Page 14 of A Way Out (Rock Star #2)
Chapter Thirteen
O z left Maria’s room and went straight to the kitchen, where there were enough bottles of liquor set up on the counter to open a bar for the evening. He was tempted by the hard stuff but went for a beer instead. He wanted to take the edge off, but he didn’t need to get sloppy.
Because if he got sloppy, he’d proposition Maria. And he could not, under any circumstance, do that.
Jesus, she’d looked stunning in that shimmery, satiny dress that draped over her curves like it had been custom designed for her. Or, more accurately, for him.
He wanted to smooth his hands over that dress, and then he wanted to smooth his hands up under that dress, and then he wanted to unzip the dress while they were both standing in front of a mirror so he could watch as it slid from her body and pooled at her feet.
Damn it, he needed to get a grip.
Parker stepped up next to him and clapped him on the back. “You made it. Ready to rock the hell out of this reception Saturday night?”
He was, but he couldn’t seem to focus on that at the moment. His gaze kept straying to the stairs, waiting for Maria to appear.
Finally, Maria, Riley, and Holly came into view, Maria back in the clothes she’d been wearing all day. A pair of leggings and a form-fitting T-shirt. While that dress was straight up fire , she was still hot as hell in even the most basic outfit.
It didn’t help his self-control when she scanned the room, stopped on him, then quickly looked away while her cheeks went dusky.
Maria trailed her sister over to the groom for a hug, and Oz tried to come up with a way to stop thinking about the woman, for God’s sake.
Parker wandered over to say hello, as did Lacey, and then Travis and Cash. Sam and Lacey’s parents joined them, and soon, Oz was the only one who wasn’t part of the group chatting excitedly about the upcoming nuptials and the anticipated concert at the reception.
Reluctantly, he carried his beer over and joined the party.
An hour later, Oz had mostly wrestled his libido under control. At least enough to be able to function in mixed company.
Something slammed into his knees, and he looked down at Riley, who was dressed in a nightgown and clutching a stuffed dog. Maria had disappeared a short time ago, and he’d actually hoped that she’d snuck away to bed. Maybe he would be able to relax a little if she wasn’t in the room.
“Come tuck me in,” Riley insisted.
“Where’s your mom?”
“Upstairs. Come tuck me in,” she demanded again.
Oz scooped her into his arms and carried her up to the room she was sharing with her mother. He stepped inside, and Maria turned from where she’d been watching out the glass door.
“Oh,” she said, sounding surprised. “I thought she was just going to wish you good night.”
“She asked me to tuck her in,” he said.
Maria’s gaze slid to the side.
“Up you go,” Oz said to the little girl, patting the section of sheet he revealed when he pulled back the covers.
She scrambled up onto the bed and snuggled against the pillows. “Mommy, kiss.”
Maria obligingly gave her daughter a hug and kiss.
“Oz, kiss.”
Oz did the same, brushing Maria’s leg before she could move out of the way.
“’Night. I love you,” Riley said.
“I love you, too, kid.”
He and Maria left the room together, pausing in the hall.
“Thanks,” she said. “She’s really become attached to you.”
He shrugged like it didn’t matter. Even though it did. “She’s easy to get attached to.”
Maria raised her arm; she was about to reach for him. What would she do when she caught him? Would she pull him close? Kiss him?
He wanted to let her.
He stepped away. “Coming downstairs?”
She hesitated for a fraction of a second. “Yes.”
Drinks flowed freely, and no one seemed inclined to call a wrap on this little reunion. It was a funny way to look at it, since he’d seen his own bandmates several times this week, and he’d seen the members of Panic Station at least once in the last month.
Still, it was cool how well they all got along. The comradery made it that much easier to ignore the way his heart beat a little harder whenever his gaze snagged on Maria.
Who, he noticed, was fitting right in with this crew.
Of course, Holly was her sister, and she’d hung out with Panic Station a year ago at her grandmother’s funeral, plus, she’d been at the New Year’s Eve party where Sam had proposed.
Oz particularly enjoyed the story of how drunk Maria had gotten at her grandmother’s viewing.
How she’d thought she was whispering when she said, “Oh my God, rockers are so hot ,” in front of the entire band.
On the other hand, did that mean she was generally attracted to guys in a band, and it wasn’t just him?
He found himself glaring at Tyler when he threw his arm around Maria’s shoulders and assured her that she was a “cute drunk.”
There were way too many single rockers in this room for Oz’s preference.
Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore. He figured he had three choices: keep hanging out, making himself nuts imagining what Maria might or might not do with any of the eligible guys in this group, break into the whiskey until he got drunk enough to make a move on her himself, or go to bed and start over in the morning.
He chose bed, sneaking away when Maria wasn’t paying attention, because even though his overactive imagination was conjuring all sorts of ideas of her with other guys, he knew damn well which guy in this room she wanted.
The one who couldn’t have her.
Since the bathroom door was open, he checked on Riley, who was sound asleep, spread out like a starfish in her mother’s bed. Unless she was willing to take the chance of disturbing the kid, Maria was going to have a sliver of bed to sleep on.
His bed was big enough for her to join him. He didn’t sleep like a starfish.
He might spoon her, though.
He left the bathroom door in his bedroom open, too, so that he’d be able to hear Riley if she woke.
Even though her mother had enough confidence to leave her up here sleeping alone while everybody else hung out downstairs.
When Maria’s form darkened his door not twenty minutes later, he didn’t even bother pretending to be surprised.
“I didn’t think you noticed me leaving,” he said. He lay in bed in a pair of boxers, the comforter kicked to his feet, his lower half covered by the sheet.
“I don’t think I can not notice you, Oz,” she whispered.
Not what he wanted to hear.
Exactly what he wanted to hear.
“Riley appears to be a bed hog,” he noted.
She didn’t even glance over her shoulder at her child. “She is.”
“You can sleep in here if you want.”
“Really?”
“You didn’t expect me to offer?”
She inched deeper into the room. “You’ve been pushing me away, even though your eyes are begging me to come closer.”
“Maybe we should hire you to write song lyrics for us. That was pretty good.”
“Accurate is what it was.”
She was right. They both knew it. He hoped she didn’t want to dissect the reasons behind his push and pull. It might kill the mood. It might make him change his mind about what he knew damn well was going to happen if she climbed into this bed.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked needlessly. She wouldn’t be standing a foot from his bed if she weren’t.
She flipped her shirt over her head and dropped it onto the floor, showing him a cute pink bra with dainty lace around the edges.
Guess she was sure.
Wordlessly, he lifted the sheet, inviting her to slide in next to him. She shoved her leggings down her legs. Naturally, her panties matched her bra.
She was so beautiful, standing there with the bathroom light haloing her, her smooth dark hair down around her shoulders, the look on her face drunken, even though he knew she’d nursed a single glass of wine all evening.
His dick pulsed. His abs rippled. He barely held himself back from lunging across the short distance and pulling her into the bed with him.
She had to come willingly or not at all.
She closed the distance and slid into bed. “It’s been so long, I’m not sure I remember what to do,” she whispered.
He didn’t ask her to expound. He didn’t want to hear about any other men in her life, especially not her ex-husband. There was a reason she’d married the man. She had to have been in love with him once.
Oz didn’t want her to think about that when he was about to lean in for a kiss.
She met him halfway, her arms wrapping around his shoulders, her mouth opening, her tongue sweeping over his lip ring.
She definitely remembered how to do this.
He groaned into her mouth, rolling her onto her back and covering her with his body, dragging his hardened dick along her seam. He needed a little relief, and he wanted to tease her with what was to come.
She arched and let her legs fall open.
He was officially a goner.