Wild Renegade (10 page)

I
stare at her reflection in the mirror. "That's not even funny," I
mutter, shaking my head.

She
looks back at me through the mirror. "Thanks for having my back," she
says softly.

I
step up behind her, wrap my arms around her waist and prop my chin on her
shoulder. "You're welcome."

"I
feel like I'm always thanking you for something." She sighs and rolls her
eyes.

I
smirk and kiss the good side of her neck. "Don't worry about it. Come on,
shower time."

We
both get undressed and get in the shower. The spray is nice and hot, and it feels
good after sweating like a pig on stage. I grab the bar of soap and lather up
my hands. Keeping the bar in one hand, I start washing Nicole, being careful to
be gentle with her neck. She hisses and winces when I brush over it lightly with
my hand, but it needs to be cleaned with soap.

"So
did you enjoy your first performance?" I ask, trying to distract her.

"It
was incredible." She smiles, her eyes dancing with excitement as she looks
up at me. "I was just in awe of the whole thing. And you, you were
amazing. I can tell you really love what you do."

I
smile. "I do love what I do," I say and work my hands over her
shoulders and down her arms.

She
starts going on excitedly about her first experience dancing on stage and I try
to listen, but it's hard when all I can think about is how much I fucking love
her. I love everything about her. She is beautiful, obviously, but she's strong
and opinionated, she's sweet and funny, she doesn't take shit from anyone, and
she's not a follower. She can make up her own mind and she sticks to her guns.
Plus, she can fight like a champ. She's badass. I am so head over heels in love
with her. I don't even know when it happened, it's just been a combination of
events and things with her that has made me fall hard.

"...I
just can't believe she almost pushed me off the stage," Nicole says,
bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Mmm,
I'm going to have a talk to her," I sneer.

Nicole
grabs the soap out of my hands and starts washing me. "Don't bother, she's
crazy. The more we pay attention to her, the worse shit is going to get. She
needs to be ignored, and I would have done just that had she not pushed me on
and off stage. I wasn't going to let her get away with putting her hands on me
twice," she growls, her hands smoothing down my stomach.

"I
just don't like her thinking that she can get away with this." I sigh.

"She's
not getting away with it. Lizette threatened to fire her if anything else
happens. I just don't know if she's dumb enough to try again and hope she can
get away with it."

Her
hands slip around my waist to wash my back. She pulls me up against her own soap-slicked
body and tilts her head up to look at me. Her dark brown eyes search mine. She
smiles softly. I return the smile before leaning in to kiss her.

"Ugh,
your goatee is wet and it feels like your drooling on me." Nicole grimaces
and wipes her mouth.

I
laugh. Then I grab her face and kiss her hard. She squeals against my mouth and
tries to push away but I don't let her. When I finally let her go, she slaps my
chest.

"Gross,
Ace!" she says, her lips twitching as she fights not to smile.

"Come
on, let's finish up in here so I can get you in bed and fuck your brains out."
I snicker.

She
gasps in mock offense and turns her back to me. I press myself up against her
back, my hard-on fitting nicely between her beautiful ass cheeks. I wrap my
arms around her waist and nip at her earlobe.

"Or
I could just take you in here?" I rasp, rubbing my cock against her ass
crack.

"As
much as I would like that, that water is already getting cold, and I still need
to wash my hair," she murmurs, her hand coming up to pat the side of my
face.

"Fine,"
I huff and back off.

We
quickly wash our hair, rinse, and get out. We dry off and wrap our towels
around ourselves before heading out of the bathroom. Nicole sits down on the
edge of the bed, sighing heavily. She seems to be thinking hard about
something.

"You
okay?" I ask, sitting down next to her.

"I'm
thirty and just got into a fist fight." She shakes her head. "I feel
trashy."

I
bark out a laugh. "Nikki, she started it. What were you supposed to do?
Let her hit you and not hit her back?"

"Ugh!
I don't know! Grown women should not be fist fighting! It's so immature!"

"Men
do it all of the time." I shrug.

She
rolls her eyes at me. "Exactly... men – who are perpetually immature
- do it all of the time."

I
laugh and pat her thigh. "You were just sticking up for yourself; there is
nothing wrong with that."

She
nods. "I guess."

I
stand and scoop her up. She giggles as I toss her higher onto the bed. I lose
my towel and crawl up the bed toward her, snatching her towel away from her and
dropping my naked body against hers. I kiss her a couple of times.

"So
you think that I'm one of those immature men?" I murmur, my lips brushing
hers.

"If
I say yes?" she teases, her eyes dancing in delight.

"Then
I'm going to spend the next couple of hours showing you just how ‘mature’ I
am," I growl, grinding my erection against her clit.

Her
eyes flutter closed. "Mmm, then yes, you are very immature." She
moans with a small teasing smile on her lips.

I
capture her lips, wiping that little smile off her face. I do just as I said
and spend the next couple of hours showing her how mature of a man I am.

~Nicole~

It's
our first night off since the tour started a month ago. And when I say night
off, I mean that there is no concert tonight and we're not traveling. In fact,
we’re in Miami, Florida. We actually got here a day early, that's why we have
the night off. So Ace and I are going out for our public date at some fancy shmancy
restaurant that is frequently visited by celebs and is crawling with paparazzi.

I
put on the black cocktail dress that I have. It's simple, yet really pretty and
not slutty. It has a scoop neck with black lace overlay. The top half of the
dress is fitted and stops just above my waist. The bottom half is an A-line
skirt that stops mid-thigh. I wear a pair of black peep toe pumps, curl my
hair, do my make-up, and I'm ready to go. Ace knocks on my hotel room door just
as I'm finishing up my mascara. I grab my red clutch purse and head for the
door.

I
open it and am momentarily stunned by the gorgeous man standing on the other
side. Ace is wearing a gray suit with a dark blue dress shirt. The top button
of his shirt is undone and he's not wearing a tie. Doesn't matter, he doesn't
need it. He still looks spectacular. His brown hair is brushed back and
slightly to the side. His goatee has been trimmed and the rest of his face is
clean-shaven. I've never seen him look so handsome before.

He
smiles knowingly. "Like what you see?" he asks, cocking an eyebrow.

I
nod. "Yes, very much," I reply honestly.

His
smile widens and he says, "I like what I see, too," then makes a show
of looking me up and down.

I
blush slightly and give him a nervous smile. I don't know why I'm nervous,
we've been sleeping together for almost two months now. But this is different.
We're actually going out on a date, whether it's for show or not, it's still a
date. I'm going on a date with Ace Vaughn. An actual date.

"You
ready to go?" he asks, holding out his elbow.

I
smile at his sweet gesture and nod. I slip my arm through his and let him lead
me down the hall toward the elevator. Once again, we're about the same height
while I'm in heels, but he doesn't seem to mind. Some guys are funny about tall
women. Not Ace, though. He hits the down button and turns his head to smile at
me. I can't help but smile back.

"You're
in a good mood." I observe.

"Of
course I am, I'm taking the most beautiful woman in the world out to
dinner," he says with a fond grin in my direction.

I
cluck my tongue at him. "Shut up. You know you don't have to feed me
lines." I scoff.

His
face turns serious. "I'm not feeding you lines, Nikki, I'm being
serious," he says with such sincerity that I have no choice but to believe
him.

I
blink at him in shock. I'm saved by the bell before I can make a bigger fool
out of myself. The elevator doors open and we step in. Ace hits the button for
the lobby and we wait for the doors to close. Once they finally do, Ace leans
in and kisses me sweetly on the cheek. Just a little peck, but it means a lot
to me. I squeeze his arm and he bumps me with his hip. I giggle.

He
leans towards me again, but this time speaks softly in my ear, "You really
are the most gorgeous woman I've ever laid eyes on."

I
blush hard and dart a quick glance his way. His crystal blue eyes are staring
at me and he is utterly serious. I lick my suddenly dry lips. My heart starts
pounding. Where is this coming from? Why is he saying these things to me? I
mean, I know he likes me, but I feel like this moment right here goes beyond
"like." Could he possibly feel about me the same way that I feel
about him? Could Ace Vaughn be in love with me? No fucking way. I shove that
aside. He just finds me very attractive. That's all. I'm his fuck buddy.

"Thank
you, Ace," I whisper, dropping my gaze to the floor.

His
fingers find my chin and he turns my head toward him. His lips press against
mine gently, once...twice...three times. Then the hand that is on my chin slips
up my jaw to cup my face, just under my ear. He presses his mouth more firmly
against mine. Before the kiss goes any further, the elevator chimes and Ace
pulls away. I'm still left breathless even if it wasn't all tongue and groping
hands. That kiss had feelings and emotions in it.

Ace
tugs me forward to get me off the elevator. I shake my head to clear it and try
to snap back to reality. The walk through the lobby is uneventful and we head
out the front doors where Alex is waiting next to a sleek black Rolls-Royce.
There is a driver already sitting in the car. Alex smiles as we approach.

"Well,
shit, if you two aren't the best looking couple I've ever seen," he drawls
before leaning in to give me a peck on the cheek. "You look
marvelous," he says.

"Thanks,"
I say with a shy smile.

"And
where is my kiss?" Ace blinks innocently, tapping his cheek with his
finger.

I
burst out laughing when Alex actually leans in and kisses Ace's cheek. Ace and
Alex both chuckle and shove at each other. "Pansy ass," Alex teases
as he opens the back door for us.

Ace
winks at him before helping me into the back seat. He shuts my door and trots
around to the other side. Alex climbs in the front seat as Ace slides in next
to me. I'm still snickering as we pull away from the curb.

I
cross my legs, knee over knee, and settle my purse in my lap. Ace's large hand
finds the top of my bare thigh right where the hem of my dress stops. I place
my hand on top of his and his thumb curls around my fingers, holding them.

I
stare at our hands. I feel like we are a real couple going on a real date. Like
I'm really Ace's girlfriend. But I'm not. We're only going out because we need
to put on a show for the paparazzi; otherwise, there would be no date. I turn
my head to look out the window, needing to hide whatever expression is on my
face from Ace. He can read me too well. I don't need him figuring out that my
heart is breaking because I was stupid enough to fall in love with him.

When
we pull up to the restaurant, Ace comes around to my side and opens the door
for me. I take his offered hand as I get out. I smile at his gentlemanly
gesture. He's being really sweet tonight. It's kinda freaking me out. Not that
he's not normally a sweet guy, but he's going above and beyond his norm
tonight.