Every fucking morning.
Every morning at eight o’clock, she threw open my bedroom door and kicked the mattress. I could have set my watch by her.
By the fourth day, I was ready for her. I’d taken a piss and was already hard when she walked in. Her cheeks went beet red, and I grinned at her. She slammed the door without saying anything, and I heard her stomp down the stairs.
Yeah, this was going to be a whole lot of fun.
On Friday, she was actually brave enough to sit down on the chair in the corner of the room and open her planner. I knew I didn’t have much to do that day, and I was hoping to spend at least some of it getting her into bed.
And the rest of it, keeping her there.
“Have you read the interview questions for Monday?” she asked. Her eyes were glued to her notebook as I fisted myself. Just watching her like this got me going. She was wearing that pencil skirt and blazer again, her hair in a bun, her glasses on the end of her nose like a sexy schoolteacher. The fact that I knew what her pussy felt like under that skirt made it even hotter.
It had been a good week for me and my dick.
My cock twitched in my hand, and I moaned. Her fingers tightened on her day planner. Even from the bed I could see that there were nail marks in the leather cover. If she thought I wouldn’t make myself come while she was sitting there, she was dead wrong. I was so fucking close I could taste it, and if she waited around any longer, she’d see exactly what happened when I was ‘wasting my time’.
“No,” I said. I’d started jacking myself off before she’d even arrived, so my breathing was a little ragged by this point, and it was getting hard to talk. “Should I?”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes, Kyle. Yes, you should.”
I groaned as she said my name. I wanted to hear it over and over again. I wanted her on her knees, moaning it while I fucked her.
“Again.” I focused on those amazing lips that I’d been wanting to kiss for the last three months. “Say it again.”
She glanced up, and her eyes went wide when she saw me looking at her.
“Say what again?”
I stroked myself faster. “My name, Charlie.” It was getting harder to catch my breath. “Say my name.” I was right on the edge, and just one word from her would send me over.
She stared at me for a beat, then stood up and looked away again. “No,” she said shortly. “And if you’re going to keep doing this, Kyle, we –” She clapped a hand over her mouth.
I groaned again, my cock jerking in my hand, my balls throbbing.
She bolted out the door as I was coming. By the time I’d finished shooting my load, I could hear her heels on the marble floor in the front hall. I laughed and rolled out of bed, stumbling towards the shower on shaky legs.
Yeah, this was turning into a pretty good week.
With my usual liquorice tea in hand, I wandered towards to the music room. I’d never have admitted to it, but the filing cabinet had been a good idea. It sure made it a hell of a lot easier to find our older tunes when I wanted to reuse a few phrases in a new song. I was even remembering to put my music away when I finished working on it.
Mostly remembering, anyway. Last night had been a bit of a blur. My muse decided to show up late, and I’d written until almost two. By that point I was exhausted, and I couldn’t be bothered to clean up. I figured I’d catch shit from Charlotte, but I could handle her.
At least, I thought I could.
She was tidying up the mess I’d left, humming one of our more popular ballads. But when she picked up the last piece of sheet music and looked at it, she stopped.
I watched her, leaning against the door frame, sipping my tea. Total déjà vu.
She held the sheet in her hand and studied the notes I’d scribbled on it. She started singing it, so softly I could barely hear her, and that ache in my chest slammed into me like a fucking eighteen-wheeler. I wrote most of the music for the band, but Tyler and I usually collaborated on lyrics. This song, though... I’d written it completely on my own, about a week after I’d met Charlotte.
“I remember your birthday like it was today...”
She could read music with the best of them. Just one more reason to fall for her.
“I held you in my arms, but you pushed me away.”
Wait... Fall for her? What was I, fucking insane?
“You let me come, baby, but you wouldn’t let me stay...”
I swallowed another mouthful of tea, but it went down hard past the lump in my throat.
“If I’d been a little stronger, I wouldn’t have to say...”
My chest hurt beyond words. Why the hell had I written this? More than that, why the fuck had I left it lying around for her to find?
When she started in on the chorus, I couldn’t stop myself from singing the harmony. I got about three bars in, and it was like Heaven opened up and slapped me across the face with an angel’s wings.
We were good together. Really good.
Too bad it couldn’t last.
“Where are you,” I sang.
“Where are you no–” She stopped singing and turned to me, her eyes wide. I just watched her. She took off her glasses and held out the sheet music. It trembled in her hand. “What the hell is this?” she whispered.
I stepped into the room and set my tea down on the piano without looking away from her. Her blue eyes were brimming with tears. One of them rolled down her cheek, and I reached out, wiping it away with my thumb.
“Do you really need me to answer that, Charlie?” I murmured. I pulled the music from her unresisting fingers and dropped it on the table.
She looked down at the sheet of paper. “Why did you write it?”
I shrugged. “Some people drink to forget the past. I write music.” I lifted her chin with my fingers, and she gave me a sad half-smile.
“Did it work?” she asked softly. “Did you forget about...” She swallowed. “About the past?”
I took that last step towards her and slid one hand into her hair. “No,” I said quietly. “And I don’t think I ever could.” I leaned down and kissed her, holding her against my chest, tasting her tongue as she opened her mouth under mine. A tiny piece of me was saying that this was not the best way to get her into my bed, but the ache in my chest was more than I could take.
We stood there in the music room, her arms around my neck, my mouth on hers, and I never wanted the kiss to end.
Again.
There was a knock against the open door, and my butler’s dry voice followed.
“Sir.”
I lifted my mouth from Charlotte’s and growled against her lips.
“Fuck off, Arthur.”
Once more, that voice like brittle leaves. “Miss White is here to see you, sir.”
I sighed and closed my eyes. Natasha. Great. What the hell did she want that couldn’t wait until rehearsal?
Charlotte pulled away and stepped back, swiping at her tears. Her eyes were filled with pain and hurt, and I was completely fucking confused.
“I’ll be back at nine-thirty to make sure you’re ready to go over lyrics with Tyler,” she said softly, and I glanced at the clock. She straightened her blouse and lifted her chin, her eyes dry now. I nodded slowly and she swept past me.
What the fuck had just happened?
Natasha pushed past Arthur, who unobtrusively disappeared. That man was a fucking ghost when he wanted to be. Natasha draped her dark, slender body over one of the club chairs next to the couch and smiled at me.
“Hey, lover boy.”
I took a long, slow breath. I fucking hated it when she called me that.
“How many times, Tasha?” I said. “We’re not dating any more.”
She laughed, smooth and throaty. Voice training can do that for you. I thought about Charlotte’s wild giggle after we’d fucked in her hall. I’d take that playful giggle over Natasha’s polished laughter any day.
“Oh, you know you want me,” Natasha said, grinning at me. As usual, her lipstick was the perfect complement to her coffee-coloured skin. Her honey-blonde hair shone in the morning sunlight.
“I want you to leave, yeah,” I snapped, folding my arms and glaring at her. “What’s so important that it can’t wait until this afternoon?”
She shrugged eloquently. “I heard you got a new PA. Wanted to see how badly he was kicking your ass.”
I’d asked the guys not to tell Natasha about Charlotte, because I fucking knew I’d have to deal with a wave of jealousy on her part. Natasha didn’t give a damn about groupies, but anyone with a brain was a huge threat to her. Unfortunately, I could only avoid the subject for so long before she found out what was going on.
Not that there was anything going on. Not any more, at least.
“She,” I said, and Natasha frowned darkly. It didn’t look good on her. “And she’s been fine so far. A bit of a hardass, but I can handle that.” Natasha didn’t need to know exactly how I’d handled Charlotte’s ass. Still, the thought of it –
– Isn’t really appropriate right now, man.
Right.
“Is that all?” I asked.
There’s this thing Natasha does when she thinks I’m not paying enough attention to her. She gets a weird sparkle in her eyes, and her mouth kind of quirks up at the corner, and her voice starts to develop a sort of Mae West vibe. I don’t really know how to describe it. But she was doing it now, and it was pissing me off. Partly because I was sick of her treating me like her own private property, but mostly because she’d interrupted an amazing kiss that might have led to something more.
Natasha unfolded herself from the chair and glided towards me, her body shifting like a cat’s. She was sleek and graceful and had the same temperament, so it was a pretty fair comparison.
I fucking hate cats.
She draped one arm around my neck as I stood there with my arms folded, not giving an inch.
“Oh, Kyle,” she purred. “You don’t need a PA.” She slid a nail over my left forearm, tracing the staff inked into my skin. “You just need the right woman to keep you steady.”
I glared at her. “No, what I need is for you to get the hell out of here before I throw you out.” I grabbed her arm and pulled it away from my neck. “I have shit to do.”
She smirked. “Working with Tyler, yeah?” She shrugged again. “Well, when you’re done, give me a call. I’d love to do a little collaborating with you.”
I stepped back and pointed to the door. “Out, Tasha. I’ll see you at rehearsal this afternoon.”
She laughed. “I’ll believe it when I see it, lover boy,” she said, flipping her hair. “You’ve been skipping rehearsal every few days for the last three months, and you’re just about due for another no-show.” She grinned. “Walt’s going to kill you if you’re not there today.”
“I’m aware of that,” I said through gritted teeth. “Now go.”
She flounced out of the room and I glanced at the clock again. Almost nine-thirty. Charlotte would be coming back soon, but I probably wouldn’t have time to ask her why the hell she was so upset.
I had no idea what the fuck had happened, and it looked like I wasn’t going to find out any time soon.