Double Time
Page 59
Having small boobs made her a liability? She didn’t know if she should be offended or hurt, so she settled on pissed. “I know I’m a nobody, but that doesn’t mean you can talk to me that way.”
“Forget I offered.” He opened his folio and she half-expected him to pull out a sign that read “reject” and hang it around her neck. Instead he pulled out a thick piece of off-white paper and handed it to her. “That is your itinerary for the next week. Today is reserved for finding you the right look both onstage and in public. The rest of the week you’ll be rehearsing for the show. Questions?”
She scanned the sheet but didn’t really internalize anything it said. She was still upset about becoming a sex object, or whatever it was this guy was trying to convert her into. “Why are you so fixated on my look?”
“You’re an entertainer, Reagan. It comes with the territory.”
“I’m a musician.”
“In the studio, you’re a musician. Onstage, you’re an entertainer. Get used to it. It’s not up for negotiation.”
She stared down at her itinerary for the day. In ten minutes, she had an appointment with a hairstylist. She rubbed a hand over the short hair at the back of her head. Was her twenty-dollar haircut that bad? And why did she need a pedicure? She wore combat boots on a daily basis.
“Reagan?”
She glanced up at Sam.
“Instead of fighting it, try having fun with it.”
Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to worry about the size of his boobs being a liability.
Chapter 20
Trey started awake when the front door of Reagan’s apartment closed. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He’d been on the phone most of the morning, calling every contact in every city they’d visited in the past two weeks. He wasn’t a detective, but no one seemed to know anything about Reagan’s threatening messages. Not that he’d been stupid enough to ask them point-blank. He’d been more discrete than that. Trey sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had better news for her. “So how did it go?” he asked her.
“How did what go?” Ethan asked.
Trey pried his eyes open and glanced at the man removing his boots by the door. Great. Just what he needed. To be alone with Reagan’s sexy alpha male of a roommate. Trey decided he should head for home. He could catch up with Reagan later. No telling how long her makeover would take, and this guy made him think all sorts of things that had nothing to do with Reagan and everything to do with being f**ked. The last time Trey had seen Ethan, it had been days since he’d last had a male lover. Now he’d gone weeks without being penetrated and he wasn’t sure how strong his resolve was.
“I thought you were Reagan,” Trey said and climbed to his feet.
“She’s not here?”
“Nope. Exodus End’s manager took her shopping or something.” Trey glanced at the clock and his eyes widened. “Shit, I’ve been asleep for hours. I figured she’d be home by now.”
“Are you going somewhere?” Ethan asked and plopped down on the sofa. He extended his long, muscular legs and propped his feet on the coffee table, blocking Trey’s quickest escape route to the front door.
“I figured I’d better get out of your hair.”
“Reagan will think I chased you off. I don’t really need her to start harping on me the second she sees me.”
“You could tell her I was gone when you got here.”
“Sit,” Ethan said.
Trey sat.
“How’d she do? Be honest. She always sounded so enthusiastic on the phone, but sometimes she acts that way to cover up her problems.”
Trey tilted his head at Ethan. “She has problems?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“I don’t think she was covering up anything. We had a great time. She’s amazing. Going to take the world by storm.” Trey was just glad he got to be a part of it.
“Does she know about you?”
Trey’s smile faltered. “Know what?”
Ethan moved so fast Trey didn’t see him coming. He found himself trapped in the corner of the couch with Ethan’s hard body against his side and his arm in front of his chest. “You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb.” Ethan’s breath stirred the fine hairs just behind Trey’s left ear. He shuddered with longing. “Do you have any idea how often I think about you? What I want to do to you?”
Trey was pretty sure he could guess exactly what Ethan wanted to do to him. And Trey was positive that he’d like it. He pressed a hand against Ethan’s rock hard chest and pretended his heart was thudding because Ethan had startled him, not because Ethan offered him exactly what he wanted. He didn’t need a man to be fulfilled. Reagan gave him everything he needed.
At least that’s what he wanted to believe.
“Back off, Ethan,” Trey said.
“Why, Trey? Does it make you uncomfortable when I get in your personal space?”
Trey met Ethan’s dark eyes. “Yes,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. His suddenly constrictive fly was very uncomfortable.
“Are you as hard for me as I am for you?”
“I said back off.”
Ethan shifted away, but his hand went straight for the evidence. Trey gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of something to subdue his desire, but all he could think of was being drilled by the hard, hot male beside him.
“It’s okay to want me,” Ethan said. “I want you too.”
Trey grabbed Ethan’s hand and shifted it from his crotch to his thigh. “I won’t deny wanting you. That doesn’t mean I have to act on it.”
Trey extricated himself from the couch and hurried to the bathroom, closing the door behind him and leaning back against its solid surface. That f**king jerk. What was his game? Trey rearranged his hard and throbbing cock. He hadn’t been this turned on in days. This was not a good sign. He hoped Reagan hurried home. She’d help him get his mind back where it belonged. On her.
Trey washed his face and cupped his hand to take a sip of water from the faucet. He caught his reflection in the mirror and gave himself a stern look.
“You’re not going to f**k up this thing with Reagan,” he said to his reflection. “So he’s hot. So what? You don’t need a man in your life.” He almost believed that. He absolutely believed that he didn’t want to hurt Reagan. He didn’t know if what they had together was permanent, but it was the most real relationship he’d ever had. Even his one-sided love of Brian had never been tangible. Not something he could hold on to. He wasn’t ready to let her go. Sex with Ethan wasn’t worth it. And he knew how she felt about her boyfriend having sex with men. She was very clear that she wasn’t accepting of that kind of behavior.
“Forget I offered.” He opened his folio and she half-expected him to pull out a sign that read “reject” and hang it around her neck. Instead he pulled out a thick piece of off-white paper and handed it to her. “That is your itinerary for the next week. Today is reserved for finding you the right look both onstage and in public. The rest of the week you’ll be rehearsing for the show. Questions?”
She scanned the sheet but didn’t really internalize anything it said. She was still upset about becoming a sex object, or whatever it was this guy was trying to convert her into. “Why are you so fixated on my look?”
“You’re an entertainer, Reagan. It comes with the territory.”
“I’m a musician.”
“In the studio, you’re a musician. Onstage, you’re an entertainer. Get used to it. It’s not up for negotiation.”
She stared down at her itinerary for the day. In ten minutes, she had an appointment with a hairstylist. She rubbed a hand over the short hair at the back of her head. Was her twenty-dollar haircut that bad? And why did she need a pedicure? She wore combat boots on a daily basis.
“Reagan?”
She glanced up at Sam.
“Instead of fighting it, try having fun with it.”
Easy for him to say. He didn’t have to worry about the size of his boobs being a liability.
Chapter 20
Trey started awake when the front door of Reagan’s apartment closed. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He’d been on the phone most of the morning, calling every contact in every city they’d visited in the past two weeks. He wasn’t a detective, but no one seemed to know anything about Reagan’s threatening messages. Not that he’d been stupid enough to ask them point-blank. He’d been more discrete than that. Trey sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing he had better news for her. “So how did it go?” he asked her.
“How did what go?” Ethan asked.
Trey pried his eyes open and glanced at the man removing his boots by the door. Great. Just what he needed. To be alone with Reagan’s sexy alpha male of a roommate. Trey decided he should head for home. He could catch up with Reagan later. No telling how long her makeover would take, and this guy made him think all sorts of things that had nothing to do with Reagan and everything to do with being f**ked. The last time Trey had seen Ethan, it had been days since he’d last had a male lover. Now he’d gone weeks without being penetrated and he wasn’t sure how strong his resolve was.
“I thought you were Reagan,” Trey said and climbed to his feet.
“She’s not here?”
“Nope. Exodus End’s manager took her shopping or something.” Trey glanced at the clock and his eyes widened. “Shit, I’ve been asleep for hours. I figured she’d be home by now.”
“Are you going somewhere?” Ethan asked and plopped down on the sofa. He extended his long, muscular legs and propped his feet on the coffee table, blocking Trey’s quickest escape route to the front door.
“I figured I’d better get out of your hair.”
“Reagan will think I chased you off. I don’t really need her to start harping on me the second she sees me.”
“You could tell her I was gone when you got here.”
“Sit,” Ethan said.
Trey sat.
“How’d she do? Be honest. She always sounded so enthusiastic on the phone, but sometimes she acts that way to cover up her problems.”
Trey tilted his head at Ethan. “She has problems?”
“Doesn’t everyone?”
“I don’t think she was covering up anything. We had a great time. She’s amazing. Going to take the world by storm.” Trey was just glad he got to be a part of it.
“Does she know about you?”
Trey’s smile faltered. “Know what?”
Ethan moved so fast Trey didn’t see him coming. He found himself trapped in the corner of the couch with Ethan’s hard body against his side and his arm in front of his chest. “You know what I’m talking about. Don’t play dumb.” Ethan’s breath stirred the fine hairs just behind Trey’s left ear. He shuddered with longing. “Do you have any idea how often I think about you? What I want to do to you?”
Trey was pretty sure he could guess exactly what Ethan wanted to do to him. And Trey was positive that he’d like it. He pressed a hand against Ethan’s rock hard chest and pretended his heart was thudding because Ethan had startled him, not because Ethan offered him exactly what he wanted. He didn’t need a man to be fulfilled. Reagan gave him everything he needed.
At least that’s what he wanted to believe.
“Back off, Ethan,” Trey said.
“Why, Trey? Does it make you uncomfortable when I get in your personal space?”
Trey met Ethan’s dark eyes. “Yes,” he said. It wasn’t a lie. His suddenly constrictive fly was very uncomfortable.
“Are you as hard for me as I am for you?”
“I said back off.”
Ethan shifted away, but his hand went straight for the evidence. Trey gritted his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to think of something to subdue his desire, but all he could think of was being drilled by the hard, hot male beside him.
“It’s okay to want me,” Ethan said. “I want you too.”
Trey grabbed Ethan’s hand and shifted it from his crotch to his thigh. “I won’t deny wanting you. That doesn’t mean I have to act on it.”
Trey extricated himself from the couch and hurried to the bathroom, closing the door behind him and leaning back against its solid surface. That f**king jerk. What was his game? Trey rearranged his hard and throbbing cock. He hadn’t been this turned on in days. This was not a good sign. He hoped Reagan hurried home. She’d help him get his mind back where it belonged. On her.
Trey washed his face and cupped his hand to take a sip of water from the faucet. He caught his reflection in the mirror and gave himself a stern look.
“You’re not going to f**k up this thing with Reagan,” he said to his reflection. “So he’s hot. So what? You don’t need a man in your life.” He almost believed that. He absolutely believed that he didn’t want to hurt Reagan. He didn’t know if what they had together was permanent, but it was the most real relationship he’d ever had. Even his one-sided love of Brian had never been tangible. Not something he could hold on to. He wasn’t ready to let her go. Sex with Ethan wasn’t worth it. And he knew how she felt about her boyfriend having sex with men. She was very clear that she wasn’t accepting of that kind of behavior.
