“I…” she said breathlessly.
“You don’t have to say anything,” he said. He pinned her with the look that got him almost anything he wanted. He’d perfected it as a child, modified it as a man, used it unabashedly. She flushed and leaned against the door for support.
“Sometimes a beautiful woman just needs a hard, slow f**k against a wall with a perfect stranger. I understand.”
She gazed at him, looking more dazed than a pothead at a Grateful Dead concert. “Yeah… Perfect.”
“I’ll leave first. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”
“Yeah…”
He waited for her to collect enough sense to move out of the way of the door. One hand on the doorknob, Trey took her chin between his thumb and forefinger and kissed her trembling lips. “That is the best sex I’ve ever had against a door in a hospital supply closet.”
“Yeah…”
“You’re an amazing woman.”
“Will you call me?” she gushed.
He shook his head slightly. “I want to keep my memory of this moment untainted. Let’s not complicate it. Let it be what it’s meant to be. Pleasure for the sake of pleasure.”
Her face twitched with disappointment, but she nodded.
He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and then let himself into the corridor. He strode toward the bank of elevators at the end of the hall.
Hot nurse a fuzzy memory already, Trey dug his cell phone out of his pocket and called his brother.
“What’s up?” Dare answered.
“Brian and Myrna had a boy.” Trey smiled at the thought of holding Brian’s perfect son for the first time. “They named him Malcolm Trey.”
Dare sniggered. “What the f**k are they thinking? Poor kid.”
“You home?”
“Yeah, but I’m busy.”
Trey grinned. “Busy, huh? What’s her name? I’ll help you entertain her.”
“Not that kind of busy. Remember that stupid contest our publicist came up with: Guitarist for a Year with Exodus End? Today we’re auditioning studio musicians to identify the winner. We do need to find someone to take over for Max on rhythm guitar, but this is f**kin’ stupid.” Max was the lead singer of Dare’s band, Exodus End. Max had also played rhythm guitar until recently. “We hoped his carpal tunnel surgery would get us out of this mess, but the surgery f**ked up his hand even more. He can’t stand the pain of playing, and he’s been advised not to move his wrist for several weeks.”
“That should make jerking off a challenge,” Trey said.
“As if Max needs to jerk off.”
True. The man could have any woman he wanted.
“Hey,” Dare said, “you should come try out. We can make it seem like you entered the contest.”
“You know I can’t do that. I’d never leave Sinners. Not even for you.” Trey stepped on the elevator and made his way down to the lobby. The well-built guy in the elevator smiled at him and let his eyes drift down Trey’s body with appreciation. Trey had to admit he was tempted by the open invitation, but he had a powerful need to hang out with his big brother. Dare understood him. Trey needed that at the moment. More than he needed more meaningless, but amazing, sex with yet another attractive stranger.
“You can help us decide then,” Dare said, drawing Trey’s attention from the way elevator-guy was gnawing on his lips and making Trey want to kiss him. “We’ve narrowed it down to five guitarists based on their demos, but there’s no way to know how many times they redid them before sending them in. They’ll all be playing live for us in about an hour. They can’t fake that.”
Trey stepped off the elevator, winking at Open Invitation before wandering toward the exit to find a cab.
“Okay, sure. Sounds like fun.” Trey’s phone beeped. “I’ll be there in a few. I’ve got another call.”
“Later.”
Trey disconnected and checked his phone’s screen. Mark? Shit. He considered ignoring him but knew Mark would just keep calling and calling until Trey finally talked to him. The guy could not take a hint. Might as well get this over with.
“Hey,” Trey answered.
“Are you in town?” Mark asked.
“I’m on tour. You know that.”
“The Sinners’ News Blog said you flew into L.A. this morning because Brian’s wife was in labor.”
Trey wasn’t sure how the owners of that blog knew what was going on with Sinners so quickly. Sometimes they knew more about Sinners’ goings-on than Trey knew and he was living it. He guessed he couldn’t deny that he was in town. “Yeah, they had a little boy. Adorable little shit.”
“Yeah, that’s what the site said. 7 pounds 9 ounces. 21 inches. Named him Malcolm Trey. Are you still at the hospital? I could stop by.”
Stalker alert! “Mark, we’ve been through this. I’m not interested in a relationship with you.” Men! They could be such a pain in the ass. Especially if they didn’t know what they were doing back there. Trey had slept with Mark more than once. They’d met in Portland over a year ago and after relieving him of his anal and oral virginity, Trey had taken him to get a tattoo. The guy had moved to Los Angeles a few months later. Trey suspected it was because of him, as Mark was relentless in his pursuit. Trey had no problem f**king him, but when Mark had started trying to forge a commitment, Trey was finished with him. The guy could not take a hint. Or blatant rejections. Or flashing neon signs that read: Go the f**k away.
“Who said anything about a relationship? I just wanted to congratulate Brian,” Mark said.
“Do whatever you want. I’ve already left the hospital.”
“Oh.” Mark hesitated. “Are you hungry? I could take you out for breakf—”
“No, I’ve got plans.”
“What kind of plans? Are you seeing someone else?” The jealousy in Mark’s voice was so f**king annoying Trey considered hanging up on him. But then Mark would just call back and blame a bad connection or some stupid shit.
“Yeah,” Trey lied. “I am seeing someone. I’m seriously dating a woman right now.”
“Bullshit,” Mark said.
“It’s not bullshit. I’ve sworn off men for the rest of my life.” When the lie had formed, Trey hadn’t meant it, but now that he’d said it, he decided it was the best idea he’d ever had. Women he could deal with. Men either broke his heart or complicated his life. Exhibit A was upstairs bonding with his son. Exhibit B was on the phone. Exhibits C through triple X were scattered across the US and Canada waiting for Sinners to pass through their area again.