Rock the Heart (13 page)

Noel’s steady breathing tells me he’s asleep. I roll over on my side and watch the beautiful man beside me. Who knew my heart is capable of holding so much love for one person? 

My stomach rumbles and I remember I never ate dinner earlier thanks to Noel and his antics. Being on this bus with him for the rest of this two week period is going to be crazy.

I push myself up from bed and Noel reaches for me. “Where are you going?”

I rub his arm. “I’m just going to try to find something to eat. I’m starving.”

He frowns with his eyes closed. “We probably don’t have much out there. I’m sorry, Lane. I can send someone to pick you up something.”

He’s unbelievably sweet. “No, that’s okay. I’m sure I can find something.” I bend down and kiss his cheek. “Go back to sleep, baby.”

He smiles and pulls me into him and kisses my lips. “Hurry back.”

Reluctantly, I pull away from Noel’s warm embrace, and he rolls onto his side. The clothes I had on earlier are flung around the room. I find my underwear on the floor and slip them on along with one of Noel’s cotton t-shirts. The cloth runs over my nose, and I breathe it in. It still smells like him. 

I turn back to watch him. He’s already fallen back to sleep. 

I open the door and peak out. The lights are dim and all the curtains on the foxholes are drawn tight. The sound of the guys all returning to the bus earlier had woken me up, so I figure they are lingering around somewhere. 

  A couple of the snores come from the bunks as I walk past and I chuckle. The twins are obviously out for the count after their two day spread of groupie sex. 

 Once inside the kitchen, I’m surprised to see Aubrey and Riff snuggling together on the loveseat. I thought she was at her parents by now. 

  They examine me as I come into their view.

I do my best to ignore them and head straight for the little kitchen area, and hope they’ll do the same for me. 

No such luck. 

Riff stands and pulls Aubrey up with him. I roll my eyes as they plop down at the bench seat at the table. I squat down and look through the cabinets. The fabric from Noel’s shirt is big enough that it hangs down to my thighs, but I wish I would have put some shorts on. The fact that I can feel Riff’s eyes boring into my back has me on edge. 

A cabinet door shuts behind me and I glance in their direction. Riff sits down with a package full of Oreos at the table. The rumble in my stomach is audible. What I wouldn’t give for one of those cookies right now. He peels back the wrapper and my mouth waters.

“Make yourself useful and grab us some milk from the fridge,” Riff says. “I always keep it in there. The guys know better than to take my stuff.”

Sure enough, there’s a gallon of two percent white milk in there. I sit it on the counter and search for a couple glasses.

“There should be some plastic cups on the stop shelf, above the sink,” Riff informs me as I poke around.

There’s only one cup left in the bag, and my heart sinks. Damn. Oreos aren’t the same without milk. I pour the milk into it for Riff and walk over to the table. I set the cup down, and slide into the seat across from them. 

He pushes the package across the table to me. “You don’t want some milk, too?”

I shrug and pull out a cookie. “Only one cup.”

Riff smiles and puts his cup in the middle. “We can share it—just no double dipping. I heard where your mouth’s been.” 

Aubrey smacks his arm. “Sorry, Lanie, but you were kind of loud.”

Heat rises up my neck, and my face flushes. It never occurred to me that I’m loud enough for the guys on the bus to hear Noel and I having sex, but it is obvious they could. I mean, I heard every single moan when they had their parties in full swing on the other side of the door. How could I be so naive to think they couldn’t hear me too?

Riff chuckles and dunks a cookie in the milk. “Nothing to be embarrassed about, it was fucking hot. Noel’s one lucky son of a bitch.”

Aubrey giggles and then winks at me.

I cover my face with my hand. “Oh, God.”

Riff bites into his cookie. “You say that a lot, don’t you?”

My head snaps up. “Can we please stop talking about this? It’s not exactly the kind of conversation I should be having with you guys.”

He shrugs. “You know, about the ticket thing, I’m sorry. You did try to blow me off. I didn’t think you meant it. I thought it was your angle.”

“My angle?”

Riff nods. “Most chicks play games with me. You weren’t the first girl who tried to play the hard-to-get card with me. I figured you read one of my interviews where I said that turned me on.”

The tension I feel towards him melts a little with his apology. He seems sincere, and since he put it that way, I could see why he thought I’m a groupie. 

I dip my cookie in the milk, too. “An interviewer actually asked what your turn-ons were?”

“You wouldn’t believe some of the shit we get asked. Noel gets the worst of it, though, being the front man and all. People are constantly trying to dig things up on him, but he’s good at keeping his life secret.”

I swallow the food down. “It’s not like Noel has a lot of dirt to find.”

Riff raises his eyebrows. “How long has it been since you dated him?”

“A little over four years. Why?”

Riff looks away from me and takes out another cookie. “A lot can happen in four years, Lanie.”

What is that suppose to mean? Is he saying there is a lot of dirt on Noel—dirt that even my hours of internet stalking didn’t uncover? Noel is a good guy. I don’t buy it.

I shrug. “I’m sure Noel isn’t intentionally hiding things from me. We all have our pasts and secrets we don’t want people to know.”

Riff’s eyes scan my face. “We most certainly do.” 

Riff pops the last Oreo in his mouth. His gaze never leaves me, like he’s waiting for more questions, but I never ask. Anything in Noel’s past is just that, in the past. If there is something I need to know, I’m sure he’ll tell me. 

Riff stands beside the table and then sticks out his hand. “Truce?”

I smile as his large fingers wrap around my hand. “Truce. I would like that. We should be friends since you and Aubrey…you know.”

Riff glances over at my friend and wiggles his eyebrows. “Oh yeah, I know. Friends it is.”  

When Riff leaves the room, Aubrey turns in my direction. She smirks and I shake my head. “Don’t you shake your head at me, missy. I told you all about mine, now it’s your turn to dish. It sounded like it was incredible!”

I pinch the bridge of my nose. “Aubrey…”

She yanks my hands away from my face. “Stop it. Don’t be embarrassed. You had a good time—nothing wrong with that, Lanie. So, tell me, does he get his Sex-god title back now?”

I roll my eyes and smile. 

She smacks the table and grins. “I knew it. That guy is sex on a stick.”

Aubrey stays on the bus with Riff and me until it’s ready to head to the next stop on the tour. Riff walks her out to the car, no doubt for a hot goodbye make-out session. I’ll miss her, but I only have a week or so left until I’ll see her all the time.

That thought makes me a little sad. It also means I only have a week left with Noel. 

****

The next morning I awake in Noel’s bed. His arm holds me tight against his side. Warm breath wafts rhythmically against my neck. The smell of his skin so close intoxicates me, and I find myself craving to be closer to him. I trace my fingertips along the tattoos on his forearm—each one fading into the next. Both of his arms are living pieces of artwork. Beautiful.

Noel nudges my neck with his nose. “Mmmmm. I want to wake up like this every morning.”

I smile, and my insides turn into mush. “Me too. I love being here with you.”

He kisses my neck and rubs the bare skin on my arm. “Good because I plan on keeping you here forever.”

I roll to face him. “Forever?”

His blue eyes peer up at me through impossibly long and sexy eyelashes. “Afraid so. I’m addicted to you. There’s no way I can be without this now.”

I giggle and kiss his lips. He is simply the most amazing man on the plant. How did I ever get so lucky? “What do you think will keep me here?”

The softness of his lips against my jaw makes my toes curl. I wiggle closer against him. Noel’s hot skin against mine is maddening. I hitch my leg over his hip, and he runs his hand up my calf then hooks around my knee. His hard length presses against me through my underwear and I gasp. 

Noel smiles and grinds himself into me. “This.” 

 A moan escapes from my lips, and Noel’s mouth claims mine. I claw at his back as he rolls on top of me. His hand shoves up the t-shirt that I put on last night—my naked breasts on display for him. Noel’s eyes roam over my chest before he dips down and sucks one of my nipples into his mouth. Oh, God his tongue can do wondrous things. 

Noel chuckles against my skin. “Quiet, baby. The guys are still asleep out there.”

I slap my hand over my mouth. Am I being loud again? How embarrassing.

Noel kisses a trail down my stomach, and I sigh. His fingers grip my underwear on each side of my hips and he pulls them off of me. I laugh when he tosses them over his shoulder and smirks. The expressions on his face sometimes are down right sexy.

I grin and close my eyes, full of anticipation of what comes next.

****

The suite is amazing. I’ve never been in a hotel this nice. Ever. The bell boy leaves our luggage in the bedroom, and Noel gives the kid a tip. His eyes light up, and he thanks Noel profusely before leaving our room. My Noel, always a nice guy.

Noel wraps his arms around my waist and I thread my fingers into his hair. “That’s nice of you.”

He smiles and shrugs. “I know what it’s like working for every dollar you get. If a hundred dollar bill makes the kid’s day, it's the least I can do.”

I kiss his lips. “You are unbelievably sweet, you know that?”

“Speaking of sweet.” Noel sighs. “The Kid’s Wish Foundation contacted me yesterday and asked me to visit a little boy with Leukemia. They told me I’m his idol and his wish is to meet me.”

“That’s amazing, Noel. When do you get to meet him?”

“Tomorrow. The organization booked a flight for me right after tonight’s show to Tucson.”

My heart sinks a little at the thought of not being with him for a day.

He tilts my chin up and gazes down at me. “It’s only for one night. I’ll be back before you know it. Besides, your boss is flying in tomorrow. You have to stick around and find out what exactly you marketing types need to do with Black Falcon’s charity to get it off the ground.”

“You owe me close to a thousand hours for all these kisses, you know.”

He laughs. “Hours well spent if you ask me. You have full control of the charity, Lane. I know you’ll do what you think is best and it will be amazing.”

I lay my head into his chest. His kindness knows no limits. “You are the most amazing person I know.”

He chuckles and kisses the top of my head. “Right back at ya.”

We stay locked in each others arms for a few moments. The steady thud of his heart beats keep time in my ear. My fingers move down and trace the taut muscles in his shoulders. I don’t think a more perfect man exists. Noel can have any woman in the world, and yet he chooses me. I wonder if that officially makes me the luckiest girl on the planet.

He twirls a lock of my hair around his finger. “What do you want to do today?”

I pull back and lick my lips. Noel smiles as I run an index finger down his chest. “Oh, I don’t know. What did you have in mind?”

His gaze smolders as he runs his tongue over his top lip. “I have lots of things in mind that I would like to do to you, but I’m afraid you just might break me if we keep up this pace. You’re insatiable.”

A shudder ripples through me. Oh how I would like to have him try all those things on me, but he’s right. If we keep this up we’ll never see the light of day again. We’ve had sex three amazing times. Noel is the insatiable one, or well, just as bad as me. My last boyfriend never had the stamina for more than once a day. 

I grin and look up at him. “You’re right. We should get something to eat. I can’t live on Oreos alone.”

Noel’s eyes widen. “Shit. Now I have to buy Riff more. He gets all bitchy if someone eats his food.”

“I don’t think he minded. He gave them to me.”

Noel’s brow furrowed. “He was up with you last night?”

His body tenses under my touch. The tension whenever Riff’s name comes up is so odd. The anger between them clearly hasn’t left his system. “Yeah, he and Aubrey both, and he actually apologized again for the golden ticket thing.”

Noel shoves his lips into a thin line and runs his hand through his hair. “Did he say anything else?”

The thought crosses my mind to ask him about the dirt that Riff implied he has, but the look on Noel’s face stops me. He looks angry, and I don’t understand his problem with Riff. He always tells me his band mates are his brothers. The way he’s acting at the mention of Riff talking to me, isn’t very brotherly love-like.  

I place my hands on Noel’s shoulders. “Are you okay? Is there something we need to talk about?”

Noel flinches like I just smacked him in the face. “No. Why? Do you think we have something we need to discuss?”

His tone catches me off guard. Why is he so defensive all of the sudden? Is he really keeping things from me like Riff implied? 

I drop my hands from his chest. “No. I guess not.”

I turn to walk away from him, but he catches my hand. “Hey…are you mad at me?”

I shake my head. “Of course not. I just don’t understand why you are getting so angry.”

He sighs and pulls me back against his body. “I’m sorry. I’m not mad at you. Riff can push my buttons like no other. I don’t want him around you when I’m not there.”

Maybe he isn’t hiding anything after all. 

I trace his jaw with my fingers. “You may not trust Riff, but you need to trust me. There’s no one I want other than you. Nothing he can say will ever change that.”

Noel pulls my hand away from his face and kisses my fingertips. “I don’t want to lose you, Lane. The thought of it scares the shit out of me.”

“Me too. I can’t believe we’re together again. Nothing is going to break us up this time.” My voice sounds firm.  

His large hands cup my face and his thumbs rub against my cheeks. His blue eyes search my face. “Promise?” Noel whispers.

I don’t look away from his gaze. “I promise.”

Noel’s mouth crushes against mine as the words leave my lips. The heat bounds between us and my hands fly up into his thick, dark hair. His hands slide up, under my t-shirt and stroke the flesh on the small of my back.

I moan and Noel chuckles. “I love that you get turned on so fast for me. It’s unbelievably sexy. How come you weren’t like this in high school?”

I kiss his lips and shrug. “Scared, I guess, and inexperienced.”

He grins. “What do you expect from two virgins?”

He cuddles me tighter and I smile. “True, but I’m glad it was you.”

“Me too.”

We spend the rest of the day hanging out in our room. Most of our time in each others arms making future plans and filling in the blanks between us from the last few years. 

The food from our room service order is devoured quickly.  

“Are you excited that your boss will be here tomorrow?” Noel asks.

I swallow down the last bite of my hamburger from room service before answering. “Excited and nervous.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Why nervous? You already have the job locked down.”

“I know, but I really want Diana to like me. If she finds out that we are…together, she may not take me so seriously.”

People from all over the globe request Diana for projects. She has the magic touch. It seems like everything she gets her hands on turns into a world wide phenomenon. 

I can only dream of having a career like hers one day. 

He touches my cheek. “How could she not love you? You are the best person I know. You’re straight laced—head always in the right direction. I pretty much think you’re perfect. And who doesn’t love perfection?”

My face blushes and I look away. He thinks I’m perfect. The most perfect man in the world thinks I’m perfect. Someone is going to pinch me soon because this is too much like a damn dream.

“I’m nowhere near perfect, Noel.”

Noel nods and touches my nose with his fingertip. “You are to me.” He hops off the bed. “I have to take a shower and get ready to meet up with the guys for sound check.”

I gaze up to him and grin. “I suppose you want me to wash your back?”

He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “That would be nice…among other things.”  

I laugh and chuck a pillow at him as he heads towards the bathroom. The faded jeans he’s wearing hugs his back side just right and I appreciate the view. How did I ever get so lucky?

My cell phone rings the minute Noel shut the bathroom door. I fish it out of my purse by the third ring. The caller’s name appears on the screen and I smile as I answer.

“Too busy to call me this morning or what? I need some juicy details. I’m dying over here,” Aubrey says.

I giggle. “Well, I was a little…preoccupied.”

“Score one for the Sex-God. I bet he’s amazing.”

 I’m silent for few seconds and I know the suspense is killing Aubrey. “You know how they say things get better with time…”

Aubrey shrieks into the phone. “Gah! You are so lucky. He’s amazingly hot, sweet, and now we can add great in bed to the list. You know I’m jealous, right?”

“Why are you jealous? You and Riff have a thing.”

She sighs. “A thing is right. The thing that boy can do with his tongue…”

“Okay. Okay. I don’t want to hear about your Sexual Olympics.”

She laughs into the phone, just as Noel pokes his head out of the bathroom door. I frown and point to the phone so he knows I won’t be coming in. He rolls his eyes and closes the door.

 I catch up with Aubrey for the next few minutes about her family. She keeps turning the conversation back to Riff. She’s asked me at least twenty times in the last few minutes if he’s asked about her or not. 

After I convince her that Riff is secretly, madly in love with her she finally let’s me off the phone.  

Noel steps into the large bedroom area wearing nothing but a towel. Water droplets speckle his chest and the smell of his body wash fills the room. He lays a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt on the bed next to me and my eyes trail over his body like it’s dessert. It really is spectacular the way his muscles bulge under his skin. It’s practically art—the naughty kind that women love to drool over.

Noel laughs and I jerk my head back down to the laptop. I know he’s caught me staring, but it’s hard not to. 

He pulls on his jeans, with no underwear, and throws on his shirt. Men are so lucky. They can look yummy in less than fifteen minutes.

After I’m ready, we head out of our love nest holding hands. Noel’s thumb strokes the skin on the back of my hand. This small gesture is somehow the most reassuring thing in the world.   

A black town car with tinted windows waits at the entrance of the hotel. The driver, wearing a black suit, nods at Noel before opening the back door for us. Noel helps me into the car then slides in next to me. The driver shuts us in and hops in the front. 

The smooth car pulls out onto the road. It’s crazy Noel has so much money he doesn’t even have to drive himself around like a normal person anymore.

“Do you still have your car?” I ask Noel.

His eyes sparkle a little at the mention of his black Chevelle. “Yep. She’s tucked away in my garage.”

His garage?
“I didn’t know you owned a place.”

He wraps his arm around me and trails his fingers over the bare skin on my shoulder. “Yeah, I bought a house in Kentucky a couple years ago with the first big chunk of money I got from the record company.” 

I tilt my head to the side and gaze up at him. “Why Kentucky?”

He shrugs. “Why not? No one really bothers me there. Who would expect that I live there? Plus, the rest of the guys in the band are from the area, so I got a place near them. I like the space. It’s peaceful there, you know. Reminds me a lot of where we grew up.”

“It has a lake?”

He grins. “Yep, and the dock there puts our little one to shame.”

“I’d love to see it sometime.”

His eyes lock on mine. “One day soon. Maybe after you see it, you’ll want to stay.”

My breath catches and I’m stunned. Did Noel just ask me to move in with him? It’s true we’ve known each other our entire life, but we just got back together. Am I ready for such a huge leap?

Noel runs his hand through his hair. “Every time I feel like we are moving forward, you throw me off when you freeze up like this. Like you’re not quite sure enough about me yet to take things to the next level.”

I’m taken back. How could he possibly know I even have the slightest hint of reservation? “Noel…I…”

He leaves one arm around my shoulder and threads my fingers with his free hand. “It’s okay, Lane. I know I am moving kind of fast, but I can’t seem to help myself. All I want to do is be with you. Now that I have you back, I can’t see my life without you. When I think about my future, I think about you.”

I want to be with Noel, but I don’t want to ruin this by rushing things. We’ve only been reconnected for a couple days, there’s so much I don’t know about him anymore. Four years in the rock world pretty much equals ten in the real one. Everything is always on the move here.

The most I can offer him is honesty at this point. “I want to be with you, too. I really do. But I think we need to take things slow. I mean, there’s no rush, right?” 

Noel’s shoulders sag. “I guess not.”

He looks away from me and I know I’ve hurt him. The familiar pain of heart break tears in my chest. I touch his cheek. “I’m not saying I’ll never move in, or that it’ll even take that long. I’m just saying let’s see how the next couple of months go and then we can start talking about moving in together. For now, I’m here. And for now, I’m yours.”

He turns those powerful blue eyes on me and nods. “If that’s all you can give me for now, then I’ll take it.”

I know it probably won’t take me until the end of the week to feel the same way Noel does, but for now, we need to take it slow. I’m just glad he understands my side of things. Noel never was a very patient person. He’s always been an all or nothing type of guy, this compromising side of him is new, but I like it. It shows he’s grown.