Rock Him (14 page)

“Maddy, want shotgun?” Asher asked.

“No thanks, I can direct from back here.”

Washington D.C. was over an hour away. What would her friends think of adding two
celebrities to their night on the town? Who was she kidding — they would be all for
it. It would assure them entry and VIP status at any of the clubs.

Her scene was more sports bars and casual eateries, not fancy dance places. Her friends
were a different story; they were at home in the swankiest clubs. She planned to meet
them in Dupont Circle, and from there, they would have dinner before going out en
masse.

The trip into the city was uneventful, and Shane parked the car in an underground
garage.

They entered the trendy Dupont bar. It was early — just past seven — when she spotted
her two friends sitting with empty martini glasses at a large booth near the front
of the bar.

Kelly and Liz sat next to each other, glancing up when Maddy walked in. The shock
was unmistakable. Kelly half rose from her seat.

Both women stared at Maddy as though they’d never seen her before.

Shane laughed. “Maddy,” he made a tsking noise. “You didn’t tell them you were bringing
friends?”

“I did,” she retorted. “I just didn’t tell them who.”

Asher grinned and made his way to the table.

Both girls rose, star-struck.

The men offered hands and introductions. Kelly and Liz stammered their replies before
they turned twin accusing glares on Maddy.

She shrugged and smiled. “Asher’s my boss.”

Asher rolled his eyes. “Can I get you ladies anything?” he asked, eyeing their drinks.

They told him what they were drinking, and he went up to the bar. Shane pulled up
a chair and sat at the end of the booth.

Liz grabbed Maddy’s arm. “Missy, you have some ‘splainin’ to do!”

“Okay, in a minute,” she said with a laugh. But first, she needed to join Asher at
the bar. “Not going to take my drink order?” she asked, with feigned petulance.

He glanced over his shoulder with a grin. “I know what you drink, sweetheart. Shane
too.”

Maddy squelched the thrill that ran through her at his casual endearment.

The bartender came over and did a double take. “Asher Lowe!”

Asher shook his hand, put in his order and the guy started on the drinks, sneaking
glances between Asher and Shane.

He put the five drinks on the bar and pointed to Shane. “That guy looks familiar
… ”

Maddy answered for him. “He was in TruAchord.”

“Don’t know them. They open for Spade?” he asked Asher.

Asher choked on his first sip of the vodka tonic. “Hell no, man. That was a boy band
ten years ago.”

At the horrified expression on the bartender’s face, Maddy jumped in, “But he’s an
actor now. I’m sure you’ve seen him in something.”

The guy narrowed his eyes. “Yeah, some action movie that’s coming out soon, right?”

They nodded and Asher gathered up three of the drinks, Maddy the other two.

Before they even arrived back at their table Maddy noticed the bartender furiously
texting.

Shane had Kelly and Liz eating out of his hand. She slid into the booth next to Asher
and gave each of her friends a little kick under the table. They reluctantly pulled
their attention from Shane.

“I can’t believe you,” Kelly said. “Why wouldn’t you tell us?”

“It’s not her fault, it’s mine. I’m kind of a nut about privacy, at least I have been
since my sister died.” Maddy squeezed his knee under the table.

Asher grabbed it, holding it atop his rock hard thigh.

She felt a wave of heat sweep through her body. She’d meant to give reassurance but
the thick, warm muscles underneath his cotton pants triggered lust. She gave herself
a mental shake and tried to withdraw her hand from his calloused palm, but he didn’t
release it. She wiggled it, he squeezed back, then flipped it palm down, holding it
atop his thigh and with the heavy weight of his hand, kept it there.

Afraid to move, dizzy with lust, unable to even look at him, she kept her unfocused
gaze on Kelly — anywhere but on him. Maddy could feel him observing her and she prayed
the bar was dark enough to hide her flushed skin, her shallow breaths.

She had completely lost track of the conversation.

Asher shrugged in response to something and he was so close that the upper half of
his body moved against her. “Yeah, well, Maddy has been a godsend in helping me care
for my niece, Ella.”

Maddy tried to inch her hand out from under his. He shifted, and her hand slid along
the light-weight cotton, dangerously close to the inside of his thigh. She froze,
heartbeat thundering in her ears, awash in a riot of lust, her legs clenched together
in an attempt to tamp down the aching pulsation between her thighs.

Liz eyed them curiously and continued, “Yeah. Maddy has always been like the pied
piper with children.” What were they even talking about? The pied piper?
Focus Maddy.

“Yeah, she has this immediate rapport with kids. Shane’s that way, too,” Asher finally
spoke, but his voice was gravelly.

“Not just with the kids,” Shane interjected.

Liz and Kelly turned to him as he launched into an anecdote about his run-ins with
moms on the make at TruAchord shows.

Maddy sneaked a glance through her hair at Asher, who was watching her, jaw set.

She squirmed in her seat. What if she just slipped under the table? She imagined kneeling
on the tile floor, sticky with alcohol, raising her arms to pull his hips forward
to the edge of the seat, unzipping the fly of his pants. Her hand tightened involuntarily.

He grunted, shifting his body so the tips of her fingers came into contact with the
thick, ridged mass of aroused flesh constrained against his thigh.

Shane was saying something but only Liz and Kelly were paying any attention.

His palm was loose atop the back of her hand. Waiting.

Pulse pounding, her hand moved incrementally to cover his throbbing erection, her
eyes widening as her fingers explored the length and girth of him.

He let out a sound — a gasp.

Maddy’s fingers clenched in reaction and Shane’s head whipped toward him.

“Dude?”

Maddy snatched her hand back and grabbed her drink off the table, finishing it in
three desperate gulps.

Oh my God. Oh my God.

Shane stared at Asher. Then at the flood of people entering the bar. “Asher? Didn’t
you tip the guy?”

Asher’s expression turned sheepish and Maddy snuck a glance at him. She didn’t think
she’d ever seen that particular look cross his face.

“Nah.”

Shane shook his head sadly. “Dude.”

“Tip him?” she asked confused. “Asher, I’m pretty sure you tipped him generously.”

“Not that kind of tip, Maddy.” Shane responded. “Money to keep our visit on the down
low.”

The word the bartender put out meant the place was full. It wasn’t just full, it was
full of people gawking and crowding, which precluded any kind of privacy.

Uncomfortable, Maddy said, “Uh … I’m sorry about this. Maybe we should go somewhere
else?”

“Shane and I have been here often enough to know of a few places to have a relatively
private dinner.” Asher began checking listings on his phone.

“That old style place in Georgetown?” Shane asked.

Asher nodded and looked at the girls in askance. “American food okay with everyone?”

Of course they’d agree. Maddy was pretty sure they’d agree to eating at the falafel
truck outside to keep the evening going. As they made their way out to the cab at
the curb, Liz and Kelly continued to marvel at how fast the word spread. It was the
only bar on the block with a line at eight
P.M.

Shane got in the front, Liz and Kelly scrambled across the back and Asher held Maddy
back. Once the girls were seated he got in, folding his long body, still holding Maddy’s
hand. Wordlessly he pulled her in. It was a tight fit and Maddy ended up half sitting
on Asher in the back. She struggled to get comfortable on his leg, holding herself
up with one arm on the back of the bench seat, trying to minimize contact with his
body.

He reached up with his hand, draped her arm around his neck and settled her onto his
lap. She moved, inadvertently grinding her bottom into Asher’s hard thighs. He held
her down with a heavy arm across her hips and whispered harshly in her ear, “Stop
wiggling.”

While Liz and Kelly chatted with Shane, Maddy tried to pretend she was anywhere but
where she was, sitting on Asher’s lap. She closed her eyes. That didn’t help. He smelled
divine. She could never figure out if it was cologne or bath soap or just his smell
— leather combined with something vaguely citrusy — but it wreaked havoc with her
libido. Tingling heat washed through her, turning her limbs into a slushy jumble.
She pressed into his big, warm body as her heart rate tripled.

Asher’s hand across her thighs tightened, his long fingers playing at the hem of her
dress, lightly resting against the silky material covering her thighs, their tips
barely touching her bare flesh.

Her face was just inches from his as she fought the temptation to rest her head on
his shoulder. She shivered at the press of his huge, warm palm at her thigh. The motion
of the cab as they made their way across town bumped her body against his and lulled
her into relaxing further into him. She opened her eyes.

Hot, unblinking hazel eyes bored into her until she drew in a shuddering inhalation.
His gaze dropped to her lips, which parted on a sigh. The large hand on her thigh
pressed her down against him, using her hips to stroke his lap, his erection prodding
the curvature where her thighs met her ass. Kelly was pointing out the window at various
nightspots along the route, suggesting places for post dinner dancing.

Maddy shifted, so she was seated on his lap, directly over him, leaning forward, she
gripped the seat back in front of her. Her coat covered his hands, which slid beneath
the wool, bunching up her dress and stroking up to her thighs, then clamping down
on her hips in an iron grip. He rocked her against himself, taking advantage of the
combination of lousy suspension and potholes to grind her more tightly against him
with every bump. She squirmed and closed her eyes, willing one of his hands to venture
down to the apex between her thighs.

She felt someone’s gaze on her and opened her eyes to find Shane turned in his seat,
staring at them. He winked before turning back to Liz and Kelly, who were regaling
him with tales of their misspent college days at bars along the route.

The driver let them out in front of an old, large, two-story brick building, a mansion
in this part of town. Maddy exited the cab on shaky legs with a little help from Shane.

Asher stayed behind to pay the fare, so Shane held the heavy wooden door while the
group trooped inside. They all knew the place since they’d gone to college nearby,
but it was so far outside Maddy’s price range, she’d never eaten there.

The maître d’ was an impeccably dressed older gentleman who asked for their reservation.
Smiling Asher told him they didn’t have one.

“Party of five, private,” Shane stated moving forward he pressed a bill into the man’s
hand. The man shrugged, studied his leather bound book on the podium, and pursed his
lips. He excused himself and headed through the dining room where he was stopped by
a formally dressed waiter who had been eyeing their group, Shane in particular. The
young waiter whispered in the old man’s ear, and the maître d’ came back immediately,
face wreathed in smiles, to pick up five menus and ask them to follow.

“Should we wait for Asher?”

Shane cast a knowing look at Maddy. She felt the heat rise in her face and gave a
tiny shake of her head.

“I’m sure he’ll be along.” Shane said with a wicked grin.

The man led them to a back dining on the first floor. It was a cozy spot with European
style, historical prints on the walls, silk-shaded brass oil lamps on tables and best
of all, fires, crackling in several fireplaces, giving it a warm, romantic feel. Their
club attire didn’t mesh perfectly with the dress code in the traditional restaurant,
but no one was asked to put on a jacket and tie either.

The perks of celebrity.

Asher finally joined them after their drink orders had been taken. He’d barely settled
into his chair when he reached into his pocket for his phone. He answered it with
a puzzled air.

“Oh, good. Yeah, we’re having dinner.” He gave Maddy a nod and smile across the table
and she relaxed. Nothing bad then.

“That’s not good. No, we won’t attempt it. We’ll make plans to say here. I wasn’t
wild about the drive late at night anyway. No problem. Hey, thanks again.”

He put the phone away and looked at Maddy first then Shane. “Your mom says they’re
already getting some freezing rain tonight, in the higher elevations it could ice
up and she’s worried about the roads. I told her we’d stay in town.”

Maddy sat back in her chair. “Is Ella all right?”

“Great.”

“Okay then. Should we book a room?” All eyes turned to her and the heat rose in her
face. “I … I meant
rooms
.”

“I’ll take care of it after dinner,” Asher answered, studying the menu.

He’ll take care of it? Oh God. And he wasn’t making eye contact. What did that mean?
Did he think she wanted to share a room with him? Did he want to? Did he think she
wanted to continue what had happened in the bar? In the cab? Who even instigated any
of that?

She picked up her lemon drop martini with a trembling hand. If ever there was a situation
that called for alcohol, this was it.

With the car left in a parking garage and no plans to go back tonight, both men ordered
another round and discussed clubbing options with Liz and Kelly.

By the time they left for the club Kelly suggested after dinner, the three drinks
had muted Maddy’s anxiety. Pleasantly buzzing, Maddy climbed into the cab — this one
a minivan that didn’t require lap dancing.