Maybe Baby (23 page)

“Testing one, two.” The emcee stood at the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention please? I’ve been told that we have a special birthday celebration tonight at the Sanctuary, a VIP birthday as a matter of fact.”

I looked at Gina who had her shit-eating grin going good; Ian stood beside her with the same expression. Oh, it seemed they had outdone themselves on this one.

“So,” the emcee continued, “if we could just get the little lady down here on the stage, so that our next group can give her a proper birthday shout-out for her twenty-one years on this planet! Tylar Preston? Come on dowwnnn!”

The crowd whooped and hollered.

“C’mon,” Piers said, gentleman that he was, “I’ll escort you down, Tylar.”

“Thank you,” I whispered, good-naturedly glaring at Gina. Piers put his hand on the small of my back and we descended the stairway. I was suddenly feeling very exposed and had to resist the urge to tug at my dress, wishing it covered more. “Don’t fall, don’t fall,” I repeated to myself the whole way down. The band had taken stage and was tuning their instruments to what sounded like an electric version of “Happy Birthday.”

My embarrassment reached its peak when I spotted Trey, sitting at the bar, directly in front of the dance floor and the band warming up. His face was unreadable.

“Here she is!” the emcee announced as he saw Piers leading me over. “And she looks fiiiine! C’mon up here, darlin'!”

Why did my dress seem tighter? I looked at Piers for help. He smiled and lifted me up, placing me on the stage.

“Now darlin’, the boys here in the band wanted to play you a traditional Happy Birthday song, but it seems that they've just received an offer that they simply couldn't refuse. But in order to collect on that offer, there's a stipulation.”

Stipulation?

“It seems, little lady, that you have a very generous admirer out there in the crowd. He asked that the boys play a special song for you, because he wants this dance. Now you have to agree to this or, well, we give you a Happy Birthday song, and let you sing along with the boys. What’s it going to be, sugar?” He held the microphone up.

“Do I get to pick the song for the dance?” I asked shyly.

“No darling, your benefactor was very specific on that part. Seems he thinks you look “Pretty in Pink,” so is it a go?”

“Oh sure why not?” I said into the mic, to thunderous applause. The lights dimmed, leaving only a spotlight on the dance floor. I turned to Piers. No wonder he'd so kindly “offered” to escort me down for this birthday humiliation. I could be a good sport if I had to. But Piers remained standing off to the side.

“Here’s our band ‘Osmosis’ ladies and gentlemen, with a tribute song to our birthday girl, ‘If you Leave.’”

The band kicked off the song and I recognized it immediately. The lights were fully dimmed but Piers didn’t budge. I felt self-conscious standing on stage alone, until a pair of strong arms lifted me down onto the dance floor.

I turned and looked up and there he was.

Trey.

I put my right arm around his neck, and laced my fingers into his proffered hand. He danced as exquisitely as he looked. I was mesmerized by his closeness, laying my head against his chest and closing my eyes, drinking in his scent.

“Happy Birthday, Tylar,” he whispered. “You know I would’ve found you no matter what, don’t you?”

“I’m not sure of anything anymore. These past few weeks have been difficult in so many ways. I don’t want things to be so complicated anymore.”

He leaned down and kissed me softly as the song wound down. Thankfully, the band moved right into another song and the dance floor was once again a melee of activity.

“I want to go back to the hotel,” I said. “Will you take me?”

“Of course, I will.”

Gina stood waiting as we left the dance floor. She still had her shit-eating grin on and handed me my purse. “I called the limo,” she said. “He’ll be out front in two minutes. Ian and I are going to stick around a little longer. The driver will drop you guys, you know, wherever.”

“Thanks, Gina,” I grinned, hugging her, “For all of this.”

“Good night, Gina,” Trey said, smiling at her just a little bit appreciatively.

The limo was waiting as we stepped outside. The chauffeur opened the double doors, and Trey and I slid in on the same side. It felt good that in this moment, I was in control; Trey had no clue where I was staying.

“Grand Hyatt, Buckhead,” I reminded the driver. Trey cocked an amused eyebrow at me.

“Glad to see you don’t skimp when it comes to lodging in the big city,” he teased.

“Actually, it was a birthday gift from Ian and Gina, two nights,” I replied. “Drink?” I offered.

“Sure, whatever you’re having, Ms. Preston.”

I mixed two vodka sonics in the tall frosted glasses in the limo’s wet bar. Trey took his graciously, and held it up.

“To your twenty-first birthday, Tylar, and to the fact that you now can drink
legally."

"Cheers,” I replied, tapping my glass to his.

“Trey,” I asked as he tipped the frosted glass back, taking a drink of his cocktail, “who was the blonde slut with you at the bar?”

He immediately choked on his drink, causing him to spit most of it against the limo’s glass partition. He pulled his monogrammed handkerchief out to dab his dripping chin, then he wiped the glass clean on the partition. I'd embarrassed his good manners. Good, I thought, now answer my question.

“Jesus Christ! Where did you get the idea I was with anyone at the bar tonight?”

“I saw you sitting with the blonde at the bar tonight.”

“I was there first. She came in later and sat next to me. That’s all there was to it.”

“Really?” I said. “If that's all there was to it, why did you dance with her?”

“She asked
me
to dance, not the other way around,” he clarified. “I can’t believe that you had an issue with that. It appeared to me as if you were doing some sort of a tribal mating dance with Rodney until you scared him off.”

“
You're
the one who scared him off,” I said, pointing my finger at him.

He smirked, snatching my finger with his hand and kissing it. I continued undeterred. “He saw you glaring at us.”

Trey didn’t respond; grinning, he pulled me onto his lap.

“You like being able to intimidate those guys, don’t you?” I asked.

“I’d like it much better if I could intimidate
you,”
he answered softly, bringing his mouth down on mine. His kiss was passionate; there was urgency to it. I molded my body to him and could feel his arousal.

“This dress leaves very little to the imagination,” he commented. “You drew quite an audience tonight, Ms. Preston.”

"I was only interested in an audience of one," I replied honestly as the chauffer pulled up to the hotel lobby entrance.

“Are you staying with me tonight? Or do you want the driver to take you to your apartment?”

“You know,” he said, fingering my gold necklace gently, “we could both stay at my apartment tonight, if you want.”

I wasn’t going to give in. I wanted him to do it my way for once. “I want to stay here tonight. I’d like for you to join me.”

“How could I refuse you anything?” he asked, taking my hand.

We crossed the quiet lobby and entered the elevator. Trey loosened his collar and tie. He was in a suit as though he had worked today, but it was Saturday. He seemed a bit distracted, but maybe he was just tired. Not too tired, I hoped.

The elevator doors opened on the seventh floor and I led him to my room. Trey gave it the once-over approvingly. “Very nice,” he said, taking me into his arms again.

I pulled him past the living room into the bedroom with the king-sized bed. “Look at the view of Atlanta from here,” I said, going over to the balcony. “It’s really gorgeous at night isn’t it?”

“The most beautiful thing here is you,” he said, sweetly, wrapping his arms around me as we both looked out over downtown.

“Let’s get ready for bed, okay?” he asked softly.

I nodded. “Just give me a few minutes."

I stepped out of my heels and removed my jewelry. I knew I was going to need help getting my dress off. I turned to Trey. He looked up at me from the bed.

“Trey, can you please help me out of this dress?” I asked.

He rose up off of the bed, taking my hand. “Come on,” he said, “let’s take this into the bathroom.”

The bathroom was huge, with a double shower. The hotel supplied “his” and “hers” terrycloth bathrobes. He started the water and I watched as he removed his clothes, hanging them on a hook to stay dry. He stood before me in his boxers. He turned to me and I presented my back to him so that he could unzip my dress. Once unzipped, he slid his hands inside and lowered my dress so that it slipped to the floor.

I hadn’t worn a bra because the dress had one built in. I wore simply my silk thong, which seemed to surprise and delight Trey. He stood behind me, close enough that I could feel his warm breath on my neck. He cupped my breasts with his beautiful, long-fingered hands, and gently massaged them.

God this feels good . . .

He hooked his finger in the elastic band of my thong and pulled it down, exposing my butt to his gaze. I stepped out of it and turned to face him. His erection was full and strained against his boxer shorts. I boldly hooked my fingers on the waistband of his shorts and tugged them down over his erection past his thighs where they dropped to his feet. He stepped out of them.

His huge erection shocked me, but I didn’t want to appear scared or reluctant because I knew Trey was sensitive to my complicated sexual past. I was going to have him tonight and whatever monsters or memories still lurked in my subconscious would just have to sit back and watch.

I stood on my toes and kissed Trey, moving my body against his. He took my hand and wordlessly led me to the shower. Trey lathered up one of the washcloths, handing it to me. He wanted me to wash him. I ran the cloth over his muscular body, taking delight in rubbing his firm stomach, narrow hips, and tight buttocks. I took his erection in both hands, gently lathering it up with my hands, stroking it up and down until I heard Trey’s sharp intake of breath. I quickly looked up to make sure that I hadn’t hurt him, but I saw pure pleasure on his face.

It was now his turn. He lathered up the other washcloth and started with my breasts. He soaped up each breast, and then moved the showerhead to rinse it, taking his mouth and licking my nipples. He moved the washcloth lower, careful not to pull on my bellybutton ring, which I think he was beginning to find sexy. He washed between my legs, letting his fingers massage the folds of my sex and touching my clitoris softly and sensually. He was making me feel amazing and no dark memories of my mom’s boyfriend haunted me. We rinsed the soap from each other with the hand-held showerheads. The bathroom was fairly steamed up by this time; so were we.

Stepping out, we toweled each other off and put on our bathrobes, then moved to the bedroom. I scrambled onto the bed, pulling the covers back, shedding my robe and diving underneath the crisp sheets. Trey slipped in next to me and pulled me to him. We faced each other and Trey met my gaze.

“Tylar,” he said, quietly but firmly, “I want to make love to you more than anything that I’ve ever wanted. You understand that, right?”

I nodded, hoping I wasn’t about to get a lecture on safe sex. But what he said next was a surprise.

“Before this goes any further, there are some things that you need to know. I’ve been reluctant to be sexual with you out of my concern for you. I don't want to cause you any more pain, Tylar, physically or psychologically. I know that you're a virgin, and if you want me to stop at any point, just say so, okay? All I want is to give you pleasure.”

I nodded. I felt like I was getting a long-winded set of instructions before a mid-term. But, I knew that it was important to Trey that I understood him, and I respected that about him.

He continued, “There has to be trust between us, so please tell me if anything we do brings up bad memories. Promise?”

“I promise, Trey.”

“Finally,” he said, “and this part's a deal breaker. Once we do this, you're mine, do you understand?”

Actually, no. I did not understand. I looked at him quizzically.

“What I mean is that I don’t want you to be with other guys. But I also can't make any permanent commitment to you, at least not right now.”

This was really killing the mood, and I decided some clarification was in order.

“Just to be clear,” I responded, conjuring my version of lawyer language, “may I summarize my understanding of what you just said in your last point?”

He nodded, “You may.”

“Okay, once we sleep together, you don’t want me being with other guys, right?”

“That’s correct,” he answered.

I continued, “And conversely, you aren’t going to be with other women, right?”

“Correct,” he answered.

“And at this time, neither of us expects a mutual long-term commitment. Is that also accurate to say?”

“It is,” he responded.

“I’m fine with that, with just one minor addition.”

“And what would that be?”

“I want an out clause,” I stated firmly.

“I’m not sure I follow you.”

I think I was possibly blowing his mind with this one, but I felt it was a legitimate concern.

“Trey, if you should meet someone that you have the urge to be sexual with, I want you to immediately advise me that you're opting out of our arrangement. I'll show you the same courtesy, agreed?”

I could tell he didn’t like my idea, but too bad. He'd already sucked the romance out of the moment. I might as well make sure my interest was protected too.

“Fine,” he said a bit irritated.

“Good.” I moved over to him, pressing my body to his.

He should’ve just gone with the flow and worked the details out later. I propped myself up on my elbow, resting my head on my hand. I felt the need to prove to Trey I wasn't some scared, fragile virgin.

Chapter 23

Trey lay reclined on his back, with his right arm crooked behind his head. He'd been quiet in the moments after we'd made our arrangement. He was a complicated man, I understood that, and I felt good about making clear what I wanted in the agreement.