I breathe deep and let it out slowly. “She’s out there.”
He nods, but I don’t get the impression he believes it. Rochelle was a bigger blow to his ego than I initially realized.
“Think of it this way. Skyler came into my world out of nowhere. Woman opened the door in a camisole and the tiniest pair of panties, thinking I was her best friend who’d forgotten her key.”
Royce blinks slowly and shakes his head, about to interrupt, but I forge on.
“I spent too long fighting my instincts with her but eventually caved in to the best thing that ever happened to me. And believe me, brother, it is not easy. She lives a plane ride away. She’s a fuckin’ celebrity everyone wants a piece of, including me. Only the piece I want is huge. The whole damn pie.” I take a breath and dip my head in his direction. “What we’ve got is special. And you know, anything worth having is worth working for. Now you’re going to have to put in the work. Put your feelers out there. Find your soul mate.”
Finally Royce turns his head to me, and I drop my hand to my knee but stay close so as to not share our conversation with anyone in hearing distance.
“She your soul mate?” His tone is filled to the brim with emotion I most certainly was not expecting to hear from him, especially in a crowded sports bar in the middle of a bustling airport.
I think about Skyler’s blonde hair falling down her shoulders. Her nose crinkling cutely. The way she calls me honey and how it makes me light up. How she loses herself completely when I’m inside her, giving me everything that is her. Remembering Skyler’s excitement and nervousness about meeting my family and brothers, wanting to be liked by them. How she lets her entire self go when she’s laughing. There’s a lot to Skyler; every day I’m finding out more, and it’s only been a few months. I couldn’t imagine the possibility of another woman being my soul mate. Loving someone more than I do her.
“I want to believe she is. How’s about I tell you when I’m certain?”
“Fair enough.” Royce purses his lips and lifts his drink. “Gonna hit the dating scene hard back home, but don’t tell my momma. She finds out, and she’ll have every one of her friends’ available daughters lined up with numbers on their backs like in an auction.”
Laughter bubbles up with no stopping it at the visual. “She’d absolutely do it too!” I chuckle and sip my drink.
“Yes, she would. You eager to get to New York?”
I run my finger over the rim of my glass. “More than I can express. I’m worried about her. This Johan is a real piece of work.”
“You think he’s going to hurt her? Physically?”
I shrug. “Don’t know. All I do know is he’s hurting her mentally and emotionally, and I’m about to lay the ration of shit on him Wendy found, which is not going to be pleasant one way or the other.” Chills ripple down my spine, and unease sets up a beat in my stomach.
“You in touch with Sky’s security team?” he asks thoughtfully.
“Yeah, sent a message to Nate about keeping a close eye on her and that I’d update him on the new threat when I get there.”
Royce chuckles. “How’d it go? Don’t suspect a man like Nate Van Dyken or his pistol of a wife would be okay with you butting in on how they take care of their charge.”
Once again, I laugh out loud. “Too true. He responded with a single word: Done.”
Royce smiles wide, the first time since we left Renner Financial Services. “They picking you up at the airport?”
I shake my head. “Nah, I haven’t even told Skyler I’m coming to see her, plus it’s the red-eye. Want it to be a surprise. I know she’s working late tonight. We were supposed to talk later this evening, but I sent her a text telling her I’d touch base tomorrow when I’m home.”
God. All I want to do is fall into her bed, wrap my arms around her warmth, and let her peaches-and-cream scent fill my lungs and ease my soul.
“Good man.”
I nod. “Since it will be late, and Skyler is on set, the paps won’t be hounding me. I should be able to slip through the airport, catch a taxi, and be at her place with no one but her doorman being the wiser. Unless, of course, they’re watching her door, which could be possible. Either way, it’s worth the trouble.”
He takes another swallow of his whisky. “Oh, wanted to let you know I reviewed the documents Sophie sent over and sent her my response. She’s nervous about some board meeting coming up and wants everything to be in place, but she’s got it all. She didn’t need to be so worried.”
“Good. Did Bo tell you he had Wendy looking into her new boyfriend?”
Royce grins. “Find anything on him?”
I shake my head. “Nope. Clean as a whistle. Wendy did find out he made a sizable purchase at a jewelry store recently. Very sizable.”
Royce frowns.
“Bo thinks he might propose.”
Royce’s eyes widen with the comment. “Shut the fuck up. I mean, Sophie’s all of that, but it’s been, what . . .” He flicks a few fingers out as if he’s ticking something off in his mind. “. . . a few weeks?”
“Something like that,” I mutter, and suck back the rest of my whisky.
The bartender lifts his chin in a silent request to see if I need another.
“Beer. Sierra Nevada.” I switch my drink. Unlike Royce, I can’t hammer back the whisky and not get shit faced fast. As it is, I can already feel the liquor swimming in my empty gut.
“I’ll take a refill.” Royce lifts his glass, and the bartender nods. Royce eases his body against the chairback and crosses his arms over his chest. “You okay with this new development in Sophie’s world?”
I lean back and put my arm on the bar. “How so?”
“Know you’re protective of her. Had your physical moment, but more than that, she’s important to you. Hell, she’s important to me and Bo too.”
“Yes, she is. More than anything, if this is the man she wants, I’m happy for her. Do I think it’s too soon? Fuck yeah. Gonna reach out, make sure she’s doing all right and not jumping with both feet into something because she’s still grieving over her father. Plus, she’s got a lot on her small shoulders running that company. I won’t tell her not to marry someone if she’s in love with the guy and thinks he’s her future, but I will warn her to slow down and take a breath.”
Royce runs his thumb over his bottom lip. “Agreed. Sophie’s young and sweet. And with no one to look after her, it’s on us to make sure she’s being smart.”
“Truth.” I make a mental note to check in with Sophie as soon as I can. “Where to next?” I ask, since he was running the show before I came back from Milan and we headed out on this trip.
“Montreal. A cyber-tech company CEO wants us to ferret out a rat in her company. Someone selling trade secrets, and something about bugs in the system.”
Thank God it’s not another case involving romance of any kind. Corporate espionage. Sounds downright mellow compared to the emotional shit show we’ve been dealing with as of late.
“Gonna take a few days off. Get past the shit with Sky and Johan.”
Royce nods. “Figured. We’ll discuss next steps back home, yeah?”
“Yeah. Catch you on the flip?” I stand up and pull on my jacket. Royce does the same before clapping me on the back and squeezing my shoulder.
“See you back home, brother,” he says.
I drop three twenties on the bar to cover our bill. “You got it.”
“Call us if you need us in on this Johan issue.”
“Will do.”
Royce lifts two fingers. “Peace.”
Skyler’s penthouse is deadly quiet when I enter at two a.m. Not wanting to wake her, I place my suitcase quietly on the floor near the front door. Since it’s so late, the paparazzi weren’t out hovering like vultures at her door for a speck of meat, as I suspected. The doorman waved me through as if he’d known me for ages.
I untie my dress shoes and step out of them, not wanting to make too much noi
se by clomping through her home. Once I’ve removed my jacket and tossed it over the couch back, I set the single white rose, which was waiting for me on the plane in first class, down on top of it. Seeing it reminded me of Skyler, so I saved it for her, knowing it would make her smile. Since I live for each smile, I had the stewardess wrap it in a wet napkin and a baggie and brought it with me here. I let out a long weary sigh before heading through the dark halls to Skyler’s bedroom.
When I get there, I’m surprised to see her bed is still made and she’s not in it. I frown and glance at the clock on the bedside table. Two fifteen. My shoulders fall as if they’ve had a ton of cement added to each side.
Bone weary, I make my way into her bathroom, strip off my clothes, and get in the shower. Her scent assaults me the second I enter the steamy space.
I groan. “Where the fuck are you?” I let my head hang and the water glide over my muscles. Needing to be with her, feeling her all around me but not here, I pour her bodywash into my palm and wrap a tired hand around my cock. I find it’s already semihard merely being in her home, surrounded by her peaches-and-cream smell. With a firm grip around the base, I tug up to the very tip, imagining it’s Skyler with her petite hand wrapped around me instead, running her slippery thumb around the bulbous crown.
“God, baby, I miss you.” I let my forehead rest against the chilled shower tile. My mind fills in the blanks for me as I slide a soapy hand up and down my length.
My dream Skyler plants her naked breasts against my wet back, one hand on my waist, the other wrapped around my cock, jerking me to beautiful oblivion. Her lips fall to my shoulder, where she scrapes her teeth along the ridge up to my neck. There she lays an openmouthed sucking kiss, driving me wild.
My dick hardens painfully in my hand as my ass cheeks clench and thighs tighten, holding my weary weight up. I slam my other hand against the tile wall and arch into each pull.
“Peaches . . . ,” I whisper, my balls becoming heavy with the need to burst.
I close my eyes as dream Skyler wraps both of her hands around my cock, jacking me magnificently with all her might. Her soft pants are lost against the noise of the shower beating down over us and my loud grunts.
“Give it to me, honey. Give it all to me.” She rests her face against my bicep so she can watch the power she has over me.
“Fuck!” I growl out, tightening my hand into a fist against the tile. I squeeze my dick hard, needing the firm grip as dream Skyler talks dirty to me.
And then it hits me: the base of my spine tingles, and I go up on my toes and arch into the pleasure ripping through my body as jet after jet of my essence spills out over my hand to the watery floor below. The orgasm goes on and on as I imagine Skyler pumping away, greedy in her desire to get every last drop of my pleasure.
I hang my head but keep a tight hold of my cock as I come down from my one-handed pleasure escapade, wishing it were my girl and not my own hand. I figure she’ll be home soon. She has to be. They often go late at the set, and I know they were wrapping today, but this is ridiculous.
Maybe they had to reshoot some scenes.
Taking hold of my bodywash—the last time I was here, my girl had stocked up on all of my preferred products—I pour some into my palm and quickly wash the grime of the day along with any remnants of my hand job from my body.
Tired as fuck, I dry myself off with one of her fluffy towels and drop it into the hamper on my way out of the bathroom. I walk naked through her home and find my phone in my jacket pocket. Uncaring about my nudity, knowing Skyler won’t give one flying fuck, I head back to her bed, pull the covers back, and roll onto my side. I go to my favorites, press her number, and let it ring. Instead of a tired “Hey, honey,” as I would expect, it goes to voice mail.
“You’ve reached Skyler. Leave a message after the beep, and I’ll give you a ring when I’m available.” Her chipper voice mail greeting finishes.
“Peaches, it’s me. Wanted to surprise you, but you’re not home. I’m naked in your bed, waiting for you. Come and get me.” I dip my voice seductively at the end and grin before hanging up. I set the phone ringer for high volume and toss it on the bed beside me in case she calls back.
I’m dead to the world in a second flat.
My standard alarm on my phone goes off at six a.m. on the dot, and I pat the bed, looking for my phone. Shit, I should have turned it off before falling asleep. I knife up, find it blaring in the empty space next to me. Skyler’s side of the bed is still empty. She didn’t come home. I rub the grit and sleep from my eyes and realize I’ve had less than four hours of sleep, but she should have been home.
I tap the display on my phone and note she hasn’t called me back. No text, no voice mail, nothing. Since I left a voice mail for her, I can’t tell whether or not she’s even had a chance to listen to it.
What the fucking fuck?
A knot of tension pounds against my tired brain, and I rub at my temples. I frown and punch her number. It rings several times before her voice mail picks up again.
“Call me ASAP. I’m at your house, and you’re not here. I’m worried.”
Then I bring up the text feature and text her.
To: Peaches
From: Parker Ellis
Left you messages. You didn’t come home last night. I’m at your house. Call me soon as you get this.
I sigh and flop back on the bed before I go to the display once more and pull up Nate Van Dyken.
To: Nate Van Dyken
From: Parker Ellis
Sky still on set? I’m at her house.
I get out of bed, pad out to my suitcase, and get a clean pair of underwear and slip it on. Next, I pull on a pair of jeans, grab a Red Sox T-shirt, and tug it on. My phone buzzes when I’m on my way into the kitchen to start the coffee. Only it’s not Skyler; it’s Nate.
“Ellis, it’s Nate.” He speaks gruffly into the phone. “We saw Skyler home last night at five p.m. She stated she would not be going anywhere and would not need our services.”
My heart starts pounding in my chest. “Five yesterday? I got here at two this morning, and she wasn’t here. Bed unmade, house quiet. She’s not been home.”
“Fuck! I’m tracking her cell phone now.” His voice is firm yet controlled.
Not capable of any normal brain function, worried out of my gourd about Skyler, I lean against the kitchen counter, gripping the bullnose edge and listening to Nate’s breathing as he does his thing.
“Says here she’s at St. Regis Hotel right here in New York.”
The pounding at my temples presses in, and I frown. “Why the fuck would she be at a hotel when she lives in the city?”
“I don’t know. I’ll head down there, see what I can find out. Scare a few people.”
“I’m coming with . . . ,” I grate through my teeth, heading to my suitcase to get my socks and shoes.
“No, you’re going to keep calling her and wait at home in case she shows up. Rach and I are on this. We’ll get your girl. Stay put.”
I grind my molars down so hard they might turn to sawdust in my mouth. “You have no idea what you’re asking me to do. I can’t just sit here,” I growl, making my intent perfectly clear.
“You’re not. Call her phone again in ten minutes. We’ll be at the hotel in twenty. If I think something nefarious is going down, I’ll have the cops on it and call you immediately.”
Swallowing down the sour taste in my mouth, I close my eyes tight. “Fine. Get there.” I hang up the phone and start to pace. When the clock reads seven minutes later, I say, “Fuck it,” and dial her number. It rings almost as many times as it would if the voice mail were going to pick up when a man’s deep voice answers.
“Hello?” he says sleepily.
“Who the fuck is this?” My voice is harsh and brooking no argument.
“Johan. Who the fuck is this?” he responds in kind.
My heart leaps into my throat at the man’s name. “Where’s Skyler?”
The man chuckles. Actually. Laughs. In. My. Ear. “Taking a quick shower. What’s it to you? You the boyfriend?”
“Yes,” I grind out, my heart pounding, sweat prickling at my hairline. “Put her on the phone.”
“Man, she’s washing off a rather fun-filled evening, and if I were going to bother her in the shower, I wouldn’t have answered the phone. Besides, girl needs a break from me, if you know what I mean.” Sexual innuendo drips from his words, and an overwhelming rage plows into my chest.
She cheated on me.
With her scumbag douche of an ex who’s blackmailing her.
She’s a liar and a cheat.
I love her, but she never loved me.
Horror and self-doubt shred my heart and mind, making it hard for me to focus on the here and now. Except, regardless of what she did, I can’t let her go without making sure she’s safe. It’s not in me to walk away from the woman I love when I know she’s still in danger.
“Look, Johan, I know what you did. How you let a girl die in that club. How loan sharks are all over you for hundreds of thousands. I even know about the two women you assaulted and your family paid off. Now I’m thinking the people from the club who tossed you to the side wouldn’t take too kindly to this information getting out to the public. I’m assuming neither would your modeling agency or your family for that matter.”
“You son of a bitch!” he roars into the phone. “You say a fucking word—”
“And what? What are you going to do? I’ve got nothing to lose, motherfucker!” You’ve already taken all I hold dear is what I want to say, the ice pick going straight through my heart, but I won’t ever give him the satisfaction of knowing what he’s doing, what she has done to me.
I can hear his labored breathing through the line and take the opportunity to continue my own threats, which are more like promises. “Here’s how this is going to go down. You’re going to leave Skyler alone—”
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