CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE #2
“I hate when guys say that,” she grumbled, but followed me into the hallway and locked the door behind her anyway. “Watch. This will be the time someone posts a picture of us on social media, and the whole world will wonder why you’re slumming it…”
“Hey,” I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her close to me.
“Stop that. Just because I’ve been in some magazines and shit like that doesn’t mean a thing.
You are far and away too good for me, as anyone who knows both of us could testify to.
” A thought occurred to me, and I tried to hide the smile before she could see it.
“What?” She grabbed my hand.
I pulled her tight against me inside the elevator after we stepped inside.
I whispered in her ear, “Which picture would you rather have spread across social media? The two of us together like this,” I gestured to what we were wearing, both of us in very casual athletic wear, “or a picture of you naked and coming against the window in our hotel in Savannah?”
She smacked my chest and turned bright red. “I think you know the answer to that,” she hissed as I laughed.
The doors to the elevator opened, and we almost ran right into Nico Salazar. I knew he lived in one of the penthouses on the top level of Salazar Heights, but I’d never run into him at the complex before. He grinned when he saw us. “Hey, you two. You’re looking cozy.”
I had my arm around Daisy’s waist, my other hand entwined in hers.
She tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her.
I knew Carmen drilled it into the cinnamon girls’ heads that they couldn’t have real relationships with the guys who bid on them.
That it was just a transactional thing—fucking for whatever it was the woman wanted, plus a crap ton of money.
I knew she was very aware that Nico was knew all about Carmen’s rules.
The only thing Daisy didn’t know? Those rules didn’t apply to me.
To us. Nico was clued in to the fact that I wanted this thing with Daisy to last well beyond three months.
I knew Carmen was skeptical it would work out, but Nico seemed a bit more in my corner.
Of course, that could be because he wanted me to keep being a member of his clubs over the years.
I had to admit, knowing that Daisy enjoyed fucking for an audience made me want to take her to Cayenne at least a few times.
As much as I didn’t usually like being the center of attention, I didn’t really mind as long as I got to sink my cock in her pussy.
And the thought of people watching me fuck the most beautiful girl in the room?
Yeah, it got me hard. I wouldn’t mind the audience one bit.
Nico winked at Daisy, and she looked a little guilty. “Hey, Daisy. How are things? Let me tell you, the guys sure do miss you at Sugar. Especially after that last performance,” he said moving closer to her.
I jerked her away from him and cocked my eyebrow at him. He tried to hide his laughter. “Y’all have a good day,” he said, linking arms with the hot blonde beside him and walking towards the penthouse elevators.
“Do you think I’m going to get in trouble?” Daisy asked as we walked outside. It was a gorgeous, mid-October day. The sky was a brilliant blue, the leaves were just starting to change colors, and a slightly cool breeze was coming in off the ocean down below us.
“Nope.” I looked down at her. “I’m not trying to brag, but Nico wants to keep me happy. He really likes that I’m a member of his clubs.”
She nodded. “He made that pretty clear before you joined. But why would us being together on a random weekday make you happy?”
“I like being with you,” I said, simply. I started getting nervous as we walked towards the parking garage. I really didn’t like driving unless I had to. “Um… do you mind if we just walk? I just want to go a couple of streets over to an electronics store.”
“Sure. That’s fine. Or I can drive, if you want me to.”
I glanced at her. Was she serious? “Yeah?”
“I don’t mind at all, unless it makes you nervous.”
How had she picked up on my nerves? Was I that obvious? “How do you know?”
“It’s not that hard to read you. At least for me. I’m not saying the whole world knows you don’t like to drive, but I’ve picked up on it.”
I tried not to show that it bothered me she could sense my anxiety, but she grabbed my arm.
“Hey—it doesn’t change the way I feel about you.
You know that, right? I’ve had lots of friends with anxiety, and we both know my mom struggles with it.
I hate to tell you this, but it seems like half the world has to battle something like what you’re going through. ”
I held her hand as I listened to what she said. I’d been ashamed of my anxiety and social awkwardness for a long time. None of my siblings were like I was. They all thrived in social settings. I’d always felt weird for being nothing like them.
Thank goodness for Grandma. She’d taken me to a therapist and psychiatrist, and I was on a low dose of medicine.
I’d gone up on the dosage, but then I’d had trouble with reduced creativity and sleepiness.
It was like I liked how my mind worked in some ways, but not others.
Like taking the good with the bad. I stopped walking and stared down at her.
“I actually get really nervous when someone drives me, too. Do you mind if we walk?”
“Not at all.” And I could tell by the way she said it, she was being honest.
“Thanks.”
We walked hand in hand, and I kept casting glances at her.
She had turned her face up to the sun, absorbing the beautiful day with a relish I envied.
I wanted to be more like her, but, maybe even more, I just wanted to be okay with who I actually was.
I took a deep breath in and let it out slowly.
Maybe I was on my way to achieving that goal.
“What are we getting?” she asked.
“Do you prefer a gaming console, or gaming computers?”
She raised her eyebrows. “I… don’t know?”
“Cool. Do you mind if I pick out a setup for you?” I was so excited at the prospect I was practically vibrating.
I think she could tell. She laughed. “Sure, whatever you think. I know you’re the expert.”
My God, those were some of the best words a guy like me could ever hear. “Great.” I rubbed my hands together as we made it to the store. I opened the door for her, and it wasn’t long before we were looking at some sweet gaming computer setups.
“What do you mainly use your computer for? These are for gaming, but I’d like you to be able to use if for work, too, if you wanted to.”
“Oh. I’m getting my degree in marketing. I use a lot of presentation software, but it will run on pretty much anything.”
“Marketing, huh?” I vaguely remembered Nico saying something about her being smart. “Hey, if you could change one thing about CaveSphere, what would it be?”
She opened her mouth to answer, but we were abruptly interrupted.
“Oh my God. OH MY GOD!” My head swiveled to look at the employee freaking out in front of me, and I regarded him with a mixture of fear and humor.
“Calm down, okay?” I whispered to him. He was making a scene, and the last thing I wanted was for a bunch of CaveSphere fans to mob us in the store.
“I can’t! I can’t, I can’t, I can’t,” he started gasping and leaning over to grab his knees. “I’m going to faint,” he said weakly, right before he toppled over onto the ground.
I stared at him for a moment, then stepped over his prone body. “Well, let’s get someone else to help us…”
“Jack!” Daisy looked horrified. “You can’t just leave him like that.” She looked around until she saw another employee. “Hey, can you help us over here? He kind of… fainted.” She gestured to the guy on the ground.
“Jesus. These guys are idiots. Sorry, ma’am. They aren’t around women very much, and, well, you’re very pretty.” The guy blinked a bit and seemed to break out in a sweat. “It’s actually kind of hot in here.” He started fanning himself as he stared at Daisy’s tits in her tight T-shirt.
“Oh. I don’t think it was about me,” she protested.
“I can assure you, it was,” he grinned.
“No, see…” she motioned towards me.
The guy stopped fanning himself and stared at me. “Jack Lancaster? The Jack Lancaster?” He seemed incapable of speech after that and started looking for someone else to help us before this turned into a whole big scene.
“Jack Lancaster. This is the best fucking day of my life,” a teenager out with his family said. His little sister gasped and looked up at her dad as if she knew he was going to punish her brother, but he was staring at me with his mouth wide open, too.
“Damn,” he finally said, as a small crowd began to form.
The guy who’d been flipping out over Daisy quickly changed his mind about what to be excited about, and before I knew it, I was surrounded. It made me grumpy, and I was starting to have trouble breathing well.
“Everyone,” Daisy clapped her hands. “Line up. Get in a nice straight line behind this row of computer chairs…”
“Computer chairs,” a geeky guy snorted pushing his glasses up on his nose. “She means gaming chairs,” he laughed with his friends.
Daisy gave them a look. “Whatever. Anyway, get behind these chairs and Jack will sign autographs for the next twenty minutes only. And can I get a store manager over here, please?”
A manager came running, huffing around a corner and nearly taking out a shelf of neatly stacked notebook computers in the process. “Can I help?” he gasped as he made it over to us.
“Yes.” Daisy looked at him, clearly unimpressed. “I need one manager to control the crowd and the other to take Jack’s order.”
I watched her in shock and awe, beginning to breathe better, and, if possible, become even more enamored with her. It was then I realized I had a death grip on her hand. I loosened my hold slightly, but not enough for her to get away.
She patted my hand. “You have to let go so you can sign autographs,” she whispered.
“What am I supposed to sign?” I asked quietly, staring at the long line forming.
“Whatever they have,” she said. “But not,” she pointed to a busty girl who was adjusting her cleavage, “that girl’s boobs.”
I smirked, pleased she was somewhat jealous, while a teenager nearby snorted and brayed like a donkey. “She said ‘boobs’,” he cackled.
She gave me a look. “I see what you deal with on a regular basis,” she murmured.
“Nah,” I shook my head. “I avoid all of this shit like the plague. But it’s better with you here. How’d you know what to do?”
She smirked. “I have five younger sisters, and I ran dance camps every summer for younger kids.”
“I can tell you were good at it.” I turned to the manager and began spouting off my order. When I finished, I gave him a few hundred extra dollars and asked for it to be delivered to the lobby at Salazar Heights within the hour.
Then I signed autographs for a while before Daisy cut things off in a much nicer way than I ever would have.
Before I knew it, we were back out on the street and headed home like nothing had even happened.
“You were amazing back there,” I said in awe of her.
She shrugged. “People need to be herded sometimes.”
I grinned and kissed her on the cheek at the exact moment someone started taking pictures.
“Jack, who’s your newest lady?”
“Fuck off, man,” I growled, grabbing Daisy’s hand and pulling her along with me protectively. I didn’t care about being plastered all over social media or entertainment shows in pictures with Daisy. But I wasn’t sure how she felt.
The guy laughed as Daisy and I jogged down the street towards home, and I’d never been more thankful for a lobby with a doorman.
Later that night, as we ate pizza and played CaveSphere on Daisy’s new state-of-the-art system, I remembered she’d never had a chance to answer my question.
“What were you going to say at the store earlier before all hell broke loose? About making CaveSphere better?”
“Oh,” she said absentmindedly, her mind on the game, “I was just going to say I bet you’d have a lot more female fans if you had a character we could relate to in the game.”
“But I made Seraphina for female fans…”
Daisy started laughing so hard she almost spit out the sip of Coke Zero she’d just taken.
“Please. Seraphina is not for female fans. Have you seen the boobs on that poor girl? It’s a wonder she can stand up.
Ridiculous. And she’s a side character, anyway.
I’d like a strong, smart girl to be able to play as.
She could be pretty with a good body, but don’t make that all she is.
She needs to have special skills just like the male characters do. ”
“Seraphina has special skills…”
“Seduction doesn’t count, Jack.”
She had a point. A good one.
I looked over at her as she played the game I’d spent my life making. It was hot as hell to realize she was actually good at it. “Do you have any ideas about the character?”
She nodded as she killed a cave orc with a swift upper stab with a dagger.
“Yeah. I wanted to approach you about it the day I almost killed you with tomato soup. I have a whole presentation made about it, actually. Before I became your delivery girl and then your…” she glanced at me, “whatever I am now… I wanted to work for Lancaster Games. Or at least get an internship.”
I was shocked. “Really?”
She paused the game and turned to look at me. “Yes. Why do you sound so surprised?”
I blinked. It wasn’t fair, but I was surprised because she was gorgeous, had a body that would rival Seraphina’s fictional one, and had worked in a gentleman’s club. She was not my target demographic in any world except a dream one.
“This presentation,” I said, purposefully casual, “do you still have it?”
Her eyes shot to mine. “Yes.”
“Why don’t you present it to the board next week?”
She quit eating. “Oh my God. Are you serious?” She looked a little green. This wasn’t the reaction I’d been expecting.
“Of course. Don’t worry. ‘The board’ is just a fancy way to say my family. And Tallon, of course.”
She put her head between her legs and started breathing in and out slowly. “That’s worse,” she groaned after a while. “They know about us. They’ll think I seduced you so I could work at your company. They’ll think…”
“Stop. They won’t think any of that. Especially not once they get to know you.” I picked her up and held her in my lap, wondering how to get her mind onto something else for a while. “Hey, how would you feel about playing as Seraphina?”
She gave me a quick look and rolled her eyes.
“In the bedroom,” I finished, waggling my brows at her.
She finally grinned and didn’t protest as I carried her in and tossed her onto the bed.