by C. M. Owens
All I want to do is kiss those pink lips that are shining with some sort of gloss tonight. Well, that’s a lie. That’s not all I want to do.
Now the sexual tension is too thick to be cut through by even a chainsaw.
“I am,” she says, breaking the deafening silence in the car as we reach a red light.
Confused, I turn to face her just as a small, somewhat daring smile tugs at her lips.
“You are what?” I ask.
She cocks her head, holding my gaze, before shocking the hell out of me. “Wearing panties.”
A horn blares from behind me, causing me to jump as Allie snickers, and I glare in my rearview mirror until I realize the jerk is honking for me to go. I have no idea how long that light has been green. Right now, I’m doing good not to break the steering wheel.
“Are you trying to get us killed?” I ask, exasperated, eliciting more laughter from her.
I shift in my seat when my cock throbs and needs adjusting. Ah, fuck it. She knows what she does to me. There’s no hiding it.
Reaching down, I adjust myself, and smirk when I hear her audible breath.
“We really have to stop flirting,” I say through strain, cursing when I get even harder. How the hell does she do this to me? She’s not even touching me.
She laughs nervously while tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
“You’re the one who brought up panties,” she points out, still flirting.
“You were the one talking about magic pussy when I walked in.”
She bursts out laughing, and I smile as I drink in the sound. She looks so carefree right now, and that’s a major difference from the bitter, angry woman I met months ago.
“I wasn’t talking about it. Bella was. Actually, she was begging hers to become magical.”
This time I laugh as Allie leans back, her eyes on me as I navigate the roads leading just out of Sterling Shore.
“What the hell is that?”
I feel her grin as she gets comfortable. “Something that makes a man crumble for a woman after one night.”
I shift again, thinking about the night I wish I could remember. I’ve been inside Allie, buried deep enough to create a child, and not one fuzzy memory from that night will emerge.
“We really need to talk about something else,” I grumble, which only provokes more amused laughter from her.
“Fine. Then what should we talk about? The fitting room incident? Because it’s really not surprising that we’re attracted to each other, Wren. We did make a child, and that isn’t because we appalled each other. I doubt we’ll be in such an intimate position again, so please stop freaking out.” In a teasing lilt, she adds, “By intimate position, I mean we won’t be alone in a fitting room with me in just my underwear or a dress that requires no panties.”
Fucking hell. That’s where I am right now—fucking hell.
Shifting again, I cut my eyes at her. She bites back a grin before looking away, and I groan as she crosses her legs. Her dress is split up the side, rising high on her thigh, and so much lightly tanned skin gets exposed with the movement.
“You should probably watch the road,” she says, amused, and I curse while gripping the steering wheel tighter and jerking my gaze back where it belongs.
“Change the subject again, please,” I say through clenched teeth.
She snickers softly, but then her laughter dies.
“Where are we going? Your mom’s house isn’t this way.”
That has me smiling. “Her Sterling Shore house isn’t big enough to host an event this size. She has a much bigger home on the cliffs. It looks over the ocean. It’s actually a badass view.”
“Cliffs?” she asks meekly.
“Angel is safe. Mom keeps bodyguards with her at all times. Even if Angel managed to sneak out—which she wouldn’t—one of them would have her scooped up. But I doubt Mom has paid attention to anything but our daughter.”
She visibly relaxes beside me, and I settle down just a little now that the flirty air is gone.
“Can I ask you a question?” she asks.
I shrug before nodding my answer.
“It’s about your ex. Or is that crossing a line? I know you’re really private, so I don’t want to push a button.”
That’s one way to make my dick shrivel back up like a turtle seeking its shell.
“Ask whatever you want to.”
She pauses, seeming to have some internal war with herself. Finally, she asks, “Will she be there tonight?”
That’s not what she was wanting to ask. I can tell.
“Probably. She’s part of the society crowd. Sorry in advance,” I say, mumbling the last part.
“She won’t bother me.”
I laugh bitterly while shaking my head. “You have my child, Allie. She’s going to be a bitch. But I’ll kick her out if she says anything. Just let me know.”
Her lips tighten, and I tense all over again.
“Can I ask you a question?” I ask, taking my turn.
“Sure.”
She doesn’t look satisfied, because whatever she really wants to know is still nagging her. Well, something is nagging me too.
“I wish I could remember that night. I wish I could go back and handle things differently, but I can’t. So, I want to try and wipe it from your memory, even though I know that’s not actually possible.”
I sound like a rambling jackass.
“What’s the question?” she asks, biting back a teasing grin.
Blowing out a harsh breath, I take another turn, slowly gliding us toward the cliff home. “I want a redo.”
I don’t want to ask for something as cliché as a second chance, especially since I don’t remember my first chance. I want to start all over with a clean slate, because a mere second chance isn’t good enough.
She studies me, and I stare straight ahead, pretending as though I can’t see her from my peripheral.
“A redo?”
I nod, and she turns back to face the front. “That’s doable, I guess. Though I’m not really sure what a redo entails or what purpose it serves. I’ve already moved past all the things that once hurt. But whatever you need to move past it, I’ll do it.”
Unbelievable.
I need to stop speaking to her, because I swear I’m seconds away from pulling the car over and saying to hell with the consequences.
Fuck. My dick is hard again.
“What did you really want to ask? I know you wanted to know something other than if Erica is going to be there.”
She takes a hesitant breath before finally asking, “Why did you get divorced?”
Dick is no longer hard. At this rate, the poor thing is going to get whiplash.
That’s not an easy question to answer.
“There wasn’t any one particular thing that ended it. Hell, I tried getting rid of her before we even got married, but she kept clawing her way back into my life. Then things started changing. And finally, Tag happened.”
She whips around in her seat, and I almost feel her anger. “He slept with your wife?” she asks incredulously.
I burst out laughing while shaking my head. “Hell no. No. No. Sorry, no. That’s not what I meant. What I meant was that he fell hard for Ash. In the beginning, I was glad I wasn’t as head-over-heels as he was. Hell, he was miserable. They didn’t have a traditional or easy start. But then when they finally got together… Well, shit changed. And Erica got envious—I’m talking green with envy.”
She relaxes lightly in her seat. “Not trying to sound annoying, but why was she envious?”
Shrugging, I answer, “Because she wanted what they have, and I didn’t feel like that toward her. Tag is a passionate guy. I’m more reserved. I hate PDA, and she tried to maul me in front of people. She never did that before Tag got Ash. But she felt like if the world’s biggest player could turn into a big romantic, then I was supposed to suddenly change as well. She started pressuring me to have a kid, went on and on about h
ow that could really save our marriage—she’s that crazy.”
Allie stays quiet, as though she expects more. But I don’t really know what else to say.
“You didn’t want kids?” she asks, an edge of hurt in her tone.
Shit.
“Not with Erica. Erica is selfish—too selfish to reproduce. Even her reasoning for having a child was selfish. Hell, I stopped touching her because she went off the Pill, swearing I’d have to give her a child if I ever wanted to get laid again. I didn’t trust a single condom in the house. And to be honest, it wasn’t worth the risk.”
This just feels wrong to talk about.
Allie squirms uncomfortably, and for some reason she almost looks mad. But she shifts gears in the conversation again.
“So she left you because you wouldn’t touch her, or because you wouldn’t have a child?”
“Both, I guess. Not that either matters. We had a prenup.”
She pinches the bridge of her nose, seeming to be lost in thought. “Would you still be with her if she hadn’t left you?”
I laugh before I realize it, because it feels like so long ago that I was ever in that mess. Allie seems confused when she looks at me again.
“No. No, I wouldn’t. Especially not with Angel in the picture.”
Angel rocked my world and put everything into perspective. Someone like Erica wouldn’t even make it through my doorway now.
“I don’t see how she could expect you to be all over her after she slept with your brother.”
I smirk, now realizing her anger isn’t directed toward me; she’s pissed at Erica. She’s cute when she’s being all protective. Rain told me they filled Allie in on the entire Erica debacle during moving day, but she said Allie never reacted. However, I see the anger blazing in her features right now, as though she’s offended on my behalf.
My chest tightens, and I frown. Allie cares about me, and I’m not sure what the hell to do with that.
I know what I want to do with it…
“I pointed that out during a party at the country club. I ended up with a drink thrown in my face. But that was the final nail in the coffin, and I was finally rid of her. I’d wear champagne all day every day to keep those results intact.”
I don’t think she means to laugh, but she does, quickly smothering it with her hand while apologizing. I grin while returning all my attention on the road. Not too much farther.
Allie’s laughter fades, and then she speaks softer. “Why did you marry her? Did you love her?”
I was afraid she was going to ask that.
“I’m scared to answer that one. I’m worried what you’ll think of me if I tell you the truth.”
She laughs lightly while scooting in closer, and I get a small whiff of strawberries. Damn, she smells good.
“No judgment. I swear. Relationships aren’t my strong suit either, so I’m not even going to pretend I have a right to judge.”
As much as I don’t want to tell her, I almost feel obligated to.
“Come on, Wren. You asked for a redo. I’m giving you a chance to clear the air and start with a clean slate. So unload it all. Or tell me it’s none of my business.”
Shit. She’s going to think I’m so fucking pathetic.
“Because, despite her betrayal and shortcomings, she wanted me. She was always there, and I didn’t have to work for the relationship at all. It was easy and it was stable. Mom was always lonely, and she never really dated much because of us—because she wanted to make sure we knew that we came first.”
After sighing, I drag in a deep breath before continuing.
“It didn’t have to be Erica—I realize any girl could have supplied company—but Erica loved the spotlight my name gave, and it took the attention off me when she dove into all the glitz and glamour I try to avoid. She fit into my life the way I wanted her to. It wasn’t complicated… until it was. I know that’s confusing, but at the time, she was safe.”
I expect her to balk at the explanation, but instead, she stays quiet, not seeming too disturbed by it. For some reason, I almost think she’s pleased. Which is not at all what I was prepared for.
“Did your brother ever explain how he could do that to you?” she asks softly, her pleased expression dissipating into sympathy.
Billy. Fucking Billy.
“Apparently, if you’re not close, it gives the other sibling the right to sleep with your fiancée without breaking some sort of unspoken rule most siblings have. Billy is… complicated. He never denied it happened, and he apologized, but I’m fairly sure you’re not supposed to be gloating when apologizing to me for sleeping with my fiancée. I realized then I could never trust him again, and trust was all we had left at that time. People judged me for forgiving her but not him. Honestly, I never forgave either of them. I just went on as though it didn’t happen. It seemed to be the best way to move forward, because resolving the issue took communication.
“Communication with Erica and Billy equals a migraine. And it’s not worth it. They both wanted it to be my fault—their warped minds had different reasons for that. They acted like I stripped them naked and forced them to fuck—figuratively speaking, of course.”
She grows quiet again, pensive. After several uncomfortable minutes, she breaks the silence.
“I think she was stupid. I think they both were,” she says softly, and I smile at her as she gets lost in the sights around us, intentionally not meeting my eyes.
A few months ago, she would have probably enjoyed knowing my brother hurt me, and loved the fact that my ex-wife was a cheater. Now she’s on my side. Things change quickly.
“What about you?” I ask, turning down the final road.
She smiles while looking at the ocean that is below us, and I resist the urge to take her hand that is resting between us.
“What about me?” she asks, distracted as the beauty of the ocean below continues to steal her attention.
“Any serious relationships?”
She laughs humorlessly while shaking her head. “Not really. Between school, work, and Angel, there hasn’t been much time for dating. Not that I’m complaining. There are some serious creeps out there.”
I’m torn between feeling guilty and laughing, especially when she winks at me. But we’re suddenly pulling into the long driveway, and Allie’s jaw drops, saving me from having to choose a reaction.
“This is a house?” she asks, easing up in her seat as she tries to take it all in. “Are you sure it’s not a hotel?”
The massive mansion stretches wide and tall. Mom loves this home, even though it’s way too big for her. She always loved the property and having something for “her future grandchildren” to come enjoy.
I’m not sure how many damn grandchildren she expects to have. I’m sure as hell not filling up all those rooms. At the rate Tag is going, he might help out, though. And to Mom, Tag’s kids are definitely her grandchildren.
“I suddenly feel so small,” Allie says, still in awe, and I can’t help but laugh. She leans back and adds, “I bet Angel really does feel like a princess right now. There are even towers!”
She smiles over at me just as I pull up to the front, allowing the valet to take my keys as I get out. A second valet is opening the door for Allie as I walk around, and I take her hand in mine, guiding her in.
We bypass the line of guests who are showing their invitations at the door. I can’t remember the last time I had to show proof of an invite.
Allie’s grip on my hand tightens when we make it inside, and she stumbles to a stop, looking around, wide-eyed and fascinated. I glance up at the massive chandeliers and down at the marble that lines the floors, while she just stares in awe.
“It’s beautiful,” she says softly.
I grin while tugging her closer, wrapping my arm down and around her back until I’m holding her against me and helping her the rest of the way in.
“We’re barely in the foyer,” I whisper, trying so damn hard not to laugh and embar
rass her.
“The foyer is bigger than my last three apartments.”
That’s sobering, and I can’t help but frown while she looks around and marvels at all the sights I’ve taken for granted my entire life. I spot Tag, which is fortunately a distraction, and I guide us toward him.
But Mom intercepts us first, smiling like she just can’t stop. “Angel is planning on making her grand entrance soon—if I can get her and Carrie downstairs.”
“Carrie?” Allie asks, clearly a little uneasy.
“Yes. She’s the same age as Allie. Didn’t I mention her? She’s Rain’s daughter. Rain brought her over earlier to play with her cousin.”
Allie relaxes immediately, and then a wide smile breaks across her face.
“I imagine Angel will be hard to get down here if she’s found a friend.”
Mom laughs and nods. “You’re so right. I’ve tried numerous times, but they both keep pushing me back out. I’m about to go back up there again. I have Greta with them right now—my housekeeper. She’s been in the family for years, and helped raise both my boys.”
Mom gets called to by a few other guests, and she sighs while hugging Allie one quick time and rushing around to play hostess.
“Should we go up and check on her?” I ask.
“And get yelled at for interrupting? No thank you. I’ll peek in on her in about thirty minutes or so.”
That has me laughing again as I move her toward Tag and Ash once more.
Allie smiles at Ash, but she’s fidgeting nervously as though she would like to climb back into a shell. For some reason, I actually don’t mind being here tonight. Usually I hate this damn party no matter where it’s held.
“Need a drink?” Tag asks, motioning toward the server before I even answer. Ash sighs heavily, looking longingly at the almost-empty champagne flute in Tag’s hand.
“Mad because you can’t drink?” I ask, but only to annoy her.
When she turns her scowl on me, I bite back another laugh. Then Ash’s look softens, and her eyes widen as she rakes her gaze over the beauty at my side. Oh, right. She hasn’t officially met Allie.
“You’re Angel’s mom?” Ash asks, smiling big.
Ah, hell. I should have introduced her to everyone.