Forbidden Kiss (Carson Cove Scandals 1)

“I see what is right in front of my eyes,” I growled under my breath. “I see a woman that has never looked more desperate—it’s an ugly look for you.”

“We could have been good friends, Bryant.” Alexis leaned forward and started to stand, but I could see that she was struggling to hide her anger. “I won’t sit here and be insulted.”

“I didn’t ask you to come.” I watched as she walked towards the door—but she paused before she opened it.

“You’re going to regret this, Bryant. I didn’t want to make it complicated.” Alexis pulled the door open and immediately started walking towards the elevator.

“Have a good day, Mrs. Devereaux…” Cassie lifted her hand and waved as Alexis as she stormed by.

“Cassie, cancel my meeting this morning.” I slammed my door and walked back to my desk.

I had a sick feeling in my stomach after Alexis’ visit. When Taylor told me what she overheard, I thought I understood the extent of Alexis’ motivations, but something wasn’t sitting right with me. There were plenty of rich guys in Carson Cove—hell, you couldn’t walk down Main Street without bumping into people that wouldn’t even bother to bend over to pick up a hundred dollar bill. Alexis should have been loaded after divorcing Sawyer King—and that was assuming she had already blown through her illicit gains from the two husbands that got tangled up in her poisoned charm before him. She was born with a silver spoon shoved up her ass and had expensive tastes, but she was married long before her father squandered the Devereaux family fortune. There was no way she was that desperate.

Something else is going on, and I need to figure out what it is…

I ended up canceling several of my appointments during the day in order to make some calls to a few of my contacts. They just served to heighten my frustration. Nobody really knew what Alexis could be up to—by all accounts, she disappeared from the business world as soon as she divorced Sawyer King. I knew he had left Carson Cove after the divorce—and I doubted he would ever work with the woman who took a scalpel to his empire.

Devereaux Properties was still limping along with her brother at the helm, but the company wasn’t making any noise—they didn’t have the capital to make the kind of deals they used to. She had a vested interest in the company, but she wasn’t involved in the day-to-day operations.

Maybe she’s just fucking with me. It wouldn’t be the first time, but I can’t help but worry that there’s more to this than what I see on the surface.

* * *

Later that day

Cassie left early for her appointment, so I was the last one in the office. I didn’t get as much work done as I should have because I let Alexis’ visit distract me from what I should have been doing. She might have left me with some lingering concerns, but none of those were enough to take away from the excitement I had when it was time to pick Taylor up. I drove to Mandalay Subdivision and let my car roll to a stop before I got to her driveway.

I didn’t want to drive up to her house after she said it could be a problem—we were fortunate when I picked her up for the auction, but I doubted her mother worked late every day. I couldn’t help feeling like a bit of a bastard when I thought about the fact that she didn’t want her mother to know she was going out with me. It was understandable, but I wasn’t the kind of guy that normally ended up in those situations—not since high school when sneaking around was required in certain situations.

There she is—she’s waving for me to pick her up. Maybe her mother’s working late again after all.

Taylor was wearing a stunning blue dress—and my eyes didn’t stay on the road when I rolled forward and came to a stop in front of her house. As soon as she climbed into the car, she kissed me—that erased every bit of concern I had—deep down, I was afraid I was going to arrive at her house and find that she came to her senses. That obviously wasn’t the case. There was a hunger in her kiss, and I could tell it wasn’t going to be the last one we shared before the evening was over. She kissed me until my head was spinning, but as soon as her lips left mine, I wanted to taste them again—so I did. Feeling that passion made my cock throb in my pants. My lips were tingling when I finally pulled away from our second kiss.

“We should probably go—I assume your mother could arrive at any minute?” I exhaled sharply.

“Yeah, or my sister.” She nodded quickly. “She’s out with friends, but I have no idea when she’ll be home.”

I drove—I don’t know where I was going. The restaurant that I made reservations at was in the opposite direction. My head was a mess—excitement, lust, and angst that I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager were all coursing through my veins at the same time. I had passed the point of dancing around the fire—it was burning me alive from the inside out. I got to the end of the Mandalay Subdivision and let my car roll to a stop. A left would take me to my house—a right would correct the wrong turns I had made and take us to the restaurant.

“Why are you waiting?” Taylor looked over at me. “There are no cars coming…”

“I made reservations at Moretti’s,” I sighed and started to turn towards the right.

“I’m not hungry.” She bit down on her bottom lip, and I saw a hunger in her eyes—but it definitely wasn’t for expensive Italian food.

“Me either…” I quickly cut the wheel in the opposite direction and hit the gas.

There’s no fight left in me—maybe it was gone the moment I felt her lips on mine for the very first time.

Chapter Seven

Taylor

I had been wracked with internal conflict all day long. I went through so many emotions that I thought I was going to lose my mind before it was time for my date with Bryant. It was easy to come up with reasons why I shouldn’t have gotten into his car—but when I saw it on my street, all of those reasons just faded from my thoughts and were replaced by the intense desire I had to be with him again.

I swore I would never end up in the arms of a privileged guy from Carson Cove—I wasn’t going to be another conquest for one of them—it was why I guarded my heart so closely and never let anyone in. Bryant made me forget all of that. He wasn’t like the well-to-do guys I stayed away from in high school—and he made the things that felt so wrong feel so damn right. It was terrifying to think that the core of who I was could be stripped away, exposed, and upended with just one kiss.

I can’t even pretend that I’m just faking it to keep Alexis Devereaux away from him. I know exactly where this car is going—and all I want to do is tell him to put the pedal to the floorboard.