CHAPTER FIVE.
The next evening, Penny and Desiree were in the middle of picking out Desiree’s outfit for the evening when Desiree explained to Penny what she had decided to do.
“I can’t see any way around it, Pen. I have to sleep with someone else. The way I see it, if I can’t have the guy I want, I’ll have a different guy. And that should make me forget about the first guy, right?”
That sounded much less sleazy when I first thought it up.
She noticed Penny’s appalled expression and her hackles went up. “What? It’s pretty much the same thing that you guys wanted me to do the other day.”
“Except it's nothing like it.” Penny seemed to be genuinely offended by the thought of forgetting about one guy by sleeping with another. “We were talking about exploring real feelings between two consenting adults. This is you sleeping with one guy, so you can forget another guy.”
“So?”
“God, Desiree, there are a hundred things wrong with that. What if the second guy falls for you? What if he finds out you’ve just been using him? And what if it doesn’t work? What if you still want the first guy after you’ve had the second guy?”
“Geez, Pen, I thought you’d be all over this, Miss Romantic.”
“This isn’t romantic, it’s… I don’t know what it is, but it’s definitely not romantic. And I don’t like it.”
“I don’t need you to like it. All I need you to do is wingman for me.”
Desiree could see the condemnation in Penny’s eyes, and she flushed. Penny was right. It was not Desiree’s finest idea. But Desiree didn’t do commitment, and Jack Duncan would be a commitment. Desiree kept things light and easy, so she would never be in the same situation as her mother, crying over and over again at a husband who conveniently forgot he had a wife every time a new piece of arse crossed his path.
Jack Duncan was making Desiree think about more than just light and easy, and it scared her to death.
“Please, Pen? I have to do this. I have to get Jack Duncan out of my head.” She tilted her head and gazed at Penny, batting her eyelashes.
“Oh stop it, Des, you know I can’t say no when you give me the puppy dog look.”
“I know.” Desiree smiled and waggled an eyebrow at her.
“Fine, I’ll go with you. But,” Penny said, raising a warning finger, “if it all goes pear shaped, don’t come crying to me for sympathy, ‘cos you won’t get any.”
“Like I would anyway. You know I don’t cry. Now, where were we?” She jumped up off the bed, and rummaged in her wardrobe. After a couple of seconds, Penny joined her.
The Universal in Northbridge was packed, as always. The live band didn’t start until 9:30, and since it was the bass guitarist from The Dirty Thirties that she had her eye on, she didn’t see any point in arriving before that time. She and Penny had a few drinks at home, and then called an Uber to take them into town.
As she shuffled through the crowd to get to the bar, Desiree smiled. This was her scene. She loved to be in amongst all the bodies having a good time. This early in the night, everyone was still happily drunk. In a few hours some of the people would become unhappily drunk, but Desiree hoped she would have achieved her objective by then, and she and Steve, the bassist, would be gone. She reminded Penny that she would probably go home with Steve, but all she got in reply was an eye roll, and a sarcastic rejoinder that Penny was big enough to get home all by herself.
Putting her elbow on the bar, Desiree turned to look for Steve. There he was, on the right of the stage, looking extremely sexy in black jeans and a burgundy t-shirt that flattered his muscular build. He wasn’t overly tall, maybe a little under six foot, but his body was ripped, and Desiree thought he must work out to have muscles like those.
Desiree had chatted to Steve a couple of times, and once they had progressed to kissing, but it had never gone further than that. To Desiree, he had been cute, maybe not too bright, but definitely engaging enough to pursue.
Tonight, she was going to snag Steve.
Desiree knew she looked hot. Dressed in black as always, she had worn strategic black that left large bits of her porcelain skin and her tattoos on view. Her black vinyl skirt was pleated and very short, and she had topped it off with a black vest, only buttoned up enough so that her boobs, encased in a red lacy bra, didn’t pop out, although sneaky peeks of the bra could be seen. Dark, smoky grey eyeshadow and claret red lipstick enhanced her green eyes and full lips. She wore boots to her thighs and a choker around her neck. Of course, her charm bracelet was around her wrist. She needed all the luck she could get tonight.
Pen was dressed in a short blue dress, not anywhere near as short as Desiree’s, and pretty, flirty heels. She looked like a fun, funky chick who was getting ready to dance and have a good time with her girlfriends. Which is exactly what she was planning to do. She had taken one look at Desiree and shook her head. “You look slutty. Your arse is going to be on show all night.”
“No it isn’t.” Desiree twisted around, trying to see her backside in the mirror on the bedroom door. “Only if I bend over, and I don’t think I even can in these heels. I’d end up flat on my face.” She smiled. “It’ll work, believe me.” Penny just glowered and shook her head.
But it did work. Guys all around were drooling, their eyes following her. She sauntered across the room, careful not to trip in her heels. That would completely ruin the look.
Then again, it worked for Lydia.
Lydia had fallen into the arms of the guy she was going out with tonight. Desiree considered for a moment, then shook her head. She figured she would look awkward and lanky if she fell, even if she did it on purpose.
No, stick to the plan, Desiree.
Once they had gotten a drink, Desiree and Penny moved to the dance floor. Desiree camped in front of where Steve was, and proceeded to sway seductively to the music, her eyes on Steve. When he noticed her, which didn’t take long, his eyes riveted on to her.
Penny rolled her eyes, and shook her head, dancing on her own and ignoring Desiree’s obvious flirtation.
Steve’s jaw was practically on the floor, and he must have hit a bad note or two because the rest of the band were glancing over at him, then following his eyes down into the mass of dancers, and raising their eyebrows when they saw Desiree.
Desiree was pleased. The strategy was playing out with military precision. Any slight niggles of conscience she had were impatiently pushed aside. They only distracted her from the task at hand, which was to secure Steve and take him home. Sex was the strategy - hot, steamy, slippery sex with no ties and no regrets. That’s what she needed. Something to stop her thinking about Jack, about his sexy grin, his lost little boy expression that plucked at her heartstrings…
No! Stop thinking about him!
She returned her gaze to the stage, to Steve. He was the one. He would make her forget.
Desiree made a beeline for him when the set ended and he stepped down from the stage.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey you,” Steve replied. “Don’t you look amazing tonight.”
She smiled enticingly. “Thanks. You’re looking pretty hot yourself.”
“Well, you know, up under the lights on the stage, it gets pretty hot.” It wasn’t until Steve grinned that Desiree realised he was making a joke.
“I’m just going to get a drink. Want one?” Steve indicated the bar and Desiree nodded. He turned to walk up to the bar.
When they got there, Desiree hooked her hand around his bicep as he ordered their drinks. She noticed one of his eyebrows raise in surprise, but didn’t say anything until he turned to her two drinks in hand.
“Something’s up with you tonight, Desiree. And I can’t work out what it is. But I thought you could use these.” Steve handed her a shot as well as the Jacks and Coke she had asked for.
“No, I’m fine,” she said, downing the shot in one gulp, then taking a swig of the other drink as well.
“Right.” Steve took a moment longer to drink his shot, looking into Desiree’s eyes as he did so. Then, he leaned in and kissed her.
Desiree tried really hard to recall the sparks she had felt when Steve kissed her the first time. She knew they weren’t particularly bright sparks, but they had been there. But now, she felt nothing. Oh, it was nice, kissing a hot guy, but there seemed to be no magnetism whatsoever. She tried shifting position, moving around to stand in front of him, locked at the lips so that they could be toe to toe, hip to hip. He stood up straight, his arms pulling her in close, his hands on the bare skin at her waist. He pushed at her lips with his tongue, and she let him invade her mouth. She could feel his heart pounding, and the heat and sweat on his body, and she knew she should be turned on, but she just wasn’t.
She pulled away, just about ready to tell him sorry, when he blew out a short breath and said, “Wow. I hope that did it for you, because it definitely did it for me.”
Her mouth fell open but she quickly hid her astonishment and hit him with the sexiest smile she could muster. “Absolutely,” she said, ignoring the little internal voice screaming at her ‘Abort! Abort!’
Just then, Penny came bouncing up, flushed and smiling. “Hey you guys. Good to see you again, Stan, wasn’t it?”
“Uh, Steve.” He raised a confused eyebrow at Desiree, and she said, “You remember Penny don’t you Steve? My best friend? Well, one of them anyway. I was at the gig with her and Lydia last time.”
Steve nodded, though he obviously had no idea who Penny was. Pen turned to Desiree and said, “You’ll never guess who I found in a corner over there.” She pointed over to a darkened part of the room, filled with bodies and noise.
“Who?”
“Marc.”
“Really? From your theater?”
“Yep. Amanda and Aidan are over there as well, and some other guys from their band. They’re going to go to the Paramount later and I thought I’d go with them, if that’s okay with you?”
“You’ll be able to get home alright?”
“I’ll be fine. Marc will make sure I get home. He’s good with details like that.” She smiled at them, but Desiree detected a hint of concern in her friend’s eyes. “Did you guys want to come with us?” Penny indicated that she meant Desiree and Steve, apparently forgetting that Steve had an appointment onstage.
“Well I can’t, but you’re cool to go with your friends if you want.” Steve said the words lightly, but he watched Desiree closely. It was obvious he wanted her to stay.
Desiree felt something like a hard lump lodge itself in her lower stomach. She knew she should leave Steve alone. He was a nice guy, and it was slutty to hook up with him to take her mind off someone else. He didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Then again, she had already known all that when she stepped out the door in her fuck-me boots earlier that evening. Why was she questioning the plan now? She was sure Steve wouldn’t care what her reason was, so long as they ended up in bed together by the end of the night. And he didn’t strike her as a long term commitment kind of guy, so she didn’t need to worry about him hassling her afterward. He was the perfect candidate for a forgetting fling.
Gulping down her finer feelings, Desiree smiled at Pen. “You go with Marc and Amanda. I’ll be okay here with Steve.”
Penny looked at her narrowly, and said in a voice that only Desiree could hear, “Last chance.”
Desiree stared at her, and Penny lifted one eyebrow. Desiree gulped, unbidden tears forming in her eyes. Penny was giving her every opportunity not to go ahead with her plan. Just like a best friend who thought you were doing the wrong thing would do.
Please understand, Pen. I need this.
“No, I’ll stay here.”
“Alrighty then,” Pen said cheerily, her eyes still concerned. “I’m on my phone if you need me. Good to see you again Stan.” She threw them a cheery wave and was off again, digging her way through the mire of bodies back to Marc and his friends.
Desiree exhaled a breath she didn’t even realise she had been holding, then turned around in Steve’s arms, stretching her hands out over the back of his shoulders and leaning her body against him.
“When does your gig finish?”
Steve grinned. “Why? What did you have in mind?”
“Well, I thought maybe we could go have a drink, maybe a dance, then maybe you’ll take me home.”
“Sweet.”