Vanity Rush, page 13
part #1 of Players & Sinners Series
She made a little moan, and I stood over her, watching her sleep. Her hair was a mess and her makeup smudged all over her face… yet, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world. Bending down, I placed a gentle kiss on her head.
She is going to be my undoing.
TWENTY
SARA
“Make it stop.” I groaned, talking to no one.
Pulling my head out from under the blanket, I tried to peel my crusted eyes open. As soon as the light hit my retina, the pain in my head became excruciating. The events of last night were fuzzy. I remembered going to Legends and sitting next to Xavier, and then nothing… if the marching band inside my head was any indication of how the night ended, I’d guess not well.
After forcing myself to sit up, I dragged my limp body into the bathroom, swallowed a few pills to dull the ache, and stripped out of my clothes to get in the shower. The cold water sent a chill up my spine, but it helped a little.
I wanted to crawl back into bed, but I needed to get something in my stomach, so I trudged down the stairs and into the kitchen, my stomach flipping the entire time.
“Ah… she is alive.”
I snapped my head in the direction of the voice, which shot a jolt through my brain.
Xavier sat on the couch, a cup of coffee in one hand and the newspaper in another. After placing both down on the glass coffee table and standing from the couch, with a sly smile, he stalked toward me, stopping inches from me. “And how are you feeling this morning?” Amusement danced across his face before he looked at his watch. “Well, almost afternoon.”
“Like death. I am never drinking again.”
“Where have I heard that line before?” he placed his thumb and pointer on his chin as if he was deep in thought. I knew where he heard it before, from me. He was referring to the one time I got drunk with him in high school. How was I supposed to know Long Island Ice Teas had no tea in it? It only took two before my head was in the toilet. I want to tell him that night didn’t count, I was young and dumb, but the only thing I can do was stick my tongue out as I poured myself a cup of coffee and grabbed a chocolate chip muffin.
I plopped down into one of the stools before laying my head on the cold granite. This feels nice.
I felt him come near me before he took the empty stool. “So, about last night...” he began.
That was never a good opening line.
“I don’t remember much beyond walking into Legends. We came to your table and then it gets fuzzy.” I confessed.
Disappointment flashed across his face before his normally impassive expression returned. “I see...”
“Did I do something, Xavier? You have to tell me.?” Panic and dread filled me… What the hell did I do last night? I hated having this black hole of time. That wasn’t like me, not at all.
“Relax, you didn’t do anything that bad.”
“I have a feeling your bad and my bad, are worlds apart. Come on, Xavier, tell me what went on last night after I got to Legends. How the hell did I get home?”
“Have you checked your phone?” He ignored my question completely… but I remembered my phone ringing like crazy— that’s what woke me up. Sprinting up the stairs, two at a time, I dove for my phone that was on the bed. Opening it, I quickly scanned the texts from Michelle, asking if I was okay. Nothing bad so what the hell is he insinuating?
The knock on my door frame startled me, and there was Xavier, taking up the entire entrance.
“Just Michelle. Is there supposed to be something else?” The smirk plastered on his face told me everything I needed to know. There was more.
“You might want to check your pictures. You turned into the selfie queen last night.”
Selfie queen? I can’t remember the last time I took a selfie.
Opening the camera app on my phone, I took a deep breath before clicking the little icon that brought up all of my pictures and gasped. There had to be a dozen pictures of me all over Xavier. Me with my arms wrapped around him, another kissing him… this was not good. Lost in picture hell, I didn’t notice him come into the room until I felt the dip in the bed where he took the seat next to me.
“I don’t... know what to say.”
“Sara, it's no big deal.”
Sure, for him, Mister I-probably-couldn’t-count-how-many-notches-I-have-on-my-bedpost.
“I just want you to know, I never do that.” Oh, my God. I was becoming one of those girls. Tossing myself back, I grabbed the pillow and put it over my face, shielding my growing embarrassment. This had to be a nightmare.
“Hey...”
I felt a tug on the pillow and reluctantly peeked my eyes over the top of it.
“Come on, Sara, it’s just me. You got drunk, you were flirty—hell, we are supposed to act like that as you so clearly pointed out several times last night. I wouldn’t have let it get out of hand. I would never do that to you.” His eyes searched my face like he was willing me to believe him.
“I just don’t like that I don’t remember.” I didn’t like I wasn’t in control.
“That I can agree with. If I wasn’t there to make sure you got home safe and sound, who knows where you would have ended up, and with whom.”
A shutter went through my body at the thought. “Thank you.” I was still embarrassed, but maybe slightly less.
“Anytime, Sara.” Nudging me playfully with his shoulder, he was able to coax a small smile out of me. “Drunk Sara was kind of fun, just next time, try not to chug down a bottle of vodka. I think that was your undoing.”
Chug a bottle of vodka? That wasn’t me at all.
“I think I am tired; I am going to lie down again.”
He popped up without hesitation. I almost wanted him to hesitate. Maybe insist on staying? Who am I kidding, we may be playing a part, but at the end of the day he had a type and it certainly wasn’t me.
Visions of the blonde from last night filled my mind, and I gave it a little shake. Stop worrying about that, I scolded myself.
“Rest up. Maybe we can Netflix without the Chill again later?” he suggested.
“Maybe,” I said, and he smiled before taking off.
I couldn’t stop myself from looking through the pictures again. I looked like a lovesick teenager and he just looked, unamused?
I got it: I was drunk and he wasn’t going to do anything with me, but he could at least look a little interested. I wanted to call Michelle, to vent out all of my frustrations, but that would just make it worse. It would open up a slew of questions I wasn’t sure I was or would ever be ready to answer.
So, I did what I do best. I avoided him at all costs for the rest of the day and into the night.
“Hey Tammy,” I said as I answered her video chat later that night.
“Sara, you won’t believe this. There had to be over fifty people who came to the shelter today! Twelve animals were adopted and I have nine more background checks to do.” Hearing her excitement warmed me. It wasn’t easy running the shelter; there were some weeks no one came in to adopt an animal.
“That’s awesome! Any of my boys adopted?” As much as I wanted them to have a good home, those three almost feel like they were mine.
“A few seem interested.”
“That’s good. I hope it keeps up.” The more animals we found homes for, the more animals we could take in.
“I have you and that boy to thank. Everyone who came in asked about Xavier and if he was there. Thank you, for the free publicity.” It never occurred to me that having Xavier at the shelter could be beneficial for us all. It shows a different side of Xavier and allows us to highlight the shelter, for free. My mind was already reeling on what else we could do with Xavier to promote the shelter. Maybe he could sponsor it? For the first time since I woke up, I was filled with excitement.
“You look different,” Tammy said.
“Different?” Was this her way of saying I look like crap?
“Happy Sara. You look happy. I haven’t seen you smile since…” I watched Tammy swallow hard. I knew what she meant. Since my mother was alive.
Had it really been that long since I was genuinely happy? Was I genuinely happy right now?
“She would be proud of you, sweetie. I hope you know that.” A lump formed in my throat. As much as I wanted to believe her, would she though? The last few months with the scandal in Arizona and now my fake relationship with Xavier, what parent would be happy about their child being so careless?
“Maybe.”
“Her only wish was that you found someone to share your life with Sara, and, by the looks of it. I think you may have found it…” if she only knew. “I remember him, Sara. I remember what he did to you. I will admit, when you showed up with him at the shelter, I had half a mind to tell that boy off.”
Thoughts of Tammy yelling at Xavier filled my mind, and I couldn’t help but smile at the thought.
“But, it only took minutes for me to see that boy has feelings for you, Sara. Just be careful.”
Careful, easier said than done. Tammy and I chatted for a few more minutes before I fell asleep with thoughts of Xavier and the shelter swimming in my mind.
TWENTY-ONE
SARA
The next morning, after four very long miles of running and an entire playlist of grunge filling my ears, I felt lighter. I worked through some of my shit and decided that it didn’t matter how I acted at Legends. We were both adults, and who cares if I was flirting a bit? We all had needs and mine were currently being filled by a little pink bullet. How pathetic.
With my earbuds still in and water in hand, I trotted upstairs looking forward to a long soak in the tub.
But I ran into a solid wall of muscles…. Very wet muscles, belonging to a very naked Xavier.
"Xavier! Oh, my God!" I shielded my eyes. “What are you doing?” I peeked through my fingers at the man who slowly started to break me. I couldn’t stop my eyes from wandering. His body was perfection, even Adonis would be jealous, and I felt my reserve slipping. Thoughts of those arms holding me as I wrapped my legs around his waist…
The smirk on his face told me I wasn’t very good at hiding my ogling. He continued to hold the small piece of cloth over what I remembered to be a very large dick, and even if I didn't have vivid memories of him, the tent currently protruding from the towel left little to the imagination.
"I ran out of shampoo," he said as if standing practically naked in front of me right now
wasn’t a big deal.
"So, you came out here? Like that?" Licking my lips, I slowly began to back up.
Xavier moved forward. I bumped into the wall and he closed the distance quickly. We were inches from each other. He lifted his hand up and I closed my eyes, waiting for him to touch me… but he didn't.
Opening my eyes, he turned the doorknob to the door that was next to me pulling it open.
The linen closet. My cheeks flushed. I had just talked myself out of being embarrassed about Legends. This was a whole other level of embarrassment.
"I keep extra in here,” he whispered in my ear before grabbing what he needed and backing up, his body back on display. “Hey, Sara?”
Pulling my eyes away from the toned, very tan skin with rippling muscles, I met a smirking Xavier. “Yeah?” I croaked out. Was it hot in here?
“You have a little drool.” He motioned to the corner of my mouth, and I wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Laughing, he waltzed back into his room leaving me breathless and with my heart threatening to beat out of my chest.
I needed a cold shower and my little friend with batteries because if I didn't get off, I was going to do something really stupid.
After taking care of myself, in more ways than one, I decided to just pretend that running to him naked was no big deal. We lived in the same house, it was bound to happen. So, instead of hiding away in my room, I set myself back on the island – which has come to be my makeshift office.
“What are you doing now?” Leaning over my shoulder, Xavier glanced at my screen. It amazed me how someone of his size made little to no noise when he walked into a room. He was always sneaking up on me. “Girl, you work more than anyone I know. Do you ever stop?” Little did he know that before him, all I did was work. That was basically all I had. When we were together, Mark was always practicing and when he wasn’t, he had a habit of going out often. So night after night I would sit in my hotel, or his house, most of the time alone and work. – it kept me going and kept my mind off of how dull my life really was.
“I have an idea I want to run by you. Well, it’s more than an idea, a favor that will benefit us both?” After my conversation with Tammy, I couldn’t turn off my brain. I am going to try and get Xavier to sponsor the shelter.
“Oh, you need something from me?” he teased. “I think I like this.” He winked as he crossed his arms over his chest waiting for me to continue
“Easy boy, it’s not for me – per se?”
Titling his head, he looked confused.
"Okay, let me back up.” Closing my laptop, I got up and walked over to the white couch.
Without hesitation, Xavier followed me and sat opposite me. “So, what is this favor you need?”
“Last night Tammy called me. She adopted out over a dozen animals this weekend and has several more people interested.”
“That’s great, Sara.”
“All because of you.”
“What do you mean?” he asked, clearly still not getting it.
“Xavier, your pictures at the shelter, they brought in all of those people.”
“Well, damn, who would have thought?” he pushed his hand through his hair like he was genuinely surprised he was the reason for the success.
“Do you know what this means?”
He shook his head.
I rolled my eyes. “One, you have fans out there still— they went there to see you. And two, imagine how many more people we could get in the shelter because of you?”
“Just spit it out, Sara.” Slouching back in his seat, he waited for me to get it out.
After taking a deep breath, I blurted. “Would you be interested in sponsoring the shelter? You don’t have to donate a lot, or really any money, but maybe just sometimes? Once a month, once every few months? Maybe get some photos or have like a meet a greet.” I was out of breath from how fast I was talking.
“Slow down, Sara.” He laughed. “Go to dinner with me tonight.”
What?” Is he going to ignore my question?
“Come to dinner with me; we can discuss your proposal and other things,” he said.
“Other things.” Fear filled me. What else was there to talk about?
“Yes. What do you say? Let’s go on a date.”
A date. I could do a date…I think.
Screw it.
“Fine, where are you taking me? Better be someplace expensive.”
He laughed at my joke. “I know just the place.” Pulling out his phone, he typed away a text to someone. Moments later the ping of his phone went off and he smiled with satisfaction. “Can you be ready in an hour?”
“Yeah. Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise.” Getting up, he strutted out of the living room and I couldn’t help but stare at him as he went.
“Fifty-eight minutes, Sara.”
As we drove the streets of LA every time, we came up to a restaurant I thought we could be going to, we would pass it. This was torture! Where could he be taking me? We passed at least a dozen restaurants. Finally, after what felt like hours, the car pulled into a small, empty lot.
“La Bella?” Was this for real? La Bella was one of the most sought restaurants in LA; the waitlist was a year-long. “How?”
“I know people,” he said as he helped me out of the car.
Walking to the front of the restaurant, I found it odd that the parking lot was empty. It was a weeknight but that didn’t matter at a place like this, it was always packed. Hence the insanely long wait. “Um, are you sure they are open?” The place looked closed.
“They aren’t open.”
“Um, okay?”
“We have the entire place to ourselves,” he said like it was no big deal.
“You rented out the entire restaurant, Xavier!” That came out louder than anticipated.
“As I said, we have things to discuss and I don’t want to have to worry about who is listening in on us.” It made sense, but we could have ordered take-out and eaten at his house. He didn’t have to go all out like this. We were supposed to be seen together on dates; no one was going to see us here.
The Maitre’ D was waiting for us as we walked up to the door. After opening the door, he ushered us inside. The place was dimly lit with candles all around. In the middle of the room, dead center, one table was set.
“Follow me,” he said and we did.
Xavier pulled out my chair and I sat down as I took in the entire place. It was beautiful; it reminded me of a little Italian Bistro that I read about in one of my books and hoped one day I would get the chance to see.
“What are you thinking about?” Xavier asked.
Turning to him, I placed my hand over his that was on the table. “This is amazing, thank you.”
“You’re welcome, Sara.” His eyes stayed locked with mine.
I had this overwhelming urge to kiss him. I was just about to stand up and walk around the table to give in to my urge when a throat cleared, snapping us from whatever was just going on between us.
A man in a chef coat stood. He introduced himself as the chef and owner of La Bella. We made small talk before discussing what we would like to eat and drink. The Chef suggested we allow him to choose our meal; he promised we wouldn’t be disappointed. Neither of us was picky, so we went for it. A bottle of wine appeared and Xavier said he would stick to water but told me to indulge.
Once we were alone again, I wanted to discuss the shelter again. “So, about my favor…” I began but he held up his hand and I snapped my mouth shut.
