The Hottest Ticket in Town (15 page)

22

L
ACI
KNEW
K
ANE
was resistant and maybe for good reason, but she was done with reason. Reason couldn't explain why her heart tripled in beat when she saw Kane or how her entire body tingled at the mere prospect of feeling his lips on hers. He turned her crank in the best way, and seeing him again had reminded her of how much she'd missed, and all the fame in the world didn't amount to a hill of beans when your heart wasn't full.

“Laci...” He started to survey the small pump house, likely looking for somewhere else to sleep aside from the bed with her, but she was having none of that and immediately started stripping. He stared, his gaze achingly hungry and desperately wanting, even if he was trying to tell a different story with his mouth. “What are you doing?”

“Seems obvious to me. I'm getting naked.”

Bless his heart, she thought with a wild rush, he was trying so hard to remain stoic, but soon enough she'd win because there was too much at stake. “You know, the thing about death is that it reminds the living that they've got one life to live. Cora was a vibrant woman and we have to honor the spirit of the woman who told me that a good woman does three things to her man—fills his belly, feeds his soul and satisfies him in bed.”

“She said that?” Kane asked, startled.

Laci laughed. “Yes, she did. What the heck do you think we were talking about all those times in the kitchen? Recipes? She was one smart woman. I was just too young to put those lessons into play when it mattered most, but I'm not a kid anymore.”

His gaze traveled to her bra and held there as she snapped it open, releasing her breasts, and he sucked in a tight breath. “No, you're not,” he agreed, and she knew he itched to reach for her but still he held back. “But this...it's not a good idea.”

“Hush.” She wiggled out of her panties and tossed them at him. “I'll tell you what's not a good idea...walking away from something real. Cora and Warren were blessed with a true thing, love that doesn't fade with time. I know you feel that way for me because I feel that way about you and I'm not about to let you go without a fight. Not this time.” He groaned, fighting himself, but it was only a matter of time. She was on a mission to win and nothing was standing in her way. Especially a button fly. She popped his buttons and pushed his pants down off his hips so she could free his cock. “There it is,” she crooned, going to her knees to nuzzle the warm, hard flesh. “Now I'm going to help you shut off that brain of yours.”

And then she sucked that lovely cock right down her throat, gripping his hips and locking her mouth on all that thick, engorged flesh, because Kane was the prize and she played to win.

But soon enough, Kane's groans turned urgent and she knew he was close to coming. He pushed her gently off his cock, and she gasped as he picked her up and tossed her to the bed, covering her with his big, hard body. “You like to play a dangerous game,” he told her, the head of his cock pressing against her, insistent, demanding. “I won't be your casual friend with benefits,” he warned in a silky voice, even as his hand snaked down to her slick folds and his finger dipped between the dewy flesh. She shuddered when he found her clitoris and teased it with a light but firm touch. “I play for keeps and I don't think you know what that means.”

“I want it all,” she gasped, clinging to him. “I want you, Kane, and everything that comes with you! I swear. I would s-stop touring—” she held him tightly when he pinched her clitoris, causing her to sweat “—if you wanted me to, I would do anything, Kane. Anything!”

He growled and slid down her body to replace his fingers with his tongue and teeth, lightly nipping the tender, sensitive flesh as he splayed her legs on either side of his face. He ravished that sweet pleasure spot until she was thrashing, crying out, babbling nonsensical words until she came so hard that she went limp, her entire body damp with the sweat popping along her pores. But he was insatiable and ready to split her in two with the force of his thrusts.

It was as if he was possessed with the need to brand her body, because he flipped her over and immediately plunged inside her until she thought for sure he was hitting her tonsils, but it felt so good, so sinfully right, that she arched her back to take more of him. She wanted to be filled with Kane, to be so completely and utterly taken by him that she lost herself to the pleasure of being with the man she'd lost her virginity and heart to so many years ago.

He pounded her, her entire body shaking with each thrust, but she met him with a growl, pushing against him, taking each wonderfully jarring motion with gleeful abandon because she was nearing that beautiful edge, prepared to leap into oblivion. “Yesss, Kane! Yes!” And then she tumbled into sweet bliss as wave after wave of intense pleasure buffeted her body, clenching every muscle and turning her inside out with happy sweetness as Kane followed her with a shout, then withdrew with a shudder to collapse beside her.

Now,
that
was how to make a woman forget her own name.
She stared unseeing at the darkened ceiling, drifting on a sea of happiness, knowing that she would settle for nothing less than Kane every night for the rest of her life. She rolled to her side and propped herself onto his chest with a sated smile, saying, “Whatcha thinking about now?”

“Nothing,” he admitted with a hoarse, bewildered chuckle. “But then, that was your plan all along, right?”

“Pretty much,” she admitted. But as her heart rate slowed to a normal pace and the sweat slowly dried on their bodies, she knew she had to say what needed to be said because while the sex was phenomenal...there was something deeper between them that she wasn't going to let him forget. “I love you, Kane,” she said simply, going straight to the point. “I always have and I always will.”

“I love you, too,” he said, the quiet admission rocking her foundation in the most profound way. “Love isn't and never has been the issue.”

Excuse me?
She frowned and sat up. “Then what is the problem?”

He tweaked her nipple as he stared up at her. “The problem is that we live different lives.”

“I can give up touring,” she said, but he shook his head.

“I would never want you to do that. What kind of asshole would I be if I asked that of you?”

“Whatever is in our way, I'll remove it.”

“What if it's me?”

Confused, she asked, “What do you mean?”

“What if I'm not cut out to be the man who stands in the shadows while the world gets the best of you? It's selfish and I know it, but I don't want to share and that's just not possible with your career. The thing is, I'm torn. I love that you followed your dreams and achieved wild success because you deserve it. You really do. But I'm afraid that eventually it'll get to me. I don't like the idea of complete strangers whacking off to your picture or plotting to kidnap you. I'd go crazy.”

“So your solution is to leave me? What if there is someone out there plotting to kidnap me? What then? Once it happens,
then
you can care?”

He scowled. “That's not what I meant. I already care, I just...I don't know...Laci...I'm just trying to be honest with you.”

“And I'm being honest with you. We'll make it work. People do it all the time. Come with me on tour, be my security detail. No one can protect me more than the man who loves me...the possible father of my children.” She let that drop and she watched with happiness as his gaze widened with the idea and she knew it'd been the right thing to say.

“You want kids?” he dared to ask and she nodded. “With me?”

She leaned down to whisper, “I want everything with you,” before brushing a kiss across his lips. “I want it all. The house, the kids, the fights, the make-up sex. I'm signing on for the real deal, not the fairy tale. How about you?”

* * *

K
ANE
STARED
,
UNABLE
to process the words because his heart was hammering so hard he couldn't breathe. Yes, he wanted it all with Laci. Had always wanted that with Laci, but he'd resigned himself to never having it because their paths were never destined to intersect, but now she was telling him that everything he'd ever wanted could happen if he just had the courage to take that leap of faith with her. He simply couldn't think straight.

“Kane?”

Her questioning gaze brought him back to reality and he shook himself. He needed to stay focused. “And if I said yes...what then? You're in the middle of a tour and I've got a business to run in Los Angeles.”

“I'm ready to call it a day with this tour,” she said. “Besides, I just fired my manager and I need to find a new one. I'll sell the LA house, keep the Ojai ranch to use as our home base. It's secluded enough and quiet but not totally isolated.”

She seemed to have it all figured out and he had to admit, it sounded like a decent plan, but there was Warren to think of now. He sighed and said, “What about Warren? He's falling apart without Cora. We can't leave him alone. I don't even know if he knows how to keep the electric on and the water paid. Cora did all that for him.”

Laci considered this for a long moment and then said, “Then we help him. We hire people if we have to.”

He shook his head. “Rian and I already thought of that...not gonna happen. He doesn't trust anyone but me and Rian.”

“Then we make Woodsville our temporary home,” she said resolutely as if that were the easiest solution when he knew it wasn't.

“We can't do that,” he protested, but she wasn't interested in arguments and just held her ground. “Okay, and how exactly does that work? We all move in with Warren? I mean, I love the guy, but...”

“No. But we can certainly build our own place on the property. It's plenty big enough,” she pointed out, and he realized she was making some sense. Laci settled against him and smiled, saying, “I've always liked that spot across from the barn. The view of the creek is beautiful and the fireflies are magical.”

He liked the picture she painted except for one thing. “Have you forgotten how I feel about this town?”

She framed his face with her hands. “This town didn't screw you over. Your father did. And he's dead. Besides, you met me in this town, so it can't be all bad, right?”

She had a point. Still... “I don't know, Laci. There are a lot of variables that I'm not sure will pan out.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes.”

“Then that's all that matters,” she said, cutting him off softly. “We'll make it work. I need you and you need me. We're like peas and carrots...you know?”

If he were a smart man, he'd just go with whatever she proposed because she was promising the keys to the castle, but he couldn't sell her a bit of goods that he didn't know he could guarantee. “I don't know if I can be the man you want me to be,” he said, searching her gaze. “I'm not cut out to be your backstage groupie.”

“And I would never ask you to be. But how about being my...husband? Would you be up to that task?”

Her slightly vulnerable gaze seared into his and nearly ripped him to shreds in the best possible way. “Are you saying you want to be my wife?”

“I'm saying we should've been married a long time ago because you're the lid to my pot and if that hasn't been made readily clear, then I don't know what would. What do you say? Want to make an honest woman out of me?”

In answer, he crushed her to him, sealing his lips to hers and she clung to him like a monkey. Suddenly he lost his grip on every objection he'd raised in earnest because she was the only woman for him. He would never tire of this feeling and he knew that with Laci, this feeling would never stop. They had something people only dreamed about, something few people were lucky enough to find and hold on to. The same something Cora and Warren had been blessed to have and then teach their ragtag pseudofamily how to know when they saw it.

And he'd be a damn idiot to let it go twice.

“Damn straight I will marry you, Laci McCall. Hell, maybe we'd better do it quick before either one of us comes to their senses and realizes it's a terrible idea.”

“Hush your mouth,” she said, giggling in his arms. “It's the best damn idea you've ever had. Now get over here and show me how much you love me.”

“Yes, ma'am.” And then he gladly, almost deliriously, showed her just how being her husband would become his number one priority for the rest of their days.

Making it work wouldn't be easy, but...hell, nothing worth keeping ever was.

Epilogue

A
LOT
CAN
happen in a year.

Kane stood with Laci as they prepared to walk over the
threshold of their new home, built to their particular specifications on the
Bradford ranch, and grinned. “Not bad,” he said, and Laci batted him playfully
on the arm. “Okay, okay, it's pretty damn awesome,” he admitted, looking at the
modest three-bedroom, two-bath replica farmhouse that'd originally been on the
property back in the 1800s. They'd found the picture when they were going back
in the records to handle a land dispute that'd popped up and the minute Laci had
seen it, she'd known that was the house she wanted built on the property. Of
course, Warren, tickled pink to have his family close again, was quick to agree
with her and before Kane knew it, they were knee-deep in construction and
historical documents to make sure every detail was just right.

It was then he realized his new wife was a little
obsessive.

But lucky for him, he found that little hidden quality damn
hot.

“Who knew picking out door handles could be so sexy,” he
teased, and she blushed.

“They have to be right or else it throws off the entire
historical relevance,” she insisted. “And if we'd gone with the brushed bronze,
it would've clashed with the copper I'd already picked out for the appliances.
So I had to find a way to get you to see my way was right.”

“It worked,” he said, smiling. “We should build more houses
together. The sex is fantastic.”

“Yoooo-hoooo,”
a voice called out from behind them and
they turned to see Adeline Verley making her way toward them, holding a pie.
“You can't go into your new house without something sweet to start you off on a
good note.”

About three months after Cora had passed, Adeline, who'd been
bridge buddies with Cora, started coming around to check on Warren. And as
things go, Warren started to like more about Adeline than just her creamy mashed
potatoes. Rian, Kane and Laci wholeheartedly approved of this new “friendship”
and actively encouraged it because Adeline was a lot like Cora, which Warren
found comforting, and the fact that she could bake as well as his late wife was
a big point in her favor. Even though no one would ever replace Cora, Adeline
was a good woman and they all agreed, Cora would've approved.

“Smells great, Adeline,” Laci said, accepting the pie with a
smile. “Rhubarb?”

“Straight from my own garden.” She beamed, then exclaimed, “Oh,
my word! That house...just beautiful. When y'all gonna start filling up those
rooms with some babies?”

Laci laughed and Kane shifted on his feet, but Adeline wasn't
kidding. Babies might be in their future someday, but right now, Kane was having
too much fun making his wife squeal every night, screwing her six ways from
Sunday because...as Laci put it, they had a lot of catching up to do.

And boy, he liked the work.

Rian kept the LA office going and Laci had kept her Ojai ranch
for times when trips to SoCal were unavoidable, but for the most part, they were
ready to make Woodsville their primary location and Kane was good with that. So
much had happened, so much had changed and he realized if he wasn't the same
person from all those years ago, the town wasn't the same, either.

Second chances were available to those willing to accept
them.

And Kane was ready.

“Oh, by the way, another fat restitution check came in today,
so that should more than pay for the landscaping I want to put in,” Laci told
him, smiling angelically. “See? I'm being frugal.”

He laughed at the very idea of his wife being frugal in any
way, but he figured it was money well spent. After an audit had been performed
on Trent Blackstone, it was discovered he'd been ripping Laci off from the
minute she'd hit it big and he owed her a lot of money. A judge had ordered
restitution, which had pretty much wiped out Trent's bank accounts and now he
was no longer in the business. Rumor had it, he'd switched to the insurance
field. Laci said she didn't care—that she never thought of Trent—but she sure
loved cashing those checks.

As for her tour team, Audrey and Simone were still her go-to
people and while Laci hadn't managed to convince either to move to Woodsville
because, c'mon, it's barely a blip on the map and hardly a mecca for upwardly
mobile professionals, Laci saw them often because they were staying at the Ojai
ranch to keep it occupied and free from squatters.

Hey, life was good. Laci had a new hit single, a song that had
been stuck in her head for close to two years and now was climbing the charts
like a money-hungry gold digger and he had the sexiest wife who could bake a
mean pie during the day and ride him senseless at night.

What more could a guy want when he had the hottest ticket in
town?

Not much.

And he was good with that.

So, so good.

* * * * *

Read on for an extract from OUTRAGEOUSLY YOURS by Susanna Carr
.