The Final Note (DJ Series Book 1) (11 page)

“Not even the guy who interrupted your personal phone call during work hours?” His tone is laced with sarcasm.

“It was him who complained?”

David shakes his head before tossing an envelope across the desk to me, my formal warning obviously enclosed. “Surprisingly not. It must be someone else on the list of people you ticked off today. She has already made a point of leaving a one star rating on the website stating the poor customer service.”

“She? I’ve only served three women this morning and all of them left with a smile.”

“Maybe so, after Gemma served them at the checkout.”

I sigh and admit defeat, obviously David is adamant this complaint lies firmly with me and who would blame him after my performance today? I figure the very least I should do is apologise, even if I don’t feel I’m at fault.

“David, I am sorry about today. I feel I should do something to make up for the blunders today. As you know my college course has come to an end and the least I can do is offer to do any extra shifts you have available?”

I’m surprised when David laughs, looking at me like I must be joking. “Alannah, the young lady who has been working part time whilst you were at college is more than eager to work and is happily looking forward to picking up your shifts when you start your next job, now you’re qualified and all.” I’m surprised by this. Gemma assured me the young single mum was a lovely person but I can’t help but feel everyone will be happier once I do leave Hallam Sports for a new job. “Believe it or not, Miss Matthews, some people are more than happy working here and are grateful for their job. So thank you, but no thank you, tomorrow we don’t need you to come into work.”

I deflate, somewhere inside me kind of gutted that I’ve got nothing to fill my hours tomorrow. I feel very unwanted. “Okay, fine. Again, David, I am sorry about today. I assure you Thursday will be totally different and I’ll be back on the ball.” I try a weak smile but it isn’t returned.

“I hope so. That will be all for now, thank you.” He dismisses me and I leave feeling totally blue but at the same time totally confused as to which customer complained about me.

I’ve been extra nice to customers this morning, knowing full well David was watching me like a hawk. Surely they didn’t mean me? I make a mental note to check out the bad review left online when I get home. I just feel like today I am cursed and I want to go back to bed to start the whole day over. No over sleeping, no slashed tyre, which is still irking me because I haven’t had two minutes in my own head to rule Regina out of suspected culprits. Oh, and I wouldn’t have forgotten to lock my phone away this morning either.

“I’m going to lunch so you’re on your own,” Josh grumbles as he walks past me and makes a beeline for the exit. I roll my eyes and spot a pair of teens that need service, I slap on my best customer service smile and go to suck up to the pair of them, hoping I can hint at them leaving me some good feedback on the store’s website.

The next day I arrange to go shopping with Corrine at lunch time. For 1 o’clock we are browsing in Lipsy and I’m totally unloading all my problems on her, needing to get it all off my chest before my head explodes.

“I swear, Corrine, the crappy review was left by user
blonde-bombshell.
Not very imaginative. I just know it was her.”

“So tell David you think it was a personal attack. I’m telling you, Alannah, she needs teaching a lesson.”

“It’s pointless. David won’t listen and, to be frank, I couldn’t give a damn anyway. I can’t wait to get out of the place. The only reason I haven’t walked away already is because I’m so bored when I don’t have work to fill my time.” I cringe, looking at a disgusting wrap dress the colour of something you cough up when you have a cold.

“You’ll be hired by a legal firm soon, babe. Just hang in there. Did you tell Dayton about the fake complaint and slashed tyre?”

“I told him about the tyre but he came to the same conclusion as my dad, that it was kids being destructive.” I sigh and Corrine looks up at me with a frown.

“Is Dayton really that blind to Regina?” I nod that he is. “Well, he needs a reality check. I mean, come on, I know he doesn’t see her as anything other than a friend but to really fall for her peaches and cream act is pretty dumb.”

I pout. “Aww, he’s not dumb, he’s just too nice to see the fault in other people. Plus, he has to keep her sweet, she is the boss’s baby girl.”

We leave the shop without making a purchase and Corrine loops her arm through mine and rests her head on my shoulder. “You know, I kinda anticipated this was gonna happen once you got down and dirty with Dayton. It’s the least I expected from Regina. Although I will admit I didn’t think she would hit you in the work department. I bet it’s her making all these crank calls, too. I’m sorry you’re her latest target, Lana.”

I kiss her on the top of her head and smile. “He is worth it, babe. I just wish I could prove it was her causing all this shit. Even if not to the police or anyone official but at least to Dayton.”

I’ve laid plotting things in my head, trying to think up ways to catch her out.

“We’ll have to arrange something for her to walk right into.” Corrine grins a mischievous smile.

“Great minds, babe.” I wink. “If you think anything up let me know. It’s got to be water tight though. I don’t think Dayton would be happy if he knew we were setting his best friend up for a fall, right on her perky ass.”

Corrine pulls me towards the entrance of Monsoon. “I get that. Doesn’t it bother him that you and her obviously hate each other?”

“Probably, but it’s not me who is trying to sabotage her relationship with him, is it?”

“Maybe you should?”

“I’m not coming down to her level, Cor. I know I can be a bitch sometimes but it isn’t bred into me. She would just beat me with experience.”

“Babe, this tunic dress would be perfect on you, for work I mean.” I eye it and decide to try it on and we make our way towards the changing room. “So we aren’t going to play into Regina’s hands and confront her about her tricks so far?”

“Nope, let her think she is winning. As long as Dayton doesn’t find out about the bitching. I know I mean a lot to him but I don’t want to push him to pick a side. I’d rather keep things to myself for now. At least until I have some solid proof because if she has a way of digging her way out of it then I will just look like a paranoid idiot.”

“Okay. Whatever you want. I just can’t see a happy ending to any of this, you know that, right?”

“You think she’ll win him from me?”

“No, but I don’t think Dayton will be able to stay with you and carry on working at Lexis.”

The thought sickens me. I’ve already stated I don’t want to push him to pick a side between me and Regina. There’s a sickening part inside of me that knows if I pushed him to choose between me and music I would lose. Corrine makes a very valid point, so what if I expose Regina for being the twisted bitch she is, what is that going to do for me? Dayton will still have to work beside her. I hate that Corrine is right. Maybe there is no happy ending to this whirlwind romance? Maybe I need to just jump on, hold tight and enjoy the ride because it will invariably end. Tears prick the backs of my eyes just at the thought because I know already that I’ve fallen for Dayton, fast and very fucking hard.

Thursday can’t come quick enough and as soon as Dayton gets in from work he calls me. I drive over and as soon as he opens the front door I step into his outstretched arms. He envelopes me in a tight hug, kissing my head as I press my face to his bare chest. His skin is warm, the now familiar scent bringing me comfort. “God, I missed you,” I mumble and I hear a chuckle through his chest.

“Me too, sugar. Will you stay the night?” He inhales the scent of my hair and I smile.

“I was hoping you would ask me that.”

Without a word he pulls me inside and pushes the door shut behind me, guiding me by the hand towards his bedroom. I smile, willingly following him. I’m surprised when he turns right into the bathroom instead of left to his bed. “I want to shower with you.” His voice is little more than a hoarse whisper and I nod a silent agreement.

He pulls me to him, his hand sliding up the side of my face and into my hair. His eyes seek mine out and I tip my chin up, needing to feel his lips against mine. “You have no idea how desperate I have been to hold you, to kiss you. This week has been agony, I couldn’t get you off my mind.” His eyes plead his honesty, the ice blue flashing at me and my heart constricts in my chest.

“I know exactly how your week was, Dayton. I’ve felt the same. I hate not being able to see you, touch you. I need you.” I cover his hand with my own.

“I never want to leave you again. I know it sounds ridiculous, it was only a few days but I felt like a part of me was missing. When did you become that part?” He seems genuinely bewildered.

“About the same time you became a part of me. It’s scary, isn’t it?” I know he’s acknowledged just how deep our feelings run for each other and he is feeling as vulnerable as I am.

“I’ve never felt this way before. It’s like I’m not just me anymore, I’m part of
us.
I love it. It also scares me that if I lose you I don’t think I would ever feel whole again.”

I put my hand around the back of his head and pull his mouth to mine, not being able to wait a moment longer to kiss him.

The kiss is deep, emotion-filled and full of desperation. Both of us need to satisfy the yearning need to be as close as possible, in every sense of the word. I break off the kiss momentarily. “You’ll never lose me, wherever you are, wherever you need me, I will always be there.”

“I need you now,” he whispers, his eyes hooded and he strips me off clothing between heat-filled kisses. I quickly get his jeans off of him and turn on the shower. He pulls me under the heated jets and hands me the bottle of soap. I lather him quickly and thoroughly as he nuzzles in my neck, working my sensitive breasts in his palms. My libido explodes into a ferocious, all consuming blaze and I press myself to him, needing skin to skin contact.

He has barely finished rinsing before he moves me against the glass of the shower door, his mouth exploring mine, tongues dancing, breath mingling and we smother one another’s moans. He lifts my leg, wrapping it around his hip and with one swift move he enters me. My head rolls to my shoulder as I let out a satisfied groan of unashamed pleasure.

“Oh, my god, that feels so good.”

“I’m not wearing anything. You feel so warm, soft. You’re just damn perfect.”

“Not as perfect as you,” I whisper before quietening him with a kiss. He slowly starts to thrust into me, gently but making sure with every stroke I take him to the hilt. I wrap my arms around his neck, needing to feel him close, my breasts press to his chest as he deeply pumps into me, pressing me to the glass.

My nails drag across his shoulders and I suck and nip his neck as the pleasure mounts with every thrust. The ripples of my climax build and build, reaching an orchestral high and I teeter on the edge of the huge void that is my orgasm. “Dayton, please, don’t stop,” I pant out, my sex clenches around him in a death grip, squeezing him tight inside me.

Without a word he lifts me, wrapping my legs around him and crushing me against the wall where he buries himself so deeply inside me I cry out his name, my orgasm swallowing me whole. With each explosive roll of ecstasy he thrums into me, hard, deep and satisfying. My nails bite into the solidity of his muscles, the climax and aftershocks totally consuming me. He pounds on relentlessly, forcing himself as deep as he can physically get before he bulks and empties inside of me. I grip the back of his hair and force him to look at me. “I love you, Dayton.”

He is panting and swallows audibly, his eyes penetrating deep into mine. A small smile plays at the corners of his mouth. “I love you so much more, Alannah.”

My lips curl into a goofy smile and I pull his mouth to mine, trying to prove to him in this kiss that there is no way on God’s fine earth anyone could love anyone more than I love him.

The next morning Dayton’s uncle gives the whole team the day off work and I’m pea green with envy when I leave him in bed to go into work at Hallam Sports. He is sure to send me off to work with a satisfied smile and it’s nothing to do with the breakfast that has me grinning like a maniac when I get to work, bright and early. It’s also nothing to do with the new iPod he bought me for running so that phone calls can’t interrupt my music streaming. The cold calls continue and I’m almost dead certain Regina is behind them.

I’m willing the day away so I can get home to him as soon as physically possible. I’m like an addict, now I’ve had a taste of the drug I craved so desperately while he was away, I cannot get enough. Gemma comes into the staff room for lunch as I sit texting him.

“Oh, that is undoubtedly the smile of a woman who has been up all night with a hot guy, intent on making you come like a train until you can barely walk the next morning,” Gemma teases and I burst into a fit of giggles.

“I won’t even deny that accusation. I will hasten to add though, there is more waiting for me when I get home.” I smirk, flashing her a quick look at the picture on my phone that I took of Dayton this morning. He is laid out on the bed, naked with just the corner of the bedding covering his body parts that are for my dirty pleasure only. Gemma’s eyes widen and she bites her lip.

“Did I tell you lately that I hate you, Alannah Matthews?”

I laugh loudly. “No, you know damn well you love me, Gem. You should come out with us, see if any of the Lexis regulars catch your eye.” I wink.

“I’d love to, I haven’t been clubbing in ages. Are you going out tomorrow?”

“I’m out almost every weekend now. I love to see Dayton at work. I’ll text you and let you know where we’re all meeting up tomorrow. It’s normally Zetters Bar around 8 o’clock.”

“Excellent. You never know, I may find my prince.”

That night Dayton takes me back to La Bella Luna. I’m made to feel cherished the whole night. He repeatedly tells me how beautiful I am, how perfect, how much he loves me. When we get home we kiss the night away in a blur of love making and honest, complementary pillow talk. I lay naked on my tummy as he traces love hearts on my sensitive back while we talk of the future we want together. He talks of wanting to make it big in the music industry, taking me with him to massive events, a jet set lifestyle of playing abroad and lazy weeks of summers spent in the sun in between him doing stints in the recording studios. It all sounds too good to be true.

There is this nagging part in the back of my mind that sneers at me. Nothing is ever that perfect, nobody gets that kind of fairy tale ending. Not people like me anyway. I can picture Dayton living this life, he was born to live it. Something just tells me the contented bubble of perfection I seem to have stepped into with him will burst. I hate the foreboding feeling and behind my smile I hide the sickening feeling that Regina holds a huge pin with my name on it.

Saturday we spend the day in the park, we do a couple of laps before slowing to a walk, not really feeling like exercising and preferring just to hold hands and talk. He is just telling me how Ross has decided it’s time for him to take the plunge and ask Macy to move in with him.

“She doesn’t know yet, keep it to yourself.” Dayton grins and I agree.

“I think she is going to jump at the chance. She is always complaining about the size of her flat.”

“It must be even more cramped whilst her brother, Greg, is staying over then.”

“Ah, yeah, Greg. Corrine already texted and said they’ve been casually flirting. I expect he will be joining us at Lexis tonight then?” Dayton shrugs. “Gemma is looking forward to meeting you. She calls you Mr-Service-With-A-Smile.”

“I’ve been called worse.” I nudge him with my shoulder and he pulls me to his chest.

“You do know that I don’t care about who is there, as long as you are, don’t you?” He smiles and I take his face into my hands and lay a kiss on his beautiful mouth.

“I’ll always be there.”