He opened his mouth to answer, but Shaun beat him to it. “This is uhh, my friend, Kasey.”
“Oh, just friend?” Karen asked, her blue eyes bouncing from Shaun to him and back. When Shaun nodded stiffly, Karen said gently, “Well, that’s okay. My Dustin always had such wonderful things to say about you, just that you were… well you know you were a lot to handle when you were younger! So strong-willed and of course, you could be pretty wild back then! But you’ll find someone that can handle you. Dustin always liked that you wereso… so free spirited, he just had a hard time keeping up with you! I’m sure your parents are glad you’ve mellowed out a little, too!”
Kasey’s mouth had hardened into a tight line at the sheer gall of this woman, but it was the almost invisible hurt that had clouded Shaun’s eyes that cut him to the quick and made him adjust the two of them so that he stood between the two women. Extending his hand, he murmured low, his voice tight, “It was so nice to meet you, Kathy.”
“Oh, my name is Karen,” the woman said, shaking his hand in return.
“My apologies,” he muttered, then turned back to Shaun, who had dropped her gaze to the list in her hand. “Shall we?”
She nodded as Karen walked away, leaving the two of them alone near the Brussel sprouts.
“So, I’m thinking about roasted chicken and veggies–”
“Please tell me you don’t believe a word that woman said.”
Pinning him with a stare, she laughed, though it didn’t reach her eyes, and it gutted him. “Who, Karen? Not at all.”
“Then why are you mangling that grocery list in your hand?” he asked softly, pointing at the crumpled piece of paper in one fist. She glanced down at it and released the death grip she had on the paper. Taking it from her, he grasped her chin in his fingers and forced her eyes up to his. “Tell me you don’t put stock into one single word that she said.”
She shrugged, her eyes searching his. “She’s not wrong, Kasey. I know I’m a lot to handle. You’ve said it yourself. Tommy didn’t like how wild I am, either.”
He was shaking his head before she finished talking. “I want you to listen to me, Shaun, and listen good. Tommy wanted to water you down, make you easier to swallow. Because yes, you are a lot. You are so fiercely your own person, and I pray to whatever God there is that you never fucking change. I told you once that I couldn’t wait to let out all that fire that I seeinside you. I want you to burn me up, darlin’. Can you be absolutely maddening sometimes? One thousand percent yes. Would I change one single thing about that wild heart of yours? Absolutely not. If they thought you were too much, that’s their problem, and bears no reflection on you. Do you hear me?”
She nodded, though he knew by that stubborn tick in her jaw that she was going to dig her heels in and wouldn’t believe a word he’d just said. He sighed heavily in frustration, his mouth tightening into a hard line. Shaun was so fiercely steadfast in remaining true to herself, it was refreshing. Maddening at times, yes, but so vastly different than how Savannah had been during their relationship.
Savannah had attempted to mold herself into being the perfect girlfriend in order to secure an engagement ring, it wasn’t until it was nearly too late that Kasey had realized she had no true or genuine thoughts or feelings for him. It had all been contrived to get what she wanted, and she nearly had. Shaun’s fiery nature and total lack of a filter were intoxicating. She never pulled her punches and there was no beating around the bush; she just cut the damn thing down out of her way. She didn’t hesitate to let her feelings be known and was adorably independent. He had a feeling she would fight like hell for the things she wanted, too, the things she loved…
Christ, this fucking feeling.There was so much more he could say, so much more that hewantedto say… but she wasn’t ready to hear it. And he wasn’t ready to lay his heart out on the line like that, at least not yet. Not when he knew if that’s not what she wanted, she wouldn’t hesitate to let it be known. And he wasn’t entirely a masochist.
“Can we please finish our shopping so I can get you back home and naked?” he asked roughly, kissing her quickly. She pursed her lips when he released her, and he muttered, “Because every time you have to reach for something up high that sweaterrides up, and I can’t walk around a family market with a hard on.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Laying against the pillows at the head of Shaun’s bed, he grinned down at her, where she was propped up on an elbow at the foot of the bed, their bodies parallel to each other. His feet were at her head, hers tucked under the pillow at his elbow, the sheet draped over them in the middle.
“I didn’t even know that was possible,” she laughed from the foot of the bed. He winked at her, the light of the bedside lamp next to the bed illuminating her in a golden glow. Her hair was a wild mess around her head. Ten minutes ago, she’d been riding his face while her mouth had been doing delightfully dirty things to him at the same time.Thatwas going to be a highlight of his fantasies for a long while.
“You have a lot to learn, darlin’.”
She lowered her blue eyes to the sheet, picking at it with her fingernail. “You certainly know a lot more than I do. I’m sure you stay… busy… while you’re traveling.”
Plucking her feet out from under the edge of the pillow, he hauled them both onto his chest, rubbing her calves with his thumbs. “Are you jealous, Shaun?”
“Pfft, no,” she mumbled, tossing her hair back away from her face and fixing him with a stare. Then she shrugged, the sheet slipping off one breast, leaving that pierced nipple bare for his gaze. “I just wonder how you got so good at all this.”
Massaging the arches of one of her feet, he smiled down at her when she moaned, her eyes drifting shut.
“So, you are jealous.”
“No. I’m curious,” she amended, shifting on her elbow.
“Curious about what?” he asked, pressing his thumb into the arch of her foot again.
“Well, you know about Tommy. I’m just wondering if there is some other woman out there waiting for K.C. Corcoran to return to the circuit and continue breaking her heart with an obnoxious amount of orgasms.”
He sighed, massaging each of her toes in turn. “I won’t lie to you, Shaun. I have fully enjoyed being a celebrity and some of the… baser perks of it. I like women. I like sex. A lot.”
Shaun nodded, lowering her gaze again. “Who is Savannah, Kasey?”
