He cleared his throat, and Veronica’s sultry brown eyes blinked open. An inviting smile spread across her lush lips. “There you are, lover,” she said. “I was starting to regret not just waiting for you in the parking lot, but you were hours past due and I was all hot and sweaty.” She pouted. “And not because you made me that way.” She took a sip of her wine. The green bottle sat in a Styrofoam cooler of ice behind her. “Would you like a drink?”
“I have company, Veronica. You need to get dressed and leave.”
“Company? What kind of company?”
He struggled to come up with the best way to describe Amanda. Friend? Family? Long-time crush? “Female company.”
“So? I have no problem with her joining us, Shade. Is she sexy?” Veronica emitted a throaty chuckle. “You know how much I enjoy women.”
While normally he’d have thought that would be a great idea, he didn’t think Amanda would be into threesomes with a woman she didn’t know. Shade loved to flirt with Amanda, tease her, but she was off-limits. He had no intention of ever sleeping with her. Which made him wonder why he would rather spend the evening with her than enjoying the tits and ass in his hot tub. Probably because he was still recovering from that crazy chick in Tulsa. What had her name been? Nikki. Damn, the woman had tried to wear his dick down to a nub.
“No, Veronica, I came back here to tell you to leave. You can’t just take my car without asking. You’re lucky I don’t call the cops and have you hauled in for grand theft auto.”
“Did you expect me to wait out in the parking lot for hours?”
“Why were you waiting for me in the first place? I didn’t ask you to.”
“Now you’re just being a jerk.”
He’d been called worse. “How did you get my keys?”
“You left them at my place. Remember?”
“No.”
“You were too drunk to drive, so Selene took you home and the next day you came and picked up your car. I wasn’t home, so you must’ve used your spare set.”
While he remembered little of his drunken evening with Veronica and Selene, he did recall waking up with Selene in his bed and then picking his car up the following morning. He’d completely forgotten to get his extra keys from Veronica. Sole Regret had been back on tour by the next day, and recovering his keys hadn’t been a priority. “That was over a month ago. You’ve had them all this time?”
She smiled. “And don’t think the idea of taking your car for a joyride every night didn’t cross my mind. I didn’t though. Until tonight. And I wouldn’t have taken it tonight if you hadn’t been so late.”
And he wouldn’t have been so late if the lead guitarist of his band wasn’t such an inconsiderate ass.
Julie’s birthday wasn’t the only major event he’d missed because of Adam. He’d missed Julie’s birth because he’d been accompanying Adam’s unconscious ass to the hospital. Back in those days Adam had had a tendency to overdo the heroin. While waiting in the emergency room for Adam to be revived, he’d missed the call that Tina had gone into premature labor. By the time he got the message, Julie had already been born in a different hospital, in a different state—three weeks early, but healthy. He’d never forgive Adam for making him miss his daughter’s first breath. Never. Especially since the jerk didn’t even understand why Shade was so angry with him. Maybe someday Shade would give up on Adam and just let him destroy himself, but the guy was a walking disaster and Shade felt responsible for him. If someone didn’t keep tabs on Adam, he’d likely end up dead. As much as the guy ticked him off, Shade wouldn’t want that. They’d been through a lot together. And not all of it bad. In fact, Adam had been the one to give Shade a dream to pursue. Before Adam had convinced Shade that he could sing, Shade had been on the fast track to working in some factory—if he’d been lucky.
“Why don’t you go ask your female company if she’d like to join us?” Veronica said. “I’m so comfortable and so in the mood. Seems a shame to waste a pussy this hot and juicy for you.” Her fingertips moved to stroke her nipple. “We can call Selene over if your company is too shy to get busy with us.”
Veronica and Selene would keep him up and going all night. He couldn’t say he wasn’t tempted. But he wasn’t sold. “I’ll call you a cab while you get dressed,” he said.
He turned to go into the house, and a glass of wine hurtled past him and crashed onto the slate at his feet. “You fucking jerk!”
“Be sure to clean up that broken glass before you go. I’ll have the cab wait for you at the end of the driveway.” He started up the deck steps to enter the house through the door off the kitchen.
“Wait, Shade. I’m sorry,” Veronica called after him. Water splashed as she exited the hot tub. Wet feet landed on the cedar decking. Shade didn’t make the mistake of turning around. He let himself into the house. Amanda was peering out the kitchen window.
“I know it isn’t any of my business,” she said. “But your hot, naked babe seems a bit perturbed at you.”
He chuckled. “I inherited the piss-off-women gene from my father.”
“You must be homozygous dominant for the trait.”
“Huh?”
She laughed and smoothed her silky brown hair with one hand. “Sorry. Biology teacher humor.”
Shade had never liked school, but he respected teachers. Smart chicks intimidated him a bit. Not that he’d admit that to a smart chick. Especially not a smart, hot chick like Amanda Lange. “How’s the job?” he asked, tugging the door closed behind him and locking it.
“Oh it’s great. Especially in June, July and August.”
He chuckled. “All that time off would be a nice perk. You know, those are the months I work the most.”
“As if strutting around on stage for an hour a night is work. Puh-lease.” She rolled her eyes.
He stood up straighter and scowled. “I don’t strut.”
“Yeah. You do.” She grinned. “But it’s hella sexy, so don’t ever stop.”
He laughed. It was refreshing to flirt with a woman who didn’t think it meant she had to fall on his dick with a missile-seeking vagina.
“Let me call a cab for Veronica, and then I’ll order a pizza.”
Amanda nodded toward the window overlooking the backyard. “I think she already left.”
Shade’s heart dropped. “Shit! She still has my keys.”
He raced through the house and yanked open the front door. Standing next to the driver’s door of his car, Veronica threw one of her high heels at him. “Asshole!”
He easily sidestepped her projectile and dashed across the driveway. Veronica tore open the door and was halfway into the car before he reached her. He pulled her against him and closed the door with his foot. One disaster avoided. One instigated.
Veronica struck him in the chest with surprising strength. “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me.”
He released his hold on her arm, and she collapsed against his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. Fuck. He was on a roll with making females cry today, and he had a pathological weakness to tears. Double fuck.
He wrapped Veronica in a loose embrace and stroked her back. “Don’t cry.”
“Y-you, you-you think I’m ugly,” she wailed.
“What? No. I don’t think you’re ugly at all. You’re beautiful. Perfect.”
“Then w-why-why-why won’t you sleep with meeeeeeee?”
He bit his lip so he didn’t laugh. She sounded absolutely ridiculous. “I told you: I have other plans.”
“Are-are-are you going to sleep with herrrrrrrrrr?”
He had no intention of sleeping with Amanda. He liked her too much to fuck her. “That’s not any of your business.”
Veronica clung to him. “Don’t send me away. Please. I need to be with you.”
“It’s not going to happen tonight, Veronica. Maybe some other time.”
She pulled away and looked up at him. Her nose was red, and black streaks ran down each cheek. “Is it because I took you
r car? Are you mad at me?”
It was much more complicated than that, but he took the easy way out. “Yes. And if you take off in it now, I’ll be so mad that I won’t call you again.”
She whimpered.
He searched her face. “You aren’t upset because you have feelings for me, are you?” Because he didn’t do feelings anymore. Not since his botched marriage. And Veronica knew that. That’s why he hooked up with her regularly. Casual sex was the only way to go, and he’d thought she was in agreement.
Veronica wiped her tears with the back of her wrists and said, “Of course not. I just wanted to get laid. I’ve been horny all day thinking about your big, thick cock.”
He somehow managed not to roll his eyes at her. “That’s what you say, but you’re acting jealous.”
Veronica took a step back, straightened her spine and returned to the self-confident woman he knew well. “Not jealous, Shade. Envious. I was really looking forward to being fucked senseless tonight. No one has your stamina, baby.”
Well, his dick was looking forward to a night of rest.
“Will you take me home at least?” she asked. “Selene isn’t off work yet. She dropped me at the parking lot to wait for you. That’s why I took your car.”
Shade glanced over his shoulder at the house. Taking Veronica home would cut into his time with Amanda, but it was only a ten-minute drive, and it would take longer than that for a cab to arrive. “Yeah, okay. Just give me a minute.”
Shade picked up Veronica’s discarded shoe on his way into the house. Amanda stood in the foyer with her arms crossed over her chest and looking very awkward.
“I should go,” she said.
“Please don’t. I’m just going to give her a ride home. You can come along if you want.”
“Your car is a two-seater, Shade.”
Shade? She was one of the few people who called him by his given name, so her using his stage name set off all sorts of warning bells. Shade rubbed his forehead. He was really fucking things up. “Right.”
“I thought you were going to call her a cab.”
“It’ll take longer for a cab to get here than for me to drive her home. She doesn’t live far.”
Amanda shrugged. “Whatever. I understand. Maybe we’ll do this some other time.”
Shade took his sunglasses off and looked down into her eyes, hoping she could see the sincerity in his expression. “I don’t want you to leave, Amanda. I want her to leave.”
She surprised him by blushing and lowering her gaze. “Okay.” She took a deep breath and then smiled up at him. “I’ll order the pizza while you’re gone. I hope you’re a fan of anchovies and pineapple.”
“I like them almost as much as I like Steel Magnolias.”
She laughed and patted his chest. His heart leaped, and his dick decided it no longer wanted the night off. Down boy. Hot or not, Amanda is off-limits.
“Go take Naked Babe home. I’ve got you covered.”
He fought the urge to kiss her gently smiling lips and instead put his sunglasses back on. “I’ll hurry.” There were benefits to owning a car that went zero to sixty in under four seconds.
By the time he closed the front door behind him, Veronica was waiting in the car. He climbed inside and dropped her shoe on her lap.
“I’m sorry if I upset you,” she said. She leaned close and kissed his neck. Her hand slid over his thigh and between his legs. “Forgive me?”
“Yeah. Whatever.”
He started the car, and its quiet, electric engine purred. He’d owned bigger, louder cars in the past, but he actually liked the calm power of his Tesla. It rode fast, like any sports car, but the engine was almost silent and it shifted seamlessly, taking the handling out of his hands and putting it in the car’s control. He mostly loved this car because it made him feel he was driving a vehicle from the future and because he never had to fill it with gas. He would have to charge it when he got home, however. The battery was low on juice.
“I could make it up to you.” Veronica’s hand slid to his crotch. “Would you prefer a hand job or a blow job?”
“Not interested right now,” he said, but his already engorging cock was making a liar out of him. Sometimes his libido was a liability.
“I can feel that,” she said and produced a throaty chuckle. “I’ll take care of you. Big-eyes doesn’t have to know about it.”
“Big-eyes?”
“The pretty little thing you have waiting back at your place.”
“You saw her?”
“She has a tendency to watch things, through windows, that are none of her business.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll thank you for getting me hard. Keep on doing what you’re doing and I’ll be ready to fuck her as soon as I walk in the door.” He figured that would be more affective at getting Veronica to stop fondling him than if he asked her to stop. She jerked her hand from his crotch and put distance between them in the close quarters of the car by leaning against the passenger door and crossing her arms over her ample bust.
“You really are an asshole.” She tried to glare a hole through the dashboard.
“And you don’t know how to take no for an answer.”
“I don’t understand why I should have to. We always have a good time in the sack.”
And that was the only thing they had in common. Tires squealed as he turned into her driveway. He stopped in front of her garage door. When she continued to glare at the dashboard and didn’t make a move to get out of the car, he leaned over her and opened the door.
“You aren’t even going to get out of the car?”
“Nope, I’ve got a raging hard-on now and am eager to get back to Big-eyes.” Which was true, but the two statements weren’t linked. Not that Amanda and raging hard-ons didn’t go hand in hand. He just wanted to be with her for reasons other than what was going on in his pants.
“I hope your dick falls off,” Veronica said and stumbled out of the car with one shoe on her foot and the other one in her hand.
He chuckled. “No you don’t. Then you wouldn’t be able to fuck it.”
She growled at him and then slammed the door. Smiling at her, he waved goodbye, backed the car out of the driveway and headed for home. Another good thing about having a fast sports car was that when a spiteful woman threw her shoe at it, she missed.
Shade was relieved to see Amanda’s car was still in his driveway when he returned. He’d expected her to have left. He could understand why she’d feel uncomfortable enough to split. What woman wanted to hang out with a guy who came home to uninvited naked chicks in his hot tub? Amanda probably thought he was the biggest man-whore on the planet. And maybe he was a contender for the top ten pussy chasers of all time, but he didn’t think with his dick. He just liked to keep it happy by giving it what it wanted. It was an entirely conscious decision on his part. He didn’t have a problem telling a woman no. Just like a woman should never have a problem telling him no. Easy come, easy go. But mostly easy cum.
Shade pulled into his garage and plugged the car into the charger before entering the house through the mudroom. He could hear Amanda singing in the kitchen as soon as he stepped inside. She was screeching the eighties song “Walking on Sunshine” entirely off-key. He smiled and followed her voice to the chef’s kitchen. He watched her from the doorway. She had ear buds in her ears and unaware of his presence, treated him to a little dance as she helped herself to the fresh fruit in his fridge. She did a sideways shuffle to the sink and washed grapes, strawberries and apples before tossing them into a bowl and opening several drawers until she found a knife.
As she sang the perky chorus, her cute little butt wiggled side to side. Her dancing was a hell of a lot better than her singing.
“Whoa-o.” Shade couldn’t resist joining her.
Amanda whirled around, knife in hand. Her face went instantly red, and she yanked her ear buds out. “When did you get back?” she asked.
“Put the knife down, lady, and we’
ll talk.”
She glanced down at her hand, which was holding the knife like a weapon, and then dropped it on the dark granite of the kitchen island. “Oh God, how long have you been standing there?”
“Long enough to know you sing sharp. Way sharp.”
“You weren’t supposed to hear that. I figured it would be at least an hour before you got back.”
His brow crinkled. “I told you I’d hurry.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t take you for a minute-man.”
“What?”
“Oh, come on, Jacob, I know why you wanted to take her home. I’m not dumb.”