The Right Man

by Mankin, Michelle

  “I’ll anchor whatever you need.” Jack, my drummer, nodded.

  “Lay the phrases on me,” Ben said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

  “Great.” I reached for my cell to share with them what I had.

  Chapter 24

  * * *

  Jewel

  I sat at one of the pub-height tables at the bakery with an uneaten Danish in front of me. Feeling numb, I stared through the windows at the ocean, not seeing it as a picture to paint like I normally would. My heart ached, missing the hope I’d felt walking the shoreline with Rush only the night before.

  Just a hooker.

  I knew it, knew how this would play out. Yet it seemed I was always determined to learn my lessons the hard way.

  Needing to talk to Cam, I pulled my cell from my bag. She picked up on the first ring.

  “Hey, girlfriend. Whatcha doing?”

  “Checking in,” I said.

  Picking up on my somber mood, she said sharply, “What’s wrong?”

  I sighed. “It’s already happening.”

  “Oh, Jewel. I’m sorry.” She didn’t need to ask. We were sisters cut from the same cloth, only she was one lesson ahead of me. “Need me to come get you?”

  “You don’t have a car, Cam.”

  “I can ride the bus, same as you.”

  “No need. I know the way.” The way backward.

  “You don’t sound good. It really won’t be any trouble.”

  I dropped my head into my hand, lowering my voice as I stared at the table. “It’ll cost money. We’ll need to be careful. I . . . it’ll be a while before I can go back on the street.”

  “Who are you talking to?”

  Startled, I looked up to find Rush standing stiffly a few feet away.

  He glowered at me, his jaw clenched tight. “You’re not going back on the street.”

  My heart pounding madly, I sputtered, “S-sorry, Cam, I gotta go. Rush is here.”

  “He sounds mad.”

  “Yeah, apparently. I’d better see what’s going on.”

  “Call me back.”

  “I will.” I ended the call and set the phone down, then gestured to the stool opposite me. “Have a seat.”

  “Don’t feel like chatting, Jewel. I wanna know what the hell you’re doing.”

  “Just talking to my friend.”

  “About going back to hoo—” He stopped short and glanced around, seeming to realize he was in a crowded place and that people had turned to watch us, probably recognizing him.

  It had happened when we were out last night. But after an initial double-take or a request for a photo, most people went about their business, seemingly used to a celebrity, probably lots of celebrities, living among them. It was the tension radiating off him that made this morning different.

  “You’re not going back to work,” he said again.

  “Today, tomorrow, a week from now, what’s the difference?”

  “The difference is how you come apart in my arms.”

  “I . . .”

  “You usually climax when you’re working?” he said in a low voice, cutting in precisely, like he steered his Porsche.

  “No.” I shook my head. He might as well know the truth of it before I took off.

  “Didn’t think so.” His expression softening, he moved closer. His warmth and his woodsy scent dredged up memories, stirring desire that now caused pain.

  I wasn’t ready to give him up.

  “You tell any of them your real name? Or share about your gran?”

  “No.” My throat closed up, and I coughed to clear it. “But I shouldn’t have told you.”

  “Why the fuck not?” His eyes flashed, reminding me of cloud-to-cloud lightning. “Did I ever treat you in any way that made you think you couldn’t trust me to be careful with you, to betray your confidence?”

  I glanced away.

  Rush edged closer. His legs brushed mine, then his chest touched my shoulder just before his fingers glided softly over my skin. Capturing my chin, he turned my face to him.

  “Did one of my guys say something that upset you?”

  I shook my head, barely able to think straight with him touching me. All too soon, I’d be gone, without him. Tears threatened at the thought.

  “Was it me? Did I say something?” he said softly, searching my eyes.

  “Only the truth,” I whispered, hating to admit it.

  “And that is?” His jaw firmed.

  “I heard you tell them what I am.”

  “No, you didn’t.” The crease in his brow deepened. “What you are defies a simple description. I told them about what you did for a living prior to our agreement. And I only shared because Jack was worried you were undercover and might leak info about us to the press.”

  My eyes widened.

  “Yeah.” He let out a breath. “Jack has an imagination. Plus, the guys and I have had some fucked-up dealings with chicks wanting to latch on to use us. But I didn’t tell them your occupation to hurt you. I’m sorry if it did.” He stroked my skin with his thumbs, soothing me with the back-and-forth movement. “They would find out eventually anyway.”

  “How?”

  “I wanted another day before I laid my cards on the table. Thought if I had a little more time, it might be easier to convince you. But here we are already, so here goes.” Staring earnestly into my eyes, he said, “I don’t want you to stay just for today. I want you to consider staying longer, until we figure things out between us.”

  My heart soared and then just as quickly plummeted.

  “There’s nothing to figure out.” I shook my head, dislodging his touch, and his expression hardened. “This isn’t us dating, Rush. It’s us capturing a moment in time. We can put off the reality of your world and mine for a few days, maybe a week. Then I have to go back to my life. I have a roommate, responsibilities, and bills to pay.”

  “I’ll pay your expenses.”

  “I can’t accept that. We might as well go right back to the hourly payment structure.”

  Understanding dawned. His expression changed, turning as bleak as my mood.

  I’d thought I was sad before, but the mood was closer to tragic now that both of us were clear at the beginning about how it all would end.

  • • •

  Rush

  I wanted to yank Jewel close and never let her go. How could she basically say good-bye without giving me a chance? I couldn’t accept it. I wouldn’t.

  I saw her point, and I respected it . . . and her. But I wasn’t convinced that this only played out with both of us losing.

  We were from different worlds; I got that. But what she didn’t take into account was that mine had some advantages, and I was going to use them.

  “All right. I’ll take a week. Is that what you can give me?”

  “Yes.” She nodded.

  “Then call Cam back. Tell her how it is.”

  “Okay.” She picked up her phone.

  “But know this.” I cupped her face with my hands, my unsettled soul soothed by touching her. She allowed me an unhindered view through those golden windows to the heart that I coveted. “You’re completely mine during that time.”

  “You can’t own another human being, Rush.”

  She was right. Even when I was paying, I only got what she’d been willing to give.

  “I want all access,” I said firmly, willing her to agree. “Your time. Your body. Your heart.”

  Something flashed in her gaze in response to the last and most important clarification. Something so blazingly bright, it made the treasure of her accepting me for myself in the beginning seem like pocket change.

  “Do you agree?” I lifted her chin since she’d lowered it, disappointed that her golden eyes no longer glittered, their brightness dulled. Maybe I’d only seen what I wanted to see—a reflection of my own desire.

  Did she suspect why I wanted it all? How very close my heart was to being hers? How easily she could crush me if she walked a
way?

  “I agree.”

  “Good.” Relief filled me. If she was beside me, anything was possible. Trying to lighten the mood, I gestured at the uneaten pastry in front of her and asked, “Are you gonna eat that?”

  Her voice flat, she said, “I’m not that hungry.”

  “You’re gonna eat it,” I said, deciding for her. “Every single crumb, while I get in line for egg sandwiches for both of us.”

  I moved away, not far, half the length of the bakery. Waiting in line, I watched her pick at the Danish. Stubborn girl. I’d get after her when I sat back down.

  Jewel wasn’t used to someone looking after her, but she had someone now. And she’d find out that I meant business about her health and safety, about a lot of things.

  I slid my cell from my pocket, scrolled to recent calls, and tapped Brad’s number. He answered on the first ring.

  “Everything okay, Rush?”

  Not now, but it would be. “Why you always gotta ask that first thing whenever I call you?”

  “Because nine times out of ten, when you do, it means I’ve got trouble.”

  “Not this time. This time I’ve got a job for you that I think might make somebody’s life brighter.”

  “That sounds interesting and different for you. How?”

  First, I had to find out where they lived, and I doubted she would tell me. “Jewel Anderson.”

  “Come again.”

  “That’s the name of the girl I picked up. The one who’s staying with me.” The one who made the inside of my empty condo feel full. Well, turnabout on that was fair play, or at least it was in my mind.

  “Pretty name.”

  “Wait till you see her,” I muttered, looking at her. “She’s twenty-one. She has a Cali driver’s license. I don’t have the exact birthday. She says she lives in a real bad part of LA. She has a roommate named Cam.”

  “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “I want you to get an address for her.”

  “You stalking her?”

  No, I was staking my claim, wanting her in my bed and everywhere else I could get her. Show her that we could fit together well in every part of my life.

  “Not stalking her the way you think. I want you to get inside the apartment.”

  I wanted her friend secured so at least Jewel didn’t have that weight on her mind. I preferred her thoughts to be all about me.

  “Rush,” he said, the warning clear in his tone. “I can pull a lot of strings with you being who you are, but keeping you out of jail, keeping me out of jail for breaking and entering, isn’t one of them.”

  “It’s not breaking and entering when you put stuff into the apartment instead of taking it out.”

  “What am I putting inside it?”

  “Food in the fridge, for starters. Furniture as needed. Whatever it appears that they don’t have, I want them to have.”

  “In a bad neighborhood?”

  “Yeah. She won’t take my money, Brad.” Christ. What were the odds I’d pick up a hooker with principles? “I’m going to do this.”

  Since it was for her friend, I suspected Jewel would accept my help. Sure, she would give me grief, but too bad. This was only the beginning of me pressing her, and I was going to press fucking hard.

  Chapter 25

  * * *

  Jewel

  “I don’t need new lingerie.” I came to a halt and dug the rubber soles of my flip-flops into the boardwalk.

  “Jewel.” Rush gave me an exasperated look. “You could probably keep wearing the bra you have on and go without underwear. I definitely wouldn’t mind knowing I could have easy access under your clothes, but I think you might be uncomfortable.”

  “But . . .” I gnawed on my lip as I glanced at the hot-pink striped awning above the shop he was trying to drag me into. “It looks expensive.”

  “You gave me grief about eating this morning, and then about the couple of outfits I bought you at the surf shop. The least you can do for me after I endured all that is let me see you model some of those sexy things.” He gestured to the display inside the window, then gave me an arch look.

  “I don’t know.” He wasn’t making it easy for me to hold my ground on this one. Wearing sexy things while Rush watched me? An excited thrill shot through me. Um, yes, please.

  “A guy can buy lingerie for a girl he’s interested in.” He ran his hands down the length of my arms, making my skin erupt in chill bumps from his electrifying touch. “And I’m very interested in you.”

  “Fine. I’ll do it.”

  “Good.” He grabbed my hand.

  “Never knew guys liked shopping as much as you do,” I grumbled.

  “I like doing it with you.” His silver eyes sparkling wickedly, he grinned.

  “Oh, brother.”

  “Not thinking brotherly thoughts toward you.”

  I smiled. “Lame.”

  “Nothing’s lame that makes you smile,” he said, holding the door open for me.

  I stumbled over the step into the shop, and he was right there to steady me, his sure hand firm on the small of my back.

  The actual physical stumble was minor, but inside, I staggered majorly.

  Rush had crumbled the world I had known before him. He made me feel cared for, like my smiles were worth every effort. Like my spending time with him was an incredible gift.

  “Can I help you?” the saleswoman asked, sliding her reading glasses to the tip of her nose. Her pinched expression made it seem she thought it unlikely we could afford a single item in her store.

  Familiar with attitudes like hers, I instinctively whirled around to go somewhere else, but only ran into Rush’s solid immovable form.

  “Yes, you can help us.” Rush looked straight over my head to her. “Everything you have in her size in black, I want her to try on.”

  “But—”

  “Do you know who I am?”

  The woman shook her head. Her gray hair was so tightly wound into a bun, not a single tendril came free.

  “It’s not important.” Rush’s expression was fierce. “She’s important.”

  He framed half of my face in his hand and stroked my cheek with his thumb. I was grateful once again that he’d sent the rest of our purchases ahead to the condo, so his hands were free to do whatever he wanted to me.

  “Her name is Jewel. I want you to treat her like a queen. I would set my credit card down on the counter, step back, and let her choose what she wants, but I find that I’m in a more discerning mood.”

  Releasing me, he withdrew a black American Express card and set it on the counter.

  “That being the case, I’m going to go to the dressing room with her to watch her take every single item off the hanger and try it on for me before we approve it for purchase.”

  “Absolutely. Yes, sir.” The woman glanced at the card. Her eyes widened, and she immediately moved from behind the counter and started flipping through the closest rack.

  “Do you think she knows my size?” I asked Rush as he urged me toward the pink-striped dressing-room curtain at the back of the store.

  “Don’t really care if she has to expend a little extra effort figuring it out.”

  “Ah.” My mood lightened with understanding.

  Rush’s lips twisted into a smile. “Now you get it.”

  “No.” I glanced back at the saleswoman. “But she does.” I tapped my chin while he took a seat on a velvet-upholstered stool in the center of the large dressing room. “You know what?”

  “Huh-uh.”

  “The rock-star entitlement thing?”

  “Yeah, what about it?” His gaze narrowed.

  I gave him a big smile. “It’s not such a bad thing when you’re on the winning side of it.”

  • • •

  Rush

  Giving me a saucy glance, Jewel slowly slid the curtain closed. Each lingerie set sexier than the last, she was killing me. But what a way to go.

  “You can leave now.�
� I gave the saleswoman a dismissive look as she entered to drop off another armload.

  I’d lost track of the number of items Jewel had tried on. It was difficult to do math with my pulse roaring in my ears, and my cock so hard and extended, it practically hobbled me.

  “Don’t you need me . . .”

  I didn’t need anything from anyone else. Everything I wanted, Jewel had.

  My voice raw with want, I said, “I can take care of everything from here.”

  Fuck waiting, I had to have Jewel now.

  “All right . . .”

  Since the saleswoman appeared confused, I spelled it out. “You work on commission?”

  She bobbed her head.

  “I’ll add an extra twenty percent on top of whatever I spend when I purchase everything that has fit Jewel so far.” He gave the woman a pointed look. “But only if you leave us alone, lock the door to the shop, and put on some headphones or crank up the music in the shop really loud until we come out.”

  “Oh.” She blinked her widened eyes at me. “Absolutely. Take your time.”

  I didn’t reply. This wasn’t going to take a lot of time.

  I stood, took two steps, and whipped back the curtain on Jewel as the woman scurried out.

  “Rush.” Spinning around, Jewel crushed a silken robe to her tits while peering at me through lowered lashes.

  “Don’t even play coy with me. I’ve been in fucking hell since you showed me the first bra.”

  “What if there are cameras?” Obviously, she’d noted the escalating signs of my deteriorating self-control.

  “There’s not.” My nostrils flared as I caught a lungful of her peachy scent. “I already asked.”

  “Then come here.” Her lips curling, Jewel dropped the robe. It puddled on the carpet as she crooked her finger at me.

  I swept a heated glance over her. She had on a set from my favorite designer. Every single Avery Rose piece that Jewel had tried on, she’d looked amazing in. The lace seemed to mold to her curves. This set, like the others, featured a silver-studded band beneath her tits, and adjustable side strings on the thong.

  Gorgeous, practical, and so coming right off.