“I can’t believe you did that,” Sam, my sister Peck’s husband, says. He grabs Peck’s hand and leads her toward the rear of the building. If we don’t get out of here quickly, there’s a good chance we’ll be mobbed.
“Is this the way out?” someone else asks.
Sam and Peck, Finny and Tag, Star and Josh, and Ryan and Lark rush down the hallway, and Mick and I follow. Mick’s fingers touch the small of my back as we go out the door. “You okay?” he asks as we step out onto the street.
“I’m fine.” I’m angry as hell, but I stop to really look at him as my family members all pile into two waiting cars. He’s drunk. Really drunk. “Are you okay?” I ask Mick as he weaves like he’s walking a tightrope.
“You might not be aware of this yet, but I’m a tiny bit drunk,” he tells me. He covers his mouth, holding his fingers over his lips to stifle a burp. “Just a little,” he says. He straightens his shirt, pulling it down and rubbing across the front as though he’s pressing out a crease.
“You don’t say,” I reply, trying to stifle my worry for him.
“Are you being sarcastic?” he asks. He narrows his eyes and stares at me.
I hold up my hands like I’m being held at gunpoint and shake my head. “No, definitely not.”
“Because I happen to have a thing for sarcastic chicks.”
My heart starts to thump. “You don’t say,” I mutter again.
His eyes dance across my face. “Yes, sarcastic chicks with bow-shaped mouths and sparkly eyes. They totally do it for me.”
My pulse beats double-time.
My sister Finny sticks her head out the open car door and says, “Stop making moony eyes at my sister and get in the fucking car.”
I feel his fingers at the small of my back again, and the hairs on my arms stand up. It feels good. It’s intimate and comfortable and… God, I have missed having a man touch me there. “Need some help?” he asks.
I jerk myself out of my stupor and slide across the seat. Mick closes the door behind me and leans in the open window.
“Aren’t you coming?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I have to go collect my date.”
Oh, hell. I completely forgot about her. “Of course, you do.”
“Can I call you?” he asks me quietly.
“Depends.”
He smiles a slow smile. “On what?”
“Are you going to sleep with her?”
His brow arches. “Is there a reason why I shouldn’t?”
I swallow hard enough that I can hear it. “No. No reason.” I push the button to raise the window and he’s forced to step back.
“Well, that was a shit show,” Finny complains. She wipes a hand across her sweaty brow. Lifting her fist high, she drops it hard against Ryan’s upper arm. “What the fuck was your brother thinking, bringing a date with him tonight?” She signs the words at him, her hands flying fiercely.
Ryan rubs the sting out of his arm. “She’s just someone who works with him. It wasn’t a date.”
Finny glares at him.
“Really, it wasn’t. He’s not dating anyone. Not since her.” He jabs a finger in my direction. “I think you broke my brother’s penis, Wren,” he says. He pretends to wipe a tear from his eye. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”
“What did I do to break Mick’s penis?” I toss back. I never even got a chance to see his penis.
Ryan is suddenly completely serious. He stares into my eyes. “You made him fall in love with you.”
Mick
My date is standing on the front sidewalk when I go looking for her. She taps the toe of her shoe against the pavement as she waits at the taxi stand. I wrap my hands around my mouth and call out, “Claire!”
She turns to face me, and then she rolls her eyes and turns away.
“Claire,” I say again as I walk closer. She doesn’t turn to face me. The tapping toe grows fierce. I touch her shoulder to turn her to face me, but she resists. “Are you leaving?”
She finally turns to face me. “Am I leaving?” she asks. “Am I leaving? Seriously?” She huffs out a breath and turns away again, crossing her arms in front of her.
What did I do wrong? “Are you angry at me?”
She turns back to me. “Why did you bring me here tonight?”
“Because there was a party and I thought it might be fun…” I say slowly. I watch her face for clues.
“Fun? You think watching you get stinking drunk while you stare at another woman is fun? Then you left with her, leaving me sitting there all by myself—”
“I had to see them out the back door. I came back,” I rush to say.
“How was I supposed to know that you were coming back?” she demands.
“Because I brought you here.” It seems very clear to me.
“How long have you been in love with her?”
“Who?” I ask, but I know exactly who she’s talking about.
“The brunette. The one you stared at all night long.”
I sputter out a nonsensical noise. “I’m not in love with her.”
“You know, when you asked me out at the last minute, I was really excited. I thought maybe this would be fun, and we could see where it goes. But this isn’t fun and I have no desire to see where it goes.” She turns away from me again.
“Claire,” I say softly.
She turns back to face me. “Why don’t you go after her?” she asks. I open my mouth to ask her who, but she stops me with a shushing motion. “Don’t ask me who! The brunette. Tell me her name so I can stop calling her the brunette.”
“Her name is Wren,” I mutter.
“Why don’t you go after Wren?”
“That…didn’t work out.”
Her face softens. “Why not?”
“She was at a bad place in her life and…” I shrug my shoulders.
“Sometimes people need someone else to walk into their bad place with them,” she says. “Go to her. Lead her out of it. Do whatever it takes, because you’re obviously in love with her.”
“It wouldn’t work.” She wouldn’t even take my calls.
“You should try.”
“I don’t think it would matter.”
She stares at me. “If you want her, you need to let her know.”
The cab pulls up to the corner and she steps up onto her toes to kiss me on the cheek. “If you ever want to take me out on a real date, try to get over her first, okay? It’s not fair otherwise.”
I nod and help her into the backseat. Then I give the driver some cash and tap the top of the vehicle. He pulls away.
What if she’s right?
I pull my phone out of my back pocket.
Ryan has changed the names in it again, but I find her.
Me: It was really nice to see you again.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: It was nice to see you too.
I squeeze my eyes tightly together. Because shit’s about to get real.
Me: I didn’t sleep with her.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: Why not?
Me: I kind of have the hots for this one chick…
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: What’s she like?
Me: She’s smart and funny and kind. Sexy as hell. And she’s been a little sad.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: Why is she sad?
Me: She lost something that was important to her. She’s been a little lost since then, I think.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: She sounds lonely.
Me: I think she needs a friend, and I’m applying for the job.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: She could use a friend…
Me: Do you want to go with me tomorrow night to a party? It’s a work thing. Kind of fancy.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: Just as friends?
Me: BFFs
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: Okay.
Me: I’ll pick you up tomorrow at 7. Wear something fancy.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: You could have slept with her if you wanted to.
Me: There’s only on
e woman I want to sleep with right now.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: I thought we were going to be BFFs.
Me: I’ll take what I can get.
GirlWhoBrokeMicksDick: See you tomorrow at 7
Me: See you then.
I jam my phone back into my pocket and suddenly realize…shit did indeed get real.
Mick
My heart is actually in my throat when I approach her doorman. I introduce myself and tell him I’m here to see Wren, and he looks down at his notepad. “Miss Vasquez said to call her when you arrive.” He reaches for his phone.
“I’d rather pick her up at her door, if you don’t mind.”
The old man arches a brow at me. “I don’t mind, but I’m not sure if she would.” He rings her phone and he says, “Miss Vasquez, you have a rather sharply dressed gentleman here to see you.”
She says something that makes him chuckle. His eyes meet mine. “I’d feel bad sending the gentleman away. He looks like he took some time on his appearance. He shaved. He’s wearing nice socks. He’s carrying flowers.” He gives me a thumbs-up and a wink on that one. He sniffs the air and grimaces. “He smells like cologne.”
He pushes the phone away from his mouth and says, “She wants to know if you’re wearing boxers or briefs.”
“Neither,” I say.
He sputters into the phone. “The gentleman says that’s a secret.”
“Liar,” I mutter, but I’m laughing all the while.
Suddenly, the elevator doors open and there she is. And she takes my breath away. She’s wearing a red dress with a black sash, classy and elegant and showing just enough leg that I want to pull it off her with my teeth. The doorman slaps me on the back. “It’s just a woman,” he mutters. “Breathe.”
“She’s beautiful,” I tell him on an exhalation.
“On the inside and the outside,” he replies.
“Henry, are you scaring my date away?” she asks. She puts her hands on her hips and glares at him playfully.
Henry scratches his balding pate. “Well, only if I get to take his place.” He waggles his eyebrows at her. “It’s been a long time since my Nan died. Maybe I need to get back into the dating game.”
“Do you want to have lunch with me tomorrow?” she asks him.
“My treat,” he says, and he lifts her hand, places a kiss on the back of it, and then offers it to me.
I take her fingers in mine and clasp them loosely. “Do you have a purse?” I ask.
“No.”
“No?” I look at Henry and talk out the side of my mouth. “Don’t women usually carry purses?”
Henry chuckles. “Never doubt that a woman knows what she’s doing.” He taps his temple. “Particularly when she’s as smart as this one.”
“Your phone?” I ask Wren.
Her eyes twinkle at me. “Everything I could possibly need is in my bra.”
Henry shoves his fingers in his ears and sings out loudly, “I don’t want to know about your undergarments!”
“You wanted to know all about mine,” I remind him.
He laughs and rushes to open the door for us. “Don’t keep her out too late,” he says. He takes the flowers from her hand and says, “I’ll deliver these to your kitchen counter and I’ll put them in that pretty blue vase that’s in the cabinet.”
“Thank you, Henry,” she says, and she kisses him on the cheek. He preens under the weight of her attention. “I’ll see you tomorrow for lunch.”
A man falls into position behind us.
“Do you mind if we take my car and driver? He’s going to go with us.” She jerks her thumb toward the beast that’s walking about ten paces behind us. He’s as wide as a building and looks about as strong. “Security. Just in case. I promised my dad…” Her cheeks turn pink and she looks everywhere but at me.
“I love chaperones,” I tell her, although I really am not sure what to think about his presence. “Are we supposed to acknowledge that he’s here?”
“No,” she whispers back. “Pretend he’s not here. He likes it when we do that.”
I catch him rolling his eyes at her.
He walks around to the driver’s side and gets in.
She reaches for the door handle, but I cover her hand with mine. “Allow me,” I say. She pulls her hand back and looks at me through the fall of her hair.
“Thank you,” she says quietly.
“You took my breath away when the elevator doors opened,” I admit.
“Good,” she says. She grins. “Because I kind of sort of kind of maybe a little bit thought I was going to faint when I saw you standing there.”
She gets in the car and I stand there on the sidewalk trying to catch my breath. I scoot in and sit next to her.
“So, what’s our story tonight?” she asks. “How did we meet?”
“Well…” I scratch my head. “We could say my brother is married to your sister.”
“That’s boring.”
“So, you don’t want to just be two people on a date?” I kind of like that story.
“Snooze fest.” She makes a snorting noise through her nose that makes me laugh.
“I could tell them you’re a high-priced call girl.”
“Oh!” She claps her hands together. “I always wanted to be an escort. How much money do I make per date?”
“Thousands?”
She claps her hands again. “So, have you hired me before?”
“Yes. And I gave you a fat tip when I saw you naked for the first time.”
Her brow furrows. “Only the first time?”
“Every time.”
She settles back, content. “What kind of things do you hire me to do?”
“You mean like…” I wait for her to fill in the blanks.
“Like corporate events, company seminars, backyard barbeques?”
“All of those.”
“So, am I any good?” she asks. Amusement dances in her eyes.
“You’re the best out of all the other escorts I’ve ever hired. That’s why I keep coming back.”
“But this is the first company function I’ve been to. No one will know who I am.”
“They all will after tonight.”
The slit in her dress falls open a little and a creamy thigh is exposed. I have a sudden urge to press my lips against her skin and taste her. I tug her dress back up to cover the exposed skin. “A man could lose all his marbles around you quickly.”
“You think I’m pretty,” she says coquettishly.
“And smart, and funny, and kind, and I can’t wait to get to know you better.”
She grins and her cheeks get rosy.
I grab her ankle and lift her foot. She’s wearing four-inch heels. “These are sexy.”
“Why, thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, is there anyone I need to be cautious around? A boss or an ex-girlfriend?” She bats her dark lashes at me.
“Boss, yes. Ex-girlfriend, no.”
“Anyone you’ve ever been on a date with?”
“Um…” I scratch my head. “Maybe.”
“Oh, the plot thickens. Tell me more.”
“Nope.”
She deflates visibly. “Why not?”
I tweak her nose. “Because we’re here.” The car stops and I get out and extend a hand to her. Her naked shin comes out first, and then a large expanse of creamy thigh, and then her dress settles around her calves. Then she follows, and she smiles at me.
“You’re dangerous, you know that?”
“That is why you pay me the big bucks,” she says. She pats my cheek, and I have to refrain from grabbing her and kissing her. Damn, but she’s pretty. She sparkles. And it’s not just the dress or the heels or the way her hair curls over her shoulders. She sparkles from the inside.
We walk into a crowded ballroom, and she slips her hand into the crook of my elbow. She comes up to my nose in those heels. I’d barely have to bend to kiss her on the lips.
“What are you thinking about?” she whispers out the side of her mouth.
“I was thinking about how easy it would be to kiss you,” I admit somewhat sheepishly.
Her security guard follows us into the room, and then he finds a place to loiter away from everyone. “You really can pretend he’s not there, huh?” I nod toward where he’s standing.
She brushes a hand through the air. “You get used to it.” She winces. “Sorry about that.”
“No worries. Whatever it takes to keep you safe. So, who do you want me to say you are?” I ask. “Do you want people to know you’re Wren Vasquez from Fallen from Zero?”
She smoothes her hair. “Dressed like this, I seriously doubt anyone will recognize me. We’re safe.”
When she and her sisters play music on stage, they dress very casually, in a punk-rock-chic kind of look. Classy but wild. Heavy makeup and big hair. This version of Wren I like a lot.
Suddenly, a voice booms out, “Mick, you must introduce us to your date!” I look over and find my boss and his wife barreling toward us.
“This is my friend, Wren,” I say, as she extends her hand. I settle my hand on her hip and she doesn’t move away. In fact, she leans solidly against my side.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
We chat about nothing for a few minutes, and then I hear my boss’s wife ask, “What is it you do for a living, Wren?”
Wren’s eyes meet mine, twinkling. “Music,” she says. “I work with music.”
And I think I just fell a little bit more in love with Wren Vasquez, or whoever she is. The girl in the red dress who smiles at me like she doesn’t have a care in the world. That girl. I’m falling for that girl.
All over again.
“You’re a lucky man, Mick,” my boss says quietly.
“I know,” I say, and I take a sip of my drink and stand back and watch Wren as she charms everyone around her.
Wren
A hand encircles my waist, the pressure light and gentle, and I lean into it, recognizing his scent immediately. “Can I steal you away?” Mick asks close to my ear.