Spring Into Love

by Chantel Rhondeau

  Maggie almost sighed with relief when he unhooked the clasp of her bra, but she sucked in her breath sharply when his mouth closed upon her nipple. His flutter of his breath against her skin taunted her as much as the suction that teased her nipple into a painfully hard nub. She arched against his mouth, demanding more. “Please, Drew,” she pleaded, although she wasn’t certain what she was asking for. She ground her hips against his thigh, her damp panties soaking into his jeans.

  “Almost there,” he promised as he eased her down to the carpet. He lavished attention on her other breast as his hands caressed up and down along the length of her body, teasing her into a sensitized bundle of nerves.

  The soft piles of the carpet rubbed against her back as she arched into his touch. “Hurry, damn it.” Her soft laugh was almost a sob.

  He shifted lower. She trembled, waiting.

  A gasp tore from her lips when he licked along the core of her need through the lace of her thong. A swirl of sensations churned through her, a wave of pleasure cresting, then falling, each one pushing her ever closer to the edge of a free fall. She wrapped her fingers in his hair to keep him close when he eased her thong down her legs. For a moment, the realization that he was fully clothed while she was completely naked bothered her, but all conscious thought vanished when he lowered his head to the liquid heat between her legs.

  How long had she wanted this, wanted him? Far too long. Her body writhed on the razor-sharp edge of an orgasm. Drew kept her there, slowing down when she got too close to finding release, then driving her up against the edge again when she thought she had regained control of the situation. Her pleas became incoherent whimpers. If he tormented her a moment longer, she was going to lose her mind, and then after that, she was going to kill him.

  “Drew,” she moaned. Her fingernails dug into his scalp as she wrapped her legs around his shoulders. She ground against him. She was close…so close—

  “Now, baby. Come for me.” His teeth scraped against her in the same moment he plunged two fingers into her moist heat.

  Raw spikes of pleasure pierced her. Like a breaking wave, her orgasm crashed through her body, blanking her mind. She felt as if she were falling, but she did not fear the landing. Drew would catch her. He would always catch her.

  The sweet and utter certainty of that fact did not diminish even when reality intruded. When conscious thoughts began flickering through her mind once more, she found herself limp and languid, spooned against Drew. He was still fully dressed, and his unfulfilled need was a hard bulge in his pants. He pushed up on one elbow as Maggie twisted to lie on her back and reached up to caress his face. “What about you?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “I don’t have any condoms here. Making love to you wasn’t part of my original weekend plan.”

  “Did you really think I would set out to seduce you without coming prepared?” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’m on birth control, and I want you in me. Nothing between us.”

  “There’s a great deal standing between us,” Drew said quietly. “No amount of wishful thinking will change it.” A sad smile curved his lips. “I treasure your friendship, Maggie, and I don’t want to lose it if you ever regret anything you’ve done with me. So, let’s wait.”

  “Wait?” Maggie flung her arm out, a gesture that encompassed the room. “I’ve been waiting for a decade. Ten years ago, I fell in love with you in this room, Drew, and I’m done waiting.”

  He stared wordlessly at her. The vulnerability in his eyes stunned her. She waited for him to speak, to agree, to relent, but he said nothing.

  Fear lodged in her heart, a tiny pinprick that drove a chill through her. “Drew?”

  He turned his face away.

  She cleared her throat and hoped her voice would hold steady. “I love you, and I think you love me. So what is the problem here?”

  Drew shook his head. “Ten years ago, you were too young for me, Maggie. You’re still too young now.”

  “I’m twenty-three, not thirteen.”

  “And you’re too young to really understand what life and love can cost. Until you realize what I can give you and what I can’t—”

  “Love isn’t a goddamned trade.”

  Drew shook his head. “Only the young see it that way. Everything costs something, Maggie, and sometimes, it can cost more than you can pay. I’d rather live without your love than live with your regret.”

  Maggie’s eyes widened. “You don’t think you’re good enough for me?”

  Drew inhaled deeply. When he spoke, his voice was even. “I think…you have a wealth of choice. Few have the opportunities you do. You need to make the right decision for you, for the long term.”

  Maggie stared at him. The defiant tilt of her chin counterbalanced the sinking feeling in her heart. Drew was going to be stubborn. She had hoped he wouldn’t be, but he was right—there was a great deal standing between them, not the least of which were the irrational promises he had made to her father. She would have to grind away Drew’s nobility, but now that she knew exactly where he stood, she would have a much stronger chance of moving him off his ridiculous stance.

  She smiled up at him as if she had put aside all the conflict between them. “Of course, I’ll make the best decisions for me in the long term, but you’ll hold me, won’t you, for now?” He would not resist her—he could not; no man could resist her.

  Drew released his breath in a soundless sigh. “Of course.” He pushed to his feet and offered her his hand. “Whatever you want.”

  I want you. Only you.

  And I will have you.

  Chapter 11

  “Where the hell have you been?” Brandon demanded the moment Maggie and Drew walked in through the kitchen door.

  Her brother’s harsh tone punctured Maggie’s bliss. She and Drew had spent the better of the day in his bedroom cuddling on the bed, watching old movies, and snacking on popcorn. The simple pleasures gave her a glimpse of the uncomplicated relationship she could have had with Drew if her father’s meddling and Drew’s inconvenient sense of obligation hadn’t gotten in the way of an easier kind of love.

  Maggie narrowed her eyes at her brother. “What’s bitten you?”

  “Not keeping abreast of the news, I see.” He brandished a computer tablet at her. “Armani just announced that you voided your contract with them. Apparently, there’s some kind of anti-nudity clause—”

  Maggie paled. “That’s ridiculous. What happened with Tyler…it was an accident. I didn’t even know he was taping me.”

  “That’s not what he’s telling his social media followers, and since you’ve been quiet—”

  Her fingers tightened around Drew’s hand. “I was burying my father, damn it!”

  “Nobody cares. You haven’t told your part of the story, so Tyler’s story trumps yours.”

  “I’ll call Tyler. Get him to retract his story.” She grabbed her smartphone from her handbag and searched for Tyler’s number.

  Tyler picked up on the fourth ring. “Well,” he said, “you certainly took your time calling.”

  Her tone chilled. “My father had a heart attack the day you posted that video. He died late that night. I’ve been out of town for the funeral.”

  Silence met her words. “I’m sorry to hear that,” Tyler said finally, his voice tight. “I didn’t know.”

  “Armani cancelled my contract with them.”

  “I heard.”

  “They think I did the video willingly. You have to tell them I didn’t.”

  “You know I can’t do that, Maggie.”

  “Why not?” Her voice rose in indignation. “It’s the truth.”

  “No one’s interested in the truth. People want a story, the more lurid and sensational, the better.”

  “But my contract—”

  “If you intend to sue me for slander, you won’t succeed. I didn’t actually say anything in public. It’s not my fault people believe you would willingly participate in a sex video.�
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  “You can’t—”

  “I didn’t do anything,” Tyler said.

  “You posted the video! Take it down.”

  “Even if I take it down, it’s on a dozen or more mirror sites. I don’t control those.”

  “But I could lose my job—”

  “I didn’t mean for that to happen, but it’s out of my control now, Maggie. Surely you see that.” His calm, reasonable voice grated on her like cut glass.

  Maggie glanced around at the tap on her shoulder. Brandon held his hand out for the phone, and she handed it to him. Her mind reeled from the implications—her modeling contracts, her job, her career...she could lose them all. She heard Brandon speak sharply to Tyler, but his words did not register through the rushing sound in her head. Her legs wobbled. Drew braced her with an arm against her back and lowered her into a chair. His hand rested against her shoulder, steadying her through her heaving breaths.

  Brandon hung up and swore loudly.

  Maggie looked up at him. “What did he say?”

  “He’s confident we won’t be able to nail him for slander, but I swear, I’ll find something else…privacy or harassment, perhaps.”

  “But what about my contract?”

  Brandon slid the phone back to her. “You better call your agent, and go talk to the people at Armani. Maybe they’ll believe you, but even if they do, your image is damaged. They may not want that.”

  “But I didn’t even know—”

  “The problem is no one believes it. You’re a model. Everyone automatically assumes you’re seeking the spotlight, and what better way than with a sex video?”

  “But that’s not fair.”

  “No one gives a damn what’s fair. You’re in the news with three different men every week.”

  “I didn’t sleep with them.”

  Brandon shook his head. “No one gives a shit. The point is everyone believes you’re a man-eating barracuda. You go through celebrities like toilet paper. Unless Tyler comes clean and confesses that you didn’t know you were taped, you haven’t a shot at convincing anyone that you weren’t a willing and knowing participant in the video.”

  “Oh, God.” Maggie pressed her cold fingertips to her forehead. Her breath shuddered out of her. “What do I do?”

  “I told you. Call your agent. Maybe you can salvage something out of this before I take Tyler, or Armani, or both, to court. Once I do, there will be no way to get out of this without dragging your name through the mud.”

  “I thought my name was already dragged through the mud,” she said bitterly.

  “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” Brandon said.

  Drew’s grip on Maggie’s shoulders tightened. “I have to get back to New York.”

  She twisted around to look up at him. “No, don’t go. Please stay.”

  He shook his head, not meeting her eyes. “There are things I need to do.”

  Her heart clenched. “This isn’t about Tyler and the video, is it?”

  Drew said nothing. To Maggie, he might as well have screamed, “Yes!”

  He excused himself quietly and left through the kitchen door. Maggie waited until the door closed before she allowed the tears to leak from the corners of her eyes.

  Brandon sighed. “I’m sorry, Maggie. He didn’t deserve you.”

  She shook her head. “No, of course not. Drew doesn’t deserve a man-eating barracuda.” She buried her face in her hands. “Why would he think he’s any different from the other men in my life?”

  “Other than the fact that you’ve been infatuated with him for ten years?”

  “Yeah. Other than that.” Maggie managed a weak smile. “He doesn’t know. He doesn’t understand why it’s different with him.”

  “Words can only get you so far, especially with someone like Drew who doesn’t say much of anything under most circumstances.” Brandon huffed out his breath. “Anyway, you’ve got bigger issues than Drew right now. I’ll give you forty-eight hours to get a handle on this situation before I sue Tyler’s pants off his ass.”

  Maggie raised her chin. “I’ll fix it.”

  “Good. Otherwise it’s going to get ugly.”

  ~*~

  Maggie braced for ugly. Actually, she braced for the end of the world as she knew it. She had called her agent. Together, they had spoken to the folks at Armani, who were coolly polite but remained firm as to the voided contract. Desperate, Maggie had called Tyler again, but he stopped taking her calls.

  Brandon suspected Tyler had engaged an attorney and was preparing for a legal battle. Stopping all communication with Maggie would be the logical first step.

  “I don’t know what else to do,” Maggie confessed to her brother, her voice quavering. “I’ve made such a horrible mess of things. Even the press release I put out didn’t work. Everyone’s just calling me a liar. They’re saying I must have known the video was rolling.” She sucked in a deep breath. “What do we do now?”

  “Now we go to court. Your contract with Armani may be beyond salvage, but we can still save your career. There will be other contracts. Meanwhile, I’ve got you covered. Don’t worry about rent or anything—”

  “I’m not worried. Drew made sure I’ve got myself covered,” Maggie said. She couldn’t help the bitter and ironic note in her voice. She had not heard from Drew since he returned to New York. He had fled from her at the first sign of real trouble.

  Brandon’s smartphone beeped. He tugged it out of his pocket and glanced at it. His eyes widened as he tapped on the screen. “My paralegal says we’ve got a break on this case. Look at this.” He turned the screen so she could see the YouTube video of Tyler, slouched at a bar, horrendously drunk. The unseen person behind the camera zoomed in on Tyler’s face. “Didn’t mean to fuck up her job.” Tyler slurred the words as he reached for another shot glass.

  Maggie’s breath caught.

  “But you did,” the cameraman said.

  Maggie’s eyes narrowed. Something about the unseen man’s voice seemed familiar.

  Tyler rolled his eyes. “I was just ’nother man in her life. Didn’t mean nothing to her.”

  “It doesn’t make it her fault.”

  “Calling out another man’s name did!” Tyler slammed his fist down on the bar.

  “So you did it out of revenge?”

  “Hell, yeah, I did.” Tyler sneered. “That’ll teach the bitch to sleep around.”

  The cameraman was briefly silent. “Did she know you were taping her?”

  “’Course not. She’s shy. Hates the press. Hates cameras too.” Tyler threw his head back and tossed the drink down his throat. “Gimme ’nother one.”

  Another shot glass slid across the smooth surface of the table.

  Tyler grabbed it. His eyes crossed as he raised the glass in a salute. “I tell ya. No one means nothing to her. She just uses ‘em and spits ‘em out.”

  “I know. More than you realize.”

  The video faded into darkness and stopped.

  Brandon threw his arms into the air. “Score! We got him. That son of a bitch is going to reach a settlement faster than you can spell ‘slander.’”

  Maggie grabbed the smartphone from Brandon’s hand and replayed the video. The YouTube account that posted Tyler’s confession video had a gibberish name, no identifiers, and no other videos. Maggie was certain the account had been created for the sole purpose of getting Tyler’s confession into the public space, and judging from the amount of views and shares, the video was going viral. The comments on the video also indicated that Maggie’s public image was on the mend, from “lying and conniving slut” to “poor stupid slut.”

  “I’d give the folks at Armani a day or two to process this new information, and then it’s worth a call to them,” Brandon advised. “I suspect they’ll reinstate your contract in some way, shape, or form. There may be some new early termination clauses in there, but if you behave, there’s no reason why they won’t take you back on contract. They’ll look like soulle
ss corporate bastards if they don’t.”

  “But who do you think took the video?”

  “Doesn’t matter,” Brandon said. “And if you’re smart, you’ll let it be. Your best bet is to stay out of the mud slinging as much as you can. You’re the innocent, wronged party here. Play it up for all it’s worth.”

  Maggie nodded, but her mind replayed the voice of the unseen cameraman. The smooth and rich baritone, a voice made for the radio and for post-sex conversations, was too familiar. She would have bet the million dollars sitting in her investment account that it was Drew’s voice.

  She inhaled deeply, and when she released her breath, the pit of fear lodged in her stomach crumbled, but only slightly. Drew loved her—she did not doubt it for a second—but Drew doubted her love for him. She had heard it in his voice when he agreed with Tyler’s condemnation that she used men and spit them out.

  She knew him well; she knew what he would do. Because Drew loved her, he would stay close enough to be used, but far away enough to escape the heartache of being spit out. He would not move beyond friendship. However, Maggie was tired of friendship. She wanted more, and she would not let Drew get away with anything less than the love of his life—specifically, her.

  ~*~

  Maggie returned to New York City two days later. A visit to Armani, accompanied by her agent, resulted in a fresh contract, a host of stipulations to protect her damaged image, and a social media marketing campaign to rebuild her personal brand. She chaffed at the limitations, but knew she was in no position to refuse. Besides, her varied social calendar was taking an abrupt turn to focus on her unwilling financial advisor.

  She called him that evening and was surprised when he picked up immediately. “Hi, Maggie,” he said.

  Maggie nodded. Yes, it was most definitely his voice on Tyler’s confession video. “I’m back in town.”

  “I see.”

  “I’m back on contract with Armani.”