by Maggie Marr
“Let’s go get her settled,” Luis said to me. Then he called over his shoulder to Trick, “Tell Angie I’ll be at Big Daddy’s.”
I walked beside Luis, the gravel crunching under my boots. Estrella trotted beside us. “What’s Big Daddy’s?”
“It’s a local bar with burgers. I’m sure you’ll get the email invite, too. Angie includes everyone at Pawtown at these events.”
I might get the invite from Angie, but it was pretty obvious that I definitely wasn’t getting an invitation to Big Daddy’s from Trick.
Chapter 15
Trick
Big Daddy’s always smelled like French fries, burgers, and beer. The bar suited Idyllwild as much as it suited me. They had a super-cool vintage pool table and three video games. Golden Tee was one of my favorites, and I rarely left Big Daddy’s without leaving behind a couple of tens in that machine. The flat screen over the bar remained muted tonight because the Kings weren’t playing. Across the room, long wooden tables with red chairs lined the dance floor. A big old jukebox sat against the wall and belted out tunes from Patsy Cline to Michael Jackson to Green Day. The clientele was as eclectic as the songs. A mix of Los Angeles ex-pats, cowboys, and motorcyclists made Big Daddy’s the only place to be on a Friday night.
Tonight a honky-tonk band with a rockabilly-meets-pop-meets-country-music sound was onstage. They were trying to entice the patrons with an old Shania Twain song, hoping to get them up and get their booty out on the dance floor. Through the crowd I spotted the Pawtown crew, and sitting with them were Sophia and Choo.
Filming.
Already.
Pressure tightened in my chest. Why the fuck had I agreed to this? My gaze slid down the table to the far end where Angie laughed at something Luis had just said. These guys were the reasons why I was here. Luis, and Doc, and Angie. Plus the dogs. They were my life. The new life I definitely didn’t deserve, but desperately wanted to keep.
Fine. Fuck it. I could be “The Trick Williams” for a while, but only for a while. That former persona had almost destroyed the real me, and I didn’t want that to happen again. I walked toward the table and Choo turned his iPhone toward me.
“And there he is, Mr. Heartthrob-I-Was-A-Teen-Star himself, Trick Williams.”
I lifted my hand and waved. I even gave him a smile. I dug Choo; he was my buddy and his brother was too, but with that iPhone in his hand, filming me, a huge churning in my belly made me want to grab the phone, throw it to the ground, and squash it under the heel of my boot.
“About time you showed up,” Angie called from the far end of the table. “I ordered you a burger.”
Choo set the phone on the table and stood. “Man, it’s always good to see you.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me into a man-hug.
“You too, brother. Glad you came up early.”
We both sat down. Sophia was across from me now. Her hair was thick and lush and her lips were glossy and slick with that gloss that women liked to wear. Her big brown eyes were circled with loads of makeup. She didn’t need a bit of that. I’d seen her without anything on her face and she was a pure beauty either way. My eyes trailed from her face and down her neck. She wore a tight T-shirt that said Guns N’ Roses. The V- neck revealed the swell of her breasts. Those two beautiful pieces of flesh popped up high. That should be illegal.
I pulled my gaze from Sophia’s body. Tabitha, a waitress at Big Daddy’s, set a basket with a burger and fries before me and gave me her killer smile. “Hey, Trick. Good to see you.”
“Hey, Tabby.” I nodded and pretended not to notice the thin tight set of Sophia’s lips. Tabby set my beer on the table and turned back toward the bar.
“Can you turn that thing off?” I jerked my head toward Choo’s iPhone and picked up a catsup bottle.
Choo glanced at his phone and put it down. The grip on my chest loosened. “For now,” he said with a coy note in his voice.
“Have you eaten today?” I looked at Sophia, who took a long pull on her drink. Brown liquid. Whiskey.
“Nothing looks good to me.”
“You passed out yesterday not because you were too hot, but because you hadn’t eaten in three days.”
She lifted her shoulder as if to say she couldn’t be bothered. The irritation I felt turned into protectiveness. She wasn’t as tough as she wanted everyone to believe. I reached for my knife and cut my giant burger in half. I kept one half and scooted the basket toward Sophia.
“Eat,” I said.
She turned her head away but those big brown eyes looked at the burger. I bit into my half, taking a third of it in one bite. I grabbed a napkin and wiped the grease from my chin. Big Daddy’s had great burgers.
“You know you want it.”
The hint of a smile started in her eyes and then finally reached those beautiful lips. Choo pressed his hand to his mouth as though trying to hold in a laugh.
“Wow. Just wow.”
Sophia lifted the burger and finally took a bite. “I can’t remember the last time I ate one of these.”
“I need a picture of this.” Choo reached for his phone and took a quick pic. “No one would believe that runway models eat burgers. This photo will tell them otherwise.”
“We don’t. Usually. But there seems to be a lot of things I’m doing at Pawtown that I don’t usually do.” She locked those big brown eyes onto me. I pushed the last bite of burger into my mouth and then slid the napkin over my lips again.
Choo snapped a picture of me too and I pretended not to notice.
“Trick, you’re brilliant.” Choo said. “How did I not see this angle? You and Angie? So right. Of course the public wants to see Sophia pay for her sins and what better way than to scoop dog poop and confront her biggest fears?” Choo sipped his beer. “The idea of doing raw footage? Of posting it online? Brilliant. Just beyond brilliant. I put up that picture you sent me and Twitter blew up. Today I took some footage of the volunteer dorm and posted it online. You would not believe the hits.”
“Yah.” Lisel stood behind Choo, her lips tight. Her Arnold Schwarzenegger accent was in overdrive. “He try to post me too. I want none of it.” Lisel sliced the air with her hand. She leaned down close to Choo. “You hear me, Mr. Choo-man? None of it. Not my face. Not my name. I want none of your American Celebrity Culture.”
Choo placed a smile onto his face. “Understood, Lisel, completely understood. But I’m here if you change your mind.”
“Well, I’m here too, but I won’t be changing my mind. Tomorrow, before all your celebrity people and cameras arrive, I am gone.” She plopped into a chair beside Choo. “Back to Stuttgart I go. And I thank God it is before the rest of you Choos arrive.”
Choo pulled his lips together and forced himself not to laugh. I kept my face solemn. You Choos? As though there could ever be more than the original? Lisel was seriously annoyed with Choo and his American Celebrity Culture, but damn if she didn’t wear her indignation in a way that was funny.
“Watch my drink. I’ll be back.” Lisel stood and walked across the dance floor.
“Did she just say—”
“In a German accent. Yes.” I took a long drink of beer. Liesel came to Pawtown for a week every year. She was a big animal rights activist in Germany and she was a true original.
“You’ve been a lucky lady, rooming with Lisel.” Choo nudged Sophia with his elbow.
“Very.” Sophia poked the straw through the ice in her glass. “She’s not bad actually. She just doesn’t like people. She prefers animals.” Her brown eyes locked on me. “Seems to be pretty typical of everyone at Pawtown.”
What was she trying to say? Yes, I preferred Pawtown to people. Was she implying that my dislike for humans was the reason I wanted to pretend that this desire didn’t brew between us? Because my dislike for bipeds wasn’t the reason. Not entirely. Good choices. I needed to make good choices to maintain my sobriety, my lifestyle, and my grip on the rope of happiness I’d grasped onto after what I’d done to Angie.
Still a fire arced between us and made it nearly impossible for me to look anywhere but at Sophia. At her lips. And her cleavage. And her smart mouth, and her vulnerability. There were layers to her. Layers that intrigued me. Layers that I hadn’t noticed until the arrival of Estrella. This desire wasn’t just about those lips, and that cleavage, or her mouth—I’d be pleased to caress, kiss, and suck all three. This desire was about vulnerability and how she hid her fear to try and get what she wanted. She had drive. And she was driven by the need to succeed.
My connection to Sophia could deepen, if I let it. But she was a danger to me.
“Whoa.” Choo broke the silence. I looked over at him. He glanced from me to Sophia and back again. A smile slipped over his face. “No way. You two are sleeping together.” Choo shook his head. “Can we make that part of the show? Oh my God, the world might explode.”
“We’re not sleeping together,” I stated categorically.
My gaze returned to Sophia. Her head was tilted down and she looked up at me through those thick black eyelashes.
My cock was hard.
But I did want to sleep with her. How long could I hold out? Maybe the better question was why should I hold out?
“You’re wrong, Choo,” Sophia said and tossed her hair over her shoulder. “We are most definitely not sleeping together. Nor will we.” Those big brown eyes refocused on me. “Right, Trick?”
“Right,” I confirmed. I kept a deadpan expression on my face. I, too, could play it cool. I’d been the King of Cool once upon a time. Granted, now I spent my days scooping poop and training canines to sit, but not too long ago I’d defined cool for the world.
“Okaaay,” Choo said, unconvinced. “Then let’s just keep this chemistry rolling, because I’ve got to say that whatever it is between you two, it’s pretty damn hot. Dislike? Attraction? Animal magnetism? Can you just keep it going for the cameras? Even if we don’t overtly address what’s happening between you, there’s no way it won’t play.”
A deep breath filled my lungs. Right. Everything for the cameras. Including my desire for Sophia. I was once again a celebrity whore. Lisel was right. I, too, didn’t want to be a part of this American Celebrity Culture. Not anymore.
But there was Angie. And Pawtown. And the mountain of bills.
“No problem,” I said. I settled back into my chair and clasped my hands and settled them onto my belly. Yep. I could play it cool. Sophia lifted an eyebrow. That hard stare shifted and in her eyes was a sudden hint of vulnerability. And a hint of pain.
I might be able to play it cool, but maybe Sophia couldn’t?
Choo’s phone beeped. “It’s Charlie Slam. Gotta take this.” He jumped to his feet and pressed the phone to one ear and his finger to the other. Seeking a quiet spot in the noise bar, he walked toward the front door of Big Daddy’s.
Sophia took another long pull on her drink. My gaze roamed over that long lush neck. She turned back toward me. Her gaze held what looked like a dare. At a minimum there was the satisfaction in her eyes of knowing that I had caressed every inch of her with my eyes.
I leaned forward and clasped my hands around my beer. “Why do you want it?”
At first her brows creased as if she was pissed at my question, but I held her gaze. I really wanted to know. Why the fuck did it matter so much to her whether she became a huge celebrity, or chose to lead a normal life? The crease softened.
“Celebrity is a family tradition.” She tilted her head back against the wall. “I want to be a successful part of the family.”
By family she meant Steve. He was a hardass of a father. Sophia had daddy issues. When I was using those girls, the ones with the absentee dads or the emotionally detached dads or the abusive dads, those girls had been my bread and butter. Fastest way to get into a woman’s pants was to discover she had daddy issues. With Steve Legend as a father, of course Sophia would have issues. Until recently, Sophia and her twin and her brother Rhett were unclaimed by their famous father. He’d been a big lothario his whole life and he’d never admitted the existence of Sophia and her brother and sister. So, yeah, she had daddy issues.
I leaned forward. Her breath shortened and her tongue darted over her lips. The heat was palpable. I could take her. I could have her. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind. She was like a ripe peach ready to be plucked and all I had to do was reach out and grasp her.
What would it hurt? Being with Sophia didn’t have to have any deep meaning. One night together. Hadn’t I proved over and over and over again that those types of relationships were exactly right for me?
“Come with me.” I stood and walked around the table. I had to move. Move before I changed my mind, before she realized what I’d asked, before we both understood what a bad idea leaving together would be for both of us.
Her eyes widened. I grasped her hand and she grasped mine. That heat. Intense and tangible even with the simple touch of her fingers. She stood. We wove through the darkened bar. The band had a hot number going and Angie and Doc and even Luis were all on the dance floor. Everyone seemed to be oblivious to our exit. We dodged our way past the patrons, past the unused jukebox and the Golden Tee. We headed toward the back door. Toward the parking lot. Toward my truck. We burst through the door without a word and the cool night air whooshed against my arms. We made it across the sand and gravel of the parking lot and into my truck. There were no words. There didn’t need to be. We both were after the same thing. To acknowledge this heat. To let this fire consume us. To give into it.
I cranked the engine and we were soon rolling down the highway and through the night and back to Pawtown.
Sophia
Trick’s mouth was pressed hard against mine. I grasped the bottom of his T-shirt and pulled up. The scent of him—a combination of the outdoors, and pure masculinity radiated from every pore. My fingertips pressed over the hot hard flesh and whispered along the trail of hair over his belly. A deep growl came from his throat.
His room was dark. Slivers of moonlight slipped around the edges of the drapes. His tongue slid around the inside of my mouth and tangled with mine. My nipples hardened against the silk of my bra. A need, hard-edged and fierce, grasped me. A hot pulsing thrummed between my legs. His hand slipped up under my T-shirt and my head fell back. His lips, damn those lips, worked my neck. His fingertips slipped beneath my bra and he cupped my breast. The hot thread of want skittered through my body, coiled and tightened. With each touch of Trick’s hand, I went further into the heat.
He unclasped my bra and pulled my shirt over my head. My bra hit the floor. And, like magic I was nearly naked.
Then he pulled away from me and his lips left mine. A wicked gleam I’d not seen in his eyes before now, intense and full of a wolf-like hunger, lit up his face. His eyes passed over my body. He stepped back from me. His hands left my flesh and suddenly I felt cold. A chill raced up my spine.
“Take off your jeans.”
I could turn and leave this room, leave Trick. He wouldn’t stop me; he wasn’t that type of guy.
“Take them off,” he said again, this time his voice was softer and his eyes were warmer. Again I felt the caress of his gaze on my body. I couldn’t leave. I wouldn’t leave. I pulled at the top button of my jeans and plucked it open. My gaze remained tied to his. Slowly I unzipped my jeans and rolled them over my legs. I might have little experience, but I knew the effect my body had on a man. I kicked the denim off and stood before Trick. His eyes roamed up over my legs and past my tiny wisp of panties, across my belly, my breasts, and his gaze stopped at my eyes.
“You are a beautiful woman. Sexy as hell.”
I’d heard all those words before, but never like this. Trick took two steps forward and he was in front of me. The heat of his body radiating out and encompassing me, making me dizzy, making me want.
The pad of his thumb pressed over my bottom lip. My tongue trailed the heat of his touch. Then his lips were on mine. A kiss that was hot and fierce and lead
ing us to an edge from which I wouldn’t return. His hand slipped over my belly. He pressed his hand beneath my panties and his fingertip found the spot between my legs. The hot wet spot throbbed with want, with need, with desire. He pressed his fingertip to the spot and a hard gasp passed over my lips.
He circled my clit and walked me backward. He gently pressed me onto the bed, his lips still working my mouth and his fingers massaging my clit. Oh my God. I might fly apart. His lips left mine and he trailed that wonderful mouth down over my neck. He pulled my nipple between his lips and rolled it through the heat of his mouth with his tongue. My hips arched up and pressed into his hand. His lips smiled around my nipple. He released me from his mouth and a tiny moan escaped my lips. It was the sound of desire. I wanted his mouth to stay on me. His lips trailed down over my belly. He pulled my panties down over my knees and tossed them to the side. His hands spread my thighs and he placed my legs over his shoulders.
My body tightened. So exposed. So intimate. So vulnerable. Then his tongue chased my doubts away. Trick’s tongue split my flesh and rolled over my clit. Two of his fingers pressed into me.
My breath shortened. How … oh my God. My clit rolled in his mouth. He sucked and pulled. His fingers pulsed in and out of my body. My hips rolled upward. Every muscle in my body tightened. My hips arched to his mouth and his other hand clamped to my hips and pressed them down, holding me in place as his mouth pulled harder at my clit. His tongue and fingers were driving me crazy. My hands grasped and clawed. My fingernails scraped his flesh as he relentlessly drove me over the edge.
