Of course, I’d never do that.
Ream remained motionless beside the car, stiff and impenetrable. He was friggin’ sexy hot, and Georgie’s words about licking hunted me down and shot me in the lungs stealing my breath away.
It took two seconds before his eyes found mine. There was nothing but possession in them. As if he was taking everything from me and making it his with that single look. It was a total soul gripping statement, and I was so not ready for it because gone was the rage and torment I’d last seen in his eyes. It was replaced with complete confidence.
What made it worse was the indifference lying beneath the surface, as if he didn’t give a crap whether I walked away or not because he’d just keep coming. I squirmed under his stare, my poise faltering as my hand slipped off my hip.
He shut the car door and the sudden sound made me jump. He saw it. “Shit,” I mumbled beneath my breath.
I stood upright, mentally kicked myself in the ass, and dragged my gaze away from his and smiled broad, way broader than was characteristic for me, then jogged down to Emily.
I pushed Logan’s arm away from its protective and annoyingly sweet residence on Emily’s waist. He scowled. I smiled and winked at him then threw my arms around my bestie.
He shook his head and I heard the soft chuckle. “Kat. Nice to see you,” he acknowledged.
“Sculpt.” I knew he was rolling his eyes without having to look at him. His fans called him Sculpt. Well, we all did before we found out his real name. I continued to call him Sculpt because I knew it annoyed him now that we were friends. He’d changed a lot since he’d managed to win Emily back, and the one thing he insisted on was his friends calling him Logan. He kept Sculpt for the stage. But when I was brave enough or stupid enough, whichever, I liked to tease him just to try and get a reaction. Scowling Logan sucked, but getting a smile or laugh out of him was pretty damn magical.
“God, Emily, I missed you. Havoc’s missed you. That horse has been pining for you like an oversized puppy dog. I swear her hooves are worn down from dragging her feet for the last eight months.”
Emily laughed. “Missed you too. I’m glad to be back. Logan has promised no more traveling for a year.” She lowered her voice and whispered in my ear, “And if he reneges, you should hear what I get to do to him.”
I could only imagine. Emily said Logan was into the kinky, and I suspected bondage was on his list because well, a guy like Logan would want complete control.
I breathed in and Ream’s dark, musky scent seeped into me. My body recognized it and reacted instantly. The twinge between my legs put my panties to the test, and the pins and needles were now in an all-out war.
Shit.
I was afraid to look up because I knew the second I did, I’d be face-to-face with Ream and I didn’t know if I was ready for it. I hoped he’d walk past me and go to the house.
He didn’t.
Instead, when I pulled back from Emily, there was nothing to block my view of him. His hand rested on the roof of the car, eyes driving into me, and he wasn’t smiling or looking like he was happy about being back. Or happy about seeing me. Or happy about anything actually. He was just looking unhappy—period. But trying to read anything else in Ream was like putting a puzzle together without all the pieces—impossible. Maybe at one time I thought I knew him but now …
Emily was going on about the tour and how crazy it was, the insane fans … I really didn’t hear much because Ream moved, and it was toward me, and I went to mush. Gah … I hated mush. Most of all I hated mushiness when it came to guys.
I swallowed. Then I silently pleaded for him to disappear because he looked hot in his worn blue jeans and the knitted Asterisk hat that screamed sexiness and totally contradicted with the tats running the length of his arms.
He stopped an inch away from me and I swear it was on purpose. “Kat.”
The sound of his husky voice saying my name sent a shiver of anticipation through my body. Jesus, it was like his voice just pranced across my skin then fucked me. I briefly thought of just fucking him again and getting him out of my system.
Of course that was out of the question. I was dating Lance, and even though it had only been a month and we hadn’t done more than kiss, I’d never do it. Lance was my shield against my own weakness when it came to Ream. Besides, he was nice.
“Hey.” Even a simple three letter word came out wobbly. What was my deal? Ream was blowing all my confidence out of proportion here.
It suddenly hit me why it felt different this time … there was no anger in him. The constant barrage of arguing we’d done was because we were both holding onto some serious issues, and that was the change. I had nothing to fight with, to argue against.
I’d built myself back up over the last eight months after I’d felt completely defeated. I’d expected pissed-off Ream to come back, not overly-confident, self-assured, all-knowing Ream. Okay, he was those things all the time, but now it felt like it was directed straight at me and I had no recourse.
Ream looked over at Logan and I saw the odd exchange, but I didn’t know what it meant. Ream threw his bag over his shoulder then shifted past me and strode to the house.
Emily took my hand and squeezed. “You going to be okay with this?”
I shrugged. “No biggie.” I sure as hell didn’t want Ream or anyone else thinking I couldn’t handle living in the same house as him. We may have slept together and had history, but we could be civil … well, I could be. Ream I wasn’t so sure about.