Naughty

by Arabella Quinn

  “Do you know how fucked up that is, Marissa? I don't understand. Why? You know, I don’t make that much money. Is this all about money? Why the fuck are you doing this?” Nick’s head was spinning from too much alcohol and trying to make sense of the crazy bitch standing before him. He finished his drink in one gulp as she continued.

  “You’d be like a stepping-stone for me, Nick. It’d help me move on to bigger and better. And, despite what you think, I do have feelings for you. I could keep you damn satisfied as your wife, if you’d just loosen up a bit. It doesn’t really matter why I want this; just that I do. So, you either agree to the plan or I’m going to make the very x-rated video, public. And I want your answer tonight, so I can start planning our engagement party.”

  Nick watched her walking away, smiling at friends and stopping to talk with a few others. He looked down at his empty glass. Was this really happening?

  He must have put away three more drinks by the time Lena approached him. “Congratulations, Nick. I just heard the good news.”

  Nick frowned. “Good news? I could use some good news. My life’s going to hell right now.”

  Lena looked confused. “I’m talking about your engagement. Marissa told us. She said you weren’t going to make it public until your engagement party, but that she could tell us. Why do you look so miserable?”

  Nick felt panic thrumming through his veins. “I gotta get out of here.” He started weaving his way towards the exit. He reached the cold fresh air of the parking lot before Lena caught up to him.

  She reached out and grabbed his arm. “Nick, what’s going on? Commitment can be a scary thing, but if you love Marissa, it’ll all work out.”

  Nick felt his world spinning out of control. “I don’t love Marissa. I never have. Everything’s just falling apart.”

  Lena stopped him as he was about to walk away again. “Then why did she tell us you were engaged? And, if you don’t love her, why have you been seeing her for so long?”

  Nick sighed. “It’s complicated, Lena.”

  She wouldn’t let go of his arm. “I don’t understand. You’ve never seemed that into Marissa and she’s definitely been cheating on you. It’s been pretty obvious. I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you didn’t know. Alex thought she must be good in bed- that’s why you kept her around. But, this engagement, it doesn’t make sense. You need to break it off with her now if you don’t love her.”

  Nick noticed that Lena was shivering without a coat on as a cold winter wind blew past them. “It’s not that easy, Lena. Thanks for looking out for me, but I’ll work it out. Go back inside before you freeze to death out here.”

  Lena wouldn’t give up. “I’m worried about you. Alex is worried about you. Something’s not right. I’m not giving up until you tell me what’s going on.”

  Nick fished his car keys out of his pocket. “There’s nothing you can do anyway. Look, I need to get out of here. I’m heading home.”

  Lena plucked the keys out of his hand. “No way. I’ll drive you home. I’ll text Alex and he’ll pick me up at your place. Don’t argue, Nick. You’ve had way too many to drive.”

  Twenty minutes later, Lena had wrangled most of the story from him. The only missing piece that Nick wouldn’t reveal was who this mysterious woman was that he was protecting. That he obviously loved so much.

  ***

  Lena plopped down on the couch. "So he's determined to go through with it?"

  "I did all that I could do. I've been nagging him so much, he doesn't even want to talk to me anymore, and I don't blame him." Alex grabbed two beers from the refrigerator.

  He was heading off on tour again in a few days and he didn't want to spend his remaining time with Lena discussing Nick's love life. He had much more interesting things planned for them.

  Lena accepted the beer from him. "There's got to be somebody who can talk him out of this. Someone he'll listen to."

  Alex sighed and sat down next to her. "I think it's time we butt out of his business. Anyway, he wouldn't be the first person to make a big mistake in getting married."

  Lena looked annoyed. "But, he's being blackmailed into marrying her. He doesn't even love Marissa. I think he's in love with this woman from the sex tape - the way he was talking about her and since he's willing to sacrifice so much to protect her. Who could she be?"

  "I can't even think of any women Nick has been with more than once. Except Marissa, of course." Alex sipped on his beer patiently. He knew Lena wouldn't give up until she exhausted every avenue she could think of.

  Lena was still thinking. "Who might know this woman? Would Tyler or Tommy know who she is?"

  Alex shook his head. "I think Nick has kept this pretty quiet from all of us. Trust me, it can get pretty annoying when the guys find out you're serious about a woman."

  Lena took a sip of her beer. "What about Allie? I wonder if she knows.” Alex could see the wheels spinning in her head. She nodded to herself. “It's worth a try. I'm going to call Allie. They're pretty close. Maybe Nick will listen to her."

  Alex grabbed her hand as she jumped up to get her phone. "Hold on. Would Nick want her to know all of this? Are you really going to tell her about her brother starring in a sex tape?"

  Lena rolled her eyes. "She might be able to help us. She's not a child. I think she could handle it."

  "She's a pretty innocent kid, Lena." Alex let go of her hand. He knew he was already beaten.

  Lena snatched her phone off the table. "She's hung out with the band enough. She knows that he has sex with women. Jeez, Alex. It's our only chance. I think I have her number. Yes, got it!"

  ***

  Back in November, I had turned tail and run. I tried to escape the heartbreak, tried to outrun the humiliation and misery. There was really no hiding. It had all caught up to me and had come crashing down on me in Philadelphia, the moment I stopped to take a breath.

  Leaving Texas had been a good idea. There wasn't enough distance that I could put between Nick and myself. Even the state of Texas wasn't big enough. When I had fled without even seeing my mother, she had texted me a simple message.

  Which one was it?

  Mom was the only one who knew. It was too humiliating to admit even to myself that I had gotten burned by someone I trusted so blindly. Nearly four months later, the pain had lessened slightly, but it was replaced by a bitter anger. When I wasn't pining away for Nick, I was furious with him. At times, I hated him. He had stolen more from me than even Rob ever did. He had taken my virginity, but worse than that, he had robbed me of all trust. Now, I didn't trust any man's intentions.

  I had moved on with my life valiantly, dating men and even having sex. I had sex with three men in my four months since Nick. I would move on to the sexual stage of a relationship after three dates or so, desperate to recapture what I'd felt with Nick.

  And the men had all struck out, some sooner than others. Where Nick had been able to give me toe-curling orgasms within minutes, others, while I admired their stamina, could not give me orgasms at all. Sex was just a mildly pleasant activity, not a deeper connection. It seemed no man could match up to Nick for me.

  Nick may have given me my first lesson in sex, but he also had given me my first lessons in love and heartbreak. Hopefully, I would eventually recover from his lessons.

  I quit staring off into space and finished applying my makeup. Tonight would be my fourth date with Greg. He was a sweet, but slightly nerdy, computer guy. I had my fingers crossed that he would be more skillful in bed, because this could be the night. Hopefully, at least, he was more attentive to a woman's needs. Or maybe, the problem actually rested squarely on my shoulders.

  I was trying to decide on which shoes to wear, when my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and it took a few moments to register who was calling. Why would Alex's girlfriend be calling me?

  Tentatively, I answered. "Hello?"

  She spoke so quickly, I could barely keep up with her. "Hi, Allie. This is Lena. Alex's
girlfriend? I'm glad I got ahold of you. I wanted to talk to you about Nick. He's about to make a terrible mistake and Alex and I have tried to stop him, but he won't listen."

  She stopped for a breath giving my stomach a moment to settle. Confused, I prompted her to continue. "What's going on with Nick?"

  Lena asked, "Did you know that he's about to get engaged?"

  It felt like a vise had grabbed my heart and started squeezing it. A soft wheeze escaped my throat as I tried to breath.

  "Allie?

  I sunk to my knees on the floor, not even managing to make it to my bed just steps away. I managed to choke out, "No. I didn't know."

  Lena was speaking to someone in the background, giving me a few moments to compose myself. So this was it. Now I'd somehow have to endure Nick being married. A wedding. A sister-in-law. Each thought felt like a new wound slicing through me.

  Lena came back on the phone. "I feel really bad about butting into Nick's business, but I just don't think it's right. Not when he doesn't love her. Marissa's just a cold-hearted bitch."

  I barely felt like listening anymore. I just wanted to crawl under my covers and nurse my wounds. "It must be what he wants. Why would he marry her if he didn't love her?"

  Lena inhaled. "No! He doesn't want to. It turns out that Marissa is blackmailing him into marrying her - for two years and then she'll supposedly release him. I forced the story out of Nick when he was drunk and depressed the other night. He doesn't want anyone to know though."

  Marissa was blackmailing him? How could she force him to cooperate? It didn't seem logical. "What? That sounds ridiculous. Nick would never allow himself to be forced into marriage. What could she possibly blackmail him with? Are you sure he wasn't just being melodramatic because Marissa snared him up in her plans and now he has cold feet?"

  Lena sighed. "I couldn't believe it at first either. But he's apparently protecting another woman. I don’t know who it is, but he must really love her. I thought maybe you would know who she is. Or that maybe you could talk him out of getting engaged."

  My heart started beating quickly as my brain, sluggish with shock, started to function again. "What is he being blackmailed with?"

  Lena paused for a moment, clearly reluctant to tell me. "A sex video. Apparently Marissa snuck into his apartment and took a video of him having sex with this other woman. Alex thinks Nick should just ride it out - that the video wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but Nick is adamant about not hurting the other woman. She doesn't even know about the tape, and he had to break it off with her when Marissa produced it."

  I flashed back to our last night together. Marissa acting so strangely when we talked at the bar before Nick and I left. The next morning when Nick left breakfast to break up with Marissa. The awful phone call from him an hour later.

  Could I be the other woman? Was Nick about to get married as some misguided attempt to protect me?

  My voice sounded shaky. "Lena, I think I might know who the other woman is." Hope and horror were descending on me at the same time.

  Lena sounded excited. "Maybe you can talk to her, Allie. We have to stop this fake marriage. It's going to kill him. Nick's been miserable; he's been drinking heavily. The past few months have been awful for him, but he's determined to go through with it. The engagement party is in two days."

  Lena only let me off the phone after I had promised that I would try to do something. I sat on my floor, confused and shaken. What was I going to do?

  Chapter 15

  Nick felt as if he was sleepwalking as he moved through the party, barely acknowledging the well wishes given to him by the guests constantly surrounding him. Marissa had really outdone herself. She had rented out a room at a trendy downtown restaurant and invited tons of people. He cringed as he saw his mother across the room valiantly trying to make conversation with Marissa's vapid mother.

  His mind may have been thankfully numb, but his insides were nauseous with dread. Marissa had warned him not to drink tonight, but there was no way he could make it through this horrible sham of a night without alcohol to bolster him. Besides, Marissa might've had him securely by the balls, but he wasn't going to just blindly let her dictate his every last move. When he had first arrived, he felt a small measure of satisfaction watching her eyes narrow as she looked over his attire for the night. He hadn't followed her orders, but she really couldn't do much about that considering she was lucky he even showed up.

  He shook his head as he waited for a drink. Was he really going to go through with it? If the damn tape had been of him with anyone but Allie, he would never have considered it. If Allie had not been his sister… So many 'what ifs', but it didn't matter. He had to live with the consequences of his actions.

  All along, Nick had known that his involvement with Allie wouldn't end well, but he could never have imagined it would end up being so devastating. He had naively thought the biggest problems would be about heartbreak, bitterness and awkwardness around each other for the rest of their lives. But this was so much worse than he could have ever expected.

  Nick turned when he felt the hand on his shoulder. Bracing himself for more congratulations, he was relieved when he saw Tommy standing before him.

  Tommy was grinning. "I can't believe you're doing this, bro. Hell, I thought Alex was going to be our first casualty - I never expected it to be you. This is a total shocker."

  Nick didn't even trust himself to answer.

  Tommy continued, "Marissa is looking for you. I hope you've figured out what you're going to say, because she's ready to make the big announcement."

  Nick began to look around for an escape. "Shit. I'm not ready for this."

  Tommy laughed. "You better hurry up and get ready."

  Nick’s panic increased as he felt his phone vibrate. "That's probably Marissa looking for me."

  Nick glanced at his phone and saw the new text message. From Allie. His heart skipped a beat as he read the message.

  Go the coatroom

  His mind, dulled with the grim acceptance of his fate, immediately sparked with excitement. Was Allie here? No, it was impossible.

  Nick glanced up at his friend. "I gotta go, Tommy."

  He hurried to the front of the restaurant, searching for the coatroom. The door was shut and a small sign read 'closed'. Nick tried the door and it opened.

  As soon as he opened the door, Allie pulled him into the small room crammed with coats and shut the door behind him.

  Nick felt the air sizzle between them as she turned to face him. His cock clenched as he saw her. She looked hot. Seeing her again reminded him exactly what he was losing, but also reminded him what he was protecting.

  "Allie. What are you doing here?"

  She was assessing him head to toe. "I missed you."

  Her simple declaration caught him off guard and was almost his complete undoing. He was on the verge of grabbing hold of her and forgetting everything.

  "Allie, I’m about to get engaged."

  She smiled. "I paid the attendant $50 to give us some time. I can spend that time talking you out of this engagement, or you could agree to call it off now and we can find more exciting ways to spend the time."

  Nick's cock was thickening just standing so closely to her. "I never wanted to hurt you Allie. I'm sorry about everything. But I am getting married."

  "You don't love Marissa. You don't even like her. You can't marry her."

  Nick said nothing.

  Allie moved closer to him. "If you tell me I'm wrong and that you love her, I'll accept it. Are you in love with her, Nick?"

  He scrambled for something to say. Should he lie?

  She smiled at him sadly. "You don't have to answer, Nick. Your face already told me I’m right. You don't love Marissa. Lena told me that she was blackmailing you."

  Nick frowned. "Lena should have kept out of it."

  Allie touched his arm lightly. "She told me because she cares about you. She doesn't want you to make a big mistake. I care about you
, too."

  Nick couldn't look at her. She looked so earnest. So innocent. He couldn't be the one that wrecked that. He wouldn’t let his mistake ruin her life. "Allie, I want you to keep out of this. I appreciate-"

  She ignored his plea. "Was the video of you and me?"

  Nick was stunned. How could she know? He was sure he hadn't even told Lena that information. "No. Of course not."

  Allie smiled sadly at him. "You're a terrible liar, Nick. You always have been. So, this whole marriage sham is just an effort to protect me from a sex tape scandal? Nick, when you pushed me away, I was so hurt, but now I understand what happened. But, please don't reject me again. If you choose her, you will hurt me all over again."

  Nick shifted on his feet. He had to make her understand how serious the situation was for her. "This whole mess is all my fault. I haven't been able to forgive myself that I got you mixed up with this bullshit. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you out of it. Allie, she’ll put the video on the internet. She'll sell it to gossip magazines or online sites. It’ll be all over the place within hours and it’ll be a huge scandal. You’ll be hounded by the media. Judged by the entire fucking world. It would ruin your life."

  Nick could see the determination burning in her eyes. "And can you live with a person who would do that to you? What happens when she makes more demands after you’re married? What if she wants money? Or a baby? Then what? Nick, it would never end."

  Nick felt the truth of her words. They had run through his head over and over for days. "It’s the only way I can protect you."

  Allie shook her head. "You’re not protecting me. You're just delaying the inevitable."

  As he had for months, he felt totally helpless. It was mostly a whisper, "I don’t know what to do."

  Allie was calm and sure in her conviction. "There’s only one thing you can do. Go out there and tell everyone the engagement is off. Do it for me."

  "Allie-"

  She cut off his response with a kiss. A blistering kiss that flooded him with powerful emotions. It reminded him of all he had sorely tried to forget. It was hard to deny it to himself any longer. He loved her. The full awareness almost brought him to his knees.