Pixie hung up the phone and headed out to meet her sponsor.
It would be a cold day in hell before she’d let Arnie send her back there.
*
There wasn’t much time left on the flight from Toronto to Miami, so Dred took a last look at the band’s priorities list before the flight attendants started the annoying “shut down electronics” announcements. It had taken Sam the better part of a week to pull together an organized agenda of all their bookings and activities for the next six months. It was ridiculous to think it took him that long. Shouldn’t it all be on a fucking calendar? With all the money they were paying him, Sam had hired an assistant, although Dred suspected her hiring was more to do with her Playboy looks than her organizational skills.
To cancel appearances, they could use the excuse that the new album was taking way longer to complete than expected, and that planning for the tour was running behind as a result. And from what he could figure out, it would cost them nearly two hundred thousand dollars in penalties to get out of contracts, but it would put time back into their schedules, so to Dred, it felt like the right thing to do.
He typed a quick email to the rest of the band requesting their input.
His thoughts drifted to Petal, and he wondered where she was and how she was doing. Amanda’s behavior was abhorrent. Who left their child with someone for twenty-four hours, and then rocked up three days later with the hint of color in their cheeks suggesting a quick spring break to the Caribbean? Not that he minded in the slightest. Looking after his little girl had shown him what it would be like to be a more permanent part of her life. The toughest part was letting Petal leave with Amanda. His initial thoughts of getting Amanda to agree to adoption made him feel ill. And handing her back to a mom who clearly didn’t care for her child’s welfare set his heart on fire.
Unrepentant, she told him he could either get over it real quick or she’d never let Petal stay with him again. When he’d been a child, one of the hardest things to handle was the total lack of control over his situation. Not knowing whether there would be enough food, whether his mom would be there in the morning, whether he’d be safe. He hated the out-of-control feeling he had when it came to Petal. Amanda held all the cards, because even though Canada respected fathers’ rights, it would be hard to convince a judge to give him full custody of a baby. And while he didn’t want to rock the boat for Petal’s sake, he didn’t want the next twenty years to be a perpetual state of acrimony and what was tantamount to blackmail.
He shut down his laptop and packed it away, anxious to make a hasty exit from the plane. Sam had arranged for him to fly commercial, but the airport was aware he was flying in and was sending a representative to get him through the airport quickly. He looked at his phone. With a bit of luck, he’d be at Pixie’s condo by six. Just in time for her to get home from closing the studio. Thank heaven for Sunday hours.
It had been a week since he’d held her in his arms, and he was beginning to realize that all the time they spent video-messaging each other was a poor substitute for the real thing.
Miami airport cooperated with his mission. After the plane landed, Dred quickly made his way out of the airport with the agent’s help. The limo he’d booked sped across the city until he was standing by the buzzer at Pixie’s condo.
His phone vibrated and he checked it.
Nice ass.
He turned and found Pixie on the other side of the lobby grinning at him. His heart stuttered. She wore black leggings under a tight purple skirt. The black blouse she wore was slightly see-through and the sun set her purple hair on fire. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.
Pixie raced toward him and jumped, her feet leaving the ground. He caught her and held her tight while she giggled.
“I missed you,” she mumbled against his lips.
His hungry mouth covered hers for a long moment. “I missed you too, Snowflake. Let’s take this show upstairs.”
Pixie dropped down until she was standing on the tip of his toes and kissed him. Feelings of warmth and welcome trickled through him, the unmistakable feeling of coming home. “Walk me up there,” she said with a broad smile.
“Okay, hold on.” They laughed as he bent to pick up his case and bag. She wrapped her arms tight around him as he shuffled them into the elevator and up to her condo.
By the time the door was open, and they were safely inside, he was feeling all kinds of horny from the way her body brushed against his. He dropped his bags by the door, and lifted Pixie up into his arms. “I want to play, Pix,” he said gruffly.