Chapter Five
Five
Nico
Y eah, fuck all that.
I strolled out of Johnson & Moseby Publicity and headed straight for the nearest bar. I winked at the pretty redheaded bartender and ordered a draft beer and shot of tequila, eyeballing her tits while she poured.
“What’s your name, sweetheart?” I asked as she placed my drinks in front of me.
“Pam. What’s yours?”
I put my hand to my heart as if wounded. “You don’t know who I am?”
Her eyes flashed and a saucy smile graced her lips as she leaned in, looking me over with more interest. “Should I?”
I picked up my shot and smiled back. “Well—” My charming comeback was cut off when the drink was ripped from my fingers.
“No,” a perturbed female voice said to my right as she pried the shot glass from my hand and slammed it back on the bar, spilling half of it. “You shouldn’t know who this idiot is.”
I watched in shocked, angry fascination as JJ threw a few bills down on the bar with a tight-lipped smile for the bartender before she grabbed my arm and yanked. “Come on,” she practically growled under her breath. “Let’s go.”
“Hell no!” I sputtered. “I just got here.”
Blue fire blazed from her eyes. “And you’re just leaving,” she shot back. “Unless you’d like me to let everyone know you’ve violated your contract already.” She folded her arms across her chest and stared me down. “That would be a world class record of stupidity, I have to say.”
We stared each other down for several heartbeats, while I frustratingly noticed she’d changed into workout clothes, and they hugged her body even better than her business suit.
“How did you find me?” I finally said.
“You’re predictable.”
I quirked a brow. Was I? “Damn.”
Around us, people began to shift, and the conversation noise level changed. We were attracting attention. Exactly the problem that had brought her into my life to begin with. I sighed and stood, shooting my bartender friend another smile as I moved toward the door, bypassing JJ and forcing her to follow.
She trailed me all the way to my cherry-red Corvette. “You’re not going to be able to do that, you know.”
I opened the driver’s door, then turned to look at her. “Do what?”
“Fake it.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Sure, you do.” She crossed her arms again and gave me an arched brow. “You think you can fake complying with the contract and skate your way through the next six months. But it’s not going to work that way.”
Alright, she had me there. That was exactly what I’d planned on doing.
“I’m serious,” she continued when I said nothing. “I was in the meetings between Lance and my father. If even a tiny piece of you wants to remain a part of Zero Energy, then I’d suggest you take that contract seriously.”
My heart rolled over. My gut churned. My mind spun. I was numb yet in pain—a walking contradiction—yet here I stood, with a woman who held entirely too much power over me and had no fucking clue who I was... not really.
“Get in,” I growled.
Her eyes flared. “What?”
I ignored that and slid into my car, gunning the engine with an angry crank.
As soon as she sat in the passenger seat, I flew out onto the road, more than a little satisfied at the startled squeak she gave as she fumbled with her seat belt.
“Where are we going?” she demanded.
I said nothing, cranking up the stereo instead with one of Throat Punch’s most angry songs, matching my mood, as I hit the accelerator, and we hit the onramp for the highway. I zipped past several slow-moving cars until I could open up the throttle, and headed west, no particular destination in mind.
About ten minutes in, two solid facts hit me hard. First, JJ hadn’t said a word, and second, she smelled like liquid gold. Hot, sweet, and decadent. I stifled a groan and glanced over to find her looking out the passenger window at the passing scenery, her profile calm, giving nothing away. What was she thinking about? Was she regretting taking on a wild man like me? Pissed off? Scared?
“Hey,” I murmured, hating that last thought as memories of my mom came to mind.
Big blue eyes met mine.
“You good?”
“I’m good. Where are we going?”
“Got somewhere to be?”
“Well, I was going to go to the gym but...” She shrugged.
“But you got delayed by your most charming and best-looking client?”
A soft smile danced around her lips that she quickly tucked away. “I got delayed by my biggest pain in the ass client.”
“Ouch.”
“If the shoe fits, right?”
I couldn’t help but smile at the way she turned my own words around on me. “Yeah, okay.”
Impulsiveness took over, and I took the next exit and turned into an In-N-Out Burger drive-through. “Want anything?”
“No, thanks. I actually have dinner plans tonight.”
I flashed her a look as we pulled forward. “A date?” I couldn’t help glancing down at her left hand. No ring.
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no. I’m going out with my best friend.”
“Cool.” I pulled up to the speaker and ordered my usual large vanilla shake. When I caught her nearly offended stare, I balked. “What?”
“Vanilla? Who drinks vanilla shakes?”
“I do. Why?”
She pulled a face.
“Well, it’s the only vanilla thing I like in my life, I can tell you that.”
Her mouth fell open. “Don’t be disgusting.”
“Just honest.” I pulled forward to pay and wait for my shake. “Let me guess... you’re more of a caramel Frappuccino with soy milk and extra foam bullshit kinda girl?”
“Is that even a thing?”
I shrugged.
“Screw you and your judgment,” she said with extra sass. “And no. I don’t drink any of that.”
I accepted my shake and drove away from the restaurant, taking a big sip. “Now you’ve got me curious. Don’t drink any of what? Put me out of my misery, college girl.”
Her eyes shot daggers at me. “Overpriced frou-frou coffees. I try to stick with healthier options, if you must know, like herbal teas. Juice. Water.”
“Figures,” I said under my breath, earning myself another glare, but I just grinned as I gunned the engine again.
My phone rang, interrupting the music over the Bluetooth. I saw on the caller ID it was my mom, so I ignored it.
“You gonna get that?” JJ asked.
I shot her a glance.
“Don’t ignore your mother on my account.”
“I’ll call her back later.”
She studied me with those big eyes that seemed to see too much for a second too long, then shrugged and looked away.
I sipped my shake and changed lanes. “So, what’s with you and Daddy?” I asked, shifting the topic to her.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean a pretty college girl like you would have plenty of choices of places to work. Why with your old man?”
She shifted in her seat like I’d made her uncomfortable and tucked some loose hair behind her ear. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
“It’s not. Just curious.”
I zipped around a few cars and hit the exit to get us back to her office building. At a stoplight, a couple of women in the car next to us obviously recognized me and began waving and blowing kisses while they took pictures on their phone. I smiled and gave them the rock-on hand signal, and they ate it up.
The passenger rolled down her window with a grin. “Is that your girlfriend?” she yelled over, indicating JJ.
“What?” I glanced over. “Uh, no...”
The brunette giggled. “Cool,” she said as she handed over a piece of paper. “Call us. We’d love to see your drumstick.” They took off when the light turned green with a roar of laughter.
I was grinning down at the phone number on the scrap of paper when the person behind me honked. I took off, leaving them in my Vette’s dust.
“That happen a lot?” JJ asked as I threw the paper down on the floorboard.
I shrugged.
She rolled her eyes in disgust, and as soon as I parked back in the lot of her office, she opened her door but didn’t get out. “When I graduated college, I had several job offers,” she said, her gaze suddenly blue fire. “I chose to work for my father because he’s the best at what he does, and I can learn from him. So, you can make all the cute college girl jabs you want, but I earned this job and I work my ass off.” She stepped out but leaned down to finish her point, her voice ice-coated steel. “I have plans for my life and my career, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let some spoiled rock star who doesn’t care about anyone or anything get in my way. Capiche?”
Never had I ever had a woman talk to me like that, and the flare of attraction that shot through my system was fast and furious. Fuck, this woman was something else... even if she was off-limits.
That didn’t mean I couldn’t mess with her.
I leaned over the center console to make sure our eyes were locked and let my gaze travel from her eyes to her lips to her cleavage, then back up in a slow perusal. “Capiche, Miss Johnson.”