From Fame to Shame (10 page)
Read From Fame to Shame Online
Authors: Veronica Blade
The lights dimmed and the music faded, saving me from a reply.
“I’d like to welcome you all this evening to Hank’s Blues Club.”
I peered past the guy at our neighboring table to the man on stage, tall and lanky with light, messy hair.
“Tonight, we have with us the beautiful and talented Tina Laws. Let’s give her a warm welcome.” Clapping erupted and, and after a moment, he continued. “And for one song, we have a very special guest, Josh Adams.”
The crowd hooted and hollered. I clapped and grinned at Dallas, just as a light flashed at our side.
Paparazzi. I groaned.
“A lot of celebrities here tonight. Now I’m thinking my inside information was a little too convenient. Free publicity for Josh.” Dallas cocked his head. “Why the long face? You’re normally a huge supporter of that.”
“Right.” I grimaced.
He studied me a moment. “Two weeks ago, Jackie Bloom would’ve never complained about photographers.”
I shrugged. “Temporary insanity. Next week, I should be back to my old self.”
“I hope not.” Dallas nudged me with his shoulder.
The server brought our pizzas and we lapsed into silence and ate. Tina Laws and her band did a soulful tune, then kicked it up with some guitar and the bass hummed at my feet. They followed that up with a bluesy tune and I shared a grin with Dallas.
My phone vibrated and I rummaged through my purse to check the caller ID. Stella texted,
E/thing ok?
I answered her with,
Eating w/ Dallas. Home soon. How’s ur bro?
She answered right away.
Again?! Does Jackie know? Bro doing gr8. C u tmrrw.
“I’m curious.” He laid his fork on the table. “Luke was all over you yesterday at the grand opening. I expected you to cancel on me and go out with him.”
“Oh.” When I realized he was waiting for a more substantial reply, I dabbed my mouth with a napkin to stall. “He’s not exactly gross.”
He chuckled. “And?”
“Guess I’ve been watching my parents too long. Married almost twenty years and they still
like
each other. The Luke type would be fun for a little while, but when all that newness wears off, would I still
like
him?” I shook my head. “Probably not.”
My stomach twisted. This time, my answer was so not something Jackie would say. I took another bite of my pizza and chewed. Dallas hadn’t moved yet and the look on his face made my hands sweat. I had to think of something quick.
“After the whole Pete thing, I’m reevaluating my system for choosing the guys I date.”
“I like this new Jackie.” His mouth curved up and he leaned away from the table to watch the band.
“Me too.” I threw him a smile and mimicked his movements, careful to keep a friendly distance from him. “I’m glad you brought me here.”
He patted the spot next to him. “C’mere.”
That spot would put me right up against him. “Friends don’t snuggle,” I reminded him.
“Of course, they do. All the time.” He gave me a mischievous grin. “Hands to myself. Promise.”
Just like every other time we’d hung out, this was a bad idea. Against my better judgment, I faced the stage and leaned into him, then he wrapped his arms around my waist. Warm tingles shot through my limbs.
I craned my neck to say, “I thought you were going to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Trust me, there are other places my hands would rather be. You’re getting off easy.” He grinned.
Suddenly, I couldn’t stop thinking of all the places his hands could go.
Josh Adams came on stage and did his one promised song. When it ended, I clapped until the applause died down.
“Should we hang out longer or get out of here?” Dallas asked, his breath tickling my ear.
And give up this heavenly snuggling? It was for the best. Damn. “We can go now, if you want.”
He jerked his head toward the exit and rose before offering a hand to help me out of the booth. He didn’t leave me much room, so I stood there sandwiched between the seat and Dallas.
“You’re going to drive me crazy, aren’t you?” he asked.
Me
drive
him
crazy? Dallas had it totally backward.
“Oh, look who’s here. Dallas, my boy, get up here,” a voice sounded from the speakers.
Dallas and I looked to the stage where Josh was motioning toward himself and grinning. “Dallas is going to jam with us. Right, buddy?”
“You sing?” I asked.
“That’s a matter of opinion,” Dallas replied with a wry smile. “And taste.”
“Well, get up there, so I can have an opinion, too.” I shoved him toward the band, because I knew I’d probably never have another chance to hear Dallas sing.
He stumbled and glanced back at me. Oh, crap. Had Jackie already heard him sing? He flashed me a grin. I breathed a sigh of relief and returned to our table.
As he neared Josh, one of the band members thrust a guitar at him. Dallas pulled the strap over a shoulder and leaned into the microphone.
“I’m Dallas Bines. How’s everybody doing tonight?” he asked.
Pandemonium ensued as the crowd — all girls from what I could tell — screamed at the top of their lungs. I joined in, slapping my palms against the tabletop.
“I’m not sure if I should thank Josh for coercing me into this.” Dallas grinned at Josh, then faced the audience again. “Tina was great, wasn’t she?” Dallas paused while the crowd cheered for the band — although not as enthusiastically as they had for him. “This is a song I wrote this morning. It’s miraculous what inspiration you can get from kissing an amazing girl.”
His eyes found me and I slouched in the booth. Maybe the photographers wouldn’t notice I was the girl he was talking about. Cameras flashed in my direction and my hopes plummeted.
Not only did this sweet and totally hot guy just announce to the world that he’d written a song inspired by me, but he’d told everyone we’d kissed — including whoever was taking pictures. No doubt, those pictures would be slapped up all over the internet by the time we got home. Someone might have even caught it on video.
Jackie was going to kill me.
The purpose of not getting involved with him was to avoid the gossip magazines and so Jackie wouldn’t be upset. Done and done. But I couldn’t take back our previous kisses or his words a moment ago… which led me to wonder again what the point was in not kissing him again.
Dallas hummed a slow, throaty and incredibly sexy melody.
I didn’t expect it, I had no clue
That the girl I needed would want me too
A stolen kiss she gave for free
Then I knew she was the key.
Dallas looked so rock-star sexy up on that stage. And his hot factor increased by a hundred knowing he wrote that song for
me
. My girl friends at home would be so jealous if they knew it was me he sang for and not Jackie.
He flashed me another smile and, oh God, I
so
wanted to make out with him.
My eyes fixed on him as he strummed the guitar and rasped the chorus into the microphone.
This world can be such an ugly place
Full of violence, hate and disgrace
But you smile and make everything right
I can do anything with you by my side
If it doesn’t work out, we would’ve tried
No matter what happens, we still have tonight…
Oh, yes. We sure did.
Girls shouted over the roar of the stomping and clapping.
“Thanks for listening,” he told the crowd, then handed over the guitar and made his way back to our table.
I rose again and we headed to the exit. “You wrote that for me?” I asked once we were outside.
“I only write songs for blondes.” He flashed me a grin.
My cheeks heated up and I was thankful he was walking and looking straight ahead, not at me. “How did Josh know you sang?”
“He and his band played in my last movie. We jammed a few times during filming. Just messing around.”
Dallas stopped at his SUV and opened the passenger door for me.
I climbed in, buckled my seatbelt and turned to face him as he got behind the wheel. “You deserve a record deal.”
“It’s just for fun.” Dallas glanced over his shoulder to back out of the parking space.
Fifteen minutes later, we were stepping out of the elevator and onto our floor. We both paused in front of our respective doors.
“Coffee?” Dallas asked.
Jackie was already going to be pissed at me in the morning. But the damage was done.
I bit my lip, wanting to tell him I wasn’t Jackie, but knowing I needed to say goodnight. Except that who knew when I’d get to hang out with him again? “Sure. My place.”
I spun and went into Jackie’s condo, leaving the door ajar. Once I was standing in the kitchen, I realized that all the times I’d made tea, I’d never seen any coffee, let alone the coffee maker. And did Jackie even take creamer in her coffee anymore?
Crap. Crap. Crap. I whirled around to face Dallas. “Uh… I just remembered I’m out of coffee.”
“That’s okay. I’m not interested in coffee.” He closed the distance to stand inches away from me. “So why did you
really
invite me in?”
“Uh… you wanted coffee.”
“Which you are lacking.” He reached up to brush my hair off my shoulder, then his gaze moved to my exposed neck. He was looking at me the same way he had after breakfast, just before he’d kissed me.
“We could go to
your
place,” I said. It would distract him from what I suspected he was about to do. Plus, if I got the feeling anything was about to happen between us in his condo, it would be easier to escape than getting him out of Jackie’s condo.
Except I wanted to be trapped with him. No escape. Nowhere to run.
He dropped his arms. I expected him to back up and lead the way toward coffee across the hall. Instead, his hands clamped onto my hips and he turned me until I was flat against the kitchen cabinet. “You really want coffee right now?” he asked.
It was a perfect opportunity to kill the moment. All I had to do was say yes.
I let out a shaky breath, then tilted my face to meet his. “I only drink coffee with blonds.”
“Excellent,” he whispered and leaned into me.
I closed my eyes as his lips moved against mine and I opened for him, heat searing my tongue and traveling to my brain like a lit fuse.
Holy Mother of God.
I ran my hands over his wide shoulders and overlapped them behind his neck, pulling him closer. I must have moaned or something, because he gripped my waist a little harder and pulled my hips against his. Denim brushed denim as one of his knees wedged between my legs. He angled his face to take the kiss deeper.
For every second he touched me, my IQ plummeted. Soon, I’d be completely void of any sense at all. But as delicious as Dallas was, I couldn’t sleep with him. No matter how much my body needed me to give in. I hadn’t known him long enough. Besides, he thought I was someone else. It wasn’t right.
Too bad I didn’t know left from right anymore. And as much as I told myself how wrong it was, it didn’t
feel
wrong at all.
Dallas’s hands crept up my waist, his thumbs pressing into my skin just above my ribs. Heat rushed through my body and my adrenaline kicked up.
An image of Jackie flashed through my mind. It didn’t matter how charming Dallas was or how much I liked him, he was still my sister’s ex. Explaining one kiss or two was easier than explaining a full-blown make-out session. And, if I were to be honest with myself, I liked him too much to stop. But how could I justify sleeping with him to Jackie?
I let my hands slide down to his chest. With my palms flat, I nudged him until he released my mouth. His glazed eyes were half closed, like he wasn’t anywhere near finished with me. The feeling was mutual. The last thing I wanted to do was stop.
He gave me a lopsided grin and brought both hands up to cradle my face.
Okay, one more.
Dallas kissed my cheek on his way to my neck and I arched to give him better access. His hair slipped through my fingers as my other hand gripped his muscular arm.
“You’re so beautiful, Jackie,” he whispered into my temple.
Jackie.
Reality hit me like an anvil.
I was lying to him and anything building between us would end as soon as he discovered my deception.
My heart hurt at the thought of leaving him. And I didn’t even care anymore about avoiding the media. When I pictured myself with Dallas by my side, getting hounded by paparazzi seemed way worth it — whether they thought I was Jackie or just me.
At the risk of being the world’s biggest tease, I dropped my hands to his chest again. “We should probably get some sleep. I had a great time though. Thanks for taking me out.” I pushed, then again a little harder, until he was through the front door and standing in the corridor. “Goodnight.”
So he wouldn’t think I was upset, I smiled. He blinked, cocking his head, just before I closed the door and locked it.
And the award for most horrible sister goes to…