Liam's arms went around me, and he pulled me closer. "Now when," he whispered huskily, "have I ever given you that impression?"
My hands slid around his waist and I splayed my fingers on his back, enjoying the play of muscles against my hands as I stared up into his face. God, he was gorgeous. I could eat him up with a spoon. No wonder all these girls were ecstatically taping him. "But you're a big famous rock star and I'm nobody."
"You're Katy Short," he said with a grin. "Smart, determined wearer of pigtails and winner of The World Races. And I happen to be in love with you."
My breath caught in my throat. "You are?"
"I am," he said, and leaned in to brush the lightest of kisses over my mouth.
"I love you too," I breathed against his lips.
And then he kissed me, harder, and I felt his tongue swipe into my mouth and my knees went weak. This felt like a dream.
He broke off the kiss and nuzzled me, his hands sliding to my ass and cupping me against him. "So what are your plans?"
"I have no idea," I told him honestly. "I guess I see what a cash influx of five hundred grand can do for my business."
"How about a vacation?"
I laughed at that. "You didn't get enough travel in over the past few days?"
"I wasn’t thinking about traveling," he told me, brushing a lock of stray hair off of my brow in a tender motion that made my heart ache. "I was thinking you and me on a solitary beach house for about a month or so. We can sleep late, eat meals that aren't airport food, and pretend that the outside world doesn't exist."
That sounded like heaven. My hands tightened around his waist. "I'd love to, but don't you have rock star stuff to do? Like go on tour?"
"Tour's over," he told me. "The band's breaking up. Tesla actually just finished recording her first solo album. The label just hasn't announced anything yet. They're waiting for the show to air. It's all been agreed upon with the network."
I gaped at him. "Your band broke up? Oh my god, I'm so sorry."
"I'm not," he said bluntly, and he gave me a grin that didn't seem unhappy at all. "Tesla was miserable to work with and I have the connections now that I can do what I want. And I like song-writing. So if I take six months off to just write a bunch of songs, it's no big deal."
"It isn't?" I breathed the words, barely daring to hope.
"Nope. And then," he shrugged. "We see where it goes from there."
"What if it goes well?" I asked him. I couldn't help myself.
He smiled. "Then we see if you want to move to LA or I want to move to…where did you say you were from again?"
I laughed. "Oklahoma."
He grimaced. "Okay. Or we see if I can move to Oklahoma. Either way, I want to be with you." He leaned in toward me again, his mouth hovering over mine, almost kissing. "If you want to be with me."
"Always," I told him softly, and then pulled back. "But I have two conditions."
His pierced eyebrow rose. "Oh?"
"One - no pretzels."
Liam laughed. "I think I can manage that."
"And two, you're in charge of directions." I grinned.
"I don't foresee that being a problem," he told me, and his hands squeezed my ass. I heard the girls nearby titter, no doubt catching every moment on their smartphones. I didn't care. "So you want to be with me even though I'm not going to be a big shot rock star anymore and just a songwriter?"
"I want to be with you always," I told him, sliding my arms up and around his neck to pull him down to me in another kiss. "I think this partnership has real, long-term potential."
"I agree," he told me, and kissed me again. "Best partner in the race."
"Best," I breathed against his lips.
And then we kissed all over again.
The End