In the middle of an original song about young heartbreak, Crew slid in next to Haley, finally capturing her gaze and seeing her eyes grow round in pleasure. He knew he was a goner.
In such a ridiculously short amount of time, he was falling head over heels for this woman. She took his breath away, and he found himself wanting to give her the moon and stars. Oh, good grief. Shaking his head, he blamed his sappy thoughts on the lyrics and voice bewitching the room. Who wouldn’t think of happily-ever-afters here? He’d created the room with just that in mind — though not for himself.
Trying to gain back the breath that seemed to have left his chest, Crew leaned closer and took Haley’s lips, running his tongue along the soft lines of her lush mouth until she lifted her hands up and grasped his neck, deepening the kiss as if their recent time apart had been painful for her, too.
Before their embrace got too heated for public consumption, he reluctantly pulled back and looked into her glowing eyes. The light from the soft wall sconces and dripping chandeliers made them almost translucent. Losing himself in them was exactly what he wanted to do.
“It’s good to see you,” he whispered as he nuzzled her neck.
“I will spend the day apart from you any time if I get another kiss like that,” she said huskily. He wanted to take her from the room right then and show her just how much he’d missed her.
“Good evening, Mr. Storm. Shall I get you your usual?”
With a sigh, Crew leaned back and nodded at his waitress. “Add spinach dip and fresh baked chips, and have Joey throw in a bowl of soup.” He was starving. Normally, only appetizers were served in the theater, but that didn’t apply to him.
“Oooh, I’ll have the same, but can I have some bread, too?” Haley piped in.
His waitress nodded and hurried away.
“You haven’t eaten yet?” he asked.
“No. I was running around town today and forgot. Then, I was so entranced by the show, food was the farthest thing from my mind. Now that you brought it up, though, I can’t think of anything else.”
“We can leave and I will take you to a real dinner. Or, better yet, we can go to my room and order room service. I have a sudden desire for strawberries and champagne, preferably eaten off your skin.”
Haley’s eyes shone as she seriously considered his suggestion. One word, and he’d have gladly left the table and hauled her away.
“No. It would be rude to walk out on her performance. She’s doing a beautiful job. We’ll have the soup as an hors d’oeuvre, then the strawberries for dessert,” she promised.
Crew’s body instantly hardened at her bold words. Where was the shy yet determined woman he’d first met? It seemed she was slowly being replaced by this more confident, alluring female, and he could barely keep his hands off her.
Though the vocalist’s performance remained flawless, Crew kept glancing at his watch. His overheated body had been pressed against hers for only one night, and now he needed a repeat performance.
The food came and it helped to get the edge off at least one of his hungers, but did nothing for the insatiable need still tearing at his insides. When the final song ended, Crew clapped loudly, a little for his singer, and a lot because now he could get Haley alone.
“Let’s go,” he said urgently; he jumped up and held out a hand.
“Aren’t you eager!” She smiled and let him assist her from the intimate booth.
“You can’t imagine,” he groaned as he began leading her toward the doors.
“I know you want to get up there immediately, Crew, but I’m so warm right now. Would you mind taking a small stroll outside with me first?”
Haley must secretly hate him and want him to expire from sexual frustration, he decided. Yet unable to deny her request, he slapped down the monster clawing to be freed from inside of him, and led her through the lobby and out the back doors, moving quickly to the beach.
This would be the fastest stroll he’d ever taken — not that he was a man who normally took strolls. He was either running or sleeping; there didn’t seem to be a middle ground with him.
“Amari is a beautiful singer. I could listen to her all night,” Haley said. When they reached the edge of the water, she slipped off her shoes and let the waves splash over her toes. He was forced to retreat a step back or ruin his favorite leather loafers.
“Yes, I was lucky to find her before a record label picks her up. It won’t take long — she’s amazingly talented. I have a contract for eight weeks, though, so this may very well be her last personal gig before she records something and hits it big.”
He didn’t want to speak about his headliner act. He wanted to talk about the two of them, but he could see that Haley was avoiding the topic for some reason. Alarm bells rang in his mind, and in his groin. If he didn’t take her tonight, he would need to take one heck of a long swim in the cool water currently caressing her feet — something he’d rather be doing himself.
“I grew up less than a hundred miles from the ocean, but still I never made it there until a couple of years ago. How sad is that? I wonder how many people have similar stories to tell. There is just so much beauty in this world, and most of us don’t even see one percent of it. Someday, I’ll travel the entire world and look in the most ancient of museums and touch as many of the Wonders of the World — ancient, medieval and modern — as I can. I am feeling a need to roam now, thinking I may just leave school for a while and travel…”
Her dreamy sigh told him she would do that, but he didn’t want her to leave without him. When people’s dreams were big enough and their will strong enough, they could make anything happen. He’d seen it countless times before. It was when people gave up that their life dwindled to nothing. What was the point of existing in this world if you didn’t really live your life to its fullest potential?
To hell with the distance between them. Crew threw off his shoes and socks in seconds and stepped in the water with her. The bottom of his custom slacks were instantly soaked, but he didn’t care.
Maybe a part of her was trying to keep him at a distance, but he didn’t want that and if she was honest, she didn’t want it either. She was just protecting herself, reverting to her old habits. He could feel her withdrawal in the melancholy mood she was in. He didn’t know what had brought it on, but he was determined to find out, and refused to allow her to slip away.