I accepted the microphone off a rather large-chested karaoke employee and then offered Piper and Jesse a special salute, which involved my middle finger.
At the table next to us a couple of girls were trying to get my attention. Two months ago they would have succeeded. Now I offered them nothing. No wink. No smile. Nothing. All that mattered was the girl with the long brown hair and bright green eyes, grinning up at me from our table.
As the music began she started the appreciative applause and the rest of the table joined in. There was clapping and yelping, a few whistles and catcalls. The rest of the room was quick to follow and before I knew it, they were all getting into it.
The table of girls next to us looked on enraptured. Hair was flicked. Lips licked and glossed. Eyes threw not-so-subtle offers in my direction.
But it was Harlow I was singing to.
You know, because Piper insisted. And I didn’t want to piss her off. Because Piper may be little, but she was a tornado of scary when pissed off.
“… don’t want to be a good guy, ’cos I am so in love with her …”
The showman in me came out. The one that got me up in front of thousands of people and let me sing in front of them for a few hours. The one that didn’t care that I was singing a fucking pop song.
I leapt off the small stage and worked my way around the room, my raspy voice making this pop song my bitch.
I couldn’t help but grin. And when Harlow smiled up at me, hell, life was awesome.
When I didn’t know the words, I just made them up. I also threw in a few gravelly growls and powerful high notes, just because I was having so much fun. Just like the rest of the room who joined me in the chorus.
When the song finished, the room erupted in applause. The girls at the adjacent table leapt up, screaming as if I’d just done something amazing. Whistles came from another table towards the back of the room. I looked over at Harlow and she was furiously clapping and laughing. I gave her a wink as I sat down next to her.
“That was awesome.” She laughed.
“Good because I’m thinking of adding it to our song list.”
She grinned. “Who knew Mr. Rock n roll could sing pop songs so well.”
“Baby, I can sing anything.”
“Especially if the motivation is right, hey Heath?” Piper grinned.
If Harlow realized Piper and Jesse had made me sing that song because of her, then she didn’t show it. She just smiled and her sea-green eyes twinkled back at me. The urge to kiss her—to just say fuck it—and take her beautiful face between my hands and put my lips to hers, ripped through me like wildfire.
But I forced it back. Because she had made it clear that anything but friendship was impossible. And oddly enough, I felt fiercely protective of what I had with her. I wasn’t about to jeopardize it by trying to kiss her.
Her cell phone pinged and I watched her face as she read the message. She quickly replied and then it pinged again. As she read the second message she smiled. When she looked up and saw me watching, her smile faded.
She bit her lip and her eyes dropped to the screen. When she raised them again, she looked as if she had just realized something.
“What?” I asked.
She hesitated and I hated the feeling that filled me as she said, “That was Dean. He asked me if I wanted to go with him to the gallery tomorrow afternoon. There’s an Irving Klaw tribute showing and tomorrow is its last day.”
At least she looked a tiny bit apologetic when she added, “I told him I’d go. But just as—”
“Friends … yeah, I know.”
But did I?
My chest felt heavy and I was filled with a sudden possessiveness. Which was ridiculous, since I had no claim to her. But the idea of her spending time with Dean drove me crazy. She assured me they were only friends, but I doubted Dean saw it that way. He was using the friends things as a way in.
But wasn’t that what I was doing?
I frowned. No.
Then what was the fucking problem?
I shrugged like it was no big deal and then excused myself to go the bathroom.
The problem was that I liked Harlow a lot more than just a friend. But I would have to get over it. Because she didn’t want anything from me. Or Dean. Apparently.
Anyway, she deserved … better. A guy who didn’t have a history of one-night stands and a reputation for being a player. I looked at my reflection in the bathroom mirror. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that guy.
When I came out of the bathroom, the attractive blonde who had been sitting at the table next to us, grabbed me. Apparently our paths had crossed a few times before and while nothing had happened between us, that was something she now wanted to rectify.
The feel of her hand on my crotch reminded me of who I was and how I was probably every shade of wrong for Harlow. We could only ever be friends. Because Harlow deserved better than this.
She deserved better than Dean.
And she sure as hell deserved better than me.
Chapter Seven HARLOW
“So which side do you sleep on?” Heath asked with a grin.
“I don’t have a side. I sleep in the middle,” I replied, dropping my overnight bag on the black and grey comforter.
“What about when you share? You know, with a guy.”
I shook my head. “I’ve never spent the night with a guy.”
Heath looked like I had just told him the location of Atlantis.
Then he looked confused. “You’re … a virgin…?”
I frowned. He of all people should realize that just because I have never slept over with a guy, didn’t necessarily make me a virgin.
You didn’t date the most sought after guy in five counties and get out of town a virgin.
“I grew up in a strict household, Heath. Not a convent.” I shrugged. “I’m not a virgin. I’ve just never spent the night with a guy.”
“So, I’m your first sleepover buddy?”
I giggled and at down on the bed. “I guess so.”
He sat down next to me. “Me too.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I’m calling bullshit.”
“Why?”
“You’ve slept with a lot of girls.”
He shook his head. “Not in this bed baby. This bed is virginal when it comes to the opposite sex. You’re the first girl to ever sleep in here. Hell, other than Nikki, you’re the only other girl to see the inside of my room.”
It was hard to believe but I didn’t push it.
“So what am I doing here?”
He shrugged like it was no big deal. In the soft light of his bedroom he looked nothing like the showman who oozed sex on stage. He looked adorable.
“You’re my friend. I want to show you that I can be your friend without you worrying that I’m going to try and molest you every chance I get.” He nudged me with his shoulder. “It’s safe to be my friend, H-bomb. I promise.”
What he said made me smile.
“Okay, what side do you want?” I asked.
He lay back. “This is as good a place as any.”
I flopped down beside him and turned my head to look at him. His eyes glittered with blue as he smiled back at me.
“You were really amazing up there tonight,” I said.
“You think? It was just karaoke.”
“Yeah, but you totally had that crowd eating out of your hand.”
He smiled that closed-lipped smile that made his dimples deepen. Then he shifted and put his hands behind his head.
“Especially the blonde who had you cornered outside the restroom. I think she would have eaten you if I hadn’t come along.”
He chuckled. “She was pretty straight forward about what she wanted.”
“I noticed—you know, considering she had her hand all over your crotch.”
“Just another day at the office, babe.”
I yawned. It was late. Well after midnight. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. “We should get some sleep.”