Actually, it’s more like a miniature pony, since it’s an economy car. He just thinks it’s fancy since it has remote start and a sunroof.
But I digress.
I peel myself up off the park bench at the last possible moment and angle my hand over my eyes, squinting into the passenger seat of his car to see who my father sent to tag along with him for supervisory reasons.
Oh shoot.
He’s alone.
There’s no way my father would’ve sent him alone. Does he know what happens when you ride in cars with boys? Does he know what happens when you put your twenty-two-year-old daughter alone with a crazy Cortland McGregor?
He hops out and rushes up to me, slipping his arms around me like we didn’t just see each other last night. He grabs the flesh of my backside, roughing me up and pulling me into him as he tries to kiss me. I twist my head, letting him have my cheek.
“What the hell? What’s your problem? Got your panties all twisted just because your car broke down?” Cortland leans in for another kiss.
Hope he likes the way Dane’s cock tastes.
I let him kiss me this time because I’m afraid of what he’ll do if I don’t.
It’s funny how Dane can tie me up, rough me up, and have his way with me, and it doesn’t scare me a bit. But the way Cortland touches me, like he’s entitled to touch me, terrifies me through and through.
I wonder what Dane would do if I texted him right now?
“You smell different,” Cortland says.
That would be the new perfume I got from my soon-to-be lover...
Five fragrances for all kinds of different occasions, though he did say he enjoyed what I already wear.
“There are a lot of women in the office,” I say. “Lots of smells. They all mix. You’re probably smelling that.”
“No, it’s like cologne or something?” He wrinkles his nose and then checks his watch. “Why are you late today?”
“Huh?”
“Don’t you get off at five? You didn’t call your dad until around six, so you were, like, going to be a half-hour late coming home.”
“Are you serious right now, Cortland?”
“Oh, come on. I’m asking for safety reasons.”
Safety reasons my ass.
“I like to know where you are, you know, in case something happens.” He places his hand on my back and walks me to the passenger door of his car like he’s suddenly some noble gentleman. “I worry about you, Bellamy. That’s all.”
More like you worry about losing control over me.
I wait for him to climb in and start his car up before asking my burning question. “How did you convince my father to let you come by yourself?”
Cortland lifts an eyebrow. “He trusts me.”
“All of a sudden he trusts you to be alone with me?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He shifts into reverse and backs out. “Told you your father would love me.”
I fasten my seatbelt and lean against the cool glass to my right. If I could get any further away from him, I would. I’d sooner ride on top of the hood of the car than spend the next several miles sitting next to this asshole.
His hand flies over, landing on my knee before creeping under my skirt and trailing up my inner thigh. My knees instinctively smash together in defense, but he pulls my leg toward him.
“Don’t fight it. Don’t act like you’re all prude now. I know better,” he says, his fingers tracing the outside of my panties. “Damn, you’re wet. I knew it!”
My heart pounds harder and stronger in my chest. I’m convinced he’s two seconds from accusing me of being with another man.
It’s all going to end. It’ll all be for nothing.
“I still have it, Bellamy,” he boasts. “I can still get you wetter than sin. I knew you missed me.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. Not only is he an asshole, but he’s also impossibly dense. Although I suppose, once again, this would be a situation where the truth would be stranger than fiction. No one I know would believe me if I told them I’m two days in on my new job, and I spent the morning trying on lingerie and exchanging oral sex with my incredibly handsome, amazingly well-endowed, curiously powerful, and obnoxiously arrogant boss.
Cortland merges into traffic, and I reach for my purse on the floorboard, pretending to fish around. I grab my phone and type off a quick text to Dane.
I’M WET FOR YOU RIGHT NOW.
I combat the grin that wants to claim my lips. He’s going to love that text. What man wouldn’t? He should know that even when I’m not with him, he still has the power to liquefy my desire.
I keep my purse in my lap, hoping that if it vibrates I’ll feel it.
“If we had a few minutes to spare, I’d pull over and hop in the back with you,” Cortland says. “Old times’ sake.”
“It’ll be much more special if we just hold off on everything until our wedding night.” Yeah, our wedding that is never going to happen. Not while I have any ounce of fight left in me.
“I don’t know if I can wait that long.”
“I don’t know that you have a choice.” I almost add that he’ll have to take that up with my father, but I don’t want to give him any ideas.
My phone doesn’t vibrate at all over the next twenty miles. I thought for sure he would love hearing that. After all, he said his goal is to keep me thinking about him sexually all the time, even when he’s not around.
Cortland pulls into my driveway, and I hate not seeing my car parked out front. I’m trapped now more than ever. And how the hell am I going to get to work in the morning?
“I need a phone, Dad,” I say as I climb out of the car. Dad is pulling dead flowers from the landscaping out front with Summer. They’re both glazed in a thin coating of dirt and sweat. “I barely had enough money for a payphone, and what if I wouldn’t have been close to a rest stop? Someone could’ve pulled over and kidnapped me.”
Dramatic always works well with him.
“Either I need a cell phone or a reliable car,” I add. The either/or thing always worked on my younger brothers and sisters, so I may as well try it with him. You don’t ask yes or no questions, you give two options, and then they end up picking one.
Dad drags his forearm across his brow, pursing his lips together. “Yeah, okay. You can have a phone. But just while you’re commuting to the city.”
Was it really just that easy?
“Uncle James is going to tow the Chrysler to your uncle’s shop,” Cortland says.
“How am I going to get to work tomorrow?” Burning panic rises in my throat, but I force it out of my voice. They can’t know how important it is that I never miss a single day of work. “Can I borrow Kath’s car?”
“No, no,” Summer says. “Kath’s doing school drop offs all week, and I’m going to be restocking shelves at the pharmacy.”
“What about Mom’s car?” I ask.
Summer scoffs. We both know what that means. Mom doesn’t let anyone drive her car at all, no matter what. And not even Dad argues with her. It’s the only brand new car she’s ever had in her forty-odd years, and the only car Dad’s ever let her hand select. She loves that thing more than she loves us.
“I can take you,” Cortland offers.
I look to my dad, hoping against hope he says no. Then again, why would he if he allowed Cortland to come pick me up tonight?
“How will I get home? See, this is why I need to drive myself.”
“Bellamy, calm down,” Summer chuckles, walking up to me and hooking her dirt-stained hand on my shoulder. Does she not know I have to wear this to work? “We’ll get this figured out. I know it’s your first week, but geez Louise. Woosah.”
I hate when she says that, then again, most of her expressions grate on my nerves.
“Cortland can take you until your car gets fixed,” Dad says, wiping his hands on a rag sticking out of his jeans pocket. His watchful stare darts between our faces as if he’s trying to instill a silent warning. “I’ll send Waverly or one of your mothers to pick you up.”