“Are what? Because I don’t see the big deal. He was an asshole.”
“No, Lucca, you were the asshole. You can’t treat paying customers like shit,” I bark, following him across the bar.
“He was interested in your tits, Sof, not your vocal cords.”
“They are nice tits.” Hollie winks over at me, slipping off her jacket. Her arms are decorated in an array of colored tattoos. Pink mermaid hair is gathered down her back in a loose braid and the sides of her head are shaved. Her curvy figure is squeezed into a leather skirt and a tight tee ripped up the sides and across the chest. Pink Doc Martens finishes the ensemble. I wish I had her confidence.
“Can you stop fucking hitting on my baby sister?” Lucca demands scornfully. “I have enough of it from the customers.”
“She’s cute, Lucca,” Hollie says with a sweet grin. “It’s going to happen, so best get used to it.”
“Why do you always focus on anything but my singing? Why do you assume he didn’t simply like my sound?” I bring him back to what’s important.
Folding his arms over his chest, he stops fucking around behind the bar to look at me for a second.
“He wasn’t here long enough to hear your sound, Sof.” His tone softens slightly. “I’m sorry, sis, but do you know how many fucking singers that guy will see come through his doors? How many pretty, little dreamers like you there are?”
“Lucca, that’s enough,” Rosy chides. “She’s special, and the one person she needs to hear that from is you.”
Throwing his hand up in the air, he narrows his eyes on Rosy.
“She doesn’t need me filling her head with that shit when she has you doing it for me. It won’t lead anywhere but disappointment. She needs to live in the real world, not this fantasy one in her damn head.”
“Fuck you, Lucca, I’m taking my break,” I snap, throwing the cloth at him and placing the cleaner down on the bar.
“Where the fuck are you going?”
“Out,” I snap.
So I’m a dreamer. I’d rather be that than a bitter bastard.
Sofina was so much more in the flesh than I expected her to be. The video Ren took of her didn’t do her justice.
My mind conjures up the thoughts of her. Her petite and tight body has the perfect amount of curves and meat to make any man want to take a bite. Plump lips, juicy and seductive, draw you in and hold you hostage to the thoughts of what you want her to do with them.
Her expression of passion when she loses herself to the lyrics is intoxicating to watch.
My thoughts drift to her eyes, expressive and bright blue, curious and pure, exploring my face when she came over to my table.
I’d been sitting there all of fifteen minutes, but I knew from the first second of seeing her, I had to have her.
“Do you see what I mean?” Starla pouts, pointing to a page in her booklet that she created as part of her final course work for her class.
“The formatting is wrong,” I say with a nod.
She wriggles in my lap and nuzzles her face against my chest. “Yes, and he won’t fix it for me. He said it’s what I asked for.”
Taking the book from her, I close it and place it on my desk, allowing her the comfort she seeks. Starla and I have an understanding that’s soon coming to an end.
“I’ll have my people fix it for you,” I tell her, stroking her hair and kissing the top of her head.
“I’m going to miss you when I go back home,” she coos.
I hate that I’m distracted by thoughts of another woman with her in my lap. She deserves my attention when it’s our time together.
My phone line shrills, but before I can pick it up, my office door bursts open, shocking both Starla and me.
A wide-eyed Sofina tumbles inside, flustered and out of breath.
“I’m sorry. She wasn’t going to allow me in and I had to see you…” She stumbles over her words before her eyes take in Starla on my lap. “Oh crap. Sorry, I…” She turns around like she caught us in a state of undress.
My secretary, Eve, appears a couple of seconds later with a thin-lipped scowl on her face.
“I’ve called security. I’m so sorry, Mr. Hayes. She wouldn’t listen when I told her she needs an appointment. I had no idea she was going to take off running, sir.”
Tapping Starla’s ass, urging her to stand, I nod to Eve. “It’s okay. Leave us.”
“Sir.” She nods.
“Starla, I’ll speak with you later. Be a good girl and close the door on your way out.”
Without a word, Starla leaves us, closing the door behind her.
“Sofina.” I say her name, demanding her attention without speaking the instruction.
She turns, her sheepish eyes scanning over my form.