Lifeless

by Jennifer LaRocca

  He ran his hand from my hip to my waist and bent his head down in my hair. I could feel his hot breath on my ear and his scruff rubbing on my neck. Was it wrong that I was getting turned on just from this guy touching me? I didn’t even know what he looked like.

  The way he moved his hips against my ass was so erotic. I lifted my arms behind me to hold the back of his neck, ran my fingers through his hair, while I let the music flow through me and just danced.

  This was a slower song, so it called for slower ass grinding. It was more touching than I usually allowed or did, but it felt so good. I leaned my head back on his chest, pulling his head down so his face was more in my neck and closed my eyes. Just having him breathe down my neck was making my lower muscles contract.

  He moved his right hand, laying it flat on my lower stomach, and pulled me even closer to his hard body. His other hand moved up the side of my body so his thumb barely brushed the side of my breast, and I let out a moan. If I hadn’t been drinking, I could almost guarantee I wouldn’t let this happen, but I let the alcohol take over. Jules always said I needed to loosen up, so that was exactly what I did.

  I was so focused on where his hand was and the feelings it was stirring in my lower region that I didn’t realize I had started grinding my ass harder against him, until I felt him rub his erection harder against my ass.

  It knocked me out of my sexual haze. I opened my eyes and turned around to see who I was grinding against. I shrieked as he grabbed me and crushed me to his body. I ended up with one of his legs in between mine and his hard-on poking me in the hip. My dress rode up my thighs as he continued to grind against me. I was pretty sure my unmentionables would soon be flashing for everyone to see.

  I looked up from my dance partner’s chest, and my mouth dropped open. The first thing I noticed was the dark blue button-up shirt. I wasn’t able to see his face before, but now, this close, he was stunning. He had brown hair—long enough for me to run my fingers through—and thick black lashes surrounded his dark brown chocolate eyes. He had a chiseled face with at least a two-day stubble on his jaw line. His lips were so plump and sexy that I wanted to nibble on them. He was sexy as hell, and he was looking at me with a drop dead sexy grin.

  I was hypnotized. All I could do was wrap my arms around his neck. He had to be at least six two or six three. He slowly moved his hands down my hips to get a firm grip on my ass. With my dress riding up my thighs, I knew my thong was rubbing against his leg, and he had to feel how hot and wet I was. But in that moment, I didn’t want to think of the embarrassment I would feel later, knowing I left a wet spot on his pants.

  As the music continued to play, I closed my eyes as he started rocking my hips on his leg. I could feel the sensations from the movement tingling between my legs. I instigated my own movement as I started squeezing his neck and tilted my head to the side. I moaned and bit my lower lip. I was too far gone to even care what this might have looked like to other people. I wanted to explode right there, and I didn’t care that I was in the middle of a dance floor with tons of people to witness it.

  He brought his face down to my neck, and I let out another soft moan as he licked a trail up to my ear and whispered, “So beautiful,” in his soft sexy voice. I knew I was all sweaty, but obviously he didn’t care. I started moving faster on his leg as he squeezed my ass tighter. I was so close. Oh my God, I was going to come on his leg.

  Then, as the song ended, he released his grip on my ass and pulled back. I opened my eyes and stared at him while I tried to catch my breath. I was so damn close that I actually ached. We stood there staring at each other, still wrapped in each other’s arms, as a new song started to play. It was as if we were the only ones on the dance floor, until a guy appeared behind him, tapped him on the shoulder and burst my bubble. I regrettably let go of his neck as the guy said something in Mr. Sexy’s ear while he continued to look at me with heat in his eyes. After the guy pulled back and walked off, Mr. Sexy nodded in my direction with a sexy grin and walked off in the direction of the other guy.

  I stood there baffled as I watched his sexy ass walk away. What the fuck? Did that really just happen? I didn’t even get his damn name, and I was dry humping him on the dance floor. I was standing there hot and wet with no way to get a quick release to relieve the ache that I now had between my legs. I chanced a glance over to the VIP section, and I was graced with a bunch of blondes scowling at me. I really needed a drink.

  I turned to find Jules, but she wasn’t there, so I made my way back to our table. I found her sitting with Brent, and as soon as she saw me, a huge smile appeared on her face.

  “I need a drink,” I said as I sat down, pulling my phone out of my wristlet to see what time it was. Damn, it was already past one in the morning.

  “Are you sure that’s all you need. It looked to me as if you might need a cigarette too after the show you put on out there,” Jules said, wiggling her eyebrows as she slid a beer to me. Obviously, she was anticipating my thirst after the show I put on, which I was happy about because my body still felt on fire.

  If my cheeks weren’t already red from dancing and having alcohol in my system, I would have blushed. “Shut it, Jules.” I couldn’t help but laugh.

  “Do you have any idea who you were dancing with?” she asked as she looked over at Brent, who had just been sitting there, listening to our banter.

  “No, I don’t. We didn’t talk. We danced.”

  I left out the fact that he licked my neck and almost gave me an orgasm on the dance floor. If only the song had lasted a little bit longer, with all the grinding I was doing on his leg, I was mere seconds from exploding. I squeezed my thighs together and closed my eyes. I could still feel the burn of want between my legs.

  I opened my eyes and bit my lip, holding back my smile, remembering my thong being directly on his black pants. I blushed, knowing that I must have left a huge wet mark on his pants’ leg. While I was thinking about it, I really needed to go to the bathroom and take my thong off. Guys might think wet underwear is sexy, but it was really uncomfortable.

  “That, Scarlett, was Kade Evans,” Brent said before Jules could open her mouth.

  I looked at them both. He was telling me this guy’s name as if I were supposed to know who he was. “Am I supposed to know who that is?” I asked, taking a drink of my beer.

  Jules looked at me with her mouth hanging open. “Are you serious, Letti? You’re seriously telling me you don't know who Kade Evans is?” She was acting as if I’d offended her or something.

  “No, I don’t. Why? Who is he?” I sat back in my seat and waited for her to answer.

  “Letti, he’s the lead singer of Perfectly Damaged,” she all but shouted.

  All I could do was look back and forth between them with my mouth hanging open in shock, while Jules sat there with a huge grin on her face. Son of a bitch.

  There was no way he was the lead singer for Perfectly Damaged. I looked over at the VIP section, but his couch was now empty. He must have left after he danced with me. I sat there in total shock. I didn’t even have words to express how I felt at that moment. I mean he licked my neck. I lifted my hand to my neck, closed my eyes, remembering the feel of his tongue, and shivered.

  I’d obviously heard of the band Perfectly Damaged, but I didn’t know the lead singer’s name, nor had I seen pictures of the band. So I wouldn’t have known who he was.

  “I can tell by the look on your face that you’re in shock, but believe me when I tell you that you were grinding all up on that fine piece of ass,” Jules giggled. She was enjoying this way too much.

  “Are you sure?” I still didn’t believe it.

  Brent cleared his throat. “Yeah, that was definitely him. I invited him to the opening because I knew he’d bring out the media while he’s in Atlanta to start filming a movie.”

  I really had no words, and I never got like this, especially working in the entertainment industry. I worked with celebrities on a daily basis. Then I started
thinking. He was a rock star that let me grind all up on his leg, and then he left me high and dry. What the fuck! It was as if he left me that way on purpose.

  After the shock wore off, I stayed at the club for another twenty minutes before Brent offered to get me a cab. I was going home alone that night because Jules was staying with Brent, and after drinking all that tequila, I really needed to hit the sack.

  But the last thing I was thinking about doing in bed was sleeping. My body was still wound up from my sexcapade on the dance floor, and I needed some relief desperately. When I got home, I went straight to bed. I pulled open my side drawer, took out my vibrator, and imagined Kade Evans doing naughty things to me.

  Chapter 3

  I woke up around ten a.m. Sunday morning with a massive hangover. It felt as if someone were using a sledge hammer on my head, so I took some Tylenol to help alleviate the pain. After drinking about a gallon of water to hydrate myself, I made my way to the shower and stayed in there until all the hot water ran out.

  While I was showering, I couldn’t help but think about the night before. Why in the world did he choose to dance with me? Out of all the women that were fawning over him up in the VIP section, I was the one whom he chose to dance with and let grind on his leg. I was still at a loss for words about how that scenario ended too.

  The more I thought about last night, the more curious I became about the lead singer. I got out of the shower and got dressed. Grabbing my laptop from my dresser, I headed to the living room and plopped down on the sofa.

  I must have been on the Internet for hours before Jules got home, but I learned a lot about Mr. Evans.

  When he was eleven years old, he was put into foster care. I searched to find out what had happened to his parents, but there was nothing listed. In an interview with Entertainment News, he explained how being in foster care was what brought on his love for music. He started writing lyrics at a young age and used his foster brother’s old guitar to teach himself how to play in order to put his words to music.

  He lived with his foster family until he turned eighteen. Then he and three of the other foster brothers, who had also moved out, got jobs and moved into a one-bedroom apartment. In his interview, he stated that the apartment wasn’t in the best condition and it was too small for four people but they made it work.

  When he was nineteen, he formed a band that was called Bad Reputation. Their instruments were from Goodwill or found in the trash, but the guys made the best of it. They played in bars and pubs—anywhere they were allowed to showcase their talent.

  After years of trying to make it big, they’d been scouted when Kade was twenty-six years old. At the time, he was struggling to get by and living in his car for over six months. In his interview, he said the struggle was all worth it and led to some great material for the band.

  After being signed onto a music label, the band’s name was changed to Perfectly Damaged. He was now considered the “Rock God” of this generation. He’d been on the music scene for three years and had multiple gold and platinum albums. He was praised for his lyric writing and the shows the band put on for their fans. But that wasn’t the only thing for which he was known.

  As with most artists in the music and film industry, the business could take its toll on you and steer you into drugs and alcohol. Kade was no exception.

  When Entertainment News interviewed his foster parents, they learned that he’d always been a troubled kid. He had gotten into a lot of fights at school and had almost gotten expelled because of it. He had also started using drugs and drinking alcohol around the age of fifteen. It was no wonder he continued to do so after the fame kicked in.

  He was bad boy personified. He apparently had a different girl every night and had never had a serious girlfriend—unless you considered the one woman he was seen with for a week straight to be a girlfriend. I could see how he got so much action. This guy was like sex on a stick. The pictures that I’d seen online of him with his shirt off were unbelievably sexy. I spent at least thirty minutes looking at nothing but shirtless pictures, imagining myself licking every single ripple, starting from the top, working my way down to the V at his waist.

  Good grief! I needed a glass of wine after that. I really needed to get more action than my vibrator was giving me. It just wasn’t the same. I was ready for a warm body after five months of celibacy.

  Jules walked in the door after one in the afternoon, just as I was closing my laptop, after vegging on the couch for hours. “Honey, I’m home.”

  “Hey, chica, so how was your evening? Or should I say your evening and your morning?” I asked as I made my way to the kitchen. I was starving. I realized I hadn’t eaten a thing all day, and my headache was coming back with a vengeance.

  I took out some hummus from the fridge and set it on the counter next to the bar where Jules was sitting, and grabbed the bag of pita chips and started snacking.

  “My night and morning were amazing,” she said with a mouth full of pita chips. “This guy is like a stallion.”

  I sighed at her words, and she literally started fanning herself. At least one of us got some action that didn’t involve batteries.

  “That good, huh?” I said around my pita chip. I went to the fridge to get a can of soda. Maybe the caffeine would help my head too.

  “Girl, you have no idea. It was like being in bed with the Energizer Bunny, and he’s huge. Well, he’s huge to me anyway. And as soon as I thought we were done for the night, his cock would be standing up at attention again. It was really amazing to see, but I have to admit that I’m desperately sore today. I may need to soak in a bath.” She laughed.

  This was why I loved Jules so much. She was so blunt. She never threw bullshit your way. She always said what was on her mind and meant everything she said.

  I was going to the fridge to get the other container of hummus since we both just devoured the other half-eaten one, when Jules asked me what I’d been doing all day.

  “Nothing much. I woke up with a killer headache, so I took a long hot shower, and I’ve been vegging on the couch all day.” I watched her stuff her face with hummus. She must not have eaten either, and I was sure she needed something in her stomach after all the “working out” she did the night before. I laughed to myself. “I might have Googled Kade Evans too.”

  Jules hand stopped midway to her mouth.” Oh yeah, what did you find out?”

  “He’s definitely a womanizer . . . and trouble. I’m glad whoever came on the dance floor to get him did when he did.” It was a lie. I would have loved to dance with him just a little more. I couldn’t get those intense eyes out of my head.

  “Yeah, it’s best to stay away from that one, unless you’re just looking for a good time. Brent said that Kade’s got some skeletons in his closet, but he didn’t really go into detail.”

  I walked around the bar to head back into the living room, and Jules got up off the bar stool to follow me.

  “Well, it’s not like I’ll see him again anyway. He runs in a crowd I’d never run in, and I think his dancing with me was some kind of fluke. Maybe he thought he recognized me as one of his groupies or something.”

  “No way, Letti, you were smokin’ hot last night. He would’ve definitely been trying to get a piece of ass, and from what it looked like where I was sitting, he would have succeeded.”

  I laughed. “No Jules, he wouldn’t have. I would never go home with some guy I don’t know, from a club no less, even if he is famous.”

  “Whatever you say.” She headed to the hallway to go to her room. “I’m going to take a bath. Let’s order pizza and watch some movies today. I need some relaxation after last night.” She winced.

  I couldn’t help but laugh. I had no pity for her.

  ~*~

  I woke to the shrieking noise of my alarm clock as it went off at 5:20 a.m. Monday had come way too soon, and I did not want to get up at this ungodly hour. Usually, we didn’t have to be at work until eight, but since we’d received
a text from Matt on Saturday saying we had to be there at seven today, I was giving myself a little extra time to wake up.

  I trudged my sleepy self to the kitchen to pour a cup of coffee. I was so glad I remembered to set the delay brew before we went to bed the night before. I didn’t like starting my day off without at least one cup.

  Walking back into my room with a nice hot cup of coffee, I started to rummage through my closet to pick out an outfit for the day. Because we were having a meeting first thing, I wanted to be comfortable, so I picked out a pair of black cuffed dress pants and my white wrap-around blouse with cap sleeves. I laid them out on the bed and headed for the shower.

  After my shower, I blow-dried my hair and decided that I had plenty of time to flat iron it. Once I finished my hair, I pulled out my makeup bag and brushed on my powder base, added some blush, lined my eyes, and put on some mascara. I dabbed on some lip gloss and checked the clock. It was six fifteen—time to get dressed and head out the door. I put my clothes on, picked out some accessories, stepped into my black peep-toe heels, grabbed my purse off my dresser, and headed out of my room.

  On my way to the front door, I saw Jules in the kitchen filling her travel mug. “Good morning, chica.”

  “Morning.” I yawned back to her. “You ready for our meeting this morning.”

  “Ugh, no, but it better be a good one ’cause we’re getting there an hour early.” she grumbled as she grabbed her keys and headed toward the door with me.

  “See ya in a few.” I said as I made my way to my car. When I first started working at EA, Jules and I carpooled, but we ultimately decided it would be best to start taking our own cars. Sometimes we’d have to meet our clients later in the afternoon, and we didn’t always know what the other would be doing each day.

  Heading out into traffic, I made my way toward Entertainment Atlanta. The one thing that I had to get used to after moving here was the traffic. I’d never been in such heavy traffic before. I actually started having anxiety attacks just thinking about having to get into my car to go places for the first couple of weeks. But I eventually got used to it. Once I knew the traffic schedules, heavy traffic versus light traffic, it wasn’t so bad. I tried to avoid heavy traffic at all costs because I couldn’t afford to get into an accident with my ’97 Honda Accord.