Chapter Four
“Hey! Ariel, wait up!” Zeke's steel toed boots pounded against the ground as he darted towards her after Sing It! episode finished. “I want to apologize for-”
“I swear, if Jared said something to you, I'm going to kill him.” She finally stopped and whirled around.
He cringed.
“Ugh. Seriously? I told him I don't want any damn special treatment! How much do you know?”
“I just know he's watching out for you. That's it,” Zeke swore. Her comment only made him wonder, though. What did she not want people to know?
“So then, why are you apologizing?”
He got a good look at her. Stunning red hair fanned her face. Thinking of her name and the hair color, he chuckled.
“Umm ... what's so funny exactly?” And when she narrowed those gorgeous eyes at her, he couldn't help but stare.
“You have red hair.”
“Huh? I had no idea my red hair is funny,” Ariel replied.
“Your name is Ariel, and you have red hair.” He stepped forward and gently touched a lock of it. “Plus, you sing.” An image of the cartoon mermaid flashed in his mind. From there it got worse, as he thought of breasts beneath seashells. Damn. His gaze traveled down to Ariel's boobs. She had quite a pair. Zeke licked his lips, his mouth going dry. He'd better get a hold of his train of thoughts before he did something stupid.
Like kiss her.
At least her lips weren't blood red like the cartoon character. That would just be too wild.
“My mother was on a Disney movie kick when she was pregnant with me. You can guess who her favorite Princess was.” Ariel grimaced. “The red hair and the singing was too perfectly coincidental. My sister's name is Belle, and she loves books, but she doesn't have brown hair. Hers is blonde. I have my mother's hair and eyes, while my sister got my dad's genes.”
“Did she marry a beast and get the library?”
“No, she's single, jaded, and writes for a glamor magazine, but she tells me all the time how she's so unglamorous.”
Zeke laughed. “You've got me officially intrigued. So, Belle was your mother's favorite character when pregnant with your sister, huh?”
“Yep. Good thing she was a girl, otherwise she may have named my potential brother Beast.”
“Yuck.” He cringed. “Or Gaston.”
“Oh no. My mother never liked that character. She'd have chosen Beast over a semi-normal name.” Ariel laughed.
Her laugh distracted him. Big time.
“So, what was it you were going to say before we got into the Disney and hair discussion?”
Ah, back to seriousness and the subject at hand.
“I know I was hard on you the other night.” At the word hard, his mind went dirty. Again. Hell.
“You don't have to apologize. I'm going to be fine. It's just a show.” Her voice hardened.
“Ariel, I don't want to kill your dreams before they begin. You've got some serious talent. I can't deny I was hoping for a better performance, but you still have that chance.” Zeke couldn't imagine how the pressure and the anticipation of tonight's answer must have made her feel. He'd been just as antsy, squirming in his seat as he waited for the results. What an intense moment. But Ariel passed this week, and the relief on her face led him into his own silent victory.
And that meant trouble. He wasn't supposed to have any sort of attachment to the contestants.
“Are you saying this to all of the contestants?” She narrowed her eyes again. They were gorgeous eyes. A deep green with flecks of brown.
“No,” he admitted.
“Because Jared is playing favorites. I thought he said he wasn't going to do this,” she muttered. “Wonder if I'll be hearing from Tucker and Danielle next, too?”
“No clue, and I don't care. I just wanted you to know, don't take what I say personally. I don't sugarcoat shit. I'm not a bakery. If something doesn't work for me, I'm gonna speak my mind. But I'm just one opinion, and I'm a hard ass when it comes to music. Take it with a grain of salt and use what works for you. Keep singing. On a side note, I'm glad you don't look or sound like the mermaid, but it does crack me up now that I've mentioned it, and I keep looking at you.”
“Gee, thanks.” She rolled her eyes. “Maybe I should change my stage name and dye my hair.”
Zeke curled his fingers gently around her wrist. “Don't do that. I think you're sexy just like that.”
He got a brow raise from her. “Did you just call me sexy?”
“Your hearing is in perfect tact,” he mused.
Ariel put a hand on her hip. “For a guy nicknamed Zinger, you sure are rusty.”
“Is that a challenge?”
“Why, do you want one?”
“I'm always up for one. Depends on what you're offering.”
“Not what you think I am,” Ariel shot back. “How do we go from one conversation to the other like this? I need to go. I have to get back to my hotel. Thanks for your words of encouragement.”
He didn't want her to go, but Zeke couldn't very well be seen with her, either. Not outside of the show. “Good night, Ariel. See you next week.”
*****
“Zeke Sketcher called me sexy.”
She was still stuck on that.
“And he called me talented.”
How did that one come second best to the rock god calling her sexy?
“Oh, Luce. I wish you were here to see this. I sang our lyrics in front of millions. Millions!”
Staring out the window at the pool below, Ariel sighed. “I miss you. I'll be sending this clip to your mom soon. I hope you keep fighting, but if you're in too much pain and can't hold on, I understand. I'll be so lost without you, but if you lose the battle, I'll work through it.” Tears slid down Ariel's cheeks. “I love you, Luce.” She clicked off the recorder, set it down on the night stand, and let it all out. A good cry before tonight's performance couldn't be avoided. Her emotions were all over the place.
She had at least five hours until she needed to be at the auditorium, so she grabbed a guitar, her notebook, and her purse, then headed down to the pool. Finding a secluded, shaded spot, Ariel opened her guitar case and removed the instrument. Maybe, if she was lucky, she'd have a good tune ready and remotely perfected by the time the second songwriter showcase night arrived on the show. If she made it that far, anyway.
“Beautiful melody.” A familiar, smoky voice drew her attention. Zeke, sans his shirt and dripping wet, approached her. “Do you have lyrics to go with that?”
Droplets of water cascaded down his muscled bare chest. Geez, did someone sculpt that body? His olive skin glistened, and she wanted to run her hands along his six pack to feel how hard they were.
Gah! What had gotten into her?
“I have a few,” Ariel stammered, blinking incessantly. Thank the music gods she had sunglasses on. Hopefully he didn't catch on how bad she was staring his body parts down. Blood roared in her ears. “I came out here to write.”
“Definitely picked a good spot. The view is stunning, huh?” He ran a hand through his blond wet locks. Zeke Sketcher, rock star god, soaking wet and standing before her. Whew!
“I wouldn't know. You're blocking it.” Ariel smirked as he reeled back, taken by surprise.
“Ouch. Touche. Guess I deserved that one.” He gestured to the empty seat beside her. “Mind if I lounge by you? The less I'm seen, the better, and this is a nice secluded spot.”
Did she mind? Hell yes she did, only because having Zeke near her as she attempted to focus on her songwriting was intimidating! “Umm, no. I don't mind,” Ariel stammered.
He stretched out along the chair, his muscles flexing as he put his arms behind his head.
I will not stare. I will not stare!
She made a liar out of herself.
After a stretch of silence that made her stomach churn, Zeke spoke up. “Play that melody again,” he directed softly.
She did a double take at the sudden sound of his voice. “Okay, sure.” Ariel played what she had just before Zeke arrived.
He sat up, completely attentive. “That tune haunts me, and my mind is going crazy with lyric ideas, even though it's your melody.”
Yes, she'd definitely already had lyrics in mind, but it didn't stop her from saying, “I'm all ears at your ideas.”
Zeke reached for her guitar. “May I?”
She shivered as their fingers connected when Ariel handed over the guitar to Zeke. He slid her a half grin as he plucked at her strings- err, the guitar strings. Hell! Her throat grew dry watching him as her train of thought derailed straight down to the gutter.
Ariel would melt into a puddle of water and become part of the pool if she didn't quit it.
Zeke strummed the beginning of her melody. Damn, he was a quick learner. ”This is how it went, right?”
“Mmmhmm.” She couldn't come up with a coherent sentence to add.
“Okay. Tell me what you think of this.”
Zeke's voice and lyrics, combined with her melody, put Ariel in a state of awe. She stared at his lips as they moved and focused on his words as a whole.
“That's all I have for the moment.” He stopped abruptly. “Will you play it with your lyrics?”
“S-sure.” Man, she needed to get a grip and pronto!
“Do I make you nervous or something?” Zeke handed her the guitar back. His fingers were huge! The way they handled the strings, Ariel thought of his hands on her. All over her skin, plunging deep inside her-.
Whoa. Mind? Pull it together. No X rated visions of Zeke and his mighty huge fingers. Just because he was the rock and roll fantasy of women's dreams did not mean she had to go there.
“Well, it is intimidating that you want me to sing my lyrics after you just sang yours,” she admitted. Keeping the thought of Zeke's fingers all over her guitar and honoring his request to play the melody singing her lyrics, Ariel closed her eyes. “Here goes.” Once again, she strummed the strings and played the melody, then sang the first verse and part of the chorus.
“Whoa. Now that's deep. Intense,” Zeke said when she finished. “I like that- No, I love that! Cuts straight to the core of my soul. No wishy washy pop repeat stuff.”
“Just for the record, there is nothing wrong with pop!” Ariel fumed. What was his problem?
“Ariel, I-”
Her phone rang, cutting off his words. Staring at the caller ID, her heart slammed against her rib cage. “I have to go. I need to take this. See you tonight.” She grabbed her stuff, answered the call, and darted away from Zeke and his anti-pop attitude. Or maybe it was just an anti-Ariel attitude. Could even be women in general. Either way, it didn't matter. He was a judge on the show, and it was his job to judge her. Apparently he took it to a higher level than just her stage performance.