Kiss Me, Katie (6 page)

“Thank you, Elizabeth,” said Blake as he pressed a folded twenty-dollar bill into the surprised hostess’s palm. With a grateful smile, Elizabeth left and Blake and Katie were alone again.

“I come here every time I make it to Tuscaloosa. They know me here,” Blake said.

“I’ll admit, I am kind of surprised that we were able to walk all the way to the table without anyone stopping you,” Katie answered.

“I usually make it through my meals here without any attention. Seems like half the time if I just leave my boots and cowboy hat at home nobody knows who I am, or at least if they do they realize that I’m here for dinner and they leave me be. Could just be that it’s not really a country music crowd or something,” Blake replied. “So, what are you in the mood for, sweetheart? Pretty much everything is good here.”

“Hmm, let’s see. I think I’ll have anything but another sandwich. Since joining this tour I’ve eaten more sandwiches than ever before in my life!”

“Yeah, that’s the truth. Seems like every venue catering menu is the same, sandwiches, cold cuts, cheese cubes. Enough with the cheese cubes already,” Blake said with a smile.

They ordered their meals and a bottle of red wine to share, and Blake watched Katie as much as he could without staring. He wondered if her hair felt as soft as it looked, what her slender arms would feel like wrapped around his shoulders, and what her full lips would feel like on his. Her eyes danced as she shared stories of her band’s earliest gigs, and Blake found himself riveted. He had been in the music business a long time and had pretty much heard and seen it all. Somehow her stories sounded fresh to him, though. Everything about her was a breath of fresh air. Her hearty laugh surprised him when he was lucky enough to amuse her. It was surprising that something so robust could come from such a petite girl.

Plenty about Katie McCoy surprised Blake. He knew that she was a beautiful and talented musician, and that was enough, but when she mentioned that she wrote most of Sterling’s lyrics and collaborated on most of the band’s music, Blake nearly choked on his food.

“You’re the songwriter?” Blake was impressed.

“Well yeah, mostly. Charles, our singer, and I collaborate on a bunch of them, but I usually come up with the bulk of the lyrics. I pretty much imagine what I would want to hear from a guy and go from there. The guys really like having the female perspective. If it were left up to them, all our songs would be about drinking beer, driving trucks, and hanging out.”

“Hey you know, I think a lot of country music is like that. Honey, I’m impressed. I’ll be listening to your songs with a new appreciation now.” Blake looked at Katie with new respect and admiration. “So you’re gorgeous, talented, and sweet. What’s wrong with you? What are you hiding?” Blake asked in a kidding tone.

A startled look flew across her lovely features, and before Blake could be sure of what he had seen, she rearranged her face into a coy conspiratorial smile. “Well … I’m a horrible cook, I’m kind of a slob, and I’m a bad kisser,” Katie said. She leaned forward on her elbows and gave Blake a meaningful look.

“I don’t believe a word you say,” whispered Blake as he leaned in and brushed his lips against hers. He felt her shudder as he took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. The world around him faded away as he coaxed her lips open with his tongue and gently deepened the kiss, exploring her mouth, moving his hands to cradle her head and hold her closer. He breathed in the sweet scent of her hair mingled with her fresh perfume, feeling intoxicated by her scent, her soft hair in his hands, her kiss.

He pulled his head back and looked into her eyes, noticing that she looked as dazed as he felt. “You lied,” Blake said, as he tried to regain his composure, hoping that their kiss had gone unnoticed by their fellow diners.

“What?” Katie looked so bewildered that Blake almost regretted his joke.

“You lied about being a bad kisser, honey. That was one of the best kisses of my life,” Blake explained.

“Oh, me too, Blake. That was amazing.” Blake thought she looked relieved.

“Is everything okay, darlin’?” Blake’s eyes searched Katie’s face.

“Of — of course Blake. What do you mean?”

“Well, for starters, we just shared an amazing kiss and while I feel like I found my bliss, you look like you’re about to jump out of your skin. What gives?” Blake teased gently, real concern in his eyes.

“It’s nothing. I’m fine. Really.”

Blake took Katie’s hand and focused his eyes on hers. “Katie McCoy. If you say it’s nothing then I will believe you, but if it’s something, I hope you know that you can tell me anything.”

Katie took a deep breath, and admitted, “I guess it’s not exactly nothing.”

“I know that we just met, but I want you to feel like you can talk to me. If you have a problem, I would like to help you. I think you can trust me.”

Katie took a deep breath and stared at her hands, clenched into fists in her lap. She let the breath out and began, “I just can’t help but to think about what’s going to happen when we’re done with your tour. On one hand, I really like you and I don’t want to miss a single moment. On the other hand, I feel like I should be careful so I don’t have my heart broken when I have to go home.”

Blake gave her a gentle smile. “I know, darlin’. Relationships have never been my strong point. I don’t know what will happen between us, what
can
happen, in three weeks, but I just figured we’d ride it out and see. We don’t have to decide now, and we definitely don’t need to worry about anything just yet. Let’s just have some fun together and see what happens.”

• • •

Katie felt foolish for admitting her fears, for opening up so soon, for assuming so much. She had such a poor track record when it came to relationships. No boyfriend had made it past a month or two with her, so she was beginning to wonder if she was the problem. She’d find a nice guy, get to know him, and then before she knew it they were breaking up. The common denominator in these discussions was the band, how much time it took, how often she went away for gigs, what she was doing when she was on the road. Guys couldn’t manage to be supportive without being jealous and she always had to cut them loose.

Now here she was sitting across from a gorgeous man, having just shared an amazing kiss, and she’s already worried about how they’re going to end things? What was she doing? Blake Jackson was the country’s biggest star. She should consider herself lucky to be on this date, should just enjoy it while she could. He probably thought she was a basket case.

Chapter Five

Katie woke up the next morning feeling more tired than when she had fallen into bed the night before. Replaying her date with Blake in her mind over and over again as she lie in bed kept her up, unable to fall asleep. The kiss had been magic, pure magic. She couldn’t remember ever having felt so close to someone that she had just met, and not knowing if Blake felt the same was killing her. Was she a distraction for him? A fling to keep his mind (and lips) occupied while he was on the road? Or did he feel the pull, the draw, towards her like she did to him? Would he take the time to get to know her or be like every other guy she met and want to take things straight to the bedroom?

Katie had met her share of guys interested in only one thing, and it wasn’t her budding music career. Why couldn’t she find someone who supported her dreams and didn’t make her feel guilty for pursuing her goals? She had never wanted anything more than to make a career with her music, and this tour was the best way to move that forward. Distracting herself with Blake wasn’t going to get her anywhere. The guys on the bus were beginning to stir, so she pulled herself together and pasted a smile on her face. It was time to focus on the men in her life who wanted the same things she did.

• • •

Katie jumped at the knock on her dressing room door. “Yes?” Her sleepless night had caught up with her and she was dozing on her little couch, trying to rest up for that night’s show.

“It’s me, Katie.” Blake’s muffled voice answered.

“Come on in.” She sat up on the couch and ran her fingers through her hair.

Blake closed the door quietly behind him and crossed the room to join Katie on her couch, his eyes dancing and his expression warm. He sat next to her and chuckled. “Looks like I woke somebody up.”

She yawned and stretched. “I must have drifted off. I was just resting up a little before it was time to get ready for tonight.”

“Sweetheart, I didn’t think it was possible, but you look even cuter when you’re sleepy.” Blake held a strand of Katie’s hair between his fingers before tucking it behind her ear.

“You are too sweet, Mr. Jackson.” Katie cast her eyes down demurely at the compliment. Already, being on tour with Blake had pushed them into situations where they normally wouldn’t have seen each other for weeks or months into the relationship. Charles was right, being on tour was like being in a pressure cooker. Everything was moving faster than in what Katie considered the real world. Her worries last night of what he would think of her without professional hair and makeup seemed silly now that he was seeing her just moments after waking up. Her sleep-mussed hair and bare face must present quite the picture.

“So, I keep thinking about you, about our kiss last night. I have a couple of interviews and a meet and greet thing with some radio station contest winners, but I couldn’t resist stopping in to see you first. I was hoping that we could take a few minutes to hang out, but I gotta tell you, I don’t think I can keep my hands off of you.” Blake pulled Katie into his arms and ran his fingers through her hair. He inhaled deeply, his nose at the top of her head, and she could feel the warmth coming off his skin as her lips grazed his neck. Katie allowed herself to relax in the warmth of Blake’s comforting embrace. If only she could stay here in his arms forever and just forget about everything else. It would be so easy to ignore the deadline looming ahead, to pretend that they had all the time in the world to be together.

She wished she could take her time with Blake, to get to know him and let him discover her secrets, before they had to decide whether to go their separate ways or find a way to be together. The problem was that he already felt so much like he could belong to her. Being in his arms was exciting, thrilling, but it also felt like it was where she had always belonged. It was like coming home, and the thought of leaving him at the end of the tour terrified her.

He held her close in his strong, solid embrace and she breathed in his clean, masculine scent. She looked up into his face and saw tenderness mingled with desire in his eyes. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her again. Blake drew back and Katie saw a fiery passion that matched her own burning in his eyes. He kissed her forehead, each cheek in turn, and returned to her mouth to plant a firm, insistent kiss on her lips. He deepened the kiss as she arched her body to meet his. Katie’s senses were reeling. Her body was tingling, her blood zinging with electricity as Blake’s kiss worked its magic. She was hypnotized, intoxicated by his passion, and the world fell away around her as her body responded to his.

Blake drew back, his hands still cupping her face, and searched her eyes. “Katie,” he breathed.

Katie felt drugged from the kiss, as if she were floating. “Blake,” she responded.

“You don’t know what you do to me.” He looked as affected by the kiss as she was. When their eyes met, understanding flowed between them, and she knew she could never let him go.

• • •

The hair and makeup team arrived, ready to transform Katie for the show. She tried to focus on getting ready and let them do their jobs while they shared gossip and swooned over a cute new security team member they had passed on their way through the venue to Katie’s dressing room. Their girlish giggles brought a reluctant smile to Katie’s face as they rhapsodized over his gorgeous muscular body, his sexy deep voice, and his beautiful blue eyes.

She was clearly being too serious about Blake and their imminent separation. It had been too long since she had been excited by a new guy, and her fretting was threatening to ruin the whole thing. Here she was, actually living her dream of being on a major country artist’s tour, and she was spending all her time worrying about how she was going to feel in a few weeks when she had to go home. She should try to relax a little, might as well enjoy the tour while it lasted.

Chapter Six

The tour schedule heated up as the buses rolled through the Alabama tour stops and into Tennessee. Sterling had been together for six years, since Katie was a newly-minted eighteen year-old high school graduate, but they had never before spent so much time together without a break from one another.

The guys in the band had noticed how much attention Katie was getting from Blake Jackson, but if it bothered them, nobody said anything. She wasn’t sure if she was just being touchy, but it seemed like they might come to resent her for the special treatment. As it was, everybody on board their bus was snappish with each other, and nobody was getting along. It was disappointing, really, to not be able to enjoy the tour when it would be over so soon.

The tension on the Sterling tour bus was thick when Blake called. Katie accepted his invitation for dinner in Knoxville as soon as the question left his lips.

“Yes, I’d love to. I gotta get out of here!” she said breathlessly.

“Well, darlin’, I think I’m just going to let myself believe that you’re excited to see me. I’d hate to think that I’m just an easy means of escape,” Blake laughed good-naturedly.

“Of course I’m looking forward to seeing you. I’m just also looking forward to getting a break from the guys. They’re not exactly my biggest fans these days. I think we’ll all benefit from a little break from one another. Where are we going?”

“That, my dear, is a surprise. Just relax and don’t worry your pretty little head about it, sweetheart. You’ll find out when I pick you up at six.” With that, Blake ended the call, leaving Katie smiling and giddy with anticipation. She and Blake hadn’t been on a proper date since the dinner in Tuscaloosa. They had been forced to settle for stolen moments in dressing rooms, nights out with the bands, and phone calls. She couldn’t complain, though; it was an unconventional courtship, but every moment with Blake had been a dream come true.