Behind The Book (Sexy Series 2)

by Heather Dahlgren

  “I’ll be right back,” Jax says.

  I nod at him and turn to Brody. “It’s fucking packed. I’m going to push my way on the dance floor. Since you’re my wingman, you’ll be coming.”

  He laughs and guzzles half his beer. “All right, let’s go, but Blake, just so you know, this is the last time you volunteer me for wingman.”

  I laugh as I push my way onto the dance floor. I find a spot and, luckily for me, there’s a sexy blonde shaking her ass. I look over at Brody and wink. He shakes his head and stands there like a fucking puss. I sip my beer and watch to make sure she isn’t here with someone. When I see her friend, who would be perfect for Brody, I know she’s here with friends. I move closer and wrap my arm around her waist. I hear her suck in a breath, and she whips her head around to look at me.

  “Oh, ummm, hey.” She spins around facing me, and I keep my arm wrapped around her.

  “Hey. You want to dance?” I give her my grin and I see her blush. Yep, she’s totally game for this.

  “Umm, sure. I’m Kate.”

  I pull her closer, sip my beer, and give her a wink. “Beautiful name for a beautiful woman. I’m Blake.”

  Her eyes get wide and her mouth drops open a bit. “Blake Foster, oh my God. Holy shit, I’m a huge fan.”

  This is great for my ego. I start moving to the beat and move my hand down to her ass. She bites her lip and moves with me. This is what I need, a sexy woman pressed up against me and a beer in my hand.

  We dance for a few songs, and it’s becoming exploring hands. She’s shy, which is cute, but if I’m going to deal with shy, I need another beer. I move in close and purposely run my knuckles on her neck as I move her hair away from her ear. “Let’s go get a drink.”

  She appears a bit uncertain, but when I run my hand down her back, lightly across her ass, and around front to grab her hand, she smiles and goes with me. One thing I know is women. I know what they want to hear and how to touch them to have them begging me. Not that I want this girl begging, well, not yet, but I know how to get her to that point.

  We get to the bar and I order us each a shot, a beer for myself, and some pink frou-frou drink for her. I lean against the bar and wink at her. I might be eating my words, because this girl is either trashed or extremely nervous around me. I take her hand and she peeks down at it.

  “Kate.” She glances at me and I grin. “Do I make you nervous?” She drops her head and stares at the floor. Holy crap, this girl is a little too much for me. I’m not really the kind of guy who goes for shy girls. I like them to have confidence. The bartender hands me the shots and drinks, so I pay him and hand her a shot. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s do these shots, and then you can go back to your friends.” I can see her visibly relax and I blow out a breath. We toss back the shots and I hand her the pink drink. “Thanks for the dance. Have a good night.”

  She blushes and takes the drink. “Thank you, Blake Foster.” She quickly goes back to her friends and I hop up on a barstool. Sometimes it’s better to just sit and regroup. Halfway through my beer, I realize my wingman and best friend are both missing. What the fuck? I pull my phone out of my pocket and check it, but no missed texts. It wouldn’t be the first time they left me, but what the hell? We haven’t even been here long. I’m not even drunk yet.

  I decide to go outside for a quick smoke. I lean up against the brick wall and watch people coming and going. The amount of people stumbling out of the bar amazes me. Either they must have gotten here early or they just can’t hold their alcohol.

  “Well, if it isn’t Blake Foster.” I grin and turn around to the familiar voice.

  “Emily Slone. It’s been a while.” I put my cigarette in the ashtray and pull her in for a hug. Emily is an extremely sexy model friend with benefits. Whenever either of us is having a dry spell or just a lonely night, we give each other a call. It’s been a few months since we were last together, and I think I just found the solution to my blue balls.

  “It sure has been a while. Where the hell have you been hiding?”

  I wink at her and lean back up against the wall. “You know me, Em, I don’t hide. I’m always front and center.”

  She gives me that flirty smile of hers and moves a bit closer. “I guess I just haven’t been looking close enough. So, you have any plans tonight?”

  Damn, just what I needed to hear. I can’t believe I didn’t think to call her. She always knows how to get me off. I wrap my arm around her waist and pull her close. We both stare at each other for a minute before I lean forward and gently bite her neck. She lets out a loud sigh, and I can feel my cock stirring to life.

  “The only plans I have include you and my bed.”

  She runs her hands up into my hair and grabs handfuls. “You buy me a shot and a drink first and then let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Hell yes. I grab her hand and go back inside. I head right for the bar and order us each a shot and a beer. No frou-frou drinks for this girl. She hops up on the barstool, and I cage her in by placing my arms on the bar behind her. Neither of us says anything, it’s not necessary. There is so much sexual desire swirling around us, we know exactly what’s going to happen.

  The bartender gives me the shots and beers. I hand her a shot and hold mine up. “To a long overdue night.” We tap glasses and throw back the shots.

  “You want to dance while we drink these beers?” she asks.

  Why the hell not? It’ll be that much sooner I get to touch her body. “Sure.”

  We go out onto the dance floor, and as soon as we stop, I pull her flush against me. We start moving, and the more we move, the harder my cock gets. She runs her free hand up my chest at the same time she thrusts her hips forward. She’s like water to a man dying of thirst. I can’t wait any longer. I need to be with her. “Chug that beer, Em, because we need to get the fuck out of here.” She gives me a smile and presses the bottle to her lips. I need to turn away before I end up busting a nut right here and now.

  I glance out into the sea of people and my eyes are drawn to the right, as if I have no control over where I’m looking. In an instant, the wind is knocked out of me and my heart pounds in my chest. Standing off to the side doing a shot is none other than London Tweed. I peek down quickly at Emily, and my once painfully hard cock is no more. The spell is broken; the drink of water is spilled on the damn floor. I can’t do it. Son of a bitch, I can’t do it.

  Chapter Three

  London

  “You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. Never in my life have I been this turned on or attracted to someone. I’m not good with words, London, but I can show you everything I’m feeling with my body, all right?”

  I snap my eyes open and the sun flowing in my windows blinds me. I thought for sure after going out last night that I wouldn’t have the dream. Shannon and I had the best time, well, her probably more than me. She ended up meeting a guy, and they hung out most of the night. Thankfully, I saw some of the waitresses from the restaurant and we danced and drank a lot. The funny thing is that I could have sworn I felt eyes on me, not the whole night, but toward the end. I kept glancing around and didn’t see anyone looking at me, but I couldn’t shake the feeling. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was wishful thinking, but I have no idea for sure.

  I take a deep breath and decide to get up, since it’s already ten o’clock. I drag my tired ass out to the kitchen and start a pot of coffee. Shannon is still sleeping, and since she’s in my office, I sit on the couch and pull Facebook up on my phone. As usual, I talk with my street team, post on my author page, and answer a few private messages. I love hearing from readers. It makes everything I do worth it. I just received a message from a reader saying she felt such a connection to one of my characters that it made her cry. How can you ask for anything more? Every message I receive makes me smile.

  After drinking two cups of coffee and still no Shannon, I decide to go wake her ass up. I open the office door and have to hold back a laugh whe
n I see she’s still in her dress from last night. She’s passed out on her stomach with her arms and legs out to the side. I guess she was more trashed than I thought. I’d let her sleep, but it’s now after twelve and I want to go get some lunch. I pull open the blinds and she starts to stir.

  “Shannon, get up.” She groans so I plop down on the bed and laugh when she tries to kick me off. “Come on, you hung-over bitch, get up.”

  “Seriously, London, I want to kick your ass right now. Shut up.”

  I laugh again, but go grab her some Motrin and a bottle of water. “Here, take this and I’ll go shower. When I get out, you better be at least sitting up.” I put the Motrin and water down on the side table and head off to the shower.

  When I’m in there I start to feel bad for waking her up. This is her vacation. I should have let her sleep in. I shake my head and let the water run down over me. I’m deep in thought between the ridiculous reoccurring dream and feeling like a shit friend. When the bathroom door opens, I scream.

  “Relax, it’s just me. I need to pee out some of this alcohol.” Like I said, she always keeps me laughing.

  I decide to pick us up some subs and bring them back to the house. That way, I’m not rushing her anymore. When I get back, she’s on her phone relaxing on the couch, and she smiles at me.

  “What are you smiling at?” I put our food on plates and bring it into the living room. I sit next to her and she puts down her cell phone.

  “Last night didn’t go how it should have. I’m sorry I left you. That isn’t how it was supposed to be. I was supposed to help you, and I go off and find a hot, fuckable guy, leaving you to hang with girls from work.”

  I shrug my shoulders and finish chewing my food. “Shan, do you really think I care? This is your vacation, you should be having fun. You aren’t here to babysit me, for Christ’s sake. I’m a big girl. I’m glad you found a hot, fuckable guy. Now let me live through you. Tell me all about him.” She sighs, she actually sighs, and I get excited because I haven’t seen her like this in a very long time. She must really be into this guy. Is that even possible after one night?

  “Long story short, his name is Brody. He owns his own construction company, and he’s the best kisser my lips have ever touched. He wasn’t your ordinary bar pick up. He actually wanted to talk and get to know me. He danced, he laughed, and once we kissed, it was like he couldn’t get enough.” Her phone goes off and she grabs it, smiling.

  “Let me guess, fuckable Brody is texting you.” She peeks up at me and winks.

  I laugh, shaking my head, and continue to eat my lunch while she texts. I am happy for her, but part of me wants to say, you don’t live here, how will this work? After one night at a bar, can you really start to have feelings for another person? My creative mind starts going, and I can see the beginning of a new story developing. Maybe I need to think like one of my characters. They wouldn’t overthink things. They wouldn’t give their friends a hard time. They would go with it. I should do that with my own damn love life, or lack of. I decide to take my own advice, or my characters’ advice, and just go with the flow.

  Shannon finally puts the phone down and smiles up at me. “Ugh, I’m sorry. I keep ignoring you.”

  I smile and hug her. “I’m happy you’re happy. That’s what matters.”

  She laughs and pulls away from me. “Well, I’m glad you said that because he invited us to a party on Saturday, and I told him we’d be there.” She busts out laughing and I shake my head. I guess we’re going to a party.

  The rest of the day, we watch sappy love movies and wish those men existed in real life. When it’s close to dinnertime, Shannon says she wants to go out to eat and then go sit on the beach for a while. Sounds perfect to me, so we get ready, and I take her to one of my favorite Chinese restaurants. Just as we get our food, my phone rings. Shannon raises an eyebrow and I shrug. I have no idea who would be calling me. I take it out of my purse and see it’s Kallie.

  “I have to get this, it’s Kallie.” She smiles and I flip her off. She thinks Blake will be brought up. Too bad, I know it’s about my photo shoot. “Hey, Kallie, how are you feeling?”

  “Hi. I’m feeling so much better, thanks. I heard you saw Jax in the grocery store the other day.”

  I smile, thinking about it. “Yes, I did. How was your soup?”

  She laughs. “Let’s just say I don’t love him for his cooking.” I join her laughing this time and glance up at Shannon, who is once again texting. “Jax told me he invited you to his place Saturday for his party, you better be coming.”

  Shit, I forgot all about it. I don’t say anything and once again look at Shannon. Then it hits me. “I’d love to, but my best friend is visiting, and we actually have plans to go to another party. I’m sorry. Next time.” I feel total relief knowing I avoided this party without appearing like I was avoiding it.

  “Fine, but next time for sure. All right, to the real reason I’m calling. I need to figure out this shoot for you. I know you said you would be happy not to use Blake, and believe me, I understand, but I don’t know who to use as a replacement. I thought Jax or Max, but they’re too well known to stand in for him. Blake is also well known, so it’s hard finding someone that people will actually think is him.”

  Fuck, fuck, fuck. I was so afraid this was going to happen. I honestly don’t know what to do. The author in me says suck it up. You need this cover with Blake. My heart says you’re crazy and just use someone else. “Can I think about it and call you back in the morning?” I’m sure I’m driving her crazy. She probably regrets getting involved with me at this point.

  “That’s fine, but let’s try to figure it out because I need to make sure whoever you decide on is available.”

  I feel like such a fucking fool. I take a deep breath and decide to think like one of my characters. What would they do? I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “You know what, let’s stick with Blake. It really is the best way to go.” My heart is pounding, and my hands are sweating, but I need to stop hiding, like Shannon said.

  “Are you sure?”

  I’m not able to say how I actually feel. I will make this work. “I’m positive. Are we still on for two weeks then?” I wish Shannon were still going to be here. I’d make her go with me. However, in the same breath, I need to be a damn adult.

  “Yes, if you’re sure, we’ll do it in two weeks at my studio. I’ll call you closer to it with directions.”

  Shannon is staring at me with questioning eyes, and I’m sure my face reveals my fear. “Sounds great. Thanks, Kallie.” We say our goodbyes, and with a shaking hand, I put my phone back in my purse. I look up at Shannon and blow out a breath.

  “Well, don’t just sit there, tell me what the hell that was all about.” I tell her everything, and with every word I say, the smile on her face gets bigger and bigger.

  “London, I’m proud of you. You never know, maybe he’ll want your new number.”

  I roll my eyes and push my food away, no longer hungry. I know she thinks he’s pining after me, but I know he’s not. He’s probably all but forgotten about me, and I’m totally fine with that. I’m still humiliated by the whole thing.

  ***

  The entire week goes by entirely too fast. It’s already Saturday and Shannon will be leaving tomorrow. I do believe having her here was the best thing for me. We talked a lot and I’m done hiding. I’m going to be the person I used to be. The person who enjoys life, enjoys people, enjoys sex. I am done feeling like a prisoner.

  With my new attitude, we’re getting ready to go to the party that fuckable Brody invited us to. Shannon went out to dinner a few times with him and she seems extremely happy. I’m sad she has to leave, but we’re going to make the most out of her last night. I decide to wear my dark blue jeans with my white off-the-shoulder shirt. For the first time in years, I pick out matching sexy white satin panties and a strapless bra. I straighten my hair and apply a generous amount of makeup. I stare in the mirror and love what I s
ee. I haven’t felt like this since New York. I go over to my closet and search for my white heels. I grab them and go check on Shannon. I knock on the door and open it. I am blown away with how stunning she is. Not that she isn’t always beautiful, but tonight she has on a strapless black shirt and short white shorts. Her red hair is in a riot of curls and her makeup is like mine, heavier than usual, perfect for a night out.

  “Holy shit, you look amazing. Brody isn’t going to be happy to let you go tonight.” She sits down on the bed to put on her strappy sandals and gives me a weak smile. “What’s wrong?”

  “Honestly, I’m going to miss him. I wish I didn’t have to leave tomorrow. It figures when I finally meet someone I really like, he lives in another state.”

  Damn, I really thought this was just going to be a fling for her, but she let her heart get involved. I hope Brody doesn’t break it. “Sweetie, if he’s willing, there’s nothing wrong with a long-distance relationship.”

  She stands up and looks at herself in the mirror I have above the pullout couch. “Long distance doesn’t work. Been there, done that.”

  “You could always move out here. You can stay with me until you find a place of your own.”

  She laughs and pulls me in for a hug. “I love you, but I’m not moving because I like a guy. I’m not in love with him. We’ll just have to make tonight count.” She gives me a wink and I know she’s trying to convince herself. I’ll be the friend she needs and go along with it, because I know she’d do it for me.

  We are both ready to go and, of course, take a few selfies that I need to post. “You have the address, right?”

  She grabs her phone and checks. “Yes, I have the address. You know I don’t like being the first ones there, fashionably late is always the way to go. So how far is this from here?” I check the address and it’s only about ten minutes, give or take. When I tell her, she smiles and hands me my purse. “Perfect, let’s go get something to eat and then we’ll head over.” Not one to waste a night that I feel good about myself, I’m totally game.