Authors: Crystal Perkins
“No.”
“I should go.” He says that, but he doesn’t
get up.
“Did you really think I’d make it easy for
you after you embarrassed me last night?”
“Maybe. I’m pretty loveable,” he says with
that damn smile of his.
“What you are is cocky. Although, I thought
you’d realize by now that I won’t be falling at your feet.”
“I know you’re not impressed with me. You’ve
made that clear.”
“God, you are such a little kid sometimes.
Stop pouting and act like a decent guy. Then maybe you’ll get a
dance. Maybe more.”
“More. Like I can kiss you again, more?” he
asks, his eyes twinkling as he runs his hands through his soft
blonde hair.
“That’s a distinct possibility.”
Before he can say anything else, little Hope
climbs into his lap. She cuddles into his shirt, sucking her thumb.
Her eyes start to close as he wraps his arms around her. Then he
plays dirty, he starts rocking her and singing her a lullaby. If
those teenage girls think he sounds good belting out pop hits, they
would probably faint hearing him softly sing to a toddler. I’m
about to faint myself. It’s hot. Beyond hot, actually, seeing him
sing to that little girl with such tenderness in his eyes and
voice.
Conversation in the room literally comes to
a standstill as Erin and Dave climb into my lap and stare at him
with wide eyes. I hug them close and rock them as we all watch it
go down. When he’s done singing, all the kids are asleep, and my
eyes have started closing, too. Scott, Ryan, and Owen come over to
retrieve the kids and take them upstairs to the nursery here in the
house. Their wives thank Kace. He just smiles and nods.
“Ask me again, please.”
“You wanna dance with me, Stella?”
“Yes.”
He hops to his feet and then reaches out a
hand to me. I let him pull me up, and into his arms. A Sam Smith
song comes on and as we sway to the seductive tune, Kace sings it
to me. He changes the words in the chorus, saying that he knows
he’s the only one. I smile at him as I hold him tighter.
Our movements get hotter as the song
continues, with him turning me around to grind on him as he slides
up and down with his hands on my hips. When he turns me again, his
face is right where I’ve dreamed of having him. I gasp, and he
smirks as he works his way back up to standing. I’m ready to throw
him up against the wall when he blows on my ear.
“Sexy?”
It takes me a moment to realize he’s
offering that up as a nickname. “No.”
“But you are. So fucking sexy, Stella. I can
barely handle it.”
“You’re handling me pretty well right
now.”
“More?”
“I’m leaning that way.”
“What else do you need from me to turn that
maybe into a yes?”
“Why are you acting so different here with
me? I mean I see glimpses of this sweet guy, but then you act like
an ass.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Complicated doesn’t scare me.”
His phone goes off before he can answer me.
He pulls it out of his pocket and pulls back a little to look at
the screen. “Son of a bitch.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I have to go.”
“Just like that?”
He closes his eyes and drops his forehead to
rest on mine. “Yeah. Just like that. I’m so sorry, Stella. Really,
I am. When you hate me tomorrow, just know it wasn’t my
choice.”
“What are you saying, Kace?”
“Just…I’m sorry.”
He kisses my forehead before letting me go.
I’m confused until Ainsley catches my eye and holds up her phone. I
get it. The blackmailer has upgraded to text messages, and Kace
just got one. I barely listen to his goodbyes to everyone because I
can tell from the expression on Ainsley’s face that whatever came
through is very bad.
As soon as he’s gone, I turn to her. “What
is it?”
She hands me her phone, and my heart sinks
when I see what it says.
Anonymous: (1/2) Where are you? You can’t
really hide from me, even if you’ve somehow turned off your phone’s
GPS. I hold all the power. It’s time you realized just how bad I
can make things for you. You did a good job of blowing off Stella
last night, but now it’s time for you to ensure that she never even
thinks of you as an option again.
(2/2) You’re going to go to Pure tonight and
pick up at least 2 of your little groupies to take back to the
hotel with you. I want it all over social media tomorrow that you
took them back to the hotel and fucked them all. If not, you know
what I’ll do. Have a great night.
“Oh my God,” I say as I nearly drop the
phone.
“What is it?” Tegan asks.
“He has to pick up more than one girl and
take them all back to the hotel with him. The blackmailer wants it
all over social media.”
“That doesn’t make sense. If he’s trying to
stop them from posting pics of him already, why would he take some
more?” my mom asks.
“His rep is already so bad now that pics of
him going to the hotel with girls won’t look so bad. If there were
pics of the actual acts, it would be different I think.”
“I’m on it.”
“What do you mean you’re on it, Teeg?”
“I mean that I’m on it. Ainsley, can you
shut off the hotel cameras long enough for Darcy to get Stella into
his room?”
“Yeah, sure. But what are you going to do
about getting the other girls out?”
“Connecting room?” Darcy asks.
“Wayne on one side, Brett on the other.”
“Shit. I’m going to put my tongue down his
throat again? I need mouthwash in my purse. Lots of mouthwash.”
“You’re not doing anything. None of you are.
So he sleeps with some chicks. It’s not like we’re together.”
“You two are so together. I mean, come on.
Lullabies, and then you two were practically making your own babies
while dancing,” Isa tells me.
“We were not. It was just dancing.”
“While he was singing to you and your
panties were disintegrating,” Audrey points out.
“They were. God, they were. I’m so
pathetic.”
“No, but you are hot for that boy. Now do
you want to be the one he’s in the room with tonight or what?”
“Yes, Teeg. I want that.”
“Then it’s all settled. I’ll go pity fuck
Wayne somewhere else while Darcy uses his suite to get the girls
out.”
“I appreciate you taking one for me.”
“You’d do it for me. Or at least you
would’ve before you met Kace. And it’s just sex.”
“True.”
“Let’s get going. I’ll call my girls on the
way.”
We say our goodbyes before Darcy and I head
to the hotel the band’s staying at while Tegan goes to Pure to find
Wayne. This could all work out really great, or go horribly wrong.
I’m hoping it’s the former.
* * *
Kace
I was close. So fucking close to kissing
Stella again. And maybe more. But of course nothing can go right
for me. It hasn’t since I started being blackmailed. I don’t know
how I’m going to get back on her good side after she sees the
pictures from tonight. I really want to find the son of a bitch
who’s doing this to me and kill him. Or her. Like seriously cause
them bodily harm.
I’m resigned to my fate, though, as I try to
find some chicks I could get it up for. I’ve never had that problem
before, but since I met Stella, it only answers to her. I guess I
can just think about her when I’m with them. That’s what I’ve been
doing while getting myself off lately. It’s no substitute for the
woman who I know would rock my world, but it’s a passable
solution.
I’m so lost in my thoughts that I don’t see
the three women who’ve surrounded me. They’re all really hot, but
again, not doing anything for me. But hey, at least now I don’t
have to go looking. I plaster a smile on my face and do what I have
to.
“Good evening, ladies. Are you looking for
some fun?”
“We are,” says the blue haired woman in the
middle, barley covered by the scrap of fabric she’s wearing.
“Do you want to stay here for the next hour
pretending we’re going to just hang out? Or can we just cut to the
chase and go to my place?”
“Your place.”
“All of you, right?”
The other girls nod, and I give them a small
smile. As we leave, I make sure I’ve got my hands on two of them.
The flashbulbs start as soon as we walk outside. The girls are true
paparazzi champs, kissing my cheeks and groping me for the cameras.
I don’t try to hide us all getting into my limo, sealing my fate
even further.
To my surprise, when we get in the limo and
raise the partition to get some privacy, they all settle away from
me. “You’re pretty far away.”
“We have a surprise for you when we get to
your suite. We’ll play along for the cameras, but until we’re
behind closed doors, no one’s touching you,” the brunette tells
me.
“Um, okay? Works for me.”
It really does, even though they don’t know
why. Maybe I can even get them to keep that no touching thing
going. Their surprise may mean they’re into each other and just
want me to watch. That would be the best scenario. With the way my
luck’s been holding up, though, that’s not going to happen. I’ll
just have to hope for the best and beg Stella for forgiveness.
I get us up to my suite after more pictures
inside my hotel. I wish I could’ve just taken them to a room while
we were at Caesar’s, but that’s not what I was told to do. I don’t
like bringing chicks to my private space. I’ve seen too many guys
get burned by pics and shit when they fall asleep with random
people around. But again, I’ve got to think about more than just me
right now.
I let them in and follow close behind,
surprised when the door is shut for me. “Surprise,” says the
redhead I saw—but didn’t have time to meet—at the party earlier.
“I’m Darcy.”
“Oh, um, hey. What are you doing in my
room?”
“She’s helping me.”
I turn to see Stella in the doorway to my
bedroom, looking as beautiful and sexy as ever. And also a little
nervous. I don’t like that. She’s never nervous around me.
“This isn’t what it looks like.”
“So you don’t mind if Darcy gets them out of
here, and it’s just us?”
Fuck no. I don’t mind. But that damn puppet
master will. “I really want that, but there are other things going
on.”
“I told you I’m good with complicated, Kace.
You just need to trust me. Darcy will get the girls out with no one
seeing. Unless you want them here, and not me.”
Is she insane? “Only you, darling.”
“No.”
I laugh as the three chicks look at us like
we’re crazy. “She said no to getting called darling, not being
alone with me.” I turn to Darcy. “If you can get them out, that’d
be great.”
“I’m on it,” Darcy tells her.
“You won’t say anything about this, will
you?” I ask the girls.
“No. We owe Tegan a favor. This is just the
payment. You have fun with your girl.”
She makes a phone call, and then leads them
through Wayne’s suite next door. I’m not sure how she got his door
open so quickly, but I honestly don’t care. I’m alone with Stella
in my suite, which means I have more important things on my mind.
Like getting her out of that dress. And understanding why she’s
here.
“What are you doing here?”
She looks conflicted, but then answers.
“Scott Griffin has crazy security and technology going on at his
parent’s place. When you left so quickly, he checked his log and
read your text.”
“What the fuck? He can’t just do that.”
“He can. He doesn’t normally invade our
privacy—the way he explains it is that his program looks for
threats, and that’s all he normally sees. Anything that could be a
threat to his family. He made an exception this time. I-I asked him
to. I was worried. You looked so upset when you got that text. And
then you said those cryptic things to me.”
“It’s not okay, Stella. If I wanted to tell
you something, I would. You can’t just invade my privacy like that.
I thought you were different. But you’re just like everyone else,
wanting a piece of me that I’m not willing to give.”
“That’s not true. I only want you for you,
Kace. Honestly. And I want to help you. Who was that text from? And
why are they blackmailing you?”
“If I knew the who or even the why, don’t
you think I would have taken care of it by now? I don’t need your
help. My mom and I have done just fine over the years, depending
only on each other.”
“Your mom’s awesome, but sometimes you need
outside help. It’s okay to need it. Getting help from other people
doesn’t make you weak.”
“Oh, so you take help from other people on a
regular basis?”
“Yes. I rely on my friends all the time. And
they rely on me for help, too.”
“Good for you. And them.”
“Let me help you. Tell me what’s going
on.”
“No. You need to go now, and you’re also
fired. Your mom is more than capable of handling both Brett and me
until I can find your replacement.”
“Don’t do this. I’ll back off. Don’t fire
me, though. I need this job.”
“You should’ve thought about that before you
stuck your nose where it doesn’t belong. I can’t have people
working for me if I don’t trust them.”
“You can trust me. I promise. I’d never
spill your secrets.”
I want to believe her. But I can’t. I’m
already being blackmailed by someone, and I can’t afford to give my
trust to someone who’s already betrayed it. Someone should’ve told
me what I was walking into at that party. Instead they just took
away the last bit of me that I had for myself. My privacy.
“Just get out. And be glad your mom still
has a job. She’s the best there is, and has always been nice to me.
Otherwise, she’d be out too.”
“I-I can’t leave. We didn’t have a plan in
place for that until the morning.”
“Which reminds me. How did you know Darcy
and those chicks could get out through Wayne’s place?”