The house is quiet, but as I near the kitchen, the sounds of clinking dishes and running water replace the silence. Maria is in the kitchen, and she smiles at me when I enter.
“I was hoping you would come down for lunch,” she says and opens the oven.
The scent of grilled fish leaves the oven, perfuming the room.
“Thanks for making lunch,” I tell her as I slide onto a stool. Guilt suddenly comes over me. Maria’s job is to look after Kyle, not me. “You don’t have to go to the trouble, though. I could have grabbed a sandwich.”
“It’s no trouble. I cook lunch every day, and I love it. It’s the main part of my job, you know,” she says.
Lunch is a green salad and baked salmon. I fork my salmon, and it flakes. It’s the most perfectly cooked salmon I’ve ever tasted. It’s moist, and it melts in my mouth. Meanwhile, Maria is watching me to see my reaction.
“Perfect. Maria, you ought to be in the kitchen of a five-star hotel.” I’m not flattering her. She’s an awesome cook.
She beams. “Thank you. I’m glad you like it. There’s nothing like cooking for someone who appreciates good food. My husband Carlos doesn’t care what I cook as long as it’s edible.” She shakes her head sadly, and I laugh.
We chat easily as I eat. It’s a hot day and filling my belly with food makes me feel even hotter. Remembering what Kyle said about privacy, I decide to take a swim after lunch. It also helps that only Maria is in the house.
I thank her again and return upstairs to grab a bathing suit. I choose a rather daring hot pink bikini, and minutes later, I’m headed downstairs. There’s a changing room by the pool, and I strip off and change into my bikini. I grab a towel and head to the pool.
The water is as blue as the sky, inviting me to sink my hot body in. I slowly go down the steps that lead into the shallow end, and inch by inch, my body is submerged in the cool water. Heaven. I swim lazily along the pool’s length, and with every stroke, tension leaves my muscles. I could get used to this, I think to myself, as I swim back and forth. My mind is empty of all thought, except for the movement of my hands and feet.
After my swim, I lie down on my towel by the side of the pool, and as I’m dozing off, I sense a presence. Startled, I open my eyes and see a shadow over me. I’m about to scream when I recognize Kyle’s face.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to frighten you,” he says and squats. He kisses me on my wet lips.
“It’s fine, as long as it’s you,” I tell him, inhaling the scent of him. “I expected you a little later.”
“We finished earlier than expected,” Kyle says. “It was an emotional meeting, and afterward, I just wanted to come home.”
I peer into his face. He does look exhausted. “Join me?”
He glances at the pool and then back at me, his gaze rippling down my bikini-clad body. “That’s the most tempting offer I’ve had all day.”
“I hope it’s the only offer of that nature that you’ve had,” I tease him.
“If there was I’d not have noticed. The moment I left this morning, all I could think about was coming back to you,” Kyle says.
My breath hitches. The things he says. They make me want to give all of myself to him, but the part of me that’s been careful all my life reminds me of the danger of loving him.
He kisses me again and heads to the changing room. Happiness buzzes through me. For once in my life, I feel as if all the parts are coming together. My career is beginning, something I didn’t expect to happen for the next five years. My love life is the most exciting it’s ever been, and I feel as if I’m finally confronting my past and coming to terms with it.
Heat sizzles over me as Kyle returns wearing a pair of black swimming trunks that outline his cock as he walks. He arranges his towel next to mine, but instead of joining me, he goes to the edge of the deep end and dives neatly into the pool. I sit up to watch him as he does several laps.
His stroke is strong and sure, and it’s a treat to watch him move effortlessly through the water. Ten minutes later, he swims to the edge and lifts himself out of the pool.
Kyle collapses beside me, drapes an arm on my waist, and pulls me close.
“You’re cold,” I shriek and try to pull away.
Kyle is too strong for me, and despite my wriggling, I’m soon squashed up against his hard body.
“And you’re hot,” he murmurs before bringing his lips to mine.
I forget how cold he is as his tongue coaxes my mouth open, tangling with mine, and shocks of pleasure go all the way to my toes. Arousal floods me, but I keep my hands on his shoulders, aware that we are not enclosed by four walls.
Kyle pulls his lips away and stares into my eyes. “I’m so glad you’re in my life, Grace.”
“I’m glad you’re in my life too.”
He plants a noisy kiss on my nose, and his ticklish mustache makes me giggle.
“Tell me how the meeting went,” I asked him.
“It was … sad. Damon King still carries this aura of sadness,” Kyle says, a thoughtful look on his face.
“I bet the whole town does. Maybe this movie will help them bury the ghosts of the past.”
He tells me about the conversation he and Damon King had and the impact meeting him would have on his portrayal of the firefighter. It’s intriguing to listen to the process that culminates in his spellbinding performances on screen.
“Which reminds me, there is an awards ceremony coming up in a few days,” Kyle says. “I’d love it if you were my date.”
I go still and stare at him questioningly. Has he forgotten what he said about keeping our relationship under the media’s radar?
He reaches out to caress my cheek. “I want to share that moment with you.”
Everything in me rebels against the idea. I don’t want to be at an awards ceremony with Kyle. That feels like playing with fire, and I want the anonymity we’re enjoying to continue as long as possible.
“Can I give you an answer in a few days?” I ask him, buying time.
A look of disappointment flashes in his eyes, but he nods. “Fair enough.”
I remember the link my mother sent me containing Kyle’s alleged affair with twins. I tell him that story hoping to make him laugh at the ridiculousness of it.
“It’s crazy,” he says. “They write it and pass it off as facts. I have lawyers on monthly retainers to take care of all the false stories that appear in the media about me. Some can be pretty harmful.”
“How do you rise above it?” I look at him in admiration.
“I focus on things I can control, like my performance. Anything else, like negative comments and the hatred, I toss out the window. It’s noise.”
I nod, but I seriously don’t get how he can be so casual about it. I imagine untruths published about me, and I know I wouldn’t be so gracious about it.
“Let’s go for one more swim before we go in,” he says and jumps to his feet. He offers me his hand, and I take it.
We pad to the steps of the pool, and Kyle lets me go in first. I shiver at the shock of the cold water, having become completely dry. I let out a little yelp as Kyle jumps into the water, splashing me.
He comes to me and pulls me against him. His hands drop to my hips before going to cup my ass and grounding me against his very obvious arousal. I run my hands over his barrel of a chest, loving the ripple of muscle underneath his skin. I raise my head, and his lips meet mine in a sultry kiss that makes me forget where I am.
Underneath the water, his hands cup my breasts and squeeze them. I moan into his mouth and arch my chest into his hands. I’m overwhelmed by sensations as he kisses me with a hunger that leaves me breathless. I kiss him back with wild abandon. He dips his hands under my bikini top and rolls my nipples between his fingers. I cry out from the almost unbearable sensation. “Kyle!” I want more. I reach between us and cup his steel-hard cock over his swimming trunks.
One hand drops from my chest and pulls his cock from the confines of his sw
imming trunks. He returns his hands to my achy nipples, and I greedily wrap my hand around his massive cock and stroke it.
I love the tortured sounds that are coming from him. “Fuck, Grace, this is so hot. I want to fuck you. Now,” he growls.
I’m feeling daring, and like Kyle, I can’t wait. I want to feel his huge thick cock inside me.
“I want you to fuck me now,” I tell him.
I wrap my legs around him, and he moves us to the edge of the pool. He kisses me again, and with his hands, he pulls my bikini bottom to one side and brings his cock to the entrance of my pussy.
Madness, my voice of reason says, but I don’t pay any attention to it. I can’t pay any attention to it. I need him too much. Then he plunges his cock inside me, and it is heaven. I whimper into his mouth and cling to him as if I’m drowning, and he’s the one keeping me afloat.
He thrusts into me hard, pushing back my walls and filling me completely. All it takes is a few hard thrusts, and we’re both coming, all without moving our lips from each other.
When it’s over, we gaze at each other and laugh. Then he brings his forehead to mine, and we sit like that for a few minutes as we catch our breaths.
Chapter 22
Grace
A loud moan pulls me from the recesses of sleep before I realize that it’s coming from me. I’m lying on my back, and a hand between my legs caresses my folds, gently nudging them apart. I spread my legs, and a deep murmur comes from my side.
Kyle.
I smile in the darkness. I have no idea what time it is, and I don’t care. All my concentration is on the hand between my legs, rubbing delicious circles around my clit. I move my hips in time to his movements as each circle propels me closer to the edge. My control slips, and I grip his hand in an act of desperate need. He rubs it harder and faster, and with a cry, I explode as a violent orgasm rocks me. Before I can recover, Kyles’ hands are on my nipples, and his mouth is on my neck. Wanting to give him a great start to the day as he did for me, I straddle him and lower my mouth to kiss the sides of his mouth and neck.
His large hands gently caress my hips, and when I raise them, he grips his cock and guides it to my entrance. I lower myself to it and slide down, my arousal juices coating his cock. I let out little screams as I take his cock deeper and deeper.
His fingers dig into my hips, and deep growls leave his mouth. I sink all the way to the hilt, completely stretched out. I caress his chest and tease his nipples with my fingers, all without moving my body.
“I’m going crazy here,” he says in a tortured voice.
I laugh softly and start to rock up and down on his cock. It feels so good. I close my eyes as sensation after sensation comes over me. His cock feels like a sword of pleasure piercing me again and again.
I might be on top, but Kyle has taken full control, using his hands on my hips to control the tempo. My breathing comes out rasped as a second orgasm quickly approaches. Tears squeeze from the corners of my eyes and drip down my face. I whimper as my body coils tighter and tighter. When I come, I feel as if I’ve dropped from the edge of a cliff, headfirst, rapidly spiraling to the ground.
“You’re so sexy, know that?” Kyle says, slamming his cock into me. He lets out a groan that seems to come from the deepest part of him, and seconds later, I’m flooded with hot liquid.
I fall over him, and he rests his hands on my ass cheeks and gently strokes it as if lulling me to sleep. He remains inside me, semi-hard, and I slowly drift off to sleep. The next thing I know I’m being lifted amid soft murmurs, but I’m too tired to wake up.
***
A vibration sounds too close to my ear, and I wake up startled. The first thing I realize is that the sun is already out and streaming in through the half-open drapes. I glance to Kyle’s side to confirm that he has left for the day. He’s meeting some townspeople today to interview them and get their side of the story of the events that happened fifteen years ago.
The vibration comes again, and I reach for my phone and glance at the time. Nine o’clock. A twinge of guilt comes over me. I can’t believe that I’ve slept until nine. My mother’s number flashes across the screen. My heart skips a beat. It’s too early for her to call.
I press to answer. “Mom, is everything all right with Dad?” My voice comes out hoarse, and there’s no disguising the fact that I’m still in bed.
I cough in an attempt to clear it.
“Yes, your father is just fine, and so am I.” She sounds upset.
“What is it?”
“Did you read the link I sent you?” she asks tightly.
I let out a sigh. I can’t believe that she called me so early to discuss another of Kyle’s gossip items. I fight down my exasperation. “Mom, there will always be false stories about Kyle in the gossip columns. Whatever story it is, it’s not true.”
“There were pictures,” she says coldly.
“There’s photoshop,” I point out. I trust Kyle, and unless he tells me himself, I’ve made a vow not to believe anything I read about him.
“Of our daughter, half-naked in a pool doing God knows what with a man, exposed for the whole world to see,” she explodes.
My blood turns cold. “Me?”
“Yes, you, Grace! I can’t believe you’d do that to us. Two people have called already to ask if it’s really you. Your father was supposed to go on a volunteer shift today at the station. He had to cancel that. How will we ever show our faces in public again?”
While she speaks, I put her on speaker phone and tap my phone for the latest news. I see the gossip headlines then, and a feeling of sickness comes over me.
The Mysterious Fat Girl That Kyle Bryce Is Dating!
Thunder Thighs Lands A Movie Star!
Poll: Do you think Kyle Bryce can do better?
With shaking fingers, I click on one of the links, and a full-color picture of me and Kyle lying side by side fills my screen. The photographer or drone camera or whatever focused on my thighs, and I look disproportionate in the picture. I let out a cry of distress. I click on another link, and this time, the picture is of us in the pool, and by the look of ecstasy on my face, it’s not difficult to put two and two.
“Yes, that’s exactly what we feel like doing. Screaming. Grace, you swore you were different from your parents, and we believed you. This road you’re on is leading you to the same fate. Please stop seeing him. He’s not good for you. Go back to your normal life, I beg you. This won’t end well.”
Feelings of resentment come over me. It always comes down to my parents. It’s unfair that they never let me forget my parents’ mistakes, and I’m fed up with it.
“I am not my parents,” I say between clenched teeth. “I’m sorry that I’ve embarrassed you, but Mom, I’m an adult, and I was just having some fun with a man I happened to like very much. It’s a coincidence that he’s famous, but that’s part of who he is. I’m not going to miss out on a good thing because of my parents’ mistakes. But you won’t let me forget, will you?”
“This is not just about you! Of course, just like your father, you don’t care how your actions are affecting other people!”
I can’t believe my mother and I are shouting at each other. It has never happened. In the past, when we disagreed, I listened quietly, took whatever Mom dished out, and then murmured my apologies.
“Look, I’m sorry I embarrassed you, but I’m not sorry that I’m seeing Kyle.”
She doesn’t say another word and disconnects the phone unceremoniously.
I’m breathing as if I’ve come from racing. I scroll down to one of the articles, and the contents sink in. As I read the words, I gasp at the sheer cruelty of the writer. She writes two whole paragraphs criticizing my looks. My whole body trembles as each insult feels like a punch to my belly. I clamp a hand to my mouth to keep the sob rising up my throat contained.
In a desperate attempt to get back my sense of who I am, I try to remember Kyle’s words over how he deals with criticism. It doesn�
�t work.
I look at the poll results. Seventy percent of people think that Kyle Bryce can do a lot better. Others offer their comments as well.
“He must have picked her in a fast-food joint.”
“She would be hot as a guy. Look at her arm muscles.”
I’ve never been compared to a man before, and it hurts. Badly. I’ve always been proud of my body, but now as I read the articles posted about me, I feel my self-esteem being stripped, each layer gone, leaving me vulnerable.
My phone rings, making me jump. I’m relieved to see Isla’s name on the screen.
“Grace, are you all right, sweetheart?” she says when I answer.
On hearing her voice, I burst into loud sobs.
“I’m coming over,” she says. “Pin me the address. Hon, I’m on the way, okay?”
She disconnects the call, and when I manage to stop crying, I send her a pin of my location. Then I use the phone on Kyle’s bedside table to call Maria in the kitchen. I tell her that a friend of mine will be visiting, and she promises to let Carlos know.
Knowing that Isla is on the way propels me into action. I make the bed and hurry to the bathroom for a quick shower. Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed and running a comb through my hair when the doorbell rings.
I hurry down and find Isla in the living room, admiring Kyle’s paintings. She turns around, and we rush into each other’s arms. I’m overwhelmed by feelings of gratitude and start to cry again.
“Thank you. I can’t tell you how good it is to see you.” She dropped everything and just came to me. I lean in for another quick squeeze then pull her to the couch.
“Of course I came,” she says. “You’re my best friend, and I can’t bear to know that you are hurting.”
We sit down side by side, and she keeps my hand in hers.
“You saw the stories?” I ask her.
She nods. “They are vicious; the people who write that trash and the people who buy those magazines don’t help matters.”
One Hot Secret: A Second Chance Romance (Love on Fire) Page 13