Sugar and Sin Bundle

by Stacey Joy Netzel

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘Not as sorry as you’re going to be.’

  Fluid dripped from his chin. ‘Be a pal, Rosie, get me some ice.’

  She gazed at his blood soaked shirt, the drips at his feet.

  And the little witch merely shrugged as she opened the door.

  ‘Get it yourself,’ she told him before she walked out.

  The door banged behind her like a gunshot.

  Chapter Fourteen

  ‘I cannot believe Rosie has such a great right hook.’

  Handing Alexander an ice pack Nico decided he was going to enjoy this and made himself comfortable on the couch.

  ‘What happened?’

  The swelling on Alexander’s jaw looked painful.

  His bottom lip was twice it’s normal size.

  ‘I put her over my knee.’

  Whatever Nico had been expecting, it certainly wasn’t this.

  He simply stared at the colour searing Alexander’s high cheekbones, recalling the odd occasion in the past when he’d wondered if Rosie and Alexander’s relationship was more complex than it appeared.

  ‘Why?’

  Alexander licked his top lip and took a breath.

  ‘I’m not having her sneaking strange men into her bed in the middle of the night. And I thought she’d banged Josh in my house.’

  ‘Okay. Why would the fact she might have sexual relations with a man or with Josh bother you?’

  Sending him a searing look that said more than words, Nico realised his friend was suffering from something that looked suspiciously like jealousy.

  ‘Of course it fucking bothers me. I look out for her. I care about her.’

  Rosie and Alexander had bickered for as long as Nico had known them, but underneath it he’d felt a deep affection within Rosie for Alexander and vice versa. Certainly Bronte had never, not once, intimated that either harboured romantic feelings for the other. And if anyone would know it was his wife.

  ‘So you got physical with her?’

  This behaviour was so unlike his friend that Nico ran his hand through his hair. And who the hell was he to judge? There had been a time when he’d been physical with Bronte. Cristo, what was it about these women that drove a man crazy?

  Dabbing his lip Alexander winced, inspecting the fresh blot of blood on the towel before responding,

  ‘When I arrived at the house, they were all over each other. He had his hands on her. His tongue was tickling her fucking tonsils. Then he handed her her panties. I lost it.’

  ‘Madre de Dio! You have certainly lost something,’ Nico told him seriously.

  Alexander groaned.

  ‘The thing is I got it wrong. She’d been out hiking with Bronte and took off her thong because it was uncomfortable. The bastard had whipped her underwear out of her back pocket. They were messing around. Fuck it!’

  ‘And so she hit you?’

  Alexander’s eyes met his and Nico read a deep sorrow.

  ‘Yeah, after I’d put her over my knee.’

  He still didn’t have the big picture.

  ‘Why did you put her over your knee?’

  Alexander’s eyes went dark as he growled,

  ‘She got me right in the nuts.’

  ‘Why?’

  Now his friend squirmed in a way that made Nico raise his brows. This was interesting. Alexander Ludlow never squirmed.

  ‘I kissed her,’ he admitted in a low voice filled to the brim with self loathing.

  ‘At the risk of repeating myself, why?’

  Eyes exactly the same colour as his wife’s stared into his.

  ‘Because she’s mine.’

  Nico’s brows rose.

  She was? Since when?

  ‘And when did this epiphany hit you?’

  ‘Last night,’ Alexander growled and his eyes went dark and brooding. ‘Although to be honest it’s been building for months, probably years. You should have heard the things she was saying about me to Josh last night.’ His eyes went wide before he closed them. ‘Christ, listen to me, I sound pitiful. Then today she was giving me her usual smart mouth. I told her I had strong feelings for her and she blew me off. She pissed me off so much I just grabbed her.’

  Nico bit down hard on his bottom lip as reality smacked him.

  Oh boy.

  By the look of bitter regret and misery on his face, Alexander was madly in love with Rosie Gordon.

  Sympathy for his friend made his voice soft.

  ‘Did she kiss you back?’

  Now Alexander slumped in the chair, shook his head and threw him a dark look.

  ‘When did you turn into Dr. Nico?’ Then he dabbed his lip, heaved a sigh. ‘At first I thought she did. But...’

  Nico didn’t need the man to draw him a picture. He knew what it was like to lose control of himself with Bronte.

  ‘What are you going to do?’

  ‘Apologise.’ He dabbed his lip before growling, ‘Again.’

  ‘My friend, you are going to need to do more than that. And you are running out of time.’

  Now Alexander blinked and sat up.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Rosie resigned from Sweet Sensations yesterday. She is going to Cyprus to spend time with her parents before taking a job in New York.’

  His wife was worried about her friend and so was he. Who’d have thought Alexander had deep feelings for Rosie? And in the middle of it he’d given Josh the green light to get to know Rosie better.

  Alexander had gone too pale.

  ‘I’ve messed up.’

  At the horrified tone, Nico decided his best friend needed all the help he could get.

  ‘What made you think you could just walk up to Rosie and tell her you had feelings, grab her and kiss her, without going through the preliminaries?’

  At Alexander’s dazed look, Nico shook his head and continued,

  ‘How would you normally behave with a woman you are attracted to? Just because you have known her your whole life does not mean you do not treat her well.’

  Alexander rose to pace to the window and back again as he pressed the ice to his jaw.

  ‘She is attracted to me. She just doesn’t want to admit it.’

  Cristo, this just got better and better.

  ‘You should hear yourself. Unless Rosie makes it clear she wants you, getting physical with her will not work.’

  Alexander simply shook his head.

  ‘She’s using Josh. I know it and...’

  The door to the office burst open and a blisteringly angry Joshua Erichsen stormed in.

  Nico nearly groaned out loud.

  Josh banged the door closed and stalked over to Alexander.

  Hands fisted at his sides he went nose to nose.

  ‘What did you do to her?’

  Looking like a man who’d reached the end of his tether, Alexander tossed the ice pack.

  Nostrils flaring, their eyes clashed.

  ‘What’s between me and Rosie is none of your fucking business.’

  Josh rapped Alexander on the shoulder with the back of his knuckles and showed his teeth.

  ‘That’s just where you’re wrong, asshole. Rosie’s made it my business by confiding in me. We’re at the beginning of a mutually rewarding relationship.’

  Nico rose as Alexander made some sort of growl low in his throat.

  If fists started flying he wanted to make sure he was in a position to put a stop to it.

  ‘Yeah? Well, you should ask her about Simon. And by her response to me this evening she’s a woman who doesn’t know what she wants.’

  Josh merely narrowed his eyes into slits.

  ‘Who the hell is Simon?’

  ‘Apparently the guy she’s been sneaking into her bed at night.’

  Now Josh looked at him as if he’d lost his mind and Alexander couldn’t blame him.

  ‘Bullshit. Rosie’s been in a dry spell for years.’

  Alexander shook his head.

&
nbsp; ‘That’s not what I’m hearing from my sister.’

  Josh blinked. ‘When did Bronte tell you this?’

  ‘This morning. And Rosie’s resigned from Sweet Sensations. She admitted she was hurting. I’m betting it’s all because of this asshole called Simon.’

  By the tic in the muscle of his cheek, Nico got the distinct impression Josh was trying very hard not to laugh, but he appeared to recover enough to give Alexander a little shove.

  ‘From what I could work out through choked tears, you forced yourself on her. When she fought back, you spanked her.’

  Alexander’s face was bone white as he stared in utter horror at Josh.

  He dropped into a chair.

  ‘I didn’t force myself on her. I didn’t spank her. She’s crying?’

  His voice was no more than a whisper as he pressed his fingertips into his eyelids.

  Josh slanted a look at Nico.

  And Nico read an unholy glee in his eyes before Josh gave him a quick wink.

  What The Fuck?

  ‘I could do with a drink,’ Josh said as he took the chair opposite Alexander.

  Confused but not willing to admit it, Nico went to the built in fridge, scooped three beers, popped the lids and passed them around. It looked as if the main threat to Alexander’s life had passed. But he kept a close eye on Josh who never took his gaze from Alexander for a single second.

  Looking all relaxed Josh placed a dusty boot on his knee.

  ‘So, in the absence of her father, I want to know what your intentions are towards Rosie?’ he said before he took a suck on his beer.

  Alexander winced as he tried to take a sip through his split lip.

  ‘You’re fucking hilarious.’

  ‘She do that to that ugly face?’

  ‘She did,’ Nico told him in a slow drawl.

  Josh puffed up his chest. ‘That’s my girl,’ he said with deep pride.

  ‘You don’t know her the way I do.’

  In response to Alexander, Josh tipped his beer.

  ‘Actually, your wrong about that. I’ve come to the conclusion the pair of you need to be locked room in for a week and actually fucking talk to each other. I’ve never met two people more disconnected from their feelings in my entire life.’

  ‘Does that mean you’re backing off?’ Alexander wanted to know in a too soft voice.

  ‘Nope. It means that while I have no romantic feelings for Rosie and she doesn’t have any for me, we’ve decided to be fuck buddies.’

  Nico inhaled his beer.

  Cristo!

  Eyes watering, he groped for a tissue.

  With exquisite care Alexander placed his beer on a coffee table and rose.

  ‘Outside,’ he hissed.

  Josh simply sat where he was. ‘Nope.’

  Alexander bent down, fisted Josh’s shirt and dragged him up.

  ‘You listen to me, you piece of shit. You do not disrespect her like that. Lay a single finger on her and I will make it my mission in life to make sure you never, ever father children.’

  Nico stood and made ready to intervene.

  Josh stared down at the hand gripping his shirt.

  ‘Funnily enough we were talking about having a child. Her biological clock is ticking. Careful with the threads, that’s a Ralph Lauren.’ Then his eyes met Alexander’s dead on. ‘The person you should be speaking to is Rosie. I’m only offering to give her what she wants.’

  ‘Have you fucked her?’ The way Alexander snarled had Nico step closer.

  Again Josh stared at the fist holding his shirt before his eyes met Alexander’s.

  ‘Nope. But we have plans.’

  Alexander pushed him back into the chair.

  He went for his car keys and strode to the door.

  ‘Alexander.’

  Nico’s voice stopped him in his tracks and he turned back.

  The dark look of outraged fury in his eyes had Nico bite down hard on his bottom lip.

  ‘Say nothing about this to Bronte until I sort it out. Too many people are already interfering between me and Rosie.’ His eyes slid to Josh who was grinning like a fool. ‘A spanking will be least of her fucking problems.’

  With that he left.

  Nico sat and took a deep drink of his beer before he met Josh’s eyes which were dancing with sheer wickedness.

  ‘I had no idea they had feelings for each other,’ Nico said by way of an apology.

  Josh just shook his head.

  ‘No worries. It’s the best laugh I’ve had for months.’

  Nico heaved a great sigh.

  ‘Bronte is going to kill me.’

  ‘Yeah? But what a way to go.’

  Chapter Fifteen

  After pleading the headache from hell due to the heat as an excuse to cancel her dinner with Bronte, Rosie dropped her cell phone on the sofa.

  At least that part of her excuse to Bronte wasn’t a lie. Her head was splitting. And now she sat with it in her hands.

  She hated lying to Bronte.

  But she wasn’t up to explaining the awful mess she’d made of her life with her best friend until she’d sorted it out in her own mind.

  Josh had phoned to make sure she was okay. And that mortified her too. What on earth had she been thinking telling him what had happened between her and Alexander?

  But Josh had been so kind and sympathetic and everything had just poured out of her big mouth.

  Her head jerked up at the hammer of a fist on her door.

  Checking the peep hole, the harsh face of Alexander stared back at her. Since her car was in the drive he knew perfectly well she was there so there was no point in indulging in the overwhelming urge to crawl on her belly under her bed.

  He’d probably come to grovel.

  She opened the door.

  Alexander’s lip was a bruised and bloodied mess and Rosie couldn’t find it in her heart to be sorry.

  She held the door wide and accepted his peace offering, a bottle of chilled Italian white wine, her favourite Frascati.

  He’d showered, changed into ancient blue jeans, a tight black T-shirt with short sleeves that displayed his wide shoulders and narrow waist. His usually immaculate hair was damp and curling at the ends. As ever he looked too damned attractive for his own good.

  Head held high, Rosie closed the door and breezed past him into her open plan kitchen to open the wine.

  Walking behind her Alexander couldn’t help noticing how cute she looked in white jeans that hugged her beautiful ass and black vest which showcased her tan.

  A heavy riot of glossy curls bounced low on her back.

  One look at her face told him she was on edge and he hadn’t missed how her hand shook when she’d taken the bottle of wine.

  He ordered himself to wind his neck in and not demand to know what the hell she was thinking talking to Josh about being fuck buddies and babies.

  Neither event was going to happen.

  No way. Nope. Never.

  He followed her into the sitting room and moved to sit on one of her low couches of black velvet.

  Rosie placed the open bottle of wine, two goblets on the large glass coffee table.

  He stood, waiting for her to sit first.

  But she moved to the window and stared out at the garden with her back to him.

  Well, what the hell did he expect?

  He cleared his throat as he swallowed a huge lump of pride.

  ‘I’m deeply sorry I hurt you. I have no excuse for it.’

  After an eternal moment, she turned to look at him and folded her arms tight across her breasts.

  She looked gorgeous.

  ‘Is it painful?’

  ‘Agony.’

  ‘Good. I’m delighted to hear it. Have a seat. What I have to say might take some time.’

  He sat.

  She placed her hands on the back of a couch and leaned over.

  Those dark chocolate eyes impaled his and what he read there made his cheeks burn.

>   ‘I don’t know where you got the idea that what happens in my life is your business.’

  He took a breath. ‘I ...’

  ‘I’m not finished. I suppose this was bound to happen sooner or later. You’ve never really seen me have you, Alexander? You see me as some sort of weird extension to your sphere of influence. I am not your responsibility. I don’t belong to you. I don’t need your permission to have sex. I don’t need your permission to live my life the way I see fit.’

  ‘I’m...’

  Her eyes flashed.

  ‘Shut up! You need to back off. Stay away from Sweet Sensations.’

  ‘Bu...’

  ‘No buts. Have I made myself clear?’

  It killed him the way she spoke to him, the way she looked at him.

  ‘I care for you, Rosie. We do have a relationship.’

  Colour flashed into her cheeks, then leaked away leaving her too pale.

  ‘I don’t want to have a relationship with you.’

  She moved to pour the wine.

  ‘Rosie?’

  Pausing, she lifted her head to look at him, those dark eyes stared into his.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Please forgive me?’

  Her lips twitched in a way that had him release the breath he didn’t realise he’d been holding.

  Rosie was absolutely useless at holding a grudge, always had been.

  ‘I’ll think about it.’

  Handing him a glass, she took her own, sat opposite and took a sip.

  ‘Very nice. Thanks,’ she said.

  He placed his glass on the table.

  The rift between them felt as deep and wide as the Atlantic Ocean.

  Rosie grabbed a big cushion of red silk and gave it a hug.

  ‘I shouldn’t have said those things about you last night. My only excuse is that I’d had a bad day and was taking it out on you. I’m sorry.’

  He still couldn’t work out what he’d done to make her so angry with him in the first place.

  ‘What have I done to make you hate me?’

  Shit.

  I don’t hate you,’ Rosie whispered.

  He cleared his throat.

  ‘The way you spoke about me to Josh, at the very least you don’t like me. What did I do?’

  Bugger.

  ‘It’s not you, Alexander. It’s me.’

  By the narrowing of those green eyes, he wasn’t buying that pathetic line and who could blame him?