I wondered what this meant. Would Caleb forget Emma and get back together with Rebecca? And then I realized this might mean our time here in North Carolina was over.
My stomach sank because I wasn’t sure I was ready to go home yet. And that feeling had something to do with John.
~ CHAPTER 10 ~
JOHN
I had a really nice pair of tits in my face—the nipples covered by little smiley stickers. A woman in her mid-twenties, with hands locked behind her head, lay on my chair getting ink done. It was a black and gray design, part dream catcher, part feathers, part lace—and I should have been enjoying this more than I was. The issue was... I don’t know... I kept thinking of Dani naked. Of her small perky tits.
Nothing phased me. I saw body parts all the damn time. I was desensitized to this. And yet, these large tits that looked nothing like Dani’s were making me think of her.
See? This is why I didn’t fuck around.
Ever.
With anyone.
I didn’t need the weight of it or the distraction. I was fine with my life exactly as is.
The bell on the front door dinged.
Our new receptionist hadn’t shown up again, and it was only me in today. “I’ll be right with you,” I hollered.
I was in Finn’s station. For my client’s privacy, I’d set up here so that we had a wall blocking us. But that also meant I had no view of the front door.
“Hey, John?”
I stopped working because I knew that voice. It was Dani’s voice. She walked right in on me and the woman.
“Oh, God,” she said, shading her eyes, as if she’d caught me screwing the woman rather than tattooing her. “Did not mean to interrupt.”
“Holy shit-balls,” squawked my client. She sat up so fast I nearly jabbed her with the needle. “Dani Mills? Seriously, Dani Mills? You’re Dani Mills, right?”
Dani cautiously unshaded her eyes. “Yes.”
“Like, no way.” The women went on. “Like is Ollie Mills here with you? He’s my husband. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s my husband.”
Dani laughed awkwardly. “No Ollie. Just me.”
I was so confused. How did my client know Dani? And could she please just cover her tits. My heart began to thud. Because, honestly, I’d never expected to see Dani again. But at the same time, thank the fucking Lord she came back.
“Can we get a selfie?” the client asked.
Dani looked about as uncomfortable as I’d ever seen her, ready to bolt on us both at any second.
“No,” I said sharply. “No selfies in my shop.” Standing, I peeled off my gloves. “I’ll be right back.”
I set my equipment down. I moved toward Dani, tugging on her arm, leading her around the barrier and away from the woman about as fast as I could.
So she was famous. I really didn’t care. All that mattered was that she was back.
“Sorry,” Dani whispered. “Bad timing.”
We moved to the waiting area, to the leather couches by the front, though neither of us sat down. I crossed my arms, taking her in. Every time I saw her, her hair was different. Today she had it down and crimped. I wanted to run my fingers through it. I wanted to have my way with her on these couches.
“Your timing is fine,” I told her. “You saved me actually. Why are you here?”
“I don’t know.” She ran her hands over her arms like she was cold... or uncomfortable. “I know you’re busy. Maybe I should go.”
She moved for the door, and I caught her arm. “No.” I shook my head. “No. You’re not leaving. Give me one minute.”
I returned to my client. Who fucking still had her shirt off. “Out,” I said. “I won’t charge for the work today because I need you to go.”
“You didn’t finish!” she protested.
“You can come back whenever, and I’ll finish for free. But I need you to go.”
“Fine.”
She stood slowly, and I turned to my side while she dressed. It took her forever, but she finally left. The ding of the door—a relief. I turned the deadbolt, locking out her and the rest of the world.
My chest rose and fell. I couldn’t slow my breathing. My need to have Dani once more was debilitating. I pressed a hand to the glass and pinched my eyes shut, trying to control that need before it overtook me.
“I came back to kiss you,” she said, from somewhere behind me and I opened my eyes. “My family’s leaving, going back to Tennessee. I don’t really have a reason to stay anymore. Caleb and Emma—they didn’t work out. I missed the first flight out this morning because I wanted to kiss you. I wanted to at least know what that felt like before I left. Which is really fucking stupid. So if you could just kiss me, I can go, and I’ll be out of your life forever.”
I turned back to face her. She was a little pale, a little shaken. A vulnerability showing that I sensed she never showed. Fuck, all I wanted was to kiss her. But I wouldn’t give her that if it meant goodbye.
“No,” I said firmly. “If those are the terms you’re offering for one kiss with you—then fuck no.”
“Okay.” A pink flush touched her cheeks. “Well, I feel a little stupid for coming now.”
She tried to walk around me for the door, and I moved with her. “Don’t go. I’m not done with you yet.”
“I’m not fucking you.”
“I’m not kissing you.” I so wanted to kiss her. And from the way she stared at me, with eyes filled with lust, she so wanted to fuck me. She rested one of her hands on my chest. My heart pounded like mad underneath and she had to feel that.
“We could go to the movies,” I suggested, throwing the first thing that came to my mind out there.
A sweet laugh burst from her mouth. “What? Are you serious?”
“You’re right. No to the movies. I haven’t been to a movie in over ten years. I was just trying to think of something normal people do.”
“I’m not normal.”
“I’m not, either.”
I put my hand over hers, needing to touch at least some part of her. When she didn’t pull away, I took that as an invitation to touch more of her. I ran hands over her bare stomach. She wore a skirt, a cropped t-shirt that showed off skin, and an oversized furry brown jacket. I was certain every guy that saw her in that outfit had to be feeling all the pain I felt. All the need. All the desire. I dipped my head closer to hers, my lips only a few millimeters away from hers. “You sure you don’t want to fuck me?” I whispered. “We’re good at that.”
A small moan left her lips, telling me that she wanted me just as much as I wanted her. “John. Please. Don’t.”
“I could make you feel real good. You know I can.”
“John. We can’t. It doesn’t work that way.”
Her rules. So that was what stood in our way?
“So the movies then?” I tried again.
That earned me another laugh. The sound making my chest warm. “Whatever. Sure. You drive. And I’ll pick the movie.”
“Anything you want. I can’t promise I won’t try to touch you though when the lights go off.”
“And I’ll probably give in and let you.” She sighed, shrugging. So damn adorable. “I guess we’re doing this.”
“We’re doing this,” I echoed. Knowing I’d probably come to regret not kissing her and just letting her go. But I was already fucked. So at this point, the only thing that mattered was getting a few more precious hours with her.
~ CHAPTER 11 ~
DANI
I had no idea what I was still doing with John. In his car? Going to the movies? Entertaining this craziness? Was this a fucking date? Because if it was then I needed to get out now while I still had a chance. “I don’t do horror movies. Or chick flicks. Or action, superhero ones. Nothing historical,” I told him. “I don’t like blood. I don’t like anything that will make me cry. I don’t like sequels because they never live up to the original.”
“What do you like? There’s nothing left.”
<
br /> I thought on it. “Sci-fi.”
He laughed. “Sci-fi it is.”
Being trapped in the same car as him, in the same air—it was a little intoxicating. He smelled so damn good, like cinnamon and oak. We fell into a comfortable silence, and I shut my eyes for a moment, just breathing. It had been a long morning. I’d driven with Ollie and Luke all the way to the airport, two hours away, only to drop them off and turn around, coming straight back to John. Actually, it didn’t matter what movie we saw today because I’d probably sleep through anything.
A new song came on the radio. And I popped my eyes open because it was a Sunset Revival song. It was one from our first album, one of our number ones. I waited to see if John would comment. He didn’t. So I reached over and turned it up a little.
“You like this song?”
“I love this song,” I answered, seeing if that would get him to react. He didn’t.
He didn’t know this was my song?
I realized he didn’t react because he didn’t know who I was. This whole time he didn’t know who I was.
“Do you like it?” I pressed.
“It’s okay.”
What about the shirtless woman? She’d squealed my name. So he had to know I was famous somehow. But he hadn’t asked. I couldn’t decide if all of this was a good thing or a bad thing. I guess good—because there was a lot of shit on the internet about me that I didn’t want him to see.
We made it to the theater. It was empty on a Monday afternoon. We got our tickets and our seats. I felt my heart beat quickening. This was all so… domestic. The opening credits began, and my knee started to bounce, sweat glistened on my forehead, and the little hairs on my arms stood up.
He squeezed my bouncing leg. “It’s just a movie,” he said, speaking close so I could hear him over the surround sound.
“I know. But this isn’t how I do things. I fuck men and then I walk away. Period.”
“And I don’t fuck. Period.”
“What do you mean?”
He hadn’t moved his hand off me. He shifted his body into me, his touch moving higher up my thigh, his voice hot on my ear now. “You’re my first fuck in four years. I don’t like people, especially women. I don’t bother trying. I just don’t bother. I like my solitude. I like my life complication-free, and women are complicated.”
“And I seemed uncomplicated? But now you’re probably realizing that I’m actually complicated as hell.”
His hand had made its way dangerously high under my skirt. “Can I touch you?” he asked. Despite the seriousness of our conversation and my fears, the blinding desire I felt for his touch was still right there. There wasn’t anyone in the theater close enough to see or hear us, so I nodded.
His fingers moved my panties aside, and he touched me. I practically bucked in my seat as he glided a finger through my wetness, swirling his touch around my already sensitive clit.
“Stay still,” he commanded. “You are complicated. But I’m making an exception for you. Make an exception for me, too.”
His fingers made me quiver, but his words made my heart race.
“For how long?” I breathed.
He pushed a finger deep inside me. For someone who hadn’t been with anyone in four years, he knew exactly how to touch a woman. “Let’s not put a date on it,” he said. “When we’ve satisfied this itch, because clearly we haven’t yet, then we can kiss goodbye and walk away as friends.”
Friends. Ha. Unlikely. But he made a good point—with most guys all it took was one session in the sheets and I was finished with them. With him? He was going to take a little while longer than most to get to that point. He added a second finger, pumping in a slow rhythm. I let my head fall back on the seat, enjoying the hell out of this.
Okay... maybe a lot longer.
~ CHAPTER 12 ~
JOHN
By the time I brought Dani to an orgasm in the dark theater, absolutely loving the way she was so responsive to my touch, I’d convinced myself that my plan was a good plan. That neither of us would get hurt. That we could keep this going for the time being and part as friends when it ran its course.
I wasn’t stupid though. I knew the danger. I knew the risks. I knew the probability of getting hurt had never been higher. Whatever. I sat back into my seat, looking up at the screen for the first time since we’d sat down. What were we even watching? Something with weird aliens I never would have picked myself. It didn’t matter. Not when Dani moved the armrest so she could snuggle into my side. Making her come had helped relax her. I’d have to remember that for the next time she started questioning this thing between us.
She had her hand on my leg now, moving it higher. Yes, I was painfully hard. Yes, I would have loved nothing more than for her to touch me now. But I didn’t want to get arrested.
I stopped her hand. “No. Not here.”
“Well, that’s not fair.”
“It’s a lot easier to touch you discreetly then vice versa.”
She poked at my ribs, leaning in closer against me. It was hard to have a conversation when machine guns were shooting at slime covered aliens. “Easy?” she said against my ear. “Do you think it was easy for me to stay silent just then? I’m going to get you back for this. You just wait. We’re going to be somewhere public, and I’m going to go down on you, and you will have to stay perfectly silent.”
Well that sounded kind of wonderful. “I’m not much of a screamer like you, so it should be easy.”
“I don’t scream.”
“I’ll have to disagree with that. I’ve made you scream a couple of times, if I remember correctly.”
She poked me again, right where I was most ticklish. I grabbed her hand, so she’d stop. My grip was stronger than hers so she couldn’t pull away. I didn’t let her move for a while, settling in for this damn movie. And when I eventually loosened my hold, thinking she’d move away, she surprised me when she kept her hand with mine. Daring even more, I laced my fingers with hers.
She allowed it.
My heart thumped. Holy shit. Holding hands... at the movies... feeling like a giddy, horny teenager? Who the hell was I? And what happened to the real John Michaels?
Damn.
I liked this girl.
* * *
The movie turned out halfway decent. The company amazing. I drove through the streets of Kill Devil Hills back to my place, wondering if she had plans for tonight. For tomorrow? Would it push her away if I asked her to stay the night?
I didn’t want to part with her. Not yet. But I didn’t want to freak her out either.
With a giant sigh, I parked in the lot beside her Hummer. “You’re going to still be in North Carolina tomorrow, right?”
“Yes. I’ll be around.”
“Will you come see me again?”
She nodded, unbuckling and reaching for her door handle. It suddenly occurred to me that... “Wait, do you have somewhere to stay the night tonight?”
“We turned in the keys to our rental in Carova this morning. I’m sure I can find a hotel around here somewhere.”
There were about a million and one rental homes in the area. But hotels? They were limited. “You can have my bed, and I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“John—”
“No. I don’t mind.” All I could picture was her at some dingy motel, being stalked by some creepy fan. Because she was a celebrity of some sort, right? Famous somehow? Did that mean she had to take extra precautions in life? Was the worry I now felt burning in my chest justified?
“I couldn’t put you out like that.”
“You wouldn’t be putting me out.”
She took a breath, running her hands through her long strands of hair. “I’m thinking about it.” Her brown eyes shot a look in my direction. “Dammit, John.”
“You want to think about it upstairs?” I asked. “You know? I’m not going to try to fuck you if you come with me. Because if we sleep together, and then you stay in my bed, that’s way too
intimate. But I don’t want you at a hotel. Not when you could be with me.”
“Okay.” She drummed her hands on her thighs. “This might work. But if it’s too weird then I’m getting a hotel. And you’re right, we can only fuck if I’m not staying the night. Otherwise we are crossing way too many lines.”
This logic was ridiculous. Even I knew that. But she liked rules, so I would give her rules. I guess I was willing to not fuck her just to keep her close to me.
So we were ‘not kissing’ and ‘not fucking’ now. And strangely enough, I was fine with both. As long as it meant she was still with me, I would be just fine.
“Okay.” I gave her my hand so we could shake on it. “Friends for tonight.”
She shook my offered hand. “Friends.”
~ CHAPTER 13 ~
DANI
About six months out of each year, Luke, Caleb, Ollie, and I were on the road. City after city. Concert after concert. Hotel after hotel. It meant that I was used to staying in different beds all the time. I was good at falling asleep wherever.
But in John’s bed? Nope. Sleep was not happening. I’d been staring into the darkness for the last half hour. He had glow-in-the-dark stars on the ceiling. Why would a guy like John have glow-in-the-dark stars on his ceiling? The mystery of it was irritating the hell out of me.
He was sleeping out on the couch in his living room. And I was about ready to leave the comfort of his cozy sheets to go ask.
In fact... before I drove myself insane...
I got up and tip-toed out to the living room. John was still awake, no lights left on, watching something on his phone. Our eyes connected. He paused whatever show he’d been watching as I got closer.
Never Kiss a Rockstar (Never Trust Book 2) Page 4