Hollywood Princess (Hollywood Royalty 2)

“Game on.” I have been in a warzone, shot at, and dragged through the mud, but her threat is up there with things that scare me. She grabs the remote from the table and stretches out, putting her feet on me, and we watch Shameless while we wait to pass the border. We have to go to secondary inspection when they see the bus, but it’s smooth sailing, and by the time we pull up to the truck we are getting into, she’s almost dragging her ass. She doesn’t say much to me the whole way there. In fact, she hasn’t said more than two words to me. If there is one thing I hate, it’s the silent treatment.

“Come on, baby.” I swat her ass, and she looks back at me.

“Don’t call me that,” she snaps, and I look at her. “Give me the cock and you can call me that. Otherwise, no.” I have to hide my laughter when she glares at me.

“Babe, it’s the whole ‘don’t shit where you eat’ thing,” I tell her, and Cori just groans from the back seat.

“You already ate where you eat,” Cori says from the back. “Three meals a day from what I heard.”

I look back at Kellie, who looks out the window. “I’m not talking to you.” She tries to ignore me, but I put my hand on her leg. “Nope, no access till you give up the goods.”

“Yeah, Brian, you aren’t going to milk the cow and not put out,” Cori says from the back.

“That isn’t even the saying,” I tell her, looking at her in the rearview mirror. “It’s why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free.”

“Wow,” Kellie says, “here I am, trying to hold out, and I’m being compared to cattle.” She glares at me. “How many rooms does this house have?”

“Four, I think.” Looking over at her, I pull up to the house in question. I’ve told Rachel to start renting us smaller spaces, but she ignores me. After I grab the bags from the back, I walk up to the front door and put the code in and then turn the knob. I walk in, turn on the light, and see that we are in the front entrance. A round table is in the middle of the room with the staircase winding up to the bedrooms. “Lock the door,” I tell Cori, walking to the stairs with the two of them following me. This is our routine. We come in, dump the bags, and then I walk around the house, making sure everything is secure.

We get up the stairs, and there are four doors all facing each other. “I’ll take that one.” Cori points to the room at the far right, then grabs her bag. “Night,” she says, closing the door.

I walk to the one doorway in front of us and see a king-size bed. I dump our bags in the middle of the room and then turn around. “I’m going to do a sweep,” I tell her, and she doesn’t say anything to me. She moves out of the way, but I kiss her softly anyway. I walk out of the room, jogging down the steps, and check the front door. Then I walk into the huge kitchen with the dining room attached to it, check to make sure the back door is locked, and then head to the fridge and grab two bottles of water. I turn off the lights, going up the stairs, and stop when I get to the top of the stairs. There in front of the room I just left is my bag sitting in front of the closed door. “What the fuck?” I hiss and then walk to the door and turn the handle but find it locked. “Kellie,” I whisper, “open the door.”

“No,” she says, “I’m in bed so go away.” It’s been over a month since our first kiss, and we’ve gone to bed with each other every night.

“Kellie, I swear to Christ,” I start to say, and Cori opens her door and leans on the jamb with a smirk, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Look at who is left in the pasture without his milk.” She giggles. “Whatcha gonna do, Farmer Joe?”

I knock on the door again. “Kellie, I’m not going to stop until you open the door,” I threaten her, “and I swear to God, I’m going to put you over my knee and make your ass red.”

“Whoa,” Cori says, standing up straight, “if that doesn’t get you in there, I don’t know what will.” She closes the door, and I listen to see if Kellie is coming to the door.

“Fine,” I say to the closed door, “have it your way.” I grab my bag, but I have no idea who I’m arguing with since I’m all by myself. I turn to the other open door and go inside it, slamming the door behind me. I dump my bag at the end of the bed and kick off my shoes. I get undressed and slide into the bed, stretching out and reaching for her but coming up empty. I grind my teeth together. I toss and turn most of the night, and I finally slip into sleep when the sun comes up. My eyes spring open when I hear a door shut and then footsteps on the stairs. I get up and grab my shorts out of my bag. Walking to the door, I open it and see that Cori’s door is open and so is Kellie’s. I walk down to the kitchen and hear them talking. The sound of cupboards slamming.