When I came, I could still feel her soft ass brushing my length, the same way she did in the pool.
Paige Holly’s name charred my lips when I exploded like a grunting madman.
She knew how bad I wanted her last night.
She fucking had to.
She tried to play it off for my sake, but damn that hard-on was damn hard to miss. No, try impossible.
Mansions, fancy cars, and nine-figure deals...I’d give them all up to be inside her.
And I know there’s nothing better in store for me tonight.
She’ll wear another cowl neckline. I had the closet stocked with new formalwear in her size before we came.
I’ll want to dip my finger in the loop. So will every other man in the room.
A bad move, maybe.
If I want her as much as I did last night, it could be hard to focus on Winthrope, the whole reason for this whacked out sham that’s slowly chipping my brain apart.
It was pure torture not kissing her again last night, especially when she tossed her head back and laughed at my visceral reaction to her early works.
I’ll have to be on my highest guard. If she shies away from me in front of Winthrope, it could ruin everything.
Would she shy away from me, though? She leaned into the last blazing kiss.
A willing participant or one hell of an actress.
Was she just keeping up appearances? Her ex was there too, of course. Maybe the scorching way she kissed me back was more about him than me, medicine for the heart.
The phone rings, pulling me away from thoughts of my beautiful fake bombshell and the hundred ways I’d like to own her.
“Hello?”
“Do you want the good news or the bad news?” Nick asks.
“There’s bad news?”
What the hell is it now?
“Erm—right, I’ll start with the good news then. I just left the hospital, and Grandma’s fine. The doctor told me she’ll be discharged soon,” Nick says gently.
I sigh. “Thank God. When you mentioned bad news, I was afraid she’d taken a turn for the worse.”
“No, she’s great, and really, the bad news could be worse.”
How reassuring. “Can you get to the point?”
“She told me Dad came to visit.”
What the burning fuck? I guess I didn’t scare him as much as I thought. I’m losing my edge.
“What does he want?” I snap. “Dammit, Nick, if he threatened her while she was in the hospital—”
“Let me finish! She said he wasn’t a jackass this time. Surprise. He brought her flowers, said he loved her and he hopes to reconcile. He’s worried something horrible might happen to her, and he doesn’t want it to happen while they’re on bad terms.”
My chest feels like solid lead.
“Tell me she didn’t buy that shit? He’s scheming,” I bark into the speaker, wondering why I feel like I need to convince myself it’s true.
“I don’t know. Do you want her to die on bad terms? Do you want us to?” Nick asks quietly.
I swipe a hand over my face, hating this shit.
He’s always been the sensitive one.
“As long as they die first, I don’t care. And if they don’t go first, then I have to worry about what they’ll do to everyone I leave behind.” To Nick and Grandma. Maybe even Paige. But they won’t screw with her. There’s no reason.
“Ward, you don’t have to protect me anymore, or anyone. I can hold my own.”
“Doesn’t matter. He’s scheming, Nick, it’s all he knows. Stay the hell away from him, and keep Grandma away from him too. She doesn’t need another sting to the heart.” I sigh.
“I know,” Nick says.
“Has she given any thought to what we mentioned last time?” I ask.
“Staying at her place in Maui for a few months? She was open, and the doctor said she’ll be fine to travel after a few more days of rest.”
“Good, that will give her some space. He’s probably too broke to follow her there.” I hope he is, anyway.
Nick laughs. “Give the guy a break. He’s our dad.”
“And a murderer.”
“And that was proven when?” Nick throws back.
“It was never disproven, and I always refuse to talk when I’m innocent too. We need to figure out what the bastard wants before he sinks our company or detonates Grandma’s heart.” I need to make another visit to the Express Inn.
If I have to beat the hell out of him, I will. He’s not dicking with my family.
They’re both too forgiving to see him for what he is. Irredeemable.
Luckily, that’s why they have me.
Nick’s quiet for a minute. “I don’t know...maybe you’re right.”
Paige walks into the room. Her dress is a pale-blue velvet corset tied with lace. Her full breasts bubble like they were made for my damnation. From the corset, a fitted full-length gauze skirt so airy the blue could almost be white with a single drop of dye flows to the floor.