Off Broadway Read online

  He glanced at the list again. “Material Girl is one of your songs?”

  A blush crept up her neck. A blush that probably would look amazing when she was naked and writhing beneath him. Screaming his name. Thrusting her hips against his. Sucking his cock… Holy shit he was so fucked.

  “Yeah. Scott never really liked it, but I think it’s funny. Ironic, I guess.”

  He looked her over. “Because you’re a material girl?”

  She adjusted her sweater and Dan looked down. Her nipples were hard. Christ.

  “What do you think?” she asked and a whole new side to her emerged. Was she flirting?

  “Too soon to tell. I’ll let you know in a week.” Even worse, he flirted back. Stupid. Stupid. He needed to get a hold of this. He sat back on the piano bench and signaled her to the stool. “So let’s start with that one then.”

  She shimmied onto the seat and his eyes couldn’t turn away from the way her tight jeans clung to her thighs. This was going to be the longest two weeks of his life.

  -3-

  It was a grueling first week. Dan was a shockingly focused and unrelenting taskmaster. Avery worried she would put too much strain on her voice trying to teach him the show, but as soon as Dan heard her voice starting to falter, he’d insist they finish for the day and take her for tea at the coffee shop across the street from the rehearsal space. They talked too long, breaking only when he had to leave to walk his dog.

  The tension Avery felt around him increased every day they were together. He was damn sexy, the way his body moved around the space, the way his T-shirt clung to his lean, hard form when he suggested a dance move. She was going to wear out her arsenal of sex toys before the gig was over. And maybe run out of batteries.

  To make matters worse, he was incredibly talented. His ideas were completely in line with hers and he pushed her to take risks in a way Scott never had. Plus, the way he fretted over his dog was so cute that her cheeks ached from smiling whenever he mentioned his Nelli.

  Nelson checked in often, popping in to watch a number or to discuss promotion for the Carmichael. She was glad for his unscheduled visits because it kept her from considering the intimacy of hours alone with Dan in the rehearsal space. Intimacy made even more obvious by the delicious hungry way that Dan looked at her when she sang. She told herself it was a normal show crush springing from their natural camaraderie. But she’d never come home from a day rehearsing with Scott with a sopping wet thong. Or a need to use half the toys in her arsenal.

  “I want the two of you to do a trial run this weekend,” Nelson said on Friday afternoon. “I can see the magic is happening in here, but I think we need you to get in front of an audience to see if the dynamic works.”

  Avery swallowed and glanced at Dan from the corner of her eyes. Did dripping pussy juices equate to magic? Probably.

  “We’re not ready,” Dan said.

  “It’s not a big venue. Hugo’s Supper Club. Mostly people having drinks after work. Not too many people are there on Saturday nights,” Nelson said. “But we need to get you in front of some people before we throw you to the sharks. I talked to the columnist at the New York Times today and he’ll be at the Carmichael on opening night. We can’t risk the show falling flat.”

  Avery squeaked and gripped the top of the piano. Dan rose and crossed to her, putting his hand on the small of her back. Her nipples pebbled and she leaned back into him briefly before forcing herself to step away.

  “You okay?”

  She took a deep breath and nodded. “I’ve been waiting for a Times review for a year. I just wish I didn’t feel so nervous.”

  He lifted her chin up and gave her a hard look. “You’re amazing. The Times is gonna love you. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  Her stomach flipped. She imagine his hands running down her neck. Across her collarbone. Pinching her nipples. Pushing down her panties. Sliding inside her. Sliding her clit between the strength…holy shit, she was about to lose her mind.

  “They hate everyone.” Avery got back on track of the conversation. “And Nelson’s right, no one’s seen us together. What if we mess it up?”

  He squeezed her hand. “We won’t. We’ve accomplished so much in the past week. It’ll be fine.”

  The brief squeeze made her pussy clench and her thighs tightened in a pathetic attempt to satisfy a part of the lust, or at least keep it under control.

  Nelson coughed, breaking the sexual tension surrounding the two of them. “I’m gonna bring in a bass player to join you. He’s a regular at Hugo’s. He’ll help show you the ropes and fill the seats with some of his fans.”

  Avery snorted. “A bass player that comes with groupies?”

  Nelson winked at her. “Yeah. You’ll like him. All the ladies do.”

  Dan cleared his throat. “I don’t think we need a bass player.”

  Nelson shook his head. “Yes, you do. It’ll break up things a bit for you. And we’ll see if Avery can generate as much heat with other guys as she does with you.”

  Avery felt the blood rush to her face. She looked at Dan, but his face was trained on Nelson with a hard expression.

  Nelson arched his eyebrows. “You need the bass player.”

  Dan and Nelson had some sort of silent communication before Dan finally nodded. “Yeah. I guess we do.”

  Avery ignored the butterflies in her stomach. She was a professional. She could do this. “Okay. So Hugo’s Supper Club tomorrow night?”

  Nelson clapped his hands. “That’s my girl.” He kissed her on the cheek and chucked her under the chin. “You’ll be fabulous as always.”

  He snatched his phone from his pocket and waved goodbye as he exited the room. His voice carried from the hall, already barking orders at someone on the other end of the line.

  Avery turned back to Dan. “Do you think we can pull it off?”

  He tapped his chin. “What’re you wearing to the show?”

  “What?”

  “Your costume. What does it look like?”

  “It’s pretty simple. Masculine. Tight pants at first, and heels, but then it’s sort of just this body suit with a man’s tie.” Her cheeks burned and she looked to the music sitting on the piano to hide her flush.

  “Yeah, that’ll work.”

  Avery snorted and looked up. “Of course, it’ll work. I’ve been doing this a long time.”

  He grinned. “I just wanted to make sure that we were all going to finally get to see those legs. You’ll need to shop the merchandise a bit if we’re going to draw them in.”

  She shouldn’t say it. She knew she shouldn’t say it. But her mouth-brain connection refused to work. “You want to know what my legs look like?”

  He chuckled and a dark hunger crossed his face. “Sweetheart, you’re a woman, I’m a man. I’d have to be dead not to want to see what your legs look like.”

  Avery flushed. “Nothing special. Just legs.”

  Dan ran his thumb over his bottom lip. “Uh huh.”

  Avery stared at him for too long. Heat sizzled throughout her body. Images of her legs wrapped around his naked body assaulted her. The way his rough finger rubbed on his lips assaulted her again. She took a steadying breath. This could not happen. He was too talented and she couldn’t lose him as a piano player. He’d inched his way into being a creative partner to her and her career was too important to mess things up.

  “I’m gonna go,” she whispered.

  He nodded. “Yeah, you better.”

  She bent to gather her things and she heard a small groan escape his lips. She lifted her gaze to meet his.

  “Go,” he said. “We’ll meet here tomorrow at ten to do a dry run of the show. We’ll just work on choreography and the last song so you don’t have to strain your voice.”

  Avery hitched her bag over her shoulders and shook the fogginess from her head. “Yeah. Sounds good. I’ll see you.”

  She slipped out the door, shutting it behind her. He felt the same. No do
ubt. How the hell were they going to get through this without fucking it all up? She leaned against the outside wall and smiled when she heard Dan start to pluck out the Darth Vadar theme song on the piano. Dum dum de dum, indeed.

  ***

  “I need a favor,” she said to her brother the minute she’d walked into the diner.

  He stood and kissed her on the cheek. “Hello to you too, sis.”

  She signaled him to sit and slid into the booth across from him. “Rich, this is serious. I never ask for favors.”

  Rich folded his meaty hands in front of him and nodded to the waitress. The waify girl with over-bleached blonde hair rushed over in a matter of seconds.

  “What can I get for you?” She didn’t look at Avery at all.

  Rich winked at her. “Your number.”

  Avery snorted, but the girl ignored her and handed him a slip of paper. “I already had it written down for you.”

  Of course she did. Rich collected phone numbers like the Yankees collected World Series Championships. Avery chided him about it all the time, but Rich thought it was funny. Probably because he’d never been on the end of an unreturned text.

  “He’s gay,” she told the waitress. “And been living with the same guy for years. You’re not bringing him over to our side. Trust me on this one.”

  The waitress squinted at Rich. He offered a charming grin and handed the slip of paper back to her. “What can I say?” He shrugged. “My guy’s big dick has ruined me for women.”

  The waitress opened and shut her mouth several times. Finally, she turned to Avery. “Coffee?”

  “Two chocolate milk shakes and an order of fries, please.”

  The waitress scratched the order onto her pad and stalked away.

  Rich grabbed Avery’s hand between his. “Chocolate milk shakes? It must be serious. What’s up?”

  “I need you to come to my show tomorrow. Can you get off work?”

  “I don’t know, A. It’s a Saturday night. Why didn’t you tell me earlier you were performing? I would have asked off.”

  Avery’s shoulders slumped. “Nelson just got us the gig.”

  The waitress wandered over and placed a bottle of ketchup on their table with a loud thunk. She was gone before Avery could say thank you.

  Rich squeezed Avery’s hand. “You know I love to see your shows. But you’ve been doing this a long time. I thought you were over stage fright?”

  Avery released a breath. “It’s not exactly stage fright. I’ve just got this new piano player and I want your opinion about how you think we come across on stage.”

  Rich raised an eyebrow. “How do you think you come across on stage?”

  Avery squinted her eyes shut tight then slowly peeked at him. “Like I want to fuck his brains out.”

  Rich tilted his head back and laughed, the sound echoing through the tiny diner. His muscly, overly waxed chest convulsed. “Oh Jesus, Avery. You’ve fallen for him, huh?”

  Avery dropped her head into her hands. “It’s a hot mess. I want to lick every part of him. But he’s so madly talented. And he makes me sound so good. I considered firing him, but he’s too good for my show. I can’t fuck this up.”

  The pause between them was long enough that Avery knew she wasn’t going to like what her brother was about to say.

  “Maybe sleeping with him won’t fuck it up?”

  Avery crossed her arms and tilted her head. “Sleeping with him will for sure fuck it up.”

  Rich nodded. “Yeah. It will. You don’t really have a great track record in that area, babe. No offence, but you’re worse than most of the gay men I know.”

  “That is so not my fault,” Avery huffed. “You have no idea how hard it is to find a guy who likes sex, is good at sex, and who isn’t a complete asshole.”

  The waitress returned and set the milkshakes down, sloshing one of them so it made a brown puddle on the white tabletop. She dropped a dirty rag on top of it and mumbled a half-assed apology. Rich grabbed her wrist before she walked away.

  “Gay men are never worth getting huffy over. We’re too self-absorbed to notice.” He winked at her again, but she just shook her head and walked off.

  Rich turned back to Avery. “What about that non-profit lawyer you hooked up with? I thought he sounded like he had a lot of potential.”

  Avery shook her head. “Impotent. And then he had the nerve to tell me it was my fault when I broke it off. He said if I didn’t want to have sex so much, he wouldn’t have had any problems.”

  Rich laughed again. “Yeah, they did kind of break the mold when they made you.”

  Avery took a gulp of her milk shake. “That is such a load of crap. There are lots of women who like to have sex. But we’re fed this whole bullshit story about how we shouldn’t want it and that if we do, we’re whores.”

  Avery could feel the eyes in the restaurant trained on her. She took another sip of milkshake.

  “Sorry.” She shrugged. “I guess I said that kind of loud. And I can’t fucking help it.”

  Rich patted her hand. “It’s okay. But Avery, women aren’t the only ones who are fed all that stuff. Guys are supposed to want to have sex all the time. You know not every guy has the sex drive of a high schooler in an 80’s spring break movie. And when they don’t, they feel like something’s wrong with them, too.”

  “Are you talking about Brandon?”

  Rich scoffed. “Fuck no. He’s hung like a stallion and can’t get enough of this body. But there have been times when I haven’t been exactly up for fucking and if it were anyone but Brandon, I probably would have felt like my junk was broken.”

  Avery smiled. She and Rich had talked about expectations of guy’s sex drives a lot. Ever since her high school boyfriend had told all his friends that she was a nympho and no mortal man could keep up with her. Rich got really protective of her after that, knowing that reputation would lead the wrong kind of guys to her. He got his ass kicked by a lot of older guys trying to keep them from man-handling his sister. Until he joined the wrestling team and started lifting weights.

  Avery used to worry that the course of Rich’s life had been determined by her boyfriend in high school, but Rich assured her that being a bouncer, protecting women, was sort of his calling in life. Plus, it led him to Brandon and a love that Avery had always envied.

  “So what are you going to do?” Rich asked.

  Avery sighed. “I’m thinking of buying a glass dildo.”

  Rich barked out a laugh. “You spend more money on those toys than you do on your cabaret costumes.”

  “I do not. And anyway, most of the vibrators I buy are for friends. You have no idea how many women I’ve known who have never used one. It’s horrifying.”

  Rich laughed and slurped his milk shake. “Thank goodness you’re liberating them from the tedious use of their hands.”

  Avery grinned. “That’s all I’m saying.”

  -4-

  Avery wore a skirt the next morning. She knew better, but the memory of Dan’s face when he talked about her legs was enough to make her even consider skipping underwear. She didn’t though. No reason to poke a sleeping bear. Her or him.

  On the phone late last night, Nelson implied the sexual tension between them could work in their favor. That their heat would translate really well on stage.

  “But for God’s sake, Avery, don’t sleep with him. Nothing kills good tension on stage like a relationship,” Nelson said in his usual brusque manner.

  “I’m not getting into a relationship,” Avery protested. And it’s not like she didn’t already know this. It was the only thing that had kept her hands off him…so far.

  Nelson snorted. “Thank God. Not that you don’t deserve one, kiddo, but not with this guy. His track record stinks when it comes to singers.”

  Track record? He had enough history for a record?

  “Really?” Her gut twisted in weird ways. It made no sense. She’d already decided he was off limits, but even suggestions like t
hat made him more real. More…human instead of piano-playing god. Instead of pushing her away, it was turning her on. Making her realize that physical connect plus emotional would probably be enough for her to put her toys away… at least for a while.

  Not even in the same fucking room and she was going to need a fresh pair of panties.

  “Yeah, now go get some sleep so you don’t look like shit on stage. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

  Now, she glanced at herself one more time in the mirror. Flared skirt stopping mid thigh. High heels. Soft-knitted top. Who was she kidding? She was completely poking a sleeping bear and the only thing she could do was hope he didn’t wake up. Or hope he did, and it didn’t ruin everything.

  She grabbed her bag and slid it across her chest. Her nipples ached at the light pressure of the strap. She was so screwed. She pulled the bag off and dropped it on to the floor. She’d have to have another go with her vibrator before meeting up with Dan.

  ***

  Dan pointed to his watch when Avery walked in. “Ten minutes late. You owe me a coffee.”

  Avery nodded and he noticed her flushed cheeks. He walked towards her and smelled sex all over her.

  “Were you with someone?” He pushed back the jealousy gnawing at his gut and tried to appear casual.

  Avery slid her coat off. Hard nipples. She was worked up.

  “Did you spend the night with someone?” he asked again. This wasn’t his issue. He shouldn’t be asking. But he had to know. A small part of him thought maybe her being with someone else would make things easier. Maybe.

  Avery tucked her hair behind her ear. “Not that it’s any of your business, but no.”

  He stepped back trying to breathe through his mouth so the scent of her didn’t drive his body insane. He thought of her again. What her breasts would feel like in his hands. How her nipples would taste on his tongue. Holy hell he had to stop.