Almost in Love (12 page)

The women giggled. Lauren wiggled her fingers at him. He shook his finger at her and tried to look stern as the song continued. He didn’t want to disrupt rehearsal for something so silly. He kept singing, trying to remember his marks, ignoring the sultry looks Lauren was tossing his way.

The song ended, and Jasmine held up her hand for them to take five.

“Lauren, can I see you?” Jasmine called as she moved to the far left of the stage away from them.

Lauren sauntered over. Jasmine spoke in a low, serious tone that he didn’t quite catch. Lauren glanced over at him, raised her chin, and started to walk away, but Jasmine grabbed her arm and said a few more things.

He looked away. Zac appeared at his side. “That girl is too much. She had her hands all over me last summer.”

Bare glanced at him. It was fairly obvious that Zac was gay and into Kevin.

“Yeah?” Bare asked.

“No means no, am I right?” Zac asked.

“Sure.”

Bare turned as a hand rested on his arm. Lauren looked up at him, her eyes wide and innocent. “Sorry, Bare. That was unprofessional. It won’t happen again.”

“Okay, no problem.”

She leaned up on tiptoe and whispered, “I’m not too young. I turned twenty-one last month.”

He stepped back. “Well…happy birthday.”

She pursed her lips. “Thank you.”

“Get back to your spot, flirt,” Steph called.

Lauren tossed her hair and returned to Steph’s side.

“Just say no, Bare,” Zac sang.

“No problem,” Bare said. His eye caught backstage. Amber was back. He really hoped Lauren didn’t do anything else crazy in front of her.

Jasmine raised a hand. “From the top. Ladies, some ad libbing is okay. I encourage that, but no inappropriate touching. You wouldn’t like it if the reverse happened.”

“Speak for yourself,” Lauren muttered.

Jasmine shot her a stern look and signaled to Will to start the music. Barry amped up his performance. He loved when Amber watched him. It gave him an extra jolt of energy that had him soaring through the music.

The song ended, and Amber walked on stage with four parasols. “Look what I found.”

“Nice,” Jasmine said. “Let’s run through it again. We can have a lot of fun with these. Let me see.”

Amber handed her a parasol. Jasmine opened it and played around with it—twirling, walking with it, moving it from shoulder to shoulder.

“Let’s start with the twirl,” Jasmine said. “In front like this. Then, over your shoulder, and work with it as you sing. See what feels natural.”

Amber walked by him on her way off stage. Her hand slid across his belly in a warm stroke as she passed. “See what feels natural,” she whispered.

“Wench,” he said, turning to watch the rear view. Mistake. Her hips swayed, the oversize shirt moving side to side, giving glimpses of her curves encased in the thin cotton leggings. He looked to the ceiling, taking a slow, deep breath, thinking of ice cold fro-yo. Nothing sexy about ice cold fro-yo in your pants.

They ran through the song again. He was careful not to look over at Amber. Who knew what she’d do next to entice him?

Jasmine dismissed the pirates so she could work further with the ladies and their parasols. He went in search of Amber. She wasn’t backstage. He just needed to feel her in his arms one more time. He could satisfy himself with a kiss.

He found her half inside the band room closet, on her hands and knees, her curvy ass facing him, taunting him. He stifled a groan.

“What are you doing?” he asked. His voice came out harsh as he strained not to reach out and touch.

She startled and rose to her knees. “Hey. I was just digging through some of the boxes back here. Edith said there might be some more props we could use.”

She went back on all fours. He couldn’t take it.

“I’ll get the boxes,” he barked.

She looked at him over her shoulder. “I’ve got it.”

He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her out of the way. Then he delivered three boxes to her feet. “There.”

She stared at him strangely as she settled cross-legged in front of them. “Thank you?”

He grunted. “We have a date on Saturday.”

And then it would be perfectly acceptable for him to move forward with these urges that were driving him insane.

She pulled open the flaps of the box. “I remember.
All I Want
and sushi.”

She’d picked the movie, but now he was starting to think watching a chick flick with her was a bad idea. He wouldn’t be into it, and that would leave him free to fantasize how quickly he could get her into bed and whether or not they really needed to eat dinner at all.

He could hear the plink of the piano running through the song in the auditorium nearby and considered how long he had before he had to go back on stage.

She pulled out a few hats—a cowboy hat and a Native American headdress—and a feather boa. “Not much here,” she muttered, tossing them back in the box. She shoved the box aside and opened the next box. “Lookee here.”

She held up a gold genie bottle and rubbed it. “Three wishes. What will it be?”

He settled himself on the floor next to her, placing his hands on the bottle, on top of hers. “Wish number one, to be with you.”

“Aww,” she said. “You are. Wish one granted.”

“Wish number two, to kiss you.”

She gave him a quick peck and grinned. “Wish two granted.”

“Wish number three…” He stopped himself. Not all women liked dirty talk. And they still hadn’t had that date yet.

“Wish number three?” she prompted.

He stroked her cheek and ran his fingers down her neck to her collarbone. Her breathing quickened. Her skin was so soft. And she smelled like roses. He cradled her face and kissed her. This had to be enough. Just kissing and tasting. He buried his hand in her long hair, but his body was already urging him for more. He wasn’t sure who moved first, but the genie bottle hit the floor with a clatter, and then their arms were wrapped around each other, and he was pulling her into his lap.

He could feel her hot through her leggings. He shifted her, so she was cradled in his arms, not riding him like he desperately wanted. Not yet. He couldn’t stop kissing her, couldn’t stop touching her. The music stopped next door, and she tore her mouth away from his.

They were both breathing hard.

“I know what wish number three is,” she said.

“And?”

“Granted.”

He groaned and reached for her again, but she slipped out of his grasp.

She scooped up the genie bottle and stood. “You didn’t hear my three wishes.”

“They’re all granted.”

She tilted her head to the side and smiled at him. “No questions, just granted?”

“Yes, yes, and yes.” He stood. “Wish number three gives you an all-access, no-questions-asked pass.”

“We need the pirates on stage!” Toby hollered.

“I like your style,” she said.

He really had to go, but he just couldn’t resist asking, “When does my third wish come true?”

“Soon enough, matey,” she said jauntily.

Soon enough sounded like very, very soon.

“Soon enough, me beauty.” Then he turned and strutted back on stage.

~ ~ ~

Amber would be the first to admit things were moving fast with Bare. Once he got into that pirate swagger, she wanted to rip his clothes off. For the rest of that week, every night at rehearsal, she teased and flirted with him relentlessly. She loved watching his gaze heat up, loved having him corner her whenever he got the chance, loved his hands on her, even loved getting him riled up just before he went on stage because he always paid her back for it in hot kisses and whispered promises for more.

“Soon,” he’d whisper. “Soon.”

It was the hottest week of foreplay of her life. And then, finally, it was time for their date on Saturday. She had a feeling the date was what he was waiting for. Like they had to do things right with a date that didn’t end in disaster after their first two dates went so badly. She really hoped this one went smoothly. They were having an afternoon date since they still had rehearsal that night.

He showed up at her door right after lunch on Saturday and handed her a small wrapped gift.

“Bare, you didn’t have to get me anything,” she said even as she opened it eagerly. It was a box of chocolates. “Mmm, chocolate. I love it.” She took one and popped it in her mouth. It was chocolate with coconut. She loved coconut.

She held the box up to him. “You want one?”

“I’ll take one,” Kate called from her permanent spot on the sofa. Her sister was glued to her laptop, working on whatever mathematical or sciencey thing grabbed her interest.

“Hi, Kate,” Bare called.

“I’m reading a fascinating paper on using lasers to cool a nanowire probe to an incredible level of sensitivity,” Kate responded. “You can imagine the implications for the resolution on atomic-force micro—”

“Bye, Kate!” Amber stepped into the hallway and shut the door behind her.

Bare smiled. Then he reached into his pocket and handed her a small Tiffany blue box. She nearly choked on the half-chewed candy in her mouth. She swallowed it down and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She stared at the box. Stared at him.

“Open it,” he said.

She did. Diamond stud earrings glittered back at her.

“They match your piercing,” he said.

She pulled an earring out of the box and examined it closely. “Omigod! Bare! Are these real?”

“Yes. Less than a carat, but real.”

She stared at him in wonder. “You really didn’t have to do that.”

“I wanted to.”

She handed him the candy and slipped the dangling black and silver posy earrings from her ears, replacing them with the studs. “Thank you.”

Ian poked his head out the door. “You like it?” he called. “The three Cs?”

She turned to Bare in confusion. “Three Cs?”

“Mind your business,” Bare told his brother. He offered his arm. “Shall we go?”

She took his arm. “We shall.”

~ ~ ~

Barry headed to the movie theater, working hard to tamp down his irritation at his brother. He just had to stick his nose out and mention those three Cs. Barry was trying to be smooth. He’d like to get through one date with Amber without making a royal mess of it.

Amber pulled the visor mirror down and admired her earrings. “So, spill. What are the three Cs, and does every woman get them?”

“Fucking Ian,” he muttered.

“Chocolate,” she said. “Right?”

It was candy. Whatever.

“Right?” she prompted.

“Ian made up the three Cs. I’ve never done them. Forget he opened his big mouth.”

He glanced over. She was smiling, and he could just tell she wasn’t going to let this go. He wasn’t going to help. Geez. He pressed play on the iPod he had hooked into his car, hoping
The Pirates of Penzance
soundtrack would distract her. That lasted two songs when she suddenly shouted, “Carats!”

He groaned.

“I’m right!” she crowed. “Chocolate, carats, what else?” She tapped her finger against her lips, thinking.

“Actually, it was two Cs.”

“No, Ian said
three
Cs. Cage?”

He sputtered. “Cage? No, it’s not a cage.”

“Cake!”

“Yes, it’s cake.”

“You’re such a bad liar.”

“No, it’s cake. You like chocolate cake?”

“Well, yeah, but I already had candy and chocolate cake doesn’t exactly go with sushi.”

“Another time.”

Shwoo. Got a little dodgy there, but at least they were off that topic. He was about to ask her what she was working on in her latest painting when she went right back to the Cs like a starving dog on a bone.

“Ah, I know,” she said. He bit back a groan. “Candlelight. It’s very romantic. It goes with chocolate and carats. Did I get it?”

“Yes.”

She pointed at him. “I’m not giving up, Bare. I’ll get it out of you.”

God, he hoped so. It was candy, carats, climax (hers) in that order.

~ ~ ~

The movie was romantic and funny, and Amber really appreciated that Bare was man enough to sit through a chick flick. He’d held her hand in the dark and laughed right along with her. Some guys suffered through chick flicks. He seemed to like it. She still couldn’t believe he’d given her diamond earrings. He either had money to burn, or he really, really liked her. Maybe both.

When they got to the sushi restaurant, they decided to share a large assorted sashimi platter with yellowtail, tuna, sea urchin, and salmon. The fish was fresh and tender. So far this date was going much better than the other two. She loved the movie and the sushi. So did he. At least she thought he did.

“Did you really like the movie?” she asked.

He nodded once. “I really did. It was funnier than I thought it would be.”

She grinned. “Chick flick. That’s the other C.”

“Yes.”

“Now why don’t I believe you?”

He raised his palms. “You have a very suspicious nature.”

“Hmmm…”

“So tell me what you’re working on.” He picked up a piece of tuna with his chopsticks and dipped it in soy sauce. “What’s the latest Amber Lewis original painting?”

“I’ve barely had any time to paint between work and rehearsals,” she said. “I hope to start again tomorrow. And a lot more after that too now that school ended.”

“I can’t wait to see it.”

She smiled and snagged another piece of the salmon. He’d always been so encouraging about her work. She hadn’t sold anything in a couple of weeks, but she hoped sales would pick up again soon.

“Tell me about your family,” he said.

She stared at the platter. “Why do you want to hear about them?”

Talking about her family was one of her least favorite topics.

He took her hand across the table. “I want to know everything about you.”

“I don’t want to talk about them.” She forced a smile. “Tell me about your family.”

“Not much to tell. I told you my dad died, then there’s my mom, really sweet lady, and you met Ian. Daniel works for the military. Not in the field. He’s behind the scenes. Intelligence work. That’s everyone.”

“Cool.”

“Why don’t you want to talk about your family?” he asked.