Rush (9 page)

“Yes.”

“Of course they are. Davy!”

“I, ah, think Davy had to go see about something. We looked and looked for them, but they’re just gone.”

“Gone. Perfect. Ab-so-fucking-lutely perfect. Did you know, Greg here was just telling me that there’s a problem with the goddamned lighting?”

“Ah, no.”

Crosby made a shooing motion. “Go. Send someone out to buy another pair. No. I want twelve goddamned pairs. I’ll lock eleven of them in my goddamned desk drawer so this never happens again!” His voice had gotten progressively louder, ending at his usual shouting level. He turned to Greg the lighting guy. “And you. I want those goddamned lights fixed before Mi’s glasses get here. Got it?” He rose from his director’s chair and stomped back to his office.

Stepping out of the shadows, Davy reappeared at her side. “I’ll go, Miz Mi.”

“Thank you, Davy.”

“Come with me,” Lucas whispered, gripping her elbow and signaling Cal with a tip of his head to follow them.

When they’d all crammed into the makeup room, Lucas asked Cal to close the door behind them.

“Wait for me out here, will ya, Honey?” he told his assistant before she could squeeze herself in, then closed the door. He looked back and forth between Lucas and Mi. “I gather there’s a problem.”

“You need more security here. Around the clock.”

Cal appeared to consider Lucas’s words, but underneath Mi could tell he was seething. Cal didn’t like to be told what to do. “Explain.”

Lucas filled him in on the sabotage, the cameras in Mi’s home and the threatening letter from the Doyle Gann. “It’s escalating. Two guys walking the perimeter during business hours aren’t enough. You need security inside the studio and at the gates, keeping that mob back.” And then Lucas said the one thing that was sure to make Cal sit up and take notice. “The sabotage and delays are probably costing you more money than you’d spend.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said and opened the door. “Honey, I’ve got some phone calls I want you to make.” He looked over his shoulder at Lucas and Mi. “Keep me informed.” And then he closed the door behind him.

“I hate thinking one of us is doing this,” Mi said. “We’re like a family.”

“If you had to pick someone, who would you think of first?”

She nibbled her lip, contemplating his question. She’d worked with most of the staff since she started with the show. Imagining one of them turning against the rest was unthinkable. She knew their families, considered them friends.

“Any new employees lately?” he prompted. “Anyone seem unhappy or angry?”

“There’s not a high turnover rate. If anyone’s unhappy they haven’t expressed it to me. I’m sorry. I wish I could be more help.”

“How about this: Has anyone gotten religion lately? Shown sudden disapproval over the show’s products?”

She considered his question carefully. The only unusual display of disapproval had come from Tracey, but that had been about Lucas, not the show.

“No, not that I know of.”

As he took in her words, Mi used his temporary distraction to study him. It wasn’t often she got to look at him without his attention on her. His focus on her never wavered, never allowed for this slow perusal without Mi giving away the fact that she was staring, gawking at him like a lovesick teenager. There was a lot to take in.

He’d thrown on dark jeans and a charcoal t-shirt that rode every muscle of his torso and arms like a lover. There was a small mole under his left ear. She hadn’t noticed that before. His dark hair curled around the shell of his ear and down his neck. She knew how thick and soft it was, and she had suppressed the urge to reach up and run her fingers through it. The glint of a silver chain winked out at her from just above his collar. She wondered about the significance of the necklace, as he wore no other jewelry.

She didn’t dare let her gaze wander farther south. Last night she’d seen the sculpted muscles of his legs, dusted with dark hair. There wasn’t one inch of him she’d change. If anything, this moment she’d taken to study him had done her more harm than good. He would play heavily in her fantasies tonight. As he had last night. She sighed. If only she’d been able to slip her vibrator into her overnight bag without Lucas seeing it. The pent up sexual frustration was going to kill her for sure.

Her sigh brought his attention back to her. “Okay. Keep your eyes open for anything. Any difference of attitude, tone, anything out of the ordinary, someone hanging around or being where they shouldn’t, stuff like that.”

“Sure.”

He watched her in that probing way he had for a moment, then moved into her, backing her up against the door. “Are you sure you’re all right?” He touched a finger to her lip, tracing it slowly back and forth. “You’re doing it again,” he whispered, crowding her, his head lowering toward hers.

She put her hands on the hard planes of his chest and gave a shove that didn’t budge him. “Don’t.”

He placed his hands flat on the door, bracketing her head as he pushed back from her, separating their bodies. His dark chocolate gaze locked with hers. “Is it about what I said earlier?”

Again he saw too much. With only inches between them, heat from him radiated into her. She had to fight the urge to wrap herself around him “No. Forget it. Let me out. I’ve got to go over the products we’ll be showcasing tonight.”

He traced a finger along her jaw, sending a wicked little shiver through her. “All right,
querida
. We’ll talk about this later.” He bent and kissed her cheek before reaching for the doorknob. “Until later.” He gave her room to leave, holding the door open for her, then followed her out into the studio.

Mi stepped up onto the
Pleasure at Home
set and sat down on the sofa to go over the products she’d be showcasing today. Great. It was couples night. Once a month the show featured products and devices geared toward couples play. After her embarrassing conversation with Lucas, she would have to describe and demonstrate some of the very same products she’d practically begged him to try with her. With him standing just feet away. Watching. Judging.

Mortification burned her cheeks as she stared down at the furry pink handcuffs with matching blindfold, the multi-flavored, stimulating lubricant sampler, and vibrating cock ring. The toys she wanted to try. There were others as well: a non-stinging whip, a sex swing (okay, maybe she wanted to try that one, too), a bridal seduction kit, Thirty-one Favors Body Paint, a card game, toys for same sex couples, and a sensual massage kit, which would be the night’s special.

She flipped through the blue cards listing the products and features, jotting notes here and there on some of the descriptions she wanted to be sure to focus on. She always put herself in the role of consumer, trying to imagine what aspect of the toys would appeal to her. But her thoughts were scattered, interspersed with images of her and Lucas instead of the nameless, faceless lover she usually visualized. She pictured herself chaining Lucas to the big bed in his bedroom, clamping his big wrists with the fuzzy pink cuffs, slipping the blindfold over his eyes, taking away his most powerful sense, and doing naughty things to him while he writhed in pleasure, calling out her name over and over…

“Here you go, Miz Mi.” Davy held out a replacement pair of glasses to her. In his other hand he held a plastic shopping bag, probably containing the other eleven or so pairs Crosby wanted.

“Oh, thank you, Davy. These look just like the pair I lost.”

“You mean the pair that were stolen, right?” he whispered, his head tucked down, the curtain of his hair partially obscuring his features.

Mi immediately went on alert. Did Davy know something about their disappearance? “Stolen?” She’d tried for innocence, but sounded suspicious.

“It doesn’t take much to figure this is someone’s doing. The batteries, the lights, and now your glasses.”

“No. I guess not. Do you have any ideas about that, Davy?”

He shook his head, the strands of his long blond hair swishing back and forth. “I’d hate to be him though. Crosby’s liable to really lose his temper, and I wouldn’t want to be around for that.”

Mi cracked a smile, loving Davy all the more for how he took the brunt of Crosby’s frustrations with subtle acceptance as if Crosby’s angry outbursts couldn’t be helped anymore than the sun could stop shining.

“Me either,” she said, slipping on the glasses. “But if you hear anything let me know, okay?”

“Sure, sure.” He pointed to the products on the table. “I’d better check these over one last time. Don’t want you coming across one that doesn’t work again.”

She resisted the urge to rub his head like a puppy or a small boy. “No, absolutely not. Thank you.”

She spotted Lucas at the back of the studio, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, talking with Cal. Even across the distance she could feel his gaze as if he touched her. She had to get a hold of herself, find a way to stop her body from responding to him as though she could be more to him than a job. She was nothing more than a way for him to pay back that favor he owed Cal. She needed to remember that.

“All right, kids. We’re a go.” Crosby dropped into his director’s chair. “Five minutes!”

Tracey rushed over and powdered Mi’s face one last time. Davy finished checking the products and arranged them in front of the large centerpiece on the coffee table out of sight from the camera, but within Mi’s reach. Other employees scuttled around, performing last minute checks. Then all the lights dimmed in the studio all except those that lit the set. Mi shuffled her note cards back to the beginning. She closed her eyes and mentally gave herself her pre-show pep talk.

“Roll cameras,” Crosby barked.

Mi opened her eyes and pasted on her camera smile, the one her viewers trusted.

“Speed,” one of the crew answered.

“Begin theme,” Crosby directed. “Mi you’re on in five, four…” He held up three fingers, then two, then one, and then pointed at Mi to begin.

“Hello and welcome to
Pleasure at Home
. I’m your host, Miyuki.
Pleasure at Home
is America’s preferred home shopping show because we bring you products to add spice to your love life or maybe even to help you learn to love yourself a little more. And as always, you can count on
Pleasure at Home
to be discrete with your selections.

“I’m so excited about tonight’s show because it’s all about couples. Yes, that’s right. Our products tonight were chosen with couples in mind to help you get the most pleasure out of your loving relationship…”

At the back of the studio Lucas watched Mi launch into her spiel. From his vantage point he could see her on the monitors, see what her viewers saw. A confident young woman with an easy smile and soothing voice, Mi oozed trustworthiness and confidentiality. She beckoned her viewers to try something new, to make their fantasies come true and to strengthen their relationships. He could see in a moment why she was so successful.

“This is one of our most profitable shows,” Cal whispered. “Couples night is gold.” He rubbed his hands together as though preparing them to count stacks of cash.

Mi’s voice drifted across the studio. “Our first product of the evening is Mutual Bliss’s Thirty-one Flavors Body Paint. Be the canvas as your partner discovers their inner Picasso, painting their way to your mutual gratification…”

Lucas tried not to imagine stroking the paint-dipped brush up and over Mi’s hip, down the length of her thigh, and following it with his mouth.

“Completely edible, deliciously decadent, these body paints let you be the artist, designing a night of passion neither one of you will ever forget. Only sixty-three, ninety-nine this delicious palette of pleasure includes such flavors as cherry, chocolate, marshmallow, apple tart, and many more guilt-free taste sensations.”

Chocolate tipped nipples… He shuddered, disguising the sudden movement as a simple posture shift. He wondered if anyone would notice if that palette somehow disappeared after the show.

As Mi continued on to the next product, he began to understand the popularity of
Pleasure at Home’s
products. He found himself considering the possibilities, as he’d never done before. Maybe it had less to do with his shedding beliefs and more to do with his attraction to Mi. Either way, watching her performance gave him ideas he’d never had before. Not all of the products were for him though. That strap-on thing and that other one for—what the fuck had Mi called it?—‘back door action’—were definitely not for him. But those panties with the built-in, controllable vibrator had him smothering a pirate grin.

Cal leaned toward him, pointing at Mi, his lips curved in a cat-that-got-the-cream grin. “Isn’t she amazing? And she’s all mine. All mine. Remember, I’m counting on you not to let anything happen to my girl.”

The way Cal said that with such possession made him wonder for a moment if Cal and Mi had something going. He shot his friend a death stare. Jealousy, hard and sharp stabbed into him, nearly stealing his breath. In a contest between the two of them, Lucas wasn’t sure who’d win. The only thing he knew for sure was when it was finally over there’d only be one of them left standing.

And that man had to be Lucas.