Infinity (Valkyries: Soaring Raven)

by Sedona Venez

“Sweetie, you sure as hell don’t have a good reputation. Think about hiring a new publicist to clean that shit up.” He wasn’t joking, I had a pretty bad reputation as a major spoiled, party superstar with a big Rejuvenator habit.

  At least he was honest and didn’t bullshit me. “Well, sorry to disappoint you.” I paused, “Now the unsavory crotch shot in today’s newspaper? That was all me. Believe me, that was not one of my moments of brilliance.”

  “That’s good to know....”

  I arched a brow.

  He continued with that deep drawl that made me want to saddle him up like a stallion. “That the crotch shot was all you.”

  His lips curled into a slow sexy smile that made my panties dampen and crave him even more. This was dangerous.

  I knew immediately that he was an experienced and complicated man, and if I was going for the ‘let’s have sex, and you go on your merry way and leave me alone’ angle then I needed to tread carefully. No way did I want him to be deluded into thinking that I was the clingy type of girl. I was frighteningly the opposite. There was just less chance of being used by someone that wanted something for nothing. I had my tight circle and there was no room for a new initiate.

  I flipped my hair, blinking my eyelashes dramatically. “Yup, all me. I never thought that all the torture of waxing would actually pay off.” I looked around the elevator barely suppressing a smile. “But it seems the waxing is paying big dividends right about now.”

  He winked, “Wax or no wax, it’s all good with me.”

  Hot damn, I almost choked. Oh hell, why did he have to come along now when I wasn’t looking for a relationship. “So...have you been working security long?”

  His eyes slid from head-to-toe, making my whole body tingle from the intensity. “You can say that.”

  I ran my tongue over my lower lip. “Ummm, you do know that was a question right?”

  His white toothed grin screamed sexy. “Was it? It didn’t sound like one.”

  “Well it was.”

  He shrugged his shoulders, “Yes, I’ve been working security for a while.”

  Okay, let’s go for idle chit-chat for distracting from my lust factor. “Well, it must be cool working for celebrities.” I wanted to smack myself in the head. Really? Working with celebrities is cool? Celebrities were impatient, self-absorbed, demanding creatures, including myself.

  He scowled, “I don’t do security for celebrities. You would make the first one and the last.”

  I cocked my hips to the side, “Really? Well you’re in for an eye-opener, because according to the media, I’m wild and out of control.”

  He smirked, shaking his head, “You don’t have a clue about who I am?”

  I arched a brow, “Should I? Are you an MMA fighter moonlighting in security?” Well that I could believe, he was well built and looked like he could kick some major ass.

  He grimaced, “Don’t you watch the news?”

  “Sometimes, but it’s not my type of entertainment. Too much doom and gloom. Besides, they’re always spouting ridiculous news stories that are based on lies, not fact. Well, at least when their reporting stuff about me.” I looked at him suspiciously. “Why?”

  He chuckled, “Wow, this is new.”

  “New? What’s that suppose to mean Big Red?”

  “Big Red?” he drawled.

  “That’s my name for you. Big Red. As in your huge like a Viking and you have this wicked, sexy fiery red hair thing going on.”

  “I’m happy to hear that you like my sexy hair.”

  I decided to be bold and test the ‘does he like me’ waters. “So far I like lots of things about you.”

  He reached down, grabbing my hand, threading his bigger fingers through my smaller ones. “I’m flattered. Mega star Infinity likes me.” He brought my fingers to his lips and kissed them.

  I looked up at him, catching the intensity of his stare as he pulled me to face him. Shut the front door, Big Red could make me do something bad like fall for him. I grinned through my fear. “I didn’t say anything about liking you, Big Red. I said there are some things I like about you.”

  He winked at me as the elevator door slid open. “Same thing, gorgeous.”

  I grinned liking the fact that he didn’t press me. You’re winning big points Big Red. “Whatever.”

  He leaned down letting his lips touch my ear. “And just so we’re real clear. There are lots of things I like about you too.”

  I shivered deliciously. Damn! I knew that sooner than later he was going to make me break my no messing around with employees rule. And from the way his eyes sparkled with laughter, he knew it too. Double damn!

  “After you, gorgeous.”

  I strolled out of the elevator with a huge grin, which became humongous when I felt the heat of his gaze on my ass.

  Zoe swayed towards me eyeing Boulder. “Hey! About time you got here. Are you ready?”

  I was going to respond hell no, when a young guy came rushing over to Boulder with anxious eyes. “I need to take care of some business.” He said with a low voice before stepping to the side, speaking in a hushed voice.

  I waved my hand in her face. “Uh, over here girl,” I pointed over at Big Red. “Big Red is my new security detail.”

  “Dayum, the Vikings are here!” She blinked, “He’s freaking gorgeous…and…huge.”

  I frowned, “You do realize that he standing right there…and can hear you?”

  Zoe just stared. “Yummy.”

  Great, just what I need, more distractions.

  “Infinity, great you’re here,” Savannah squealed in an usually high-pitched voice, gliding towards me looking flustered with her strawberry blond hair mussed like she just stepped out of a wind storm. Her eyes widened and mouth dropped open as she stared at Big Red.

  I sighed, “This is going to be a real long night.” I snapped my fingers to get her attention. “Uh, right here.”

  Savannah swallowed hard, continuing to stare at him and I was starting to get all kinds of annoyed. First, because they were acting like they’ve never seen gorgeous men before, we worked in the damn music business where gorgeousness was standard—granted, not Boulder’s kind of rugged hotness that made you want to strip and beg him to plunder you until you blacked out.

  Secondly, because I already staked claim on him, well, kind of, and they were drooling over my next conquest. I wanted to screech like a reality show participant and take her skinny ass out.

  “Earth to Savannah…Uh, Savannah?”

  Savannah shook her head, smiling at me. “Yeah. Uh, sorry got a little distracted there.”

  “Uh, just a little,” I responded dryly.

  Savannah smiled as she visibly tried to pull herself together. “Everything is set. You’re glam team is here, including the hairstylist, makeup artist, stylist, and body artist.” She slide her finger across her Tablet. “Everything is set for the stage. Backup dancers are here, except some that didn’t show, but Zoe’s got that issue resolved.”

  “Yup, got it covered,” She responded without even looking at us because she was too focused on the guy that Boulder was talking to.

  Savannah continued, “I confirmed that your dressing room is exactly seventy eight degrees Fahrenheit and that a brand new toilet seat was installed. There are vanilla aromatherapy candles, two bowls of salt-and-vinegar potato chips, three vases of white hydrangeas, twenty five bottles of room temperature water, and no sweets anywhere.”

  Boulder interrupted his conversation to ask, “Well, shit, is there anything that’s not in that dressing room?”

  Savannah giggled and batted her eyelashes. Giggling and flirting? What the hell is going on? She never did that before. “And that’s not even her normal full request list. She scaled back a bit for this show.” She scowled, “And despite what the news reported, all the ticket proceeds are going to the charity. Infinity’s absorbing all the other expenses including security. But you won’t hear the news reporting that shit though.”
>
  His gaze slipped from Savannah to me then he went back to his conversation with the young guy.

  I smiled at Savannah’s fierce loyalty. I loved that about her. That and the fact that, as my personal assistant, she was efficient, smart, and a workaholic, just like me. Well also that she came from good stock, being Anya’s niece and all. Between non-stop choreography practice, jetting around the world, video shoots, working in the studio and partying, there was no place in my life for slackers or groupies. Despite what the media portrayed, I was a businesswoman and my business was very important to me.

  Slipping comfortably back to business, I asked, “What about the live band? It’s a ninety minute set and I added one more song this morning, so we’re rolling through twenty songs tonight. I want my fans to get their money worth.”

  “Confirmed, it’s all good.” She paused with eyes shifting away then back. “Kir called, said that you were not returning his messages.”

  Shit, I thought we put a period at the end of that crap last night. “And?”

  Savannah shifted uncomfortably, “He said that he’s still opening tonight, something about not disappointing his fans that paid good money to see him tonight.”

  My eyebrows almost hit my hairline. “That’s rich. Now he doesn’t want to disappoint his fans?” No, there was more to this than that. Kir didn’t give a crap about his fans.

  Savannah shrugged her shoulders, “As conceited as he is, he does have a lot of fans.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t want to disappoint his female groupies. Just make sure to clear him out before I step out of my dressing room. I don’t want to see him or even get a whiff of his cloying cologne. Am I clear?” I looked at her pointedly.

  “Crystal.”

  “Oh, and make sure there’s at least eleven cases of bottled water by the stage.”

  Savannah nodded, “Will do”

  I stepped closer and whispered, “Did they find Justin?”

  She shook her head with sad eyes. “Nothing. My source said his apartment was burglarized and there was a lot of blood on the scene.”

  I shivered, “It’s been three days and the police haven’t produced anything. No body, no leads.” I was really worried. Justin was not just my Creative Director, he was my friend that just disappeared with no trace, and no call. I knew something bad happened to him because he wouldn’t just leave without telling me something.

  “I know. I’ll keep you informed if I hear anything new.” She hugged me then walked away.

  I glanced over at Zoe, who was unusually silent. She was looking at the security detail that was milling around with a gaping mouth grin like she was in a candy shop and didn’t know where to begin.

  “Zoe?”

  She looked at me with glazed eyes. “Huh?”

  I rolled my eyes, and then said sarcastically. “Okay, I’m going to work now. Feel free to join me.”

  “Can we go to your dressing room first? I have some last minute details on the last song that we need to iron out.”

  “What? I thought we did that yesterday? And for the last time we are not taking out the raven headpieces.” Zoe poked me in the side sharply then arched a brow. “Okay, yeah, dressing room.” I turned to Big Red, “Change of plans.”

  Boulder beckoned a tall gorgeous guy with tousled blonde curls, and caramel skin who was standing in the corner watching the flamboyant dancers with a frown, not looking pleased to be in their presence.

  “Cruz, walk her to her dressing room while I take care of some business.” He smiled at me while leaning against the wall with his beefy arms crossed. “See you later gorgeous.”

  “Yeah, later Big Red.”

  When Cruz stepped closer, I was shocked to see that his gorgeous face was marred with what looked like claw mark scars across one cheek.

  Zoe blinked, looking at him like a deer caught in the headlights before pulling me down the hallway while he scowled at us. She looked back at him before whispering so low that I strained to hear. “Okay, could you at least warn a girl before you unleash a bevy of hot young Viking warriors? The whole lot of them walking around just all tall and buffed and giving off some weird animal wild vibe. Whew! Just whew!” She started fanning herself.

  Cruz snarled with disgust, “Women.”

  I looked over my shoulder with surprise. There was no way he could have heard Zoe. “What?”

  Cruz frowned, “Nothing.” He leaned against the wall watching us as we stepped into the room, firmly shutting the door in his face.

  I immediately switched on the music letting the hard thumping base shake the walls as Zoe’s tall slender frame swayed around me.

  I rolled my eyes, “Where’s Diego? He’s always here for girl talk.” I snickered at the word ‘girl’.

  She pointed towards the door. “Out there, confused like the rest of the Viking’s groupies.”

  “Oh, it’s one of those days?” I spun away from Zoe, stretching my arms over my head. “He’s not sure whether it’s like a girl or boy day?”

  “This morning he was firm that it was going to be a ‘like’ a girl day.” She spun, pointing at me accusingly. “But that was before you unleashed the Vikings on us. Now he’s out there with the rest of the girl’s, panting around the Vikings like a dog in heat.”

  I hip checked her, “Tragic. I don’t think the Vikings are into guys.” Pumping up the music, I looked around the crème colored dressing room chocked full of vases of crème flowers with a critical eye.

  “I scoped it out, they’re not. I had to be sure before I made my stealth Viking maneuver.”

  I laughed because it was totally ridiculous that Zoe was even talking about competition with her tall slender frame, dark flawless chocolate skin, and unusual hazel eyes. There was none because men kneeled at the altar for the chance at Zoe.

  She rubbed her hands together making a swooshing sound, grinning at me with like a mad scientist. “I’ll be damned if I let Diego win our bet that he can convert any guy.”

  My eyes narrowed, “Oh hell to the no! A Viking conversion?” We laughingly called the ‘conversion’, a bet we made to counter Diego’s arrogance and vanity proclaiming all men were one degree of separation away from bi-sexual status. “Shit, that’s a crash and burn situation out there.”

  “Totally,” she did a stupid victory dance with a silly grin.

  I groaned, “This is so wrong. You know that right? My poor Diego is going to get his feelings hurt.”

  “Rejection’s a bitch sometimes. I feel for him, I really do,” She laughed so hard tears streamed down her cheeks. “Oh wait I lied, I don’t. That’s for him lying to Sasha last night telling her that I was into girls. As if.”

  Try as he might, he was determined to fix Zoe up with a woman, even with the undisputable fact that Zoe was 100% heterosexual.

  “She was going for a Zoe conversion.”

  “She might as well find someone else to convert, I’m completely focused on a Viking and any one will not do.”

  “Oh Sugar-Honey-Iced Tea. Which one?”

  Crossing her arms across her chest, looking at me pointedly. “Cruz.”

  Mid-sip, I spit out a mouthful of water. “You mean the guy that just walked us to dressing room? He was practically snarling at us.”

  I dropped the bottle when she squealed all girly like, which wasn’t like her at all. Shit, the world was coming to an end.

  “Yup. That angry Viking is all mines.” She pretended to slam a flag pole into the ground. “And I claim him in the name of Zoe.”

  “You are fucking hilarious.”

  “Oh, it won’t be funny if I see any of those slimy women out there circling him.” Her eyes narrowed, “It won’t be funny at all.” She nudged me and smiled, “And you want the gorgeous Big Red.”

  My chest tightened, “Damn, am I that obvious?”

  “Nope. I know you. Plus you got that ‘I want that’ look in your eyes. You know the look you get when you see an outfit parading down the runway at fashion week
.”

  “Oh. My. Gawd. Yes, I want that and bad.” I flopped down on the sofa covering my face with my hands, “I’ve never seen anything like him in my life. When he walked up to the car door, I had the wild urge to throw my panties on the ground and scream come and get it. Seriously, never in my life have I felt the instant snap of attraction like I’m experiencing right now.” I peeped at her through my fingers.

  Zoe’s eyes widened as she plopped down. “Oh shit. This is majorly huge.”

  My stomach clenched with the truth of the matter, I hated the fact that he made me want him this bad. “Well put it this way. If it had been Big Red that I was dating, the v-card would have been history.”

  She pulled my hands away from my face and stared. “So where do we go from here? Vitals?”

  After some crash and burn dating situations, we decided that before we pursued any guy we would do some snooping to find out all the information that they could before deciding if a guy was interesting enough to pursue. Being a celebrity was hard enough without finding out that the guy was a stalker or a stage one clinger.

  But this time, I paused when I felt the heart palpitations commence. This can’t be a good sign. “Okay, vitals. Lots of vitals. Because before I go all in I need to know as much as possible about him. The last thing I want is to find out that he has a girlfriend, or worse, married with children.”

  “Did you get that vibe from him?”

  “Not exactly, but there was something about him that’s bothering me. And I can’t put my finger on it.”

  “I’m on it. I’ll tap my sources. Do some digging and find out all the info on him.”

  I sat up, “Good and in the meanwhile, I’ll pull back on the flirting a little. I’m not going to set myself up for disappointment.” This would give me a little time to cool things down and hope that my mini lust fest would go away, like, real quick.

  She scowled, “Pull back? You’re joking right?”

  I jumped up and walked away, “No, I’m not. You know how I am. I don’t let guys in, so I need to pause this before I start liking him a lot. I don’t want to go through....” I didn’t even hear her walk up behind me until I felt her hand on my shoulder.