Luster (9 page)

A
nd here I
find myself soaping up Falyn’s gorgeous body again, my eyes roving over every part of her backside as she bends over to scrub her feet. Her ass makes the perfect upside-down heart shape, and its proximity to me has me harder than trigonometry.

I grab her hips from behind when she stands back up and looks over her shoulder at me. “You have zero willpower I see.”

The look she’s giving me reminds me of when I was a kid hamming it up in the middle of my class. My teachers would always give me this look like even though I was too much to handle, they loved me anyway. Falyn’s sexy smile adds a
little
something extra to the look.

“I never claimed to be self-disciplined,” I whisper in her ear. And then I wind my hand into her long rope of wet hair and push her head down, grunting as her warm pussy closes around my dick when I slide inside of her. Jesus Christ she feels so good—I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.

Surprisingly, we finish up in the shower and make it to the bed to dry off instead of going for the next round. The sex is definitely not getting old, but the act of hanging out with Falyn is pretty cool too. Something I’m honestly still confused as hell about.

No one would ever look at the two of us and pair us together. Falyn is straight-edged… at least outside of the bedroom. And she’s this career woman who has big dreams of filling daddy’s shoes one day soon. I’m just a guy trying to tell a story now and then with some old scrap metal. A highly profitable story, but still.

Falyn and I are on opposite ends of the spectrum here. Yet… I’ve never felt like anyone’s ever listened to me as much as Falyn. Behind all those business blazers and sensible heels she has a down-to-earth side. She doesn’t let it out much, but I know it’s there. And I kind of want to help her set it free some more.

But facts are facts. Fact—I let Dinah in because I thought she was a cool chick too. Fact—she said all the right things, did all the right stuff, and still managed to leave me on our fucking wedding day. Shit like that will make a guy quick to sidestep any kind of feelings for a woman in the future.

And that leads me to now. I don’t know what Falyn thinks about all this and I don’t want to ruin the moment for us by asking. Plus, it’s not really my style to want to go and label things—I do have a dick. It’s sort of in my DNA and all.

I glance over at her while she pulls on her pajama pants. She has to be thinking something is going on here. I can’t be the only one.

I finish putting on my own clothes and then nearly shit myself when I take a look at the alarm clock on the night stand. “Shit, is it seriously midnight already?”

“Yeah, it looks like it. You gotta go?” She’s specifically made her voice sound nonchalant, as if she couldn’t give two shits whether or not I left. But I know better. I’ve had plenty of experience in dealing with lonely businesswomen. Or just plain lonely women with too much time and money on their hands. They don’t want you to know that they desperately want you to stay.

“Believe it or not, yes. I usually get up late on Mondays but I’m supposed to be meeting with another client tomorrow around noon. If I want any chance to sleep uninterrupted then I better go.”

Falyn snorts, hiding the way her eyes flash at the mention of another client. “You weren’t complaining about those interruptions last I checked. Make sure to tell your other client to bring an extra-warm coat. You wouldn’t want her to get too cold or anything.”

Whoa, someone’s a little jealous.

I let out a sigh and hold back the retort I have for her. “Oh come on. It’s not going to be like that. My client happens to be a spry seventy year-old man.”

This seems to warm Falyn’s iciness up a bit, but I can still see the little peek of disappointment in the way she sets her shoulders. “I’m sure he’d love to experience posing for you too. You
did
say the human body was nothing to be ashamed of. That includes liver spots.”

The goodbye is completely awkward and I don’t know whether I should go in for a hug, a kiss, or just kind of get the hell out of here. But Falyn seems determined in her own mind and pulls me in for another one of her mouth-ravishing kisses.

When I pull back, my lips are tingling and tugging up into a smile I’ve yet to be rid of since I got here days ago. “I’ll call you tonight.” The words sound somewhat crazy and archaic coming from me of all people, but I somehow I actually mean them.

Falyn picks up on it too and gives me one of her most dazzling smiles yet. God, someone get this girl a toothpaste commercial. “Okay then. That uh, that sounds great! I’ll be here… just hanging out or whatever.”

Something cracks inside of me when I turn away from her, so I face her one last time, gently pushing a strand of hair away from her pink cheek and leaning in to brush my lips against hers. The kiss is small but electrifying, surprising even me with my own tenderness. Whoa, what the hell was that?

Falyn’s in a daze, and I finally get my ass out the door before anything else transpires.

* * *

F
uck
. Fuck, fuck,
fuck
.

It shouldn’t be this hard to sleep in my goddamn bed. This is
my
bed! Why the hell can’t I get any sleep?

I add two more pillows to the mix, and even spooning them doesn’t seem to help my restlessness. This isn’t good. This is in fact,
very
bad.

I groan into my pillow, a realization of what’s going on hitting me square in the face. I can’t comfortably sleep by myself anymore—these pillows can’t possibly compare to Falyn’s soft body. She’s ruined me for good.

* * *

I
think
I hear the sound of Falyn’s soft snoring, but when it gets louder and louder and finally breaks into a jazz chorus, I know I’m wrong. Two alarms and three text messages later and I’m up scratching at the ridiculous jungle growing on my face. I haven’t looked in the mirror lately, but I know that I’m somewhere in that weird spot between sexy stubble and full-on hipster beard. The skin buried underneath is crying out for me to clean myself up and get rid of the Grizzly Addams thing I’ve got going on.

I stumble my way into the bathroom and groan in sweet relief before flushing the toilet and washing my hands. The phone goes off in the bedroom again and I roll my eyes, wondering who the hell is calling me at… what time is it again?

The clock on my wall is too blurry for me to see just yet, but I curse when I see Sam’s face on my phone. I haven’t read her texts yet but the fact that she’s calling me is putting a serious damper on my mood. Plus it’s yep, almost noon, and I have Mr. Lewis coming by to drop off his hefty check.

I go to answer Sam but the call’s already gone to voicemail. I give it a second and then listen in on what she has to say.

“Hey Matty. I wanted to see if you’ve heard from Asswipe. Or Liam for that matter. He was supposed to get dropped off at our place last night but we never heard from them. Can you please call me back? I’m… worried about him.”

Shit.

I
can’t remember
how long it’s been since my father has personally called me instead of having Ramona, his assistant, do it for him. In fact, when his cell phone number flashed across my screen I nearly choked on my smoothie.

And now he wants to talk to me about the future of the company. Of
our
company. I quickly jot down the appointment date in my phone, making sure I don’t have anything else planned. There’s no way I’m missing out on this one.

All my life I have been pushing to show him that I’m good enough. That I can handle whatever he thinks will knock me down. And so far I have to say I‘ve done a pretty damn good job. But now he’s looking for more from me, he wants me to somehow prove that I can run the company in a manner he deems fit. I’ve always wanted to show him that I can… but now… I find myself wondering if catering to my father’s whims is really what I want to do for the rest of my life.

With everything that’s happened recently I’ve come to realize that there really is more to life than just doing what he tells me to. I wouldn’t say I’ve had an epiphany or anything just yet, but I know that deep down I’ve kind of changed. And I’m wondering how this changed version of myself will hold up in front of Father.

Maybe I shouldn’t be so worried. Maybe this is one of those circumstances where I just need to let things play how they play out. I try to take Matt’s advice and loosen up, closing my eyes and thinking of something else besides my father’s overwhelming presence.

Matt… The very thought of him sends a most pleasing shiver down my spine. It’s only been a few weeks since we were first together but it’s felt like way more than that. We’ve been together more than we have been apart and while that should frighten me to some extent it doesn’t.

It’s hard not to get wrapped up in us. And believe me I never thought I would say something like that. Yet here I am. This is going much farther than I had ever hoped or planned, but I can’t complain. This is the happiest I’ve been in a very long time.

The time with Matt flies by in my head. Like the way he showed up at my door with some takeout and a bottle of wine. Or how he picked me up from work and we went to the movies where we ended up making out in the back row for more than half the film. Part of me feels like a horny teenager who just can’t get enough of her boyfriend. And the other half of me feels like a grown ass woman who can barely focus at work and still can’t get enough of her boyfriend. Either way, Matt is stuck with me.

I pocket my phone and stand at the corner, waiting for the walking signal to come on when I see her. She’s decked out again, oversized sunglasses sitting on top of her perfectly done hair, and a bright pink phone in her hand resting up against her face as she yells fluent Spanish into it.

Dinah pays no attention to anyone around her until the light goes on for everyone to walk and she brushes past me, her eyes widening as she recognizes who I am. I keep moving, not really wanting to get a reaction out of her but it’s too late. She turns on her heel and marches after me, tapping me on the shoulder and giving me a little wave when we get to the other side of the street.

“Hi! Remember me? We met a while back at the —”

“Art gallery? Yes, I remember you. You’re Dinah.”

She smiles brightly at me, almost too innocently. Matt’s explained to me what really happened between the two of them but I still find it hard to believe that this woman is as conniving as he makes her out to be. I trust his judgment of course now, but there’s always two sides of the story.

It doesn’t mean that I particularly want to deal with her though. “Sorry I’ve got to get going.”

Dinah’s ballsy enough to wrap her arm in mine, making it impossible for me to go anywhere without dragging her along behind me. “Of course, of course. I just remembered I was actually heading back that way after all. We can walk together,” she replies, her eyes crinkling up at the corners.

I don’t really see the point but I shrug anyway, not wanting to seem rude. “Sure.”

It’s most certainly awkward walking along with Matt’s ex fiancée, especially someone I have so little in common with. Doesn’t seem to bother her though because she keeps talking my ear off.

“But then I told my manager there was no way I was going to do the Super Bowl this year. There’s not enough pizzazz, you know what I mean? I’ve already done it once before anyway… They need to find some new talent if you ask me. No, I think they might ask that new folksy singer. You know the one who looks like Matthew McConnaughey? Speaking of…”

I raise my brow at her. “Speaking of Matthew McConnaughey?”

A high-pitched tinkling laugh comes from her, cutting me off. “No, no. Speaking of Matthew, how
is
our Matty doing? I know he doesn’t think so fondly of me anymore but I am still concerned for him. We meant a great deal to each other at one point in time after all.”

I fight the scowl that threatens to ruin my poker face. “He’s doing fine thank you.”

I can tell this isn’t a good enough answer for her though. “I gather from the other night that you two are together, yes?”

It’s really none of her business but I try to keep myself collected enough to answer politely. “We are dating.”

I don’t know what to expect from Dinah but it certainly isn’t this. She nods her head solemnly, breaking her eye contact with me to look past my shoulder at something off in the distance. If I would know any better I’d say she seems sad, like pretty genuinely sad.

“Sorry. I’m sure that you two are very happy together. It’s just that I remember how it feels being with him. But I… I don’t want to get in the middle of it or anything.”

I narrow my eyes at her, unsure of what exactly she means. “Well, I appreciate that,” is all I can manage to say.

“Just make sure to be careful, okay? He’s a great guy I promise. It’s just that he… sometimes have has other motivations for what he does.”

This catches my interest because it’s such a weird thing to say. I already knew that if Dinah wanted to talk, she’d probably try and convince me to stop dating Matt, coming up with some silly frivolous excuse. But this is different.

“Other motivations?”

Dinah just waves me off, further piquing my interest. “It’s nothing.”

I sigh, knowing that I’m going to need her to tell me whatever it is she knows now. I can’t simply not know. “Please?”

Dinah stops walking and goes to stand in the shade of one of the buildings, me following her lead. “You told me that your father owns the Morrissey hotels, right? So it’s safe to assume that you’re pretty wealthy, right?”

It’s a pretty forward question but doesn’t throw me off my feet. I’m used to others trying to push their own weight around with me. “I have money, yeah. Why does that matter?”

She nods her head again before continuing. “Right. I don’t know how much of Matt’s history you know about, but he grew up pretty poor. Really poor, actually. It’s probably one of the first things he’s ever told me. I think he wears it like a cape or something, knowing that he survived the kind of childhood he had. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Well anyway, he’s now one of these people who seek out those who have what he wants. Money. Sad side-effect of his childhood I guess.”

Her words sting my ears like little tiny pinpricks, irritating but not damaging. It’s hard not to roll my eyes at her.

“I know that probably sounds batshit crazy, but it’s true. Me and Matt dated for a while before the bigger record label pick me up, and I thought that maybe that was my proof that he wasn’t using me for my money and my connections. Except that before that happened he barely paid attention to me. It was like I was a game for him or something. He was always distracted, never really wanting to commit to me like I wanted him to. But as soon as I started getting the money, honey it’s a different story. Matt started singing a different tune. We were going out all the time, partying, living the kind of life he always wanted to. And I raised him up from the shady job he had before and help him realize the true potential he has as an artist. Period. Not that he would admit that or anything. I’m the one who helped him to obtain the name he has now, without so much as a thank you from him. That’s all he wanted from me, Falyn. He just wanted my money, and yeah my body too. Matty had somewhat of an obsession with drawing me all the time.”

I swallow against the lump in my throat, telling myself I should’ve known she would try to stoop this low. None of it seems to make sense in my head, it can’t be equated with the Matt that I know. Matt may have grown up poor but he would never just use someone to gain money or social status. Social status… pfft, that seems like something he couldn’t give a shit less about quite honestly.

Dinah eyes me curiously, crossing her arms. “That’s what he does. He lures you in by giving you some sad sob story about his family — his brother and his sister. But the next thing you know you’re shelling out money left and right for him, wondering where all his money goes that he supposedly makes from these metal pieces. He likes thinking he’s some big art rock star. And hey, let him think that if you will. But just keep your checkbook on hand because it’s going to cost you a pretty penny.”

I step back, sizing her up. I refuse to let this crazy woman’s nonsense fill my ears anymore. “Thanks for the fair warning. I think I’ve got it handled though. And for the record? You probably should have told me this before I found out the truth about you and Matt’s wedding. About how you actually staged it just so you could keep your name in the press. If that’s not the most insane and ignorant way to keep yourself relevant I don’t know what it is. It was fun chatting with you and all, but I have real work to do. Have a nice life.”

And with that I turn on my heel and walk down the street without looking back. I don’t know what kind of look she’s giving me but I can feel her eyes burning a hole in the back my head. I won’t let that bitch ruin my day.