“Yes,” she agreed with a nod of her head.
“Interesting company?” he asked with a smile.
Brooke couldn’t help the small smile that crossed her lips, and she rolled her eyes slightly. “Well, it was certainly … interesting,” she conceded quietly.
Otis laughed softly at her response. “Interesting enough that you might be willing to do it again sometime?” he asked, studying her eyes.
Brooke was caught off guard by his question. Was he serious? He wanted to do this again? She stared at him, not knowing exactly what to say. And that was a first for her. Brooke was the type of girl who typically didn’t have a problem shooting guys down. Some nights she did it all shift long. But for some reason, telling Otis Ivory that she wasn’t interested felt like a lie. Why was that? He stared at her as she attempted to figure that one out, and the smug grin on his face irritated her. She did not want to be attracted to this self-important jerk!
“Can I see you again, Brooke?” he asked again, looking into her eyes as she hesitated.
“Why?” she finally asked, finding her voice. “Why on earth would you want to go out with me again? Tonight was a little bit of a disaster, don’t you think?”
“That all depends on your point of view,” he smiled, taking a step closer to her. “I enjoyed myself tonight. Sparring with you is kind of fun. I meant it when I said you’re hot when you’re being feisty.”
She cocked an eyebrow at him. “I meant it when I said you’re a pig.”
Otis laughed at her again. “I like it when you’re rude to me, I guess.”
“Are you into masochism, Mr. Ivory?” she asked, looking up at him with a shocked smile.
They were standing toe to toe on her front step as their eyes locked onto one another’s. “Back to ‘Mr. Ivory’ again, huh?” he smiled. Then he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Well, a little sexual gratification from pain never hurt anybody I suppose, but it’s never been my thing. However, if that’s what you’re into, I’m game for anything. I’d be willing to let you tie me up and punish me for my bad behavior. For a while anyway. I imagine dominance might be right up your alley.”
His voice was soft and sexy, and Brooke felt herself shiver slightly at the feel of his breath on her skin as he stood so close, and the image he painted in her mind. She licked her lips as she stared up at him, feeling suddenly unsteady on her feet.
“Somehow I can’t imagine you as the submissive type,” she replied softly, changing her stance and finding her balance.
“Oh, I’m not,” he confirmed. “But I am adventurous. I’ll try anything once. With you … maybe twice. Besides, I figure if I play your game, then it’s my turn … when I get to make you submit,” he said quietly as his gaze drifted briefly from her eyes to her lips.
“Well then, you’d be in for a very bumpy ride, Mr. Ivory, because I. Don’t. Submit,” she whispered, bringing her lips close to his.
Otis smiled salaciously as he stared down into her eyes. He wanted to kiss those lips so badly. “Is that a challenge, Ms. McKenna?” he asked softly as his eyes narrowed.
Brooke could feel her heartbeat quicken at the thought of a mental, sexually-charged tussle with him. Why did that thought fill her with such excitement?
“Bring it,” she whispered after a beat, her eyes never wavering from his.
His smile grew bigger as he stared at her. A challenge within a bet. This was getting interesting!
“I’m the Best Man in a wedding on Saturday afternoon. I’ll pick you up at eleven,” he said, staring into her eyes and not giving her the option of saying no.
“I’ll be ready,” she said, raising an eyebrow.
They stared at one another for a long moment before he said, “Until then, Ms. McKenna.” Then he took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, lightly kissing the back of it. “Dream about me,” he said with an arrogant smile. Then he winked at her and turned and walked away.
Brooke watched as he strolled to his sexy, overpriced car and climbed in. And as she watched him drive away, she couldn’t decide whether to be crazy flattered or infuriated. Why had she let him goad her into another date? She didn’t want to go out with him again. She didn’t want to be interested in him at all. And what the hell was all that talk about submission?
She shook her head as she turned and let herself into the house. If he thought for one minute that she was going to give in to him, he was sorely mistaken.
Surrender to me, (let me in).
Give in to me, (let me win).
Surrender to me, (tell me how).
Give yourself to me. (I’ll show you how).
Surrender!
She closed the door behind her and stopped dead in her tracks as the words to “Surrender” echoed through her mind yet again. The mid-tempo groove had been stuck in her head since she watched those Jagged Ivory videos the night before. She had downloaded the song to her iPod and listened to it over and over again. It was amazing and sexy, full of passion and angst.
Give in to me!
There was so much raw emotion in both the music and the lead vocal. That tow truck driver had been right the other day when he couldn’t stop gushing - Otis had an incredible voice. One that was difficult to push from her mind.
Surrender! Surrender!
The music was stellar, if you could call rock music that. But Otis’ vocal range was impressive, and his delivery was always compelling. It had a way of reaching out and drawing the listener in. At least, it drew Brooke in, and in a way that she never expected. She had never bothered to listen to rock music before; she had never believed it had anything of substance to offer. But she had been so wrong.
She sighed as she made her way through the living room and up the stairs to her bedroom.
“What are you doing home so early?”
Brooke yelped at the unexpected sound of her sister’s voice behind her as she flipped on the bedroom light.
“Damn it, Shelly! You scared me half to death,” she said, kicking off her heels and tossing her small purse into the chair beside her closet. “What are you still doing up?”
“What do you mean, what am I still doing up? It’s only just after ten! What the hell are you doing home so early?” she repeated.
“Shelly,” Brooke sighed, ignoring the question as she went about the task of getting out of her dress and into a pair of comfy pajama shorts and a t-shirt.
“What did you do?” Shelly asked her as she plopped down onto Brooke’s bed. “It was a disaster, wasn’t it? You were mean to him, or you insulted him or something, didn’t you?”
“Why do you assume that I would do something to ruin the date?” Brooke demanded to know.
“Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you’ve shot down every man that’s come within ten feet of you in the last couple of years!”
“We are not having this conversation, Shell,” Brooke sighed, sorry she’d asked, as she left her room and walked across the hall to the bathroom. She turned on the water in the sink and began to wash her face and brush her teeth as Shelly followed after her, standing in the bathroom doorway.
“Just because Todd turned out to be a world class asshole does not mean that all men are the same way, Brooke,” Michelle said, referring to the man who had broken her sister’s heart nearly two years ago. Todd was an accountant at one of the largest financial firms in Los Angeles, and he and Brooke had met at a party. They dated for close to two years, and Brooke had been so sure that he was going to propose to her. No one saw the break up coming.
“And I know what the news is saying about him,” she continued. “And okay … I am admittedly a big fan, and I would be totally stoked if you started dating Otis Ivory. But this is not about him. It’s about you!”
Brooke turned off the water and put her toothbrush away and then turned to face her sister. “And I said that I didn’t want to have this conversation, Shelly! I don’t need another lecture from you about dating, and how all men aren’t bad, and shutting myself
off from love, blah, blah, blah. You know, contrary to what you might think of me, I did not ruin this date tonight,” she said as she moved past her and marched back to her bedroom.
“So, you’re telling me that he ruined the date?” Shelly asked, following her once more. “How? Oh, no … was he a jerk to you? Oh, I don’t want to know that Otis Ivory is really a jerk! That would kill me,” she wailed.
Brooke rolled her eyes at her. “No one ruined the date, Shell! The date was fine.”
“It was?”
“Yes,” Brooke shrugged, sitting down on her bed. And Shelly followed suit and climbed onto the bed too, crossing her legs Indian-style as she sat facing her.
“Fine?” Shelly questioned.
“It was … nice.”
“That sounded convincing,” Shelly nodded, and Brooke smirked at her.
“Well, what do you want me to say?”
“I want to hear that it was wonderful,” Shelly replied. “That it was magic! I want you to say that you could feel the chemistry cooking the moment you were alone in the car!”
Brooke shook her head slightly and took a deep breath. “The restaurant was beautiful. Very romantic. And the food was delicious.”
“What’d you have?” Shelly asked, smiling at her sister’s attempt to appease her.
“I had the risotto with mushrooms and Brussels sprouts and a black truffle sauce,” Brooke answered.
“Ooh!”
“It was amazing,” Brooke confirmed, smiling at her younger sister.
“What did Otis have?”
“He had the venison in some kind of cognac and berry sauce,” Brooke replied.
“Yum,” Shelly smiled. “Did you have dessert?”
“We shared an apple tart.”
“You shared an apple tart?” Shelly repeated with raised eyebrows. “This sounds promising!”
“You are hopeless,” Brooke said, laughing at her. Then she sighed before she said, “He asked me out again.”
“Really?” Shelly asked with wide, excited eyes. And Brooke nodded her head.
“He’s taking me to a wedding on Saturday.”
“Oh, my God! You’re dating Otis Ivory,” she squealed, and Brooke rolled her eyes at her again. She wished that she could share her sister’s excitement and hopefulness, but she just didn’t have it in her anymore.
Shelly was silent for a brief moment as she watched her. “Okay, I’ll try to dial back my enthusiasm. I just want you to believe in love again, Brooke,” she said quietly. “I don’t want you to go through life thinking that all men are dogs who are just looking for something to hump all the time. That’s the main reason I give you such a hard time about that second job of yours. It only helps to reinforce those negative feelings you have.”
“Shelly …”
“No, I mean it,” Shelly said, cutting her off. “I know that you couldn’t make your half of the rent here for very long if you were only teaching classes at the studio. I know that you need the job at Sparkles right now to try and save some money. I get it. But I just don’t think that place is good for you, Brooke. It feeds into your bad attitude about men.”
“I don’t have a bad attitude about men!”
“Yes, you do,” Shelly insisted. “Brooke … you came in here just the other day, telling me all about Kitten and Pepper, and how they were talking about roping the rich guys at the club in as their sugar daddies. And the scary part is that you sounded like you were impressed by it.”
“Oh, that is not true! I never said I was impressed by it,” Brooke protested.
“No. If I remember right, what you said is that you ‘admired their gumption.’ As if it were something to aspire to,” Shelly said, sounding shocked.
“Well, maybe it is,” Brooke said loudly, looking her sister in the eye. “You know what, Shell … I love you. And I am so happy that you have Neil, and that he’s a really great guy,” she said, referring to her sister’s boyfriend. “You deserve nothing less. And if he ever hurts you, I will personally hunt him down and kick his ass. But, I’m not you, Shelly. I’m not like you. Guys don’t knock down the doors to get to me. I don’t inspire the kind of loyalty and undying devotion in men that you seem to. And okay … maybe you’re right and I do have a chip on my shoulder about that. But how could I not? Todd left me because he fell in love with someone else. Grant cheated on me right and left. And maybe those things were my fault; maybe I did something wrong, or I just don’t know how to keep a man. Or maybe … just maybe I’m right, and most men are dogs who are looking for something to hump all the time!”
“Brooke …”
“No! I cannot listen to another lecture about true love and magic and romance, Shelly,” Brooke nearly shouted. “I’m sick of hearing it from you. If you want to believe in that fairytale, go right ahead. But if I want to swear off men for the rest of my life and become a spinster, that’s my prerogative! And if I want to treat dating like a gold mining expedition, that’s my business too.”
“So, what are you saying, Brooke? That you’re going to start working the VIP den at Sparkles?” Shelly asked, sounding horrified.
Brooke looked offended as she stared at her sister, and Shelly regretted the hurt look she saw in her eyes. “I may take my clothes off for money … but I am not a prostitute,” she said with a harsh whisper.
“Of course you’re not, Brooke. I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it like that.”
They stared at each other for a moment as the silence grew heavy between them. They had always been so close growing up. Best friends, through thick and thin. Even when they argued. And sometimes, those arguments had been real doozies. But at the end of the day, Brooke knew that she and Shelly loved one another fiercely, and she knew that Shelly worried about her.
“I wasn’t talking about working the VIP den,” Brooke said quietly. “I would never do that.”
“Oh, my God,” Shelly said after a slight pause. “You’re talking about Otis, aren’t you?”
Brooke said nothing as she looked down at the flower pattern on her bedspread.
“You’re seriously talking about fleecing Otis Ivory,” Shelly said, staring at her sister in disbelief.
“I wouldn’t call it ‘fleecing,’ Shelly,” she replied.
“Well, you’re talking about using him for money,” Shelly said.
“And you don’t think he’s using me?” Brooke asked, giving her a look that said “yeah, right.”
“Using you for what?”
“I don’t know, okay,” Brooke answered. “I don’t know! I haven’t figured out his angle yet, but you better believe that he has one. I wrecked his car, Shelly! I destroyed his unbelievably expensive car, and you know what he did? He took me out to dinner! Nobody does that. Not without an agenda! That jerk is using me for something. Maybe it’s to make himself look good for the press, or to try and counteract all the bad publicity he’s getting … I don’t know. But he’s using me, so why shouldn’t I use him?”
“Because you’re not a taker, Brooke,” Shelly responded. “As much as you’re trying to hide it, and as deeply as you’re trying to bury it … it just won’t work. You can’t hide it from me. I still see it.”
“See what?”
“Your heart,” she answered simply. “I see your heart, Brooke. And I know that it’s been trampled on and it’s hurt and afraid. But I also see how strong it is. And how brave. And I see that it has so much love that it wants to give. You are a giver, Brooke. You are not a taker.”
Brooke was silent for the longest time as she sat wiping a few tears. She wanted to believe what Shelly was saying, but … she just didn’t. After guys like Grant and Todd, she didn’t want to open herself up to be hurt anymore. She couldn’t. If her heart did still have some love left to give, she was going to protect it like her sanity depended on it. And she would reserve that love for the people who mattered. For her sister and her mother … her father, even though he was the king of the jerks sometimes. But definitely not for a man. Not e
ver again.
Chapter Four
“Excellent work today, ladies. Thank you for your cooperation,” Brooke stated as the class ended. “Remember, Kara, you need to work on straightening your back during your plié, sweetie,” Brooke called after the child as her last class of the day filed out of the studio.
“Okay, Ms. McKenna,” the little girl replied, taking her mother’s hand as she waved back at her.
Brooke smiled as she watched them all go. Then she took a deep breath as she turned and began to gather her things. She turned off the music on her iPod and unhooked it from the docking station, packing it into her bag as she thought about her two jobs and how they couldn’t be further apart. Teaching these adorable little girls the fundamentals of contemporary ballet was worlds apart from working a pole for a room full of strange, horny men. And lately, Brooke was finding it more and more difficult to reconcile the two.
She tried to tell herself that it was only temporary. That she would only stay at Sparkles for another six months or so, just to earn a little more extra cash, pay off a few more bills, and then she would quit. The problem was that that was exactly what she had told herself when she first took the night job - two years ago. She sighed once more when she thought about it, and she just couldn’t understand how she had gotten here. It wasn’t like she enjoyed it. In fact, she hated it. Taking her clothes off and dancing seductively in front of complete strangers, making eyes at them as they watched her and tucked money into her g-string. Letting them leer at her. It was … uncomfortable, to say the least.
“Someone’s been a very good girl,” she heard Cleo say from the doorway, and she looked up to see her boss walking in with a large bouquet of roses. “These came for you just as your last class began,” she smiled as she sat them down on the table.
“You’re kidding me,” Brooke replied, staring at the gorgeous flowers. There had to be two dozen of them. An absolutely beautiful arrangement of lavender, soft orange, and hot pink roses. They were stunning.
“There’s a card,” Cleo pointed out, smiling at her.
The Essential Jagged Ivory (Jagged Ivory Boxed Set) Page 82