RockMeTonight

by Lisa Carlisle

  “But Dad’s been dead since before I was born. And I’m almost thirty. It’s been so long I think you’re using it as an excuse not to get to close to anyone.”

  “Don’t worry about me, dear. I date. But I like my freedom. I don’t need to live with a man and deal with all that—stuff.”

  Like mother, like daughter.

  I knew what she meant. Relationships were tough and they took work. Apparently we adopted a more I can take care of myself, I don’t need to deal with any man’s crap attitude. But maybe Nico was different.

  What was I saying? I was the one who was different. And not in an acceptable way. Sometimes when I thought of him, I envisioned us together, not thinking about the furry little secret I had.

  I looked at the clock and said, “I better go so I’m not late for my meeting.” I kissed her and hugged her goodbye. “Until the next full moon.”

  “Unlike you,” she said, “I always look forward to them. Gives me a chance to see my girl.”

  Nico

  The moment I saw Lily again, it was as if I could finally exhale, as if I’d been holding my breath waiting for her. I had been unaware of the tension welling inside me, building the longer I waited, knowing that soon I would see her again.

  I had picked her up at her condo. When she answered her door in a pale long-sleeved, yellow dress that clung to her breasts and waist and swelled out down over her hips, words escaped me. As if she were some sort of flower signaling spring was ahead. Bright, hopeful, happy.

  My eyes traveled further down and saw the bright innocence of that dress was offset by the sexy black riding boots, worn by a very sexy woman.

  “Hello again,” she said with a naughty glint in her warm, cinnamon-colored eyes. A glint that sent the blood rushing through my body.

  Trying to force my erection from growing, I tried to think of anything else besides her eyes. Then I focused on her lips, which didn’t help matters, so I looked around her condo to break my gaze. Her living room was filled with a bookshelf, a brown suede sofa, and an armchair with a side table piled with books.

  “I’m glad I persuaded you to come out with me,” I said. “It was easier than trying to learn your name. Only slightly less.”

  She gave me a dazzling smile that brought my attention back to those luscious lips and made every part of my body feel alive. “Sorry if I’m difficult.”

  “Not difficult. Challenging?”

  She shrugged and smiled again. “Perhaps. But in a good way.” She grabbed a short black wool coat and a pair of leather gloves.

  “I don’t think you’ll need gloves,” I said. “It’s unusually sunny out today.”

  She shoved them into her pockets.

  “Besides, I’ll keep your hands warm,” I added.

  Staying true to my promise, I reached for Lily’s hand at the beginning of Bearskin Neck, a village artists flocked to on the coast in Rockport, Massachusetts. To walk hand in hand with this gorgeous, elusive woman meant more to me than I could comprehend at the moment.

  She clenched her hand for a brief moment as if she was going to pull away and I instinctively held it tighter. No, she couldn’t pull away. Then her fingers relaxed and she wrapped her hand around mine.

  A small victory. I forced a smug smile off my face.

  “It’s so picturesque down here,” she said.

  “Inspiring.”

  “I love the off-season. All the tourists are gone and this part of town returns to a sleepy little New England village.”

  I looked around at the funky little niche stores and restaurants, but many of them had closed for the season. “Only the die-hards stick around in the winter, I suppose.”

  She squeezed my hand. “That’s all we need.”

  Not sure what she meant by that, I didn’t respond.

  “I love this store.” She stopped outside one flanked with a knight’s shining armor on each side of the door. “Let’s go in.”

  We oohed and aahed inside the store, which was filled with all sorts of pewter trinkets and medieval weaponry. It was the kind of place where you didn’t need anything, but wanted everything. While she moved into the back part of the store, I scanned the front section with jewelry items. I wanted to find a small gift. Nothing over-the-top, but something that was perfect for her. And would show her I was thinking about her.

  Lily

  Walking hand in hand with Nico shot tiny sparks of excitement through my body. Something about how natural and protected my hand felt in his warm hold brought out feelings in me I’d buried so deep I didn’t think they existed. I feared I kept smiling like a goon and had to control my emotions from running away.

  “So what was it like growing up in England?” I asked.

  “It was great. We lived in a row house on a street with loads of kids. Lots of houses were built like that in Bristol. We had families on each side of us so there was always someone to play with.”

  “Do you have any siblings?”

  “I have a sister. She’s a few years older than me and she didn’t adjust to life in America when we moved. So Diana returned to Bristol when she graduated high school and she went to university there.” He smiled when recollecting something. “Actually I didn’t adjust very well either, but I was younger and eventually I got used to it here.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I was becoming a teenager, which is bad enough, but when you move to a new country and the kids tease you about your accent, it’s no picnic. The boys would shout ‘The redcoats are coming’ when they saw me and I ended up in quite a few brawls by the time I reached high school. The girls were a different story. They’d ask questions about whether I’d met the queen or Prince William or Harry. And in high school, I found the accent kind of helped rather than hindered getting girls.”

  “Lucky for you.” I smiled, raising an eyebrow.

  “Life in the States definitely turned up after that. And another thing too—I discovered music.”

  “Listening? Or playing?”

  “Both. I’d been a computer geek since I was little, creating programs as soon as I could reach the keyboard and type. However, when I was going through high school and dealing with all the rubbish you deal with when you’re that age, I needed an outlet. When I discovered all these other bands, punk, alternative and so on, that you don’t find on the radio, and the thrill of seeing those bands play live, I knew I found what I needed.”

  “So is that why you have the computer geek by day, rock star by night persona?”

  “Perhaps.”

  I smelled the salty air wafting off the Atlantic before I saw the stone boulders ahead, just before we reached the wharf. To our right lay a number of fishing boats anchored and bobbing along the shore.

  “Why not do it full time? Commit to being a rock star?” I asked.

  “Lots of reasons, I suppose. For one, I worked my butt off through school to get into MIT. It seems rather daft to throw away an education and a good job to go on the road with a band. Plus I think my parents might disown me!”

  “Why’s that?”

  “They’re big on education. My mom’s an English professor and my Dad’s a math one. To throw away a college degree in computer science to be a rock star? I mean, they’re all for supporting my dreams, but they worked hard to put me through college. I could never do that to them.” He looked out to the Atlantic, deep in thought. “And another small detail.”

  “What’s that?

  “We’re not that big yet, so I don’t have that choice to make!” He laughed self-deprecatingly.

  I joined in. “You seem to have quite the following from what I saw at the club.”

  “We’re doing okay,” he agreed. “The guys and I have an agreement. If we start to get so big that it’s interfering with our daily work life, we meet up and make the decision to jump together. All for one—”

  “And one for all,” I finished.

  “And I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell my parents if that day ev
er came.”

  Nico

  There was something so comfortable about talking to Lily that I spilled my story right out. When was the last time I did that on a date? Being with her felt as natural as the environment around us—the ocean, the breeze, the rocks. At the same time, I was so attracted to her I was afraid I’d dive on top of her at the most inappropriate of moments and make a fool of myself.

  When we reached the jetty at Sandy Bay, her dress swirled around her legs from the ocean breeze. Make it fly up,I willed the breeze. Let me see what she’s hiding under there. I forced images of what kind of panties she might be wearing out of my mind and focused on the scenery.

  “I’d love to come down here and sit on the rocks to read or write,” I said. Stick to the landscape so she doesn’t know you’re thinking like a perv.

  “Looks like a great place to paint,” she said.

  Scanning the shore dotted with sailboats and lobster buoys along the rocky coast, I saw how this view served as a muse for many artists.

  “An inspirational setting,” I agreed. “Do you paint?”

  She shook her head. “No. I just take photographs. Mostly black and white.”

  Business-minded, well read, fit and perhaps a creative side as well. This woman definitely intrigued me. The more I learned about her, the more I wanted to know.

  Not to mention she was hot as hell.

  “I’d love to see some one day.”

  She laughed in a girlish way. “Maybe sooner than you think.”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Never mind right now. Are you hungry? There’s a great little café on the water here.”

  “I’m always hungry, Lily.” I hoped the look I gave her made my intentions clear.

  “Maybe later, rock star,” she said, indicating she got my double entendre. At least she didn’t shoot me down.

  Within a few minutes, we had reached a café. Since there was no line, we ordered a couple of roast beef and Boursin sandwiches and had our choice of tables. We sat down to a great view of the ocean and watched a couple of kids trying to convince their parents to let them walk out onto the jetty.

  “I told you my tale, now it’s your turn. Tell me all about you.”

  She bristled almost imperceptibly. Then she took a deep breath before beginning. “There’s not much to tell. I grew up in New Hampshire and moved to Massachusetts to go to Salem State College. No fancy Cambridge high-tech university like you. But it was just my mom and me in New Hampshire so we didn’t have much money. I got into a communications program, found I liked the area north of Boston, and decided to stay after graduating. I got a decent job and have lived here ever since. In fact I bought a condo last year so I think I’m sticking around for a while.”

  “Good for you. It looked like you had a nice little place there when I picked you up.”

  “I like Beverly. How do you like Peabody?”

  I noticed she’d turned the conversation back toward me. Did she not want to talk about herself? That was not the usual case in the women I’d dated. “It’s good for me. I can get wherever I need to go.” I wanted to steer the conversation back to her. “Does your mother still live in New Hampshire?”

  “Yes.”

  Just a one-word answer?

  “Where?”

  “Near the White Mountains.”

  Four words.

  “I get the feeling you don’t like to talk about yourself.”

  “Not too much.” She took my hand. “Do you mind?”

  “Not at all. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” I rubbed her hand to reinforce I was okay with it. “I’m really glad you came out here with me today.”

  Her face froze for a split second but then she smiled. “Me too.”

  “I got you something. Back at the pewter store.”

  “How did you do that? I was in there with you.”

  “A wink and a nod to the sales clerk while you were browsing.”

  I handed her the box. She turned it around and looked at it from all angles.

  “Open it.”

  She looked up at me before she opened it. Then said, “A butterfly. It’s beautiful.” She picked up the pin and turned it as she examined it, light bouncing different colors off the gems.

  “It made me think of you.”

  “That’s funny.”

  “It is? Why?”

  She raised an eyebrow in a way that shot sensations straight to my cock. “You’ll see.”

  “Don’t look at me like that—unless you want me to dive over this table right now and jump on you.”

  She laughed. “I like the sound of that.” Then she handed the box back to me. “Thank you, but I can’t accept it.”

  Puzzling. What was the issue? “Why not?”

  “Because it implies something between us. Something starting. And as much as I’ve enjoyed spending time with you today, I don’t want to lead you on. It’s not fair to you.” She put her hand on mine. “I want to be straight with you, Nico. I want you. I’m so attracted to you I can’t even think straight sometimes and I’d like us to be lovers. But I can’t offer you anything more than that.”

  Most guys would be thrilled about an offer like this. In most other situations with the girls I’d been with, I would have loved to hear this as well. But in this one, I felt like I was shot down and punched right in the gut.

  “I have to say—I wasn’t expecting you to say this. You are quite a contradictory woman, my dear,” I said, trying to keep my tone light. “First you think I’m some womanizing rock star just wanting a one-night stand. Now you want me in your bed, but think I’m going to push you into a relationship after one date.”

  “I just want to be straight with you. And I hope you’ll do the same with me.”

  “Agreed,” I said, shaking her hand. “The one thing I hate is games. So if this is you being honest and telling me what you want, I gladly volunteer to be your sex toy.”

  She wouldn’t escape that easy. One day I’d dig more, get her to give more than her one-word answers.

  She laughed again. “Careful, I might bite.” Then she put her hand on mine. “Friends?”

  “Friends,” I replied and slid the box back to her. “So why don’t you accept this gift from one friend to another?”

  She hesitated before accepting the box. “Okay. In that case, thank you. I love it.”

  After lunch, we ambled hand in hand along the shops off the main drag in Bearskin Neck. We stopped for coffee and strudel at one of the cafés. Even fewer people and fewer shops were open here at this time of year. When we passed a small gallery, she led us inside.

  “Lily Everett, how good to see you!” the man sitting at a desk said.

  “Hi, Jacko.” She motioned to me. “This is my friend, Nico. Nico, this is Jacko. He owns this gallery.”

  We shook hands and exchanged introductory remarks. Then Jacko said, “Have you seen Lily’s photos? I have a few here.”

  He pointed to a section of black-and-white, framed photographs on the wall. A number of them were landscapes of the Cape Ann area. I recognized the coastline shots of Rockport, Gloucester, Manchester-by-the-Sea, as well as landmarks like the eccentric Hammond Castle. Then there were shots of the peculiarities of Salem—the touristy witch attractions, portraits of witches and psychics, and the costumed Halloween revelers. They didn’t look like the locations themselves, which I’d seen dozens of times. Somehow she captured them so they looked darker, sort of Gothic.

  “You took these?”

  She looked down when she nodded.

  “They’re really good.”

  Jacko said, “There are more over here.”

  I followed him to see more black-and-white photos, this time of forests and waterfalls.

  “Where were these taken?”

  She shrugged. “White Mountains, I believe.”

  “I really like your style.”

  She took my hand. “Thanks.” Then she said bye to Jacko and we left the
gallery.

  We didn’t speak as we walked along the water. I was lost in my thoughts as I gazed out to the ocean. A few snowflakes made their way down from the darkening skies and Lily stuck her tongue out to capture one.

  “I love the snow when it’s like this,” she said. “It’s when it sticks to the ground that I start to have a problem with it.”

  She laughed in a girlish way and my body reacted automatically, tingling with erotic images of being with Lily. My hands undressing her, running down her smooth skin. Kissing different parts of her body. Hearing her sigh in contentment. The moment when I’d first enter her—she’d clutch me tight and gasp.

  My mind put a damper on the fantasy. Because I knew my attraction to her was far more than just wanting to sleep with her. Apparently that was a road she didn’t want to go down.

  Or she didn’t want to go down that road with me.

  Why was I being stupid and brooding about a loss I never had?

  “Nico, are you okay?”

  “Yes,” I replied automatically, still looking out onto the Atlantic. The first flakes of snow turned this charming scene into one even more magical, but despite the picturesque image, my mood darkened.

  She put her hand on my cheek to turn me to face her. When I looked into her eyes, I saw what I had perceived as a cinnamon-brown actually reflected more gold in the sunlight. Had they always been that color and I just didn’t notice them without the sunlight on them? Or had they changed? Golden eyes. Her eyelids dropped and appeared more catlike and exotic as she stepped up on her tiptoes to lean in closer to me. I pushed away the pangs of loss as an image of her face burned into my memory, the high cheekbones, the soft skin.

  The ocean breeze blew softly, rustling her wavy hair, which now glimmered with specs of snow. I pushed a lock back behind her ear, noticing how the sun captured highlights in her chestnut-brown hair. Gold in her eyes, gold in her hair. The writer in me made a mental note to keep that for a song.

  The man in me focused on her full lips. Lips that I wanted to kiss from that first night I saw her at Vamps. When I wanted to pull her close and take her smart mouth. Then spank her for being such a naughty girl.

  Her pale-pink glossy lips parted more as she leaned toward me. Not being a fool, I seized the moment. Bending down to reach her, I pressed my lips softly against hers. Blood rushed straight into my cock, desire coursed through my body. She kissed me, deepening the kiss, threatening to overwhelm me with an erotic urge to take her right there. I kissed her deeper, my tongue penetrating between those delicious lips. My hands ran down her lower back and cupped her full ass, pulling her even closer.