He moved to his desk and sat heavily in his chair. Could he really allow himself to have her?
She knew where he came from, some of what he’d been through. Hell, she’d seen it with her own eyes, and she hadn’t run the other way. No, she’d comforted his distraught mother and given herself to him. Had let him take her the way he’d needed last night, hadn’t shied away from the filthy shit that poured from his mouth, his need for control. Instead, she’d wrapped those long legs around his waist and clung to him, begging for more, taking it all and loving every damn minute of it.
He shoved his fingers into his hair.
What the hell am I doing? Put an end to it. Before it’s too late.
His phone rang, and he glanced down at the name flashing on the screen. Nina.
He blew out a breath, chest tightening. He had plans with Rusty tonight, but in his current frame of mind, he didn’t think seeing her again this soon was the greatest idea. Some distance might be for the best. He needed a distraction, a way to get her out of his head, get some much needed perspective. It looked like he had his distraction.
An unwanted emotion hit him hard, an emotion that felt a lot like guilt. He ignored it, shoved it down, and hit the call button. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.”
“You got business in town?”
“Yep, and I’m here for one night only. You wanna meet up?”
“Love to. Where you staying?”
“No way was I going to let you sit at home pining,” Alex said, grinning as she drove Deke’s Mercedes into South Beach. It was late, but the good clubs would only be warming up about now, and apparently dancing was supposed to “cheer her up”. Though, why she needed cheering up she had no idea.
“I’m not pining. Jesus. We’re not joined at the dammed hip. He’s busy, I’ll see him tomorrow.” She didn’t admit to Alex or her sister that she’d been monumentally disappointed when Reid had called earlier that day to cancel their plans. He’d been apologetic, that deep, sexy voice rasping down the phone making her shiver.
He’d sounded fine, if a little distracted. She’d told herself she was being stupid, overthinking. But no matter how hard she tried to fight it, doubt had crept in as soon as he’d ended the call. The voice that constantly rattled around in her head, telling her that nobody would ever want her, not beyond the pretty exterior. That now he’d gotten what he wanted, he was going to give her the brush off.
But then she’d reminded herself that Reid hadn’t exactly shoved her out of bed afterward. Quite the opposite. He’d held her as if she was precious, like he cared. In the morning he’d made her come around his fingers, had taken her again, but this time slower, as if he was savoring every minute.
Alex had picked up on her change of mood and told her they were going out, no arguments. The woman was way too perceptive.
After that, Rusty had forced the doubt from her mind and decided to trust him, something that didn’t come easy for her.
“How are you doing, though, really?” Piper said, leaning forward from the backseat. “Did you tell him about, you know, what happened?”
“We talked some,” she hedged.
“That’s good.” Her sister’s brow scrunched, concern covering her face. “Did he…did he treat you right, Rust?”
Alex snorted and glanced over at her. “Did he get you off? I think that’s what Piper’s trying to ask.”
“No, that’s not…” Rusty raised a brow at Piper, and her sister flopped back in her seat. “Okay, well, yes, but not only that. Rusty is more vulnerable than she lets on, and I just want to make sure he treated her like he should, like she deserves.”
“I am in this car, you know. And despite what you think, I’m not some virginally challenged Pollyanna.” But if she didn’t give them something now they’d harass her all damn night. They loved her, they worried about her, and as annoying as it could be sometimes, she wouldn’t change it for the world. “But yes, he treated me right. He didn’t emotionally scar me with his giant penis, and miracle of all miracles, despite the years of celibacy, we were all wrong…my hymen hasn’t regrown.”
Alex snorted beside her. “Well, thank fuck for that.”
Rusty turned to look at her sister in the backseat. “I can’t tell you how relieved I was.”
Piper started giggling, but Alex wasn’t quite so polite. She gave up trying to hold it together and busted a gut laughing.
When Alex finally shut the hell up, she gave Rusty a light jab in the arm. “Maybe you could call him later, no way he’d turn down a booty call.”
The idea appealed, she couldn’t deny it. She’d thought of Reid all day, could still feel the man between her thighs. She was tender after their night together, but in a good way, in a way that made it impossible to think of anything other than what they’d done.
“I don’t know.” She grinned over at Alex, who had stopped at a red light.
“No more waiting, remember,” Piper added.
But Alex wasn’t looking at her. She was staring out the window, eyes locked on something across the street. “Motherfucker,” she whispered.
“What is it?”
“Nothing,” she answered quickly, too quickly. “When’s the goddamned light going to change?”
Rusty followed her friend’s gaze toward the Seascape Hotel. Reid’s Plymouth was parked out front, waiting for a valet by the looks of it. The man himself stood beside it, dressed in jeans and a dark gray button-down, looking gorgeous as ever. A beautiful brunette stood beside him, laughing at something he said, then he flung an arm around her shoulders and they headed inside.
Piper reached forward and wrapped her fingers around her bicep. “Rusty, there could be a perfectly good explanation for it. I’m sure it’s not what you think.”
No, it was exactly what she thought. God, how could she have been so stupid? A horn blasted behind them several times. Alex cursed and slammed her foot on the gas.
“Rusty?” Piper shuffled forward in her seat. “Don’t freak out, not until you’ve talked to him.”
“I’m not gonna freak out, Piper.” No, she was too numb to do anything but stare woodenly out the window. Too numb to think. And she sure as hell wasn’t ready to dwell on why she wasn’t enough, why she was never enough. Why besides her brother and the two women in this car, everyone else saw her as nothing but an empty shell. That because of a genetic fluke that made her some kind of ideal, a fantasy, they assumed there was nothing else.
Alex cursed and beat the crap out of the steering wheel. Then the car wrenched to the right, and they came to a stop outside a gas station.
Her friend looked over at her, determination shining in her eyes. “No, we’re not going to freak out. We’re going to get even.” Then she climbed out of the car and stomped inside. A few minutes later, she returned with her arms full of toilet paper rolls. She made three more trips, filling the trunk with what had to be every roll in the store, then slammed it shut and climbed behind the wheel. “Address,” Alex said, eyes narrowed, steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.
Rusty turned to Alex and rattled off the address, then hung on as they peeled out of the gas station.
Yeah, TPing someone’s place was juvenile, but right then she needed to do something, anything to get back at him. Because it fucking hurt.
Her stomach curled into a heavy knot, and she clutched the door handle in a grip tight enough to cause pain, afraid she’d shatter into a million pieces if she didn’t hold on for all she was worth. Afraid she’d crumble to dust from the inside out. She never thought anything could feel worse than that night after her senior prom, but she was wrong. This was so much worse.