Sexy

by JA Huss

He gives the backstage one more glance. “Nah, I’ve got work to do. Let’s go say hello to the reviewers and let them know to contact us if they need anything.”

  And before I can even register that he shot me down again, he’s dropped my hands and walked off towards the two in line.

  Hmmm. He’s way too preoccupied with his missing assistant.

  I spend the next thirty minutes pretending that I’m not noticing how Cole is wasting time to see if Elizabeth will reappear looking well-fucked. But that’s what he’s doing all right. His conversation is directed to the reviewers but his attention is only on the backstage curtain. Like she’ll come out from there.

  This is not turning out how I imagined it. “Hey, Cole,” I say, inching my body towards his until our arms are touching. “Wanna have dinner with me tomorrow since you’re busy tonight?”

  The reviewers are preoccupied with their turn in line for lap dances, so they aren’t listening. But Cole shoots me a dirty look and shushes me into silence.

  God, I’m losing bad right now. I need Fletcher’s help. He’d know exactly what to do. But he’s on the roof with that tramp.

  It pisses me off almost as much as it does Cole. I need him and he’s busy fucking someone else.

  Asshole.

  “OK, well, I’m tired. So I’m turning in for the night. See you tomorrow?”

  “Sure, Tiffy. Goodnight.” Cole walks off towards the backstage curtain.

  I turn on my heel and walk off as well. I spy Claudio in line to get a lap dance with Steve. And I should put a stop to that, but I need to find Fletcher. This is not working. He promised me it would work.

  I head straight up to my floor on the penthouse and turn right towards the door to the roof. There is no stone in there to prop it open, but my keycard opens all the doors, and I don’t see why this one would be any different. It opens. So I creep up the stairs and prop my head against the door as I crack it just an inch.

  Silence. Just some residual party noise from the pool down below.

  I slip through the door and tiptoe to the garden shed.

  And stop dead.

  What if I see him?

  I bite my lip and a sick feeling takes over my stomach as I realize I don’t want to see him. He was fucking me in there a few days ago. Who knows how many other girls he’s had up here since then, but I never knew about them. This would be catching him in the act. And today, out on the rocks, I almost got the feeling he liked me. Maybe not desired me. Not the way he did the other night when I was his conquest. But still. I have this idea that we’re friends. That maybe he’s doing this because he really does think I’m pretty and I deserve a good guy.

  I let out a long breath. Jesus Christ. I’m fantasizing about him. Just like all those other girls do. And he made it perfectly clear it was a one-night-only thing.

  Tiffy, my inner voice says in that calm way I’ve trained it to do, better to know for sure that he’s a lying, cheating player than let this dream of capturing his heart go on any longer.

  So I start walking again, this time not taking care to be quiet. Maybe he will hear me and stop whatever it is he’s doing?

  When I reach the door I pull it open with force, slamming it against the side of the building.

  But it’s empty.

  Hmmm.

  Where else might he have taken her? Out to those rocks? God, he could take her anywhere. He probably took her off the hotel grounds. So I go back the way I came and pull out my cell phone, tabbing my contact at the front desk.

  “Landslide Hotel and Cas—”

  “It’s Miss Preston. Does Fletcher Novak have an assigned parking space?”

  “Yes ma’am. Next to the valet, spot…” Her keyboard clicks as she looks it up. “Spot 55E.”

  “Thank you,” I say, and end the call. I’ll check there next. If he’s gone, then there’s no point in looking anywhere else for him, right?

  But when I get to the garage and ask the valet guys where the space is, they point to a classic red Camaro with a white racing stripe down the center of the hood. A very Fletcher Novak kind of car.

  He didn’t leave.

  I check the pool next. But even though there are probably a hundred people out there at the weekly Saturday night adult swim, Fletcher is not.

  I walk out towards the beach, which has far fewer people on it, and scan that too. I might be missing him, since it’s dark. But I don’t see any couples alone on the beach.

  But I do see Elizabeth. I don’t know how I know it’s her, since I only just met her. But I do. And when another familiar shape walks across the sand and stops alongside her, my heart almost stops because it’s Cole.

  I can’t hear the argument, but I know what those gestures mean. I’ve known Cole for years. I know what he looks like when he’s annoyed.

  So he does like her. He went looking for her and now that he’s found her, he wants answers.

  But if she’s here alone, then where is Fletcher?

  I leave the beach and walk towards the parking lot, looking at them as I make my way to a tree.

  I’ll just wait this out and see if Fletcher comes back. He’s probably gone to get her a drink.

  A few minutes pass, and then Cole reaches down to Elizabeth and pulls her to her feet. His quick embrace tells me more than I wanted to know.

  He might really like her.

  They leave together and disappear into the crowd near the pool. At least he didn’t take her up to his room. I still have a chance.

  Fletcher has to be around somewhere. So I head towards the front desk and wait until the girl at the counter is finished with a few guests, chewing my lip the entire time as I try to figure out what’s happening to my plan.

  “Can I help—Oh, Miss Preston. Did you find Fletch’s car?”

  Fletch. She must be on good terms with him. I’m sure they’ve fucked on the roof too. “Yes, but I’m looking for him. Have you seen him around?”

  “Oh, yeah, he’s in his room. He called down for room service like an hour ago.”

  “An hour ago?”

  She gives me a flustered look and starts to answer, but I don’t wait. I just turn on my heel and go back to the elevator. An hour ago? That means he wasn’t with Elizabeth for very long. So what’s he been doing?

  I walk quickly to the North Tower elevators, pressing the button repeatedly until it opens and a bunch of people spill out dressed up for a night of fun. I smile politely and get in after they leave, and press the button for his floor.

  The doors close and I slump back against the mirrored wall, trying to figure this all out. What is he up to?

  When I get to fifteen I exit the elevator and head straight to his suite at the end of the hall. I press my ear again the door and listen. There’s some music, but it’s not loud. Does he have another girl in there? How many can he have in one night?

  I knock hard and wait. I don’t hear anything, but the door locks disengage and he pulls the door open. “’Bout time, ass—Tiffy? What are you doing here?”

  I’m speechless. He’s got no shirt on, so my eyes sorta get stuck on the topography of his abs. There’s a light dusting of blond happy trail that leads me to the fact that he’s only wearing a pair of cut-off sweat shorts that end just below his knees, and before I can stop myself, I’m staring right at the bump of his package under those shorts. “Ummm.” What am I doing here? “Cole… he found Elizabeth on the beach and…” I look up and meet Fletcher’s gaze. He’s squinting at me, confused. Shit. I’ve been stalking him all night and if I tell him that he’s gonna think I’m crazy. “I need more tips, Fletcher. I think he really likes her.” Fletcher shoots me a dubious look. And that’s when I notice how different he looks. “You wear glasses?”

  He smiles, like he was just caught doing something bad, and pulls them off his face. “Just when I’m working.”

  “You’re working? But it’s Saturday night.’” I lean over to look past him. His dining table is littered with papers and an open laptop.

He really is working.

  “You wanna come in?” he asks. “Or are you just here checking up on me?”

  I blush. Because that’s exactly what I’m doing.

  “If you want Cole, you have to make him jealous, Tiffy. I pegged him for a guy who wants what he can’t have the very first time I met him. So come in,” Fletcher says, opening the door wide. “I’ve got a plan.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Tiffy Preston is a tease. And she doesn’t have to bite her lip or bare her leg or any of that other bullshit for me to know this. She looks at me like she’s hungry. She did it last week when I took her up on the roof and she’s doing it right now because her eyes are tracing all up and down my body in a way that makes it necessary to adjust myself under my shorts.

  “What plan?” she asks, barely able to drag her stare back up to my face.

  I wave her into my room, acutely aware of the stacks of papers on my table, the open laptop on my table, the TV blaring this week’s predictions from repeats of the Friday stock reports, and my lack of clothing. Not that she hasn’t seen everything. But I’m pushing my own self-control here.

  There’s another knock at the door and I breathe out a sigh of relief as I go answer it.

  “Hey, Fletch,” John the waiter says. “Sorry it took so long. We’re swamped down—” He stops when he sees Tiffy. “Oh, um, hi, Miss Preston.”

  “Tiffy and I have business,” I say, motioning to my out-of-control paperwork. “So we’re eating in tonight.”

  “Oh, sure,” John says, pushing the cart into the room. He starts setting up the food and then notices he only brought one plate and serving set.

  I stop him before he opens his mouth. “I’m not hungry, John. So Miss Preston will be the only one dining.”

  “OK,” John says with a smile.

  A minute later he’s walking back to the door and I slip him a twenty. “Do not say she was here. You got it?”

  “I got it, dude,” he says with a fake salute. “Later.”

  I close the door and turn back to Tiffy. She’s leaning over the room service cart, inhaling the aroma. “Hungry?”

  “Sorry.” She laughs. “I never got dinner.” She gives herself a little mental shake to get back on point. “I asked him out, Fletch, and he said no. So I asked about tomorrow, and all he was interested in was that trampy assistant. I’m not a good player. There is no way he’s interested in me.”

  I’m not listening to any of that. Maybe two words get through my brain. Because her hair is all crazy disheveled, like she’s been in bed. Or out by the beach. I inhale as her lips move and I think I smell the lake on her. That sweet scent I grew up with. It reminds me of home. And that thought derails everything.

  Fucking home.

  “You listening to me?”

  “Yeah.” She’s got another summer dress on. It’s yellow and stands out against her perfect skin. Her eyes dart up and down my body as she talks and when she notices me noticing that, she closes her eyes and blushes a bright pink.

  I think I get hard from that.

  “Fletcher!”

  “What?”

  “You’re not listening.”

  “You think he’s not interested. But he is.” How the fuck could he not be? Something is off. “I mean, you’re friends. And he’s nice to you. So that’s a tell that he’s interested. He’s just not motivated to make a move right now. The signals are getting all crossed and shit. So all we gotta do is line those signals up so they connect.”

  “How? I asked him to dinner—”

  “Fuck dinner. Well, not literally.” I take the silver lid off the platter and stuff some fries in my mouth. “I’m starving. Wanna share my hamburger?”

  She lets out a long sigh, but it comes with a smile. So she’s starting to relax. “OK.”

  “Come on, sit down and we’ll eat.” I grab all my papers off the table and stack them up.

  “What’s all that?”

  “Taxes. Fucking taxes. They’re the bane of my whole existence.”

  “It’s August. Why are you worrying about taxes now?”

  “Uh…” Shit. “Quarterlies are due next month.” Good recovery, Fletcher. “I like to keep on top of it. Gotta report those tips, right?”

  “You report tips?”

  “It’s the law, babe.”

  “Pffft. OK.” She grabs a French fry and stuffs it into her mouth and continues to talk. I cannot even stop watching her lips. And her tongue. Holy fuck. I’m horny. I’m goddamned horny for Tiffy Preston. I’ve been in denial all week, but when a guy thinks chewing is sexy, he’s got a problem.

  “Right?” she asks.

  “Right,” I reply.

  “You did not even hear what I said.”

  She’s right. I didn’t. “You just need more moves, Tiffy.”

  “Exactly! That’s what I just said.”

  “But I’m starving. So let’s eat first.” I grab a knife and slice the burger down the middle, then take one half and give her the plate. I stuff most of that thing in my mouth with one bite.

  She picks hers up and starts to nibble on it. Two minutes later I’m finished and I’m eyeing her and her burger like I’m about to eat them both.

  “What?” she asks, looking at me with her mouth open, mid-chew.

  “What?”

  “Did you just say you want to eat me and the burger both?”

  I laugh. “I sorta do.” I realize that’s a bad move if I want to keep this job going a little longer. “I’m starving.”

  Tiffy raises an eyebrow at me.

  “And I was thinking about that girl tonight. She showed me her tits as soon as we got backstage and I put her off.”

  “Hmmmm. Why’d you do that? I thought you had a new girl for every show?”

  “She’s a skank.” And you’ve ruined me, I don’t add. I get one little taste of a lady and I’m ruined. “Those women at those shows are just not my type this week.” I sigh and go for the truth, just to see if she believes me. “Not for many weeks, if I’m honest.”

  Tiffy pauses, rolling that admission around in her head. But what she thinks about it, I have no clue. Because she changes the subject. “So how should we make Cole jealous?”

  I should take the hint. Getting more involved with her than I already am is a monumentally bad move. But I realize I don’t care. So I smile that smile she seems to like, and play a card in a game I decide I’d really like to win. “Let’s practice that lap dance, Tiffy.”

  “What?” she gasps. “No, Fletcher. Cole isn’t—”

  “Cole is,” I stress. “Every guy is, Tiffy. Maybe Cole doesn’t do strippers, but even guys who like the nice girl want the stripper in the bedroom. So I think you should go out there tomorrow, drop some very subtle hints, and then when you get him somewhere private, you pull out the bad girl you’re keeping in your pocket.”

  She’s shaking her head the whole time I’m talking and I almost laugh, it’s so cute. “There’s no way I can seduce him like that. I mean, I can do some lip-licking and some leg-swinging, but—” She looks down at her body. “I’m not that girl. I’m not. I have sex in the dark, Fletcher. I like candles and under the covers.”

  “I almost fucked you against a wall on the roof, Tiffy.”

  She draws in a long breath and closes her eyes. My dick swells again. So much that I walk up next to the room service cart to hide it. When she opens her eyes again she finds my face. “That was not me. I don’t do that stuff. It’s just, you were a little overpowering in your… sex appeal, I guess. I don’t know why I went up there with you. But I do know I can’t do that with Cole.”

  I think about this for a minute. Considering what she’s saying. Wondering if she’s right or not. And decide she isn’t.

  “You went up there with me, Tiff, because you got caught up in my spell. That’s it. That’s all. So you just need to get Cole caught up in your spell.”

  “I’m not a sex witch, Fletch.”

  I move away from the cart and walk up next to her. God, she smells good. I take her hand. That move makes her swallow and I can tell she’s nervous. But when I place her hand over my hard-on she sucks down air like she might stop breathing.

  “You make me hard, Tiffy Preston. And all you did was walk into this room. So I’m pretty fucking sure you can do the same for Cole.”

  “Fletcher,” she whispers as I place my hand on her hip and draw her closer.

  “Just relax,” I say in a low voice. “I’m not gonna make a move. I’m just saying you’re sexy as fuck, Tiffy. All you need to do is capture his attention and let his desire take over.”

  “And how the hell do I get him up to a room to do a lap dance?”

  “Fuck the room. We’ve got a dance floor downstairs.”

  “Oh my—”

  “You dance with the guy, Tiff. And do a little imaginary striptease. Like this.” I grab both her hips and pull her close to me, my body moving to the music in the background. My fingertips flare over her ass cheeks, rubbing the muscles beneath her thin dress. My dick is fully erect under my shorts now, so I start pressing against her to stimulate myself. “Relax,” I whisper into her neck. And then I grab her hands and lift her arms up above her head. “Keep them up here and move your body like this.”

  I grind against her as I look her in the eyes. I’m feeling heavy with lust for this girl. She bites her lip and it’s not a fucking move. It’s real. I almost lose it. I want to bend her over my bed and fuck her so bad.

  “Like this?” she asks sweetly. She’s moving a little. Trying to do as I ask.

  Calm the fuck down, Fletcher. She’s here to learn how to seduce Cole. But holy shit, I want her. “You gotta try harder than that if you want the guy, Tiffy.”

  She takes a deep breath and bends her knees, swaying her body as she dips down. “I can dance, you know. I’m not a complete social moron.”

  A smile creeps up my face as she does her little wiggle move. Her mouth is so close to my dick, I might explode. “It’s not bad,” I say playfully. “But you need to practice.”

  “Hmmm,” she says, standing back up. Her hands are in her hair now, and she rips out the little ponytail holder, letting her long brown locks spill over her shoulders. “See,” she says with a smile that reaches all the way up to her eyes. “I can seduce you.”

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