Be The One (Crave #2) Page 8

“What?” I can’t wait to hear it.

  “Two days in bed at a resort where we have our own private beach and spa.” He nuzzles my neck and murmurs, “I can fuck you on the beach, in the spa, on the bed . . . any-fucking-where you want.”

  Oh God.

  I’m sold.

  “Let’s go.”

  He smacks my ass. “Pack your bag, baby, we leave in an hour.”

  My eyes widen. “Really?”

  “Yep, it’s all booked. You’re mine and mine only for two whole days.”

  I think I must have died and gone to heaven.

  Two days away from everything and everyone is just what we need so I pack my bags and wait for him to take me to paradise.

  * * *

  “You’re quiet tonight,” Jett murmurs into my ear as he comes up behind me on the balcony and puts his arms around my waist. He settles his chin on my shoulder, waiting for my response while we stare out into the inky night.

  It’s nearly midnight and we arrived at the resort a couple of hours ago. It’s near the Sunshine Coast at a secluded beach and is a beautiful place. And so quiet and relaxing. We had dinner and then Jett made good on his promise to fuck me in the spa. But now, my thoughts have drifted to my life and where it’s going. Lennon’s visit must have affected me after all.

  I turn in his arms and sigh. “Lennon came to see me today,” I admit, waiting for him to lose his shit over that.

  He surprises me, though, and remains calm. “What did he want?” He might be keeping his cool but I can hear the tightness in his voice so I proceed with care.

  “What he always wants, but I think I finally got through to him that I’m done.”

  “So why have you gone all quiet?”

  “I guess something he said has gotten me thinking, that’s all.”

  He lets me go and rubs the back of his neck. Concern fills his features. “What the fuck did he say?”

  I place my hand on his chest to try and calm him. “It’s nothing bad, baby. It’s just made me think about where you and I go from here.”

  Frown lines appear on his forehead. “What do you mean by that? I thought we were moving forward together.”

  “Yeah, we are. I just don’t know how that will look. Your job takes you all over the world and I know at some point you’ll head out on tour. I’m just trying to figure out where I’ll fit into all that. And I’m also trying to figure out what I want to do with my work now. I still have no idea and it’s the first time in my life I haven’t known where I’m going, and it’s starting to stress me.” My shoulders sag a little. I feel like I just dumped everything on him, but it feels good to say it out loud.

  He takes my hand and leads me to the couch. Dragging me onto his lap, he says, “Let’s go over all that one thing at a time, beginning with my work. Yes, I’ll be going on tour later this year. I don’t know where you’ll be with your work then but if coming on tour with me is something you want to do, I’m all over that shit. I’m a selfish bastard; if it were up to me, I’d have you with me every hour of every day, but that’s your call. And the other thing to consider is the band’s job offer. We still want you to come on tour and photograph it, so that’s always an option, and it kills two birds. And as for your work, have you got any thoughts on that you want to explore? We could go over the pros and cons.”

  I stare at him and listen to everything he says. This man amazes me and causes butterflies in my tummy with his thoughtful gestures and caring words. I lean forward and kiss him. “Do me a favour?” I say when I end the kiss.

  “I’d do anything for you, sweetheart,” he says, and I know it’s the truth.

  “Don’t walk away from me if I fuck this up and let my insecurities cause me to be a bitch to you. I’m working on that, but in the meantime, please be patient with me,” I ask softly. I know I can be awful when I let my doubts take over; I just hope he will stick with me through the bad times.

  “I have no intention of walking away.” He rubs his thumb over my lips and looks at me with what feels like adoration. “We’re in this together, fuck-ups and all. I’ll stick by you and you’ll stick by me when I screw up, ‘cause I’m sure as hell gonna fuck shit up all over the place. Yeah?”

  I smile and nod. “Yeah,” I whisper.

  He kisses me, deep and hard, and my body thrums with desire. I can’t get enough of him, and his promises of staying with me through thick and thin only intensifies my need. Knowing the person you want so much feels exactly the same, and will put up with anything you throw at them, is the best feeling in the world.

  When he pulls his lips away from mine, he says, “You’ve got me, baby, and I’m not going anywhere.”

  8

  Presley

  “So you and Jett are good?” Erin quizzes me over the phone the day after Jett and I get back from our weekend away.

  “Yeah. We had our first fight last week but we’re okay now,” I answer her as I reach for a knife to chop vegetables with. Jett’s coming for dinner and I’m cooking him a roast because I’ve discovered how much he loves a home cooked roast.

  “It’s always good to get your first fight out of the way, right?”

  “Oh God, it was bad, though.” Regret still sits heavy for me over that fight. I still believe I had a right to be upset, but I feel bad about the way I treated him.

  “Tell me more. You know how much I love hearing about that sort of shit.”

  “So he’s got a jealous streak, and it came out while we were at dinner. I called him out on it and we went from there but then the next day he never called and I didn’t hear from him until after nine that night.”

  “And you were pissed off about that, right? Hell, I would have been too. Don’t men know that it’s always on them to make the first move after they’ve screwed up?”

  “Right!” Only a woman would understand this logic.

  “But I bet he didn’t even realise he’d screwed up, did he?”

  I sigh. “Jett’s an odd beast. Yeah, he was an ass, and yeah, he didn’t fully understand what he’d done wrong, but damn, I’ve gotta give the man props for trying to fix it. And then I was a total bitch to him and I knew I was being a bitch but for the life of me I couldn’t stop the damn words from spewing out of my mouth.”

  “Girl, that’s a woman’s prerogative and it’s her man’s job to wade through that shit and find the woman he loves underneath all the bullshit that gets in the way.”

  “Jesus, you really believe that?”

  “Yes, I do, but I also believe it’s the woman’s job to help her man be the man she needs, and to be patient while he gets his shit together.”

  Damn, my bestie is one smart chick. “Babe, why the hell don’t you have a man? You’ve got this relationship stuff all worked out.” She keeps men at arm’s length and just has fun with them rather than committing, and I always wonder when she’ll stop playing the field.

  She snorts. “Shit, I don’t have the patience for all that. I’ll leave that to a better woman than me. And speaking of things I have no patience for, where is Lennon in all this? Is he still begging you to take him back?”

  I roll my eyes. “He came over again and I told him no, again. We ended up having a huge argument and I haven’t heard from him since. I really hope he’s got the message because I don’t know how many other ways to say no to a man.”

  “Seems to be a recurring problem in your life,” she says with a hint of sarcasm. “Did you get Diesel to back off?”

  “I bloody hope so. I’ve told Michael I don’t want the job so I hope Diesel leaves it at that.”

  “And you really didn’t want that job? Or did you just say no for Jett’s sake?”

  “I said no for my sake. Diesel seems like too much of a handful for me and I couldn’t see myself working for him for any length of time,” I answer her honestly. There’s a knock on my front door so I tell her, “Babe, I gotta go, ‘cause there’s someone at my door. I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”

  “Go,” sh
e says, and we hang up.

  I’m greeted by the sight of Jett’s back when I open the door. He’s on the phone so I take the opportunity to check out his butt. After all, he’s got one of the best asses I’ve ever laid eyes on. I’m deep in appreciation when he ends the call and turns around.

  Catching me checking him out, he smirks and says, “Should I turn back around so you can continue what would have to be one of my favourite pastimes?”

  “One of your favourites?” I ask, confused.

  “Yeah, baby, I fucking love your eyes on me.” His hands go to the button on his jeans and he adds, “Hell, I’ll even strip if you’d prefer that.”

  I shake my head at his antics and laugh. “You’re incorrigible, Jett Vaughn.”

  He laughs too and sweeps in for a quick kiss. “Only for you.”

  I drag him into the kitchen and tell him to sit at the counter while I cook and he actually does what I say for once. “You had a good day?” he enquires while I chop broccoli.

  “Yes, and I have something to tell you.”

  “Shoot.” He leans his elbows on the counter and gives me his full attention. God, I could stare into those eyes of his all day long.

  “I told Michael I won’t take that job with Diesel and I know I already told you I wouldn’t but I want you to know I’ve let them know.” The words tumble out of my mouth in a rush because we’ve never revisited this topic since our fight, and I’m hoping this doesn’t stir anything up again.

  “Presley, while I’m fucking ecstatic you’re not working with him, I would have manned up if you’d decided to take the job on, so if you do want to do it, you should. And yeah, you were right the other night when you said I was jealous. I’ve never experienced it in my life but when any man has his eyes on you, I’ll admit, I’m a jealous prick.”

  I stop chopping vegetables and stare at him. The honesty that he’s just given me blows me away. It’s the kind of honesty that would move any relationship forward, and it’s exactly what I needed to hear. “You know you’ve got nothing to worry about, right?” I need him to know he’s the only man on my radar.

  “I trust you, sweetheart. I just can’t help the urge to choke the ever-loving shit out of any man who looks in your direction, but I’m working on it.”

  I have to laugh at his statement because he really does look like he wants to do that when he’s jealous. Leaning across the counter, I brush my lips across his and try to reassure him further. “Well, I only have eyes for you and that’s all that matters, right?”

  His hand cups my cheek and keeps our lips connected so he can deepen the kiss. My knees go weak; this man knows how to kiss and he also knows how to woo me. I’m way past fucking wooed but he never fails to win me all over again.

  He ends the kiss and gives me one of this trademark smiles. “Yeah, that’s all that matters,” he murmurs.

  I straighten and place the vegetables on a tray and put them in the oven. Turning back to him, I ask, “How was your day? Did you guys get much done on the album today?” Jett’s all tense about the loss he had on the share market and is putting everything into this new album to make it a success. And after taking a couple of days off, he was itching to get back into it.

  “We got another song down today and the label wants to release our first song next month.”

  “That seems fast. Is that normal for you guys?” I recall Lennon’s band used to take a lot longer to record an album and get it out there.

  “Yeah, it’s fast, but they want this album out there, and because we had songs already written that we’ve been able to pull from, plus Van’s been writing his ass off and it’s good shit, we should have the album done in a few months, if not sooner. They’ll release the first single early to drum up interest.”

  “Does that mean you’ll have to start work on promoting the album?”

  “There will be some promo to do and we’ll have to do a bit of travel but I’m hoping they’ll ease us into that while we’re still recording. I don’t think it’ll be full on straight away.” He pauses for a moment. “Tom’s starting to book in the tour dates for later in the year. Have you thought any further about doing our tour?”

  “I don’t know, Jett, we’ve only just gotten together and I’m concerned that working together could cause problems. I’m not sure we should do it.”

  He nods thoughtfully and says, “We can talk about it closer to the tour. By then you might have changed your mind.”

  I can hear the hope in his voice but I’m not sure I will change my mind. Mixing business and pleasure isn’t a good idea as far as I’m concerned. “We’ll see.”

  “Are you still enjoying your time off?”

  “I miss working, but I don’t miss working with models and working in that world. Oh, that reminds me, I have a photography awards night coming up and I wanted to see if you had the night free to come with me.”

  He gives me one of his huge smiles again. “I’ll make sure I have the night free, sweetheart. I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

  And there’s one of the many reasons I fell for this man.

  9

  Jett

  “Presley, have you seen my keys?” I yell out as I unsuccessfully search for them in her kitchen. I have to get to the studio in the next ten minutes, and at this rate I’m not going to make it in the next hour.

  She wanders out of the bedroom wearing next to nothing and yawning. I allow my gaze to drift over her body and fight the hardening of my cock and the desire to fuck her on the table again. It’s become my favourite place to have some hard and fast sex with her, and I try to convince myself I have time for a quickie before work.

  “Jett!” Her voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn to find her holding my keys out to me.

  I grab them off her and pull her to me for a kiss. A goodbye kiss, nothing more. Fuck, it’s so damn hard to walk away from her, but I let her go after I kiss her. “Thanks,” I say as I shove my wallet in my pocket and pick my phone up off the table.

  She smacks my ass as she walks past me to the fridge. “I’m gonna miss you today,” she says in her sleepy voice. “After having you all to myself over the weekend, I’ve gotten used to being able to have sex whenever I wanted.”

  I groan. “Fuck, baby, did you have to say that?” The table is looking more inviting every second I stay in this room with her. I eye her skimpy singlet and panties. I could have those off in two seconds flat, and my cock out just as fast. Five minutes tops and I’d be a happy man for the rest of the day.

  “Jett!”

  Jesus, I’m not with it today. “What?” I ask as I drag my gaze from her pussy.

  Shaking her head at me, she says, “Your phone is going crazy with texts so you need to stop imagining fucking me and check those.”

  I rake my fingers through my hair. “I just screwed you twice in my mind.” Pointing at my dick, I ask, “Can you see how fucking hard I am for you right now?”

  “Oh I see it, Jett, but I’m trying not to look because I want to screw you twice but not in my mind, so hurry up and get your ass out of here or else I might not let it leave.”

  I stare at her. “Not fucking helpful, sweetheart,” I mutter, doing my best to stop fucking thinking about her pussy.

  Fuck.

  My phone goes off twice more with texts and I check it to see who the hell is bombarding me with messages. They’re from Tom and as I read them, I let out a loud, “Fuck me!”

  “What?” Presley looks at me in alarm. She’s obviously picked up that my stress levels are now through the roof.

  After I finish scrolling through the messages, I dial Tom and place my phone to my ear. Eyeing Presley, I fill her in. “West has been accused of rape. It’s all over the news.”

  She stares at me in shock and I nod in agreement. This is fucking ludicrous.

  Tom snaps into my phone, “Where the hell have you been? This shit is hitting from all angles and you need to get down to the studio now.”

  “I�
�m on my way.” I shove the phone in my pocket and start to make my way out to my car. “I’ve gotta go, but I’ll call you later,” I yell out to Presley right before I leave her apartment. Getting to the studio is the only thing on my mind now; there’s no fucking way West raped a woman, and I need to get to the band fast so we can work out how the fuck we’re going to deal with this.

  * * *

  The traffic is a bitch, and it takes me a good forty minutes to get to the studio, during which time I’ve listened to the breakfast radio announcers trash talk rockstars for sleeping with anyone and everyone. And that was right after they discussed the possibility of the rape allegation against West being true. I had to restrain myself from calling them and giving them a piece of my mind. They never stop and think about the fact the person they are talking about is a real person, and that a lot of their audience takes what they say as gospel.

  By the time I finally walk into the studio, I’ve got a massive headache and I feel like the world is conspiring against me this morning after the traffic and then no car park being available, resulting in me having to park a couple of blocks away.

  Van scowls at me the minute I enter. “It’s a good fucking thing no one was dying here, Jett. You took your time.”

  I hold my hand up at him and return his scowl. “Don’t fucking start on me today; I don’t have the patience for your shit.” Turning my attention to West, I take in his appearance. He looks a mess, and I can’t blame him; if I’d been accused of rape, I’d look the same. “Tell me what happened.”

  He stares at me for a moment, not saying a word. The exhaustion has taken over his face and I can only imagine how tired his mind is, and how hard he’s finding it to form words. Fuck, this side of the business is bullshit, and I hope to God I never run into the woman who’s put him in this position. Our band has had a clear run with scandals so far but I’ve seen other bands and other men broken by this kind of shit. When he speaks, his voice gives away the shock he must still be in. “She’s told her story to one of the magazines, said I raped her when we were in Sydney last time.”