something about his mood tonight made him test her. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt the need to. Sliding his hand up her leg, he cupped her thigh under the hem of her dress. “Or maybe something very good?”

Her mouth went dry, and she used her tongue to lick her lips. As she started to talk, there was a knock at the door.

“Saved by the bell.” He stood up and went to answer it, winking at her before he opened the door.

“Y’all ready to go?” Jared asked, standing there with Shell.

“Yeah, but where are my parents?” he asked, grabbing his sunglasses.

“You really think you’re gonna need those?” Shell asked. “You do realize it’s dark out, right?”

“I’m a rock star, we always need sunglasses.”

Hannah laughed from where she stood beside him. It was weird, knowing something about someone that others didn’t know. He kept her guessing, but she figured he had contacts in because he’d been able to watch her getting dressed. He apparently liked to keep everybody on their toes.

Jared shared a look with her. Obviously he was in on Garrett’s little secret too. “Anyway, your mom and dad are already in the car. Let’s get going. I want some sushi, and I’m starving.”

“You lead, we’ll follow,” Garrett told him as he put on his sunglasses and grabbed Hannah’s hand.

*     *     *

“Have you guys been here a lot before?” Shell asked as they sat in a round booth at a local sushi bar.

Jared and Garrett looked at each other, both grinning. “Fuck yeah, we love this place. It’s a must see when we come to Vegas. We’re the only ones who like sushi though,” Jared shrugged. “I’m glad you two like it. Now we can actually have other people to talk to.”

“It took me a while.” Hannah took a sip of the drink sitting in front of her. “But I finally found a few things I liked, and then I ventured out and found I liked other things too. Now, I know how to use chopsticks, and I can properly eat my sushi. I like to think I’m legit,” she grinned.

Garrett laughed. “Look how proud she is.” He ran his hand along her thigh under the table, and she shifted, sitting closer to him.

“She is,” Shell affirmed. “It took her a good year to learn to use chopsticks, and even then it was touch and go. She used children’s for a long time.”

Hannah threw her napkin at Shell. “Stop telling them all my secrets!”

“Is there going to be a chick fight?” Jared asked, looking between the two of them. “Because I can so get behind that.”

Kevin raised his napkin as he took a drink of his beer. “I could also get behind that. I’m not too old to admit it.”

Hannah cleared her throat. “Southern women
never
have a chick fight. We settle things a little bit differently.”

“Oh yeah, how’s that?” Jared asked.

Garrett grinned. “They say ‘bless your heart,’ which I’ve learned is Southern debutante for fuck you.”

Shell cracked up. “Oh my God, you really
do
catch on quick!”

“Hey, I’m a smart guy.”

Just then their food came to the table, and Hannah pulled her phone out of her purse. “Can you take a picture of all of us?” she asked the waiter.

“Oh, that’s a good idea,” Marie beamed.

The waiter kept motioning for them to get closer together, until every girl sat in the lap of the guy they had accompanied to be able to fit together. Once the picture was taken, Hannah uploaded it to her account and tagged everyone in it.