Her curiosity confused me.

I mean, I didn’t see myself as some lame ass nigga or anything like that. But I couldn’t help wondering what it was that could possibly have someone like Aspen Watson this interested in learning more about very regular me; sharing sandwiches and asking a million questions like any of it actually mattered to her.

She was a famous actress with a box-office hit under her belt, and I… cut hair with a side hustle as a chauffeur - was currently her chauffeur. She did everything she could to make it seem like that wasn’t the case - sitting in the front seat, opening her own door, inviting me up to her hotel suite when she went to do a quick change of clothes for The Max instead of letting me stay put in the car like I insisted - but the facts were still the facts. I was spending time with her as a part of my job.

A blessing of a job it was, though, since it somehow had Aspen walking out of the bedroom of her suite towards me in only her bra and panties with two dresses in her hands.

“I’ve never actually been to The Max. Which one of these is more appropriate for the vibe there?”

I was supposed to be looking at the dresses, but I struggled to pull my eyes away from her bangin’ ass body. The wardrobe team for the movies she’d been a part of must’ve worked overtime to mask it since I would’ve never guessed she was workin’ with so much of everything.

Tits, and hips, and ass, and...

“I’m sorry. I guess I’m so used to being in front of strangers in next to nothing that I forgot how uncomfortable it could make you. I’ll go cover up.”

She was already headed back to the bedroom when I quickly stood up to tell her, “Nah, you’re good.” And that was enough for her to turn back around, holding the dresses in front of her as I scrubbed a hand against the back of my neck and decided, “Uh… the red one looks nice.”

With a smirk, she challenged, “You mean, the red one that’s so obviously burgundy?”

I shrugged. “Still red.”

She was sure to emphasize, “Burgundy dress it is then,” before she headed back into the bedroom. And not even a few minutes later, she was calling out to me from there. “Hey, Orlando. Can you come here right quick?”

The possibility of her still being in her bra and panties had me quick to respond, only slightly disappointed when I got to the room and discovered she’d already gotten the dress on. Well, most of the dress on, the back of it hanging open which explained her request for me to come to her.

Standing in the mirror, she clutched the front of it to her chest that was now braless as she asked, “Can you zip this up for me, please?”

“Do I look like a wardrobe assistant to you?” I teased, moving behind her to take care of her zipper as she did a little teasing of her own.

“Nah, they’re never as good lookin’ as you, Orlando.”

Her compliment made me chuckle. “If gassing me up is your way of making me feel better about being your lackey, that shit is not working.”

“Oh my God. It is just a zipper!” she whined, making me even chuckle harder since I was only joking around.

Letting that be known, I told her, “I’m messin’ with you, little mama,” catching the smirk on her face through the mirror as I took another glance at her dress and asked, “You mind if I smooth you out back here?”

The back of her dress wasn’t exactly wrinkled, but the way it was designed had the fabric sitting weird in certain places I wasn’t sure she could reach on her own. And I suppose it was nothing for Aspen to have someone fix her clothes for her - touch her - since she was quick to answer, “Please do.”

Once she gave me the green light, I was careful about adjusting it against her frame without leaving a stain since the whole thing had my palms sweating. And after I was finished, Aspen gave me another appreciative smirk through the mirror, turning around to face me when she gushed, “Thank you, Orlando.”

“I got you.”

I was already stepping away, mainly so I wouldn’t get lost in those pretty ass eyes of hers, until she said, “Okay, one more thing. Then I’m done getting on your nerves, for real.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at that, turning back around as I told her, “It’s not a problem, Aspen. I told you before, I was just messin’ with you.”

She was quick to agree, “I know, I know. But you signed up to drive me around; not… do all of this.”

Ignoring her reasoning, I asked, “What you need, little mama?”

Sifting through her box of jewelry, she answered, “This necklace always gives me trouble when I try to put it on myself. But from your vantage point, it should be easy peasy.”

Before she could even hand it to me, I insisted, “Lemme wipe my hands off first,” knowing there was no way I could mess around with a necklace latch with sweaty hands. But instead of letting me go by myself, she followed me inside the bathroom, standing next to me at the counter as she explained, “So this part right here hooks onto this part right here. And then this part hooks onto this part, but you have to do this part first.”

“Why’d they make this shit so complicated in the first place?” I asked, squeezing the towel against my hands as hard as I could to get rid of any excess before accepting the jewelry I could already tell had cost her a pretty penny.

Aspen only doubled down on that thought when she gave me her back and replied, “Because that’s what these overpriced brands do. We call it complicated, they call it exclusive.”

“You right,” I agreed, doing my best to follow her exclusive ass instructions. And with a little maneuvering plus getting all up in her personal space to see better, I got it taken care of, taking a step back with plans of checking out my job well done in the mirror. But that quickly got turned into checking her out in the mirror, the dress and necklace in combination with the touches she’d put on her hair and makeup damn near making my mouth water as I finally pushed out, “Looks good on you.”

Instead of responding to me with words, she turned around towards me with her burgundy-painted lip pulled between her teeth, her hazel eyes doing a dangerous number on me as she got closer… and closer. And in no time at all, her hand was wrapped around the back of my neck as she pulled my face down to meet her lips for the sweetest kiss; a kiss that hardly registered in my head as real before she was already pulling away to say, “We should probably get going.”

Again, I found myself struggling to push out, “Yeah… we should.” And just like that, she went back into the bedroom to get her shoes on, leaving me in the bathroom to figure out what the hell had just happened.

Did I really just… kiss Aspen Watson?

Nah, nigga. She definitely kissed you, though.

With a hand to my lips, I checked for any tell-all signs in the mirror, the teeny bit of burgundy lipstick on the corner of my mouth giving me the answer I was looking for as I gently wiped at it before heading back to the bedroom to find Aspen checking out her full assemble one last time. Then she grabbed her purse and started to head out of the room as she asked, “You ready?”

Before she could escape, I caught her by the wrist to answer, “Yeah. Ready for you to explain what that little stunt you just pulled in the bathroom was all about.”

She had already confused me enough with her interest alone. Letting something like a kiss go unexplained wasn’t even an option. But of course, she tried to make it sound simple, brushing a gentle hand against my chest when she said, “It was just a kiss, Orlando. Consider it a... thank you for your services.”

“In that case…”

Catching her off-guard the same way she had caught me, I brought my hand to her chin, tilting her head back before I crashed my lips against hers. Then I took things a step further than she had when I slipped my tongue between her red lips and devoured her mouth, eliciting a moan from deep down in her throat before I pulled away and told her, “Consider that a you’re welcome.”

For a second, she looked stunned. But then that stunned expression turned into a sexy smirk that had me wanting to do it again until I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Aspen stayed nearby as I pulled it out to see what it was, neither of us being surprised that it was a text from Kelvin.

Kelvin: “Y’all on the way?”

Aspen didn’t make things any easier on me, running a hand down my beard as she sweetly asked, “Are we… on the way, Orlando?”

Her touch in combination with the look in her eyes and the kisses from a few moments earlier had me ready to answer no and take her pretty ass straight to the bed. But I wasn’t about to embarrass myself by believing any of this was real just to find out she was only fucking with me. I mean, she literally did this shit for a living, went into character at the drop of a hat, teased and taunted with no real plans of acting on it before the scene was cut. And even if she was the one asking the question - had been the one to deliver the first kiss - I wasn’t convinced of her motives enough to not pull away with an excuse.

“I’m a man of my word, Aspen. And I told my boss for the moment I’d have you there at eleven, so...”

She let off a chuckle that almost seemed filled with disbelief. “How respectable of you.”

“I do what I can,” I replied with a shrug, releasing a breath I hadn’t even realized I was holding once she started walking towards the door.

Damn.

Little mama really has you shook.

Of course, my first inhale was filled with the scent of her perfume, teasing me in the same way her touch had when she peeked over her shoulder to say, “Somehow, I never doubted that.” And while I wondered why she felt so confident, I figured this was just another example of her displaying her talent for being able to read people - read me.

The elevator ride down to the lobby was quiet. But once we were there, I was reminded of who Aspen really was when a gang of teenage girls immediately recognized her then swarmed her for pictures and autographs that she happily delivered; even going as far as asking me to take a few pictures of her and the group on her own phone.

It was cool to see her in action, dope to see how adored she was by the community. And honestly, I felt silly for skipping out on what might’ve really been my chance with her since I wasn’t sure she’d ever make the offer again.

It seemed as if that was the case once we finally made it to my car and Aspen chose to sit in the backseat instead of the front, spending the entire ride on her phone instead of playing twenty-one questions the way she’d been doing since I picked her up from the airport. And by the time we pulled up to the club, I was more annoyed with myself than anything when I told her, “Here’s your stop.”

Peeking up from her phone for the first time, she asked, “Wait. You’re not joining us?”

I shook my head. “Nah, the club scene ain’t really my thing. I’ll be here to pick you up and take you back to the hotel when y’all are done, though.”

While it was obvious she wasn’t too happy about my response, she still managed to save face, gnawing into her lip before she pushed out, “Oh. Well, alright. I guess I’ll see you then.”

With a nod, I climbed out of the car to go open her door, surprised that she actually waited for me to do it. But the saddened look in her eyes once she made it out had me feeling a way, struggling to speak myself when I simply told her, “Have fun, Aspen.”