Wild Chase

by L. A. Bressett

  He snaps out of his daze and looks up at me with a grin.

  “She is. You know, she’s responsible for my passion for all things music. Taught me how to play the piano when I was six years old.”

  Raising my eyebrows, I can’t hide my smirk. “You can play the piano?”

  His mouth turns up to one side in such a sultry way that I feel my cheeks heating as he nods.

  “Oh, yeah! I’ll play something for you later, if you want.”

  I lick my lips and tilt my head to the side, “I’ll definitely take you up on that.”

  We stare at each other for a moment, and I swear the air in the room starts to boil. I break the gaze and take a long drink of my ice water hoping it will cool me off.

  “Well then, what are we waiting for? I believe I have a concerto to perform,” he says, his voice gruff as he rises to his feet and takes my hand. I gulp as I stand on my wobbly heels; nope, that ice water didn’t help one single bit.

  Jesse holds my hand the whole way back to his hotel. He tells me they have a piano in their suite. I almost melt into the seat at the mention of going back to his place. When we arrive, he places his hand at the small of my back and guides me into their suite, flicking on the light as we step in.

  I look around at the enormous hotel room before me. I’ve never seen anything so extravagant in my life. I have seen motels, as in crappy—OMG what is that stain?—kind of rooms. This was like watching an episode of Cribs. Everything in here is new, perfectly polished, and organized.

  “Come on in, Gorgeous,” he says with a laugh, taking my hand and dragging me across the room to the giant piano sitting just beyond the sitting area. Of course, it’s sitting beside floor to ceiling windows overlooking a beautiful scenic night sky. I sigh as I set my purse on the floor and lean against the cool glass overlooking the twinkling lights.

  Behind me, I hear shuffling and then a few bars of something familiar start to play. I turn around to see Jesse taking a seat on the piano bench. He pauses and takes off his coat, slinging it to the floor with a wink as he stretches his arms and fingers out. When he begins to play again, the haunting sound that fills the air steals my breath away. I want to say something, but I’m in awe as his fingers begin to fly over the keys. He plays for a moment or two before he misses a key and starts to laugh. He looks up at me, wiggling his fingers, obviously embarrassed by his error.

  “Sorry, I guess I’m a little rusty!”

  I must have given him a wild look because he starts to laugh hard.

  “Are you kidding me? That was incredible! What song was that?” I ask, still lost in amazement.

  He smacks the bare spot on the bench beside him and I slide in next his talented self without a second thought.

  “Beethoven. I think it’s called “Moonlight” or something. My mom would kick my ass, but I don’t remember exactly.”

  I laugh and press a couple keys. They clang out completely off key. He reaches over and effortlessly glides an arm around my waist, pulling me into his lap.

  I let him.

  “Here, I’ll give you a lesson,” he breathes, his warm breath tickling my neck. Chills spread all over my body as his hand ever so gently skims down the length of my arm. Jesse takes my hands in his and starts to direct me on which keys to press. My head is such a mess that any actual music lesson being taught now is null and void because I can’t stop focusing on the way it feels to be in someone’s arms, to be touched— to feel desired. I miss a few keys, purely by accident, but with a gentle chuckle, he persists until I’m able to play a few bars for him.

  “There you go; look, you’ve almost got it,” he says barely above a whisper.

  My hands start to tremble underneath his. I nervously press the few keys he’s shown me.

  “Like that?” I whisper back, my voice cracking.

  Instead of answering me, I feel the low hum of his voice against the curve of my neck, and then it feels as if the floor may fall out from beneath me as his lips suddenly press against my bare skin.

  I don’t mean to, but I let out a small whimper and totally forget about the damned piano as I find myself leaning back. One of his hands comes up and gently tilts my head to the side. His breath caresses my ear as he whispers, “So beautiful,” but the moment I feel his mouth on me again, I can barely form a coherent thought. His other hand is holding onto my waist as his delicate kisses move down my shoulder, and then slowly back up. Jesse teases me by slowly flicking his tongue just beneath my ear and down my neck. He pauses there, and starts to nibble at my sensitive flesh, causing me to let loose another embarrassing whimper. He switches hands and starts to do the same thing to the other side of my neck, and now I am completely pressed against him, digging my fingers into the piano in front of me with every graze of his teeth.

  And out of nowhere, the door bursts open with an almost shirtless Adam in tow, and he’s not alone. There’s a woman wrapped around his body, and the sounds of their kissing soon fill the whole room. Is he carrying a briefcase? It’s enough to snap me completely out of Jesse’s spell, and I shuffle off his lap almost immediately.

  Jesse stands to his feet too, clearly irritated, and roughly, and loudly I might add, coughs.

  Adam spins around to face us, the woman in his arms turning to face us, too. Dropping the briefcase to the floor, Adam gently sets his pretty brunette companion on her feet and she immediately straightens out her pencil skirt and blouse, and then in a matter of seconds she whips her shoulder length, dark locks up into an elegant twist, almost like she could do it in her sleep. I reach up, feel my messy bun, and catch a twinge of hair jealousy.

  “Oh, hey, man. Didn’t know you’d be here tonight. Hey Mel. This is, uh, Christina,” Adam says casually, buttoning up his shirt about half way and nodding to the young woman beside him.

  Jesse just smiles, waves, and nods. Not sure of what to say, either, I wave, grab my purse, and stand there awkwardly beside him. No one knows quite what to say until Christina turns to Adam. I don’t think she realizes that we can hear her; in such an open room, let’s just say, sound travels.

  “Look, Adam, is it? I have about seven hours before I have to be back in the office for a conference call and if you fully intend on making me forget my own name, you have A LOT of work to do.”

  Jesse raises his eyebrows and we watch as Adam just gets wide-eyed and points to a room. Christina turns around, picks up her briefcase, and quickly says goodnight. As she heads off, her ridiculously high high-heels click loudly on the marble floors. Adam watches her walk off and whistles as she closes the door behind her, then looks over at us and just shrugs with a huge grin on his face before taking off in almost a sprint.

  I look over at Jesse and blush as his baby blues find mine.

  “I had a great time tonight. Thank you,” I say, trying to sound sweet and sexy as we walk to the door, but instead it just comes out all squeaky as I start thinking about what we would be doing right now if Adam hadn’t walked in.

  Grabbing my hand he kisses the back of it and smiles, “Me, too and you’re welcome. Want to do it again?”

  I watch as he gets this wicked look in his eyes and I can’t help but blush.

  “Yeah, I would.”

  Jesse licks his lips slowly and leans in to me.

  “I can’t wait,” he murmurs, kissing me on that spot just beside my lips.

  When I finally fall into bed that night, I toss and turn with visions of blue eyes and tongue rings. I manage not to think about my blonde friend all night. It’s kind of a miracle.

  Maybe Vic is right. Maybe butterflies are overrated.

  I strum my fingers across the cords of my guitar, aimlessly playing a faint melody. With my chin resting on my shoulder and hair still a mess from sleep, everything seems simple again. The sun streaming in through my window slowly crosses over the nape of my neck, warming my skin. My eyes snap open, suddenly very aware of what was just there last night. Lips. Jesse’s lips. I get one of those full body shivers, a
nd set my guitar to the side of my bed and get up. Well, at least things were simple for a few seconds.

  I walk out into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee and as I open a cupboard to grab a mug, Vic sluggishly enters and plops down at the bar, rubbing her eyes and face repeatedly.

  “Good morning, sunshine!” I say more cheerful than necessary as I press the brew button on our fancy coffee machine.

  “What are you so cheery about? You came home alone last night,” she mumbles as she raises her arms up and stretches.

  One point for Vic.

  I purse my lips, and turn to her with a hot cup of coffee, and wave it around close to her sleepy face.

  “It’s not nice to pester the nice lady with coffee, now is it?”

  Her eyes go wide as she reaches out for the mug like a toddler, “Oh, gimme! Gimme, gimme!”

  I laugh and hand it over, not wanting to hear her wrath if I choose to withhold her morning caffeine buzz.

  “So how did it go last night? I mean, obviously you’re waking up alone so it didn’t end that well,” she quips, taking a big sip of her coffee.

  I stick my tongue out at her and then I bite at the corner of my lip as a small grin appears.

  “It… it was nice. I had a really great time with him.”

  She sighs, “What did I tell you about nice, Chase—old people and kids, and he is neither of those. Out with it.”

  I roll my eyes, and lean onto the counter beside her, propping my head on my hands.

  “Fine, it was… lovely.”

  “What the hell does that mean? God, talking to you about men is like talking to my grandma about her dating life.”

  I laugh, “Your Mamaw probably has more experience than I do.”

  She raises her eyebrows and then frowns, “Oh Lord, probably. Gross. All right, so you had a lovely time. Did you kiss him?”

  I feel my cheeks heat and I look down.

  “I didn’t kiss him per se, but his lips were plenty busy.”

  Her head perks up instantly, “Ok, now this is getting interesting! Do tell!”

  Smiling, I start to say something sarcastic but I’m interrupted by a knock at the door. I look at the clock and frown. It’s only a little after nine in the morning, who could possibly be here?

  I don’t have much longer to wonder because Vic hops off her stool, and after tightening her robe and fluffing her hair, she opens the door. Her face instantly turns into a clown’s face. With nothing but a giant smile, she cocks her head in my direction. I raise an eyebrow as a dark head of hair comes around the door.

  My eyes widen and my jaw falls open slightly as I watch Jesse waltz into the apartment carrying a tray of expensive looking coffee drinks and a box of donuts. His eyes fixate on me and his charming smile makes me feel tingly in places that make me want to blush all over.

  “Well, good morning, Gorgeous. I was hoping you were awake,” he says cheerfully, setting down all the goodies and then leaning across the counter and kissing me on the cheek. His hair tickles my cheek as he pulls back and I lick my lips as I turn my head to him and smile.

  “Good morning… what are you doing here?” I ask with a nervous chuckle.

  Resting one hand on the counter and running the other through his hair, he gives me one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen.

  “First, I didn’t get much sleep last night. Adam and his little friend, well, let’s just say that expensive suite has some thin walls.”

  I blush, tucking hair behind my ear as Vic approaches the counter, eyeing the coffee and food.

  “Secondly, I was hiding out at a little cafe when I got some incredible news and I had to come over and share it. My mom taught me to never show up empty handed, so tada! Breakfast a la Jesse. I didn’t know what kind of coffee you liked so I got the hot kind, the cold kind, the frou-frou kind with the whipped cream and sprinkles—” before he can finish Vic reaches over and snatches the Frappuccino.

  “DIBS!”

  Jesse and I look at each other and laugh. Vic takes a sip and smiles, waves at me and mouths DETAILS as she walks back down the hall to her bedroom.

  “Sorry about that. She’s kind of a coffee Nazi.” I say with a rough morning giggle.

  He shrugs, his black leather jacket shifting against his kind of tight fitting 2003 Warped Tour t-shirt. I tear my eyes away from him and look back at the counter.

  “I brought donuts, too. I know it’s nothing like the breakfast you cooked for us yesterday, but—”

  I open the top and peek in. “You found my kryptonite, ya know. Iced coffee and donuts. I can feel my butt jiggle just looking at them.”

  Loud, choked sounding laughter escapes Jesse’s lips and I mentally slap myself for saying that.

  “You won’t hear me complaining about that, Babe, so help yourself.”

  Looking up into those bright cobalt blue eyes of his, he gives me that naughty smirk, and I just shake my head, unable to take my eyes off him. He’s making this a little too easy. My guard is tumbling down with every wink, grin, and sweet comment. As soon as I let myself consider really letting myself like this blue-eyed cutie, I get hit with this sinking feeling of guilt in my gut.

  I grab the iced latte and take a sip, attempting to drown it. I smile up at Jesse and grab a donut.

  “So what’s this incredible news?”

  His eyes light up. “You’ll never believe it, but just say yes.”

  “What? Tell me what it is!”

  Shaking his head he takes a coffee out of the holder and takes a sip, “Say yes, and I’ll tell you.”

  I suck in my bottom lip and let out a laugh, shaking my head.

  “You’re evil, you know that?” I go on, taking a bite of my pastry.

  He winks, of course, and glances down at his watch.

  “Evil in a good way, right?” he flirts, wagging his eyebrows at me.

  One more ounce of flirting from this guy and I’m going to end up a pile of mush; so naturally, I cave.

  “Ok, fine. Yes. Now, what did I sell my soul for?”

  “Are you ready for this?” he asks, his tone suddenly serious and amusing all at once.

  I nod, feeling my pulse starting to quicken.

  “So, we sent over the new versions of the songs to the head honchos. They were so impressed by the initial improvements that they thought we had hired a new producer. Then they heard the one with you on it and they nearly fell out of their seats, Mel.”

  Tilting my head sideways, I gaze into his wildly excited eyes and I’m speechless.

  “Huh?” is all I can say.

  He laughs and leans in closer to me, taking one of my hands into both of his and holding it tight.

  “They want you to keep doing what you’re doing. You knew exactly what that song needed and we have so many more that the label just isn’t happy with, so you’re the outside ear that we need—with the talent to get the job done. With your help, our album could be fixed and out in a few months. Melanie, they want you to help us produce the rest of the album. They even mentioned possibly wanting a demo from you in the future.”

  I swear that for a minute my heart stops beating. My hands fly out from beneath his and cover my mouth.

  “SHUT UP!” I cry out, feeling the happiest tears I have ever cried start to fill my eyes.

  He laughs and reaches out, pushing some hair back from my eyes.

  “I’m serious. Avery and I conference called with them early this morning and told them that we didn’t want or need anyone else. You were the one for the job. So it’s yours, if you want it.”

  I wipe the tears away, dart around the counter, and fling my arms around his neck.

  “You have no idea how much I appreciate this. Oh, my god! Really? I mean, I just… Oh my god!” I cry out into his shoulder. My words are half muffled, but I’m not ready to let him go just yet.

  “We’ve got a long day ahead of us, so whenever you’re ready, we should probably get on over there.”

  That brings thi
ngs to a screeching reality.

  “What, NOW?” I say, pulling back and staring up at him.

  “Well, yeah! It’s the whole reason we are out here in L.A.!”

  I grin and dart off to my room, but halt when I hear him call out to me.

  Turning around, I see him standing there with that same naughty smirk from earlier.

  “What is it?” I ask, confused as to why he’s stopping me.

  He just nods at me and smiles even bigger, “Nice undies.”

  I look down and realize I’ve been out here this whole time in nothing but a tank top and panties.

  Letting out a tiny yelp, my hand shoots down to cover up my tender bits and I take off down the hall.

  I hear Jesse’s roaring laughter from behind me as he calls out to me, “Don’t be too long, Trouble!”

  Looking down only to see that I have on knickers that say trouble across the butt.

  I sigh and laugh; I could have a worse nickname…

  By the time dinnertime rolls around, the rest of the band calls it quits and decides to head out. Even a very hesitant Avery, who looks oddly sad today. Once Jesse and I arrived at the studio, we had been working nonstop. Mike started by teaching me everything he could about the equipment, and by lunchtime, I finally got the hang of the basics. This was far different from my home studio. Luckily, I know enough not to look like a complete idiot. I didn’t want to ruin this chance because I knew for sure it wouldn’t happen again if I messed up.

  After hours and hours of working between two different tracks, the guys head out, leaving Jesse and I behind.

  Avery hangs back, and no matter how hard I try not to, I can feel him watching me.

  “Did you guys want to go out with us and maybe get something to eat?” the blonde asks, his voice low and heavy. Now it’s more than obvious that something is bothering him.

  Before I can say anything, Jesse speaks up, though his eyes stay busy on the notebook in front of him.

  “Nah, I think I’m going to order something for us here and see if she will help me work on a few more things.”