Coffee and Cockpits (44 page)

I nodded, and mingled around the space. Margot’s place was pretty spacious. She had one of the bigger apartments in the building. Her living room was bigger than the one at Mama’s and my place. Margot’s business allowed her a few perks.

When I came across two boys in their bagging jeans and
Rocawear
tees sitting on the couch, I plopped myself down between them. Not seeing who it was, they didn’t hide their liquor fast enough.

With a sigh, the underage boys handed off their beer bottles to me.

“Thanks, boys,” I said, pushing off the couch.

“Dang, Lacey. You’re no fun,” one of the pretend thugs said from behind me.

They’d thank me later; maybe not tonight, but eventually.

I deposited the bottles in Margot’s trash bin, then put my hands on my hips. Seeing some new arrivals, I decided to help Margot out by retrieving the chips and soda they brought for the party.

“Nice job tonight, Lacey.” One of the actors who played a duke in the show handed me a bag of Doritos, then kissed my cheek.

“Yeah, much better than Julie,” said the blonde actress with him as she gave me her two liter of pop.

I smiled. “I don’t know about that.”

“Modest as always. That’s why we love you. See you around.” the guy with the blonde said.

After they left me, I dropped off the food items in the kitchen.
When I came back to the living room, I received more recognition and pats on the back. I guess a star’s life did have its highlights. Feeling completely overwhelmed, I decided to head up to the roof for some air. There were actually a few people up there already by the overlook of the street. Joining them, I leaned up against the brick. Eventually they left, and I was by myself. I watched the street for a while. The sounds of cars passing by occasionally met my ears as I witnessed more people entering downstairs. There was some arguing across the street that took my attention. It sounded like it was getting pretty heated. The couple lived in the building across from Margot’s, and their disagreement came from their window on the third floor as their silhouettes moved behind the curtains.

As I listened to the noise die down, I thought about other neighborhoods. Thought about if it would ever be normal to
not
hear those traffic noises. Those arguments.

Dreamer talk. Wasted thoughts. I needed to stop listening to Margot so much. She was starting to rub off, and I didn’t have time for the backlash of those wasted thoughts.

Flicking off some red specks from the brick, I sought other ones.

“Hey, there.”

“Hey . . .” My instinctual salutation awkwardly trailed off as I watched a guy join me by the brick.

Of Asian descent, he gazed at me with a set of mahogany eyes and was the epitome of tall, dark, and handsome with his strong
features. He was dressed in a white-collared shirt and black slacks. The unusual tightness of the outfit outlined his long, lean body. He was muscular, but not huge. Like a swimmer. I’d ask him why his outfit was so tight if I cared about the fact that it was so tight. I didn’t care, so I didn’t ask.

As those warm-colored eyes studied me standing there, he smiled. He had a smile that had to have broken more than one heart, and rather shamefully, the expression currently played with mine.

“I’m glad I found you. I was looking all over for you,” he said.

His voice was deep; sultry. Velvety smooth, the tone wrapped around his words like a blanket, and it took me a second to think about what he said.

I blinked once. “You were looking for me?” Did I know him? I doubted I’d ever forget a handsome face like his.

Running his finger along the edge of the brick overlook, he nodded. “Yeah. I saw you perform tonight. Couldn’t take my eyes off you.”

“Oh really?” I played it off like his cheesy line didn’t affect me, but the leap of my heart gave me away.

“Really.” He cocked his head to the side.

“So you were an attendee of the show this evening? Didn’t think I’d seen you before.”

That would explain his dress shirt and slacks. This was common attire to attend a show in. That fact didn’t explain the tightness, though. Maybe he was just one of those guys who enjoyed wearing tight clothing because they had the body to rock it. Whatever the case, there were no complaints from me.

“Indeed I was.”

He moved just a bit closer to me. I pretended not to notice, but the nibbling on my lip ring displayed that I had.

“First time?” I asked, watching his proximity.

“I’ve seen the show before, but this was my first time seeing it in that particular theater.”

He didn’t move this time. Perhaps, he noticed he made me nervous. I could’ve kicked myself.

“New to town then? Our theater is pretty well-known despite its size.”

He gave a deep, throaty laugh. “Yes, I am new to it all. And because of that fact, I know nothing about you. This disappoints me.”

“Does it now?”

“Yes. It does. I want to know everything about the girl who sang like an angel on that stage tonight.”

My cheeks heated, and my eyes flickered away. Was it like this for all the stars of a show? Because if it was, I didn’t know if I could handle being a celebrity. This guy was melting me like freaking butter.

“Tell me about yourself. I want to know everything.”

“Everything, huh? Don’t know if you’d like everything.”

“Try me. I’m pretty open to new things tonight.”

“Well . . .” I nibbled the backing of my lip ring during my pause, trying to figure out where to start. “I hail from Cicero. Well, just north of it.”

Sucking in a breath, he cringed.

I leaned back in response to his surprise. “Not to your liking?”

He tilted his head from side to side. “I guess I’ve just heard things.”

I gave a short laugh. “Well, not all of it’s true. You just have to surround yourself with the right people.”

At that point, he didn’t hide the fact that he moved closer. Using the back of his fingers, he brushed them against my hand. The action sent chills throughout my skin.

“What else?” he asked, staring at my flesh that held goose pimples.

“Uh . . .” I let out a breath. I wasn’t used to guys being so forward around me, but I had no intention of telling him to stop. “I live with my Mama.”

He glanced up from my hand with an arched eyebrow. “Mama, huh?” His deep tone peaked on the word “mama.” “Interesting term.”

I gave a short laugh. “I take it that’s not what you call yours?”

He shook his head, smiling. “Nope. Just Mom.”

“Your dad?”

“Father.”

His word was short and clipped for some reason when he said that.

“Yours?” he asked.

“Not in the picture enough to have developed a name. It’s just been me and Mama for a while. We take care of each other. Me more so now that I’m out of school.” I didn’t hesitate when talking about my dad. I didn’t feel ashamed. My words were facts, nothing more.

Studying his own fingers against my skin, he didn’t push what I stated about my dad. Perhaps, he understood not to. Watching him, I nibbled my lip ring.

“I like that lip ring of yours.”

“You do, huh?” God, he was so direct. Holy heck, I had to watch myself around this guy.

“Mmmhmm, especially when you bite it. It’s like you’re nervous or something. Do I make you nervous?”

He ran his fingers from my hand and up my arm. He stopped at my elbow, brushing it gently.

My breath caught in my throat. “No, I’m not nervous.” Clearly a lie, but I thought the word came out casually. I shrugged. “It’s just a tick. A habit. You’d bite it too if you had one.”

He laughed his deep laugh again. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. They’re fun to play with.” I bit down on it. “To suck.” I sucked on it.

His brows shot up, and the brushing of his fingers froze on my elbow. I guess he was the one who was nervous now.

“You should get one. If anything to give yourself something to do when you’re bored. Excellent entertainment.” I sucked down on it a little harder.

He breathed in deep. “You’re making me want to go out and get one right now.”

I let go of the ring when he checked his watch. Did he have someplace to be? The caving feeling in my chest surprised me. I didn’t even know this guy. Why was I so let down that he had to leave?

“I think,” he said, gazing up from his watch, “I’m going to ask you out now. We’ve been chatting for a few minutes. Seems safe.”

The feeling let up instantly, and I chuckled. “You don’t even know my name. Nor do I know yours.”

He pulled me toward him by my elbow. “Exactly why we need more time to discuss such matters.”

He tugged me so close I was able to rest my hand on his chest. He was firm, really firm.

“What do you say?”

Forcing my focus off the hard panes of his body, I met his eyes. “I think that can be arranged.”

“Good.” He slid his hand up to my forearm. “Now that’s settled, I have to get something else out of the way. It’s been bugging me our entire chat, and I need to fix it.”

“What?”

He watched his own hand as it ventured to my neck. His fingers played with the baby curls at the base of my scalp. “Dates take planning. Time. And I can’t wait even twenty-four hours, hell, the next minute, to fix the problem that’s been bugging me.”

“What’s been bugging you? Can I help you fix it?” I asked, watching his lips draw in close.

When he gave a half-smile, his lips parted. The action exposed his tongue, and sent my body swimming in heat. “I think you can, angel of song.”

I didn’t have time to take in another breath before his mouth moved over mine. He wasn’t aggressive, and savored my lips like he couldn’t get enough.

When I parted my lips, he didn’t hold back from the invitation. My tongue danced over his, and a burst of his scent filled my nose. His skin so close to mine, smelled of juniper and various spices. The pure ecstasy the concoction created made me groan.

His hand went to my bare midriff, and he pulled my body even closer to his. He didn’t stop there, though. He caressed my body with his fingers as if studying every part of me; analyzing my skin and discovering the new territory I welcomed him to have.

Eventually, his hand lay flat against my stomach and his thumb brushed over my bellybutton ring. He seemed to like it, because he didn’t stop his thumb from gently caressing it.

To suppress a moan, I nibbled his lips. When I did this, he nibbled mine back. His kiss became more urgent and soon my lip ring became his new fascination as he toyed with it.

“You’re right. It is fun to play with,” he said, tongue flicking the stud.

I now, officially, would have let this nameless guy take me against the roof if he wanted.

After a few more flicks on my ring, he kissed his way down to my neck. His hand moved on from my stomach and covered lower back. He pulled my waist to him like my body was made to fit in his hand.

I panted, gripping my fingers against his chest.

“Ahem.”

I heard the voice, but was far from caring about it. I slipped my arms around the guy’s waist and brought him in closer. He didn’t seem to have heard the voice and kept on against my neck.

“A
hem
.”

The voice was louder, and I knew it was Margot. Couldn’t she see I was busy?

The guy’s tongue peeked out and ran at an angle up my neck. “I think we’re supposed to stop.”

“No, it’s fine. If we ignore her long enough she’ll go away,” I breathed.

“We can wait.” Stopping his lick, he gave me a single kiss on my neck. “No rush.” His heated breath brushed against my skin just before he pulled away. He ran his fingers against my jaw. “I fully intend on continuing this.”

Unable to contain it, I let out a fit of nervous giggles.

Margot approached us, hand at her mouth to hold in her laugher. After she composed herself, she wrapped her arm around mine. “I see you found my girl here,” she said.

I frowned. Had she met this guy before?

He smiled. “I did. Thankfully, it didn’t take too long. Sorry I wandered away, but I had to look for her. Couldn’t resist after I saw her on stage tonight.”

Wandered away? What did he mean by that?

“I figured since you just had to come here so urgently tonight after finding out she’d be here.” Laughing, Margot dropped her arm from mine, then turned my way. “Well, I’m sorry, hon, but this guy and I have some business to attend to. I’ll make sure to bring him back quickly, though.” She winked at me.

As soon as she said the word “business,” my heart skyrocketed into my throat. Staring at the guy, he didn’t seem to notice what I found off about Margot’s statement. I held up my finger. “I’ll be right back. I have to talk with her for a minute.”

Not waiting for his response, I whipped Margot around by her shoulder and left the roof. I waited until we were on the stairwell before I let her go. “Please tell me that is
not
your client up there?”