So, yeah, I now live with Liv while I wait for the house to sell so that I can get my half of the settlement and get my own place.
“Remy, get your ass in gear woman, I want to get to the club before all the good spots are taken,” she yells through the door for the hundredth time.
When I finally leave the bathroom, I hear a long, loud wolf whistle pierce the air and smile, feeling a little better about my forced outfit and the sky-high heels that are so high I’m afraid that moving too fast will result in a busted ankle.
I look good though, damn good, so instead of changing as I would have before, I push my shoulders back and allow myself a small smile before looking over at her and performing a slow turn.
Liv is what you’d call the party girl, the girl who loves having a good time and isn’t afraid to step out of her comfort zone to get it. She adores short dresses—the one she’s shoved my ass into is a short, midnight blue, strapless sheath that hits me just below the knee but is so tight it shows off every dip and valley—loves sexy, on-sale heels, and uses her sexuality to get free drinks and the occasional one-night stand.
She’s a hoot, and I adore her. And now she’s bound and determined to drag me into her world, kicking and screaming be damned, so that I can experience some youth.
I have to admit to being just as excited as I am nervous because I’ve never done this before. College for me had been studying and attending only frat parties that Brian okayed.
This is really my first time going out for no other purpose than to have a good time and enjoy my freedom.
“Damn girl, you are smoking hot!”
I laugh and grab my purse, following her out of the apartment and into the elevator with a smirk as she fluffs her own dress—-a pink tutu-esque creation that highlights her toned legs and shoulders.
“You’re not looking too bad yourself, Liv.”
We step off the elevator and nod to two guys walking into the building, giggling at their shared looks of astonishment and the grins of approval.
“Ladies. Nice.”
“Thanks, Trav. You two in for the night?” Liv asks.
The blond of the two, a tall, very good-looking guy with soft brown eyes and a naughty smile shakes his head, his eyes raking over us both before coming back to me.
“Not anymore. Good God, Liv, why didn’t you tell me you were friends with a swimsuit model?”
I snort and roll my eyes, laughing at that crap, ‘cause yeah, it’s cheesy as hell and the guy knows it.
“Not great, huh?” he asks, grinning at me sheepishly.
“Not great. But thanks for the compliment.”
“No problem, gorgeous. You gonna let me buy you a drink?”
I tilt my head and consider him for a beat, enjoying the fact that I am actually free to look at a hot man and enjoy myself without feeling a shred of guilt.
I like it. A lot. Not only is it nice to be carefree and able to go out without someone yelling into my phone at me, but I like knowing that I’m attractive and can accept a compliment—and even return it should I feel the urge.
Travis and his friend—Les, I think Liv said—are both hot as all get out and looking for a good time, but unfortunately for them, they aren’t six-foot-something of hot, dirty blond tycoon.
And their eyes don’t make my panties melt.
In fact, it’s pretty darn clear that I’ve gone and let myself fall for Chase Marshall, a billionaire who is the master of all he surveys, including my very replete body and a piece of my heart that I hadn’t wanted to give to him just yet.
Hence, my acceptance of Liv’s hundredth invite to hit the town and let loose. I need to backpedal a bit and examine exactly what it is that I want from life.
I have a good job that I love, even if it means I’ll never be rolling in luxury—a small price to pay to know I’m making a difference—and while I don’t envision living in Liv’s cramped box for all that long, I have a place to stay that is a hundred times better than the luxury I’d had before with Brian.
I’m feeling good as of last week when the judge set me free, and I want to enjoy it. So, yeah, I’ve considered my next steps from every angle and those do not in any way include getting all hot and heavy with Chase, no matter how sexy he is or how many orgasms the man can give me with nothing but his words and his shuttling dick.
“Yoohoo! You still with us, Remy?”Liv sings beside me, bringing me out of my funk.
“Yup. So, you guys coming out with us tonight?” I force myself to ask, pasting on a smile that doesn’t quite reach my eyes.
I feel terrible about this because it feels like a betrayal to Chase and that in turn only intensifies my anger about this whole situation. He wants me living in his house and in his bed every single night.
He wants to stamp his claim on me and make me into…no that’s not true. He doesn’t want me to change one bit, something that makes me want him even more.
He just doesn’t want me living away from his watchful eye as I rip it up and paint the town red.
Dammit, why can’t he understand that my need to experience all the life I’ve missed out on in no way means that I want him any less? Of course, I fully intend to be totally monogamous with him. I’m not a slut.
I want him and only him. I just also would very much enjoy the chance to go out and live a little before settling into whatever pattern our relationship will take.
When I’d refused his offer of home and hearth he’d gone nuts.
“What are you saying, Rem? You don’t want me?”
“That’s not it at all! Stop putting words in my mouth! All I’m saying is that I’m not ready for a heavy relationship right off the bat. I just got divorced after a decade of being under the thumbs of Brian and my parents, I don’t want to just jump into something so soon.”
That had not gone over well. Like at all. He’d sprung from the bed where we’d been lazily caressing each other and murmuring in the darkness and stalked from the room, his magnificent body coiled so tight with anger I’d briefly considered grabbing my stuff and making a run for it.
But that’s the old me, the me who’s avoided confrontation at every turn. The me who’s been too afraid to rock the boat in case mom and dad would hear about it and subject me to endless lectures about my duty and the role of a good wife.
So instead of tucking tail and running, I’d abandoned the warmth of the massive bed that had seemed so safe just moments ago and grabbed the sheet, wrapping myself up tight before leaving the room and going in search of my lover.
I’d found him in the kitchen, angrily throwing back what looked like scotch, his naked torso flexing with every raise of his muscled arms.
“Chase, please just listen to me for a minute,” I’d begged, feeling my nerves ramp up when he looked at me without expression, his face having lost all traces of the bliss and joy from before.
“What more is there to hear? You’re satisfied letting me fuck you while you flit around town, testing the waters.”
Jesus, so freaking cold. The man is hot and all kinds of crazy intelligent, but how could I ever forget that he’s also insanely rich and got that way through ruthless determination.
Chase Marshall is no one's fool, he bends for no one and that seems to include me, the woman he’s decided he wants—now.
“I’m not testing anything! I just don’t want to rush this!”
I’d spent a good thirty minutes trying to reason with him before giving up and getting dressed. He hadn’t moved from his spot the whole time and didn’t bother to acknowledge my greeting when I nervously kissed his stubbled cheek and asked him if I could call him.
That had been six days ago.
“Sure. We’ll meet you there.” Travis says, bringing me back from the funk. “Save me a dance gorgeous Remy.”
I nod, feeling suddenly weird about this whole situation and follow Liv out to the waiting taxi. I would have driven us, but Liv insists that we’re going out on a Friday night to cut loose, not wat
ch our alcohol intake and part of me agrees.
I need to get bombed and forget that I feel like I’ve screwed up the only good thing that I’ve found so far.
“Would you stop moping? Come on, Remy, the guy isn’t worth it if he’s making you this miserable,” Liv mutters, giving the cabbie directions and slumping back into the seat beside me.
“He’s…not taking my calls. I feel so terrible about the way things ended and, God, I miss him,” I admit, blinking rapidly at the idea that I won’t ever hear from him again.
He doesn’t even call me to discuss the park or the plans about the center anymore, instead having handed the entire project off to his right hand, Gabe, a man I like but don’t want to be talking to about something that has officially become an obsession for me.
The project, and everything that the place is, was a bond that I had with Chase, the tie that bound us together and gave us a common purpose…
Oh God, I have monumentally and singlehandedly fucked up something good because, as I have finally come to admit to myself, I am gun shy and terrified of commitment, especially so early on out of the gate from a divorce that would have been a whole lot messier if not for the judge who’d fast tracked it.
Liv sighs, and I almost feel guilty for subjecting her to my whining again. She’s my best friend and so supportive, but I know she hates listening to me cry over Chase when according to her the asshole should understand my misgivings and give me time to process everything.
Pathetic as it is to admit, I’m a little terrified of this freedom I’ve fought so hard to get. I spent a good half of my life knowing that I’d be with only one guy and that my life was already mapped out for me before we said our I do’s.
I just need some time to come to grips with it all and move on from the dark cloud of not only losing a chunk of my social set, whom I considered friends, but my family as well.
Mom and dad warned me that they are squarely in Brian’s corner and that if I do this, they are one daughter down.
So yeah, I am totally alone save for Liv and her support, thanks to Chase cutting me loose so quickly.
“We’re here. Look at me, Remy, and freaking listen. You are young, single and more than worth your weight in gold. If that hot mess wants to throw a tantrum about your needing some time, then I say good riddance and move on. You deserve a chance to experience with single life and see what’s out there.”
I nod, not trusting my voice as her words bolster my quivering confidence and make me feel less alone and sad.
“Push it all away and just enjoy tonight. Drink too much, dance your ass off and let it all go for a while. Tomorrow’s another day, and I say put off the ugly as long as you can. Now, you ready to do this?”
“Yes.”
“What? I can’t hear you!” she yells, making the cabbie chuckle and turn our way.
“Come on, sweetheart, say it loud so all those young assholes inside can hear you.” He urges, throwing me a wink.
“Yes!”
“Good, now prepare to me mauled.”
Hell of a battle cry, but by the time we’re inside, the bouncer having taken one look at Liv and raised the rope to usher us past the line that wrapped around the block, I’m feeling as giddy as a college girl at a frat party.
I’m ready to live and enjoy my life for the first time in over ten years.
I just hope I make it out of this place alive because from the look in Liv’s eye, she plans to throw me in the deep end and watch me sink or come up kicking.
Chapter 11
Chase
I don’t know whether to laugh or start ripping this place apart at the seams as I recline on the long sofa in the VIP room and watch the crowd writhing below on the dark dance floor.
“This place is an orgy waiting to happen,” Gabe mutters at me, throwing back another shot of Goose as the waitress skips over, her breasts fully on display as she smiles coyly and sets down another round.
The message in her eyes is clear; she’s more than open to suggestions, and from the way she’s been eying me and Gabe both, I think she’d be all too happy if that suggestion came back as two dicks ready to pleasure her too-eager body.
I flick her a dismissive glance and train my eyes on the dance floor. I gazed across the area of writhing, sweaty bodies before finding my woman where she’s currently grinding and gyrating to the dark beat of what sounds like Meatloaf remixed.
Jesus, she’s gorgeous. That dress almost had me stalking my way through the crowd of salivating idiots to get to her. I had the almost feral urge to bend her over my arm and kiss her, ravage her mouth in such a way that all and sundry would have no doubt that my girl is not free and that my claim has most definitely been staked.
The only thing stopping me had been the utter excitement on her face as she scampered to the bar and ordered a drink before turning to survey the crowd with a gleam of curiosity.
And I’d recalled my resolution to give her the time she needs to get this all out of her system.
I’d been pissed at first, angry at not getting my way in this as easily as I get everything else. But then I sat down and really gave it some thought. I’d been shamed when the liquor had relaxed me enough to actually consider what she was saying, and so annoyed at myself I’d almost finished the bottle as I sat and mapped out a new course for myself.
Remy needs this time to let loose and shake off the bonds that shackled her for over a decade—a proposal that I never once considered because, as usual, I was only thinking of what I wanted instead of considering that she’s been trapped in a colorless void where people moved her around like a plastic Barbie doll.
Of course she would be gun-shy about taking the leap with me. I’m a controlling bastard, and arrogant besides, and while I will do everything in my power to make her happy, I cannot allow her the opportunity to do anything that might cause her harm—and we both know it.
So, yeah, her reticence about committing and moving in with me is understandable—to a degree.
So, I’ve decided to give her space and time to see what she missed, to a point, since I’m still me and that’s never going to change. I’m content, for the moment, to watch her break free of the restrictions.
And then I will, of course, grab her right back up and claim the living shit out of her because as much as I hate to admit it, I am an acquiring bastard who already sees that beautiful woman as mine.
“Go down there already.”
I shake my head at Gabe and take another drink of Goose, enjoying the mellow burn as the alcohol slides down my throat and settles warmly in my gut.
“No, she wants to dance and party, and there’s no way will that happen if I’m looming over her like a rabid dog.”
But, Jesus, I want to.
A stocky guy, shorter than me by at least a foot, sidles closer to Remy where she’s leaning against the bar, laughing with Liv. I have to force myself not to move when he bends down close and whispers into her ear, his body language so obvious I feel the overwhelming need to beat him to a pulp for daring to breathe on what is mine. I leave him breathing only because Rem takes a subtle step back and shakes her head kindly before turning away to laugh at something Liv says.
Good, one less fucker to put in the ground, I snarl silently, throwing my drink back and signaling for another.
“You’re gonna lose your girl to one of those bozos down there if you don’t do something,” Gabe warns, though I’m not sure if he’s upset about Remy being hit on so consistently or the fact that Liv is decked out in a pink, strapless dress that looks like a tutu and is complimented by pink heels sporting ribbons that wrap her legs from ankle to just below the knee.
Her outfit screams sexy and available, and I swear the guy is almost wild with lust and pulsing anger the longer he’s forced to sit here and watch every swinging dick in the place come on to her.
I’d tried to set up a date for him but he refused, so he can just sit here and suffer as far as I’m concerned.
&nbs
p; I’m still silently chuckling at his annoyance when I see a blond sidle up to the pair and lean down, his mouth pulled wide in a suggestive smile. He leans in and says something to Rem before taking her hand and pulling her onto the crowded dance floor.
“Fuck.”
Well, I tried.
“About fucking time,” Gabe mutters, coming to his feet with a surge of repressed power. He follows me as I pound down the stairs and throw myself into the mass of overzealous bodies.
I’m a lot taller than most and it takes me a matter of seconds to peer over the heads of those on the dance floor. I spot Remy and the dead fucker, who not only has hands on my girl but also seems to be flirting shamelessly with her.
He says something and she throws her head back and laughs. The sound is lost to me but no less painful when I see him smile back and pull her closer into his body, his hands locking at the small of her back, in that place where only my hands belong.
“You go get your girl. I’ll…get the friend in case she won’t leave without her.”
I snort but nod, feeling the urge to smile despite my fury because that man is sure as hell as gone and lost as I am. Gabe may be sporting a tree stuck up his arse, but the man is not to be underestimated.
There are those of us in the world who are dominant and downright lethal to cross when we consider something ours, and I have no doubt in my mind that Gabe took one look at the imp in a pink tutu and had that same wild need to stake his claim.
Poor Liv doesn’t stand a chance.
I cut through the crowd with ease, something on my face alerting them to the fact that I am pissed and dangerous. The bodies part like the Red Sea, opening up a path that gives me clear access to my prey and the walking corpse who’s unaware of his fate.
When he leans down and sniffs at her, taking in the scent that belongs to me, the scent I have yet to wash off my sheets, I feel a feral growl rumble through my chest.
Dead. Definitely dead.
I make it to them in what feels like two strides and grab the hand inching its way to her ass, squeezing hard enough that I feel bone crunch and hear his pain filled cry a second before he stumbles back and lets her go.
CALLIE (The Naughty Ones Book 1) Page 36