Part 14 (1/2)
”You Sullivan boys must have kept your mother busy growing up.”
”Still do.”
”It must have been so hard for you to have so much responsibility thrust on you, just a kid who had no choice but to step into his father's shoes to take care of his brothers and sisters.”
She caught his expression too late to take her words back. He'd looked so open when he'd been talking to her about his family. His eyes weren't completely shuttered yet, but he couldn't hide the pain her words had brought to the surface.
”I'm sorry,” she said softly, squeezing his hand with hers. ”That was thoughtless of me. I'm just sorry you had to deal with so much, so young.”
”No, you're right. I did feel like I needed to step into his shoes. And I wanted to. I wanted to help.”
”How did your mother deal with it all?”
”She was always there for us.”
”She sounds amazing,” Nicola said, and then thinking how she would have felt in his mother's shoes if she'd lost the man she loved and had a family with, asked, ”Did she cry a lot?”
”I'm sure she did, but I never saw it.”
She squeezed his hand tighter. ”Did you?”
Marcus was silent for a moment. ”Do you remember telling me how you're willing to put up with the pressures of fame if it means you can play your music for people?” When she nodded, he said, ”Making sure my family is happy has been worth any tradeoff.”
”You're the one who's special,” she told him as her heart broke for him, for all that he'd held inside for so long, and all that he'd had to be for so many people. She knew it was why he was the spectacular man he was today...and yet she wished that it had all been easier for him. ”I love how close you are to your family. I don't know many other people who feel that way.”
”Family is important to you, too, isn't it?”
”Very.” She'd already told him how much she loved children. Now she found herself saying, ”I've always wanted a big family of my own. A family like yours, with lots of brothers and sisters who all fight and love in equal measure.”
”How are you planning to balance your career with having babies?”
Nicola shrugged. ”I've always figured if I want something bad enough I'll figure out a way to make it work.”
”What else do you want, kitten?”
She gave him a wide smile. ”This.”
She leaned over and kissed him hard and fast before letting him get back to the business of driving them to their secret destination.
He pulled off the freeway onto a side road and as the terrain grew wilder, after so many days and months spent in windowless studios and concert halls, she turned on the radio until she found a song she liked, then gave in to the urge to roll down her window and stick her head out of it into the sun and wind like a happy dog as she sang along to the catchy Bangles song about walking like an Egyptian.
Marcus never let go of her hand the entire time and as she felt pure joy move through her, she worked to drink it in, to savor the incredible taste of it.
They hit a b.u.mp in the road and Marcus pulled her back inside, her rear hitting the leather seat with a thump and a burst of laughter she couldn't possibly contain. When Marcus started laughing along with her, her entire soul was swept up in the joy on his face.
As a Whitesnake song came on next, she said, ”I love oldies stations like this.”
”Oldies are songs from the fifties, not the eighties,” Marcus argued.
Oops, she thought, realizing too late that she'd just inadvertently pointed out the difference in their ages. ”You're right,” she said cheerfully before turning off the radio.
A few moments later he was pulling into the parking lot of a really tiny little store.
”I'll be right back.”
He returned with a large insulated bag slung over his shoulder. She wanted to ask what was inside, but he looked so much like a little boy with a happy secret that she decided to let him keep it. She'd seen him serious. Intense. Sensual, of course. And caring. But this playfulness was another wonderful layer.
It wasn't long until he pulled off onto a really rough, really narrow dirt track that required all of his concentration to get them to the bottom in one piece.
She'd guessed that they were heading out toward the coast, but that didn't lessen her surprise when he helped her out of the car, slung the heavy bag over his shoulder, and said, ”Close your eyes.”
Three days ago she'd been afraid of ever trusting anyone again. But trusting Marcus was as natural as breathing. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and was surprised to feel him lifting her off the ground.
Her eyes flew open and she found him smiling down at her.
”You don't need to carry me,” she made herself say, even though the truth was that she was glad to be back in his arms, to feel his heart beating steadily against her.
”I can't have you tripping on any branches,” he said against her ear. ”Close your eyes again.”
She s.h.i.+vered at his gentle command, even as a devil on her shoulder asked, ”What if I don't want to?”
The look he gave her was so hungry, so full of sensual intent, that her lips actually tingled though he hadn't kissed them. ”Do you really want to find out?”
Her brain screamed Yes, even as fear of the erotic repercussions had her closing her eyes just as he'd asked her to.
He chuckled as she wrapped her arms around his neck and snuggled in closer to him. All of her senses came to life as he carried her surely and steadily down the narrow path between the tall pines. She could hear the birds calling to each other from the treetops. She could feel the light breeze brus.h.i.+ng over her skin, cooling her where Marcus touched her and made her hot.
”The air smells so good.”
He kissed her forehead in response and with her eyes still closed, she tilted her face up to his, moved her hands to the back of his head and pulled his face down to hers to kiss him.
Giving her one last kiss, he said, ”If you aren't careful, you'll never see anything but trees.”
His low voice, rough with desire, had her more than a little tempted to do just that. But then he was moving again and she let herself be taken to the place he'd chosen just for her. For both of them.
The air around them changed from pine needles to salt spray as he stopped walking and slowly put her down, her back to his front.
”Go ahead. Open your eyes.”
She had spent plenty of time on Malibu beaches these past years that she'd been working down in Los Angeles...but she wasn't prepared for the incredible sight that awaited her.
The blue-green water was so vibrant her brain could hardly believe it was real, that it hadn't been painted just for them. And the way the surf crashed on the tall, craggy rocks that rose up on either side of the fine, white sand of the beach reminded her of the parts of New Zealand she'd managed to see during her past shows there.
”Marcus,” she said with wonder, ”this is beautiful.”
His arms tightened around her and he nuzzled her. ”I'm glad you think so.”
She'd been given expensive bouquets, fancy dinners, even jewels, but only Marcus would think to give her the simple joy of a day at the beach.