Say You're Mine: An Enemies to Lovers Romance (Southport Love Stories Book 4)

by Sarah J. Brooks

  I drank my coffee, enjoying the domesticity of the moment. Feeling like life was just about perfect. “You never did tell me why you were late last night.”

  Robert’s shoulders tensed. “Actually, that’s something I need to talk to you about—” His phone started ringing. He looked down at the screen and frowned. “Shit, that’s the office. Hang on a sec.”

  He put the phone to his ear and walked into the other room. I wondered what he had just been about to say. He had seemed concerned. Nervous even. Which made me nervous. As if something he was about to tell me would make me unhappy.

  Stop it! I shouted internally to myself. I was reading things into nothing again. I had to stop doing that.

  A few minutes later Robert came back, tucking his phone into his trouser pocket. “I have to get into the office. It seems one of my clients, who I’m supposed to be going to court for a custody case today, was arrested for being drunk in public last night. Looks like it’s going to be a busy day.” He crossed the room to me and pulled me close, kissing me deeply. “Can I come back over tonight after work? I can bring food.” He took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I really need to talk to you about some things.”

  I felt myself go still at his words, but Robert had already released me, grabbing his car keys. He looked back at me and a strange look crossed his face. In a rush, he came to me again and kissed me. Hard and almost desperate. He cupped my face in his hands and looked at me with imploring eyes. “Skylar…” His voice broke, his eyes were bright. “I love you. I wanted you to hear it now. Because I needed you to know. I love you.” He kissed me again. “I never, ever want to imagine my life without you in it.”

  I was taken aback. Not because I hadn’t suspected I’d hear those words from him, but because of the way he was saying them. As if he were terrified I’d leave him. As if he had to tell me or he’d never get the chance.

  What was wrong with him?

  Before I got the chance to reciprocate the statement, he kissed my forehead and was out the door. It was all a bit of a whirlwind and I felt as if I had been bowled over.

  I went to the window and watched him head out to his car. I stood there staring outside for a long time after he left, still trying to process what had happened.

  Robert had just told me he loved me. Why did it feel like he ran away afterward? It was kind of bizarre.

  I checked the time and got myself in gear.

  “Come on, boy,” I called out to my dog, who eagerly followed me back to my office where I tried to concentrate on work and not the fact that my boyfriend had just told me that he loved me with absolute fear on his face.

  **

  I had only just started checking my emails when I heard the doorbell ring.

  “What now?” I sighed. Edgar lifted his head as if to ask if he should come. I laughed and scratched him behind the ear. “You stay here. Don’t want you to put yourself out.”

  I headed down the hallway to the front door. I could see a shadow on the other side and the doorbell rang again. “Okay, okay, hold your horses,” I muttered. I wasn’t expecting a delivery and it was highly unusual for any of my friends to visit without calling first.

  Maybe Robert had come back. The thought made me giddy and a little nervous, given how strange he acted before he left.

  I opened the door and stood there blinking in surprise.

  “Um, hello?”

  Tiff stood on my porch with a hesitant smile on her face. “Hi, Skylar. I hope it’s okay that I popped over unannounced.”

  A slither of disquiet crept through my body. I looked around but she was alone. Her swanky red sports car was parked in the driveway. “Um, how did you know where I lived?”

  Tiff looked slightly embarrassed. “I did some Googling. Found the record of your house purchase.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest, not liking this at all. “That’s a lot of work to go through to track someone down. If I didn’t know better I’d think you were stalking me or something.”

  “I know how this must look. I’d be freaking out if I were you—”

  “That’s one way of putting it,” I countered.

  “Do you mind if I come in? I’ll only be a few minutes. I just really need to talk to you. To lay some things out on the table.” Tiff didn’t appear threatening. She seemed hesitant almost.

  Against my better judgment, I held open the door. “Come on in.”

  She brushed past me and I was overwhelmed by her obviously very expensive perfume. She seemed to douse herself in it. She stood awkwardly in my entryway so I beckoned for her to follow me into the living room.

  I noticed her looking around, taking in everything. “Your house is lovely. I really like it.”

  “Thanks. I’ve put a lot of work into it.” I was starting to feel strange like I should never have let her inside. Some instinct had me wanting to ask her to leave immediately. “So, not to be rude, but I’m in the middle of my workday…” I let my words drift off, hoping she’d get to the point of her visit.

  Tiff tucked her hands into her pockets and turned to me. “I’ve decided to leave Southport,” she announced.

  “Oh.” I didn’t quite know what to say. I didn’t know her well enough to really care if she left town or not, but I didn’t want to say that. “Didn’t you just move to town?”

  “I did. But things haven’t gone quite the way I had hoped they would.” She looked so sad that I couldn’t help but feel sympathy toward her.

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Tiff. Does it have to do with the guy you were hoping to reconnect with?” I asked, putting two and two together.

  Tiff started chewing on her bottom lip. “That’s why I’m here actually.” She took a deep breath as if steeling herself. “When I met you, Skylar, I felt an instant connection. I thought you were someone I could see myself becoming friends with.”

  I was flattered. “Thanks, Tiff. Honestly, not many people say that about me,” I chuckled.

  She laughed too. “Well, they’re idiots, because you’re absolutely lovely. And I know if I were to stay here, we’d become close. I can feel that. Can you?”

  “Sure,” I agreed, more because it felt like that was what she expected me to say.

  “And because I like you, Skylar, I feel it’s my duty as your almost friend to tell you—” she took another deep breath, “the man I came to Southport for, the man I planned to reconnect with, the man who I have spent the last ten years loving, is...Robert Jenkins.” She watched me closely as I digested the information.

  “Robert Jenkins,” I repeated, not quite understanding what she was saying.

  She nodded, her glossy blonde hair falling over her shoulder in a perfect wave. “Robbie and I have a long history. We were together for a while. We were in love. But things got complicated.”

  “You and Rob were in love?” I kept repeating what she was saying. I felt as if I were hearing her from the end of a long tunnel. Why was she telling me all this? Then I frowned. “But you’re so much older than Rob.” Maybe that was a dick thing to say, but it was the truth. Tiff was easily fifteen years older than Robert.

  Tiff lifted her shoulders in a delicate shrug. “The heart wants what the heart wants. Neither Robbie nor I cared about things like age. We only wanted each other.”

  My brain started functioning again and things were fitting into place. “And you’re telling me all this because I told you that Rob and I were together. What is this?” I demanded.

  Tiff reached out and took my hands. “I’m leaving town, but I needed you to know the truth about the man you’re with. The man I know intimately.”

  I didn’t like the way she used the word intimately. As if she knew things about the man I loved that I didn’t.

  “What in the hell are you talking about?” I should ask her to leave. This was becoming too strange. I didn’t want her here, in my house, saying things about Robert…

  “I met Robbie at a strip club back when he was in law school,” she began
.

  “You both were at a strip club?” I frowned.

  “I paid for a private dance and the dancer was Robbie,” she shared. “But he was going by the name Billy then. Billy the sexy barrister.” She giggled and I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

  “You expect me to believe Robert Jenkins the lawyer used to strip under the name Billy the sexy barrister? Come on now. I wasn’t born yesterday.” I rolled my eyes.

  “I know it must be hard to believe, but trust me, Skylar, he was the best male dancer I had ever seen. That body…” she closed her eyes and licked her lips. I wanted to smack her. What the hell? I didn’t want her imagining my boyfriend with his clothes off.

  She opened her eyes again, her expression was hard to read. “That first night I took him home with me. We had an incredible night together—”

  I held my hand up. “I don’t need to hear about that. If you’re only here to share your sexual history with my boyfriend, then you can get the fuck out. I’m not interested in your jealous bullshit,” I snapped, losing my patience and about two minutes from physically throwing the way-too-beautiful woman out of my house.

  “I’m sorry, I got caught up in the memory,” she apologized. “But that night I offered him a different kind of job. You see, I had made a lot of money sending my employees on dates with very rich women. I knew Robbie would be perfect.”

  “So, you what? Became Rob’s pimp?” I was starting to feel sick.

  Tiff shook her head. “You make it sound so crass. I ran an upscale escort service. I only catered to the most discriminating clients. And Robbie was very, very popular.”

  I felt bile rising in the back of my throat. “Let me get this straight.” I glared at the woman standing in front of me. “You took advantage of a young man, a man who probably needed the money, and you manipulated him with sex, and got him to agree to let you sell him to the highest bidder. And you thought I’d be disgusted by him? You’d think I’d break up with him because of his less than innocent past? You clearly don’t know me or how loyal I am to the people I love. That was a long time ago. I won’t hold his choices when he was a naive young man against him—”

  “He still does it, you know,” she interjected, stopping my tirade.

  “Excuse me?” She had just taken the wind out of my sails. My righteous anger on Rob’s behalf deflated.

  She reached into her pocket and withdrew a small silver flash drive. “I’m telling you about all of this because it’s not just Robbie’s past, it’s Robbie’s present too.” She handed me the flash drive. “He has his own website where people can book half-hour sessions. You log on and he dances for you. He takes his clothes off. And for an extra fee, he’ll do other things too.” Her face was flushed, and I knew that she was one of those people paying to watch Rob strip on the internet. I knew exactly what she was hoping to accomplish by coming to my house and sharing this stuff with me. She wanted Rob. I believed her when she said she loved him. And she wanted to wreck our relationship.

  “So, what’s this exactly?” I held up the flash drive.

  “I recorded him. I wanted to—”

  “What? Blackmail him? You know what this would do to his career, his reputation if it got out. So, you decided to record him when he wasn’t aware you were doing so to use against him later.” I gave her a look of disgust. “You hide your evil pretty well, Tiff. I’d be impressed at your acting skills if I wasn’t so grossed out by you.”

  She seemed taken aback. Clearly, she wasn’t expecting this reaction. I was sure she thought I’d be horrified. Upset. That I’d be thankful to her for telling me. Well, the bitch was in for a rude awakening.

  “I never intended to blackmail Robbie—”

  “Stop calling him that. His name is Robert,” I spat out.

  Tiff’s eyes narrowed. “I love Robbie. I know his deepest secrets. I knew him when he had nothing.”

  “You knew him when he was a naive kid and you manipulated and coerced him. I got that part.” I crossed my arms over my chest. A wave of anger I had never experienced before was unfurling in my gut. I was pissed at this woman standing in front of me. She was a predator. She should be in jail.

  But I was also pissed at Robert for not telling me. For keeping such a huge secret when I had told him over and over again how scared I was of betrayal. How I couldn’t be with someone that kept things from me.

  And this was a huge fucking thing to keep from me.

  I didn’t like being blindsided.

  “So, you came to Southport hoping to what? Rekindle your predatory romance? You say you’re leaving town, so I’m guessing Rob turned you down. Now you’re leaving with your tail between your legs.” I didn’t even want to look at her. I wanted her to leave so I could try and figure things out for myself.

  “I’ve come to realize we’re different people now. That we’ve gone in different directions. I saw that clearly when he came over last night.”

  Of everything she had said, that hit me the hardest.

  “Rob went to your house last night?” I asked, my voice tight.

  She smiled smugly. She knew she had me. “Didn’t he tell you? I cooked his favorite—chicken parmigiana. We talked. The attraction was still there. I don’t think it will ever go away between us. But I realized that we couldn’t be together. That we just didn't fit the way we used to.”

  She was such a bitch. I had a suspicion that things didn’t go down the way she said, but the fact remained that Rob had lied about something else. He told me he was working late when he had actually been at Tiff’s house. I didn’t think anything happened, but a lie was a lie.

  Tiff clasped her hands in front of her. “And even though things didn’t work out between us, I knew I couldn’t stand by and let him fool a sweet young thing like you with his duplicity.”

  I started laughing then. Really laughing. I couldn’t stop. I was pretty sure it was from hysteria.

  Tiff looked at me with concern. “Are you alright?” she asked.

  “Did you just call me a sweet young thing? My god, lady, get a clue.” I calmed myself down with effort. “I don’t care about any of this, just so you know. Your plan didn’t work.”

  Tiff was starting to look panicked. “I just told you he’s still stripping. He’s still taking money from women for his body. How can you be okay with that? What’s wrong with you?”

  I shrugged indifferently. “Different strokes for different folks I guess. I’m not sure how I feel about all this, but I do know I won’t judge him for it. Lots of people do sex work for good reasons. I’d like to hear his side before I make decisions about our relationship.”

  Tiff opened her mouth and closed it. Then opened it again. She looked positively bewildered.

  “Now I think it’s time for you to get the fuck out of my house. Get the fuck out of my town. And don’t contact me ever again. Or Robert. You can go to hell you sad, psycho bitch,” I growled.

  Tiff straightened her shoulders. “You’re the biggest idiot I’ve ever met. Pathetic woman with obviously no self-esteem. You and Robbie deserve each other.” She turned on her heel and stomped out the door. When she was out on the porch she turned as if to say one last thing, but I closed the door in her face before she could speak.

  I leaned back against the door once I heard her car pull out of my driveway, sagging to the floor. I buried my head in my arms and started to cry. I wasn’t even sure why.

  A cold nose nudged my hand and I looked up at my big, lovely dog looking at me. I held out my arms and he pushed himself up against me. I cuddled him on the floor, taking all the comfort he offered.

  **

  A few minutes later I stood up and wiped the tears from my face. I was still holding the flash drive. I thought about throwing it out, not giving that awful woman the satisfaction of my watching it.

  But curiosity won out.

  I should have remembered that curiosity killed the cat.

  I walked back to my office and sat down at my desk. I flipp
ed the drive over and over in my hand debating what I should do.

  I should talk to Rob first. Get his side of the story.

  I inserted the drive into my laptop and clicked on the file.

  The video loaded and the sound of thumping club music flowed from my speakers. I’d recognize Rob’s body anywhere now that I knew it so well. I noticed he obscured his face. He slightly blurred his chin, but he also was careful to keep the camera trained from the neck down.

  I recognized the room as the one in his house with the tripod and ring light. The room where we had sex for the first time.

  God, I felt a little ill.

  I watched as my boyfriend began to move his body in ways I had never seen him do before. He was good. Really good. He ground his hips and ran his hands down his oiled skin. He thrust his groin in time with the beat. I couldn’t look away. I was horrified. I was mesmerized.

  I knew that skin. I had kissed that mole above his belly button. I had run my tongue down the center of that chest. I had felt those hands on my body. I felt a tear slip down my cheek.

  He was wearing a pair of boxer briefs I had seen on him before. After a few minutes, he hooked his thumbs in the elastic and slowly, in time with the music, slid them down his hips, over his thighs, until he was naked in front of the camera.

  He reached down to his cock and started stroking, making loud moaning noises as he jerked himself off.

  And that’s when I couldn’t take it anymore. I closed the video and took the drive from my laptop, throwing it in the drawer.

  I covered my face with my hands.

  What was I going to do?

  Was this a deal-breaker?

  I had to admit that watching Rob dance like that had been a huge turn-on. I was aroused whether I liked it or not. I had to know why he was doing it. I needed to hear from him.

  But it didn’t change the fact that he had lied by omission. We had been together long enough that he could have told me about this.

  Maybe he was scared I’d leave him because of it.