Patterns of contact between us began to emerge. All the calls were either very early in the morning or late at night. One thing was clear, I had never rung him. Paul worked odd hours and worked as part of a team. I was partly enjoying the fact I didn’t know exactly what he did, it added a little more to the mystery to the whole thing for me.
Five weeks after our first call my cell rang at a time when I would have expected Paul to call. Answering, I was surprised to hear it was the telephone company, telling me I had won a competition to see M3rCy in concert. And, I was going to meet the band and have dinner with them.
Actually, the prize was for four people to fly to LA to see M3rCy in concert and hang out with the band for the weekend. I wondered how Gibson felt about hanging out with random people who’ve won a competition on his days off.
Hearing the clipped tones of the brash New York accent telling me the details of my prize, I interrupted to explain that I hadn’t entered any competition.
I was thinking it was either a hoax call or a mistake, until she explained that the entrants were automatically entered if they had purchased a new phone deal and handset, within a two month period that the competition had been running. Suddenly, the prize was a genuine win.
Excitement buzzed through my body, jolting my heart and making it bang hard in my chest with the shock of it. I could hardly text Ruby to tell her my fabulous news because my hands were shaking so much.
Ruby answered the phone and as soon as I told her the prize, she screamed so loud I jumped with fright at her sudden outburst. “OH! MY! GOD! You are going to come face to face with Gibson Barclay, Chloe. How do you feel about that after all this time?”
Face to face was the part I was trying to get my head around. As soon as the operator had told me we were meeting them and spending the day with them, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to deal with that particular scenario at all.
What the hell would I find to talk to Gibson Barclay about for a whole weekend? Worse than that, I’d probably be having flashbacks to scenes I had witnessed with his various women, most of them in very compromising positions.
Ruby knew me well. “And you can stop thinking you can’t do it. I know you too well, Chloe Jenner. You think you’ll freak out at the sight of him right?”
Truly? I had no idea what I’d do, but my saving grace was that he’d never remember me anyway.
Mumbling, I asked Ruby who else to take. Then I remembered Gavin from the plane. “Oh! Got it. I’ll ring Gavin and his roommate.” Talking fast and animatedly I told her about my flight with him to New York. Once I had finished my call with her, I padded barefoot into the kitchen and pulled Gavin’s number from the fridge door magnet.
“Hey, I was hoping I’d hear from you again. You’ve been in my thoughts a few times. I’ve been wondering how you were fairing here in the ‘Big Apple,’ all by yourself. Are you able to meet me for lunch later?”
Smiling at the way Gavin just fell right into conversation with me like I was an old friend swayed my decision. I agreed to meet him at a local delicatessen which had a fabulous coffee house at the back.
Expecting to see Gavin waiting, I was a little tense that he wasn’t there when I arrived. I was even more apprehensive when he turned up with another guy, who looked pretty similar to an actor who was in tons of movies; in character roles, but his name escaped me.
Eddie; or Ed as Gavin called him, was a production manager at Madison Square Gardens, which was probably the biggest indoor venue for music in New York.
He was hilarious and had the measure of Gavin. Poor guy couldn’t get anything past him. Explaining the reason for my call, Ed stood up, ran his hand through his hair and said, “Get the fuck out of here. You’re joking right?”
Puzzled, I turned to look at Gavin who was grinning widely at Ed and chuckling at Ed’s mouth that was mouthing words but was silent by then. “What am I missing here? Is someone going to fill me in?”
Gavin grinned again and filled me in, “We were discussing this at breakfast this morning. Ed was complaining that he sees tons of live bands a year, but has never seen M3rCy; his favorite band, by the way. Every time they have played New York it’s been at MetLife in Jersey which seats three times as many people as Madison Square Gardens.
“Well this isn’t the New York gig, this is at The Staples Center, in Los Angeles,” I corrected realizing I hadn’t included that part. All I had told them was that I had won four tickets to see M3rCy and hang out with the band and I’d neglected to tell them that we were being flown to LA for the weekend as well.
Once I had finished filling them in on the details, I thought that Eddie was going to have a coronary.
“Fuck, Gavin…did that plane you were on land at the end of a fucking rainbow? This is incredible. Not only do you meet a stunningly hot chick who’s just run away from her guy, she’s hit the fucking jackpot with tickets to see my favorite band. We are going right?” Turning to Gavin briefly for his reaction, he didn’t wait but turned back to me and said, “Well fuck him, I’m in whatever he’s doing.”
Smirking, Gavin rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger and turned his attention to me. Biting back a grin, he nodded his head from side to side as if deliberating. “Yeah, if it’s alright with Chloe. We’d love to come. Well, I would, I think Ed here is still on the fence.” Giggling at the way he was being playful with Ed, I felt I’d done the right thing in asking them to come with us.
We discussed meeting the following evening for dinner, so that Ruby could meet the guys. The concert was still a week away, but I didn’t want her to feel awkward with them. Having dinner would hopefully break the ice, and I had a feeling that she and Eddie would hit it off when they met.
CHAPTER 15 - STUPID DECISIONS
Gibson
Fuck me! It’s her. Oh. My. God. Chloe. The girl from Beltz Bar. Closing my eyes, her image flooded my mind, and I remembered the beautiful girl with the watchful stare. Of course her sweet, soft voice was like music to my ears. An honest voice, but there was a hint of sadness and I wondered what had happened to her.
I felt elated when she answered the phone and then my heart sunk like a stone, when I heard her talk about me like the man whore that I was…that wasn’t easy. Strike that. The way she spoke about me was fucking hard to listen to. Normally, I couldn’t give a shit what anyone thought, but oddly, for some reason that girl affected me.
Five years and my old reputation was still embedded in her brain, just like the image of her staring at me was in mine. Nothing I could do about that. Initially, I was going to call her out, and tell her that I knew who she was. Tell her that I had noticed her watching me all those times, but I was enjoying our little chats until she said that stuff about me.
I’d never run from controversy before, but she kinda got to me with her comments, so instead of finishing the call, I left her hanging mid conversation by telling her I had to go do something else.
There had never been a previous occasion when I choked because someone cast aspersions on the way I lead my life. As far as I saw it, it was my life not theirs and if they wanted to live in their ‘grey colored world,’ pretending they were happy that was up to them. Not me. If I wanted something out of life I took it.
Chloe said she thought I was hot. Well ditto, the girl was fucking gorgeous. Curvy but slender, great ass in jeans, perky braless tits in her little white tank top and toned arms. Silky sun kissed blonde hair and a golden glow about her. A sexy girl. And, what was even more of a turn on was the fact that she had no idea just how appealing she was.
Beyond hot, Chloe was a sizzling piece of ass, and I never got near her. Pity every time I noticed her I was kinda busy with another female. The first time I noticed her was when I was bouncing a hot redheaded groupie on my dick in the alleyway at the back of Beltz Bar.
Vague cloudy memories of the girl I was fucking at the time; how she looked, red hair, other than that there was nothing memorable about her, except maybe the way she screamed when her pussy clen
ched tightly when she came again and again within that last couple of minutes before we were interrupted.
Actually there was nothing cloudy about Chloe, I noticed her straight away, when she had pushed open the emergency exit. The noise of the heavy metal door sprung back and she stood completely still, by the look on her face she had no idea what to do next.
Stepping back and uncoupling myself from the girl I had been getting jiggy with, and I stood her on her feet and I stared past her at Chloe for a split second. What was I supposed to say? “Sorry you saw that? Sorry, but you shouldn’t have been looking? Want to join in? Hell, I didn’t know, so I just kinda smirked and felt pretty shitty that she had to see me being so raw like that.
So, I dropped my head, zipped up my fly and buckled my belt before walking back along the alleyway, leaving them both still standing there.
It was great that she followed our music, shame my reputation followed with that as well. Feeling pretty pissed, because even after five years she still affected me and I hadn’t been able to shake off that look she gave me.
Hearing how she spoke about me affected me in a way I’d never expected. Her words squeezed at my heart in my chest, because I knew that there was nothing I could do to erase what she’d seen, not once but several times.
Standing, I walked over to the window and laid my forehead on the cold window pane. Stunned, I couldn’t think for about a minute, then an idea began to flow that I had to pursue. Calling Charlotte, I told her I needed a private investigator to find out Chloe’s surname and I wanted to know the phone company she had her phone through.
I figured it couldn’t be that hard because I knew exactly what day she had bought her phone, she’d told me I was her first call. I had gathered from later conversations she’d come to New York City the same day. So there were a couple of leads for him to work with.
Then I remembered she was at UCLA in 2009 and worked at Beltz’s Bar. One call to Matt the owner, and I’d have her name in no time.
Fifteen minutes later, my heart was thumping in my chest with excitement and I knew Chloe was Chloe Jenner. Matt was cagey about giving me any other information, but I told him that she had ‘connected’ with me recently, and was coming to LA to see our gig. I pretended to him that I didn’t want to look a complete shit by not knowing her name and I had begged him for her number.
Matt got the wrong idea and thought I had tapped her and to be frank I never set him straight on that, so he told me her surname and that she’d gone back to Florida after her time at college was over. He seemed to think she was living with the same tool I had seen her with in the bar, so I wondered where he fit into the picture I was building.
Four hours later and I had an address for her. The private investigator Charlotte employed was one we had used often for various reasons I won’t go into. So I had Chloe’s address, the fact that she’d come into money and had moved from the apartment she had shared with Kace O’Neill.
Something that the investigator found suggested that she didn’t want to be found. I didn’t get bogged down with the details of that, but asked that he help her cover her tracks better, if it had only taken him four hours to find her.
Appearing on stage that night, my mind was elsewhere. My brain was ticking over all the facts he’d given me, and because I had them and my impulsive nature was desperate to do something about that. I usually made things happen for myself.
Looking out at the audience, I had a flashback to the night I watched a girl being dragged away by security. I knew there was something about her eyes, and it suddenly came to me, they were similar to Chloe’s.
According to the investigator there was no guy on the scene, and that snippet of information made me want to go after her. Like I said, I made things happen for myself.
Chloe had a low opinion of me, and like I said before, I couldn’t make her ‘unsee’ all the stuff she’d had access to about me and the other women a few years ago, but she had only observed the boy in me then.
Putting our heads together, we came up with the idea that Chloe had won a competition to see M3rCy. Trying to be clever, we decided that it would be for her and three friends. I knew the band would be happy to entertain a few girls with me.
All that was left was to get the telephone company on board. Again, that was simple because they were one of the sponsors on our tour, so they were more than happy to play along. The only issue I had was that Tori had set her sights on me, always touching me and trying to flirt, and I was aware of how dangerous she could be if she decided to meddle in the any plan I had about Chloe.
Nervously, I waited for feedback and continued with my day, knowing I’d have to squeeze someone by the balls if there wasn’t positive result from our concocted plan to get Chloe to the show in LA. It had to be that gig, because that was the only time I had a weekend off.
Fuck Toby and water sports. I was thinking of something much more energetic than surfing, and with a bigger plus on the satisfaction, relief, and relaxation side. Toby and I could still find time to get with each other, even if we stayed up all night.
Coming off the stage, Charlotte handed me a piece of paper, which pissed me off, because she got paid to read and inform. “So?” Furrowing my brow, I waited for her to spell out the verdict.
Smiling widely, Charlotte handed me a towel to wipe the sweat off my brow and smirked, “Yup, she bought it. A week from Friday, 16th at Staples.” Grabbing Charlotte by the back of her head I pulled her in and landed a kiss on her lips.
“Good girl. One of these days I’m gonna fuck you if you keep getting results like that for me.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes, “In your dreams Gibson. My wife wouldn’t be too impressed with that.”
Snickering, I was quick to retort. “Oh, honey, she’d be impressed. Tell her you’re both welcome, I’ll extend the invitation. I’m a fan of a double pussy ride every now and again.”
Charlotte’s jaw dropped and she shook her head. “You’ll have to stay a fan and the same rules apply to me as they do for you on this tour. You can look but you don’t get to touch.”
Biting back a grin, I replied trying desperately not to laugh. “You know I don’t do rules, but I’ll take you up on watching. Thanks for that invitation, should I firm that arrangement with you or Wendy?”
Charlotte began to walk away and looked over her shoulder. “I’m not even going to dignify that with an answer, Gibson.”
Chuckling I called after her. “So…I should ask Wendy then…got it!”
Lennox came over and bumped my shoulder with his. “Are you pissing off the hired help again?”
Grinning at Lennox, I bent closer and said, “Remember that smoking hot cleaner from Beltz’s Bar I wanted to tap all those years ago? Well guess what? She’s coming to the gig in LA next week.”
Lennox stared at me, looking at me as if I was insane. “How the hell did you figure that out?”
Explaining to him about the random wrong number and it being hers, Lennox thought it was too incredulous to be the truth. Basically, telling me I was talking bullshit. When I explained I’d been talking to her for weeks after Toby’s PA gave me the wrong number, he shook his head in disbelief.
“I know right? The truth is stranger than fiction. What are the fucking odds of that happening? For the second time in my life there are two wild numbers for things that were coincidental. Toby and I becoming famous from the same place, and now a girl I’d shared the same air as, five years ago, getting a new phone and me being given her number.”
Once Lennox was filled in on the whole deal, he was skeptical. “You know she’ll blow you off or you’ll have the usual ten minute fuck- and- forget- her session right? Nothing is going to be different from any other time. You’ve just put this one on a pedestal because you didn’t get to tap her at the time when you played in the bar.”
Closing my eyes and drawing her image out of my mind, as soon as I reflected on those eyes I knew that nothing Lennox could say would sway my
judgment about her. “Nah, dude. This one is different. Can’t say how, can’t say why, but she’s definitely had my balls in a vice since I first saw her.”
At the end of the gig, I was persuaded to follow the guys to the strip club they were heading to. I already knew it was going to be a bad idea, but I went along with them anyway. Something about women swinging half naked around a long shiny steel pole always set my heart racing.
Not sure if it was because I hadn’t got laid for three days… my longest dry spell in weeks, or– the alcohol I allowed myself in celebration at finding Chloe, but I was wired.
Two bottles of scotch in forty five minutes between four of us and I was more than up for a hot session with one of those thong wearing, braless wonders, wrapping their legs around that pole and hanging from them like they were defying gravity.
“Hey, Gibson, are you as good as they say you are?” Glancing bleary eyed to my left, there was a tiny skinny girl of about five feet, with massive brown eyes, dark hair and the biggest set of natural tits that could have fitted on her frame without her falling over.
She stood there in her red sparkly thong and matching strappy roman style shoes with what looked like glass six inch stiletto heels. I smirked but before I could speak, she was waggling her ass on my dick to the music, which was some slow, shitty blues song I’d never heard before.
Turning she slid one leg between mine all the way up my legs until her knee was rubbing hard against my vaguely interested dick at the seam of my jeans. Her hands were weaving their way in and out of my hair until they gradually slid down the front of my t-shirt and rubbed firmly over my semi-interested length.
She bent forward as she turned away from me again, and my eyes registered her smooth, firm ass. My hands obviously didn’t believe my eyes because both palms began to stroke the crest of her ass cheeks.
Lennox pushed her away and leaned in to talk into my ear. “Not here, Gib, that wouldn’t be a smart move.”
Staring up at him and trying to focus, I knew he was right, but when someone told me no, it made me all the more pissed and determined. “Fuck off, Lennox, I can do what I like, I’ve no one to answer to, so leave me alone.”
Romance: Gibson's Legacy ( New Adult Contemporary Erotic Romance) (Last Score Book 1) Page 12