Rock Chick 08 Revolution (27 page)

Our?

“And I’m lookin’ for some office
space. Marcus knows some people and I told him to put us in touch with the
people he knows. In no time,” she snapped her long-nailed fingers, “we’ll get
you
set up.
”

I decided to focus on the Rock
Chicks finding ways to be involved and provide support that would not lead to
their Hot Bunch boys losing their minds, and not scary words like “our,” and I
smiled at Daisy.

“It’s cool the way you guys are all
kicking in, chickie. But I have to have your solemn Rock Chick Vow that, if we
do this, you answer phones and send invoices. You don’t get involved and you
also help me make certain the other Rock Chicks don’t horn in in a way that’ll
make things difficult for me.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Girl, do you
honestly think Marcus is gonna let me get myself into a situation where my fat
could be in the fryer?” she asked but didn’t let me answer. “No way. One thing,
the RC’s findin’ trouble through no fault of their own. Another,
lookin’
for it.”

That was a relief.

She moved into me and hooked her
arm through mine, starting to guide me out of the W-X-Y-Z’s, stating, “I’m
gonna be the best PI receptionist ever. I’m gonna have you so organized,
shit’ll get done before you even know it’s happening. I’m gonna kick
receptionist ass so good that Lee’s gonna wanna recruit me, because I even file
and Shirleen don’t do that shit.”

Something tentatively good just got
better. I’d chipped in to help file at Lee’s office once. It wasn’t a fun
activity.

We made it to the center aisle when
I heard Tex boom, “
Ally!
”

This was not his usual, “Ally, quit
fucking around and help with coffee”
Ally.

This was an
Ally
that made the skin at the back of my neck prickle.

I looked down at Daisy, she looked
up at me and we hustled out of the books.

I had no idea what I would find,
but someone standing there wearing a bomb vest was a possibility.

But it was Annette, Roxie’s best
friend; a Rock Chick by association (thus not getting laid by a Hot Bunch guy;
she was getting laid by a guy name Jason who was a vegetarian). She was also
the owner of the head shop across the street. And last, she was standing
amongst the tables and chairs at the front with five women who were gazing
around, faces filled with wonder, lips parted.

As the nuts the Rock Chicks
collected go, Annette occupied the upper echelon. Then again, she had a lot of
company.

“Get her and those women outta
here!” Tex boomed, and I looked in confusion at him then I looked back at
Annette and saw that the women with her now had cameras to their faces and they
were taking pictures of Tex.

What the fuck?

I moved toward Annette as she
called encouragingly to Tex, “Sock it to us, big man! Give them the Rock Chick
Experience!”

Again.

What the fuck?

I approached her from the back.
“Annette?”

She turned to me, took in both
Daisy and me, and cried, “Fuckin’ phat!” She motioned to us and looked at the
women with her. “Sistahs, this is Ally Nightingale and Daisy Sloan.”

“
Ally
,” one of them breathed.

The rest of them took pictures, the
flashes exploding in my face one after the other.

I had no choice but to look away and
when I was able to focus, I saw Daisy had not missed a beat and was standing
beside me striking a pose and giving them a face set in “smolder.”

Jeez.

I looked back at the women. “Stop
taking pictures.”

Immediately, five cameras dropped.

My eyes went to Annette. “What
gives?” I asked.

“Rock Chick Tour,” she answered.

“Oh my God, sugar, that is
such
a good idea!” Daisy squealed.

But I stared.

Then I repeated, “Rock Chick Tour?”

“Yeah,” Annette replied. “We start
here at Fortnum’s for coffee. Then we go to Sissy and Dom’s house, where Ava
and Luke got caught in a drive-by. Then we go to the alley where Jules kicked
those drug dealers’ asses. Then we go to that bar where Jet got shot at the
poker game. Then we go to the mansion where Stella’s apartment exploded. Then
we go to Sadie’s art gallery because it’s all okay now, but it wasn’t okay when
it was torched. Blah, blah, blah,” she rolled her hand in front of her and
finished, “We eat lunch at Lincoln’s and end with cocktails at Smithie’s.”

I kept staring at her.

“You need to take them to Thornton
to the haunted house thing where Billy caught up with Roxie,” Daisy advised.
“The haunted house ain’t runnin’, but they still got all the buildings there.”

“Phat!” Annette shouted. “I’ll add
that to our itinerary.”

“I’m not part of no tour!” Tex
boomed, and the five women again turned to him, lifted their cameras and
started taking photos. “
Put down those
fuckin’ cameras!
” Tex roared on a ferocious scowl.

The women dropped their cameras
again, but they weren’t offended or frightened. They were all smiling, giving
each other happy looks, and two of them were even giggling.

I remained focused.

“Annette, you can’t do Rock Chick
Tours,” I told her.

“Bitch, I
so
can,” she told me. “I got the idea when the articles came out. I
set it up, then Roxie told me about the book yesterday so now I
have
to do it.”

“I’ve read the book, like, five
times,” one woman said.

“I’ve read it three,” another woman
put in.

“You’re my favorite character,
Ally,” a third told me.

I was her favorite character?

“I read it last night,” Daisy said,
moving into their huddle. “Stayed up all night. My favorite part was when Lee
caught Indy and Tex during their B&E. Laughed myself sick, and when I did I
woke Marcus. He was not happy.”

The women closed ranks on the
huddle and one remarked, “My favorite is the living room tussle.”

“Mm-hmm, that one’s good too,”
Daisy agreed.

“The Head Olympics discussion and
the ensuing wrestling match,” another one said, and Daisy emitted her tinkly
bell laugh.

“Oo, sugar, that one’s
way
good,” Daisy again agreed.

“Ohmigod,” the woman breathed to
the one at her side, “Daisy called me ‘sugar’.”

“Sure I called you sugar, sugar,”
Daisy said on a huge bright smile.

The woman lifted her shoulders up
to her ears and her eyes went dreamy, not like Daisy was calling her sugar, but
like Channing Tatum had just kissed her cheek.

I looked to the ceiling.

Then I looked to Annette.

“Does Roxie know about this?” I
asked.

“No,” she answered.

“Indy?” I went on.

“No,” she said.

“Anyone but Daisy, Tex, Jet and
me?” I pressed.

“No,” she repeated.

“Do you see how this might not be
taken positively?” I kept going.

“No,” Annette replied.

I drew in breath.

One of the women moved to the
coffee counter and declared, “I
need
a Tex coffee.”

“Me too,” another one said as she
followed.

“Totally!” a third one cried.

“Tex, will you be in a picture with
me holding one of your coffees?” the fourth one put her life in her hands to
ask as she approached.

Tex’s angry glower shifted to me
and he boomed, “Do something!”

All the women looked to me.

“What do you want me to do?” I
asked.

The women looked to Tex.

“
Something!
” he shouted.

The women looked to me.

“Tex, they’re buying coffees. And
it’s likely they’re gonna tip. That’s more cat treats for the kitties,” I
pointed out.

The women looked to Tex.

“The cats got enough treats.”

The women looked back to me.

“You do realize that you’re giving
them the show they came for and if you just shut your trap and made them
coffees, it would probably be over a lot faster.”

The women looked at Tex.

Tex’s mouth snapped shut.

Finally.

Still behind the counter, Jet moved
toward the group of women, introducing herself with, “Hi, I’m Jet.”

One woman breathed, “
Jet.
”

The other four lifted their cameras
and started taking pictures. Jet looked startled a moment, then she smiled her
killer smile that took your breath away and more flashes lit the scene.

I felt Annette get close and I
looked at her.

“Can you call one of the Hot Bunch and
ask them to drop by?” she asked, might I add,
insanely.
“They don’t have to say anything. Just stand there so the
girls can take their picture.”

“Do you want to survive until
tomorrow?” I asked back.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Then no. I can’t call one of the
Hot Bunch so he’ll drop by and pose for pictures.”

“Bummer,” she muttered.

“And just a reminder,” I started.
“The place is bugged. This means Lee probably already knows this is happening.
And the rest of the Hot Bunch. And that means I’ll say good-bye now because
you’re probably gonna disappear in the night and never be seen again.”

“That. Would be. The
bomb!
” she exclaimed. “Tell your
brother, if he sends someone to kidnap me, I pick Luke. But if he’s busy,
Vance. No, wait!” she yelled. “Hector!”

“Hector?” one of the women called
from her place at the coffee counter, but her eyes were scanning the space.
“Where’s Hector?”

I couldn’t help it because,
seriously, it was totally whacked, but I’d lived whacked for two years. It was
also all kinds of funny.

So I burst out laughing.

And as I did so, I saw the camera
flashes against my closed eyes.

* * * * *

“Baby.”

At Ren’s call, I whirled the tip of
my tongue around the tip of his cock. I wrapped the hand I’d been using to
stroke him tight and looked up his molded abs, his wide chest, to his face.

He was sitting up, back to the
headboard, and I got a tingle in my happy place from the hot, dark look on his
face as well as the knowledge he’d been watching my activities.

I no sooner caught his eyes when he
curled toward me, grasped me under my arms and hauled me up his body.

His hand in my hair cupping my
head, he slammed my mouth down on his and kissed me hard and wet while shifting
and rolling so we were down the bed. We ended with me on my back, Ren on top of
me.

No sooner had he got me there than
he slid off and curled an arm around me, making me do a partial roll so my back
was to his front. I felt my panties dragged over my ass and I held my breath as
my happy place convulsed.

“Give me that,” he growled into my
neck.

I gave it to him. I
so
did.

Tipping my booty so he could have
access, he didn’t delay. One of his hands slid between my legs, his middle
finger hitting me right where I needed it. His other hand slid up my chest so
he could wrap his fingers around the underside of my jaw, holding firm, keeping
me where he wanted me.

And last, he drove into me.

I’d forgotten about spooning, and
right then that was top of my list of positions with Ren.

And serious to God, I loved this.
Held captive by him, powerless to do anything but take what he gave me, but
knowing he’d work to give me what I needed to take me
there
so I got it first before he took what he needed to get
him
there.

Amazing.

So amazing, I held still,
whimpering and moaning, until it started to burn through me.

Then my neck arched back. I felt
his lips at the side and I breathed, “
Ren,
”
right before it blistered through me.

He thrust hard, fast, deep, and his
hand between my legs continued working me, taking, even as I came down. He kept
going until I felt his mouth open on the skin of my neck and he sucked deep. A
tremor ran through me and I felt and listened as he got what he needed.

As it left him, he settled, still
buried inside me. His hand between my legs moved so he could wrap his arm
around my belly. His hand at my jaw gentled and his fingers started stroking.

His mouth still at my neck, he
whispered there, “Love you, Ally.”

“Love you too, honey,” I whispered
back.

He kissed the side of my neck,
shifted, kissed the back of my neck and we lay there connected for several
long, happy, silent minutes until he pulled out and rolled to his back. He took
me with him, positioning me tucked to his side with my forehead in his neck and
his hand cupping my ass.

“Shimmy outta your panties, baby,”
he murmured.

Using just my legs, I shimmied out
of them, caught them with my toe and used my foot to toss them over Ren to land
at the side of the bed.

When I settled in, he drew random
patterns on my ass as he said, still murmuring, “Not done with you tonight.”

Ren was feeling energetic.

Right on.

I smiled against his skin.

It was after work at Fortnum’s
where, fortunately, nothing else happened, except Roxie, Tod and Stevie showing
with about five hundred bags from various stores at Park Meadows Mall (okay,
maybe four hundred). It was also after Ren got home late from work, but he
still made me chicken parmesan.

But the dishes were still on the
dining room table. The pots in the sink.

This was because, once I’d taken my
last bite, Ren said to me, “Thinkin’ about it all day, couldn’t get my mind off
it, so now I want your mouth on me.”

I hadn’t been thinking about it all
day, but I was thinking about it right then. And what I thought about it was
that it was a fantastic idea.

Therefore I immediately got up,
sashayed to and up the stairs and into his bedroom.

He followed me, hitting the room,
eyes hot but lips quirking.

I’d then commenced in obliging.

You know the rest.

That brought us to now.

I lifted my head and looked down at
him. I felt my insides warm at the contentment in his expression, and asked,
“Do I have to turn Catholic?”

His face blanked, his hand at my
ass stilled, and he did a slow blink.

Then he demanded, “Say that again.”

I didn’t say it again.

Instead, I explained, “You’re
Catholic. I’m not. And you’re Italian. And seeing as the Pope lives in a
sovereign city-state in your homeland, I’m thinking that’s important. And since
we’re committed and you’ve promised we won’t be about meatloaf and missionary,
I’ve gotta have some detail about what else the future has in store for me.”

His hand not at my ass lifted to
cup my jaw before he said quietly, “That’s not something you tick off a to-do
list, honey.”

“No. But it is something you
consider and look into if it’s important to the man you love.”

Ren closed his eyes.

A second later, I found myself on
my back with Ren looming over me, but he did this with his chest pressed mostly
on mine and his hand still cupping my jaw.

His eyes moved over my face and his
face had
the look.

My insides got warmer.

Then he stated, “It’s not necessary
you convert, Ally. But it’s important to me that my kids are raised in the
faith.”

“Wouldn’t it be important, to raise
kids in the faith, that I knew about said faith at the very least, but better,
practiced it?” I asked, and
the look
intensified so my insides got melty.

“You’d do that?” he whispered.

“I don’t know. Is here an
initiation ceremony where I have to drink blood of the calf or something?” I
asked and he grinned.

Then he answered, “No.”

“Okay,” I replied. “Then maybe you
can set it up so I can talk to somebody.”

He dropped his head so his forehead
touched mine, all the while muttering, “Fuckin’ fuck me.”

That meant a lot to him.

I loved that. I loved that I gave
that to him.

But I didn’t tell him that.

I shared, “I’m obviously no expert,
but my guess is the Pope frowns on the f-bomb, Zano.”

I saw his eyes smile.

Then I didn’t see anything because
he was kissing me, slow and sweet.

Then he did other things to me slow
and sweet that I wasn’t sure the Vatican approved of.

Much later, drowsy, sated, happy,
my man’s arms around me, his body curled into me spooning, I decided we’d had a
good day without anything exploding and another day without us fighting (so
far, a record). Further, his breath was evening, which meant he was heading
toward sleep.

So I’d tell him tomorrow about my
plans for the future that didn’t have to do with me discussing conversion with
a priest.

Chapter Fifteen

I’m Good at What I Do

Ren moved to the sink, dropped his plate in it and moved to me sitting
on the counter.

He pulled my coffee mug out of my hand and set it on the counter. Then
he pulled my legs apart and moved between them. With a hand at my ass, he
yanked me close.

His face dipped to mine and his voice was sweet when he noted, “You got
lots of bags upstairs, baby.”

“Yep,” I agreed.

“You got a dress for me?” he asked.

“Yep,” I repeated, and this was true. Roxie, Tod and Stevie bought me
four of them and they were all smokin’ hot.

“Good. Date night tonight.”

I grinned.

Ren kissed me.

Then he kissed my neck.

After that, he let me go and on a, “Later, honey,” and walked to and
through the front door.

I watched.

Smiling.

* * * * *

It was mid-morning when the bell over the door rang.

I was in Fortnum’s with Indy, Jet, Tex and Jane. Stella and Mace were also
there, both of them at the counter. Stella was shooting the shit and sipping a
latte. Mace was being silent and badass as he held his woman in a
casual-but-affectionate embrace at his side.

Duke had not showed. I told myself this wasn’t because he was avoiding
me, but because he’d hopped on his Harley with his wife Dolores for an
impromptu ride of the Rockies.

However, even as I told myself this, I wasn’t very convincing.

Everyone looked to the door to see Tod walking in carrying two big
thick scrapbooks.

One was stuffed full with copious pieces of paper and fabric swatches
protruding from the sides. The other one looked new.

The first was Ava’s wedding planner.

The second, seeing as she’d only been engaged for a little over three
weeks, was Sadie’s.

Tod was a drag queen and a flight attendant. He was also the
unofficially-official wedding planner to all the Rock Chicks. This meant a lot
of headache, arguments, browbeating and unnecessary powwows sprinkled with a
few hissy fits.