by Anna Paige
He really was perfect.
My body was sore this morning, in all the right places.
Actually, that wasn’t entirely true. My feet were sore from being on them most of the day cooking, but the other stuff hurt because…well…we tried to bring down the entire building last night.
What had started out slow and reverent had turned desperate and feral in a hurry. Thank goodness Ethan’s downstairs neighbors were out of town because between our—okay, my—screams and Dammit’s barking, they wouldn’t have gotten a bit of sleep.
Hell, we barely got an hour ourselves.
And it was so worth it.
Ethan leaned in and kissed my forehead as I took my coffee and pivoted on one heel to head to the living room. “I’ve got a quick call to make. Can you be ready to leave in twenty?”
I was barely able to form words, so I gave a little grunt and nod.
“Good. I’ll make my call while I walk Dammit.” He grabbed the leash hanging on the door knob and whistled.
Dammit came charging into the kitchen with so much gusto that when he tried to stop at Ethan’s feet, he ended up sliding right by him and nearly colliding with the wall.
His whole body wagged when Ethan reached down to clip on the leash and scratched behind his floppy ears.
“Who on earth could you be calling this early? It’s four in the morning.”
He grinned. “I didn’t say they were going to be happy about it. Just that I had to make the call.” When I frowned in confusion, he chuckled. “I’ve got someone handling the other location this morning. Can’t risk being seen there in case someone puts two and two together.”
I nodded, realizing what he meant. “And you’re their wakeup call.”
“Not hardly. I’m Jimmy’s wakeup call.” Jimmy was the band’s manager. “And then he calls the guy who enlisted the guy who will actually be overseeing everything. Got to be covert to keep my name out of it.”
“That’s a lot of people to wake up at stupid o’clock in the morning.”
“And it’s for a damn good cause, so they can get the fuck over it.” He dropped a kiss on my lips and pinched my ass, making me yelp. “Plus, they’re being paid very well to wake up at stupid o’clock.”
“They’d have to be.” I yawned.
He quirked a brow, ignoring Dammit who was dancing on his hind legs, begging to go out. “Do you need compensation, too, pretty lady? Because that can be arranged.”
“Later, drummer boy. Right now, I need coffee and a hair brush. But I’m sure we can come to an agreement later on compensation.”
“We do compromise very well together.” He winked and looked down at Dammit. “Come on, boy. Let’s go kill some grass and make some calls.”
When the door clicked shut behind them, I let out a contented sigh.
Even with zero sleep and a rat’s nest for hair, I was happier than I’d been in forever.
And the day was just getting started.
The Manhattan sidewalks were bustling with Black Friday shoppers, the streets filling fast with taxis and van loads of bleary-eyed moms and dads looking for killer deals.
It was cold, bone chillingly so, and the wind was almost enough to cut right through even the thickest parka I owned. I had a beanie pulled low to cover my ears and my gloved hands stuffed into the pockets of my coat as I watched the guys form a shoulder-to-shoulder line in front of the doors, bodyguards one step behind them—just in case.
“Good morning! How’s everyone doing?” the store owner called, stepping in front of the band.
Most people replied with ‘cold’ and a few said ‘tired’. I could relate to both.
“Anyone here recognize these guys?” He hitched a thumb over his shoulder, indicating the band—who still wore dark glasses and ball caps or hoodies to obscure their identities.
Aubrey and I were off to the side—with our own set of stoic bodyguards—where we had a great view of the whole thing.
As soon as the owner finished his question, Ethan and the guys pulled off their glasses and hats, to a round of incredulous gasps. The cheers erupted a second later and the band members smiled and waved, but only let it go on for a few seconds before signaling for everyone to settle down.
Grinning from ear to ear, the owner continued. “Glad to see a few of you know who they are. I would have been pretty embarrassed if I had to explain it.” Everyone chuckled. “Well, besides being one of the most successful bands of the century, these guys also have some of the biggest damn hearts on the planet. And you, my dear friends, are about to see that for yourselves.” He waved a hand at Kade, who stepped forward.
“Good morning!” Kade called so everyone could hear. Aubrey and I glanced over at the security team, who were busy roping off the entire block to keep things organized. He stepped out closer to the curb so he could see the other end of the line. “Great to see such a large group of music lovers here today. Did you all see that sale flyer? Some seriously amazing deals, right?”
The crowd cheered and nodded in agreement.
“Want to know what’s better than getting something half off? Getting something absolutely free!”
The cheers got louder, and everyone started looking antsy as they watched Kade in anticipation.
“See, we—the members of TotC—believe in the power of music. We believe that the right chord or beat or lyric, delivered at just the right time, can change a life. Save a life. Maybe even create a life—and you know which songs I’m referring to.” He winked, and I swear I saw a couple of forty-somethings sway on their feet.
“We also believe in giving back, especially to young musicians, because the drumsticks or guitar strings or amplifiers they get today will bring them one step closer to that Grammy, that world tour, that one song that changes a thousand lives. That one musician might one day inspire the entire world.”
I was blinking back tears watching the people in line. There were more kids here than I thought there would be, given the early hour, but there they were—dozens of them lined up in the cold for a chance to get a bargain on the thing that they were building their dreams on.
Ethan caught my eye and smiled, giving me a little nod as he too blinked back tears.
Kade held up the tear-away list that had been attached to the sales flyer. “Do you all have your lists?”
The flyer had instructed customers to have lists ready so they could be quickly helped in the order of their arrival. Each sheet had a spot for item numbers and quantities that could be easily checked off.
Arms went up all down the block, waving the long, narrow pieces of paper.
“Good. Write your names on them and hand them to the sales associates who are working their way down the line, please.”
People reached in purses and pockets for pens to add their names. I watched as one lady rifled through her enormous—and gorgeous—bag and found at least a dozen pens to help out the people around her.
Twenty store employees and volunteers made their way down the line, getting every list before heading back into the store. A few of them had elf hats with pointy ears that made me chuckle.
Kade waved the rest of the guys over, standing at an angle to the line so as many people as possible could see them. When all five of them were once again shoulder to shoulder, Kade announced, “Every item on every list is being gathered and bagged as we speak. It may take the team a little while, so please be patient.” He looked at the other guys and grinned. “This next part is very important. When you go to pick up your bags, all you need to do is tell them the name on the list. No money required. TotC is picking up the tab. And if there’s an item on your list that is out of stock, you’ll receive a voucher to come back and get it—for free—as soon as the store can get it in.”
The screams were actually louder than at the concert. People were jumping up and down, hugging each other. I saw a little boy around nine or ten happy-crying and wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his coat. He had a pair of worn-looking drumsticks in
his free hand, his mom—I assumed it was his mom—was holding the other. Ethan saw it too and walked over to talk to him.
Aubrey and I joined the rest of the band, and we all watched the boy clutch at Ethan’s coat, hugging him and crying into his shoulder.
Jared came over to stand beside me, offering me a comforting smile as my shoulders shook. Dammit, I was about to start blubbering like a baby.
I swiped at my cheeks and sniffed softly, watching Ethan crouch down and talk to the still-crying boy. Jared wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side, whispering, “That speech Kade just gave? E wrote that. He’s the best of us, you know?”
That just made me cry harder, and I nodded, unable to speak.
“He told you about the art store in Chelsea?” he asked, dropping his voice further. I was actually finding his slow, measured way of speaking kind of soothing.
I nodded again, tears thankfully slowing. “I wish he could be there to see all the artists he’s helping today.”
“Me too.” Jared sighed.
I leaned more heavily into his side, needing the support as I admitted, “I was worried you wouldn’t like me.”
He squeezed my shoulder. “I don’t hug people I don’t like.” It was a simple declaration, but I knew he was saying much more than those few words implied.
“Or defend their honor to the likes of Lennox Reid?” I joked, needing to lighten the mood before my few emotional tears turned into a torrential downpour.
“You didn’t need my help. You handled Lenn just fine.” He chuckled, nodding to Ethan, who was coming over to join us. “And I’d like to chip in on that Christmas present Ethan told me about. Maybe we can pool our money and supersize it or whatever.”
That gave me a visual that had me cracking up.
Thank goodness I knew how to clear my browser history— you know, in case I was ever investigated by the FBI or something.
There’s just no good way to explain searching “giant gnome-shaped prostate massager” to the feds.
Chapter Forty-Six
Ethan
Emily and I stood in the back room of the store, warming up and getting a breather from all the chaos.
My phone was going crazy vibrating in my pocket as Jimmy forwarded photos that were forwarded to him from the art store giveaway I’d arranged. Basically, it was the same concept as what we’d done at the music store, only Conspicuous was the benefactor of that one.
We’d contacted a lot of people over the last month, orchestrating store buy-outs and “gift-aways” all over New York. In addition to the music store and art store we’d covered, there were almost a dozen more shops being bought out by celebrities and artists we’d enlisted for the cause.
Book stores, clothing stores, shoe stores, you name it.
What had started as me wanting to buy out my favorite art store and give everyone in line all the supplies they needed had snowballed into something massive and amazing.
The guys—after hearing my idea to buy the entire inventory of Peyton’s Palettes—wanted to do the same with the city’s largest music store. But we needed more than TotC and Conspicuous to participate, in case people started to connect the two, so we campaigned to every A-lister we knew.
Actors and actresses, news anchors, fashion designers, authors…they all jumped on board immediately.
I avoided the photos from the art store—saving them for when I was able to look at them in private—and instead navigated to the news websites, where floods of reports were coming in about the whole thing.
Emily gasped when I clicked on one of them and a photo of me with the young boy—who wanted to be a drummer when he grew up—filled the screen. He was such a sweet kid, I was so glad I went to talk to him. I signed his drum sticks and told him to bring them to next year’s Thanksgiving concert, show them at the gate, and I’d leave him a backstage pass.
And the first thing he said after thanking me was, “Do you think you could leave one more, so I can bring my big brother?” His voice was so timid, like he felt bad for asking for more than was offered, but he braved it to be able to bring his brother along.
Could I leave him another pass?
Damn right, I could.
I’d been so choked up, I almost gave him twenty.
And if I didn’t have reason enough to love the photo of me with the little boy…There, in the bottom right hand side of the photo were Em and Jared, embracing as they looked on.
It was officially my favorite picture ever.
My best friend comforting the woman I loved as they both looked over at me like I hung the damn moon.
I took a screenshot and cropped it in close, making it my background before dropping my phone back into my pocket.
“Come on, let’s go help them pass out the bags.” I held out my hand and she threaded her fingers through mine.
“Gladly.” She hadn’t stopped grinning the entire morning, not even when she was crying from seeing the overwhelming reactions of the people in line.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.” I kissed the back of her hand.
She leaned into me as we walked and sighed dreamily. “It’s not every day you find out you fell in love with Santa Claus.”
I stopped and patted my stomach with my free hand, trying for a concerned expression. “It’s all that damn pie. I blame Dana.”
“You know what I mean.” She chuckled and rubbed my stomach, pushing my hand away. “I’m referring to your generous spirit.”
“It’s not just me. You saw the news sites. It’s all over the city.”
“Because of you. Because you wanted to make a difference for those artists, and it grew into something massive and beautiful. Just like your heart.”
“See, I don’t know if the word massive applies…unless you’re talking about my—”
She slapped my stomach. “Stop it, perv. I’m trying to have a tender moment here.”
“Sorry.” I laughed, slumping over and grabbing my gut like she’d hurt me.
“No, you’re not. You’re deflecting because you don’t want me to keep fawning over you. Guess what, drummer boy? Tough. Shit. I love you, and I’m going to fawn all I want because you’re freaking amazing. And you have to deal with it because you love me and want me to be happy, and gushing over you makes me happy. So shutty.” She made a lip-zipping motion.
I blew out a breath, trying to sound exasperated when in reality I was flying. Every time she said she loved me it was like a freefall. “I guess I’ll allow it, since you seem to enjoy it so much. The things I do for you, I swear.” I rolled my eyes dramatically. “You’re lucky I love you, woman.”
“If you think I’m lucky, wait until we get back to your place. We’ll see who gets lucky then.” She winked and dropped my hand as she strode into the main room, headed toward Aubrey, who was packing bags and tagging large items with the helper elves.
Just when I thought this day couldn’t get any better.
I suddenly couldn’t wait to get home.
“I should have snagged one of those elf hats with the pointy ears,” Emily said as she lay across my chest later that day. Clothes were scattered everywhere, the bed was stripped all the way to the bare mattress with only one corner of sheet still hanging on for dear life, and her hair was an absolute mess.
I’d never had sex like that in my life. It was so amazing that I was dumbfounded. Just lying there in fucking awe, until what she said registered, and I managed to shake my head at the visual it invoked.
“Um, no. I don’t think I could get it up for an elf.”
Her hand had been lightly skimming over my abs, but my words seemed to cause it to veer off course. Toward my cock. “You sure about that? I mean, aside from maybe wanting to use them to steer my head, how much attention do you really pay to my ears anyway?”
Her fingers trailed down my length, teasing my balls before sliding back up to swirl around the tip. She was trying to persuade me, but I wasn’t going to make it easy.
“I don’t know about that. I mean, ears that pointy are hard to ignore. It could be distracting.”
She sat up, her hand still cupping my balls as she pressed her tits together and gave me an innocent look. “You mean they’d distract you from these?” Her fingers pressed together, tweaking one tight nipple.
She let go of my sac and straddled my legs, sitting low so that her breasts hung on either side of my erection. Looking up at me, she grinned and pushed them together with both hands, effectively enveloping my cock with them.
My hips thrust upward, and she looked down to watch the head peek out from between her perfect, full tits. Quick as a flash, she tipped her head down and licked it.
She kept her head there and continued to flick the head of my dick as I pumped. Soon, she stopped but didn’t look up. “Now, what color earrings am I wearing?”
“Huh?” I kept my hips up, watching as my swollen head protruded again and waited to be licked.
“If you’re so aware of my ears when we’re in bed, what color are my earrings?”
“Red?”
She looked up at me with triumph on her face, pushing her hair behind her ears so I could see for myself. Fuck. She wasn’t wearing any earrings. “I’ll be picking up my elf hat in the morning.”
I shrugged. “And I’ll be getting blown by the sexiest elf on earth shortly thereafter.” I thrust up a little more and she smirked, holding my eye as she twirled her tongue around my cock head.
“No need to make you wait until tomorrow though,” she said before scooting down my legs and taking me into her mouth.
Long after she’d sucked me dry and I’d taken her for the fourth time that day, we lay there on my rumpled bed and just existed together. Not talking about anything important or even at all most of the time. Just being. Touching. Embracing. Reflecting.
I’d never enjoyed a woman’s company like I enjoyed Emily’s. And not just when I was buried to the hilt down her throat. Every silly conversation and serious moment, every late-night dog walk and early morning coffee. It was all somehow more with her.