The Man You Need (Love on Tour #4) (10 page)

The guy looked at me for a second, looked back at Jack, and took off. Jack held his hand out to me without speaking. I slapped the keycard into his palm. He ushered me inside my room and closed the door.

I plopped down on the couch. “Fuck.”

“Stacey, what’s going on? You haven’t acted like this in a while.”

I looked up at him. His hands were on his hips, his eyes filled with concern, not anger.

“I turn thirty-one tomorrow.”

Jack walked over to the couch and stood in front of me. “Okay, so?”

“So,” I let out a long breath. “I’ve lived on this planet for thirty-one years without having another person give me an orgasm. And I’m depressed about it, okay.”

There was a long silence. As it stretched out I looked up at Jack. “Don’t you have anything to say about that?”

“Holy shit.”

“Well, that’s one reaction I guess.”

“This is a fucking tragedy, Stacey.”

“I know, right?”

“We’re going to fix this.”

“What? How?”

“I know what the problem is.”

“What, are you some kind of sex therapist, too?”

Jack sat down next to me on the couch. “You don’t have orgasms because you don’t relax around guys. I’ve seen you in action, Princess. You’re always acting.”

I hated that he knew me so well. “Yeah, so?”

“So, you’re not going to come if you don’t relax. You need a guy you can be yourself around.”

“Okay, well that leaves a handful of men. I’m related to two of them. One is Hank, who is without a doubt out of the picture, and the other is Mike, also out of the picture for obvious reasons.”

“There’s me.”

“What?”

“You’re comfortable around me.”

“What?”

“I could give you an orgasm.”

“What?”

“I’m not suggesting we have sex, Stacey.” He gave me an almost exasperated look. “I’m just saying that I could make you come before your birthday.”

“Uhhh, I’m a little stunned right now.”

“You’re comfortable with me,” he said again.

“Yeah, because we’re
friends
. I don’t think friends give each other orgasms.”

“Why not?”

I honestly couldn’t think of a good reason just then. “You’re offering to give me an orgasm, without sex?”

Jack got off the couch. He grabbed my knees and swung them around, pulling me down so that I was lying flat on my back. Then he kneeled on the floor next to me.

“You’re going to have to relax, Princess.”

“Well, that might be hard. I’m a little freaked out right now.”

Jack leaned over and kissed me. It was just as I’d remembered. His lips were soft and warm. I opened my mouth and let his tongue dip inside. He laid one hand on my stomach, under my shirt. I groaned.

He pulled his lips back, just a fraction of an inch. “Relaxed?”

“Yes,” I breathed.

“Good,” his hand moved lower. “Now, do I have permission?”

“Yes. If you kiss me some more.”

He did. And I felt his hand move to the top of my jeans. He unbuttoned them, then slipped his long fingers inside, under my panties. They moved slowly, until they were right there. My legs clenched and his fingers stilled.

“Hey, relax or tell me to stop.”

“Don’t stop.” I grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips back to mine. I lost myself in the kiss and let my muscles untangle themselves.

It was like that song about the man with ‘magic hands.’ Jack played me as if I were a guitar. And I responded. I moaned into his mouth. He stopped kissing me when I started to cry out. He watched me closely as I arched my back, and finally, finally, I came.

11

Jack and I didn’t discuss what had happened. He’d kissed me one last time and buttoned up my jeans. Then he’d poured us both a drink and sat beside me on the couch. We watched a baseball game and went right back to being friends.

The next morning I woke up thinking about the birthday gift Jack had given me. I had begun to think that maybe I was defective, that maybe the incident when I was sixteen had somehow altered my physical ability to come with another person. But in a matter of minutes, Jack had proven me wrong. He’d given me piece of mind. I was not broken in that way. I knew that now. And I owed it all to him.

I rolled out of bed when Mike knocked on my door for wake-up call and headed for the shower. We had a long day ahead us. When Jack had planned this tour, he hadn’t known I’d be coming along. If he had, he probably would have included a free day to celebrate my birthday. These guys were nuts about birthdays. Bell’s had been just before we left and they had thrown a big bash for her.

But there might not be time to make a big deal out of mine. We were in Atlanta and headed into South Carolina. Apparently, Sean’s first album was huge in this part of the country. And since that album was the impetus for this tour, we would be stopping at a lot of the smaller cities that they usually skipped. It was going to be a busy couple of days.

I walked into my room, wrapped in a towel, and stared at my open suitcase. I really needed to do laundry at the next hotel. I managed to find a pair of older jeans that were loose and not nearly as flattering as my tight ones. But they were clean, so I threw them on along with an old shirt from one of Sean’s early concerts. It reminded me of the first time I ever saw Sean on a big stage, and it was badly faded, but still one of my all-time favorite clothing items. I tried to wear it as few times as possible to make it last longer, so as it result, it, too, was clean.

Once I had my hair dried, my make-up on, and had slipped into a pair of silver glittery flip flops, I shoved everything in my suitcase and headed to the elevator.

“Hey, Princess. Ready to go?”

Jack was standing in the hallway in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. The clothes were so regular, but he wasn’t. He looked like a million bucks. His hair was still damp from his shower, and the shirt clung to his chest. I took in a deep breath, but that was a mistake, because even from there I could smell him. He was all fresh and clean, and manly smelling. God.

I shook my head a little, trying to clear it. Just because he was hot and he gave me an orgasm, I could not lose my mind here. Jack was my friend. And also, way not my type.

He mistook my head shaking to mean I wasn’t ready. “Oh, what do you need to do?”

“Nothing. I’m good.” Jesus, I actually sounded nervous. This was getting ridiculous.

Thankfully, the elevator door opened. I plunged inside. It was worse in here. It was just the two of us, in close quarters. I breathed through my mouth and stared at the doors.

“What do you want to do today?”

I looked at Jack. “Don’t we already have a schedule?”

He shrugged. “Yeah, but, we can build in a little extra time. It’s your birthday.”

“It’s okay. It’s not a big deal.”

He scrutinized me. “I don’t buy it. It sounds to me like birthdays
are
a big deal in your family.”

“Not really,” I lied.

The elevator stopped and the doors open. I walked out quickly, my suitcase trailing behind me on its wheels.

“Happy birthday!” they all shouted.

Holy shit! My brother, Baby, Bell, Hank, and Mike were all standing in the lobby staring straight at me, big grins on their faces.

“Um, wow. Thanks.”

“Come here,” Sean said, gathering me in a big hug. I dropped my suitcase and threw my arms around him. For some reason I felt so grateful at that moment that he was making a big deal out of it. “I’m so glad you were born,” he whispered.

Tears pricked my eyes. I pulled back. “You are one sappy son of a bitch,” I told him.

He shrugged. Baby came at me next, followed by Hank. When they were all done manhandling me, Baby asked, “You wanna open your presents now or on the bus?”

“Presents?”

“Really? You thought we wouldn’t get you presents?” she asked, rolling her eyes.

“The bus,” I decided.

We all made our way out to the bus, and even surly Tony wished me a happy birthday. Then we sat around and I opened a slew of presents. Bell had gotten me an awesome sexy top that made Sean groan. Baby had given me a pair of hippie sandals that she must have known I’d never wear, but swore up and down they were the most comfortable things on the planet. Hank and Mike had both gotten me jewelry. And my big brother had given me a book. It wasn’t just any book, either, it was a first edition
To Kill a Mockingbird
. My emotions were off the charts, but I managed not to cry.

“My turn,” Jack said, when I was done hugging Sean.

I almost blurted out, ‘You already gave me your present!’ I managed to stop myself, but it did not halt the blush that crept up on my cheeks.

Jack handed me a small envelope. I stared at him. “What’s this?”

“Open it.”

I reached into the envelope and pulled out two tickets. I tried to focus on the writing on them. “Barefoot in the Park?”

“I heard somewhere that you’re a big Neil Simon fan.”

“Tonight?”

“Yep. I realize you will miss the concert, but you’ve seen plenty of those, right?”

“True,” Sean, said smiling. “I’m just sorry I can’t go with you.”

“Who
is
going with me?”

“Take your pick,” Jack said. “Anyone other than Hank or Sean.”

“This is amazing! Thank you, Jack.”

He shrugged. “So, who do you want to take?”

I wanted Jack to take me. But he probably needed to stay and work. Also, I needed to get my shit straight about him before we did anything as intimate as go see a Neil Simon play about lovers together.

I looked at Baby and Bell, I couldn’t pick just one of them. I could take Mike.

“Oh, plus, there’s two more tickets here,” Jack said with a smile, handing me another envelope.

Baby laughed.

“Why the hell didn’t you just put them all in there together, jackass?”

“I don’t know, I guess I wanted to see that look on your face while you figured out what to do.”

“You’re a dick.”

****

I took Baby, Bell and Mike with me to the play. And it really was a killer birthday. The actors weren’t too terrible, and I loved that play. At intermission we went to get a drink in the lobby.

“So,” Bell said, plopping her soda on the round table we were all standing around. “Who are we going to hook Jack up with?”

My eyes grew wide. I’d forgotten about our little plan to set up Jack. This was exactly what I needed. I would find Jack a girl that was right for him, some sweet thing that loved animals and old people. Then we could be friends without me smelling him all the time and thinking about how his fingers had felt between my legs.

“Yeah, we gotta find somebody.”

“I know a couple good candidates in Malibu,” Baby suggested.

“I know a super sweet girl who lives in L.A.,” Mike said.

“No, we need someone who can come along on tour. He needs a girl,
now
.” I realized that I sounded kind of desperate, so I added, “Besides, he’s a traveller, so he needs someone with a flexible career, or no career.”

“I don’t know. How are we going to find someone sweet on tour?” Baby asked.

“I am with the only good girls on this tour right now,” Mike said.

“I hope you’re not counting me.”

“I most certainly am, Stacey.”

“What about the vendor lady?” Bell suggested.

“Sharyl?” Baby asked. “Yeah, she’s pretty classy.”

“And hot,” Mike said.

“She’s sugar sweet to everybody. And she’s never hit on Hank,” Bell said.

“Bonus points.”

“And I think she likes Jack. She’s definitely more flirty when he’s around.”

“But, she’s a little… I don’t know, overly professional,” Baby said. “I don’t really see her having much fun.”

Baby was right. Sharyl was young and gorgeous, but she took her job seriously. It was like the art of setting up and selling merchandise was equivalent to launching the space shuttle. No matter what beer can-littered arena we were in, she was always wearing a suit and carrying a tablet wrapped in a perfectly clean leather binder.

“She’s perfect!” I chimed in. “She’s a stuffed shirt just like Jack. And she probably volunteers at an old folks’ home or some shit in her spare time.”

Mike laughed. “I don’t think Jack is as boring as you think he is, Stacey. He’s been hanging out with rock n’ rollers since he was in high school. He plays guitar, he drinks beer. He seems pretty chill.”

“Whatever, he’s a total tightass. And he drinks high-end beer, occasionally. That totally doesn’t count.”

“Every guy who isn’t a crazy sexed-up drug addict is a tightass to you, Stac,” Baby said. “But did you ever notice that
you
don’t fit your own bill?”

Baby was right, of course. I talked a bigger game than I played. Hell, I’d only had a few joints and, once, a couple of shrooms, in my whole life. And my sex life was a little crazy, but I was always careful. I’d never been knocked up and I’d never gotten a disease. I wasn’t nearly as wild as the guys I was attracted to. Hell, I wasn’t half as wild as any of my friends back in New York. But I was not about to concede the point.

“Whatever, the point is, Sharyl is perfect for Jack. How do we make this happen?”

****

The plan was in place. I was supposed to plant the seed with Jack. Baby and Bell were going to talk to Sharyl and get her confidence up for the approach. It was all worked out. I just had to play my part.

“I’ve been thinking, Jack,” I said casually, throwing my Kindle on the table between us. “You know that girl Sharyl, the one who does the vending stuff?”

Jack looked up from his laptop. He was sitting across from me in some little room at the venue in Charlotte. I’d found him in there working, and intruded in the guise that I wanted a quiet place to read.

“Yeah?”

“She’s pretty hot.”

“Oh, no. Are you trying to fix me up?”

“Maybe. What’s so bad about that?”

“I am perfectly capable of finding a woman on my own, Stacey. I don’t need any help.” He turned back to his computer.

“I was helping her set up her display yesterday and we were talking. She’s pretty great. Did you know that she volunteers with the Red Cross? She does that disaster relief, helping people out when their house burns down and shit.”

He grunted and continued typing.

“She’s young and ambitious. I mean she has a pretty responsible job, but she’s only twenty-six.”

Jack looked up at me. “Stac, Hank goes on in ten minutes and I need to get this e-mail done quickly before I go get him.”

I leaned over the table. “Don’t you find her attractive?”

“She’s plenty pretty, Stacey,” he said with a sigh.

“And young.”

He continued to type as he answered me. “I don’t go for young.”

“What? Why not? Everybody likes young.”

“Not me. I like older women. Mature women.” He looked up from his laptop to glare at me for a second before glancing back down.

“How old are we talking?”

“My last girlfriend was forty.”

“Forty! Jesus!”

Jack finished typing and snapped his laptop closed. “Look, I’d love to discuss my love life with you, but I gotta work now.” He stood up.

“Jack!” Sean came barreling into the room. He looked frantic. Which was weird, because Sean never looked like that. He looked calm or pissed, occasionally happy and relaxed. But that was it.

“What’s up?” Jack said, instantly on alert.

“Raif just went to the hospital.”

“What?!”

“Yeah, Mike called from the back of the ambulance. They think his appendix is about to burst.”

“Holy shit!”

“I need a bass player, now!”

“What?” Jack stood there, staring at Sean, his eyes wide, his mouth open.

“Look, Hank’s gonna stall and play an extra long set, but I need a bass player in the next ninety minutes.”

“What about Alonso?”

“He only knows half the songs on this set. If I was playing the regular tunes then we’d be good. But half the fucking set is from the first album. He doesn’t know those songs, man. How many do you know?”

“Um, all of them.”

“All the songs on the whole set?”

“Yeah, but…”

“You gotta do this for me, man. I’m begging you.”

“Sean, I have never played on stage in my life.”