by Piper Rayne
I shake my head. “Soph, the sharks aren’t in the studio. The millionaires are the sharks. I don’t think Leo is looking for investors. Hello, he just paid my medical bill.”
“Too bad you can’t work that off another way, huh?” She leans forward and nudges me in the shoulder with her hand.
I stare at her blankly. “Yes, because for years I’ve been trying to find a way into prostitution.”
Sophie rolls her eyes. “Come on. You’d enjoy it if it was Leo Vaughn.”
Heat rises from my neck to my face and I imagine if I looked in a mirror I’d resemble a stop sign. “Let’s leave Leo Vaughn on the logical side of my brain and focus on the creative, brainstorming part for now.”
“You’re no fun.” She taps her pen on the paper.
“I think the television interview would take too long to secure. Not that it’s not an avenue I should seek, but I need something immediate.”
She slaps the paper. “I’m so stupid.”
“Well, I never wanted to tell you. You being my best friend and all.” I laugh and shrug.
Her tongue springs out and she kicks me a little harder this time. “Shut up. What about something in print? Say…a magazine article.”
I sit up straighter, my eyes bugging out of my head. How did I not realize my best friend could secure something that would get Leo to hire me? “You’d do an article on him?”
Her shoulders slump. “No. My editor has me booked for a month, but there is a section of the magazine where she tries to do little exposés. I wonder if I could sell her on Leo? I could spin it something like, ‘Man finds success outside of the silver screen.’” She stops talking as though she’s imagining the interview being conducted and I let her mind wander away for a minute. “Let me send her a quick email, because we go to print in three days. It would have to be fast.”
“That’s fine. I think that even if I can secure a piece in an upcoming issue, he’ll be happy.” I place the ice cream on the coffee table and bounce up and down on the couch. “Oh, my God, Sophie.” I grab her arm and bite my lip to stop the smile beginning to emerge.
“Calm down until we know for sure. She might say no.”
“I have complete faith in your persuasive abilities.” I wrap both arms around her shoulders, pulling her tight into my body. “I owe you like a million.”
“Your friendship is thanks enough.”
“Really?” I pull back, my eyes wide.
“No, but it sounded like something a nice person would say.” She laughs. “If you can transform Leo into a straight male and leave him on my doorstep wrapped in a red bow, we’ll call it even.”
I fall into the soft cushions of the couch. “Sorry, girl, if I transform Leo into a heterosexual, I won’t be sharing.”
She nods. “I can’t even hate you for it.”
We laugh and although my ankle is bandaged up and aches a bit and it’s been a crappy day, everything seems a little better. I sure hope Sophie can secure the interview for Leo because if not, I’m back to being alone in an ocean with no boat in sight.
6
Leo
There’s no way this is where she lives. I check the address once more. From the way she’s so hell-bent on getting me to be her client, I would’ve thought she was scraping by. It’s not a condo on the ocean, but it’s a modern building in a nice part of town.
Locating the buzzer in the lobby, I’m about to press the button to her apartment when someone comes out. The man holds the door open for me and I slide through the opening with a thank you.
I trudge up three flights of stairs to her apartment, trying not to spill the coffee. Would it kill them to put on the air in here? Clearly, the exterior was a ruse. I knock on her apartment door and glance around. The hallway could use a few lights to give it less of the creepy hotel vibe.
“Hold up.” The click of her heels echoes from the other side of the door.
Immediately, a vision of her legs comes into my head—her sleek and smooth limbs that I’ve imagined wrapped around me way more than I should. If I do hire her as my PR rep, I can’t have her in the bedroom, too. I have a feeling this woman would have the power to ruin my career and my heart if I let her.
The door swings open and she draws back then glances over her shoulder, back into her apartment. “Leo?”
I hold out the coffees in my hand. “Black with a splash of muscle milk, right?” I wink and she smiles.
If only I’d met her under different circumstances. I’m pretty sure we’d have hit the bedroom already.
“You didn’t have to do this.” Her smiling face contradicts what she’s saying.
“Yes, I did. I thought you needed a ride.” I lean my shoulder on the doorframe, since it seems she’s not going to let me in and take a sip of my coffee.
She looks over her shoulder once more. “Give me one second.” She holds her finger up in the air and then without shutting the door scurries over to the kitchen table.
She’s busy putting an earring in when she meets me at the door with her bag strapped around her and the coffee nestled in the crook of her arm.
“Here.” I grab the coffee to free her arms.
She shoots that smile that makes my dick twitch. “Thanks.”
“Go get ready. I’ll wait.” I nod into her apartment.
She shakes her head, her gaze veering down the hall.
I crinkle my forehead and lean forward. “Do you have someone here?” Hopefully the crook of my smile is enough to mask the irrational irritation I feel at the thought of her fuck last night being sprawled naked in her bed.
“Um.…” She finishes with her earring. “Well.…”
“Shit. I’m sorry. I’ll meet you downstairs.” I turn toward the stairway.
“No.” She grips my bicep and a current of electricity shoots through my body. “It’s not a guy or anything.”
I hold up my hands. “None of my business.”
Her eyes cast down. “It’s my mom. She’s staying with me for awhile.”
My body depletes of any tension. “Oh, well, I love moms.” I slide into her apartment. “Go get ready.” I situate myself on the couch, resting my ankle on my knee.
“Okay.” Her back is rigid as she teeters back and forth between leaving me in the room and heading down the hall.
“Go.” I motion in the direction of the hallway with my coffee.
“Okay. I’m going. No more than five minutes.” She finally heads down the hall.
Looking around the apartment, I admire her style. Where my condo is on the cooler side, hers is filled with warmer color and rich textures that invite you to throw a blanket over your lap and enjoy a bag of chips while you surf through Netflix. Everything works together and there’s no clutter at all. I get the impression that everything has its place here in Casa Lowery. Even the remotes for her TV have been placed on the coffee table with precision, side-by-side, perfectly lined up and facing the wood entertainment unit that houses the TV.
With a smirk on my face, I decide to test my theory and lean forward and slightly move one of the remotes so that it no longer sits parallel to the one beside it.
I sit up straighter on the couch when I hear a door open down the hall. I pick up a magazine to make it appear I wasn’t casing the joint for any information that tells me what kind of person Teegan is.
“Who are you?”
The mom, I presume. She has the same eyes as her daughter and there’s a definite resemblance. She’s a good-looking woman, though perhaps a little too thin. Her hair looks like it’s probably the same color as Teegan’s, based on her roots showing, but she’s chosen to add a shit-ton of blonde highlights to it.
I stand and break the distance between us. “I’m Leo Vaughn. Your daughter has been doing some work for me.”
She denies my outstretched hand and secures her satin robe tighter. Her eyes move over my body like she’s sizing me up. “Hi.” Rounding to the back of the sofa, she heads into the open kitchen and opens
the fridge, pouring some orange juice into a glass.
“Sorry about the dog bite thing.” What she must think of me. Her daughter comes to work for me and gets bit by a dog.
She glances up, grabbing the bottle of vodka off the counter. “Our secret.”
I hold my hands up. “My lips are sealed. Like I was saying—”
She holds up her hand. “Let me stop you there, Casanova. You don’t have to butter me up. My daughter takes zero advice from me.” She heads toward the couch with her large glass of mimosa.
“Oh, our relationship is strictly professional.” I circle around to face her again.
“I’ve been around the block enough to know the difference, Romeo.” She downs half her morning pick-me-up in one swig, presses the power button on the remote and leans back into the couch.
Teegan’s heels click and I’m thankful we’ll be heading out soon. They stop before they ever reach the living room and when I look back, her usually pink cheeks have lost all color.
“Mom?” she asks and then glances to me.
“Your date is here.” Her mom thumbs my way.
I grace her with a small smile.
“Leo’s a client.” Teegan scrambles to pick up her bag again and her purse falls to the floor, the contents spilling everywhere. “Great.” She falls to her knees and I walk over and bend down to help.
“You didn’t make any coffee,” her mom calls out to her.
Teegan stares up at me with eyes sadder than a young girl who just witnessed her dog get run over.
“You can have mine. Is black fine?” I dump her lipstick, pill case, and antibacterial sanitizer in Teegan’s hands and then stand. Picking up my coffee, I set it next to her mom.
The woman’s eyes turn away from the television and although they turn in my direction, I don’t think she’s looking directly at me.
“I’m good with what I’ve got,” she says and raises her glass in the air while she looks directly at me. I can’t help but feel like she’s challenging me to say something.
Teegan lets out a barely audible sigh and then takes a few steps forward, straightening both controllers on the table.
Ah-ha! I was right.
“Let’s go.” Teegan’s at my side now, ready to go.
“It was nice to meet you,” I say to her mom.
She flips me off and I wonder briefly if that bottle of vodka will be her breakfast.
“Just go, Leo.” Teegan nudges me forward toward the door.
Once we’re out in the hall, she locks up her apartment.
“I’m sorry. My mom is a little off. She’s dealing with a bad break-up.” Her sorrowful eyes urge me to wrap my arms around her shoulders and pull her into me. Tell her not to be embarrassed, that I understand. Instead my hands stay stuffed in my pants pockets.
“Don’t sweat it.”
“Well, then I owe you one for not judging me based on my mother,” she says, her voice low as she climbs down the stairs in front of me.
“You owe me nothing.”
She stops on the landing and her shoulders deflate from tension. She’s quick to change gears though, her cocky stance recovering from the small hole drilled into her tough exterior. “Let me grab the next round of coffees. It’s the least I can do. For the ride and all.”
“Well, the gas I used getting here might break the bank otherwise.”
She shakes her head and continues walking down the stairs and just like that we’re back to where we were, but I think there’s a lot about Teegan I’ve yet to uncover. The question is, will she let me? Because as stupid as it is, I find I want to know everything there is to know about this woman.
“What’s Up L.A.? The magazine?” I ask Teegan as I check out Mrs. Osmond while Cooper butts his nose up against Teegan’s leg, looking for some attention.
“Yep. It would be tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow?” I turn to Mrs. Osmond, who is busy trying to get the sweater over her dog’s head rather than paying any attention to me. “Thank you, Mrs. Osmond. I hope Gidget enjoys her sweater.”
She smiles and touches my arm. “I love coming here. So many fun things.” She sets Gidget down on the ground and heads out of the store.
“She’s my clearance shopper,” I say and then grab my sketchbook off the counter.
“No grooming today?” Teegan asks, crossing her legs on the stool.
“No grooming on Wednesdays. I need a break.” My pencil doodles a winter coat instead of the party dress I’m supposed to be working on.
“You don’t enjoy that part?” she asks.
I glance over to her. “Are you hoping I’ll get wet and strip off my shirt?” I cock one eyebrow and her face turns a nice shade of pink.
Occasionally I feel bad with the flirtatious comments, but those pink cheeks are as addictive as those chips they put out at Mexican restaurants.
“Um, no.” She elongates the ‘o’ and I know she’s lying.
“You sure?”
She rolls her eyes and looks away.
“I don’t much care for it. It’s messy and I make enough between the store and designs now. Usually I’ll have the guy who works for me handle that part of the business, but he’s away right now. Originally, I started the spa to entice the clientele inside where they’d see my products and now it’s just hard to say no to my customers who want to keep bringing their dogs here for services.”
“You do seem like a people-pleaser.” She types away on her laptop.
“What are you doing over there?” I tilt my head to the side and she swivels the barstool to block my view. “Are you typing something about me?” Not about to let her get away with hiding something she’s writing about me, I stand and place my hands on her shoulders.
“It’s not fair if you use your height advantage.” She slams her computer lid shut.
“What did you write about me?” My hands slide down her side and I start tickling her.
“This is highly inappropriate behavior.” She squirms in my hands and I try to open her computer.
“What did you write about me?”
Her hand stays planted on the top of the laptop while she giggles away. The two of us continue to wrestle. “I was just jotting notes down for the interview.”
“Cross your heart?” I ask.
I should let her go. Release her, but our eyes are locked. My lips beg to cover hers—to find out if our bodies will meld together as well as I think they would, to see if she fits perfectly in my arms while I kiss her.
The door chimes. “Well, well, what is going on here?” Jagger asks.
I let her go and she fumbles to hold herself up with the counter. “Jagger,” I say.
“And me!” Payne jumps up.
“Vance and Layla let you watch Payne?”
“I told them they’re way too desperate, but Carver is away.” Jagger focuses on Teegan. “I think the real question is, who is the beautiful woman you have your hands all over?”
Payne rounds the counter, falling to his knees to pet Cooper.
“This is Teegan, my PR rep. Teegan, this is my buddy Jagger and my other buddy Vance’s girlfriend’s son, Payne.”
“Vance is my manny,” Payne divulges.
“Really?” Teegan asks. “Interesting.” She glances at Jagger and places her hand out between them. “Pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, no, the pleasure is all mine, believe me.” Jagger’s eyes zero in on Teegan’s chest and I want to grab the pen sitting on the counter and gouge them out. “I thought you knew better than to put your hands on your staff.”
Teegan drops her arm. “Good thing I’m not his staff.”
Jagger stuffs his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels, an amused expression on his face. He’s always loved girls who challenge him.
“Can we take Cooper to the park?” Payne asks. He’s lying down beside Cooper, nose-to-nose, his hand moving in a rhythmic motion up and down Coop’s body.
I check my watch. “Sure. Give me fifteen
, okay?”
“That’s why I’m here. I need you to watch him,” Jagger says, completely serious.
“Why did you say you could watch him if you couldn’t?” Sometimes Jagger annoys the shit out of me.
“Marisol called. She needs me.” He pushes a hand through his hair, a worried expression furrowing his brow.
I nod, understanding if it’s Marisol, it’s important. “Okay. Where’s Vance and Layla?”
He chuckles to himself. “Meet them at her place in an hour.”
“All right. Give Marisol my best. Hope everything is okay.”
Jagger blows out a breath. “You and me both.” He nods and then holds his hand up in front of Teegan again. “Please take no offense in what I say. It was nice meeting you. Tell this guy to stop messing around and hire you already.” He winks.
Teegan smiles and shakes his hand back.
“See you later.” He opens the door to the outside, but instead of leaving he bends down to grab something off the ground. When he turns around he’s holding a booster seat.
“Guess you were pretty sure I’d say yes,” I deadpan.
Jagger walks toward me and places the booster seat on the counter, then grips me by the shoulder. “I can always count on you.” He walks back to the door. “Don’t lose the kid.” He points at me in warning.
The door chimes when he leaves and Teegan starts packing up her bag.
“Do you want to go to the dog park with us?” I ask.
She inhales a deep breath.
“Come. It’s so fun. Cooper will play fetch.” Payne stands, jumping up and down.
“That dog plays fetch?” She glares at Cooper on the floor.
“You’d be surprised at how smart he is.”
“I’m not sure.” She zips up her bag and slides it up on her shoulder.
“Come on. I’ll protect you.” I turn on my full smile with the hope I can seduce her into it. Tonight, I just don’t want to leave her.
“Please.” I don’t even have to pay Payne to plead.
“Plus, I don’t have much experience with kids, so I could use the extra help.” I lean in close to whisper in her ear.