Something I Need (xoxo Nashville Book 1) (13 page)

Naked and exposed, but not giving a shit, Cash stalked towards Jonte. She shot her hands out and placed them on his shoulders, keeping him at arm’s length.

“It’s okay, Cash. I knew this before we kissed that night at your bar, and I knew it just now.” She relaxed her arms, leaned in, and pressed her lips against his in a closed-mouth kiss you’d offer your mother. Not that he had any experience with mothers. “Thank you for letting me stay last night. I’m going to the bathroom to freshen up.”

Jonte grabbed her stuff and walk out of the room.

What. The. Fuck?

She’d walked away.

Just like that. Like it was no big deal.

And she didn’t want anything from him.

How was this possible? Women always wanted something, it was a universal truth, and yet Jonte wanted and expected nothing.

In a daze, Cash pulled on a clean pair of boxers. He heard the water running in the bathroom, and despite desperately wanting to get all sweaty and soapy with Jonte in the shower he left her in there. He needed coffee. Coffee and fresh air that didn’t smell like sex and Jonte.

Thank fuck Nannie and Pop were nowhere to be found downstairs. No doubt Nannie had already left to make lunches at the food bank, and Pop was probably out rounding up cattle with the farm manager Benny.

Cash made Jonte’s coffee just the way she liked it. He also whipped up a couple of pieces of toast and layered them up with butter and Nannie’s homemade wild berry jelly.

Jonte walked into the kitchen just as he put the milk and butter back in the fridge. She was wearing that short glittery dress from last night that showed off her curves and killer legs, and had piled her hair up into a messy knot on the top of her head. He wanted to lift her up onto the counter and make her wiggle and squirm. Use his tongue on her clit to convince her she was mistaken. Devour her for breakfast. But she’d made herself perfectly clear just before. And given the way she’d strategically positioned herself on the other side of the bench, as far away from him as possible, it was obvious she meant what she’d said.

“Coffee.” He pushed her cup towards her.

“Thanks.” She reached for the mug and took a sip.

His eyes fixated on her lips. Lips that only thirty minutes ago had licked his cum from her fingers. How could she look so carefree and unfazed? Was she really going to pretend they hadn’t had the most intense and satisfying sexual experience in his life?

Maybe it hadn’t been good for her?

Nope, that couldn’t be it. He had an angry red bite mark to prove she had been just as caught up as he had been.

“Here, have some toast too,” he said in an attempt to keep up with her pretence of normality. Cash grabbed a piece for himself and then nudged the plate closer to her.

Fine.

He could do this.

He sure as shit didn’t want to but he could play her little game and act like nothing had happened. Sure thing. No problem.

J
onte turned her key
, pushed open the glass door, and then locked it behind her. It was super important to keep up the charade that nothing was different. She and Cash had become experts at pretending over the past few weeks. If this morning’s momentary lapse into crazy town hadn’t happened, no question she would have been in here telling him all about her successful meeting with Sierra. And so that was exactly what she was going to do.

He was definitely here because his bike was parked out the front. At some point he must have returned to the ranch and swapped it over because he’d driven her home in the Chevy earlier.

“Cash?” she called out, careful to keep her tone light and cheery.

“Back here,” he yelled back.

Light escaped through the cracked-open office door and Jonte made her way over there. She opened the door and tried to act unaffected. He’d changed clothes and was now wearing a short-sleeve khaki plaid shirt with a fitted black T-shirt underneath that accentuated his dreamy green eyes and broad shoulders. A pen hung out of his mouth and he was busy typing away on the laptop on his desk.

“Hey.” He smiled at her and dropped the pen.

Ignore the pen. Ignore the eyes. Ignore the lips.

“Hi.” She slid into the seat opposite him.

Play it cool. You’ve got this.

“How’d everything go?”

“I got the job.”

“Excellent. So you’re here to officially resign, I presume?”

“I guess so,” she said and shrugged. Sierra wanted her to come in and help cover the busiest nights of the week. She’s reassured Jonte that she wasn’t stealing Marcus’s job and explained how it was important for them to have other musicians on standby to mix things up for the crowd and also to relieve Dean and Marcus throughout the night.

“That’s good news, right?”

“Yes.” She nodded to reaffirm her point. It was what she wanted. What she needed. Nashville exposure and performing on Broadway was the sole reason for her being in the States.

Cash shut the screen on his laptop and leaned back in his chair.

Don’t look at his crotch. Eyes up.

“So when do you start?”

“Tonight.”

“Of course. That’s awesome. I really am happy for you.”

“Thanks. For everything, you know, the job and the apartment,” she clarified. He wasn’t getting a thank you for the orgasm. They were two all and totally even. All finished. All done.

“No problem.”

“I should probably go.” She hastily stood up, her chair scraping against the floor, and turned away from Cash, escaping the office.

There.

She’d done it.

Now she could move on.

They could both move on.

It didn’t need to be weird. Things were only weird if you made them weird.

Jonte was so caught up in her mad rush for the exit, she didn’t hear Cash’s footsteps behind her. She reached for the lock on the door as his hand shot out from behind her and pressed against the metal frame, blocking her escape.

“I’ve never taken anyone back to the ranch before,” he whispered.

Her skin prickled in anticipation at his nearness.

Why was he telling her this?

She didn’t trust herself enough to turn around, not even the tiniest bit confident her willpower would hold up. It was one thing to sit across from him at a desk and act unaffected, but right now he was so close. His breath tickled her neck, just like it had this morning, giving her the best sexy-time flashbacks at the absolute worst possible time.

“Jonte.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against the skin just behind her ear.

Get out. Get out. Get out.

But her body betrayed her, trembling, her knees wobbling and buckling. Cash wrapped his arm around her waist, supporting her.

“It’s not out of my system.” He nipped gently at her ear lobe. “Is it out of yours?”

Lie. She should lie.

She should push him away and flee with her heart intact like Crystal had said, while she still could.

Flee? How the hell was she supposed to flee when she couldn’t even stand up unassisted?

Cash moved closer, thrusting his whole body hard up against hers.

Gah!

There was that word again, and every part of him certainly was hard. His fingers left the doorframe, roaming up her thigh and under her short white linen jumpsuit, quickly tucking themselves inside her panties. He slipped one inside her and she moaned. Cash’s other hand kept her balanced and upright, while he grazed at her neck with his lips. He ran his tongue along her bare right shoulder while he pressed his hard cock against her ass.

Mmmm…the man had amazing fingers
. Her head fell back and she relaxed into him, not bothering to fight this. What was the point?

“Come home with me tonight. I’ll pick you up after your shift.”

Her breath quickened and her whole body quivered. She pushed back against him even more, and he held on to her tightly as she fell apart.

Cash spun her around to face him. Wide eyed, she watched him mimic her move from earlier, licking his finger like a popsicle stick. “What time should I pick you up?”

“
D
id
you enjoy your first official night?” Seb asked Jonte as they descended the stairs.

“I had a blast.” She beamed bright, still riding the high of her first night being paid to perform.

The night had been spectacular. Amazingly, the crowd had been wilder than last night, and the pace had been manic. She really had to be on her A-game, because she’d learned it was customary for the audience to request any song they liked. On the flip side, requests came with tips, and that was something she could definitely get on board with.

She’d had so much fun playing with the boys, and was especially happy Marcus had somewhat warmed to her when they’d dueled during Dean’s break. But Dean was still her absolute favorite. He just had this infectious energy about him – he was sassy and lively and a genuinely nice person. It was obvious everyone loved him. That probably explained Marcus’s generally sour mood – it must have been hard living in Dean’s shadow.

“Dean is officially in love with your skills.” Seb chuckled, holding the door out the street open for her.

“Ha! The feeling is definitely mutual.” She walked through the door, the cool breeze helping to bring her back down to earth.

“Do you need a lift?”

“Jonte!”

At the sound of his voice, she looked for Cash and found him leaning against his bike, still wearing that khaki shirt from earlier. His black leather jacket was slung over the bike.

Right. So he had been serious about picking her up. She hadn’t exactly agreed to it or given him a time when she’d left in her post-orgasmic state earlier this afternoon. But she had packed a spare pair of knickers and a clean tank top in her bag, just in case.

What? A girl had to be prepared.

“Not tonight.” She smiled at Seb and nodded in Cash’s direction. “Dolly’s brother already offered to give me a lift.”

The consummate gentleman, Seb moved towards Cash and held out his hand. “Hey, we didn’t get a chance to meet last night when everyone took off to yours. I’m Seb.”

Cash shook Seb’s hand. “Cash,” he said, his tone brusque, sharp, and unfriendly. Jonte accepted the helmet he handed her, but kind of wanted to hit him over the head with it for being so rude. It seemed cave man Cash had returned.

“Right.” Seb turned to Jonte. “See you tomorrow.”

“Yep.” She waved a goodbye to her new friend as he walked off and then fastened her helmet. “What’s up with you, Mr. Cranky-Pants? Bad night?” She playfully whacked him across the arm as he slid onto the bike and started it up.

“Mr. Cranky-Pants?” Cash replied with a raised eyebrow and a disapproving snort. “Nice.”

“Well, Dolly came up with Mr. Angsty-Pants. But tonight you’re definitely more cranky than angsty.” Jonte giggled and jumped on the back of the bike. “And just how am I going to explain my absence to Dolly?”

“It’s Friday night. She’ll either be hung over in the morning or busy doing brunch with Tanner. Either way, she won’t even realize you never came home.”

* * *

“
I
thought
we might make a little detour,” Cash said over the roar of the engine, putting on his own helmet. He wasn’t cranky; he simply wanted her all to himself. Was that such a bad thing?

“Detour?”

“You’ll like it.”

“You sound awfully like your sister.”

He liked Jonte’s teasing but liked her wrapping her arms around his waist even more. Scrap that – he loved the feel of her arms on him, clinging to him. It was corny as fuck, but it made him feel invincible, like together they could take on the world.

He had never taken a girl up to The Love Circle, but remembered Tanner and a shit ton of other guys at high school and college taking girls parking up there. Not that you could really go parking on a bike, but it was a clear night, so the view of the city and the stars would no doubt be amazing. How could she not love it?

With Jonte squeezing him tighter every time he accelerated, Cash zipped out of town through the West End. After a few more turns, they finally arrived at The Circle, which literally was a circular avenue. Cash rocketed all the way up to the top of the hill, even driving through the grass area – something he was confident was highly illegal – all the way to the wooden bench near the edge of the lookout.

Cash knocked the kickstand on his bike down and waited for Jonte.

“Wow,” she finally said once her helmet was removed. She leaned over his shoulder, mesmerized by the softly illuminated Nashville skyline. “This is amazing. I bet girls love it when you bring them up here.”

“I wouldn’t know.” He spun around so that they were almost nose to nose and shrugged.

“Are you seriously telling me this is a first for you?”

“Certainly is, sweetheart.”

“Well, aren’t I lucky?”

Jonte got off the bike, walked over to the bench and then lay down on it.

Shit, was that an invitation or was she merely trying to get a better view of the stars?
Damn, she looked good in those short denim cut-offs and cowboy boots. Dolly had certainly turned her into the perfect Nashville import.

“So now that you have me here, what are you going to do with me?” Jonte crossed one leg over the other, her right leg dangling in the air.

Hell, yeah. Definitely an invitation.

Swinging a leg over the bike, Cash dismounted and moved closer to Jonte, already semi-hard and keen to mount her.

“Word is cops like patrolling up here.” He sat down near her long legs.

“At two a.m.?” Jonte teased and nudged him gently with her boot.

Cash tugged her boot off, and then threw it over near the bike. He skimmed his fingers along her calf, up past her knee, and then gripped her thigh.

“Are you sure the bench is the best place for this?” he asked, worried about the wood splintering off in her smooth, delicate skin if he stripped off her pants and licked her until she came.

Jonte sat up and straddled him, rubbing her body slowly and deliberately against his. “What did you have in mind?” she breathed and nuzzled her cheek against his.

Christ, he really should have taken her back to the ranch, ‘cause now he was stuck out here with a clearly up-for-it Jonte and no condom. He purposely didn’t carry them to avoid Crystal-like situations. He tried to think, but was distracted by her soft nipping at the base of his neck and along his shoulder.

Jonte got to work unbuttoning his shirt. “I love this shirt,” she murmured. “It’s sexy as, but it’s got to come off.”

Yes, take it off. Shit, no. Don’t take it off.

The feel of her effectively fucking him with their clothes on did crazy things to him. He wanted to bury himself so deeply inside her. Fuck. He had to stop this before it got even more out of hand.

“No condom,” he huffed, gripping her hips tightly.

Jonte pulled back, part way through unbuttoning the last button on his shirt. “Are you serious?”

“Unfortunately.” He hung his head, embarrassed by his own stupidity. “But we can be at the ranch in ten minutes.”

“Won’t your nannie and pop be sleeping? I swear, you made me scream into the pillow this morning, or yesterday, whenever.”

Fuck yes, his girl was a screamer. He leaned forward and kissed her deeply, his hands now trailing underneath her tank top and up her back. This right here was why he needed his own place. Not that he’d ever planned on this. He moved on from that thought quickly, best not to overthink this whole situation. Nope, no time for drama. He needed to keep this simple – he wanted Jonte, and that was that.

“Shower,” he said the words against her lips. “I’m going to fuck you so hard in the shower, no one will hear your screams over the loud industrial fan and water.” He grabbed under her ass and carried her back to the bike, stopping just long enough for her to scoop up her stray boot.

H
e creaked opened
the front door and hushed Jonte’s giggles. She followed him inside and he pushed the door closed, locking it with one hand.