Just One Wish (The Kingston Family 4.50)

There was something about him or his life that bugged her, and he wasn’t sure what. Yet. He drank half the beer and poured the rest down the drain before heading into his room. After stripping and climbing into bed, he replayed the few minutes by her door at the end of the night.

He’d leaned in close, inhaling her warm, vanilla scent, and his dick grew hard. Fighting the need to kiss her lips and take possession of her luscious mouth hadn’t been easy, but this was a marathon, not a sprint.

And he was adult enough not to listen to his cock and to think with his brain, because she’d be worth it in the end. When he’d stepped back and glanced at her face, a flash of disappointment had flickered in her gaze. At least he hoped that was what he’d seen.

On that note, he grabbed his dick in his hand, pictured Tara’s mouth wrapped around him, and took care of the hard problem that would have kept him awake.

* * * *

The next morning, the band planned to work on a new song, and Axel drove over to Dash’s house to meet up with the guys. His sister had long since given up her job as their assistant, and her replacement, a preppy guy named Brent, was perfect for the position. He kept them well fed, hydrated, and managed each of their appointments and the band’s schedule as a whole.

Since firing their manager, Dean Jerome, last summer, all four band members had spent hours discussing what they wanted for the future. Instead of someone to negotiate all their business, they’d hired a music lawyer to handle contracts, and the rest of their operations were done in house by separate people. No one person would take a percentage and fuck with them ever again.

Though Axel had been new to the band when Dean started pushing too hard and acting outside of the band’s best interests, the man had an issue with Cassidy as Dash’s girlfriend. If Dash hadn’t stepped up first, Axel might have pummeled Dean into the ground for the way he’d treated Cass. But Dean was long gone, and Brent did a good job juggling the various people who needed access to the band.

The four band members spent the day jamming the song, rewriting the chorus, and arguing over key. All normal in a day’s work. Afterwards, Jagger and Mac went to grab dinner, and Axel joined them. Otherwise he’d be doubly tempted to call or text Tara. He didn’t want to play games, and the urge to ask her out again was strong.

He figured she needed a day or two to process their date, seeing him again, and of course, time to build up her walls. He expected it. Just as he planned to knock them down.

Friday morning, he caved, and after he parked in Dash’s huge driveaway, he called her before heading inside.

“Hello?” Tara answered in a breathless voice that reminded him of a hot, sweaty session in bed.

“Did I catch you at a bad time?” he asked.

“I’m just running late this morning. I overslept, which isn’t like me,” she said, her voice still husky.

He adjusted his dick in his pants. “I want to take you out Saturday night.” He got to the point, not wanting to keep her long if she was busy.

“I’m… Saturday’s not good. I have plans.”

His stomach plummeted at her words. Before he could ask what those plans were and with whom, because yeah, he wanted to know, she spoke but obviously not to him.

“Oh, hi, Mom. Sorry I’m late,” she said.

“Your first patient is already in one of the rooms,” he heard her mother say.

Shit.

“I have to go, Axel. I’m sorry,” she said and disconnected the call, leaving him holding the phone in his hand.

He understood she had a job to do, so her hanging up didn’t bother him. Turning him down on Saturday night for what he figured was a date – because what else would a smart, beautiful woman have planned on the weekend? – that stung.

* * * *

Tara’s first appointment of the morning was a quick one, a beagle named Buster with bad breath. They scheduled him for a teeth cleaning, and he was on his way. Her second patient was running late, and considering Tara’s own harried morning, she couldn’t be upset.

She walked over to her mom, who sat at the reception desk, confirming appointments for later in the week. Her mother took one look at her and put down the receiver.

“Did you really tell Axel you couldn’t go out with him because you had plans?” Disappointment lit her mother’s gaze.

Tara should have known her mother was eavesdropping on her call as she’d rushed in earlier. “I did because I do. It’s Amy’s bachelorette party, remember?” She looked over her mom’s shoulder at the rest of today’s schedule.