Page 27 of Lick
“My butt is.”
He almost smiled. He fit the baseball cap to his head and rested an arm on the steering wheel. The tattoo of my name was right there, in all its glory. It was pink around the edges and some of the letters had small scabs on them. I wasn’t the only one permanently marked by this.
“See you in a bit,” he said.
“Right.” I opened the door and slowly climbed out of the car. Tripping and landing on my ass in front of him must be avoided at all costs.
I saw to the necessities, then washed my hands. The girl in the restroom mirror looked wild-eyed and then some. I splashed water on my face and did a little damage control on my hair. What a joke. This adventure I was on was undoing any and all attempts at keeping control. Me, my life, all of it seemed to be in a state of flux. That shouldn’t have felt as strangely good as it did.
When I got back he was standing by the Jeep, signing an autograph for a couple of guys, one of whom was busy doing an enthusiastic air guitar performance. David laughed and clapped him on the back and they talked for a couple of minutes more. He was kind, gracious. He stood smiling, chatting with them, until he noticed me hovering nearby. “Thanks, guys. If you could keep this quiet for a couple of days I’d appreciate it, hey? We could do with a break from the fuss.”
“No worries.” One of the guys turned and grinned at me. “Congratulations. You’re way prettier in person than in your pictures.”
“Thanks.” I waved a hand at them, not quite knowing what else to do.
David winked at me and opened the passenger door for me to hop in.
The other man pulled out a cell phone and started snapping pictures. David ignored him and jogged around to the other side of the vehicle. He didn’t speak till we were back out on the road.
“It’s not far now,” he said. “We still going to Monterey?”
“Absolutely.”
“Cool.”
Hearing David talk about our first meeting had put a new spin on things. That conversation had aroused my curiosity. That he’d chosen me to some degree that night… I don’t think the possibility had occurred to me before. I’d figured we’d both let tequila do the thinking and somehow fallen into this mess together. I was wrong. There was more to the story. Much more. David’s reluctance to answer certain questions made me wonder.
I wanted answers. But I needed to tread carefully.
“Is it always like that for you?” I asked. “Being recognized? Having people approach you all the time?”
“They were fine. The crazies are a worry, but you handle it. It’s part of my job. People like the music, so…”
A bad feeling crept through me. “You did tell me who you were that night, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, of course I did.” He gave me a snarky look, his brows bunched up.
My bad feeling crept away, only to be replaced by shame. “Sorry.”
“Ev, I wanted you to know what the fuck you were getting into. You said you really liked me, but you weren’t that keen on my band.” He fiddled with the stereo, another half smile on his face. Soon some rock song I didn’t know played quietly over the speakers. “You felt pretty bad about it, actually. You kept apologizing over and over. Insisted on buying me a burger and shake to make up for it.”
“I just prefer country.”
“Believe me, I know. And stop apologizing. You’re allowed to like whatever the hell you want.”
“Was it a good burger and shake?”
He gave me a one-shoulder shrug. “It was fine.”
“I wish I remembered.”
He snorted. “There’s a first.”
I don’t know what exactly came over me. Maybe I just wanted to see if I could make him smile. With a knee beneath me I pulled out a length of seat belt, raised myself up, and kissed him quick on the cheek. A surprise attack. His skin was warm and smooth against my lips. The man smelled so much better than he had any right to.
“What was that for?” he asked, shooting me a look out of the corners of his eyes.
“For getting me out of Portland and then LA. For talking to me about that night.” I shrugged, trying to play it off. “For lots of things.”
