Roman: Book 2 (The Hunter Brothers Series)
Page 26
“If we lose millions, so does she, and I seriously doubt she would put her own investments on the line over the fact that I’m now in a relationship,” Lucas replied, staring hard at Charlie.
“Well she’s not above lying, we all know that. She lied to you about your own damn child, for fuck’s sake. Sort it out, Lucas, because right now I don’t know who the hell we can trust,” Charlie said firmly as Lucas held his gaze. It was like some kind of Mexican stand-off and I was captivated.
“Leave Roberta to me, you have enough to deal with, starting with how your girlfriend knew exactly what price to pitch. That deal was ours,” he spat as Charlie’s whole body tensed.
“She is not my fucking girlfriend.”
I had a million questions, but by the look of things, so did Lucas and it was none of my business. It was getting too heated and I decided that dancing would be more fun, rejoining the party and searching out another glass of vodka. It was probably a bad idea, but what the hell. I was buzzed and I wanted a good time.
It was a while before they came back in. They were sitting in the corner and Jess was on Lucas’s lap looking dumbfounded. I was just trying to manage upright, my legs aching from dancing with Tyler’s groupies as I ambled over to them, more used to serving alcohol than consuming it. I looked back to see Tyler kissing the blonde I’d just been busting my moves with, laughing as I glanced up at Charlie.
“So, do you still think I’m paranoid?” I grinned as he smiled at me, kissing my forehead gently and I fell against his chest.
“No, baby, I think you’re pissed,” he laughed, muttering something to the others about getting me back to the hotel and all but carrying me to a taxi. My head was lolling on his shoulder and I remembered little else until I was in the room he’d booked somewhere between London and now. I was ecstatic. The thought of a long drive back was the last thing I could handle.
I don’t know what came over me, but I decided I wanted to do a sexy dance for Charlie by way of a thank you, notwithstanding the fact that I could barely walk. I had lost all inhibitions, ignoring the three percent of my brain that was telling me this was a bad idea. Ninety seven percent convinced me I was Queen of the world and the sexiest thing since Marilyn Monroe. I was obviously wrong. What I was; was a steaming horrible mess with no co-ordination.
Charlie was in the bathroom and seemed to be taking forever. I resisted the urge to shout for him, removing my skirt and top instead, so I was dressed only in red lace underwear and a pair of boots.
He was fixing me a glass of water which he very nearly dropped.
“What are you doing, Chas?” he frowned as I pulled my sexiest smile. It didn’t work.
“Come on, baby, let me get you into bed,” he said, pulling back the covers and I knew he was being gentlemanly.
“I just want to dance first; then you can take me to bed,” I smiled as darkness enveloped his features and it looked like Charlie was getting mad.
“Chas, come on, gorgeous, you’re pissed and you don’t know what you’re saying,” he said firmly, taking my hand as I swayed to the imaginary music in my head.
“I know exactly what I’m saying, Charlie Hunter. I want to dance and then I want you to take me to bed.”
He ran his fingers through his hair in exasperation before grabbing my arms tightly. “Jesus, Chas, you’re not being fair. I’m screwing Scarlett. You’re standing here in your underwear looking incredible, having just fucked Roman. What do you want?” he asked. His words were hostile and serious, but his tone was the exact opposite as he pulled me close, stroking my hair. Even now, in the blurry haze of vodka heaven, I had to know, unsure whether I could bear to hear that outright rejection in so many words.
“Was Roman a deal breaker?” I asked as he leant his forehead softly against mine. He was holding me tightly, breathing hard. The atmosphere was crackling with sexual energy, but the underlying tension in his face made my breath hitch. I knew the answer before he opened his mouth, wishing I had never asked.
“Yes,” he whispered, almost inaudibly as my brain shut down and I crawled into bed.
I curled up, watching him as he sat on the chair by the window. He was opposite the bed and crossing his foot casually over his knee and assessing me closely. “Are you mad at me?” I whispered as he nodded silently, pulling his ringing phone from his pocket. Suddenly he looked livid.
“You might have mentioned the fact you’d bought the record company, since my brother is now your biggest asset,” Charlie snapped. He hadn’t even said hello. “Fuck embargos and NDA’s, Scarlett, this is family.” He was listening hard, shaking his head angrily and still staring at me.
“I assume you knew that Lucas and I were set to sign this deal.” His voice was calm, but the undercurrent of his tone was uncharacteristically stern and I wondered if this was the shark in Charlie coming out. The thought did nothing but turn me into a horny quivering mess, and before I knew what I was doing I was on top of the sheets, lounging sexily in my underwear as he stood up, turning away and staring out of the window.
“Lucas thinks I told you about the deal and you undercut us deliberately.” He paused for a moment. “Yeah, I know I didn’t, but it’s too much of a coincidence, Scarlett, and he doesn’t believe it.” He was listening again, blowing out a huge deep sigh. “Roberta told you? Did she tell you about Elite as well?”
I stretched out, moaning softly as his head snapped around and he threw me an icy warning glare to be quiet as I stilled instantly. This was a side to Charlie I had never seen.
“It was nothing. We’ll discuss this tomorrow,” he said angrily, ending the call and turning to face me. “Get in that fucking bed now. I swear to God the women in my life are conspiring to put me in an early grave. NOW,” he shouted as I dived under the covers.
He pulled the soft cotton sheets up until they were nestling under my chin and I couldn’t help but giggle as I glanced down to see the huge erection that was tenting in his jeans. “Why are you so mad?” I asked as he made his way back to the chair.
“I think you know why, now go to sleep,” he said in a voice that brokered no argument. I didn’t care.
“I don’t want to go to sleep, I want you to come here,” I pouted. The three per cent of my brain was telling me I sounded like a five year old. Unfortunately the vodka addled ninety seven was having none of it.
“What for?” he asked and suddenly he was grinning, which for some reason absolutely incensed me and I threw the covers back, climbed out of bed and stormed over to him with my hands on my hips.
“Why is Roman a deal breaker?” I asked as he sat back in the chair, regarding me with amusement and running his gaze all over my body.
“We’ll have this conversation when you’re sober.”
“No, let’s have it now.” I was trying to stay upright and focus on the middle of the three Charlie’s that were sitting in front of me. He laughed again.
“You want me to fuck you, Chas, which I won’t do because I’m fucking someone else. She may not be my girlfriend, and I may really, really want to do this thing, but I am not a cheat. On top of that you fucked my brother. If I didn’t care about you, that wouldn’t matter, but I do. As a guy, I’ve got to tell you, baby, that’s a major headfuck,” he said as I stumbled backwards.
“I said don’t stay the night unless you want her back. You stayed the night. You act like you want me, but I wasn’t good enough to risk a relationship for, yet you’ll have one with her. You think fucking Roman hurts, try swallowing that pill,” I shouted as he stared at me for a second, shocked and confused, still holding my gaze as I desperately tried to focus.
“In vino veritas,” he said, rising from the chair and picking me up, tucking me back under the covers.
“I don’t know what that means,” I said as he laughed softly, but his eyes were as pained as I had ever seen them.
“It’s Latin, look it up,” he said and it was the last thing I remembered.
Chapter Twenty Four
My stomach heaved as I wretched, putting my hands on my forehead in an effort to stop the incessant banging as I emptied the meagre contents of my vodka soaked gut into the toilet, still in my underwear. I pulled myself up on the basin, utilising one of the cellophane wrapped toothbrushes and toothpaste to clear my mouth of the horrible taste of vomit. I gasped loudly with a mouth full of foam as I saw Charlie lounging sexily against the doorframe, still fully clothed and smirking at me through the mirror.
I was in the most vulnerable position of my adult life, and acutely aware that my butt crack was covered by the tiniest scrap of material. “Charlie, turn away,” I gasped, spitting toothpaste all over the sink as he laughed loudly and didn’t move.
“I saw it all last night, baby, when you were writhing seductively across the bed and trying to tempt me into cheating on Scarlett,” he said as the colour drained from my face and I collapsed in a wave of nausea that was not entirely physical. Fuck. “I just came to check you were okay,” he smiled as I shook my head.
“Well I feel like a prize fool for throwing myself at you when you are neither available nor interested, and I feel like my brain is about to thud its way out of my skull. On top of that, I’m sick as a dog, but simultaneously starving.”
He laughed gently, watching me closely. “You need bananas and water,” he grinned as I shook my head. Was he kidding?
“No, Charlie, I need coke and something deep fried. Anything; I don’t care what it is. I need copious amounts of saccharine and saturated fat.”
“You’ll feel worse,” he smirked and I wanted to slap him.
“No, I’ll feel better,” I snapped as he disappeared and the door to the room slammed shut.
I flopped back down on the bed for what felt like an eternity, until Charlie came up empty handed, except for a can of coke and I was gutted.
“Before I ball you out, like I’m about to do – let me precede this bollocking by saying; thank you for the lovely hotel. Thank you for looking after me. Thank you for not recalling in every horrifying and mortifying detail everything I said last night; and thank you for knowing I can be an idiot and standing by me anyway,” I smiled up at him as he handed me the coke.
I was about to continue with a chastisement for the lack of food when a veritable army of waiting staff descended on my almost nakedness. I pulled the covers over me quickly.
I was staring in astonishment at the rows of silver platters lined up, crawling out from under the covers at the strong waft of bacon as Charlie walked away, returning with a huge fluffy robe that he wrapped around me, tying the cord tightly.
“That’s better,” he said as I looked up at him, somewhat offended, but deciding not to challenge him, removing the largest silver dome and eyeing up the fried delicacies as another wave of nausea washed over me and I ran to the bathroom.
I heaved and heaved as Charlie held my hair, laughing gently as I stood up eventually and caught sight of my drawn, pale face in the mirror. I was ghostly white. “Do you want me to get rid of the food?” he smiled as I nodded. “You clean your teeth and have a glass of water,” he said as I did just that, making my way back into the bedroom, glad the silver domes had disappeared, taking the stench of fried food with them.
Charlie was holding the covers back on the bed, smiling as he gestured me inside. He sat down beside me, handing me a cup of sweet tea and peeling the skin from a banana, feeding me piece by little piece. The second I’d finished he smiled gently. The last thing I wanted to do was talk about last night, so I opted for a change of subject with another little snippet I’d remembered.
“Did I dream it or did Scarlett buy Tyler’s record label?” I asked as his smile faded and he nodded silently.
“Yes, she fucking undercut us at the eleventh hour, and I have no idea how she knew exactly what price to pitch. That was a done deal,” he said the anger evident on his face. “She says she bought Elite to compliment that purchase because they do a lot of events with the artists, and two marketing based internet start up companies to give her some promotional power,” he said. She was right about Elite, but I still couldn’t help but think this was somehow personal. Maybe it wasn’t.
“Oh” I said, wishing I’d never brought up the subject. Judging by the look on his face he wasn’t remotely happy that I had.
“We need to talk about last night,” he said as I flushed crimson. Oh God. I could remember little, other than I’d tried to unsuccessfully seduce him and that he’d told me Roman was a deal breaker.
“I don’t usually drink that much, Charlie, I can’t handle it. You have to forget what I said and did because I can’t even remember,” I said as he chuckled.
“So you don’t remember stretching out in your underwear on top of the bed, wriggling around sexily while I was on the phone to my non girlfriend?” he asked, raising his eyebrows as he held my gaze. I did now. I put my head in my hands as he laughed gently.
“It looked like you wanted to be more than friends last night,” he said as I swallowed hard, cringing in mortification. I still didn’t want an outright rejection from Charlie. That alone could threaten our friendship. He’d made it clear more than once that he wasn’t available for anything else and I needed to salvage this thing. The last thing I wanted was Charlie to feel uncomfortable or awkward around me, and the thought of losing him altogether from my life strangled my insides.
I sipped on my tea, glancing up at those incredible blue eyes and my heart was hammering. “I’m sorry, Charlie. I was drunk and from what you just said it looks like I took our flirting up to a whole new level. You’re my friend, and you’re hot. I was messing around. Can we just forget it?”
I seemed to be saying that a lot lately. There had been the almost kiss in the tree house, the birthday tequila shots, the morning after he’d stayed over at my place and now, last night. I seemed intent on pushing my advances where they weren’t welcome and if I didn’t stop, one day soon I’d go too far, or he would, and there would be no way back.
“I don’t want to forget that incredible visual, Chas,” he smiled, his eyes twinkling mischievously as he smiled and I leant my head against his chest. “So you didn’t really want me to make love to you then?” he asked as I swallowed hard.
I was as confused as ever with his words and his actions and swimming in a sea of uncertainty. There was no easy way out of this and I decided ambiguity was the only option I had.
“What do you think, mate?” I smiled. Any other answer and he’d have known I was lying. He could read into that what he wanted.
“Good,” he smiled as I shook my head. His none answer was as infuriating as mine. Was it ‘good’ that I did, or ‘good’ that I didn’t? Well that would serve me right for trying to be evasive. Now I was more intrigued than ever.
Charlie was chuckling; a deep, sexy, gravelly laugh that I felt between my thighs and I was knew that would be written all over my face. There was no way I’d walk away with the uncertainty of that particular word hanging over me. I’d wind up obsessing over it endlessly. We were cuddling closely and all I wanted was more closeness, more intimacy. I felt his touch in every cell of my body and I knew that he felt it too. He was playing it cool, but the attraction between us was as unmistakeable as ever. I needed to get to the bottom of this without making an even bigger fool of myself. Doing it drunk was one thing. There was no going back if I did it sober.
“How do you mean?” I asked as he chuckled again and I looked up at him as he returned my gaze with a casual, smug smile as he quirked his eyebrow at me.
“What do you think, mate?”
Charlie had just played me at my own game and won. I wasn’t pushing it any further. Wh
en I was with Roman I’d wanted him, perhaps because I knew I’d lost my chance with Charlie, or perhaps not. He was intriguing and captivating and the lust was undeniable. But Charlie was something else. I’d known it from the start, hoped for more, but we’d always been looking for something different, our timing somehow off. The sun and the stars had never been aligned for us and after his revelation last night, it was doubtful they ever would be.
In the last two weeks I’d been fucked, ditched, burgled and fucked again. Carpe Diem had played havoc with my senses and I’d lost my way; a complicated mess of feelings that even I was struggling to unravel. I’d felt vulnerable, uncertain and beyond confused. I’d abandoned my list and my sanity for the last time, and I was damn sure I wouldn’t be writhing semi-naked trying to tempt a man into fucking me again, any time soon. I needed to refocus and reboot, embrace my independence and move on with my life. He needed to move forward with Scarlett, and we needed to move forward as friends. I glanced up to catch him smiling at me.
“Let’s go home, Charlie.”
Chapter Twenty Five
ROMAN
I sat back in the chair, gazing out across the rainy Northern city, sipping my brandy and mulling things over in my mind. Tyler had been incredible tonight, but my eyes had been half on the stage and half on her. It had taken a Herculean effort not to go over and see her, but they couldn’t know I was there. I had to watch from a distance and see for myself. I wouldn’t risk another spat with my brother over a woman. I had to be certain.
He’d watched her like a hawk as she danced among the crowd. Officially he was back with Scarlett, but there was only one girl who made Charlie cloudy eyed and protective and that was Chas. There were glances at every opportunity, gentle touches, secret smiles, dances that were too close to be purely friendship and seeing it tonight had only reinforced what I already knew.