Off Broadway (3 page)

Avery used to worry that the course of Rich’s life had been determined by her boyfriend in high school, but Rich assured her that being a bouncer, protecting women, was sort of his calling in life. Plus, it led him to Brandon and a love that Avery had always envied.

“So what are you going to do?” Rich asked.

Avery sighed. “I’m thinking of buying a glass dildo.”

Rich barked out a laugh. “You spend more
money on those toys than you do on your cabaret costumes.”

“I do not. And anyway
, most of the vibrators I buy are for friends. You have no idea how many women I’ve known who have never used one. It’s horrifying.”

Rich laughed and slurped his milk shake. “Thank goodness you’re liberating them from the tedious use of their hands.”

Avery grinned. “That’s all I’m saying.”

-4-

Avery wore a skirt the next morning. She knew better, but the memory of
Dan’s face when he talked about her legs was enough to make her even consider skipping underwear. She didn’t though. No reason to poke a sleeping bear. Her
or
him.

On the phone late last night, Nelson implied
the sexual tension between them could work in their favor. That their heat would translate really well on stage.

“But for God’s sake, Avery, don’t sleep with him. Nothing kills good tension on stage like a relationship,” Nelson said in his usual brusque manner.

“I’m not getting into a relationship,” Avery protested. And it’s not like she didn’t already know this. It was the
only
thing that had kept her hands off him…so far.

Nelson snorted. “Thank God. Not that you don’t deserve one, kiddo, but not with this guy. His track record stinks when it comes to singers.”

Track record? He had enough history for a
record
?

“Really?”
Her gut twisted in weird ways. It made no sense. She’d already decided he was off limits, but even suggestions like that made him more real. More…human instead of piano-playing god. Instead of pushing her away, it was turning her on. Making her realize that physical connect plus emotional would probably be enough for her to put her toys away… at least for a while.

Not even in the same fucking room and she was going to need a fresh pair of panties.

“Yeah, now go get some sleep so you don’t look like shit on stage. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

Now, s
he glanced at herself one more time in the mirror. Flared skirt stopping mid thigh. High heels. Soft-knitted top. Who was she kidding? She was completely poking a sleeping bear and the only thing she could do was hope he didn’t wake up. Or hope he did, and it didn’t ruin everything.

She grabbed her bag and slid it across her ches
t. Her nipples ached at the light pressure of the strap. She was so screwed. She pulled the bag off and dropped it on to the floor. She’d have to have another go with her vibrator before meeting up with Dan.

***

Dan pointed to his watch when Avery walked in. “Ten minutes late. You owe me a coffee.”

Avery nodded and he noticed her flushed cheeks. He walked towards her and smelled sex all over her.

“Were you with someone?” He pushed back the jealousy gnawing at his gut and tried to appear casual.

Avery slid her coat off. Hard nipples. She
was
worked up.

“Did you spend the night with someone?”
he asked again. This wasn’t his issue. He shouldn’t be asking. But he had to know. A small part of him thought maybe her being with someone else would make things easier. Maybe.

Avery tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no.”

He stepped back trying to breathe through his mouth so the scent of her didn’t drive his body insane. He thought of her again. What her breasts would feel like in his hands. How her nipples would taste on his tongue. Holy hell he had to stop.

“You’re right. It’s not my business. You just look weird.”

She raised her eyes and he saw the challenge before she even spoke. “I’m wearing a skirt.”

He swallowed and dropped his gaze to her legs.
The ones he wanted wrapped around his head so he could bury his face in her pussy. Suck on her. Drink her. “You are.” He slid his thumb over his bottom lip. Her eyes followed his movement. His groin tightened. She wanted him too. Christ, it was going to be on him to maintain self-control.

She bent over to grab her computer out of her bag and he swallowed a groan. Her ass was a miracle. He could see the outline of her thong through the skirt and it took everything he had not to reach out and trace it with his fingers.
To slide his thumb under the crotch and feel the moist heat of her. Listen to her moan as he caressed her sex…

She handed him the computer, snapping his brain back into a subtle amount of control over his body.

“I found this choreography move online last night. I think we should add it to the show. Pull up YouTube and look for Sutton Foster’s performances.”

He nodded and placed her laptop onto the piano.
He pulled up the internet browser and started to type YouTube. Auto recall filled in the YouPorn URL. He looked up at her with a smirk.

“YouPorn?”

She shut her eyes for a second, but then opened them and lifted her chin. God, she was fucking gorgeous. And so much less innocent than he suspected. “Yeah, so?”

He shrugged. “It’s just interesting that you and I surf the same internet porn site.”

She scanned him from head to toe and he shifted. His balls were so tight, he thought he might explode. Imagining Avery watching YouPorn, touching herself, had every nerve in his body on edge. On a fucking perfect edge. One he was about to rip her clothes off and fall off of.

“Yeah. Did you know that they have a lot of piano player porn?” She licked her lips.

He took a step back before his self-control waned enough for him to fuck up everything he’d worked for. “You’re gonna need to stop.”

She nodded but didn’t look away from him. He was so close, but he couldn’t,
wouldn’t
fuck this up. The memory of Isabel reeled him back to earth.

“I can’t get involved with you,” he said. His voice was dry and scratchy.

“Were we getting involved?” The mixture of innocence and seduction in her voice nearly felled him. He wondered if she’d scream when she came or if her voice would scratch and be breathy against his neck.

“I don’t date singers.”

Her eyes dropped to her feet. “I wasn’t asking for a date.”

Dan
could feel her rejection as if it smacked him upside the head. He stepped forward and grabbed her hand. “If we didn’t work together. If I’d met you somewhere else. But I can’t go back to South Carolina. I need this and…”

“Sex will mess
things up.” She nodded. “We’re… You’re my piano player.”

He heard a slight breathiness when she said
my
but he ignored it. He had to ignore it.

She shifted away and sat on the stool behind the piano, far enough from him that he could no longer smell the dizzy mixture of mango shampoo and se
x that permeated from her. “So, YouTube.”

***

“It’s not right. Try it again.”

Avery blew a piece of hair out of her face. “What do you mean
, it’s not right?”

“It’s too obvious.
Is That All There Is
has been done so many times before that we need to make it special. You’re going for sexy and it’s not working.”

Avery put her hands on her hips. “I’m not sexy?”

Dan shook his head. “Sweetheart, you know you’re sexy. But that’s not what makes you special.”

Avery’s breath caught in her throat. It had been too long since someone called her special. “It isn’t?”

Dan walked over to her, his hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans. “What makes you special is the unexpected sexiness. It’s your innocence combined with your absolute willingness to break every rule in cabaret. It will draw your audience like a moth to a flame. But you can’t hold back. You have to be you.” He shoved his hands even deeper in his pockets and she willed herself not to stare at his bulging crotch. Not to imagine what the hardness of his cock would feel like in her hands, her mouth…between her legs…

Avery nodded
, forcing herself to focus on the number. On the show. She understood what he was saying. A part of her
had
held back on the song because she was afraid of what the New York Times reviewer would say. But she hadn’t gotten as far as she had by playing it safe. She needed to let herself go.

“Okay, let’s do it
again.”

She hopped up on the piano and closed her eyes.
Dan’s music circled around her and she started the song, leaning toward him without even realizing it. When she was finished, she opened her eyes and looked at him. He wore a stunned expression.

“Good?” she asked, her voice soft.

He nodded and swallowed hard. “Yes. That’s how you should do it.”

She slipped off the piano and he stood up. He took a step toward her and her breath caught in her throat.

The door to the rehearsal space banged open and Avery squeaked. A tall, light haired man stared at the two of them with a cocky grin.

“Am I interrupting?”

Avery cleared her throat. “This is a private rehearsal space.”

The man’s eyes lingered over
Avery and she shivered. She hated her body’s auto response to good-looking guys.

The man walked toward Avery with his
hand out. “I know, darlin’. I’m Nick, your bass player. Nelson told me I could find you here. He thought we should go over the show.”

Avery noticed his calloused fingers and her stomach clenched. She’d hooked up with a bass player in college who could play her body like nothing she’d ever experienced. Add to that the good looks and the New Orleans’ drawl, and Avery was an embarrassing pool of goo.
Nick wasn’t a permanent part of the show, just a temporary one. Maybe not even off limits…

Avery felt
Dan step behind her. Her body was zigging from the two alpha males surrounding her. Nick gave Dan a slow casual glance then trained his eyes back on Avery. He was smooth jazz to Dan’s classical intensity. He was a tightly packed one-night stand and he knew it. Avery felt Dan’s hand on her back and pool of moisture formed between her legs. Holy fucking hell she was in over her head with these two.

Avery laughed nervously. “Of course. Sorry. I’m Avery. This is
Dan. Thanks for helping us out tonight.”

Nick
took her hand and pulled her toward him, dropping a casual kiss on her cheek.

“Oh.” Av
ery raised her hand to her face, feeling suddenly so girlish for all the dirty thoughts that had been running through her head.

Nick
winked at her. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Dan
snorted from behind her. “I’ll bet,” he mumbled.

Nick
gave him an easy smile and took a step back, his eyes darting between the two of them.  “So let’s see your play list.”

***

“I got your text,” Dan said when he walked into the dressing room of Hugo’s Supper Club that night. “What do you need my help with?”

Avery
wore a silk robe, her pale skin peeking out in a way that made Dan instantly hard. An hour of YouPorn had done nothing to satiate his desire. Every girl became Avery pinned beneath him, riding on top of him, sucking him off. His hand stroking himself became her hand tugging him until he came all over himself. Twice.

Still it wasn’t the same as being with someone. Being surprised when their hand found the perfect rhythm, their tongue massaged the perfect spot on his cock. No. He looked her up and down again. It definitely wasn’t the same.

Avery offered him a shy smile. “My brother couldn’t come tonight.”

“And?”

She bit her bottom lip. God, that mouth. “Well, he normally helps me with my costume. It’s complicated. It’s got all these hooks up the back, because the bodysuit looks sort of like a man’s shirt, only it closes in the back, and...”

“You need me to help you with your costume?” The woman was going to kill him.

“Well, it was either you or the bus boy or Nick.” Her eyes shifted down when she said Nick’s name. Asshole.

“That guy wants to fuck you.”

Her brow furrowed, then she blinked innocently. “The bus boy?”

He shook his head and smirked instead of punching something like he wanted to do.
“Don’t be cute. You know who I’m talking about.”

She laughed. “Nick
? Give me a break. He wants to fuck everyone. He’s a lick-a-stick of sex. He’d probably jump you if you gave him a chance.”

“I don’t think so. That guy would eat your for breakfast if you gave him
half
a chance.”

Avery shrugged
and turned back to the vanity table. Her hands moved over the make-up and hairspray bottles. “Maybe it would help,” she said in a low voice.

Dan
gritted his teeth. She was right. It probably
would
help, but damn if he was going to advocate her hooking up with some Harry Connick Jr. wannabe. “Where’s your costume?”

Avery crossed the room and pulled out a large garment bag. “
I just need help with the bodysuit.”

Dan
swallowed. “Okay.”

“If you could just…” Avery signaled him to turn around.

He blinked at her. She rolled her eyes and twirled her finger again.

“Really? I’m snapping you into this thing and you aren’t even gonna let me see you?”