Chapter 13
REED
The cool night air envelops Georgina and me as the door of Bernie’s Place closes behind us.
I’m buzzing. Off-kilter. Feverishly lit up with my hunger for this woman’s flesh—with my desire to explore and devour every inch of her, to breach her borders and push her boundaries—to claim her, conquer her, ruin her—until she’s begging for mercy and crying tears of euphoria.
Only a few feet outside of the bar, a tsunami of lust washes over me.
So much so, I stop walking, pin Georgina against the building’s facade, and do the thing I’ve been aching to do since I first laid eyes on her: I press my hungry mouth to hers.
And when she parts her lips and invites me inside with a soft and sexy moan, when my tongue enters her mouth and tangles with hers, when her body unmistakably bursts into white-hot flames against mine, I lose my fucking mind.
Instantly, I’m a flaming pyre of greed and need.
So overwhelmed with hunger for her, I can’t remember my own name.
Has a simple kiss ignited my body like this before? If so, I don’t remember it.
My phone buzzes with an incoming text in my pocket, but I ignore it.
Surely, it’s Isabel again, insisting I call her.
The same way she’s been doing all night.
But everything I needed to say to her, I said this afternoon.
And even if I hadn’t, nobody but Georgina exists anymore.
Not in this moment. Right now, the entire world is Georgina and me, and nobody else.
I deepen my voracious kiss, my tongue demonstrating how my body is going to move inside hers when I get her into my bed, and she responds enthusiastically in kind, kissing me with as much passion and energy as I’m showing her.
In short order, I’m so aroused, I can barely breathe.
I push myself between her legs, yearning to burrow my throbbing cock inside her, and she moans her invitation for me to continue my assault.
And so, I do. I press myself against her center, hard, still kissing her, yearning to massage that magical, delicious bundle of nerves that’s going to drive her fucking wild when I get to it with my tongue, and Georgina slides her arms around my neck and grinds herself against my hard dick, making me even more desperate to sink myself inside her.
As our kiss continues, every atom inside me explodes into a fierce, unquenchable fire ball.
Gasping for air, I grab Georgina’s thigh and hoist it up, opening her to me like a blooming flower, and she shudders and grips my shoulder ferociously, like she’s hanging on for dear life.
We’re a raging inferno now, Georgina and me.
Both of us combustible in a way I haven’t felt in a very long time. If ever.
Panting, I disengage from our kiss. But only because I’m acutely aware it’s not nearly enough. I want more. And I can’t get it on a sidewalk.
“We’re fire,” I murmur, brushing my lips against her soft cheek. “I can’t wait to get you naked and kiss your pussy, just like that.”
Her chest heaves. “Oh, God.”
I kiss her again, simply because I can’t resist, even though I know I’m only wasting our precious time at this point. And then, after we’ve forced ourselves apart again, we clasp hands and begin striding up the sidewalk like we’re walking on air.
“Where are we going?” Georgina asks breathlessly.
“To a campus parking structure a few blocks away, to get my car, which will take us to my house in the Hollywood Hills, where I’m going to strip you naked and fuck you like you’ve never been fucked before, for four straight hours, without a break, right up until the last nanosecond before I need to leave for the airport. ”
She says nothing. But her gorgeous hazel eyes tell me she’s in favor of that plan.
We talk logistics. I ask if her car is parked somewhere around here. She says, no, she doesn’t own a car. That she always walks to work, or takes the campus shuttle, and then Ubers home.
“If there’s time later, I’ll drive you home on my way to the airport,” I offer. “If not, I’ll call a car for you. I apologize, in advance, if I have to call a car. I’d prefer to drive you, of course.”
“It’s all good. Whatever we need to do to maximize our time together, that’s what I want to do.”
I flash her a wicked smile. “Have I mentioned I like you, Georgina Ricci?”
“You have.” And that’s it. She notably doesn’t return my compliment. Which, frankly, turns me on even more. The last thing I need is for this firecracker of a woman to kiss my ass. Unless, of course, she’s going to do it literally.
We walk in silence for a moment, electricity coursing between our hands, until Georgina says, “What did you say to that girl at the bar after I walked away? She looked upset.”
“I told her I wouldn’t take her demo.”
“I heard that part. What did you say after that—after I walked away?”
“Nothing really. I told her music is a tough business. That she shouldn’t compare herself to Adele.” I shrug. “Some people don’t handle rejection well.” I pause. “Also, I told her to fuck off. But I did it nicely.”
She looks shocked. “There’s no ‘nice’ way to tell someone to fuck off. No wonder she cried.”
“Josh said the same thing. But here’s the thing, Georgie. I get bombarded by wannabes all the time. Occasionally, I snap. So sue me.” I snort. “Which also happens to me all the time, by the way.”
She’s quiet for a long moment as we continue walking toward campus, past storefronts and restaurants. And for a moment, I’m worried I’ve blown it. Scared her away. Miscalculated. Finally, she says, “You never take unsolicited demos—from anyone?”
“Correct.”
“Never?”
“Never.”
“No exceptions?”
I look at her, trying to read her. Does she have a demo for me, despite all her protestations earlier about her lack of musical ambitions? Is that it? “That’s right. No exceptions.”
“How’d you find Red Card Riot?”
“Someone I trusted told me about them.”
“22 Goats?”
“Someone I trusted.”
“Laila Fitzgerald?”
“One of my scouts found her and presented her to me. Same with 2Real. A scout stumbled across him on YouTube. And with Aloha, her former bodyguard had started working for me, and told me she was looking to switch labels. See? Not an unsolicited demo in the bunch.”
“And yet, you agreed to listen to Bryce’s sister’s music.”
“On her public Instagram page, you might recall.”
“Isn’t that the same thing, in the end?”
“No. An Instagram account is out there for anyone to see. It hasn’t been curated specifically for me.
Usually, the stuff there is pretty raw and not overly produced.
Also, when I’m not physically taking something handed to me, it sets up lower expectations.
It’s less of a ‘promise’ by me to listen or follow up, and more of a casual, ‘I’ll take a look. ’”
“Why were you willing to check out Bryce’s sister’s music at all, though, but not that blonde girl’s? Was it yet another perk of Bryce being a football star?”
We’re walking hand-in-hand up the darkened sidewalk at a good clip now, both of us like horses sensing the barn is close.
I’m bursting to touch Georgina. To run my hands and mouth all over her.
I grip her hand more tightly in mine at the thought.
“It was partly about Bryce being a football star,” I admit.
“But not in the way you think. Mostly, I wanted to neutralize Bryce when it came to you, as quickly and efficiently as possible.”
“‘Neutralize’ him?”
I smile at Georgina—at her inquisitive, gorgeous face. “When Bryce first walked up, I didn’t know what the situation was between you. For all I knew, you two were fucking, or maybe even in love.”
She scoffs. “Uh, no. If I’d been in love with Bryce, or anyone else, I would never have so much as flirted with you.”
I shrug. “Either way, I felt the need to neutralize him—to unequivocally get him out of my way. And what better way to do that than to show you, right out of the box, he can be bought—that he’d kick you to the curb in a heartbeat for the mere chance of getting his sister signed to my label?”
“You thought Bryce would choose his sister’s music career over me, the great love of his life?”
“I had no idea. But I sure as hell hoped so. Which is why I said I’d check out his sister’s Instagram.
And, lo and behold, I found the guy’s price on the first try.
That’s actually one of my favorite games.
Figuring out someone’s price and bribing them with it: watching with glee as they pick my offered bribe over something else they’d normally choose.
Something they should choose, but don’t because what I’ve offered is just too tempting.
It never ceases to amuse me how easily people can be bought. ”
She shoots me a look of disdain. “One of your favorite games is playing the devil on someone’s shoulder?”
“That’s a great way of describing it. Yeah, most definitely.”
“But you have other favorite games, too?”
I chuckle, but say nothing. Oh, little Georgina. You’ll learn soon enough about my other favorite games.
For a long moment, we walk in near silence, the only sounds coming from the occasional car driving by and our brisk footfalls on the cement sidewalk.
Finally, Georgina says, “You said Bryce’s status as a football star also figured in, although not like I think? What did you mean by that?”
I chuckle. “Man, you really picked the right major, didn’t you?”
She makes an adorable face. “Sorry. When something fascinates me, I can’t help asking a million questions.”
She looks earnest and adorable right now.
Beyond beautiful. Which makes me feel bad I suspected she was lying to me earlier about not wanting to be a pop star.
Maybe Josh was right. Maybe Georgina is nothing but fascinated by me.
Maybe she wants nothing but a hot night of sex with a baller. And who could blame her for that?
“Don’t apologize,” I say, just as we reach the parking structure.
“I meant that as a compliment.” We come to a stop in front of the elevator.
I press the call button. “To answer your question about how Bryce’s football-star status played into my thinking, I’d rather show you than tell you.
” The elevator doors open, and I lead her inside the box.
“Do me a favor and call up Bryce’s sister’s Instagram, baby.
I’m gonna teach you how to be a music scout for me. ”