Hard Cover

by Jamie K. Schmidt

  “You didn’t order that little stunt?” I explained to him what had happened with the tarot card guy accusing me of selling him drugs.

  He let me go and paced around. “Shit. I’m sorry. There must have been a miscommunication.”

  “No, your father ordered it. I have proof.”

  “Really?” Rory squinted at me.

  “Really.” I put my hands on my hips. I was naked here. Where the hell was he going?

  “Why didn’t you go to the police?”

  He was really concerned about this. It surprised me. “Who would believe me, even with my proof?”

  “What is the deal with you and this freaking town?”

  “I’ll need a drink for that.”

  “That can be arranged. Red or white?”

  “I have shitty taste in wine. I like the boxed stuff and Boone’s Farm.”

  “You can get some good boxed wines nowadays.” Rory pulled me down on the couch with him. “But Boone’s is shit. If you like sweet, you'll like this." He reached into a wine minifridge and took out a peach-colored bottle.

  No. I was not going to sit naked on his lap and have a heart-to-heart with him. “I have to get back to the store. It’s either one glass and this conversation, or we can fuck.”

  Rory hesitated. “I want both.”

  “This is what you’re going to have to get used to, rich boy. You can’t always get what you want.” I stretched to make sure he had a good look at what he was missing.

  “See me tonight, after you close shop then, wild girl.” He reached out a hand to my breast.

  I swatted him away. “No, I have plans.”

  “Who with?” His eyes darkened.

  “None of your fucking business.”

  I thought I had him then. I was hoping he’d throw me over his shoulder like a caveman and take me to his bedroom.

  “All right then.” He poured us both a glass of crisp chilled wine that tasted like peaches. “Talk.” He sat down in front of me and slid off my sandal.

  What the hell? Who picks talking over sex? “You’re trying to make me tell you all my secrets.”

  He massaged my foot, rubbing his thumb into the ball of it. “Is it working?”

  I arched into the caress. It did feel nice. I was sure he didn’t notice. Then he licked his lips and stared at me. I swallowed more wine. But he was going to my head more than the wine was. I wasn't uncomfortable being naked in front of him, or enjoying the view of him in front of me on his knees. I wasn't sure I liked the turn of the conversation.

  "Can we skip the bullshit here?"

  Rory rubbed up my calf. "What do you mean?"

  I stood up, deliberately bumping my hip against his cheek when I walked by. "This isn't get-to-know-me time. This is a nooner. You don't have to disguise it behind fake interest." I took another sip of the wine before putting it on the table.

  Easing to his feet, Rory pulled me into his arms. "It's not fake. You fascinate me."

  "That's because I don't act like you want me to." Winding my arms around his neck, I kissed him. It was becoming one of my favorite pastimes, but he didn't have to know that.

  "This is pretty good," he murmured when we came up for air.

  "That's because we're concentrating on what matters. Sex. Business between us isn't going to end well. Either you kick me out, and I'm pissed. I stay and you're pissed, or we compromise and neither one of us is happy."

  "You have a cynical outlook on things." He kissed down my neck to my breasts. Backing up until I hit a wall, I traced the muscles on his stomach with my nails.

  "Realist," I panted as his teeth tugged on my nipples. I clutched his shoulders and jumped, wrapping my legs around his waist. "Fuck me."

  "What if I want to talk?" he teased, positioning his cock at my entrance.

  Using the wall as leverage, I tried to get him inside. "You're not that sadistic and you don't have that much control."

  He took a sharp breath when he slid along my soft, wet folds. "I used to be."

  "Stop fighting it and take me to bed."

  "If I take you to bed, you're staying there."

  "Then fuck me right here, up against the teakwood of your yacht, billionaire."

  I gasped when he thrust inside of me. A part of me was disappointed. I was hoping to tease him a little more. But I had pushed a bit too far and he was taking full advantage of having me pinned.

  Groaning in his ear, I welcomed the hard pace of his body pounding into me. My fingers dug half-moons into his shoulders.

  "Yes," I hissed as the thick slap of his body against mine made tremors of pleasure shoot through my body. I wanted this. I wanted him. Whether he knew it or not, Rory was my staycation in this dreary town this summer. "Fuck me. Harder."

  Grunting now, Rory's body jerked into me as our kisses became frantic. I rode him as hard as I could from this position, squirming and chasing the orgasm that was building through my body.

  I nearly choked on a scream when I came. He growled a laugh and soon followed me, carrying me away from the wall and into another room.

  "No bed," I panted, even though I was up for more shenanigans.

  "I know," he said, out of breath. "But the least you can do is let me clean you up if I can't take any more time with you."

  A shower. A real shower. Not some half-assed YMCA shower with dollar store shampoo and soap. I didn't give him an argument, not that he was letting me down until I was in this beautiful glass shower with him. He turned it on the water and set me on my feet. I tensed, expecting it to be ice cold, but it was warm and getting hotter. I made the tactical mistake of reaching for the cream shampoo. Rory went for the soap, and while I lathered up my scalp, he soaped my breasts and stomach.

  Sighing, I leaned back against him. I guess I had a little more time to spend with him.

  "Now I have you where I want you," he said.

  "I thought you wanted me in your bed."

  "Well, that too." Rory worked his way down my front, making sure I was very clean. This was the closest definition of heaven I've experienced, and if he asked me again to stay, I don't think I would refuse. That should have scared me, but I wasn't going to think about it too hard.

  He was on his knees behind me, lathering up one leg and then the other. I groaned at the sheer decadence of his touch. "I could get used to this."

  "I could touch you forever."

  I flinched. "I don't do forever."

  He smoothed his hand over my skin. "Such a badass."

  “Don't forget it." I finished shampooing while he lathered his way back up my body.

  It was so fucking good.

  “When your landlord, Larry, mentioned your name, it rang a bell."

  "I'm famous?" The thought amused me that Rory Parker might have Google stalked me as well.

  "Infamous. At least in our house. My sister idolized you in high school."

  Well, that explained a lot. I ducked my head under the water, stepping away from him. "No wonder your father hates me. What's your sister's name?"

  "Cammy," he said shortly. I waited for him to continue, but he didn't. I racked my brain, but I didn't remember a Cammy from high school. "What did I do to earn her respect?"

  "You were the rock star who got a tattoo and a nose ring.”

  I blew a raspberry. “A lot of kids did that.”

  “Not when their father was a judge. And then there was the fight of the century.”

  I rolled my eyes. "I had nothing to do with that." I had everything to do with that. It was the beginning of the end of my relationship with my family.

  “I think the statute of limitations has run out," Rory said. "Did you really knife the quarterback before the big game?"

  I tensed. "I should have cut his dick off instead of stabbing him."

  Wincing, Rory worked on all the good spots on my back and shoulders. "I knew him. He was an asshole. If you stabbed him, he deserved it."

  Blinking back tears, I realized that the quarterback's wounds
had long since healed, but not hearing “he deserved it” back then? Those wounds would never would scab over. I took a deep, shuddering breath and resisted closing my eyes. There hadn't been a lot of time to relax in the past few months, and this was as close to a day off as I had in a while. I wanted to spend more time with him, and that made me nervous.

  "Yeah," I said shakily. I finger combed conditioner through my hair while Rory soaped up my back.

  My father said it nearly ruined his career keeping me out of juvie. But that hadn't been true. All he had to do was threaten to bring multiple sexual harassment suits against the jerk and all charges were dropped. A few stitches later and everything was swept under the rug. I only hoped that the son of a bitch thought twice the next time he tried to force someone into the locker room.

  "Still, I lost a good knife and my father's trust that day."

  Rory's hands stilled.

  Crap. I hadn't meant to say that aloud.

  "What about your mother?"

  "My mother was a Stepford wife. Dinner at six. House immaculate. Children seen and not heard.”

  Rory snorted. “I don’t see you reacting favorably to that.”

  I smiled. “I tried. Until it became clear that it didn’t matter. Stephanie, my older sister—excuse me, my perfect sister—did everything right. I couldn’t live up to her standards, and I was damned if I’d stay in her shadow. We were studying Shakespeare in high school—Richard III—and when I read Richard’s monologue, it hit me; I knew what I had to do.”

  “My Shakespeare’s a little rusty,” he said. “All I remember is now is the winter of our discontent and him bitching about the York bloodline.”

  “It’s at the end of that speech. He’s deformed, right? People hide their children and cower in front of him. So he says since he will never be perfect, he will do his best to be the villain they think he is.” I leaned in to rinse the conditioner out of my hair.

  “So you rebelled?”

  “My dad said white, I said black. Night, day. You get the picture. I dyed my hair a pink that would make your eyes bleed.”

  “I like the purple,” he said, stroking his fingers through it.

  “Thanks. When that failed to raise his blood pressure and he dismissed me as going through a phase, I got my first tattoo on my shoulder.” I tapped on it. “It started out as just a spider’s web. I added the knitting spider later.”

  “Knitting is badass,” he said, and bit my shoulder.

  My ass drifted against his. He was slick and soapy. “It took him three weeks to notice it. When he did, it was at a pool party for his friends. I had snuck off with a boy and they came looking for us.”

  “Naughty. Did you get caught?”

  “Surprisingly not, considering we were going at it in the changing room.”

  “So he freaked out about the tattoo?”

  “Meh,” I shrugged. “He grounded me. I snuck out. It didn’t affect me one way or the other.”

  “So you were just looking for his attention?”

  “I wanted to change his mind. See my mother as a person instead of his wife. See me and my sister as individuals instead of mirror images of our mother.”

  “Did it work?”

  “Not even when I pierced my nose.”

  “So what happened?”

  “He ignored me. Pretended that I didn’t exist. I did minor shit like steal cigarettes, but I always felt bad after and left the money on the counter the next time I went in. Then it was off to college, and I bet the old man breathed a sigh of relief. Your dad seems the same type. Did your sister ever rebel a little?”

  His face grew solemn as his hands dropped from my body. “Yeah, you could say that. Drugs.”

  “I’m sorry." I took advantage of his distraction to step out of the shower and wrap myself in a fluffy white towel. It had been on a heating rack. I shook my head at the casual luxury. I was so in over my head. What was I doing here with a guy who heated his towels? "There were a lot of drugs going around Haven High.”

  “What?” Rory looked out at me in shock. “No, she got hers on the docks.”

  “Seems like a lot of work when Tad, the superintendent’s son, had anything you were looking for.” I swiftly dried off and then scrubbed the water out of my hair.

  “I went to school with his brother.” Rory's voice was hollow with shock.

  I shrugged. “Don’t know if he was selling, but Tad put himself through college that way. He had more painkillers than the drugstore.”

  Rory flinched.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I’m an asshole sometimes. I didn’t mean anything by it. Just that it was easier to score at school in between classes than go all out of your way downtown.”

  “Did you use drugs?”

  Shaking my head, I tucked the towel around me. “I tried pot. Didn’t like the way it made me feel. When I broke my arm, the doctor gave me Percocet, but it didn’t take away the pain. I just didn’t care that it hurt. So that was never an addiction for me. What about you?”

  “Just alcohol.” He stared off into space, and I was wondering if he was trying to regroup for another assault about the store. I should head him off at the pass about that, but there was actual pain in his eyes.

  “Why Haven?” I asked.

  He slowly turned to look at me. “Huh?”

  “Of all the seaports and docks you could renovate, why meddle in our stores?”

  “No one is making any money down there, least of all you shopkeepers.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Where’s your car?”

  I glared at him. “I don’t have one.”

  “Do you own your own house or condo?”

  “No,” I admitted reluctantly.

  “You don’t have shit in the bank and you’re in credit card debt up to your nose ring.”

  “Hey,” I said, slugging him as he stepped out of the shower.

  “I saw your credit report." Rory claimed his own heated towel.

  I stalked out of the bathroom, my good mood cooling down with my body. “Intrusive much?”

  "I saw everyone’s credit report, which is why I knew they would jump at my offer. Except you didn't.” Rory shook his head. "I still don't know why."

  “So you’re doing this for altruistic reasons? You want us to pay off our debts and have some spending money?”

  “Why does that make me the bad guy?”

  “Because you’re not taking no for an answer. I’m not your last holdout.”

  “Something tells me you will be,” he muttered.

  “Why now? Why couldn’t it wait until our leases were up?”

  “The opportunity was there. My father’s thinking of running for the Senate. It would look good on his résumé if he cleaned up the docks.”

  “What do you get out of it?” I searched around the living room for my clothes. I found my bra over by the wine fridge.

  “A shitload of cash.”

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “Whatever I want.”

  “Don’t you have more than enough as it is?” Letting the towel drop, I put on my bra and shirt.

  “Maybe,” he said. “But I’m good at making money. Maybe I could help you with your store?"

  My skirt was under the coffee table. I snagged it with my foot and slid it up over my hips. "The new one that you're going to build for me here?"

  "Or I could find you another place."

  "I'm not going anywhere. You can tell the titty blouse place that they're shit out of luck." I slid my feet into my sandals. "And next time, we should screw in the shower instead of chatting." I was already regretting talking to him, because it made him seem like a friend. Someone I could care about, and I knew he was just in this for the sale. And for the sex, but I couldn't blame him for that.

  "Frustrated?" Rory was still naked, the towel draped over his neck. He had an incredible body, damn him.

  "No," I said. A little.

  "What did you want to
show me on my laptop?"

  "Something I thought was going to be necessary. But I don't think it will be."

  He kissed me. "Cryptic."

  "Put your pants on and drive me back."

  "The hundred and twenty thousand is still the offer if you change your mind after Monday."

  "I won't." I walked back up to the deck, checking my purse to make sure the thumb drive was still there.

  He came up a few minutes later, fastening a watch that probably cost more than I made in six months. "I don't want to see you lose customers. You're not going to be able to make rent this summer. The new clientele I'm bringing in won't go into a shop like yours. I'm just trying to look out for you."

  "You're just trying to make a buck. Don't worry about me. If I don't make rent, Larry can evict me and your problem is solved."

  Rory helped me off the boat. "I don't want that to happen."

  "It won't." I would make damn sure of it. Which meant my plans for an apartment had to wait. I needed that first month’s deposit and rent as a backup in case he was right and my summer crowd faded in the face of the new upscale stores.

  Chapter 7

  Rory

  "I noticed that the Nolan girl's shop is still there." My father didn't even look up from his computer.

  It was his way of calling me on the carpet. Only I was too old to be grounded and I didn't work for him, so he couldn't suspend me. What he could do was bring me into his selectman's office at the town hall and demand an update on the project I was working for on behalf of the town.

  Getting up, I closed the door so his nosy secretary, Jeannine, couldn't hang on our every word. She was so obvious about it she might as well pull up a chair and join the conversation.

  Sitting back down, I crossed by legs and pulled out my phone. He didn't ask a question, so I didn't feel the need to fill the silence with anything.

  Finally, he glared up at me. "Well?"

  "Well what?"

  "Why isn't she gone?"

  "We hit a snag in negotiations."

  "I thought she was a done deal. What about Toujours?"

  "The Village Jeweler took my offer, which was much lower than the one I offered Dawn. Toujours will be in by the end of the month."

  He grunted. "So you've got three more left, not counting that sex shop."