Everything But (7 page)

So the suit wasn’t so bad.

He took a deep breath and checked the address he’d saved on his phone.  Her a
partment was on the top floor and it looked like he would be right on
time
.

He walked around to the other side of the car and grabbed the bouquet of flowers off the passenger seat.  The woman at the floral department in the supermarket had told him most women liked the wildflower bouquet.  She said it didn’t send any weird, creepy messages, but what girl didn’t like flowers?  He didn’t care
what kind of flowers
, but for some reason, he felt a deep need to impress her, and the flowers would
help
.  Well, that and he wanted to make amends for upsetting her the night before.

He still hadn’t forgotten the way she
’d
smelled when he’d pulled her close. 
She smelled like…vanilla and coconut, almost good enough to eat, but he could also smell her underneath it all, and
he liked it.

God…he was so worked up now and so afraid of fucking things up, he was afraid he was going to come off like a teenage kid, acting
spazzy
like one of her students.  He took another deep breath and started walking toward the building, telling himself to chill out.  It’s not like he loved her or anything.  If it didn’t work out, big fucking
deal
.

Except he wanted it to.

Gotta
stop
thinkin
’ like that.
  No more pressure.

He climbed the stairs and shook out his free hand.  He found her apartment at last and took one
final
moment to get himself under control.  What the hell was his problem?  He was literally a famous rock star and women had thrown themselves at him more times than he could remember.  He’d performed for stars and demanding crowds, had partied with the best of them
, had been overseas and performed in venues large and small,
and here he was humbled and freaking out about a high school English teacher.

He smiled and rang the doorbell to her apartment. 
Here goes
nothin
’.

He heard the door unlock and then open.  A good sign…unless she had a roommate who was going to tell him she left for the weekend.
  But Erin opened the door and,
God
, she looked like a dream.  She was wearing a strapless black satiny gown that showed off her curves, but she wore a thin white shawl over it. 
The dress ended mid-calf and she wore black sandals that had a bit of heel.  Her hair was up and back like it had been last night, but it was higher somehow.  He was awestruck.  If he’d thought she was stunning last night, she was out of this world tonight.

And sexy as hell.
  His mind was trying to push back all the dirty thoughts
it had
suddenly conjured up.  She smiled, her white teeth gleaming, and Riley was pretty sure all was forgiven.

He still didn’t regret the flowers
, even if he hadn’t needed them
.

She said, “Hi.”
  He saw it
in her eyes—s
he hadn’t expected him to wear a suit.  She smiled.  “You clean up nice, as they say.”

“Thanks. 
You too.”
 
God, that
was a stupid thing to say. 
He cleared his throat.  “Oh, uh…these are for you.”  He held the flowers out to her.

He didn’t miss the look on her face.  He’d surprised her.  “Oh…thanks.  Uh…why don’t you come in for a minute while I find a vase to put them in?”  She stood back, inviting him in.

He stepped just inside, not wanting to
push his luck by intruding, but he tried to get out of her way.  She closed the door and began walking across the living room.  “Come on in,” she said.

He followed her across the room.  He liked her place.  It wasn’t very big but it was neat.  She had hundreds of books…he spotted three large bookshelves in the living room alone.  Not surprising that an English teacher would be a book lover.  The room was a bit on the dark side, but no lights were on in there.  There was a chair and a couch, both in the same beige
upholstery, but the couch had a colorful afghan draped over the back, and it also had several pillows tucked in the corners.  There were a couple of framed prints, but he didn’t have time to check them out as he followed her into the kitchen.  Unlike the living room, it felt light and airy.  It was mostly white but had accents of light blue here and there, and her canisters and some potholders on the wall were decorated with brown teddy bears hugging blue hearts.
  The tablecloth covering the square table in the middle was lacy off-white and topped with blue placemats.

It felt kind of like his mom’s kitchen.  It felt homey and inviting.  He liked it, but no way was he going to say it.  Erin had opened up a cabinet door in the corner.  “Hey…I hate to ask you, but can you reach that vase right there?”

Riley liked being asked for help.  “Sure.”
  Reaching the vase
off the top shelf
was no problem.  He handed it to her and shut the cabinet door.

She thanked him and then walked across the room to the sink.  She poured in some water and then removed the flowers from the plastic sheet around them.  “These smell really nice.”

“Glad you like ‘
em
.” 
He felt really stupid, just hovering and saying goofy things
, like he was a teenager all over again
.  But the awkward moment would be over soon.

She placed the vase on the table and smiled.  “Thank you.”  He nodded.  “So…are you ready to go?”

“If you are.”
  And not only did he hold his elbow out for her to lace her arm through once they got out the door, but he also opened the passenger door for her.  He wanted to make sure she was swept off her feet, because he didn’t know how long he could remain on
his
best behavior.  He hoped his good first impression now would carry him all the way through dinner and beyond.

Chapter Eight

WELL, ERIN DIDN’T
quite know what to think.  Not only had Riley so far been a perfect gentleman, he
also
looked like a dream.  Yeah, sure, he still had
small hoop
earrings in his ears and his hair was still longish, but it was slicked down and combed into submission. 
And the suit?
 
Holy shit.
  She hadn’t thought a guy like him
getting dressed into less casual clothing could be a turn on, but she’d been wrong.  He was even hotter than before.

And she was glad she’d changed her mind about her clothes.  She’d chosen a little black number, something she’d last worn in college, and his suit was black, so it was almost as though they’d planned it.

When they got in his Mustang (why didn’t a sports car surprise her?)
and he turned on the ignition, the music was a little loud, but it was good stuff.  He said, “Oh, sorry,” and turned it down.

“This is a great song.”

“Yeah…it’s pretty good.” 
It was Drowning Pool’s “Tear Away,” and Erin started singing to it.  Riley grinned and started singing along too.
  When the song was over, he said, “You’ve got a pretty good singing voice.”

She felt herself blush but grinned and said, “You too.”

He rolled his eyes but he was smiling.  He pulled the car onto the main highway, meaning they were just a few more minutes away.  “So…is there going to be any dancing at this shindig?”

“God, I hope not.”  Oops…she’d said that too abruptly.  “
I mean…yeah, there’s dancing, but…
. 
It
’s no offense to you, but I don’t know how well my feet will hold up in these shoes.”

“Okay, you mentioned it, so I
gotta
ask.  Why do women wear shoes that hurt them?  I’ve never understood that.”

“We don’t usually…or, at least,
I
don’t. 
I just…wanted to look nice tonight.”

Riley looked over at her and smiled, then pulled his eyes back to the road.  “You look beautiful.”

She felt the blush that had threatened to appear earlier begin burning her cheeks.  “Thanks,” she said.  “You look pretty good yourself.”

When they got to the high school, he asked, “Do you want me to drop you off at the front and then meet you inside?  You know, because of your feet?”

She laughed.  “No, they’re fine right now.  I can walk.”

So he parked the car and she waited for him to open the door.  She caught a whiff of whatever cologne he was wearing and she felt her nipples go erect.  It was a potent, masculine smell, spicy and tangy.  She’d vowed earlier when she’d finally chosen her dress that she would kiss him, nothing more, if it even went that far.  Having a rock star escort you on his arm made him feel tempting, made her feel hungry, but damn it.  She’d sworn off men.  Bad enough she’d been burned by her last two boyfriends; she was
not
going to set herself up for heartache, and that’s all it would be if she slept with a rock star.  She already knew that.

So she forced herself to take her mind off what his chest looked like unclothed and what the rest of him
must look like.  Hell, she especially
needed to quit wondering what he kissed like.  And just because he was on his best behavior now didn’t mean he was going to be good all night, no matter how he’d dressed or even the fact that he’d given her flowers.  He’d already shown her
his true colors last night, both during the show (unbeknownst to most of the audience) and after when he’d been holding her close from behind.

Stop thinking about
that
.

And yet she found it hard to get the image out of her mind.  He’d felt, in that moment, so potent, so irresistible, so virile, and if she’d given in to her basest instincts, she would’ve hiked her skirt and demanded that he fuck her right then and there.

But that wasn’t any
way to win a man’s heart.

And why was she teasing herself so much anyway?  It was one night, a fun date, nothing she should get her hopes up about.

She knew that, and yet…

She shoved the thoughts down as he held
open one of the
door
s
to the front of the school for her.  How many times over the past few years had she walked through these doors?  How many times had she walked through them feeling the way she did now?  She was mostly happy, partially horny, and quite conflicted.

Probably none.

She’d gone through the doors feeling happy on occasion.  She’d never walked through the doors feeling aroused.  On occasion, she’d entered the building feeling a little conflicted.  And
, at this moment,
she
also
felt exhilarated.  Why was Riley having that effect on her?

She dared not let him know.  At the moment, she preferred humble, well-behaved Riley to the cocky, full-of-himself version.

They walked into the gym, and Erin noticed that about half the squad was already there.  There were exactly thirteen small round tables, all topped with fine
linen
.  She w
ondered where they’d gotten the tables
and figured the cheer squad had probably bought them years ago just for the occasion.  The lights were dim and she noticed the overhead ones weren’t on.  She
noticed
some
stage lights hanging from some metal poles that had been used on the stage the night before.  Each table had a candle, but the lighting was soft and romantic.

Erin couldn’t understand why these girls agreed to do this every year.  What if they were saddled with a boy they didn’t like?  Erin felt like she got lucky.  She could’ve wound up with someone less desirable.  Truth be told, even if nothing came of it (and she didn’t believe it would), at least she had a good-looking date for an evening…a date other women would kill for.

But, of course, the girls were doing it for their sport, their passion.  She supposed had she been that age, she would’ve done something similar.  She’d dated some of the boys considered less desirable back when she was in high school and college, simply because she was willing to look deeper than appearance and popularity.  She guessed she needed to give the cheerleaders credit as well, considering they
didn’t appear to be
judging their dates either.

Riley pulled a chair out for her at a table closest to the back, farthest from the others.  Erin saw
Kortni
, one of two sophomores on the team, and
a smile spread across
the young girl’s face.  She shrugged her shoulders and giggled, then waved at Erin.  Erin waved back, hoping she wouldn’t be under scrutiny all night.

When Riley sat in the other chair, Erin realized
Kortni
probably wasn’t necessarily waving
at
her so much as she was waving at the woman who was
on a date with
the hot rock star.  She guessed she couldn’t blame the girl for that.  But it was probably
gonna
be a long night.