Free Kiss Me, Katie by Monica Tillery

up to the bus’s door with Blake close behind, admiring the view.
    Blake joined her at the top of the steps and looked down at Katie, his blue eyes smoldering, and raised her hand to his lips. “Right this way,” he said as he punched in the key code to the bus and pushed the door open.
    Katie stepped in and gasped. She spun around to face Blake when he came in behind her. “Blake Jackson, this isn’t a bus, this is an apartment on wheels! Actually, this is nicer than my apartment,” she said with a laugh.
    “So you like it?”
    “Yeah, it’s gorgeous. Show me around,” said Katie as Blake took her hand again.
    “Caroline actually did most of the decorating. I wanted it to feel like home, and it really needed a woman’s touch.” Blake explained.
    Katie took in the plush taupe sofas and dark brown marble countertops in the front lounge area, the built-in desk holding a laptop that must belong to Caroline, the guitars hanging from wall-mounted brackets, a plasma screen television, and the glass door refrigerator stocked with a variety of drinks. She slipped out of her shoes and stepped onto a thick chocolate brown rug, sighing with pleasure. Blake led her through a hallway and pointed out a couple of guest bunks, a closed closet, and a guest bathroom. Katie poked her head into the bathroom and gasped when she realized how much bigger and nicer Blake’s guest bathroom was than the one her whole band shared. Blake showed her to a second lounge, easily twice the size of Sterling’s, where there were inviting leather chairs, more guitars, framed photos of Blake with his family, yet another television screen, and a bar that housed a small refrigerator and baskets of snack foods. A pocket door separated the back lounge from what had to be Blake’s bedroom. Katie wondered if she’d be invited to see that room too.
    “So there you have it, home sweet home away from home,” said Blake.
    “I can’t believe this place! It’s gorgeous, and so much room for just one person. Unbelievable.”
    “Caroline rides with me a lot of the time, and sometimes I have some of the guys over. I’m on the road more than I’m at home, though, so this way I don’t go crazy. I picked this bus a couple of years ago so I’d have enough room for two, you know, thinking ahead.”
    “For two?”
    “I always imagined that I’d take my wife on the road with me and we’d see the country from this bus. You know, just the two of us, hitting the open road.” Blake’s blue eyes were intense. “I just haven’t found my wife yet.”
    Blake led Katie through the pocket door and into his bedroom where a king-sized bed sat, a quilted chocolate brown bedspread turned down to reveal crisp ivory sheets, fluffy pillows lining the headboard, and a robin’s egg blue knit blanket folded neatly at the foot. The air was cool and quiet; the low hum of the bus’s air conditioning the only sound, and Katie could smell traces of Blake’s spicy cologne in the air. Blake took Katie’s hand, pulled her close to him, and enveloped her in a warm embrace.
    “I’m glad you’re here with me,” he whispered, his voice husky with emotion. Blake pulled back and cupped Katie’s face in his hands, captured her eyes with his gaze, and breathed, “God, you’re gorgeous.” He pressed his lips to hers, gently, as he ran his fingers through her hair. Katie responded and pulled him closer, deepening the kiss as her lips parted under his and his tongue explored her warm mouth. He tasted sweet, he smelled like home, and she never wanted the kiss to end. Katie’s grip on Blake tightened as the kiss intensified, fireworks exploded in her head, and an electric energy passed between them.
    Blake pulled Katie down onto his bed, his lips never leaving hers. They stretched out, side by side, and Blake explored her body, his hand moving from her shoulders down to the swell of her backside, to brush her thigh, and finally to tentatively cup her breast. She gasped but did