“All right, we can go with that.” Her velvety voice fills the car. Smooth, rich, and perfect, just like the rest of her.
“So, what do I need to do today? Do I need to talk? Is this a speaking part?”
“No talking. Masked characters never speak. Mostly you’ll just stand there in a prince stance, one arm bent at your waist, the other arm bent at your back. I’ll show you when we get there. I have to warn you, it’s chilly today but you’ll be warm in the costume. If you need to break for some air or you need a drink to cool off, you just have to signal to the princess.”
“Oh, there’s a princess?”
“Of course. She’ll be the one to lead you in and out. She’s the one who speaks and makes sure the kids are posed properly for pictures. She’ll be at your side all day.”
I don’t even bother asking. I know who my princess is.
“The children that will be here today, are they the children the benefit is for?”
“No, those are different events. They usually take place at the hospital. This one will be at a nice place with a fancy luncheon and cocktails. We’ll be entertaining the children of the parents who are making very large donations.”
“Do you ever do the events at the hospital?”
“No, I haven’t yet.” She bites down on her lip uncomfortably. “The events I participate in are usually just like this one.”
When we arrive, Jordyn leads the way through a back entrance of an upscale venue. We have our own private dressing area, hidden away from everyone. She pulls me in and locks the door behind us. She points to a garment bag hanging from a hook, then picks up a second bag and disappears behind a curtain. I do my best to not think about what she’s doing behind it.
I unbutton my jeans. “I’m gonna take my jeans off before I put the costume on. Right?” I ask, just to make sure.
“Yes, you’ll die if you leave them on under that heavy costume,” she yells over to me.
I slide my jeans down, lifting my foot, bending over to fully remove them, folding them neatly, and tossing them onto a chair in the corner. The costume is definitely heavy. She wasn’t kidding about being warm. I examine the prince pants, making sure I know exactly how I’m gonna get into these things.
“Need help?” Jordyn peeks from her hidden dressing area. Her eyes go down to a place a princess should certainly not be looking.
“I think I got it.” My face heats up as she continues watching until the pants are all the way on and zipped.
Moments later she steps out in a yellow gown, her silky hair pulled to one side and tied back with a satin ribbon. The sleeves of her dress fall off her creamy bare shoulders. I choke out a few coughs on the saliva filling my watering mouth. She helps secure the mask in place over my head and the sensation of her fingers on my neck brings out the feeling of a beast inside me. I suppress the growl building in my throat and overcome the strong urge to take her into my arms.
With the costume locked into place, she takes hold of my upper arm and guides us out of the room and down the hall. If I was standing here naked I’d be sweating around this girl. In a fur-lined costume with her hand clinging to my arm, I’m a puddle.
The little girls are in a frenzied panic when we enter the ballroom and a few bombard us, ramming right into my waist, forcing me to hold back grunts when they accidentally ram into lower parts.
The voice Jordyn uses as princess is melodious and enchanting. She fits the role of a princess to a tee. The girls hang on her every word and she hugs each one before signing little pink autograph books. She’s amazing with the children. They adore her. Of course they do, she’s perfect.
At one point a loud chant begins for us to kiss. I can only see out the front of the mask but I feel a tug on my hand and a pressure at my side. I’m pretty sure my furry mask was just kissed. It might be time to give her the sign that I need some air.
“Breathe.” Back in the private room, once I’m free of the mask, Jordyn hands me a bottle of water and sends a cooling breeze my way by waving a piece of paper in front of me. “You’re doing great. The girls all love you.”
Automatically I reach for my pair of sunglasses, tossing them over my eyes. The sweat still pours off of me and I run a hand over the back of my buzzed hair, thankful for the short cut. “I only need a minute or two and then I’ll be fine.”
“No, we’re going to take our time. At least thirty minutes. I’m a mess. Look at me. I need a break, too.”
There isn’t a hair out of place on her head and if she’s hot, it sure doesn’t show. Her skin is as fresh as it was when I first saw her this morning. A little cup of ripe strawberries gets placed in front of me. I watch Jordyn pick one out of the cup and bring it up to her lips. Watching her bite into the plump red berry only makes cooling down that much harder. I finish up my water and grab a strawberry of my own, turning my head in the opposite direction away from her.
“How’d you get that scar?” Jordyn asks.
No one asks. Ever. Even Becca. She only knows what I volunteered. “It’s from a knife.” I give the simple answer. She doesn’t say anything but her eyes press me for more details and for some reason I submit to them and keep talking. “I went to a bar. A few words were exchanged. The guy didn’t like what I had to say. He reached for a knife. I didn’t get away in time.”
“I hope the guy’s locked up.”
My response is a single grunt and my stomach tightens. I try not to ever think about that night, but it still haunts my thoughts more often than not.
“Eat these strawberries up. They’ll help you get through the rest of the afternoon.” She reaches over, taking a strawberry from the cup and holding it out to me. I bring my mouth down and bite into the juicy fruit she’s offering, taking it from her, tempted to lick the red juice from her fingertips. “I was just handing it to you, but that’s fine, too,” she says and grins.
“Shit,” I mumble, my mouth filled with strawberry. What the hell did I do that for? Red alert. Everything about this girl is dangerous. I need to finish out this day being her prince and then walk away.
The rest of the afternoon speeds by in a whirl. The kids are awesome. Each one is cuter than the next with their little questions, asking if we’re married, if we live in a castle. All of Jordyn’s answers were equally adorable. She gave the girls detailed accounts of our happy life together in our huge castle. The girls squealed and giggled and I’ve never been hugged so much in my entire life. I enjoyed this role as a prince way more than I ever expected I would.
We walk down the narrow hallway back to the dressing area. I can’t wait to take off the mask and be free from the heavy costume of the “furry” prince. I have to be five pounds lighter, at least, from all the sweating I’ve done today.
“Jordyn, you were both fantastic out there.” A woman’s voice greets us in the room. I wait for Jordyn to help remove the mask. She doesn’t.
“Thanks, Mom.” Jordyn’s voice is rushed. “Can you give us privacy? We need to get dressed.”
“Okay, but aren’t you going to introduce me?”
“Mom this is Aidan. Aidan, this is my mom.”
“Um, hello?” This is awkward. I can’t even see the woman I’m being introduced to. I hear the quick shuffle of feet, the sound of the door closing and the click of the lock.
Jordyn releases a strap and helps to lift the heavy mask from my head. “Don’t worry, she’s gone.”
“I wasn’t worried.” Actually I felt weird being introduced to her mother like that. I just spent the afternoon working for her and would have liked a more proper introduction.
“I just figured you were all tired and sweaty and not in the mood for a formal introduction.” She hands me a bottle of cold water and steps behind me to find the zipper. “Think you’d be willing to do this again? There’s a lot more events like this one coming up and you were a big hit today.”
“Maybe,” I find myself saying, even though I know the answer should be “no.” It was just being aroun
d the kids and knowing what I was doing was helping others in need felt kinda good. I don’t get many opportunities where I get to help out like this.
“You really were great today. All those little girls will be dreaming about marrying you tonight. You were such a convincing prince, I might dream it myself,” she says, taking the ribbon out of her long brown hair. I dip my chin down into my chest to hide the smile she provoked.
“Once I’m dressed I’m gonna head out back and get some air. I’ll meet you by the car.” I need an excuse to be out of the room this time when she’s getting dressed.
Outside, the cool air feels great and I stretch out the kinks. No one’s around but I’m safely covered up under my hood just in case. It doesn’t take long until Jordyn is at my side by the car. Even without the costume on, she still looks like a princess. I walk over to her and extend my arm out for her to grab onto, just like I had been doing all day. She grasps my arm with her soft hands and I escort her over to the driver’s side of her car.
“See, you are a fantastic prince.” The soft lips that kissed my mask earlier are being pressed into my cheek. I take a step back and turn so she can’t see the way I gasp for a breath at her simple gesture.
On the ride home Jordyn explains how her mother is on the Woman’s Committee and often does fundraisers similar to the one we just attended, raising money for the children’s hospital in our area.
“Let me know if you ever do one those events for the children at the hospital. I’d definitely be willing to help you out with something like that.”
“I’ll look into it and get back to you,” she says, beaming, then quickly adds, “I would really like to volunteer at the hospital. This is probably a good time to start.”
She’s not just perfect on the outside. She’s perfect on the inside, too.
I glance around casually as she pulls up in front of my building, if Becca sees this, it’d be tough to explain. Telling her the truth would have been best. But I didn’t.
“Thanks for your help today.” Jordyn hesitates, licking her lips. “I’d say maybe we could hang out sometime, but,” she pauses. “I know you’re busy.”
With a shaky hand I reach for the car door. One more second and I know I’ll say or do something I’ll regret. “Bye.” I lean down once I’m safely out of the car. “Today was…fun.”
“It was,” she says, sighing, gripping the steering wheel. I shut the door, tap my hand on the roof of her car, and then she takes off.
Inside the apartment, Becca and Josh are sitting next to each other on the couch laughing when I walk in. Their laughter fades off and Becca starts right in with the questions. “Hey, where were you?”
“I was just out, running errands, the gym, stuff like that. I sent you a text, didn’t you get it?”
“I got it. It’s just not like you to be out for this long, at least not during the day,” she says suspiciously. “Were you by yourself?”
The breath juts out of me. “What is this? Why are you drilling me like I did something wrong? I can’t go out during the day?”
“That’s not what I’m doing. It’s just not like you is all and I was worried.”
“I’m gonna go take a shower. You and Josh can go back to laughing at whatever it was that was so funny when I came in.” I leave the room irritated, slamming the door to the bathroom behind me. I turn the water on in the shower and strip my shirt off, leaning my hands on the sink. What am I doing? Lying to Becca about where I was and who I was with. Why? I need to come clean. There’s no need to hide anything because I didn’t do anything wrong. It was a charity event, in probably more ways than one.
There’s a knock on the door and Becca lets herself in. She leans up against the back of the door, shutting it. “Hey,” she says softly.
“I’m sorry, come here.” I open my arms out to her and she fills them up. “I didn’t mean to jump down your throat. I’m just trying to get out a little more. I was serious about going to school next semester and just figured I should get myself out a little bit more first.” I still don’t tell her the truth.
She tenses in my arms almost like she knows there’s something I’m not telling her. “It’s okay. I’m glad you’re getting out more. And I should have said it before but I’m so happy you’re going back to school. Maybe we can even sign up for a class together.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” I say, lifting my arms up to adjust them.
She sniffs and backs away from me. “Oh my God, you stink. I guess that’s from your workout. You better go take that shower.”
I back away from her, more guilt seeping in about the truth behind my unpleasant stench. But telling her it’s from being stuffed into a heavy costume, dressed up as a prince with Jordyn at my side…I don’t think I can.
Becca holds her nose and points to the running water. “Shower. Now. Go.”
Once she closes the door, I finish undressing and step into the shower. Immediately my thoughts go back to the princess I spent the day with, us dressed up in costumes, acting out a fairytale. I exhale, closing my eyes while the warm water runs over my face. That’s all it was, Aidan.
An act.
Chapter Ten
Josh
It’s Friday night and the bar’s packed tighter than usual. The new band is starting and it’s like a mini-high school reunion around here. The poorly treated girls of my past are coming up to the bar from all directions. Ashley orders drinks from Jimmy, the bartender at the other end of the bar, but he’s busy and I wind up being the one who brings them to her.
“Thanks,” she snarls with insincerity and throws down the exact amount for the drinks with no tip. She should. I don’t blame her one bit. I wish I could tell her I’m sorry for all the bad shit I did in the past. She hates me so much I don’t think she’d even listen. Her boyfriend, Patrick, walks over and glares at me from a few feet away. Relax, tough guy, I promised I would never touch her again.
In between serving the rush of people at the bar, I keep my eyes peeled for Becca. I know she wanted to show her support for Kent, his first night playing and all.
“I’m back here to help.” Jordyn comes up behind me and places her hand on my back and leans into my ear. “This is an even bigger turnout than we expected.”
I like Jordyn a lot. She does this sort of thing all the time, jumps right in and helps whenever it’s needed. Easy going to work with and just as easy to talk to, she’s ridiculously smart and well-liked by just about everyone. The only person I know who’s not crazy about her is Becca. I thought they were friends, being that’s how I got the job here. Only, over the last few days it seems like Becca hates the poor girl. You can’t even mention her name without Becca running her mouth about how shady she thinks Jordyn is. I don’t get it.
The band starts and the crowd huddled around the bar finally calms down a bit. I take advantage by filling a glass with soda and listening to the music over everyone’s crazy cheers for Kent Daniels. The girls are going wild. He’s certainly not the same guy he was in high school. Two full sleeves of tattoos covering both arms, hair down past his shoulders, and I think he’s doubled in size. Not that he’s huge, just much bigger than the thin kid I remember from a few years ago.
“Hey bartender, get me a beer.” Becca sits down at the bar and bangs her hand to get my attention. A white flower clip pulls pink curls over to one side. I can’t hold back my smile as I place the beer down on a coaster in front of her. “This place is crazy,” she shouts over the music. “Did you see Kent? He looks like a legit rock star. I think I dated the wrong brother.”
“You’re here alone?” I ask, looking around for Aidan. She nods her head and takes a sip of beer. The two of them have been weird lately. Ever since the fight they had the night with the bubblegum vodka things have been off with them. Not as snuggly as they had been. Becca spends most of her time in my leather chair, always talking about how comfortable it is and how she stole it away from me. Lots of short tense conversations take place
when they’re together and I haven’t seen her spend the night in his room in some time. Maybe it’s out of respect to me. The walls are thin and I haven’t had an overnight guest myself since that first time. But that doesn’t make much sense, because she’s got a place of her own right across the hall they could go to.
“Think you can get out from back there for a few minutes and come dance?” Becca looks over her shoulder at the dancing horde of people pulsing to the music. I look to Jordyn, who motions for me to go ahead.
The music kicks into overdrive and the dance floor is a crazy scene. We maneuver through the crowd and I instinctively reach for Becca, protectively pulling her into my arms, keeping us close together against the wildness around us. The lyrics to the song Kent’s singing tell a lusty story about a relationship spinning out of control. We stand together listening to the words, and the people surrounding us seem to disappear. All I can see is her, the pink hair, wintery gray eyes, her soft full curves, and those shimmering lips.
Becca moves in closer, turning to press the back of her body into mine. Her head dips back, resting on my shoulder. I lick my lips and my hand slides over her waist, pulling her tightly against me. Her hips move in a slow rhythm, encouraging me to do the same. I can’t stop my lips from brushing against the back of her neck. Her stomach tenses and I bring my lips to her ear, placing a kiss I can’t control. She twists in my arms and meets my eyes. Holding back from kissing her is hard, nearly impossible, being this close to her feels so good. I need more. I can’t have it.
“I have to get back to work.” I drop my hands away from her and push my way through the mass of people back to the bar. My heartbeat thunders in my ears and I grab onto the bar to steady myself.
“You okay?” Jordyn asks. “What was that out there?”
“Nothing.” Fuck, what did just happen out there? I almost kissed her. I did kiss her.
Flaw (The Flaw Series) Page 7