by Sabrina Sol
“I’m just confused, Brandon. I need time to think about things.”
“Fine. I’ll leave you alone tonight. But sooner or later, we’re going to have to decide whether this door stays open or whether it’s going to be locked for good,” he said, and walked out of the room.
For a while, Daisy sat on the bed, wondering whether she’d be able to go back, to return to the way it was before. Like Brandon said, now that she’d had him it was going to be harder to not have him again.
When sleep couldn’t be denied any longer, she took a quick shower, dressed, and got back into bed. She heard him come home a few hours later. And when she realized he’d gone back to the other bedroom to sleep, relief, and a tiny bit of disappointment, washed over her.
Chapter Eleven
“I knew it!”
Daisy pulled her cell phone away from her ear before another one of her cousin’s outbursts rendered her deaf. She should’ve expected such a high-pitched reaction to her confession that she’d slept with Brandon. “All right, all right, Angela Lansbury. Calm down.”
“I totally knew you two wouldn’t be able to keep your hands off each other living under the same roof. Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I?”
“Yes, Amara. You told me,” she said and sighed.
“So how was it?” her cousin whispered into the phone.
“How do you think it was?”
“Daisy…”
“Amara…”
“Fine. Don’t tell me. So are you going to do it again?”
That was the million dollar question. Wasn’t it? He’d left early the next morning for New York. They’d only exchanged text messages over the past three days and their conversations were always about Lorena.
“I don’t know,” she told Amara. She heard an exasperated sigh on the other end of the phone. “What’s that for?”
“You know I’m just worried about this whole situation. I’m afraid—”
“You’re afraid I’m going to get hurt, I know. But we already talked about this. I’m not some silly groupie who’s going to think there’s more to this than there is.”
“Yes, but now that the relationship has become physical, it may be harder to keep your emotions separate. Like I said, I just don’t want you to get hurt.”
Neither did she. Perhaps Amara had a point. “I guess I need to talk to Brandon when he gets back tomorrow night,” she said as she leaned on the kitchen’s center island. “Maybe we do need some boundaries.”
“I think that would be best. Oh, hey! I almost forgot to tell you. You’re famous again.”
Daisy stood back up. “What do you mean?”
“There was an article online about you and Brandon getting engaged. Nice photo, by the way.”
“Oh, that. Thanks. We decided the only way for that bastard Felipe not to profit from our fake engagement was to send out a press release and photo to all kinds of media outlets. We figured no one would want to pay him money for a crappy photo of an engaged couple making out. Sounds like it worked.”
“Good. Hopefully it means that creep will stay away from you guys from now on.”
“Yep. Now I guess I just have to figure out how to get Brandon to stay away,” she said drily.
“Ha ha,” her cousin replied. “Seriously, though. You know I nag because I love you, right?”
“I know. I love you, too. I’ll let you go since you have to get up at the ass crack of dawn. Those rolls won’t bake themselves, you know.”
“You’re full of jokes, aren’t you? Okay, good night. Call me tomorrow.”
They said another round of good-byes before Daisy finally put her phone down. She looked around to make sure she’d put away everything from dinner. Deciding the kitchen was clean, she picked her phone back up, turned off the light, and headed toward the stairs. The sound of keys jangling, and the lock on the front door jiggling, made her stop dead in her tracks.
It was after nine at night, which meant Alexa would be smack dab in the middle of dinner service, so it couldn’t be her getting ready to come through the door. Within a span of a few seconds, Daisy imagined about fifteen scenarios that involved her leaving her keys in the door and some serial killer finding them for her.
So when the door opened and Brandon walked inside, she let out a long, relieved breath.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a loud whisper so she didn’t wake Lorena.
“I live here, remember?” he responded as he closed the door again and locked it.
“I meant what are you doing here tonight? You weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow.”
He shrugged. “My meetings finished early and I wanted to make sure I was around to spend some time with my mom before her surgery.”
“Oh. Well, you should’ve called or texted. I was about to karate chop your ass.”
“Really? Because judging by the look on your face when I walked in, it looked like you were going to pee in your pants instead.”
“Funny. Well, welcome home. Good night.”
“Actually, there was another reason why I couldn’t wait to come home,” he said and reached into his messenger bag. “I bought you something while I was in New York.”
Daisy froze as she recognized the distinctive robin’s egg blue-colored bag he was holding as he walked toward her. She swallowed hard as he pulled out a small black velvet box from the Tiffany & Co. shopping bag. Then he handed it to her. “Go ahead. Open it.”
How could she open it if she couldn’t even raise her arms to take it from him? Helpless, she could only ask, “Is it a ring?”
He laughed. “What gave it away? Well, take a look, silly. It’s just a ring. It won’t bite you.”
Maybe not. Didn’t mean she still wasn’t afraid of it for some unreasonable reason.
Her brain eventually connected to her body, and she took the velvet box from Brandon and opened it.
It wasn’t just a ring. It was the queen of all rings. And queen, as in queen of heart-shaped diamond rings. She had no idea what carat size it was, but she did know that it wasn’t itty bitty. In fact, it was biggie biggie.
“Wow, Brandon. It’s…it’s. It’s… Wow. This must’ve cost you a lot.”
“Don’t worry about that. Go ahead and try it on.”
She nodded and tried to smile as big as she could as she slipped it on her finger. It fit her a little loose. Did she imagine its heaviness on her hand? Okay, now she really was being silly. It was a piece of jewelry. Nothing more, nothing less.
“So what do you think?”
She thought it was too much. “It’s beautiful, Brandon. But I think it’s too much. Besides, I thought we agreed I didn’t need a ring.”
“I know we did, but that was when we thought we’d only be fake-engaged for two weeks. Now that it’s going to be a lot longer than that, I figured this would stop people’s questions.”
“Well, you didn’t have to spend so much…”
“I know, but I figured since you won’t let me give you any money, afterward you could sell it or exchange it.”
His matter-of-factness stung. The ring, like Daisy, was replaceable. It didn’t matter to him if they slept together again or not. When this fake engagement was over, he’d just find someone else to take her spot in his bed.
I told you so. You’re nothing to him. He would’ve asked any woman to pretend to be his fiancée. You just happened to be the one to say yes.
Anger swelled inside her. But not at him. He’d never promised her anything except mind-blowing sex. This was all on her.
“Good night, Brandon,” she said and left him standing in the foyer.
She was halfway up the stairs when she heard him behind her. “Good night? That’s all you’ve got to say to me?”
“What do you want me to say?”
“I don’t know? How about telling me why you’re so pissed off, for starters.”
They’d reached the bedroom, and Daisy finally turned around to face him. “I’m fine and
I already told you the ring is fine.”
“Fine? Really? I’m no expert, but I know that a ring like that can be described in at least a hundred different words and ‘fine’ is definitely not one of them.”
“What do you want me to say? Yes, it’s a beautiful, expensive ring but…”
“But what? I don’t understand. The salesman at Tiffany’s said any woman would love to get this ring. Pilar even agreed.”
She threw up her hands. “Pilar? You took Pilar to Tiffany’s to pick out a ring for me?”
“Yes. I needed a woman’s opinion.”
“What guy takes another woman to pick out his fiancée’s ring?”
“But you’re not even really my fiancée.”
“I know that, but she doesn’t. Now she’s going to be suspicious. She already thinks she should be the one you’re engaged to…for real!”
“Wait. Are you jealous?” he asked, more amused than she appreciated.
She put her hands on her hips, prepared to defend herself against such a ridiculous accusation. “What? Of course not. It’s just that—”
“It’s just that what?”
“It isn’t me!” she yelled, forgetting that Lorena was still asleep downstairs.
Brandon looked even more confused. “The ring?”
“Yes, the ring. It’s extravagant, Brandon. It’s showy. It’s everything I’m not. You didn’t buy this ring for me. You bought it for the woman who’s pretending to be your fiancée. So let’s be honest here. I’m merely a prop in your charade…just like this stupid ring. Except I’m also good for fucking once in awhile.”
“Wait a second,” he said and stepped closer to her. “I don’t think of you like that, Daisy. You have to believe me.”
“Why should I believe anything you say? You’re an OCC.”
“A what? Never mind. You should believe me because it’s true. We have a connection. I feel it and I know you feel it, too. And it’s getting stronger. That’s why I had to stop pretending the other night that I didn’t want you as badly as I did. As I do. Having sex with you was more than I ever could have dreamed of, and I’m not saying that just because I want to have sex with you again. You’re not some prop I’m going to throw away when this is all over. You mean something to me, Daisy.”
His words dug in and grabbed hold of her heart. “You don’t have to lie to me, Brandon.”
He sighed with such exasperation, she knew he was becoming frustrated. “I’ll prove it to you. If you didn’t mean anything to me would I know that you like strawberry jam on your pancakes instead of syrup? Would I know that you prefer to drink Diet Pepsi, but if a place only serves Diet Coke then you prefer iced tea? Would I know that you got that little scar on your knee from when you fell down rollerblading for the first time?”
“Impressive. You can remember the things I’ve told you. But that doesn’t mean—”
“Would I know that you always carry five single dollar bills in your wallet just in case a homeless person walks up to you and asks for money? Would I know you’re scared shitless about planning Mira’s wedding but you’re going to do it anyway, not because you want the money, but because you already promised her that you would? Would I know that Amara isn’t just a cousin to you, she’s your best friend and your sister, and although you were happy for her when she got married, it hurt you a little inside because you knew you weren’t the most important person in her life anymore?”
“How could you—” He took another step toward her. Only a few inches filled the space between them.
“Would I know that when you twist your hair around your finger like that, it’s because you’re trying to figure something out? Would I also know that when you’re angry with me, you bite your bottom lip and when you’re thinking about kissing me, you also bite your bottom lip?”
“I don’t do that. Do I?” she said softly as he moved even closer. She realized then that he’d backed her up against the bedroom’s wall.
He lowered his head and whispered, “You know what else I know? I know you want this.” He savaged her mouth then, and it took only a second for her entire being to respond. She threw her arms around his neck, and he cupped her ass and lifted her up, pushing into her even more. “Me vuelves loco,” he groaned.
“You drive me even crazier,” she said against his lips.
“Why do we even bother fighting what’s between us? Sé que me deseas.”
She did want him. There was no way she could deny it. He’d only have to touch between her legs to know just how much she wanted him. It was useless to fight what was so apparent, so obvious. She’d never been attracted to any man the way she was attracted to him. And he’d made it clear from the get-go that he wanted her whenever and wherever. Perhaps instead of stifling the fire, they should let the flames go wild? Eventually it would have to burn itself out, right? When it did, then she could walk away unscathed. It was time to turn this fake engagement into a very real sexual affair.
“I do want you. I don’t want to, but I do,” she finally admitted.
Her words surprised him. He’d expected another denial, more questioning. Had she denied it, he’d dig deep and walk away…again. After all, he’d never had to convince a woman to sleep with him and he wasn’t about to start now. Whatever doubts or fears she had going on in that beautiful head of hers, she’d have to figure out on her own eventually. At least for now, though, she wanted him just as badly as he wanted her. And he’d take it for as long as he could get it.
With her legs wrapped around his waist, he walked them over to the bed. She slid slowly down his body and the friction against his groin drove him wild with need.
He worked fast to pull off her T-shirt, exposing her bare, perfect breasts. He took one nipple in his mouth and groaned deep in his throat as he sucked and licked. “Quiero devorarte,” he whispered as he moved to the other breast.
The hunger he had for her was beyond anything he’d experienced before. One taste wasn’t enough. Ever. If anything, the more he touched her, licked her, the more he wanted. Yes, he’d devour every inch of her body tonight. He continued with her breasts, cupping them and circling her nipples with his tongue, taking time to flick the tips as she writhed against him.
“More, Brandon. I need more.” Her voice, thick with desire, flared his want to new heights.
“Yes, baby. And I’m going to give it you.” He lifted his head and found her mouth waiting and open. For him. Only him. And that was the way he wanted it from here on out. No more games for either of them. No more pretending that he couldn’t wait to get home from New York because he wanted to give her the stupid ring and not because he wanted to see her, have her. Only her.
Although he hated to, he dragged his mouth away from hers so he could do more to her. Clothes were in the way, though. He tugged at her pants and they worked together to pull them off, along with her underwear. Then they moved to the side of the bed and got rid of his. Finally, they held each other skin to skin. The warmth of her body electrified his own, and his cock instinctively jerked into position. She noticed. Her small hand gripped his swollen erection and he swore in pleasure. As her hand continued stroking and squeezing his hard length, Brandon took her mouth again in one penetrating kiss. But not for long.
“You’re going to make me explode if you keeping doing that,” he said as he pulled out of her grasp. “So instead of me fucking your hand, how about I lie down and you get on top of me and ride me with that hot, tight pussy of yours?”
Her eyes flared, and he knew that’s exactly what she wanted to do. He lay down and watched as she pulled out a condom from the bedside table drawer. He drank in the sight of her nakedness, from her perfect breasts down to the dark V between her legs. He memorized the image, tucking it away in the back of his mind so he could call on it later if needed.
Shit. Even imagining himself imagining her as he stroked himself made his cock ache.
So when she finally sank down on him, he swore.
“Do
you want me to go nice and slow, or hard and fast?” she asked, her eyes playful and teasing.
“Baby, I think we both want you to do me hard and fast.”
She answered him by rising up then back down on him, over and over again. Her tempo picked up as he pushed into her deeper and deeper, and before long he watched her transform before his eyes. Her face darkened with the flush of desire, and beads of perspiration dotted her collarbone. And when she bit her bottom lip and threw back her head, he groaned. She looked so damn beautiful that he had to touch her and make sure all of this was real. Never in his life had a woman allowed herself to be with him like this. So free. So wild. He moved his hands up the side of her body and cupped and squeezed her breasts. She immediately grabbed onto his arms in order to use them for leverage and, God almighty, pounded him even harder.
“Yes, yes,” she moaned between labored breaths. “Oh God, yes.”
“That’s right, baby. I can feel your pussy already clenching my cock. Let go for me.”
“Brandon!” she screamed as her body convulsed on top of him.
The tremors triggered the beginning of his release, and he grabbed hold of her waist and bucked his hips. He held her still as he pumped into her two more times. Then he shattered into pieces, not caring how he’d ever become whole again.
Chapter Twelve
Brandon watched as the big hand of the wall clock finally landed squarely on top of the six. It was officially nine-thirty, and a full two hours since his mother had gone into surgery. He stood up from his seat in the hospital’s waiting room, unable to contain his anxiety any longer. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he stalked across the small room and approached the silver-haired lady sitting behind the desk.
“Excuse me, ma’am, but do you have any update on Lorena Montoya?”
Although she offered him a polite smile, he could see her annoyance before she turned away to look at her computer screen. He didn’t care if she was annoyed. Wasn’t it her job to inform families about the status of their loved ones? It wasn’t his fault the high-tech status-screen that usually showed the progress of a patient’s surgery, via an assigned number rather than name, was on the fritz today. Although even if it had been on, he’d still be standing there, asking for news.