“Yeah right. Those were my thoughts last night and well...” I trailed off not wanting to go into details. My eyes shifted looking for Rissa where I had last seen her but she had moved.
Calvin slapped me on the back and chuckled, making me stop my search for her. “We’ve all been there, man. You’ll get used to it. My theory is enjoy the ladies and free drinks while you can. Eventually there will be some new prick in here showing his abs and flexing his muscles.”
“He’s got a point.” Jase shrugged and took a sip of his beer.
And I guess he did, but I wasn’t all that concerned about being replaced. This wasn’t my scene and was nothing I planned on getting used to. After this weekend, Tanner would be back to helping out Meredith and I’d be nothing more than a memory to these women.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Clarissa making her way to the food table where several types of finger-foods were laid out. Excited about the fact that I could catch her alone, I said my goodbyes to the guys and told them I’d catch them later.
“Nice dress,” I whispered in her ear as I walked up behind her.
I felt her shiver and mentally fist pumped myself.
“This old thing?” she joked.
“What do you say we blow this Popsicle stand and get a real dinner?” I had already had a meal after the signing while the girls went upstairs to get ready, but if Rissa was hungry I would eat again for her.
She shook her head at me disbelievingly. “I already told you, Ben. A date is not. Going. To. Happen.”
“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” I said nonchalantly even though her words were a blow to my ego for sure. “How about a drink? I have it on good authority that you’re hanging with the VIP right now and all my drinks are free.”
“That’s quite all right. I couldn’t take your drinks. Besides, I’m not planning on drinking anyway. I have an early morning flight home tomorrow.” She popped a cube of cheese in her mouth before grabbing another one and following suit.
“If you don’t want to go to dinner then why are you eating cheese like it’s your last meal?” I asked when she popped a few more cubes.
“Ugh. Stress,” she muttered in annoyance before eating a bite sized sandwich.
“I hope you aren’t lactose intolerant.” I motioned to the new pile of cheese she added to her plate.
“Ha. Ha. Very funny.” She rolled her eyes and picked up a glass of water.
“What has you so stressed?” I inquired.
“Nothing you’d care about,” she muttered.
“Try me. It’s a known fact that talking about whatever is worrying you helps to put it in perspective.”
“I’m sure it does, but I’m not talking about this with you. You’re practically a stranger.”
“I respect that. If you’re that stressed though you should have a drink. It will relax you and I promise not to let you get out of hand. I’ll cut you off if you start to get tipsy.” I crossed my fingers over my heart and gave her an endearing smile.
“I’m not much of a drinker. Not lately anyway. I think I’ll hold off. Thank you though.”
“It’s an open ended offer, so let me know if you change your mind.”
“Deal.”
I glanced around noting that several authors weren’t there yet, including Meredith. Not that I was going to complain about having Rissa all to myself for the time being. “So where’s Meredith?”
“She isn’t feeling well. I think it was the sushi she ate. She might come down for a little while later.” Her phone started ringing in her purse. She dug it out and scowled at the screen. “I need to take this. I’ll see you around.”
I watched her move away hating the fact that yet again, I had barely gotten to spend any time with her.
“Hey, Ben. Let me get you a drink,” Cassandra, the author who sat next to us earlier that day, said as she walked by me on her way to the bar.
Cassandra had hair so black it was nearly blue. She was tall and lithe with exotic eyes. Not only was she beautiful and classy but she was cool as shit too. It was refreshing after all the women eyeing me and making advances towards me.
I followed Cassandra to the bar where she ordered us each a bottle of beer. I tipped my bottle and winked in thank you.
“This was your first signing, right?” she asked, making small talk as we stood off to the side of the bar sipping our beer.
“Yeah. I’m filling in for my brother Tanner. I’m a little out of my element,” I confessed sheepishly.
“Please. You’re doing better than some people. You were completely professional today. What the models do is a direct reflection on the author they’re with. Whereas a few authors thrive on the craziness that might come with traveling with one of you guys, some of us appreciate keeping things drama free. Some activities should be kept on the down low. You know what I mean?”
I nodded my head and gave a noncommittal sound. She obviously hadn’t witnessed my less than stellar behavior the night before. Nothing about being with those girls was on the down low.
“Where are you from?” I asked in an effort to change the subject.
“Denver. You?”
“Central New York.”
“I’ve never actually been to that part of New York.”
“You aren’t missing too much. So what are your books about?”
I listened to Cassandra describe her books while I finished my beer. Her enthusiasm and passion for her art was contagious. She almost had me convinced to start reading romance books.
Just as I ordered my second beer, Clarissa joined us. Slamming her purse on the bar, she turned towards me. Her eyes flashed with anger and she had a face like thunder when she announced, “I’m ready for that drink now.”
*****
Clarissa was drunk. Drunk and adorably amusing.
After she came back, fiercely agitated and ready for a drink, I watched as she downed a shot of tequila and followed it up with a rum and coke, which turned into two—then three. I considered cutting her off like I had promised. Problem was I was enjoying her witty banter and the fact that she was very talkative under the influence.
I now knew she was an only child. Her father died of cancer when she was in high school. She lived with her grandmother while she attended college. She has a degree in cyber security and is a security consultant on both government and corporate contracts.
Her favorite color—green.
Her favorite band—Bruce Springsteen (good choice).
Her favorite book—Pride and Prejudice.
Her favorite food—Reuben sandwiches.
She has a cat named Trixie that she considered her baby. Proving that point, she called her answering machine—yes, she still had an answering machine—and made kissing noises to her cat over the phone. I can’t remember the last time I laughed so hard.
I was so caught up in every detail she was giving me about herself that I wasn’t even sure when Cassandra left our table.
“So tell me about Ben.” She swayed a bit in her chair before laughing. Definitely going to have to cut her off soon.
“There isn’t much to tell.” I lifted my shoulder in a shrug, unsure what she wanted me to say.
“What do you do for fun?” With her elbow on the table and her head in her hand, she leaned forward in interest.
“I like to play sports, I hike, and I like to fish.”
“I’ve always wanted to go hiking,” she said wistfully.
“So why don’t you?”
“Because I’m kind of adverse to exercise.” She wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out in disgust.
“Why?” I asked with a chuckle.
“Because you get all sweaty and tired. It’s gross.”
Images of wearing her out, our sweat slickened bodies moving against each other flashed in my head. I leaned forward and gave her a wolfish grin. “Nothing wrong with releasing some energy and getting a little sweaty. I could show you a few ways that you’re guaranteed to enjoy.
”
She swallowed hard and stared at my mouth with a heated look in her eyes. “I guess there isn’t.”
Knowing I needed to reel my flirting in a bit, I sat back in my chair but the knowing smile never left my face. Just because I told her we’d be friends, didn’t mean I wasn’t going to show her exactly what she was missing.
Still flustered, it took Rissa a minute to compose herself before she wisely changed the subject.
Sometime during drink number five, Rissa became very tactile. Everything she said was punctuated with a touch, a slap, or a slight caress on some part of my body. She flirted freely—twirling her hair and crossing her legs so that her foot brushed my leg.
I was proud of myself for not outwardly reacting to this change in her composure even though I wanted to... Boy did I want to. Instead, I remained aloof yet interested. I kept my hands to myself and tried to keep some distance between us.
It wasn’t until I discovered why I had a drunk Rissa on my hands that I lost my self-control. Don’t hate me though because any man would have with the things she said.
Turned out the phone call she got earlier in the night was from her loser ex-boyfriend Scott. He was begging her for forgiveness, wanting another chance with her.
“This time it will be different. Blah, blah, blah,” she said with dramatic flips of her hands as she talked. “I told him sooooooo many times that nothing was ever going to happen as long as his wife was still his wife. So dumb. Right?”
“Rissa, babe. He’s an idiot. I wouldn’t waste any more time on him,” I told her my honest opinion.
“You know what, Ben Harris? You. Are. Right. I’m too good for that ass.” She let out a hiccup followed by a little giggle, making me smile. She was so damn cute. I had to restrain myself from leaning over and kissing her right at that moment.
“I’m never going to have an orgasm again,” she randomly announced a few minutes later, causing me to spit my beer out all over the table.
“Um what?”
She leaned in conspiratorially and mock whispered, “Scott was the only man who ever made me... you know... come.”
“Are you being serious right now?” I croaked out past a dry throat. The thought of her coming was far too vivid in my mind. My body was reacting, hardening quickly at the very idea of the way I assumed her lips would part, her eyes would widen and her back would arch.
“I do it myself sometimes, but it’s so much better when it’s someone else doing it. Like toe curling good. And now it’s gone,” she pouted.
“You don’t think another man could get you off? That Scott was the only one with that type of talent?” I somehow managed to get out even though my mind was spinning with all the possibilities.
“All the others couldn’t,” she said slowly and in an annoyed tone as if I was an idiot for even considering questioning her logic.
I didn’t want to think about how many people made up the others. All I knew was I was primed and ready to be the one to show her what type of pleasure her body was capable of. Even if it meant putting my own gratification on hold.
“Sweetheart, I would love nothing more right now than to take you upstairs and show you just how hard I can make you come. I would even venture a guess that you’d be coming more than once.” There was no way to sugarcoat my proposal. She was drunk and might regret this in the morning, but I wanted to taste her with a ferocity I had never experienced before and the more we talked about orgasms, the harder I was getting.
“You... I...” she stammered. A blush crept up her neck and face while her mouth hung open like a dead fish.
“You and I. That sounds like a fantastic idea.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her up from her chair. “Tell me right now if this isn’t what you want. Say the word and we’ll pretend this conversation never happened.”
Rissa swallowed hard and her eyes searched my face for several moments, but she didn’t say the word. Desire and anticipation swelled in my chest as I waited. My heart pounded like a drum. My skin felt taut. My body was harder than I ever remembered it being before. “Are you going to say the word?” My voice was deceptively calm when inside I was anything but.
“I can’t,” she finally whispered.
In that moment I wanted to roar in triumph—she wanted me too. Instead, keeping her hand locked in mine, I began leading us from the room as quickly as I could. We were five feet from the door when a woman stepped in front of us, causing Rissa to slam into my back after my abrupt stop.
“I was just about to come looking for you. We were hoping to get some pictures of you on your throne,” the short, older woman said to me.
“Now?”
“Yes. We only have another hour left and I don’t want to miss our opportunity. You are the VIP after all,” she stressed making me feel a little shitty about the fact I had been shirking my responsibility to be visible in order to keep Rissa all to myself. Even the circling women hadn’t dared infiltrate the little bubble that surrounded us while we sat at our corner table talking.
“Of course. I’ll be right over there.”
The woman left us with a tight smile. I turned to Rissa and with my fingers under her chin, tipped her head up to me.
“This shouldn’t take long,” I promised. There was no way in hell I was going to allow anything to come between getting this girl naked if I could help it.
“I should really get back to my room.”
“No.”
“No?” she said with defiance in her voice. She pulled her head from my hold on her and cocked a hip. “If I want to go to bed mister, I’m going to bed.”
Deciding to placate her changing drunken moods, I calmly explained, “I don’t want you to go alone. There are some seriously crazy people out there. I’ll feel better if you let me take you up to your room.”
“Oh all right!” She stomped her foot like a petulant child. “I guess I can hang out with Cassandra until you’re done being God’s gift to all the women.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead even as she protested. “You’re the only one I care about.”
Sitting on my throne through dozens of pictures was daunting. In between different authors and assistants coming up to get their pictures taken, I discreetly kept an eye on Rissa—who appeared to have another drink in her hand as she talked animatedly to Cassandra and another woman.
Just as I thought the last woman had been serviced and no more pictures were going to be taken, three more came rushing over to me. One wrapped her arms around my neck from the side while the other two jumped on my lap.
“We’re so excited to be here with you,” one babbled from my lap.
“I would love to memorize every inch of those yummy abs you displayed on Cowboy Showdown,” another chimed in.
The third one didn’t bother talking because her mouth was too busy planting wet kisses along my neck, cheek and jaw.
Not again, I thought.
Trying to pull my head away from her lips, my hands worked to extricate myself from the two on my lap. I had to look ridiculous squirming on the chair while being covered by three women.
Only adding to the awkwardness of the situation was the fact that there was laughter ringing out at my expense. This wasn’t funny. It was downright crazy to accost someone like this.
“Benny,” a high pitched whiny voice had me pausing in my movements. My eyes shot up and locked with the twinkling blues of Clarissa.
She turned her attention to the other women, leaned forward and said in a downright bitchy tone, “I’m carrying his baby! How dare you! Get off my man!”
Taken aback by Rissa’s outburst the women sat stunned for a moment before scrambling off my lap and pulling their claws out of my skin. I took a huge sigh in relief and gave her a grateful smile.
“You defended my honor,” I said when she stepped in front of where I sat depleted of energy on my throne.
“Honor? What honor?” she said flippantly.
“Saved me,” I added.
“Yeah, yeah. Someone had to. At first I thought you’d enjoy it. I was surprised when you started acting like someone threw ants in your pants,” she teased right before bursting in uncontrollable laughter.
Grasping her around her waist, I took her by surprise and pulled her down on my lap. Locking my arms around her, I held her warm, soft body against mine. I breathed in her lilac scent, burying my head in her neck.
“You’re carrying my child?” I chuckled at the way she handled those girls.
“Don’t start,” she warned and for a split second I worried that I had maybe gone too far. It was too soon to be joking about children. Then again, it was far too soon for a lot of things between us, but that didn’t mean they weren’t happening or that they weren’t inevitable.
I stopped thinking, almost losing all reason and taking her right then and there, when she eventually relaxed, wrapped her own arms around me and I felt her small hands on my neck. For the better part of a year I had been dying to feel her hands on me. It far surpassed all my expectations.
The air was charged between us. Each breath she took pushed her breasts into my chest. The energy flowing between our still clothed bodies was unreal and like nothing I had ever experienced before.
For as much as my body screamed for her, now that we weren’t discussing her orgasms, I knew there was no way I could follow through with anything sexual with her when she was this drunk. For as much as I wanted her, I wanted her willingly. I wanted her to tell me how much she needed me without any outside influence. It was the only way.
Damn my conscience for rearing its ugly head at the most inopportune times.
Needing to make the atmosphere a little lighter, I dug my fingers into her side and tickled her. She squirmed and laughed, spurring me to continue. I loved the carefree sound of her laughter. It settled in my chest and made me feel lighter.
“I feel kind of like royalty up here,” she said in between giggles.
“You’re the Queen and I’m your King,” I whispered in her ears. Stopping my torture, I let my hands rest loosely on her waist. It was an effort to keep them there and not let them roam over her luscious curves.
Man Candy Page 6
