Breathless (85 page)

“I’m sure.” She rolled my eyes.

“You’re not like other girls, are you, Lucky?” I said as if in a trance.

“No, I’m not.”

“Shall we go and talk in the hot tub?” I asked hopefully.

“No thanks. I think I want to go to bed now.”

“You think I’m a jerk, huh?” I was mad at myself, and disappointed.
Please don’t go to bed yet.

“I think you are an egotistical ass, yes.”

“That’s heavy.” I sighed.

“You date a different girl every week and tell me I need a man. I think anyone would agree with me. You’re an ass.”

“I don’t date a different girl every week. Just because I take a girl out for dinner doesn’t mean it’s a date.”
It’s not what you think
. I wanted so badly to explain to her.

“I don’t even care,” She sighed. “I have other things to worry about.”

“I told you, I will help you with your car.” My voice rose. I was starting to panic, what if she didn’t want my help any longer?

“I don’t need your help.”

“I need your help, though.” I knew that I had to ask her now. If I didn’t ask now, I might not get another opportunity. “Can we go and talk please?”

She looked at me suspiciously and I didn’t blame her. How was I going to ask her to come to Los Angeles with me? She was going to think I was crazy.

“Can’t it wait?” She yawned, and looked just as I imagined an angel would look like.

“It can wait.” I smiled at her sweetly and stretched. Now wasn’t a good time. I had to be patient. I had to work it out in my head first. I knew if I asked her now, she would just say no.

“I’m going to bed.” She turned around and ran up the stairs quickly. I watched as she ran away from me and I laughed.

“I don’t bite, Lucky,” I called out after her. “Unless you want me to,” I whispered lightly so that she didn’t hear me.

***

“Oh Zane, kiss me harder.” She ran her fingers down my chest and played with my nipples. “Oh, Zane.” She squealed as I took her right nipple in my mouth and nibbled. She writhed beneath me, and I kissed my way back up to her mouth before crushing my lips down on her. We rolled over on the bed as we kissed, and I found myself lying on top of her with her legs spread wide beneath me.

“What do you want?” I growled as I bit down on her neck, sucking at her skin so hard that I could taste her very essence.

“I want you to take me,” She moaned beneath me and dug her fingernails into my back. “Please Zane, fuck me now. I need you so badly.”

“How badly?” I positioned myself against her roughly, and grinned as her wetness moistened my tip.

“Badly.” She screamed as she arched her back up towards me. “Take me now.” She pulled me down towards her, and I entered her slowly, enjoying the feel of her softness as it gripped me.

“Is this good?” I stared into her eyes, and she wrapped her legs around me as I moved with more intensity inside of her.

“Oh Zane.” She groaned as her body joined in the movement, pushing me harder and faster, until we were both gripping each other in the intensity of the moment. “I’m going to come, oh God, I’m going to come.” I slammed into her even faster as she held onto me, and I collapsed on top of her as I came inside of her with a deep shudder.

“Oh Zane.” She purred next to me.

“Yes, Lucky.” I smiled at her and played with her breasts as she closed her eyes.

“It’s time to sleep now, Zane.” She laughed lightly.

“I don’t want to sleep,” I growled at her as sleep took over my eyes.

I awoke with a jolt and looked down at my wet sheets in dismay. The dream had seemed and felt so real. I could almost still taste Lucky on my lips. I jumped out of bed and headed to the shower. Today was the day. I didn’t care what happened. Today I was going to ask—well, convince—Lucky to come to Los Angeles with me. I was going to make the documentary something she couldn’t say no to.

“Lucky, are you awake?” I banged on her door before walking into her room. I couldn’t stay away from her any longer.

“No,” she groaned from the bed. I couldn’t see her face because she was still under the sheets.

“Can I come in?” I laughed from my position at the side of her bed.

“No,” she groaned and rolled over.

“Good morning, Lucky.”

“Not really.” She rolled over and pulled the sheets down, so I could see her face.

“Sorry for waking you up, but I figured we should go and get your car before it gets towed by the police.” I thought of a quick excuse to account for the reason that I was standing in her bedroom, first thing in the morning.

“Oh, shit.” She jumped up out of bed quickly, and I tried not to stare at her breasts through the t-shirt. “I didn’t think about that.” She stumbled slightly and I grabbed her around the waist to keep her from falling. I tried not to groan as I felt myself hardening at being close to her.

“Careful. We can’t afford to have you hurting yourself as well.” I smiled at her, and rubbed her back.

“I’m fine.” She pulled away from me, and I turned away.

“Good.” I took a deep breath. “So, I have a proposition for you.”

“Oh yeah?” She looked at me in surprise.

“I think it’s something that will work for both of us. You need money, and I—” I paused. I couldn’t tell her that I just needed to be with her.

“I’m not going to be your paid escort,” She blurted out. “I may need the money, but I don’t need it that bad.”

“Lucky, I was just going—” I interrupted her, wondering how this had gone wrong so quickly.

“I know you think I’m a mess, and that I need a man. But I don’t. I can look after myself. I don’t need your money, and I don’t need you in my bed.”

“Who said anything about bed?” Did she know about my dirty dreams? Or maybe she had been having dirty dreams as well. I smirked as I realized that I was affecting her just as much as she was affecting me.

“I don’t want to be your sub.”

“My sub?”
HUH?
“Like my sandwich?” And I thought I was random.

“No,” she whispered slowly. “I’m not a sexual deviant.” Oh, sub. I tried not to laugh at her words. Did she think every guy was into sadomasochism?

“And I am?” My eyes twinkled at her as she glared at me. “Lucky, how did you know I was going to ask you to be my sub in exchange for paying for your car repairs?” I decided to tease her for a little bit.

“Wait, what?” She frowned up at me and groaned as she shook her head. “Sorry, just ignore everything I just said. I think I’m still half asleep.”

“Were you dreaming about being my sub?” I looked at her carefully to see if she would blush.

“No, of course not.” Red spread across her face, and I grinned to myself.

“So just normal sex then.”
I dreamt I was on top of you last night.

“Yeah,” She muttered and flushed. “I mean no. I wasn’t dreaming about you at all. I don’t even believe in casual sex. Well, not anymore.”

“Oh?” I sat down on the bed and grinned at her.

“I need to go and shower.” She turned away, flustered. “You made me confused waking me up out of my sleep like that.”

“Don’t you want to hear my idea first?” I sat up and stared at her, suddenly serious. I needed to get this out now.

“What idea?” She frowned, looking back at me.

“Sit.” I patted the spot next to me on the bed. “Sit, take a deep breath, and listen.” I took my own advice, and tried to calm my nerves.

She sat on the bed next to me, and left a space between us before looking at me with a curious expression. “You’re really bossy, you know that?”

“I know.” I grinned. “I also know you’re not the quiet, sweet girl you seemed to be at Lou’s.”

“Disappointed?” She laughed.

“Not at all.” I turned toward her and reached over and rubbed something by her eye. “Sorry, you had some sleep in your eye.”

“Thanks.” She breathed out and I ran my finger down her cheek.

“You’re beautiful.” My words were slow, and I spoke as if in a trance. “You’re really beautiful.”
And I want you with me, every day. I don’t know why. But I need you in my life.

“Thanks.” She bit her lip and looked down. “I’m not really sure what to say.”

“Can I kiss you?” I leaned in towards her, but she shook her head.

“No.”

“I love that.” I pulled away from her. She was making me crazy inside, but I was glad that she wasn’t making it easy for me.

“Sure you do.”

“You’ve got a smart mouth, huh?”

“Are you going to tell me your idea before my car gets towed, Zane? I don’t have all day.”

“I’m looking for someone to be my part-time assistant.” I took a deep breath. This was it. “And I like and trust you, and I know from seeing you at Lou’s that you have a strong work ethic.”

“You what?” Her voice was loud and surprised. “You want me to work for you?”

“I know that’s not as exciting as being my sub, but I need a girl Friday, so to speak, and you need money, so I thought perhaps we could make something work.”

“I don’t know.” She frowned. “Between school and the diner, I don’t have much time.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to find someone else.” I jumped up off of the bed and walked towards the door, feeling upset and angry. I was mad that she hadn’t said yes right away, and I was scared. “Do you have any other suggestions for your car?”

“I, wait, what?” She jumped up walked up to me. “I didn’t say no, I just said I don’t know.” My heart stopped beating at her words. She was actually considering it. I was in with a chance.

“Lucky.” I decided to go for the kill. “I don’t have time to mess around.”

“What? You have barely even given me a second to think about this.”

I decided to try another tactic. Maybe I needed to seem like I didn’t care. “Maybe this wasn’t a good idea. Maybe you wouldn’t be such a—”

“I accept the position.” She almost shouted, and I felt like the wind had been sucked out of me. I felt delirious as she spoke, and I wasn’t sure if I was hearing her correctly. “I accept the position, and I would like us to go and get my car now.”

“Okay.” I grinned. “Meet me downstairs in five minutes.”

“Wait, aren’t we going to discuss this further?”

“We can talk later.” I exited the room before she could change her mind. “I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes.” This was it. She had said yes, no matter what happened after this, it didn’t matter. Lucky had accepted the position. She was just as crazy as me, but I didn’t care.

***

I dropped Lucky off after breakfast and drove to the beach. I parked and sat in my car for a few minutes before making a call.

“Hello, Johnson residence.” A lady answered the phone.

“Hi, can I speak to Sidney please?”

“One moment.” I heard her place the phone on a table, and I waited with bated breath for him to answer the phone.

“Hello, Sidney Johnson here.”

“Sidney, it’s Zane Beaumont again. Noah’s brother.”

“Aw, Zane. It’s good to hear from you again.” He paused. “I’m sorry about your brother.”

“Thank you.” I took a deep breath, not wanting to think of Noah in this moment. “I’m sorry you didn’t receive an invitation to the funeral.”

“I, uh, understand. Everything was so sudden.” He sighed. “How can I help you, Zane?”

“I’ve gotten myself a new assistant. Someone with experience in the civil rights movement. She’s a historian. She’s going to help me make the documentary, if you’re still interested, of course.”

“Oh,” he sounded surprised. “I thought you were involved with some stuff in Miami.”

“It’s on hold for now.” I continued. “We’ll be coming to Los Angeles in a few days. I was hoping we could come and see you, and continue with the project.”

“Sure, sure.” His voice trailed off. “Whatever you want.”

“If you’re sure.” I pressed on, knowing that if he said no, I was screwed.

“Yes, of course. I know how important this was to Noah. He would be happy to know you were continuing his work.”

“Just one more thing.” I took a deep breath.

“Yes?” He sounded hesitant.

“Could you maybe not mention to my assistant that I just called about doing the project?” I knew I sounded shady, but I didn’t want to go into details.

“Sure.” He chuckled. “I’ll be sure not to say anything to her.”

“Thanks.” I laughed, knowing that he understood where I was coming from. “I’ll call you when we get to town.”

“Speak to you soon, Zane.” And with that he hung up. I jumped out of the car, and started running. I felt exhilarated and excited. For the first time in months, I felt like I had a reason to start living. Before Lucky came along, I had thought that everything was over in my life. My surroundings had turned to black and white, and I had walked around unfeeling, with only one goal in my mind. I still had that goal: to get Braydon imprisoned for what he did to Noah, but now, my world had turned back to color. It wasn’t something I had looked for, and it wasn’t even something I understood. In fact, it scared the shit out of me. I didn’t really know this girl, and she didn’t know me. But we had something. There was a connection there that I couldn’t explain. And she was never far from my mind. Before Lucky, I had been a shadow of myself. I’d never believed in love or soul mates. I’d never even wanted anything more than what I had. But now, now I felt differently. I was willing to see where this path took us. I was willing to take a risk. I wanted to get to know her better. I wanted to kiss her, and feel her. I wanted to be with her. For however long it lasted. I wasn’t going to run away anymore. Before Lucky, my life was focused on bringing Braydon down, but now, my life was also focused on her. And I was going to do everything I could to make sure that I achieved all of my goals.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

Thank you for purchasing
Before Lucky
, the prequel to
The Last Boyfriend
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The Last Boyfriend
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