Page 58 of Tainted Love
“Don’t take no for an answer, bro,” he says with a wink. “If anyone can sell us, it’s you.”
Kill smirks. “With his sparkly personality, what could go wrong?”
I shove him out the door of our practise room. “Whatever, dickhead. I’ll do my best.”
I follow them downstairs and lock the front door behind them. After double checking the locks, I head back upstairs to Attie’s bathroom. I groan when I realise, I have to shower with her bubblegum blast body wash. Tonight is off to a great fucking start.
Freshly showered, I head up to my room. I pause outside the bathroom. Kelcey Taylor is blaring from the speakers inside and Bea is singing along. My lips tug up into a grin. My stepsister may be hot as fuck, but she can’t hold a tune to save her life.
I shake my head and cross the hall to my bedroom. The garment bags are hanging in my wardrobe. I pull them out, unzipping them and running my fingers over the expensive Tom Ford threads. The shirt alone cost more than one month’s rent for our old apartment. The whole outfit would be at least double that and more.
Bea and her father come from old money. They wouldn’t blink at dropping a couple thousand dollars on a monkey suit like this. I shrug into the shirt, surprised at how smooth the high thread count feels against my skin. My fingers fumble with the buttons, but I finally get it done up, my ink disappearing as I fasten the last one. I pull on the trousers, tuck in the shirt, and fasten them with a belt.
I feel like a kid playing dress-ups in his old man’s clothes. Only my old man doesn’t exist; he was dead to me the moment he bailed on us. I block out those thoughts as I struggle with my tie. I never could get the hang of the damn things. Eventually I get it tied, tugging on the knot like it’s a noose around my neck.
You’re doing it for the band. Suck it up.
I spray some product in my hair and run my hands through my curls. With one last look in the full-length mirror on the back of my wardrobe door, I shake my head at the imposter staring back at me. I guess it’s true, you really need todo a deal with the devil to get ahead in life. If Jas could see me now, she’d be disgusted with me for selling my soul, but this is Forever Summer’s big chance.
We got lucky with a couple of our songs going viral on social media a couple of years ago. We kept slogging it out until Bitter Rhapsody, another Melbourne band, heard our sound and invited us to open for them at the Forum last year. From there, a spot on the summer festival tour opened up, but now we need to capitalise on this momentum to take the next step. Representation, more albums, and more tours. Bigger tours.
I slip the USBs inside the breast pocket of the tuxedo, and head for the door. Pausing in the hallway, I see the bathroom door and Bea’s bedroom door are wide open, but she’s nowhere in sight. I check my phone, it’s twenty to six and we need to leave now if we don’t want to be more than fashionably late.
Talking the stairs two at a time, I’m almost at the ground floor when I stop dead in my tracks. Bea is standing near the front door waiting for me, wearing a stunning strapless full length black dress. That’s not what stopped me, though. The dress looks familiar as there was a sketch in her book. She made it.
The bodice is made of lace with an inbuilt bra that pushes her ample tits higher—the sight causing my cock to strain uncomfortably against my trousers—while the satin skirt hugs the curves of her arse perfectly. Her long dark locks fall in waves over her naked shoulders.
Fuck, she is the most beautiful, talented woman I have ever laid eyes on. How the hell am I supposed to keep my hands off her, when all I can think about is the fact there is no way she is wearing underwear under that dress?
When she turns to face me, I catch a peek of her toned and tanned leg through the split that runs halfway up herthigh, and I groan quietly. I cover the sound by clearing my throat.
“You look beautiful. Your dress is amazing, and it’s criminal that no one will know how talented you are.”
Bea blushes, dropping her gaze. She is definitely going to be the death of me tonight. “You promised, Elias.”
“I can’t say you look beautiful?”
“You know that’s not what I’m talking about.”
I throw my hands up in front of me in surrender. “I won’t say another word.”
Her eyes dart to the stairs as if she’s thinking about running away from me, and I curse myself for not keeping my mouth shut.
“Don’t,” I say, my tone low and gravelly. I pick up the envelope from the side table that Hunter dropped off earlier and pass it to her. “Here are the tickets for tonight.”
She stares at the envelope for a moment, confusion furrowing her brow. “Where did they come from? Granddad said he’d leave them at reception for us.”
I shrug, not wanting to tell her that her slimy ex dropped them off when he tried to stake his claim on her life. “A courier dropped them off today.”
“Right,” she takes it, careful not to touch me. Slipping it in her purse, she turns and opens the door. “Granddad sent a car for us.”
I follow her out to the driveway, laughing at the ridiculousness of this whole evening. Her granddad didn’t just send a car, he sent a fucking Hummer Limousine. The driver opens the door for us with a polite “Good evening,” and I take Bea’s hand in mine, helping her inside. Once we’re both settled next to each other on the back seat, the driver then closes the door.
“Well, this is?—”
“A bit much,” I finish with a smirk.
Bea offers me a small smile. “It is, isn’t it? Granddad tends to go a little overboard.”
