Mick sits down beside me on the bed, brushing my hair back with a tenderness that makes my heart speed up. “How did you eat in your father’s house?”
“Once a day, the maid would leave a tray outside my door. Usually a sandwich or whatever he didn’t manage to finish at breakfast. She would unlock the door long enough for me to drag it inside.” Discomfort clogs my throat, but I shrug it off, not wanting to be ungrateful for the here and now. “He delivered orders for the paintings, though—he didn’t trust them in anyone else’s hands. He’d bring me a new, blank canvas. Supplies. I usually had two weeks to get it done, unless there was a rush…”
I trail off when I notice Mick’s hand is twisting in the comforter. “You’re never going back there, baby.” He takes the menu from my hand. “You’re getting all three things and I’m adding a milkshake.”
“No, there’s no way—”
He stops my protests with a kiss. “Do me a favor, Hailey. When I want to spoil you, just say, ‘Okay, Mick.’ Seeing you happy makes me happy.”
Fingertips of exhilaration crawl up my spine and scalp, making me feel like I’m back in the hot bathtub with steam swirling around me. “What else makes you happy? What did you do to have fun before me?”
He reaches under my robe and grips my hip, drawing me closer so he can lay his head in my lap. “I collect old pianos,” he says. “Got a whole barn full of them back home, just sitting there. Waiting to be restored and tuned up.”
“Really?” I laugh. “I didn’t expect that. Do you play?”
“Some. Not as well as I’d like.” He undoes the tie of my robe, pushing it open so he can nuzzle and kiss my belly. “There was a neighbor growing up. She used to play late at night and I’d hear it through the wall. There wasn’t much beauty where I lived…but just the sound of the piano made me wonder if there was more in the world. Beauty.” He swirls his tongue in my belly button. “Little did I know, my Hailey was out there. The most beautiful thing in this damn world. You’re the music now, baby.”
Heat pushes behind my eyes. “I want to learn to play. For you.”
He glances up. “Let’s learn together.”
I can’t subdue my smile. “Okay.”
An hour ago, I couldn’t imagine a place finer than this hotel room, but my excitement about getting to Montana is building by the second. I just want to go there now. Somehow Mick has already made it my home.
He slides lower on my body, pushing open my left knee and kissing me on the low waistband of my panties. His heartbeat raps against my leg, faster and faster, but after one final kiss, just an inch or so from my clit, he moves back into a sitting position. He turns away, but not before I can see the shadow in his eyes. It’s not the worry from earlier, though. It’s something else. Something like…shame?
“Mick.” I reach out for him, catching the sleeve of his shirt. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he says gruffly, brushing a thumb across my lips. “I’m just finding it hard not to…”
“Not to what?”
“If I let go of my self-control, Hailey, you’d be getting fucked by me once an hour. I look at you and I want to hold you, feed you, care for you. Talk to you.” He swipes a hand across his mouth. “But I also want your pussy. I want it non-fucking-stop.”
I’ve already grown wet between my thighs. Doesn’t he realize I feel the same? I want his big body on top of mine, pressing me down, his words harsh in my ears. “I want that, too,” I murmur, sitting up and letting the robe coast down my shoulders. “I didn’t know if it was just me. You seemed surprised that I’m so…”
“Horny,” he rasps, adjusting the ridge in his pants. “That’s a real good thing, baby. I didn’t mean to make you feel wrong about it.”
The way he’s looking at me makes me feel sexy, desirable, and I do what feels right. I pile my hair on top of my head and twist a little on the bed, tempting him closer. He comes with a heaving chest and a straining zipper. “Fuck me again, Mick. Again and again.”
After ripping his shirt in the bathroom, he put on a new one—and it lands on the floor now in a heap, followed by the lowering of his fly. “Goddamn, Hailey. I should be working. I’ve got a shit ton of red tape to cut down, but I panic when you’re less than five feet away from me.”
“After this time, you’ll work,” I whisper, boldness making my blood thick and needy. “I’ll make you. I promise.”