Trigger Happy (Girls with Guns, #2) (7 page)

"Not until the afternoon. I have my older girls preparing for the fall festival and they pretty much have it down. I hope we win this year, Gab. It would mean the world to me."

"You are going to win. I know you will. I don't know anyone who takes dancing as seriously as you do Amber. I will definitely be there cheering you on. What day is it?

"The festival is on the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth. We perform on Saturday at exactly two pm. I'm so excited and nervous, I can't wait."

Amber locked up the studio and the girls rode together to a locally owned diner. They settled into their booth and agreed to share the best French toast ever made and began to catch up on each other's lives.

"Yes, so that was the last time I saw him, until I went into the credit union today to apply for a loan. God, Gabbie, I want him so bad that it hurts. And the worst part of it all is he doesn't want me back. At least, he won't admit he wants me. He kissed me today-"

"Wait, Amber, I don't understand. He doesn't want you but he kissed you? Don't people generally kiss people they want and not people they don't want? Hmm, please explain." She flipped her auburn hair off her shoulder, bending over to stick a forkful of French toast in her mouth.

"Well. Somehow we got on the subject of how he thought I wanted him and he was just certain that I haven't had as great as sex as I did the night I spent with him. One night and he thinks he can remember my body signals and what my body is suggesting to him. Whatever. I told him to prove it, so he kissed me."

Amber's body burned as she thought about his kiss. He was such a strong-willed man. His hands on her neck, possessing her like she was a toy, turned her on so badly she couldn't sit still. She crossed her legs underneath the table, trying not to think of his possessive hands all over her body, like she knew they would be if he gave into his...feelings? She wasn't sure what his problem was exactly but if his kiss said anything, he wanted her just as badly as she wanted him.

Gabbie brought her back to the present, "Oh, this is good. He was absolutely right. He nailed you," she laughed. "Well, not literally, anyway. Have you really been unsatisfied with other men all this time?"

"No, I haven't. At least, I was pretty sure I've been satisfied until I ran into him again. It's like seeing him brought back all these memories and feelings that my body has long since forgotten about, apparently. Now, all it can remember or think about is Gage Alexander, CEO and how mighty he can be. And, he's such a jerk. Which normally, I wouldn't give a man a second glance. With him though, it's as if it ... torments him to be a jerk to me; I can see it in his eyes. I know he wants me, Gabbie. What I don't get is why? Why does he not want to want me?"

Amber's big blue eyes bored into Gabbie's big brown eyes. Gabbie raised her eyebrows, "That is a fucked up story Amber. Thank God I'm so busy with the lingerie store I don't have to deal with this crap in my personal life. I don't know how - no, I don't know why you do this to yourself. Let me break this down for you, in case you haven't processed this in your own brain: you slept with him years ago, met him again, he's a jerk who kisses you to prove he is right! Who does that? AND, this entire time he is trying to dismiss you! My advice to you is to find someone better."

Amber knew she was right. She needed to figure out a way to get over him. At least for the next week she was going to be too busy with rehearsals for the dance-off at the festival to worry too much about him. At least there was that until she had to go into the credit union and sign papers for her loan.

"I know. I deserve someone better. My father would agree with you."

"Hell yeah, he would Amber. He loved you dearly. He would only want the best for you and sad to say, Gage isn't it."

"He would. If only it wasn't my fault that he isn't here today, I miss them so much Gabbie."

Gabbie reached across the table grabbing her hand, "Amber, you have to stop blaming yourself for your parent’s death. It wasn't your fault. Trust me, they would not want you to blame yourself for anything. It wasn't anyone's fault what happened to them. It was just an accident, honey. I take it you never talked to a psychologist yet?"

"No. It was my fault, though. They wouldn't even have been flying that day, if it hadn't been for me. I thought it was so important for them to be at that stupid game. It was important. But I should have left it alone, when they said they weren't going to make it in time. Instead, I kept hounding them and hounding them. It's a wonder I even want to win this competition, but I'm ready. This is the year. I know Mother Nature and I can feel it in the air. We will win. My parents deserve this."

"Amber, you deserve this. It's a huge honor to want this for your parents, but this is all you. You deserve to win this thing and you will. Your mother created this foundation because of you. When you win and are standing out in the middle of that football field with seventy thousand screaming fans, I hope you will finally accept that it is you, your dancers and all of your hard work that has gotten you there. Start believing that - believing in yourself."

Amber tried to keep the tears from falling. Logically, everything her friend said was right, but she couldn't get her heart to believe it. She did need to see a psychologist, she knew. She carried around a lot of guilt from her parents’ accident but she hoped with time, the guilt would go away.

When Pricilla Prescott formed the Girls’ Power Foundation, the idea behind it was to empower young girls through dance by showing them how to believe in themselves and how to achieve goals, gain confidence and to learn the bonds of sisterhood. With Pricilla and Ward's kind of connections, they began sponsoring young girls that participated in dance or cheerleading to perform on the field for the professional football games when they played at home. The more awareness it brought to fans, the bigger her foundation became. Pricilla wanted to give the girls something bigger and better, something that they wanted badly enough that would make them work harder to achieve their goals. This was how the Fall Festival competitions were born. There were certain requirements to be in the competition, of course. And, once those requirements were met, only a hundred teams got picked for the semi-finals, then it was narrowed down to seventy-five, then fifty, and now the twenty-five teams - which Amber's girls were a part of. The finals were held in Windsor and once the winner was chosen, it would literally be the following Sunday that the girls would begin their five minutes of fame for every home game thereafter.

"I will try, I promise. Do you need to get back to work? Can I come with you and see if there is anything I want to buy before the Grand Opening?"

"Of course you can. But you have to pay me in cash, my POS system isn't quite ready yet."

The ladies paid their tab and headed toward Gabriella's lingerie store, Lolita. She opened up her store on Windsor's main drag - generally the best place to have a business in town. While her store was on Main Street, she was nestled behind a bank and a fast food restaurant. She liked the afforded privacy it offered; yet the easy convenience of being situated in the business district.

They entered the store and Amber was immediately blown away by the way Gabbie had decorated the interior. All of the dressers and tables were painted antique white and the nightstands and chairs were a light mint color. The walls were painted with the same colors but were all used in a way that they complimented each other. The place was decorated in such a way that it gave the impression of being inside a bedroom - inside someone's personal space. The lighting was mellow, adding to the ambiance. It was beautiful.

The undergarments were strategically placed about the room, giving it the appearance of what a woman's bedroom might look like in anticipation of that special guy finding out what she's wearing underneath. High end bras dangled from open dresser drawers, stockings lay over backs of chairs and sexy panties covered various tables. The vivid colors of the lingerie pieces reminded Amber of a candy store. And that is exactly what she felt like, a kid in a candy store.

"Wow. This is amazing. Everything is extremely beautiful in here," she caressed the nearest pair of panties she found. "I love it all. You did a great job with the furniture and the colors and the idea of a messy slash sexy bedroom." Her voice was low but filled with excitement. "I love it, my girl."

Gabriella’s cheeks blushed from the attention; she bent her head, "Thank you. Logan helped me paint a lot of the furniture. As well as the walls. It took us forever, but I am very satisfied with the end result. Our time was well spent! Make yourself at home." Logan and Gabriella had been friends since second grade. Aside from the girls, he was one of her dearest friends.

"You guys did great! Oh, you have no idea how at home I am going to make myself."

About two hours later, Amber left Lolita with way more than she needed. She had sexy everything and she knew this was sad, no one to show it off to. But it was all so beautiful and elegant; she couldn't leave without most of what she had picked out to try on. The fabrics were simply amazing. They all felt like a second skin to her.

E
ver since he kissed Amber, Gage had felt like a Yo-Yo. Nothing at work seemed to come out quite right, the way he liked. And he felt like a complete asshole for tormenting Amber the way he had. He wasn't usually like that. He treated women with respect and dignity. But somehow, with her, she pushed his buttons like no other woman ever had. He was tormented. His body wanted her like no tomorrow, his hands wanted to roam all over body and retrace spots on her that he thought he remembered would drive her wild.

But his brain knew she was trouble.

He had convinced himself a long time ago that going to a sex club was a big mistake - something a respectable man just didn't do. He had talked himself into and believed, that no good could ever come from doing something as outlandish as he had done. Nothing good. And if five feet and some odd inches of pure blond beauty with the brightest blue eyes and tightest, smallest ass he'd ever had the pleasure of looking at wasn't proof enough of his mistake, he wasn't sure what was.

He felt bad about being such a jerk to her. He really did. She was right in the sense that he shouldn't take out his life regrets on her. What kind of man did that to a woman? It wasn't her fault that she was part of his regret - she had gone to that place too, just like him, looking for something different. He didn't know what her ordeal was when she signed up for that particular rendezvous but for him, he had gone to explore his sexuality. He wanted to give pleasure to two women who needed his touch, craved him. At the time, he was looking for a place he felt wanted, needed. A place, where at the age of thirty-five, he could be as sexually aggressive and open as he wanted without the confinements of a relationship.

He had plenty of experience with relationships before that and with one in particular - his ex-wife; he had enough relationship-type sex to last a lifetime. So what else was a single guy to do after an entire eighteen months without sex? He was ready and he needed companionship - even if it was artificial, so to speak.

After his ex-wife took off and he began to come around again, he naturally became lonesome. When you were married for five years and constantly with someone, the sudden emptiness was almost too much. He did what any man would do and dealt with it but eventually he wanted to touch a woman again, feel that soft womanly skin underneath his. To know that he still had it in him to make a woman feel good despite what his ex had thought. He needed more than the jacking-off bit. As luck would have it, one day when he was at lunch he saw a flyer, no bigger than a postcard, offering confidential services to those wanting to express their sexual desires and needs. He thought it was a little crazy at the time but had memorized the website anyway.

Then, after another night of giving himself release he decided he needed a change and checked out the website. A few hours later, he was signed up and waited for further instructions. Once those were sent to him, he had to go through a bunch of testing, some interviews and pay crazy money and then they finally found him a match. Well, in his case, two matches.

Hence, Amber. Amber Prescott. The stunning woman he wanted but didn't want to want. There. He admitted it. The one vulnerable time in his life, she had given him everything he had wanted and more than he needed. That one night, she gave him more than she would ever know. She opened up her heart and her body to him, and look at him now, this was how he repaid her. His mother would be appalled.  Quite frankly, he was appalled.

Deep inside, he didn't want to want her because he wanted her too much. The next day after their rendezvous, he had a huge spot in his heart for that stranger and wanted more than just that one time. But he knew that would never be able to happen. So he manned up and got over her.

Shocked wouldn't begin to describe what he felt when he recognized her at the Agave Restaurant. He spotted her first; she was getting out of her chair and her blond hair swung around her shoulders in a ponytail and it was something about the way she did that and tilted her head that had caught his attention. When she began walking toward him, he had that recognition where he thought that might be her, but then considered the absurdity of that happening. Until she came to a complete stop in the middle of the room and her sweet pink lips formed the O, as she caught sight of him - he knew it was HER, from the Silver Slippers Saloon.

"Is this what you were looking for?" He traced circles around her belly button ring as she sat on top of him.

"Yes. How about you? Everything you desired?"

"Everything and more." He didn’t look at her, just continued to trace circles around her belly button, every now and then touching her belly ring.

"I was so nervous starting this, but you calmed my nerves. Watching how confident and in control you have been, really helped me calm down."

His hands moved up her flat stomach cupping her breasts. She closed her eyes and let her head fall back. He continued his assault, rubbing her tiny pink buds with the pads of his thumbs. She began grinding herself on top of him. Her nakedness making his cock twitch.