“Eden, how the fuck did you know his first name?”
His expression is one of disgust. Putting his finger to my lips in a gesture for me not to speak, he says, “Alyssa, my princess, please do not allow that language to pass through those precious lips again. It’s beneath you to speak filth.”
If I wasn’t embarrassed by his reaction to my use of profanity, I would yell some other nasty things at him. “Okay, sorry. I’ll re-phrase that. How do you know his first name? I don’t even know it.”
“Your mother told it to me,” he says as he lifts me off the exam table, running his strong arm around my waist and taking me out of the small room. “Now tell me where you would like to go and have lunch.”
“I’m not allowed to go out anywhere with the male species until I turn eighteen, Eden, sorry.”
At the car, he opens my door and as soon as I sit down he reaches across me to fasten my seatbelt. Pulling the sunglasses I had propped up on the top of my head, he puts them back on my face, then puts his back on. His movie star look is complete.
“I’ll call your father and get his approval,” he says, closing my door and walking around to get in.
“Good luck with that,” I say, pulling down the visor to check my reflection.
Before Eden can get in the car, a tall, leggy, blonde woman walks up to him. Her skirt short and her hand extended, she says, “Hi, I’m Lacey Patterson. I’m a realtor here and noticed your exceptional vehicle. I’ve never seen it around town before, nor yourself. Are you new?”
What the hell is this woman doing?
Eden shakes her hand. “I’m just visiting for a while.”
She leaves her hand in his after the shake. “I’d love to show you some of the homes I have. This is a great town to buy investment property in. We have a great many people who vacation here.”
Eden looks down at how she’s refusing to let his hand go. “Not interested in making any purchase here. I’m just down, visiting the in-laws.”
“I’m ready, Eden,” I snap, making her turn her attention to me. For Christ sakes, there is no way she could miss seeing me sitting right here. The top’s down, for the love of all that’s holy.
Finally, she releases his hand. “Sorry, I’ll leave you two alone.”
Her ass wiggles back and forth under her too-tight skirt as she sashays away from Eden.
What a whore!
Eden slides into his seat and starts the car up. “Thanks for the save, princess,” he says as he takes my hand, placing a kiss on top.
I grin and say, “Not a problem there, hubby. Visiting the in-laws, you say?”
“You caught that, huh? Must have been listening in pretty hard. I do believe I see a bit of jealousy in your gorgeous sapphire eyes.”
“Jealousy, ha! I was saving you from the old hag,” I say and turn to look away.
The people on the sidewalk actually point at us as we drive by them. What a bunch of nosy people we have in this town. It’s as if they’ve never seen a convertible in their lives.
A ringing noise brings my attention back to the radio as my father’s voice fills the speakers that seem to be everywhere in this magnificent machine.
“Hi, Eden. What can I do for you?” my father asks.
“I would like to take Alyssa to lunch and she’s informed me she’s not allowed to go anywhere with male individuals. Would you like to assure her of your approval?”
“I suppose you have me on the car phone?” he asks.
“I do.”
“Okay, then. Alyssa, it’s fine for you to go anywhere you want with Eden. We trust him implicitly. Have a good time, honey. We’ll see you when you get back home. Doctor Baker called and told us about your appointment. Looks like it all went well.”
“Who are you?” I ask in amazement. “Where are my real parents?”
A laugh is the only answer I receive as it dies away and the hard beat of a rock song fills the speakers. “So where would you like to eat, my lady?” Eden asks.
Not sure how to take any of this, I let it all go. Perhaps my parents have a deeper friendship with Eden’s parents than I realized. Yeah, that has to be it. I am hungry, so why not eat while we’re out?
“I’d like a burger, and Trixie’s has the best in town. It’s just up this road a bit.”
Placing his hand on the headrest of my seat, he looks over at me. The wind is moving the longer top of his dark hair around just enough to make him look like he’s doing a photoshoot for some men’s magazine.
He’s a sight to behold and I am an awful person who cheats on her devoted boyfriend.
“Trixie’s it is, baby.”
I have to look away, out into the small town we drive through. I watch the people walk down the sidewalk. My small town looks somewhat different from inside of this perfect machine with this perfect guy driving me through it.
It’s almost as if I’m not a part of it at all. The people I see look at us as if we are some sight to behold. None seem to recognize that it’s just little ol’ me riding in the passenger seat.
The car slows as Eden prepares to turn into the parking lot. “You sure about this place, Alyssa?”
Taking notice of the three motorcycles in the parking lot and only a couple of cars, I say, “Don’t worry, Eden. It’s nearly three in the afternoon. Not a prime time for most people to eat. The food’s good, I promise.”
“Should I put the top back up? I mean, will the car be safe out here? This place looks rough,” he says with hesitation.
I laugh. “Leave the top down. It’ll be fine. This place isn’t as bad as it seems. Come on now. I’m famished.”
Before he gets out, he hits the button on my seatbelt, releasing it. “Let me get your door for you.”
“I can get out on my own,” I protest and reach for the handle.
He grabs my hand and pulls it back up to his lips, touching it gently with them. “Princess, let me open your door, please. It’s not right for a lady to get out of the car unattended by her male driver.”
“Fine,” I say.
He slips out of his side and comes around. His gait as he moves in front of the car is smooth and refined. One of his hands moves through his hair, making it lay in the most perfect of ways.
As he opens my door and takes my hand to help me out, a sudden flash fills my head. It’s the large birds which flew over Kyle and me in the forest.
Yet, I can see them clearly above me, so close I could touch them if this was real. I feel Eden’s arm around my waist and I lean into his side for support, feeling weak-kneed.
“You okay?” he asks.
Shaking my head to clear the vision, I nod. “A weird, light-headed thing just happened. Maybe the doctor was right not to send me back to school. I would’ve fallen if I was on my own. Thanks for being here, Eden.”
Pulling my sunglasses off and placing them on the top of my head, his eyes search mine as if confirming I’m okay. “You sure you’re fine?”
I nod and he begins walking into the café, holding me tightly against his side. He’s so sweet and kind and compassionate.
Too bad I belong to another.
CHAPTER 16
EDEN
Placing my sunglasses on top of my head, I open the door for Alyssa to enter the dark bar. She calls it a café, but it’s a bar, and a dingy, smelly one at that.
I sweep the interior to find some bikers at a pool table and an elderly couple in one of the booths, drinking beer. They hold hands across the table and I find it cute, yet misplaced in this rat hole.
The large redhead behind the bar looks us over as she moves to follow us. I find us a booth and slide my mate in, sitting next to her.
The waitresses’ gravelly voice, from what has to be years of smoking, grates on my ears. She tosses a menu to Alyssa and hands one to me, then says, “Well, hello there. I’ve never seen you around here before. Are you new to Cloudcroft?”
“Just visiting. Can you give us a minute?” I ask as I see her look over a
t my mate and narrow her eyes.
“Ain’t you that Kyle boy’s girlfriend?”
Alyssa’s cheeks glow pink. “I am. This is my parents’ old friends’ son, Eden. I’m showing him around town.”
“Cozy. So you want the usual chocolate milkshake?” she asks, letting me know my mate and that boy attend this nasty establishment quite often.
How he could take her to this type of place is unsettling. Behind her parents’ backs, she’s come here with him.
What else has she done with that boy?
“You should try the double meat, double cheese burger. It’s delicious. Kyle always gets that,” she says as she innocently looks up at me after stabbing my heart by saying that boy’s name and suggesting I would like anything he does.
The exception being her, of course.
“What are you having?”
“The regular burger and fries. Dairy doesn’t agree with me. The milkshakes I get are made with almond milk instead of regular cow’s milk. They don’t carry any cheeses I can eat,” she says as she places the menu that had been tossed at her at the edge of the table.
If we were anywhere else except her hometown, I would have barked at the waitress for her inexcusable behavior. “I’ll get whatever you get,” I say.
The waitress’ hand lands on my shoulder and I jerk my head around to look at it. Her red nail polish is dull and chipped and she smells like cigarettes. How could she possibly think she has a chance in hell with me?
“Sugar, you want a beer, or something maybe a little stronger with your burger and fries?”
“I’m eighteen, ma’am,” I say as I look up at her to find her yellow teeth flashing beneath her red-stained, thin lips.
Perhaps the only thing thin on the woman, except her ultra-thin eyebrows.
Her finger goes to her lips as she says, “Shh, I won’t tell on you, handsome.”
“No, thank you, ma’am. Just the burgers, all the way with mustard, the fries, and her shake made with almond milk. I’ll have a bottle of water, please.”
She pats my shoulder. “We have curly fries, baby. Would you enjoy some of my curly fries?”
Are you kidding me!
“No, ma’am. The regular fries will do us just fine, I assure you.”
Her hand slides down my shoulder along my arm, leaving me with an itch to bathe. “I’ll be right back with your drinks then, cutie pie.”
I turn to see Alyssa watching the waitress walk away. “Wow!” she says with a shake of her head. “I never knew we had so many skanky women in this small town. Eden, you bring out the beast in females. You must get that kind of stuff all the time. You handle them so well. If a man did that to me, I’d probably slap him.”
I drag my knuckles across her firm cheek. “If a man did that to you, I’d punch him.”
Her giggle tickles at my ears. I love it!
“Neanderthal,” she says as she gently punches my arm. “I can’t believe she was willing to give you alcohol. Tell me what other things women have offered you for a moment of your attention.”
“You don’t really want to know that, Alyssa. Just like I don’t want to know why in the world you would frequent such an establishment as this,” I say as I scan the dirty bar.
The lights flicker over a pool table as the bikers swill from large glasses of dark, frothy topped beers. Their protruding bellies are a testament to their devotion to the fattening spirit.
Her smile dazzles me as she leans in a bit closer. “Watch how you talk about this place. Those bikers call this place home and anyone who speaks ill of their home usually finds themselves sprawled out in the parking lot with boot prints on their asses. Oops, sorry. Don’t want to offend your delicate senses by cursing. I meant to say bottoms.”
Placing my hand behind her neck, I pull her to me, leaning my head to speak in her ear. “It is not my delicate senses I worry about. It’s your honor I wish to protect by reprimanding your use of vulgar obscenities. With a mouth so beautiful, it’s a crime to let disgusting words flow out of it.” I leave a kiss on her cheek to soften my correction.
The glow of pink on her cheeks shows me she’s taken in what I’ve said and I’m pleased to see it. “How you speak is so … what is the word I’m looking for? Eloquent. Far beyond your years, Eden. I’ve never thought about the words I use making me seem dishonorable. You’re right, though.”
I’m right! That’s a step in the right direction. She’s beginning to trust me.
The cigarette smell is back and I turn to find the waitress back with our orders. She tosses my mates’ basket with her burger and fries in it and a fry falls on the table. I quickly pick the fry up and hold it near her face, which is much too close to mine as she leans over me to throw food at my princess.
“If you weren’t tossing things at this young lady, you might be able to keep the food where it belongs. See that you stop, or your tip will reflect my disapproval.”
Her eyes widen and she pulls her ample body up. “Sorry, sir. It won’t happen again. I promise,” she says, then her eyes dart to Alyssa. “Sorry, Ally. I didn’t mean to do that.”
Alyssa blinks back at her. “It’s okay. No big deal.”
No big deal! Really! So she feels it’s just fine to have someone treat her disrespectfully.
That is what he made her feel like when they came here. A common girl who is treated with no respect at all is what he’s made her.
“Mmmm, take a bite, Eden. It’s really good,” Alyssa says with a moan.
Not one bit mad. Wow!
“Okay, then, here it goes.” I lift the grease-laden mess to my mouth and take a hearty bite. I’m immediately sorry I took such a large bite of the foul tasting—dare I call it a burger?
Her face lights up. “See, it’s good, right?”
I swallow the horrible stuff, then wipe the grease from my lips. “No, it’s not. It’s quite possibly the worst thing I’ve ever tasted,” I say as I take the cap off my bottle of water and try my best to get the nasty taste and greasy film out of my mouth.
What I would give for a toothbrush right now!
Alyssa laughs and takes another bite. I so badly want to take this burger—if you can call it that. I doubt there’s any real meat to the thing—and toss it in the trash.
She swallows and wipes her mouth. “You have to be joking. These are the best burgers in town. Come on, try another bite, Eden.”
“If you truly believe that, then we must educate that pallet of yours,” I say, then tweak her cute little nose.
She scrunches it up, making her even more adorable. “And just how might you go about doing that?”
Another bite she takes, making my stomach hurt at the sight. Only the best foods should pass through that delicious mouth.
“I’ll take you to the finest restaurants this planet has to offer.”
A smirk forms on her sweet lips and I wish I could kiss it off.
“Only if I agree to that, and I am quite taken, if you will recall. A friendship is one thing and traveling around to eat is quite another. Kyle will not cotton to the idea of me and you traipsing all over just so my pallet can be refined.”
There it is again, the stab in my heart every time she says his name.
“What that boy doesn’t know won’t hurt him, princess. I have a jet. Let me take you to one tonight. I know the perfect place to start your education.”
With a gleam in her eye, her smirk turns into a full-blown smile. “You have a jet?”
She’s interested now. I might be able to talk her into it.
“I do. We could be there in about an hour. What do you say?”
“Dad would never allow it,” she says, but she’s still smiling.
She’s finished the awful burger and drained her glass, so I guess she’s done eating. “Let’s get out of here and go ask him,” I say as I stand and pull her to come with me. Wrapping my arm around her waist, I hold her close.
“He’ll never agree to that, Eden. But you can ask, I su
ppose.”
A beam of dust-filled light comes in as the door opens. A gangly boy with a light brown mop of messy hair walks in. He turns back and gives a thumbs up, then closes the door. The boy heads straight to us, his eyes on my mate.
“Sup, girl?” he drawls.
“Hey, Cody,” Alyssa says, as she wiggles in my grasp a bit. “This is, Eden. Our parents are friends and he’s visiting for the week.”
His eyebrows go up and he gestures to the hold I have on her. “And just what is this about, Al?”
“Didn’t you hear about my accident?”
He frowns and answers, “Yeah, and you don’t look like you got hit by no truck.”
She giggles. “That’s because I didn’t, silly. I stopped, then fell and hit my head. I get dizzy pretty easily, so Eden has been kind enough to help me get around, or I’d be stuck in bed.”
“Convenient, isn’t it?” His eyes move over my entire body, sizing me up.
I perceive him as no threat. He doesn’t ruffle my feathers even a tiny bit.
“We were just on our way out,” I say as I propel my mate forward, away from him.
He stands in place and watches us leave. I drop a hundred in front of the red-head and proceed to the door. I can feel his eyes burning a hole in my back.
“Don’t you want your change?” the waitress calls out.
I lift my arm and wag my finger as I gesture a no back to her.
“Have fun, Al,” I hear the boy say as I open the door.
The light is bright and I’m blinded for a second. Pulling the shades from my head, I put them in place. Alyssa does the same thing.
“The light is killing me,” she mutters.
Looking back up, I see a tall black truck parked right next to my jag. The tall blonde guy from the hospital is leaning up against the hood of my car. His arms are crossed and he wears a very pissed off expression.
Fantastic. An interaction with the boy who’s treated my mate like a common girl for years.
This should be good!
CHAPTER 17
ALYSSA
I struggle to get away from Eden’s tight grip. Kyle already looks pissed. This won’t help matters. “Eden, let me go. He’s mad enough,” I hiss.
“I’m not letting you go, Alyssa. So stop wiggling,” he says with a harshness I’ve yet to hear from him.
His Beautiful Revenge: A Bad Boy Billionaire Romance Page 123