The Playboy, page 4
“No.” I shrugged. “Does it matter?”
“You don’t like me, do you?” He seemed genuinely interested in my answer.
“I don’t know you. I don’t feel any way about you.”
“You don’t fancy me?”
“Fancy you? What are you, English?”
“Actually, yes.” He grinned. “My mom is English. Well, kind of.”
“Oh.”
I hadn’t known that, but I couldn’t express surprise because then I’d be admitting that I knew who he was in the first place. And what did he mean by kind of? How could you “kind of” be English?
“But don’t change the subject. Don’t you fancy me?” He stepped closer to me and I felt a warm feeling curling in my belly as I waited for him to touch me. The anticipation was killing me, and I knew that I was all over the place in my mind and in my heart; I told myself that I didn’t want him to touch me, but my whole body was anticipating it.
“You’re handsome, if that’s what you’re asking, but you know that. I’m just not interested in whatever you have to offer.” I grabbed the glass that was in his hand and downed all of it. It was so uncharacteristic of me and I think I shocked both him and myself. “And with that, I think I’m going to head home.”
“Do you want a ride?”
Oracle looked gobsmacked at my words and I wanted to laugh. I couldn’t seriously be the first woman to turn down his advances, could I?
“Nope, no, nein.” I shook my head and looked around the club to see if I could see Alexa.
She was nowhere in sight, and I wasn’t just going to stand around waiting for her. She could do what she wanted with Jackson. I wasn’t going to be some fool who just waited around on her. She was a big girl and could take care of herself. She’d already wasted enough of my time this evening, and I wasn’t going to allow her to waste any more of it. I’d speak to her in the morning about how much she’d disappointed me, but for now, I was out.
“Well, I would say it was nice meeting you, but …” Oracle stared at me for a few seconds, and I laughed loudly.
“Same. I would say it but it wouldn’t be true, would it?” I lifted my hand and gave him a small wave. “See ya!”
I turned around and exited the club as quickly and gracefully as I could, with my head held up. I could feel his eyes on me as I left and I so badly wanted to look back to see if he was staring at me, but I didn’t want to give him that satisfaction.
As I made my way through the crowds of people waiting to get into the club, disappointment hit me. Maybe I had made a mistake. Maybe I should have accepted his offer. My life was in a rut and I needed a change and it wasn’t like I didn’t think he was hot as hell.
I sighed as I walked toward Santa Monica Boulevard so that I could catch an Uber in a less packed area. It didn’t matter now. I had already left the club, and it wasn’t like he’d come running after me. I laughed at that thought. Imagine if he had come running out after me; while that would have seemed romantic in a movie, it would have been creepy in real life. So creepy. And at least I’d left having rejected him. I’d taken him down a peg or two, and that made me feel good. He was way too cocky for his own good. Way too cocky.
Just because he was a hot movie star didn’t mean he could just get anyone he wanted.
Chapter 3
Oracle
Of course, I’d known Piper was the woman from the cupcake shop as soon as I’d seen her chatting with Jackson. She’d stepped up her game tonight, wearing a slinky tight dress that left nothing to the imagination. As soon as I’d seen her there, smiling and laughing, I’d grown hard and perhaps a little jealous of Jackson. I’d been happy when she’d dismissed him, though I’d been surprised that she’d given me such a frosty reception. She’d been so open and sweet in the cupcake store. But then that had been when she’d thought I was someone else. Now she’d met me as Oracle, she hadn’t seemed as carefree and warm. In retrospect, she’d had quite a bit of an attitude toward me.
Now the woman with the blazing brown eyes was sprinting out of the club as she fled from me. I was amused at her obvious lie about not knowing who I was. I’d seen the way her eyes had widened as she’d seen me for the first time. She’d known who I was. I knew that for a fact. What surprised me was that she had pretended not to know me and then had dismissed my offer of getting to know her better. Women never dismissed me. Normally, they were all over me.
Piper was a bit of an anomaly. She had been dressed up for a night on the town and had looked stunning with her long black wavy locks and deep brown eyes. Many of the men in the club had noticed her just as Jackson and I had, but she’d seemed oblivious to all of us.
There had been genuine shock and pleasure on her face when Jackson had spoken to her. And what looked like awe. An awe she hadn’t expressed when she’d noticed me. I had to admit that I was a bit pissed off that she’d blatantly dismissed me, even when her friend had almost jumped into Jackson’s arms. It seemed to me that Piper was a woman who very much needed a good fucking to loosen her up. I’d have been willing to take on the job, but obviously, she didn’t know a good time when it presented itself. Not that I cared. She was insignificant in my world and life. I’d never see her again, and I’d most probably never think of her again, either. I looked around the club to see if I could spy Jackson anywhere or if I should leave, but before I had time to make my move to peruse the club, two redheads approached me.
“Oracle Lion, is that you?” The tall one with the big green eyes touched my shoulder. “I can’t believe it’s really you!”
“Who else would I be?” I said blinking at her, no smile on my face.
“You’re funny.” The other one had an eager smile on her slightly chubby face as she looked up at me. “Oracle Lion, who knew you were so funny?”
“Obviously, not I,” I said and withheld a sigh as they both burst out laughing. “But apparently to you two, I’m the next Chris Rock or Richard Pryor.”
“Richard who?” the tall redhead said, confused.
“You know who, Cindy. The guy who owns that airline and that private island.”
“Richard Branson?” I looked around the room, annoyed. On most nights, I didn’t care how dumb and ditzy the women were that I slept with, but I wasn’t in the mood right now. I needed to find Jackson and see if he was still with Piper’s friend. Maybe she could give me some more information on why Piper had been so rude.
“So … I’m an actress as well.” The chubby girl batted her eyelids at me. “I’d love to audition for you sometime. Like at your place or something …” She grinned up at me hopefully. “I’m even free tonight.”
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head and almost sighed in relief as Jackson and Alexa came back into sight. “Hey.” I beckoned to Jackson, and I could see the huge grin on his face as he took in the sight before him.
“Oracle Lion, my word. I leave you behind for ten minutes and you’ve already got yourself a harem of ladies.” Jackson slapped me on the shoulder and I watched as the two redheads jaws dropped in major excitement. I looked over at Alexa, who had a bemused expression on her face as she stood there sipping a fruity looking cocktail.
“Where’s Piper?” she asked casually, no actual worry or concern on her face.
“She left,” I said with a small shrug. “She seemed to think that you and Jackson had disappeared for the night … not that I can blame her.” I looked over at Jackson and then back at Alexa in her tight little dress.
“I didn’t leave her.” Alexa cursed under her breath and handed me her drink. “Hold this, please, I need to text her.”
“Sure, sure,” I said holding the drink and turning my back to the two redheads that Jackson was now flirting with outrageously. I wondered if Alexa felt jealous or sad that she had already lost his attention. Jackson Camden was notorious for his one-night stands, and he often had multiple ones in a single night. I thought I was bad about relationships, but Jackson didn’t seem to care about women at all. The way he treated them and their feelings was pretty horrific, even by my standards, but that didn’t seem to stop women from wanting him.
“Shit, she’s gone.” Alexa shook her head and sighed, her eyes meeting mine with an exasperated look. “Why didn’t you talk to her or something?”
“I did talk to her.” I stared back at her, my face expressionless. “She wanted to leave.”
“Fuck it.” She nibbled on her lower lip and glanced over at Jackson. I could tell from her face that she was having a moral dilemma. Should she leave now and go and make things right with her best friend? Or should she stay and have a shot at a night with Jackson? I had a pretty good guess at which direction she was going to take. They all took the same path when it came to Jackson.
“She’s a big girl. I’m sure she’ll be okay,” I said as I handed her back her drink.
“We came to LA together though.” She actually looked guilty, and I was surprised to see that she was still anxiously texting Piper. Maybe she was a better friend than I’d initially thought. “I think I’m going to have to go.”
“You’re going to go?” I said, my voice loud to alert Jackson. He was still chatting with the redheads, but I was pretty sure that Alexa would make for a better night than them. If I hadn’t seen Piper first, I might have been attracted to her myself. She was beautiful in an obvious kind of way, while Piper had an understated sexiness to her. Piper had layers that I wanted to peel back in more ways than one.
She nodded as she sipped on her drink. “Yeah, I think so. She’s my best friend and, well, I already ditched her once tonight. I should go and catch up with her.”
“You’re leaving?” Jackson looked pained and I could tell that he realized he’d messed up. His back was now to the two redheads who were standing there looking like they didn’t know what was going on. “Stay.” He put his hand on Alexa’s shoulder and started massaging her back. “I promise we’ll have fun.”
“I have to go and find Piper.”
“Oh.” He looked taken aback and slightly annoyed. “Oracle, can’t you find her?”
“She left.”
“Oh, well then, she left.” He shrugged and looked at Alexa. “Catch up with her tomorrow.”
“No, I have to make sure she got home okay.” Alexa shook her head. “She’s my best friend. We’re not from LA.”
“She’ll be fine. She’s a big girl.” Jackson used the same words that had come out of my mouth, and I wondered if they’d sounded as condescending when I’d said them. I frowned as he continued trying to persuade her to stay. Is this what we’d come to?
“Jackson, dude. If she wants to go, let her go.”
“Let us at least give you a ride?” Jackson asked.
It surprised me that he’d be willing to leave the club to help her until I realized that his offer was really one that would benefit him. Because after we gave her a ride, I was sure he’d be offering to take her back to his place, or in this case, my place, seeing as he was staying with me.
“Oh, are you sure?” Alexa positively jumped at the idea and I could see Jackson flashing her a smile as he winked at me. He had another one in the bag.
“Am I sure? I’ve never been surer.” He sounded so confident when he spoke that I couldn’t stop myself from smiling. “Hey, Oracle, you mind driving us?”
“No, it’s fine,” I said with a grunt. I was ready to leave the club and get home. I had some scripts that I wanted to read and I had a call with my mother in the morning that I knew would drain me. “Let’s go.”
I didn’t want to admit to myself that I was also curious about Piper and that I wanted to see her again. I also wondered if it was smart to let Alexa go with Jackson. He was my best friend and he was a good guy, but he wasn’t the sort of guy that could give any woman what she really wanted. All he did was break hearts, but I figured Alexa couldn’t be expecting a ring or anything. She wasn’t that naïve, surely?
“Thank you so much.” Alexa clutched my arm and gave me a grateful look. I was surprised by the sincere smile on her face. “This means a lot to me. I’m having fun with you guys, but you know …” Her voice trailed off and she looked embarrassed. I knew what she was thinking. She wanted to be a good friend, but she also wanted to hook up with Jackson. I couldn’t fault her for that. The allure of being with an A-list star wasn’t lost on many people.
“No worries. Has she responded to your text messages?”
“No, she hasn’t.” She shook her head. “I have a feeling she’s mad at me.”
“Maybe she’s just mad at the world.”
“What do you mean?” Alexa blinked at me, her face a mix of surprise and agreement.
“Nothing. She just seems like a hard woman to get to know.”
“Did she shoot you down?” Jackson laughed then. “Is that what this is all about?”
“She didn’t shoot me down,” I denied, somewhat angry and defensive.
“Don’t worry. It’s not personal to you.” Alexa gave me a small smile. “Piper doesn’t really date, and when she does, it's with intellectual guys. She’s not one to go for good looks and Hollywood charm.”
“I see.” While her words should have made me feel better, they made me feel more annoyed. As if I was upset that Piper hadn’t wanted to hook up. She wasn’t even my normal type. “Let’s go and see if we can find your nerdy friend then,” I said and with that, I was strolling ahead of them out of the club. I was over the night. Over the drinks. Over the loud music. Over the women staring and fawning at me. I was over all of it. I just wanted to leave and make sure that a certain raven-haired beauty was tucked safely in bed so that I could let her know that I had absolutely no interest in ever actually sharing it with her.
Chapter 4
Piper
“Hey, are you mad at me?”
“Piper, answer me. I’m worried.”
“I only went to get a drink I was coming back.”
“Piper!”
“Piper!!!!!!!!”
“Fine, I’m coming back to the Airbnb. Sorry.”
I stared at the burst of text messages that Alexa had sent me in the last thirty minutes and smiled. I hadn’t responded, not because I was upset with her, but because I hadn’t seen them. I’d been stuck in the back of an Uber pool with a very chatty driver and two other passengers. And we’d been engaged in a conversation about the joys of international travel. Each one of us had to come up with our top vacation destination and we’d debated back and forth on the pluses and minuses of Australia (my top destination), Dollywood (a slightly older lady from the South), and Dubai (the uber driver). The conversation had taken my mind off of my night at the club and it wasn’t until I’d gotten out of the Uber that I’d seen Alexa’s messages.
“Hey, it’s okay. I’m just going to order a pizza and then watch some Netflix. Stay out with Jackson Camden and take lots of photos of his naked body. :)”
“Piper, you’re alive! Very funny. I’ll be back soon.”
“Ok.”
I wasn’t sure if that meant she was on her way back now or if she meant after she hooked up with Jackson, but I didn’t care. I was just happy that Alexa had reached out to me. She’d always been a good friend and her texting me meant she was still thinking of our friendship even though she was with a huge rock star. I walked into the lobby of the Airbnb and waited for the elevator.
As I waited, images of Oracle flashed through my mind. He really was a handsome man, even handsomer than he looked on film, and he looked gorgeous on film. I wondered what it would have been like standing here with him, waiting eagerly to go up to my room. Would we have been here kissing? Would his hands have been all over me? Would he have lifted up my skirt as we made our way into the elevator? Would we have had sex in there? My skin felt hot as I pictured my legs wrapped around his waist as he pumped into me, filling me with his hotness.
I shook my head to stop myself from fantasizing about Oracle. Yes, it would have been a once in a lifetime sexual adventure and very much unlike me, but maybe it would have been hot, inspiring, and self-awakening. I needed a change in my life to give me some inspiration for my new book, a literary romance with some historical elements. So far, I only had ten thousand words in the book, and they seemed dry and boring.
As the elevator doors opened, I made my way inside with a small smile. Just as the doors were about to close, a handsome man with a dog that he’d obviously just been walking came in.
Oracle and I definitely wouldn’t have been having sex in the elevator, then.
“Good evening,” the guy said with a brief nod.
I could see he was holding his dog’s leash tightly. The big gray dog, I think it was a Weimaraner, looked up at me with large blue eyes and wagged its tail. I smiled at them both and took my place on the other side of the elevator.
“Good evening,” I said with a smile back and pressed the floor number. I could hear the dog breathing heavily and I glanced over at him, his gaze still on me.
“Don’t mind Fiona, she loves to meet new people.” The man grinned as he held her close. “Unfortunately, she doesn’t realize that she’s too big to jump up on everyone she meets.”
“Aww, she’s beautiful,” I said, glad I hadn’t said that Fiona looked like a big boy. “And I wouldn’t mind if she jumped up on me. I love dogs.”
“Do you have one?”
“No, I wish,” I said wistfully. My current lifestyle wasn’t conducive to having a dog. Alexa and I rented a pretty small apartment in Lake Merritt, an area in Oakland, and we just didn’t have space for a dog. I promised myself when I made more money and could afford a house with a yard that I would get one.
“Maybe one day, then. This is me.” He nodded as the elevator stopped and he walked off on the fifth floor. “Sweet dreams.”
“You too,” I said, and I smiled to myself as the doors closed. It felt nice to have a handsome man smiling and talking with me. It helped to keep my mind off of what could have been with Oracle. The whole evening had been quite fun, even though I hadn’t done much. Just the small amount of attention had felt good and that led me to believe that I wasn’t spending enough time out of the house. Maybe I was becoming too much of a bore.
