Never had I lived through a more mortifying experience than trying to act as if I were into Lexi while Kalli stood by and watched. It was awkward as all hell, but it’d been a job and everyone had been professional about it, even Kalli. Perhaps even especially Kalli.
My eyes closed and I pictured Kalli on her knees in front of me as she took my measurements that day, blushing and trying not to let her attraction show. From that instant I knew eventually she’d be mine, that I’d do anything to be with her, to see her kneeling before me with nothing covering her beautiful body. Even as I’d made the declaration in my mind, nothing could have prepared me for how it would feel to really be with her.
I shook my head, trying to rid my mind of the images torturing me, but they never fully went away. I was never completely without her, or the memory of us together.
When there was a knock at my door, I took a deep breath and made my way to the front of my small apartment. There wasn’t a single time I walked through my living room and I didn’t think about Marcus asleep on my couch. Not one time had I walked through there and not thought of him, missed him, and prayed that he was someplace better.
I opened the door, expecting to see Lexi, but instead I was met by an extremely tall, very large, and robust black man. When he spoke, I nearly startled at how low and deep his voice was, but managed to keep my reaction undetectable.
“Hey, man,” he said, sounding way too much like Barry White. “I’m Tank, one of Ms. Black’s bodyguards. She’s waiting for you downstairs in the limo.”
“Great,” I mumbled, still thrown off by Tank’s sheer size and presence. I left my apartment and headed toward the parking lot, where a black stretch limo was waiting. As I approached, a man jumped out of the front passenger door and reached to open the back door before I could. I slowly climbed inside, a little intimidated, never really having been in a car that nice.
My eyes landed on Lexi, sitting on the seat at the other end of the limo. Next to her was another large man, a bodyguard I presumed. I slid onto the seat closest to me, trying to take in everything I was seeing. Rope lights framed the ceiling of the limo. There was a bottle of champagne sitting in a bucket of ice, and multiple bottles of liquor were available as well. My eyes met Lexi’s and she smiled at me.
“Riot, it’s so good to see you again. I’d totally get up and hug you, but with these shoes and this skirt, I’d never be able to get back down again,” she said with a friendly smile. My gaze traveled down to said skirt and shoes, and I had to agree—the skirt was too short to be moving around much, and the heels looked dangerous. I never understood why women liked to risk their lives in heels that were unusually high and spiky.
“Good to see you, too. Although, I’ll admit, I was a little surprised with this whole setup.”
She waved a hand at me, as if to say, “No big deal.”
“It’s just a movie premiere,” she replied, her voice light and carefree. “I thought it would be a fun opportunity for us both.”
“Now, Ronny,” Lexi said to the large man next to her, “don’t crowd us too much when we get out of the limo, I want the photographers to be able to see us together. And make sure you let Riot help me out.”
“You got it,” he said in agreement, then continued to stare out the window, checking his watch every minute or so. It was a long and quiet ride, and it was also a little uncomfortable. I had nothing to really say to Lexi, and tried to keep my eyes off her because, due to her skirt, my eyes naturally wandered to the point where her crossed thighs met. I didn’t want her to catch me checking out her legs, especially since I wasn’t checking them out, per se; I was just being a normal guy. Any twenty-six-year-old man would be mesmerized by all the skin she was showing.
Instead, I pulled out my phone and tried to occupy myself with it. Eventually, I noticed we were pulling up to a long line of limos. We inched our way forward and Lexi touched up her makeup, smiling at me every couple minutes. It seemed like we’d finally made it to our destination when I felt the limo stop and change gears into park. Ronny moved to get out of the limo first and when the door opened all I saw were people and cameras. The people didn’t even have heads, it seemed. They just had necks with cameras. And there were so many of them.
“Don’t be nervous, Riot. Just be yourself and smile, and make sure you stick with me, it’s easy to get separated.”