by Loki Renard
“She’s not strung out, I don’t represent people who do drugs,” Kevin said. “She’s talented, and she’s starting to get a following. Cash is ahead in the game at the moment, but this girl, this girl has heart.” His face held a look of pure admiration that completely mystified Miles. All he saw was a raucous little rabble-rouser.
“I’ll have to meet her before we leave.”’
“Oh don’t worry,” Kevin said cheerfully. “She’s coming over soon. She and I need to go over some of the details too, and I’d like to see her and Cash get along.”
“Yes, because what Miss Raine really needs at this point in her life is a bad influence.”
Kevin shot him a look. “You’re not Cash’s father, Miles. She’s going to be around a lot of different people in this industry, heck, she’s been around them for years. She’ll handle it just fine. Besides, you’re judging Mattie on first appearances, just like you did Cash – and you ended up liking Cash, didn’t you?”
Miles had to admit that Kevin had a point. A good point, even. He reserved his judgment, even though his gut was telling him that this Matilda Dwyer did not bode well for the peace and well being of his little operation.
Later that afternoon, there was a rough pounding at the door of the suite. Miles opened it and looked down at what turned out to be a pint sized woman in a black leather jacket, black jeans, and black leather boots. She couldn’t have been more than five feet tall, though she was clearly doing her best to make up for it by looking tough.
“Hey,” she said with a rough jerk of her head that sent limp black locks slapping against her pale cheeks. “I’m, uh, here to see Kev.” Her voice was rough and husky, it sounded like she’d been screaming for days. Miles judged her to be a few years older than Cash, she had a certain maturity and worldliness that Cash did not. She also smelled of cigarettes and marijuana and he couldn’t help but notice that her clothes looked as if they’d been slept in.
“You must be Matilda.”
“Call me Mattie, only my dead grandmother calls me Matilda,” Mattie said, slipping past him.
“Hey, Kev,” she said, forgetting Miles completely as she sauntered in, tossed herself onto one of the palatial leather couches and put her boots up on a coffee table. She looked up to see Miles still standing over her and nodded again. “Hey, Muscles.”
“Mattie,” ‘Kev’ said with a goofily broad smile. “This is Miles, he’s in charge of security for Cash this tour.”
Mattie nodded as she looked up at Miles with mild interest. “I bet nothing gets past you, huh?”
She pushed back strands of long hair and reached inside her jacket pocket for a cigarette, which she put to her lips and lit. “Wouldn’t fit past you,” she said out of the side of her mouth as she drew deep on the white cylinder, sucking all manner of toxic chemicals into her lungs.
“Not in here please, Ms. Dwyer.” Miles motioned to the cigarette.
“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s clove.”
“This is a non-smoking suite,” he insisted patiently.
“It’ll be fine,” Mattie said, exhaling a plume of smoke.
“Yes, if you put it out.”
“What’s your deal, Muscles?” She puffed away as she spoke. “Are you with the hotel? Worried about the furnishings?”
Tiring of the argument, Miles reached out, plucked the cigarette from Mattie’s fingers and carried it away to stub it out in the sink. “No. Smoking,” he reiterated.
Mattie flipped him off, but smiled as she did it, blurring the intent of the message. Miles gave Kevin a look, a look that said he was not impressed, and that Kevin better get his artist under control.
“Give it a rest, Mattie,” Kevin cut in. “Quit tormenting the man who might save your butt if it needs saving.”
“I thought he was Cash’s security?” Mattie said, asking the question Miles also suddenly wanted to ask. “I don’t need security. I like to keep it real. And in the spirit of keeping it real, let’s face it, nobody knows who I am. Getting shot or something would probably help my career.”
Before Miles could tell Mattie what he thought of casual references to being shot, Cash disengaged herself from the last stages of her interview. It had been for one of the major media outlets and as a result she was dressed in a light blue silk dress that emphasized her slim waist and clung to her toned hips. Her makeup was light and natural and she looked utterly flawless, a breath of fresh beauty as elemental as the great ocean that crashed against the beach visible through the suite’s floor to ceiling windows. Miles, Kevin and Mattie all fell silent at her approach, awe-struck by her beauty.
It was Kevin who recovered first. “Cash, this is Mattie – or as you might know her, Stabby Longstockings.”
“Oh my god!” Cash let out a trill of excitement as Mattie got up from the couch and crossed over to her. In spite of looking like a young goddess, Cash seemed to have forgotten that she was a celebrity. She blushed visibly as Mattie drew closer.
“Hey, beautiful,” Mattie said, taking Cash’s hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it. Cash giggled, a melodic sound as Mattie bent at the waist in an exaggerated bow. “It’s going to be a pleasure working with you,” she said in a husky purr.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Cash said. “I love your stuff. It’s so… raw.”
“And your dancing is amazing,” Mattie replied smoothly. “I could watch it all day long.” Her voice dropped a little lower and became playfully suggestive. “I can’t wait to see you move to my beats.”
Miles’ jaw almost dropped as he watched a woman half his size putting the moves on Cash – and doing a damn good job of it too.
Cash smiled broadly. “Well thank you,” she said, visibly pleased. “I was really excited when Kevin said you might be coming on tour with us. Do you think you’ll be able to make it?”
“As long as Muscles over there doesn’t decide to wreck me before we go, sure,” Mattie said, looking at Cash in a conspiratorial manner that Miles did not like.
“If you’re implying that I would hit a woman, you are very much mistaken,” he said stiffly.
“Well, she’s not entirely mistaken,” Cash corrected him.
“That wasn’t the same thing.”
“Whoa whoa whoa,” Mattie held her hands up. “What are you two talking about?” She leaned in close to Cash and gave Miles a dirty look.
“Nothing like that,” Cash said, “he just swatted me. He’s sort of old fashioned.”
Mattie’s scowl turned into a death glare. She stalked across the room and reached up to poke Miles in the chest with a pointy finger that hurt. “You think it’s fun to hit women, do you, punk?”
Miles clamped his jaw tight. “It’s not hitting, it is discipline.”
“Oh really, how about you and I go outside and I show you some fucking discipline?” Mattie snarled the question, her rage completely out of place in the pleasant hotel suite.
“Hey, it wasn’t like that, seriously,” Cash tried to intervene.
“You don’t have to say that,” Mattie said, poking Miles again. “I know what these scum are like.”
“I can assure you,” Miles said. “You have no idea what scum like me are like. Now kindly remove your finger from my chest.”
Mattie cocked her head. “Or what? Are you going to hit me too? Is that what you do when people don’t do what you want? You hit them?”
“I won’t lay a finger on you, Miss Dwyer,” Miles assured her. “Not without permission.”
“Permission from who?” Her face was still all twisted up, her voice high with outrage and incredulity.
He nailed her with a look. “You.”
“Oh.” She stopped and dropped her hand. “Ohhhhhhhhh.” She looked from Miles to Cash. “Ohh, okay, I see what this is… you two are… mm hmm… okay. Kinky.” Reaching up again, Mattie brushed off the spot where she’d poked Miles. “Sorry about that.”
“Kinky?” Cash looked confused. Miles could almost see t
he innocence falling away from her in Mattie’s presence.
“I hope you’re not in the habit of picking fights with people twice your size,” Miles said, ignoring Cash’s question. “We don’t need anyone making trouble.”
Mattie shrugged and put her hands in her pockets. “Maybe sometimes I say some things I shouldn’t.”
“Definitely you do. You’ll have to rein that in.”
“Okay, fair call, Muscles,” she said, retreating from his personal space.
Miles shot Kevin a dark look. He was not impressed. Even if Mattie wasn’t strictly his problem, it didn’t mean she wasn’t capable of causing problems for Cash. The fact that she seemed to realize she’d been out of line was but a small comfort. Mattie obviously had a temper and some serious issues to back it up with. She was the one thing Miles really didn’t like – a complication.
At the first available opportunity, he drew Kevin aside. “Get rid of her,” he said. “She’s a time bomb.”
Kevin shook his head. “I can’t. This is good for the tour. It’s good for Cash and it’s good for Mattie.”
“Assuming Mattie doesn’t fight her way through Europe.”
“She’s a little passionate,” Kevin admitted. “But she’s a professional, just like Cash, she knows how to behave when it counts.”
“Oh, so picking a fight with me was professional, was it? And hitting on Cash? What if they decide to get together? Do you really want your star being led astray?”
Kevin feigned a thoughtful expression. “I don’t think Cash swings that way, but the media typically takes an interest in that sort of rumor.” He smiled his ‘up to something’ smile, an expression Miles knew all too well.
“Kevin, you little snake, this isn’t about music. This is about sensation. This is about publicity. You’re trying to start rumors about Cash and Mattie…”
“I’m doing nothing of the kind,” Kevin said. “If the press leap to certain conclusions, I can hardly…” he trailed off under a very hard look from Miles. “Hey,” he shrugged. “It’s business.”
“It’s cheap and it’s tawdry and Cash deserves better.”
“Ease up,” Kevin said. “I’m not going to orchestrate anything. It’s perfectly normal to have lesser known artists open for bigger acts, and both Cash and Mattie are talented.”
“Fine.” Miles ground the word out. “But you need to keep that kid under control.”
“I will. I promise.” Kevin smirked. “I might even enjoy it.”
Miles didn’t quite believe Kevin, but there was no point in arguing further. At the end of the day, business was business and Mattie was just a variable he’d have to account for when he was working. But as he watched Mattie and Cash smiling and laughing together over a fruit smoothie, he couldn’t shake the ominous feeling that nothing good would come from taking Miss Stabby Longstockings on tour.
*
Mattie was a problem, but she was not the only problem. A two-month long tour throughout Europe was no small matter to arrange and though most of the bookings and dates had been set in advance, the security issues were yet to be entirely settled. Over the next few days, Miles found himself buried in work. Cash was likewise busy. Her schedule was beyond frantic, she worked almost every minute that god sent and she barely slept. More than once he observed her pacing in the middle of the night, occasionally working on a few dance steps or humming a few bars of a song.
“Miles?” He looked up late one night to find her standing at his elbow. She was smiling as usual, but she looked tired. Overtired, even.
“Yes, Miss Raine?”
“Will you come for a walk with me?”
He glanced at his watch. It was just past midnight. It would have been easier to say no, but there was nothing to be gained from restricting her activities. She’d only end up sneaking out without him and that would be far more problematic than a late night stroll with a beautiful young woman. “Certainly, Miss Raine.”
They left the suite and took the private elevator down to the ground floor. From there they went to the beach where Cash took the lead, wandering through what was left of the dunes, occasionally kicking up sand. She seemed preoccupied as she stopped at the edge of the ocean, looking up into the moonlit sky. The stars were out in force that night, sprinkled in the millions throughout the dark heavens. “Can I talk to you, Miles? You know, as a person?”
“Sure,” he said, casting a curious look in her direction.
“Why are you here?”
The question caught him off guard. “Here, as in…”
“As in why are you working for me?” She turned to him, looking into his face quizzically, as if there was a puzzle she was trying to solve. “Kevin said you were a big shot in the military. You could be doing anything now.”
“Well,” Miles said. “I wanted a change. I needed a change. This is a change.”
“Some would call it a step down,” she said astutely.
“There’s more to life than just trying to get ahead.”
Backing away from the water line, Cash plopped down onto the sand. “There is, isn’t there?” She asked it like a question, as if she weren’t sure of the answer.
“Of course,” he crouched next to her, keeping an eye out for anyone coming down the beach or from the promenade. “Is something wrong, Cash?”
“I’m just… tired,” she said softly, casting her eyes down to her feet.
“Of course you are,” he said sympathetically. “You’ve been working your behind off all day every day.”
She cast a sidelong look up at him. “I thought you said I lacked discipline.”
“No, sweetheart,” he said. “I said you could do with a good spanking. It isn’t the same thing.”
Confusion was written on her cute face. “It’s not? Isn’t spanking a punishment?”
“It can be,” Miles said. “But in your case…” he paused. “Permission to speak freely?”
She giggled and it was quite charming. “Permission granted.”
“It seems to me,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “That you work very hard, and there are always people around you, but you don’t have anyone really looking after you.”
“You are, you’re looking out for me,” she said, looking at him under her eyelashes. He was struck with the same force that had caught him off guard the first time they’d met. Her beauty and her vulnerability made him feel fiercely protective.
“I am,” he agreed.
“So are you going to….” she let the words trail off as she gave him a playful look.
It took a moment for Miles to realize what she was getting at. The little minx was asking him for a spanking, or near enough to it. He felt a stirring in his loins. She didn’t know what she was asking for, not really. As much as he would have loved to take her over his lap, slide her panties down her slim, toned thighs and spank her cute round bottom bright red, he didn’t know if he could stop there. Especially as she was now, smiling and sweet.
“Are you asking me if I’m going to spank your bottom?” He rumbled the question and smiled as she broke into giggles. He was slightly relieved and simultaneously disappointed that she wasn’t seriously asking him to take her in hand then and there.
“Thank you for talking to me, Miles,” she said. “You make me feel sane.”
“Any time,” he said, offering his hand and helping her to stand.
“I’m sorry I was snappy to you after that concert the other day,” she said, recalling her first instance of bad behavior in his presence. “I… I wanted you to like it.”
“I like you, Miss Raine, and I think you’re very talented. I think you work tremendously hard and you deserve all the success and happiness in the world,” he paused as he drew breath. “But those lyrics…”
“I know,” she said, keeping hold of his hand as she began walking again. “They’re not my first choice either, but the studio controls a lot of that stuff. I’ve been writing my own songs for years, but they won’t green l
ight any of them.”
“Why not?”
“They’re not marketable,” Cash sighed.
Miles squeezed her hand reassuringly. She was so sweet, so very trusting. “You’ll work it out, Cash, you’re too good not to.”
“Thanks,” she smiled, and then did something rather cheeky. She pulled her hand out of Miles’ grasp, swatted his behind and dashed away a few steps.
“Miss Raine,” he rumbled warningly. “Are you trying to get into trouble?”
“I am trouble,” she said. “Haven’t you worked that out yet?”
“Cash, you wouldn’t know how to be trouble if you studied for a hundred years.”
She pouted and folded her arms over her chest. “Come on, Miles…”
“Oh what, you want me to spank you? Is that it?” He shook his head and lifted his hand to crook his finger at her. “Come here, young lady.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Come here, Miss Raine.” He repeated himself. She edged forward, looking nervous, and a little excited too. When she got into arm’s length, he reached for her and gently drew her forward until there was only an inch of space between them. She looked up into his face, a timid smile on her lips as he shook his head. “I’m not going to spank you for being playful, but I am going to be keeping a very close eye on you, Cash. Remember that.”
She smiled and fell into a hug. “Thank you, Miles.”
As he wrapped his arms around her slender body, Miles felt his heart swell with a feeling he hadn’t experienced in a very long time. He was in trouble all right. It took all his self-control to escort Cash back to her suite without slipping his hand down and patting her pert bottom, or engaging her further in her flirtation.
Cash went to bed almost as soon as they got back to the hotel, but Miles was kept awake by the force of his own desire. He retired to his room and was planning on relieving his tensions, but before he could, there was a scuffing sound outside the door of the suite, then a clicking and slight buzz as the lock disengaged.
Moving swiftly, Miles slipped out of bed and made his way into the main part of the suite. There was a pistol in his pocket, but he left it there for the moment. Odds were it was just Kevin or Raoul, though he couldn’t imagine why either of them would be paying Cash a visit at two in the morning.
