Take Me Home: Home is Where the Heat Is, Book 3 (7 page)

She watched him for a long minute, her body convulsing as he continued to stimulate her. After a long moment, she lay back down. Covering her face with her hands, she mumbled, “Okay.”

Cash chuckled and slid back between her legs. Redoubling his efforts with his tongue, he stroked her clit and massaged her spot until she was crying out. “That’s it,” he encouraged. “Let go.”

She did, her whole body shuddered and she seemed to cave in on herself with a healthy, surprised screech. He felt her come on his hand and nearly came himself. Stroking her through every tremor, he waited for her to relax.

She shifted her head from side to side. “What the fuck did you just do to me?”

Chapter Nine

“G-spot exploration,” Cash teased, flopping down beside her with a Cheshire Cat grin. “Complaints?”

“None,” Shawna answered honestly. “I’ve heard enough about it and had enough men ignore it that I even went so far as to try and find it myself.”

“No luck,” he surmised, not unkindly. “I can’t imagine it would be easy without the right kind of vibrator. Your spot is tucked in a bit. Some women don’t feel anything different, and for some it’s uncomfortable. You’re lucky.”

Shawna pulled the covers over her breasts and lay on her side. Bracing her head on her hand, she shook her head. “You really are all about the honesty, huh?”

He rolled to his back, not even slightly concerned that his super sexy body was completely exposed. “Sure. Why wouldn’t I be? I spent way too much time saying what people wanted me to say. Now, I figure people will like what I have to say or they won’t. Either way, I’ll make friends and lose acquaintances. Call it keeping a clean slate.”

“I can’t imagine anyone not liking you,” she said honestly. He just had that make-you-feel-good vibe. Even when he was trying to make her open up, she kind of felt safe around him.

“Oh, there’s plenty.” He shifted up farther on the bed and pulled her close. “But you like me. That’s all that matters right now.”

She buried her face in his chest, inhaling the hot male scent of his skin. “You didn’t come that round.”

When she would have reached down to his still semi-hard cock, he stopped her. “I don’t need to. All I want from you right now is your honesty. I get it. We don’t have a future. That doesn’t mean I can’t know you. I’ll leave in days, maybe a week. We can have a lot of fun, and get to know each other pretty well in that time.”

His thought process floored her at every turn. “Why do you want to bother? It’s kind of a waste since we’ll never see each other again after this.”

He shrugged. “Call it crazy, or foolish, or whatever you want, but I’d like to know a little something about the one that got away, even if she warned me she wasn’t playing for the long haul.”

There was something so simple and easy about Cash Dillon she could see why any woman would fall for him. His admission that no one wanted him for more than a fuck felt oddly false. Yet, to a certain extent, she believed it as well. He
was
single. Question was, by his own doing?

“I find it hard to believe you’re single.” It would have been easier to believe if he was one of those gorgeous people who turned ugly the second they opened their stupid mouths. “I mean, there have to be women in homegrown Texas looking for a handsome cowboy to settle down with.”

“Oh sure.” He chuckled. “You can ask about me but clam up when I ask about you. How fair is that?”

Ugh. She hated, with a passion, talking about herself. Fair was fair though, she guessed. If she didn’t give a little, she wouldn’t get much in return. The need to know what made Cash Dillon tick won out over protective instincts. What did she have to lose anyway? He’d be a memory in days.

“Not very.” Swallowing hard, she braced herself for the memory wash. “Mom and Dad passed within a year of each other. They left me with nothing, and after the house was sold, I spent almost eight months in several horrible foster-care homes, waiting to turn eighteen.”

Cash’s arms tightened around her and she snuggled into his warm embrace.

“I got out of town as soon as I could.” She paused, remembering the two hundred and ninety dollars left after her parents’ debts were paid. It had been enough for food and travel. Her destination at the time unknown. “I hopped a bus and never looked back. When I reached New York, the lights and excitement drew me. I’ve been here since.”

He said nothing, and oddly enough, Shawna was glad for it. There were questions she couldn’t answer, even to herself.

“When I landed here, I learned a quick lesson in trusting. As in no one could be. I had a boyfriend that conned me into believing he was a good guy, friends that used me and a public that ignored me. Then I met Chloe. Not exactly friendship material, but she kind of took me in.”

“She’s a shark, I’ll give her that.” He chuckled then. “But she kinda has a soft spot for vagabonds. My friend Miya was one of her pet projects.”

“I know Miya.” Shawna laughed. She’d felt an odd kinship to the soft-spoken Texan who’d never quite fit in the big-city life. “I think we were in the same Chloe-saving-the-world timeframe. Matter of fact, this used to be her apartment. When she went back to Texas, Chloe told me about the rental.”

“Small world,” he teased. “So you had some bad experiences. That’s why you shut everyone out?”

“Yes, and no.” Explaining what made her tick, and what moved her, was as odd as his accent in her city. Some things were just hard to articulate. “I don’t always mean to. Like the drivers and bouncers at the clubs. I just get so wrapped up in what I have to accomplish, I forget. Sometimes it’s easier. If I knew about the driver’s wife before now, every time I saw him I’d want to give him time off, or wonder how he was doing. That would take away from the way I have to perform to do my job.”

“Performance is all-important,” he said, deadpan. “To make your mark in the world?”

“Yes.” Shawna rolled over, facing away from him. It wasn’t easy to explain as it was, but having Cash judge her made it even more difficult. “When Dad died, my mother had been at his side for weeks. I took care of everything at home, including her when she couldn’t function. Within a year, my mother was dead as well. It was a brutal blow. But what hit me hardest was that no one in the world cared. No one knew how amazing they were. No one cared that there were sixteen people combined at their funerals and that there was no one to take me in. I was alone and scared, and the experience taught me one important thing. We have one shot in life. I plan to go out with a bang. I want to leave my mark on the world, so that when I die, someone somewhere will always know my name.”

He pulled her back against his chest and kissed her ear. “How many someones have to remember you for you to feel content?”

His question wasn’t rude or condescending. It was honest and curious. Problem was, she had no idea how to answer.

“There’s no set number.” She’d never really thought about what was enough. “I just need to feel like I’ve mattered in this life. If that’s by discovering a new fashion talent, painting the equivalent to the
Mona Lisa
, or getting arrested for storming the redwood forest and saving a hundred trees, I don’t care. I just don’t want my turn in this life to be obsolete. When it’s my turn to die, I want to look back and say I mattered.”

He was silent behind her, his grasp tight. The fact that he didn’t utter a word made her feel extremely self-conscious. “Sad story, huh?”

“Shit, darlin’.” He grasped her under the chin and tipped her face to meet his gaze. “Your story is a whole lot sadder than mine. All I had was a pa who couldn’t keep his pecker in check. You fought your way to where you want to be all alone. Everything you went through made you who you are. You’ll make your mark on the world because you’re strong. I’m sure of it.”

She laughed. “How can you be so sure?”

“Trust me,” he said cryptically. “Even if you think your mark has to be big, there are people you’ll leave in your wake that will never forget you. It’s all a matter of perception of a legacy. Mine is a wife, kids, grandkids and great-grandkids who tell stories about me when I’m gone. We each leave our mark in our own ways. Everyone wants a life they can hang a hat on.”

Shawna turned away again. He hadn’t said it outright, but she got the gist. He was wondering what was wrong with family, and the generations after, as a legacy. Maybe in his mind, there was nothing wrong with that.

For her, it didn’t seem like enough.

Cash blinked to clear the fogginess from his eyes. He’d fallen asleep at some point, lulled by Shawna’s soft breathing and body heat. Rolling over, he touched the place she’d vacated. The sheets were still warm, but she was gone. No big surprise, considering her views from last night. Or was it early this morning? Either way, the bed was empty, and he flopped back on the soft mattress.

Shifting to look at the clock on her bedside table, he cringed. Six fifty. He hadn’t slept past five in years. Throwing the covers off, he flung his legs over the side of the bed. A folded piece of pale peach paper with his name on it caught his attention.

Opening it, he read,

Thanks for an amazing evening. I left a breakfast plate for you in the refrigerator. Help yourself to the shower. Sorry, I don’t have any clothes that will fit you, though I think you’d look good in anything, including my crimson bathrobe.

The photo shoot is at 8:30. I’ll have a driver pick you up at 7:30 so you can swing by your hotel and change. Your clothes should already be there. You know my number if they aren’t.

By the way, I convinced Chloe to push for some leave time for Gio, with pay.

Under her message was a rustic, artistic flower, maybe a daisy, made out of infinity circles. In small, stylized letters, wrapping around the petals, were the words,
Live the Life you Love, Love the Life you Live.

He brushed his thumb over the drawing. The indentions left by the pen were evident. This wasn’t something printed on the stationary. She’d taken the time to draw something important. A symbol and words that meant something to her.

Folding the paper, he tucked it in his jeans pocket and grabbed his phone. Shooting her a text, he glanced at the clock. Just enough time for a quick shower. And if he had time, he’d take her up on the food. He was starving after their workout.

“Okay, I’m usually against the whole interoffice relations crap.” Chloe sighed. “But in this instance, I say you just fuck him. Then maybe he’ll be able to concentrate on something besides your ass.”

Shawna glared at Chloe. She’d never known her boss to color outside the work lines, let alone show up for work mussed and all kinds of airheaded. “What’s going on with you?”

“Men.” Chloe sighed again. “Cowboys, to be specific. They look good, they smell good, they talk good… Damn it, everything about them just sucks you in.”

“Yeah, they kinda have that effect, don’t they?” Shawna watched Cash, completely understanding where her boss was coming from. She wondered if Chloe would feel the same if she knew Shawna had been fucking Cash every chance they got. Cars, storerooms, Chloe’s office. Okay, so she’d never admit that one to her boss, but what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

It had been three days since the night at the Odyssey and her tumble into Cash’s arms. Since then, they’d been on a whirlwind of appearances, shoots, promotional opportunities, and now they were nearing the deadline for the newest cover. Shawna still didn’t know which photo Chloe had chosen, but the numerous shoots had given her hours of sexy Cash photos to filter through. If she hadn’t had him between her thighs occasionally to ease the ache, she could have easily built a stalker-mobile of his sinful goodness to hang over her bed.

“Kinda?” Chloe queried. “That sounds a bit Southern for you.”

Shawna met her steely gaze. Fuck. Go figure shark-Chloe was still in residence and decided on now to swim to the surface. Going for blasé, Shawna smiled. “Hang around ’em long enough and you’re bound to pick up a phrase or two.”

Chloe chuckled. “I called my driver
Doll
the other day.”

“I asked the girls at the coffeehouse how the ‘dust was shiftin’’ yesterday.” Shawna laughed. It was good to know she wasn’t the only one susceptible to Texas charm. “It’s addictive. I was so embarrassed.”

“Cowboys are definitely a different breed. Wait until you sleep with one.” Chloe sighed and sipped at her latte. “Then you’ll really know what addiction means.”

She rolled her eyes heavenward, and it was all Shawna could do to keep silent on her personal knowledge. All she had to do was look at Cash and she was wet. “One hell of a rodeo ride?”

Chloe scoffed. “That description might scratch the surface.”

Nick Westing came around the corner then and caught Shawna’s eye. He smiled hugely and pressed a finger to his lips as he snuck up behind Chloe. Grabbing her around the waist, he swung her in circles before setting her down. She turned into him, her body pressed close. “What are you doing, you fool?”

“Just playin’, doll.” He leaned in close, pressing his forehead to hers. “You know how much I like to play.”

Shawna eased away. The heat between them was staggering and she felt like an intruder. Lynn-Ella made her normal, dramatic call to the end of the shoot and since Chloe was preoccupied, Shawna dismissed the models. In the next instant, Cash was headed in her direction.

“Hey, darlin’.” He closed the distance between them and grabbed her hand. Holding her at a distance, he looked her over. “Close, but not quite what I had in mind.”

“Excuse me?” Shawna pulled her hands away and set them on her hips in what she hoped was a sassy stance. “Is there something you don’t like about the way I’m dressed?”

His crooked grin made her want to kiss him so badly she almost did.

“Well,” he drawled. “It’s not exactly celebration sexy.”

“Are we celebrating?” she asked, confused.

“I’m taking you to dinner? To celebrate the upcoming cover?”

“Yes,” she agreed. “But I thought we were doing that Thursday night?”

Cash laughed, his smile and good humor drawing the gaze of every person still in the room. Shawna was shocked to realize that Chloe and Nick had disappeared. Her boss was losing her edge.

Cash pulled her close. “It is Thursday, darlin’.”

Shawna grabbed her phone and checked the date. He was right. Somehow she’d lost an entire day. “Wow. Things have been kind of crazy.”

“They have.” Cash pulled her to the door. “Go home. I’ll pick you up in an hour and a half. We’re going to Viziare. My treat. I had an outfit sent to your apartment. Wear it, just as it’s laid out.”

“What if I don’t—”

He pressed a finger to her lips, stalling any protest. “Wear it for me. I won’t be here for much longer. You’ve set your boundaries. Give me this.”