Levi: Casanova Club #9 Read online

  I joined her at the window.

  Standing side by side like this, I realized how short she was. She couldn’t have been more than a couple of inches over five feet, and I felt like I dwarfed her. “It doesn’t get old. That’s for sure.”

  “Your home is beautiful, too.”

  “You should see my other ones.”

  “Other what?”

  “Houses,” I said.

  She stared up at me. “Houses? Plural?”

  I nodded and took a sip of my rye and ginger. “Yeah, I need to have properties all over the place for when I’m on tour, and I got sick of crashing at hotels. Sometimes, you just need somewhere that feels like home, you know?”

  She nodded. “I get it. I might not have if you told me that six or seven months ago. But I get it now.”

  “Is the traveling getting to you?”

  She shrugged. “It’s not that it’s getting to me. I guess it’s just that I didn’t realize how much I loved my little shoebox apartment back in New York. It didn’t feel like home until I had to spend time away from it.” She shook her head and looked at her feet. “Silly, isn’t it?”

  “Not at all.”

  Piper bit her bottom lip. “Regardless, I’m looking forward to my month here.”

  “Likewise.” I turned toward the house’s interior and fanned my arms out wide. “The house is yours. Enjoy all the luxuries, and make yourself at home. You have access to everything. There’s a pool downstairs with a solarium, and you can find a hot tub, sauna, and steam room there as well. If you—”

  “There’s a downstairs, too?”

  I grinned. “Hell yes there is. I thought you said Jake gave you a tour?”

  “Well, he did, but we didn’t—”

  “Come on, Casanova Girl. Let me show you the real shit.”

  She followed me, her bare feet gently slapping against the marble, her light giggles wafting up toward the ceiling like fairy dust.

  Perhaps, just perhaps, I’d stumbled upon a new muse.

  CHAPTER 6

  PIPER

  My first night at Levi’s was dreamy.

  Not because of him—not entirely—but because of my accommodations. My room was lavish, my king-sized bed was a cloud of comfort and relaxation, and my silk pajamas, which Levi had ordered prior to my arrival, were a dream to sleep in. The eucalyptus and honey bath I’d had prior to going to bed hadn’t hurt, either.

  Levi told me to make myself at home. So that was exactly what I was trying to do.

  I had my entire first day to myself in his mansion. He had to go to his recording studio for the better part of the morning and afternoon and had told me before he left that when he got home, he wanted to take me out for a nice dinner.

  In other words, a date.

  When I’d asked him if it was a date, he lifted his chin and gave me a sexy little smirk. “What do you want it to be?” he’d asked.

  I felt like a teenage girl when he flirted with me. My cheeks burned, and my stomach fluttered with butterflies. I told him I wanted it to be a date.

  “A date, it is,” he’d said before heading out the door.

  So I spent the whole day anxiously anticipating the evening.

  I experienced nail-biting excitement. I wondered what it would be like to go on a date with a real-life rock star. Sure, I’d gone on some pretty extravagant dates so far this year with some equally extravagant men, but I had a feeling this was going to be a whole new experience with Levi.

  I’d only been here for a total of twenty hours, and I was already crushing on him a little bit.

  I was in his kitchen, marveling at all the cool appliances and planning out a night to cook a full-course meal for him when he came home. He called my name before the front door closed behind him, and I came around the corner to find him striding toward me.

  He was dangerously attractive.

  Levi had a cool swagger to his walk that wasn’t too much or too little. His shoulders dipped with each step he took, giving him the gait and ease of a rocker cowboy. At least, that was what it reminded me of. He was wearing pitch-black jeans, a black shirt half tucked in to show off a silver belt buckle, and a casual leather jacket with a hood. He was also wearing a slouchy black beanie. He hadn’t shaved this morning, so he had a bit of stubble growing on his square jaw.

  I willed myself to keep it together when he greeted me with a one-arm hug. He left his arm draped over my shoulders as he looked down at me. “Ready for our date?”

  I nodded and tugged at the hem of my dark blue dress. “Will this be okay?”

  “Most definitely. You look great.”

  “Thank you.” My cheeks burned.

  He took my hand in his. His grip was firm, and his hand was warm. “Now come with me. Our ride is here, and with any luck, we can get into the restaurant before a crowd gathers.”

  “Crowd?”

  He flashed me a devilish smile as we walked to the front door. “Fans, babe. Fans.”

  I’d hated when Cooper called me babe. But I liked how it poured from Levi’s lips like expensive wine.

  The limo that picked us up in Levi’s driveway was just as fancy as the one I’d arrived in yesterday, but this one was easier to enjoy since I had company.

  Levi popped open a bottle of champagne and poured us each a glass. He made a toast to the month ahead and a fun evening, and I found myself reveling in his aura. He had a smile that chased away all the doom and gloom from my time back home and the tension with my family. He was easygoing, carefree, and full of life, and together, we made our way through the bottle of champagne before we even arrived at the restaurant.

  I felt light as a feather when the limo slowed and came to a stop at the curb.

  Levi pressed himself up against the back window. “Shit. Sorry. Looks like they beat us to it. I hope you don’t mind having your picture taken.”

  I might have minded had I not told my parents. But seeing as how they were officially in the loop now, there was nobody I needed to hide from anymore.

  “I don’t mind,” I said.

  He stared out the window a moment longer. I waited.

  And waited.

  “Levi?”

  He blinked rapidly and turned toward me. “Sorry. Bracing myself for the storm.”

  “That’s okay. Take your time.”

  I considered him as he looked back out the window and took a deep breath. Then he reached for the bar, past the empty bottle of champagne, and plucked a small bottle of vodka from the ice bucket. He unscrewed the cap, his gaze still fixed on the ever-thickening crowd outside the limo, tilted his head back, and drank five steady gulps like it was water.

  I tried not to watch him. I really did. But I’d never seen something like that before, and my throat ached just thinking about drinking vodka like that.

  As he drank, a car pulled up behind us. Four large men in black suits came out and pushed the crowd back, forming an open path from the limo to the front doors of the restaurant.

  Levi dropped the bottle of vodka back into the ice bucket. “You ready, Casanova Girl?”

  I swallowed. “I think so.”

  He reached behind him and held his hand out, palm up. I put my hand in his. His fingers curled around mine as he pushed the door open, and he didn’t let my hand go as he stepped out.

  The crowd gathered at the edges of the path started screaming bloody murder.

  Levi guided me out of the limo. My ears rang. The world raged with the shrieks of his fans and women screaming his name. People lifted their shirts and begged him to sign their stomachs, their bras, their tits. Levi waved his free hand at the onlookers coming undone just at the sight of him. He wore a well-rehearsed smile and walked purposefully to the door. I had to do a little hop-step every few steps to match his strides.

  When he pulled it open, he put his free hand in the small of my back and guided me through the door. As soon as it shut behind us, the thunderous roar of the crowd became muted. Levi straightened out his jacket
and rolled his shoulders as if shrugging off the intensity of the situation.

  “Does that happen everywhere you go?” I asked as we moved toward the podium where a beautiful young woman in black stood waiting for us.

  “Pretty much. The States is a write off. I get recognized everywhere.”

  The hostess took us through the restaurant to our table, which was in a private room off the back of the restaurant. There was a window opening up onto a courtyard where smokers were gathered, but they couldn’t see us because the glass was tinted. The room was separated from the rest of the restaurant by a shimmery black curtain, and the hostess promised that we wouldn’t be bothered there.

  “Thank you,” Levi said with a pleasant smile.

  The hostess was a little flustered, and she stammered to say “you’re welcome” before she slipped out the curtain and back into the restaurant.

  When it closed behind her, we were cut off from the light of the rest of the restaurant and found ourselves seeing only by candlelight. It was lovely. And romantic.

  Talk about pressure.

  Levi pulled out my chair for me, and I took a seat. He sat across from me, pulled his napkin from the table in a flourish, and draped it over one knee. I did the same.

  “Does it bother you?” I asked once we were settled.

  “What?”

  “The fans. It must get frustrating to always have strangers there, demanding something from you. Like leeches.”

  Levi laughed. It was a cool sound. And not “cool” as in “groovy,” but rather deep and low, like a shade of gray if it could make a sound. “Leeches. Yes. Well, at the risk of sounding like a complete egomaniac, sometimes I enjoy it.”

  “You don’t sound like an egomaniac.”

  He tipped his chin toward me. “I appreciate that.”

  “But what about the other times? The times you don’t enjoy it?”

  He shrugged and casually draped himself against the back of his chair before pulling off his black beanie, running his fingers roughly through his thick hair, and setting the hat down on the edge of the table. “The other times, I wish they’d all fucking disappear.” He smiled faintly and stared at the flickering flame between us on the table. “Does that make me a bad person?”

  “No.”

  “You’re sure? You don’t know me.”

  True. I pressed my lips together. “No, not yet, but I think even the best person would run out of patience from being bombarded by strangers like that. That was… intense.”

  “That was nothing.”

  “Seriously?” I asked dubiously.

  He laughed again. I found that I like the sound. “Seriously.”

  I couldn’t wrap my head around how insane it must be to be Levi Morgan. He was known for his rock music, which had an upbeat edgy pop sound to it, and his ridiculous good looks. He was a charmer in interviews, and I’d admittedly watched a handful while sitting in the airport, waiting for my flight to LA to meet him. The interviewers flirted with him, and he flirted right back, effortlessly at ease in any and all situations.

  At least, that was how it looked when I was sitting on my side of the screen.

  But here, across the dinner table from him, I realized he was a flesh and blood person who had soft spots and vulnerabilities just like the rest of us.

  When our server came and took our order for food and drinks, Levi ordered four rounds all at once. They arrived quickly, and I took one and watched in awe as he pounded back three.

  I added that to the half bottle of champagne and the vodka he’d consumed in the limo and marveled at how he still appeared to be sober. There was a bit of redness starting to happen around his eyes, but nothing so severe I would have noticed it had I not been there when he started drinking.

  The drinks did not slow down as our three-course meal came. Each drink was stiffer than the last and seemed to go down easier, too.

  I was tempted to suggest he take it easy. But who was I to draw a line in the sand like that? Like he’d said earlier, I hardly knew him. My place was not to tell him what he could and could not drink.

  But I also didn’t think it was my place to have to drag his ass out of the limo when we got back to his mansion. At this rate, however, it looked like that was exactly what I was going to have to do.

  Even though Levi drank to excess, dinner was still pleasant. He told me about his concerts and his music, and I listened, enjoying every second of it. I wondered what it was like to stand in the middle of a stage with the eyes of thousands of people on you.

  “It’s worth all the bullshit,” Levi told me when I finally gathered the nerve to ask.

  I believed him.

  At the end of the night, Levi paid the bill with a black American Express card. Having never seen one in person, I peered curiously at it as it sat on top of the bill after he’d paid.

  Then my attention went up to him when he got to his feet. He swayed, but only slightly, and then held out his hand to me. “Shall we head back to the car?”

  “Will they still be there?”

  “The fans? Undoubtedly. They stick around until they see me leave with their own two eyes. You should be warned. There will likely be a lot more of them this time.”

  “What? Really?”

  He grinned and held open the curtain for me. “The modern age of cell phones makes it impossible for them not to grow.”

  Levi was right. The outside of the restaurant was swarming with fans and insanity. I tried to smile as he walked me straight to the limo, while his security detail held the crowd back, but I found it nearly impossible to do so.

  I wanted to tell them all to go away.

  When the car pulled away, Levi breathed out a sigh of relief.

  And then he proceeded to drink a quarter of the minibar.

  He was less steady on his feet when the limo dropped us off at his mansion, and as predicted, I had to stumble along beside him, my shoulder under his arm, to keep him on his feet. We managed to get inside, and he tumbled into the wall, chuckling in spite of himself as I locked up behind us.

  Then I gazed up the winding staircase and swallowed. The stairs were marble and so was the foyer. If he slipped and fell, this could turn into a very ugly scene.

  “I don’t think I can get you up those stairs,” I said breathlessly. Supporting his weight had been a workout.

  “I’m fine.” He moved toward the bottom of the stairs and started climbing them himself. His words were slurred, and his eyes were hooded, and I followed along a step behind him, hands raised as if to brace him if he stumbled backward. In reality, if he fell, so would I.

  Much to my surprise, we made it to his bedroom. It was nearly black in there, but the light from the hallway lit up his bed. He walked to it and pitched forward onto the mattress. Then he drew his pillow under him, wrapped both arms around it, and promptly passed out.

  I stood in the near pitch black and watched him sleep.

  “You must be so lonely,” I whispered.

  CHAPTER 7

  LEVI

  The cold shower water ran down the sides of my face, along my jaw, and streamed off the tip of my nose to the tiles at my feet.

  I’d had too much to drink last night.

  Far too much.

  And, like a total jackass, I’d let my date drag my drunk ass back home and put me to bed.

  How utterly humiliating.

  I rubbed at my face with both hands and breathed through my mouth. I felt like shit. But that was nothing new. The only problem was there was a beautiful girl downstairs, probably waiting on me, and I wasn’t used to being up this early. After drinking so much, I’d usually sleep until noon, or sometimes a little later.

  But this morning, I’d woken up at nine, significantly earlier than I was used to. And it was wreaking havoc on me.

  I’d almost thrown up twice. The spins were intense. My head was pounding.

  But it was all self-induced, and I should have known better. So there I was, showering in a despe
rate attempt to feel a little more human before I made my way downstairs to find Piper and profusely apologize for how last night had ended.

  Hopefully, she’d forgive me. And hopefully, I hadn’t done or said anything I couldn’t take back. My memory was pretty foggy after we got in the limo.

  What I remembered prior to that was all good. Piper and I had hit it off over dinner. We laughed. She asked a lot of questions. I told her a lot of answers. And for the first time in a long time, it felt like I was sitting with someone who was genuinely interested in me, not just my music or my fame or my money.

  She was a breath of fresh hair.

  Thank God the other Casanova men voted in her favor instead of for one of the blonde air-head Barbies that had been swarming the place when I first arrived for my first cocktail party. I couldn’t imagine having to spend any amount of time with one of them, let alone an entire month.

  But Piper was someone I could converse with. She had wise eyes and a soul that was open to new things. She was clever. That, I was sure of, and she wasn’t afraid to be herself, either. That was a huge turn-on for me.

  “It doesn’t matter how great you think she is,” I said as I turned off the shower. “She’s going to write you off if she thinks you’re a drunk.”

  Which you are.

  I brushed aside the bitter voice in my head and got dressed. I ignored the unease in my gut and convinced myself that once I put some food in there, I’d feel better. If I had some of the good shit, I could do a line or two and wouldn’t have to suffer at all today. But that was far out of reach. My supply was gone, and I hadn’t had time to replenish before Piper arrived. Finding the time to go get it with her around seemed unlikely.

  She didn’t strike me as the kind of girl who would approve, either. At least Jake would be glad for that.