Grandpa was absolutely right. The rum did the trick, and even though Mr. Gorgeous split into two and merged back into one, he looked even more gorgeous. More important was, we were talking. I couldn’t remember what we were talking about, but I knew we were talking about something.
I also had the best idea ever. Oh yes.
I had this relationship thing all wrong, indeed.
I’d been looking for the perfect man thinking he was out there somewhere and if I focused on finding him, I would do it. What I should have been doing was living like a man. If I were a man, I wouldn’t just be sitting here drinking; I’d be out getting laid.
I rose from the barstool with my bottle of rum, swaying on my feet, and looked Mr. Gorgeous up and down.
“Do you want to sleep with me?” I asked, and wow, that felt so easy, effortless, and freeing. Why had I never tried asking that question before?
“What?” His eyes widened to saucers.
Maybe he didn’t hear me. “DO YOU WANT TO SLEEP WITH MEEE?” I repeated, and this time I was pretty sure the whole bar heard because everyone nearby was staring at me.
“God, you are wasted,” he muttered but there was a gleam in his eyes.
“Is that a no, then?” I was checking to be sure.
“I think I’ll call you a taxi and get you home,” he answered drawing nearer.
“Wrong answer. Your loss. I’m pretty certain I’d rock your world, but hey…”
I moved away from him, and he followed.
Thank God he did because I must have taken three steps forward before I stumbled so badly that if he hadn’t caught me, I would have fallen flat on my face.
“I’m perfectly fine.” I frowned, shrugging out of his hold. I attempted to walk again, but this time, it felt like walking in one of those dreams where you were doing your best to move forward but couldn’t move from the spot.
I wasn’t moving, so I tried for baby steps, and someone over in the corner started laughing. It was a woman with big Dolly Parton hair.
“Come on,” Mr. Gorgeous said, taking hold of my arm again.
This time, I allowed him to. He had to slip his arm around me to help me to walk. Then… it wasn’t until we got outside the bar and the cold night air hit me that I started feeling sick. Sick like I was going to vomit, and everything felt like shit again.
“Where do you live?” he asked, releasing me.
I narrowed my eyes and tried to think really hard. I pointed down the road. “Down there somewhere.”
He shook his head at me. “That could be anywhere. You don’t remember where you live?”
“That’s for me to worry about,” I scuffed.
“I just need an address so I can call you a taxi.” He raised his brows.
Maybe a taxi was a good idea since I’d parked my car somewhere and didn’t know where that was.
So should I give him my address? God, I didn’t want to make my situation worse.
I hesitated and looked him over. “Are you an ax murderer?” I asked, considering the idea.
His forehead creased and he tried to bite back a smile. “Nope, I can assure you I am not that.”
“Are you one of these strange people who hang around bars and wait for the right moment to kidnap drunk women like me?” I probed.
He chuckled. “No.”
“It’s not funny. If something happens to me, I’ll know it was you,” I fumed.
“Look, lady, if you give me your address, that will be it. You’ll get home in one piece.”
“Are you married, or have a girlfriend?” I asked ignoring his comment.
“No… What does that have to do with anything, or in common with the other stuff?” He intensified his stare, pursed his beautifully sculpted lips together and his brows drew in.
“It’s the same to me. Ax murders, strange men, and cheaters.”
“Is that what happened to you? Cheating, I mean, not the other stuff.” Curiosity sparked in his eyes.
“That’s enough questions,” I snapped. I looked at him, and something dawned on me. “Why are you being so nice?”
He lifted his chin slightly. “You don’t like nice guys?”
“There is no such thing,” I fired back. “Men. The whole damn lot of you are evil bastards waiting to take advantage of women like me. I may be rich, but I’m still human. Wanting a nice guy is exactly my damn problem. No more, and now that I think about it, you can go to hell. I’ll walk home.” I whirled around, and that was it. The worst mistake of the evening. The whirling made the bile rise from my stomach right up to my throat.
I didn’t know how I had the good sense to move to the bushes as it filled my mouth. Maybe the part of my brain that didn’t want me to embarrass myself in front of this guy kicked in. I dropped my purse and the rum, then practically jumped into the bushes.
And jumped, as in when I went to take the leap, I tripped over my feet and fell near the bush, where I started vomiting.
Thank you, universe. All I needed was this part to add to my day.
I couldn’t have felt sicker, and it was probably best to stay here just like this. Me, Miss Goody Two Shoes, drunk and disorderly.
I was pretty certain that little show would have sent Mr. Gorgeous fleeing, but to my surprise, he crouched down next to me. He smirked, and a dimple appeared in his cheek. Inside the bar, his eyes had mystified me for the glacier-like appearance. Out here against the moonlight, they looked silver with an otherworldly appearance.
“Do you think you’ll allow me to help you now?” he asked biting the inside of his lip.
Help.
It was more like I needed to be saved.
“Yes, please.”
Chapter 2
Dylan
* * *
What should I call this?
Karma? Fate? The universe being an asshole?
Or, coincidence?
Coincidence felt like it was too simple a word to describe this encounter of mine.
Sure, this wasn’t the way I thought my first introduction to Taylor Cartwright would go, but add the fact that we just happened to be at The Glow at the same time, and that pretty much took me to coincidence territory.
I might take it one step further and throw in that offer for sex, because damn it to hell, only days ago, I’d promised my father I’d represent the company well and I absolutely wouldn’t be sleeping with our clients. Not like I did before.
Oh yes… This was coincidence, alright, and I thought too that the fucking universe was being an asshole. Picking on me and throwing me the beautiful Taylor Cartwright, who appealed to me even in the state she’d been in tonight.
The reality of the situation was this…
Her father had just hired my father’s business consultancy firm to work with him. The job was to guide his daughter, who he was considering handing the business over to, for the next ten weeks. Her father, Peter Cartwright, had hired my father’s company, Patterson Inc., because we were the best at what we did. We were just as good as the other big brand firms, but we were the little guys hoping to rise up and swim with the bigger fish.
This was our chance because Cartwright wasn’t just offering a handsome six-figure sum for the ten weeks; it would be publicity for us.
This was my chance. My chance to step up and show my father that I could be the business partner my brother was.
I was going beyond my desire for that tonight when I saw Taylor. I’d recognized her and seen her looking like she was ready to fall off that barstool. In truth, what I should have done was left her alone because now I was stuck with the billionaire princess.
I glanced across to her in the passenger seat of my car. She’d fallen asleep within two minutes of getting in.
Before she’d drifted off, I managed to get out of her that she lived on 240 Rivera Drive. That was about twenty minutes away. While I was glad that I would get the chance to get rid of her, looking at her now told me the easy part was getting her to come with me.
&
nbsp; Come with me… Jesus.
I couldn’t leave her on the road, and I didn’t have the heart to send her off in a taxi. Not in that state. So here I was, acting like the gentleman I wasn’t by dropping her home and doing whatever nightmarish thing I had to do before the night was over.
Do you want to sleep with me?
Those words would never leave my damn mind. Not even if I wanted to forget, could I forget the way she looked at me as she asked the question. Those champagne-colored eyes lulled me to stare, and her pouty red lips made me think of what else that mouth of hers would be good for.
Sex was already on my mind, and she had to go and cement it right in there by asking a question I’d never been asked before.
As she’d babbled on about ax murderers and cheaters, I wondered who the fuck could have cheated on her.
She shuffled in the seat and rolled her head from side to side, making her hair messier. The kind of messy I thought it would look like after a wild night in my bed. Her little mini skirt rode up her thighs as she shuffled again, giving me a good view of her golden thighs.
I glanced at the GPS dashboard and thanked God when I saw I was a minute away from my destination.
A minute which came quickly. I pulled up outside a beautiful two-story house surrounded by fan palm trees. In the night light, it reminded me of somewhere exotic in the Mediterranean. Most of the houses around here had that look, but I could tell additional work had gone into her place.
I drove up the long drive and parked outside the front door.
When she’d dropped her purse earlier, I’d gotten her keys, which I frowned at when I saw that not only had the woman labelled them house keys, but she also put her address on the little tag.
I didn’t know how women like her had lived so long in the world and did things like that.
Dangerous things. She was right; I could have been an ax murderer or one of those strange men who hung around bars waiting for women to get drunk so I could take advantage.
I jumped out of the car and opened her side to help her out.
“Taylor,” I said, tapping her arm. That was the first time I’d referred to her by name.
Her eyes fluttered open, and she gave me a weirdly assessing look, like she was trying to figure me out.
“You’re home now.” I smiled.
“It’s fine. I’ll just stay here.” She closed her eyes and turned her back to me, dismissing me.
Great… So, how was I supposed to get her out of the car?
I brought my hand to my head and bit the inside of my lip. There was only one way to do this.
I unhooked the seat belt, slipped my arm under her legs and around her waist, then lifted her out.
She curled up against me and made a soft cooing sound the way a child would when they were contented in their dreams. My little three-year-old nephew did that all the time.
I made my way up the steps and reached for the keys in my pocket. However, I didn’t need them because the flaming door was unlocked. I didn’t know if that was her doing or if someone had broken in. Neither would have surprised me.
I went inside with her and set her down on the sofa in the living room, where she stirred again and looked at me.
“Who are you?” she asked groggily.
“No one. It’s just a dream.” That was the first words that came to my mind and fell from my lips. “I’m going to check out the place and make sure you’re safe.” What I should be doing was running right back through the door, but no, I was still playing the gentleman.
“Okay,” she bubbled with a wide smile.
I left her and searched around the place as quickly as I could. It seemed like other people lived here, but the place was empty.
When I went back to the living room, I stopped short and froze in my tracks at the sight of a naked Taylor Cartwright standing in front of me.
The massive globes of her breasts bobbled and swayed as she leaned down to roll her panties down her legs.
Tight, pink nipples pointed at me, looking like they were begging to be sucked, and that gorgeous mass of hair of hers fell forward over her face.
When she saw me, she straightened, giving me the full view of goddess perfection, and the little minx smiled when she saw my reaction.
The little minx smiled and swiveled those panties around her forefinger.
“I’ll wait for you upstairs,” she cooed and tossed me the panties, which I actually caught.
She blew me a kiss, turned on her heel, and sauntered away through the archway. Having just been upstairs, I knew that wasn’t the way to up there. As to where she was heading to, I didn’t know.
What gave me an instant hard-on and had me pitching a tent was the view of her ass.
The view of her perfect ass was just as scenic as the front of her. I would have loved to indulge in both because the woman had the body of a goddess, the type made for serious sins that would land a man straight in hell. Or if you were me, jobless.
Yup. Dad would do it. He would fire my ass just like he’d threatened last year when he caught me in bed with his client’s daughter. He would fire me if I was dumb enough to make the same mistake twice. I would deserve it too because I was the one who’d promised him the company was in good hands and I could be just as good as Tommy.
Tommy, the perfect brother.
My perfect brother, who was the favorite to both my parents. I hated that I thought this, and it was a clash of thoughts and conflict of emotion that was happening at the worst time ever.
I would never speak my true feelings to my mother or father, but I was pretty certain they wished it were me who’d died in that car accident and not Tommy.
I was the kid who was the waste of space because I was so wild and reckless. No one knew what to do with me.
I’d promised my father I would be at Cartwright PR bright and early, nine o’clock sharp, where I’d meet with Peter and Taylor.
Tomorrow was going to be very interesting if Taylor remembered tonight.
It was going to be very interesting, indeed, because she’d remember that I never joined her upstairs.
Much as I wanted to.
I turned around and walked through the door.
Leaving.
Chapter 3
Taylor
* * *
A ripple of giggles filtered into my mind.
I sighed and turned onto my side, and the harshness of cold leather brushed over my skin.
Cold leather…
I hated leather. What was it doing in my bed?
I tried to open my eyes, but a sharp pain lanced through my head.
Ugh. It was so painful. Like someone was cutting into my head with a knife. Not that I’d ever experienced anything like that. I had, however, made the comparison when I’d had my eyebrows micro-bladed a few months back. The little blade strokes across my eyebrows had felt exactly like that, and that was with the so-called anesthetic the beautician told me she used.
The pain that stabbed into me now was a little like that, but worse.
A soft jab to my side made me cringe, as did another series of giggles.
That made me force my eyes open, and the bright sunlight beaming down on me felt like laser lights.
When the hell did the sun get so bright? It was like I was right next to it.
Abby and Mia came into view. They both started laughing at me.
Me…
I was in the sitting room on the sofa that overlooked the floor-to-ceiling glass windows.
I looked down at myself and saw that I was holding one of the large fluffy cushions. Then my heart leapt into my throat when I realized I was naked.
Me naked on the sofa, holding a cushion, was not good, and Abby and Mia were laughing their heads off.
This… this was the damn downside of living with them. Of course, when the idea first came about, I thought it was the best idea ever. Of my three sisters, these two were my best friends. Vanessa and I were close, but she liked her privacy
.
She liked her privacy and had the good sense to get her own place, and I was sure to shit she was happy that if and when she ever found herself in a situation like this, she wouldn’t have to worry about the type of embarrassment I was now facing.
“What happened to you?” Mia laughed.
“Your clothes are all over the living room,” Abby joined in, widening her large brown eyes. She was the eldest by one year. We were all one to two years apart, which practically made us the same age in my book. “Was there a man here with you?” She added with a saucy smile.
Mia’s eyes brightened at the thought. “Oh my gosh, you little devil. You planned this. Knew we would be away and set up to have some wild sex marathon.”
I winced as the memory of what had upset me sent me to drink.
“I caught Brody cheating on me.” I sighed, and they both stopped laughing.
“What? Brody, Brody?” Abby gasped in shock.
Mia just looked at me with her mouth wide open. “Taylor, are you sure?”
“Yes, I actually caught him. But it turns out the woman who he was with was his girlfriend.”
“Jesus, what are you saying? How…? Oh God.”
Abby frowned and gave me a knowing look. “Taylor, was he another Nick? Opportunist?”
I nodded.
Mia grabbed one of the throws and handed it to me. I took it and threw it around my shoulders.
“I just… I’m sick of it. I’m sick of it, and I hate that I’m supposed to be an intelligent woman yet shit like this happens to me.”
“Shit like this happens to everyone,” Abby pointed out.
“Doesn’t happen to you guys.” I shook my head, and they both looked at each other. “It’s never happened to you guys. Not even once.”
“Maybe it’s because of the guys we go for,” Mia offered.
No. It wasn’t that at all, but I decided against saying what was on my mind. They had both spent the night with a man last night, and neither was in any kind of serious relationship.
One Last Time ?: Bad Boy Bachelors of Orange County BK 1 Page 2