Big Dick Energy - Cindi Madsen Page 0,50

strode up to the stage.

Another type of heat filled me as I approached Archer, one chock-full of desire. So he wouldn’t go calling this a win, I mimicked a slicing motion across my throat.

Later, I’d bang him into another dimension, but dude was about to find out that for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

19

Archer

The blaze that flared to life within Penelope’s blue eyes reminded me of the night we met. It magnified the jolt of adrenaline coursing through me, and I slipped my arm around her waist and drew her to me. “Hey.”

“Hey? You seriously think that’s enough to get you out of trouble right now?” She placed her hand on my chest, and my heart threw itself at her mercy. “There’s a major flaw in this plan you obviously didn’t think through. I don’t know any of your songs. That leaves me no choice but to stand up here and get you to crash and burn. Which is too bad for you, as I know how much you dislike losing.”

“Oh, I hate to lose, but I’m not too worried that’ll be a factor tonight. Pick a song.”

“And you can play it, just like that?”

Fingers crossed. As long as it was a song that I’d heard a few times, I could figure out the chords and do a decent job of it. “More or less.”

Penelope tapped a finger to her lip. “Hmm. Which Taylor Swift song do I go with? There are so many amazing options.”

I raised an eyebrow, requesting she be nice. “Now that’s just playing dirty.”

She hooked her finger in the neckline of her shirt and slowly dragged it around. Then she paused in the center, giving me a bird’s eye view of her cleavage. She lifted onto her toes, her mouth brushing my jaw as she spoke. “Play your cards right, and I’ll show you how dirty I can actually play.”

My heart stuttered, and I’ll be damned. She’d left me at a loss for words. Sooner or later, I’d learn to stop underestimating this woman. When it came to playing my cards right, that needed to be ASAP, so I could take her to bed and get her naked and under me.

Problem was, in spite of Izzie’s attempts to force me to learn every song from her favorite artist, the titles, lyrics, and music evaded my mind.

If I’d persuaded Penelope into the spotlight, only to force her to fend for herself with the singing and accompaniment, she’d likely follow through with her threat to kill me.

“Tell you what. In order to keep ourselves in a more agreeable situation tonight, we’ll save the TSwift for later. How about… Unsteady by the X Ambassadors? I’ve listened to it enough times I can recite the lyrics by heart, and it sounds extra impressive whenever I sing it in the shower.”

Shower. Penelope. Naked. Slippery. Wet.

My throat went bone-dry, as though I’d swallowed a whole pile of sand and didn’t think I’d be able to drag myself to the nearest source of water.

“Archer? Do you know that one?”

I managed to nod.

After swinging my guitar around front and fiddling with the strings to find my way into the tune, I announced the song we’d picked. Then I maneuvered Penelope to stand next to me in front of the microphone. We exchanged a glance, and I sang out the first refrain.

I indicated for her to take the second one, pulling back to focus on the guitar.

As Penelope leaned closer to the microphone and belted out the lyrics, my fingers slipped the slightest bit on the strings. If we weren’t in the middle of a live performance, I’d need to stop to scrape my jaw off the floor.

I’d identified Cat as the friend who’d be brutally honest, and she and Ellie both assured me that their friend could sing.

There was the ability to sing, and then there was whatever she was doing. Belting out the lyrics as though she meant to imprint the words upon every individual in the audience—clear and powerful, with all the enchantment of a siren singing a man to his final destination.

I almost missed my cue, her look reminding me this was a duet. We crowded the microphone, and I got lost in the music and Penelope and the buzz of the crowd.

After our initial meeting, both at the bar and in the conference room, I’d judged her to be domineering. Which was why her mention of being constantly interrupted and overlooked had surprised me. Now that