21. Nervous Sterling
21
Nervous Sterling
I didn’t know if Victor would be at the theater. It would be weird to text him asking where he was so soon after our rendezvous. One date didn’t entitle me to his work schedule. Or a good morning text. Besides, I was going to the theater, regardless of his presence.
Still.
I flexed my fingers, then pulled up our text chain.
Me: What movie would be best for taking a nap?
I’d only made it halfway to the theater by the time he texted me back.
Victor: In general or playing at the mall?
Victor: Because if you’re coming to visit me, there are better things to do than sleep.
I chuckled and shook my head. Apparently, I wasn’t alone in my horny post-date haze. At least his text implied he’d be at work and happy to see me.
Me: I have three hours to kill. I doubt your staff or your stamina could spare you that long.
A ‘now typing’ ellipses floated across the screen. Was he trying to convince me otherwise? Or was he annoyed I was suggesting a film versus a lunch-hour fling? Finally, he responded with a simple sentence.
Victor: The Old Woman and the Beach.
My Spider-Man deleted something, hadn’t he?
I doubted asking him what it was would get me any answers. He loved mysteries. And being oblique. That was part of the intrigue before we’d started dating, and yet my insides knotted tighter for every second I’d spent waiting.
I sent him a thumbs up and ordered the ticket on my phone. The film’s story revolved around an old woman’s late-life rediscovery of friendship and fun. It didn’t seem like my usual fare. Maybe that was a good thing. By the time I got to the theater, I’d fixed my hair twice, but Victor wasn’t there to greet me. With a sinking stomach, I lifted my phone to someone vaguely familiar—maybe the guy he’d brought along to meet my sister. He eyed me as he scanned my ticket. “Upstairs. Theater 10.”
Aw, not thirteen.
So much for being a theater VIP. Maybe it only felt that way because Victor treated me. I strolled up the stairs and tried to spot my man amid the casual daytime crowd. The squirrely guy worked concessions with a girl I didn’t recognize. A decent-sized line kept them busy. Victor was nowhere to be seen. I traced the railing with my fingertips and sighed. Didn’t he know I was coming? Didn’t he care?
The widow animatronic beckoned me upstairs.
I smiled at the giant spider and made my way to the balcony. “How’s it hanging?”
She stroked her silken strings.
“Good, then? Seems busy,” I said. But people-watching wasn’t any fun without someone to share the commentary. “You wouldn’t happen to have seen Victor?”
Her leg crooked out, briefly pointing to a familiar dark figure pushing his bang swoop aside as he hurried to the entrance.
Holy shit. It was Victor. Did the animatronic secretly understand me? Or was that stretch part of its programming?
My heart thudded harder. This whole theater was weaving some kind of kinky web to draw me and Victor together, wasn’t it?
He tugged the collar of his shirt and talked to the gentleman taking tickets. The guy shrugged and shook his head.
Victor huffed and glanced out the glass doors, his face pink. He tapped his toes and spared a moment to check his phone as he helped scan people in. Was he looking—and waiting—for me? Or was he dealing with a rush of customers and a rogue employee?
My heart clawed at my ribcage. Call him , my dark urges insisted. If he answered, he liked me. If he didn’t…well, he was working. It didn’t mean anything.
Still, my fingers shook as I dialed him.
The True Blood theme song blasted from his pocket, startling Victor and everyone else in the vicinity. I covered my mouth to muffle a laugh. Was he that into lusty vampires? Or did he pick that salacious tune for me?
Fumbling for his phone, he excused himself from the entrance to answer. “Hello, Miss Silver.”
That silky smooth voice contrasted with the awkward way he adjusted the phone from a perch between his cheek and shoulder to his hand. He paced the perimeter of the floor and glanced out the glass doors, running his fingers through his bangs.
He was nervous. For me, maybe.
I smiled and tilted my head. “Hello, Mr. Sterling.”
“Shall I prepare you a VIP seat for the 1:00 showing?”
“Mm, no. I’m disappointed I won’t be in theater thirteen.”
“It’s usually—how’d you—” He chuckled and twisted his bangs with a flourish. “Are you here already?”
I licked my lips. “Maybe.”
“Didn’t want to say hi?” He strolled through the crowd.
“I wouldn’t call if I wanted to avoid you. Also, your hair is sticking up, sweetie.”
He smirked and smoothed his bangs. “So, you did want to see me.”
I rolled my eyes, my heart thumping hard. “You and a movie.”
“I’d like to see you,” he purred. “You in a movie, if you’d be kind enough to send one to me.”
Oh my god. Was he asking for sexy content or a cute video-call kinda greeting?
I rubbed my legs together and pulled at my messy hair. “I’m not sure I’m fit for company, let alone a camera, unless you’re into the whole thoroughly ravaged look.”
“I am when I’m the one who did the ravaging.” His gaze slid to the second story.
I darted back from the railing.
Fuck. This was quickly, and publicly, getting into R-rated territory.
Did he really want to see me or was this more about getting off?
I fished my cross out from under my shirt, my fingers grazing the burning reminder of our lust on my collar. “I’m supposed to go to sleep.”
“I can tuck you in,” he said.
I chuckled and crept toward the balcony railing. “You’ve almost convinced me.”
Why was it so easy for him? With him, I meant.
His voice rubbed my insides like warm velvet. “I want to give you something before you go in.”
“Is it soft and small or—”
He choked on laughter. “Pardon?”
Shit. Why was I making euphemisms in the middle of the day? He’d think I only wanted one thing—and it wasn’t a fuzzy toy.
“I was talking about the spider plush.” I went on tip-toes to gauge his reaction, but I couldn’t spot him in the crowd anymore. Where was he?
“You’re not very good at stalking, are you?” he mused.
“I’m not stalking you,” I said, my traitorous voice rising in pitch. Could he see me?
Soft footfall on the stairs filtered through the noise.
Let it be him, I prayed, and turned slowly.
There he climbed. His skin radiated with a healthy hue. He paused and smiled at me, holding his phone to his diamond-sharp features so his voice rumbled through my ears and my fingertips. “No, you wouldn’t stalk me. I’d never be so lucky.”
Oh my god. What the fuck were we doing?
I clutched my cross and parted my lips. “H…hi.”
He hung up, then slipped the phone into his pocket. “Hello, Kat. Were you watching over me?”
“I guess so.” My lips twitched with an attempted smile. He would get into trouble pulling pranks on horny customers like me.
He leaned up from the stairs to kiss my cheek.
The singular brush of his lips made my heart jump into my throat. I tensed with the urge to grab his face and give him an eager greeting. “I-I don’t expect this to be a daily thing, by the way. If I come by and you’re busy—”
“I’m not busy,” he stated.
The crowd below indicated otherwise. Did anything faze him besides hair-pulling?
He eyed me and frowned. “Are you okay?”
I fiddled with my necklace. “Yeah, no, absolutely. Just a long, rough day already.”
“What’s up?” He stretched his shoulders and his bangs slid in front of his tempting eyes.
Hook-ups didn’t care about feelings, right?
I’d try to make this quick. “I, um, I had to cover for somebody super last-minute,” I said. “This girl was supposed to be opening solo, but she called in sick to nurse a hangover.”
He unbuttoned his cuffs and rolled up his sleeves. “She said that?”
“Well, I’m on her social media, so I saw some evidence. We used to be friends.”
Used to be? Shit. I sucked in a sharp breath and pushed past that unexpected tidbit. “Anyways, she came in a few hours before her shift would’ve ended, but only after I ‘bitched’ to another coworker about having to work the whole day because of it. I was scheduled to close, you know?”
He propped his chin up and nodded. Was all this an expected part of management?
I glanced at the widow. “Anyway, I’m not sure how to handle it. Or if it needs to be handled at all. I mean, she did show up.”
“Five hours late,” he demurred.
“Yeah. After calling in sick. She could’ve stayed home the whole day, I guess.” I shrugged. “So, I have a few hours to kill until my actual shift.”
He narrowed his gaze and tilted his head. “Do you not like discipline?”
“What do you mean? Like, in bed?” I smiled and twirled my necklace. I didn’t mind a firm hand when the occasion called for it.
He stepped up to my level, his shadow sheltering me from the soft lights above. “I meant as a manager, Miss.”
“Oh, shit.” I touched his chest where the ‘V’ of his button-down connected, seeking his pulse, his heat, and a hint of hair. “I guess it’s not my favorite part of the job description.”
“Think of it as empowering: giving people the boundaries and consequences they need. It’s guidance. A kindness.” He slowly corralled me against the balcony railing, closing in with his body until the metal rod prodded my tailbone.
I gasped and pushed gently on his chest, his sternum hot under my fingertips. What the fuck? We were on a second story with tons of people below us—and an expensive animatronic to crash into on the way down. There wasn’t any real threat he’d do anything unsavory, but the situation swung between sexy and intimidating. Seriously, how the hell did he go from pacing and pulling his hair to sultry domination?
I rubbed a circle over his shirt. “I’m not breaking any rules, am I, Mr. Sterling?”
He shook his head, his eyes softening around the corners.
“Good. Because I have no doubt you’d be sweet enough to punish me,” I said, flicking open one of his buttons.
He inhaled sharply and gripped the railing.
Feigning innocence, I stroked his bare skin before working on another button. “See, as a manager, I tend to be more forgiving. I understand the allure of giving in to temptation. Some people do it at home. Others do it at work. Whether it be sleeping or flirting or—”
“Kat,” he rasped, clutching my wrist.
“What?” My lips tingled with untapped lust.
His gaze flicked to the spider behind me. “I didn’t mean to imply you weren’t managing things properly. Or I’m some model employee.”
“I know.” I smiled, though my chest tightened along with my cheeks. “You were flirting.”
He sighed and ran his thumb across the top of my knuckles. “I could’ve said it sucked you had to come in early.”
“Yeah, but I did appreciate the Dom energy.”
“Really?” His face brightened, though he glanced away. “I, uh, appreciate you coming to see me.”
I lowered my face and stepped closer. “You’re nice to see.”
Oh my god, this was so embarrassing. Heat flooded my cheeks.
He chuckled, then delicately kissed the back of my hand, blinking slowly enough to register as pure, catlike affection.
Fuck the spreading warmth in my chest, lighting me up like a human jack-o-lantern.
I liked him.
But I’d seen movies like this. Hot, trickster guys with formal vocabularies didn’t make great steady boyfriends. And I didn’t need one. But I wanted…more of him.