Well Rocked (3 page)

It was all too much and I couldn’t take it and never wanted it to stop. I cried out as he shifted his hips to a new angle, and he gritted his teeth and then let go, flying off the cliff with me into an ocean of pleasure where we floated forever.

Chapter Three

The next morning I woke up groggy and grumpy, until I noticed the long arm slung across my body and remembered where I was.

Dex mumbled something unintelligible and pulled me closer.

“Good morning,” I said, sinking happily into his embrace.

“The only thing that’s ever good about morning is when you’re the first thing I see.”

I smiled and closed my eyes, wondering how I could possibly be this lucky. With all the shit I’d seen and gone through, I’d somehow ended up in Paris, waking up in the arms of a sexy, talented man. At first I thought there were no words for what I was feeling, but then it became clear there was one. Love.

I couldn’t count how many songs I knew about falling in love, but it occurred to me that they were all right, and all wrong. I was falling for Dex, hard. And it was impossible that anyone had ever felt this way. The voice of caution in my head was silent for the first time in as long as I could remember, and I was glad. Nothing would ruin this moment. Whatever happened in the future, we would always have this morning, this perfect time where we were alone together with nothing to do but be with each other, no doubts or obligations to get in the way.

Rolling over to face Dex, I smiled. He was beautiful as always, dark eye bright and chiseled features stubbled, but his hair was a disaster. It had dried in bed and was matted in some places and sticking up in other.

“What’s so funny?”

“Nothing,” I replied, unconvincing.

“Liar.”

“Your hair is terrible. But you’re still perfect.”

He snarled playfully and planted a light kiss on my lips.

I sighed and snuggled in closer, wondering if he was feeling even the slightest bit as happy as I was. “What are you thinking about?”

“Two things.”

“And they are?”

“Eating breakfast and making you scream again.”

I laughed. “Are you deciding between them?”

“Not exactly. More like figuring out how to combine them. I’m a greedy man. I want both.”

“Hm. Good luck with that. But if I get a vote, I say we go for breakfast.”

“A vote? You get anything you want.” He kissed me again, deeper this time, with purpose.

“Behave, Dex.”

“Never.”

“Good.” I smiled and reluctantly dragged myself away from him. Wrapping the sheet around me I hopped off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“To finish that shower.”

“I’ll join you.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “No, you won’t.”

He stuck out his lower lip, pouting.

“Cute. But that won’t work on me.”

Dex grinned. “What am I supposed to do all by myself?”

“Order us some breakfast.”

That inspired him. He jumped up and went over to the table where the room service menu sat and grabbed it. I took a long moment to stare at his naked body. He was so unselfconscious about walking around naked. I envied that. But, if I was that perfect I’d probably do the same.

With a sigh of regret I went into the bathroom and shut the door behind me.

When I finished in there and went back to the bedroom, Dex was still naked, sitting at the foot of the bed, watching television.

I tugged my towel tighter around me and walked over to join him. “Is the food coming? One of us should be dressed enough to open the door.”

He didn’t say anything, so I looked up at the screen to see what had entranced him. It was a news report in French, so I couldn’t understand more than a word here and there. The reporter was standing in front of a large map of Europe. I was about to ask why he was watching the weather so closely when the map disappeared and crappy cell-phone video of a very familiar scene started to play.

It was from the airport. On the screen Dex was walking towards the camera and I could see Ryan’s face at the edge of the frame, behind him. There was audio, but you couldn’t hear what Dex said over the background noise from the crowded waiting area.

Form the angle, the person with the camera had been standing near me, so I never appeared on screen. But watching the scene play out, it was like being back there.

“What is this?”

Dex finally snapped out of it. “Us.”

“I can see that. But why is it on TV?”

He shrugged. “I have no idea. I don’t speak French.”

“There are channels in English here, silly.”

“Yeah, of course. Didn’t think of that.”

I took the remote from him and flipped through the channels. Finally I heard English and stopped. They weren’t showing the same video, but I saw still photos from the airport. These were from earlier, before everything got crazy.

There was Dex again, this time standing next to Matthew, laughing about something. Off to his right I could see myself, facing away from the camera, talking to one of the airline employees. My butt looked about twenty miles wide, but I didn’t have time to be annoyed, as the announcer’s voice began speaking again.

“Historic storms blanketed the country, stranding thousands of people and delaying hundreds of flights. Reports throughout Western Europe indicate there are still travelers struggling to make it to their destinations, though things are close to getting back to normal in the past few hours. So, while international rock sensations Dream Defiled may have made it where they were going after a drama-filled day, many others were not so lucky. Two of the tornados spotted yesterday have been confirmed as being responsible for the devastation outside Glasgow. Our James Carren is reporting life from the scene.”

“Holy shit,” I muttered.

“Crazy.”

“Well, this should make Ryan happy. If every story about the storms mentions you guys, he’ll be in heaven.”

Dex nodded and bumped my shoulder with his. “I guess we were a bit busy with our shit to notice what was really going on.”

“Yeah, I guess we were.” I was thinking about that when there was a knock on the door.

“Food, finally,” Dex said, rising.

I grabbed my suitcase and dragged it towards the bathroom. “Put some pants on before you open that, please.”

“Getting possessive already, Becca? I like it.” He winked at me and strolled over to the door, still naked.

Rolling my eyes, I went back into the bathroom to get dressed in private.

* * *

A few hours later we were fed and dressed, and I’d practically forgotten about the news reports. After checking in with Ryan I was shocked to discover he didn’t have anything for me to do until later, so Dex and I actually had time to do whatever we wanted. We had a serious discussion about staying in, that mainly consisted of him grabbing me and dragging me down onto the bed, but I finally managed to convince him we should spend at least a little bit of time in Paris actually out in Paris.

We were standing in front of the hotel, surrounded by lush plants and fragrant flowers, trying to decide what to do first.

“What about the
Louvre
? I think the tourist trap tower can wait until it’s dark, so we can see it all lit up, go up and watch the city.”

“Okay. Or we can just wander. See what we find.”

“Uh-huh.” I looked down at my phone; scrolling through the app I’d downloaded. “There are five great museums within walking distance. Or we could grab a cab across the river and visit
Père Lachaise
. I know you want to see Jim Morrison’s grave.” I paused. “Yeah, we should do that. I can map a route over in that section of the city, make sure we’re not wasting time backtracking or…” I trailed off at the sound of laughter. “What?”

Dex was grinning broadly. “Using a map and a plan really is your idea of wandering, isn’t it?”

I blushed and shoved my phone back in my purse. “Kind of. I know, I know. I’m so boring.”

“Not in the slightest. Just organized.” He slung an arm over my shoulder and we started walking toward the sidewalk. “Try it my way today, okay? We’ll just walk and see what we see?”

“Okay, sure. That sounds fun.”

“You mean it sounds terrible, I can tell. But you’ll like it, I promise.”

I thought about all the things Dex and I had done. All the rules I’d broken to be with him. This was minor, and so far he’d been right. I’d been having the time of my life. So if he wanted to wander, I would wander. “All right. No plan, no map. Just fun.”

“That’s my girl,” he said, leaning over to kiss me on the top of my head.

I smiled and wrapped an arm around his waist. As long as we were together, I really didn’t care where were went or what we did. It would be wonderful.

And it was. For a while. We strolled around; down streets I’d heard of and seen in movies and many I couldn’t even pronounce. Past amazing smells emanating from little shops, and groups of loud tourists. We stopped at a little flower stand and Dex got me a single, perfect rose. He snapped off the bloom and tucked it behind my ear after releasing my hair from its bun.

I laughed at the cheese gesture, but secretly loved it. I was starring in my own romantic film and couldn’t stop smiling.

Eventually we both needed a rest, so we found a little café and went inside. It was quintessential Paris, to me. Tiny tables full of lazy diners sipping drinks and nibbling at tiny pastries. We grabbed the last table outside, half under the awning, and sighed in unison.

I laughed. “Wandering is tiring.”

“So it seems. I could really use a pint right now.”

“I doubt they serve beer here. Wine, maybe.”

Dex shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. We can drink later.”

Silently, I thanked him for saying that. I wanted a clear head for this whole wonderful experience and was glad to see he – at least for the moment – felt the same way.

After poring over the menu we ordered coffees and a selection of…something. It cost a lot, so I was hoping for the best.

Dex was leaning back in his seat with sunglasses shielding his eyes from the sun. He’d thoughtfully given me the chair in the shade. I loved seeing him like that. Relaxed and content, but totally present. Since we first met most of the time he was happy, there was a bottle in his hand. I had worried that the stress of his father’s illness and our visit there, coupled with the drama with me and Ryan would still be bothering him, but he seemed genuinely blissful and at peace.

Of course, that only lasted a little while. By the time our drinks arrived I’d noticed a group of people down the street staring at us. Four girls a little younger than me and three guys around the same age, they were all dressed in trendy styles that looked just this side of sloppy. It was a look I’d seen a lot, and I knew it cost a lot of money to accomplish.

After thanking the waiter, I leaned over to ask Dex about them. “See those people down there? They’re looking over here. Do you know them?”

He turned his head and lifted his sunglasses to look. “Nope. Never seen them before.”

“Hm.” I glanced over again and now they were huddled together, having what looked like a spirited debate.

“Don’t worry, love. They probably just think you’re beautiful.”

“Yeah, right.” I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my iced coffee. It was rich and delicious. “I hope they’re not autograph hounds or something.”

“I doubt that.” He shoved the glasses into his pocket and leaned over to take my hand. “You’re not on duty today. Just have fun.”

“I know. I just…”

“Can’t help it. I noticed.” He flashed a dazzling grin that had me forgetting all about the people looking at us.

Just then the waiter brought over our food. It was a tower of stunning desserts, a dozen different bite-size pieces of heaven. “Oh, wow,” was all I managed.

Dex chuckled, but I could see his hand creeping close to the plate, itching to try something.

Our eyes met and we both dug in. At first we aimed for nonchalant and civilized, but as each sweet confection exploded my taste buds, I soon found myself cramming them in as fast as I could chew.

With his mouth full, Dex grinned at me.

“Gross, honey,” I said.”

“Sorry. But I needed to tell you this before I slip into a sugar coma.”

“What?” I popped a tiny tart with a raspberry on top into my mouth.

“We’re coming here for every meal, agreed?” He crunched down on a flaky pastry dripping with honey.

“Deal.”

In the middle of a dark chocolate something-or-other, I happened to look up and see that the randoms looking at us had moved. Now they were a few feet away, jostling each other, staring at us again.

One of them broke off from the pack and walked closer, standing on the opposite side of the table next to us. The older couple sitting at the table glared at the girl, but she seemed oblivious. I was sure what she’d say even before she opened her mouth.

“Are you Dex Winters?” she asked in an American accent.

I sighed as Dex swallowed down whatever he was eating, and plastered on a smile.

“I sure am.”

“Oh my god. I
knew
it! How crazy is this, seeing you here. What are you doing?”

He glanced over at me. “Just hanging. What’s your name?”

“Jasmine. Um…look. I know this is really uncool, but would you take a picture with me and my friends? We’re huge fans.”

Dex stood up. “Of course. I’d be happy to. But let’s move down a bit, yeah? Let these nice people enjoy their afternoon.”

She nodded so vigorously I thought she might strain something. “Yeah, okay. Of course. Whatever you say.”

While he ushered her away from the table, past all of the annoyed Parisians, I flagged down our waiter to get the check. Obviously the normal couple hanging out portion of the day was over.

By the time I’d paid and followed Dex, he was in the middle of a rather elaborate photo shoot with the group. Each one wanted a picture alone with him, then one with some of their friends, then the rest.

Eventually they ran out of configurations, until they spotted me. Half a dozen phones were shoved into my hands and they gathered in a clump for a group picture. I idly wondered where Mia was. This kind of thing would have been her job. But then I remembered she was the one who outed me and Dex to Ryan, and decided not to think about her at all anymore.