Fiery Temptation (2 page)

“Umm…well…”

“Unless tonight isn’t a good night for you.”

“No, it isn’t that.”

“You have a boyfriend.”

He’d just assumed she was single. The idea of Neve already having a man in her life didn’t sit well with Jalen. He wanted her for himself. For the first time, he was drawn to a human woman, had become instantly intrigued with her. She also made him horny as all hell.

Neve shook her head. “No, I don’t have a boyfriend.”

Jalen breathed a silent sigh of relief. “Then what’s stopping you from saying yes?”

She looked down at her feet, then back up at his face. “You’re you.”

“So?”

“You’re going to make me say this out loud, aren’t you? What I mean is you’re famous. While I’m a nobody from Barstow, who is unemployed with no prospects in sight. The only time I thought I’d be asked out by a rock star was in one of my daydreams.”

Jalen reached out and captured Neve’s hand. He placed her palm flat on his chest over his heart. “Do I feel any different from any other man?” She shook her head. “Just because I’m a rock star doesn’t make me less of one. I can be attracted to an unemployed woman from Barstow like any other male.”

He kept her hand pressed to his chest as he bent his head and brushed his lips against hers. Her quick indrawn breath, followed by a soft sigh, was all the encouragement he needed to fully take her mouth. Jalen pushed his tongue inside and brushed it against hers. The taste of her went to his head, making him ache for more of her. She kissed him back, and just like that, his common sense left him.

His hands dropped to her waist and he pulled her body closer, rubbing his erection against her belly. He kissed her deeper, their tongues twining. He took her mouth as if she were the only thing he needed to survive. Neve’s hands came up and threaded into the sides of his hair, pulling slightly on the strands, while she just as hungrily claimed his lips.

The distinctive screech of a Red-tailed Hawk broke the haze of intense desire that had taken Jalen over. With a sigh of regret, he lifted his head but kept his hands on Neve’s waist. He looked at her to find her eyes closed, her lips swollen from his kisses. The sight made him want to take them again, but he resisted.

A few seconds later, she opened them and met his gaze. “After that,” she said softly, “I guess I would be crazy to turn you down.”

“So I take it I proved I’m still just a man,” he said in a gruff voice. He rubbed his still hard cock against her.

Neve moaned softly. “Without question.”

“So when and where shall I pick you up?”

“I guess around seven and at my apartment.”

She told him her address, which he quickly memorized. He took his cell phone out of his front jeans pocket. “You’d better give me your phone number as well.” Jalen entered it into his address book as Neve gave him the digits, then put it away. “I’ll see you at seven tonight.”

Jalen gave Neve one last kiss, making sure it was nothing more than a quick meeting of the lips before he let her go and took a step back. Anything more and he’d have her flat on her back on the ground as he did what he so very much wanted to do to her.

“Oh, okay. I guess I should go back and join up with the tour group. Unless you want me to walk to your car with you? It’s probably parked at the early man site, right?”

“Actually, it isn’t.” He didn’t elaborate more. “You go ahead.” Jalen slowly backed up. “I’m looking forward to our date.”

She gave him a smile. “So am I. See you tonight.”

Jalen continued to walk backward as Neve turned and headed in the direction of the dig site. Once she turned the corner, he bent the light around him and stripped off his t-shirt. He securely tucked it into the waistband of his jeans before he manifested his wings. He stretched them out to their full, almost six-foot width. With a powerful jump straight up, he took flight, using his wings to take him higher off the ground.

Reaching a high enough altitude, Jalen leveled out and flew in the direction Neve had gone. He spotted her down below as she arrived where a group of humans stood. Reluctantly, he flapped his wings harder to pick up speed as he flew away from the early man site. He would have liked to spend the rest of the afternoon with Neve, but he had to return home. If he were to pick her up at seven, he had to make sure he had enough time to make the over an hour’s trip it would take for him to drive from his home in San Bernardino back to Barstow. Flying was ever so much quicker.

It had taken forty-five minutes for the tour to finally end. Once it did, Neve headed straight to her car in the parking lot. It didn’t take her long to get it started and out onto Interstate 15. As she drove, she kept replaying the short time spent with Jalen in her head.

Neve’s cheeks heated with the thought of how he’d kissed her. Her nipples pebbled beneath her blouse and an ache throbbed deep inside her pussy just thinking about it. She couldn’t hold back the teenage-sounding giggle that bubbled out of her. Holy crap, she’d actually kissed Jalen,
the
Jalen. And she had a date with him.

That was still hard to believe. Never would she have thought she’d ever meet him, let alone get to spend an evening with him. It was an ultimate fantasy come to life. She hated to admit how many hours she’d spent surfing the internet, staring at pictures of all the members of Soar, especially Jalen. Watching him play his guitar in their music videos, she’d always wondered what it would feel like to have his hands touching her in intimate places. Judging by the kiss he’d given her, she had high hopes of being able to find out.

Neve arrived at the small townhouse she split with her best friend, Kara, and parked in the driveway. She rushed through the front door and called out to her friend who answered, saying she was upstairs in the living room.

Taking the flight of stairs up to the next level, Neve went to join Kara. They’d been friends since meeting on the first day of school in the ninth grade. Back then, Neve had been a gangly thirteen-year-old with braces. It hadn’t taken long for the mean girls to single her out, but Kara had rescued her and they’d been tight all through the rest of high school to the present.

As Neve gained the top of the stairs leading to the living room, Kara looked up from the book she’d been reading, one of her many romance novels she loved so much. Her friend sat on the couch with her legs curled under her.

“So?” Kara asked. “How did it go at the early man site?”

Neve shook her head. “No deal. They don’t have any positions open, so I ended up going on one of their tours instead.”

Kara chuckled. “Again? I thought you’d be bored with it. You’ve only gone on what, two of them before?”

“Three. You know I like it there.”

“Yeah. You love your old rocks and artifacts. I guess if you did the tour, the trip wasn’t a total waste of time.”

Neve smiled. “No, it sure wasn’t.”

Kara gave her a quizzical look and closed her book around her finger to keep her place. “All right, what’s up? For someone who found out her dream job isn’t available, you look awfully excited about something. You’re beaming.”

Joining her friend on the couch, Neve turned sideways so she faced her. “You’ll never guess who I met there.” When Kara didn’t say anything, Neve asked, “Aren’t you going to guess?”

Kara rolled her eyes. “You just said I’d never be able to guess who it was. So what’s the point?”

“Come on, Kara, just play along, all right?”

“Fine. You met up with that cute guy we saw at the grocery store the other day.”

“Nope. Someone even better than him.”

“I don’t know. Our grade twelve Science teacher, Mr. Harris?”

Neve scowled. “Why would I be excited about seeing him?”

“Oh, come one. All the girls had a crush on him. He was young and good-looking. I believe you were crushing on him for a time.”

“Maybe I did, but it didn’t last very long. And no, it wasn’t Mr. Harris.”

“Then at least give me a clue, or we’ll be sitting here for the rest of the day not getting anywhere.”

Neve jumped off the couch and crossed over to the entertainment stand that was up against the far wall. Next to the stereo system was a rack full of CDs. She skimmed down it until she found the one she looked for, then sat next to Kara again.

She held it out to her friend. “Here’s your clue.”

Kara took it and looked down at the Soar CD she held, then back up at Neve. “Okay, I don’t get it. What does Soar’s latest CD have to do with the person you met?”

It was Neve’s turn to roll her eyes. “Just look at it. Who do you see on the cover?”

“The members of Soar.”

“Exactly.”

Kara’s brow furrowed. “Exactly what? You’ve still lost me, Neve.”

“All right, I’ll make this easy so you can follow along. The person I met is on the cover.”

“You met one of the members of Soar?”

Neve smiled. “I sure did.”

“You’re shitting me.”

“No, I really did.”

“Which one?”

She pointed at Jalen. “Him.”

Kara whistled. “You lucky bitch. Is he hotter in person?”

“Much hotter.” Neve waved a hand in front of her face as she recalled Jalen’s kisses. “And it gets even better. He asked me out on a date.” She then yelped as Kara punched her in the arm. “What the hell was that for?”

Her friend shook a finger at her. “That’s for feeding me a line of bullshit. There is no way you have a date with Jalen.”

Neve rubbed her abused arm. “It’s true. He’s coming here at seven to pick me up. He’s taking me out to dinner and maybe a movie afterward. And what do you mean by there’s no way I could have a date with him?”

“I guess I’ll have to make sure I’m here at seven in that case, to see for myself,” Kara said. “I don’t mean you’re not pretty enough to attract a rock star, because I think you are, it’s just you don’t hear of girls like us getting the hot, famous men.”

“Well, this girl did.”

Kara shook her head. “I’m still finding it hard to believe. But I’ll take your word for it.”

Neve snorted. “No, you won’t. I don’t think you’ll truly believe me until Jalen actually shows up at the door.”

Her friend chuckled. “You know me too well. I’ll reserve judgment until seven o’clock then.”

“He’ll be here.”

Kara put the CD on the coffee table in front of them. “Okay, a change in subject. Since the early man site didn’t pan out, what are you going to do about a job?”

Neve sighed. “I guess I have to see what’s out there.” She had enough money saved to live off of and pay her share of the rent for a couple of months, max.

“How about you come to work with me tomorrow and I’ll introduce you to my boss. I know he’s hinted about hiring someone to work the front of the house instead of doing it himself. You’d just be greeting people as they come in and seating them. Answer the phone and take reservations, that sort of thing.”

She gnawed on her bottom lip. Kara worked as a waitress at the local upscale Italian restaurant. The place was small, but had made a name for itself as having great food. Neve had never wanted a job in that line of work—and wasn’t sure she wanted to now.

“I’m not sure,” she said. “I don’t know if I’m cut out to be a hostess.”

“You’d be great at it. Plus, Matty’s place isn’t so big that you’ll have a huge crush to worry about during the high peak times.” Kara shifted closer and put her arm around Neve’s shoulders. “Just think—we’ll be working together then.”

Neve laughed. “Do really think it’s a good idea, since we already live together? You’ll get sick of seeing me all the time.”

“No way. That won’t happen. Just come and talk to Matty tomorrow. If you don’t want the job after that, then I won’t push. Do it for me.”

She couldn’t miss the puppy-dog eyes Kara turned her way. Neve had to chuckle. “I hate when you do that, stare at me with that look. I have a hard time saying no to it.”

“Then you’ll do it, you’ll talk to Matty?”

“Fine, I will, but I’m not guaranteeing anything. You know I’m not much of a people person.”

Kara gave her shoulder a squeeze before she let Neve go. “You might not be, but you’re definitely overqualified for the job. It would be a breeze for you. Now that that’s settled, how about we go upstairs and look for something for you to wear on your hot date tonight?”

Neve glanced at the clock on the TV’s digital receiver. “It’s not quite five yet. I have lots of time.”

“There is nothing wrong with being prepared well in advance.” Kara stuck her bookmark inside her book and put it on the coffee table next to the CD. She stood and held her hand out to Neve. “Let’s go. You have a rock star to impress.”

She let her friend pull her up onto her feet, then followed her upstairs to her bedroom. With Kara in charge, Neve would have her clothes picked out and her makeup done to perfection.

* * *

At quarter to seven, Neve was dressed and all ready to go on her date with Jalen. She wore black skinny jeans with black high-heeled sandals. A tighter, dusty-rose short-sleeved blouse replaced the one she’d had on earlier. Her hair had been brushed until it shone and her makeup had been artfully applied, but not too much that she looked as if she’d layered it on. After a few squirts of her favorite perfume, Kara had declared her acceptable.

She gave Neve’s hair one last fluff, then stepped back to admire her handiwork. “I really hope Jalen shows up after all the work we went through.”

“How many times do I have to tell you he’ll be here? I wasn’t making him up.”

“Like I said, I’m waiting until seven rolls around.”

They headed downstairs to the living room to wait. Kara turned on the TV and flipped through the channels. Neve sat on the couch, feeling a case of the nerves. What if Jalen
didn’t
show up? Kara would think she lied to her. And it wasn’t as if she could call him to see what was going on if he were late. Jalen had her cell phone number, but she’d stupidly forgotten to ask for his.

The closer the time came to seven o’clock the more butterflies she had in her stomach. Neve found herself counting the minutes. And when the appointed time arrived and the doorbell didn’t ring, her confidence of Jalen showing up slipped a little. A minute went by and then another. She looked at Kara from the corner of her eye. Her friend sat, looking as if she were enthralled with what she had on the TV, but Neve knew better. Kara watched the clock the same as she did.