by Lesley Jones
“What if I took you out tonight? Or next week? Do you shag on the second or third night?” I said jokingly.
Totally not joking.
Once again, something passed across her face and eyes.
“Marley,” she said my name as though she was letting out a long breath or a sigh, and I felt all girly as my insides jumped about and my balls felt all tingly, in a most ungirly way.
“Ashley,” I said in the same manner and a small smile played at the corner of her mouth.
“You should do that more often,” I told her while reaching into the drawer for a frying pan.
“Say your name?”
“Saying my name is good, but you smiling is even better.”
Fuck, I was even making myself cringe. Could I have sounded any more wankerish?
She smiled again and my charm sank to new depths. “See? That was beautiful.”
“You’re so full of shit.”
I shook my head in frustration. I’m not winning with my words, so let’s see what I could do with my culinary skills. “You want some breakfast?”
“You don’t want me to leave?” she asked with raised eyebrows, obviously surprised that I wanted her to stay. I was bloody surprised I wanted her stay, but I did. She was hungry and that made me want to feed her. I didn’t like the idea of her being hungry; hated it, in fact. Just like last night, I needed to look after her. I had no idea what any of it meant, I just knew that I was about to cook this girl breakfast for two reasons. One, so she’d no longer be hungry, and two, so that she’d stay a bit longer.
“If I wanted you to leave, I wouldn’t be offering to cook you breakfast. I’m not a bullshitter, Ashley. I tend to say what I mean.”
“Yeah, I tend to get into trouble for that,” she said quietly while staring at her toes―her cute toes with purple nail varnish on them.
My eyes travelled from her toes and up her legs, from her legs to her body, that happened to be hidden away under my T-shirt. Eventually, my eyes hit her face and I was surprised to see her watching me. I abandoned the frying pan and stepped right into her space. She smelled of my shampoo and body wash. Thoughts of her naked as I washed her invaded every single space in my head and I took her face into my hands.
“You,” I let out a long breathe. “You are so fucking gorgeous.”
Her eyes instantly filled with tears.
What the fuck?
She shook her head slightly. “Don’t, Marley. Please don’t,” she whispered, attempting to look down, but I gripped her face tighter, refusing to let her break eye contact with me.
“Don’t what? What did I do?” I asked her, feeling totally confused.
“Don’t say shit like that to me. Don’t talk to me like I’m an idiot. I know I don’t talk nice like your mum and your sister. I know that I sound common and I know what people say about my family.” She swallowed and her jaw trembled. The sight of her struggling actually caused a physical pain in my chest.
“Ash, sweetheart, I seriously―”
“No, no. Let me finish, Marley. People can think what they’d like to about my family. Most of it’s true anyway. They’re not good people, and I’m fully aware of that. I also know that people tar me with the same brush, but I’ll never be like them. No matter what happens to me, I’ll never stoop to their level. People can think what they’d like, but here,” she pointed at her head and then her heart, “and in here, I know the truth. Yeah, I like to go out and have a good time. I like a drink and I’ll do the occasional line or smoke a joint, but I’m not a junkie and I’m not a slut. I don’t sleep around.”
She blinked and a lone tear rolled down her pretty little cheek. I knew nothing about her family situation, but I hated that she felt like that, that they’d made her feel like that.
“I’m also not as thick as I sound, and you can tell me that I’m gorgeous till the cows come home, but that won’t get you inside my knickers. I’m not one of your supermodels who can pull a rock star any time she likes. I’m just a shop girl; I’m not in your league.”
I didn’t know what to do or say. I felt panic welling in my chest. I wanted to kiss her so bad―so fucking bad, but I didn’t want her to think that I thought she was easy, or that I was just trying my luck.
My mouth forgets to engage my brain before it starts speaking, and words just start coming out of it.
“Ash, I honestly don’t know anything about your family. I’ve no idea what their reputation is, and I most certainly would never, not in a million years, judge you on the way you talk. You’re just a typical Essex bird to me; mouthy, funny, straight to the point, and in your case, sexy as fuck.” She rolled her eyes, again.
“I’m not bullshitting you, babe, I’ve no need to. Believe what you’d like, but I’m telling you straight up, you are a pretty girl and I would really, really like to kiss you right now.”
I bent my knees slightly so that I could look into her eyes, which were once again cast downward.
“Whatever you may think, Ash, at the end of the day, we’re just you and me; an Essex boy who really wants to kiss an Essex girl. Just because I do what I do for a living, it doesn’t make me any better than you and I hate, fucking hate you putting yourself down. You working in a shop is what you do for a living. Well, me playing in a band is what I do. They’re just jobs. They don’t make either of us better or worse than the other, and I don’t ever want to hear you say something like that again, you hear me?” I brushed the tears from her cheeks. I was gonna call Jimmie or my sister later to find out what the fuck had gone on in this girl’s life that caused her to have such low self-esteem, despite the ‘full of confidence’ bullshit and bravado she liked to put on.
I gently kissed the corner of her mouth, then pulled away to gauge her reaction. She slid her arms around my neck, so I slid one of mine around her waist, and one around her neck so that I could hold onto the back of her head. I held her still and moved in to kiss her again.
I placed my mouth gently on hers, barely moving my lips at first. I ran my tongue along the seam of her lips and savoured the combination of coffee, toothpaste and salty tears, which made up the taste of Ashley. My tongue probed harder and eventually she allowed it access to her mouth. There was the sound of a groan and I had no idea if it came from me, her, or if it was a joint effort, but it prompted me to slide my hand down to her arse and pull her in tight against me. My dick was hard and I knew she was able to feel it against her belly. But I really didn’t give a fuck. I wanted her to know what she did to me. I needed her to know that I really did think that she was sexy as fuck.
She shocked the shit out of me by lifting her leg and hooking it around my hip. I didn’t hesitate in cupping her arse and lifting her so that she was forced to hook her other leg around me to hold on.
I moved with her wrapped around me and sat her down on the kitchen work top, not breaking our kiss the whole time. As soon as her bum touched the granite, or marble, or whatever shit it was made from, I slid her forward so that I could continue pressing my dick right between her legs. I could feel her hot little cunt against the tip of my dick, and didn’t even attempt to stop the “fuck” that slipped out of my mouth against hers.
I moved my hips so that I was rubbing myself against her. The heels of her feet were pressing into my arse cheeks, forcing me harder against her.
“Fuck, Ash. I wanna be inside you. I wanna be inside you so bad, baby.” I spoke without moving my mouth from hers.
“I know, but we can’t. I’m not like that, I don’t do this. I’m not like that, Marley.”
I stopped kissing her and rested my forehead against hers. I didn’t want to pressure her, and I didn’t want to make her feel guilty, so I drew in a few deep breaths.
“I understand, but we need to stop, baby. If I kiss you, then I’m gonna wanna be inside you. You’re too fucking sexy for me not to want you. I’ve got no fucking control around you, Ash.”
I felt her chuckle as I kissed her neck.
“Yo
u and me both, Rock Star. You and me both.”
No idea how I managed to do it, but somehow I pried myself from between that little temptresses legs and instead of poking at her eggs with my dick, I scrambled some with a whisk for breakfast, along with toast and more coffee. By the time we were done and cleaned up, it was after three. I found her a hoodie and we laid under a blanket, curled up on the sofa, watching videos.
I’d never done this. I’d walked the red carpet with a model, an actress and once, even a princess on my arm, but I’d never laid on the sofa, with a girl’s back pressed into my front and watched a film. If I’d have had any clue as to how good it felt, I would’ve spent most afternoons this way.
We took turns choosing films. Obviously, being the gentleman that I was, I let Ashley choose first and was relieved when she chose Willow and not Beaches out of the choices available. It remained, to this day, ‘our’ film, along with ‘Big,’ and ‘The Land Before Time,’ which we also watched.
Yup, Yup, Yup, we did.
We didn’t talk much. I wasn’t the sharpest tool in the box back in those days, but I’d already worked out that Ashley didn’t like to talk about her family, or the fact that she worked for mine, so for the most part, I stayed quiet, just answering any questions she asked me.
Sometime during the evening, my hand had found its way under the T-shirt and hoodie of mine that she wore, and my fingers stroked over her waist and the curve of her hip continuously. I desperately wanted to move my hand higher and cup hold of her tits, or slide my hand below the waistband of the joggers she wore and feel the heat between her legs.
I’d done a lot of things with a lot of different women in my life, but that, lying on my sofa with her little body pushed against mine and the sensation of her silky skin beneath my fingers was by far one of the most pleasurable moments of my life.
I kissed her neck, which was fast becoming a favourite thing of mine to do to her, loving the way her skin erupted in goose bumps when I did it. I whispered into her ear.
“Please stay here with me tonight?”
She was quiet for a few seconds. I’d felt her breathing halt and then noticed the long breath that she let out.
“No, Marley. I have work in the morning. I need to go home.”
So just after midnight, I packed her off in a taxi. She’d refused point blank to let me drive her home and was too mortified about throwing up in his car last night to let me call Dave, so in the end, I called her a cab.
I gave the driver eighty quid and told him to make sure that he dropped her at her door.
Ash had refused to even give me a phone number to contact her on and told me to just call the shop if I wanted to see her again.
Did I want to see her again?
Yes … No …I had no fucking clue.
My bed smelt of her and I and I loved it. I held onto the pillow that she’d laid on, but that didn’t help me sleep. Eventually, I watched a porno that I’d picked up in Amsterdam and had a wank into a condom.
It was all about the rock star life for me!
My hand job the night before did nothing to reduce the size of the hard-on I woke up with the following morning. After giving myself another little tug in the shower, I got dressed and drove myself to my brother’s office.
Although Len was still our manager, he no longer worked for the record label. He’d successfully branched out as a manager and agent for other bands, singers, actors, and models. He was a shrewd businessman, and had also invested his, mine, and Maca’s money into executively producing a couple of films, and even the albums of a few up-and-coming bands. It basically meant that we financed the projects and shared in the profits of their success. So far, Len hadn’t let us down and we had made money on all of our investments.
Jimmie worked alongside Len and they had recently moved into new offices in Canary Wharf, not too far from where Maca and I now lived.
Jim had called yesterday to check that I’d gotten Ashley home safe; to say that she was shocked that Ash was still at my place at seven Sunday night was an understatement, and I actually had to put her on the phone with Jim to prove it.
I tapped my fingers against my legs as I rode up in the lift to speak to my future sister-in-law and tried to think of a way of getting the info that I needed, without Jimmie jumping to conclusions.
The lift opened on the eighth floor and two secretarial looking types stepped in. I pulled the cap I was wearing down a little lower and pushed my sunglasses up my nose.
“Going up?” The redhead in the skin tight skirt asked.
“Yep,” I replied.
“Would you go down for him?” The brunette whispered, way too loudly to her friend as she pushed the button for the twelfth floor.
I couldn’t help but give a little smile, but my dick didn’t even open his slitty little eye.
A redhead and a brunette. Apparently, my dick was favouring blondes at that moment.
The girls stepped out at their floor, both of them looking over their shoulders at me as they did. The redhead even gave me a wink. I waved as the door closed, but that was just to maintain the image.
I opened the doors and stepped into my brother’s suite of offices. He’d done well, my big brother, and would probably end up richer than all of us. I couldn’t have been happier for him.
“Mr. Layton, I don’t think we were expecting you today.” Gina, the receptionist greeted me.
“Morning, Gina, it’s actually Jimmie I’m here to see, not Len. If she’s got a minute, that is.” I took my glasses off and gave her my very best smile.
“I’ll just check that Ms. Emmanuel is free.”
She put a call through to Jim’s office and her door flew open a few seconds later. Jim stepped out looking every inch the highflying executive assistant that she now was.
Jim had been a part of our management team for a lot of years, and always looked good in her business wear.
“Looking sharp, Ms. Emmanuel … looking very sharp for a Monday morning,” I told her while leaning in to kiss her cheek.
She frowned as she looked me over.
“Mr. Layton, this is a pleasant surprise. I didn’t realise that you rock stars knew that this time of day even existed.”
“Oh, you’d be surprised at what us rock stars know.”
“Hmm, doubt that,” she said with a smile. “What are you after?”
“A quick word, if that’s all right?”
“Of course, come in. Len’s got someone with him, but he’ll be done in a bit,” she stated.
“Tell Len to come into my office when his eleven o’clock leaves, please, Gina. He’s got no one else due till after lunch.”
“Sure thing,” Gina replied.
I followed Jimmie into her office and I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as she sat behind her desk and I sat opposite her.
“What you grinning at?” she asked, her brown eyes sparkling.
“You. Us. All of this.” I gestured around the room. “We’ve come a long fucking way since our summerhouse and the transit van.”
She sits back in her chair and lets out a little laugh. “From smelly backrooms in pubs with half a cider, to Wembley Stadium and a chilled bottle of Bolli. It was all down to the hard work put in by you boys. I’m just the assistant.”
“Fuck off, Jim. You’re as much a part of our success as me, Maca, Bill, Tommy, or Len. Even George is responsible for part of it. We’re a family, connected by the band, not just blood or marriage, and I hope it always stays that way,” I told her, hoping she truly believed the sincerity I tried to express in my voice.
“Me too, Marls, me too.” She swiped under her eye. “You’re gonna make me cry and ruin my make-up, you fucker. Is that all you came here for?”
Now, this was the part where I needed to be stealth like and ask my questions in such a way that Jim, who let’s face it, could probably have gotten a job with MI5 if she didn’t work for us, wouldn’t work out what I was up to.
“You heard
from George or Maca since Saturday night?” I asked.
“Yep, spoke to them this morning. They’re going house hunting. Can you believe it?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. Maca told Len, then I called and spoke to George. She said that Sean wants them to move in together. Enough time’s been wasted so he doesn’t want to hang around.” She tapped her pen on the desk as she watched my reaction. “Sorry, Marls. You should be hearing this from Maca, not from me.”
“Na, it’s fine, Jim—honest. I thought they might just fuck off somewhere on the quiet and get married, so it’s not like it’s come as a shock that they wanna move in together. I just hope it all works out for them.”
“Yeah, me too,” she said with a smile. “Me too.”
We were silent for a few seconds before Jimmie jumped in.
“So, you and Ash. How’d that go?” I knew she wouldn’t last long. Jimmie was the one person I could rely on to know everything about everything. If you wanted gossip, go to Jim. Nothing got past her. This also meant that I was playing with a double-edged sword. I wanted info on Ash, but I didn’t want Jim clocking onto the fact that I liked her, a lot.
“She’s a nice girl. We had a laugh together.” I tried to sound casual as I lifted my right ankle to rest on my left knee.
“Must have been hilarious if you kept her hanging around until Sunday evening.”
I shrugged my shoulders, whilst trying not to shrink back into the chair and hide from Jimmie’s scrutiny.
“We watched a few films, lost track of time.”
“What time did she leave?”
Shit!
“What time did she leave your place?”
I scratched my eyebrow. “Ah, not sure. It wasn’t that late.”
She nodded her head and looked me right in the eye. “Marls, I’ve never interfered in the way you live your life. None of us are angels, we never have been. Now, I’m not the judgy type, but I just wanna put this out there. Ash hasn’t had the greatest of upbringings. She comes from a rough family. Her dad and her brother have both been in prison and her mum has been on the…” She trailed off and tapped her pen harder on her desk. “Ashley’s story isn’t mine to tell. I don’t think George even knows the whole truth. She was going through the whole Maca breakup and dealing with the press during our exams when I found Ash crying in the girls’ toilets one day at school. She told me some shit about her home life and I had her come stay with me for a while.” She kept her eyes on me as she chewed on the inside of her bottom lip, as though contemplating what to say next.
