Live for You (23 page)

Kelly cheers and Cole grins
at me.

Last night he told me he
loved me. Last night I’d told him exactly what the bluebird on my
hip meant and he showed me the lines of my song he’d had tattooed
on his back.

“
My song?” I had gasped,
tracing the words
back to where you
belong
with a fingertip.

“
That’s
my
song,” he said,
capturing my finger and pulling it into his mouth. He bit and
licked it, before gently pushing it into mine. “And don’t you
forget it.”

Then we made love a second
time.

I can’t help but grin
back….and wish that all my mornings were like this.

Chapter
Twenty-Three

Violet

Lacey and I sit in chairs
that massage our backs while we get our toes done.

“
Skull and crossbones, on
the big toe of each foot, please, Ms. Norma,” Lacey tells the nail
technician.

Norma nods with a smile,
then turns to me. “And you?”

“
Do you have anything
musical themed?”

Lacey answers before Norma
can even open her mouth. “Notes, a treble clef, base clef, guitar,
microphone and keyboard.”

“
Sure I can’t lure you
away from Tanaka’s, Lacey?” Norma asks. “We have the hardest time
getting good help around here.”

Lacey glances from Norma to
me, then back at Norma again. “Wyatt’s back and needs my
help.”

Norma’s brows raise, then
her chin dips. “Are the two of you dating now?”

“
I’d like guitars on my
big toes, too,” I practically shout, so Lacey doesn’t have to
answer. Norma might be nice, but she strikes me as a gossip. God,
I’m so channeling Nana right now.

As Norma walks away, Lacey
turns to me. “Thank you.”

I shrug. “You don’t have to
answer any questions you don’t want to, you know.”

Her brows draw together.
Freckles dancing as her nose scrunches. “But I’m horrible at lying.
My face gets red and I start itching everywhere.”

If she weren’t so serious
I’d laugh, but she is and I really want to get to know her. “How
about I help you deflect questions, like I’ve had to do in the
past.”

“
You want me to
say:
no comment
,
while wearing dark glasses?

“
Hey, don’t knock it until
you try it, honey,” I say, wagging a finger at her. She smiles.
“Plus, dark glasses hide dark circles from the night before, when
you’ve been playing for what seems like days on end.”

“
Should I take
notes?”

“
From what I’ve seen and
heard, you have a pretty good memory.”

She nods. “This is true.
Okay, so tell me.”

I look up at the ceiling,
then back at her again. “Say you get asked about what you and Wyatt
were doing last night around seven p.m.”

“
That was after dinner,
so…” She grins, a blush stealing over her cheeks. “We were making
out in his apartment.”

“
That’s awesome, Lacey,” I
squeal—quietly, in case Norma is eavesdropping. “But you should
have answered with something more vague. Like: We ate dinner and
then hung out.”

Her eyes widen. “Oh, that’s
good. What else?”

“
You can also answer a
question with a question.”

“
That works?”

“
What do you
think?”

This time she wags her
finger at me. “Touche`, Miss Givens.”

Little by little, Lacey
warms up to me and pretty soon I find myself giggling and talking
about guys—what else?—with her. By the time our toes are dry, we’re
walking outside to her car, arm in arm.

I put on my sunglasses.
Lacey studies me a minute, then does the same.

“
How do I look?” I ask as
we get in her car. This is her final test. All she has to do
is—

“
Like my friend,” she says
and starts up the engine.

Yet another person added my
list of people I’m not leaving behind.

*** *** ***

Cole

Ever since word’s spread
that
the
Jaxon
Hunter is coming to The Double Deuce, I can’t pour drinks fast
enough. If this keeps up, I’ll have to hire another bartender and
two more waitresses.

Tonight’s the last night
we’ll be open before I temporarily close down the bar. I’m scared
shitless, but Rae and surprisingly enough Jane, think that anteing
up the mystery of Jaxon’s visit will draw an even bigger
crowd.

Plus Jane, this time
supported by Rae and Parker, is getting her way by having the
entire bar cleaned from top to bottom. Only I’m not on board with
all the changes she wants to make to the décor, not because I hate
change, but I have no idea where I’ll get the money.

The mortgage on this place
is due, along with the debts and other bills that go along with it.
Payroll is due, too. I don’t have enough money to pay
everyone.

While I pour over the
books, and I mean actual books, because it was never switched over
to a software program, Rae comes waltzing in while singing, “Happy
Birthday to you!”

I look up from beneath my
brows. “My birthday’s not until next April.” But if she’s my
present, I’ll be more than happy to unwrap those tight jeans and
green top from her body. Slowly. With my teeth.

As soon as she gets close
enough, I pull her in my lap and capture her mouth, cutting off her
singing. I hear something drop on the desk, but my mind and hands
are firmly on Rae. In my next heartbeat she’s just as caught up in
me as I am in her. Her hands are down the front of my pants and I’m
pushing against her.

Then I break my
no-sex-in-the-office rule, order her out of her clothes and bend
her over my desk. I keep mine on, only unbuttoning my fly and
shoving my jeans and boxers to my knees. Then I rub my cock against
her wet folds.

“
Now, now, now,” she
chants and I slowly ease the head of my dick in.

“
So damn tight,” I groan,
then pull out and slam my hips against hers. The minute I’m all the
way inside of her she begins to shake, and my name leaves her full
lips in little moans and gasps.

There’s nothing in this
world that compares to being inside of Rae, feeling her heart beat
as she surrounds me. I’m pretty damn sure this is as close to
Heaven as I’m ever getting.

“
I have to come,” she
cries out, her hand reaching between her thighs. The tips of her
fingers brush my balls before sliding up my cock. I can only
imagine what her fingers looks like as they slip and slide over her
swollen clit.

“
Go on, baby. Come for
me.”

Her mouth opens wide and I
cover it with my hand just in time. A couple of thrusts later and
I’m joining her. “Hell
yes
.”

It takes both of us a long
time to calm down from that. Even as I help her clean up and get
dressed, we can’t stop touching and kissing each other. A part of
me wonders if this is because of what I know what’s going to
happen.

Her ex will come back, so
will Nashville, and they’ll all want her to come back home. To her
old life.

She picks up a thick
envelope off of my desk and hands it to me. “I was trying to give
you this before we got so
distracted
.”

“
Is that what the kids are
calling it nowadays?” She punches me in the shoulder and I laugh,
then open up the envelope and find the deed to The Double Deuce.
There’s another document inside, stapled together like it’s a
contract. “What’s this?”

“
My gift to you.” She
smiles shyly and bites her bottom lip. “You’ve given me so much,
Cole, and I’ll never be able to pay you back. I had my lawyers
check into things—“

“
Lawyers?”

She nods. “And I bought the
mortgage on the building, including all of the debts owed by The
Double Deuce. They’re all paid off now.” She steps closer and take
my hand. “So I decided to put it in your name. The Double D belongs
to you. No strings. No nothing. Keep it. Sell it. Burn it down.
It’s all yours.”

“
I don’t know what to
say.” And I don’t. She’s given me a freedom that I would have never
been able to buy on my own.

“
There’s nothing to say,”
she says softly. “It’s a gift.”

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Violet

The last car I ever
expected to see sitting in Nana’s driveway is my mother’s
BMW.

“
Did you know you had
company?” Cole asks, parking his Jeep.

“
That’s not company.
That’s my parents,” I say as we make our way to the house. I grab
his hand and lace my fingers through his. “I’d like to introduce
you to them”

“
You sure about that?” His
blue eyes look slightly panicked.

“
Good grief, Cole. You’re
smart, enrolled in college, raising your little sister and running
a business,” I say, ticking off my impromptu list on my fingers.
“I’m pretty sure that’s every parents dream.”

“
I’ve also been in arrest
more times than I can count, have spent the night in jail a half a
dozen times and have an addict of a mother that abandoned her
children. That’s every parents’ nightmare.”

“
Please, Cole,” I let out
a shaky breath. “I could use the support.”

He squeezes my hand.
“Whatever you want, darlin’.”

“
Yeah, about that… better
not call me that in front of them,” I say as we resume our walk.
“They’re kind of old-fashioned about things.”

“
What about baby? That’s
pretty old skool.”

“
No!”

“
Candy ass?”

“
Cole!”

“
Thought you wanted to be
called Rae?”

Smacking my forehead with
my free hand, I groan. “No more, please.”

“
Fine.”

We stop at the front door
and I can’t go another step. My mother’s bound to be huge by now,
and I’m not sure what I’ll say when I see her. If I can say
anything at all. And if she starts talking about baby things, I’m
worried that I’ll make things worse.

I want to make things
better. I miss my parents. And it’s not my mother’s fault or my
little brother or sister’s fault that I chose to drink and then get
behind the wheel. It’s mine.

“
Right,” he says. “Best
show my manners.” He knocks once, then opens the door and holds it,
gesturing for me to go inside.

It’s time for me to finish
growing the hell up.

I let my hands fall to my
side and square my shoulders, then walk inside.

*** *** ***

Cole

I walk a couple of steps
behind Rae, shoving my hands in my pockets so I don’t accidentally
grab her ass.

That wouldn’t go over too
well with anyone in this house. When we get to the living room,
Miss Violet’s sitting in her usual spot. Only in mine and Rae’s
usual spots sits a man and woman. Both blonde, blue-eyed
and…kind-looking. Pleasant.

“
Violet,” Rae’s mother
cries, pushing up from the couch and I blink at the sight her very
pregnant belly.

At first Rae just stands
there, frozen and her mother’s smile begins to falter. Then Rae
runs the small distance between them, hugging her momma tight. Her
dad starts crying and joins them.

This is way too much crying
for me, and I feel awkward as hell just standing here.

Miss Violet stands, then
gestures for me to follow.
Thank
God.

We end up on the back
porch. She takes my elbow and leads me to the fall garden that Rae
helped her plant. .

“
You know why they’ve come
here,” she says, stopping shy of the row of broccoli.

I glance around, jaw
working. “To take Rae home.” Where she belongs. Though I don’t say
it, it’s what we’re both thinking.

“
Among other things,” she
says, letting go of my arm and stepping into her garden. She starts
picking broccoli, tucking them into her apron. “Violet Rae has
responsibilities she’s been neglecting.”

“
You mean as Violet
Lynn.”

A smile quirks on her face.
“She told you.”

“
Yeah.” I run a hand
through my hair. “I wasn’t planning on holding her back, if that’s
what you’re worried about. I know she deserves better than
me.”

She straightens. “I wasn’t
worried. And I think Violet Rae knows who she deserves.”

“
Someone like Jaxon
Hunter.”

Miss Violet frowns. She
looks as though she wants to say something and then decides against
it. “One thing I’ve always admired about you Morgan boys, y’all
never let anyone keep you down. But you have to realize something,
Cole.”