Claiming Addison (28 page)

I snort. “Hardly, Talon, I’m just doing my job.”

He smiles. “And you’re amazingly good at it. Dex doesn’t deserve your help, not after the way he treats you.”

I smile. “He may not deserve it, but it is my job to protect his reputation, along with yours and everyone else’s. In all honesty, not commenting on what happened last night, or this morning, is probably our best course of action. The media are vultures and today is a slow news day. They will find something else in about an hour and Dex’s escapade will slide to a tiny blip in the entertainment section of the newspaper and nobody will care.” I laugh, “And those that do are the ones that envy him far too much. Like Sam.”

He cocks his head. “Sam, why her?”

I frown. “Dex slept with her in San Diego, even after Dex and I both told her not to. She did it anyway. I told her that if she went through with it that I didn’t want to hear about it, ever.”

“Why would you not want to know?” he asks, honest curiosity in his voice.

I shrug. “A few reasons. One, he’s Dex. I knew from the moment he first saw me, hit on me, and made an ass out of himself that he was a man-whore. A different woman in his bed every night and never the same woman twice. And two, well, anyone who sticks their dick in Sam is destined to be ‘the one’ and she ‘falls in love’ and becomes obsessed about it. Whether or not Dex handed her his phone number or not, I have no clue, but I do know that she’s kept her distance from me, until today.” I look at my phone. “She’s called eight times in the last ten minutes. She’s seen the news and no doubt wants to know if it’s true. She’s hitting ‘obsession’ mode now.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Did you warn Dex?”

I roll my eyes. “I tried, he agreed with everything I told Sam in the back of that club. But I doubt he took the warning to heart. He’s Dex. He doesn’t care.”

“What about your other friend? What’s her name, Jessie, Jessica?”

I smile. “Jess?” He nods. “I got the impression from Kyle that she slept with Peacock that night, which wasn’t anything that was normal in Jess’s MO so I didn’t think to say anything to her. Though Eric kept to himself afterward, at least until tonight. Kyle, again, was under the impression that there may have been something more between the two.”

“Eric’s a pretty faithful kind of guy. If he slept with her and had any feelings for her, he wouldn’t have slept with someone else. My guess is maybe something happened between him and your friend, which is why he had someone else.”

I smile. “You’re pretty insightful when you first wake up.”

He smiles. “Join me for a shower?”

I giggle. “I’ve already had one, thank you, and I need to deal with the picture wielding bimbo and I’ve got to eat something. You go, be quick and join us.”

He winks, shoves off from the door frame and stalks toward me before wrapping me up in his arms. “You’re amazing.” He kisses me once, twice and then slips his tongue in on the third and my knees give out and his arms tighten around me.

I can barely breathe as he assaults my mouth. Then he pulls back. “You sure about that shower?”

I smile, “I’m sure, for now.” I wink at him and then he kisses me chastely three more times and ducks into the bedroom, closing the French doors. I fall into my chair at the desk, completely distracted as I start clicking through emails.

Guilt washes over me when I realize that only about twenty percent of the emails pertain to Dex’s escapade. Apparently his little headline is small potatoes compared to mine. I am the real hot topic of conversation today and my headlines are burying Dex.

I put my head in my hands. I fucking knew this would happen, especially after Cami approached me so quickly before the concert was even over. She didn’t even give it a second thought. She just made the offer and tried to get me to run away with it. Then again, I think she knew deep down that it wasn’t necessarily the life for me.

“What’s that?” I hear Kyle behind me and I scramble to close it.

“It’s nothing.”

“You certainly don’t look like it’s nothing. Come on, panda girl.” He pulls on the ear of my hoodie, “Talk to me?”

“It’s nothing, really.”

He cocks his head at me. “You realize that the only way this is going to work between the three of us is if we communicate. We’ve got to be open and honest with each other.”

I stare at him. Such a profound statement that is ridiculously true on so many levels. “I know, it’s, damn. I just jumped the gun on Dex a little too hard and far too quickly than I should have.”

“No, you did exactly what needed to be done. But regardless of that, what’s making headlines that has you so upset?”

“It’s…” The suite door slams shut and Beck comes in with an either still drunk or extremely hungover blonde. “Talon’s in the shower,” I whisper to Kyle. “Go, keep him in there. I don’t need more drama.” Kyle looks from me to the chick standing next to Beck and then to the bedroom door and nods before he ducks into the room.

“So, you’re the one responsible for this mess?” I ask her.

“What mess? Who the hell are you?” she snaps and I can see Beck’s jaw tighten.

“Where’s your phone?” Beck holds it up. “Did we get what we needed off of there?” He nods. “Good. Now, how much money did you get for the pictures?”

“Excuse me?” Her lip twitches.

“Who did you sell the pictures to?”

“What pictures?” She has a shit eating grin on her face and I want to slap it off of her.

“What pictures? Oh, let’s see the ones we found on your phone that are all over the internet this morning. Tell me, Blondie, who paid you for those pictures?”

“Nobody paid me for the pictures. I got paid to sleep with him and send proof.”

I close my eyes and count to ten. By the time I get around to opening them, I’m no calmer. “So, you’re a prostitute?”

“What?” She scowls, looks from me to Beck and back again. “No, I’m not a prostitute.”

“Well, obviously you are because someone paid you to sleep with Dex and provide them with proof. How much did they pay you?”

“Five hundred dollars.”

I laugh. “Was it worth it?” I ask, curious more than anything.

She visibly melts. “Oh yeah, totally worth it.”

“Good, because you got screwed, in more ways than one. Whoever you sent those pictures to sold them to every news outlet in North America and more than likely walked away with about fifty-grand for the hottest story on 69 Bottles.” I tell her and I watch as her face turns red.

“What are you talking about?”

Oh my god, is she really this fucking dumb? “Whoever it was that asked you to sleep with Dex Harrison and send him proof, turned around and sold that proof to the media. Given the number of outlets running the big ‘Dex is a man-whore, coke head’ story, I would wager to guess that the person on the receiving end of those pictures paid you a lousy five hundred dollars while they got at least fifty thousand dollars for the story. So you, my dear, got scammed while getting laid.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” she says.

“Oh my god, no chickie pooh, I’m not. Who was it that wanted the pictures?”

“Some short awkward chick who I met at the bar last night. She said that she’d pay me five hundred dollars to sleep with Dex and to send her proof. She also provided me with the coke.”

“What did she look like?” I ask.

“She was short, like five five, brown hair, very awkward and completely uncomfortable. When she was talking to me she was really jumpy, I didn’t take her serious at first but then she handed me three hundred and said I’d get the rest once the pictures were delivered to her.”

I look at Beck. “Get the phone number or email address she sent them to off of that phone.”

“Can I go now?” Blondie asks.

I smile. “Absolutely.”

“I have the number,” Beck says and he rattles it off to me. “Text messages.”

“Thanks. Oh, Blondie, one more thing. Where are you supposed to meet this chick for the rest of your money?”

“Like right now, in the bar downstairs,” she says.

I look at Beck who nods in understanding. “Bring her up here after the exchange. Make sure Blondie gets her money.” Beck nods and ushers her out the door.

Fuck me fucking sideways.

I turn for the bedroom, swing the doors open wide and stop dead in my tracks. “That’s one way to keep him busy.” I smirk and Talon’s eyes land on mine with a wide smile spreading across his lips while Kyle’s head bobs up and down. I clear my throat and Kyle jumps.

He laughs. “You said keep him in here.” I bust out laughing and Kyle and Talon join in.

“So fucking hot,” I mumble. “I really hate to break up the party but we have a bigger problem.”

“What?” Talon asks and I’m looking at Kyle.

“Does this sound familiar.” I repeat the number Beck rattled off to me and Kyle cocks his head. “Not really, no. Should I know it?”

“I think it’s time for you both to get dressed and take a seat. It’s gonna be a long day.”

Within ten minutes Talon and Kyle come out of the bedroom, both in jeans and t-shirts, no shoes, no socks and fuck, they’re hot. It takes everything I have to not jump them but we need to deal with the problem at hand. “Kyle, grab your phone. Let’s cross check and make sure this number isn’t in your address book.”

“Uh, okay?” he says hesitantly and goes to the coffee table, grabbing his phone as I recite the number. “Six, five,” he says before I can call out the last two digits.

“So my theory is correct, it’s her. Isn’t it?”

Talon perks up, “Who?”

Kyle and I say in unison, “Kate.”

So much for a day off. “When this day is over, I want a hot bath and a massage and a very, very large bottle of wine.”

“You got it, angel,” Talon says. “Come here.”

I go to Talon and sit down on his lap. I notice just now that in a public type situation, I am Talon’s and Kyle doesn’t hesitate to back away, or to stay someplace other than near me and I wonder why that is. Not that it’s a big deal, but I wonder idly if it is Talon and Kyle separating our relationship for the masses. But I don’t dwell on it, for now.

Talon begins stroking his hand along my hair and down my back. I look at Kyle but ask neither for an answer to my thoughts. “Of all the things to do, why do that? Why to Dex? Why not Talon?”

“Talon is off limits,” Kyle says automatically.

“Meaning?” I notice that Talon sits up a little straighter when I ask for more.

Kyle takes a deep breath. “Meaning, Talon doesn’t generally bring chicks back to his room, at least not alone. In the past, he’s usually taken them in the club or backstage. Never in his room. Case in point, our first night in Vegas. When Talon came back to the room, he had Dex with him. I was there already. I told Talon right away that you were missing and he stopped what he was doing, rallied the troops, leaving Dex alone. Then when things went south with his ‘dates’ he called for bodyguard reinforcements to throw them out.”

“I later realized that after you’d come back I was just looking for a reason to throw them out. I didn’t want to be with them at all, let alone after that debacle and they provided the excuse. You see, angel, a lot of times, while I take pleasure from the bimbos, it’s never meant anything to me. It was a place to get off.” Yeah, this conversation is making me feel better. “They were women of convenience and well, I am a guy so it’s an inevitable fact. Most girls throw themselves at me because they want the fantasy of a rock god between their legs and that certainly strokes a man’s ego. You, on the other hand, didn’t want a rock god between her legs, so you posed a challenge, which is why Dex is the way he is with you. No one says no to Dex, no one except you. You said no to me, and that was when I realized that you were something more than a disposable Barbie doll who wants a rock god between her legs.”

I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or scream at him. “You certainly have a way with words,” I mutter.

He shrugs.

“So the bottom line is, Talon is off limits to random chippies because he doesn’t let them get to him that way and it drives the chicks nuts.” Kyle smiles as he sits next to Talon. “Soak it up because you are the first who’s ever crawled under his skin like you have.”