Dream a Little Dream of Me, page 11
She arched and panted and begged, needing him inside her, but he just pressed her wrists against the mattress with one hand and delved between her folds with the other. When he rubbed the top of her sex above her clit, she saw stars.
Trent took over her body with an assurance that made her head spin. The shy boy from years ago had disappeared, and Lizzie loved it. This man knew how to touch a woman, a fact that he’d demonstrated just over two months ago. But this time, they weren’t worried about being interrupted. Instead, Trent took his time to relearn her body, and Lizzie did the same.
She touched his spine, down to his lower back, grasping his muscled ass. She loved the way the hair on his legs scratched against her skin, and she wanted to bury her nose in the curve of his neck to inhale his scent. But mostly, she wanted him inside her, filling her, taking her over.
Her hands free now, she reached down and grasped his cock. Trent bit her shoulder as she lodged the tip of him in her entrance. Slowly, inexorably, he pressed inside her, filling her until she felt him in every part of her body. She heard someone making little gasping noises, only realizing moments later it was her.
His gaze caught hers, dark with desire, and he watched her face the entire time he plunged inside her. Lizzie could only hold on—and barely at that. This Trent was a whirlwind, catching her up and tossing her about. She didn’t know how she could survive the aftermath. His rhythm quickened, his hips pushing hers into the bed, and he moved within her with a relentlessness that only set her further aflame.
She felt the edges of her orgasm gathering. With each thrust of his hard cock, she could feel the pieces coming together. He lifted her upper body with his arm, allowing him to go deeper, and she bit her lip so hard she tasted blood. Stars danced across her vision again. With one last thrust, she felt him start to come, and his gasp against her neck set off her own release.
She cried out his name, clutching at him, and he kept moving inside her, lengthening her release until all her bones surely had melted. They both still shook as they collapsed onto their sides, sweaty and replete.
Yet it was when Trent kissed her abdomen again, murmuring something to the baby within, that she felt tears prick her eyes. She buried her face in the crook of his shoulder and let the sound of his heartbeat soothe her into a dreamless sleep.
13
Trent awoke to the sound of humming. Opening his eyes, he saw Lizzie’s naked back, and he gazed at the perfect line of her spine, his mouth watering as he took in her amazing ass. He swallowed, the memories of the night before flooding him. Lizzie was writing something down, and when he rose and wrapped his arms around her from behind, she only smiled and kept writing and humming.
He kissed her shoulder, her neck. He ran his fingers through her hair, but he didn’t need to say anything. He let Lizzie compose her song as the morning passed, the minutes spent holding her almost as delicious as the moments when he’d been inside her last night.
When Lizzie’s stomach rumbled with hunger, she laughed and put down her pen. Trent smiled.
“Hungry?” he asked. He swept a hand down to cradle their child.
“Mmm, I could eat. Do you have toast?”
“I think I can manage that.” He kissed her again and, after telling her to stay in bed, he padded to his kitchen to make them breakfast.
They ate in bed, not caring about the crumbs, and they were as naked as the day they were born. When Trent smeared a bit of jelly on Lizzie’s breasts, she giggled and then moaned when he bent to lick it off.
They laughed and played and made love again, slow and steady and wonderful. Trent pushed out of his mind the fact that he needed to be at work this afternoon. He didn’t want this morning to ever end.
“I wish I had my guitar here,” Lizzie said as they lay in bed later that morning. “But I guess it’s good I’m writing songs again.”
“You weren’t before?”
“I couldn’t. It was like some kind of writer’s block. Every time I sat down to write, it would all be terrible. It was getting to the point that my producer was telling me that I’d be dropped from my label if I didn’t start writing.”
Trent frowned. “That seems harsh. Aren’t there songwriters they could hire?”
“Yeah, but I’m too picky to have other people write my songs. So I was between a rock and a hard place. I might be kind of stubborn about it.”
He laughed a little at that. “You? Stubborn? Sounds fake.”
She pushed him a little, but he just wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her before she snuggled against him.
“Music was all I had for a long time,” she admitted softly. “It was what got me through losing the baby.” She linked their fingers together. “I wrote it all into my songs. My earlier stuff is depressing, to say the least.”
He understood. They both preferred to channel their emotions into action of some sort: for Lizzie, it was music. For Trent, it was funneling that emotion into building his businesses. After working his way up to manager in one of the restaurants in Fair Haven, Trent had decided to strike out on his own and start The Fainting Goat. When it had become a roaring success, he’d set his sights on expanding and opening more restaurants, creating his own empire.
But the money, the success, the recognition—it had never been enough. He’d never understood why—or he didn’t want to consider why. In his deepest of hearts, he’d known someone had been missing from his life ever since she’d left him behind in Fair Haven.
“Do you think you’ll tour again soon?” he couldn’t help but ask. “Can you go on stage with a baby strapped to you?” he joked.
“I can do whatever I want.” In a more serious voice, she said, “But I don’t want to separate you from our child. That’s not fair to you. I don’t need to tour—just produce a new album soon.” She rested her head on her palm as she gazed at him. “What about you? I want to know all about your restaurants. Do you have plans for other ones?”
He didn’t usually talk about his businesses with anyone but Ash, but Trent found himself wanting to tell Lizzie everything. She hadn’t heard about how he’d scrimped and saved and practically starved to start The Fainting Goat, how the banks around town had refused to give him a loan because he’d had no credit and his family had a horrible reputation. How he’d proven them all wrong a million times over.
“People telling me I can’t do something just gives me more of a reason to do it,” he admitted with a shrug. “I wasn’t going to be a failure like my father.”
Trent didn’t talk about his parents; Lizzie knew some of what had happened during his childhood, but she didn’t know about Bea’s suicide or that Trent had been the one to find her overdosed. Trent closed his eyes for a second, pushing away those memories.
“And now you have The Fainting Goat, Harvest Kitchen, and now La Bonita?” she asked. “That’s amazing, Trent. I’m so proud of you.”
To his embarrassment, he felt a flush crawling up his cheeks. He cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
She laughed at his discomfiture. “Has anyone said that to you? No, don’t answer that. I don’t want to know. But it takes a particular kind of person to open not one, but three successful businesses.” She curled against him, her head on his shoulder. “I heard when you opened The Fainting Goat. I wasn’t surprised that you did so well. I couldn’t help but look up success rates of restaurants. Most fail within five years.”
“Believe me, I know the statistics.”
“But you weren’t one. You proved everyone wrong.” She traced a pattern over his heart. “I almost called you then, to congratulate you.”
His heart twisted in his chest. “Why didn’t you?”
“Because I was scared. Stupid. I’d hurt you because I’d been hurting so badly, and I didn’t think I should upset you by popping back into your life. You know what I mean?”
He wanted to ask her if she meant that she’d lied about no longer loving him. He had a feeling she’d lied, but what did that mean now? Could she love him still?
He was a coward, though. He couldn’t ask her. They kissed, and they talked, until Trent had to get ready for work. Lizzie took a shower and got dressed, and then Trent walked her home. He kissed her outside her apartment one last time, not caring if everyone in the vicinity saw them. Her cheeks were pink when they parted.
“Bye, Trent Younger,” she murmured, smiling. Her eyes widened a little. “You know what I just realized? I don’t know your full name. Do you have a middle name?”
He grimaced. “I never tell people my full name.”
That only gave her more reason to press him. Finally, he curled an arm around her waist and whispered his full name into her ear, “Trenton Edward Bartholomew Younger.”
“That’s not so bad. I thought it’d be Bertram or something.”
He rolled his eyes. “My mom named us all ridiculous names.”
“Really? What are your siblings’ full names?”
He tapped her nose. “No way. I’m not telling you their secrets. Ask them yourself.”
When she stuck her lower lip out in protest, he couldn’t stop himself from kissing her again. She laughed, and his heart flipped over in his chest.
But the reminder of his full name—and thus, his parents—only reminded him that Lizzie didn’t really know him at all. Not his past, and not the fears that lurked in the shadows. His fear that he’d turn into another version of his dad, violent and bitter. That he couldn’t save his mom no matter how hard he’d tried.
When he let Lizzie go, he felt something inside him crack open, and he was fairly certain it was his heart splintering with an impossible love.
“How the hell did she find out?” Lizzie asked Seth as they drove to their parents’ house later that afternoon. “Does she have spies in town?”
Seth grimaced. “Probably. I told you: she just found out from somebody and I told her she could hear it from you. That’s it.”
Lizzie stared straight ahead as Seth drove. Crossing her arms, she struggled to figure out what she’d say to her parents. I’m pregnant, and it’s Trent Younger’s. Congratulate me?
They’d love that. Even though Lizzie was an adult, out-of-wedlock children weren’t high on the list of her parents’ expectations. Lizzie had already flouted what they’d wanted by running off to be a musician. Now, having a baby and not marrying the father? Her mom would probably have a stroke.
Lizzie couldn’t stop the smile playing at her lips as she thought of Trent. Seth saw it, and he grunted.
“Are you two together again?” he asked.
Lizzie shrugged. “It didn’t come up.”
“And that’s definitely all I need to know about that.”
Her smile began to disappear as they drove up the mountain to their parents’ place. Lizzie had been here only once since Harrison’s wedding, and she’d stalled telling her parents about the baby. So much for telling them herself—who had blabbed? More than likely, someone had seen her at Dr. Lennox’s with Trent and had put two and two together.
When they parked, Lizzie’s eyes widened when she saw all of her brothers’ cars there, too. Was this some kind of family intervention? She glared at Seth.
He put up his hands. “Don’t look at me. I’m just the messenger.”
“Just what I need,” she said with a deep sigh. “A bunch of angry Thornton brothers judging me.”
Lizzie was just glad that none of her older brothers knew about her first pregnancy. There’d be hell to pay if they did. She’d made Seth promise not to breathe a word, and her twin had agreed, albeit reluctantly. What would’ve been the point, anyway? She’d miscarried, and she and Trent had broken up. There’d been nothing her brothers could’ve done.
“Lizzie,” Lisa said as Lizzie entered. Lisa wore black capris and a pink blouse, her hair perfectly coifed. Lisa embraced her daughter, saying nothing about the pregnancy. Lisa didn’t like scenes.
“Elizabeth.” Their father Dave hugged her, patting her on the shoulder. Dave was a mirror image of his sons, except for the graying hair and deep-set wrinkles. A retired physician, he’d once been the black sheep of the Thornton family when he’d married Lisa.
After many years of no communication between Dave and his parents, they’d finally accepted him back into the fold after Caleb had been born. Not one to admit wrongdoing, Dave’s father had never apologized, but he had paid for Dave to attend medical school in Seattle, where the family had lived until he’d gotten a residency at Fair Haven Memorial. Dave and Lisa and their eventual six children had stayed in Fair Haven after that, especially after Dave had opened his own practice.
Now Dave spent most of his days golfing, boating, and allowing Lisa to do what she wanted without much interference. Although lately, Lisa had tried not to interfere as much in her children’s lives, especially after almost breaking up Harrison and Sara. Harrison had refused to speak to Lisa for months, only Sara convincing him to heal the rift.
Lizzie gave her dad a tight smile. Seth didn’t say much, either, although he was in their parents’ good graces more than Lizzie was. Lizzie gave Seth a cross-eyed look as they followed their parents into the sitting room, where the rest of the Thornton siblings were already assembled.
Harrison, Caleb and Mark sat on the couches while the youngest, Jubilee, bounced up from her chair to hug Lizzie and Seth.
“I’m so glad you’re here. How can we live in the same town but never see each other?” Jubilee asked.
Lizzie felt a prick of guilt. She’d avoided her family ever since she’d realized she was pregnant. “Sorry, Jubi. Time got away from me.”
“Hmm, well, I guess I could’ve just shown up at your apartment.” She turned to Seth. “And you! My mysterious brother who never tells me anything.” She grabbed hold of Seth’s arm and forced him to sit down next to her on the couch, peppering him with questions. Only Jubilee could get away with bugging Seth like that without receiving one of his black glares. Not even Lizzie was that lucky.
But when Lizzie saw the serious expressions of her three older brothers, she wished she were the victim of one of Seth’s black glares. Harrison, Caleb and Mark all looked like they wanted to strangle somebody, and as a police officer, Caleb had plenty of guns and handcuffs at his disposal. Lizzie swallowed, her throat dry.
She felt the family staring at her. A blush climbed up her cheeks, although she refused to act ashamed. Sitting down and crossing her arms, she looked at her brothers without flinching.
“How did you find out?” she asked without preamble.
At that, all three looked slightly abashed. Good, she thought. They couldn’t exactly claim that they were the more innocent parties if they’d been listening to gossip.
Lizzie was relieved to see Lisa and Dave were speaking in low tones across the room, giving her some room for now.
“Megan may have seen you,” Caleb admitted. He wouldn’t look at Lizzie. “Well, she saw you across the parking lot, but then she saw that you were with him…”
“And she told you?” Lizzie couldn’t keep the hurt from her voice.
Caleb rubbed the back of his neck. “She mentioned it to Jubi, but Gonzalez may have overheard, who then mentioned it to me…”
Gonzalez, of course, being Caleb’s boss—and apparently a total big-mouth, too.
Lizzie looked heavenward. “Save me from gossiping townsfolk. It’s like the endless grapevine of big mouths.”
“Don’t blame Megan or Jubi. They didn’t know Gonzalez would blab the information.” Caleb gave Lizzie a baleful stare. “So? Is it true?”
The room grew silent. Lisa and Dave had moved back into the vicinity, and Lizzie rubbed her sweaty palms against her pants.
“I’m not sure what you think you’ve heard or think you know, but I might as well announce the news.” She tried to smile, but it felt forced. “Congratulate me: I’m pregnant. You’re going to be grandparents. And uncles and an aunt.”
You could have heard a pin drop. Nobody moved. Then, to everyone’s shock, Lisa rose and gave Lizzie a hug.
“That’s wonderful news, sweetheart. A baby! Dave, did you hear that? I’m going to be a grandmother!”
Lizzie’s eyes bugged out. Her brothers’ mouths were all hanging open. Jubilee beamed and came to sit beside Lizzie.
“I’m due March seventeenth.” Lizzie touched her abdomen. “And Trent Younger is the father.”
That got the expected response: a groan from one of her brothers, and a narrowing of the eyes from her parents. Lizzie jutted out her chin.
“Well, that’s good to know,” was all Lisa said. “Is he going to be involved?”
“Yes. We’ve already talked about it.”
“I’ll make sure he’s involved,” Mark muttered, but Harrison elbowed him.
Jubilee proceeded to ask every question imaginable, which allowed Lizzie to ignore her (stupid, stubborn) older brothers. But before they went in for dinner, she found herself sitting with Harrison, Caleb, Mark and even Seth and being grilled about Trent and their relationship.
Seth didn’t ask anything. He just sat there, his expression serious, while Harrison asked gently, “Are you okay with all of this, Lizzie?”
She almost laughed but bit her tongue just in time. “You mean am I okay being a single parent to a child with my ex-boyfriend? I’m still asking myself that question.”
Caleb’s eyes narrowed. “About that. Do we have to go beat someone up?”
Mark cracked his knuckles; Seth looked like he would happily join them.
Lizzie could only roll her eyes. “No, no, and no. Do not beat up the father of my child. I need him around, okay? Besides, in case you guys missed it, I’m actually a grown woman now.”
“Still our baby sister,” Harrison said.
“He’s younger than me, technically,” she said, pointing at Seth.
Seth put up his hands. “Don’t drag me into this. I already told you what I think.”
