Release Me

by Farrah Rochon

  The pen moving frantically across the page, Sienna jotted key phrases that would jar her memory when she stood at the white board in her home office and fleshed out her ideas. She could barely write legibly for the anticipation coursing through her veins.

  God, she loved when everything clicked into place. She knew exactly how she would spin this story.

  A horn blew behind her, and Sienna’s eyes jerked to the light that had turned green. She pitched the pen and tablet onto the passenger seat and drove.

  She knew what she needed to do. It was dicey. It was drastic. But if the male population lived up to their baser nature, it was going to save her job.

  Chapter Twenty

  He shouldn’t be here.

  He should get back in his car and drive away. But Toby knew turning back was not an option. He’d waited years for this, and now that he finally had the chance to pay Payton back for his backstabbing, he was going to make sure his ex-teammate got it good.

  He stomped across the parking lot, his eyes on the gymnasium’s double steel doors. Toby wasn’t even sure Isaac was in there, but somebody who knew somebody, who knew somebody else, told him Isaac had rented out the gymnasium for a private workout session.

  When Toby burst through the doors, two of the guys from Payton’s entourage met him, looking like a couple of bouncers at a nightclub. Toby pushed right past them and marched onto the basketball court.

  “Yo, Payton,” he called. Stepping up to his former teammate, Toby pulled his arm back and laid into Isaac’s face. The other man went spiraling back on the floor. Toby followed him.

  But before he could land another punch, the Goon Squad was there, pulling him off.

  “Let him go,” Payton said, holding his nose.

  Toby wrenched free from the two guys.

  “Admit it, man. You’ve wanted to get a piece of me ever since that stuff went down back in college.” Payton pushed himself up from the floor, wobbling only slightly. “Well, here’s your chance, Lightning.”

  Toby’s jaw clenched at hearing the nickname he had not been called since his basketball days back at St. John’s. Why should he stoop to Payton’s level? He was better than this piece of crap.

  Because Payton deserved it, that’s why!

  Toby figured he’d probably spend the night in jail but after everything that had happened this morning, what harm could her manager spending the night in Central Lock-Up do to Aria’s reputation?

  “Come on, Toby. Show me you’re not the little girl you were back in college.”

  Toby charged Payton, pushing him to the floor again. Payton flipped him over, and Toby found himself on his back. His shoulder blades burned as they hit the hard floor.

  “That’s all you got?” Payton taunted.

  Toby used his leg muscles to raise the lower part of his body off the floor, finding the leverage he needed to turn the tables on Isaac. He pushed him off and managed to land a punch across Payton’s jaw. Isaac countered with the same punch, in the same spot just under Toby’s eye.

  They went back and forth, trading blows, cleaning the floor of the gymnasium with their clothes as they rolled around on the punishing hardwood. Toby didn’t know how long the scuffle lasted, but he knew his body would ache for a helluva lot longer.

  “You done getting back at me?” Payton huffed, barely able to stand.

  “Not nearly done,” Toby answered. He cradled his left elbow that stung like hell after he’d inadvertently elbowed the floor instead of Payton’s chest. “But I’m not wasting any more of my time on you,” he finished.

  “You think I’m a waste of time?” Payton covered his chest with his hand. “I’m crushed.”

  Toby was tempted to lay into him again. He took a step forward, getting in Payton’s face. “Stay the hell away from my client.”

  His former teammate’s brow cocked. “That’s who this is about?” Payton laughed. “Man, you should have said that from the beginning. You can have Aria. I’ve got my eye on Sienna. That sweet, sexy thing is—”

  Toby’s fist connected with Payton’s jaw.

  ***

  That was a lesson in humility if he’d ever had one.

  Toby walked out of MDF, Inc. feeling like he had no control over anything in his life. He despised the sense of helplessness.

  Allen Mulholland had not been overcome with goodwill by Toby’s impassioned plea to save Sienna’s job. The money the company would make from the deal with Cardinal Studios was a thousand times what Toby was paying them. When it all came down to it, Mulholland, Davis and French probably had more vested in the outcome of A Week in the Life than he, Sienna and Aria combined. And it was all in jeopardy because of Isaac Payton.

  Toby tried to devise a means of resolving this situation, but his brain was too muddled to come up with anything that didn’t include running a musket through Payton’s stomach. That scuffle hadn’t given him nearly as much pleasure as he would have hoped. He wanted to kill that son of a bitch. The most that would do is put him in jail for the rest of his life, though he’d feel a hell of a lot better than he did right now.

  Toby cursed. He was doing it again, blaming someone else for his misfortune. He was the manager here, he had to take responsibility for the fiasco. If he had just allowed Aria to be herself instead of going for a particular angle, they wouldn’t be in this situation. Getting caught in that compromising position with Payton would have been damaging to her image, but not nearly the A-bomb it had turned out to be.

  Why hadn’t she just stuck to the plan? The cameras were supposed to follow her as she had a late meal, then it was to her apartment where she’d turn in for the night. What had happened to the plan?

  Toby ran a hand down his face.

  Katie LeBlanc had had a field day, harping on the fact that her show had been the first to give the public a glimpse of Aria Jordan, The Vixen.

  Maybe they should have portrayed Aria as a minx from the very beginning; her late night escapade with Payton would have helped them. But the bad girl persona wasn’t her true nature, either.

  Toby slammed his car door shut. Before the brilliant idea to go over to MDF, Inc. and try to save Sienna’s job, he’d spent the last few hours riding around the city, trying to figure out how to fix this mess, and he’d come up with jack. He groaned at the thought of putting on a façade for the cameras, but he knew he needed to be in the studios. Aria was closing out A Week in The Life with a performance at Jazz Fest this Saturday, by far her biggest performance yet. The music had to be right, and standing outside abusing his car would not help.

  Toby stepped into the studio and nodded at Savion. Behind the Plexiglas, Aria’s eyes were closed as she belted out the ballad they had been working on for the last few weeks. Despite her huge error in judgment in getting involved with Payton, the girl still had the voice of an angel. If only they could get America to forget about this one little slip and just focus on her voice, they still had a chance.

  His cell phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and silently cursed as he recognized Marshall Kellerman’s phone number illuminated on the tiny screen. He’d avoided the producer’s last two calls, but there was no point in dodging him anymore. He needed to face the music. Toby slipped out of the studio and walked back outside to get better reception.

  “Marshall, how’s it going?” Toby said into the phone.

  “Finally,” came Kellerman’s voice. “I’ve been trying to get in touch with you since this morning. It’s been a hell of a day for you and Ms. Jordan.”

  “You can say that,” Toby said. “Look, Marshall. I know this casts a bad light on the show, at least on the role Aria was cast to fulfill—”

  “Bad light? Are you nuts, Holmes? This is genius. I know you and Payton both played at St. John’s together. Did you set all of this up?”

  “You think I wanted Aria’s reputation to get slammed?”

  “If you’d planned on turning her into the show’s resident bad girl, then yes. Her internet votes are
soaring by the minute. We’ve been getting confirmation calls from Aria’s new sponsors all afternoon, and the boys in charge are loving it.”

  New sponsors? What the hell?

  “We’re willing to look past the fact that you didn’t go over your plans with any of the producers, but don’t make a habit of it. We can’t have things coming out of left field.

  “This spin is guaranteed to make A Week in the Life the sleeper hit of the spring. And by bringing a celebrity of Isaac Payton’s stature into the mix, we’re looking at top ten ratings. I’m happy I’m the one who spotted you, Holmes.”

  “Um, me too,” Toby answered, confused as hell.

  “We’re all set up for Jazz Fest on Saturday. The city’s tourism bureau is reporting a spike in ticket sales. They’re touting Aria Jordan as one of the main attractions. Look, Holmes, I need to get going, but we’ll touch base later, and I’ll see you on Saturday.”

  “Okay,” Toby answered and hung up.

  What the heck was going on?

  “Toby!” Aria came running out of the studio. “You have to get in here. There was something about me on MTV News. Savion’s on their website now.”

  Toby ran back into the studio. Savion had pulled up MTV’s home page on his laptop and was searching around their entertainment news section. “Here it is.”

  “Aria Jordan, of the reality TV show A Week in the Life of a Wannabe Star, has gone from angelic angel to sex symbol. A news release from the future superstar’s camp says that Ms. Jordan was tired of portraying someone who she could not relate to. Her late night escapade with NBA bad boy Isaac Payton is apparently only a small portion of the real Aria Jordan. It looks as if Tamala Bell, who was purported to be the show’s resident bad girl, had better step aside. Ms. Jordan is ready to make her presence known.”

  “What news release?” Aria asked.

  A slow smile started building on Toby’s face, spreading throughout his body until it erupted into laughter. He pulled out his phone and hit the number he’d had programmed into his phone for Sienna.

  “I’ll explain later,” she said, and hung up.

  Toby laughed and put the phone back in his pocket.

  “Sienna is brilliant.”

  “Sienna? She did this?” Aria asked.

  Toby nodded. “And Kellerman loves it. I’d just gotten off the phone with him when you came outside to get me. He said they love this new spin on your character. I didn’t know what he was talking about at the time, but I have a pretty good idea what’s going on now. Savion, Google Aria’s name.”

  Savion typed Aria Jordan into the search box. The search results showed that there were nine point two million results.

  “I’ll bet you’re the subject of every person’s blog under the age of twenty.”

  “Oh my goodness. I don’t know if I should be happy or scared. When my mom finds out about this she’s going to kill me.”

  “Should have thought about that before you hooked up with Isaac Payton. Personally, this nightmare has just turned into a dream come true.”

  “Thanks to Sienna,” Savion pointed out.

  Yes. Thank goodness for Sienna. He’d spent the day going in circles trying to figure out what to do about this situation. Just when he’d decided it was hopeless, Sienna had stepped in and saved the skin off all their butts. He owed that girl so much.

  Toby could think of a couple of ways to repay her. He just had to convince her to let him.

  ***

  Jonathan paid for his pear and waved the woman off as she went to hand him his change. Biting into the fruit’s plump flesh, he continued his stroll through the sea of tables set up under the dark green canopy that made up the French Market. The outdoor marketplace was as much a part of New Orleans as jazz music and spicy food. It made for great people-watching as merchants bartered with locals and tourists alike. They sold everything in the French Market; from hand-poured candles and creamy pralines, to hot sauce and homemade jewelry.

  And, of course, incense.

  The minute he spotted Ivana, he was mesmerized. The wave of heated lava that rippled through his body was enough to wipe out a small village. Jonathan still could not get a full grasp on the things this woman did to him. He tried to think back to a single female that had elicited a reaction even a tenth as strong as what Ivana made him feel, but he knew it was a wasted effort. There was no woman, past, present, and undoubtedly in the future, who could affect him the way she did.

  Jonathan stood from his prime location about twenty feet from her booth and watched her interact with her customers. She wrapped an assortment of foot long incenses in white paper and handed it to a woman. Then she threw her head back laughing at something the customer had said.

  Jonathan swallowed hard, desire locking up his throat and creating a volcanic reaction throughout his bloodstream. It was the first time he’d seen her laugh, and the sight of her expressing the emotion was captivating. He wanted to make her laugh that way, he wanted her to feel free enough to let herself go with unreserved abandon. God, he could stand here watching her all day.

  But, then, he wouldn’t get to talk to her. And it’s when she opened her mouth that he was truly mesmerized.

  If he ever got to taste it just one more time he could die a happy man. If he ever got to do more with Ivana than just kiss, he no doubt would die. The feel of her lips on his had nearly stopped his breath; Jonathan was sure the rest of her body would send him over the edge.

  Her customer vacated the table, giving him the chance to approach.

  “Good evening, Ivana.” She looked up from the aromatic array of colorful incense she’d started to place in a black carrying case. She sent him an agitated glance before continuing her packing.

  Jonathan swallowed a sigh. He was hoping the hours since their confrontation at his office would have been enough time for her to cool down, but apparently his luck was running a little on the low side today. He steadied himself for a fight.

  Of course, Ivana didn’t disappoint.

  “You have all the nerve in the world to come here after what you did to me today?”

  “What? Kiss you?”

  “Yes.” Closing the case, she gathered up the multicolored tablecloth and folded it over her arm, then snapped the small plastic table in half and slipped it in its own carrying case. In less than three minutes she’d gone from being open for business to shop close. Pretty impressive.

  She was done with business for the day, but she was not done with him. Just when Jonathan thought she’d turn and leave him standing in the middle of the French Market, she stepped up to him and got in his face.

  “I did not appreciate your little display on the porch this morning. In fact, I could have you arrested. That’s assault. As a lawyer, you should know that.”

  Oh, damn. He had to do this.

  Jonathan grabbed the back of her head and sealed his mouth with hers. He could feel her resistance, but moments later she relented and sank into his kiss. He put everything he’d learned over the past twenty years into that one kiss. Unable to go one more second without tasting her, he pushed through her lips and plundered her mouth with his tongue.

  It was heaven. A warm, sensual cavern of sweet tasting flesh that lit his body so fast he could barely stop himself from stripping them both out of their clothes right here. He bathed the inside of her mouth, running his tongue along her teeth, suckling her tongue.

  When he heard her sigh and felt her hands grip his shoulders, Jonathan knew his life would never be the same. She owned all of him, body and soul.

  Ivana felt herself drifting, completely detached from the rest of the world. This was like nothing she’d ever experienced. Jonathan’s knowledgeable tongue dancing within her mouth sent sparks of pleasure shooting through her veins.

  Breathing was a problem, but not enough for her to stop. When his tongue hungrily began to attack hers, breathing became a non-issue, along with everything and everyone else in the world. All that mattered was that she tas
te more of him. Experience more of him, and the delectable things he could do to her.

  The sound of applause and catcalls pulled Ivana out of her desire-filled daze, and she remembered where they were. They were standing in the middle of the French Market, for God’s sake! Ivana pulled back and wanted to die as she felt a blush shoot to her face. She had customers here, and fellow distributors whom she saw everyday.

  “Ivana?” Jonathan’s deep, breathless tone caressed her senses.

  “I have to get back to work,” she managed to get out. But wait, wasn’t she already done with work for the day? Lord, he had her confused.

  She could not look at him, not after what they had just done in broad daylight. She knew what she would find in his eyes. No one kissed that way unless they expected something else to happen later.

  The scary thing is she did want something else to happen later. She was praying for something else to happen, had been for days.

  She wanted this man. And after that kiss, Ivana knew he had the kind of skills that could make one night in bed with him enough to keep her satisfied for another five years. All she had to do was ask.

  “Ivana.” He reached for her, but she drew back her hand. If he touched her again she would explode.

  She finally allowed herself to look at him. “I can’t do this with you,” she whispered.

  “It was just a kiss.”

  “Just a kiss?”

  If that’s what he considered just a kiss, she wasn’t sure she could even survive a night in bed with him.

  Just say yes, Ivana pleaded with her conscience. Even though he personified everything she’d denounced when she’d traded in her old life to join the cause, what could one little night with him hurt?

  But could she say yes to just one night? After the way his kiss had made her feel, how would she go on after only one taste?