So I Married a Rockstar

Chapter Ten

Ch.10: The Way to a Man's Heart

Elle helped me shop for food, and though she'd paid for brunch, I wouldn't accept a penny towards this dinner. This was something I wanted to do for Jude.

I had no idea what time he'd be home from the studio, but this time I was determined to wait up for him. While I waited, I seasoned the steaks, prepared a mixed salad, and mashed some potatoes that I could heat up when Jude got back.

After everything else that had happened since Vegas, this felt strangely domestic, but in a way that I'd never felt with Jake.

Shortly after eleven, Jude walked in.

His shaggy curls were pulled up in a knot, and his eyes were shadowed with tiredness, but he was still the most absurdly good-looking man I'd ever seen. It wasn't hard to see why he made so many of his fans lose touch with reality.

He stopped when he saw the plates that I'd laid out, adorned with salad leaves, and the steaks sitting by the griddle pan, patiently waiting.

"What are you doing?" he said.

"I thought you'd be hungry after making magic in the studio all day, so I made you dinner. The steaks will only take a few minutes," I said.

I fetched a beer from the fridge, popped the cap off, and slid it across the breakfast bar toward him.

Jude continued to stare at me, his face blank, and a nervous feeling gathered in the pit of my stomach. I'd wanted to do something nice, but it looked like I'd screwed up somehow.

"Sorry, I just . . ." I took the plates off the bar and shoved them behind me. "You don't have to eat it."

"Why wouldn't I eat it?" He sounded confused.

"Because you're looking at me like I've done something wrong."

"You haven't." Jude rubbed his palm across his face, and a few chocolate-coloured tendrils of hair slipped free from his knot. "I just didn't expect this. I'm not used to coming home to someone."

The tight feeling in my stomach unfurled, and now I felt strangely self-conscious instead, as if I was standing naked in front of him, because his voice had shifted, and he probably hadn't even realised it, but a glimmer of vulnerability had slipped through.

It was hard to think that someone like Jude Scott was ever vulnerable, but behind the swaggering rockstar was a man, as human as anyone else.

"Do you like having someone to come home to?" I asked.

Jude stared at me a moment longer, then he strode forward, his boots loud on the floor, and hooked his arm around my waist. He yanked me to him, so suddenly that I squeaked, then his mouth was on mine, hard and demanding and utterly delicious. His lips were soft, but he hadn't shaved today, and the slight abrasion of his jaw against my skin sent sparks skittering through me.

What would that abrasion feel like against more sensitive parts of my body?

He pushed me back, his arm still locked around my waist, mouth on mine, until I hit the edge of the bar, and my hips impulsively surged forward, pressing against his. Jude made a noise that was almost a growl.

Even through his jeans he was hard as steel, and heat flooded me, my whole body flaring to life as he kissed me, harder, deeper, his hips rocking against mine, and my mind spun, thoughts scattering, because I hadn't known it was possible to be kissed like this.

What the hell else could Jude do with this magic mouth?

My stomach chose that moment to break the spell by loudly rumbling. Jude blinked at me, his eyes dark and heavy-lidded, his breathing quicker than normal.