Hearts on Fire (The Hunter Family) (4 page)

"I don't know, Zane, I came here to relax and just hang out with Claire. This, you and me, wasn't part of my plan. Maybe we should just chalk it up to we each met a cool person and life goes on. I’m sure you have
plenty
of girls waiting for you back in New York.”  With that I turned and walked away and went back inside to find Claire.

I was shocked to see her huddled in a corner full on making out with Logan. What was she doing? She had a boyfriend back home!  I knew they didn’t always get along but as far as I knew, they were still together. I had never seen my sister behave like that so I knew something must have been bothering her.  I decided to interrupt the little love fest and walked over to her, tapping her on her shoulder and clearing my throat.

“It’s getting late Claire, we should probably get going.” My look was stern so she knew that I was serious.

Zane came over to me while Claire was saying goodbye to Logan and cornered me.  “Will you please have dinner with me tomorrow?”

“Zane, it’ really not a good idea.  I recently got out of a relationship and I’m not ready for anything with anyone right now.”

He reached out and lightly touched my hand.  “It is just dinner.  You have to eat, don’t you?”

“Okay, I’m ready.”  Claire breezed on over to us completely oblivious that she was interrupting, but I was happy that she did.

“Have a good night, your band was awesome tonight.” I gave him a small smile and then Claire and I left.

As soon as we got outside she grabbed my arm and jumped up and down, squealing like a teenager.

“Oh my gosh, Abby, Logan is so incredibly hot!”

“Claire, what about Adam?”

"Adam, schmadam, who cares. He told me that he wanted to take a break right before I came on this trip, so I'm taking a break!”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

"Because I knew how sad you were about Scott and this trip is about you, not me. I'm really not that upset about the whole Adam thing. I don’t think we’re compatible.  Besides, I just met a hottie tonight and I plan to have a lot of fun on this trip!”

Did that mean that she was going to blow me off for him? She must have seen the worried look on my face and she immediately made me feel better.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to abandon you! I'll just have to have some late-night fun with Logan, unless you decide that the four of us can double date?”

Her eyes were begging and I had to shut her down immediately. "No, Claire. I have no interest in going out with Zane. I'm sure a guy like that has tons of girls waiting in the wings, and Logan probably does too so be careful. I don't want you to get your heart broken.”

"Heart broken? Oh, please. Abby, I am all about fun on this trip, nothing serious, no strings. You should be too. We're on vacation and I can tell that you like Zane.  As much as you try to deny it, it’s written all over your face when you look at him, little sis.”

“First of all, you’re only 45 seconds older than me, so the whole big sis, little sis thing doesn’t really count.  Second, I don’t want to spend time talking to some guy that I know I’ll never see again. I would rather spend my time alone or with you.  If you want to go out with Logan, you can, I won’t be mad. I can literally just lie on the beach, read and doze off and on all afternoon.”

“Let’s just play it by ear tomorrow.”

“Okay, deal.”

It was almost 1:00 A.M. when we made it back to our room and we both crashed immediately.

The next day Logan left a message for Claire first thing in the morning.  He was totally into her.  He wanted to have dinner with her and she was going to turn him down but I encouraged her not to. She didn't have to babysit me on our vacation and I wanted her to have some fun also. I had never seen Claire so into a guy, so I wanted her to enjoy every minute with him.

"Claire, I want you to go and have a good time with Logan. I can just order something in the room, it's not a big deal, I promise.”

“Are you sure?”

I smiled at her.  “Positive.”

Zane left a message for me asking me to meet him by the pool at 1:00.  I had no intention of doing that so I didn’t even respond.  At 1:30 he left another message asking me to meet him for a drink at 3:00 in the bar in the lobby. 

The guy just doesn’t get the hint.

I didn’t make it to that one either and I didn’t hear from him after that, so I figured I had finally gotten rid of him.

Claire and I had massages later that afternoon and I went to the beach while Claire went to get ready for her date.  She always took at least an hour and a half to get ready if she really liked the guy.  Logan was picking her up at 5:30 so that they could spend a lot of time together that night.

I went back to the room right when Claire was putting the finishing touches on her makeup. She looked absolutely gorgeous.

“How do I look?”  Her voice was a bit shaky.

“You look beautiful.”

“I don’t know, I think I might go blonde when I get home.”

“That would look beautiful too.  You sound nervous, Claire.  You must really like this guy.”

She turned to me and threw her hands up in exasperation.  “I know, it doesn’t make sense, but I thought I was going to throw up from the nerves.”

“Really?  Are you sure it wasn’t something you ate?”

“No, Abby, I’m telling you, I have never felt like this before.  The second I saw him I couldn’t think of anything else.  We have this thing, I can’t explain it.”

Even though Logan was a drummer in a rock band, you would never know it from the way he was dressed.  He was clean cut from head to toe, totally Claire’s type.

“I’m going to tell you what you told me.  Don’t get too caught up in him.  We’re leaving in a couple of days.”

“It’s too late, and the only thing that is keeping me from falling to pieces when we leave is that he lives in New York.”

“Claire, you just met him last night.  Aren’t you going a little overboard here?”

“No, I don’t think so, it’s the way I feel. I know it’s weird and I can’t explain it, but it is what it is.”

“Well, I hope you have fun tonight. Just be sure to guard your heart, Claire. You fall hard just like I do.”

“Thanks.  What are you going to do tonight?”

“I am going to take a long hot shower, order room service and dive into my latest book.”

“Sounds good.  Enjoy your time alone.”

“I will.  Have fun tonight.”

“Thanks.”

She went to the lobby to meet Logan, I ordered room service and then hopped in the shower.  When I got out, I threw on a gray tank, comfy cotton shorts and twisted my wet hair up into a sloppy bun.  I had just finished putting on lotion when I heard a soft knock at the door.

Hmmm, that was fast, I just ordered 15 minutes ago.

I opened the door with a smile on my face, ready to tell the server how fast he was, and it immediately fell.  Standing at my door, leaning against the frame was Zane looking even sexier than the last time I saw him.

“Zane, what are you doing here?”

“You didn’t show up today and I wanted to see you.  Since you turned me down for dinner, I thought I would bring dinner to you.”  He pulled a big bag from behind his back and held it up with begging eyes.  “Can I come in?”

My mind was screaming, telling me to close the door in his face, but my heart wanted me to let him right in, and that’s what I did.

He went over to the table and set up a buffet of tacos, enchiladas, arroz con pollo, burritos, flan and churros.

“Zane, that is a ton of food!   I just ordered room service, what am I going to do about that?”

“Just don’t eat it.  I think you’re going to want this instead.  There is this incredible restaurant in town, the food is amazing, it’s probably the best Mexican you’ve ever had.”

I let out a deep sigh.  “Okay, I’ll try it.”

We sat down to eat and I took a small bite and the flavor literally burst in my mouth.  My eyes were as big as saucers as I looked at him.

“Oh my gosh, Zane, this tastes so good! How did you find this place?”

“We like to explore when we go to new towns or countries, so we always try to find where the locals eat. That’s when you know you have found the really good stuff.”

“I’ve never tasted better, you were right.”

We enjoyed our meal and I found that I felt really comfortable with him.  We had a really easy vibe going on and it was like we had known each other forever.

After dinner and dessert we moved to the couch to relax.  I thought it would be rude if I just kicked him out and, to be honest, I liked spending time with him.  As much as I didn’t want to give in to my feelings, they were too strong.  I didn’t want Zane to leave, so we hung out for a while.

He turned his body toward mine on the couch and casually rested his arm along the back of it.

“So, how long are you guys going to be here?”  His hand gently brushed against the back of my neck causing goosebumps all over.

“We leave the in a couple of days, we have practice on Saturday so we can’t be gone for very long.  This was just a quick, much needed vacation for us.  What about you? Do you have any more shows here? When are you leaving?”

“No, last night was our final show so we just extended our time here for a little bit of R&R. We fly back on Saturday, the day after you guys.”

“Are you playing shows around New York?”

“Yeah, we have a regular gig at the Pink Elephant every Saturday night.”  He shifted on the couch and suddenly looked very serious.  “Abby, I want to ask you something, no games.”

“Okay.”  I was a little bit apprehensive.

“Can I see you when we get back to New York?  I’d like to take you out.”  His hand was gently stroking the back of my neck and I couldn’t think straight.  I had to focus and tell myself to breathe.  His touch was intoxicating.

“Zane, I don’t think that’s a good idea.  I told you I just got out of a relationship and I’m really not ready for anything.”

“Really?”  His fingers moved down the side of my neck and traced the scoop of my tank top, causing me to softly gasp for air.  “Because I think we’re having a good time here, and I don’t want it to end.  Do you, Abby?”

His fingers lightly brushed over my nipple as he traced the outline of my breasts.  It was almost like I was paralyzed by his touch and my brain had lost all sensible functioning.  I had never let someone touch me like this so soon, yet here I was enjoying every part of Zane’s touch.  His fingers slowly ran back up my arm to my neck, along my jaw and traced the outline of my lips.

“I don’t know what your ex-boyfriend did to you, but I’m not him.  I won’t hurt you.”

I looked at him and rolled my eyes, my words were soft.  “You can’t promise me that.”

He turned to me and gently held my face in his hands as his eyes searched mine.  “I can promise you that I will never intentionally hurt you, Abby.”

He leaned in and his lips softly touched mine, his tongue gently parting my lips.  His tongue was slow and sensual as it slid over mine, licking along my upper and bottom lips, and then he gently sucked on my bottom lip.  The kiss intensified as he pulled me close to him, his tongue more eager and hungry.  He suddenly broke away and pulled me to my feet.  “Come on, let’s go in the bedroom.”

I didn’t even protest. I followed him, his fingers linked through mine, knowing what was going to happen and not wanting to stop it.  My body was on fire for him and my heart wanted to believe him.

He gently laid me down on the bed and knelt down in front of me, hooking his fingers in the band of my shorts and slowly pulling them down.  He then hooked his thumbs under the band of my panties and pulled those off of me.  His hands slowly slid up my legs, his lips following with soft kisses, and he kissed my most sacred place.  I let out a soft moan and spread my legs, wanting more.  I felt his tongue exploring me, and my body began to quiver from his touch.

“Not yet,” he whispered.

His tongue slowly glided over me again and I let out a moan as I dug my fingers in his hair, holding him in place, rocking against his tongue, making him explore me a little bit longer.  His hands slid up under my tank top and massaged my breasts and then tweaked my nipples, rolling them between his fingers.  His thumbs circled my taut nipples, occasionally pinching them as his tongue began to dive into me.  With one hard sweep over my sacred spot I felt my orgasm building and I grabbed the sheets and twisted them in my hands as my body tensed, lifting my ass off of the bed.  I began to quiver and let out a loud moan as my orgasm took control of my body and Zane’s tongue darted in and out of me.