Looking For Trouble (20 page)

He sat still for a minute when she finished,
then he stood and walked slowly to the stage, never taking his eyes
from hers. She got up from the stool and walked to the edge of the
stage, curious as to what he thought. When he got there, he put his
hands on her waist, and lifted her down to the floor, then claimed
her lips in a long, heated kiss that curled her toes. He kissed her
until applause sounded behind them, and the band started laughing,
then he moved his lips near her ear and said in a choked whisper,
"I love you, Jess..."

She swallowed hard and clamped down on the
tears that surged to her throat and closed it off. Although she
might think she loved him too, she wasn't going to say the words
until she knew for sure...when that would be, she had no idea. Her
breath was short erratic pants, and her chest felt tight, because
she didn't want to lose him, because she couldn't say the words.
"I...um...I" she stuttered trying to force them.

Wade kissed her again, then pulled back and
looked into her eyes, and said gruffly, "You say it when you're
ready, darlin'...I'm not in a hurry. I'll wait forever for you,
you're worth it."

Jess whimpered, then tiptoed to kiss him,
telling him with her kiss what her brain refused to say out loud.
Someone cleared their throat behind them then Denver said with a
chuckle, "Are we done practicing? I think you two need some alone
time, so Jess can write some more songs."

After a few more seconds, Jess broke the
kiss and looked into Wade's eyes and told them, "Yeah, we're
done...we're going home, I need to rest up for tonight." Somehow
Jess didn't think there'd be much resting going on, though.

Jess looked at the clock on the dresser and
saw it was almost five o'clock...time for her to get up and get
ready for the show tonight, but she couldn't pull herself out of
the warm cocoon of Wade's arms. He was softly snoring, but had his
arms wrapped around her tight, his chin snuggled into her hair. She
put a kiss on his chest, then moved her mouth to his nipple, and
licked a circle around it, as she slid her hand down his stomach
then stroked him.

"Mmm..." he said sleepily, then sucked in a
breath and shifted his hips against her hand, hardening like steel.
Jess slid her palm up to his shoulder, then straddled him and
rubbed herself against his heated skin, then moaned because it felt
so damned good. Slowly sliding her body down his, Jess kissed his
neck, and across his shoulder, then down his chest, before she
ducked under the sheet, kissing and licking her way to his hipbone,
where she placed an open mouth kiss.

Moving over him, she breathed hotly over his
erection, before she licked him from the base of his hardness up to
the head, and a tremor passed through his body. When she took him
into her mouth, he groaned loudly and his muscles tensed as his
hips shot off the bed. Jess slid her arms under his thighs and
cupped his hips with her hands, then moved over him, working in
rhythm with his hips.

"Oh, god, Jess..." his said breathlessly in
a dark agonized tone, and tried to pull her head away from him. She
shook her head and pulled back, then increased her rhythm, and he
whimpered, then moved his hands up and flung the sheet off of them,
staring down at her. Locking her eyes with his, she slid her mouth
almost off of him, and circled him with her tongue, then slid down
again slowly.

His brown eyes were wild and full of fire,
his jaw clenched, and his breathing was short and shallow, as he
watched her love him. When she increased her pace again, he threw
back his head and howled, clenching the sheet in his fists.

"Move, baby, I'm coming..." he groaned in
warning, but Jess stayed right with him, until he shouted her name
and his whole body vibrated, and she tasted his essence on her
tongue. He laid there, breathing heavily, his hands still clutched
in the sheet. Jess kissed her way up his body, then laid on top of
him and cuddled into his neck.

"You sure know how to wake me up,
sweetheart," he told her then kissed her hair...my god, that was
incredible...you're incredible."

She kissed his neck, then slid her tongue up
to his ear, and nipped his earlobe. "No,
you're
incredible,
sugar...I love you, Wade," she told him, because her heart finally
opened up and let him inside, and her love for this man flowed
through her entire being.

Wade growled, then rolled her over and
claimed her mouth in a fiery kiss that told her he felt the same
way. When he started kissing his way down her body, she stopped him
and said, "That was for you sugar...I need to get ready to go to
the bar, or I'm gonna be late."

"Party pooper," he said with a chuckle then
kissed her belly and got up. "I'm going see if Cassie and Luke can
watch Angel tonight, because I want to go see you play, that okay
with you?"

"Better than okay...freaking
fantastic
...I can sing Take My Breath Away to you again, and
we can have an encore performance of earlier, when we get home,"
she purred then slapped his naked ass with a saucy grin, as she
walked past.

CHAPTER TEN

When she got to the bar, and set her stuff
down, Travis ran over to her. His eyes were filled with excitement
and his face was flushed, when he told her, "The label from
Nashville called earlier, and they're gonna have someone here
tonight to hear you!"

"Wow...that's
awesome
!" she said then
jumped up and down, as much as she could with the lead weight of
the cast weighing her down. "Do you know who they're sending?"

"No idea, they wouldn't tell me, they wanted
him to be here anonymously...but they said he'd heard you sing
before and really liked you."

"Oh, yeah? That's great then, and he can
hear the new stuff too..." she said with excitement building inside
of her. "And maybe he'll introduce himself after the show or
something...this is fantastic, Trav...thanks for all your hard
work," she told him then leaned in and gave him a kiss on the
cheek.

The smile faded from his face, and he told
her seriously, "I'm hoping to get you signed soon, darlin', so I
can get back to San Antonio...my boss called me yesterday wanting
to know when I was coming back. I don't have much emergency family
leave left."

"I know...and you
are
going back when
it's up. I'm
not
letting you give up your job, because of
me...but I appreciate you being here for me...I couldn't have
gotten through it without you."

He kissed her cheek and said, "I wouldn't
have missed it, and I'll
always
be there for you sis," then
added with fierceness in his tone, "I'm sorry we were disconnected
for so long...it won't happen again."

"It better not, I like having you around,
big brother," she told him with a smile.

"I've got some calls to return, so I'll see
you at show time..." he told her, then added with a wry grin and a
laugh, "I'd tell you to break a leg, but it looks like you've
already done that." She slapped his shoulder playfully, and he
flinched then laughed then took off toward the stairs.

Nervousness crept up on her and slowly
traveled along her nerve endings to clutch her heart. A music rep
was going to be here tonight ,and she had to be on her A-game,
because Travis was right, it was time he headed back to his life in
San Antonio, and wasn't going to be the one to keep him from
it.

She hadn't brought anything flashy to wear
tonight, because honestly, she didn't have anything that didn't
need to be dry cleaned. She did have the cash from her first
paycheck from this gig stashed in her purse, it wasn't much, but it
was enough that she could go shopping somewhere in town and maybe
get something special to wear.

Jess knew there was a western store in town,
and it was probably still open, so maybe Jazzie would go with her,
but she was going to have to be quick, the bar was filling up and
she had to start playing at seven, which was in forty-five
minutes.

Going to the foot of the stairs, she yelled
up to Jazzie, and she came down right away, like she'd been about
to come down anyway. She was dressed in a red, skin-tight spandex
bandage dress with skyscraper red sequin shoes. She was way ahead
of Jess, because she already had her makeup on and hair done too.
"Wow, you look gorgeous, sugar."

Jazzie spun in a circle, then gave her a big
grin, and said cheekily, "I thought so too."

"And humble to boot," she told her with a
laugh. "I need to go power-shopping, can you come with me? There's
a western store a few doors down."

"Hell yeah, I don't turn down shopping,
ever
," Jazzie said then hooked her arm with Jess and yanked
her toward the back door.

They walked as quick as they could with
Jess's hobbling gait, and Jazzie's skyscraper heels and shorter
stride, then went down the alley to the front of the store and
inside. For a small town store, they had a surprising selection of
good quality western wear.

"Jazzie, help me -- I'm thinking a white
hat, white denim skirt and a pink sparkly shirt of some kind...oh
and I need boots, they ruined mine at the hospital, no high heels
though," she said then added over her shoulder as she headed for
the back room, "I can't walk around quick enough, so I'll wait in
the dressing room to try on whatever you bring me."

Jazz was quick and tossed a hot pink denim
dress, with a studded yolk over the stall door, and handed over
white rhinestone studded boots. The dress was a halter-type and
pushed up her into the sweetheart neckline, making mountains out of
molehills. She tied it behind her neck, then slid the zipper up to
her waist.

The whole back was out of the dress, and it
was a little short for her liking, because she would be sitting on
a stool, but it was too darling to pass up. It fit her like it was
made for her, she thought, as she turned side to side in the
mirror. Sitting down on the corner bench, she took off her tennis
shoe and slid her good foot into one of the beautiful boots, then
stood up and smoothed down the dress. She grabbed the door knob and
walked out to see what Jazzie thought.

Jazzie gasped and put her hand to her mouth.
"Oh, my god, Jessie...that's beautiful," she said then plopped a
white Stetson with a chrome hat band on her head. "It's perfect,
let's go pay for it and get out of here," Jazzie said then dumped
an armload of other clothes on the chair outside the room.

"Wait, let me get my other stuff..." she
said then went back in and grabbed her stuff, the spare boot, and
her purse. "This is probably going to break the bank, but I needed
something special for tonight. Did Travis tell you the music rep is
going to be at the show?"

"Yeah, he did...and it's damned exciting,
sister. We're gonna kill it tonight," she said with confidence Jess
wished she still shared.

They walked to the counter, and she handed
over three quarters of what she'd earned last week for the outfit,
but she needed the confidence boost, and wasn't sorry about it.
Ducking back down the alley outside, they walked back to the bar,
then in the rear exit door, and Jess sucked in a breath, because
the place was packed wall to wall, and there were still people
coming in the door. She didn't know if Red was charging a cover
tonight, but if he was, he was killing it. Nerves fluttered around
in her belly again, and she put a hand there to settle them
down.

"You're gonna do great, girlfriend...don't
sweat it. You've got this," Jazzie encouraged her. "Those new songs
are gonna set 'em on fire."

"Okay, let's do it," she said then stuck her
pinkie out to Jazzie, who hooked it with hers and pulled. The
gesture was something they always did, a reminder that they were
sister's of the heart and would always have each others back.

Jess half-walked, half-hopped to the stairs
and grabbed the rail, about to go up to the stage, when she caught
a whiff of an erotic citrusy cologne she knew well, right before
strong arms wrapped around her and she was lifted up, then kissed
senseless.

"That's for luck, darlin'," Wade said in his
rich deep voice near her ear. "You look so fucking beautiful, I
want to take you upstairs, instead of setting you on this
stage."

"And I'm almost tempted to let you..." she
said then put her arms around his neck and kissed him again. He had
on his black Stetson, and a gorgeous black shirt, shot through with
silver thread. "You look good enough to eat, sugar."

"Stop that, or you really aren't gonna sing
anything other than my name tonight," he told her with a quick
kiss, then he went up the steps and set her on her feet.

She heard Den on the drums, getting in
place, and Tony and Mike lightly strumming their guitars, and knew
it was show time. "I've gotta go, sweetheart, don't go far, because
I need you around for the special songs," she told him, then
tiptoed for a kiss.

"You want a beer or something? Water?" Wade
asked her, as he turned to head back down the stairs.

"Water would be great, two or three of
them," she told him with a laugh.

Wade nodded, then told her with a wink, "You
got it...I'll be right back."