Chapter Six
Dusty
The cold air hit my bare chest, waking me up from my post-lunch fogginess, as we left the plane. I pulled on my gloves and bounded down the stairs.
“Hey Lovely Fuckers! I’m at the airport on my way to Winter-Fest. See you there!” I said into my phone as I jumped off the bottom two stairs.
Carlos and Hale followed, laughing, as I shared it to my socials.
“Please don’t break a leg,” Fiona shouted.
“We’re here!” Carlos did a dance.
“We’re fucking here.” I picked him up and spun him around, like we were still kids messing around on set.
Headlining Winter-Fest was huge for my career, especially in the electronic-music circuit. A lot of people considered my music pop-rap, but it was at a rave where I really figured out that mixing vocals with warehouse music was my vibe.
Our things were already being unloaded and put into a van.
Carlos rushed over to Fiona, who did not look happy about the cold, and helped her down the stairs.
Taking his scarf, he wrapped it around her, covering half her face, making her laugh.
Carlos took a Knights beanie out of his pocket and placed it on her head.
A lime green, five-seater, supercar convertible, with the top down sat nearby. Perfect.
Running over, I vaulted over the closed door, and looked at everyone. “Ride’s here. Cici can sit up front.”
“Oooh. Are we going on the speed limit-less expressway in this?” Hale rubbed his hands together.
“Yes. And some mountain roads. We need to get there before dark. We’ll stop in the village, though.” I looked over at Saoirse. “Cici, Mi Cielo, will you do me the honors of sitting up front? Por favor?”
Completely poised and unbothered in her dark suit, heeled boots, and a trench coat, she looked like a high-powered business woman on her way to close a deal, not someone going to a music festival.
While I knew her name was Saoirse, I didn’t think Carlos’ Saoirse would be Mi Cielo, my Cici, the sexy assassin who stole my heart when she fell from the sky and slapped me for ruining her job.
Hale thought for a moment. “Me, sit in the back? It depends on whether or not Fiona and Carlos are going to bone in the backseat, since Fiona mentioned it last night.”
“Maybe we can take it out for a ride another time. Do we have the car for the whole trip?” Fiona asked.
“We do.” I nodded. Carlos and Fiona wanted to fuck in a fast car? Why not? After all this was a rental.
“Come, Mi Reina.” Carlos took Fiona’s hand and led her to the car. He opened the door and helped her into the passenger side. He went to the other side and got in the middle.
Saoirse stood there, her eyes flickering from the back seat to the front.
There was something about her that drew me in. We weren’t scent matches, soulmates, but her brandy scent certainly was delectable.
While I hadn’t been successful at having regular contact with her, we crossed paths enough for me to really develop feelings for her. It wasn’t just because she smelled good, or was pretty, or could kill me with her bare hands. It was her wit and charm.
It was also because she never saw me as a rockstar or an alpha. I was just a person. That was refreshing.
Meeting Saoirse’s brilliant blue eyes, I gestured to the seat next to me.
“I get to choose the music.” Giving me a pointed look, she got in beside me.
“Whatever the lady wants.” Honestly, I liked most music. I never knew when something might be an inspiration.
Hale got in and glanced at the van. “What about our shit?”
“It’ll be delivered to the villa. Don’t worry–Tyrell, Kace, and the roadcrew aren’t in our villa.
Most of the crew’s leaving after my set, so they can all be home for Christmas.
Tyrell and Kace are going to Paris, because they’re celebrating their first wedding anniversary.
” I loved my crew. The ones I didn’t know from high school, I’d met when I was studying music at Barwyn University in New York.
“Paris? Aww. That’s so romantic,” Fiona gushed.
“Paris was fun,” Carlos agreed.
I sighed. “If only they’d have us back.”
Really, we hadn’t meant to break the fountain.
A woman wearing a pullover with the festival’s name on it came over. “Mr. Woodrow, on behalf of Winter-Fest, welcome.” She handed me an envelope. “Here are the credentials and wristbands for you and your guests, along with your accommodation information.”
“Thank you. And my crew?” I handed Saoirse the envelope, since she was right there.
“I’ve already given your assistant everything for your crew and I’ll accompany them to the festival. Are you going straight to your resort?” she asked in accented English.
“We might make a stop or two,” I told her. As we went over a few things, I noticed Saoirse going through everything in the envelope, looking at the schedules, and counting our wristbands and lanyards.
The coordinator waved and left.
Kace came over. “We’re going to head over to the resort and get situated. I’ll see you tonight for the reception.”
“See you there.” I waved, then plugged the address of our first stop into the car’s navigation panel.
“Are we going to drive with the top down?” Fiona cuddled into Carlos.
“For a bit. Then we’ll put it up and I’ll turn the heat on. There are blankets,” I told them. I just wanted to experience it for a couple of minutes.
Soundlessly, Saoirse took off her trench coat and draped it over Fiona. They were adorable. How exactly did a cherubic omega meet a sassy assassin?
Would that be an a-sassy-in? I chuckled to myself. Oooh, that would make a good song.
“Thank you.” Fiona beamed at her.
Saoirse nodded and started syncing her phone to the radio.
“Oh, there they are.” Hale pulled a blanket out of… somewhere and tucked it around Fiona.
Should I tuck a blanket around Saoirse? She’d probably smack me. As much as I loved how tough she was, that alpha part of me wanted to take care of her. I got the feeling she wasn’t used to that.
And could use a little taking care of.
Instead, I turned up the heat all the way, though I wasn’t sure how much help that would be with the top down.
With a smirk, Saoirse tapped her phone and turned up the volume. Angsty pop music by a popular all-omega band filled the air. Not what I expected. By Fiona’s expression, in the rearview mirror, these were songs she liked. But I knew this band.
“I love this song.” I sang along loudly, guiding us quickly out of the small airport. As we got onto the expressway, I accelerated. Let’s see what this car can do. I’d always wanted to drive a car like this.
Hale let out a whoop as we accelerated, holding his hat so he didn’t lose it.
My navigation beeped and we exited sharply, nearly hitting another car. We slid into a gas station with a giant, grinning, pink pig on it.
“Wait. They have Pig-E’s in Europe?” Hale drawled as we parked.
“It just opened. Apparently it became a hit when the Swiss were in the South for the last world cup and loved it so much they brought one over. I discovered Pig-E’s when I was on tour in the South.
They are fantastic. Those brisket sandwiches.
” I did a little dance in my seat as I put the top of the car up.
They were these giant, super-clean gas stations with all sorts of food and things–and unlike anything we had in New York City.
“Pig-E’s is the best part of any road trip. I’m excited to see what they have. I hope they have honey buns.” Hale nodded excitedly.
I turned off the car and opened the door.
Fiona snuggled into Carlos. “We’re going to warm up a little.”
“Sounds good.” I got out and closed the door. Saoirse did the same.
A moment later Hale joined us, his cowboy hat back on his head. With a pleading look, he glanced at the car, then me, and held up his hand.
I tossed him the fob. “Don’t be too long?”
“Will do.” He got into the driver’s seat.
Having seen his race, I trusted him with the rental. They drove off. Saoirse was on her phone.
“Come on.” I reached for her hand.
She moved seamlessly, avoiding the gesture. Saoirse glanced back at the car as he got on the expressway. “You know what they’re going to do, don’t you?”
“Are you okay with it? She’s with you, right?” I wasn’t sure what their agreement was, though considering Saoirse had not just let me make it up to her, but had sought me out a couple of times for a good fucking, they must have something in place.
She nodded. “I’m fine with it. But it’s your car.”
I laughed. “It’s a rental. I’m sure people do worse.”
We entered the gas station, which was the same pink paradise I recalled from my trips to the South. Only everything was in German, French, Italian, and English.
I didn’t see any brisket sandwiches, but I did smell sausage. Mmmm.
A woman in a pink apron greeted us in German. I greeted her back as I took a basket and went to see what sort of snacks they might have.
“You speak German?” Saoirse gave me a surprised look.
“I do. My birth parents died when I was five and I came to live with my six moms. My bio mom and two of my moms were besties. Anyway, it was important to them that I learned about my parents’ culture in addition to theirs.
So besides speaking Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian, I learned German.
I learned to cook German food. I even studied one summer in Germany.
Actually, that’s how I got into mixing electronic music with pop vocals the way I do.
We went to a lot of parties, raves, and clubs.
That summer was a soul-searching experience for me,” I told her as I looked over the chip options.
Wow. I’d expected them to have the same kind of snacks as in the South. Nope. Oooh, I’d missed those. I grabbed a pack.
“Soul-searching? I’m sure,” she laughed. “Your parents died? I’m so sorry to hear that. They were from Germany?” Her brandy scent grew a little salty with sadness.
“My parents were from the Midwest. They were vaguely German. Their people probably came over in the 1800s to farm, like so many others. Still, it was something fun we could all do together. It led to some interesting experiments. I mean schnitzel tacos might sound weird, but they’re amazing.
” My mouth watered at the thought. One of my brothers had perfected them.
Oooh. Maybe they had schnitzel sandwiches or at least a cheese-filled sausage on a nice soft roll with spicy mustard.
Blue eyes flashed as an adorably puzzled expression crossed her pretty face. “Schnitzel tacos?”
“Have you ever had schnitzel? It is delicious.”
Her eyebrows arched. “I know what schnitzel is, I just don’t know what a schnitzel taco is.”
I thought for a moment. “It’s like a fish taco, only there’s schnitzel in it, sauerkraut instead of cabbage, and lots of mustard. It’s really good.”
Confusion filled her scent as she picked up a bag of chips.
“You know what a taco is, right?” Did they have tacos in Ireland?
“I know what a taco is.” She put the bag of chips back and picked up a different one.
“Have you ever had a taco? No…” I paused and nearly dropped the chips in my hand.
“You’ve never had a taco, have you? We’ll fix that.
You will have a taco before this trip is over, even if I have to take you to my house and make you one myself when we get back to New York.
Okay, one of my moms will probably make you some, though which mom depends on what sort you want.
I can cook, but they’re much better than I am. ”
No tacos? Yeah. We’d fix that.
She snorted as she added a couple of candy bars and a bag of cookies to her basket.
“I’m not going over to meet your parents, Dusty.” She gave me a fierce look. Those blue eyes cut right through my soul, like a diamond-tipped knife.
“My brother then? He’s a chef,” I offered.
“I don’t know what you think we have, but it’s all in your head. You’re nothing more than a pretty boy who’s a good fuck.” It was said matter of fact, not meanly.
I sucked in a breath. “You think I’m pretty?”
Giddiness bubbled up inside me. She was attracted to me.
Also, she thought I was a good fuck? Yeah, I totally had a chance with her.
She huffed. “People like you and me don’t ride off into the sunset and live in a little house with a yard, and have lots of babies, a dog, and a boat.”
Aww, she’d thought about our future?
“I’m okay with living in a townhouse. I grew up in a loft in New York. I honestly don’t really care. It could be a cabin or a box. Also, I get seasick. Cats are fine,” I offered. She seemed more like a cat person.
“You know what I mean.” Her scent got spicy with anger as she moved closer to me, invading my space and pressing me up against the rack of chips behind us.
“No, I don’t know what you mean. We could be really good together. Just give me a chance? Por favor?” I kept getting mixed signals from her. Did she want me to leave her alone? Prove my love? Try harder?
All of the above?
“You’re a musician. You’re in the public eye. My profession, not so much.” Her eyes flashed with something. Pain. Regret. Longing.
“Fiona’s in your line of work, right? She’s with Carlos. I’m pretty sure he wants to keep her. He’s in the public eye as much as I am.” Did she think that I wouldn’t like her because of her job or that I worried about things like scandals?
Maybe it was the morality?
I’m sure she just took out bad people for the government or something, I mean, obviously, she was a super-secret superspy. Especially with those suits she always wore.
“I’m not Fiona.” She shook her head.
“Obviously.” Given Fiona was a five-foot-one, curvy omega. No, no, Saoirse was five-foot-nine of muscular delta deliciousness. Those high-heeled boots. Step on me, Mommy.
“Dusty.” Her tone went sharp.
Something in the tone of her voice, the round of her shoulders, the flicker in her eyes, made me think that maybe these walls she put up were because she didn’t think she needed someone. Or that she deserved to be taken care of.
I’d love nothing more than to do that.
Maybe in the next few days I’d have my chance to show her.