Taking the Lead(27)

But that was the point. No more demanding. "Anyway, she gave me the cold shoulder when I got there, and then she shut me down again when we were done."

"With the finger-banging?"

"Yes. That was as far as it went. I never even took my pants off. I figure that was as clear a signal as I could send that the ball is in her court now. Don't you think?"

"You mean, you're playing hard to get?"

"I think it's a bit more sophisticated than that, but I suppose so. I mean, look at you, Mal. You have women all the time who get obsessed with you after one fuck."



       
         
       
        

"How is that similar to your situation?"

"They get obsessed with you because you tell them flat out that you don't ever do a girl twice."

"I believe it's because my skills as a lover are much more highly developed than those of the cretins these women normally associate with." That was how Mal always talked. He was a vampire guitar god but he sounded like he taught English Lit at a British boarding school. Probably because he'd attended a British boarding school.

It made him hard to argue with. "What I'm saying is that sometimes when something is just out of reach it's really tempting. Okay, you're right. I'm playing hard to get and we'll see if it gets me anywhere."

The truth was I had no idea how Ricki was going to react to what I'd done. Hopefully she was at least intrigued by the move? Or maybe there was something primal about leaving things unfinished that would nag her underneath?

"Are you wanking while driving?" Mal said with a disapproving tone in his voice that said he knew perfectly well what I was doing.

"I'll be home later," I said, and hung up.

Masturbating while driving was not the stupidest thing I'd ever done. Not the brightest, either, but at least I did not wreck the car.

I did, however, make sure I'd come to a full and complete stop before I tried to clean up. And I waited until I was back on the road to make another phone call.

Miracle of miracles, Sakura picked up the phone. "Yes?"

"Are you still at your rehearsal?"

"Tech setup is still going on. Haven't even started the walk-through," she said with a sigh.

"Sounds par for the course," I said. "Got some time to talk about what happened to me tonight?"

"Why don't you come down to the theater? Bring me some takeout while you're at it. Get pizza."

"Do they let runway models eat?"

As usual, Sakura had an answer for everything. "Get thin crust."





CHAPTER EIGHT


KNOCKOUT


AXEL

I'd never been to a fashion show before. This one, I gathered, wasn't the norm, but I couldn't tell you what was. The show was in a funky modern theater space where the audience sat in four banks of seats around a central stage with a long runway from backstage that kept going on the other side. The backstage area was complete chaos, as five different designers each worked to get dozens of models ready. Makeup, clothes, accessories, shoes. And this was only the dress rehearsal.

The vast majority of the models were women, and most of the designers, too, which made sense since this was all a fundraiser for that group Christina was always going on about, Women in Empowered Media or whatever it was called. 

Sakura hustled me into one section of the backstage area that was divided from the others by two rolling racks hung with outfits and costumes and a row of folding chairs. "Diff! Dara!" she yelled to two people talking to another designer a few sections over.

The woman, Dara, was tall with spiked platinum blond hair except for the parts where it was long and jet-black. Her eyes were heavily lined in black, and she was dressed simply, in a plain black T-shirt, yoga pants, and slip-on shoes. "This the rock star you said was coming over?"

"Axel Hawke," I said, holding out my hand.

Dara shook it. "Dara, and this is Diff." She turned but her partner hadn't followed her. "Diff! Get your ass over here!"

The guy hurried over, waving good-bye to someone he'd been talking to as he tiptoe-ran the agility test of chairs and people. He had a measuring tape over his shoulders. Like Dara he had short blond spikes in his hair, but they were softer, possibly more natural, and he was also in a plain black shirt, black jeans, and Doc Martens. "Diff," he said as he shook my hand. Then to Dara, "Who's this again?"

"Sakura's pet rock star," Dara drawled.

"Ooh. Well." He kissed the back of my hand then and bowed and I laughed. That was my shtick! "Welcome to our humble duchy."

"I won't get in the way, I promise."

"Sure you won't," Dara said with a sigh. "Sakura, we're done fitting you for now. Just don't go far."

"We'll stay right here. Axel brought this." She pointed to the pizza box I'd set on a chair. "Want some?"

Dara's expression brightened. "God, yes. Axel, you're a sweetheart."

Apparently the way to a fussy fetish fashion designer's heart was through melted cheese.

After we'd eaten, Dara and Diff went off to discuss tech requirements with the venue and Sakura and I talked. I told her all about the party at the Governor's Mansion. Well, maybe not all, but pretty close to it. I wouldn't have if she and Ricki weren't so close.

"What am I doing wrong? If I come on strong we go straight to D/s sex. If I don't, she doesn't even deign to notice I exist."

Sakura didn't have a lot of advice to give me. "Maybe it's not you," she said. "Maybe it's something she's got to figure out for herself."

"Any idea what?"

"No. But if I had to make a guess, maybe it's not that easy to be the third generation of kinkster in a family that's made a tradition of it?"

"I suppose that's possible."

Dara came and sat in the chair next to Sakura, while Diff sat down next to me. "Hey, Axel, question for you," Dara said.

"Yeah?"

"What are you doing tomorrow night?"

"Nothing, why? Should I come see the fashion show?"

She twirled the end of a jet-black lock of hair around her finger. "Well, we're having a little bit of a problem, which is that our male model got the flu, and the thing we want to do, it takes a while to get into, so we can't just grab one of the other guys off the runway."

"And you look like you're probably a similar size to him," Diff added.

"You're asking me if I'll be in your show?"

"It'll be the hit of the night," Diff said excitedly. "We're the last in the show, and you'll be like a finale. Plus, you know, your image."

"My image?" I asked. I knew what he was talking about: the album cover, the Details spread; this would be one more thing that said "edgy-sexy." But I wanted to see what he would say.



       
         
       
        

"We need a bad boy," he said, and I swear he added a little flirty pout to it when he said it. "We need  …  you."

I grinned. He knew how to get me. "What do I have to do?"

"We dress you, and when the time comes you walk," Dara said. "Come with me and I'll show you the route."

"One condition," I said. "There's music while the walking is going on, right? You have to use one of my band's songs."

Sakura burst out laughing. "They already are! Christina made us promise to."

"Great! Oh, you know, I kind of promised her I wouldn't do anything without her approving it first. But I'm sure she'll agree, don't you think? This is her organization's fundraiser, after all." There, I had just convinced myself my manager would agree. "Okay, it's a deal. Show me where I'm going."

"Excellent. Welcome to the Dare 2B Diff crew," Dara said. "I'll show you the stage-"

"How about you let me measure him first, so I can get started while you do that," Diff said.

"Oh, all right. I'll come back and get him in a minute."

Diff hopped up then and asked me to step onto a small riser. "Off with this, rock star," he said, flicking at my shirt.

Gay men do this thing around me, trying to see if it'll freak me out if they flirt.

It doesn't. "No problem." I stripped to the waist and stood there, feeling glad I did that abs workout at Mal's every day this week. "I can lose the pants, too, if you want, but fair warning, I'm not wearing anything under them."

"To quote George Takei, 'oh my,' " Diff said. "Glad to know you're not shy."

"It's a rock star's job not to be." I wasn't even joking.

"Ahem." He hesitated. "Just hitch 'em down a little so I can get your hip measurement."

Another woman, one of the models, came in and sat down at the makeup table, getting a nice eyeful of my torso before she turned her attention to touching up her mascara.

When Diff was done measuring me, he left me and Sakura there for a bit. "You are too much," Sakura said with a chuckle.

"Too much what?"

"I've never seen Diff blush like that before."

"You don't think my abs are blush-worthy?" I asked, looking down at them as if to check.