A few days prior, Cassidy had sat in on a family meeting when they learned about Austin’s stalker, and the FBI agent put on the case had come up with an idea to use her sister Everleigh as Nikki’s decoy since Austin’s girlfriend was pregnant.
Cassidy zoned out a bit after her sister Sydney stormed off when the FBI agent was introduced to the group, so she missed most of the logistics and details. All she understood was that her family was going to be safe and she needed to make a replica dress for Nikki.
The timing was a bit brash, but she had worked under quicker conditions and the dress was completed this morning and as Cassidy inspects the design from afar it fits Nikki like a glove, just barely showing off her baby bump.
"So, you know what tonight is?" Nikki asks as she turns away from the full-size mirror before her.
"I do. Do you?" Cassidy questions, smoothing down the royal blue column dress once more as she wonders who else Avery let slip the event for the evening.
"I am so happy for them. I think Avery has been waiting for the other shoe to drop; you know, like, she was waiting for her luck to run out. Logan was the one pushing for this wedding so soon, he wanted her to feel assured that her bad luck has finally run out. Plus, I think he knows Avery will want the babies to come into a married household. That’s something she never had growing up."
"I can completely understand that. After hearing everything she has been through, I am surprised they didn't elope and visit the Justice of the Peace."
"Me too," Nikki agrees.
Cassidy watches as Nikki mimics the French twist hair design Cassidy had completed in Everleigh’s hair earlier, before turning back towards her dresser and grabbing her phone. She had asked Shelly to furiously search for a Theo at the apartment complex he had taken her to that one night, but they hadn’t had any success. Shelly just sent her a text saying none of the complexes in that area have a Theo registered in an apartment. Cassidy types out a message quickly thanking her friend, then slams the phone into her bag.
Tired, exasperated, and hopeless, Cassidy tilts her head back and closes her eyes. Defeated. That’s how Cassidy feels. She hadn’t considered that Theo wasn’t his name, though now it seems incredibly plausible. He had seemed so honest, so trustworthy. Cassidy even considers that the apartment isn’t his, but she realizes how ridiculous that sounds. Theo had seemed so at home in the space that there was no possibility that the place wasn’t his.
Startling her, Nikki turns around and asks, "It's none of my business, but is everything alright, Cassidy?"
A short sob escapes Cassidy as she brings her attention to Nikki and she has to cover her mouth in surprise from the outburst.
"It wasn't supposed to happen.”
"Who? What happened?" Nikki asks in distress, wrapping her arms around Cassidy.
"I fell in love with someone that I can never have."
Nikki’s hand gently rubs Cassidy’s arm before a knock at the door startles them. Cassidy blots away her tears with a tissue from her dresser before moving to answer her bedroom door at her parent’s house, steeling her emotions in a snap.
"Well, don't you clean up nicely, big brother," she exclaims with a smile as Austin greets her.
"You look beautiful, Cass."
"I know,” she beams, “but wait until you see Nikki. She looks like an angel,"
She hears Austin's breath catch and he slowly remarks, "Holy shit,” as Nikki steps from around Cassidy.
"I know, right?" Cassidy adds as his gaze travels up and down Nikki's body. "I didn't have to do much, she is naturally a stunner. I'll let you two get reacquainted, just no hanky panky. One, this is my room when I'm home and two, we need to leave in five minutes."
Austin’s jaw hangs wide open as he stares at Nikki’s beauty. Cassidy brushes past, leaving the two love birds in her room as she moves to seek out a place of quiet and, if lucky, a place of clarity.
Grabbing her sketch pad from her parent’s kitchen counter, she makes her way over to her parent’s room where she ducks into her mother’s large closet. As a child, this was always her favorite spot, not just because she loved admiring her mother’s clothes, but because the place was just large enough for her and no one could bother her. This was as much Cassidy’s safe haven as a child, as it is now.
Switching on the light, Cassidy makes her way over to the far corner where she scoots down the wall and rests back, extending her legs forward, but being mindful of her dress, not wanting to wrinkle it too much.
She knows she is under a deadline, but she has been holding out on the last set of designs for a band member, the one that had blown off the meeting last Friday – Harlan. They have never met, but something about him irks her. She has tried to find photos of the lead guitar and backup vocalist for Exoneration, but he is typically covered in hats or long hair, so she has no face to put with the name. But it doesn’t matter, she just needs him from the neck down and there is a tiny slip of paper with his measurements to serve her.
From what she can tell, he tends to lean towards a more casual attire, faded denim and tight band tees. Not that she is complaining. From what she can tell, behind his long hair he has a rocking body, seems almost familiar, but she wants to get him out of his comfort zone a bit.
Smiling to herself, the design images float through Cassidy’s mind and she gets to work.
Instead of regular jeans or the leather pants she has designed for her brother, just because she can, she opts to showcase his strong legs in black or deep blue denim. But to play a bit wild, some of the denim had tears, distress marks, or patches adding to the edge factor. She tosses in a few leather vests, open button down shirts in dark colors, and a few shirtless, because, he is a rock star after all.
Twenty designs later Cassidy is pleased with the creations and steps from her mother’s closet reinvigorated.
“Cassidy, we’re getting ready to leave.”
“I’m coming, Mom,” she replies as she stores away the sketch pad and exits the house, ready to add another new member to their family.
ARLAN SLOUCHES DOWN LOW in his chair at the bar on the outskirts of Miami hoping to keep himself unrecognizable. This establishment of glitter and flash is so far from what he prefers that he shudders in revulsion as he glances around the dimly lit club.
He is here for two reasons: one, his manager wanted him to catch the last show of Hell’s Kiss’ current tour, to support Exoneration’s opening act, and two, the roadie he met during the last tour had wanted to meet up and thank God his dick rose to the occasion. He has spent one too many nights becoming better acquainted with his left hand than he had as a teenager. The past four months Harlan has been in a sexual drought thanks to a beautiful blonde that left his bed without a second thought.
His date for the evening brushes up against him, her large chest against his arm, and wraps her hand around his bicep.
“You ready to get out of here,” she whispers in his ear, her sultry voice alerting his long-lost member.
He sits up straighter and downs his drink as he takes another look at her. Dark, almost black hair reaching her waist, overly large breasts barely controlled by a tight black tank top, no bra to be found, and bright red leather pants. Seeing the red again sends a spurt of agony to his chest remembering the bright red shoes Cassidy had worn.
Taking a deep breath, he places the empty beer bottle on the bar top and snakes an arm around her waist as he stands from the stool.
“Lead the way,” he implies, the need to erase his night with Cassidy ever present in his mind.
A short cab ride later, his date Mindy escorts him to her hotel room a few blocks down the road. As soon as the door closes she whips off her shirt, showcasing her bare, and fake, breasts. Her nipples stand at attention and Harlan can’t help but focus on the tight peaks. He takes the chance to lean forward to taste the sweet skin, her moan echoing in the room.
Without notice he finds her hands sliding beyond the waistband of his pants, seeking out his erectio
n. She seems to hesitate at first when she notices the soft flesh in her palm, but Harlan silences her with a bite of her nipple and she mewls in pleasure.
Mindy wiggles free of her pants, nothing covering her exposed mound, just a small strip of trimmed curls pointing him towards the direction he and his dick need. Quickly he uses one hand to grab her waist, holding her still, and takes the other to roughly palm at her center. What surprises him isn’t her wetness coating his hands, or the feel of her pussy around his fingers as he glides them in her slick center, it’s then that his dick finally stands at attention.
Without hesitation, and partly afraid if he doesn’t get laid soon his dick is going to shrivel up and fall off, he practically tosses Mindy onto the bed where she lands with her legs parted and one of her hands reaching between her thighs, pleasuring herself.
“Fuck me, Harlan,” she says in the room as she works at her center in fast circles.
But all Harlan hears is white noise. Cassidy’s whispers to Theo as she climaxed on his cock, playing within the sound.
Harlan shakes his head and grabs a condom from his back pocket, placed there with the hopes that Mindy would come through for him. She sits up and takes the piece of latex from him once it’s removed from the aluminum and glides it down his cock in expert movements. His erection grows thicker at the downward stroke.
She licks her lips and leans back onto the bed, smiling at him in a mischievous way.
Harlan rests his hands on the top of her bent knees and rubs his penis on her soaked outer lips, coating himself in her heat. As he aligns the tip of his cock at her entrance, a flash of Cassidy’s warm smile races behind his eyes and his dick shrinks and glides toward Mindy’s thigh. Harlan continues to rub against Mindy, hoping to grow his erection once more, but it’s no use.
“Are you gonna put it in?” she asks angrily, sitting up and resting on her elbows.
“I…” he says as he steps back from her, limp dick resting against his thigh.
He stares down at it in disgust and twists a hand through his hair in defeat.
“I’m sorry, Mindy. There is this girl and…” he begins but he is interrupted as she stands from the bed, marches over to him, and punches him in the shoulder.
“You’re with someone! I don’t play those games, Harlan. I’m not like that!” she cries out.
“Hey! I’m not with her,” he explains as he turns and puts both hands on her shoulders. At her “I don’t believe you” expression, Harlan continues, “It was a one night stand a while back and I can’t get her out of my head. It’s driving me crazy. My dick doesn’t want anyone else and I’ve tried. Hell, Mindy, you’re the first person I’ve gotten hard for in weeks.”
“Oh.”
Moving back towards the bed, she grabs an oversized t-shirt from under one of the pillows and ties her hair in a ponytail from an elastic band she keeps on her wrist.
Harlan reaches down and removes the condom, tossing it in the trash can behind him, and re-buttons his pants.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine,” she adds as she moves to the bathroom effectively dismissing him.
Harlan double checks his appearance in the mirror and leaves the hotel room wondering why the activities that just happened make him feel like he cheated on a woman he only had for one night.
As he grabs a cab from the sidewalk outside the hotel, his phone rings. Glancing at the name he rolls his eyes before answering.
“Hey, Dad.”
“Hello, Harlan. How are things?”
“Can’t complain. How’s the club?”
“Good good. Hey, your Mom and I were wondering…”
“No,” he interrupts, knowing where the conversation is going.
Ever since Exoneration had started getting notoriety his parents have been pressuring him to come “hang out” with their crew. He is the prince to their club Brass Sparrows, Harlan’s name taking after their favorite bike none-the-less, but he has no interest in one day running a motorcycle club. Music is his life and he has a hard time proving it to his parents.
“Just for dinner…”
“No, Dad. Anything else going on?”
“Well, have you seen the news recently?”
“No, the only news I get is in the newspaper and I haven’t been home.”
Harlan avoids watching the televised news at all costs; he doesn’t want to know what the gossipers may say about him or anyone else. He’ll stick to print.
“There was some news around three weeks ago, about some big-name contractor getting extorted and stalked.”
“And that concerns me how?”
“Just thought it may interest you since he is the brother of one of your band members.”
“What? How do you…?” Harlan begins to question, but then remembers the sources his father is privy to and without a doubt knows that he is referring to Ryker’s family.
“Boy has some pretty sisters I can tell you that much.”
“Bye, Dad,” Harlan says as he ends the call.
He supposes like any other parent, his are anxious for Harlan to meet a girl and settle down, and maybe he would if they stopped pressuring him about the club, which is their sole purpose for him to find a partner.
Resting back in the seat of the taxi as he sits in Miami traffic, he responds to a text he received from Ann a few days ago, asking if he would be free anytime soon for his first alteration meeting. She had been on him about meeting with the costume designer. She is some big-name fashion mogul that the record company is catering to and it’s driving Harlan nuts. Ann had sent him some paperwork disclosing information regarding costumes and the designer, but he simply found the last page, signed and sent it back; not one word read. For all he knows he may have signed that he is willing to cut off one of his balls to wear some special pants.
Harlan: I can do next Thursday.
A few minutes later she replies.
Ann: She will be at a wedding.
Harlan: Oh well. Better luck next time.
Ann: Harlan…
He tucks his phone back into the pocket of his pants and waits for his hotel to come into view. Groups of scantily clad women walk up and down the sides of the street, hopping in and out of bars and all Harlan can do is shake his head in misery. As he considers moving his profession to that of the priesthood, since he’ll most likely be celibate the rest of his life, he mutters out a curse causing his taxi driver to sneer at him through the rear-view mirror.
“Sorry,” Harlan replies. “I can get out here.”
He tosses a wad of cash at the driver and makes his way up the strip, his hotel a few blocks down the path.
Nodding at the security guard as he walks through the entrance, he begins to make his way over to the elevators where a group of young girls wait barely wearing anything but table napkins. Harlan is pretty sure if they bend over he will get an eyeful of what they’re attempting to cover. One of the women winks at Harlan as he makes eye contact and whispers to her friends, their attention turning toward him as well. Harlan smiles at their exchange but shakes his head and turns on his heels towards the stairwell.
Seven flights later, a sweat covered Harlan returns to his room and falls flat on the luxurious bed. Hopeful that his drained body will offer up a night of peaceful sleep Harlan barely kicks off his shoes before he finds himself drifting off.
But his peaceful slumber is short lived as the memory starts playing over again. It’s always the same images. Hands. Lips. Stomach, Legs. Smile.
His kryptonite.
His fantasy.
His woman.
HE HEELS OF HER shoes click-clack against the tile of the lobby in the record studio office building. She’s too unnerved to sit in one of the waiting chairs, which causes the man at the reception desk to continue to roll his eyes at her.
For some unknown reason, Cassidy is nervous. Beyond the fact that she hasn’t slept well since her one crazy night last September, she has been staying awake deep into t
he night and waking bright and early to work on these costumes. She only has one last set to get altered and she is here today to get it done. If Harlan cancels on her again, as he had last month, she will have to send them on tour with what she has, praying that it fit him correctly.
Glancing at her rose gold Fossil watch, she sighs once more to see an additional ten minutes have passed. Turning her attention towards the tinted glass walls facing the street, Cassidy strolls over to them and leans against one of the concrete columns separating the wall closest to her.
She absentmindedly strokes her fingers across the single carat diamond solitaire necklace her new sister-in-law Nikki gave her at her wedding last month. Nikki and Austin were so in love and wanted to share their love with their family so they had waited a month after their engagement to tie the knot, much to Austin’s chagrin – he wanted it sooner. The couple had given each family member either a piece of jewelry or a watch; Nikki specifically chose the diamond necklace for her stating that it is as classy as Cassidy.
Cassidy feels anything but classy as she continues to stare out the window watching the faces of each person passing by, hoping against all hope that the racing in her heart means that Theo is nearby. At this point, Cassidy has come to terms with the living visions passing behind her eyes at all times of the day and night. There is little she can do to stop them; they are a reminder of the best night of her life, one she stupidly walked away from.
Regret weighs heavy in her heart, but how was she to know that she would feel this way about him. Love him. Need him. Yearn for him.
She’s begun to live her life around the memories, finding something that feels solid in her life and can bring her back to the now, the necklace had been able to do that until today. Today she feels lost, outside of herself.
Coming Altered: Welcome to Carson, Book Four Page 6