“Morning,” he whispered, still suspended above me on one elbow. Those perfect cheekbones, the wet curves of his lips, called to my fingers. I could happily touch him all day.
“Ben.”
“Hmm?” Another kiss, this one softer, sweeter.
I lay beneath him, decimated. So many things I could say, that I wanted to say. But slow was the key word here. What he did to my heart and mind couldn’t be described. The way he filled my heart to overflowing scared the crap out of me. “Good morning.”
“No touching yourself,” he ordered in a low, gruff voice. “Getting you off is my job now. You need me, call. Get to you as soon as I can, okay?”
“Uh-huh.”
He kissed me some more, making my head spin. “Things moving slow enough for you?”
“Sure.”
He smiled, and good god, all I could do was stare. Had there ever been a more beautiful man in existence? I think not. His focus on me was complete, making for such a heady feeling. Dark eyes never strayed from my face, as if he was memorizing me.
“We’re doing good, Liz.” His hand covered my bump, lips brushing over my cheek.
“Yeah.” I had no words. Not when he was like this.
The edge of his lips picked up some. “C’mon. Shower time.”
* * *
I was still in the bathroom, fixing my hair and applying some concealer and mascara to up my glow factor, when I heard Ben and Sam chatting in the living room. No way did I mean to listen in. It just sort of happened.
“With Mal the way he is, the band’s already on tenterhooks,” said Ben. “I’m just not sure we should add her to the mix.”
Wait, were they talking about me? But I was basically already living and touring with everyone. That made no sense.
“I love Martha, but we all know what she’s like,” Ben continued.
“Things are more stable now. It might be good for her,” said Sam. “Besides, she’s not going to get her shit together out there on her own, acting like the party queen of New York and burning through money.”
“I don’t know.”
Sam made a humph sound. “She still makes the papers now and then. From a security perspective, it’d be easier having everyone in the same orbit, if not under one roof. News will hit about the pregnancies eventually. Be good to keep everyone close. That’s my only point.”
“Sure your concern about Martha isn’t more personal than that?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Nicholson.”
I wandered in, curious, interrupting the very manly staring competition under way. “Hi, guys. Problem?”
Ben shook his head. “What are sisters for if not to fuck with your life now and then, right?”
“Just think about it.” Sam clapped him on the shoulder, heading for the door. “Later, Miss Rollins.”
“Bye.” I turned to my boyfriend, gave his T-shirt an affectionate tug, drawing him in closer for a kiss. “Anything we need to talk about?”
“No.” He gave me a gentle smile and an even gentler kiss. Followed by a hearty slap on the ass. “Go do your girl thing. I’m meeting Jim for a run.”
I made a swipe at his butt but missed by about a mile. “Yeah, you better run, buddy.”
He laughed all the way out the door. I held the dumb smile on my face for even longer.
* * *
“I guess you’re wondering why I called you all here today,” began Lena, a bottle of spring water balanced on her belly. Neat trick.
It was around midday. All four of us, Lena, Evelyn, Anne, and I, sat gathered in Lena and Jimmy’s luxurious suite, just hanging out. A range of swanky sandwiches, pastries, fruits, and cheeses were laid out on the coffee table before us. No cake pops, but there were macaroons and madeleines, which you have to admit are almost as good.
Ev wiped a stray bread crumb from the corner of her mouth. “I thought we were just having lunch.”
“She wouldn’t have made that announcement if we were just having lunch,” said Anne, stirring extra sugar into a cup of sweet tea.
“True.”
Lena sat in a damask lounge chair, peering out through her groovy horn-rim glasses at each of us in turn. The woman was a good month ahead of my sixteen weeks. God help me when I got that big. Ben could just roll me places.
Pregnancy. So not natural.
“No, we are not here just to eat,” she continued. “Though eat we will, and then some. What we are here to do is to meddle in Lizzy’s life, because we love and care for her. Also, because being on tour gets boring after a while so I figured what the hell.”
“Oh good.” I took another sip of my decaf—read warm, beige milk.
“Did you notice she has a hickey on her shoulder?” asked Ev, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Nothing to see here.” I pulled up my shirt collar. “Move along please.”
“She does seem especially glowy this morning.” Awesome. Even my own sister was getting in on the act. No loyalty.
“I noticed that.” Lena tugged at a stray thread on the hem of her maternity Stage Dive T-shirt. It had to be pirated, what with it proudly proclaiming in fancy lettering, JIMMY FERRIS, I’D TAP THAT. I couldn’t imagine the man ever okaying the design in this lifetime. “And get this. When Ben stopped by to grab Jim to go work out earlier, the bearded dude was one happy, happy boy.”
My brows descended. “No comment.”
“About time,” sighed Ev. “He’s been so damn grumpy lately.”
“Not anymore he isn’t. She’s got that boy walking on the sunshine.”
“Thinking she used pussy magic on him?” asked Ev, eyeing me up in a dreadfully lewd fashion.
“That’s my guess.”
“You’re not funny,” I said, mostly unsmiling. “Anne, make them stop.”
My sister tucked her bright-red hair neatly behind her ears and shook her head sadly. “Ah, hon. No can do. You’re part of Stage Dive family now. Inner circle and all that. Best get used to it.”
“Ben and I aren’t married. We’re not even together, exactly.”
“Expound on ‘exactly,’” said Anne, learning forward in her seat. “I haven’t heard what happened last night after you two left the party to go talk.”
“We talked. Nothing else to tell.” Nothing else I was prepared to tell. The many changes were still too fresh. I hadn’t quite turned all of the information over enough times in my head to make sense of it. Assuming I would in fact be able to make sense of it.