Page 8 of It All Began at Dixieland

“Stay behind my table the whole time! Keep my back to the wall. Pray we were on a fault line and the earth would open and swallow me whole.”

“I’d say since you are still here, even the earth didn’t want your swampy ass.” With a grin, she moves her hands in a shooing motion. “Have fun. Drink. Eat. And be famous!”

I huff in irritation but kiss her cheek. “Love you, mom.”

“Love you, Efa Jo, more than there are stars in the sky.”

I double check I have my phone, wallet, and Kindle, slide my Rocket and Groot mini backpack across my shoulders and head out. Nerves flutter obnoxiously in my stomach as I ride the elevator to the lobby. Wren and Page are big time names in the romance world, and I’m still amazed they invited me along to join them. I’m happy a few of my beta readers will be there. Over the last couple of years, I’ve grown to really like Cheryl, Darlene, Liberty, and Nancy. Hundreds of miles separate us, but I look forward to our interactions online, not just when they read my books and tell me how wonderful I am.

“TACY!” I jump stepping off the elevator when my pen name is yelled across the lobby. Wren waves to me as if I could miss her purple hair. A genuine smile stretches my lips as I join them.

I have Mallory back home in Ohio, my parents, and the afternoon cashier at the gas station that I’m close with, but with every signing, I feel like I’m finding my place in the world, surrounded by like-minded individuals who truly love the written word. Especially when that word is cock. Ha!

A few minutes later, we’ve figured out the travel situation and load up in my vehicle and Wren’s. I follow her to a Chinese restaurant. Our large group descends on the restaurant, and we sit around a few tables pushed together for a couple of hours talking, laughing, drinking, and eating.

Riding high on endorphins and moving out of my comfort zones, we head back to the hotel bar where we confiscate a big table and drink some more. Readers and other authors filter through, stopping to join us for a while or just a few words. It becomes one of those nights where you could never predict what would happen and it couldn’t have gone better if you planned it. Around 11:30, everyone starts yawning. Several have to get up early for flights or long drives home. Hugs, and heartfelt goodbyes are traded, and the others leave the bar. I stick around finishing my soda, having stopped drinking alcohol about an hour before. I grab my backpack and stand up, my bladder screaming at me.

On my way out of the bathroom, I spot a familiar head of brown and blond hair entering the bar. My feet move without any input from me, and I find myself standing next to Foster as he sits at the bar. He turns and notices me out of the corner of his eye, then does a double take that makes me giggle when he realizes it’s me. He remembers me. My heart races at the thought I made an impression.

“Blevins. Efa Blevins.” He says my name in that deep raspy voice of his and my entire body breaks out in goosebumps at the sound. My clit pulses and my nipples harden. “Join me for a drink.” It’s not a question, but it sparks one that I can’t stop myself from asking.

“Will your girlfriend be here soon?” I aim for nonchalant and fall woefully short. The curiosity in my voice is as obvious as my jealousy. My face flushes when he smirks at me knowingly.

“I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Wife then.”

“Don’t have one of those either.”

I jut my hip out and rest my fist on it as I glare at him and his amusement. “You don’t like labels, then. The woman who you are here with—”

“My sister,” he rumbles. Leaning closer, I smell his cologne and it short circuits my brain again. “I’m not afraid of labels, Efa Blevins. Something belongs to me; I claim it proudly.”

God, how I want to belong to him at this moment. My pussy, neglected and bitter about it, dampens at his proximity. I swallow thickly, my eyes dropping to his lips. I can’t help imagining how soft they would feel against my own. How hard would he press them to mine? Would he lick my lips or invade my mouth with his tongue and take what he wants?

“Wanna join me now?” I glance up to his eyes and shiver at the banked heat I see. The arousal, interest, and intent. I’m super glad I showered before coming out tonight and changed into a sexy bra and panties set.

I close the distance between us, brushing my lips against his cheek on my way to his ear. His breath hitches at the contact. Mom is going to get her wish.

I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the inevitable vaginal crash, “Absolutely.”

Foster Nichols 6.

We’re sitting at the bar, legs entwined as we face each other, leaning in close. It’s not loud in here, in fact, there’s barely anyone else in the bar. And truthfully, it could be a packed house and I think she’d still be the only person I could see. Smell. Almost taste.

She’s fucking beautiful. Exotic with dark features, long glossy hair, and sensual eyes. And she’s completely oblivious to her own charm. She’s self-deprecating, humble, honest to a fault and dorky as hell.

I’m here for it all.

Ok, I’m also here for her ripe tits and banging body and lips I desperately need wrapped around my cock before the night is over.

But mostly, I’m here for her captivating personality. I would have stopped for anyone on the highway after being almost decapitated by the siding of a camper. When I saw two women emerge from the vehicle, I knew I made the right call. They were on the verge of hysterics, and I couldn’t blame them. I was merely a bystander and my asshole puckered something fierce when that panel went flying toward their vehicle.

I got back in my truck and drove off with a ball of regret growing with every mile I put between us. Her smile on the side of the road, fucking hell, it packed a punch. Hits a man…below the belt.

Finding her at the same hotel had to be fate. It took me a few moments to even offer my help, finding her adorable as she tried and failed to lug all her belongings up the ramp to the elevators. Enclosed in the elevator with her, the sweet smell of her invading every molecule of my body, I was happily willing to drown in my desire for her. If it wasn’t for my sister and our dinner plans, I would have begged for the chance to spend more time with her.

And now here she is in the hotel bar with me, laughing her ass off and I’m mesmerized by her. Completely and utterly lost to her. This won’t be the last time we are together; I will damn well make sure of it. Life has taken some weird turns lately and as I watch her lips close around her straw, her cheek hollowing slightly as she sucks up her soda, her eyes glittering with merriment, I understand every moment of my life has led to her.

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