Between the Pack

5

Chapter 5

Paisley’s POV

A week later

The residencyin Las Vegas was going so well. Better than anyone expected it to, most of all Claire. The stress she had been experiencing at the beginning of the week was now long gone, and she was feeling much lighter. Much happier because the crowds were absolutely loving her. She was on fire. She had even started to accept the guys from RedEye. Sure, she wasn't too happy that she had to have people looking over her shoulder at all times, but she liked the guys.

Maybe Claire was right about some of it. It seemed like she hadn't encountered any danger yet, but as far as I was concerned, it was much better for her to be safe than sorry. I held on to the belief that maybe Sly and his team had kept any danger at bay. Would they tell us if they had? Who the hell knew?

"Paisley, there you are," Daisy said in her very formal tone, which everyone knew meant business. Not that she was ever in any other mode. "We need you. Claire wants to make some changes to her wardrobe. Bennie, one of her stylists, is coming."

I hadn't met this stylist, so I was excited. Even if this wasn't exactly what I wanted to do with my own career, any connection to the fashion world was awesome. Who knew what I was going to do next?

I followed Daisy eagerly into the room where the man was already standing next to racks and racks of clothing. Excitement flooded my veins, and I felt a surge of power within me. This was something I could get really involved in.

"Bennie, this is Paisley," Daisy said rapidly. "Claire will be here in a moment. Thank you for coming to meet with us today."

"Ooh, yes, I am happy to be here." Bennie held Daisy's hand and shook it for a beat too long, somehow managing to completely ignore me. "I have heard all about C'Dion and her super popular residency. She is the talk of the town."

I smiled. I knew that myself, but hearing it from someone else was just awesome. I was brimming with pride, almost bursting with it. I couldn't wait for Claire to swoop into the room and take these compliments to heart.

From making videos in her bedroom for her social media to a Las Vegas stage in such a short period of time…it was phenomenal. What a journey. Someday there would likely be a movie made of her life. Who would play me?

Actually, maybe I wouldn't even be included. I mean, what sort of part did I play in all of this? I was just kind of there. Supporting my sister, which, of course, I was over the moon about, but I was no main character.

"Hey, everyone." Here she was. Claire, with a beaming smile on her face. It was almost a little jarring to see her alone, without my parents close behind her. But they had gone back home now. I was sure they would be back soon enough to show their support and pride for Claire. One day they would be as proud of me too. "Bennie, right? You must be the designer. I can't wait to see the clothes."

I didn't expect to feel quite so pushed out from this situation. This was my world. Fashion was my entire universe and exactly where I was going to take my career once I got the chance. But Bennie, who was supposed to be my connection to the fashion world, still hadn't even looked my way.

Don't get pushed out, my brain told me angrily. Don't let this happen. Force yourself into the middle of this. Make sure your voice is heard.

"Oh, Claire." I took a step forward, causing everyone to turn and look at me. This was too much attention all at one time, but I had made a move and I needed to keep going. "I don't know if that skirt will work as it is. You might want it to flow out more, for when you're doing Heart For You."

Claire nodded eagerly, trusting my advice right away. "Yeah, that sounds—"

"What are you talking about?" Bennie snapped, his eyes narrowing with rage. I swallowed hard, immediately realizing that my suggestion had not been taken well. "The skirt is just fine, and it will flow out. Look, C'Dion, spin around."

Claire shot me a bit of a confused glance, but I was too busy pressing my lips tightly together so I didn't snap at Bennie. Why the hell was he being so hostile toward me? I hardly said a thing. It was only an opinion.

Claire did spin around, but the skirt didn't flare out nearly as much as I was pretty sure she wanted it to. I wasn't about to be all smug about it though. I certainly didn't see this as some kind of war between Bennie and me. If anything, I wanted him to be my ally, but it seemed like that wasn't going to happen.

"I think if you just took it out a bit here…" I offered, but there was no way in hell Bennie was about to let me get my sentence out.

"We do not need to concentrate on this skirt," he said over me. "There are plenty of other garments here for you to try."

He whipped back over to one of his clothing rails and talked so loudly and rapidly to Claire that I couldn't get a word in even if I tried. This didn't put me off, though, if anything, it surged more determination through me because I knew I had a right to an opinion here, and I wanted to show Bennie that I was worthwhile.

"Actually, Claire, this dress would look really good on you."

"What are you doing?" Bennie did nothing to hide his distain. "Why are you interfering? I have to say I find it very problematic. Daisy, is it necessary for her to be here?" He looked right through me, like I didn't exist. "Can she go?"

"But I know about fashion," I attempted, again pointlessly. "I have studied—"

"Paisley…" Daisy rested her hands on my shoulders. "Maybe you should wait outside. I think we just need to get through this quickly, okay?"

I stared at Claire for help, but she was too busy examining the dress in her hands. Even she didn't want me around, which was utterly heartbreaking. I apologized under my breath and backed away, right out of the room. Away from the very condescending Bennie and all my opinions which were being ignored.

There was a real heaviness to my heart. I almost couldn't breathe in my attempt to keep my tears inside. This moment that I was so excited about only a short time before now had me questioning everything. All I really wanted to do was be a fashion designer. Sure, supporting Claire was the most important thing in the world, but I didn't want to be doing this forever.

I made myself a cup of coffee and stifled my emotions. This was not the right time for me to lose my shit. I didn't want to break and fall apart because of fucking Bennie. I needed to shake off this feeling once and for all.

"Hey, are you okay?"

I whipped around to see a guy I hadn't yet encountered staring at me with concern dancing in his wide hazel eyes. He shot me a bright smile with his pearly white teeth, which instantly did something weird to my heart.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt. I've just come for a coffee too."

I automatically stepped away and allowed him to do his thing while I clutched tightly to my own drink. This had to be one of the other RedEye guys I hadn't had a chance to meet yet. His body language screamed ex-military man, and he had a protective air surrounding him.

Although he didn't have the same crew cut Sly and Jake had. His mousy brown hair was long, tied back in a ponytail. But his shoulders were so broad, all I wanted to do was squeeze them tight. My mouth might as well have run completely dry with a strange sense of desire. One that almost overwhelmed me.

What the hell was wrong with me? I'd become a horn dog since I'd started working in Las Vegas. I couldn't seem to get enough of all these guys.

"I'm Vinnie, by the way. I don't think I've met you before."

"Yeah, I don't think so." My eyes locked in on his. "I'm Paisley."

We shook hands, and as soon his thick fingers curled around mine, my heart jumped into my throat and started pounding heavily. Oh my God, he really was freaking gorgeous. His eyes were shining brightly with life and sparkle.

"Are you really okay?" he asked with concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I waved my hand dismissively. "I'm good."

"Hmm." He didn't seem to quite believe me, there was a definite distrust in his eyes. "Well, I'm here if you need anything. I don't have anything to do at the moment, so anything at all. You can rely on me, you know."

There was a lot I needed to do, and I suppose it was much better for me to think about that rather than everything that had just happened with Bennie. Ugh, if I allowed myself to stew on that anymore, I would lose my shit.

"Yeah, actually, if you have a moment, I could use an extra pair of hands to help me take some stuff from the dressing room up to my hotel room."

"Oh, sure." He shrugged and smiled, happy to help. "I'll just let Sly know."

My heart did a bit of a funny dance as he talked quietly into his cell phone, presumably to Sly. Sly and I had been dancing around one another all week long. I had no idea what was going on between us. As for Jake…after our one kiss in the night club, I hadn't really seen him. Everything was so weird. I managed to sleep with Sly and kiss Jake in less than a week, which wasn't like me at all, and now I didn't know where I was standing with either of them. I wanted to try to forget about it because it was too wild for me, but I also couldn't forget.

And then there was Vinnie. Sweet, hot Vinnie. Vinnie who I now liked a whole lot as well, which was absolutely insane. My God, I was a true mess.

Vinnie glugged back the rest of his coffee and grinned. "Let's do it."

He made me feel at ease as we walked toward the dressing room. We shared a bit of small talk, with Vinnie immediately showing me that he was really interested in everything I had to say. He actually asked me some questions about my interest in fashion and my qualifications as well. It was perfect after the absolute nightmare I had just been through with Bennie. My spirits had been lifted all over again, for which I was truly grateful to Vinnie.

"So, this is what we're gathering up?" Vinnie asked as we looked at the pile of stuff in the middle of Claire's dressing room. "Good thing I gave you a hand, huh? This would be a few trips for one person alone."

I tossed my head back and laughed. "Yeah, good thing. Thanks."

We worked things out between us. I balanced a whole lot of things on top of Vinnie's arms, probably giving him too many things, but he didn't mind. He laughed it off and happily took as much as he could. Thank goodness, because I definitely would have struggled with this by myself.

Because of Vinnie, it didn't take us long to get to my hotel room. I thought he might leave as soon as he'd done what I asked of him, but he remained with me and helped me sort everything out. He made me laugh a lot, and we had so much fun as we folded all the clothing Claire would no longer be wearing on stage because Bennie was going to be filling her closet with other items.

"Is that someone coming?" Vinnie suddenly asked. "Can you hear that?"

I shut my mouth tightly and strained my ears, but I did eventually hear what Vinnie was talking about. There were voices, and I was quite sure one of them was my sister. She must have finished her meeting at long last.

"Oh, Paisley!" Claire lit up for a second when she first spotted me, but then guilt crossed her face rapidly.

It was up to me to make sure things were fine between us. Yes, Claire could have stood up for me back then, but I didn't blame her. I wasn't too bothered because she had to focus on her own career.

"Claire, hey." I let a warm and genuine smile spread across my face. "How did it go? Vinnie and I are just sorting out all your old clothing. Making some room in your dressing room for all the new stuff."

"Oh, great, thank you." Claire stepped awkwardly into the room with Sly and Jake not far behind her. This was the closest I'd been to either one of them all week, and it was at the same time. With Vinnie as well. My spine stiffened. "That's great of you, I really appreciate it."

The room seemed to be absolutely filled with people now. Luckily, Vinnie was beside me, still working his ass off, which allowed me to focus on something other than these guys.

Claire, Sly, and Jake tried to help with sorting everything out, but they didn't seem to know what to do. In the end, Claire and Jake took a step back to whisper to one another in the corner of the room.

Was it flirting? Oh God, were they flirting with one another? I didn't want to, but I kept darting my eyes over to them to see what was going on, but it was hard for me to tell. It definitely felt enough like flirting to have my stomach all twisted up in knots though. I didn't like it one bit.

Why was I being all possessive? Acting like I had some kind of right over Jake after one kiss on a night club dance floor. Especially when I'd already had sex with Sly, and had been thinking very impure thoughts about Vinnie. On top of that, I barely knew the guys. I couldn't feel like this about them—it was insane. But I really didn't like it. I did not like the idea of Claire liking Jake.

He probably liked her as well. Because why wouldn't he? Claire was painfully gorgeous. She had a natural sexiness about her that I could only dream of.

A shudder tore down my spine. I snapped my gaze around to find Sly smirking at me with that all too familiar desire bouncing in his gaze. Immediately, I stiffened. Space dust danced in my stomach. I liked him too much as well. There might have been a lot of differences between Jake and Sly, but the impact they had on me was terrific.

I wished there was some way I could have more fun with the both of them. Wouldn't that be amazing? I allowed the fantasies to absolutely flood me. Folding clothes and finding places in this hotel room for all of them was not the easiest.

"Oh shit." What did I even trip over? I wasn't sure, but I caught my foot underneath something so hard my body went flying forward. I was almost positive that I was about to face plant, to slam so hard into the floor, bashing my face and humiliating myself in front of everyone, but somehow that didn't happen.

"You okay there?" It was Sly's arms. He'd reacted at the speed of light and scooped me up before I could hurt myself. Not before all the air could be knocked out of my lungs though. I had to blink at him a few times in shock.

"Ye-yeah," I managed to rasp back. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Sly lifted me up until I was facing him. He stared at me for a couple of moments, looking deeply in to my eyes, trying to check that I actually was okay. But once he'd accepted that, his expression melted, and he looked at me with a loving stare which intensified the electrical sizzle between us.

I couldn't drag my eyes off him even if I wanted to, and I really didn't want to. I couldn't get enough of his desire. It was too much for me, but I wasn't going to pull away. I'd been desperate to be back in this man's arms ever since I left his bed.

I damn near forgot anyone else was even in the room until Claire coughed awkwardly, shattering the magic of the moment in to a million pieces. I pulled away from Sly and stood up straighter, my body betraying me like crazy. Everyone in this God damn room had to be able to see how I felt about Sly. It was sizzling between us, absolutely filling the room. I couldn't gather myself back up.

"Come on, Paisley," Claire snapped. "Let's get out of here. We need to get back to the stage so I can rehearse some more. I want you to watch me in my new outfits to see how I look now. I need the skirts to all flow out properly."

She took my hand and pulled me from the room. She was upset with me, and I wasn't quite sure why. What the hell had I done? Oh God, did Claire like Sly? Had I mixed things up thinking that Claire liked Jake? Maybe this was even messier than I first assumed. I definitely felt like I'd dug myself a hole that I couldn't climb out of.