Will's Rockie Way (2 page)

“Rockie…”

But she wasn’t listening. Just how her salad plate left her hands was beyond her but there it was, sliding down his chest staining his white polo shirt.

“And stop calling me Rockie!” she yelled. “My name is Roxanne. I never want to hear that nickname again. Do you hear me?” As she struggled to catch her breath, she realized the entire restaurant had fallen quiet. Every patron—teens and adults alike—was staring at her.

Roxanne took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. Another humiliation at the hands of Will Sheridan. Damn him!

“If you’ll excuse me,” she said softly. “I believe I’ll go to my room now.” She turned and walked briskly out of the restaurant. When she cleared the door, she broke into a run, passed the elevator and dashed up the seven flights of stairs to her floor.

Grateful to finally get inside her room, she pressed her back against the closed door. Tears filled her eyes as she slowly slid to the floor.

“Damn you, Will Sheridan,” she whispered brokenly. “Damn you!”

* * * *

Will shook his head as he wiped the mess off his shirt with a handful of paper napkins. What the fuck was he thinking? He should have known better than to mention whipped cream. His intention was to suggest that they’d have fun with it in her room later tonight after the kids were tucked safely in their beds. Instead, he’d reminded her of the night they’d planned to be together six years ago.

Well, damn it! Rockie wasn’t the only injured party here. Okay, he had to admit she’d suffered the brunt of the prank but let’s not forget the fact that he’d been deprived of a blissful night spent with her in his arms. Blake ‘Pig’ Harden had seen to that.

“She’s still quite the spitfire, isn’t she?” Blake said when he suddenly appeared at Will’s side.

“I should have tried harder to tell her the truth,” he said in disgust. “She’s lived with the humiliation for six years and she’s always believed I was to blame.”

“You’re not thinking about telling her the truth now, are you?” Blake asked nervously.

Will pressed the soiled napkins into Blake’s hand. “I don’t know,” he said as he eyed his friend. “But I do know one thing for certain. If you do anything to keep Rockie and I from getting together now, I’ll not only tell Joanne the truth, I’ll cut your fucking balls off and feed them to the seagulls. Got it?”

“Come on, Will,” Blake said as he chuckled nervously. “It was a harmless joke.”

Will eyed him with contempt. There’d been nothing harmless about it. “I asked if you got it.”

Blake nodded quickly. “Of course, buddy. I got it.”

“Good.” Will said. “Now, the way I see it, you owe me. So you’re going to chaperone my kids at the retro 60’s dance on the beach tonight.”

Blake shook his head. “No can do, my friend. I’ve got to be there with our kids tonight.”

“I guess you’ll have your work cut out for you. Because you’ll be helping my two chaperones, too.”

* * * *

Will quelled the sense of guilt that curled in his gut as he held the elevator door for the waiter pushing a trolley. The retro dance was hosted by the hotel on a closed beach. Since the party was for hotel guests only, guards on the perimeter of the beach would keep both unwanted guests from getting in and teens seeking a good time beyond the bounds from getting out.

Will knew the guilt he felt had nothing to do with ducking out of the party. In fact, it had everything to do with the woman with whom he hoped to set things right. The lovely Rockie Way.

Just how to do that without putting Blake’s marriage in jeopardy was something he hadn’t figured out yet. But he was nothing if not innovative. It would come to him sooner or later.

As it happened, the waiter was stopping on the seventh floor, too, and Will held the door open for him to pass. The waiter nodded his thanks as he pushed the trolley out of the elevator and turned right. Will turned in the opposite direction and walked down the hall to Rockie’s room.

He lifted his hand to knock on the door but held it in midair. He knew Rockie wouldn’t open the door to him. He needed a plan.

Think, Sheridan, think!

Will peered down the hall when he heard the waiter knocking on a door. “Room service.”

A muted voice from inside the room said to just leave it outside the room.

Will grinned and gave himself a mental pat on the back. He really was a genius.

He waited for the waiter to disappear into the elevator and vaulted down the hall. He carefully lifted various lids off dishes until he found a small chocolate cheesecake.

Bingo!

Will dug into his pocket and tossed a few bills onto the silver tray. He carried the cheesecake to Rockie’s door.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Who is it?” Rockie’s sweet voice sounded through the door.

Will cupped a hand over his mouth to muffle his voice. “Room service.” He quickly stepped to the side of the door.

The door whisked open. “I didn’t order room service.”

“I know you didn’t,” Will said as he stepped into view. “But I couldn’t come up with any other way to get you to open the door.”

Rockie frowned when Will stepped forward, jamming one foot over the threshold. “Go away!” she cried as she pushed the door closed.

Will’s foot kept the door from closing. Rockie opened the door slightly and slammed it with more force.

“Holy shit, Rockie!” he howled in pain as the cheesecake teetered in his hand. “I get that you don’t want to talk to me but do you need to break my fucking foot?”

The door swung open wide. If she was concerned about his foot, it certainly didn’t show on her face. “If your foot’s broken, it’s your own damn fault,” she cried. “And I told you not to call me Rockie!”

When Rockie moved to slam the door again, Will quickly pushed inside. “I don’t think so,” he said. “We need to talk. It’s time we set things straight between us.”

“There’s nothing to set straight,” Rockie said. “What happened between us is history.”

He held the cheesecake out for her to see as he grinned. “Fine, but you can’t turn me away. I brought dessert.”

“Do you really think dessert is going to make up for what you did to me?” she said, her chest heaving with anger.

“No,” he said with honesty. “Of course I didn’t. I figured the cheesecake would help get me through the door.”

Ah, but he also knew she had a sweet tooth in college. And by the way she was eyeing the cheesecake, that hadn’t changed over the years.

“I hope there’s no whipped cream,” she said. “I haven’t touched the stuff since the prank you played on me.”

Damn!
She really
did
think the prank was his scheme! She had no idea just how deep it ran…that he’d been kept away on purpose.

Will placed the cheesecake on a small table near the door and followed her further into the room. Clothes were strewn around haphazardly and the queen-size bed was rumpled on one side. His sweet Rockie continued to be a train wreck.

His senses were filled with her earthy scent, something flowery and musky, one he hadn’t experienced for years and yet, could never forget. A scent that was hers alone. Rockie was unique, one of a kind…a woman no man could ever forget.

She stood with her back plastered against the far wall, the queen-size bed between them. Clearly, she wanted to stay as far away from him as she could.

“So,” she said as she lifted her chin in smug defiance, “state your case.”

State his case?
Fuck! Since when was he on trial? He resented the fact that she expected him to defend himself, to beg for her forgiveness. Who the hell did she think she was anyway?

And yet here he stood in her hotel room, hoping to have the chance to explain himself after all this time. Six fucking years and she continued to haunt him.

“Rockie,” Will began. He stopped short at the frown on her face. Oh yeah, she didn’t want to called Rockie.

Okay, he could get by without calling her Rockie. “Rox, there’s a lot you don’t know…” She continued to frown.
Fuck!
“Can I call you Roxy?”

She shook her head. “My name is Roxanne.”

Will moaned inwardly and rolled his eyes. “How about Ms. Way?”

Rockie’s eyes narrowed. “Are you making fun of me?”

Will quickly splayed his hands in defense. “No,” he said quickly. “Roxanne it is then.”
Jesus Christ!
Talk about touchy!

“Just state your piece and get the hell out,” she said through clenched teeth.

“Thanks for making this easy for me,” Will said sarcastically.

The temperature in the room plummeted as Rockie glared at him. She pushed off the wall, rounded the bed and stopped a few inches away from him. “Why the hell should I make this easy for you?” she asked, her sweet face pinched in anger. “Do you have any idea what you did to me? Do you know how humiliated I was? For God’s sake! You told me to cover myself in whipped cream and lay on the bed. How do you think I felt when Pig and six of his sick friends stormed into the bedroom?”

Will felt his body harden at the very thought of finding Rockie covered in whipped cream. He swallowed hard at the thought of licking every last bit off her body, hoping she’d saved most of the sweet confection for her most intimate parts. He imagined his tongue lapping up every last bit from her sweet pussy before he drove his cock into her.

He’d been a kid then. He was a man now. Ready, willing and more able than ever to give Rockie what she needed. God help him! He needed her even more now.

“There’s a lot you don’t know,” Will said as he looked down at her. “I wanted to explain everything but your parents wouldn’t let me see you and then I had to leave.”

“So tell me now.”

Will saw the glint of mistrust in her eyes. It wouldn’t matter what he said now, he knew she wouldn’t believe him. And telling the truth might jeopardize Blake’s marriage.

And God help him, Rockie’s close proximity only fed his need for her. He stepped forward and pulled her into his arms before she had a chance to realize what he was up to.

“We could talk,” he murmured, “Or we could make up for lost time.”

* * * *

Roxanne wanted to scream. How could she have let him inside her hotel room, let alone allow him to get so close to her?

And now she was in his arms and his lips were on hers, making promises he’d hadn’t kept six years ago.

Her mind told her to push him away, to spew the words of hatred she’d felt for him all these years. And yet, her body wouldn’t let her. She was captivated in his arms, drinking from his mouth as though she hadn’t had a sip of sweet moisture for an eternity.

While her brain felt the pain of the humiliation six years ago, her body cried out for the sweet release she’d been denied.

To hell with Blake and his cronies and the incredibly embarrassing moment she’d suffered. Her body had cried for days knowing that Will would not take her, not become a part of her. She had ached for him…and continued to do so from that night on.

And now he had finally come to her, taken her into his arms and, oh God, pressed his swollen need against her.

She felt him back her against the bed until her knees almost buckled. At first, her instinct was to push back and then, when his strength overtook her, she felt the soft cushion of the mattress as she landed and reveled in his weight over her. Her feet flew off the floor upon impact and then she felt the mattress press against her knees and he lay over her.

“I’ve wanted you for so long,” Will whispered into her ear as his hands settled over her breasts. “You have no idea how much I’ve wanted you.”

God, how she’d wanted him too! She’d been cheated of his touch and now her dreams—dreams that had haunted her for six long years—were finally coming true.

Roxanne’s mind whirled. She had so many reasons to push him away, to keep him at a distance. But as his mouth closed over hers again, every last bit of sense she’d ever had in her life disappeared. Instead, she felt his weight over her; his hot mouth as it drank from hers and his warm hands as they pulled her blouse open. She sighed against his mouth as his hands quickly pushed the blouse over her shoulders and tossed it aside. He gently reached beneath her to unclip her bra. Her breathing deepened as his hands kneaded her aching breasts. She gasped when he gently pinched and rolled her nipples between his fingers.

Roxanne felt a rush of cool air against her naked chest when Will suddenly pulled away from her. His eyes were dark with intense need as he slowly, methodically slid his hands from her breasts over her stomach. They stopped briefly at the band of her skirt as his gaze slid to her face. “You were cheated six years ago,” he said, his voice rough with passion. “I intend to make that up to you right now.”

Roxanne eyed him nervously as he slid off the bed and landed on his knees. She felt her skirt slide over her hips. “Just how do you intend to do that?”

“Let me show you,” he said as his fingers hooked into her panties and pulled them over her legs.

What a picture she must have made. She was sprawled over the bed, her legs spread far apart and dangling over the side. Roxanne wasn’t sure if there’d ever been a time she felt more exposed.