I clenched my eyelids shut. “I first realised what he regularly got up to when you went away. And Cara. I joined in … I’m an idiot.”
“Vee,” he said and strode over, lifting my chin with his finger. “You’re smart and strong. You’re trying your best, but you’ve dealt with so much more shit than he has and you’re not feeling sorry for yourself. I believe in you. And I love you.”
“I promise,” I said.
Rick shook his head imperceptibly.
“To not use again. I do not want to end up like that. I promise.”
Justin today—all traces of the cheeky boy I knew gone—scared away all my worries about relapsing into my bad habits. I had a caring Mum and a loving man in my life—even if I had lost half of my own heart and had been trodden on by the two friends I adored. I’d only be amplifying—not numbing—my problems if I used any more.
Rick’s flat mouth curved up into a heart-melting smile, and he pressed his lips to my forehead, holding his hands at my waist. I leant into his lips, fluttering my eyes closed to feel the moment.
“Babe …” Rick trailed off and parted us with his hands. His expression hardened. “What were you even doing here?”
• • •
RICK AND I left his house, warning his roommate and towing a bag of belongings to last several days. We weren’t sure where he’d be staying yet, but we’d figure it out.
He got into my driver’s seat and took us down to The Rental since I’d told him Amber called. She left a voicemail, which we listened to, and it told us to come down whenever we were able—yes, we. Rick checked his phone and had a call from her, too. The voicemail pretty much said the same thing.
She couldn’t do anything else to us, though … surely. We weren’t her employees anymore. And we’d done nothing illegal to warrant extra questioning.
“What do you reckon she’ll say? Or do?” I asked a tense Rick, who was clenching the steering wheel at ten and two.
“I know what I’d do.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And that is?”
“Lean you over my thighs and spank you. I might thoroughly enjoy that, actually.”
I burst into laughter, my emotions too spent to hold in any longer. My adrenaline had waned since the face-off. Now Rick no longer had his debt, and we had a plan for the future, so I allowed myself to relax and love my boyfriend and the fact he wanted to cheer me up.
“If nothing else works, I’ll sneak you in at night to sleep.”
He darted his eyes to me only long enough to say with a smirk, “And a shower?”
“Easy. You’ll only be able to shower when I do, or when Mum is at work, and then you’ll have to sleep when I do.”
“We’d be the two cleanest humans on earth.”
• • •
WE GREETED AMBER and she made a call shortly afterward to Nix, asking her to come in. Nix? Rick and I exchanged a glance and then followed Amber into her office. She left us for a moment to take care of a few things.
When she returned, she chirped, “Well, well.”
Rick and I exchanged another look. What was up with this woman and where was the controlling, fierce boss who ran this place?
Resting her elbow on her desk, she waggled her finger between us. “Letting you go was the best and worst decision I ever made. I—well Nix and I—would like to discuss some developments with the both of you. She’ll be here shortly.” She rubbed her lips together, brushing some strands of hair in place. “Now … you two. I was hurt by your deception for my rules and did make the right decision to let you go then. However, not everyone was as happy.
“Jimmy wanted to book you in again. Both of you. I told him you both were no longer working here because of a relationship that began—a forbidden relationship. We had an interesting conversation. He wanted you both because he had a fantasy you were together in real life. I explained we were sorry, but it couldn’t go on, as it was against our regulations.”
Rick and I darted our eyes back and forth, both subtly hinting at Amber.
Why was she telling us all this? What did it even matter? Okay, so she wasn’t as mad anymore because Jimmy was impressed about our personal relationship—so?
Rick’s unsure, poised eyebrow seemed to say he was thinking the same thing as I was.
Just then, Amber paused as heels approached the door. She knew who it was before it opened and thus said, “Excellent timing.”
Nix stepped in and closed the door behind her. She was stunning even in casual wear; skin-tight jeans that hugged her waist, loose blouse tucked in, and black ankle wedge boots. Amber insisted she sit in her desk chair while she rose and stood along her office wall, and resumed.
Nix nodded, crossed her arms and sat back, eyeing us hello. She smirked as if she knew what must be unfolding. Something big had obviously been in the works this last week.
“As I was about to explain, Jimmy was disappointed because he loved the novel idea of renting a real life couple here at The Rental. And when Nix heard about what happened, she insisted that I listen to her idea.” Amber gestured with her hands for Nix to take over.
“Jimmy and I managed to gather quite an interested party waiting list for this idea, so much so it caught Amber’s attention, too.”
The two ladies looked at each other and grinned, and then Nix continued. “I introduced the idea of a couples rental. That you two would work as one unit, and only be available for bookings together. The clients told us they would pay a great deal for what they want.”
“And that is?” Rick asked.
“Well,” Amber said, “it’s a new structure. We would have no reason to use the old rules between client and rental for the two of you. There would be no limits to what the client expects of you sexually. They themselves have the old boundaries and restrictions, but if they expect you to have intercourse for them, they’re within their booking rules to do so. Now this is a huge call to ask of you, but I do want to stress I would be paying each of you triple of your normal rates for this occurrence regardless whether intercourse occurs or not. And for now, you’d be our only staff of this kind. We have an extremely interested and lengthy waiting list to begin these types of bookings. And Rick, you would still be able to work in your bodyguard role in conjunction to this, but Vee, you wouldn’t be able to take on any other work here than your role as one-half of this new rental duo.
“And finally, asking you to work in this capacity means we’d ask of you contractually and personally to be bound to the relationship exclusively, allowing no other sexual party involvement with either of you for the duration of your employment here.”
I let out a long breath. “I didn’t expect to hear that when I woke up.” I didn’t expect a lot of what happened today, but I learnt life wasn’t what I planned it to be.
Rick and I turned to each other. I needed the money, and so did he, even if not for the debt, then to finally build a life for himself. Didn’t mean I wanted to jump at the opportunity despite my personal intrigue. Mum hinted she might hate me if I ‘stepped foot in this place.’ And I had, and now I was considering working here once more. Would she stop speaking to me?
Rick and my threesome with Nix was thrilling, but to do this consistently, going all the way, bare to others, selling our most private moments to strangers …
… it was as frightening as it was erotic.
And because I saw the same attraction wash over Rick’s half-lidded eyes, I asked then and there to Amber and Nix, “May Rhett and I speak alone?”
They smiled—Nix actually licked her lips—and then left us some privacy. We found a spare office and closed ourselves in.
• • •
I WAS ON the office desk and Rick stood between my legs, hands on my thighs and his gaze roamed my face. I couldn’t help but to allow my eyes to wander, looking down his tensed arms perched on me, and then up at the sternness in his expression, jaw tight, lips pulled.
We’d already had this discussion. We didn’t want hands, e
yes, lips or otherwise on the other, but when it occurred, we didn’t really hate it.
I ran my hands down his stubble, watching his lips and how they parted at my touch and opened more with my caress. God I loved the way he affected me. Was this such a big jump, letting people watch me drop my hands to his belt, open him up, and pull him out and into me?
Mmm, I thought, and then blinked out of my fantasies. Yes, it was very different. “What do you think?” I finally asked.
His eyes had shut and he remained that way, revealing his neck for my passion. Jesus, was my Rick submitting to me? It was incredibly hot, making my sex swell. I twitched my thighs, stiffening my toes and running them along his calves and a path all the way to his ass.
“I think you should go on. I love you taking the lead.” His lips formed a smile, and he opened his eyes.
“I want the world to know you’re mine, Genevieve Wyland. I know to some degree we want this, but I don’t want to rush. And not for me—I could walk down bloody Main Street in my birthday suit right now and not care. I care about us.” He kissed my cheek, breathing out hotly. He must have known it would make my toes curl, feeling the prickle of the tender, yet erotic, gesture.
I let my hands fall to his chest and felt the pulse of his life beating beneath. I didn’t think he understood I’d do anything to feel that explosiveness between us. “Will you be jealous?”
“Fuck yes,” he said. “You are mine; I’m protective of what’s mine. But I know it gets you off, you little vixen. Will you be jealous?”
I gritted my teeth, which made him smirk. “It gets you off so hard, you bad boy. I’ll deal with it.” I had my eyes downcast. Actually, I was imagining pulling back the elastic of his boxers so his cock would slip out and then I’d run my gaze over it, but not touch. I liked it better when he was pent up with emotions. He gave me so much more in return because he couldn’t tame the animal in his heart that was usually subdued by his mind.
“Bullshit.” He fastened me with one hand and sunk two curved fingers around my sex, rubbing the wetness all over my opening. “You’re so wet thinking about it, I could fuck you now.” He rubbed me again and kissed my jaw. “I’m learning what you want, but I want to be extra sure we’re ready to reveal ourselves like this. It’s going to be a mind fuck.” He kissed the outermost point under my jaw, and I tilted my head up and thrust my hips at him as he kissed the hollow. I swallowed loud from the angle. God. “And I’ll happily do the fucking once your mind is set.”
He removed his fingers and licked them clean one-by-one. I flamed in the very spot he’d just been.
I pushed him back by his chest and re-adjusted my panties. The bastard teased me how I planned to tease him.
I said, lower, “And there’s Mum to think about. She’s against this. She told me not to come here again for her.” I paused for effect. “And I realised something. I am here for me. Because I love this freedom even if sometimes it scares the bejeebers out of me.”
“We’ll take another few days to think, perhaps?” he asked, one thoughtful brow raised. “If our desires are enough to deal with the downfalls?”
We both looked down to the growing erection that pushed his pants to its limits. Everyone would see that—and me and us. How would we be ready for such things when our relationship was still in infancy stages?
We waited for another five or so minutes, and then exited, leaving a message for Amber who had to attend to other duties.
17
RICK AND I spent the night and the next day apart. He’d given me a chaste kiss on the forehead and said he’d be fine, but had to figure the whole accommodation thing out with another friend.
Mum arrived before dinnertime with the scent of take-out steaming from bags. We made small talk while preparing the table and dishing chips and chicken onto our plates, piling forkfuls with kind smiles while brewing with anger.
“Thanks, Mum,” I said and headed to my room after we were done. I shut my door and left reverent fingertips against the wood, reminiscing on times when we would sit at that table for minutes afterward, chatting and discussing lame jokes. I shook my head and turned away, distancing myself from woe. Life had moved on, and so had that happy girl and my father.
I sat at my desk, opening a drawer that held stationary. A pad lay inside. I rolled a pen over the top, thinking, wondering. Maybe finding a hobby would help me express my anger and sadness.
Wrestling with my words, I rolled the pen back and forth, but the words and emotions were tangled up in a mess. The task was useless, so I shut the drawer.
I noticed a presence then and turned to my door. Mum was resting on her elbow, head rested in her palm. She tightened her lips into a smile—or at least the formation of one, since her demeanour didn’t exactly scream ‘happy.’
She crossed her hands around her ribs. “Vee, I believe we’ve been running around like headless chickens on treadmills. None of anything has made much sense, and if you’d like to, I believe it’s time to buy a new washing machine. That is if you want to come shopping with me on the weekend? If we trade it in while it’s working, we’ll get a discount on a new one that’ll last. We might lose out, but it’ll be better in the long run.”
I smiled despite the tension between us. I wanted to try and so did she. She was my mum and I loved her, and I wanted to be close to her again if that were possible.
Rick had texted me earlier to say things would be okay, but already, I knew Justin would complicate things somehow. And I really didn’t need that obstruction. I didn’t feel safe living at this house for much longer. I’d need to live away from Mum in case he happened to get past Rick and to me. The idea of renting reminded me saying no to Amber’s offer was nearly impossible with the added cost.
I’d only know if the outcome of my choices would ward Mum off if I faced the big elephant between us.
“Sure. I’d love that. Time for that cruddy old thing to move on.”
She inspected me for a few seconds longer and bit at the inside of her mouth, but said nothing. I wasn’t sure I was ready for much else, and so seemed she, walking away.
If she was hiding her true feelings, she did a shoddy job; I saw her lip curled up in one corner.
• • •
RICK AND I met at a little outdoor table setting of a quaint café in the inner city suburbs. Customers from other tables and passing cars surrounded us, but there wasn’t much privacy we could afford right now, so I reached out and he took my hand, squeezing it and accepting what we had.
While the waitress left to make our orders, Rick chuckled, chin angled down. An inside joke?
I asked, “What?”
“We’re back to the beginning … almost.” He regarded me with a grin and walked his fingers in patterns along the tabletop. “Before we had this discussion, before you were a rental. And I tried to dissuade you from living this life, warning you of the consequences. I still feel the same.”
I licked my dried lips. “Me, too.”
Overnight, I’d thought of the consequences under the dull lamplight on my bedside table. I turned away from it and slid under the darkness, into a dangerous spot in my head. Rick would be mine, yet also shared property in ways that made my forehead and underarms slick. I panted at the thoughts of who we would need to be in order to accept and succeed in our role as a rental couple.
It felt oddly similar to porn, acting in ways to satisfy a person, but it somehow also felt private. It would be a show between my boyfriend and I and another person, or with another person, or over or under them … My head spun. Rick would finally be mine, and we could settle our pasts that held us back, but it’d be at a cost that would test us to our limits. The sex would be otherworldly, but the jealousy could consume us, the peering eye would spotlight our strengths as well as our weaknesses, and we’d be bound to each other. Contractually.
How odd, that over the years of our coupling being forbidden, we would now be contractually obligated as lovers. What would that formality do
to the spirit of two people in love? Crush us? Or build us?
“Vee, I love you from the depths of my soul. You are my lover, my best friend, and companion. I can sacrifice parts of what we could be in search of something infinitely supreme. I never want to stop exploring you. I wouldn’t want to be bound to anyone else in the world, except with you. It’d be my pleasure if you’d have me.”
“Why, Rick Delaney, that sounds awfully romantic for a speech about fucking.”
His eyes flew open to their limits, and then softened, radiating warmth. I sucked in a long breath and pulled the midsection of my top down, adjusting the fit. My breasts now perked higher and I stared between them. I wanted Rick there forever.
“You made me your woman, Rick. How could I say no to something that might both enlighten and support us? I love you with every cell of my reborn person.”
I had to think of me. Mum didn’t want me taking this route, but I had to do this, wrong or right. I wasn’t going to be a middle-aged woman who dropped her kids, husband, and responsibilities to go back and experience her regrets. Mum and I would work through this—at least I told myself we loved each other enough to.
Rick beckoned my hand and I took it once more, sighing at the heat he provided every time we connected, my quickened breath, my soothed heart.
“Vee will keep my heart; Victoria will share my body.”
I nodded, repeating the same testament back to him as he leaned forward, his breath a whisper on my lips. We sealed it with a kiss.
• • •
Want more of Vee and Rick’s story? Discover book two of The Rental series:
The Reversal.
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Acknowledgements
This book was a fairly decent document until it had beta readers who helped me transform it into the novel it is today.
The Rental Page 20