Brook looked a little lost. I rolled my eyes and did my best to remember to keep it simple for him. “Brook, get their sizes for jerseys. Get the list to Myra and she’ll see to it they’re ordered. When the night comes for the concert, I’ll have them picked up in limos, taken for pizza and then the show. That’s the best I can come up with. Do you think it will work?”
“That’s going to cost a fortune,” Brook said.
“You can’t put a price on their safety, Brook. If I can keep them here and off the streets then it’s worth every penny. I’ll set up similar contests for the other things we offer. We’ll call it a Summer Bash and hopefully draw more kids into the program.”
“Okay, sounds good.” He turned and jogged toward the back of the facility. Myra and I tipped our heads, sighing as we watched his tight ass move. It was a sight worthy of late-night-pleasure-myself moments.
I waited for Brook to be out of earshot and laughed. “He kills me.”
“Why can’t you ever remember his name? I’m going to make him start wearing a name tag again.”
It was more of a name sticker because pinning something to his perfect chest hadn’t seemed right. I didn’t correct her. “Because when he told me it, I was staring at his abs. I really think my biggest weakness with the opposite sex is oblique muscles. I want to lick the indent all the way down and then lick whatever else,” I wagged my brows, “I find there. If he was fine with me calling him six-pack, I’d get it right every time. Well, it wouldn’t hurt if I actually cared what his name was. I bet I still screw it up two years from now. Too bad he’s human. I bet he’d be fun to take for a test drive.”
Myra hit my arm and snorted. “Honey, you’d eat the poor man alive.”
She was right. I would. Men like Brook never held up well under my pressure. “Gina told me she walked in on him changing and was very impressed with what he had to bring to the table.”
“I bet you’d remember the name he calls his dick,” Myra said, nudging me softly. I rolled my eyes and she laughed. “Come on, you know they all name it. When I was with Chad I had to listen to him talk about The Shark all the time.”
I arched a brow. “The Shark?”
“Yeah.” She nodded. “Don’t you remember when I found him at the club with the blonde with fake boobs?”
My mouth dropped. “Ohmygod, that’s why you kept calling him guppy instead of his name the rest of the night.”
She nodded, looking proud of herself. “Yep. Okay, I shared a naming of the penis story. What do you have?” Myra closed her day planner and stared at me. It was a momentous occasion if I’d ever seen one. “You, of all people, should have at least a thousand stories, Lindsay.”
“A thousand? Hey, that’s a bit harsh.” I smiled wide and rocked my hips to a beat I heard in my head. “And before you bother pushing the issue more, I’m sure I’ve run across men who name everything—penis, car, blow up dolls—but I really don’t bother remembering them. It’s not like I want anything more than a night of fun from them. Too much information leads to second dates. They spiral into thirds. Shaking them after that becomes all but impossible.”
She cast a worried look at me. “You think like a man—find them, fuck them, forget about them.”
“Thanks.”
“That’s not a good thing.” Myra sighed. “How are you going to find that perfect someone if you don’t bother with anything intimate—I’m not talking sex. You need to open up to a guy. Any guy. Hell, call Brook back here and tell him something personal about yourself. Call Jay. He knows more about you than most men. Tell him some big thing. Anything, Lindsay.”
Putting my arms up, I shrugged. “I’m sorry but I’m not understanding what you’re talking about. You can’t be telling me there is anything above and beyond sex with a man.” I winked, knowing Myra would yell. I knew all too well there was more to it. I just wasn’t willing to share myself with anyone. There was a time when I would have but it had passed. Myra was also painfully aware I had been more than intimate with a man in my life. It had ended badly for all involved. I didn’t care to let anyone else in.
“You can’t keep men at arm’s length forever, Lindsay. You will have to let one back in at some point.” She gave me a stern look and I could have sworn she was reading my mind. “That heart of yours will shrivel up and turn black at the rate you’re going.”
“So, Dr. Myra, how much is this session going to cost me?”
“Bitch,” she whispered.
Leaning over, I kissed her cheek. “I lubs you too, honey.”
She growled. The cat shifter in her made it sound very real.
“What? I’m only young for like, eternity, so let me have a little fun. I’ll settle down…umm… I can’t even get that out without getting sick to my stomach.” Shaking my head, I snickered. “I need to go before my buddy, Stalker Stan, shows up.”
“Put your sweatshirt on, a T-shirt, anything or you’ll never shake him. The man will follow you around the center like a lost puppy. A very scary puppy.” Myra turned me to face her. “Seriously though, Lindsay, he’s crossed the line. Showing up on your front doorstep is too much. I read the note he left on your car the other day and I find it hard to believe you were destined to be with him.”
I shuddered at the thought of being Stalker Stan’s soul mate as I put my sweatshirt back on. The man, while not bad looking, had an air about him that had always left me on edge. “Eww, or that anyone would be. Yuck.”
Myra nodded, agreeing with me. “Besides, he lets off a vibe. It’s scary as hell. And if I find him scary, we’ve got issues. Let me start reporting the things he pulls or let me deal with him behind the scenes. The last thing I want is to show up at your house and find out something’s happened to you.”
“I can handle Stan.”
“Like you handled Victor?”
I swallowed hard and covered my throat with my hand automatically. “That’s not fair, Myra. He waylaid me after hours and you know it. Besides, he wasn’t your average guy.” I didn’t come right out and shout about him being a vampire but I wanted to. Any humans around us would think I was crazier than they already believed me to be.
“What’s to say Stan won’t waylay you too, Lindsay? And what’s to say there isn’t more to him than meets the eye. We’ve been fooled before. Never forget that.”
“Point taken.” I motioned towards the back of the facility. The last thing I wanted to do was continue to be chastised by Myra who never seemed to have a stopping point. “Erotic striptease awaits.”
“I still can’t believe how many people are dying to get in that class. The waiting list for it is absurd.”
“Hey, who wouldn’t want to see me gyrate on a pole?” I asked, sarcastically. “Doesn’t everyone sit around waiting to see me make a fool of myself?”
Backing up fast, I slammed into something solid. A warmth laced with soothing power wrapped around me. My breath caught and for a moment, I could do little more than stare at Myra with wide eyes.
“We never have to wait long for you to make a fool of yourself.” A slow smile spread over her cocoa-colored face. She winked and my brow furrowed.
Turning slowly, I found myself staring up into the blue eyes of one of the sexiest men I’d ever seen. He had to look down at me and that alone was enough to do it for me because at five-nine, I had trouble finding a man I could wear pumps with and not be taller than them. This stud was about six-five so there was no way I’d end up taller than him. His tousled black hair hung to his strong chin, putting emphasis on the tiny dimple there.
I had difficulty tearing my gaze from his thick, corded neck and found my willpower only worsened as I dropped my eyes lower, tracing his broad chest displayed nicely in a snug navy T-shirt with a faint outline of a dragon on it. The thing looked like it had been worn several hundred times but I knew it was a designer piece instantly. The inner shopper in me applauded.
“Umm, sorry.” As I went to move away from him, he took hold of my arm and
sent fire shooting up it. My breath hitched as my inner thighs tightened.
What?
I stared at him, confused, horny, mesmerized.
He raked his blue gaze over me slowly, heating various portions of my already aroused body. “Lindsay?”
“Do I know you?”
Please say yes. Please say yes.
“Linds?”
I drew a blank and offered up a soft smile. “Again with the ‘do I know you’ because I really don’t think I’d forget a body…err…face like yours.”
A black brow went up as a sexy grin moved over his face. I got the feeling he was hiding something. If I wasn’t so shocked and horny from his sheer presence, I’d have thought to question him more. As it stood, I was a little more concerned with begging him to have his way with me than anything else.
“I believe we have an appointment.”
It took me a minute to register what he was saying. “Oh, you must be the guy from Loup Garou. Umm…?”
Myra leaned into me and whispered, “Exavier Kedmen.” The way she said it made me think I was supposed to just know him by his name. As much as I wished that was the case, I didn’t.
My eyes lingered on his sexy lips as I nodded. He tilted my chin upwards a bit, leaving me envisioning how it would be to kiss him. The very idea of sliding my tongue over his lush lips made my heart beat faster.
“Did you catch what she said? My name is Exavier. Not Blair.”
Instantly, heat flared through my cheeks. “You heard that, huh?”
He nodded.
“Well, in my defense, I wasn’t staring at your abs when you told me your name. I was fixated on your mouth, Xavs.” The second I realized a shortened versioned of his name had popped out of my mouth, I shook my head. “Exavier, sorry.”
There was something so familiar about him. I kept staring, studying him for anything that would trigger a memory. Nothing came to me.
His lush lips curved upwards. I bit back a sigh.
He smiled. “I know I’m early but I was in the neighborhood and thought I’d stop in. I brought coffee.”
I perked up. “Coffee?”
Turning, he glanced towards one of the two circular tables in the lobby. A travel carrier full of large cups of what I prayed was French vanilla flavored coffee sat there. I bit my lower lip and whimpered. The man was a dream come true. Sexy and bearing caffeine.
“Lindsay?” Myra nudged me. “I think I smell vanilla.”
“Vanilla?” It took all I had not to moan.
Exavier nodded.
I stared up at him and did the only thing I could think of doing to a man who brought me coffee, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Lifting me up and off the ground, he took me by surprise. I expected him to act stunned, not to play along.
Never one to want to lose the edge, I wrapped my legs around his waist and planted a kiss on his forehead. “Trust me when I say I won’t be calling you Blair any time soon.”
“Lindsay Marie Willows, what are you doing?” Myra asked, an edge to her voice said she was doing her best not to laugh even though she didn’t agree with my choice for displaying gratitude.
“Thanking the nice man for bringing me coffee.” I wagged my brows. “You know, I was just thinking about how coffee was right up there next to sex with things I’d rather be doing.”
Myra smiled. “You certainly are well on your way to fulfilling both things then, aren’t you?”
I glanced back at the coffee and then down at the man who held me as if I weighed nothing. Visions of licking coffee off his smooth, tawny skin came to mind. I sighed.
Myra laughed. “Oh, sweetie, I can see it in your eyes. No. It will burn him. That would be bad. Now, get down off the nice man before he presses charges.”
“Hey, I hugged him. He’s the one who picked me up.” I tapped his shoulder. “He’s also the one who is putting me down now.”
Exavier set me down but kept his hands on my hips. I did my best to appear anything but happy. I think I failed.
“Okay, where was I before he went and distracted me with his lips, dimpled chin, blue eyes, broad shoulders…”
Snorting, Myra shook her head. “Gee, anything else?”
“Yes, coffee.” I gave her the evil eye. “That was just low. I think you tipped him off I’d be less than receptive about meeting with him. You told him to come bearing something I can’t turn down.”
“What’s that? A great chin? Ask to see his obliques. I’m guessing they’re as perfect as the rest of him.” She winked at me and wiggled her hips in a sassy motion.
“Bite me,” I said, blowing kisses at her.
Snarling, Myra made fake scratching motions at me.
Exavier ran a hand through his hair. “I can come back if this is a bad time.”
“Nonsense,” Myra said, pushing past me. I could almost smell her enthusiasm as she took hold of his upper arm. The woman never stopped her endless attempts to find me Mr. Right. She was almost as bad as my mother. Though no one was quite that bad. “Why don’t you head back with Lindsay? She’s got a short class to instruct and then she’s free until ten. She’ll be free for the entire day after two.” She patted his muscular arm. “Just in case you need her for something longer than a talk.”
Take him with me? What? There was no way in hell I was dragging this hella hunk with me while I danced on a pole.
“What class is she instructing?” he asked, staring at me and licking his bottom lip. I silently prayed the moan I was holding back didn’t escape.
Myra nudged me again. “Erotic stripping and pole dancing. You’ll love it. The music is right up your alley. I‘ve heard your stuff. You’ve got a great blend.”
Exavier bit the corner of his lower lip and I could easily imagine those lips on me, sampling my body as I sampled his. “Hmm, I guess this will give me a taste of what you have to offer.”
“Excuse me?”
He chuckled. “I was told you’re the best when dealing with music that crosses genres. This will let me see what you can do. A sample so to speak.”
Do not beg this man to throw you against the wall and make mad monkey sex with you. Do not do it.
I did my best to listen to my inner voice. It seemed to lack the conviction I’d hoped it would have in a case like this. Though, Exavier wasn’t something you planned on.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kedmen but I stopped working in the industry three years ago. Now I just teach dance here and deal with the recreation center. It’s not glamorous but I’m happy.”
He nodded. “I know you left the field. Though, I can’t say I know why. Come to think of it, no one I’ve spoken with in regards to you seems to know why it is you left, only that you did.”
The topic wasn’t one I wanted to discuss. It didn’t matter how cute his chin was. “I know. I didn’t advertise my departure for a reason. One I will not be giving you, coffee or not.”
He didn’t seem phased by my frankness. “The label said they wanted dancers on the tour. They sent us too many to count but I refuse to accept them unless you come on board and advise. I’m in a pinch and needed you two weeks ago. Sorry I took so long to get to you, Lindsay.” The way he said the last part left me tipping my head and giving him a questioning look.
Sorry I took so long to get to you?
Puzzled, I shook my head. “Why me? I can recommend some people who are excellent with cross-genre music and still very active in the business.”
“I want you,” he said, leveling his blue gaze on me. “No one else.”
My entire body reacted to his statement, leaving me biting back an “I want you too” declaration. At a loss for words, I shrugged. “You are obviously a bigger pain in the ass than me. Come on. We’ll discuss this after my class is done. If you’d rather play basketball, or anything that will keep you out from under my feet that would be great. I can meet you in my office when I’m finished.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.”
&
nbsp; “Yippee,” I said, walking away from him before I could make a fool of myself by kissing him.
“Are you always this sweet to someone trying to hire you?” He grabbed the coffee and followed me. I could really get used to him.
Snorting, I kept walking. “This is as sweet as I get when it comes to men in the music industry.” Myra laughed and I rolled my eyes. “Fine, men in general. Take it or leave it. And I’d like to point out that if I should decide to help you, I don’t get any nicer. In fact, I normally get worse. Trying to teach men who aren’t born with the ability to follow a beat to dance tends to make my PMS come out and play when it has no reason to be there. Again, take it or leave it. I’m not the one who needs help, Mr. Kedmen.”
He chuckled. The sound moved over me slowly. “At least you’re honest. The last choreographer they sent couldn’t stop kissing my ass.”
“Mr. Kedmen, if you should be lucky enough to find me kissing your ass it will have nothing to do with my job and I can guarantee it will be an experience you’ll not soon forget.”
Did I just proposition him?
I replayed my words in my head.
Yep, I did. Good for me.
Chapter Two
Stopping outside of a multi-colored door, I smiled. “Umm, my class is down and around the corner. I’ll be there in a minute if you’d like to wait.”
Arching a brow, he eyed the door. “Is this your office?”
“No, but I am stopping in and saying good morning to them whether or not it interrupts your schedule.” I knocked and then opened the door to the center’s daycare room to find the room full of children. They ranged in age from about two to five and were already beginning the activities planned for them.
They took one look at me and their faces lit up. Mine did too. “Lindsay!”
“Linds.”
“Windsay!”
“Zay-zay.”
The variations of my name and anything close to my name poured out of the children as they scurried towards me. Bending down, I put my arms out and they cuddled in close to me. “Good morning, how’s everyone doing today?”
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