Without You (11 page)

Maybe having him back for a Career Day wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

And maybe, just maybe...a second chance with Evan was worth the risk. He didn’t want to be just friends. He wouldn’t have gone to see me and bring flowers if that was the case. He wanted more and made the effort to show me he cared. That spoke volumes to me. Part of me felt terrified. Part of me was starting to believe in us again.

“Okay, then. Thank you. I gotta get back.” I hiked my thumb toward the door. “I’ll see you later.”

Before I could stop him, Evan leaned down and kissed my forehead. Damn him for making me all gooey inside. My cheeks flushed with heat. I’m sure my face was as red as can be.

“See ya later, Sunshine,” he said from over his shoulder as he walked away.

I waited a few seconds before I went back in. When I opened the door, the sound of chairs scraping against the floor and the shuffling of bodies into their seats could be heard loud and clear. With a raised brow I looked into the sea of faces staring back at me, each with a grin so wide you’d think they just caught their mom kissing Santa Claus.

Thank you, Evan James for changing my life. Again.

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VAN

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D
ance lessons were for people who didn’t know how to dance. I was a musician who lived off his ability to keep a beat. I could dance. So could Luke for that matter, so why Genna was forcing the wedding party to get dance lessons was baffling to me. I might have been tempted to tell her she was crazy if she thought I was going to spend my evening listening to some ballroom instructor tell me what to do, but it wasn’t like she had been awful to deal with. She had been quite helpful when it came to Maddy, and I was having a great time being back home with her and the rest of my friends. So I didn’t comment. I just showed up as I was told.

As I made my way into the studio, I thought about the offer to do Dancing with the Stars. If Sam only knew what I was doing right now, he would kill me. He begged me to do that show for his mom, but I couldn’t do it. I had to draw the line somewhere and spray tans and shirtless dancing seemed to be a good place to start.

“Hey, man,” Luke said when he saw me coming through the door. “Just in time. Go stand over there with Maddy. We’re learning a waltz right now.”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes, they had a mind of their own. “Roger that,” I said with a salute.

“Wow, Mr. James,” Maddy said to me, holding her hands up in a position to dance. I slid into her hold and took control. “You look very nice today.”

Glancing down at my dressy attire, I smiled. I couldn’t very well dance in my sneakers and jeans. I had to put on shoes that would let me slide across the floor. “Why, thank you. You look very nice, too. That dress may be the death of me before the night is out though.” She sure didn’t look like a middle school teacher. Sheathed in a pastel pink dress, it clung to her every curve, making me want to explore more than just the dance floor with her. I couldn’t resist letting my gaze fall to the length of her smooth legs. They begged my fingers to trace a path from her tone thigh down her flexed calf to her sweet polished toes peeking out the front of her heels. I knew she’d rather be wearing sandals, but damn, she looked good enough to eat, and I wouldn’t have minded taking a bite.

She was about to say something, but the music changed and we were hushed. We listened to the teacher as we moved around the room on our toes. I felt like a buoy bouncing up and down in the ocean. It was lame. I would have rather dimmed the lights and held Maddy close to my body with her hand over my heart.

We made our rounds and it finally occurred to me why we were there. Matthew and Steven couldn’t dance. Not one bit. To say they had two left feet would have been a compliment. “Trying to teach them how to waltz is not going to help. Genna knows that, right?”

Maddy’s eyes widened as she tried not to laugh at the two big guys stomping their feet like ogres. “Be nice.”

The music changed again, leaving both of us looking at each other with wicked grins. If the guys couldn’t handle a waltz, they sure as heck wouldn’t be able to Salsa.

“This is a basic Cha Cha Cha,” the instructor said. She cut in on Melissa and danced with her husband. Taking one of his hands and placing it on her hip, she held the other as she swayed her hips back and forth to the rhythm of the music. He tried, but it didn’t work. Melissa, the poor thing, winced as if it was painful for her to watch, which it was.

“Let’s dance, couples.” The teacher clapped her hands, leaving Melissa to her husband again. “I want to see you move those hips. Bring out the sexy in your partner. Make love on the dance floor.”

My eyes met Maddy’s as she raised her left brow. “There will be no love making,” she whispered. “Don’t get any ideas.”

“Sunshine, if you didn’t want me to have those ideas you should’ve worn something else.” My gaze followed the length of her amazing body from her neck to her toes and right back up. “Like some footie pajamas.”

Our bodies moved closer together with each beat. “No way, that would be hot. I’d have to go commando underneath.”

“Woman, you’re killing me.” I grabbed her waist and pulled her as close to me as she could get.

She let out a brief chuckle. “No, I’m pretty sure there is blood pumping somewhere.” Then, she ground her body against mine, pushing herself against my fast-growing erection. “Yeah, you’re definitely not dead.”

Bending down so my lips brushed against her ear, I whispered, “When I’m finished I want you to remember you started it.”

Maddy lifted her head to the side so she could see me, but before she could utter another word, my mouth closed in on hers. Our lips joined, soft and gentle. My hands rose until they were trailing up her neck and getting lost in her hair. Her hands fell to my hips, holding on to me, but I wasn’t going anywhere. Fuck, the heat of her touch branded my skin through my clothes. The tenderness of her kiss was just how I imagined it would be. Her lips were soft and plump, moist and sexy and they were all mine for the taking. Tracing them with my tongue, I teased the seam of her lips before tugging gently on her bottom lip with my teeth. She opened for me, welcoming me in to deepen the kiss. It was as if the dark skies opened up allowing light to shine right through as our mouths melded together, and our tongues slid back and forth against each other. I wanted more. So much more. And so did she. Her grip on my side was proof of it, urging me closer and giving me hope with the tightening of her grasp.

But the song ended and the sound of throats being cleared stopped us from continuing. After one last peck, I pressed my forehead to hers and told her. “You’re beautiful, Sunshine. This is just the beginning.”

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ADISON

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R
ight there in front of everyone. Luke. Genna. Her sisters, and their husbands. And the dance teacher who told us to make love on the dance floor. I did it. I kissed Evan James.

It was like kissing him for the first time all over again, but with such comfort and experience that only made it ten times better than I could have ever hoped for. Oh, how I had longed for that to happen. I had dreamed about it. Fantasized that the day would come, and now that it had, I didn’t want it to be over. I wanted to experience all that Evan had to give. Even if it wasn’t permanent. Even if it didn’t last.

Call me stupid. Call me naive, a downright dirty whore if you must, but I wanted Evan James. And I was going to have him.

After the lessons were over, Evan and I had an audience that wasn’t taking the hint and giving us any alone time. With a quick kiss to my cheek, Evan put me in my car and off I went. With a promise to call him as soon as I walked in my door.

I wasn’t but a block away when my phone started ringing in my car. With a press of a button on my steering wheel, the sound stopped. “Hello.”

“Holy hotness,” Genna shouted. “And you guys didn’t want to go to dance lessons. You could have fooled me.”

A blush crept over my face and I didn’t know what to say.

“Are you okay? Are you beaming or are you kicking yourself?” Her voice echoed throughout my car with excitement. She knew me too well.

“I’m definitely not kicking myself.” Oh no, that kiss would have me up all night, replaying it over and over again. The recap alone might have been enough to satisfy my needs until I had Evan to myself again.

“Good. I’m happy for you. This is awesome. When are you going to see him again?” she asked. I pictured her on the edge of her seat waiting impatiently for an answer.

“I don’t know. I’m going to call him when I get home, but I don’t have any plans to see him until the rehearsal dinner. You don’t have anything else on your checklist.”

“I might have to fix that. I gotta go. Chat soon. Love you.”

Confused, I turned up the volume wondering if I missed something. But she was gone. The screen showed that she ended the call.
Well, bye to you, too
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* * * * *

A
fter shimmying out of my dress, I thought back to the look on Evan’s face when he first saw me in it. Just what I had expected and hoped for. He loved it and couldn’t take his eyes off me. Or his hands. I would have been lying if I said I didn’t want him to touch me. Knowing that our bodies would be lined up and moving alongside each other, I wanted to take advantage of every moment. Looking down at my dress, puddled on the floor at my feet, I’d say I accomplished just that. Wearing those damn fuck-me heels was worth every hint of pain throbbing in the balls of my feet.

When I was relaxed in the comfort of my bed, I reached for my cell phone and the remote for the TV. I flipped on the tube first, surfed through the guide for a cheesy romance until I found one I had seen about forty times before. Then, I made the call.

“You just made it? Is everything okay?” The concern in Evan’s voice was endearing.

“I’m fine. I just got ready for bed before I called you.” I nested deeper into my pillows and blankets, with just my head peeking out to see the TV.

“Footie pajamas?” His joked letting me know my dress was still on his mind.

“Definitely not.”

There was a pause before he spoke up again. “Any regrets?” The reluctance in his tone broke my heart. He couldn’t possibly believe I had any.

“Absolutely not.” My definitive answer should have provided some comfort.

He blew out a sigh of relief. “Thank God.” We shared a second or two of laughs. “Just so you know, I plan on kissing you a lot. And often.”

“Well, just so you know...I look forward to it.” A smile was cemented on my face I was so giddy.

“When will I see you again?” His voice had lowered. It was sexy as hell and should be illegal.

As much as I would have liked to invite him over that instant, I knew better. With the way he was making me feel, I knew he would only have to look at me to get my panties to drop. “Not until the rehearsal dinner, I think. We have the bachelorette and bachelor parties on Friday. I have a feeling I’ll be out of commission for the rest of the weekend so I can recover. Sometimes, I think we forget we’re not in college anymore until we wake up with a hangover that lasts for days.” Just the thought had my stomach churning. Genna and I got sloshed for my last birthday. It was so bad that the next day, I actually puked in my purse on my way home from her house. I wasn’t in any hurry to do that again. I shuddered before I continued speaking. “And I’m sure Genna will have me running around for the last few days before the wedding. So yeah, the rehearsal dinner.”

“Eight days, Sunshine? I don’t know if I can wait that long.”

“I’m sure you’ll be just fine.” If I could have convinced him of that, maybe I could have convinced myself.

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VAN

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E
ight days, my ass. With the help of good ol’ Genna, I was able to dwindle that number down to two. Only one now to be exact. Surprisingly, the soon to be newlyweds decided they wanted a co-ed bachelorette/bachelor party. Normally, I would have said this was a ridiculous idea, but who was I to get in the way of their wedding plans? The fact that I was going to see Maddy sooner rather than later, was a bonus.

Cruising down Colorado Boulevard, I turned up my radio and let the wind blow in through the windows. Beautiful sunny days reminded me of Maddy. So refreshing and full of life. The street was a lot busier than I remembered it, but it was still a far cry from the madness of Hollywood or Downtown L.A. If my plan was going to work, I needed it to be different. I still wanted the draw of a town full of nightlife without the craze of the big city. I wanted people of all walks of life to feel welcome, not like they had to know a secret handshake or the hidden entrance to be invited. The farther I got down the main drag, the more I felt like I was headed in the right direction. Swanky, alive, and not too posh to deter the kind of crowd I was looking for.

My GPS guided me to take a right on a minor side street and let me know when my destination was on the left. Thankfully, there was a parking garage on the corner so I didn’t have to walk far. That would be good for visitors as well. I took in the surroundings. Trees lined the brick-paved sidewalks. I loved it. I felt like I was at home.

“E.” Sam shouted, always calling me by my initials when we were in public so not to attract attention. “Over here.”

Just a few steps ahead of me, he stood with his right hand laid out, putting the storefront on display. “This is it.”

In the last week, he had sent me more pictures of properties than I ever wanted. Each time, I gave him a no go. None of the previous attempts had been successful. Some places were too deep into Los Angeles; some were too far away. Some were too big, others too small. Some were way too fancy for my taste, while others scared the shit out of me. But from the moment I saw this brick-faced building with two massive windows in the front, I could see myself making a life here. The windows provided a view from the street, welcoming onlookers rather than turning people away.