Rock Chick Renegade (Rock Chick #4)(128)

“Am not,” I mumbled sleepily into his shoulder.

His hand came up and started to play with my hair.

I fell asleep.

* * * * *

I woke up with the alarm and Vance wasn’t in bed but I heard the shower going.

There was no Boo either.

I hit the off button on the alarm and searched for my nightgown and underwear that Vance had divested me of the night before. I struggled to put them on in a lying position which was not easy. After I succeeded I slid off the bed platform.

I walked to the kitchen.

Boo’s breakfast bowl was down and had already been licked clean.

I looked at the coffeemaker. There was a pot at the ready.

I walked into the living room. Boo was lying on my chaise lounge, cleaning his face. He didn’t even spare me a glance much less a good morning kitty meow. He was sated and preparing for his morning nap.

I walked back into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of coffee.

Then I stood with my h*ps against the counter, coffee cup aloft, staring into space, wondering how my world had turned on its head in a week and four days.

I had a boyfriend who fed my cat, made coffee, had a kickass job, took care of me, was great in bed and was hot. I had a family of friends looking out for me, calling me and wanting to spend time with me. They even got mad at me when I tried to go to the mall alone.

This freaked me out, in a good way.

My pug nestled up to me and decided he wanted to play just as Vance walked out of the bathroom, chest bare, black hair wet and slicked back and one of my mint-green, Egyptian cotton towels wrapped around his hips.

My mouth went dry.

He walked toward me, got in my space, dodging the coffee cup I didn’t move, put his hands on either side of my neck and touched his lips to mine.

“Mornin’ Princess,” he said, not moving out of my space.

“Thanks for feeding Boo.”

He grinned and dropped his hands to my waist.

“Thanks for making coffee,” I went on.

He kept grinning.

“You done in the bathroom?” I asked.

He nodded.

I put the unsipped coffee on the counter, skirted around him and went to bathroom. I brushed and flossed then washed my face.

I left the bathroom and went in search of Vance.

He wasn’t hard to find considering I only had three rooms in the house (three and a half, if you counted the bed platform). He was sitting on my couch, clothed in the outfit he had on yesterday, pulling on his boots.

“What’re you doing?” I asked, staring at him.

“Puttin’ on my boots,” he replied, looking up at me.

I blinked. “You wore that yesterday,” I said.

“Yeah,” he pulled on the second boot and stood.

“If you’re going to stay here you should keep some clothes here.”

Now, why did I just say that?

I was going to freak him out. He was going to think I loved him or something.

I, of course, did love him but he didn’t know that or at least I didn’t think he knew that. Now he’d think I was a clingy, stalker, psycho bitch-from-hell and moving too fast and I was going to scare him off.

Shit.

“All right,” he said.

I blinked again. “Did you say ‘all right’?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he replied.

Guess I didn’t freak him out.

He came up to me, wrapped a hand around the back of my head and kissed my forehead. “Later Princess.”

My body went still.

“What?” I asked, looking up at him as he dropped his hand.

“Later, I gotta get to the office.”

I stared. “What?” I repeated.

He watched me a beat. “Are you okay?”

I thought about it.

Then I said, “No, I’m not okay.”

“What’s the matter?”

“You fed my cat,” I told him.

He watched me again, this time perhaps wondering if my body had been taken over by nonsense-speaking aliens.

“And?” he asked.

“And now you’re leaving.”

“I have to get to the office. They’re holding three ass**les who wanted to hurt you. I wanna find out what’s happening.”

This sounded plausible. I still didn’t like it.

“But we haven’t had sex yet,” I blurted.

For a second I realized I threw him and he looked surprised. He had absolutely no idea that was going to come out of my mouth. Then again, neither did I.

Still, I’d said it so I was going to have to go with it.

“We always have morning sex. We always have night-time sex. We can’t not have morning sex. What does that mean? Next we’re not going to have night-time sex?” I asked.

His lips started twitching as I continued.

“You fed my cat. I always have to feed my cat. How am I going to get used to not being the one who has to feed my cat? It’s always been just me. And Nick, of course, but that’s not the same thing. He doesn’t break up Boo’s food like you and I do.”

I was babbling. I knew it and I didn’t care.

I wanted to have sex.

“Jules –”

“You can’t just get up, make me coffee, feed my cat and then leave. What’s up with that?” I went on.