Losing You (Stars On Fire Book 4) (32 page)

He made his way from under the blanket and paused in awe at what he saw—her stunning face by firelight, the fire reflected in her green eyes.

Impatient, she grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him. While she attacked his mouth, he countered by attacking her pussy with his fingers, her moans spilling into his mouth.

After she came from his hands, her hands flew between their bodies, searching for his zipper, and unleashed him. “Now, Tom, please?” she begged.

“You want it?”

“I need it.”

“Since you asked so nicely, I guess I’ll give it to you,” he teased as he reclined the lounge chair. When he slid inside her, he groaned at how great it felt. He wanted this forever.

His movements were cautious as his cock moved in and out of her. At first, she’d bit down on her lip to contain her moans and when that became useless she buried her face in his neck. A rustle in the yard had stopped him still, but it was only Foxy. Lizzie chuckled until he resumed what he’d been doing, his thrusts more urgent. And when she came again, he captured her screams and moans with his mouth. Her hands slid inside of his pants and gripped his ass, pulling him closer, holding him to her as he exploded.

“Can we do this every time I come home from a trip?” she asked, scooting forward so he could sit behind her.

“I’ll see what I can do,” he answered as he wrapped her in his arms.

With a content sigh, Lizzie relaxed in his embrace, watching the flames of the fire wick up in the breeze.

“So . . . tell me how you’ve been. What’d you do while I was gone?” she asked.

“I spent some time with my mom. Been working on a project with her,” he answered carefully.

“You are so good to your mama,” she replied, snuggling her head further into the crook of his arm.

He’d also been hard at work on another project—his future. He had hoped that it would’ve been ready today, but no . . . tomorrow they’d said.

So plan B. With tomorrow being his birthday, this may work out better. He’d easily remember the day he asked Lizzie to be his wife.

Tom couldn’t wait to share it with Lizzie because his future, he hoped, would include her front and center in it.

Lizzie

November 13, 2009

“Why you calling me at work, Pooh bear?” Lizzie laughed into the phone.

“Fucking name.”

“Ha!”

“I was calling you to talk about tonight.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Make sure to pack a bag for the weekend. Also, I’m going to be late. This delivery and installation is taking forever, plus I have to make a stop. And if Carlos doesn’t get back here with my truck in the next hour, I’m gonna have to take my bike, so could you bring Foxy to the party?”

She still hated that damn bike. “Of course. How late are you thinking?”

“I’m hoping only a half hour . . .”

“You’ll just have to make it up to me.”

“Oh yeah?” he said, his voice turning smooth like whiskey. “How could I possibly do that?”

“I really liked what we did last night . . .” she admitted. The thrill of possibly getting caught just turned her on.

“Oh yeah?”

“We’ll have to make a habit of doing that again.”

“You thinking about it?” he asked and the suggestion in his voice was making her uncomfortable . . . in the very best way.

“Mmmhmm”

“Which part?”

“All of it. I haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.”

“Me either.” There was a long pause before he continued. “I want to talk to you tonight about something important.”

“Why not now?” she asked, her curiosity ramping up quickly.

“I need to leave and you need to finish up work. It can wait until later.”

“You’ve got my mind wondering what it could be.”

“Well, it’s not bad. That’s all I’ll tell you.”

“Tease,” she playfully admonished.

“I’ll tease you tonight,” he promised. “If you meet me outside of Ollie’s shed, I’ll make it worth your while.”

Lizzie thought about what could happen in Ollie’s yard and her legs jellified in her chair. “You’re on despite the fact you just teased me again!”

His deep chuckle touched her ear. “I’ve got skills.”

“Yeah you do, Pooh bear.”

His grumbling made her laugh.
Payback.

“Happy birthday, Tom.”

“Bye, pita pocket.”

“What does—”

His laughter plus the phone hanging up stopped her question. “Damn it!” she laughed, her mind trying to figure out what the hell that meant.

A couple minutes later a text from Tom showed up on her cell. She opened it and shook her head.

Because it’s my birthday, I thought I’d give you a gift:

P
ain

I
n

T
he

A
ss

<3

Tom

“Carlos, where the hell are you, man? I need my truck.”

“This lady is taking forever trying to decide where she wants this damn headboard.”

“Fuck,” Tom cursed. “You’re what . . . about thirty minutes out?”

“Well . . . if there was no rush hour traffic. I won’t be leaving here for at least a half hour. With traffic, I could get to the shop an hour after that if I’m lucky, but the way this day’s been going . . . ain’t gonna happen.”

Yeah, luck had been on short supply today.

“Well, I’ve got to go.”

“I’ve got your truck.”

“Yeah, park it behind the shop and put the keys in my office. I’ll just take my bike home,” Tom said. He could take the big ass delivery truck, but he hated driving that thing.

“Cool. Have a good birthday, boss man.”

“Thanks. See you on Monday.”

Tom packed his bag, grabbed his keys, and was off. First stop . . . jewelers.

He walked into the small shop and was greeted by name. “Tom, it’s ready . . . and it’s amazing,” Jill, the store’s manager, exclaimed, before heading to the back.

A proud smile greeted him as she set about displaying the ring for him. When it was finally out of the little blue bag, Tom swore. “It’s so much more than I’d imagined.”

“Your suggestion to have the emeralds and sapphires on the band along with the diamonds make this baby pop!”

As he stared at the ring, Tom smiled picturing it on Lizzie’s hand, the big ass diamond sparkling in the firelight as he told her that he loved her and wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

He was going to ask Elizabeth McCullough, his friend, his lover, to be his wife.

He’d always thought that Mia was his one. For so many damn years. Then that one damn day happened when Tom saw Lizzie differently . . . as more than one of his best friends . . . and it changed everything.

Tom had always had what he wanted. He just hadn’t known it, but had simply needed to open his eyes. But now they were wide fucking open and all he wanted was Lizzie.

Every single goddamn thing with her.

Tonight he’d begin to make that a reality.

Lizzie

“
Arf!
” Foxy barked as Lizzie sat outside with her.

“I don’t know where he is,” Lizzie replied to the dog. She knew that Tom would be late, but he said thirty minutes not almost three hours. All these people were here to celebrate his birthday and he was missing it. Everyone was having a great time by the big ass bonfire Ollie and company had set up. The music played and the party goers talked and laughed and worked on getting drunk.

Lizzie wasn’t having any of it. She didn’t feel like being a part of the party without Tom. Strange how she depended on him, needed him and felt lost without him. She loved him, she thought with a smile, and it was the most wonderful feeling, but would be even better if Tom was here. She just wanted him—by her side, holding her hand as they sat by the fire and looked up at the stars.

Checking her phone again, she cursed when there was nothing from him.

“Hey Lizzie, what’s up?”

She glanced up and found Ollie by her side.

“Hi Ol, just wondering where the fuck Tom is.”

He nodded to her phone. “No word?”

She shook her head. This so wasn’t like him and panic was setting in.

“Where is he, Ollie? He’s already three hours late and he hates to be late,” Lizzie asked her friend.

“I don’t know,” he said. There was none of the normal laughter in his voice. Ollie was worried too and the panic she’d felt grew heavier. “Maybe he stopped to see his mom on the way. She has a way of getting him to do things around the house for her. Do you have her number?”

“No,” she answered and made a mental note to have Tom give her that.

“Okay. I think I may have it in the house. I’ll go check and give her a call.”

“Thanks, Ollie,” Lizzie said as she watched him hurry to the house. Her gaze swept over the party yet again to see if she may have missed Tom arrive. Her eyes stopped on Marc who was sitting on a blanket near the fire listening to a girl chatter away, his attention all on her. Was he finally moving on too? Liz shook her head because it didn’t matter if he was, or at least that’s what she told herself.

She grinned as she saw Ollie running towards her, Gwen in tow. He was such a bundle of energy and Gwen was probably pissed he pulled her from whatever she’d been doing. Lizzie’s grin disappeared when she saw the shocked expression on his face and the look of pity on Gwen’s. Her chest felt tight, squeezing her heart and pushing the air out of her lungs. She put her hand to it as Ollie and Gwen skidded to a stop in front of her.

“Ollie? What is it? You’re scaring me!”

The battle of emotions on his face told her the news wasn’t good. “I . . . uh . . . I just spoke with Tom’s grandfather,” he started then reached out for Gwen’s hand. Lizzie followed the movement, saw the tears fall from Gwen’s eyes and wished she had something . . . someone . . . to hold on to. “Honey, Tom was in an accident . . . he didn’t survive. He’s . . . gone,” Ollie said, the last word breaking her friend.

Gone?

“What? What did you just say? I don’t understand . . . gone? He’s not gone. He’s late. He’s not gone . . .” she repeated as her voice broke. Her whole body shook as her mind tried to process the unthinkable.

A hushed silence fell over the group, all looking at her. She slapped away the hands that attempted to hug her. “No,” she said, her head shaking furiously back and forth. “No!”

“Liz, Tom is dead.”

She closed her eyes at his words, her heart stopping. Her body felt so heavy like the ground beneath her had opened up and something was pulling her down. She didn’t resist. She couldn’t. When her knees knocked the ground, the sobs began as her heart exploded into nothing.

Tom was dead.

Her best friend . . . dead.

“No! It’s not true. It can’t be true!” she screamed and bolted up, but Ollie’s arms snaked around her stomach holding her to him. “No!” she keened.

Tom was gone.