by Thia Finn
When my brain finally made some connections, I tried to pull my hand away, but apparently, he wasn’t through with it. “Gunner. That’s an unusual name, is it not?”
He found his voice when I said his name. “Yeah, my mom let my dad name me, and since he’s all about hunting, Gunner seemed like a logical choice. Tell me about you, Lola. Do you live here in Paris?”
“Oui, I do. My father has a government job here in the city, and when I finished university, he wanted me to take the time to relax before starting a job. So, I’ve been enjoying Paris for a while now. Besides, what’s not to like about Paris?”
That was partially the truth. If I told him I graduated from UT in Austin, my entire ruse would be shot to hell.
“Yeah, we saw a little of the city yesterday and traveled on the subway and taxis. That scared the hell out of me, though. Who taught those guys how to drive?” A deep, genuine laugh rumbled from him and made me smile.
“Taxi drivers have a style all their own; I assure you. They like to offer distractions by pointing out places to the tourists in hopes they will not realize how close to losing their lives they are by riding with them. You’re better off on the Metro or subway as you call it.”
“Well, we’re leaving in the morning, so I don’t think I’ll have anything to worry about. We have limos for the night, and the hotel’s not that far.” He turned as he was speaking and looked at his friend Carter who had a woman on her knees between his. Was this how it worked? They found willing sex partners to do whatever right here in this room? I noticed some of the other band members were gone.
“Uh, you know, Lola. I need to get out of here for a few minutes and take a shower, but I’d like you to wait for me, please. Let me grab you a drink, and you can talk to the others until I get back. I’ll be fast, I promise. You don’t want to know how I feel when I come off stage after being under those lights. Honestly, I’m surprised you can even stand being within a few feet of me.”
I laughed and took the glass of wine he offered me. “I’ll be here when you get back. Don’t worry.”
“I’m more worried that someone else will whisk you away while I’m not looking, much less while I disappear for ten minutes. Let me introduce you to some people.” He took my hand and led me over to a group of women standing around Carter, who stood up when we approached.
“Dude, I’m going to have a quick shower. Keep her here with you. Notice I didn’t say hit on her, and don’t let anyone else hit on her, either.” Gunner looked at the three women, and the one kneeling between Carter’s legs. “And would you keep it in your pants until I get back?”
I suppose he didn’t want me to have to sit and watch what was obviously about to occur between Carter and the willing groupie.
“Sure thing, Gunner. You know I can babysit.” He looked me up and down. “I’ll be more than happy to keep her occupied while you’re gone.” He wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side with a smirk that I was sure meant to get to Gunner. “Are you down with that, babe?”
“No, she’s not down with that. I asked you to keep an eye on her. That’s it. Not arms and hands and any other body part.”
“We’re cool, Gunner. Take a shower, you stink.” Carter looked at me and winked then let me move slightly away from him. “I’ll keep her safe just for you.”
Gunner looked at me, and I nodded. I wasn’t worried about Carter. He had more than enough beautiful women swarming, so I could melt into the background. He wasn’t my type at all. True to his word, he never took his hand off of me. Either he was touching my back or my arm or had my hand the entire time Gunner was gone. I watched as he entertained the various people, mostly women, come and go from the room.
I don’t know what it is about this particular woman, but I was getting the feeling she was not like the rest of the wild women we pulled in from the audiences with a nod of our head to the security guys. She was not aggressive like they always are. I mean, I didn’t see her throwing some lace our way on the stage or flashing her tits to us like some of these girls do. Sure, she walked right up and put her hand on me, but other than that, she came off as a little bit shy. It was enough to get my attention.
For one thing, she was beautiful in a classy way. I didn’t know if that blonde hair was real. Hell, who can tell anymore, but I loved it. And those dark eyes are like looking into deep space with no bottom in sight. Damn, I didn’t even know her, and I sounded so fucking pathetic already.
The fastest shower in history occurred and I dressed in my usual dark jeans and a vintage concert t-shirt. Tonight it was Foo Fighters. I loved the way my old threadbare tees felt against my skin after having been washed a gazillion times. It was tight in the chest and arms, but I wore it anyway because the chicks loved it.
I entered the room to find Lola laughing at something Carter said to Gary, one of the tech guys. He’s cool, and I knew he wouldn’t hit on her. Carter was a different story. Of course, he would never follow through with a woman I’d claimed unless I gave him the go ahead. We were man-whores, but we had a strict code about stealing women from each other.
“You’re back quick,” Carter said to me as I walked up to the three of them. “I hardly even had time to show Lola my best moves.”
Gary laughed. “It wasn’t for lack of trying. The guy hasn’t shut up since I walked in.”
“You know how he is when he comes off stage. All that vibrating from his bass gets him revved up and horny, and he’s gotta get that out of his system.” Gary and I laughed loudly, but Lola turned her head away, and Carter got pissed.
“Whatever, Dude. You know I can scare up plenty of women to take care of this package.” He pointed to the boner he was sporting. “You take all of your frustration out on your drums so that you can’t even get it up by the time we leave the stage.” I knew Carter was giving me shit because that’s how we roll, but I didn’t think Lola appreciated our banter.
“Guess you better get back to your groupies then. They are over there drooling on the carpet where you left them on their knees.” I punched him lightly on the arm. “Thanks for taking care of my girl here.” That line earned me a look from Lola.
Carter gave me the usual head tip and leaned in and kissed Lola on the cheek. “If I don’t see you later sweet Lola, it was a pleasure.”
What the fuck? Carter never spoke like that to women backstage.
“The pleasure was all mine, Carter. You make a wonderful babysitter.” She kissed him on both cheeks causing him to shoot me a smirk over his shoulder as he walked away.
When we were finally alone, I had to ask. “Did he do or say anything wrong? You never know what’s going on in his brain.” I took her hand and pulled her closer to me. The packed room and the noise level made it impossible to hear each other. That’s the excuse I gave myself. Maybe it’s that I wanted her closer to me.
“No, not at all. He was the perfect gentleman the entire time. He and Gary told me some stories about your outing in Paris yesterday. You enjoyed your time in the 18th Arrondissement, I understand.”
Now it was my turn to be embarrassed. I should have told him ahead of time that topic was off-limits. We weren’t the kind of guys to kiss and tell. Now I was hoping he didn’t bother to give her the specifics of our escapades yesterday.
“Let’s just say it was a memorable visit that probably won’t happen again. Once was enough for me.” I eyed her reaction which wasn’t what I thought it would be. She didn’t seem the least bit offended that I went to the sex district of Paris. “So why don’t we get out of here and do something fun? We have the limo at our disposal all night, and since you live here, you know the best places to hang out.”
“Is that really what you want to do…hang out?”
I wanted to say hell no, but I wasn’t getting that let’s get in the corner and have some wild groupie sex feeling either, so I put the ball back in her court. “Hey, I’m game for whatever you want to do. What do you and your friends usually do after conce
rts?”
“I’ve never been backstage at a concert before, but once the idea formed in JeanMarie’s mind, we were going to be back here after your band played.”
I leaned in, kissed her cheek, and whispered, “And I’m damn glad she has the determination to go after what she wants. What about you, Lola. Do you go after what you want?” I kissed just below her ear and ran my nose down her jawline. Damn, she smelled good. It was a bold move on my part, but I wanted to test a few limits with her right up front. “We only have one night. Are we going to make the most of it?”
She leaned back and looked into my eyes, hers blinking rapidly. “Yes, I think we will.”
“Then we better get out of here now.” I wrapped my arm around her waist and pulled her to my side. I yelled back at Carter. “I’m out. See you tomorrow.” He tipped his head assuming where this was going. I only prayed Lola and I were truly on the same page.
The limo driver asked where to, and I looked at her. She gave him an address, and he nodded as though he knew the location, which was still a mystery to me. I didn’t care at this point as long as we were going there together. As the vehicle took off into traffic, she turned and looked at me.
“Don’t you want to know what I said to him?” I could barely make out her eyes except when they caught the glow of the street lights we passed under.
“Are we going there together?” I wrapped my hand behind her neck and pulled her in, kissing her softly.
“Well, of course.” She reciprocated the move after she spoke.
“Then I really don’t care,” I said barely touching her lips, then descended back on the luscious fullness. She caught me off guard when she climbed over and straddled my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck. This night looked better by the minute.
I knew Gunner thought we were going to my home or a hotel, or someplace we could be alone, but I wasn’t ready to go there yet. Unlike JeanMarie, I didn’t jump into bed on the first date, and this wasn’t even a date, was it? Instead, we were going to a club my friends, and I hung out at all the time. The bouncer, Theo, knew me well, and when I told him I had a celebrity with me, we got in for free, too.
Driving up to Concrete, the limo stopped right at the door, and when Theo saw me get out behind Gunner, he gave me a knowing smirk. I think arriving in the limo said it all because he opened the corded rope and let us through, even though the crowd in line yelled out a few complaints.
“I hope you like to dance, Gunner. It’s one of our favorite places to come, and there’s a great upstairs level that’s quiet, so we can talk.” I could tell by the look on his face he was a little surprised.
“Uh, sure. Whatever you want to do, Lola. I’m good as long as we can get something to drink here.”
“Okay, come on. Drink first, dance later.” I led him up the steps to intimate rounded booths facing the dance floor. We ordered drinks and sat in awkward silence while we waited for them to arrive. Maybe this was a bad idea.
I finally broke the silence. “How long has the band been on tour?” I figured this was a safe topic.
“Not too long. We started in the UK and then headed over to France. We have a lot of dates here in Europe, though. It’s a four-month tour.” He looked directly into my eyes when he said it, and I noticed his blue-green was now a lot more emerald.
His hands were on the table top, and I put my hand on his for the contact. “That’s a long time to be gone from home. Do you like it this way?”
“Other than my parents and sisters, I don’t have anyone waiting for me, so I’m good with it. I’m getting to go places I’ve never been, and I’m traveling with my best friends, so what’s not to like?” His large hand wrapped around mine while he was talking, and he lightly rubbed his thumb in circles on the back of my hand. I couldn’t take my eyes off his. I found the color to be almost mesmerizing, but the constant rubbing was making me hot all over. What was with this guy? I never felt this kind of spark by simply holding hands.
The waitress set down my vodka tonic and his beer, and we both reached for them at the same time. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one needing something to cool me down. He stopped the waitress. “Would you please bring a bottle of water and another beer?” She obviously didn’t speak much English, so I quickly told her in French.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t think about her not speaking English. We haven’t run into that much yet.”
“That’s fine. Are you super thirsty, though? You haven’t even finished your first one.”
“Yeah, we all get thirsty after a show from the lights and the energy. I should have had a bottle in the car. Dehydration can happen fast.” A different waitress returned, and she leaned across me to put the bottles in front of him showing off her exposed cleavage. What the hell? I’m sitting right here.
“Monsieur, your water, and beer. I think you are a rock star from America? Oui?” When she started batting her eyelashes, I thought I was going to laugh in her face. I looked at Gunner, and he had the strangest look on his face as though he had no idea what to say.
“The other waitress wanted to know if we could have your autograph, but she doesn’t speak English so well.”
“Uh, sure. I guess so.” He looked at me as though he didn’t know how I was going to respond to all of the attention. As soon as he started signing the cocktail napkin, three more waitresses showed up. I supposed he was used to this, but I was definitely not and feeling jealous so soon was out of the question. Part of me wanted to yell, “GO AWAY, he’s mine!” But the logical side said forget about it; he was a celebrity, and this was their lives.
“You are with Assured Distraction, right? You are the drummer?” One of the new ones asked. Gunner turned a funny pink shade. His embarrassment surprised me. I figured this happened all the time. After he signed a napkin for each one, they finally left, laughing and talking to each other.
“Gunner, aren’t you used to that happening all the time when you go out?” I had to know.
“It hasn’t happened since we’ve been over here. In the States it does, but it’s never happened when I’ve been out on a date.” Hmm, he thought this was a date.
“So you are used to women coming up to you and mauling you as well?”
“No, I don’t usually get mauled out on the street. Sometimes at meet and greets or after concerts. We beefed up security once we started touring with Steele, but we are all okay with that because it’s been an awesome opportunity for us. That’s Chandler’s dad’s band, but I guess you knew that, right?”
“I had no idea. Has she toured with him all along?” I knew Steele was a huge band, but I had never heard of Assured Distraction until they began their set at the concert, then I recognized some of their music from the radio.
“No, they didn’t even know each other until a few years ago. She found out when her adoptive parents died in a plane crash.”
“How awful for her to lose her parents and then find out something so life-altering.”
“Yeah, she thought she was without family, but we all rallied around and assured her she was never without family now that she was part of us. We all love her, especially KeeMac.” He laughed at his comment.
“They look like they are so in love.” I sighed a little at that comment.
“What about you, Lola? Have you ever been in love?” He went back to rubbing the circles on my hand.
“Uh, no. I’ve had a few boyfriends in high school and one serious relationship in college, but that’s it. I thought that was love, but let’s just say it ended badly, and I knew then it wasn’t the forever kind of love.” I didn’t want to talk about my ex, so I quickly took the spotlight off of me.
“And you, Gunner? Have you been in love?”
“Uh, that would be a hell no. After the shit we watched Ryan go through with Krissy back home, I don’t think I’ll ever be in love. Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t be in like a whole lot.” He smiled at me, raising my hand to his mouth, and softly kissed my palm. He a
dded to the seductive sensation by running his warm tongue over my wrist. Oh, he was good. Trying to resist him was going to be a battle I didn’t mind losing.
“Maybe we should dance.” I quickly pulled my hand back and scooted out of the booth, but he followed me out my side and stood beside me with his hand on the small of my back. The warm feel of his huge hand felt right lingering there; an intimate gesture laced with promise.
We stepped on the dance floor where they played a series of upbeat songs, and I raised my hands and danced around him. The beat vibrated everything in me, and I enjoyed the carefree way we moved together. He didn’t move much, but he kept his ever-changing eyes on me the entire time. They were now a lighter shade of turquoise that seemed to speak volumes. I loved looking at them because their ability to change intrigued me. I wondered what they were trying to convey, but deep down, I knew seduction was the underlying theme.
Next, “Love Is” by Inas X came on and slowed things down. I loved dancing to that song. We started moving around each other closely until he wrapped his long fingers around my hips and pulled me allowing little between us. Gunner’s moves matched mine with me so close, and my body loved the feeling. I spun around, and he pulled me back to him tighter with one hand on my hip effectively closing any gap between our bodies. The other hand slid slowly down my arm and then pulled it up to wrap around his neck. Now a fun tune turned into a very seductive melody. He wrapped his free hand around my waist and suddenly my ass was against him in one smooth move. As if we were one moving together in a fluid motion, our hips rolled to the beat of the music causing my body to heat in all the best places. The sensuous feel of being pressed closely to his body not only added to my pleasure but apparently his too, because the hardened steel of his arousal was now pressed tightly against my ass.
His lips found the spot below my ear, and he was leaving intimate kisses along a trail down to the curve of my neck and back up. He stopped over the vein and gave me a little nip that was immediately soothed by his tongue, and I thought I was going to melt into a puddle on the floor but instead felt the puddle in my panties. Thank God I was wearing some.