Chapter 24
Chapter
Twenty-Four
“Look at that,”Alex said, as they stood in the center of Times Square. “The New Year ball’s real. And the taxis are yellow, just like in the movies.”
Pres barely managed to hide his laugh with a cough. Alex had been like this ever since they’d driven through the tunnel into Manhattan. Pointing out the Empire State Building and every other skyscraper like he’d thought they were all make believe.
“Have you really never been to New York City?” Marley asked, frowning. Cassie took a sip from her coffee. It was her first one since they’d arrived in the city and she needed the caffeine hit.
Especially after having to sit in the Beast for hours, listening to Alex talk loudly about whatever subject came to his mind.
“I’ve seen a lot of shows set in New York.” Alex shrugged. “Just never visited.”
“But everybody’s been to New York City.” Marley frowned. “Haven’t they?”
“Not everybody was brought up by the king of rock and roll,” Alex pointed out.
“Your dad ran a bank. You weren’t exactly poor,” Marley said. Presley caught Cassie’s eye and she grinned at him.
They’d agreed to wander around the city with Marley and Alex, then they’d all have dinner.
And after that? It was on. They hadn’t had sex for two weeks. Not when they were both in the same room anyway. With Presley having to work all the hours he could, and spending time with Delilah, there hadn’t been the opportunity to be alone.
She was almost certain she was going to explode the minute he touched her. Possibly before.
Hell, if he kept on looking at her like he had been, she might just find heaven on this sidewalk.
It had only been a few months since the city had been her home, yet she felt just as much of a tourist as the others. Maybe it was because she was seeing it through their eyes. Or perhaps because she’d gotten so used to the relative peace and quiet of Hartson’s Creek.
“Can we go to Central Park now?” Alex asked. He was desperate to see Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon.
“Sure.” She nodded. “We just need to walk up Seventh Avenue.” She inclined her head northward.
“When do we get to see Fifth Avenue?” Alex asked. “Isn’t that the good one?”
“You already saw it,” she told him. “We walked across it earlier. When you saw Rockefeller Center.”
“The one that should have ice skating but doesn’t?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, that’s the one.”
“Oh.” He wrinkled his nose. “I thought it’d be bigger.”
She looked at him from the corner of her eye. “Are you being serious about all this?” She wasn’t sure if he was playing with her or not.
“About what?” he asked, the picture of innocence.
“About not having been here before.”
“Serious as a boy scout.” He touched his brow with the tips of his fingers. “Pinky swear.”
“Well okay then. Let’s start walking.”
Alex and Marley walked ahead, Pres lingering to slide his arm around her shoulders. “Okay?” he asked, kissing her brow.
“Definitely.”
Alex turned around to look at them, then groaned. “Can you two put the PDA on hold, please? We have some serious tourism to do.”
Pres smiled against her brow. “Nope, sorry. You’re lucky we even left the hotel at all. If it wasn’t for Cassie being nice, we’d be naked in the shower right now.”
“Eww.” Alex wrinkled his nose. “Enough already. Now let’s go and pay our respect to John Lennon. Before I barf up that hotdog I just ate.”
“I told you, we’re not coming.” Pres shook his head. He was standing in the door of their hotel room, blocking Alex from walking in. Cassie was behind him, sniggering as she looked over his shoulder, mostly because Alex looked like a kid who’d just learned that Santa didn’t exist.
“Oh come on, man. It’s going to be boring if it’s just the two of us.” Alex pouted.
“Thanks.” Marley lifted a brow. “You’re making me feel all warm inside.”
“Just come to the club for a couple of hours,” Alex said. “You know you want to.” He’d been sulking ever since Presley had told them over dinner that he and Cassie had other plans tonight. “This is supposed to be the band’s trip. Not your chance to have sex with your girlfriend.”
“The band’s trip?” Presley repeated, amused. “Who said it was a band trip?”
“We’re auditioning tomorrow. The band. Us.” Alex pointed at himself, then at the other three. “We should be bonding. Drinking together. Dancing. Sex, drugs, and rock’n’roll, isn’t that what it’s all about?”
“Two out of three ain’t bad,” Presley told him. “Now have a good night. I hope you have lots of sex. Because that’s what I intend to do.” He gave them a pointed look then stepped back to close the door.
“Wait!” Alex shouted. “What time should we meet in the morning?”
Pres sighed. “Nine in the lobby. Cass and I are having breakfast in bed.”
“Can’t we have breakfast together?” Alex asked.
“Jesus, you’re worse than Delilah,” Pres muttered. He looked at Marley, who looked like he was about to explode with laughter.
His brother didn’t give a flying fuck that he and Cassie weren’t joining them. He liked music and he liked to dance, and he was planning on doing both.
“Come on,” Marley said, pulling at Alex’s shoulder. “Let’s leave them alone. The first round is on me.”
“Why didn’t you say so?” Alex turned around, walking down the hallway to the elevators. Marley winked at Pres.
“Have a good evening,” Pres told him.
“Likewise,” Marley said, grinning. “Though I suspect you both will.” He lifted a hand in farewell and followed Alex down the hallway as Pres closed the door.
“Jesus,” he said, leaning against it. “He’s exhausting.”
“You poor baby.” Cassie reached for his hand. “Come here, let me make it all better.”
She cupped his face and he smiled at her, loving the way she was looking at him. Like he was the king of the fucking world.
He felt it too. Now that it was just the two of them.
“Come here,” he muttered, finding it hard to believe this woman was his.
“I’m already here,” she whispered.
“I know. But come closer.”
“You want me to climb inside your pants?” she asked him and he grinned.
“Wouldn’t say no.”
She put her palms on his chest, splaying her fingers out over his t-shirt. One of the tips grazed his nipple and he grunted.
“Gotta tell you, this isn’t going to be pretty,” he said. “It’s been too long.”
“Two weeks. Way too long.” She ran her hands down his chest, as though she was mapping out the muscles on his abdomen, before trailing her fingers along the waistband of his jeans. And of course he was hard.
He always was for this woman.
She smiled at the outline of his cock jutting against his jeans. “So I have a plan,” she told him.
“Of course you do.”
“You’re going to stay right there. And I’m going to put on my leotard. And then I’m going to give you the world’s best blow job.”
He swallowed.
“It’s my birthday,” she said.
“No it isn’t.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Okay, so let’s pretend it is. And for my birthday I want you. In my mouth.” She pouted those pretty lips. “And what I want, I’m gonna get.”
“Have at it,” he whispered. “And then I’m in charge.” Because he had some plans for her. And all of them included her naked. On the bed, on the floor, against the wall.
In the shower.
Wherever. He just loved that they had hours ahead of them with no interruptions at all.
She grinned, as though she could read his mind. “It’s a deal.”
“We’re looking for a very specific vibe,” Bryan, the AR guy told them. “Cool and boho. Your videos made it onto our for you page and we think you could be what we’re looking for.”
Pres looked at Cassie, his brow raised, and she shrugged. He clearly had no idea what boho was. She’d tell him later.
“Yeah, a lot of people think we have that vibe,” Alex said enthusiastically. Or as enthusiastic as he could be with a banging hangover. He’d been the last one to meet them in the lobby. Cassie and Pres had been first.
“You have a good look.” Bryan glanced at Cassie. She was in shorts again, with a flowery top. Her hair was in waves down her back. And yeah, if you squinted she probably did have a little bit of the laid back style they wanted. But she definitely hadn’t intended it.
“Thanks.” She smiled at him.
“And you two…” he pointed at her and Presley. “You’re involved?”
Presley shifted in his chair. She could tell how uncomfortable he was. The people sitting at the desk had only wanted to hear them play one song, instead of four. It had taken them longer to set up their instruments than it did for them to actually perform.
She felt like she was in an episode of American Idol. Being judged, and probably falling short.
“Yes,” she said, looking over at Presley.
“I guess we could work with that.”
Pres tipped his head to the side. “Work with it?” he asked. “What does that mean?”
“I mean we can build a story around it. I don’t suppose you’re married, are you?”
From the corner of her eye she could see Pres frown. “No.”
She reached out to put her hand on his thigh, her palm warm against his skin. She knew he was only here under duress.
Or rather, because he loved his brother and was pretty fond of her. Hell, he was fond of Alex too, but he would never admit it.
“He’s a single father,” she said.
Bryan blinked. “You have a kid?”
“A daughter,” Presley corrected him. “Yes.”
“Oh. Okay.” Bryan ran the pad of his thumb along his jaw. “Well I guess that’s all the questions I have for you. Thanks for coming in. We have a couple more bands to meet with and then we’ll be in touch.”
“Wait, we’re not the only ones?” Alex asked, his voice full of disappointment. “I thought you liked our videos.”
Bryan smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “My assistant said they were great. Thanks again.” He stood, making it clear it was time for them to leave. “And have a great day.”
Bryan left the room as they started packing away their instruments, his assistant standing awkwardly by the door as they started carrying the boxes onto the carts the label had provided to help them shift their gear.
“You really are good,” the assistant told them. “Out of all of them, you’re my favorite.”
They were on the elevator before any of them spoke.
“Well at least we got a free trip to New York out of it.” Marley shrugged. “It could be worse.”
“It’s not over. He liked what we did,” Alex said. “And his assistant loves us. That has to count for something, right?”
Cassie looked at Presley, who’d said nothing. He looked a little annoyed, but that was probably left over from him being asked if he was married. She’d explain the story of the book to him in the car. Then he’d probably understand.
“You should probably have lied about Delilah,” Alex said.
“Did you seriously just say that?” Presley frowned. “I’m not going to lie about having a kid.”
“He didn’t ask you if you had a kid. You volunteered it,” Alex continued. “I’m just saying you shouldn’t have.”
Pres opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again, as though thinking better of it. And when the elevator reached the first floor, he carried his guitar out of there, as she and the others followed behind with the carts.
And to top it all off? It was raining. She groaned as she looked outside. Pres turned to catch her eye.
“It’s gonna be fine,” he told her. “It’ll stop by tomorrow when we have to leave. And anyway, I’m driving.”
She nodded. “I know.” It was stupid. If he could work himself to the bone to attend an audition for something he never wanted and never intended to do, she could grin and bare it if it rained when they drove home tomorrow.
For five hours.
She exhaled slowly. She trusted him, she really did.
If anybody could get her home safely, Presley Hartson could. He took care of everybody. He’d certainly taken care of her last night, and tonight looked like more of the same.
And she liked that a little too much.