“Shit.” Laz shook his head. “Where in the world did you get these? I thought Mom got rid of all this.”
“Why would she do that? These are classic.” Marissa giggled. “And I begged Mom to let me have them.”
This time the students all sang Whitney Houston’s “The Greatest Love of All.” Almost all the students. Avery couldn’t mistake the distinct look of fear in Laz’s eyes. She could tell he mouthed the words while his intense stare into the audience became almost uncomfortable to view. His fear leaped off the screen and became so palpable that Avery shifted in her seat watching him.
As soon as the song ended, Laz ran from the stage. On instinct, Avery reached out to grab Laz’s hand.
He surprised her by jumping back up again. “I think we’ve seen enough.”
“Aw, come on, Laz. You still can’t laugh at this now?” Marissa turned off the video. “You were cute back then.”
“Yeah, well, good looks only get you so far, right?” He cut a glance at Avery before turning away.
“Not everyone is cut out to be in front of an audience. That’s for sure.” Avery stood and strolled over to Laz. “But I think it takes talent to recognize talent.” She slid her hand into his. “Thank you for choosing me, and for being a strong enough man to represent me to record execs. I can’t do what you do.”
He regarded her for a moment. “I will fight for you. You know that, right?”
Avery smiled. “I figured out two important things at dinner tonight.” She looked over at Marissa. “Your sister is an amazing cook, and if she would let me, I would live with her just to eat her food.”
“Done.” Marissa snickered. “I have two extra bedrooms.”
“The other thing I learned is that despite how you started, you have a place in the music industry.” Avery nodded.
Laz stared at her like he wanted to see if she had given him a line or the truth. When he finally smiled, she exhaled.
Marissa turned off the TV and stood. “I’m taking you two to the airport in the morning, right?”
Laz nodded but kept his stare on Avery. “No, I have the rental. But you can see us off if you want.”
“Like I said, I have two extra bedrooms, and there’s a pullout down here in the basement.” She looked at her oversized watch. “I was going to head out to a club, so you two can have this place to yourselves if you wa—”
“No. We’re going to stay at a hotel close by and come back here in the morning for breakfast.” Laz held Avery’s hand as he went back upstairs.
“We are?” Avery had assumed that with this side trip to his sister’s place, and them both being strapped for cash, that Laz would want to stay with family.
Maybe Laz felt the same way Avery did now. Heat radiated through her body, and only one of two things would douse it. Either she needed to take a long, cold shower, or she needed a repeat sexual performance from Laz.
“I thought you were going to stay here. I cleaned out the rooms and everything for you.” Marissa followed the two of them up to the main part of the house.
“We don’t want to cramp your style.” Laz let Avery’s hand go long enough to give his baby sister a hug.
“You’re not leaving because of the video, are you? I didn’t think you would get wound up about that.” She held on to her brother.
“Yes and no.” He gave her a knowing look and cocked his head.
Marissa split her attention between her brother and Avery. “I’m going out and I won’t be back for a while. You two can have the run of the place.”
Laz shook his head. “If I know you, you won’t be returning here alone.” He winked. “I appreciate the offer. Our flight is kind of late, so we’ll be here around nine in the morning.”
“I’ll have breakfast ready.” Marissa gave Laz a salute.
“I can hardly wait.” Avery hugged her. “Thank you for everything.”
“I didn’t do anything.” When Avery pulled back, Marissa continued talking. “But you could do a lot of great things for this guy. I might give him a hard time, but he’s a really good man. If he says he’s going to do right by you, believe him.” She moved in closer. “And if anything else happens between the two of you, be very, very good to him. He’s my only brother and I love him to death.”
Avery nodded, almost afraid to say anything else.
“See you in the morning.” Laz captured Avery’s hand again and pulled her out to the rental car.
Once inside, he sped off through back roads, outside of the city until he got to a hotel.
“Wait right here.” Laz didn’t wait for Avery to respond before he jumped out.
Avery bounced her knee and drummed her hands over her thighs as she waited for him. Even with the air conditioner on full blast, sweat still rolled down the side of her face.
When Laz came back a few minutes later with a small white card holder in his hand, Avery’s pulse quickened.
He got in the car and parked it in front of the hotel. When he turned it off, he took that time to address her.
“I got a room for us.” He stared at her as though daring her to disagree.
“Let’s go.”
Chapter 15
Laz didn’t know what had come over him. He had gone from business-minded to family-oriented to thoroughly embarrassed to horny as hell. After Marissa showed those humiliating videos of him as a kid not being able to perform in front of an audience, he thought Avery would see him as a loser, or worse, a liar. Her show of support made his heart swell.
He didn’t wait for the elevator doors to close before he smothered Avery with a kiss. Damn if she still didn’t taste like the sweet dessert she’d eaten earlier. Or maybe that sweetness had come from her essence.
He pressed her back against the elevator wall. She held his shoulders and eased her hands down to his waist. When the elevator car stopped on their floor, Laz broke from the kiss to corral their luggage.
“No regrets. I want this. I want you.” Avery wrapped her arm around his muscled biceps.
Laz heard every word she’d said. He had been thinking the same thing. When he got to their hotel room, he pressed her back against the door before opening it. Every cell in his body pulsed as he crushed his mouth against hers.
“No talking.” He shook his head.
“Get the key.” Avery ran her hands down his shirt to his pants.
When she coasted her hand up over the zipper and stroked his erection, he forgot about work and singing and being embarrassed. He had to have this woman. His woman.
Laz retrieved the card key from his pocket. He glanced to the side for a moment when he thought he saw someone else down the hall. His mind played tricks on him.
He unlocked the door and ushered the two of them inside with the luggage. Before closing the door, he put out the Do Not Disturb sign and locked it in every way possible.
It didn’t matter that he didn’t have any lights on in the room. Even if cloaked in pitch darkness, Laz would know every curve, every swell, every place on Avery’s body that made her moan for him.
Laz toed out of his shoes as he walked Avery backward toward the bed. When she fell onto it, she wasted no time in reaching for his jeans to undo them. He held her wrists to stop her. He wanted to control this, set the pace, slow them down. If only his body didn’t push him to keep going.
Avery gazed up at him, wordlessly willing him to release her, allow her to finish what she started, what she wanted. Laz opened his hands to free her.
She licked her lips as she undid the button fly on his jeans and eased the zipper down. Taking his own advice, Laz said nothing. He removed his T-shirt and tossed it to the floor. When Avery pulled his pants down to his feet, he stepped out of them.
She wrapped her hand around the base of his erect shaft. Thank God he had the forethought to bring condoms even though his rational si
de told him to carry on a physical relationship with Avery would be a mistake. His heart and body overruled his head, especially when he saw her again.
The first swipe of her tongue across the tip had his knees buckling. He did everything he could not to lean on her shoulders, but when she covered his mushroom-shaped head with her mouth and held him there, he gripped her shoulders. When she moved her mouth down to the base of his cock, he sucked air between his teeth.
As Avery drew her mouth back, Laz growled, “Mmm, good.” He swept her hair back from her face.
Avery’s tongue curved around his pulsating shaft, making Laz pant hard and fast. He never felt a connection to anyone this fast or this hard. When she stared up at him, he couldn’t help but be transfixed in her gaze.
She cradled his balls. At that point, Laz almost dropped to his knees. Avery worked on him for what seemed like hours only because it felt too incredible to be believed. She managed to massage his sac, twist her other hand around the base of his shaft, and lave his penis all at once so in Laz’s head, it felt like a million women worked on him at the same time.
He felt his stomach tighten at the same time his legs shook. He knew she had him close to exploding. No way did he want that to happen like this. Not now.
Laz pulled back from her. From her shocked expression, he knew she had more to give him. To give her a better idea of what he wanted, he went to his overnight bag and pulled out a box of condoms.
Once Avery saw that, she stripped out of her maxi dress and sandals. Not content to let her do all the work, Laz helped remove her bra and panties. He hugged her naked body close to his before he kissed her.
Avery leaned her head back and reached for the protection. “Now. I need you.” She tore open the box and opened a package at the end of a strand.
This time she had no problem rolling it on him. Laz had no issue getting her against the wall, hooking his arm under her leg before thrusting himself inside her tight, hot channel.
“Oh my God.” Avery gripped his shoulders and held on to him as he scooped her other leg over his free arm.
He cradled her rounded ass in his hands as he moved himself in and out of her. “So good.”
Avery held on to Laz’s shoulders as she squeezed her legs around his waist. The scent of her sweat and essence wafted up to his nose. He couldn’t get enough of the smell.
Laz carried her to the bed and held himself inside her while he stared into her soft brown eyes. “Hi.”
Avery smiled and nodded. “Hey.”
He kept the motion smooth and steady, a perfect way to keep them united. Avery felt soft and firm and hard and everything he wanted. When she leaned her head back, he took the opportunity to lick up her neck and kiss her chin. He curved his hips during one thrust and she tightened her hold on him.
“Yes.” She squeezed her eyes shut and nodded her head. “Close.”
Laz kept up the motion until Avery broke, moaning and clawing at him until she settled back into the mattress. He cupped her breast and massaged it.
Satisfying her tipped him over the edge. Laz increased his speed until he felt himself shaking again. When he came, he held himself up over her body for as long as he could before collapsing on top of her.
“Do you always travel with condoms?” Avery chuckled as Laz rolled off her body.
Laz pulled out of her and moved off to the side. “Never.”
“So why did you have—”
“I was hopeful.” No use lying.
Avery turned her head to look at him. “Was it everything you hoped for?”
Before he verbally answered, he kissed her again. “And then some.”
“So now what do we do?”
That question couldn’t be answered with a simple kiss. Laz didn’t know if he had one for her.
* * * *
Avery had to admit that she needed Laz for more than just getting her into the music business. He proved to be good for her soul. Meeting his family further showed her what a good man he’d been.
That still didn’t mean she didn’t have her head in business. Avery crawled out of bed.
“Where are you going?” Laz sounded like he had woken up from a deep sleep. “Please don’t tell me you’re taking a shower.”
Avery rifled through her overnight bag with her back to him. “Why don’t you want me to take a shower?”
“I like the way you smell. You smell like us.”
She looked back at him and found him smiling. With only one light on in their cozy hotel room, a dark shadow cast over his face so that his smile became the only thing visible.
“I’m getting your contract.” She padded back to the bed and slipped under the covers with him. “I have questions.”
Laz ran his hand over his face like he wanted to wake himself up more for her. “Okay. Shoot.”
“The contract states that I would have you exclusively for two years. Is that standard?” She felt silly asking Laz about these terms. He could tell her anything.
“For artist management, yes. That’s standard. But even after that time, if you came to me for questions, I would still help you.” He sat up against the headboard and pulled Avery onto him so that she had her back against his chest.
“Laz, I need the light.” Plus she wanted to assert herself as an artist, not a woman completely smitten with him and wanting another round of hot sex.
Laz reached behind himself and turned on the light on the nightstand beside him. “Go on. I saw you mark way more than that.”
“Twenty percent.”
He wrapped his arms around her, careful to not block the contract in her hands. “That’s standard.”
She felt him nodding behind her. “Gross, not net?”
He rested his hands just below her breasts. “Great question. It is gross earnings.” He kissed her temple. “I’m glad you’re looking at things like that.”
“Thanks. There’s a clause in there about me not being able to work with other artists without your permission. I don’t like that.” She shook her head.
“And why is that?” He tapped his thumb in the space between her tits.
She couldn’t tell if he did that as a distraction or if he did it out of habit. Either way, she had to take a beat before she answered him. “I want to decide that. If all of a sudden Ariana Grande says she wants to do a duet with me, I don’t want you saying I can’t because of whatever reason.” Avery also wanted a say-so in her career.
Laz sighed loudly like a father about to share some bad news. “It’s cute that you think that right out of the gate, an artist like that will want to work with you.”
“Even though you said I was special?” Had he said what he needed to say to get into her pants?
Avery’s head told her no, although she had been known to be a poor judge of character.
“And you are special and talented and beautiful.” He held her chin and turned her head so that he could kiss her lips. “Usually as a new artist, you’re not going to do collaborations like that. You’ll be lucky to get a top producer.” He held her tighter.
Maybe Laz felt Avery wanting to pull away from him.
“That doesn’t mean you won’t be successful. You will, but on your own merit.” He stroked her head as he rocked back and forth. “Maybe within your first two years, you let me drive. Then after that, you can branch out. Sound like a good compromise?” He kissed the top of her head.
Enough coddling. At that point, Avery sat up away from him. “No. If I’m going to do this, I want to do it on my own terms. That clause isn’t reasonable. I decide what I want to do. Like you said, if I need help or advice, I can ask you.”
Laz sat up taller. “Maybe this is a conversation we need to have when we’re not naked.”
Probably a great suggestion, but Avery wanted to get this out now. “Clothed or not, I won’t
change my mind on how I feel. My father always said I was a trusting soul to my own detriment. I believed everyone. That’s probably how I ended up here with you. I trust you. I believe in you. But at some point, I’m going to have to trust my own instincts.” She flipped to the next page of her contract. “I can keep going.”
“I’m sure you can.”
Avery didn’t want to look at Laz at that moment, but a line like that deserved some attention. As she suspected, he smiled at her.
“Why did you bring me to your sister’s place?”
Laz pulled the contract down and peered at the paperwork. “I don’t think I have that in any of the clauses.”
She snickered. “You don’t. I want to know the reason.”
He interlocked his fingers and rested the back of his head against his joined hands. “It was twofold. My sister had been bugging me to visit her, especially if I came through her town.”
“Okay. You two do seem really close.” Even with close cousins and her friends from the diner, Avery wished she had siblings, someone to share everything from clothes, if she had had a sister, to secrets.
She created an extended family for herself. Graciela became the sister she had always wanted. Jessie filled in as a brother. Bruno could have been an uncle. Avery loved her parents. Just like with everything else in her life, she wanted more.
“We are close. She’s my baby sister. I love her to death, even if she does annoy me.” He snickered.
“And your other sisters?” Avery kind of wished she had met them, too.
“One is in California. The other is on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. She has three kids who are all wide open.” He smiled to himself. “I wish I could see them more often than I have. Work.” He glanced at her. “You know.”
She shrugged. “Sure. We all have choices to make.” Avery sat on her haunches on the bed and moved in closer to him. “And the other reason for seeing Marissa?”
“I wanted her to meet you. She’s always been a good gauge of new people I bring into my life.” He drew his feet back to bring his knees up.
“So you bring all of your clients to her?” She watched Laz look a bit uncomfortable for a moment.
Love Like Crazy Page 20