Back To The Start Box Set: Five Full-Length Novels

by Aly Martinez

  The entire room went on alert when a second woman’s voice came from the front door. “The dog’s name is Beethoven. Not Mozart.”

  “Oh my God!” Rhion shrieked.

  Johnson boomed, “What the fuck?”

  Devon cursed, “Holy hell.”

  “No fucking way,” Alex whispered.

  “Yesss,” Braydon hissed.

  Katie smiled—a huge, toothy, white grin, which made her look far more attractive than I’d originally thought. But, as I saw the woman standing behind her, I realized not a single person in the room was looking at Katie.

  The woman was unbelievably gorgeous. Tall. Thin. Shiny, black hair draped over her shoulders and down the front of her painted-on black dress. Her heels were so tall that she was closer to my height than any woman I’d ever met.

  I recognized her immediately. Though I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why she was standing in Rhion’s apartment.

  Lark moved to my side and whispered, “Is that Brianna Talbot?”

  “Looks like it,” I replied, equally shocked.

  “As in…former lingerie model turned lingerie designer, Brianna fucking Talbot?” he elaborated.

  “I…” I started but trailed off.

  It was. No question about it, but I’d never been so confused as I watched Rhion pull her in for an exuberant hug.

  “What are you doing here?” Rhion exclaimed.

  “I hear you’ve got a man. As your best friend, it’s my job to meet him and see if he’s worthy of my stamp of approval.”

  Rhion playfully slapped her arm before turning to face me. “Jude. Meet Brianna. Brianna. Meet Jude.”

  “Nice to meet you,” I said, prowling toward them, extending a hand, which she took in a limp, feminine shake.

  “Oh, he’s prettier than the pictures,” Brianna whispered to Rhion.

  She giggled. “I told you.”

  I blinked. “Pictures?”

  What in the actual fuck was happening?

  Leo was grinning as he headed toward the door. “Brianna,” he greeted, pulling her into a professional yet friendly hug. “I didn’t know you were coming. I’d have sent one of the guys to pick you up from the airport.”

  Her deep-brown eyes lit as she aimed them down at Rhion and winked. “But then it wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

  Just then, Sarah came rushing through the door. “Sorry, sorry. I’m late. I burnt the mac and cheese, so I had to start over. It’s cooking upstairs. I’ll need—” She suddenly froze. “Brianna?”

  “Surprise!” she said with a blinding, big-screen-worthy smile.

  “What the…” Sarah squealed, dropping her bags to the ground and rushing over to pull her into a hug.

  I scanned the room around us. Johnson was blinking rapidly, Alex’s mouth was hanging open, Devon was finger-combing his hair, and Braydon was wearing a shit-eating grin.

  Hooking my arm around Rhion, I tugged her off-balance until she crashed into my chest.

  With a giddy smile, she snuggled against me, muttering, “This is the best surprise ever.”

  “Surprise is right,” I rumbled into the top of her hair. “Your best friend is Brianna Talbot?”

  Rhion tipped her head back and eyed me curiously. “Is that a problem?”

  “Damn straight, I’m her best friend! She can’t live without me!” the willowy woman exclaimed, releasing Sarah as Katie shut the door behind them.

  Rhion giggled and shot her a smile. Brianna returned the wide grin and capped it off with a wink.

  Hand to God I heard Devon moan.

  I ground my teeth together. “Right. You going to explain why, in the approximately four thousand conversations we’ve had about her, you didn’t think to mention her last name?”

  Her head snapped back, a sudden attitude sifting through her features. “You didn’t ask.”

  “That’s because, in your file, it says her name is Brianna Turner, thirty-four-year-old, housewife, mother of two, that you met online in a readers’ group.”

  “Funny, I was unaware you were dating my file,” she smarted.

  I looked up and found Johnson watching us, his expression equally as puzzled as I felt.

  “Thirty-four?” Brianna questioned, clearly appalled. She turned her wrath on Leo and repeated, “Thirty-four?”

  He chuckled. “I’ll change it to twenty-one if you’d like. Seems like a wasted effort now that you’re here. Cat’s out of the bag.”

  Brianna smirked. “You still sign their paychecks though, right?”

  “That I do.”

  “What the hell is going on?” Johnson joined the conversation, his outrage only slightly more palpable than mine.

  “Brianna is a client,” Leo replied. “She likes to keep things…well, private.”

  “Like me!” Rhion chirped, looking up to bat her lashes at me.

  “What the fuck, Leo? Why didn’t I know about this? Christ, I scoped Brianna Turner’s house when she and Rhion first started talking. I pulled the woman’s bank records, for fuck’s sake,” Johnson grumbled.

  “Oh my,” Brianna breathed, clutching her chest. “That’s hot.” Her eyes leveled on Johnson, a sultry smile pulling at her lips.

  Leo shrugged nonchalantly, moving to the bar. “It was none of your business, Johnson.”

  “None of my business?” he seethed.

  Alex inched toward him in preparation of the pending explosion.

  “I own a quarter of the company!” Johnson shouted.

  “Yeah, well. Brianna is my client,” Leo replied, searching through the beers, inspecting the labels on each one. “Mine. Not Guardian’s. You did not need to know anything about her. I kept it that way.”

  Johnson’s expression turned thunderous. “She’s Rhion’s best friend! How the fuck did you figure I didn’t need to know this?”

  When Leo finally looked up, his body language was calm, but his scary expression told the real story. “I was the one who introduced them. I wouldn’t have put either one of them in danger, so chill the fuck out. You want to discuss business? You do it in private. But this conversation is done. You got it?”

  Johnson planted his hands on his hips and glared at his boss. The entire room swung their heads back and forth between the two men—except for Brianna, who never tore her gaze off Johnson.

  “Yeah. I got it,” Johnson finally said, relenting.

  But I absolutely did not. Just when I’d thought everything was out in the open between me and Rhion, shit like this came up. I was starting to wonder if I’d ever get the full Rhion Park story or if all I would ever get was the pile of pieces she wanted to show me, keeping the rest locked away so fucking tight that I might not ever get them all.

  “Well…okay, then,” Rhion drawled. “Who wants a drink?”

  “Me!” Brianna exclaimed.

  “Me,” Sarah chimed in behind her.

  “I could use a drink,” Katie said softly.

  Rhion pointed a finger at her stepsister. “You did good bringing her here. But this does not get you off the hook.”

  “I know.” Katie’s shoulders fell, genuine remorse painting her face.

  I narrowed my eyes on her as she continued to apologize.

  “And I’m so sorry, Rhion. I swear it was an accident. She overheard me talking to Sandy about coming to visit you. I couldn’t remember your address. I’d only been here twice and—”

  “We’ll talk later,” Rhion interrupted. “Let’s focus on one thing at a time. First, how you got this thirty-four-year-old to put down her work long enough to come see me.” She hooked an arm around Katie’s neck.

  “I mean, for real. Thirty-four?” Brianna complained. “I’ve programmed my biological clock to stop ticking at twenty nine.”

  “Six more months, then,” Rhion laughed.

  “Don’t remind me.”

  “Hey! Have you read Bait yet?” Rhion asked. “Since we’re all here, we could totally do the book club meeting in person this month.”
>
  Every man in the room tracked Brianna as she moved toward Rhion with the grace of a dream.

  “I did! I finished it on the plane. Casey Moore was so damn hot.”

  They both smiled and then exclaimed in unison, “That hair!”

  Chaos broke out as the four women started laughing and talking in some kind of code that I was positive no person with a dick would ever be able to decipher. Something about cliffs, triangles, and HEA. None of us dared to interrupt them.

  Well, none of us with a brain between our ears and not just the one between our legs.

  “Ladies, ladies. How about I make a pitcher of margaritas?” Braydon said, sauntering over.

  Lark laughed and bumped me with his shoulder. “This should be fun. Twenty bucks he bags her.”

  “Twenty bucks she amputates his cock,” Leo said, moving to my other side.

  “Twenty bucks I cock-block him and bag her myself,” Devon piped up, joining the conversation.

  But, through it all, the vise in my stomach twisted tighter. She’d never told me about Brianna. Though she was right—I hadn’t asked. But I hadn’t known that I’d needed to. For fuck’s sake, you’d think, after having spent every day with her for months, shit like that would have come up. Unless she was purposely keeping it from me. An idea that pissed me off as much as it gutted me.

  Everything was out in the open between us. No more secrets. No more fiction. Only truths.

  Or so I’d thought.

  But, as I watched her throw her head back in laughter, Brianna Talbot doing the same, it was obvious I was wrong.

  Braydon cleared his throat to interrupt them and extended a hand toward Brianna. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Braydon Hughes.”

  She grinned but didn’t take his hand. “Oh, aren’t you cute,” she said in a patronizing tone before tapping him on the nose like a child. “Sorry, sweetie. I’m here for Devon.”

  Devon went rock solid beside me as her amber-colored gaze flashed across the room.

  An epic smile pulled at his lips until she finished with, “And Johnson.”

  I couldn’t stop the chuckle as both of the men’s backs shot ramrod straight and they looked at each other.

  “Nope. Nope. Nope,” Rhion said, walking in her direction. “Keep it in your pants, Talbot.”

  She rested a manicured hand over her heart. “Who, me?”

  “Yes, you. Now, let’s go hang out on the beach while the boys watch the rest of the game.”

  “Am I forgiven?” Katie squeaked.

  “Nope,” Rhion replied, heading down the hall. “But Bri is way better at doling out the guilt than I am. You screwed up by bringing her here.”

  “Shit,” Katie grumbled as the four women disappeared into the ocean room.

  When the door clicked behind them, a round of rumbled curses filled the room.

  “Rock-paper-scissors!” Devon announced, heading toward Johnson. “Best two out of three. Winner takes all.”

  “All being Brianna Talbot?” Johnson asked. “Fuck you. Every man for himself.”

  Everyone laughed—except me. I stared at the door, a sick sense of dread turning my stomach. It must have shown on my face, because a second later, Leo cupped me on the shoulder.

  “She wasn’t allowed to tell you.”

  “Bullshit,” I mumbled, not looking in his direction.

  “I’m serious. Do not read into this. Brianna made her sign an NDA the first—and only—time they met two years ago. Katie and Sarah signed one after Rhion convinced Brianna to start a damn virtual book club with them. If you think Rhion has a past full of secrets, you should see Brianna’s laundry list. I’m not even allowed to acknowledge that she’s a client. I only introduced her and Rhion because they were both such loners. They made it work because they needed someone who didn’t ask questions.”

  I turned and looked at him. “See, that’s exactly my problem. I want answers. You forget I’m not just working for Rhion. I’m planning a life with her, but it still feels like I’m putting a fucking puzzle together in the dark.”

  “Son, women in general are a puzzle. Not just Rhion. I’ve been with Sarah for over six years now, and every day, I get a new piece of who she really is. She told me yesterday that green olives are her favorite food. I’ve never seen the woman eat a damn olive in her life. But that doesn’t mean she didn’t get pissed at me for not knowing. I get it. Rhion’s complex. But nothing you have with a woman like that is ever going to be easy. You want easy, you get a Playboy subscription. They don’t talk back.

  “Now, I’m not sure what you had with your ex-wife, but considering she’s your ex, I’m going to assume it wasn’t much. But newsflash: Women make you fucking work for everything. You want answers? Ask the fucking questions. And, if I know Rhion, the payoff for your time will be more than worth the effort.”

  I scoffed. Of course Rhion would be worth it. But I hated that, while we talked constantly, it felt like she never actually said anything.

  “Well, look at you. Security extraordinaire and Dr. fucking Phil.”

  He patted my back hard as hell. “You’re a smart man, Levitt. You’ll figure it out. Besides, everyone knows that the best part of a puzzle isn’t the final product. The real thrill is finding the pieces that match.” He winked.

  “Sage advice,” I said dryly.

  One side of his mouth lifted in a grin. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go defuse a bomb.” He jerked his chin to Johnson, who was fuming in the corner. Clapping his hands, he called out, “All right, boys. I need a hockey ticket, a tube of toothpaste, a paper clip, and a pair of toenail clippers. McGuyver is going to work.”

  Johnson glared.

  Leo chuckled.

  I went back to staring at the door to the ocean room.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Rhion

  Thanksgiving went off without a hitch. Or maybe I was too tipsy to worry about any possible hitches after drinking wine and laughing with my girls. But, minus two biscuits, which had mysteriously gone missing, we’d had plenty of food and better company. After a few beers, Leo even agreed to give me back my official Thanksgiving host title. I felt like it should have come with some kind of medal or plaque, but Leo told me not to hold my breath.

  “Do you still have a voice?” Jude asked as I emerged from the shower in a towel at around one in the morning. Sitting upright against a stack of pillows behind him, he lounged on my bed, the TV remote in his hand while ESPN played without sound in the background.

  Jude shirtless was a sight I’d never get tired of.

  “Ha. Ha,” I deadpanned. “Yes. Bri and I talk a lot on the phone. My voice has been thoroughly trained over the years.”

  I went straight to his overnight bag and hooked my fingers on the hanger holding his pressed shirt, which was still in the dry-cleaning plastic. After carrying it to the closet, I hung it on the doorknob so it wouldn’t wrinkle.

  “Did you get her settled in the ocean room?” he asked, his face taking on a pensive expression.

  “Yeah. She passed out mid-conversation.” I started digging through my dresser.

  “Good,” Jude murmured, pointedly looking to the clothes in my hand with a dark gaze. “You can lose those, then.”

  My body immediately responded, a roar of heat spreading between my legs and a cool chill sliding over my breasts, peaking my nipples. I dropped the offending garments back in the drawers.

  Silently, he threw the covers on my side of the bed back in invitation.

  My side of the bed.

  It suggested that Jude had a side in my bed.

  A shy grin pulled at the corners of my lips as I padded over, shedding my towel at the last second to crawl in beside him.

  “What’s that smile for?” he asked, flipping the TV off and discarding the remote to his nightstand with a clatter. His nightstand.

  “You stay here a lot.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “You need some space?”

  I s
lid my hand across his chest as I settled my head on his shoulder. “No. Not at all. It’s just you stay here a lot.”

  He rolled so I was on my back, and then he propped his weight onto an elbow on the pillow. His thumb brushed my cheek as he swiped my damp hair away from my face. “You already said that. Tell me what you’re thinking, baby.”

  Move in with me.

  That’s what I wanted to say.

  However, what actually came from my mouth was, “I have two closets. I could clear one out for you. Ya know, if you wanted to leave some stuff here.”

  His eyebrows popped up. “I do leave stuff here.”

  “Yeah, but this way, they could actually have a place that’s not in the middle of the floor.”

  “So I’ll shove them in the closet, but you don’t have to clear one out for me. I have a closet at my place. I don’t have enough shit to warrant having two.”

  I stared up at the ceiling to avoid his gaze. “But what if you didn’t have your place anymore? It would save—”

  I didn’t get another word out because his lips landed on mine. It was a short peck that I presumed was intended to take the sting out when he said, “I’m not moving in, Rhion.”

  Blunt. And straight to the point. Pure Jude.

  It still sucked. A lot.

  “Right. Of course not. Forget I said anything,” I whispered, embarrassment pinking my cheeks.

  “Not doing that, either. You put it on the table, and I fucking love that you want that, but the timing isn’t right.”

  “Seriously, I get it. No big deal.” I started to roll away, but he shifted his body on top of mine to pin me to the mattress.

  “You are quite possibly the most complex person I have ever met,” he stated.

  Keeping up my halfhearted fight to get out from under him, I faked a laugh and shimmied to the side. “Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

  He followed me with his upper body, making my efforts to escape futile. “Nope. Just a statement of fact. Every time I think I have you figured out, a new layer is revealed, taking me right back to square one.”

  My frustration grew, because while he was using a gentle voice, not a single word of what he was saying sounded good. “What are you talking about?” I asked, bucking beneath him, trying to break free. “Is this because I didn’t tell you about Brianna?”