Page 24 of Until You’re Breathless (Insatiable #1)

She chuckles. “Yeah. That’s what we need.” I detect facetiousness in her tone. “I think what we really need is to fuck like rabbits and get it out of our systems.”

“Is that all I am to you.” I tease, not daring to take a step towards her.

She swallows. “You know you’re not but we’re not going there right now, are we.”

I don’t know how much longer I can put this off.

She wants me and I want her and just her standing there she’s like a magnet to me.

I’ve made promises I don’t know if I can keep.

The fact that I slept next to her when she was naked puts me in the monk category.

But I’m no monk. And I’ve been acting like one around her for much too long.

We need to do something about it before we both lose our heads.

“Don’t do this. Not now.” I say weakly, lying to myself.

“Fine.” She says, and I detect a note of anger in her voice, as she walks away.

I feel like a fucking fool. How can I turn her down?

She is the most beautiful woman in the world, she has no hidden agenda, she’s not after me for my money, we have a past together, and most of all, we both love each other.

And, at least for me, it’s not just regular love.

This is a love that has grown for so many years I lost count.

I’ve loved Bowie since high school, and I never stopped.

Since reuniting with her, in whatever capacity you want to call it, I feel like my love for her has only grown stronger.

And I’m torn between loving her the way that I should love her, and risking our business, or solidifying the most beautiful relationship I could ever know.

And she feels it, too...

It sure looks like Stevie’s doing. This place is packed with people.

Some I know and some I don’t. The venue is giant.

Big enough to hold a conference or two, depending on which room you choose.

The place is decorated to the nines, so I know that Stevie hired only her top decorators and party planners, giving them a chance to show their chops on something a little funner than just the average schmoozefest. Bowie is off to the side, wearing a gorgeous cream silk dress that’s scooped in the front and back, accentuating, once again, her beautiful chest and ass.

She grabbed a ride over with Jinny, and I can see that Jinny has aptly ditched her to do some flirting with Axl. When he sees me, he motions me over. “Were you planning on coming over to say hello, old man?” He teases.

“Not really.” I snuffle a laugh.

“I figured as much.” Jinny scoffs.

“Easy, killer. Remember I sign your paychecks now.” I joke.

“I am taking it easy, actually. You should hear what’s going on inside my head.”

“Enlighten me.” I dare, knowing that I haven’t got much to fear, since Jinny doesn’t drink.

“Well, you’re a pussy for not going after Bowie, and you know it.”

“Who said I wasn’t going after her.” I comment.

“You’re not over there talking to her, for one. She’s still sleeping in my fucking guest quarters, for two.”

“I just got here. And are you suggesting that I ask her to move in with me? Because even I’m sure that’s not what she wants.”

“And yet you’re standing here talking to us.”

“Axl invited me over.” I point out nonchalantly, grabbing an hors d’oeuvre off the plate being offered to me by a server dressed in a black and white tuxedo. The guy looks like a fucking penguin. Only Stevie’s sense of humor can explain that.

When I see my brothers Halen and Rush approach the DJ’s area, I roll my eyes.

The microphone is set up and the music stops.

When Stevie scurries up, I look down at the floor, knowing full well that her intentions are to embarrass the shit out of me.

“Hello, everyone.” Stevie says in a singsong voice, dressed in a flaming red pleather frock with matching six-inch patent leather heels.

My sister is not much for modesty. We are complete opposites.

“Thanks for coming tonight.” That’s when she spots me.

“Jagger, do you want to come up here and join me?”

“No, actually.” I say, intentionally loud enough for everyone to hear. But what I don’t know is that while my sister and brothers were making their trek up to the microphone, Bowie was approaching me from behind. And here she is, pushing me up to my sister.

Once I get up there, Stevie looks at me and says. “He’s my polar opposite, in case anyone here didn’t know that.”

Mom calls out from off to the side, where her and dad are watching. “You’d never know that the two of you shared a womb.”

Laughter.

Yes, Stevie and I are fraternal twins. We are nothing alike, and I can’t explain it, nor have I ever tried to.

“Anyway, Happy Birthday, brother.” She says, giving me a hug. I hug her back, ever so reluctantly, even though I love her to bits. And I reciprocate, just not into the microphone. Then she releases me and shouts into the microphone. “Let’s party!”

The music starts up again, and I plot my escape, quickly scouting out the nearest exit. But I can hear heels clicking from behind me, and I know that Bowie is following me. “Are you trying to escape?”

“That was the plan, yes. I don’t know if you remember this, but I hate parties, especially birthday parties, especially ones that my sister planned.”

She chuckles and takes my hand, surprising me. “Come with me.”

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise.”

“Really? You know that I hate surprises.”

“I also know that it’s your birthday today, and here you are, all thinking that I forgot, but I remember.”

“I do give you credit for that. But my sister is the type that doesn’t let anyone forget. That’s part of the reason why I hate sharing a birthday with her.”

We walk down the hall, to the front of the venue, and then around to the side, and finally to the back, where we stop, just before an exit door. Bowie stuffs her hand down her cleavage, and I can’t help but watch as she pulls what looks like a fabric headband, out of there. “That was kind of hot.”

“Don’t worry. There’s nothing else in there.” She wiggles her eyebrows. “I’m going to blindfold you, okay?”

“Kinky.”

She gently places the thing over my eyes and then slaps me playfully. “Pig.”

“You ain’t seen nothing yet.”

She snorts a laugh, and then she takes my hand again, and I hear her open the door. “Follow me.”

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.”

“Are there any witnesses?”

“No.”

“I don’t trust you.”

“You shouldn’t. Now, shut up and follow me.”

“You’re lucky you’re wearing a hot dress.”

“You’re lucky it’s your birthday.”

We’re walking, and I hear cars passing by from the neighboring street off in the distance. When we stop, she releases my hand. “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

I can feel her removing the blindfold, but I keep my eyes closed. Her lips touch my cheek as she kisses me. “Happy Birthday.” She says. “Open your eyes.”

I open them slowly. Then they’re wide. My heart starts to pound as I look at the most beautiful car I’ve ever seen in the world.

“Hoooolllly fuuuuuuuck.” I murmur. It’s exactly like the one that my grampa had.

“Where did you get this?” I ask, walking around it, looking at it like it’s a fucking unicorn.

“It’s a secret.”

“God, this is exactly like my grampa’s.”

“That’s because it is your grampa’s.”

My gaze darts to her. “What?”

She smiles. “Your brothers helped me out with that one. There was an old picture of it somewhere in your mother’s attic, complete with the VIN, and we went on a hunt.

It turns out this car was bought at auction decades ago and then the owner passed away.

Evidently, all he wanted was this car, so he pre-paid for months of storage fees.

When his wife passed away, his son inherited it, and then they put it into storage.

But his son didn’t want to part with it until his wife filed for divorce.

We just happened to stumble upon it at the right time. ”

“Are you kidding me?” I bark. “This is my grampa’s original Bel-Air?”

Another smile. “Believe me, your brothers were surprised, too. And if it hadn’t been for it being your thirtieth birthday, they would never have agreed to letting you have it.”

The car is still in mint condition. It’s like it’s been frozen in time. Not a scratch on it, not a dent, nothing. “Does it still run?”

“I drove it here.”

“Where was it being stored?”

“Here in North Carolina.” Her eyes are sparkling. “Happy Birthday, Jagger.”

I flash her a smile. “You want to go for a drive?”

A chuckle. “Well, aren’t you even going to thank me?”

I stick the key inside the passenger side door. “Get in.”

The car is perfect. Just like grampa only drove it yesterday. “God, I can’t believe this. It’s exactly how I remember it.”

“Your brother had Axl do some light work on it to get it going, but otherwise, this is how it was when we found it.”

“Unbelievable.” I beam as we drive.

...and somehow, I end up at my house...