A week since I was inside her, since we exploded into the s.e.x we always knew we'd have, hard, intense, and f.u.c.king amazing. The last few days have been an eternity waiting to have her beneath me again. Riley's hand slides between us and I move back as she touches herself, chasing her own pleasure too. I watch her, eyes closed and teeth grazing across her lips. Riley's breaths turn to soft moans as I pick up my urgency. She spurs me on with her movement and her words; Riley's slip into dirty talk surprises but is the biggest f.u.c.king turn on., Riley digs her fingernails hard into my shoulders as body clenches around me. f.u.c.k, that was quick. My c.o.c.k pulses as I come too, sudden, unexpected, and overwhelming. How can she feel this good? Make me lose control like this?

Her chest moves rapidly, and she relaxes into my arms. My heart thumps against hers as I rest my hand against the wall and kiss her. "You could at least have shown me your bedroom first," she murmurs, opening her eyes.

"All you had to do was ask." I drop Riley to the floor and she steadies herself against the wall, legs shaking . My ego surges. "You f.u.c.king loved it."

Riley pushes my damp hair back up, into spikes at the front. "Maybe."

"Ah, Riley. You have no idea." I slip my hand between her legs and push a finger inside her. I place my lips next to her ear, enjoying the slight hitch in her breath. "I don't think you've had s.e.x as good as this before? Have you?"

I love how she yields easily, resting against the wall again as I stroke her c.l.i.t.

"Have you?" I wait until her breathing speeds, when I'm sure she wants more, then stop.

Riley opens her eyes and narrows them at me when she sees my smile. Wriggling away, she shoves me in the chest and laughs. "Maybe."

She picks up her skirt from the stairs, tugging it over her gorgeous backside. "Pa.s.s my shirt."

I throw it to her and pull on my jeans. "We should eat now."

"Usually I eat first. This is back to front."

I ignore her pointed comment. "I'll order in. Is pizza okay?"

She giggles. "Such sophistication."

"I know what I like."

She watches as I b.u.t.ton my jeans and then pulls me to her by my belt loops. "Same." Our lips meet in a sudden, hard kiss. "Order pizza, where's your bathroom?"

I order, and there's a natural comfort between us I never expected as we curl up together on my sofa. We eat pizza and chat, transported from our white world to this one. My place. The atmosphere remains s.e.xually charged and the pizza isn't finished before we're semi-naked again.

Riley hooks on her bra, and I sit and pull her onto my lap, resting my head on her shoulder as she faces away from me.

"Is there any point putting clothes on? You'll be out of them again soon."

"I can't." She moves away and bends over to grab the rest of her clothes. f.u.c.k, girls are hot when they do that. I smack her a.s.s and she giggles.

"Stay." I drag her backwards onto my lap again, and run my hands across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, rubbing her nipples beneath the lace bra. "Didn't you say you wanted to see my bed?"

Her hair engulfs my face as she relaxes into me. She kisses my hand, a small gesture that shouts a warning I don't heed. Intimacy. "I need to go soon."

I can't get enough of her pa.s.sion, the way we are together. She's addictive, the things she does without even trying, how we respond to each other instinctively. A few hours aren't enough. Nor is a day, a week... a month. One look from her with the dark-eyed desire she's always tried to hide, and I'm hers.

Why am I not listening to my early warning system?

"I can't, Nate. Show me your bed next time rather than s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g me against the wall and on the sofa." She turns and pokes my nose. "Might be more comfortable."

"You weren't complaining." Her response is a coy smile before she stands again. I grab her hand. "Don't make me wait a week again."

"I have commitments."

"You and your work."

"Mmm." She looks away a moment, a shadow crossing her face. "We can't all be layabout rock stars."

"Hey! I'm recovering from the tour. I'm back in the studio soon."

"You seem to have a lot of energy." Riley shimmies into her skirt.

I smile lazily as I watch the movement of her hips. "For what I enjoy, yes. Besides, I'm bored, so I want to see you."

Riley finishes dressing and I watch with as much interest as when she undressed. "Things aren't how they were," she says.

"Do you mean tonight or what?"

"None of this." Riley shrugs on her blouse and b.u.t.tons up with delicate fingers. "I'm lost about who we are. I feel stuck in the middle."

"We're nice to each other; that's a plus," I say with a grin.

"And you won't tell anybody?" she asks.

"Not yet."

"Yet?"

I pull Riley onto my lap again, hoping she might stay if I manage to keep her there, and she wraps her arms around my neck. "Or at all."

"This is just s.e.x, remember." Riley strokes my hair from my forehead and the gesture squeezes my heart, the hidden truth in her eyes. No, this isn't just s.e.x anymore .

If I'm honest, I expected Riley to push for more from me when we returned, either that, or walk away completely. A small part of me wanted her to ask for more, and not just the conceited Nate who believes no woman could resist him.

"I remember."

"But it's weird being like this now," she says.

"Only as weird as we make it."

Riley sighs and rests her forehead against mine. "Reality is never kind."

"So serious, Smiley." I'm rewarded with nails digging into my hands. "Me and you, it's good right now, yeah?"

"Yes," she says in a quiet voice.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." The smile she gives is the saddest I've seen for a long time. Why? What did I say? Do? "I like you. That's what's weird."

"Huh."

She laughs and flicks my nose. "Huh."

"You're actually a cool chick underneath everything."

"Underneath my clothes?"

"No, Riley. Underneath."

She doesn't reply and rests her head on my shoulder instead. I can channel some of the weird response to Riley into s.e.x, but the addiction to her grows, as does our denial.

"How about we don't talk about this?" I say.

"Suits me."

The worst part of all this? When Riley isn't around, there's an emptiness inside I've never noticed existed, one that was filled with bitterness and mistrust until I let her in. The speed with which my heart's changed direction terrifies me; if I didn't see the same in Riley, I'd push her away right now.

As Riley steps out into the night, I rest against the door frame and watch her go. Why are we pretending nothing else is happening here? Who'll be the first to open the door caging their heart and hold out our hopes and desires for the other person to see?

Not me.

24.

RILEY.

Annie watches me with a small tug to her brow as I tidy papers into a file.

"I thought you avoided all things Ruby Riot," she says.

"This is a tour wrap up, and I want to sit in on the meeting and check the feedback too." Panic crosses her face and I place a hand on her arm. "All good, you know that. But they're one of the top accounts, and I need to show my face."

If only she knew, I was more nervous than her. Palm sweating, toilet visiting nervous that I'll say or do something to give away what's happening with Nate and me. Due to our mismatching schedules, I haven't seen him for a week and every night I've woken up from dreams about us in sharing a bed in Yorkshire. I never stay at his place and I long to wake up in his arms again, to have that moment where I'm held between waking and sleep, in the best dream I don't have any choice. I always sit in on major client meetings with juniors, and if I excuse myself from this one, the whispered rumours will start again. Jenna hinted she knew what she almost saw between Nate and me and I had difficulty hiding the truth. A shocked Jenna is sworn to secrecy, but I'm not 100 percent sure on her discretion. My excuse that Nate visited me to straighten his story before meeting Annie is received doubtfully.

The four band members wait in one of the boardrooms. Ruby's surly face beneath her heavy make-up greets me. So does Jax's indifference. Will rests back in his seat, boots on the table and waves as I come in.

"Riley! How's it going?" he calls.

At least one person greets me with more than a look or nod.

Nate focuses on a pattern he draws on the table with a finger and ignores me. I swallow and sit far away from him. Annie places herself next to him and I watch for Nate's reaction. He glances up, pays attention to her b.r.e.a.s.t.s for a few seconds, then looks out of the window.

"Will this take long?" asks Ruby.

"Half an hour if you cooperate," I say with a smile, but I'm half-serious. "I need feedback on a few things from you guys directly. I've spoken to the tour management; but at the end of the day, you're the clients."

None of them speak. "Annie?" I ask.

She clears her throat and launches into a prepared speech about how she felt things went, areas she was concerned about, and a too long rundown of events. Even I join the band in glazing over as her speech takes a direct path into rambling.

I concentrate on calming myself as I scribble circles on my pad, but I'm hyperaware of Nate. I look up and straight into his eyes on more than one occasion, and we both look away. Once, I meet Will's eyes; he throws a teasing smile and looks to his brother If anybody is likely to catch onto us, he will.

"Riley?"

"Mmm?" Annie holds her file up, her blonde bob touching her pink cheeks and the panic not receding in her eyes. "Oh, right. Thanks, Annie. That all sounded good." c.r.a.p, I didn't hear most of it. "So, any feedback?" I ask, snapping away from staring at Nate's hands and remembering the skilful things he can do with them.

Blank faces stare back.

"n.o.body?" I ask.

"I had an issue," pipes up Will.

I pick my pen up. "What issue?"

"My backstage demands were refused."

"That's an issue for you and Fleur, not Riley," says Nate with a laugh.

"No." He straightens. "I asked for M&Ms with all the blue ones taken out, and the water imported from France in those fancy bottles, and the oxygen tank, and the-" His brother smacks him across the back of the head.

"Hilarious, Will," mutters Ruby.

He throws his arms in the air. "If I was Jax, you'd do whatever I asked!"

"n.o.body gets special treatment," I say and put the pen down.

"Uh huh." Will's hands rest on the table in front of him and he subtly points a finger sideways at Nate. "n.o.body?"

"n.o.body," I repeat.

I hold his gaze keeping my face as straight as possible. He's as good as his brother at staring matches, and he won't win them either.

"How was the trip?" asks Jax, catching onto the situation with a smile. "I heard you and Nate had fun."

I grit my teeth. Help me out here, Nate. "We didn't spend a lot of time together."

"What? Trapped in a pub? Nate, did Riley get drunk? I bet that was funny," asks Jax.

Nate stands. "We done?"

Will jumps up too and wraps an arm around Nate's shoulders. "Beers! Let's celebrate. Jax?"