Lip Service - GOOGLE

by Virna DePaul

  “Enough talking about me,” she says. She lets the silk sheets drop into her lap, exposing her pierced nipples. She reaches up and plays with them. “We’ve already established that nipple piercings are pleasurable for me. What about you?”

  I shrug. “I haven’t exactly played with it.”

  “Right.” She nods before crawling toward me and dropping her head so she can mouth my pierced nipple. She flicks it agilely with her tongue and I just about melt, sink against the headboard and let out a soft moan of pleasure.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dani

  When I wake again, I’m alone. For a moment, I panic, wondering where Hunter is, if things got too intense for him last night and he ran, but then I hear clattering in the kitchen. I’m hit with instant relief that he didn’t ditch me, leaving me by myself in bed after having one of the greatest nights of my life.

  A minute later, he pushes open the door and walks in. He’s fully dressed in business attire as he glides into the room, carrying a tray of breakfast food: pancakes, eggs, bacon, syrup and orange juice.

  “Room service?” I arch a brow as he pushes the tray into my lap. “I’ve never had room service before.”

  “Well it’s about time then.” He tightens the pink tie around his neck.

  “I assume you’re going to work?”

  “Word on the street is that I’m about to sign a major, major deal with an upcoming talent.” His lips hitch into a smirk as I frown at him. “I’m not talking about Chad. I know he still needs time.”

  “To be honest?” I grab a piece of bacon and take a bite. “I think he’s going to sign with you.”

  “There’s no thinking about it. He’s definitely going to sign with me.”

  There’s the old Hunter Kiss I love so much, so cocky and sure of himself. He leans over the bed, his lips hovering so close to mine. “It won’t hurt that I’m giving you regular orgasms, now will it?”

  “You’re a comedian,” I murmur before raising up to kiss him. I’m falling for him. It should terrify me, only it doesn’t. Not nearly as much as it should. When we pull apart, I clear my throat. “I’ll just get dressed....”

  He waves his hand at me. “There’s no need for that.”

  “But you’re going to work.”

  “And you’re off work today, so enjoy yourself. Kick back and relax. My home is your home for the day, and I’ll see you when I’m done with work. It’s going to be an early day. Other than signing Phillip Ross, I don’t have much on my plate, and I have something special planned for us tonight.”

  Phillip Ross? Even I recognize the name of the NFL quarterback who’d decided to search for a new agent, but only after he’d taken his team to the Super Bowl.

  “Are you sure? I could steal all your valuable shit.”

  “There are cameras in the hall.” He purses his lips with a nod. “Try to steal my stuff and I’ll have you in handcuffs.” He smiles wickedly. “On the other hand, steal as much shit as you like.”

  I laugh. “How about I just steal one last kiss?”

  “Works for me.” He leans down and kisses me softly, gently. It’s longer than before, with more passion and heft. And when he pulls away, I’m left wanting more. “Okay, I’ll be back later, and like I said, make yourself at home. I’ll call you when I’m on my way back so you can start to get ready.”

  “Get ready for what?” I ask as he steps toward the bedroom door.

  He taps my nose affectionately. “That’s a surprise.”

  “I hate surprises,” I call out to him as he disappears into the apartment, and then finally, I hear the front door open and close.

  My shoulders drop as I sigh and take a good look at his bedroom. It's hard to imagine that I'm hanging out here - in Hunter Kiss's home - while he's at work. And honestly, so much about him surprises me. He makes me feel good about myself, in a way no one has before. And I'm seriously happy when I'm with him. I could get used to this.

  And then there’s a knock on the door. I groan as I pull the sheet tight around myself and make my way quickly to the door. I pull the door open and say, “What’d you forget?”

  Except it’s not Hunter I’m looking at.

  It’s Amy, the blonde I met after Hunter had kicked her out of his apartment.

  My cheeks flush red as I pull the sheet tighter around my body. I know Hunter digs me just the way I am—curves and all—but I can’t help feeling more than a little self-conscious standing in front of her—a girl most guys would kill to hook up with.

  “Amy, hi.”

  She takes me in with wide eyes, then shakes her head. “Wow. This is a surprise. But damn, it shouldn’t be.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “It’s okay. Don’t be embarrassed or worried. I’m not mad.”

  “You’re not?”

  She shakes her head. “You poor thing. He played you, too.”

  “Nobody’s played me.”

  “Seriously?” She arches a brow and rolls her eyes. “Do you not remember the first time we met? When you were comforting me and told me that you were here to kick his ass?” She laughs bitterly. “And yet here you are, obviously having slept with him.”

  “Amy, Hunter isn’t here. But I’ll tell him you stopped by.”

  She curls her lip in disgust. “You do that.” She eyes me up and down. “And tell him to lose my number. I might have been willing to forgive him and come running once, but not again.”

  “Wait. He called you? When?”

  “Just yesterday. He said he wanted to get together again. But apparently he couldn’t wait. Lucky you, you got that honor.” With that, she walks past me and out the door.

  As she disappears down the hallway, humiliation boils through my veins. Humiliation that quickly turns to anger at the knowledge that Hunter called her. I slam the front door with all the strength I can muster. A glass picture drops from the wall and lands with a shatter against the hard floors.

  Once a player, always a player.

  I’m an idiot. I’m not special to Hunter. I’m just one girl in a long line of women who can’t resist him and his stupid charms, and in the end, I’ll be thrown over for a newer model, just like my mother was every time my father found someone else.

  * * *

  My phone rings but I ignore it. When it rings again, I check the screen. It’s Hunter, probably wanting to see where I am. He’s got a lot of nerve. After he leaves a voicemail, I switch off my phone. About an hour later, someone knocks on my door because of course after Amy stopped by, I didn’t hesitate to get out of Hunter’s place as fast as humanly possible.

  “Dani, it’s Chad. Open up.”

  He sounds happy. Excited. It’s probably because of Hunter and their meeting, and I don’t want to interfere with that, so I force a smile on my face when I answer the door. “Hey there. What’s up?”

  “I tried calling you but it went straight to voicemail.”

  “Oh. Um, yeah. My battery died.”

  “That’s what I figured, so I came over to ask if you want to go to the Lakers game tomorrow. I’ve got two courtside tickets.” Grinning, he holds up a small white envelope.

  “What? How did you get courtside tickets? More importantly, how did you pay for them?”

  “They were gifts,” he says, not quite able to meet my eyes.

  “Anonymous gifts? Like your phone?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I nod, then shake my head. “Chad, you can’t just accept gifts from an anonymous source. What if you’ve got a stalker?”

  “Maybe it’s just a secret admirer. I’m not worried. Just go to the game with me.”

  “No. We need to find out who’s sending you this stuff. Where are they leaving it? Are they sending you stuff in the mail? Are they—”

  Chad runs his hand through his hair. “Jesus, Dani. Can you stop worrying for just a little while? All I know is that I have these tickets and I miss spending time with you, so just say you’ll go. Please?”

  I stare
at him. I’m touched he wants to spend more time with me. But I can’t shake the feeling Chad isn’t telling the truth. That he’s hiding something. That he’s getting the tickets from someone specific and he just doesn’t want to tell me who.

  “Okay.” I nod. “I’ll go with you.”

  “Awesome.” He gives me a hug then a kiss on the cheek.

  Chad is the one person that always keeps me grounded. He’s my reason for everything I’ve done, and everything I do.

  I’ve always wanted to do right by him, but maybe I’d done just the opposite when I’d encouraged him to meet with Hunter on his own.

  Because even though there’s no proof, suddenly I can’t shake the feeling that I was right about Hunter all along. And that he’s continuing to bribe Chad with gifts.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Dani

  Later that afternoon, Hunter calls my cell. Again.

  I send his ass straight to voicemail (again).

  Twenty minutes later, he calls again, and suddenly I can’t stand it any longer. I raise the phone to my ear. “You’ve reached the voicemail of Dani Cross, please leave your name and number and—”

  Hunter’s low chuckle shivers through me. “You’re hilarious. It’s one of the many qualities that attract me to you.”

  “Leave your message after the beep,” I continue with the charade. “Beep.”

  “When you’re done playing games, let’s talk about our plan for tonight.”

  “Yeah? What’s your plan? A threesome?”

  There’s a prolonged silence on Hunter’s end then, “I didn’t realize you were that kinky.”

  “Normally, I’m not, but hey, Amy’s beautiful, right? Hard to pass up.”

  Another extended silence. “Dani, what’s going on?”

  “You know exactly what I’m getting at, Hunter. Don’t play stupid with me.”

  “I’m not playing at anything,” he says, his voice now edged with annoyance.

  “Oh, but you have. You’ve been playing me. What, you forgot about asking Amy to come by your place? Because she did. While I was still there.”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  “Right,” I scoff. “Just like you don’t know anything about the phone Chad got, or how those Lakers tickets just magically appeared in his mailbox.”

  “Okay, fucking stop,” he commands. “What you’re accusing me of is offensive on two fronts. I’m not seeing another woman behind your back. And I’m not sending your brother inappropriate gifts. I wouldn’t manipulate your brother that way, not to mention doing so is illegal and would ruin my reputation.”

  “So what. Anything to get ahead, right, Hunter?”

  I can count the seconds of his silence this time. Five. Ten…

  “Go to hell, Dani.” He hangs up on me.

  “The fucking nerve,” I seethe between gritted teeth before I toss my phone on the counter.

  I’m angry, but I’m also sad. And hurt.

  Just when I started falling for him, his true colors showed through. I’m pissed at myself for letting him in at all. I’m pissed that part of me had started to believe we could be something special. I’m pissed I was such a fool.

  * * *

  Around noon the next day, I arrive at Chad’s. That morning, I’d taken a long ride to clear my head after talking to Hunter, and doubt had started to creep in.

  To tell the truth, doubt had been creeping in soon after Hunter had hung up on me.

  Hunter had sounded surprised and insulted and angry on the phone.

  But it had suddenly dawned on me that he’d also sounded hurt.

  Granted, he could have been acting, but the hurt had been so subtle. Not a flagrant bid for attention but more like something he couldn’t hide no matter how hard he was trying to hide it.

  For some reason, the thought of hurting Hunter emotionally made me feel sicker than I had when I’d witnessed his pain when I’d pierced his nipple. The strength of my reaction had me looking at things on a purely rational rather than emotional level.

  A part of me still believes he’d called Amy, but bribing Chad? Why would Hunter go through the trouble? If there was ever a man who showed his cards and taunted the world to accept him as he was, it was Hunter. Plus, Chad idolizes Hunter. Hunter knows this, so why would he feel it necessary to have to bribe Chad into liking him? And Hunter had spoken the truth on the phone—he had too much to lose by doing something so unethical and stupid. He has more honor than that.

  Once I reach the door of Chad’s apartment, I try to push the door open, but it’s locked. He almost never locks his door—it’s a bad habit of his I’ve been trying to break for years, but it looks like he’s finally learning his lesson. I knock on the door three times in a row before he pulls the door open, wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants with hair that looks like he just rolled out of bed.

  “Did you really just get out of bed?”

  “Yeah,” he groans and wipes his eyes with his fists. “Studying for finals is killing me.”

  “I’m not going to be here for long,” I insist as I push past him.

  He closes the door behind me and spins to face me with his arms crossed over each other. “What’s up?” he questions, letting out an obnoxious yawn.

  “I need to know the truth.”

  “The truth about what?” He steps into the kitchen and grabs an empty glass from the cupboard to fill it up with water. “The truth about whether or not I’m going to sign?” He shrugs as he takes a long gulp of water. “I really haven’t decided yet.”

  I step to the other side of the counter and fold my palms against the edge of the granite surface. “That’s not what I’m talking about.”

  He finishes off the glass of water and sits the cup in the empty sink. “I’m really tired and I’m exhausted, so maybe instead of waiting for me to guess what you’re talking about, you just tell me?”

  I have no problem with that. “I’m talking about the phone and the tickets.”

  “What about them?” He sighs and scratches at the back of his ear. But he also can’t look me in the eye anymore.

  “Who gave them to you?”

  “Dani, I told you. I don’t know.”

  “Show me the package.”

  “I threw it away.” His teeth bite into his lower lip. “I don’t understand why it’s such a big deal, anyway.”

  “It’s a big deal because if Hunter is sending you shit to bribe you into signing with him, it’s unethical and it’s illegal, and I’m going to have to put my foot down and tell you that you are absolutely not signing with him.”

  He locks his eyes with mine. “That’s not your choice to make.”

  “Maybe not, but all my life I’ve watched out for you. I’m not going to just stop now.”

  Chad swipes his hands over his face. “Dani, please just let this go.”

  “That’s not going to happen.”

  “Then leave.” He turns his back to me and paces down the short hall to his bedroom. The door slams shut seconds later.

  I immediately march down the hall and throw open the door to find Chad lying in bed, his hands folded behind his head.

  “Why are you being so defensive?” I question, hand against my hip. “Do you think I like fighting with you?”

  “I think you like being in control.” He pushes himself up and swings his legs to the floor until he’s sitting, his hands between his knees. “And I really think you need to let this go.”

  “Fine,” I scowl and rip my phone from my jeans. “I’m just going to go ahead and call the ethics committee right now.” I pretend to dial the number and press the phone against my ear, all the while my eyes are battling with his, just waiting for him to break and tell me the truth. “Yes, hello,” I feign talking to someone on the other end of the phone. “Can I—”

  “Fine, you fucking win.” Chad jumps out of bed, rips the phone out of my hand and proceeds to hang up a call that was never actually happening. “You want to kn
ow the truth?” He towers over me, frustration and anger apparent in his voice. “I’ll tell you the truth, but you’re not going to like it. Hunter isn’t bribing me. But in a way, Dad is.”

  It was the last thing I expected him to say. The last person I expected him to mention. And it hits me in the face like a ton of bricks. “D—dad—?”

  “That’s right. Dad has been sending me stuff for a few weeks now.”

  I swallow past the sudden lump in my throat, trying to process what he’s just said. I’m a ticking time bomb, and I can tell from the expression on his face he knows it. Tears well up in the corner of my eyes, and all I can do is shake my head gently.

  “I’m sorry, Dani. I should have told you sooner.”

  “Should’ve, would’ve, could’ve, right?”

  “You’re pissed, I get that—”

  “Damn right, I’m fucking pissed,” I explode. “Not only did you make me think something horrible about Hunter, but you’ve hidden the fact that our piece of shit father has been reaching out to you.”

  “He’s our dad, Dani,” he says softly. “I can’t just turn him away.”

  “Can’t turn him away? That’s bullshit. Just say the truth for once, and the truth is that you couldn’t turn away the free shit.”

  “That’s not it.”

  “Then what is it?” I scream. “When has that man ever been there for us? Never. And now he’s probably heard that you’re about to make something out of yourself and he wants to come back. How fucking convenient?”

  “Or maybe he’s reaching out because he’s sorry? Because he wants a relationship with us?”

  “No.” I shake my head with a furious chuckle. “That man doesn’t care about anyone but himself. He didn’t care about Mom, and he sure as hell didn’t care about either of us.”

  “Maybe it’s different now!” He throws his hands up in the air. “Maybe he’s changed.”