“Oh, sure,” John says, pushing the cart into the room. He starts setting up the food and then notices he only brought one plate and serving set.
I stop him before he opens his mouth. “I’m not hungry, John. So Miss Preston will be the only one dining.”
“OK,” John says with a smile.
A minute later he’s walking back to the door and I slip him a twenty. “Do not say she was here. You got it?”
“I got it, dude,” he says with a fake salute. “Later.”
I close the door and turn back to Tiffy. She’s leaning over the room service cart, inhaling the aroma. “Hungry?”
“Sorry.” She laughs. “I never got dinner.” She gives herself a little mental shake to get back on point. “I asked him out, Fletch, and he said no. So I asked about tomorrow, and all he was interested in was that trampy assistant. I’m not a good player. There is no way he’s interested in me.”
I’m not listening to any of that. Maybe two words get through my brain. Because her hair is all crazy disheveled, like she’s been in bed. Or out by the beach. I inhale as her lips move and I think I smell the lake on her. That sweet scent I grew up with. It reminds me of home. And that thought derails everything.
Fucking home.
“You listening to me?”
“Yeah.” She’s got another summer dress on. It’s yellow and stands out against her perfect skin. Her eyes dart up and down my body as she talks and when she notices me noticing that, she closes her eyes and blushes a bright pink.
I think I get hard from that.
“Fletcher!”
“What?”
“You’re not listening.”
“You think he’s not interested. But he is.” How the fuck could he not be? Something is off. “I mean, you’re friends. And he’s nice to you. So that’s a tell that he’s interested. He’s just not motivated to make a move right now. The signals are getting all crossed and shit. So all we gotta do is line those signals up so they connect.”
“How? I asked him to dinner—”
“Fuck dinner. Well, not literally.” I take the silver lid off the platter and stuff some fries in my mouth. “I’m starving. Wanna share my hamburger?”
She lets out a long sigh, but it comes with a smile. So she’s starting to relax. “OK.”
“Come on, sit down and we’ll eat.” I grab all my papers off the table and stack them up.
“What’s all that?”
“Taxes. Fucking taxes. They’re the bane of my whole existence.”
“It’s August. Why are you worrying about taxes now?”
“Uh…” Shit. “Quarterlies are due next month.” Good recovery, Fletcher. “I like to keep on top of it. Gotta report those tips, right?”
“You report tips?”
“It’s the law, babe.”
“Pffft. OK.” She grabs a French fry and stuffs it into her mouth and continues to talk. I cannot even stop watching her lips. And her tongue. Holy fuck. I’m horny. I’m goddamned horny for Tiffy Preston. I’ve been in denial all week, but when a guy thinks chewing is sexy, he’s got a problem.
“Right?” she asks.
“Right,” I reply.
“You did not even hear what I said.”
She’s right. I didn’t. “You just need more moves, Tiffy.”
“Exactly! That’s what I just said.”
“But I’m starving. So let’s eat first.” I grab a knife and slice the burger down the middle, then take one half and give her the plate. I stuff most of that thing in my mouth with one bite.
She picks hers up and starts to nibble on it. Two minutes later I’m finished and I’m eyeing her and her burger like I’m about to eat them both.
“What?” she asks, looking at me with her mouth open, mid-chew.
“What?”
“Did you just say you want to eat me and the burger both?”
I laugh. “I sorta do.” I realize that’s a bad move if I want to keep this job going a little longer. “I’m starving.”
Tiffy raises an eyebrow at me.
“And I was thinking about that girl tonight. She showed me her tits as soon as we got backstage and I put her off.”
“Hmmmm. Why’d you do that? I thought you had a new girl for every show?”
“She’s a skank.” And you’ve ruined me, I don’t add. I get one little taste of a lady and I’m ruined. “Those women at those shows are just not my type this week.” I sigh and go for the truth, just to see if she believes me. “Not for many weeks, if I’m honest.”
Tiffy pauses, rolling that admission around in her head. But what she thinks about it, I have no clue. Because she changes the subject. “So how should we make Cole jealous?”
I should take the hint. Getting more involved with her than I already am is a monumentally bad move. But I realize I don’t care. So I smile that smile she seems to like, and play a card in a game I decide I’d really like to win. “Let’s practice that lap dance, Tiffy.”
“What?” she gasps. “No, Fletcher. Cole isn’t—”
“Cole is,” I stress. “Every guy is, Tiffy. Maybe Cole doesn’t do strippers, but even guys who like the nice girl want the stripper in the bedroom. So I think you should go out there tomorrow, drop some very subtle hints, and then when you get him somewhere private, you pull out the bad girl you’re keeping in your pocket.”
She’s shaking her head the whole time I’m talking and I almost laugh, it’s so cute. “There’s no way I can seduce him like that. I mean, I can do some lip-licking and some leg-swinging, but—” She looks down at her body. “I’m not that girl. I’m not. I have sex in the dark, Fletcher. I like candles and under the covers.”
“I almost fucked you against a wall on the roof, Tiffy.”
She draws in a long breath and closes her eyes. My dick swells again. So much that I walk up next to the room service cart to hide it. When she opens her eyes again she finds my face. “That was not me. I don’t do that stuff. It’s just, you were a little overpowering in your… sex appeal, I guess. I don’t know why I went up there with you. But I do know I can’t do that with Cole.”
I think about this for a minute. Considering what she’s saying. Wondering if she’s right or not. And decide she isn’t.
“You went up there with me, Tiff, because you got caught up in my spell. That’s it. That’s all. So you just need to get Cole caught up in your spell.”
“I’m not a sex witch, Fletch.”
I move away from the cart and walk up next to her. God, she smells good. I take her hand. That move makes her swallow and I can tell she’s nervous. But when I place her hand over my hard-on she sucks down air like she might stop breathing.
“You make me hard, Tiffy Preston. And all you did was walk into this room. So I’m pretty fucking sure you can do the same for Cole.”
“Fletcher,” she whispers as I place my hand on her hip and draw her closer.
“Just relax,” I say in a low voice. “I’m not gonna make a move. I’m just saying you’re sexy as fuck, Tiffy. All you need to do is capture his attention and let his desire take over.”
“And how the hell do I get him up to a room to do a lap dance?”
“Fuck the room. We’ve got a dance floor downstairs.”
“Oh my—”
“You dance with the guy, Tiff. And do a little imaginary striptease. Like this.” I grab both her hips and pull her close to me, my body moving to the music in the background. My fingertips flare over her ass cheeks, rubbing the muscles beneath her thin dress. My dick is fully erect under my shorts now, so I start pressing against her to stimulate myself. “Relax,” I whisper into her neck. And then I grab her hands and lift her arms up above her head. “Keep them up here and move your body like this.”
I grind against her as I look her in the eyes. I’m feeling heavy with lust for this girl. She bites her lip and it’s not a fucking move. It’s real. I almost lose it. I want to bend her over my bed and fuck her so bad.
“Like this?” she asks sweetly. She’s moving a little. Trying to do as I ask.
Calm the fuck down, Fletcher. She’s here to learn how to seduce Cole. But holy shit, I want her. “You gotta try harder than that if you want the guy, Tiffy.”