Right Now

by Marie Hall

Zoe didn’t bat a lash.

  “A. Fine. B. Nothing,” I said back.

  “Good. You do now. You’re coming to lunch with me. And I’ll have a green tea and a scone. J, what’ll you have?” She didn’t even look down at her friend—her eyes were greedy and glittering with something a little bit dangerous and a whole lot naughty, and it was all I could do not to drag her fine ass to the back room and see just how covered she really was.

  “Umm… coffee, black,” Jamie said, sounding all kinds of confused.

  I waited a second, not wanting to leave Zoe’s side. The woman fascinated me, made my heart race like I was high on crack, and had given me the best orgasm of my life without even being in the room.

  “Well?” She crossed her arms, forcing her breasts up. She wasn’t stacked, but like Goldilocks had said, it was just right. “We’re waiting.”

  After what she’d done to me the other night, I’d been pissed. Mainly because I’d wondered if I’d been the only one feeling the heat, but the way she’d tried to hide from me just now and how she’d stuttered adorably in the beginning… No, there was more to Zoe than what first met the eye.

  The second I got behind the counter, Alan and Eric were on me. “Who are they? And are they single,” they both asked at pretty much the same time.

  Licking the ring in my lip, liking more and more the way it felt, I shook my head. Jamie I didn’t know about, and Zoe was mine. Period.

  “Blondie, I don’t know.”

  “What about—”

  “She’s taken,” I growled at a persistent Eric.

  With his shaggy dark hair and pierced eyebrow and lip and countless tattoos scrolling down both arms, he looked more like the type of guy Zoe should be with. Which only pissed me off. What did looks matter anyway?

  “You suck ass.” Eric shoved away from me and it was a good thing too, because if he’d asked another question, I might have done something stupid.

  Like rip the rings out of his face. Just thinking about doing that made me suck mine into my mouth.

  I grabbed the drinks and a scone and walked over, ready to sit with them while they finished, to feast my eyes on Zoe’s assets and tune out as they rambled on about whatever the hell it was girl’s liked to ramble on about.

  Taking the bag and drinks from me, Zoe handed them to Jamie, then uncapped a pen and turned my hand over. She scribbled something on my palm, then underlined it swiftly.

  “Later, vanilla.” And with a wink, she was gone, leaving me to stare with openmouthed shock.

  That was twice she’d done that to me.

  And I wanted to be pissed, but when I flipped my hand over, her number stared back at me with a “call me” underlined beneath it.

  “Got the digits—sweet, dude.” Alan fist-bumped me and yeah, I was grinning like an idiot.

  ~*~

  Zoe

  “What was that?” was the first thing Jamie asked when we walked outside.

  I didn’t know. I had zero clue. What was that? Not me. I’d given him my number. What if he didn’t call? Clutching the bag in my hand, I knew I was going to be sick as my stomach took a dip and then rolled.

  “Frosty, and I mean, wow… Should I even call you that anymore?” Jamie’s lips thinned. “You were flirting. Like hot-and-heavy flirting. Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?”

  “I wasn’t flirting.” I denied it, opening my bag. The heavenly scent of butter and sugar smacked me in the face, making my mouth instantly water. I’d make up for it tomorrow—do an extra set of lunges.

  Actually, probably not.

  Jamie snaked her hand into the bag before I could stop her and ripped a hunk off the scone, taking an enormous man-bite out of it.

  “Hey.” I smacked the hand still holding the other half of the scone. “Wench.”

  Sticking out her tongue, she shoved the rest in and groaned as if in ecstasy. “Mmm, I can do this all day.” Licking the tips of her fingers, she narrowed her eyes and made like she’d grab for more. “Tell me who that was or I swear the scone will get it.”

  Hugging the bag to my chest, I pinned her with an evil glare. “He’s nobody, okay.”

  “Liar,” she snapped, and then so quick I couldn’t track it, she yanked the bag out of my hand and ran down the sidewalk. “You better tell me before I eat the whole thing. I’m hungry and this thing is good. Mmmm.” She circled the top of the bag with her finger, and crouched low in a runner’s stance. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind Jamie would do it.

  A few guys I didn’t recognize started catcalling and whistling. “Chick fight. Hot, man. My money’s on the Goth chick.” A guy wearing sunglasses and way too much gel in his spiky brown hair clapped. The other two stood around wearing goofy grins.

  Guys were such immature tools sometimes. Rolling my eyes, I ignored them and pointed my finger at her. “J, I swear, you eat my scone and I will murder a blonde.”

  “It’s very simple, Zo… Tell me who he is.”

  Jamie was never like this. Well, not with me anyway. Last time she’d given a damn had been sophomore year when she’d tried to set me up with the chess-club president. The year I affectionately referred to as Whiskey Gate.

  I’d hoped to keep my secret a while longer at least. But I should have known it would be impossible after my pathetic performance in the coffee shop.

  “Give me my scone.” I held out my hand, curling my fingers for her to snap to it.

  Lifting a brow, she dangled it out to me, but the second I started to reach for it, she snatched it back. “You promise to tell?”

  Pretending to study my nails, I moved an inch closer to her, then grabbed it out of her hands before popping her butt and hopping back out of the way.

  “Hey!” She grabbed her ass.

  The guys howled with laughter. “Want me to kiss it better,” one of them asked. I wasn’t sure who since I wasn’t looking.

  Ripping open my bag, I frowned at the pile of crumbs at the bottom. “Go away, asshats, she’s taken,” I growled.

  Of course they completely misunderstood and I could feel their lecherous grins grow wider.

  Men were pigs.

  Jamie hooked her arm through mine and then winked back at the guys before laughing. “You do realize,” she whispered, “those guys are gonna be masturbating about this tonight?”

  Nibbling on crumb, I sighed. “Like I care.”

  “And there’s the Frosty I know and love.” She poked me in the ribs as we started crossing the road. “Now tell me, who is he really?”

  “Alex Donovan.”

  Her face screwed up into a frown. “And who is that… Whoa, wait a second.” She twirled on me, dropping my arm the second we’d gotten across the street. “The Alexander Midas Donovan? Golden Adonis boy of J.J. Baines High School?”

  I ground my molars—leave it to my BFF to have the memory of an elephant.

  “The boy you built an altar for in your closet?”

  Bristling, I gave her deadpan glare. “I did not. I just had a picture of him taped up in it.”

  She punched my arm, then snapped her fingers. “Hello, I’ve known you how long? It was so an altar. You cut out pictures of your face and his and…”

  “Will you shut up,” I growled, rubbing my twinging arm. “That was a long time ago.”

  Her laughter rang with disbelief. “Yeah, that’s why you were totally acting like pimple-faced, sixteen-year-old Misaki all over again. You still have the hots for him, don’t you?”

  Tossing the bag of uneaten scone into the garbage can, I rolled my eyes.

  Pausing, she tipped her head. “I know why you haven’t told him. He doesn’t recognize you, does he? That asshole didn’t even have a clue.” Thrusting out her jaw, she narrowed her eyes, turning from bubbly cheerleader to angry Chihuahua. “How could he not know who you are? That smug dick.”

  Snorting because I totally loved Jamie right now, I shoved her in the back to get her to keep moving toward the car. Last thing I needed was fo
r my diminutive friend to get it in her head to go back and give Alex a piece of her mind.

  “Zoe.” She pouted. “That’s the only guy I ever saw you cry over.”

  Swallowing some of my now tepid green tea, I shook my head. “No, I didn’t.”

  “Totally.” She tossed her coffee. “Remember graduation day? You went to it. I sat all the way in the back of the auditorium with you.”

  Ugh. Now that I remembered, I couldn’t believe I’d forgotten that. I’d been so miserable that day with the knowledge that I was only going to be a junior, and Alex was graduating and would leave school and I’d never see him again. I’d been really pathetic in high school.

  Grimacing, I mumbled, “Don’t remind me.”

  Patting my arm, she unlocked her Corolla. “You sure you want to do this, Frosty? There aren’t many guys that I think could still hurt you, but there was always something about Alex that made you slightly nuts.”

  Opening the passenger door, I slid in. “I’m not nuts. I’m fine. Really.”

  Jamie started the car and headed for home. Looking out the window, I studied the buildings as they whizzed by, my heart twisting painfully inside its cage. Not with fear, but with the unknown.

  Jamie was right, as much as I didn’t want her to be. As much I hated admitting it even to myself, as confident and self-assured as I’d become since high school, I was worried that with Alex I was in real danger of losing my heart.

  “I love Angel,” Jamie finally said, drawing my attention. She didn’t look at me as she continued driving. “And I wish to God that I didn’t. Loving someone who doesn’t appreciate you—it sucks balls.” Her voice was low and sad and filled with bitter regret. “The heart might want what it wants, but you and I both know that’s not always good for you. Just be careful, Zo. Please.”

  I swallowed as the car grew fraught with tension and unspoken words.

  Jamie was beautiful, the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. There wasn’t a man alive who wouldn’t want to get with her, and many who would appreciate a lot more than just the fine body. But she’d chosen the one guy in the universe who was a total ass-wad to her.

  Once upon a time, I’d liked Angel. Wanted nothing more than to see those two crazy kids move in together and live happily ever after. Until the day I’d caught him making out with the girl in 5A.

  It sucked seeing Jamie unable to move on. He didn’t beat her or anything, and when he was with her he was decent enough, but she deserved more than decent. Everyone did.

  I frowned when she laughed. “What?”

  Her lips twitched. “Just don’t become like me, because I’m not sure I’d be as nice to you as you have been to me.”

  Clicking on the stereo, she bopped in her seat and started singing along.

  And that was Jamie—the most beautiful girl in the world who had zero self-confidence. Funny how you could see someone and want to be just like them, never even realizing how much they would give to be someone, anyone, else other than who they were.

  Crossing my legs, I knew it was too late. Alex was back, fate or no, destiny or not… I was going to see this through. Maybe I shouldn’t, maybe he was just another player in an ocean filled with them, but I wouldn’t know unless I tried.

  Because I knew if I didn’t, I’d regret it forever.

  The phone in my pocket vibrated against my hip. Sliding it out, I stared at the screen, not recognizing the number. Suddenly my throat was dry. Was it him?

  “You gonna pick that up or what?” Jamie asked, turning into our apartment complex.

  Squeezing my eyes shut, I clicked the number. “Hello.”

  “So you didn’t give me a fake number.”

  Nerves racked my body, spinning like sparks of electricity down my spine and filling my limbs until every inch of me tingled. I laughed, the sound breathy and throaty, and Jamie’s eyes grew wide.

  “Whoa,” she mouthed and then parked the car. She blew me an air kiss and gave me my privacy.

  “What do you want, Alex? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

  “I’m on a ten-minute break. Do you know what I did last night?” he asked, and his voice did things to me—crazy, wonderful, almost-painful things. I closed my eyes, savoring the sound of his sensual Texas drawl. “I thought about you. All night. I licked this damn ring and thought about you. All. Night. Long.”

  My heart was pounding, threatening to fracture bone with the strength of its beats.

  “Who are you, Zoe?”

  Wetting my lips, I clenched my thighs against the heavy pressure between them and shook my head. “If you can figure it out before Sunday, I’ll give you a prize.”

  “Ahhh.”

  The sound of his voice filled me with heat and longing and so much fire I knew that spontaneous combustion couldn’t really exist, because otherwise I’d be up in flames already.

  “Can I see you tonight?” he asked.

  “No.”

  Growling trembled through the line and a sense of female empowerment grabbed hold of me. It shouldn’t make me feel good, but it did. I liked knowing I was capable of making him this crazy for me, and like an addict, I wanted more.

  “Can I at least call you? Later?”

  “You know, you’re coming dangerously close to begging, vanilla.”

  The line grew thick with silence and I wondered what he was doing right now. Scrubbing his jaw? Stabbing his fingers through his hair? Twirling the lip ring with his tongue?

  “You want me to?”

  Yes. I shifted in my seat, licking my lips and trying to get my raging hormones to calm the hell down. It took every ounce of self-respect I possessed not to say yes. Because if I said yes, I’d be back over there in less than five minutes and I’d let him take me up against the alley wall.

  “I work tonight. Until midnight.”

  “Zoe?”

  “Yeah?” My smile grew a mile wide.

  “I will figure it out. And then you’re gonna owe me.”

  I was sweating, the car was sweltering, I needed to get into an air-conditioned room before I melted, but my legs were rubber and wouldn’t move.

  “I’ll see you tonight,” he said, and then the phone went dead.

  Chapter 4

  Alex

  I checked my watch again, probably about the hundredth time tonight. It was 11:55. I’d decided the moment we’d hung up that I wouldn’t go to her, wouldn’t call her, nothing. I don’t chase after women—it’s not my style. And yet when the clock struck eleven thirty, I’d found myself walking to the truck, getting in, and before I knew it I was standing outside her tattoo parlor thinking I was acting a lot like a love-sick ass.

  I barely even knew the chick, but she had her hooks in me. I couldn’t stop thinking about her. How different she was than anyone else I’d ever met, how she made me laugh, how she made me crazy to find out more.

  It was sick and stupid, but instead of running back to my truck and hightailing it out of there, I closed my eyes and rested my head against the wall.

  The bell above the shop door pinged and then a she cried, “See you guys Monday.”

  Just the sound of her throaty voice made every cell in my body rub up against one another, stirred up the friction and the heat and twisted up my insides with anticipation.

  She hadn’t seen me yet, which gave me the chance to feast like a man who hadn’t eaten in days. I was ravenous for the sight of her and drank her in, starting with her black, high-heel pumps and moving to the skinny jeans that sat high on her waist. A sleeveless button-down shirt with red and white checkers on it came to just above her navel. Her jet-black hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail with choppy bangs in front and a huge red flower tucked into the side. I was struck dumb.

  The girl was hot. Crazy hot. I’d never seen anyone like her. With her sleeved-up arms and piercings and cool vibe, I wanted to know more. Needed to know more.

  I thought about leaving then, getting away from that compulsion, that obsessive pull she mad
e me feel. I didn’t like feeling out of control like that. This had been a reckless, dumbass idea. What the hell was I doing there?

  Scratching the back of my neck, I took a step toward my truck, which was parked on the side of the curb.

  “So you finally figure it out?” There was a smile in her voice and I froze.

  I should have been surprised she had figured out I was there, but I wasn’t. Not really. She struck me as the type who was very aware of the world she moved in, and suddenly all the nerves and craziness inside me settled down. It’s weird how she did that to me. She made me feel both crazy and sane.

  “Figured what out?” I slipped my hands into my pockets because I knew if I kept them out, the second I was close enough to her I’d grab her, kiss her, and make her promises I could never keep.

  She laughed and the sound of it washed over my skin like a warm caress, made my body tight and desperate for just a touch of her.

  Before I knew it, between two blinks and a heartbeat, we were inhabiting the same space. Breathing in the same air. I’m not sure when she’d done it, but somehow she’d closed the distance between us. Her lush curves were so close to my own that I felt the heat of her body shimmer against me like a wave. I curled my fingers tight to my thighs.

  “C’mon, vanilla. Was I really that forgettable?” Her lips were moving, tempting me, drawing my eye like a sensuous curl of flame beckoning to a moth.

  Her smile was teasing, her tone light, and I thought maybe she didn’t really care if I remembered or not. Didn’t she feel this pull too? Like we were somehow already connected, drawn together by an invisible string? It couldn’t just be me. But what if it was?

  The thought was like a punch to the gut.

  Why couldn’t I remember her? I knew she had to know me—she’d known my name before I’d even given it to her. But why couldn’t I remember? How could I have met someone with such clear honey eyes, inky black hair, and smooth golden skin and let her slip through my mind like a half-formed thought?

  “Give me a clue.” I stepped in closer, brushing my chest against hers. Just the scrape of her breasts against my shirt made the blood drain down to my legs. I was sweating like a fifteen-year-old punk seeing tits for the very first time. Being around her made me feel crazy stupid.