Ace (Playtime Series Book 1) Read online

  “Ace, this is Mr Dash, the founder of Dash Records,” Hank said, introducing us.

  I stretched out my hand and shook Mr Dash’s large hand.

  The guy looked like a bouncer, someone

  who clearly knew how to handle himself in a tight situation. He didn’t look a day over thirty and oozed a little sex appeal. Those big brown eyes were more than I could handle.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” I replied with a smile, pulling my hand away and looking back at Hank.

  “I’m sorry, the band is young and enjoying themselves, so ill warn you now, there are females roaming our house naked,” Hank remarked with a cheeky grin… typical male. For all I knew, Hank was probably enjoying having a bevy of beauties at his disposal.

  “Like I said this morning, bands seem to draw women to remove clothing. Let’s face it, when men are young and in a rock band, the females will come swarming,” I remarked, looking down at the bottle of vodka which was calling my name. I stepped around the island bench and grabbed a shot glass, pouring myself a nip before shooting it back and letting the liquor burn, I let it sooth me. “Hey sexy,” someone mumbled to me. I looked up to find two big, brown eyes looking down at me intently, a sly grin parting the stranger’s lips. Clearly this guy was young, younger than me. I hope he is legal at least, for Hanks sake, the last thing he needs is underage drinkers at his house.

  “Hey,” I replied, returning his smile before looking back down to pour myself

  another drink.

  I wasn’t going to be rude, in fact, with the founder and my boss looking over me I knew being rude wasn’t an option. Besides, this guy was just being friendly or at least I thought he was being friendly?

  Damn, the liquid burned. As much as I wasn’t a drinker, I knew I needed just a few more to take the edge off my uneasiness at being at this bash. I really shouldn’t complain, this was my boss’s house and it was his life. Parties like this were something I would have to deal with if I intended to make it in this business; events, guys, booze and unwanted bull shit all came hand-in-hand with this lifestyle.

  I went to pour myself another drink when I felt hands slip around my waist and the tell-tale signs of someone’s arousal flush against my butt. I didn’t want to be rude, but at this point in time the guy wasn’t giving me much of an option. If he made another move then he was in for some serious pain, because the last person who tried to feel me up ended up in hospital with some serious blue balls.

  “You’re a sexy woman, different to most girls here,” the kid mumbled, his breath reeked of whiskey as he leant in to kiss the nape of my neck. That was it, he had made a move and now he would have to suffer for it.

  I turned in his grasp and gripped his somewhat small package. This guy was clearly a kid, probably barely twenty in age.

  He groaned, seeming to be in a very uncomfortable situation.

  “I don’t think you have the balls to handle a real woman,” I replied, “The next time you invade my personal space, and kiss me on the neck, I’ll do more than grab these little things. I’ll make sure you never fuck a woman again. Got it?” I warned, as I flashed him a smile and let go of his package shoving him away.

  Maybe it was a little harsh, but it certainly told others to steer clear of me, which is exactly what I wanted. It’s not that I dislike crowds, because the fact is I love them, but I hate it when people invaded my personal space.

  “I like her, she is blunt, up front and doesn’t take shit from anyone,” Mr Dash whispered as I walked back towards Hank.

  “You have the job, missy, enjoy playing with the band,” he smirked, shaking Hank’s hand and walking away.

  What the fuck just happened? I looked at Hank and shook my head, shock was a complete understatement.

  ˜*˜

  “I’m so sorry Hank, I didn’t mean to go off at that kid, but he was in my personal space and you know how much I hate that.”

  He smiled and stepped closer to me, making me back up until my butt hit the kitchen bench. Leaning in, he placed his hands on either side of me, caging me in.

  Hank never played games, he was always up front and honest about his intentions, but on the odd occasion I had seen him let loose and fly with it.

  “What are you doing?” I asked, unable to hide the little excitement I was getting from this.

  “What do you think? Invading your personal space,” he replied with a grin, placing his hands on my hips and lifting me onto the bench before stepping in between my legs. This was about as close to him as I had ever been. Ok, well maybe that was a little white lie. The first night I met him I ended up kissing him in the back alley behind some dive club. When we woke up the next morning we realized we were better off as friends, but the memory of kissing him still remained with me. I never forgot how those lips… sigh.

  “Hank,” I pushed back on his shoulders but he didn’t budge. I hadn’t realized until he started to move them, that his hands were still on my legs and were now moving further and further up my thighs.

  As much as I knew I had to stop this,

  there was a small part of me that wanted to relish in the feeling of his hands slowly caressing my body.

  “Hank, you know we can’t do this, besides, everyone is watching us,” I whimpered as I looked around to see a few beady eyes staring at us.

  He sighed and moved his hands around my back to embrace me in a hug, his lips lightly brushing my ear, which to my own surprise sent a shiver down my spine.

  “Just wanted to see how far you would let me go, because in all honesty, that guy hardly touched you and you went all ‘amazon woman’ on his arse. Yet you let me touch you and I can guarantee you would allow me to do a hell of a lot more if these people weren’t around,” Hank pronounced with a mischievous grin.

  “I trust you,” I replied because the truth was, I did trust him.

  I had lived with him for more than six months and in that time I had grown to like him more and more. Of course I would allow him to go further with me than others would; it was natural for woman to be attracted to a gorgeous man and vice-versa.

  “Damn, you smell good,” Hank exclaimed as he helped me slide off the bench.

  “You don’t smell bad yourself,” I responded with a grin.

  I needed more to drink… in fact, I needed

  a lot more to drink. Hank had just been hugging and getting closer to me and it felt nice. However opening up to someone meant traveling down the road of mistakes, which tended to lead to complete chaos and utter heartache. I intended to never let such things happen, but chemistry and undeniable attraction was a force too big for me to handle.

  ~Chapter Four~

  Hank

  So… getting close to Ace was probably a bad idea, the office already thought I was sleeping with her and in all honesty I wish I was. I wasn’t the type of guy who slept around, but being part of a record label certainly had its perks.

  “Hank,” I could hear Elle calling out as she came running around the corner into the kitchen, jumping into my arms and squeezing me to death. I smiled and hugged her back before placing her down on her feet. She was an attractive, small, package, but she had nothing on Ace.

  Ace was unique; she had curves most women would kill for, a smile that could brighten any day and she had the most amazing personality. She was kind, generous and down to earth; but it was her fiery temper that drew the male attention. If you rubbed Ace up the wrong way, you would have some serious groveling to do.

  Damn it, I needed to stop thinking of Lacey as a hot piece of ass I wanted to bed.

  “Where is Ace?” Elle asked, smiling up at me.

  “Check the lounge room, otherwise she’s probably outside,” I replied. I hadn’t been paying too much attention to where she had disappeared to. In fact, all I could think about was how close I came to making her come undone in front of an audience right on the kitchen bench. I was angry with myself; she deserved a hell of a lot better than that. No way would I, or anyone else take
Lacey while she was on a kitchen bench. Gosh I needed a cold, cold shower and maybe a woman to distract me from these weird, fucked up sexual fantasies.

  ˜*˜

  Ace

  It wasn’t happening…ever. Hank had been putting the moves on in a subtle way, but I could clearly read the signs his body was telling me.

  The sad fact is; I would have allowed him to feel me up if I’d had a little more to drink.

  The idea of exploding into an orgasmic heaven while on the kitchen bench, with an audience, was appealing… and the thought was even more enticing with Hank.

  “Fuck me, you’re the woman that Freddie tried his luck with and bummed out.” a man called out, before bursting into laughter. I smiled, but quickly tried to look a little sympathetic as I turned my gaze upon him.

  “I applaud you, I seriously don’t think the look on Freddie’s face will top anything,” the man smiled with a cheeky grin as he leaned in a little. “Is it true he is small?” he added with a whisper, audacity riddling his every word.

  I tried not to show too much amusement at the conversation, but it was a lot harder to control the laughter building up inside of me.

  “I don’t think it really matters, but for what it’s worth, I bet he will think twice before

  approaching another female the way he did me,”

  I replied with a smile and went to turn away and return to my second floor bedroom, away from this party.

  As much as I wanted to leave, something was drawing me to stay. Those big eyes of this stranger were drawing me in.

  The smile, splitting his face, wasn’t bad either, in fact it was intriguing and as sexy as hell. The way it slanted slightly and mixed with his pearly whites, was just a little too tempting to turn from.

  “What a pity you won’t reveal his little secret,” he laughed almost more than he should have.

  I wondered if the two of them knew each other and if so, I bet this guy was after information to use against him.

  “Why do I get the feeling that if I reveal his so called ‘little secret,’ that you will use it as ammo to tease him?” I remarked.

  “It’s my job as a big brother to do just that,” he grinned.

  “You can tell Freddie that my lips are sealed,” I advised, returning his grin.

  “I won’t tell… my lips will be sealed,” he pouted. I had never seen a guy pout and the worst part was that he looked even sexier while doing it, if that was even possible.

  I laughed a little and it came out more like a school girl giggle.

  I needed to leave and retreat to my room. I wasn’t a partygoer, at least not this type of party; a bunch of young ones binge drinking, all because the band scored a cool recording deal.

  I understood getting a recording contract was hard, and it was even harder to score one with Dash Records. I just hoped that this so called rock band knew what they were getting themselves into, because if I was now their manager, I wasn’t going to take any bull shit and I certainly wasn’t going to put up with any crap they threw my way.

  “Good night beautiful stranger,” he called, as I headed upstairs towards my bedroom. I didn’t bother to look back down or say anything more, I didn’t know him and he didn’t know me. But that smile… I could easily lose myself in that smile over and over again and to me, that was just a little too dangerous to explore.

  ˜*˜

  I woke the next morning knowing that the house was going to be in one hell of a mess. I didn’t want to clean, but then I couldn’t live in a house that was messy and neither could Hank. I showered, dressed in my usual attire and headed downstairs to assess the damage from the night’s festivities.

  “Ace,” Hank called out, his voice husky and laced with sleep. I had just walked past his bedroom door on my way to the stairs.

  “Morning Hanky,” I joked.

  “You know I hate it when you call me Hanky,” he groaned, stepping out into the hall to stop me from going anywhere. Why he stopped me, I wasn’t sure, but I bet it had to do with the mess I knew I would see when I walked into the kitchen.

  “Please tell me you’re going to wear more

  than that down stairs?” he asked, raising an eye brow in question, before looking me up and down. I was wearing the same old thing I wore every morning, after I showered. My underwear covered up by my silk robe, what was so wrong with that?

  I looked down at myself; the robe was slightly opened, revealing the underwear I was wearing.

  I smiled, “Why?” I asked, looking back up at him, those big eyes giving me a little appreciation for the peep show.

  “Hank, I wear this every morning and I don’t hear you complaining. What’s different about today?” I asked with a pout, while fluttering some puppy dog eyes.

  “Don’t,” he warned, “I’ll never complain about seeing you in whatever you want to wear, but be my guest, walk downstairs in that and see how far you get,” he chuckled, stepping out of the way and allowing me to continue to the kitchen. I turned to look at him and he had moved to the edge of the railing to watch me.

  ˜*˜

  Hank

  It didn’t take long for me to hear the screams. I laughed at first, but then decided I couldn’t leave her down there.

  At least not with the band and the way she was dressed, they would want to eat her alive. In fact, if we were alone I might have eaten her alive… especially since she was wearing the cute little blue lace matching bra and panties that made me want to throw her over the dining table and enjoy the spoils.

  Fuck this, I needed to find a woman and enjoy her instead. I couldn’t be thinking of Lacey this way, she was my roommate, work colleague and not to mention a sweet girl who had one hell of a temper if you ever crossed her. I wasn’t going to ruin what we had all because my dick wanted to play with her.

  “Back the fuck off,” I heard her voice yell. Arrr dammit, I couldn’t stay up here and hide anymore. I took the stairs two at a time and made my way to the kitchen, knowing exactly who was going to be in the kitchen torturing Ace.

  ˜*˜

  Ace

  “Look, I already kicked some Freddie guy’s ass last night for trying his luck, you’re pushing it,” I warned, hoping this prick of a guy would back the fuck off. I now knew why Hank had been trying to warn me to wear something a little less revealing.

  “Hey, I didn’t do anything but ask if I could cop a feel. A pretty lady like you, encased in blue lace is almost begging to be touched,” he smirked. Who the fuck did this guy think he was? I thought I had heard every sick, pathetic, laughable line in the book, but this one took the cake.

  “You touch me and I break your most precious accessory,” I smiled.

  “Back off Damon, if Dash finds out that you’re messing with her, you’re going to lose your contract,” Hank yelled, stepping into the kitchen and rounding the island bench to stand beside me.

  “You alright, Ace?” he asked with a smirk.

  “Laugh it up Hank,” I growled.

  “Ruin the fun mate,” Damon groaned and turned to the leave the room.

  “You trying to fuck up our chances at keeping a contract, fuck me. She is our manager,

  you can’t fuck her,” interjected the sweet, sexy, smiling guy from the night before, who was now standing in the doorway to the lounge room. He was wearing nothing but a pair of very sexy jeans, which clung to his body and hung low on his hips. I don’t know how, but he was a hell of a lot sexier this morning. His scruffy bed hair and that nipple piercing I could see on his left nipple, was helping with his sex appeal.

  Damn, I needed to get my mind out of the gutter and concentrate on the job at hand. It had completely slipped my mind that the big boss told me last night that I had scored the job, the job to watch over JED. The rock band that seemed to have spent the night in this house, in Hank’s house, where I was now standing in only a silk robe and see-through blue lace panties.

  “Well, well, no one mentioned to me that our manager was a girl and a hot pie
ce of ass at that,” Damon boasted, looking back at me with a smirk on his lips.

  “She may be a hot piece of ass, but she is also our manager. So if you piss her off, you piss off the big guys at Dash… understand?” the mystery man reprimanded.

  I guess he was the boss of the band, because he was gifting out some pretty harsh orders. Not that I needed, or would ever need a man to protect me, I could easily handle my own and I did last night with Freddie.

  I tried not to smile at the thrill it gave me,

  to remember grabbing the poor boy’s balls. He had been all of twenty-one, barely legal as Hank informed me later on that evening, when he popped his head in to say goodnight.

  “I get the point Eric, I’ll back off,” Damon growled, storming out of the room.

  “Sorry, sweet pea, he tends to not filter his thoughts,” Eric said with a smile, while stepping further into the kitchen.

  Those jeans… damn! They hung a little too well on his hips, showing off his six pack and pierced nipples. This guy was packing some pretty serious heat and all I could think about was standing here and staring at that body along with the intricate tattoo that seemed to start on his hip and disappear below his pants line.

  “Keep staring if you wish, I have all day,” he joked.

  Oh shit! I had been staring a little too much and got caught. Hank smiled then stepped up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist and pulling me in, his lip grazed slightly along my ear.

  “Maybe this is a bad idea, are you sure you’re ready to handle a band with five crazy rockers?” he whispered. His thumb lightly rubbed at my hip and for a moment I was grateful for the temporary distraction, concentrating on the feeling and sensation his fingers were producing.

  I slipped my hands up Hank’s arms and slung them around his neck, leaning into his embrace and hugging him.

  Truth was, I wasn’t even sure I could handle all the thoughts running through my head, let alone a rock band, but it was my job, and the last thing I wanted was to fail at it.