Breaking Stars (The Celebrity 2)

My thoughts drifted to my father. Would he be proud of me and the man I became? I knew he would be. But would he want more for me and want me to follow my own dreams? He would want that as well.

With a sigh, I said, “Okay, I’ll do some research tomorrow. It’s a small step, but that’s probably how I’ll need to approach this.”

“It’s better than no steps at all.” Paige smiled and moved over toward me. She dropped to her knees and rested her forearms on my thighs. “You can do this, Tatum. You can do anything you set your mind to. I truly believe that.”

Her head tilted up as her lips met mine in the sweetest kiss. I opened my mouth and drank her in. Paige’s hands wrapped around the lower part of my back, her fingers digging into my skin, and I pulled her even tighter against me. She couldn’t get any closer, but that didn’t stop me from trying. I slid my hand up the small of her back and traced her curves before settling on the crook of her neck. When she moaned into my mouth, I lifted her from the floor and pulled her into my lap. Her hips wiggled as she moved against me.

“Paige, sweetheart, you’d better stop moving your hips like that.”

“Or what?” she asked, her lips moving to my neck and dropping kisses there as her hips still moved, driving me crazy.

“Or maybe I’ll stop being so nice and I’ll start taking advantage of you,” I whispered against her lips.

“Maybe I want you to take advantage of me.” She pulled back, leveling a serious gaze on me, and I met her eyes.

“Is that what you want? You’re ready to do this?” I asked as I desperately tried to keep my real brain in control.

“Are you?”

And that was the million-dollar question. Was I ready to have sex with her? Every molecule in my body wanted to get lost in her, but I knew my head would be royally screwed up if I allowed that to happen and then had to let her go. I was never good at the whole one-night-stand thing, and I definitely wasn’t the love-’em-and-leave-’em type. Being physical with her meant getting attached, and I couldn’t afford to do that with someone like Paige Lockwood.

“Not yet,” I admitted, and I swear I heard my dick cry out in protest.

Paige smiled. “Okay then. No more dry humping,” she said with a laugh before scooting off my lap.

“Aw, man. I didn’t say that,” I said with a whine.

She leaned down, giving me another mind-blowing kiss before saying, “I’m going to head to bed in the house. I’ll see you in the morning.” Her lips brushed against mine. “Don’t forget to start researching. Maybe we can make a list of everything you need to do just to see what sounds good to you, or where the schools might be. We can do that tomorrow, if you want.”

“Would that make you feel better about my future?”

“Don’t make fun of me. But yes, it would. I want to help, and I know this is the only way you’ll let me.”

I’ll be damned if she wasn’t right about that.

“Okay, babe. Tomorrow we’ll start researching my shit.”

“Yay!” She clapped her hands with excitement and I grabbed her by the waist, pulling her back down on me so I could lose myself in her lips.

“I changed my mind,” I mumbled between kisses, and she moved her mouth away from mine.

/> “About what?”

“I want you.”

I needed to get out of my own head for once and live in the moment. If I let Paige go without really knowing her inside and out, she would be one more thing I’d regret. This amazing girl materialized like magic into my life, and I was acting like a damn chick about it.

“Are you sure?” she said, her voice sounding so damn sweet, I wanted to taste it. “We don’t have to.”

But I wasn’t sure. Not entirely, but my body convinced me otherwise. “As sure as I’ll ever be. You?”

“I was just waiting on you.”

“So sweet.”

Without another word, I swept her up into my arms and walked us to my bedroom, my lips pressed against hers the whole time. The truth was, I was nervous. It had been a long time since my dick had seen any action, and even longer since my brain had wanted it to. My dick always wanted to get laid, but the smarter parts of me tended to win out. Thank God.

After laying her gently on top of my bed, I knelt on the bed and took a deep breath. Knowing what she was about to give me excited me in every way possible. Why would I ever deny myself this kind of connection with her?