by Quinn, Cari
“Yeah, well today was a clusterfuck.” I took a gulp of wine, happy to find it was a shiraz rather than the drier merlot I’d been expecting. Too bad. If it were a merlot, I’d probably drink it slower. The fruity, full-bodied wine went down way too easy. I drained the glass and helped myself to another.
Lila made a hmm sound.
“I know I screwed up. Hell, I wouldn’t put it past Donovan to hold my favor over me again.”
“About that.”
I groaned and took another gulp. I deserved whatever was coming my way. I’d behaved unprofessionally. I’d literally let my libido derail my common sense. I hadn’t even done that as a teen. “Lay it on me.”
“Donovan’s worried about Hunter.” She took a delicate sip of her white wine. “And you.”
I blew out a breath. “It wasn’t one of my finer moments, but I think we managed to put the right spin on it.”
“You’re right. You did. Now you’re trending as Hunter’s girlfriend.”
I choked, holding my glass away from me and my dress. “What? Where’d you hear that?” I’d checked the social media channels before I’d gotten dressed.
“Music Life, TMZ, and US Weekly so far.”
I resisted the urge to take out my phone and let my Google-fu come out to play. “Look, fling I can understand. But girlfriend?”
Lila crossed one arm under her elbow and pressed the lip of her glass against her chin as she studied me. Finally, she tilted her head, her China-blue eyes direct and strangely sympathetic. “Perhaps going all avenging angel at the press conference perpetuated that.”
My shoulders sagged. I finished off my second glass and reached for a third when warm fingers caught my wrist.
“Not so fast. I don’t believe you’ve eaten anything but my pasta today, Kenny.”
I yanked my hand away. Damn tingles. Why did it have to be him who caused the tingles? Not to mention his voice. Imagine broad shoulders and a chest cavity to match. Then add a little bass to that ridiculously perfect package. Yep. A deep voice like that collects panties as payment for survival.
I was waving mine like a damn white flag.
Okay, so they were actually black and raspberry lace. I had a problem with La Perla. Sue me. I had to wear business suits most of the time. I liked pretty bra and panty sets. Maybe liked wasn’t a strong enough word.
Maybe I really shouldn’t have another glass of wine.
Lila hmmed again.
Dammit. I should have just stayed in my room and forgotten all about whatever it was me and Hunter were contemplating.
Sex.
Steamy hot, mind-altering sex.
I snatched another glass of wine from the tray of a waiter passing me on the left. My inner hussy had been denied for too long was all. She was being pushy, but I could handle this. I peered up at all six-feet-three-inches of Hunter. At least that’s what his bio said. He seemed so much larger when I was next to him. “I’m assuming you know Lila.”
Hunter nodded curtly. He held his hand out to Lila. “Nice to see you again. I didn’t realize you were coming out tonight.”
She shook his hand firmly. “Donovan is in New York, so I thought I’d make an appearance.”
Hunter smiled tightly. “To get a firsthand account of our shenanigans?” He tipped up a dark bottle of beer and took a lazy sip.
“That’s one word for it.” Lila tapped her nail against the bowl of her glass. “I know all about how the media works. Even better, I know how a band works. Lately there’s a lot of tension between you, and the tour hasn’t even started yet.”
Hunter’s fingers tightened on his bottle. “We’ll work it out. We always do.”
Lila inclined her head. “I hope so.” She took a small drink. “Your timing is fortuitous. I was just explaining to Kennedy that the media has run with the girlfriend angle. We feel that it would be in everyone’s best interest if you perpetuated the story.”
My mouth dropped open. “You want us to pretend to be a couple?”
“Hell no.”
I swiveled to Dex’s voice. I never thought I’d side with him, but right now I was definitely ready to ride his train of thought. One moment of madness on the horizon was one thing. Staying in Hunter’s sphere for longer than tonight was definitely not what I had in mind. Couldn’t I just have a one-night-stand with a hot guy?
A hot guy who actually seemed capable of delivering an orgasm to make my career blunder worth it.
I swear, I couldn’t catch a break.
Lila spared Dex a cool glance. “There’s a number of fans who have expressed a positive reaction toward the girlfriend angle.”
Dex sliced a hand through the air. “Women want the fantasy. The bad boy rock star who hasn’t found the right woman. Not the guy settling down. How do they insert themselves in the fantasy if there’s a woman already there?”
From a marketing standpoint, he was correct. From a personal one, I wanted to smash the lowball glass he was playing with up his nose until it was bloody. “You do realize we aren’t a pair of puppets?”
“Your hallway exploits, not to mention the one at the press junket, have gone viral.” Lila tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Everyone wants to know more about you, Kennedy. The industry people know who you are—the PR princess who gets things done. You’re one of the best spin artists I’ve ever worked with, but you’re an unknown quantity to the rest of the world.”
I was more than happy to keep it that way. I worked behind the camera, not in front of it. Public speaking didn’t bother me, but I was more comfortable being a coach. I sure as hell didn’t want to be under the spotlight.
Hunter settled his hand at my lower back, his thumb teasing the dip along the edge of my dress.
Okay, so maybe the spotlight wasn’t so bad.
No.
That was the wine talking. And a long stretch of lonely nights.
He played with my zipper. “I’m all for project girlfriend.”
I frowned up at him. “I thought I’d be able to count on you to veto this ridiculous idea.”
Hunter’s dimple winked as his lips tipped up in a smirk. “Why?”
“I can’t believe you’re even asking me that.”
“It’s not a hardship to hang out with you, Kenny. And personally, I could use a break from the constant flow of women.”
“Nice,” I muttered. “Such a trial for you.”
He dropped his gaze to my mouth, then back to my eyes. “It gets old when you’re wondering if a woman is chatting you up to get her picture on Instagram, or if she actually wants to talk to you.”
I frowned. Most of my clients were looking for exactly that. They wanted the digital footprint. The fear of becoming irrelevant was as terrifying as aging.
I didn’t want to be intrigued by him. I wanted to shrug him off, but I’d been craving his touch since the tunnels. I had just enough wine in me that I couldn’t even pretend to be unaffected.
“It wouldn’t be a long-lasting relationship. We’d rather just see how it works out for a few of Hunter’s upcoming engagements.” Lila nodded to someone to our left and held up a finger. She smiled at me. “I’ll get his itinerary to you, Kennedy. Now, Dex and I have to go put out another fire.”
I nodded.
I really didn’t know what else to do. I’d screwed up, so now I had to fix my mess. Was it wrong to want to fix it with my panties around my ankles?
Possibly.
Too bad I didn’t really care at the moment.
Eleven
Hunter
I waited for Dex and Lila to move out of earshot before gliding my fingertips up Kenny’s soft skin to tease the ends of her fist-worthy hair. She’d done something with it that made me think of twisted sheets and empty bottles of wine.
She lifted her glass and emptied it. I took it from her and set my bottle and her glass on a passing waiter’s tray. I turned her toward me. “Kenny.”
She wouldn’t look above my chin, and a little line puckered between her eye
brows. I toyed with a strand of her hair and waited her out. Her amber eyes were troubled and just a little lost. She’d played them up so they were dark and smudged. Again, reminding me what the morning after could look like.
What I wanted it to look like.
Her rolling over with messy hair and fuzzy eyes and her unpainted mouth soft from sleep and my kisses. Or from taking me in her mouth.
Even better.
I nearly groaned, unable to stop myself from swiping my thumb along her lush lower lip. The deep wine color was gone, and now it was soft and pink—just a few shades deeper than her skin.
Was that the pink I’d find when tasting her nipple?
My dick hardened. Or lower, when I tasted her pussy?
“Don’t look at me like that,” she said hoarsely.
“Like what?”
Her fingers curled around my forearm. “Like that.”
I lowered my head, my nose brushing hers. Her usual orange blossom scent was darker. A hint of spice that lured me closer. Her gaze darted around to the party.
“Kenny.”
Her eyes cut to mine. “Stop calling me that.”
I grinned against her mouth. “Kenny. Kenny…” I nipped her top lip. “By the end of the night, you’ll love it.”
She jerked her head back. “Sure of yourself, aren’t you?”
I laughed. “There’s no doubt we’ll be good. Every time I touch you I get so hard I can’t think about anything but pushing you up against the nearest available surface. I have no doubt that when we finally get naked, it’ll be incredible.”
“When,” she said with a spiked eyebrow.
I dragged her closer. “When.” My knee sliding between her legs. “This dress is a helluva lot more accessible. Did you do that on purpose, Kenny?”
She arched away from me, but her nails dug into my side. I didn’t mind playing the game this first time. She didn’t want to want me. I understood that. I’d made a ton of mistakes in my twenties under the haze of lust and the power of celebrity. I knew the difference now, but a lot of stupid had happened in the interim.
I had a feeling that Kennedy McManus didn’t let herself cut loose too often.
“It doesn’t have to be more than this.”
She frowned at me.
“If you want it to just be a game for the cameras, I’ll abide by that. But if you want more…if you want to see where this will go tonight, to find out if this thing between us is more than just a quick storm with some laughs and an orgasm or seven…”
“Seven.” She laughed. The troubled frown dissolved as if it had never been.
“I’ll be sure to keep score.”
“Pal, I’ll be happy with one.”
“Oh, now you’re definitely getting seven.” I coasted my hand down her back and over her ass before latching onto her hand. “Give me tonight, and we’ll go from there tomorrow.”
Her gaze dipped to my mouth again.
She wanted it. I wasn’t sure how to get her to take what she wanted, but I’d spend the rest of the night figuring out how.
I took a step back, our arms outstretched between us. She looked over her shoulder, then back at me before following. I led her through the clusters of people. I didn’t make eye contact with anyone. There was no way I was stopping for polite chitchat right now.
I changed course when I spotted a waiter coming out of a side door, which happened to lead to one of the tunnels to the kitchen. I caught the door and tugged her with me, rushing her down the hallway.
“Hunter.”
I ignored her, pausing when we came to a fork in the hallway. “Right or left.”
She sighed. “Left.”
I nodded. “Left it is.”
“Do you know where we are?”
“Nope.”
“This is crazy.” Her heels echoed in the empty space.
I grinned back at her. “Great, isn’t it?”
“No.” She curled her other hand around my forearm as she stuck closer to me. “Its creepy. Shouldn’t we have passed someone by now?”
“Probably. But it’s an adventure.”
“I prefer my adventures to include a high thread-count cotton and a bottle of wine.”
I crowded her into the cement wall. “Boring.”
She pressed her back to the wall and peered up at me. “Oh, a musty corridor is hotter?”
I tipped my head down until our foreheads touched. “It can be.”
“Been there, done that.”
“Aww, come on, Kenny. That was just foreplay.”
She lifted her chin. “Garlic breath and a few kisses? Is that all the game you got?”
“Oh, babe. You don’t want to start this.”
“What if I do?” A flirty smile touched her lips.
I traced the beaded V-neck of her dress, my nail ticking over each tiny stone as it plunged lower over the curve of her breast to where the material met at a point just under her cleavage. Her breath was shallow and easy. I couldn’t have that. I needed her shaking and dragging in one surprised breath after another.
I moved lower to follow the line of her ribcage under the intricate patterns of beads on her dress. The threads shifted and grasped at my skin. Dark purples and blacks and cherry reds that made up a column of shifting fire. I skimmed my fingertips to her hip and down to the hem of her dress just above her knee. I crouched before her, grazing my nose along the material as I inched my way up her knee to her thigh, bunching the fabric as I went.
“Hunter.” Her gaze shot to the left then right. “We can’t…”
Her words trailed off as I blew lightly over her inner thigh. “Ahh, Kenny. No stockings?”
She flattened her fingers against the wall until her knuckles went white with the pressure. “Too muggy.”
I made a lazy sweep with the tip of my tongue along the silky softness of her thigh. I followed the damp trail with my thumb until I reached the lacy edges of her panties. Black and pink lace. “We don’t really need these, do we?”
“What?” A shiver climbed up her legs as her eyes widened.
I let her skirt fall down over my hands. I followed the line of her panties by touch to the curve of her ass, then up to the dip in her spine where they ended. I peeled them down slowly. I groaned when another shiver buzzed under my hands. I wasn’t sure I’d have the fortitude not to pick her up and fuck the hell out of her in this dank space.
Not if I caught more than a hint of her scent.
I didn’t want a quick fuck.
I wanted to take my time.
But I wanted her thinking about it. Thinking about me touching all of her.
I dragged her panties down over her thighs to her knees. Her breath skipped out slowly as I circled my fingertips along the backs of her knees before the lace dropped to her ankles.
I didn’t look away from her the entire time. She was riveting. From her sex-tossed hair, to her smudged eyes and pale mouth, to her chest heaving with excitement—every part of her made me want.
My cock was so hard, I nearly popped my zipper for some relief, but if she wasn’t getting any, then neither was I.
I tapped one of her heels and she stepped free of one side, then the other. I stood up, tucking her panties into my jeans. “Seven,” I said against her mouth. It was officially my magic number tonight.
She blinked at me for a moment before her eyebrows snapped down.
I laughed and linked our fingers again, dragging her down the hallway again. Finally, we came to a door marked exit. I peeked out. No way was I making the same mistake from earlier in the night.
There was no one in sight. It seemed to be some sort of annex parking lot.
She ducked under my arm and a strong sense of Deja vu hit.
“Parking lot?” she asked.
“Not sure.”
“Maybe we should go back.”
I shook my head. “Maybe we can sneak around. Seems like there wouldn’t be any fans back here.”
“Famous last wo
rds,” she muttered.
I strode out, gravel crunching under my boots.
“You know, I’m not a huge fan of this dragging me around like a child.”
I turned back to her and dragged her into my body. “Nothing childlike about you, Kenny.” I bent down to her, our noses touching. “I just want a little alone time with you.”
A loud engine started up.
“There’s an elevator back there.” She pointed with her thumb. “I bet we could do a lot of things in your room, my room—wherever.” She rose on her toes until our lips were a breath apart. “You can give that whole seven thing a go.” She dragged her nail over my bottom lip. “I don’t believe you’ll make it to seven, but I’m willing to let you try.”
“I—”
“Oh my God, that’s Hunter!”
The hiss of hydraulics and stomp of many feet did not bode well.
I closed my eyes. “Shit.”
“What?”
“Please don’t be what I think it is.”
“What?”
A trio of people in black shirts with our new album on the front were standing in front of a huge bus. “Can you run in those things?”
She looked affronted. “I can do anything in heels.”
“I hope so.”
A woman in her twenties pointed our way. “Is that him?” she shrieked.
“Fan club.”
“What?”
“This is where the fan club bus is parked.”
“They should be at dinner. Why aren’t they at dinner?” Kenny asked with rising panic.
“Guess it’s over.” I sprinted back to the door we’d just exited. “Son of a bitch.” I twisted the handle but nothing. “It must have locked after us.”
She slapped the keypad. “Ya think?”
“Not helping.” I darted a look past the bus, along with the line of at least seventy people lined up to board. Definitely couldn’t go that way.
“They’ll eat you alive.”
“No kidding.”
Three women broke off from the crowd and headed our way. As soon as they did, twenty more followed.
I dragged Kenny with me to the front of the bus and around the side. The bus driver looked down at us and shook his head.
No help there.