Page 30 of Kiss and Tell

His response was far too short for her. “Not enough details. I’ll pull out the real maple syrup instead of the cheap grocery store shit if you make the story worth my while.”

Miles flashed her one of those amazing smiles, and her pussy literally clenched. “Can’t say no to real maple syrup, can I?”

“No, you can’t.” She pointed the spatula at him to stress her point.

“Fine,” Miles began. “I had a buddy in high school whose dad owned a studio that specialized in voice-over productions. I went through puberty pretty young, so my voice was this deep by the time I was fifteen.”

She didn’t admit it, but Miles’s voice was the sexiest thing about him. While it was Joey’s infectious laugh and strong calloused hands keeping her panties damp, with Miles, it was the low, almost rumbling timbre of his voice.

“I spent the night with my friend one evening, and his dad asked if I’d ever considered acting. I hadn’t. Acting was Rhian—” Miles paused. It was a quick one, but it still captured Lucy’s attention. “My neighbor was the one who’d sworn up and down since we were kids that she was going to be a famous star, but I’d set my sights on a different path.”

“Oh yeah? What path?”

“I was going to play center for the Knicks, of course,” he replied in the most “duh” tone she’d ever heard.

She laughed at his joke. “Right. Of course. How silly of me.”

“Anyway, my buddy’s dad convinced me to come into his studio to lay down some tracks. Just to sort of try it out. I liked it well enough to work on cleaning the Queens accent out of my voice, and once I got the hang of it, I became popular with his clients. At first, I was doing commercials, providing the voice for training videos, educational materials, stuff like that. It became my after-school and weekend gig for spending money, and it beat the hell out of bagging groceries at the local supermarket or working in a fast-food chain.”

“I’ll say. It sounds like a cool job. And you have the perfect voice for it.”

He smiled. “Thanks. I know you’re not looking for another job, but you’d do well in voice-over roles too. I noticed it the other night when I was watchingKiss and Tell. You have a great voice.”

“You watchedKiss and Tell?”

He nodded, and for a second, she thought he looked almost embarrassed by his confession, though she couldn’t understand why. Joey had mentioned the possibility of promotingKiss and Tellduring the filming, so it made sense they would watch a few episodes beforehand.

“I did,” he admitted. “It’s really good.”

She flipped a pancake. “Thanks,” she said, though she didn’t want to waste this conversation talking about her. “So what was your next lucky break?” Lucy placed a pancake on the plate on the warmer burner, then poured another on the griddle.

“I got a part doing voice work for a new video game, one that sold like gangbusters after its release. Thanks to that, I was basically discovered and approached by a production company that was starting to work on a new animated cartoon—Judge and Rocky.”

Lucy put the spatula down and turned to face him. “Shut! Up! You were a part of that?”

Judge and Rockywas an adult cartoon along the same lines asThe SimpsonsandFamily Guy. Sadly, it didn’t last as long as those, only airing for two seasons. The show didn’t take off until a year after it was canceled, becoming one of those sleeper hits likeRocky Horror Picture ShowandClerks.

Lucy quickly added, “Remi stumbled ontoJudge and Rockywhen she was looking for something new to binge on Netflix. She was instantly hooked and since then, she’s made every single person in the family watch it. We’re constantly quoting funny lines from it. Which character were you?”

Miles sighed. “I don’t usually do this, but…” He cleared his throat—and when he spoke again, she could swear she felt the earth tremble beneath her feet. “Hello, lover. Ready to have your world rocked by Rocky?”

The character of Rocky was an absolute manwhore, who was forever propositioning every female on the show with hilariously disastrous results.

“I, I…” Lucy was literally speechless. Because Miles soundednothinglike Rocky. She never in a million years would have guessed he was the voice.

Miles chuckled at her reaction. “Pretty sure that’s exactly what Joey said—or didn’t say—when I did the voice for him.”

“I can’t believe it. Ilovethat show. We all do!”

Miles grimaced good-naturedly. “Yeah, but I believe I heard the word Netflix. They picked it up after it was canceled, which is how it became such a hit after the fact.”

She nodded, then quickly turned back to the stove, scraping the pancake she’d just burned and tossing it into the trash. “Yeah, we found it too late and were super bummed when we realized there weren’t going to be any more seasons. By the way, you can never do that voice in front of Remi, or she’ll demand you talk like Rocky the rest of the time you’re here.”

Miles laughed. “Thanks for the warning.”

Lucy put the last of the pancakes on the serving dish and brought it to the table. She quickly grabbed two plates, forks, and napkins, setting them down.

Miles cleared his throat, raising one eyebrow. “I believe I was promised maple syrup.”

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