Chasing Love's Wings (18 page)

“You said you were doing two things. That would be one, what would the second one
be?”
 

“Well, I um...” She smiles and looks to Jolene, who’s obviously already taken a pill
to help with the flying, then she looks to Beau and Naomi, who are both super excited.
“I bought a bar.”
 

Whoa. “You did what?” I can’t help the surprise in my voice.
 

“When we were in college we all used to hang out at a bar in Phoenix. It used to be
a country bar, we’d go line dancing and we’d have a blast. A few years ago, it closed
down. The owner at the time was hoping to get some investors involved and rejuvenate
the bar. But that never happened, and he needs to get out from underneath of it. So
he put it up for sale. So I bought it.”
 

I can’t help but smile at her enthusiasm. “So what now? You own a bar.”

She laughs and the plane finally starts moving. “Well, we’re going to remodel it.
Beau is going to design it, and then the four of us are going to run it.”
 

“I—” I don’t know what to say. Though I want to talk through this with her, away from
everyone else, I’m excited for her. “I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say.”
 

She’s so excited; I can see it in her eyes. “Well, we have a lot of work to do on
it before it will be inspection-ready. The place has been empty for a few years. Plus
all the licenses we’re going to need and everything else, it will be at least a year
before we can think about opening it. But I think it’s great, and it gives us all
something to do besides be your traveling companions.”
 

“I think it’s a great idea,” Tyson chimes in. I look at him, and I can tell he’s a
bit skeptical about it. But Cami is a smart woman; I have no doubt that she has this
all planned out and figured out.
 

We spend the rest of the flight talking about the bar and the upcoming trip to Tarah,
but I won’t lie: I’m super excited to be back in Phoenix...and to be alone with Cami.
 

“Hey, sweets?”

“Yeah,” she says as she plops down on the bed.
 

“What brought on all this bar talk?”
 

“Huh?” she says as she sits up.
 

“I was just wondering where it all came from.”
 

She smiles, but I can tell she expected this conversation. “It was two things, really.
One, I can afford it and it gives me something that is my own. See, Bold was given
to me. I didn’t earn it, which is why I have such a hard time with it more often than
not. Despite the reasons I now know behind it, I never expected to own it. So this
gives me something of my own.”
 

“How do you plan to run Bold and a bar?”
 

She shrugs. “I don’t know, but that’s why I have Beau, Jolene and Naomi. They will
be the primary operators of it. I will just be in the background, with the money,
more or less.”
 

“What if the bar folds?”
 

“Then it folds. At this point I’m not out anything, Tristan. I paid way less than
asking price, and the main reason I managed that is because JD still wants to be a
part of it in some fashion. He doesn’t care what. So by giving him that chance, I
reduced the price to three million.” She slides to the end of the bed. “If I have
to sell the bar because it’s not doing anything, by then, even with the money I put
into it, I can sell it for a higher price because it won’t be the shell that it is
right now. So I have very little to lose. Not to mention the fact that, since I signed
the paperwork yesterday, I am just over a day away from making that much money through
my job at Bold and I’ve done nothing to earn it. So why not give it back?”
 

I can’t help but see the excitement she feels about doing this, and it warms my heart
to see it. “You said there were two reasons. What’s the other?” I take a seat in the
chair near the bathroom and kick off my shoes.
 

“The morning after we talked about Travis and his agent status?”
 

“Yeah.”

“Well, I talked to Naomi privately.” I nod. “She lost her job, Tristan.”
 

“What? Oh, man.”
 

“She says that it wasn’t because of the traveling and Travis, that she was let go,
but I have a feeling that’s not the case. I feel a little guilty about it and feel
that it is partly my fault because we dragged her to Tarah back in June, she met Trav,
and then it’s been kind of downhill from there for her. So I gave her twenty-five
grand to get her affairs in order and so that she wouldn’t have to tell Trav. So I
thought that if I bought the bar, it would give her something to do, something to
work on, and something to focus on besides sitting at home with no job to go to while
Travis is off doing his Hollywood thing.”
 

“Wow. I had no idea.”

“Please don’t tell Trav. Let her do it on her own. She’s confused about Trav, she
doesn’t know what he wants or if this is a long-term thing. She’s not oblivious to
the fact that he goes out when he’s away from her, and she certainly isn’t blind to
the tabloids.”
 

“Ah, babe, I didn’t know. Trav has been like that for as long as I’ve known him. I
thought Naomi had changed that.” I don’t know what else to tell her. I don’t know
what he’s been up to, but I’m sure there is some truth to it.
 

“It’s not your fault, and to be honest, we both know how they like to stir up shit.
So until Trav decides where they’re going, she’s in limbo and probably more emotionally
invested in their relationship than he is.” She shrugs. “So at least the bar will
give her something to work on, keep her busy, and if things really do go south with
Trav, she has something else to do.”
 

I lean forward and put my head in my hands. “I can talk to him.”
 

“No, don’t, this is their battle, per se, let them handle it.” She comes to stand
in front of me and I look up at her. “Are you mad that I bought the bar?”
 

“No, I’m not. I’m a little worried that it was a rash decision without much thought,
but I can see now that was probably not the case and I’m even a little proud of you.”
I put my hands on her thighs.

“Besides, it gives me something fun to do.”
 

“That’s my girl.” She bends down and kisses me. I kiss her back and, before I realize
it, she’s gone from in front of me. “Hey,” I pout.

I hear her laughing from the bathroom and then the door clicks closed. I’m excited
for her, at least about the bar. I’m not sure it was the best decision on such a short
time frame, but she seems to have it under control, at least for now. I don’t think
she understands what is going to happen in regards to Bold. Though, I know she won’t
move to L.A., so maybe this is a step in the right direction. Getting her to divide
her time a little more. Who knows, and only time will tell.

She comes out of the bathroom in her lacy black bra and matching panties, and I can
tell that the conversation regarding the bar is over for now. I resolve to let her
do her thing. It is what she needs to do right now, if not for herself then for her
friends, and I’m perfectly okay with that.
 

She smiles seductively at me and beckons me to follow her to the bed. Half a second
into our kiss, all thoughts of bars and Tarah cease to exist.

TWENTY-THREE

It’s Monday afternoon and Cami and I have spent a good part of the weekend just being
us and not worrying about a lot of things. She went to Trinity with the information
I gave her about Travis, and then yesterday Travis called me and said that he was
in negotiations with Bold to take over his contract and he was very excited about
that. When I told Cami, she was over the moon.
 

“Cams, where are you?”
 

“Bedroom,” she shouts back.
 

I’m coming back from running to the store. I needed to pick up a few things before
we leave in the morning. While Tarah has nearly everything we need, I decide this
time it would be better to go prepared. I climb the stairs to find Cami sitting in
the oversized chair in her sitting room, her laptop on her knees.
 

“Hi, beautiful.”
 

“Hi beautiful yourself.”
 

I laugh. “You know that comment doesn’t make any sense.”

She laughs. “I know, but it’s kind of our thing. Besides, you’re absolutely gorgeous.”
 

I know I turn beet red. I hate it when she says that, but at the same time, I like
hearing her say it. “What are you working on?”
 

“Nothing really.” She closes her laptop and looks up at me.
 

“I don’t believe you.”
 

“Well it is none of your damn business.” She laughs. “You’re the birthday boy, some
things are meant to be a secret.”
 

I roll my eyes. “You know, I’m not a big fan of my birthday.”
 

“Is anyone?” She smiles. “But I’d like to help you change your mind about that.”
 

I snort. “Good luck with that. I turn twenty-nine, not exactly something to be overly
excited about.”
 

She laughs. “Well you don’t look twenty-nine, love.”
 

“That’s because I’m not. I’m twenty-eight.” I can’t stop the smirk that spreads across
my face, and she busts out laughing.
 

The rest of our day goes on with the same kind of mood, lightening the overall mood
of the condo. Cami refuses to talk about anything to do with her father, and right
now, I’m okay with that. The couple of times I’ve brought it up, she shut it down,
but the initial irritation she had when she shut it down didn’t linger. The next thing
that comes out of her mouth is usually something different and carefree. I really
am liking this new Cami, though I feel like I’m balancing on a tightrope, waiting
for it to snap.

TWENTY-FOUR
 

We’re met outside by a limo that holds not only our luggage but our friends too. “Good
thing someone got the Hummer.” Cami laughs as she climbs inside.
 

Inside, the limo is tricked out for a great nighttime party, with rope lights lining
the top, the sunroof and the bar. Everyone is here — Travis and Naomi, Beau and Mick,
Tyson and Jolene. Cami and I are the last inside, and we’re off to the airport and
off to a weekend in paradise. This time will be so much different. I won’t need to
hide from sight and we can all indulge in some of the amazing amenities the hotel
has to offer.
 

When Cami asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, I told her that being in Tarah
was enough, and she wasn’t buying that. “Keep it simple,” I told her. Birthdays are
really hard for me since my mom passed away, and this is honestly the first time it’s
been celebrated since she passed. But I don’t want to ruin her fun. She said it’s
payback for Bora Bora and her birthday, but if I know Cami, the extravagance will
be to a minimum.

TWENTY-FIVE
 

“Mmm.” I try to stretch until I realize what woke me in the first place.
 

I look down the length of my body, and pitching a tent beneath the sheets is a raging
erection. Then I feel what woke me up — a warm, wet tongue and lips kissing along
my inner thigh — and I see her head under the covers. I try not to move. I don’t want
to spoil her fun, but dammit she’s driving me insane. She kisses, then licks, then
sucks slowly along my inner thigh, painfully slowly, but gradually the sensations
begin climbing higher and higher up my leg until I feel the tickle of her hair against
my balls.
 

Oh, for hell. “I wish it was my birthday every day if it means I get woken up like
this,” I whisper, and she still doesn’t stop. I lift the sheets up so I can look down
at what she’s doing. I love watching Cami suck on and play with my cock. It is a beautiful
sight to see.
 

She doesn’t disappoint. I make eye contact with her just as her tongue makes contact
at the base of my shaft, and my eyes flutter. It is, like, the sweetest torture a
man could ask for, waiting impatiently for the prize moment when a woman takes you
into her mouth.
 

Cami slowly licks and kisses her way up my shaft. I can hear and feel the clink of
her tongue ring on each of my piercings as she passes them, and each passing kiss
is more and more excruciating than the last.

Finally she reaches the head and I wait in anticipation of what she will do next,
but she does nothing; she just stares at me, love and affection in her eyes, and I
can tell she is waiting for me to say something or squirm or do anything that tells
her I want her to continue. But two can play at this game. She opens her mouth and
blows hotly, and I moan. Dammit, she wins and I squirm, begging her to touch me again.
 

Her tongue slides past her lips and my heart rate increases with the anticipation
I feel, wanting and needing her tongue on me. She licks once; he twitches. Twice,
he twitches again and the raging fire of orgasm consumes my veins. She hasn’t touched
me and there is absolutely nothing I can do to stop it. I groan as the orgasm explodes
and her mouth covers the head of my cock, trying desperately to catch as much as she
can. My eyes close as her tongue finishes me off and my orgasm subsides. “Fuck me,”
I breathe, “how the hell did you do that?” I ask her.
 

She giggles a little bit. “I’ve been down there a while.” Well, don’t I feel stupid.
“But it was on purpose. I was trying to drive you crazy so that you’d explode, I just—”
She laughs. “I didn’t expect it to happen like that.”
 

I smile at her. “Come here,” I say, and she crawls up my body, straddling me, and
I take her head in my hands, kissing her like nobody’s business, and she moans into
my mouth. Her tongue tastes of sweet Cami and me, and it never ceases to amaze me
how wonderful it tastes.