I look at Chelle, amused. “You told her, her?”
“I’m sorry. Is that bad? I had to tell someone.”
“I don’t kiss and tell, but I think it’s different for women.”
“Yep. We kiss and tell all over the place,” Shanna says loudly, right as the other bartender walks behind her.
His step hitches. “Who did you kiss?”
“Not me, her,” Shanna jerks her thumb at Chelle, but she turns her body to fully face the other bartender, a flirty smirk on her face.
He stares at her for a moment then seems to shake himself and looks our way. “Hey, Chelle.”
“Hi, Derek. This is Nikolai, my, um…”
“Your kiss and tell?” Derek asks, leaning across the bar to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
“Derek owns this place,” Chelle explains. To him, she says, “Hey, Derek—Nikolai’s friend has a band I think you should hear. They’re great. They’re called The Storytellers. They play at Rue’s Lounge every Thursday. I think you should have them here.”
My throat tightens. I probably shouldn’t read so much into it, but Chelle’s interest in my friends makes me feel like she’s part of my life, too. Like she’s my girlfriend not just my captive sex goddess.
“Only if you do the publicity for it,” Derek throws out.
“Deal,” she shoots back.
“Yeah? Cool. Have them call me on a Sunday or Monday to get it on the schedule.”
“Great.” Chelle beams, and I squeeze her shoulder. After Derek walks away, she says, “I don’t even know if they’d want to play here, but I thought it would be fun.” She shrugs.
“I’m sure they’d be thrilled. They’re always looking for gigs.”
“I think the Skate 32’s video launch could be their big break. They have a huge following. It might get them some play beyond Chicago, you know?”
“Maybe they should hire you as their publicist.” I smile.
“They probably couldn’t afford Image First, but I’m happy to help out pro bono for now.”
“You never know what they could afford. Oleg has money, and Story is his reason for living.”
Chelle’s face goes soft and dreamy, and I can’t stop myself from leaning forward to kiss her.
When I pull away, her eyes are closed, dark lashes fanning over her freckled cheeks. I steal another kiss. “You’re beautiful,” I murmur.
She blinks at me like she’s surprised.
Like no one’s ever told her that before.
I want to promise her everything. That I’ll keep calling her beautiful every day until she learns to expect it. That I’ll be her man.
But she doesn’t want a man. At least, not a man like me.
18
Nikolai
I sit in my Tesla in front of Chelle’s spin class.
She’s been a perfect angel for the two and a half weeks I’ve owned her. I’ve used and abused her body in as many dirty ways as I can think of, and the more I do, the softer she gets.
So when she asked me over breakfast this morning if she could go to her spin class, I felt like only a mudak would say no.
But I didn’t want to let the leash out too long, so I’m here to pick her up. Maybe take her out to dinner. She’s cooked for me all week. Not always fancy like the first night and her Sunday brunches, but she does like to be in the kitchen, even if it’s just throwing together a salad, or baking peanut butter and chocolate chip cookies.
I love having her in my kitchen. In my apartment. Turns out it wasn’t the furniture that was wrong before. It was missing Chelle. Although she’s right—the new thick glass dining set she found is a delight beside the big windows.
Chelle exits the building and looks around. I pull out from where I was illegally parked to pick her up right in front. She slides in the passenger seat with a broad smile. “Sorry, were you waiting long?”
“No,” I lie. I came to haunt the place like a stalker almost the minute the class started.
“Would it be all right if we stopped by my apartment to pick up a few things?”
“Sure.” I change lanes to head in the right direction. “Do you want to go out to eat?”
She looks down at her workout outfit, which I’d forgotten to consider when I developed my plan. “Um, yeah. If I can take a quick shower and change at my place.”
“That works.”
She looks over at me. “How was your day?”
I shrug. I’m not going to tell her I was contacted by and arranged a meet with Rattlesnake’s boss to find out the scoop on his sex slave trade. “Uneventful. How about yours?”
“It was good. I guess the skaters are actually moving forward with using the Storyteller’s music for their videos. I’m going to do some events around it, like a live video chat with the band and the skaters talking about their collaboration. I need to get in touch with Story to get all their info. I figured you would hook me up?”