Live for You (10 page)

He shrugs, grinning big.
“That, too.”

“
Did you have any classes
this morning?” I ask, wiping my mouth.

“
Yeah. The bus picked up
Kelly and I hopped online.” He grabs the container of orange
slices, opens it and sets it between us. “I prefer college this
way. I’m less likely to get kicked out for falling
asleep.”

Bless his heart, I think,
falling back on the familiar saying while the icy fortress I’d
built around my heart melts even more. “I’d rather be on campus,
with the falling leaves and professors wearing tweed coats. I can’t
just picture it: Walking to class with my soy latte in one hand and
a book on existential living the twenty-first century in the
other.”

The orange slice he’s about
to pop in his mouth drops to the blanket beneath us. “Are you
serious?”

Smashing my lips together,
I hold back the laughter bubbling in my throat. I extend my arm,
hand coming up and almost pressing two fingers together. “Just a
little.”

He picks up another orange
wedge and shakes it at me. “Watch yourself, Miss Givens. Teasing me
won’t get you anywhere.” But the heated look in his blue eyes says
otherwise.

I smile and pop a grape in
my mouth.

*** *** ***

Cole

I pace nervously as I wait
for Rae to show up. It’s already ten past eleven and I’m thinking
that she’s forgotten about our date. Or maybe I’d said something
wrong that pissed her off. Or maybe I should stop thinking like a
damn teenager.

Raking a hand through my
hair, I roll my eyes.

I hear something crashing
through the woods. No way it’s a hunter, because the ruckus would
scare away every animal in a mile radius. A flash of blond hair
makes me smile.

She comes into the
clearing, guitar in one hand and that picnic basket I’ve grown to
love in the other. Before she can ask for help, I’m jogging to her,
taking the basket.

“
Mood music?”

“
Converting music. I
borrowed the guitar from Nana. She’s the one who taught me how to
play,” she says, then holds it like someone who’s been playing for
years and strums a few chords. “Today, I’m gonna change your mind
about country music.”

I scratch my chin, the
stubble beneath my fingers prickly. “That so?” It’s not going to
happen. My hatred of country music has nothing to do with the beat
and everything to do with the man behind most acts. Hell, for all I
know he could be behind Rae’s alter ego’s act.

“
Yep.” She smiles. This
girl is so damn beautiful that it hurts. I can only imagine what
she looks like on stage, performing for the crowd.

While I set up our picnic,
she begins to play. The first song she sings is catchy, with absurd
lyrics about horses drinking beer or something like that. I sit
down. She stays where she is, playing to me, like I’m a crowd of
thousands instead of one.

“
Convinced
yet?”

I lean back on my elbows,
the brim of my hat shading my eyes from the sun. “Nah.”

She sticks out her bottom
lip, pouting. “Guess I’ll have to up my game.”

“
Go for it, but you ain’t
gonna convince me.”

Her brow arches. “Is that a
challenge, Mr. Morgan?”

“
It’s a fact.” My lips
twitch as her eyes narrow. She’s determined now and I’m too damn
entertained, not to mentioned impressed by her, to not let her try.
“But I am a sucker for blondes in tight jeans.”

She rolls her eyes and lets
out a huff. “Men,” she mutters, then starts up another
song.

“
Cheating.” I interrupt
her in the middle of the chorus. “That’s not country. That’s Bob
Dylan.”

“
I’m singing Darius
Rucker’s version.”

I fold my arms over my
chest and shake my head. “If you can’t convert me without resorting
to cheating, then I—”

“
Okay, okay. Last one.”
This time the song’s slow and seductive as her voice flows.
“I’ve been waitin’ on you. Wishing you were here.
Skin to skin, lips to lips. My nights lastin’ forever without you.
Come on home.”
She winks at me.
“C’mon to where you belong.”
As the last note fades away, I rise to my feet and walk
slowly to her. She props her guitar against a pine tree right
before I reach her. The strap of her tank top falls down her
shoulder.

I can’t help but touch her
bare skin, trailing my fingers down her arm to that thin strip of
material. There’s nothing more I’d like to do than to tug it lower.
Goose bumps appear as I slide it back in place, slow as molasses as
I go. She shivers and I harden against the zipper of my
jeans.

“
That was fucking amazing,
Rae. You’re amazing.” I mean it. Nothing about my words are meant
to seduce, meant to tantalize or tease. Yes, I want inside her, but
even more I want inside her head. I need to know this girl. What
makes her tick; what she likes and dislikes. I need to know all of
this, despite not knowing how long she’ll stay here.

She flushes, then her nose
scrunches and she gives me this lopsided smile. “I wrote it the
other night. You’re the first to hear it.”

“
You wrote that in one
night?” My jaw drops.

“
Inspiration hit me.” She
shrugs, glancing away. “I couldn’t
not
listen to it.”

It occurred to me in that
moment that I might be the inspiration she was talking about. “Tell
me more about this inspiration.”

She waves a hand in the air
and shifts from side to side. “Oh, you know….see something you like
and it won’t leave you alone.”

“
I wouldn’t know.” I grin
at her adorable unease. Oh yeah, this song definitely has something
to do with me. “Could you, maybe, explain a little more about your
thought process?”

Fisting her hands on her
hips, she gives me a teasing glare. “Don’t pretend you like you
don’t know, Cole.”

I take her hands in mine,
rubbing my thumbs across the knuckles. Her vivid blue eyes widen.
“Rae,” I murmur. Her breath is sweet when she tips up her chin in
answer. “You’ll never convince me to start playing country at my
bar, but you have convinced me that I shouldn’t lump it all
together.”

She blinks, long lashes
dark with mascara. The diamond in her nose flashes. I find it
incredibly hot she pierced there. It’s so unexpected, yet
completely her. “Maybe I shouldn’t lump guys—things all into the
same category either.”

There a layer of hurt
there, and that’s the last thing I want to hear from her. “No, all
guys, er
things
that you’re talking about are pretty much the
same.”

“
Really?” A small smile
curves her mouth.

“
Oh yeah. Pretty much
haven’t evolved out of the Neanderthal stage.” I tilt my head to
one side and bite my bottom lip. She watches me intently, her gaze
on my mouth. “Except me.”

“
Always an exception,
huh?”

I rake my eyes over her.
She’s so tiny that I feel like some hulking beast beside her. For
once I want to take my time, to not rush things and just hook up
with her. Not that I think there’s a future with us. With me,
really.

Eventually, she’ll workout
what’s bothering her so badly and go back home while I’ll stay
here, going to school, managing a bar, raising my sister and
waiting for my mother to come home from rehab.

I have nothing to offer
anyone, especially someone like Rae.

Every woman, past, present
and future, is better off without me and my baggage. Hell, I doubt
any woman wouldn’t want to handle the truth of my life, much less
hear about it.

But as I gaze at Rae,
something sparks inside of me. “Always.”

Chapter
Eleven

Violet

Surreal. That’s how I would
describe the time I’ve spent with Cole over the past four
days.

I know his favorite color:
green. His favorite candy: Warheads. His favorite band: Keane. I
know he loves his brother and sister. He’s hardworking and smart.
He’s grateful for the little things in life.

Unlike Jaxon, who was
practically born (although adopted at birth) with a silver spoon in
his mouth and expects everything good from life. Or at least for
things to happen that always benefit him.

I sigh, something I’ve
been doing a lot lately. I’m grateful for Cole’s company. Who am I
kidding, I
bask
in his company. I look forward to our dates,
get-togethers...spontaneously planned meetings?

Whatever they are, they
can’t happen soon enough. Every day, I watch the clock and Nana
watches me, smiling all the while.

I’m happy. There’s no
other word for it. I’ve missed being happy. I’ve missed my music.
I’ve missed being
normal
. And having picnic lunches
with a sexy guy, in the middle of the woods, beside a creek is as
normal as it gets for me these days.

Today, I bring out the big
guns. No one alive can resist my nana’s homemade pimento cheese.
Including Cole. I smile as he woofs down sandwich number
three.

“
How long are you staying
in Forrestville?” he asks.

“
I don’t know. As long as
I’m able.” As long as no one calls me back home. Fat chance of that
happening, since I am the girl least likely to be invited anywhere.
I’d never seen invitations rescinded so quickly in the past eight
months. All over a one-time mistake.
I
was the good girl of country
music, the reigning princess that could do no wrong. But people are
becoming less forgiving and their memories shorter. Especially when
there’s money involved. Besides, who wants to take a chance on
someone who might not show when there are thousands who
would
and
for a
cheaper price?

“
You’re not from
California, are you?”

I shake my head. “Not ever
the most Southern part has this Tennessee twang to it.”

He laughs, low and long. My
heart flips. “Didn’t think so, but I’ve never been there. So, I
kinda went with it.”

“
Such a
gentleman.”

Rolling his eyes, he pops a
few grapes in his mouth. I watch his jaw work as he chews, his
throat as he swallows. Then he notices me watching him and I jerk
my gaze away, focusing on a yellow butterfly floating from flower
to flower near us.

“
What do you think of
butterflies, Violet, for a girl?” My mother asks, trying in vain to
get me excited about the baby she’s having. “If it’s a boy, I want
sailboats. Won’t that be cute?”

I shrug noncommittally and
walk away. She calls my name, but I break out into a run as soon as
I round the corner, slamming the door to my room and sliding to the
floor. Great sobs leaving me, my fist shoved in my mouth to muffle
them and my other hand on my stomach.

I have to leave. I can’t
stay here any longer. But how?

“
Well, do you?” Cole asks,
breaking through my memories.

“
Do I what?”

“
Never mind,” he says,
then wipes off his hands.

“
Sorry, I was
daydreaming.”

“
As long as those
daydreams starred me, I’m completely okay with that.”

I snort. He’s too funny and
cocky. “Maybe next time.” The sun moves higher and higher into the
sky until our shadows are gone and I’m wishing I’d brought my
sunglasses.

“
So do you live in some
kind of big country music star mansion in Tennessee or an
apartment?”

“
Would you think it weird
that I still live at home?”

He grins. “I still live at
home.”

“
But you’re taking care of
your sister, managing your family’s bar and going to college.
That’s a little different from me.”

That sexy grin of his falls
away. “That’s a lot different from you.”

“
Sorry.” I don’t know why
I feel like apologizing but I do. I move to what I think will be
safer territory and I’m extremely curious as to why he’s the one
raising his sister. “What about your mom and dad?”

He glances away. “Your Nana
didn’t share?”

“
No, she’s not big on
gossiping. At all. So…” I drum my fingers on my thigh, right below
the material of my shorts

His eyes flash to mine. “My
mother is in rehab for the millionth time. As for my dad, he’s off
living his life somewhere.”

Cole sounds so bitter and
yet so sad. I can’t imagine living like that. How does he do it?
“Oh.”

“
Yeah,” he nods. “This is
great conversation, Rae. Damn glad you brought it up.”

“
Ask me anything, anything
you want and I’ll tell you,” I say in a rush, wanting to put us
back on equal footing.

“
Fine,” he says, his jaw
clenching. “Where did you get that scar?”

I blanch. I can’t help it
and his jaw eases.