Author: Bella Andre

Now, she had to wonder if the reason she’d cared so much what everyone thought was because it was easier to use the press as an excuse, rather than risk getting hurt again.

But maybe, she was just starting to think, some things were worth the risk.

“I’m going to grab my things off the bus,” she suddenly told Katie, who was standing a few feet away. “Turns out I’ve got a plane to Napa Valley waiting.”

Her tour manager looked between Nicola and Marcus, then nodded her approval. “Just as long as you have her back for her interview at noon in Dallas in two days.”

Grinning, Nicola said, “You guys can work out the schedule while I go get my stuff.” She was halfway out the door when she looked over her shoulder to see Katie and Marcus with their heads together over their smart phones.

But as she walked down the hall toward her tour bus, she knew that kissing Marcus in front of her crew had been the easy part.

He’d told her that her circus life didn’t scare him.

Now he was actually showing her that he meant it.

Unfortunately, the bigger question remained: What would his world think of her? Would they welcome her with open arms the way she was sure her crew was already welcoming Marcus?

Or would her youth and bad reputation hurt Marcus in just the way she feared?

* * *

There were so many things that Nicola knew needed to be said between them as she boarded the private jet, but when Marcus wrapped his arms around her and strapped his seatbelt over them both, she gave in to the warmth of his arms, curling into him the way she always had, with his heart beating against her ear, the feeling of being perfectly safe easing her into a deeper sleep than she’d had in weeks.

* * *

Finally, as Nicola fell asleep against his chest, Marcus let the breath he’d been holding go.

Nicola was back where she belonged. In his arms.

Now all he needed to do was convince her to stay.

This time, by any means necessary...

Chapter Twenty-four

“My God, this is beautiful.”

The sun was rising over the Sullivan Winery and the birds were just coming awake. Nicola laughed softly as a baby blue jay peeked its head up out of its nest to greet them. As they stood on his porch and looked out over the rolling grapevines, Marcus silently thanked his property for putting on its finest show for Nicola.

They’d both slept on the plane and even though it hadn’t been a full night’s rest, he felt more refreshed and alert than he had since Nicola had left San Francisco almost three weeks ago.

“This winery is where you came to heal, isn’t it?”

No one had ever laid it out so clearly to him...or had hit it so directly on the head.

Pulling her closer, he told her, “The first time I ever saw this land was on a high school field trip. It was crazy, but I swore I saw a man who looked like my father working the vines. As soon as I got my driver’s license, I drove up here to look for him again.”

“You weren’t alone, were you?”

“Nope.” He smiled at the woman he loved. “Most of my brothers and sisters crammed into the car with me. I didn’t tell them about what I thought I’d seen, but I knew right then that one day this land would be mine. And that I’d make him proud.”

He watched her swallow, saw her eyes glitter at his story. Her voice was raw, husky, as she asked, “How can you even think of leaving this for days and weeks on end?”

He knew what she was asking, that she didn’t understand why he would want to be with her on the road.

“It’s been twenty-two years since my father died and until you, I never told anyone how hard it was on me to take his place in the family. I never wanted to admit it to myself. And no one dared push me up against the wall on it. I’m sure others saw it. They had to. But I managed to keep them all away."

She had turned to him and he didn’t know if she realized it, but she’d taken his hands and was holding them both over her heart.

“But not you, Nicola. You were shoving your way in from that first moment in the club and no matter how hard I tried to push you away, you never let me keep you out.”

“I’m annoying like that,” she said in a soft voice. “Always pushing in where I don’t belong.”

“I love that you push, that you decide what you want and don’t let anyone get in your way. No wonder your career is shooting through the stratosphere and they want you to come play shows in Timbuktu."

He was glad to see her smile at that, to see the dark shadow begin to slide from her pretty eyes.

“I didn’t completely lose my youth, but there were big chunks of it that just disappeared.” He shook his head, trying to put words to his feelings even as he finally registered what they were. “I don’t regret spending so much time with my brothers and sisters to help my mother. They were worth it."

“So are you, Marcus.”

He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then said, “Do you know what my mother said to me that Sunday at lunch?”

“What the hell are you thinking, getting involved with a girl like her?” she guessed, but her mouth was quirking up on one side and he knew she was teasing.

“She told me she’d been waiting for me to find someone I could love more than I loved them.”

“I told you before, in that old playground behind your mother’s house, that I don’t want to get in the way of your relationship with your family.”

“Not in the way. You’ve shown me it’s time to finally cut the strings, to let them live their lives. And that it’s finally time for me to live mine. All this time, it was easier for me to focus on my brothers and sisters and helping my mother and running this winery than it was for me to focus on my own heart.” He tugged her even closer. “You once told me people believe what’s easiest to believe. Both you and I believed so strongly that we couldn’t make this relationship work, that we were too different…didn’t we?”

She nodded. “It’s safer that way.”

“I know it is, but I’m finally ready to believe in the thing that’s hardest to believe, instead.” He smiled down at her. “I knew words would never convince you that we could make this work, that I’d need to show you, to prove it to you by pushing just as hard as you always pushed me.”

“My crew thought you were crazy. Jimmy was going to call the cops that first night, you know. The second, too.”

He grinned. “I know. But you’re worth the risk, sweetheart. Any risk. Every risk. I’m going to enjoy joining you for as many of your tour dates as I possibly can, and I have a pretty good feeling that you’re going to enjoy the peace and quiet of being here with me as often as you possibly can. I have no doubt that this land, the beauty here, will feed your soul the same way it’s always fed mine.”

“How do you always see the things in me that no one else ever does?”

“I met Nicola long before I ever met Nico,” he reminded her. “Forget the stupid things I said to you on the beach. You’ve never hidden yourself from me.”

“I don’t know how. Even when I tried, I couldn’t hide what you were making me feel.” She paused. “Especially when you were telling me what you wanted me to do in the bedroom.”

Ah, it was just the lead-in he’d been hoping for. “Three weeks ago, I played by the book. And you left.” He pinned her with an unabashedly hungry gaze. “Today I’m not going to play fair. As far as I’m concerned, once you got on that plane with me, all rules were off.”

Her pupils had dilated and her breathing was already speeding up, both beautiful signs that she was becoming aroused...and that she wanted this as much as he did.

Knowing she’d greatly enjoy the anticipation, he told her, “I’m planning to use all the weapons in my arsenal to convince you that we belong together. I’m not afraid to play dirty this time.”

She licked her lips. “I like dirty.”

He grinned at her and it was a smile full of wicked promise. “I know you do. My sweet, sexy, smart, dirty girl.” He swept her up in his arms and kicked open the front door to carry her into his bedroom. “I want you in my bed.”

“I want to be there, too.” She cupped his face in her hands and pulled his mouth down to hers.

Needing to concentrate on kissing her, not climbing the stairs, he stopped halfway up, sitting down on the stairs so that she was straddling him.

There was no way they were going to actually make it all the way upstairs to his bedroom.

Not this time, anyway.

“Lift your arms for me, Nicola.”

Heat flared in her eyes at the sensual command he’d given her that first night, and then again and again. She slowly brought her hands up and let him slide her long-sleeved T-shirt up her torso and over her head.

Her bra was wicked black and red lace with a sweet white bow in the middle.

“Until I met you, I always thought I had to be one or the other, the sexy pop princess or the sweet girl with the guitar. I want to be both, Marcus.”

“I first started falling for the sex goddess in the leather dress with the impossibly high heels...and I knew I was a total goner when you fell asleep on my lap.” He moved his hands to the small of her back, then around to cup her hips, and slid her closer. “I’ve always loved both sides of you.” Without skipping a beat, he said, “I want you to stand up and take the rest of your clothes off.”

Her eyes widened, but she quickly scooted off his lap and moved a step down to slip off her jeans and then her bra and panties.

“I think it’s time for that spanking I’ve been promising you,” he said as he put his hands on her stomach, then slid them up to brush the pads of his thumbs over her breasts. “A little punishment for taking so long to come around and see that we can make things work.”

Her eyes glittered with arousal even as she made a soft protest. “What if I don’t like it?”

Instead of answering her question, he said, “Turn around, and hold on to the stair rail.”

He could see her heart beat pulsing through the soft skin on her neck as she thought over his request. Finally, she did as he bid, taunting him with a naughty look over her shoulder.

Moving his hand over her stomach, he held her torso in place as he ran his other hand over the swell of her hips.

“So pretty. So sweet.” He pressed a kiss to the small of her back. “And all mine.”

His hand came down a moment later, a swat on her behind that left a faint pink mark on her tanned flesh. She didn’t cry out, but he felt her nipples bead against his palm where he still cupped her breasts.

A moment later, he was marking her other cheek with the flat of his palm, and this time he couldn’t miss her moan of pleasure, moans that only increased in volume as he made contact two more times.

A few moments later, the swipe of his tongue over her aroused flesh had her bucking into his mouth while her hands held onto his hair. He thrust two fingers into her and slick heat surrounded them, throbbing and pulsing around him.

“I love you."

Marcus put his mouth between her thighs and covered her with his lips. He curled his fingers inside of her until she was gasping, arching, begging, crying out for more.

He loved the way she held on to him as she came apart against his tongue and fingers.

A few seconds later he was carrying her the rest of the way up the stairs to lay her down in the center of his big bed. She moved to reach for him, but he shook his head.

“No. Just let me look at you. I can’t believe I have the prettiest girl in the world in my bed.”

She blushed, but this time she didn’t try to hide any part of herself from him. Not her beautiful body...or the beauty that was inside all the luscious, creamy skin and mind-blowing curves.