Last night was too good.
Waking up with his arm draped over me, his warm body snuggled up close, is really nice. I’m still trying to fight off the guilt, but it’s a lot easier once his hand slides up to my breast and his fingers start teasing my nipples.
“You’re not going to run out on me like last time, are you?” he murmurs into my hair, kissing the back of my neck.
“I don’t know about running, but I can’t hang out long. I have to get to work and start rearranging everything. Because of you.”
“Because of Jack,” he corrects. “I didn’t ask for the bigger stage. I can’t help that I’m popular.”
“You poor thing,” I say, sarcastic and unsympathetic. He pinches my nipple in response, and I gasp, arching back against him.
He slides his hand lower, down between my legs, drawing out another gasp.
“It’s sad; I know,” he says, fingers slipping through my wetness, finding my clit slick and ready. “But I have a few ideas for how you could comfort me.”
My whole body responds to his touch. Warmth flows through all my limbs, and every skip of his fingers makes me squirm, my nerve endings all dancing like butterflies.
“You do, do you?” I say between heavy breaths, scooting back to grind against him.
“So many ideas,” he growls, kissing and nibbling across my shoulder.
Someone knocks at the door, and we both freeze.
“Probably housekeeping,” he grumbles. “They know to leave me alone.”
“Then why would you assume it’s them?” I ask, turning in his arms.
The knocking continues. “And wouldn’t they have a key?”
He growls, glaring at the bedroom door. “You really want me to leave? Now?”
“Not really, but whoever’s knocking doesn’t sound like they’re going away.”
He clenches his jaw tight enough that his cheek muscle twitches. “Fine. Stay here.”
“No shit.”
It’s a shame to watch him get dressed, covering up all those sexy tattoos. I think most of them are nonsense, but they definitely fit the rock star image, and there’s no denying they suit him.
Looking at the time again, I might as well get dressed too. By the time King comes back, there won’t be any time left, and I’ll be less tempted to stick around if I’m dressed and he can’t access my traitorous body.
I stand close enough to the door to eavesdrop while I pull my panties on.
“Any idea what time it is?” King says.
“Uh … no?” Ace answers.
Shit.
My stupid brother’s other best friend. Ace showing up right now is only marginally better than it being Jack himself.
“It’s not even seven, man,” King says, affecting a yawn for emphasis.
“Well, that means it’s almost four in Milan. I just touched down, but I had to come over right away since Jack told me about your residency. I wanted to make sure you’re not an alien or something. Are you fuckin’ Barry Manilow now?”
King lets out a long-suffering sigh, dragging his hand over his face. “It’s not a residency. It’s just a couple of weeks, and it’s mutually beneficial.”
I’m fully dressed now and just watching the time, calculating how long it’ll take me to get back to the office if I were to go home, the closer it gets to rush hour. This time of day, every minute I delay leaving adds five more to my commute.
I’m the boss, so it’s not like I’m going to get in trouble for being late, but it also means I should be setting a good example. I can’t just saunter in whenever I please and expect my employees to still respect me. They respect me because everyone knows I work just as hard as I ask them to.
But letting Ace find out about me and King? Not happening. He’d tell Jack in a heartbeat.
“Yeah, sure, like a suited flop is mutually beneficial,” he says, rolling his eyes. “Only works if you have the right hand.”
“What?” King asks, genuinely confused, rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Ace shakes his head. “Just thinking about something that happened in Milan. There’s this cocky, young—”
“Can we do this at a reasonable hour?” King tries, looking at the door, hoping Ace will take the hint.
“What the fuck is that?” Ace asks, laughing. “Since when do you care about reasonable hours? Are you a pod person? If you are, you have to tell me.”
“You moron, that’s cops, and it’s not even true.”
“You’re not answering the question,” Ace says, narrowing his eyes.
“That’s because you woke me up, and now you’re pissing me off,” King growls.
Ace has to be the thickest of the whole friend group. How hard is it to read between the lines?
“I just—”
“Let me be blunt,” King says, one hand on his friend’s shoulder as he steers him toward the door. “I am not alone, and you’re interrupting what promised to be a very nice morning, so I would like you to get the fuck out of my hotel room.”
Goddamnit. Out of all the excuses he could come up with, he had to go with the truth? He might not have told Ace who is in his bedroom, but the fact that there is someone is breadcrumb enough for my bloodhound brother to snoop.
“You’re not—” Ace’s whole expression changes from trying to puzzle it out, to surprised understanding. Then he tries to look around King, toward the bedroom door. I jump back, making sure I’m completely out of sight, heart pounding. “Who is it?” he asks.
“Goodbye, Ace,” King hisses, slamming the door.
I finally let out the breath I’ve been holding for who knows how long.
This was such a bad idea. How did I let him talk me into coming back here?
Those romantic fucking stars.
Out of all the places a famous, wealthy rock star might take a girl on a first date, I never would’ve guessed planetarium.
But it was a nice surprise.
King is full of those.
He’s always been one of my brother’s asshole friends—too loud, too full of himself, too out of reach. I had a major crush on him even though I never got to see beneath the surface, and now that he’s peeling back those layers, it’s just getting worse.
Who would have guessed that he’s a secret space nerd?
Or that he keeps this place so clean without letting housekeeping in?
And that he’s definitely not stupid enough to want a pet tiger. I’m not sure we could say the same for Ace. He’s already asked Lake about pythons and poisonous frogs.
Thankfully, her rescue mostly hosts dogs and cats, or Ace would most definitely have some terrible critter in a cage, just for the cool factor. Before I got to know him better, I would’ve guessed King’s the same way, but that’s another pleasant surprise.
“Sorry about that,” King says, already stripping again. “Where were we?”
I’m frozen for a split second, staring, almost drooling.
“I have to get to work,” I finally say, shaking myself out of it.
He frowns, but he doesn’t argue with me.
“Wanna get lunch later? I was going to make you breakfast.”
I smile, in spite of myself. “Yeah. Off property, though. I’ll text you a location.”
He grins, steps closer, and I’m so damn close to giving in and being late.
“It’s a date,” he says, sealing it with a kiss.
Chapter 8
Piper
Typically, putting my phone on silent and burying it in the bottom of my purse makes me focus better. Out of sight, out of mind. I never pull out my phone in meetings, always giving my full attention to the speaker, but today…
Today, my phone being on silent is driving me insane. I know King has sent me a few texts while I’ve been in here. He must have. He’s been sending me flirty, teasing texts all throughout the day for the past few days, never letting up.
I can’t get enough of it.
Of him.
It’s terrible,
I know it is, but I just can’t seem to care anymore. Being with King feels good. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this way, and I just want to enjoy it without feeling so guilty all the time.
Jack’s sitting next to me, so I can’t chance a glance at my phone. Not even for a second. I need to get through this meeting and get back to my office first.
My brother clears his throat at me, then sends a pointed look down to my tapping toe.
Sorry, I mouth, sitting up straighter, trying to force myself to focus.
King’s first show is tonight. The extra lot of tickets we put online sold out immediately, and everyone’s been working double-time to swap the theaters, but tonight, all our hard work is going to pay off.
“Does anyone have anything else to add?” Jack asks.
I have no idea what was discussed at this meeting. Crap.
I’m not going to stick around long enough for someone to realize that, though. I start gathering my things, ready to run out as soon as the meeting’s adjourned.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Jack asks before I can get away.
“Probably running off to meet her new boyfriend again,” Graham says, earning a seething glare from me.
“Oh, don’t deny it,” he scoffs with a dismissive wave. “When Jack’s coming in earlier and leaving later than you, something’s up.”
That gets Jack’s attention. “What’s that? My workaholic sister is developing a life outside the office?”
Graham grins. “Personal calls, long lunches, the works,” he teases.
“So when do I get to meet this guy?” Jack asks, not half as mad as I expected him to be.
“You’re not really going to listen to gossip from Graham, are you? He’s just being catty because I haven’t been to his last couple of drag shows.”
“You bitch!” Graham gasps, but he gets the message. At least he’s not as thick as Ace; he knows when to let something drop for the sake of our friendship.
Jack chuckles, shaking his head as Graham stalks away with every scrap of manufactured outrage he can manage.
“Look, Ellie made some pretty good points about why you might not want to be open about your dating life with me, so I understand if you’re not ready to introduce me to your new guy, but I want you to know I’m happy you’ve found someone,” he says, resting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing.
There’s a sudden lump in my throat. I should tell him. Rip the band-aid off and move on with our lives.
“And I’m really glad you stopped sniffing around King,” he adds, shattering that line of thought into a million pieces. “I love the guy like a brother, but he’s a player, and you deserve better than the heartbreak he’d give you.”
“I don’t need you to tell me that,” I mutter, looking away.
“I know you don’t. Well, obviously,” he says, chuckling again. Who would have guessed me dating would put him in such a good mood? If only he knew…
“But seriously, I’ve seen him destroy women, and I don’t want that for you—I don’t want to have to kill him. After everything with Alejandro… I’ve seen you at your lowest, Piper, and it wasn’t pretty.”
“Yeah, well, finding out you’ve been cheated on for the entire duration of your relationship can do that.”
“Exactly. And King’s not the kind of guy to be faithful. Again, I love him, but I also know him.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about that,” I answer, knots forming in my stomach. “But you’re not exactly instilling a lot of confidence about me introducing my boyfriend to you.”
The lump in my throat gets bigger. King is not my boyfriend. I hate that saying it out loud gives me butterflies. It’s just sex. And phone sex. And lunch. Sometimes dinner. Breakfast more often than not…
Fuck.
“That’s fair,” he says, looking contrite. “I didn’t mean to freak you out. We only have each other, though, you know? It’s my job as the big brother to take care of you. I dropped the ball on that once, and I don’t plan on making the same mistake again.”
Normally, I’d be annoyed by this schtick, but he really is trying. I’ve never heard Jack be this self-aware before. I’m usually the one doing all the psychoanalyzing.
Despite the silver spoon we were both born with, our dad was never really present in our lives. Things might have been different before I was born, Jack says they were, but Dad always resented me a little for taking Mom from him. Our nanny was more of a parent to us than he was, but Jack didn’t really start this big brother routine until Dad died. Then it really ramped up after Alejandro smashed my heart. I don’t even want to think about how bad it’ll be if King is as bad for me as we both think.
I give him a hug because he looks like he could use it.
“Your new woman is making you soft,” I tease. “I’m okay without you constantly checking on me. I’ve grown a lot since all that happened, and I can take care of myself. I’m a lot stronger than I was.”
He sighs, nodding. “I know you are. You’re fucking granite now, but I’m still going to worry.”
“I wouldn’t expect anything less.” I laugh, still making my way to the door with steady side-stepping.
It’s not until I’m in my office, fishing my phone out of my purse, that I reflect on the whole conversation.
Why did he bring up King specifically? King’s not the only one in his friend group who’s flirted with me—Asher’s taken now, but there’s still Ace. Why not mention him?
He must suspect something.
Someone must have told him something. Ace? Ellie? Graham probably doesn’t think I could pull someone at King’s level, so I doubt it’s him…
I have to get to the bottom of this, though. I need to nip this in the bud before Jack’s suspicion can bloom out of control. Ending this thing with King doesn’t seem like an option anymore; now it’s just about hiding it better.
But first, I need to see him. I need some stress relief.
Meet me in the south garage, normal place, thirty minutes, I text, ignoring the last few dirty messages he’s sent.
I don’t really have the spare time in my schedule, but I’ll make time. I hate how addicted I am now. This is supposed to be casual and fun, not nerve-wracking and all-consuming.
Chapter 9
King
You sure you don’t want me to come up there? I text back to Piper, grinning at the screen.
Piper: No.
It would be quicker. I know you’re tight.
On time, that is, I add in a second text.
She sends back an eyeroll emoji.
I have a lot of other excuses, but this is really why I’ve been lingering around The Grandiose so much lately. There’s no reason for me to be lounging by the glittering teal lake they call a pool. Sure, the waterfall and palm trees make nice ambience for sexting, but I could get the same thing at any resort on the strip.
I’m here for easy access to Piper. It really would be so easy to just take the elevator up to her office, draw the blinds shut, and bend her over her desk, skirt hiked up around her hips.
“You ready for tonight?” Jack asks, clapping me on the back, nearly making me spill my iced tea.
I shove my phone in my pocket before he can see the lewd texts to his sister on my screen. But that’s all I can think about. The promises I’ve been making to her, the threats to come up to her office and give her an orgasm whenever she needs to relax.
She has a strict rule about us fooling around on The Grandiose’s property. Too many eyes, too many cameras, and too many people who report directly to her brother. It’s a risk neither one of us has been foolish enough to take, but that doesn’t stop me from fantasizing about it.
And using those fantasies to tease the hell out of her.
It’s just way too fun to get her all hot and flustered. Even better when she sends a bossy text to meet her somewhere because she can’t stand it anymore.
“Tonight?” I mutter, my brain refusing to focu
s on anything but thoughts of Piper.
“The show?” Jack laughs. “Shit, have you already started pre-gaming? Just don’t get too trashed to go on stage, yeah?”
I frown, then follow his gaze to my tea. “I’m not… Yeah, you got it, man,” I say. It’s easier to let him think I’m drunk than to explain I’m too distracted to remember it’s the opening night of my stint here.
She’s deep under my skin. Too deep. But I don’t know how to get her out now.
I don’t know if I want to.
“How are things going?” he asks. “I know I’m hyped about the ticket sales, but are you happy with how we’ve set everything up for you?”
“Yeah,” I answer, shaking my head. “Where’s this coming from?”
He shrugs, taking one of the lounge chairs next to me. There’s a drink in his hand in a matter of moments. The staff here are some of the best in the business, and I know Jack pays them well for their loyalty and attention.
“Piper didn’t seem thrilled about the job, and I know she can be … assertive? Is that a nice word?”
I snort-laugh. “Nice enough for what you’re trying to say.”
“Right, well, you know. She has a way she wants things done and isn’t one to budge.”
“Yeah,” I agree, not wanting to say too much. I feel like there’s a trap lurking around the corner, but I don’t know where.
My time to meet Piper is getting closer, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to get away from her brother.
“And, no offense, but you’re not exactly known for being … not-stubborn.”
I laugh again. “Saying no offense doesn’t help when you follow it up like that.”
He shrugs. “It’s true, though. I mentioned you two working together to Ace, and he asked how you haven’t killed each other yet. It made me realize I probably should have checked in…”
Fucking Ace and his big mouth. We were doing just fine without Jack sniffing around looking for problems.
“Nah, you’re good, man,” I answer, looking out at the fifteen-foot waterfall crashing down into the pool. I’ve jumped off that cliff a number of times—never to escape a conversation, but it’s starting to look mighty tempting.
King (Vegas Kings Book 2) Page 5