My heart sank as I stared at it for a few seconds. Talk about skeletons in the closet. My fingers curled around the handle of the closet and I pushed it shut.
My heart skipped a beat as I heard the shrill of a doorbell. Taking a deep breath, I double checked that the closet was closed; you know, just in case Dean was ringing his doorbell instead of just coming in or something stupid like that. I rolled my eyes at myself and headed for the door as quickly as I could. The outline of a woman was visible as I reached for the door and pulled it open.
She stared at me with wide eyes. I waited 20 seconds to see if she would say anything to me.
“Hi?” she finally said with a smile.
“Oh, um, hi. Is Dean able to come to the door?”
“I’m sorry; Dean’s not here at the moment.” My brow furrowed as jealousy nipped at me. “Are you a friend of his?”
“No,” she said quickly. “We’re not friends; I had some business to do with him.”
“Oh.” I nodded, not really believing her.
I gave the woman a good up and down. She had blonde hair and blue eyes, highest cheekbones and thick lips. She didn’t wear much makeup, but she didn’t need it to look pretty, she looked almost perfect in her simple leather jacket and a pair of jeans that fit her perfectly. I stared down at her Gucci boots and her Prada purse.
Well, she must be one of his “rich” friends. For a split second, I felt a lump form in my throat. Even if I did open my own business and do well enough, I’d probably never do well enough to afford half of what she was wearing.
“So, would you like me to take a message for you?” I cleared my throat before looking down at my cell phone. “He should only be gone a couple more hours.”
“It’s fine. I’m sure we will see each other sometime soon.” She smiled as she looked me over. “Are you, like, his maid or something?”
My eyes widened as I opened my mouth to say something very rude, but taking a deep breath, I changed my mind just in time. “Yea, or something.” I gave her a snide smile. “Well, have a good day.”
And without another word from her or myself, I closed the door. Well, more slammed it than anything else. Who the fuck was she?
Who did she think she was to call me the goddamn maid? I looked down at my clothes. Were they that bad? I thought I actually looked kinda cute today in my yoga pants and tank top, I mean, sure it was simple, but so what? It’s not like I was at work or something; I was just at my boyfriend’s making him dinner.
I froze as I realized what I’d just thought, and then swallowed dryly. My boyfriend. That is what Dean was, right?
I bit my lip. Yes.
We hadn’t come out and said it, but the relationship had moved fast.
Wait, who the fuck was that bitch? And what business did she have with my boyfriend? I frowned as I reached for my phone to text him and checked the time. He wouldn’t be gone that much longer; I’d just wait for him to get home, and then I’d tell him about that girl. Part of me wanted to see how he would react.
*
“So…” I poked at the beans with my fork. “How was your day?”
“It was long.” As he told me all about his day, I didn’t listen. I couldn’t stop thinking about the newspaper clippings I’d seen in that box. Why would he have those?
I swallowed dryly trying to get them out of my mind, but I couldn’t.
“How was your day, Rebecca?”
My own name snapped me back into reality.
“Oh … it was … it was good.” I forced a smile over my lips. “I … I just, well, I worked and didn’t really do anything. I tried to work on some marketing ideas for my business, but that’s about it.” Forcing a smile over my face, I tried not to be a damper on the day. “Oh … and some girl stopped by while I was making dinner.”
“What?” Dean perked right up as if it was something that scared him. Who would have thought that Dean would be scared of a girl? Maybe it’s not that he’s scared of her, maybe he’s scared of you meeting her.
No. That wasn’t like Dean, right? I nodded. “Yea, she wanted to see you … she said it was about business or something. Did you give a reporter your home address?”
“No. I wouldn’t have done that.”
“Maybe Melina did; she might know who it was. The girl, I don’t even remember if she gave me her name or not … she said she was here to talk to you, and when I said you weren’t home she just kinda left, saying she’d speak to you some other time then, but she didn’t want to leave a message with me.” I frowned, looking at him. “You have no clue who it could have been?”
As if he picked up on what I was implying, he stared at me blankly. “Really? Melina’s not enough of an issue? You have to add another girl in here?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Yea, well you didn’t have to. I know the look on your face.”
Anger simmered inside me. What made him think he had a right to talk to me like that? I was the one finding random news articles about women dying and then having random girls knock on his door and leave as soon as they saw me.
“Yes, ’cause this is all my fault.” I glared at him. He stared at me for thirty seconds before I opened my mouth again. “You know, I’m actually really nice about Melina. I like her, and I don’t actually think you’re fucking her.” Whether or not they had in the past, I wasn’t so sure about, but I wasn’t going to admit that. “But I’m not sorry if I don’t like random girls showing up at your door who I’ve never seen before. Of course it bothers me! You’re saying it wouldn’t bother you if there were random guys showing up at my door?” I shook my head. “You work all the fucking time. And I never know what you’re doing or who you’re doing it with because you always tell me not to stay. I put a lot of faith in you for only having known you a couple weeks, and I’m not sorry I’m questioning you because anyone in their right fucking mine would be. You’re saying you wouldn’t?”
I didn’t realize I hadn’t taken time to breathe until I stopped talking and inhaled deeply trying to refill my lungs.
Dean just stared at me. “What can I do to put your mind at ease?”
“You can tell me the truth.”
“The truth is that I have no clue who you’re talking about, and I’m kinda freaked out that you just told me some random girl showed up at my house and that she wanted to talk to me.”
I swallowed dryly trying to decide if I could believe him. It honestly seemed like he sounded truthful, but maybe he was just a really good liar.
“Have you and Melina ever had sex?”
Dean stared at me. “Really?”
“Yes.”
I needed to know if he was telling me the truth.
“No. But we’ve kissed before.” His cheeks flushed. “A long time ago.”
“Alright.” I took a bite of my dinner to avoid talking as I processed everything he’d said. If he didn’t actually know about the girl showing up, and he didn’t actually know who she was, should we be worried? “Should we go to the cops?”
“I was thinking something a little different. A private detective.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Alright. Why?”
“Because, I don’t like cops, and the information gets tossed all around. We don’t know who this girl is or what she’s been told, or what she’s after for that matter. She could be a stalker, or she could be something else.”
What kind of shit does he think is after him? I took another bite of food, so I didn’t have to say anything.
Dean looked at me; for a split second, I had all his attention. “Are we okay?”
I swallowed mulling it over. “I don’t know, are we?”
“I want us to be, but if there is something we need to work through …”
“Well, one of these days you’re going to have to open up to me.”
“I will, and eventually, you will know all my deep, dark secrets.” He smiled with his lips, but it wasn’t there in his eyes.
We finished
our dinner mostly in silence, though it wasn’t strained, and when we did speak it wasn’t bad. I thought of what we’d talked about, not sure of whether I believed him, but I really wanted to, so I decided I’d give him a shot.
I smiled as I grabbed both our empty bowls and stood, crossing over to the sink. “So, do you have any work to get done tonight?”
“No, I’m all yours tonight. Do you want to sleep over?” I turned to see him grinning at me.
My heart skipped a beat, and for a split second, I forgot all those reasons I was mad at him a little while ago. I bit the inside of my cheek, mulling it over.
“I guess I could stay the night.” I smiled, stepping towards him. Was there a way you wanted to spend the night?”
“I had a couple ideas.”
“Really?”
“Would you rather I fuck you in the shower? Or I take you to the bedroom and tease you until you’re begging to have my cock inside you?”
My heart raced as arousal ran down my spine, pooling in the pit of my stomach. “Why don’t we start in the shower and see where it goes.” It wasn’t really a question, and Dean didn’t have an answer for me.
We both rushed for the bathroom. Dean was naked before me, so as he got the water ready, I slipped out of the last of my clothing before joining him in the shower. My fingers ran over every inch of hard muscle that was in his chest, lower and lower over his abs and to his cock, which was getting hard.
I grinned, my fingers wrapping around it. Dean inhaled deeply as he reached out, his fingers brushing over the curves of my body and slipping between my legs. I bit back a moan as the water poured over us, wetting my body and hair. Letting go of his cock, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss.
His arms wrapped around my hips, drawing me closer to him as I closed my eyes to keep the water out of them, our kiss deepening. My teeth grazed his lower lip, and Dean moaned softly.
Dean’s hands slipped down to my butt, cupping it gently as his fingers dug into my skin. He pulled away for a fraction of a second. “Just for the record, you’re not … into that are you?” He sounded nervous.
It took me a couple seconds to realize what he meant before I laughed softly. “Never tried it honestly, never felt the need to.”
“Good.” Without another word, he pulled me back into a kiss, his teeth grazing my lower lip gently before his lips trailed along my jawline and towards my neck. I moaned as he nipped gently at my neck, covering every inch of skin he could get to in kisses and soft nips.
I rolled over the next morning and opened my eyes. Looking around, my brow furrowed. Where was he? I chewed my lip, knowing the answer to that. He wasn’t here. He wasn’t even home, was he? I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. That kind of hurt you get when you feel like someone’s just let you down, and you don’t think you’ll ever be able to get over it, and then you start to question if you’re crazy or if you’re not good enough—yea, that kind of hurt.
Quit being a drama queen, I thought, sitting up and slipping out from under the covers. The windows were open, and a cool breeze blew through them. I reached for my pants and slipped them on, then grabbed my bra and slipped into it as I made my way into the kitchen. A note on the fridge was the first thing to catch my eyes because it had my name on it.
Rebecca,
Sorry, I couldn’t stay longer, and you looked so beautiful sleeping, I didn’t want to wake you. Will see you later. Hope you slept well, even without me around.
Dean.
I pulled the letter from the fridge and stared at it, feeling a little bad for being mad when I woke up. I knew that being at work was probably the last thing he actually wanted to do right now, but I still couldn’t help feeling a little hurt he hadn’t even woke me up to say goodbye.
Biting my lip, I padded over to my purse, pulling my phone out of my pocket as my mind raced. I took a deep breath, mulling it over. I hadn’t called in sick for work in the past eight years, and I was honestly feeling fine, but I wasn’t sure I was ready to face anyone there, including Dean, to be honest. Last night we’d gone to bed happy, but this morning, I woke up and not having him there … it was just harder than I’d expected it to be. I had research to do today because I damn well wasn’t going to sit around and wait for him to tell me who this girl was. Since starting work, I hadn’t gotten much time to myself. It was either seeing Dean after work or at the weekends, or I was with Katie, and if I was with Katie it normally meant I was working on hot chocolate related stuff, which was all fine, but I couldn’t remember the last time I actually just sat down and did something nice for myself, or had a hot bubble bath or binge watched movies without pants on.
I smirked as I unlocked my screen and pulled up the work number.
It rang twice before someone answered. I recognized the voice right away; it was Melina.
“Hi Melina, it’s Rebecca.”
“Becca!” I hadn’t realized we were on nickname basis. It took me back a little. “What’s up? Why are you calling? Is everything okay? Oh, you’d better speak quickly, Dean looks worried.”
“Everything’s fine. I’m fine. I’m just not feeling the best, and I don’t want to risk getting anyone sick before this weekend. So I think I’m going to stay home, alright?”
“Ohhh, no, I hope you feel better.”
“Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I hung up without another word for fear of actually having to talk about what was wrong. Melina had a way of seeing through everyone and seeing what they didn’t want her to see.
*
Melina turned to me. “What did you do?”
With her hands placed on her hips and that glare on her face, she looked kinda scary. And knowing her, I knew I didn’t want to piss her off even more than she already was. I chose my words carefully.
“W-what do you mean?”
Okay, I should have been a little more careful, but I had to figure out why she was mad at me before I could be sorry for it—right?
“You did something.” She shook her head at me. “I have no clue what, but it was obviously enough to upset Becca enough that she’s decided she doesn’t want to be around you. What was the last thing you did to her?” Her eyes narrowed.
“I um …” My cheeks flushed. “Nothing she hasn’t enjoyed in the past.”
“Gross,” but a smile touched her lips. “Now, assuming you’re not that bad in bed, why else could she be mad at you?”
“I … I don’t know. I left her a note instead of waking her up. Do girls get mad about that kind of thing?” I had no clue, since Jessica, I hadn’t really had much experience with girls, and we’d been together for so long that I’d just learned what she liked. She would have wanted me to leave her a note.
My heart sank the moment I thought it. Not because it brought up the past, but because I didn’t want to compare Rebecca to Jessica.
“What did you do?” Melina’s voice was much softer this time.
“I …” I shook my head. “No, it wasn’t what I did. It’s what I’m doing now that had me thinking.” It was scary how well she could read me. “I don’t know what I did last night …” I trailed off thinking about the night before. “It wasn’t me.” Everything clicked in. “I mean, it was kinda, but it’s not.”
I rushed over to my office knowing she’d followed me in, but I didn’t turn to face her until I heard the door close. “When Becca was there last night, alone, someone came by. A woman.”
“Why was there a woman at your house?”
“I have no clue. She told Becca that she had business with me.” I crossed over to my computer. “And … I’ve been getting emails from Keith.”
“What?” Melina snapped. “And you didn’t think you should mention that to me?”
“I just figured he found my email.” I shrugged. “More of the same threats that he sent before.”
“We need to do something about this?”
“And what do you suggest we do about it?” I raised an eyebrow. There i
s nothing there that cops could do, and we already knew that.
Melina blew out a deep breath. “Great, just fucking great.” She paced for a couple seconds then turned to me. “Do you think she was actually working with him?”
“I have no clue what to think.” I shrugged. I wish I had an answer.
“If she is, Becca just became a target.”
“I’ll check in on her tonight.”
“And keep her with you as much as you can.”
“I will.”
“I’ll have to tell Jake everything; you understand that, right?”
“I was actually hoping Jake might be able to help … maybe with his line of work … he knows someone?”
“I’ll ask.”
She padded over to me and pulled me into a hug. “We’re going to sort this out.”
“Thanks, I sure hope we do.”
“We will.” It sounded like a promise, but I wasn’t sure it was one she could keep.
Chapter Three
I’d decided to do a little shopping. Of course, with the kind of budget I was on, it wasn’t at any special stores, actually, it was at a thrift store, but I was okay with that. I’d scored a couple super cute dresses, and it had all been under $50. So really, how could a girl complain about that? Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I dropped down onto the couch and stared at the screen. Dean had texted a couple times just to see how I was doing. I hadn’t replied, so maybe he thought I was sleeping or something. I flipped through my contacts until I found the one I was looking for and hit the call button.
It took three rings for my mum to answer.
“Hello?”
“Hey Mom, how’s it going?”
“Alright, you?”
“Fine.” I wasn’t sure why I’d decided to call her, but it just seemed like the right thing to do. “I just got back from doing some shopping. I found a cat for your collection.” My mom had over 500 clay cats. It was a stupid collection, and one I hated growing up, but it made her happy, so really I couldn’t hate it that much, even if it had taken over my old room now that I’d moved out.
The Billionaire's Casino - The Complete Collection: Billionaire Romance Box Set Page 9