And we were off. Together, the two of us went on a mini-tour of LA rock history. First, we stopped by the Troubadour on Santa Monica. The crew was thrilled to see Noah, and rolled out the red carpet for us—that is, VIP seats and all the comped drinks we could handle—as we sat in for a few songs from the local singer-songwriter who was currently on stage.
After that was the Roxy, a place played by everyone from Bob Marley to Bruce Springsteen. And, of course, the venue where Lover Boys recorded “Lover Boys—Loving You Live at the Roxy,” widely regarded as one of the best live albums ever made. And one that I’d listened to more times than I could count.
After the Roxy was the Viper Room, a club with a much more checkered history, known for being the preferred concert space of some of the most notorious bad boys in the rock game. Mötley Crüe, Guns N’ Roses, Poison—all of them had graced the stage of this place at one point or another. The band on stage that night, one who made sure to give a shout-out to Noah once they spotted him in the crowd, was another throwback rock band, the guys done up in leather and makeup, a tribute to a tribute.
And I loved it.
Everywhere we went Noah was treated like a king. Fans rushed him, the staff fell over themselves trying to get him and me whatever we wanted, and cameras went off all around us.
It was crazy—I had no idea what to make of all the attention. And at the exact moment I’d decided I was feeling overwhelmed, Noah seemed to be able to read my mind.
“Ready to get out of here?” he asked over the commotion.
“Definitely.”
He took me by the hand, leading me out into the lights of the Sunset Strip. The evening was alive with energy, the air mild and the whole thing feeling just so LA that I couldn’t contain myself. And my hand didn’t leave his.
“And how was that little dip into the world of a rock star?” he asked.
“Insane,” I said. “But very cool. And…kind of intimidating.”
“Intimidating?” he asked. “How so?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’ve always been such a geek. And it’s weird to think about what my life and your lives were like at the same time. I was at college watching Outer Limits reruns, and you were out here—” I gestured to the scene all around us, “—living a life that most people could only dream about.”
“Easy to say that,” he said. “But believe it or not, it’s my life now that I’m really into. Especially now-now.”
I raised my eyebrows. “‘Now-now’?” I asked. “As in…right now?”
“As in right now,” he said. “There’s something special about you, Pepper. And not just your funny name.”
I smiled. “Hey,” I said. “Could’ve been worse—almost got married to a guy with the last name ‘Salt.’”
“Pepper Salt,” he said, trying on the name that I’d almost had. “You’d be doomed to a lifetime of name jokes.”
“No kidding,” I said.
But then I caught myself, realizing that I’d almost spilled the tea on my wedding disaster. Last thing I needed was Noah knowing I was the kind of girl who’d merited a dumping at the altar.
“And whatever your past was like,” he said. “It was something special. Because it made you the person you are now—a girl I’m absolutely crazy about.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Noah was crazy about me? Part of me wanted to talk myself out of it—there was no way it was true.
But I was crazy about him, too. And he must’ve been able to see it in my eyes, because he didn’t say anything next. Instead he stopped, wrapped his arm around my waist, and pulled me close. And then right there on the Sunset Strip, he kissed me like I’d never been kissed before.
I fell into it, the lights of the city melting away until it was just me and him. We kissed long and deep, his taste as amazing and intoxicating as ever. When he finally pulled away, he said the one thing that could’ve pulled me out of the trance I was in. “I think we need to get out of here.”
“Yes. Yes, we most certainly do.”
“Come on.” He took me by the hand and led me back to the car, and soon we were off.
“Where to?” I asked.
“Best view in the city, that’s where,” he said.
And not another word more. But I knew that whatever he had in mind, it was going to be an adventure.
Noah was a man who just seemed full of them.
23
PEPPER
We went north, and when we finally took the road up, up, I realized where we were heading.
“The observatory?” I asked, knowing the answer and more than a little thrilled about it.
He gave me a quick flash of a smile, and that I was all I needed to see.
“Not exactly a private place,” I said. “Kind of a tourist Mecca.”
“Not if you know the right place to go,” he said without missing a beat.
We soon arrived and parked and got out, the massive white dome of the observatory looming over us.
“Come on,” he said, taking my hand.
As thrilled as I was to get to where we were going, wherever that was, part of me was just happy to have my hand in his, Noah leading me, the thrill of what was to come making my blood rush through me with total, unrelenting excitement. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt the way I did at that moment.
Before too long, we arrived at a small clearing among the trees, one that seemed to be hidden from the rest of the visitors.
And what a spot it was. From among the trees we had the view of LA to end them all, a sweeping scene of lights that would’ve stretched out into forever if the ocean wasn’t there to stop it. The moon hung overhead like a silver coin, and the grass was cool on my hands as the two of us sat down next to one another.
“Wow,” I said, taking in the view. “This is…something else.”
“Secret spot,” he said with a smile. “Only for those in the know.”
“Like the great Noah—I mean, like you.”
He laughed. “Listen,” he said. “There are plenty of things I want to tell you. Like, how crazy I am about you, how freaking gorgeous you are, how much I love spending time with you…”
“But?” I asked.
“But there’s something I’d much, much rather do.”
I knew exactly what he was getting at. “I’m right there with you,” I said. “And plus, there’s plenty of time for the other stuff after.”
He grinned, and I matched it with a smile of my own.
But there wasn’t anything left to be said.
Just something to do.
We didn’t waste any time. As soon as the smiles faded we were right on top of one another, kissing like crazy and getting out of our clothes. Noah had me out of my blouse, revealing my lacy blue bra, and I soon had his Hawaiian shirt off, the muscles that I’d been dreaming about being on top of me right there for the touching.
After the shirts came the pants, and soon I was once again greeted with the sight of his cock straining against his tight boxer-briefs, his hand moving slowly over my pussy through my panties, his touch so freaking good that I wanted to scream.
But I kept reasonably quiet—last thing I needed was to announce our presence to the entire city.
As he rubbed me through my panties I reached down and fished out his cock, wrapping my fingers around that warm, hard unit and stroking it slowly. He was stiff as hell, already dripping with anticipation.
I kissed along his neck, over his rough stubble, stopping at his ear. “How long have you been wanting this?” I asked sensually into his ear.
“From the moment I saw you,” he said without missing a beat. “And what about you?”
“Same,” I said in between ear nibbles. “Except…”
“Except what?”
“Um, a little bit of a time difference from when I saw you for the first time.”
He laughed. “Guess you’re right about that,” he said.
“But it’s all good,” I sai
d, letting my hair drape down over his shoulders. “We’re both on the right frequency now.”
“That we are,” he said.
I was done talking, and so was he. The two of us went right back to kissing, finally getting one another out of our underwear. Without thinking, I glanced around as Noah rolled my panties down my thighs.
“What’s up, lady?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said. “Guess I’m just on the lookout for cops or bandmates…”
“Or family members or coworkers,” he finished.
I smiled.
“Nah,” he said. “Just the two of us. Just how I want it.”
No more words. We were alone, and now it was finally time to get down to it. Once I had him out of his boxer-briefs, I wrapped my hand again around his thick cock and began stroking, sexy little growls sounding from his throat as I did.
Noah did the same, slipping a pair of fingers into my oh-so-wet pussy and curling them, entering me over and over again as the pleasure ran through me. I let my head fall onto his round shoulder, letting Noah work his magic as I did my best to focus on him.
God, the man was magical—he knew just how to touch me, just how to make me feel so good I could hardly stand it.
Finally, when I was ready, I took him by his ropy wrist and guided him out of me, ready to replace his fingers with something more…substantial.
“OK,” I said. “Enough with the opening act—I’m ready for the headliner.”
“Wow,” he said. “Now that’s some cornball stuff.” He flashed me a smile. “But you know what, I think you’re cute enough to get away with it.”
A chuckle slipped past my lips. “Good to know.”
Noah put his hand on my bare hip, stopping me as I began to straddle him.
“Let me get a…”
“It’s fine,” I said. “Got one of the ring things.”
Then something occurred to me—Noah was a rock star, and rock star meant “tons of casual sex.” Sure, I got the impression he might not’ve been as crazy as his bandmates, but still.
“And…don’t worry about me,” he said. “Whatever I got up to in the past, I was careful about it.”
“That obvious I was worried?” I asked with a small smile.
He flashed me a warm smile right back. “If I were sitting where you are, it’s what I’d be worried about.”
“You mean, if you were about to…have sex with you?” I asked, grinning internally at the mental image.
He chuckled. “Yeah,” he said. “That. But if you want to be on the safe side, I can get a condom.”
“No, no, no,” I said. “It’s fine.”
It was settled. Now it was—for real—time for no more words. I continued my motion, climbing on top of Noah as he sat back, his body propped on up those thick, inked arms. His hair was tousled just so in front of his face, one side of his lips curled into a smile.
His cock in my hand and pointed up, I lowered myself slowly onto him, spreading my lips with his head and taking all of his many, many inches effortlessly into my soaking wet cunt.
And then that was that—I finally, after all this insane fuss, had Noah Mack inside of me. Part of me wanted to do a little victory dance, but the sensible part wanted to get right to it. Noah put his hand back on my hip as I began to move on top of him, feeling his solid cock push deeper and deeper inside of me.
We kept on like this, my tits beginning to bounce as I rode him harder and harder, his mouth latching onto my nipples and sucking them in a way that sent a thrill up my spine. Soon the air was thick with moans and pants and little screams—that last thing coming from me, I should point out.
It didn’t take long before an orgasm was right there on the verge of breaking through. And right as I was about to come hard, Noah slipped his big hand into the back of my hair and pulled my head close, his eyes brilliant and dark chocolatey in the low light of the evening.
“Pepper,” he growled, his voice heavy with pleasure.
Something about the way he said my name just released the flood. Looking into his eyes, I came hard, like I’d never come before. And right as I was in the throes of my orgasm Noah let out a grunt, his eyes opening wide as he let loose inside of me, his dick pulsing his hot load deep into my cunt.
And then it was over. The two of us lay there together, my head on his shoulder and his arm wrapped around me as we took in breath after breath.
I’d suspected it was true before, but sitting there with Noah, I realized it without a shadow of a doubt. Noah wasn’t just a crush—he was definitely that, don’t get me wrong. But he was something more. And right as I began to wonder if he felt the same thing, he spoke.
“I think we’ve got something here, gorgeous.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “I think you’re right, handsome.”
24
PEPPER
One week later…
Every time a text from Noah blew up my phone and I got to see the word “babe” as his name, I felt like I was living in some insane dream.
OK, I get it—pet names might’ve been a little pre-emptive. It’d only been a week since we’d, erm, consummated things.
But what a hell of a week it’d been. He and I had spent nearly every moment that neither of us were at work together. Sometimes we’d go out on the town, sometimes we’d hang out with him and Sophia and even his mom, and other times we’d…well, do what it was that new couples did.
And I couldn’t have been happier. When I felt the buzz of the most recent text, part of me wanted to hold off on reading it, to savor it for later.
Ah, screw it.
I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and read the text, the busyness of the late-afternoon office a din all around me.
“Friday night, gorgeous,” he wrote. “Hope you’re free.”
“You know I am,” I typed back. “Why, you got something in mind?”
I never really considered myself to be the type of girl to be whisked away by a man. But now that it was happening…I kind of loved it.
Noah was different, though. Every day with him was some kind of adventure, whether it was seeing a side of LA that I’d never seen before, or going with him and Sophia to one of the many museums in the city that I’d always meant to check out but never visited before.
Even a spontaneous walk along the LA River near the beach with Noah managed to be fun. And, sure, “a walk along a river with a totally gorgeous man? How could that not be amazing?” Well, the LA River isn’t your normal river—the Seine it is not.
Still, this last week with Noah had been nothing short of amazing. And I was more than ready to see what the next week had in store for us. Then the week after that, then the week after that…
“I had a killer lunch with the man himself yesterday.”
A familiar voice nearby snapped me out of my daydreaming. I glanced up to see that it was Moira, her hands on her hips and her expression looking very, very self-satisfied.
“Huh?” I asked. “With who?”
She tilted her head to the side, her eyebrows raised.
“With Noah, obviously,” she said.
Oh yeah. Noah’s meetings with Moira for the book were one of the few reasons why he and I weren’t spending exactly every free moment together. Thankfully, the interview process was supposed to take no more than another few meetings. Then it was just a matter of Moira writing the thing and Noah giving his stamp of approval. And then, hopefully, me accepting my shiny new executive position.
But for now, I had to play nice with the talent.
“Is that right?” I asked, tucking my phone back into my pocket and taking my nearby mug of coffee.
“Most definitely,” she said, putting a little purr into her voice. “And what’s more than that, I think there’s something going on that’s most definitely non-work-related.”
Noah and I’s little thing, whatever you wanted to call it, was most definitely on the D/L. Last thing I needed was a scandal breaking out.
“Really?” I asked.
“Really,” she said, her tone totally certain. “And can you really blame the guy? I mean, come on.”
She did a little twirl, and while I could tell from her tone that she was joking around, she was also being serious at the same time—the girl really thought that she was hot shit, and she had since we were kids.
Not this time, though. This time I was the one who finally got the guy. I was never one to gloat, but come on! Noah Mack!
“Damn,” I said, trying to hold back a smile. “Well, good luck.”
“Takes more than luck,” she said with one last grin. “Well, see you around, Pep.”
She sashayed out into the office, and I stood there trying to hold back my laughter. When I was finally ready, I took my phone out of my pocket and typed up a text.
“Sorry,” I wrote. “Just had an impromptu meeting with Ms. Moira.”
“Oh god,” he wrote back as I dumped a little organic creamer into my coffee. “Mind asking her to take it down a notch?”
“What, the raw sexuality almost too much for you?”
I leaned back against the counter in the breakroom, watching the three dots on my screen.
“Please. When I want raw sexuality there’s only one girl on my mind.”
He was being purposefully cheesy, as per usual, but it still gave my cheeks a blush and my pussy a tingle.
“I could tell you only had one girl on your mind last night,” I typed back, feeling flushed in the best way possible.
“What, you mean when I had you bent over the dresser and was fucking the living daylights out of you?”
Wow. Direct. Direct, and totally hot.
Two could play at this game, though.
“Was thinking more about when you were eating my pussy like your life depended on it.”
“Can’t help it,” he texted right back. “When a pussy tastes as good as yours does, you’d be crazy to not eat it until your jaw goes numb.”
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