Page 93 of Whiskey and Regret

“I’m serious.” The room might have still been swaying back and forth but I knew what the fuck I was talking about. “You could be as great as any other best-selling author out here, Evander.”

“You really believe that, don’t you?” He stopped joking for a minute to look at me.

“Yes, I’ve been saying that for how long now? You’re so damn stubborn, Senator.”

“And you’re so drunk.” Our legs tangled together and I laid my head on his chest to listen to his heartbeat. It was a thump, thump, thump that was stuck in my head. I wanted to get out of bed and march down to Sunshine to pluck out the notes on her strings.

We spent the entire night talking about everything and nothing. I’d never had a night like that before. I heard girls talking about shit like that. Staying up all night and talking on the phone or falling asleep in each other’s arms but none of that was a reality for me because I spent my time practicing. There was no time for all-night talks…until tonight.

…

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I stumbled out of bed holding my head and praying the hammering would stop.

“Come back to bed, Xari.” Evander’s sleepy voice tugged at me but I had to get some practice in. The Philips’s wedding was quickly approaching. I excused yesterday because a lot was going on but there was no way in fresh hell I was going to miss two days of practice.

“I have to play,” I told him, rubbing my tired eyes. I also had to stop falling asleep without my eye mask. Sunlight was not my friend.

“I’ll make breakfast and you practice.” He sat up and stretched giving me a lovely view of his golden muscles and colorful tattoos. I focused on Frankie’s full name on his chest and cringed inwardly. I was breaking her trust by fucking her father behind her back.

“Deal,” I nodded, heading out of the room.

The moment I was near Sunshine, my bones relaxed. I walked around lighting my millions of candles and pulled in a deep breath. I was at home.

“I still want my Janet song,” Evander whispered in my ear, making me jump. The fine hairs on my arm stood on end at the sound of his voice.

“I didn’t forget,” I smiled, turning to face him. This time when I looked into those deep, soul-swallowing brown eyes, I saw the little boy inside who wanted his father’s approval. The talk we had last night into the early hours of the morning changed both of us.

“After breakfast, can you sit in here and write while I warm up?” I wanted him near me. I also wanted him to pour himself into something he loved.

“Yeah, of course.” He kissed my cheek and I lit up with a smile. “Then on your next break…I’m fucking you all over this house.”

“Um. No. Work first. Play later.”

“Play when I tell you to play,” he growled.

“Make. Me.” I grinned and bounced up on the balls of my feet. Evander’s hand circled my neck making my clit throb.

“You know what those two words do to me with your bad ass.” He stood me on my tiptoes while he choked me then he crashed against my waiting mouth. When he sat me down flat on my feet, blood thumped against the walls of my veins, beating and hammering until it stole my breath away.

“I better hear some phenomenal music coming from this room while I cook,” he told me as he walked out. My eyes locked onto the thick wedges of muscle flexing beneath his skin.

Mine.

The word seemed to pop in my mind from thin air. What the fuck was happening? The only thing I’d ever been possessive of in my life was Sunshine. I didn’t claim men. They usually did the claiming. I did the running and evading. I didn’t want to do that with Evander though.

I wanted more.

The thought jarred me so deeply that I shook my head to physically dislodge it from my brain. I stretched my fingers and began plucking out the tune toAny Time, Any Placeby Janet Jackson. It reminded me of last night in the governor’s mansion.

Evander and I were all over each other.

I played the melody of Janet’s voice instead of the instruments and I swear to god, a picture painted itself across my eyelids. Me against the wall while Evander fucked me hard and slow. I felt his heat on my skin and smelled his cologne. I heard how wet I was for him and the moans escaping me that I couldn’t control.

The recent memories turned my warmup session into something so thick and charged with sexual energy that I started getting wet. Playing the harp was always a beautiful experience but it had never turned me on before.

You weren’t thinking about Evander fucking you while you played the harp before, either.

Damn that voice in my head.