Right Now

by Marie Hall

  Her smile was wobbly.

  Stepping out of the bathroom in nothing but her underwear and bra, she walked to her dresser and grabbed her hot curling iron. “Going out with slimeball again?”

  Narrowing my eyes, I snatched a black knitted top out of my drawer and slammed it shut. “His name is Alex and do not get me started on slimeballs, okay? You have zero room to talk.”

  She only rolled her eyes before walking back into the bathroom and slamming the door shut.

  Irritated with her and not wanting to put up with it another second, I pulled my shirt on. I yanked the rollers out of my hair, letting the pins scatter to the floor. I didn’t worry about putting on any other kind of makeup except for a thick streak of black liner across my eyelids I didn’t look my best and I knew something was going on with Jamie and Angel again, but I was too nervous to care.

  Actually, if I was being honest, I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Today when he’d called, Alex had sounded wrong. The laughter was gone from his voice, and I’d had a terrible feeling that I was about to become the golden Adonis’s latest victim. But I’d opened myself up to that possibility the second I’d slept with him.

  Right now had seemed like a great theory at the time, but now it just sucked balls and I was moody and pissed and definitely not in the mood to deal with Jamie and her crap. Then the phone rang.

  Recognizing the ring tone immediately, I growled, not wanting to deal with my mother, but knowing I had no choice.

  “Mom?” I said the second I clicked Talk.

  “Misaki,” she snapped, “what in the world type of greeting is that? What have I ever done to you?”

  Gritting my teeth, I forced on a fake smile, hoping maybe it would help take the bite out of my words. “Absolutely nothing, Mother. How can I help you?”

  “Good God, Misaki, don’t think your mother doesn’t recognize sarcasm when she hears it?”

  I rolled my eyes again as I rubbed the bridge of my nose and chanted “serenity now” over and over and over in my head. “Sorry, Mom. Just a bad day at work.”

  I’d had the day off, but she wouldn’t know that since she liked to pretend I didn’t work at the tattoo parlor anyway.

  “What, you mean painting on people is hard?”

  Oh my God. A pick to the brain would be easier than this. “Mother,” I said, proud of myself that my voice sounded only slightly strained. She knew I didn’t tattoo, but whatever.

  But then she was back to pretending as always. “Your father is planning an intimate gathering for family and a few friends at the lake house next month, and I’m taking a head count for the caterer.”

  Intimate for my mother was more like fifty to a hundred people. Kaori Stone did not know the meaning of small or intimate. But I also knew what she was implying by suggesting I give her a head count; the actual intent was to find out if I was still dating Alex or whether she could set me up with one of the “good” boys of my father’s acquaintance.

  I used to fight her about it. How hard she’d try to set me up, make me pretend to be one of them. The thing of it was, I never would be one of them. I loved my family, but I just wasn’t into their lifestyle. No offense to her, it just wasn’t me. But I was done fighting it. My mom wouldn’t change, and I was getting too old to care. I’d sort of gotten to the point of disgruntled acceptance. At the end of the day, I did love her.

  “Two.” I crossed my fingers. If Alex was a forgotten memory by that point, at least I could possibly convince Jamie to come with. So long as she wasn’t acting like the busybody ass that she was.

  “Who?” she asked in that no-nonsense cultured voice of hers, the one that always made me think she had a stick up her ass.

  “Good-bye, Mom.”

  “Misaki Rose Stone, do not take that tone with me.”

  “Mother.” I pinched my brow, feeling a migraine trying to take root. “Is there anything else?”

  A pause. “Must there be something else for me to call my only daughter?”

  “Oh, Mother, please.”

  “You sound tired. Are you eating enough? You know you lose too much weight when you start to stress out. It’s very unsightly when you do, especially with all those awful tattoos on you.”

  “Mother.” I stressed the word, fighting the urge to snap. “Did you just call to tell me how great of a disappointment I am? Because I’m really not in the mood to hear it today.”

  “Misaki.” She sighed. “I…I…” She sighed again. “What’s the matter, butterfly?”

  The world was seriously about to end. My mother rarely had a maternal bone in her body; I could literally count the number of times she’d shown motherly affection. So of course it discombobulated me and turned me into a stuttering idiot.

  “I’m just. I don’t… ugh, Mom.” Her name came out like a plea, for what, I wasn’t exactly sure.

  There was a loud knock at the door and my heart seized, my mouth went suddenly dry, and I froze.

  “Misaki?” she asked, and the sound of her voice broke me from my trance.

  Shaking myself, I took a deep breath. “Mom, I have to go.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Mom, I really have to go.” And then I called out, “Coming!”

  “Misaki?”

  “Haha, love you. It’s my date.”

  “That boy?” The sneer was back in her voice. I knew the sweet Kaori wouldn’t last.

  “Mother. Good-bye.”

  “Mi—”

  “Byeeee,” I drawled out the word as I pulled the phone away from my ear, gently clicking it off even as I heard her tiny screech of “Misaki” vibrate over the line. I’d get a tongue-lashing for that later for sure.

  “Coming,” I called again as I heard another knock. Hopping toward the hall mirror, I fluffed my bangs one last time and then threw open the door. Even though a swarm of butterflies was nesting in my belly, my mouth still spread into a wide smile.

  “Alex.” I said his name more like a whisper of breath.

  He looked so good. Yummy even. He was standing in the hall, wearing a faded crimson shirt with yet another sports team logo on it, a ball cap, distressed jeans, and a pair of tan cowboy boots; my heart totally tripped in my chest. He and I were such total opposites, but that was part of the appeal of the guy. Always had been.

  The best part was that he smiled just as wide as I did, and the nerves that’d threatened to make me puke all night were replaced by a scorching heat because now I was thinking about where his mouth had been on my body and how I desperately wanted it back there again.

  We didn’t have to go out, we could stay in and just chill. I was ready to invite him in, but he grabbed my hand and was pulling me out into the hall. The protest died on my tongue when he started kissing me, making me weak in the knees.

  “Hey,” he finally whispered when we broke away.

  “Hey, back.” I laughed, loving that I could touch him this way, that Alex Donovan was in my arms and I was in his and he was looking at me like I’d always dreamed he would back in high school.

  “So what’s the plan for today?”

  Considering it was just barely noon, we pretty much had the entire day. I drew my hand up his chest and wet my lips. “Well, we could go out for lunch. Or…” I stepped in as close to him as I possibly could, shivering at the intense look in his eyes when he looked down at me. “We could go back to my room.”

  His body trembled and I experienced a surge like lightning arcing through me, making my blood hot.

  “As much as I would love that…” His Texas drawl was loud and proud. “We can’t. I can’t.” He swallowed hard and I stepped back, the cold and fear returning with a vengeance.

  But he wouldn’t let me pull away from him. “It’s not what you think, Zo. You mean something to me and I want to prove to you that it’s more than just that. I want to get to know you. Hang out with you. Do you understand?”

  I had to take a second to work through that.

  Any other guy and
I’d be seriously ready to slam the door in his face, recognizing a brush-off when I heard one. But in this case, I wasn’t hearing that. Or seeing that. His silver eyes were wide and his arms open to me. A player didn’t want to get to know his conquests; a player would take exactly what I just offered and walk away.

  And as much as I wanted to go back to my bedroom, I understood what he was trying so hard to do and it totally made me melt.

  “You mean that?”

  He crossed his heart.

  “Fine.” My smile was small and tight, but my heart felt light. “What’s the plan?”

  “I have a couple of appointments to look at apartments, but after that—no plan. I can go by myself, or…” He let the rest dangle.

  Planting my palm on his chest, I leaned in and kissed the tip of his nose. “If you don’t mind company, I’d love to hang out with you and look at places.”

  A twinkle glinted in his eye. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

  Chapter 12

  Alex

  What the hell had Doc been thinking, telling me to abstain? I realized one very unsavory truth about myself just then: I had zero skills when it came to small talk. I didn’t have the first damn clue how to do it. Never needed to rely on it before.

  “Alex…”

  Her sexy bedroom voice made my balls ache and any other day I would have turned on the charm, given her the wicked smile that I knew flashed my dimple and made all the girls swoon into a puddle of want at my feet.

  What was surprising was that with any other girl I would have shoved Doc’s suggestion out of my head just long enough to do the dirty mambo on the sheets. Flashing a weak-ass grin I turned to her. “Yeah?”

  Her brows puckered. “You feeling okay? We don’t have to do this if you’re tired. You worked this morning and looked at apartments all afternoon. It’s cool if you just want to go home and chill.”

  But I heard the truth in her voice. She wasn’t ready to end this and truthfully neither was I. Rubbing the back of my head, I shook my head. “No, I’m okay. Just feeling out of sorts.”

  The last apartment we’d scouted today was nestled in the heart of Austin. Stepping out of the complex dropped me smack into the center of all the action. The atmosphere was electric—between the honking cars, the constant stream of bodies weaving through the city like a salmon migration, and the smell of exhaust and food, I felt my mood gradually shifting to a more even keel.

  “How about food?” she asked, slipping her small hand through mine, and damn it felt good. Right.

  Squeezing her fingers, I nodded. “Yeah, I could go for something. What are you in the mood for?”

  “If we were closer to my apartment, I’d just bring you over and make you something. I’m not much of a cook, but I can make a mean burger.”

  Stopping at a crosswalk, I turned and drew her luscious curves into my body. It didn’t help. At. All. Her ass settled between the crook of my thighs and the God of Thunder was definitely starting to perk up at the feel of it.

  She laughed and swatted my arm but didn’t pull away. She had to feel me, but if the answering grin on her face was any indication, she was happy to be where she was.

  “Mmm. I think I’d like to sample your burger one day.” I bit my lip suggestively, falling back into old habits right away. But with her, I wasn’t trying to get into her pants. Well, not really. Though if she suggested it, I might just have to fall off the wagon. I could honestly tell Doc I’d given it my best but the minx had attacked me first, and no red-blooded male could be expected to pass up such a prime opportunity.

  Sliding her hand up my arm and then across my chest, she shrugged. “Maybe tomorrow? If you want.”

  “Oh, I definitely want.” My stomach twisted into a sharp knot and I grimaced. “But we may have to find something soon or you’ll be flagging down a cop ’cause there’s a raving lunatic on the loose.”

  The stars around her eyes danced as she laughed. “So you’re one of those? Feed me or I turn into a beast type of guys?”

  Pushing off the fire hydrant I’d settled onto, I walked across the road, still holding her hand. “Something like that.”

  “Lucky for you, I know the best burger dive in all of Austin. You up for it, vanilla?”

  “As long as it’s not made with napalm or full of nails, yeah, I’m up for it.”

  Snorting, she led the way, threading down several streets until finally I saw an empty lot full of food trucks. The smells coming out the windows were unreal. From roasted Texas-style barbeque brisket to fried green tomatoes and fried chicken, to carne asada trucks and finally at the end of the row of trucks sat one that was painted to resemble a tropical sunset.

  The sign in front of it read: Texas Style Aloha Burgers—Texas Big with Aloha Love. The line was easily the longest, probably fifty people deep, but the two guys taking orders in front were handing out food just as fast as they received new orders.

  “The best, huh?”

  She ruffled her bangs, then slipped her hands into her skirt pocket. “Yup. The best. Trust me, you’re gonna love ’em.”

  I didn’t say anything—honestly, she could offer to feed me sawdust and I would have probably nodded and said it was the closest thing to heaven I’d ever had. I was having a good time; now that the idea of sex was off the table, it took the stress off trying to be suave or charming. I was free to be me, and surprisingly, I liked it.

  “All right. I’ll trust you.” As we waited in line I looked at her, again marveling how different we were.

  She pierced people for a living. I did jack shit. She’d seen so many different parts of the world—me, I’d only ever seen Texas. She was a walking, breathing mural of fine art. I was as plain and unadorned as she accused me of being. But for all that, we felt right.

  Obviously noticing my look, she turned to me. “What’s up?”

  “Nothing. Just wondering what kind of name I should call you. Not fair that you get to give me all these crazy names, and I don’t have something special for you.”

  Her lips curled seductively and again I had the distinct impression that she was sizing me up. It actually made my stomach hot and my body spark.

  “How about Zoe the Magnificent?” she suggested.

  I wrinkled my nose. “I’m thinking more along the lines of Thunder Thigh Z or Z the Barbarian Babe, or Zoe of the Curvy Ass, or Z You Make My…”

  She laughed so hard that it drew the attention of several sets of eyes. “Thunder Thigh Z! Are you kidding me?” Kicking out her very trim, very fit leg, she turned it from side to side. “I guess this means I should skip the dessert menu.”

  “Nah, it just means whenever you walk toward me the ground shakes, baby. Pumpkin? Sugar pie honey bunch?”

  “Good night!” The cowboy in front of us turned around and grimaced. “I don’t mean to eavesdrop, but damn those names.” His gray handlebar moustache wiggled as he spoke.

  “Yeah, right?” Zoe’s molten-brown eyes sparked. “A real Casanova this one.” She jerked her thumb in my direction.

  “Hey, I can’t help it that I’m so damn charming.”

  The cowboy just snorted and then stepped up to the counter, and we were next in line. Zoe draped her arms across my neck and leaned in so close that I could smell her orangey scent over the crush of greasy food.

  Gripping her waist, I smiled.

  “How about,” she said and tweaked my nose, “you just let it come naturally instead of forcing it.”

  “Hmm. I don’t know, I still kind of like Thunder Thigh Z. Has a nice ring to it.”

  The guy in front snorted and then stood off to the side so that we could order. The menu was long and extensive: grass-fed Angus beef with gourmet buns and a million different things crammed between them.

  It all looked good, and I didn’t have a clue what to get.

  “You want me to order? I’ve eaten almost everything here. Isn’t that right, Hank?” She turned to the sleeved-up, electric-blue-Mohawk-wearing employee. At le
ast a good decade older than us, he reached out and patted Zoe’s upper arm.

  “Been a while, darlin’,” he said in a thick Texas drawl. “Been meaning to get back to the shop so Ryko could finish my piece.”

  “Yeah.” Her straight white teeth flashed. “But you’re a little busy, I see. Jeez, business is booming for you guys.” She looked over her shoulder; the line hadn’t let up by much.

  He shrugged. “Doin’ all right. What can I get for you, sweetheart?” He tapped his order pad.

  She looked at me again.

  “Yeah, order whatever,” I said.

  Rubbing her hands together, she started. “Two teriyaki burgers with grilled pineapple—”

  “None for me.” I shook my head.

  She laughed. “Okay, one grilled pineapple. None for vanilla. But put a fried egg on his.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to say no to that too, but I figured one no today was good enough. I really wanted to tell her the only things I liked on my burgers were cheese, mayo, and lettuce. But I figured that would only reinforce her belief that I was dry toast to her grilled brioche, or whatever the hell fancy bread. So I clamped my lips shut and figured I’d go for the ride with this one.

  “Spicy secret sauce.”

  Ah hell, spicy. I bit my tongue.

  “Two enormous mounds of French-fried sweet potatoes.”

  Yuck.

  “And…” She turned to me. “Anything else?”

  My face was tight. “Nope.”

  “Oh, and two large Cokes.” Then, slapping a palm to my chest, she stuck out her tongue. “Don’t worry, frat, you’re gonna love it.”

  I reached into my wallet to pay, but she slapped my hand away.

  “Twenty-first century, cowboy. My treat.”

  That, I was okay with.

  We stood off to the side waiting for our food. The sun was just setting and suddenly the empty lot came alive with a thousand shimmering string lights. Someone had hung colored lights within the branches of trees and draped them along a wide perimeter surrounding the seating area.

  In minutes we had our food and were searching for a spot to sit. On the inside I was cringing when I saw the heaping concoctions. Once we were sitting at the farthest bench from the trucks, she smiled at me.