Just One Week (Just One Song) (15 page)

“The only woman I want is standing in front of me, pretending like she’s avoiding the way I make her feel.” My skin ripples and the iron shakes in my hand. I set it down clumsily before I drop it, or fry my hair, or burn my cheek. He’s so distracting when he’s like this.

“Are you trying to get me a job with someone you’re sleeping with?”

His tongue darts out and licks my neck and then he nips my earlobe. I moan and I feel him laughing softly against me.

“Eyes on me, Mia.”

I force my eyes to see his reflection in the mirror. One hand leaves the counter and he brings it up and cups the side of my neck, pulling me away from him slightly and giving him better access to my skin. His eyes are on me, with a heated lust as we stare at each other, and he begins kissing my neck again slowly moving down to my exposed collarbone and my shoulder. His eyes never leave mine and I press down on my lips so I don’t make another sound, but my hips involuntarily rock back into him.

With one last soft nip at my shoulder, he stands up, moves his hands back to the counter, and presses against me. I’m completely trapped in him and he sets his chin on the top of my head, smiling softly.

“I slept with Natasha occasionally for a few years.” I fight the urge to look away. I try to keep my breathing even, refusing to show any emotion that could give away how hearing this makes me feel. I’m not sure why. Chase and I are – or were – cut from the same cloth. Fun sex, no relationships, no attachments. It’s not like we both haven’t had our share of partners over the years, although I’m betting his list is much longer than mine. It never bothered me until this moment. And he’s asking me – wanting me – to not only meet this woman but potentially work for her? Does he not see the awkwardness involved? “It ended about three years ago when she fell in love and met her husband. She’s happily married now with a two-year-old daughter. And we are good friends, along with her husband, Tim, who works at our record label. I’m the one who introduced them.”

He finally pierces me with a sly smile like he was intentionally trying to see if I would get jealous, and he’s relishing his victory.

“So what’s the job?” I ask, my breath hitching again.

“Managing the costume designers. She works with film and movie production companies and outsources her costume designers to work on different movie, television, and music video sets.”

“Sounds interesting.” It does. I could potentially meet people from all over the entertainment industry. Maybe celebrities. That could be really fun and it makes me smile. It would also mean leaving New York, the epicenter of fashion in the United States. It’d be equivalent to giving up on the dreams I’ve had for my career and walking away, starting completely over. But I’d be in L.A. close to Nic again, and that could be great fun. It also puts me across the country from Chase and where he spends most of his time. He wants a relationship with me, he thinks he loves me, but then he puts me as far away from him as possible? It makes no sense and a small pain hits me in the stomach. Maybe he wasn’t serious about loving me after all.

I’m so confused. This should calm me down, shouldn’t it? If Chase wants me living so far away from him, then we’re not serious. That’s what I want. Right?

I look at him, a puzzled expression on my face, trying to figure it all out. He gives away nothing.

But I do need a job. “Tell her I’m interested. I could meet with her sometime next week before I head back to New York.”

“Hey! You almost ready to go?” Nic’s cheerful voice shocks me when she appears in the doorway to the bathroom. I jump and the back of my head crashes into Chase’s chin.

“Ow!” I yelp and bend over, holding the back of my head with both hands.

“Oh crap. Are you okay?” Nic asks and then glances between Chase and me. Her eyes are sparkling with laughter. “I didn’t interrupt anything, did I?”

She’s grinning like the Cheshire cat and I scowl.

Chase is rubbing his chin when I’m able to look at him. Stars flicker in my line of vision, the pain in my head radiating all over. That seriously hurt.

“Are you okay?” he asks and they’re both looking at me.

I rub my head, trying to ease the pain but it doesn’t help much. “Yeah, I’ll be okay. Sorry.” I stand up straight and look at Nic. “I’ll be ready in a few minutes.”

Once she leaves the bathroom again, I turn to Chase. He’s standing a few feet away with his hands in pockets. I wave him off. “Get out of here so I can get ready.”

He smiles that delicious smile that makes my spine tingle and winks at me. “We’re meeting up with you girls, later, right?”

“Yeah, I think that’s the plan. You go do your guy thing; just no lap dances from strippers.” He snorts. They’re not actually going to see strippers. I think they’re going to some poker club to play cards.

“Will you give me one later?”

I wink at him. “If you’re lucky.”

He backs out of the bathroom, and just as I think he’s going to go, he gives me a knowing grin. “Oh, I’ll get lucky all right.”

I throw my eyeliner at him and roll my eyes, but my voice is full of laughter. “Get out of here!”

The club Sammy takes us to is really loud. A mix of techno and hip-hop music blast through the speakers as we sit at a bar height, round table, talking about Nic’s wedding in a couple of days. Her parents are flying in tomorrow and I can’t wait to see them. Sharon and Daniel have been like my second set of parents since Nic and I met when we were in middle school and her family moved in next door to us. It was right after my mom got sick, but before my dad completely fell apart.

“More shots!” Sammy yells. She waves a hand like a magician and a waitress magically appears at her side. “Lemon drops for everyone,” she says excitedly and then points to Chloe. “Except for miss preggo over here.”

Chloe looks fantastic in a skin tight dark gray dress. Her belly is firmly on display and she’s wearing red ankle boots. I love them. She looks every bit like a rocker’s wife with her exotic complexion and long, jet black hair. She has some red streaked through it that matches her lipstick and boots. I feel sort of sad for her that she has to sit around and watch all of us doing shots while she just sips her water.

“Thanks, Sammy,” she says drily, before turning to the waitress and asks for another water.

“So things with you and Chase seem good.” Sammy smiles at me, once the waitress walks away. Suddenly all eyes are on me.

“They’re fine,” I reply and shrug my shoulders. Nic makes a face and narrows her eyes. They are fine. I think. One day he’s telling he may love me, and the next day he’s trying to set me up with a job far away from where he lives. It’s sort of a mixed signal and I’ve been confused about it ever since we left for the clubs.

“You have to give us more than that to work with, woman.” Sammy points her finger at me. She’s so adorable in her pixie haircut and large smile. I think she’s trying to look serious, but she’s simply way too happy of a person to pull off a pissed off look.

“There’s nothing to tell. He likes me. I’m not sure what I want and right now I think we’re both okay with that.”

“You’re crazy, Mia,” she says while laughing and then her smile turns sad. “You’ve liked this guys for years. We all knew you wanted him way back when you first came out here. If the guy I wanted, wanted me back, there’s no way I’d risk pushing him away like you’re doing.”

“I’m not pushing him away,” I say unconvincingly.

Nic and Sammy both bust out laughing. Nic is shaking her head, when Sammy says, “You’re right. Because
not
returning his calls for six months is the complete normal thing to do.”

I give her a funny look before looking at Nic who just shrugs her shoulders. How does she know this?

She waves her hand dismissively. “I heard Chase whining to Zack about it last week. He was all nervous about you being here and showing you …”

“Sammy.” Our heads both fly to Nic when she interrupts Sammy.

“Show me what?” I look back and forth between the two of them. They’re wearing uncomfortable looks all over their faces. What in the world are they talking about? Whatever. I have my secrets. Chase is entitled to his.

“So who’s the guy who doesn’t want you?” I have a feeling I already know based on hints Nicole has dropped over the years, and how I noticed her and Jake circling one another at Zack’s house the other day. They couldn’t take their eyes off one another, always seeming to know where the other was, but staying on complete opposite sides of the room.

“Shut up,” she mutters and flings back another shot. But her cheeks are bright pink and I know I’ve embarrassed her. Nic and Chloe are grinning like fools.

Chloe waves her hand and magically another round of shots are in front of us.

Like I need more alcohol in my system. Our table is already littered with empty shot glasses and since one of us is pregnant … well, I lost count at six.

“So tell me what happened.” Her face pales a little bit, but she tries to hide it. Miserably.

She won’t look me in the eye and Nic is pretending the specks of marble on the table are the most fascinating pieces of artwork in history.

“Jake and I had sex and he bailed.” Her head drops and she takes a deep breath, blankly looking toward the dance floor.

I gasp. “Nooo. When?”

She shrugs. “About three months ago. I’ve always had a crush on him but he never really noticed me. We were all hanging out at Zack’s place one night and I made my move.”

“How long have you liked him?”

“Pshhh … since I was fourteen, probably. Him, Zack, and Chase have been friends for so long, but I’ve always been the annoying little sister.”

I laugh, causing all of them to give me a funny look and throw my arms up. “Oh come on, no guy sleeps with the annoying little sister. He had sex with you because you’re hot. What happened after?”

“He said it was a mistake and it wouldn’t happen again. He doesn’t want to risk Zack getting pissed at him.”

I look at Nic. She looks embarrassed on Sammy’s behalf. “And you knew about this and haven’t said anything to either of them?”

Her eyes narrow. “Trust me, I’ve said plenty to Jake. I’m well aware of the pain in the ass he’s being right now.” She arches an eyebrow and grins slyly. “Much like someone else I know.”

That someone would be me.

I shrug, looking around for our waitress to save me from having to continue this conversation when I spot four guys headed our way. They’re all dressed in casual club wear, jeans and t-shirts. They’re about our age and a few are attractive, but the way they’re walking toward us makes me uncomfortable. I nod my head toward them, giving the girls a heads up. “Company headed this way.”

Sammy applies a quick swipe of lip gloss. “Ready for them.” And then her mouth falls open. I vaguely hear her make out the words, “oh shit,” before they reach our table.

“Excuse me,” one of them says when he reaches our table. His friends are standing behind him, and all of their eyes are half-open and glazed over. He looks completely wasted, even though his voice isn’t slurred. Yet. His smile isn’t exactly friendly, and I watch as he pushes his long black hair out of his face. And then I recognize him.

Nicole’s face loses a little bit of color and I see Chloe start tapping on her phone.

“Hello, Ethan,” Nicole says politely, but I can see her hands shaking a little bit. The last time she saw Ethan was years ago when she was on the tour with Zack. He was strung out on coke and showed up late for a sound check so Nic filled in for him. A few weeks later, Ethan passed out on stage and got kicked out of the band, which is how Nic eventually ended up playing the keyboard for Zack on the band’s next album. “How are you?”

Ethan leans in closer and his unfriendly smile turns a bit menacing. I move a little bit closer, putting some distance in between the two of them. “Oh, I’m just fantastic. I haven’t been able to get a gig with a band since Zack, but I hear you learned that sleeping around with the star will get you whatever you want. You must have your gold digging whorish ways down to a science to snag Zack and get on his tour.”

“Back off, Ethan.” My voice isn’t nearly as intimidating as I’d like it to be and he barely registers my existence when he glances from Nic to me. But still, no one talks to my friends like this. “It was your coke problem that got you kicked off and you don’t know anything about Nic or Zack.”

The guys behind Ethan start looking a little bit scarier as they slowly walk around our table. My nerves are on edge and I realize that they’re trying to block us in from being able to leave. I glance between Chloe and Sammy and they both have the same look of shock on their faces as I do. But we’re in a club, it’s not like they can really do anything to us. My confidence wavers though as the friends put their hands on the backs of our chairs and Ethan moves closer to Nic.

Without another warning, he grabs her wrist and jerks her up, pulling her off her stool.

“Maybe I should have a turn with you and then I could get lucky again.”

Nic tries to pry her hand out of Ethan’s grasp, but he’s holding on too strong and with the way his other friends have us blocked in, there’s nothing we can do. Ethan’s back is to me, standing in between Nicole and I, so I grab his arm that’s holding her and try to yank it away, but before I can pull to hard, a warm hand clamps down on the back of my neck. It hurts, and the more I move, the harder the hand presses into my skin until I can’t do anything except reach back and try to pry the guys’ fingers off.