by L. A. Fiore
“It’s a piece of sh—” Darcy caught herself; she even blushed. “I’m sorry, that was rude.”
“Rude, but true.” I acknowledged because it was a piece of shit.
“Does it hold a special meaning for you? Did you lose your virginity in the backseat or it came with a million dollars?”
Ember had unknowingly hit it on the head. “My dad bought it for me. He’s usually pretty unapproachable, so the memory of us spending the day searching for a used car is a good memory.”
“Well, now I feel like crust on dog poop.”
“What? Crust on dog poop? How would you even know that dog poop forms a crust?” I asked and then put my hand up to stop Darcy from replying. “You know what? I really don’t want to know.”
Darcy was grinning at me now and Emily was jumping up and down, giggling. “Mommy said poop.”
To which Faith immediately replied, “Poop, poop, poop.”
“They’re like parrots.”
“You’ve no idea.” And with the way Ember said that, I suspected someone dropped a few words they shouldn’t have in front of the little one. And after Trace’s near slip the other day, I suspected he was the culprit.
“I do have to go though. I’ll see you on Friday.”
“Absolutely and thanks for feeding us, the unexpected and nosey women that we are.”
“I enjoyed it.”
“Us too.” Darcy waved, as did Emily. Ember gave me a half hug before lifting Faith into her arms. Faith reached over and touched my cheek, her little fingers so soft and then she said, “Pretty.”
My heart melted.
Resting against the tree at the back of Rafe’s property, I pondered my wardrobe for my night out at Allegro. I couldn’t wait to get out and socialize; I was feeling a bit stir-crazy and, if I was being honest, lonely. I had known it was going to be lonely coming here, but I didn’t realize how lonely. Jess had been so close that we visited each other all the time and even being closer to Nat now, with her schedule I couldn’t just pop over like I used to with Jessica.
I liked that Rafe’s friends had been by to check out his new tenant, more for his benefit than mine—wouldn’t want a crazy person living within reaching distance—but to be included…yeah, I was definitely looking forward to the evening. Loki and I had just taken our walk and after, we usually sat for a bit outside as I enjoyed the quiet and he the sun on his coat. And it was while we sat there, that I pondered Rafe’s neighborhood. It was seriously swanky, and remembering that Trace had said Rafe had purchased the white elephant, a description that no longer applied, what did Rafe’s neighbors’ homes look like if this place was the white elephant? How often did an average Joe like me get to see multi-million dollar homes? It was hard to see the houses on our walks because they were all set back from the street and, like Rafe’s, cleverly concealed. Maybe I could see through the foliage along the fence to the neighbor on the other side. But even peering through a section of the fence where the vegetation wasn’t as dense I still couldn’t see through to the neighbors. Glancing at the height of the fence, I was sure I could scale it. How hard could it be? I mean, who would know? A quick climb up, a look over and no one would be the wiser. Reaching through the plants to the metal fence they concealed, I was about to start up when Loki barked.
Looking back at him, he cocked his head at me but I hadn’t a clue why he barked.
“I just want to see. I’ll only be a second.”
He barked again.
I put my finger to my mouth. “If you bark, you’re going to draw attention. I don’t want the neighbors knowing I’m sneaking a peek.”
I wanted to believe that he understood me because when I turned back to the fence, he didn’t bark. Unlike the front of the house where the fence was a fancy, black wrought iron, the back fence was chain link. Getting a good grip, I started up. It was far easier than I thought it would be, but I wasn’t congratulating myself for long. I felt resistance as I attempted to move higher and twisted my head around to see that my sweats were caught on a broken tree branch. I wasn’t just caught, the branch was digging into my flesh and at the angle it was stabbing me, if I dropped to the ground it’d likely go through skin. I tried moving horizontally with the hope that the branch would pull free, but my feet didn’t have great purchase with the links as small as they were, so I attempted to wiggle my butt to loosen the hold the branch had on me, but it wouldn’t budge.
Loki started barking again, which was totally okay with me since I was close to doing my own yelling. The metal started cutting into my fingers; the sharp branch was stabbing me in the ass and my arms were beginning to tremble from trying to hold myself up.
And then I heard the back door slam shut, the sound of heavy footsteps, as if someone was running. Of course, because why wouldn’t Rafe witness this humiliation?
“What the hell are you doing?” For obvious reasons, he sounded annoyed.
It was clear what I was doing, I was spying on the neighbors, but since he asked a stupid question, I gave him a stupid answer.
Turning my head, I was greeted to the sight of Rafe standing with his hands on his hips. I said, “I’m doing my interpretation of a spider. Do you want to join me?”
Annoyance shifted to humor, his focus moving to my ass and then the smug bastard said. “That doesn’t look very comfortable.”
“You mean the branch impaling my right ass cheek? It feels delightful.”
This got me his eyes, ones that were laughing. “Is this another short person protest?”
I was pissed and wanted to laugh at the same time. I felt his strong hands wrapping around my waist. He lifted me, but that branch was not letting go. When he pulled me back to him, he did so with too much force, breaking the branch and sending us backwards. We landed in a heap with his hard body cushioning my fall. I heard the sharp exhale as my body forced the air from his lungs, felt as my cheeks burned. I moved like I was on fire, scrambling off him. He just lay there, on his back, like he was dead.
And then his head turned, his stare freezing me in place, and even being in the submissive position, there was no question as to who was the alpha.
“First you lay siege to the tea aisle in the market and now you’re picking fights with my trees. What else do I have to look forward to?”
“Are you hurt?”
“Bruised ego, but I’ll live.” His body moved fluidly as he regained his footing. And even with leaves in his hair, he looked hot.
His ego was bruised. What about my ego from the ridiculous show I’d just put on? Maybe he hadn’t seen all of it. “How long were you watching?”
“When you put your finger to your lips to Loki.”
Naturally, he saw all of it. Looking around, I wondered if there was a shovel handy so I could bury myself.
“I liked your little butt dance.”
“It was not a dance, I was attempting to make that traitorous tree branch release me. Seriously, what kind of trees do you have here?”
He offered no comment on that. “You wouldn’t have gotten stuck if you weren’t spying on my neighbors.”
“I wasn’t spying, I was looking.” And then I realized he saw me get stuck and he allowed me to do the butt wiggle instead of immediately coming to my aid.
“Why did you wait to offer help?”
“And miss the butt wiggle?”
“So you knew what I was doing, even before I so masterfully scaled the fence?”
“Yeah, I cottoned on when you tried peering through the bushes.”
“Wait, I peered into the bushes before I encouraged Loki to stop barking.”
In response, he grinned.
“Well, I’ve learned that lesson.”
“Not to spy on the neighbors?”
“No, next time I need a ladder.”
And in reply, he laughed out loud. “I need to run out and I would really like to come home to my house still being here, my barn still standing and no neighbors forming a lynch mob because my tenant
is invading their privacy.”
“Fine. Loki and I will have the bonfire that can be seen from space another night.”
He strolled to his truck; I called to him, “Thanks for the rescue, but next time it’d be nice if you were a little more prompt. Damsels don’t like to be kept waiting.”
In reply, he laughed out loud again.
Stepping through the doors at Allegro, I’d never been to a club like it. During the day, the place probably looked just on the wrong side of weathered and worn, but at night it was electric. The blues band currently on stage rocked with their soulful, sexy sound, the people crowding the dance floor were proof of that.
Like magic, Ember appeared all smiles. “You made it. We’re over here.” She grabbed my hand and practically dragged me through the bodies to a table sitting prominently up front by the stage.
“You know everyone, right?” She asked, well really yelled to be heard over the other sounds.
“Yeah.”
As soon as I settled, Lucien asked. “What are you drinking?”
“Cabernet.”
He signaled for the waitress as Trace pulled Ember onto his lap and pressed a kiss on her neck. It was almost unconsciously done, that show of affection, and I felt my heart twist. How must that feel? Then he asked me, “Did you have any trouble finding it?”
“I took a cab.”
“Yay, so you can join me in getting stupid.” Darcy said, but it was the look Lucien was giving her that held my attention. He looked hungry. “I don’t often indulge, but I am tonight.”
“Um, okay. This place is great.” My answer was totally lame, but the pheromone levels at the table were turning me on.
“It’s my favorite of Lucien’s clubs, which is good considering I work here.”
“You work together?”
“Yeah. He’s a decent enough boss. I guess.”
Lucien pulled her close, his fingers wrapping around her neck. “I’ll give you decent.” The heat in those words burned me and I was across the table from them.
“I love the band.” I sounded like a child with my simple and obvious comments, but trying to think with all the sexual tension swirling around was very difficult.
Lucien didn’t seem to have a problem stringing more than a few words together when he said, “They played during open mic one night. I liked their sound, so offered them an ongoing gig.”
“Nice.”
“Kyle’s band plays here too.” Ember added.
“You’re in a band?”
“Yeah.”
“And not just a band, they’re a few signatures away from being signed with a label.” Ember’s enthusiasm for her friend was contagious.
“Congratulations. What kind of music?”
“Mostly alternative rock like Dave Matthews.”
“I’m in awe of musicians, the way they blend music and lyrics to create a short story with each song. Have you always wanted to be a musician?”
“When I was younger, I was kind of wild. Got into some trouble, hung with the wrong crowd. My grandmother raised me, told me I had better get my shit together or else. She played piano for the church choir, sat me at a piano and it was like I’d been doing it all of my life. I couldn’t read music, but I could play it, instinctively knew the sounds that worked together. Later, the lyrics came. I love it, even if this deal doesn’t go through, I’ve got the band, we have our gigs.”
“Your grandmother sounds like a very smart woman.”
“Don’t tell her, she’ll get a big head.”
A movement out of the corner of my eye had my focus shifting to Rafe who appeared at my side and with him was Melody. Begrudgingly, I had to admit they looked really good together. Not that I liked them together, I didn’t like it one bit. Rafe pulled a chair out for her before taking the seat at her side.
After greetings went around the table, Rafe settled those green eyes on me. “Avery, you remember Melody.”
Her eyes were violet; I hadn’t noticed that before, they were the most unusual color of blue. Exquisite actually, but the look I saw burning behind them had me curling my hand into a fist. Time had not made her heart grow fonder.
“Hi, Avery. You all settled?” Saccharine-sweet her voice—I felt a cavity coming on—and completely insincere.
I could be as phony as the next gal. “I am. I didn’t need to do much. The place was already live-in ready.”
“No doubt Mrs. Milner worked her magic.”
It was slight, but I picked up on the hostility in that comment. And I just had to ask myself. What was this chick’s deal? She walked in here with the hottest man in the place and yet she just oozed nastiness. And really, what the hell did Rafe see in her outside of her obvious attributes?
“What are you drinking, Melody?” Rafe asked.
“Patron, neat.”
“We missed you at ladies’ night.” Darcy’s expression wasn’t one that bespoke missing; it was quite the opposite. Melody didn’t seem to notice.
“Sorry. I was getting ready for an interview. I hope I can make the next one.”
“How’s the job search going?” Ember asked.
“Slow, but I’m ever hopeful.”
“What are you interviewing for?” I asked, not out of interest but curiosity.
“I used to model, but I’d like to get into the marketing side of advertising. I’m having a bit of trouble though. People aren’t keen on a former model wanting a desk job.”
I suspected it wasn’t that she was a former model that people weren’t keen on. A glance at Darcy and Ember and I knew they shared my sentiment.
“If you’re being discriminated against because you’re beautiful, clearly you’re interviewing at the wrong places.” Why the hell did I just say that? It was a true statement, but not one she needed to hear especially seeing the smug look she had in reply. I needed a drink or food to keep my mouth occupied since clearly my pheromone-soaked brain was not up to conversing. Then I saw the look Rafe was giving me, one that had my heart skipping a few beats as yet another more pleasant way filled my thoughts on how I could keep my mouth occupied. I openly harbored inappropriate thoughts for someone who was staring right at me as I did. I was losing my mind. My drink arrived and reaching for it, I drank half the contents in one swallow—an action that, to my horror, earned me the attention of every other person at the table. Trying to change the subject, I blurted out the first thought that popped in my head. “My sister is seeing someone who puts her in an orgasm-induced bubble.”
My brain caught up to my mouth a second later, the urge to bang my head on the table almost had me doing so.
“Been there, done that.” That comment came from Darcy and I recognized a rescue when I heard one. I mouthed, “Thank you,” and she winked.
“We need to try that, Trace.” Ember added.
“Right now?” He was already beginning to stand.
“No!”
His laugh turned everyone’s attention away from me, thank God. My sister is seeing someone who puts her in an orgasm-induced bubble. I had the social skills of a goat.
“I want to go back to my place. You ready, baby?” Melody asked as she pulled me into a small alcove. I’d just seen her to the ladies room since she’d had one too many and was wobbling on her heels. I hadn’t wanted her to come with me tonight; I’d actually contemplated ending it with her prior to meeting up with everyone, but I hadn’t wanted to deal with the fallout. Instead she finagled an invite out of me.
“We just got here.” I tried for patience, but this scene with her was becoming too fucking familiar.
“I know, but I’m bored. I thought we could party, just the two of us.”
I believed a man should acquiesce to his woman on some things; however, I was also not a man to be led around by my dick. Melody’s constant attempts to do just that, especially since I was already one foot out the door, were trying my fucking patience.
“I’m not ready to go.”
She pouted. “Come on.
Please.” Her fingers moved to my zipper. “I’ll blow you right now, remind you of what you’ve got in store for later.”
My dick stirred, an instinctual response because the woman gave killer blowjobs. A fucking gold medalist at sucking cock, but that pretty much summed up our whole relationship. Not that that was a bad thing for what it was, but no blowjob, no matter how fantastic, was worth the shit she’d been dishing. “I’ll call you a cab.”
Her head snapped up, those eyes drilling me. “A cab?”
“I’m not ready to leave.” It went against the grain for me not to show the woman on my arm home after an evening out, but she had intentionally boozed it up, even when I had suggested she take it easy. We hadn’t even been here an hour. I was done.
“Are you serious?”
“Yeah. You shouldn’t have drunk so many cosmos so quickly.”
“I can’t believe this.”
“Yeah, I think you can. You knew exactly what you were doing.”
“I want to go and you are my ride.”
“I was your ride, but I’m staying so I’ll get you a cab. I’ll even pay for it.”
Her hands moved to her hips and she stomped her foot like a spoiled child. I had to give her credit; she’d had me fooled for two solid months, concealing well this side of her personality. I wondered what caused the change in her. Or had I just been blinded, thunderstruck by that face and body and the aforementioned blowjobs?
“I’m walking away, you want that cab or not?”
“Fine. But you and I are going to have words about this.”
Oh yeah we would be, just not the ones she was thinking.
Lucien appeared, I knew by the way he regarded me, he picked up on the dynamic, not that I imagined it was too hard to comprehend.
“There’s a cab out front. I’ll help you.” And by that he meant help me with not climbing into the cab after Melody knowing how much sending her home in a cab didn’t sit right with me.
“You told your friend to call a cab?”
“He didn’t have to, Melody. Anyone with eyes can see you’ve had one too many.”
“You’re an asshole, Lucien.”