Virginal Headlines: Love Between The Headlines Read online

  My shoulders sagged a little. The last thing I wanted to do was leave Prim’s side to go talk to a journalist. My name always sat like a torch in their hands, waiting to burn me at the stake.

  “Sure thing.” I turned to Prim. “You’ll be around, right?”

  “Yeah. Of course.”

  I stilled, smiling. “Good.” With a nod in Harrison’s direction, I added, “Don’t scare her away.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

  I spent the next half hour doing what I did best—charm. The journalist turned out to be different from what I was used to. He kept his questions in line with the event, never once trying to goad me. I lost sight of Prim somewhere in the middle of the interview, finding my attention veering away from the guy from time to time.

  It wasn’t until I heard a soft voice trilling through the mic that I stopped.

  Prim was on stage, hand cupped around a microphone. Eyes squeezed shut as her hips swayed slowly from side to side. Every note she crooned was a spell washing over me. Locking me in place. Opening my heart. Her voice was the perfect contradiction of sultry and sweet, like woodsy cinnamon.

  Glancing around the room, I noticed it wasn’t just me she had mesmerized. Everyone was focused on her. On the thrilling notes that seemed to crawl through my veins. She had downplayed her voice. I imagined she’d downplayed a lot of things about herself. That was something I’d change if I ever got the chance.

  Prim needed to know just how amazing she was. Just how unique.

  When she was finished, I lost her to the clapping and whistling crowd, and a small bout of panic released into my veins. Was she leaving? Had she met someone else? Surely someone would have at least tried for her attention within all the time that had passed. And what if someone had caught her eye?

  An odd, twisty feeling clenched in my gut. What was this fear that sank like a poison in my mind?

  It took several minutes, but I found her at the shark exhibit. She stood in front of the glass with her back to me.

  How did she do that? Steal my breath with just a glimpse? I moved in, heart fluttering like a moth trapped within a glass, desperately seeking its release.

  She stood a little straighter, as if aware someone was behind her.

  “Go out with me. On a date.”

  Her head dipped, but I caught a small smile lingering on the corner of her mouth. “That isn’t how this works, remember?”

  My lips rose to match hers. “Serendipity.”

  “It’s more fun, don’t you think?”

  I spun her around. Slid my fingers under her chin, then lifted her face. The air shifted then, growing restless and warm. Electric currents pulled us closer and closer, and any attempt to resist her was long gone.

  My gaze fell to her lips. “No. I think kissing you will be the most fun I’ll ever have.”

  For a moment, just a fraction of a second, her eyes closed, and I knew she wanted it just as badly as I did. Wanted to taste. Wanted to sin.

  But then she shook her head and stepped away, a cloud of doubt filling her eyes. “I… umm… I should go. I have to work tomorrow, and I have so much to catch up on.” She pulled her bottom lip through her teeth. “It was really nice seeing you again, Grayson. This was… it was fun.”

  The tone in her voice sharpened my senses. She was retreating again. Afraid to take a step forward with me. I didn’t blame her, but I also couldn’t let her go.

  “Dance with me?”

  “What?”

  “Just one dance, Prim. You’re here and I’m here, and we’ve barely been able to see each other the whole night. I don’t… I don’t want you to go. Not yet.” I grabbed her hand. “Please?”

  I didn’t understand the war raging in her eyes. Was it me? My reputation? Was I fooling myself by thinking she was into me? No… I knew it wasn’t that. One thing I was good at was reading the opposite sex. But her…

  She closed her eyes long enough to take in a small breath, then said, “Okay.”

  The word was so soft. Pliant. Like a brittle leaf one breeze away from breaking.

  I couldn’t contain the smile that flourished at knowing she’d stay. It stretched across my entire face as I pulled her into the main room. Pride bowed my chest out. Prim was in my arms, dancing with me.

  A slow song played through the speakers in between singers. There were only a few couples swaying on the dance floor, but I didn’t care. I wanted everyone to see her with me.

  “I know my reputation, Prim,” I said as I rested my hand against the small of her back. Her hand held mine, the other curved over my shoulder.

  “Grayson…”

  The way her lips formed around every letter of my name gave it a new meaning. A new depth. “Just hear me out.” I swallowed. “The thing is… I meant it when I said I don’t date.”

  Her gaze on me was razor sharp, searching my eyes as if she were waiting for me to tell her I was only kidding.

  A fitting amount of skepticism.

  “But you make me question that,” I quickly added before I lost her attention. The doubt in her eyes slowly fizzled into something deeper, more open. “I like how I feel when I’m around you. And I know it’s crazy. We’ve only seen each other a few times… but what if there’s something more here? Something that would surprise us both? Wouldn’t that be worth exploring?”

  I could see the answer struggling to makes its way to her mouth. She gazed past me, her eyebrows casting heavy shadows over her eyes. “What if… what if I was no good for you, Grayson? You barely know me.”

  The absurdity of her words ripped a chuckle from me. “You? Bad for me?”

  “There are things you—”

  “Prim.” I slowed us to a stop. “It’s because of my reputation. I know I’m right. You could never be bad for me. If anyone would know that, it’s me.”

  Her gaze dropped, and it rattled rocks in my stomach.

  Lifting her chin, I waited until her eyes met mine. “You’re exactly the kind of person I need in my life, Primrose Amberly. But if you need time to see that, well then, I can wait, because there’s no doubt in my mind I’ll see you again.”

  “Look over here,” someone shouted.

  We both turned as a camera snapped just off to the side of the dance floor. The moment the photo was taken, Prim grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the crowd with a speed that had me doubling my pace.

  “Where are you going?” I asked with a small chuckle.

  Her lips shaped into a frown. I wondered what she was thinking. How it all stacked up to the cornfields back in Kansas. Being here, with me.

  “I have to go, Grayson. Truly. This was… I shouldn’t…” Her hands went to the sides of her head as she spun away from me, muttering something under her breath.

  “Hey.” I placed a hand on her shoulder. “Whatever it is, it’s okay, Prim.”

  She barely looked at me when she faced me. “I’m sorry. I have to go.”

  I didn’t chase after her as she ran for the entrance—because I knew I’d see her again.

  One way or another, I’d find her.

  A-dork-able

  “All right, girl. Spill the tea,” Poppy said as I plopped down on the inflatable chair she kept on her balcony. Her eyes were bright and hungry for gossip.

  “I met he who shan’t be named.” I knew Harrison saw right through me. I didn’t think I helped my case with how I goaded him, but there was something about him. A cocky air that brought my claws forward. Especially with knowing the truth about what he’d done to Quinn. I couldn’t help myself.

  “Piece of work, isn’t he?”

  “I think he might have suspected me.” I had been such a fool toying with him.

  “What do you mean?”

  “I quoted him. And I might have been a little sarcastic.”

  “Prim… “

  “Okay… maybe a lot sarcastic.” I threw my hands in the air. “I couldn’t help it, Poppy. Everything I heard about him rushed forward. I was already
a nervous wreck just being with Grayson, and then you throw the inscrutable Harrison Cunningham into the mix… I was a stuttering mess. Mentally speaking.”

  She waved me off. “Eh. Harrison worries more about what’s between his legs than about a possible mole. You’re good.” Her smirk lifted. “Now on to the good stuff.”

  A strand of hair blew upward when I let out a tense breath. “I think Grayson wanted to kiss me again.” I paused, every nerve ending in my body tingling with warmth at the memory of how close his lips had been, and how easy it would have been to let him take what he wanted. At his words that seemed to etch themselves into my bones.

  “You think?” Her lips pressed together into a thin line. “Don’t be bashful, Prim. Out with it.”

  There was that fire again in my cheeks that never seemed to be put out. My shoulders lifted with equal parts confusion and embarrassment that had plagued me all morning. My words hovered over my tongue, afraid to be released. Because once released, then I’d have to face exactly what they meant, and though my experience in this department was lacking, it didn’t take rocket science to understand them.

  “He said kissing you will be the most fun I’ll ever have,” I quoted with my best male accent.

  A smirk plucked at the corners of my mouth. I wasn’t ready for the pillow she threw at me as a bout of laughter puffed in the air. “You, bitch! You were holding out on me.”

  I picked up the sequined pillow that had fallen into my lap. The words man slayer were hidden beneath the lilac sequins. Visions of Poppy wielding a sword in the midst of a battlefield of men fawning over her roused a giggle.

  “I just… I need to process it.”

  “Process what? The fact Grayson Pierce openly admitted he wanted to kiss you?”

  “I guess I just never really thought I’d actually be able to do the assignment. Like… I’d actually have a shot at turning a player into a stayer. Guys have always found me… “

  “A-dork-able?”

  I gave her a flat look.

  “What?” she said with a small shrug. “You are, though. Look at you. Those big innocent eyes of yours. You scream inexperience.”

  “Thanks,” I said, heavy on the sarcasm.

  She sucked her teeth. “I just meant it wakes the beast in their pants when they spot a fawn in the forest.”

  “What an analogy.” I tucked my legs underneath me on the clear chair, the plastic squeaking with movement. “I just… what if… what if I don’t stack up against all those other women? I mean, he’s been with models, for heaven’s sake. And I’m… well, I’m just little old me.”

  I wasn’t expecting the snicker that weaseled out of her lips. “Sorry,” she said, raising her hand in apology. “I just need to go cut some cheese for that wine. Or maybe pull out my tiny violin stored in my closet.”

  “Funny.”

  “It’s Grayson Pierce, Prim. He wants to kiss you, and you’re having a pity party for one.” She must have noticed the uncertainty tensing in my shoulders, because she shifted again, resting one hand on my thigh. “What did you do? When he admitted that?”

  My thoughts drifted to that moment. To when I closed my eyes, desperate to feel his lips against mine. Desperate to know what it felt like to be kissed by someone like him.

  “I pulled away.” I remembered the look in his eyes. It wasn’t quite disappointment, but something more like amusement. And that scared me even more. “It was just a lot to take in. A lot I needed to consider. I never pictured my first kiss being with a guy I’m meant to betray. A guy I’m assigned to make fall for me. It just doesn’t feel—”

  Her face shifted, eyes squinting at me. “Don’t tell me you’re catching feelings already.”

  “No,” I said quickly, though my insides protested at the word. “No,” I repeated a little calmer. “But kissing him would seal the deal I made with the devil. It would be the true start to actually doing this assignment.” I let out a pitiful sound. Shook my head to shake away the doubt. “I just need to keep my head in the game. I need to be prepared, because what if we do kiss? What if I like it? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t attracted to him.”

  Insanely, heatedly, blindingly attracted.

  “Who isn’t?” She smirked. “Well, aside from myself, of course.”

  “Of course.” Laughter danced between us. Chewing on my cheek, I said, “The truth is, I actually wanted him to kiss me, Poppy. And I’d be an idiot to ignore that the more time we spend together, the more chances there will be for it to happen. The more chances for my head to get all mixed up. I need to make sure I’m ready for that. For what could come. For what I might actually want.”

  “Sex?”

  My head dipped with a nod. The shades of red covering my cheeks surely deepened into crimson hues. Having Grayson Pierce as my first would be that outlandish dream come true. To say the thought hadn’t crossed my mind was a lie. He was the most beautiful man I’d ever seen. And with lips like his, surely I’d come away with no regrets.

  It didn’t help I actually liked him, though that secret would remain locked away. He was sweet. Funny. Dangerously charming. And he liked books. Harry-freaking-Potter.

  That was instantly in the panty-melting department.

  My head fell to the side. “Where I come from, there wasn’t anyone I liked. No one who got me. No one who made me even think twice about wanting to give it all up.”

  “I get it,” she said. “You aren’t into the farming type.”

  “No. It isn’t that. It’s just that… my town was small. Like everyone knows everyone small. And most are content with never leaving. And most like to be like everyone else. Me? I was the strange girl who never really spoke and kept her nose in books. Who is obsessed with her pet lizard.” I fiddled with my hands on my lap. Peered up at her. “I just never thought about all of this when I accepted the assignment. It isn’t as easy as I thought it would be.”

  She drew in a long, thoughtful breath as my confession hung in the air between us like a third wheel. “You want to know what I think?”

  “Desperately.”

  “I think you’re making this out to be way more than it needs to be. If you want to kiss him, kiss him. There’s no harm in kissing. And if the opportunity arises and you want to experiment a little more, go right on ahead. Call it an incentive for all the hard work you’re putting in. You’re in control of you, Prim. Your body, your control.” The smirk that tore across her face made me blush. “Besides, I doubt he’d complain if it came down to it.”

  She was right. It would be just a kiss.

  Who wouldn’t want their first kiss to be with Grayson Pierce?

  I could kiss him while still keeping my wits about me.

  Right?

  “Cherry!” Quinn’s shrill voice called from her office.

  I jumped out of my seat, ignoring the smirk on Poppy’s face. I’d gotten better at upping my pace in heels, making it to Quinn’s office in a record ten seconds.

  “Yes?”

  She peered past me, eyebrows pointing into a vee. “Where’s everyone else?”

  I glanced over my shoulder, catching Poppy and Brinley peering over the edges of the cubicles, like snooping meerkats.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Quinn said with a heavy huff. “Tell them to bring their nosy asses in here.”

  I waved them over, then took a seat across from Quinn’s desk. Her phone rang off the hook, but she just muted it, closing her laptop for added measure. Her hands were clasped over her small waist, her eyes pegging me, digging holes into the ground for me to bury myself in. I prayed for Poppy and Brinley to hurry, because the silence in Quinn’s office was deafening.

  Air whooshed out of me when Poppy took the seat beside me. Brinley pulled a chair from the corner on the other side, forming a sort of barricade between Quinn and me.

  Quinn leaned back in her seat, kicking her heels off. “So, what’s the status?”

  I stood, straightening my deep blue skirt that sported go
ld stars. It was my new favorite, picked up from a thrift shop a few days ago with Poppy.

  “Jesus, Cherry. This isn’t boot camp. You don’t have to stand to attention.”

  “Sorry.” I sat.

  “Well?”

  I knuckled my glasses up the bridge of my nose. “He… uh… he’s asked me on a date.”

  “And?”

  “And I said we’ll let fate decide.”

  The groan that rattled between her teeth made me jump. “Fate? This isn’t some fairy-tale piece, Cherry. I asked for dirt. Grit.”

  “Check this out,” Poppy said, pushing her iPad forward. “Front-page gossip.”

  There I was, Grayson’s arm around my waist. His smile touching the moon. It was when we were on the dance floor at the charity event. When we’d been interrupted by the flashing of cameras.

  “I look—”

  “Happy,” Poppy said.

  “I was going to say smitten,” Quinn added.

  “Nothing like myself,” I finished. It was true. I didn’t. My eyes were hooded with an intensity I’d never seen before. Desire. Longing. The spell he cast with his words about me being right for him. About us being good together. About waiting for me to recognize it…

  The problem was, I already did recognize it.

  “Grayson Pierce Moves on to his Next Victim,” Poppy read out loud. “You haven’t even kissed yet, and you’re already famous. They’re already trying to figure out who his new mystery girl is.”

  Waves of unease rocked in my stomach. “This isn’t good.”

  “No, this is perfect,” Quinn said. “Look at his face. A peacock, wearing that new car scent. Which means you’re handling things just fine. I can check off one less thing to worry about around here.”

  I tugged at the ends of my hair, rolling the strands between my fingers. “What if… what if he finds out I work here?”

  “That’s part of the fun,” Quinn said. “Making sure he doesn’t.”

  I didn’t dare tell her about my run-in with Harrison. His name was her trigger. It turned her from Quinn to Ms. Hyde.