by Sierra Hill
Kenzie had fallen asleep that night on the couch waiting for Remy to return. When she woke at three a.m., she’d been covered with the afghan blanket his mother had made him when he was a kid. The lights had been turned off and the door to his bedroom was shut as she padded back into her own bedroom and back to sleep. It was the first time she’d slept without him in weeks. She felt cold and lonely – even though he was in the room right next to her.
Rereading the text he’d just sent, she wasn’t sure how she should even respond. She was confused by his mood and still a little angry that he’d chosen not to talk to her about it. He’d shut her out, keeping her in the dark as to what was on his mind. Instead, he’d just stormed out without saying a word.
Typing her reply, she hit Send.
You better today? You were kind of a jerk. I was worried.
I know. I wanna make it up to you. Can I take you out on a date Sat night?
Serious? A date? Well that was out of the blue and completely unexpected. She held the phone in her hand, biting her lip while glancing around the café’s back alley as if an answer to his question would somehow materialize out of thin air.
Um, sure. Like a ‘date, date’?
A few seconds later a response with an emoji winky face appeared.
Is there another type of date? Yes, a date, date. My dad’s in town and he invited us to his show.
Oh holy cow. She was going to see and meet Luc Martins? Her heart was palpitating. Rapidly. Not that the date with Remy wasn’t enough to speed up her heart rate, but come on. This was Luc-freakin’-Martins – rock god extraordinaire. French-speaking frontman of Demolition Agent. How lucky could a fangirl get?
Sounds fun. Count me in. C u later. Gotta get back to work.
Kenzie had just sent off her response when Donita came sailing out the back door, muttering something about the crappy split pea soup on the Daily Special board.
“I need a fucking cigarette and a good, long fuuu…”
Kenzie slapped her hand over her friend’s mouth before she could finish her statement. “Yeah, I get it. Don’t need to hear all the details of your sexual needs right now,” she laughed, pulling out a lone cigarette from the spot in her apron where she kept her emergency spares, in the event she broke down. “Here. I can only help you with one of those needs.”
Donita graciously accepted the proffered habit of choice and lit up, filling her lungs with a long intake of breath and then exhaling with more exaggeration then a gay man’s strut.
“So,” she started, turning to face Kenzie who was fiddling with her apron. Donita had one arm across her mid-section and the other one cocked at her side, hip jutted out in a haughty stance. “Did I catch you sexting your hot boyfriend?”
She loved Donita’s ability to cut right to the chase – never mincing words or pussyfooting around. She was a bold, born-and-bred southern woman that could get away with anything because of her southern drawl and her lioness tendency.
“For your information, I wasn’t sexting him. I was simply responding back to him about our date on Saturday night.” She stuck her tongue out and gave her a sassy glare.
“Oooh,” she purred. Literally purred. “So you’ll be getting the real thing then…so much better than sexting. I like where this is going. Tell me more, you cute little slut.”
Kenzie couldn’t help but laugh. Sex was always on Donita’s mind. Of course, it also just so happened to be on her own mind a lot lately, too, after all the amazingly hot fooling around she and Remy had been doing. With the exception of the night before, she’d definitely been getting her fair share of plentiful and adventurous sex. She covertly squeezed her thighs together to rid herself of the ache that welled whenever she thought about sex with Remy. His abilities were amazing.
“So where is your musician hottie taking you on Saturday night? Perhaps to the back of a movie theater where he can ravage you with his fingers and mouth, his hand over your mouth to keep you quiet so no one knows what you’re doing? Oh shit…that sounds so hot. It reminds me of…”
Kenzie shook her head, spearing her hand out like a stop sign. “Dear God, woman. Stop. Please. You have an imagination like no other. Get your mind out of the gutter for once. We are not going to the movies. He’s taking me to a concert.”
Kenzie had never mentioned to anyone, including Donita, that Remy’s father was Luc Martins. Remy had been fairly reserved about sharing that part of himself to her and she didn’t feel it was her place to go telling the whole world that she was dating a rock star’s son. The mere idea that she was actually dating Remy had her tummy doing somersaults and high dives. Regardless of who his dad was, it was still hard for her to fathom that she was dating someone as amazing as Remy.
“That is so sweet! What concert are you going to see?”
“Um, Demolition Agent.” She didn’t want to lie about where they were going.
The cigarette that was dangling between Donita’s lips dropped to the ground with a soft bounce when her mouth gaped open.
“Are you freakin’ kidding me? That band is one of my all-time favs! When I was younger, I wanted to be a groupie for the band but ended up going the country route instead. That’s when I met Rickie, my first ex. Good lord was he a hillbilly mess. I remember nights when we were so drunk in the back of their crowded tour van…” She stopped mid-sentence, probably from the look of shock Kenzie was giving her over another TMI moment.
Donita stamped out the cigarette stub under her foot and shrugged. “Well, needless to say, I had a lot of fun on those tours. But how great it would be to see Demolition Agent. You’ll have to take lots of pictures for me.”
As they returned into the diner and back to work, Kenzie had remembered that another text had been in her message center before she got sidetracked with Remy’s. It was a picture. Another blocked number.
Her fingers trembled as she clicked on the photo to enlarge it.
It was a picture of her, out in the back alley of the café, not even ten minutes before, with a caption.
Fucking whore slut. You’re gonna get what you deserve.
Chapter Twenty
Her nerves were shot. Frayed at the ends like the old tattered blanket her grandmother had given her on their last Christmas together.
It was impossible now to ignore the fear that was lurking in her brain after receiving the most recent text from her invisible stalker. Before this, she could easily pretend the texts were meant for someone else and had mistakenly been sent to her number. But now after seeing that someone really was trying to mess with her mind by scaring the shit out of her with a random picture of her at work during broad daylight? She was abso-fucking-lutely freaked out.
Kenzie racked her brain trying to recall anything that seemed out-of-the-ordinary in the diner that morning. Was there a customer that seemed strange or odd that she had waited on? When she went out back for her break, did she see anyone lurking in the shadows or anyone that seemed out of place?
The thing was, she’d been so absorbed in the message exchange with Remy and the upcoming date that she was oblivious to everything else around her. There could have been a gang war happening right in front of her and she probably wouldn’t have even noticed.
None of this made sense. Why was she the recipient of these hateful and crude messages? Who had she pissed off so much since she’d been in town that they’d have it out for her? The messages were anything but friendly. They were threats, meant to scare her off. But scare her off from what? Or who? And why?
Struggling with what to do with all the questions forming in her head and keeping her fear under wraps, she must have looked a fright when Donita suddenly stopped in front of her while she was at the cash register and gasped.
“Honey, what the hell is wrong?”
“W-what do you mean? I’m fine.” She smiled half-heartedly, returning the change to a patron who was looking at her like she was missing her head.
Donita slammed the register drawer and pulled her
down the hallway into the women’s restroom, pushing her in front of the mirror. Kenzie was shocked at what she saw.
Tears were streaming down her face, her skin a pale shade of white and her eyes wide in bloodshot panic. Holy crap, she looked a mess.
Donita’s arm wrapped protectively around her middle, moving the long braid Kenzie wore that day to the other side of her face and rested her chin against Kenzie’s shoulder.
“Bless your sweet little heart. I reckon something happened between our smoke break and now. If that young man did something to make your heart go all catawampus, well, I have a mind to cut off his balls and shove ‘em up a horse’s ass,” she asserted, smoothing a hand over Kenzie’s head. “Messing with my girl makes me madder than a mule chomping on bumblebees.”
Despite her mood, Kenzie let out a choked giggle. Only Donita could lighten the mood with her southern colloquialisms.
Kenzie dropped her hand into her apron pocket and extracted her phone, unlocking it and handing it to Donita, who took it with an inquisitive look.
A hiccupped escaped Kenzie’s chest and Donita’s eyes met hers in the mirror. “I’ve been getting these texts over the last few weeks. Horrible, mean messages. I don’t know who they’re from or why they are sending them to me. I tried ignoring them initially, assuming they were meant for someone else. But not after today. Not after this last one.”
Donita scrolled through the texts, gasping in horror when she read the messages and presumably came to the picture.
“Kenzie. What the hell? Why haven’t you told me about this? We need to go to the police and file a report or something. Maybe they can trace where the texts are coming from and apprehend this bastard,” she huffed with righteous indignation and authority. Her hand shook as she gave the phone back to Kenzie who had been wiping her eyes with a wet paper towel.
“Listen, sugar. I dated a cop a few months back. Let me call him and find out if there’s anything we can do to stop this psycho from bothering you any further. Can I do that for you, sweetheart?”
Throwing the towel in the wastebasket, Kenzie turned back around to look at the concern etched over Donita’s face. How had she gotten so lucky to work with such a wonderful person? Sure, Don was a bit crazy at times and dated a lot of freakin’ men, but she had a heart of gold and had never let her down.
Kenzie placed the phone back into her apron pocket and took hold of Donita’s hands, feeling the warmth and generosity of her spirit seep through her skin.
“I think that would help me a lot. Thank you. I don’t know what I would do without you here. You’re just a great person.” She leaned in and threw her arms around Donita’s back, pulling her into a tight hug.
“Oh darlin’, I feel the same thing about you. You’re like the little sister I never had…”
Kenzie cocked her head to the side, remembering that Donita had a sister who lived in Florida. “But, wait. You do have a sister.”
She waved her hand impatiently. “Well, a sister that I actually like. How’s that?”
“Okay. Fine. Now, we’d better get moving before Hank comes looking for us and gives us a what-for.” She sniffled again before exiting the restroom, Donita’s arm still securely around her shoulder.
They left the bathroom and her fear behind her for the moment as she went back to work. As the morning breakfast crowd dwindled and the lunch rush started to grow, she could feel Donita’s eyes watching her like a hawk, keeping a look-out for anyone that might want to do harm to Kenzie.
The idea that someone would come into the restaurant and try something with her was absurd and highly improbable. But then again, she’d also never considered that a stalker would be after her, either. All she wanted to do was go back to life as she knew it – before her apartment was ransacked and she was getting hostile texts sent to her every other day.
Holy crap. The thought knocked her down like a tornado barreling through tornado alley in the month of June. Could the break-in and robbery at her previous apartment be related to the texts she was getting now? Was it actually possible that they were connected? And if that were the case, and this person obviously had her number along with her place of employment, could they also know where she lived?
She swallowed down that fear and it tasted like battery acid. Had this person followed her every move recently? And if so, did they also know about Remy? The concern and worry was enough to send her into a full-blown panic attack. She did not want this to bleed over into Remy’s life and affect him in any way. She’d do what she had to do to keep him out of it and protect him from being a victim.
Whoever this freaking asshole was and wherever he was, there wasn’t a chance in hell that she’d roll over and play dead for this asswipe coward who was hiding behind his idle text threats. If this thing ever escalated and he got the nerve to show his face, she’d kick him in the balls. No, she’d cut off his nuts and shove them down his throat. And then she’d jam her guitar neck so far up his ass it’d come out of nostrils.
Just the visual of her own badassness had Kenzie chuckling out loud, earning a sharp glance from Donita who was closing out a tab with one of her customers. The day had been long and wearing, but this added stressor only made her want to curl up in the safety of her grandmother’s quilt and remain in bed for a week.
Donita made good on her promise to contact her former fling, the cop Darryl, and they made arrangements to meet him at the police station to file a report after their shift. Officer Darryl didn’t sound too convincing on the prospect of identifying this guy, but they did have some avenues to pursue, so at least that was something.
In the meantime, Donita hadn’t let her out of her sight and made sure that she was never alone throughout the remainder of the day. She also got Kenzie to promise that she would tell Remy as soon as she got home so he was aware of the potential danger.
She had a feeling Remy might go a little caveman on her once he found out, so maybe she’d wait until after their date night to spring the news on him.
Chapter Twenty-One
He was as nervous as a virgin on prom night. Jittery. Sweaty palms. Stomach tied up in knots.
Remy’s leg shook, the hyper-active bouncing of his foot driving even him nuts, as he waited rather impatiently for Kenzie to finish getting ready. They’d known each other for months, had been roommates for a few of them, became friends and now they were lovers. Yet this would be their first official date together, and he was sweating bullets.
Not only was he worried he might fuck things up but there was also the presence of his dad that added to the pressure. It had been two years since he’d last seen his dad in person and that did not end well.
After he’d found Chyna fucking behind his back with his dad’s bandmate, he’d actually gone back looking for his dad to offer up some type of consoling fatherly sympathy. Instead, when he returned to his dad’s locked dressing room, his father had already invited some young ‘fans’ in and was looking to party. Fucking rock stars and their dicks.
He’d been so pissed by the way he’d been shut out by everyone he cared about - his dad, his girlfriend and also his long-time uncle - all of whom he’d trusted and loved. Remy decided then and there that he’d never have anything to do with any one of them ever again. He’d lost all trust in those he believed had loved him and his broken heart had turned him into a shell of a man. Until he met Kenzie.
“I’m ready,” she said, breaking through the black-and-blue haze that his memories created. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting. I just wanted to…well, look nice. It’s not every day I get to meet rock legends.” Her blush and shy smile had him jumping to his feet to hug her.
Pulling away from her slightly, Remy’s eyes grazed over her body, stopping along his favorite parts to drink her in. She was wearing one of her short skirts that he’d come to know was her signature look. This one was a high-waisted, black and white polka-dot knit skirt that flared out just shy of her knees. A casual scoop-neck T-shirt in hot pink with the wor
d Fool for Luv fit snuggly over her frame, molding over her breasts so perfectly his mouth watered for a taste. Paired with a pair of green knee high socks and her combat boots, she was so hot he could’ve sworn he heard icebergs melting in the Arctic Circle.
He let out a hiss. “Nice? You wanted to look nice? Kenzie, you are smokin’ hot. Holy shit, you…you make me want to bend you over this table and fuck you so hard you’ll never use the word nice again.”
She gasped, her mouth parting and her tongue darting out to lick her lips. Her hand reached out to find the front of his jeans, his hard on already tenting in his pants, threatening to call off their plans and curtail their evening. She applied just the right amount of pressure, evenly stroking in a perfect tempo, worrying her lip with her teeth. His own worry was that he might come right then and there. She got him so hot and bothered he could barely control his body’s reaction to her.
Kenzie made a glance to the kitchen clock and then back to Remy where she met his heated gaze.
“That does sound nice but I was secretly hoping you’d want to take me in the back of the limo. It’s kind of been a fantasy of mine. And, well, I’m not wearing any panties tonight, so there’s that…” She giggled and pressed harder against his dick. He let out a growl.
Yep, fantasy come true.
Now he only hoped that the town car his father sent over had a privacy shield in the back seat because there was no way he wasn’t about to give Kenzie exactly what she was hoping for tonight.
****
Kenzie righted her skirt and reapplied her lipstick as the car came to a stop outside the venue. She tried hard to hide the naughty smile that threatened to spill out over her face, representing the hottest and dirtiest sex she’d ever had in her life. She’d seen the movies and read about limo sex in the omance books her grandmother used to read, but up until that point, she never thought it would ever happen for her. Especially with her limited sexual experiences.