Drowning to Breathe

“Yes, please,” I said as I grasped at his tee a little greedily in the same second he was pulling away.

“Woman,” he growled as a warning, diving in for another quick kiss, and I laughed again and hopped onto the floor as he went to answer the door.

A bellman breezed in with our things, propping an acoustic guitar case against the wall and taking the rest of our luggage upstairs to the bedroom, then coming right back down.

Sebastian dug his wallet out of his pocket, producing another large bill like he always did, the man so generous, so contrary to all that brash intimidation.

He locked the door behind him.

“I need to change,” we both said at the same time, with the same reluctance, and we both stilled and stared because we seemed to be playing the same tune. Sebastian released an affectionate laugh.

“Come on, let’s get out of here or we’re never going to make it.” He took my hand in his and we bound upstairs. He shrugged out of his clothes and dug into his suitcase, the same as I did mine.

“Damn it,” I cursed, digging around more and cursing myself again.

“What?”

I glanced up to find him in his underwear, and my eyes stayed there a little longer than necessary.

The gorgeous man was bent over as he pulled the second leg of his jeans off his foot then reached for a fresh pair, and a shiver rolled through me as I was struck with both the best and worst kind of temptation.

Just a glimpse of that body derailed me from the task at hand, and that was the one thing the guys had made clear when we’d set up Sebastian’s birthday surprise.

They had a gig.

And the gig came first.

Under no circumstances was I allowed to make him late.

For a pack of unruly rockers, they sure had tossed out a lot of rules.

Which I totally understood. But there was a needy, desperate part of me that wanted to ignore all obligations, the part that wanted to lock us in this room and let him start the devouring he promised to do.

Catching my libidinous stare, because, God, there was no concealing it, he tossed me a cocky grin, and once again mouthed, “Later.” Then he inclined his head toward the disaster I was making in my suitcase.

“Damn it, what? Looks a little like you’ve let Kallie unpack for you. That child is nothing but a hurricane.”

Soft laughter rolled from me at the sweet, sweet thought, my baby girl in all her vigor and life, then I shook my head at myself again. “I can’t believe it…I forgot my toiletry bag.”

“You don’t need makeup.” A wry smirk ticked up at the corner of that flirty mouth as his voice dropped to a rumble. “Or clothes for that matter.”

The playful roll of my eyes was unstoppable. “Don’t get too excited…I have clothes for days. I just don’t have anything else. Everything was in there…makeup, toothbrush, curling iron, pills.”

Helplessly, I dug around again, searching for what I knew wasn’t there. I suddenly had a clear picture of it packed and sitting on my vanity back at the house.

“Shit…shit…shit,” I muttered.

Sebastian waltzed forward, bare-footed in soft, worn jeans, the sexiest thing I’d ever seen.

He pressed a tender kiss to my temple. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll call down and have them send some stuff up. Sound good?”

I sent him a resigned smile. There was nothing I could do about it now. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

Sebastian finished changing, jogged downstairs, and made the call to get some of my stuff replaced, while I quickly dressed in the outfit Tamar helped me pick out for tonight—another pair of torn-up, cut-off shorts, a flowy cream top with thick, crocheted lace edging, and super high-heeled brown suede booties that made my legs look long, sexy, and sleek.

Country Chic.

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