Tabitha Ch. 05

Tabitha grabbed Wes by the front of his black button-up shirt and tugged him toward her. He took a large step forward, across the threshold and into her apartment. He had barely a second for the surprise to register on his face before she tugged on his shirt again, bringing his mouth flush against hers.

Her tongue teased his mouth open. His hands gripped her waist and he pulled her to him. Her breasts crushed against his chest and he moaned pitifully. She was soft and smelled sweet...like flowers; not perfume or lotion or hairspray, a subtle floral scent that could drive him out of his mind.

Wes tried to pull back, exerting what little self-control he still had. She wouldn't let him; she went up on her toes to bring their lips back together. His hands began to wander up and down her sides. His knees buckled and they sunk to the floor. Tabitha didn't seem to notice they were both on their knees; she was so involved in the touch and go of their tongues.

His hands slipped over the flimsy charcoal gray dress she wore. It was low-cut, leaving much of her cleavage exposed. The tips of his fingers brushed along the exposed skin and she winced.

The small sound made his dick hard.

Tabitha gasped when she felt it against her stomach.

Wes, brought back to reality by the sound of her surprise, pulled away. He gazed over her face; eyes shut, lush lips still parted face flush. She was gorgeous. He stood and pulled her to her feet before she had a chance to open her eyes.

"You've really got to work on your self-restraint," Tabitha whispered as she fanned herself with her hand.

"You're still fully clothed with both feet on the floor...which means my restraint is well in-hand."

"Sweet-talker!" she giggled.

"Seriously, though," Wes said adjusting his erection, "What the hell was that?"

Tabitha smiled and dropped her gaze. "It's our second date; I figured we'd get the kiss out of the way so we won't be all awkward and nervous at the end of the night."

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way," said Wes, "lets get to this party before I need an ice bath."

"Sure," Tabitha said with a wink, "I'll just get my wrap and reapply my lips...I mean lipstick."

***

"Wesley, it's been ages! I'd hoped to meet you again in more of a business capacity that social."

Wes turned toward the familiar clipped British accent and sighed. "I'm out of the business, Logan."

"Yeah, I heard," Logan said with a smirk, "but come on, Wes, you're made for this business. You see notes where the rest of us hear sounds. Just because some slag used you for your money and dropped you as soon as she made her way to someone better doesn't mean you walk away from all this." He held his hands out in a manner that reminded Wes of a picture of Jesus in his grandmother's old house. The shaggy chestnut brown hair creeping over the stiff collar of his shirt and dark blue eyes only added to the similarities. "You just have to wash off your dick and move on."

"Woah, I think I walked into this conversation at the most wrong moment possible."

Wes turned to see Tabitha's wide eyes. His face flushed. Why did Logan have to be such an ass?

"Tabitha," he said by way of introduction, "this is Logan Burke, Sickly Sweet's A&R."

Logan's grin could be described as predatory. "Pleased to meet you, my dear."

Tabitha wrinkled her nose. "You can turn down the Brit-speak. You're not impressing me any...I can't even pull off singing in the shower."

Wes snorted out a laugh and Tabitha took the final sip of her champagne.

"Allow me," said Logan taking her empty flute.

Once he was a safe distance away, Tabitha leaned against his arm. "That guy is awful full of himself," she whispered.

"He's full of other things too."

Tabitha nodded. "He looks like the slippery kind."

"What gave it away?"

Tabitha glanced through the crowd of attractive, well-dressed people making small talk. "At first it was the hair, all moussed up to look messy...then I saw those Berluti loafers—over a thousand bucks a pair—and the classic Burberry print tie...vain, yes, overcompensating, maybe. All those things would have been enough, but I think it would have to be the general air of crafty, uselessness about him."

"Smart and beautiful," Wes whispered into her hair. "Unbelievable."

Tabitha giggled, but straightened when Logan approached with a fresh glass of champagne. "Thank you," she said forcing a smile. "Please excuse me, I actually see someone I know!"

The two men watched her walk away in reverent silence until Logan spoke.

"I see you've got the moving on part done."

Wes was suddenly bored. "Uh-huh."

"She's a looker, eh? Tell me, are those knockers real?"

Wes rolled his shoulders...bored was quickly turning into angry. "Don't," he growled...a warning.

"It's an honest question, mate. I mean, if they are real, you're one lucky S.O.B.; it's not ever day you come across a pair that fine that haven't been in a surgeon's hands at some point."

"Fuck off, Logan. Don't talk about my..." The sentence died on his tongue. What was she, exactly? Two dates didn't constitute a girlfriend, but she was something...something special. "Just watch your mouth."

Wes didn't give Logan a chance to respond. He turned on a heel and walked in the opposite direction.

***

"Lauren, hi!" Tabitha said walking up to her coworker.

"Tabitha?" the raven-haired woman said, surprise obvious. "What are you doing here?"

Tabitha tried not to be insulted by her tone. "I was invited, by Clay."

"You know the lead singer?"

"Kind of...we met on Friday night."

Lauren's eyes were round. "I would have never imagined you would hang out with this sort of crowd."

Tabitha was just shy of insulted. "Why not?"

"Well, considering who your sister is..."

"How do you know my sister?"

Tabitha made a point of keeping to herself at work and she certainly wasn't going around telling people about her sister, or any member of her family.

"Google."

"You Googled my sister?"

Lauren rolled her eyes. "I was looking for information about you, when you first started and her name came up."

"Okay, well, what does my sister have to do with my social life?"

"I just thought you'd be more into gala balls and society mixers, not this kind of thing."

Tabitha was officially insulted but she took a sip of champagne to squelch her anger. "Obviously, you assumed wrong and you don't know my sister very well at all. Please excuse me." She saw Wes headed her way and didn't feel like introducing him.

"Let's get out of here," he said slipping his arm around her waist.

Tabitha polished off the champagne. "Its like you read my mind."

***

"Leaving so soon?" a voice said when they were just a few feet from the front door. The party was being held in a rather gaudy mansion. In Tabitha's opinion, the entire home looked like something out of Architectural Digest...nice to look at, but not exactly livable.

"Jazzy," Wes said extricating his arm from Tabitha's waist and hugging the small, curvy woman. She went up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck.

Tabitha was just about to feel uncomfortable when Wes turned to her. "Tabitha, this is Jazzy—I mean Jasmine."

Jazzy was cute. She had black hair, cut short and curled in all directions, hazel eyes and a slender face. She had an amazing figure, made obvious in black leather pants and a sage green halter top. She had a peaches-and-cream complexion, a sapphire belly ring, and a warm smile.

Tabitha shook her hand and then realization hit her. "You're the singer...from the concert in the park!"

"Yes I am!"

"You're really good."

"She knows," said Wes, interrupting Tabitha's gushing.

"Shut up," Jazzy directed at him. "You can call me Jazzy," she said to Tabitha. "You have no idea how nice it is to meet you."

"Uh—thanks."

Wes was blushing when she turned to him.

"Wes is my brother," Jazzy explained. "It's been a while since he's introduced me to a girl he's seeing; probably because it's been a while since he's been out on anything resembling a date."

"That explains the kiss," Tabitha said to Wes.

"Huh?" said Jazzy tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

"Never mind," muttered Wes. "Its getting late and some of us have to work tomorrow."

Jazzy smiled. "Fine, have you seen Clay?"

"He's doing an interview with Spin in the office upstairs."

"Wonderful," Jazzy grumbled rolling her eyes. "If he gets the cover we'll never be able to deflate his head. I'd better go see what's up. See you later, Tabitha." Jazzy waved and started up the stairs.

***

"You're sister is really pretty," Tabitha said once they were in his car headed back home.

"Thanks, I guess. I can't really take credit for that."

She giggled. "I know that. I just thought you should know."

"We went to the same high school, I was made aware of my sister's attractiveness by any boy that bothered to take the time to try and get to her through me."

Tabitha looked at him, curious about the cold tone his voice had taken.

"Did that happen a lot?" she asked.

"Only once a week or so."

"Sounds like you were pretty popular."

He laughed. "Not even a little bit. I was a band geek that watched too much television and was too concerned with making good grades to be concerned about his pimples. I was scrawny and socially awkward."

"That's why it took a few tries before I realized that I was being used. At first I thought the Lacrosse captain and the quarterback were actually interested in hanging out with me."

Tabitha leaned close and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. After giving his bicep a squeeze, she said, "You filled out nicely."

"You're just trying to get in my pants," he said on a sigh.

"From what your sister said, I'd need a crowbar and an auto dialer to get into your pants."

"I think I can make an exception for you," Wes teased.

Tabitha laughed. "Don't make it too easy for me," she said, "because I'm not going to make it easy for you."

"A challenge, eh? I'm up for a challenge."

"I believe I know exactly what gets you up, Wes."

He laughed, loud. "Only you," he whispered patting her bare knee. "Only you."

He walked her to the door again that night and their parting kiss was only slightly less passionate than the one she greeted him with at the beginning of their date.

***

"What do you mean you're not coming over for dinner?" Dion squawked over the phone on Wednesday afternoon.

Tabitha sighed. "I've been over for dinner two nights in a row."

"Yes, but you missed Sunday dinner."

"I told you I had a date."

"You know how I feel about Sunday dinners."

"I know, Dee-Dee, but let's face it; you'll be gone in a few months and..."

"You'll be back to eating Ramen over the sink," her sister finished.

Tabitha winced at the accuracy of that comment. "Maybe, maybe not. Point is, I have to get back into my single girl groove."

"Don't give me that," Dion snapped. "Just the image of you on the couch watching television until you pass out makes me so sad."

"I'm not going to be on the couch tonight, I promise."

"You better not, or I'm going to pack you up with my household goods." Dion sighed. "Sometimes I miss you the most when you're right down the street."

"Don't get sappy on me, Dee-Dee," Tabitha warned. "Don't get me involved with your psycho pregnancy hormones."

Dion laughed on the other end of the line. "Okay, I'm turning down the hormones now. I promise."

"Thanks, now I'm going to get off here and finish this report, okay?"

"I thought you were going to give me the details of that party you went to on Sunday!" Dion protested.

"I can't talk about it here," Tabitha sighed glancing at her office door, slightly ajar. "Evidently this girl I work with is keeping tabs on our family."

"Say what now?"

Tabitha laughed. "She Googled me and found out about you...and Rick."

Dion was silent a few seconds. "Well, if she was any kind of real woman she would have come to your face and asked you what she wanted to know."

"My thoughts exactly," muttered Tabitha. "Unfortunately, she doesn't have the balls or personality to do that."

Dion laughed. "Pay her no mind, my love. She thinks she knows us, but no one could ever imagine what we've been through...the retched series of events that's made us the crazy, wonderful women we are today."

"Who are you calling crazy?" Tabitha grumbled.

Dion laughed. "I'll excuse you from dinner tonight, just call me after your date, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am." Tabitha said in mock salute.