Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2) (3 page)

BOOK: Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)
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   Never had I lived through a more mortifying experience than trying to act as if I were into Lexi while Kalli stood by and watched.  It was awkward as all hell, but it’d been a job and everyone had been professional about it, even Kalli.  Perhaps even especially Kalli.

   My eyes closed and I pictured Kalli on her knees in front of me as she took my measurements that day, blushing and trying not to let her attraction show.  From that instant I knew eventually she’d be mine, that I’d do anything to be with her, to see her kneeling before me with nothing covering her beautiful body.  Even as I’d made the declaration in my mind, nothing could have prepared me for how it would feel to really be with her.

   I shook my head, trying to rid my mind of the images torturing me, but they never fully went away.  I was never completely without her, or the memory of us together.

   When there was a knock at my door, I took a deep breath and made my way to the front of my small apartment.  There wasn’t a single time I walked through my living room and I didn’t think about Marcus asleep on my couch.  Not one time had I walked through there and not thought of him, missed him, and prayed that he was someplace better.

   I opened the door, expecting to see Lexi, but instead I was met by an extremely tall, very large, and robust black man.  When he spoke, I nearly startled at how low and deep his voice was, but managed to keep my reaction undetectable.

   “Hey, man,” he said, sounding way too much like Barry White.  “I’m Tank, one of Ms. Black’s bodyguards.  She’s waiting for you downstairs in the limo.”

   “Great,” I mumbled, still thrown off by Tank’s sheer size and presence.  I left my apartment and headed toward the parking lot, where a black stretch limo was waiting.  As I approached, a man jumped out of the front passenger door and reached to open the back door before I could.  I slowly climbed inside, a little intimidated, never really having been in a car that nice.

   My eyes landed on Lexi, sitting on the seat at the other end of the limo. Next to her was another large man, a bodyguard I presumed.  I slid onto the seat closest to me, trying to take in everything I was seeing.  Rope lights framed the ceiling of the limo. There was a bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice, and multiple bottles of liquor were available as well.  My eyes met Lexi’s and she smiled at me.

   “Riot, it’s so good to see you again.  I’d totally get up and hug you, but with these shoes and this skirt, I’d never be able to get back down again,” she said with a friendly smile.  My gaze traveled down to said skirt and shoes, and I had to agree—the skirt was too short to be moving around much, and the heels looked dangerous.  I never understood why women liked to risk their lives in heels that were unusually high and spiky.

   “Good to see you, too.  Although, I’ll admit, I was a little surprised with this whole setup.”

   She waved a hand at me, as if to say, “No big deal.” 

   “It’s just a movie premiere,” she replied, her voice light and carefree.  “I thought it would be a fun opportunity for us both.”

   “Now, Ronny,” Lexi said to the large man next to her, “don’t crowd us too much when we get out of the limo, I want the photographers to be able to see us together.  And make sure you let Riot help me out.”

   “You got it,” he said in agreement, then continued to stare out the window, checking his watch every minute or so.  It was a long and quiet ride, and it was also a little uncomfortable.  I had nothing to really say to Lexi, and tried to keep my eyes off her because, due to her skirt, my eyes naturally wandered to the point where her crossed thighs met.  I didn’t want her to catch me checking out her legs, especially since I wasn’t checking them out, per se; I was just being a normal guy.  Any twenty-six-year-old man would be mesmerized by all the skin she was showing.

   Instead, I pulled out my phone and tried to occupy myself with it.  Eventually, I noticed we were pulling up to a long line of limos.  We inched our way forward and Lexi touched up her makeup, smiling at me every couple minutes.  It seemed like we’d finally made it to our destination when I felt the limo stop and change gears into park.  Ronny moved to get out of the limo first and when the door opened all I saw were people and cameras.  The people didn’t even have heads, it seemed.  They just had necks with cameras.  And there were so many of them.

   “Don’t be nervous, Riot.  Just be yourself and smile, and make sure you stick with me, it’s easy to get separated.”

   I nodded, unsure of what to say in response.  I moved to exit the limo and was blinded by all the flashing bulbs, deafened by all the yelling.  I turned back, not forgetting my duty to help Lexi from the limo.  I saw her come out of the darkness and reached out to her.  When she took my hand, it was as if the cameras went even crazier and the energy surrounding us started buzzing in such a way I could physically feel it in the air. 

   Lexi didn’t let go of me, even after she was out of the limo completely; instead, she laced her fingers through mine and curled into me, clutching my bicep with her other hand.  She was smiling still, her red lips surrounding sparkling white teeth, and I couldn’t find any words, so I just led her through the crowd, following close behind Ronny and Tank, who seemed to be parting the bodies with camera heads for us.

   We made our way slowly down the red carpet and were stopped in front of a backdrop and suddenly the camera heads knew my name.

   “Riot! Look this way!”

   “Riot! Are you and Lexi dating?”

   “Lexi! Does George know you’re seeing someone else?”

   “Lexi! Give Riot a kiss!”

   At the command, Lexi leaned farther into my side and pressed her lips to my cheek.  I stilled, panicking a little.  I didn’t want to be rude to her, but I definitely didn’t want to be photographed as she kissed my cheek.  I didn’t want anyone kissing my cheek.  Well, that wasn’t true.  I’d let Kalli kiss me anywhere.  But I definitely wasn’t comfortable with what was happening.

   Lexi leaned away from me, smiling, then brought her thumb up to where her lips had just been, laughing.  “You’ve got red lipstick all over you,” she justified as she tried to brush it away, all the while the flash bulbs blinded and people yelled. 

   I brought my mouth closer to her ear so she could hear me when I asked, “What the hell, Lexi?”  As I said the words, I felt her hand come up to cradle my cheek and she giggled.  I pulled away, confused by what she could be laughing about.  Then it dawned on me.  She was putting on a show. 

   She was using me. 

   She didn’t just want to go to this event with me, she wanted to
be seen
with me, to make people believe we were together.  I pulled away, prepared to drop her hand and find my way back through the camera heads, but before I could say anything, she pressed her lips against mine.

   It had been so long since I felt a woman’s mouth on mine that for just one moment, I let her linger, caught up in remembering someone else.  Letting my heart pretend, for the tiniest moment, that Kalli was here with me instead of Lexi.  But then my brain remembered who she was, realized where we were, what was happening, and I pulled away, furious.  I put my hand on the back of her neck, trying to keep her close enough to hear me.

   “What are you doing?”

   She put on her fake smile and replied without moving her lips much, “Just play along, Riot.  It’ll all be okay.”

   I searched her eyes, then let her go, stepping back.  She laced her fingers through mine again and turned back to the cameras.

   “Lexi! How long have you been together?”

   “Riot!  Has this been going on ever since you shot her music video?”

   “Lexi! Is he
the one
?”

   “When are you going to put a ring on it, Riot?”

   Lexi giggled but didn’t answer any questions and I stood there, thoroughly pissed off and pretty sure my mood was evident on my face.  I didn’t care if I ruined their precious photos, I wasn’t happy so I wasn’t going to smile.

   Finally, Lexi led me into the building and once we were out of sight of the photographers, she dropped my hand.

   “What the fuck was that?” I growled, feeling my face turn red with the rage building from my gut.

   “Calm down, Riot.  It’s no big deal.  They’ll print some stories about us being together, our names will be hot for a few weeks, and then it’ll all die down.”  She looked past me and waved at someone, obviously not caring how I felt about the matter.

   “You could have warned me about what you were going to do.  I definitely wouldn’t have come if I thought you were going to
kiss
me in front of all those reporters.”

   She smiled at me, a genuine smile that showed me she didn’t mean me any harm, and said, “Why did you think I invited you, silly?  This is what the business is all about.”

   “What about George?  Won’t he be upset?”

   For the first time that evening I saw an emotion other than happiness cross her face.  She looked hurt and sad, and I immediately felt like shit for bringing him up.

   “He doesn’t care what I do,” she whispered, looking down at her hands, which she was wringing between us.

   “Lexi, I’m sorry.  I didn’t know.”

   “It’s okay.  It’s not a big deal.  Listen, I’m sorry if I offended you.  I guess I assumed you would know what tonight was about and how it would play out.  It never occurred to me you wouldn’t be ok with it.  You’re still new to the business, I guess.  So, I apologize.”  She paused, looking me in the eyes again, only this time the happiness was gone altogether.  “But you need to understand I did you a favor back there.  You might not think so right now, but you’ll see.”

   She turned and walked away from me, leaving me speechless.  She was right, I was new to the game, but I wasn’t dumb.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t understand why she did what she did, I just didn’t like the way it made me feel.  Used, and a little fake.  I never wanted to be anything but myself.  I was an honest person.  And this was far from honest. 

   I exhaled loudly, realizing there was absolutely nothing I could do about it at that moment.  The damage was done.  In fact, there were most likely already posts on social media speculating about our relationship status.  I wanted to leave, to bail on this whole evening, but I didn’t know how to get out of the building without walking right back down the red carpet, and I didn’t have a way home anyway.  So I decided to ride the evening out.  I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and went to find Lexi in the sea of celebrities and hangers-on. 

 

 

Chapter Three

He’s Not Hard On The Eyes

Kalli

   It was a Saturday morning, and the first Saturday in weeks I didn’t have to work.  I enjoyed sleeping in, but woke up hungry, so I padded down the stairs toward the kitchen.  As I neared the first floor I could hear Ella talking to the baby and smiled when I came into the great room and saw Mattie happily sitting in her bouncy chair while Ella spooned something into her mouth.  The TV was on in the background and Ella watched it as she fed her daughter.

   “Morning, Kal,” she said cheerily, looking over her shoulder as I came into the room.  “I didn’t think you were here.”

   “I got a Saturday off.  It’s a miracle,” I answered, my voice still a little raspy from sleep. 

   “Really?” she asked excitedly, turning to face me.  “I was going to drive to Portland to see Megan and have lunch and go shopping.  Wanna come with me?”

   “You aren’t spending the day with Porter?”  That surprised me.  Generally on the weekends they were together all the time.

   “He has to work in Lincoln City today and then is having dinner with his mom.  It’s a girls’ day!” she exclaimed, turning back to Mattie, using her mom voice again.

   “You know what?  That sounds like a lot of fun.  I think I will go with you.”  I grabbed a banana, then moved to sit on the couch facing Ella, who was parked on the floor.

   “Really?  That’s great.  We’ve really missed hanging out with you,” she stated.  She wasn’t looking at me as she said the words, but I could hear the underlying meaning.  I’d closed myself off from them for a while.  Not because they did anything wrong, but because I wasn’t emotionally ready to let myself feel anything but sadness and loss.  I was staying with them, living in their houses, but I wasn’t the same person I used to be.  A small smile crossed my face and I decided it was as good a day as any to try to enjoy myself with my friends.

   “I’ve missed me, too,” I replied honestly.  “And thank you for not giving up on me.  I’m trying, every day, to get back to normal. I’m just not sure what normal is anymore.”

   “Oh, sweetie, you’re doing fine.  And we’ll be here to help you as long as you need.”

   I smiled at her, grateful for my friend in that moment, but my attention was pulled to the television as I heard a woman speak a name I’d tried for months to avoid hearing.

   “Riot Bentley made quite the appearance last night at the Hollywood premiere of
Midnight Ride
when he showed up on the arm of none other than pop superstar, Lexi Black.”

   My breath snagged in my lungs and my heart skidded to an immediate halt at the mention of Riot, and my traitorous head turned toward the television, where my eyes landed on his image. It was the first time I’d seen him in months, thanks to avoiding the Internet all together.  My first thought?  He looked amazing.  Handsome and delicious in a suit with no tie, top buttons of his shirt undone.  It wasn’t jeans and a t-shirt, but it was a look he wore well.

   “Oh, shit,” I heard Ella mumble, then from the corner of my eye I saw her scrambling for the remote control.  She speed-crawled across the floor to the coffee table and grabbed the remote. Just as she lifted it to change the channel, I stopped her.

   “No, wait, I want to watch this.”  Obviously, I was into pain.

   “Lexi Black, who’d been rumored to be dating famed director George Lebowitz, showed no shyness as she planted a kiss on her leading man right on the red carpet.”  I sucked in a sharp breath as they showed a slow-motion replay of Lexi leaning in and planting her red, luscious lips right on Riot’s.  “Fans might remember Bentley as the hot hunk in her most popular music video to date, which was, coincidentally, directed by Lebowitz.  Bentley, the current heartthrob on the hit show
Shield to Shield
, looked slightly uncomfortable in front of the cameras, but this was his first red carpet event so we’ll give him a pass.”

BOOK: Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)
8.77Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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