The Dumbf*ck - Part Two of The DumbFuck Series: A Billionaire Bad Boy Humorous New Adult Romance (The DumbF*ck Part Two Book 2)

by Marie Stanley

  The entire day had gone smoothly, the weather was perfect and the completed film was impressive. Reluctantly she admitted that the farm was the perfect place to shoot, warm and inviting, yet upscale and sophisticated. The models formed a perfect little family, the woman cast as the mother was warm and funny, keeping them entertained with stories of things gone wrong on other shoots. Kevin, cast as the father was a well built and gorgeous man, Waverly caught him more than once checking her out, revealing a charming grin when caught red handed. With an engagingly open personality, she enjoyed chatting with him between shots. He proclaimed himself to be just a regular guy who taught drama at Chicago U, acting on the side allowing him to practice what he taught. Waverly was flattered by his attention, it was a much-needed boost for her bruised ego.

  All of them gathered in the big house for dinner, Kevin had cooked for them all a wonderful dinner of Pork Carnitas, sheepishly admitting that he was a practicing foodie. he proved his mastery with alcohol when he handed her a fabulous Lemon Drop. Relaxed and proud that she was adjusting so well to the memory filled location, she watched lazily as everyone called bedrooms for the night. There was no way in hell that Waverly was going to sleep in the house, there were too many too recent memories and she was holding an ace up her sleeve, she would be sleeping in the guest house. Benn seemed disturbed when she informed him of her decision, quickly offering his room. For most of the day she had been giving him the cold shoulder and her heart softened considerably at his generosity. He even offered to walk her over. Waverly appreciated it and his offer to walk her over but she had let know him she would be fine.

  Dropping her work bag onto the entry way floor of the guest house and she stood and gawked, it was as beautifully done as the main farmhouse. Shifting her travel bag over her shoulder, she peeked into the main room, also gorgeous. A few softly lit accent lights allowed the wood floors and the overhead wood beams to glow, the sofa and chairs in the main room were overstuffed and inviting. After the long day, a fabulous meal and the lemon drops, she was tempted to just curl up on the inviting sofa and crash there for the night, but she needed a really good nights sleep to be well prepared for the next day of shooting. Kicking off her shoes she padded silently down the hallway looking for the master bedroom, she entered the one with a low light emanating from a slightly opened door. She stopped walking. Her bag slid down her arm and thumped to the floor landing heavily on her toes. Her heart clenched, her eyes widened in shock, her stomach rolled, her mouth falling open in shock.

  The dumbfuck was back...again.

  She stared at him.

  He stared at her.

  She looked just as beautiful as he remembered

  She wanted to run to him,

  He had to stop himself from reaching out and pulling her to him.

  She wanted to run away.

  He was never letting her leave him again.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Why are you here?”

  “Because I knew you wouldn’t stay at the big house.”

  “No. Why are you here?”

  “Because you’re here.”

  “We’re finished remember?”

  “Didn’t you listen to me the last time we spoke. We’ll never be finished Hippie Girl”

  Walker was leaned up against the massive walnut headboard. Shirt off, jeans on, bare feet crossed at the ankle, laptop open, as if he didn’t have a care in the world, she thought. His skin was more tan than she remembered, and a light stubble covered his cheeks and jaw, but his eyes looked a bit muted now. His hair was longer, he always kept it so short, just a bit longer than military but it had suited him so well, his intense, no-nonsense, personality. It made him look younger, more like when she first met him. It occurred to her that she should have run far away from him when she first laid eyes on him and she should run far away from him now.

  Even though Benn had said he wouldn’t be there, she knew there was a chance that she would see him, she had tried to prepare for it, harden her heart even further. The shock of actually seeing him again was more powerful than her fears or worries, or even her daydreams of it. It seemed impossible for her to grab onto a thought or plan of action, she just stood there, unable to form any plan of action. She couldn’t think of what to do.

  It seemed that Walker was not as affected by seeing her again, he calmly shut his laptop, setting it aside, he gracefully, dropped his feet to the floor and started toward her. It had blurred in her mind, how athletic he was, that his every move was confident and smooth, his legs were powerful, his arms and chest muscular and defined. His jeans were well worn, faded and torn at the knee. Worn in other places too, places that she was trying not to remember or look at. Her mind wandered, his V was showing with his jeans hanging so low on his waist, how ironic, she thought fleetingly, men had a V that women adored, and women had a V that men adored.

  Standing motionless when he reached her, she panicked seeing him slowly bend down at her feet. Was he going to kneel and beg for forgiveness? No, not him, Walker would never humble himself, or beg for forgiveness, he was the all-powerful blue blood Walker Rike. In all likelihood, he was probably going to pull the area rug out from under her, literally. His entire body just inches from hers, he slowly straightened himself, standing before her, looking down at her, he slid the strap of her shoulder bag back up onto her arm.

  “You dropped your bag. Is your foot okay?”

  Not the voice, she wasn’t ready to hear his voice again.

  Just his closeness was already wreaking havoc on her body, should she lean forward and breathe him in or throw up on him. His scent, manly, outdoorsy and a little bit of musk drifted over her, thankfully her phone chirped startling her out of her reverie.

  “Benn said you wouldn’t be here for the shoot,” she whispered.

  “Benn was telling the truth. Shooting’s finished for the day, right?”

  He had outmaneuvered her. She recalled why she had referred to him as dumbfuck asshole.

  “So you waited until shooting was finished today? Why? Why would you do that?”

  “I’m going to be here every day after shooting has finished,” he stated softly, ignoring the why part.

  She blinked at him. Seeing him again brought it all back, everything she had managed to bury so deep. The pain of losing him, the humiliation. The intensity of her feelings for him. Walker was WestMat’s client, it was only a matter of time before she saw him again, she had accepted that, but in her mind, in her daydreams, she had gained the upper hand.

  “How many times do you want to hurt me?”

  Her voice shook, embarrassing her, her goal had been to sound strong and unaffected when she finally saw him again. This was not going according to plan.

  Stooping down he shifted to try and meet her eyes. She shifted her gaze away, she refused to look him in the eyes yet, it would be too much and she was barely holding her emotions in check already.

  “Look at me, Waverly.”

  His hands went to her shoulders and squeezed gently. Gathering her courage, she looked directly at him. It was too much, she could feel her eyes burning and the tears gathering.

  “I never want to hurt you again. I have things that I need to say, to tell you, explain to you.”

  Staring into his eyes, she noticed that the color was slightly deeper at the outer edges than in the middle, she heard what he was saying she just wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “Wave, please, I’m begging you.”

  His hands gripped her shoulders just a bit tighter, trying to force her attention back to his words. Was he begging her? In her idle plans of revenge and comeuppance, this was exactly what she had she had wished for, him reduced to begging - for her. Amazing.

  “I...I can’t do this,” pulling free from him she fled.

  Locking the guest room door behind her, she sat on the bed staring for twenty minutes. After texting Kate for moral support, she finally, she got up, washed her face, brushed her teeth, and locked the door. He w
as an uncompromising man, any time now she expected him to barge in and command her to forgive him.

  After finalizing her shoot schedule for the next day, she scrolled through her texts. She was embarrassed, acting like a spurned teenage girl, wasn’t proving to him that she had moved on. Although, away from the office and from anybody else was probably the best way to have had the encounter take place. It had happened, she had lived through it, it was done. Closure. She would finally be completely over him. After a good nights sleep, she would be able to handle tomorrow more smoothly and make him believe that he had absolutely no effect on her.

  Rolling over, Walker frowned, it was almost two in the morning and he still couldn’t fucking sleep. Lacing his hands together behind his head, he stared at the ceiling. The only thing he wanted in the world was twenty fucking feet away and he couldn’t have her. She’s was his and he couldn’t have her. He could admit it now, to her and to himself.

  Just seeing her standing there, it had taken a fuck ton of willpower not to throw his arms around her and shove his tongue down her throat. At least he felt like he could breathe easier now seeing for himself that she was healthy again. He couldn’t say if she was happy, definitely not happy to see him of course, but not wrecked and ruined like she was the last time he had seen her.

  It was one thing to win in business, to crush an opponent to gain something or make his point but witnessing the damage he had done to someone he cared a great deal for, was devastating. For a man who prided himself on his cool logical and rational decision making, it shocked him that he had acted so impetuously. He had set out to crush her and had succeeded beyond his wildest dreams. With one look at her lying in the hospital, broken and desolate, her vibrant spirit sedated he wanted to destroy himself on her behalf. Watching her walk into the bedroom tonight, all wavy golden hair and shocked gray eyes and he had felt a bit of vitality come back into his life.

  Then she fled to one of the guest rooms taking it with her. He sat up and crossed over to stand and stare out the window taking in the quiet darkness, the blinking stars lighting the night. Waverly wasn’t a woman whose reaction you could predict, it hadn’t gone as well as he wanted it to go but she also hadn’t thrown anything at him or run away. He had assumed that she wouldn’t leap into his arms and beg him for sex, of course, he wanted that, but he had come back knowing that it could be a very long road to win her back. He wondered if she was able to sleep, if she had tossed the blankets off and one long sexy leg was stuck out from under the covers. Maybe he had fucked it up beyond all repair, maybe she really was done with him, with Waverly he found he never really knew where he stood?

  The sound of a door softly closing got his attention. Dressed in only pajama pants he padded out to the hallway, past the first two guest rooms, he figured the room the furthest away from him would be the most appealing to her. The door was slightly ajar, so he tipped his head in...no Waverly. After searching the rest of the house...no Waverly. It was after two in the morning. Where in the fuck was she? Where the fuck could she go?

  A movement caught his eye, looking to the front windows he made his way to the front door. Thank God, she hadn’t left...yet.

  Situated on the white wicker porch swing, her long legs stretched out with her bare feet kicked up on the railing. She graced him with a brief smile as he stepped out onto the porch, not a sincere smile but a smile nonetheless and he damn happy to take whatever he could get. Walking out slowly, not wanting to send her running, he studied her, fucking figured, she had on the little booty shorts that she loved, and a plain white tank, although she had an old, oversized pink cardigan over it. He could see her breasts very clearly through the thin fabric. A few wavy pieces of hair had escaped from the messy knot on top of her head framing her face and neck, her face was scrubbed free from any makeup. She looked a lot like the naive young girl he met in the office years ago - sexy as hell.

  “Nice night,” she stated softly, without looking at him.

  “Do you mind?”

  He paused then settled himself into the other side of the swing

  He felt her stiffened at his approach.

  “Your house, your swing.”

  Walker stifled a grin, a flash of attitude from her was a good sign.

  “Thanks. Couldn’t sleep?”

  Reaching out and kicking his bare feet up on the railing next to hers, he eyed her toenails now painted a minty blue. Waverly was feminine through and through, he hadn’t grown up with a sister so the entire female population in many ways was a mystery to him. All of their products, their soaps, and makeup, in most women he found the excess and the clutter of it annoying, with Waverly he found it erotic and enticing.

  Refusing to look at him, she shook her head, there was a sense of calm about her now, and a little sadness as well, but at least less hostility. Hopefully, it boded well for him that she had arrived at some sort of peace with his presence. He figured he had, at least, this night. She might run, she just wasn’t going to run away quite yet.

  “Lot of stars,” she whispered, pulling her sweater tightly around her.

  “There’s Orion the Mighty Hunter.”

  He pointed at the sky, then continued, “It rises at mid-evening in late November and early December. Do you see it?”

  “I think so,” she murmured, looking with squinted eyes to where he had pointed.

  ”See the three medium sized bright stars in a short, straight, row that’s Orion’s Belt. The story goes that Orion, a great hunter fell in love with seven sisters. Chasing after them for twelve years. Zeus turned him and the sisters into stars. Orion has to chase the Pleiades forever, but will never catch them.”

  “Seven women, that’s your kind of guy. Where did you learn about that?”

  “Boy Scouts,” he answered, ignoring the insult, still looking up at the sky.

  Waverly snickered.

  “Your parents let you join Boy Scouts, let you hobnob with the common folk?”

  “Bill Gates was the den leader, although my parents weren’t at all happy with his democratic leaning.”

  “I’ll bet they were absolutely terrified to drop you off for the meetings.”

  He looked directly at her for the first time since he sat down next to her.

  “My parents never dropped me off for anything, Waverly. They never drove me to anything, attended a game, performance, or teachers night, that wasn’t their style of parenting.”

  “Let’s not get into a pissing contest over who had the worst childhood, Walker. You won’t win that one and I’ve seen first hand how you are when you lose”.

  “I’m sorry for hurting you,” he said in a soft voice.

  Her eyes teared up and it was obvious she was struggling not to give into them.

  “Look,” he sighed, reaching one arm behind her, leaning forward into her body.

  Waverly immediately tensed leaning away, then pushing her foot off of the railing to start the swing moving.

  “Can you please set aside your anger long enough for us to talk. Regardless of what you’ve been telling yourself, things aren’t settled between us. I realize that I used extremely poor judgment, but we can move past this.”

  “We, are not a we.”

  Waverly quickly pointed out. It was Walker’s turn to tense up, reaching his foot out he kicked the swing back into moving.

  “We were a we, Waverly. Nobody is capable of turning their feelings off that fast,” he argued.

  Holy fuck, now he was speaking as nonsensically as she was.

  Waverly snorted.

  “You must be capable. You engaged yourself to someone else three days after you told me that you wanted more than just sex,” she replied coldly, kicking her foot up to stop the swing.

  “I was so damn angry thinking that you had lied to me. That you didn’t feel for me what you said that you did, and, thinking that you were fu-, having sex with Benn. I know now, that I was wrong but then I... I’m not sure that I’m saying this right. I’m not good with
feelings,” Walker explained.

  “Oh come on now, you’re fabulous with anger. What about your fiancé, did she earn any of your anger or was it just me?”

  “Nothing can make up for what I did, Waverly. But, I didn’t have any feelings for her then, and I don’t have feelings for her now. It was just a really fucking stupid and petulant thing to do.”

  She sat there, still looking away from him as they swung back and forth, looking up at the stars, wrapping the sweater a little tighter around her.

  “Someone sent me a text, a photo of your engagement announcement. I never did find out who sent it to me, I was so shocked when I saw it...that I tripped. Right into oncoming traffic. My phone was ruined.”

  A few tears now rolled down her cheeks. Fuck. He was a dumbfuck asshole, it felt like he was being stabbed in the heart. Walker reached over settling his hand on top of hers...and she let him. It was a positive sign

  “I’m so sorry Waverly,” he brought her hand up and kissed it, “So sorry.”

  “I’m going to bed,” she stated standing abruptly and yanking her hand away from him.

  “Now?”

  “It’s after three in the morning and I have to work tomorrow,” she explained, looking back to him from the doorway. He looked at her like she was unbalanced.

  “Waverly, I want us to-,” he started, but she shook her head at him.

  “Don’t. Please. Okay? It’s over Walker. We can just be friends,” she stressed.

  “No. We won’t. No fucking way will I just be your friend,” Walker replied in a low voice.

  Back in her room she snatched up her phone and snuggled under the covers. There was a text from Walker.

  “But all I ever wanted was for you to look at me as if you were the night sky and I was your only star.”

  Poetry? She loved poetry. That motherfucker. She threw the phone across the room.