Night with Sole Regret

TAKE ME VIII

“Why were you waiting for me in the first place? I didn’t ask you to.”

“Now you’re just being a jerk.”

He’d been called worse. “How did you get my keys?”

“You left them at my place. Remember?”

“No.”

“You were too drunk to drive, so Selene took you home and the next day you came and picked up your car. I wasn’t home, so you must’ve used your spare set.”

While he remembered little of his drunken evening with Veronica and Selene, he did recall waking up with Selene in his bed and then picking his car up the following morning. He’d completely forgotten to get his extra keys from Veronica. Sole Regret had been back on tour by the next day, and recovering his keys hadn’t been a priority. “That was over a month ago. You’ve had them all this time?”

She smiled. “And don’t think the idea of taking your car for a joyride every night didn’t cross my mind. I didn’t though. Until tonight. And I wouldn’t have taken it tonight if you hadn’t been so late.”

And he wouldn’t have been so late if the lead guitarist of his band wasn’t such an inconsiderate ass.

Julie’s birthday wasn’t the only major event he’d missed because of Adam. He’d missed Julie’s birth because he’d been accompanying Adam’s unconscious ass to the hospital. Back in those days Adam had had a tendency to overdo the h****n. While waiting in the emergency room for Adam to be revived, he’d missed the call that Tina had gone into premature labor. By the time he got the message, Julie had already been born in a different hospital, in a different state—three weeks early, but healthy. He’d never forgive Adam for making him miss his daughter’s first breath. Never. Especially since the jerk didn’t even understand why Shade was so angry with him. Maybe someday Shade would give up on Adam and just let him destroy himself, but the guy was a walking disaster and Shade felt responsible for him. If someone didn’t keep tabs on Adam, he’d likely end up dead. As much as the guy ticked him off, Shade wouldn’t want that. They’d been through a lot together. And not all of it bad. In fact, Adam had been the one to give Shade a dream to pursue. Before Adam had convinced Shade that he could sing, Shade had been on the fast track to working in some factory—if he’d been lucky.

“Why don’t you go ask your female company if she’d like to join us?” Veronica said. “I’m so comfortable and so in the mood. Seems a shame to waste a p***y this hot and juicy for you.” Her fingertips moved to stroke her n****e. “We can call Selene over if your company is too shy to get busy with us.”

Veronica and Selene would keep him up and going all night. He couldn’t say he wasn’t tempted. But he wasn’t sold. “I’ll call you a cab while you get dressed,” he said.

He turned to go into the house, and a glass of wine hurtled past him and crashed onto the slate at his feet. “You f*****g jerk!”

“Be sure to clean up that broken glass before you go. I’ll have the cab wait for you at the end of the driveway.” He started up the deck steps to enter the house through the door off the kitchen.

“Wait, Shade. I’m sorry,” Veronica called after him. Water splashed as she exited the hot tub. Wet feet landed on the cedar decking. Shade didn’t make the mistake of turning around. He let himself into the house. Amanda was peering out the kitchen window.

“I know it isn’t any of my business,” she said. “But your hot, naked babe seems a bit perturbed at you.”

He chuckled. “I inherited the piss-off-women gene from my father.”

“You must be homozygous dominant for the trait.”

“Huh?”

She laughed and smoothed her silky brown hair with one hand. “Sorry. Biology teacher humor.”

Shade had never liked school, but he respected teachers. Smart chicks intimidated him a bit. Not that he’d admit that to a smart chick. Especially not a smart, hot chick like Amanda Lange. “How’s the job?” he asked, tugging the door closed behind him and locking it.

“Oh it’s great. Especially in June, July and August.”

He chuckled. “All that time off would be a nice perk. You know, those are the months I work the most.”

“As if strutting around on stage for an hour a night is work. Puh-lease.” She rolled her eyes.

He stood up straighter and scowled. “I don’t strut.”

“Yeah. You do.” She grinned. “But it’s hella sexy, so don’t ever stop.”

He laughed. It was refreshing to flirt with a woman who didn’t think it meant she had to fall on his d**k with a missile-seeking v****a.

“Let me call a cab for Veronica, and then I’ll order a pizza.”

Amanda nodded toward the window overlooking the backyard. “I think she already left.”

Shade’s heart dropped. “s**t! She still has my keys.”

He raced through the house and yanked open the front door. Standing next to the driver’s door of his car, Veronica threw one of her high heels at him. “Asshole!”

He easily sidestepped her projectile and dashed across the driveway. Veronica tore open the door and was halfway into the car before he reached her. He pulled her against him and closed the door with his foot. One disaster avoided. One instigated.

Veronica struck him in the chest with surprising strength. “Don’t touch me. Don’t touch me.”

He released his hold on her arm, and she collapsed against his chest, sobbing uncontrollably. f**k. He was on a roll with making females cry today, and he had a pathological weakness to tears. Double f**k.

He wrapped Veronica in a loose embrace and stroked her back. “Don’t cry.”

“Y-you, you-you think I’m ugly,” she wailed.

“What? No. I don’t think you’re ugly at all. You’re beautiful. Perfect.”

“Then w-why-why-why won’t you sleep with meeeeeeee?”

He bit his lip so he didn’t laugh. She sounded absolutely ridiculous. “I told you: I have other plans.”

“Are-are-are you going to sleep with herrrrrrrrrr?”

He had no intention of sleeping with Amanda. He liked her too much to f**k her. “That’s not any of your business.”

Veronica clung to him. “Don’t send me away. Please. I need to be with you.”

“It’s not going to happen tonight, Veronica. Maybe some other time.”

She pulled away and looked up at him. Her nose was red, and black streaks ran down each cheek. “Is it because I took your car? Are you mad at me?”

It was much more complicated than that, but he took the easy way out. “Yes. And if you take off in it now, I’ll be so mad that I won’t call you again.”

She whimpered.

He searched her face. “You aren’t upset because you have feelings for me, are you?” Because he didn’t do feelings anymore. Not since his botched marriage. And Veronica knew that. That’s why he hooked up with her regularly. Casual s*x was the only way to go, and he’d thought she was in agreement.

Veronica wiped her tears with the back of her wrists and said, “Of course not. I just wanted to get laid. I’ve been horny all day thinking about your big, thick cock.”

He somehow managed not to roll his eyes at her. “That’s what you say, but you’re acting jealous.”

Veronica took a step back, straightened her spine and returned to the self-confident woman he knew well. “Not jealous, Shade. Envious. I was really looking forward to being f****d senseless tonight. No one has your stamina, baby.”

Well, his d**k was looking forward to a night of rest.

“Will you take me home at least?” she asked. “Selene isn’t off work yet. She dropped me at the parking lot to wait for you. That’s why I took your car.”

Shade glanced over his shoulder at the house. Taking Veronica home would cut into his time with Amanda, but it was only a ten-minute drive, and it would take longer than that for a cab to arrive. “Yeah, okay. Just give me a minute.”

Shade picked up Veronica’s discarded shoe on his way into the house. Amanda stood in the foyer with her arms crossed over her chest and looking very awkward.

“I should go,” she said.

“Please don’t. I’m just going to give her a ride home. You can come along if you want.”

“Your car is a two-seater, Shade.”

Shade? She was one of the few people who called him by his given name, so her using his stage name set off all sorts of warning bells. Shade rubbed his forehead. He was really f*****g things up. “Right.”