Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)(5)
“It’s tonight. Five o’clock. Dolby Theatre.”
“Tonight? Dolby Theatre? Shit, Maryanne, this is a big movie, isn’t it?”
She shrugged. “You’ll be fine. A limo will pick you up at four and Lexi will be in it waiting for you, so don’t be late.”
“What am I supposed to wear to something like this? I don’t have anything except jeans and t-shirts.”
“Don’t worry,” she said, picking up her bag and standing. “I’ll have an appropriate ensemble sent to your house in time. And Riot?”
“Yeah?” I asked, wondering what the hell else she could want from me.
“Don’t shave.” She smiled, dropped a twenty on the table, and walked away, leaving just seconds before her drink arrived.
I stood in my tiny bathroom, staring at a sight in the mirror I’d never seen before. I was in a fancy gray suit with a white button-up shirt. I’d buttoned the shirt all the way up to the neck, but then I’d felt like I was going to pass out from lack of oxygen, so I unbuttoned a few at the top and decided Lexi would have to deal with my lack of tie because there was no way.
My mind thought back to the first time I’d met Lexi, standing on that sound stage in Portland. Lexi was nice, professional even, but not memorable. She wasn’t who stood out to me during those few days. From the moment she entered the room, Kalli had been the one to draw my attention. She’d been breathtakingly beautiful, but unaware of her beauty. She’d been sassy and shy all at the same time, and I’d been a goner from the very beginning.
Never had I lived through a more mortifying experience than trying to act as if I were into Lexi while Kalli stood by and watched. It was awkward as all hell, but it’d been a job and everyone had been professional about it, even Kalli. Perhaps even especially Kalli.
My eyes closed and I pictured Kalli on her knees in front of me as she took my measurements that day, blushing and trying not to let her attraction show. From that instant I knew eventually she’d be mine, that I’d do anything to be with her, to see her kneeling before me with nothing covering her beautiful body. Even as I’d made the declaration in my mind, nothing could have prepared me for how it would feel to really be with her.
I shook my head, trying to rid my mind of the images torturing me, but they never fully went away. I was never completely without her, or the memory of us together.
When there was a knock at my door, I took a deep breath and made my way to the front of my small apartment. There wasn’t a single time I walked through my living room and I didn’t think about Marcus asleep on my couch. Not one time had I walked through there and not thought of him, missed him, and prayed that he was someplace better.
I opened the door, expecting to see Lexi, but instead I was met by an extremely tall, very large, and robust black man. When he spoke, I nearly startled at how low and deep his voice was, but managed to keep my reaction undetectable.
“Hey, man,” he said, sounding way too much like Barry White. “I’m Tank, one of Ms. Black’s bodyguards. She’s waiting for you downstairs in the limo.”
“Great,” I mumbled, still thrown off by Tank’s sheer size and presence. I left my apartment and headed toward the parking lot, where a black stretch limo was waiting. As I approached, a man jumped out of the front passenger door and reached to open the back door before I could. I slowly climbed inside, a little intimidated, never really having been in a car that nice.
My eyes landed on Lexi, sitting on the seat at the other end of the limo. Next to her was another large man, a bodyguard I presumed. I slid onto the seat closest to me, trying to take in everything I was seeing. Rope lights framed the ceiling of the limo. There was a bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice, and multiple bottles of liquor were available as well. My eyes met Lexi’s and she smiled at me.
“Riot, it’s so good to see you again. I’d totally get up and hug you, but with these shoes and this skirt, I’d never be able to get back down again,” she said with a friendly smile. My gaze traveled down to said skirt and shoes, and I had to agree—the skirt was too short to be moving around much, and the heels looked dangerous. I never understood why women liked to risk their lives in heels that were unusually high and spiky.
“Good to see you, too. Although, I’ll admit, I was a little surprised with this whole setup.”
She waved a hand at me, as if to say, “No big deal.”
“It’s just a movie premiere,” she replied, her voice light and carefree. “I thought it would be a fun opportunity for us both.”
“Now, Ronny,” Lexi said to the large man next to her, “don’t crowd us too much when we get out of the limo, I want the photographers to be able to see us together. And make sure you let Riot help me out.”
“You got it,” he said in agreement, then continued to stare out the window, checking his watch every minute or so. It was a long and quiet ride, and it was also a little uncomfortable. I had nothing to really say to Lexi, and tried to keep my eyes off her because, due to her skirt, my eyes naturally wandered to the point where her crossed thighs met. I didn’t want her to catch me checking out her legs, especially since I wasn’t checking them out, per se; I was just being a normal guy. Any twenty-six-year-old man would be mesmerized by all the skin she was showing.