5
SKYLER
“All right, girls, spill it. Who’s your celebrity crush?” I ask, before plopping a large chunk of ice cream in my mouth, practically moaning around the strawberry flavor melting on my tongue.
Violeta’s eyes flare with joy. “I’m in love with Justin Bieber. He is perfect,” she says with a dreamy look in her eyes.
I cringe and laugh, tipping my head from side to side, thinking about the Bieb’s boyish looks and how he is absolutely not on my list of hotties.
Parker crosses his arms over his chest and purses his lips, waiting to hear what I have to say from across the table. I look him dead in the eye. “Not exactly my type. I prefer my men, well, quite a bit older and more manly.” I wink.
“Good answer, Peaches.” He smirks but turns to look at something Bo is showing him on his phone.
“What about you, Juliet?” I nudge her shoulder and smile, getting closer to her in case she’d rather whisper it.
“I don’t know. I haven’t really thought about it.” She focuses her attention on her gelato, mostly spinning the icy treat in a circle, making a slushy chocolate puddle instead of eating the creamy goodness.
“Sweet girl, what’s bothering you?”
Her lip trembles again, and she looks up at me with glassy eyes. “I’m never going to be what they want me to be. I don’t know if I can even sing in front of a room filled with people, let alone prance around in front of them. What will they see? A fat girl waddling around like a penguin, screeching out songs they don’t want to hear.”
My mouth drops open, and my entire body ignites into action. I scooch my chair over to her side right as Parker makes a snarling, animalistic noise across the table. Apparently he heard what she said and is as unhappy about it as I am.
“Look here, we’ve heard your recording. You’re beyond incredible. You have natural talent. It’s a God-given gift. Do you believe in God?”
She nods and sucks her lips into her mouth, leaving no pink at all visible.
“Then you need to believe that he wouldn’t bring you to this place in your life without a plan. The stage is set. We just have to get you ready for it. And I promise you, we will. Me, Parker, Bo . . .”
“And me! I’m not going anywhere until you are settled and happy in this new phase of your life,” Violeta promises. “And remember back when I was scared to model, and get out on that catwalk in the galleria and walk in front of all those people?”
“Yeah,” Juliet mumbles.
“And do you remember what you said to me?” Violeta encourages her sister to keep talking.
Juliet bites her lip and nods.
“You said, the first time is always going to be the hardest, but after that, you’ve already done it so it will be easy. Like me and modeling, each new thing I have to do is hard the first time, but then, once I’ve done it, it’s easy. Piece of cake.”
Juliet closes her eyes. “It’s different for me.” Her voice is so low I have to dip my head even closer to hear. “You’re perfect. Everyone wants to look at you. Tall. Thin. Beautiful.”
Violeta’s eyes go hard, and before she can speak, I shake my head and place my hand on Juliet’s back. “You’re beautiful. You’re small, petite, curvy, and gorgeous. You just wait, I’m going to show you what you don’t see, but we do.”
“And what do you see, Skyler?” Juliet’s hazel orbs seem to dig deep into mine, on a quest for a truth she’s desperately needing to hear.
“I see me. The me I was before my mother showed me that I was a talented actress, that I might have been gawky and quirky, but I’d grow with my craft. I’d find the me I was meant to be on the screen. And I did. It took a little while, but with her love and care, I blossomed, and you will too. I’ll make sure of it.”
Juliet places her hand over mine in a bold move I didn’t expect. She squeezes my hand. “Thank you. Even if it doesn’t work, it means a lot that you want to try.”
“Do you want to try? Is this something that you want to do with your life?” If it comes down to her not wanting to do this job, feeling pressured, none of this will work out at all.
Parker leans over the table and rephrases my question. “Do you want to be a singer, sweetheart?”
“It’s always been my dream.” She swallows and sits up a little straighter.
“Never stop dreaming. Now’s your time to shine. To show the world what you’ve got,” I tell her, and believe it straight down to my soul.
She nods and lets out a tortured breath. Her sister puts her arm around her back, showing her support and love.
“Will you work hard with us on making your dream come true?” I ask her. “Because there are three things I know for a fact in this world: nothing is free, nothing is guaranteed, and it takes hard work and sacrifice to make a dream a reality. Are you prepared to work hard?”
“Yeah, but I’m scared.”
I smile wide. “I’d be surprised if you weren’t. Dreams have the power to become nightmares if you don’t work toward making them beautiful. You just have to believe. Believe in us, because we’d never lead you astray. Believe in your sister’s love and support. Believe in your gift. Most importantly, you have to believe in yourself.”
Juliet takes in a deep breath and pushes her hair back on one side, making the scar around her eye that Alejandro mentioned more visible. It’s kind of like a crescent moon around one soulful hazel orb. The shape of it actually gives me some ideas.
She notices my gaze is zeroed in on her scar, and she moves to cover it again with her hair.
“How did you get the scar?” I push her hair back from her face and tuck the strands behind her ear.
Violeta grimaces. “It was my fault . . .”
Juliet shakes her head. “No, it was an accident.”
“If I hadn’t been messing around, being stupid, getting drunk with that boy, it wouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s no big deal.”
“It is a big deal because ever since it happened, you hide your face,” Violeta spouts, frustration clear in her tone.
“Tell me what happened?” I ask softly. I don’t want to startle them or bring up a bad memory, but it’s obviously a bit of an issue between the sisters.
“I was dating a boy. It was stupid. He was in college. Juliet warned me not to go to the party with him and his friends. I did. They got me so drunk I could barely stand up. I had enough sense to call Juliet to come get me. She did. The guy followed us to where Juliet had parked in an alley near the house. When she tried to get him to leave, he punched her. He was wearing a pointed ring that must have had a prong sticking out around the stone. The ring caught her skin, and he tried to shake her off. That’s when I hit him on the back with a two-by-four I found in the alley, and we got in the car and left. Unfortunately, the damage to Juliet’s face was done.”
“Jesus.” Parker’s voice is a low, anger-filled vibration across the table.
“You know this guy’s name? Where he is?” Bo asks with barely concealed malice, entering the conversation for the first time. He grips the table across from us so hard his knuckles turn white.
Both girls shake their heads. “It was three years ago. Juliet was only sixteen. I hadn’t turned eighteen yet. We’re eighteen months apart.”
“You got any name at all?” Bo asks.
“Full name? No. Just Rico.”
Both Bo and Parker fume across the table.
I attempt to put out the fire brewing. “Relax, guys. It’s in the past.”
“But—” Parker starts, and I hold up a hand.
“But nothing, honey. It’s over and done with. Anyway, this is what I think would be super cool. I don’t think we should hide the scar. We should show it off and tell the story of how you saved each other from a situation that got out of hand. Not only would it help you both let that attack go, it might help other girls who are being unsafe make better choices.”
Violeta beams bright as noonday sun. God, she’s beautiful and is going to have a long modeling career.
“And you said something about showing off the scar? How?” Juliet traces the jagged skin around her eye.
“Well, it looks like a crescent moon. Let’s get you some tiny stick-on jewels to trace the edge. It can be part of your signature if you like it.”
“Jewels?” She perks up.
“I can totally see it! A bright-white crystal with some royal blues mixed in with aqua and greens to go with her eyes. I’m also seeing white leather. Sweetheart, stand up.” Bo gestures to Juliet, who suddenly looks scared as a baby lamb.
“Just go with it. Bo gets these crazy ideas all the time, but, sweetheart, they always work,” Parker adds in a soothing, encouraging manner.
She pushes back her seat and stands up.
“Remove your hoodie, sweet girl.” I get where Bo is going with this idea and love every single second of it.
She unzips the large sweatshirt and passes it to her sister. She’s now in a black ribbed tank top that accentuates her very large bosom. Girl must be at least a D if not a double D. And on her petite stature—yowza!—the boys are going to go wild for her.
Bo takes off his white leather jacket and places it over her shoulders.
“Oh yeah, I’m seeing this and loving it!” I nod excitedly.
Juliet pushes her arms through the leather as I take off one of my long beaded crystal necklaces and loop it over her head multiple times, making the loops fall strategically over her bare skin in a cascading waterfall of beads.
Violeta squeals. “¡Estás muy sexy!”
Juliet’s gaze locks with her sister’s, and Violeta is nodding and clapping excitedly.
Across the room, there’s a half mirror, and I lead Juliet over to it, right in the middle of the store.
Her mouth falls open when she sees herself. I lift up her hair into a sleek, sophisticated ponytail coming to the side. “I’m thinking a cool side ponytail with big curls.” I trace the scar around her eye. “Some interesting crystals arcing here with some rockin’ makeup and a bright-pink gloss. Fluttering eyelashes and some contouring around the cheeks. Girl . . . you are so gonna rock the stage.”
Juliet runs her hands down the front of her chest, glances at herself from side to side, and I can almost see the wheels spinning.
I lean forward and rest my chin on the crown of her head. “Do you like what you see? Can you imagine the rest?”
She nods and sniffs, her eyes getting glassy.
“Ah, ah,” I warn. “No tears, remember.” I wink, and she grins wide, her big smile making her an absolute knockout just like her sister.
“I like it. I like how you see me.”
“Sweet girl, that’s not how I see you. That’s how everyone but you sees you. And I’m not going back to the States until you see it too.”
Juliet bites into her lip. “Promise?” She frowns.
I loop my arm around her upper chest and hug her from behind. “I promise.”
“Thank you, Skyler. I’m not going to let you down.” She firms her chin and stands up straighter.
“Oh, you couldn’t. Together with this team and your sister, we’re going to help make your dreams come true.”
Juliet closes her eyes, and when she opens them, I’m hit with a sensation so intense I almost have to adjust my footing for how much it knocks the wind out of me.
“I believe you.” Her words dig right into my soul and burrow there in a way I know will never let me forget this moment. The moment I chose to help change someone’s life . . . forever.
“And I believe in you.”
“Peaches, you were amazing with her today.” Parker’s arm closes around me from behind as I stand in front of the bathroom vanity and pat my face dry after washing away my makeup.
I lean against his warmth, staring at the two of us in the mirror. “Yeah?”
He grins and presses his lips against the spot where my shoulder and neck meet. “Yeah. A natural. I may have to hire you on a more permanent basis.” He bites into the muscle there.
I moan and chuckle, laying my arms over his, enjoying his warmth and close proximity. “She just needs to believe in herself.”
He runs his lips along my scapula. “Mm-hmm.” There’s a kiss followed by a little teeth action he knows drives me wild. “You’re right, and you’re the perfect woman and shining example of what happens when you believe in your gift and work hard.”
I spin around, hating that I’m losing his ministrations and what he was working up to from behind, but wanting to be eye to eye. I loop my arms around his neck and focus on his deep-blue eyes, which, right now, look like two endlessly clear swimming pools. “You think so?”
Parker caresses my nose with his, not stumped at all by the new position, just changing his suave sexual tactics, running a hand from my lower back where my camisole sits and teasing the skin there to slip his hand into my bikini briefs and cup a full cheek. “I know so.” He places his lips against my neck and grinds my lower half against his thickening erection.
I bite down on my lip and tip my head back so he can get more of my neck. “I’m thinking of taking a much lighter acting schedule after the A-Lister movies are filmed.” My breath is a sigh when he licks up the column of my neck, making me tingle all over.
“Oh yeah . . .” His other hand gets in on the action, pushing at my panties until I wiggle out of them and they fall to the floor. Once they’re there, I kick them aside.
“Mm-hmm.” I balance my hands behind me on the vanity, knocking a few bottles into the sink.
He chuckles, and I feel it down there. Hot and needy between my thighs, aching with every new piece of skin he touches.
“And what do you plan to do if you’re not acting full time?” He grips my ass, lifts me up onto the vanity, and spreads my legs wide.
“Um . . . hmm.” I lose my train of thought as his chin dips into my camisole and his fingers find my center. He teases between my thighs, never dipping in, but stoking the fire with each feather-light touch. “Honey . . . ,” I say as a half sigh, half plea.
“No, no, no. Keep talking, or I’m going to stop.” He removes his hand from between my thighs, and I immediately come out of my pleasure daze.
“I’m thinking about opening an acting academy for kids, including a scholarship program for kids that are less fortunate. Even teaching some acting classes myself.” I tunnel my hand into his hair as he runs his mouth back down my chest, pressing me back so my head and shoulders lean against the mirror while he keeps moving down. He grips my knees, runs his hands up my thighs, and stares between my legs at my bare sex. His nostrils flare as he inhales, closing his eyes as though he just stuck his nose into the oven while chocolate chip cookies were being baked and got a whiff of sugary heaven.
“Christ, baby, you make me crazy. Ravenous. Wild.” He cups my ass with both hands, tips my pelvis so that he can get a better angle, and dips his head. Right before he touches down with his tongue, his blue gaze lifts to mine. “Keep talking. I want to know about your plans.”
I let out a stuttering breath. “Now?” I cup his head, bringing him even closer to where I want him.
He curls his lip with that sexy-as-fuck smirk I know means business. If I don’t keep up the game, he won’t give me what I want. Sexy bastard.
“It’s all fun and games until somebody gets hurt,” he jokes.
I squeeze my legs around him, digging my heels into his lower back. “Yeah, you, if you don’t put your mouth on me,” I admonish half jokingly.
He chuckles and then leans forward, sticks out his tongue flat against my flesh, and gives me one luscious, long lick.
“Honey . . .” I need more, need everything.
“Talk.” He cocks a brow and looks at me, his blue gaze swimming with heat when he swirls the tip of his tongue around my clit in maddening, delicious circles, but not enough to take me to the peak any time soon.
“Um, I want to help kids. Give kids less fortunate—” He sucks the entire bundle of nerves into his mouth and grinds his prickly chin against my core. “Oh God.” I tighten my legs around his body, lifting my hips to get more of that mouth on me and harder.
He caves for a full minute, going to town on me, licking, sucking, nibbling, until I’m panting, straining, forgetting everything but his talented mouth and devious tongue.
“Give kids less fortunate what?” He pulls back and kisses my thigh.
I shake my head, the haze of lust swirling so intensely I lift my hips, humping the air, wanting that mouth back on me. “Honey, please . . . I need you.”
He grins, licks his glistening lips, and hums low in his throat.
Sexy as hell. Tasting me on his mouth like that.
I mewl in protest, wanting that mouth on me, his tongue in me, kissing me . . . anywhere, everywhere.
“I know you do. And I like our game, so I need you to tell me what else you plan to do with your life, since I plan to be in that life until you take your last breath.”
“Uh, uh, okay. I plan to open an acting academy, teach kids how to act, and give those less fortunate a free ride so they can work on their dreams in a safe place where someone will listen. I want to do that and have my own babies and take them to work if I want or hire people to help . . . and I don’t know . . .” His tongue is leisurely delving in and out of me, and I can barely focus. “God, please, just fuck me, honey.”
He smiles huge. Stands up, shucks off his briefs, widens my legs around him, centers the glistening wet tip of his cock at my entrance, and eases home. I lock my limbs around him and grind down, making sure he’s as deep as he can go.
“Yes!” I cry out, my head falling back as his lips fall against my neck.
“Love your idea, Peaches. Sounds awesome, but I don’t want you to give up your dream to be home for me.” He eases out and thrusts inside, long and so deep my teeth chatter against one another.
I hold on, getting my leverage on his shoulders. “I won’t give up anything. It’s what I’ve always wanted. And when it’s time, I want to be with our babies—all the time, not just some of the time.”
“Fuck, Sky. Stop talking and let me love you,” he growls, sucking on my neck. The bathroom is becoming warm and misty with our combined sweat.
“I’m going to kiss them every day,” I promise, and cry out when his cock hits my cervix in a pleasurable, not altogether painless, jab.
“Christ!” He groans, licking my neck where he was sucking.
“Gonna love our children with an intensity they’ll never understand until they meet the person they’re supposed to spend their lives with and have their own babies. Uh, uh, honey, honey . . .” I cry out, my body flaring in ecstasy from the tips of my toes, up my legs, ass, groin, back, and chest. My nipples are so hard against the camisole I’m wearing that the soft fabric feels like wool grating over them, pinching and pleasurable at the same time.
“Perfect. Fucking. Woman.” He hammers into me over and over, sealing every word I said to him with an intense thrust that has my ass slapping against the marble counter so hard I may have a bruise tomorrow. “You come. You come now, Sky. Come all over your man’s cock,” he grates through clenched teeth, his filthy request turning on every nerve ending, triggering the mother of all orgasms.
My body tightens around his, muscles screaming, burning, the space between my thighs throbbing, wet, and locking around his girth for dear life as I lose myself in his arms. I can fall into the abyss, knowing he’ll be there to make sure I have a safe journey.
In my haze, I feel his body jerk into mine a handful of times before he plasters my body against his chest, holds my face to his neck, and bites down on the ball of my shoulder as he shakes. His cock is buried deep when he goes off, coating my insides, touching me everywhere he can. Inside and out.