Maybe Baby Lite (31 page)

“
Gina, you knew that
between Clint, Luke, and Rodney, Trey was bound to find out, now
didn’t you?”

“
So what if he did? He
should be here for your birthday!”

“
I don’t get you, Gina,” I
replied, slightly amused. “One minute you act like you think Trey's
a major control freak Nazi, and the next minute it’s like you’re
playing matchmaker with us. What’s up with that?”

“
Well, I do think he’s
somewhat of a Nazi, yeah, but he’s your Nazi, Ty. For whatever
reason, and even I don’t understand it, when I see you two around
each other there's this hot energy that you bring out in each
other. I mean, yeah, it drives me nuts when I see him go all
‘Edward Cullen’ on you, but I think you need to play it out. It
could be something really good.”

“
You're something else,” I
laughed. I couldn’t be mad at her. I did feel better knowing that
his coming to the club wasn’t to make me jealous, although I was
curious about the blond he was dancing with. I took a deep breath.
“Let’s get back to my party,” I said, squaring my
shoulders.

Gina and I returned to our
table on the mezzanine and either no one had noticed our hasty
departure or they were too polite to inquire. The bands were
switching out and regular music was playing over the sound system.
I sipped my vodka sonic, amazed that I was still pretty much sober
after all the shots I’d taken. Luke and Rodney had met a couple of
girls from a table downstairs and invited them up to party with
us.

“
Testing one, two.” The
emcee stood at the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your
attention please? I’ve been told that we have a special birthday
celebration tonight at the Sanctuary, a VIP birthday as a matter of
fact.”

I looked at Gina who had
her shit-eating grin going good, Ian stood beside her with the same
expression. Oh, it seemed they had outdone themselves on this
one.

“
So,” the emcee continued,
“if we could just get the little lady down here on the stage, so
that our next group can give her a proper birthday shout-out for
her 21 years on this planet! Tylar Preston? Come on
dowwnnn!”

The crowd whooped and
hollered.

“
C’mon,” Piers said,
gentleman that he was, “I’ll escort you down, Tylar.”

“
Thank you,” I whispered,
good-naturedly glaring at Gina. Piers put his hand on the small of
my back and we descended the stairway. I was suddenly feeling very
exposed and had to resist the urge to tug at my dress, wishing it
covered more. “Don’t fall, don’t fall,” I repeated to myself the
whole way down. The band had taken stage and was tuning their
instruments to what sounded like an electric version of “Happy
Birthday.”

My embarrassment reached
its peak when I spotted Trey, sitting at the bar, directly in front
of the dance floor and the band warming up. His face was
unreadable.

“
Here she is!” the emcee
announced as he saw Piers leading me over. “And she looks fiiiine!
C’mon up here, darling!”

Why did my dress seem
tighter? I looked at Piers for help. He smiled and lifted me up,
placing me on the stage.

“
Now darlin’, the boys
here in the band wanted to play you a traditional Happy Birthday
song, but it seems that they've just received an offer that they
simply couldn't refuse. But in order to collect on that offer,
there is a stipulation.”

Oh God, is this going to
get bad again?

“
It seems, little lady,
that you have an admirer out there in the crowd. Yes sir, a very
generous admirer. He asked that the boys play a ‘spotlight’ dance
for you and him only. Now you have to agree to this or, well, we
give you a Happy Birthday song, and let you sing along with the
boys. What’s it going to be, sugar?” He held the microphone
up.

“
Do I get to pick the song
for the dance?” I asked shyly.

“
No darling, your
benefactor was very specific on that part. Seems he thinks you look
“Pretty in Pink,” so is it a go?”

“
Oh sure why not?” I said
into the mic, to thunderous applause. The lights dimmed, leaving
only a spotlight on the dance floor. I turned to Piers. No wonder
he'd so kindly “offered” to escort me down for this birthday
humiliation. I could be a good sport if I had to. But Piers
remained standing off to the side.

“
Here’s our band ‘Osmosis’
ladies and gentlemen, with a tribute song to our birthday girl in
the spotlight, from the 1986 film ‘Pretty in Pink.’ This song was
recorded by the British group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.
Here it is, ‘If you Leave.’”

The band kicked off the
song and I recognized it immediately. The lights were fully dimmed
but Piers didn’t budge. I felt self-conscious standing on stage
alone, until a pair of strong arms lifted me down onto the dance
floor.

I turned and looked up.
Trey. I put my right arm around his neck, and laced my fingers into
his proffered hand. He danced as exquisitely as he looked. I was
mesmerized by his closeness, laying my head against his chest and
closing my eyes, drinking in his scent, his “Trey-ness.” Some of
the lyrics floated to my consciousness, and I was curious as to why
Trey had selected this specific song. Was he sending a message? The
lyrics were contradictory in places, just like us. Did he want me
to stay? Was it just about staying one night?

“
And say I will…”
the song crooned.

I thought, “Will what?”
and then I understood. I looked up at him, our eyes met, I got
it.

“
Happy Birthday, Tylar,”
he whispered. “You know that I would’ve found you no matter what,
don’t you?”

“
I’m not sure of anything
anymore, Trey. These past few weeks have been difficult in so many
ways. I don’t want things to be so complicated anymore.”

He leaned down and kissed
me softly as the song wound down. Thankfully, the band moved right
into another song and the dance floor was once again a melee of
activity.

“
I want to go back to the
hotel,” I said. “Will you take me?”

“
Of course, I will,
Tylar.”

Gina stood waiting as we
left the dance floor. She still had her shit-eating grin on and
handed me my purse. “I called the limo,” she said. “He’ll be out
front in two minutes. Ian and I are going to stick around a little
longer. The driver will drop you guys, you know,
wherever.”

“
Thanks, Gina,” I grinned,
hugging her, “…for all this.”

“
Good night, Gina,” Trey
said, smiling at her just a little bit appreciatively.

The limo was waiting as we
stepped outside. The chauffeur opened the double doors, and Trey
and I slid in on the same side. It felt good that in this moment, I
was in control; Trey had no clue where I was staying.

“
Grand Hyatt, Buckhead,” I
reminded the driver. Trey cocked an amused eyebrow at
me.

“
Glad to see you don’t
skimp when it comes to lodging in the big city,” he
teased.

“
Actually, it was a
birthday gift from Ian and Gina, two nights,” I replied. “Drink?” I
offered.

“
Sure, whatever you’re
having, Ms. Preston.”

I mixed two vodka sonics
in the tall frosted glasses in the limo’s wet bar. Trey took his
graciously, and held it up. “To your 21st birthday, Tylar, and to
the fact that you now can drink legally. And hoping that we always
remain a part of each other’s lives—cheers!”

“
Cheers,” I repeated,
tapping my glass to his. I settled back with my cocktail, leaning
against him as the limo made its way to my hotel. I mused about his
toast. What did that mean?

“
Trey,” I asked as he
tipped the frosted glass back, taking a drink of his cocktail. “Who
was the blond slut with you at the bar?”

He immediately choked on
his drink, causing him to spit most of it against the limo’s glass
partition. He pulled his monogrammed handkerchief out to dab his
dripping chin, then he wiped the glass clean on the partition. I'd
embarrassed his good manners. Good, I thought, now answer my
question.

“
I wasn’t with anyone at
the bar tonight.”

“
So you're going to sit
there and tell me that there wasn’t a blond seated next to you at
the bar tonight?”

“
What I'm telling you is
that the blond seated next to me at the bar wasn't with me. I was
there first. She came in later and sat next to me. That’s all there
was to it.”

“
Really?” I said. “If
that's all there was to it, why did you dance with her?”

“
She asked
me
to dance, not the
other way around,” he clarified. “I can’t think that you had an
issue with that. It appeared to me as if you were doing some sort
of a tribal mating dance with Rodney until you scared him
off.”

“
You're
the one that scared him off,” I said, pointing my
finger at him.

He smirked, snatching my
finger with his hand, kissing it.

I continued undeterred,
“He saw you glaring at us!” Trey didn’t respond, but he grinned,
pulling me onto his lap. “You like being able to intimidate those
guys, don’t you?” I said.

“
I’d like it much better
if I could intimidate you, Tylar,” he answered softly, bringing his
mouth down on mine.

Oh my.

His kiss was passionate;
there was urgency to it. I molded my body to him and could feel his
arousal.

“
This dress leaves very
little to the imagination,” he commented. “You drew quite an
audience tonight, Ms. Preston.”

I was only interested in
an audience of one. I was eager to see how Trey was going to play
it once we got to the hotel. In that moment, the chauffer pulled up
to the lobby entrance.

“
Are you staying with me
tonight, Trey? Or do you want the driver to take you to your
apartment?”

“
You know,” he said,
fingering my gold necklace gently, “we could both stay at my
apartment tonight if you want.”

I wasn’t going to give in.
I wanted him to do it my way for once. “I want to stay here
tonight, Trey; I’d like for you to join me.”

“
How could I ever refuse
you anything?” he took my hand.

The chauffeur opened the
doors for us. Trey got out first, then helped me out. He handed the
driver a tip, then guided me up the steps, where the doorman held
the glass door for us.

We crossed the quiet lobby
and entered the elevator. Trey loosened his collar and tie. He was
in a suit as though he'd worked today, but it was Saturday. Perhaps
his law firm was so stuffy that they required full suits even on
weekends. He seemed distracted, maybe he was just tired. Not too
tired, I hoped.

The elevator doors opened
on the seventh floor and I led him to my room. Trey gave it the
once-over approvingly. “Very nice,” he said, taking me into his
arms again.

I pulled him past the
living room into the bedroom with the king-size bed. “Look at the
view of Atlanta from here,” I said, going over to the balcony.
“It’s really gorgeous at night isn’t it?”

“
The most beautiful thing
here is you,” he said, sweetly, wrapping his arms around me as we
both looked out over downtown.

“
Let’s get ready for bed,
okay?” he said softly. I nodded.

“
Just give me a few
minutes, okay?” I asked. I stepped out of my heels and removed my
jewelry. I knew that I was going to need help getting my dress off.
I turned to Trey. He looked up at me from the bed.

“
Trey, can you please help
me out of this dress?” I asked.

He rose up off of the bed,
taking my hand. “Come on,” he said, “let’s take this into the
bathroom.”

Oh my!

The bathroom was huge,
with a double shower. The hotel supplied “his” and “hers”
terrycloth bathrobes. Trey started the water and I watched as he
removed his clothes, hanging them on a hook to stay dry. He stood
before me in his boxers. He turned to me and I presented my back to
him so that he could unzip my dress. Once unzipped, he slid his
hands inside and lowered my dress so that it slipped to the
floor.

I hadn’t worn a bra
because the dress had one built in. I wore simply my silk thong,
which seemed to surprise and delight Trey. He stood behind me,
close enough that I could feel his warm breath on my neck. He
cupped my breasts with his beautiful, long-fingered hands, and
gently massaged them.

Oh that felt
good.

He hooked his finger in
the elastic band of my thong and pulled it down, exposing my butt
to his gaze. I stepped out of it and turned to face him. His
erection was full and strained against his boxer shorts. I boldly
hooked my fingers on the waistband of his shorts and tugged them
down over his erection past his thighs where they dropped to his
feet. He stepped out of them.

His huge erection shocked
me, but I didn’t want to appear scared or reluctant because I knew
that Trey was sensitive to my complicated sexual past. I was going
to have him tonight and whatever monsters or memories still lurked
in my subconscious would just have to sit back and
watch.