Page 29 of Trophy
Rob looked torn. “Are you sure?”
She really didn’t understand, but he appeared to be hesitating because of her. “Why wouldn’t I? I’d love to see this side of you. Please show it to me.”
Something in his eyes changed, and whatever it was, it made the decision. He stood up and shook himself off. When he got up to the stage, he took the guitar the ponytail guy handed him, and he shook his head at Malachi in amused reproach.
Malachi appeared very pleased with himself. “We’re going to have to go more mainstream with this one, since Rob here is so out of practice.”
Allison was ridiculously excited as Malachi started to play his fiddle, the first bars obviously signaling what song they were going to play.
Naturally, Allison hadn’t heard this one before either, but a lot of the other people in the restaurant must have because they clapped when the guys started to sing.
Allison focused on Rob, who seemed to be quite good on the guitar.
He had a warm, pleasant voice—nothing really exceptional, but she loved the sound of it.
Loved it. Loved that she was finally getting to know this side of him—one that was so authentic and endearing and even sexy.
The song was something about a Louisiana Saturday night, but it sounded more like “Loos-iana”—and that was evidently the right way to pronounce it, since that was how the customers joining in were singing it too.
It was an upbeat song, heavy on the banjo and fiddle, and the lyrics Allison caught made her snicker.
Rob was clearly having a good time up there. He liked the guys in the band, and he was having fun with the music. Every once in a while, he’d glance over to her, and he seemed relieved that she was still smiling.
It was like he’d thought she wouldn’t like to see him this way, as if she would be embarrassed or something.
She wasn’t embarrassed. She was delighted. It felt like she now knew him better than she had even five minutes ago. She wanted to know him more, deeper, and sometimes she felt like she’d never get past his strong, solid surface.
When the song finished, the restaurant broke out in cheers, and Rob handed back the guitar, punching Malachi on the shoulder on his way down. He looked sheepish and happy and a little embarrassed as he returned to the table.
Allison got up to hug him and she was surprised by how tightly he hugged her back.
The drive back from the restaurant took about forty minutes, so it was dark when they got home. They hadn’t talked much on the way back, but it was a pleasant kind of silence, not an awkward one.
She smelled her mulch when she got out of the car, and she gave Rob a little squeeze when she remembered what he’d done for her.
He brushed a kiss into her hair as they walked to her front door. His eyes were very soft in the light from her front door light as he stood and gazed down at her. “I don’t have to come in if you’re tired,” he murmured.
“Are you kidding? My birthday isn’t over yet.”
This appeared to be the right thing to say. He smiled and kissed her gently before she was able to unlock her door.
She sighed and toed off her shoes as she walked in, since she’d worn heels and her feet her hurting. She walked over to smell her flowers on her kitchen counter.
Rob came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle. “So did you have a good time?” he asked.
“I did. I really did.” She turned around in his arms. “I can’t believe you never told me before that you sing and play the guitar!”
“I’m really not that good. I did it when I was younger, mostly so I could hang out in bars and impress girls.”
She giggled. “Well, I was definitely impressed.”
“Really?”
“Why did you think I wouldn’t be? Did you think I wouldn’t like that side of you?”
He cleared his throat. “I don’t know. I thought maybe you wouldn’t like that kind of music, and it would remind you of how different we are.”
She felt a little stab of fear that what he’d said was true. They were really different. They came from different worlds. They enjoyed different things. They wanted different things out of life. So far it hadn’t been a problem between them, but maybe one day it would.
But maybe not. She pushed the thought away because there were more important things to think about right now. She reached up to stroke his cheek, which was just slightly stubbly. “I don’t care about any of that. I really liked seeing you up there. I like knowing that part of you.”
He tightened his arms around her. “Good. Then I’m glad I showed you.”
“What were the words of that song you sang? Something about a fiddle and a bow?”
Rob sang softly, thickly, the first lines of the song’s refrain. When he got to the line about kicking off your shoes and throwing them on the floor, Allison broke in to join him, since she remembered those words.
He chuckled and swayed her gently in his arms. “Dance in the kitchen ’til the mornin’ light. Loos-iana Saturday night.”
She was so overwhelmed with feeling that she couldn’t stand even the slightest distance between them. She pulled him down into a kiss.
Rob kissed her back, gently but hungrily, until eventually they ended up against the kitchen counter, his hands all over her and her leg wrapped around his thighs.
“Oh God, Rob,” she gasped at last, trying to breathe despite all the pleasure and emotion surging through her. “If you don’t take me to bed right now, you’re just going to have to take me right here in the kitchen.”
He laughed softly and then reached out to swing her up into his arms. She squealed in surprise but wrapped her arms around him, kissing him again as he carried her into the bedroom.
He took off her clothes, kissing and caressing every part of her until he finally settled between her legs, both of them needy and aroused.
They moved together in a slow, tender rhythm, never breaking out of their kiss, and Allison couldn’t remember ever feeling so cared for, so adored.
She’d never known sex could be like that.
Not just physical pleasure but a sharing of selves in the most intimate way.
She fell asleep in his arms afterward and for the first time was really wondering if there was some way to work out the differences between them so they could stay together for longer than right now.