by Dakota Dawn
Rain took a bite of her stuffed jalapeno and glanced back at the man who had been staring at Tamrisk for the last thirty minutes. He had already come over to their table at Gaven’s pub three times, trying to get them to invite him to sit down.
“Your fan is about to bring out the ugly in me.” Rain cut her eyes to the man.
Tamrisk frowned. “Me, too. This is the side of my job I dislike the most, but thank goodness it doesn’t happen too often. If we ignore him, I’m sure he will get the hint that I’m not looking for a new man.”
“Did you finish your latest article?” Rain asked.
“Sure did, sent it in to the magazine yesterday.”
“How did your two-week stay in California go?”
“Great. I love the scenery there. The hotel I stayed in had the coolest jet tub I’ve ever seen. I soaked in that sucker every night. After a week without it, I’m debating getting one for my condo.”
Rain looked past Tamrisk’s shoulder. “Don’t look now, but that man is coming back to the table. I’m going to tell him to buzz off.”
“Don’t do anything rash.” As soon as the words left her mouth, Tamrisk felt his hand on her shoulder.
“Ever since I saw your picture online I just can’t stop thinking about you. Please give me a chance. I know we are perfect for each other.”
Rain had had enough. “Look, mister, she’s not interested. Please leave us alone.” Rain slapped her hand down on the table loudly and stared him down.
Bushy eyebrows drew together, and the man’s thick lips pursed. His strong cologne invaded her nose with the power of fresh dog poop. A wave of nausea washed over Rain.
Tamrisk tried to brush off his hand, but he tightened it. “Let go of me, right now.”
“Don’t be like that, honey. I don’t like you being mad at me. Just give me your number so we can talk tonight and decide where to meet tomorrow. Without her, of course.” He bent in closer to her face, trying to intimidate her.
Tamrisk once again tried to dislodge his hand, but failed. “I don’t think so. My boyfriend is the only man for me. Please go away.”
The man scowled. “Boyfriend? The article I read said you were single. You don’t have a boyfriend. I think you are lying to me. I don’t like people who lie. With time you’ll learn not to lie to me. The price is quite high.”
Rain leapt to her feet. “She’s not interested in you. Let her go. Now.” The last word had been said loud enough to draw attention.
The man snarled at Rain, “This ain’t your business. Sit down and shut up or leave.”
Tamrisk turned fearful eyes on Rain then looked back at the man. “I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. I’m sure you are a nice man, but I’m in a relationship with someone else.”
Anger crossed the man’s face and contorted it into a scary sight. “Shut your foul mouth. You’re leaving with me.” He pulled at Tamrisk’s shoulder, and when she shrank away, he pulled on her shirt.
A loud ripping sound filled the air, followed by the crack of a jaw being broken.
Rain blinked. Damn, Marshall was fast. He had spun the man around and hit him with a jawbreaking right hook at the speed of light.
The man was crumbled on the floor, holding his jaw and moaning loud enough to wake the dead.
Two of the pub’s bouncers came over and lifted the now-howling man to his feet.
Marshall stood between the man and Tamrisk. Unbuttoning his shirt, he quickly took it off and helped Tamrisk into it. Turning to his men, he commanded, “Take him outside and call the police. I’ll be in the office for a few minutes. Don’t take your eyes off him.” In a quieter tone, he spoke to one of the men. “Tell Doug to give everybody in here a free drink on the house. Have Macy float around making sure everyone is all right. I’ll call Gaven.”
With that all taken care of, Marshall gave Tamrisk a quick hug then guided her toward the stairs. “Come with us, Rain.”
In a haze Rain followed them up to Gaven’s office. Belly flip-flopping, she rushed into the restroom and threw up in the commode.
A couple of minutes later the heaving stopped, and Tamrisk handed her a cool washcloth. Marshall’s deep voice could be heard in the background. He must be on the phone, she thought, probably talking to Gaven.
Rain took the washcloth and blotted her face with it. “Thanks, how are you doing?”
“Fine, thanks to Marshall. Man, can he move fast,” Tamrisk answered, adrenaline making her voice high.
“No kidding,” Rain responded. She lightly rubbed her belly and took a few deep breaths. Her new condition was turning her into a wussy.
“How are you doing? It’s not like you to throw up so easily.” Tamrisk flushed the commode and rinsed out the washcloth that Rain has set down on the edge of the sink.
Before Rain could answer, Marshall walked in. “Are you all right, Rain? Do you want me to call Trent?”
“No, no. I’m fine now. I think I ate something bad earlier today. The dreadful excitement of the moment was a little too much for me, but I’m fine now.” Rain hoped he believed her. She couldn’t handle Trent right now.
Marshall looked both sisters up and down in an assessing manner. “I need to go downstairs. The police will be here soon. I’ll have to bring them up so they can talk to both of you. Are you two feeling well enough to answer their questions?”
Rain and Tamrisk answered, “Yes,” at the same time.
“Good, I’m glad you are both all right.” He gave Tamrisk a quick hug and kiss on the lips then headed out the door.
Moving to the couch, both women sat down warily.
“How serious is it between you two?” Rain asked.
“Very. I love him. He’s perfect.” Tamrisk stopped and stared hard at Rain. “Before I go into a long list of why he is so perfect, I have to ask, what’s up with you?”
Rain shrugged her shoulder. “I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“Bull.” Tamrisk eyeballed Rain for a long moment. “What’s up with you hurling wretchedly like that? You’ve always been the strongest between us. A scene like the one downstairs with that idiot would not faze you at all. The old Rain would have given him an uppercut to the chin then called the bouncers to take him away.”
No time like the present, Rain thought to herself. “I’m pregnant.”
Tamrisk’s jaw dropped, and her eyes bulged comically. “No way!”
Rain grinned at her sister’s reaction. “Yes, way.”
Tamrisk’s fingers played with the buttons on Marshall’s shirt. “Does Trent know?”
“No, and I don’t want him to know. The baby is mine. Trent and I are just friends. Our sexual relationship is for pleasure only. The baby is mine.” Rain smoothed her hand across her belly. “The baby is one of the benefits of my relationship with Trent, a sweet benefit I will love forever.”
Tamrisk rang her hands nervously. “I don’t know about this. I think you should tell Trent. When he finds out, he is going to be mad, real mad. You should tell him now.”
Rain’s stomach sank. “You better not tell him, Tamrisk. I need to be able to trust you. Can I trust you to keep my little secret?”
Tamrisk looked toward the door then back at Rain. “I don’t think this is a little secret, but you can trust me not to tell him. Please think about it, though. He’s a good guy. He would love the baby.”
“I don’t doubt that, but what if he wants to take the little one away from me? He can have other babies. This one will most likely be my only baby. I promise to tell him when the time is right.” Rain looked directly into Tamrisk’s eyes. “Promise you won’t say anything about the baby.”
Tamrisk licked her lips nervously. “I promise, but what if he asks about you?”
Rain released the breath she’d been holding. “He won’t. I’m leaving to do a job for their hotel in New York, in a week. I’ll be busy for the next six months. I probably won’t see him the whole time I’m gone, and by the time I come back, I’
ll be able to handle this situation better.”
Tamrisk licked her lips again and glanced at the door. “All right, I guess your plan sounds good. What kind of job are you doing for his hotel?”
A smile crossed Rain’s lips. “I’m going to update their couple’s suites into elaborate, exotic bedroom suites that will impress the toughest customers. It’s going to be an exciting expansion to our furniture business. If this goes well, and I think it will, we can double or even triple that business. Everybody wins, from the craftsmen to the hotels to us.”
“When did this happen?”
“The deal went through yesterday,” Rain answered, unable to keep the excitement from her voice.
“Let me know a week or two before you are done and I’ll come up to see you and how it went. I can take some pictures and write an article about the new job and get it published in a magazine that caters to elaborate and exotic rooms,” Tamrisk responded with just as much excitement as Rain had shown.
Marshall entered with a police officer.
Tamrisk jumped guiltily.
Rain mimed locking her lips.
Tamrisk nodded her understanding.
Whew! Rain’s stomach twisted into a tight knot when she looked at Marshall. She thought she saw his eyes narrow for a second. Hopefully he hadn’t seen her guiding Tamrisk into silence. She was pretty sure her sister would cave under his questioning. Yes, she would spill her guts in the time it took a hummingbird to flap its wings. Rain crossed her fingers and hoped he never questioned Tamrisk.
All she could do for now was hope he hadn’t seen anything, and if he had, that he would forget all about it by the time the police got their report and left.
Keeping secrets was painful, but for her sanity, she needed to for a little while.
Chapter Eleven
Thursday evening and Gaven’s pub was hopping. Trent walked past many cheering and booing fans. Gaven was playing Sunday’s game for those who hadn’t seen it and those that wanted to see it again.
Reaching their table, he nodded at his brothers, Lunn, Gaven, and Marshall.
Gaven’s smile caught his attention. “You got your new tooth, nice.”
Gaven tapped it. “Two thousand dollars. It’s worth every penny.”
Lunn ginned. “I bet he dodges faster the next time somebody swings a fist in his direction.”
“You better believe it. Although, the girls at your club did give me some sweet sympathy lovin’.”
At the mention of girls, Trent asked, “The girls out doing something fun?”
Troy responded first, “Yep, Branda and Tamrisk are over at Sienna’s.” Troy wiggled his eyebrows. “Some lingerie-buying party. We hope Branda comes home with some hot stuff.”
“Yeah, something hot, hopefully crotchless so we can tie her up dressed and make love to her without having to rip the clothes off her. She got really mad the last time we ripped off a pair of expensive underwear,” Trey stated with a dreamy grin.
“That was fun. She didn’t chew us out until she came to her senses and realized we had ruined her favorite undies.” Troy looked over at Trey. “Send her a text reminding her to get something crotchless, okay?
“On it,” Trey responded as he whipped out his phone.
“Still not good at texting?” Gaven asked Troy.
“No, I keep pushing the letter next to the one I want. Thank goodness Trey is good at texting. Branda loves to text, and she is fast at it,” Troy answered in a frustrated tone.
Trent grinned at his brothers. They looked just alike but were different personality- and skill-wise. Branda had her hands full with those two. Rain was a handful, too. He missed her. It had been two months since he’d seen her. He talked to her almost every day on the phone, but it wasn’t the same.
Scanning the room, he grinned sadly when a hottie winked at him. Double the guilt hit him hard. Joelle was the one he was supposed to be with, and he could barely remember her face anymore. Rain was supposed to be just a friend, but he couldn’t get her smiling face out of his mind. Deep down, he craved all of her, from her smile to her business sense to her hot body.
Buried in his own thoughts, he could barely hear his brothers’ and friends’ conversations. The dream he’d had last night flashed through his mind, and he frowned at the remembrance.
“Whoa, what’s that look all about, little bro?” Troy asked with more than a touch of concern.
Trent tried to act innocent. “What look? I was thinking about getting another beer.”
Lunn picked up Trent’s full beer. “Not likely. Give. What’s on your mind?”
Looking around the table, Trent realized they were all waiting for an answer. Ah hell, maybe they could help him out. “I dreamed of Joelle last night.”
Trey’s brows drew together. “What happened was not your fault.”
Gaven paled a little. “Trey’s right. You have to get past what happened. I can’t handle seeing you this way.” Gaven paused then tried to lighten the mood. “If nothing else, move on in the name of Catch and Release. Hold strong to our motto, brother.”
Trent took a drink of his beer then answered with more pain is his voice than he intended, “Thanks for the reminder. I’ll get right on it.”
Troy patted Trent’s shoulder. “What was the dream about this time? Was it the same as before?”
Trent sighed. “No, it was different this time. Instead of her calling out for me to save her, she appeared out of a blue light and smiled at me.” Trent swallowed hard. “The way she used to.” Damn, this was hard. Maybe if he didn’t add to it they would leave him alone.
Trey wouldn’t let it go. “That can’t be it. What else happened?”
Trent shrugged his shoulder. “This is crazy. She told me to lick Rain’s wrist. That can’t be right, though. Joelle was the one. I just knew it at the time. The dream doesn’t make any sense.”
Troy leaned forward. “Sure it does, if Rain is your vero amore. You have to admit Rain is the only woman you have ever been mesmerized by.”
“What? I loved Joelle.” Trent shifted guiltily.
Troy eyed Trent. “Yes you did, but you didn’t stare at her the way you stare at Rain. I think you should go see her, and while you’re with her, give her a licking kiss to her wrist. If she is the one, you will know in a hurry. Her nipples will harden, and her whole body will shudder in bliss. That is a lovely sight.”
Guilt stabbed at Trent’s heart. “I don’t know.”
Marshall rubbed his chin and looked at Trent. “I think you should go see Rain. Tamrisk said the last few times she’s talked to her she sounds sad.”
“Sad. Sad, how?” Trent demanded.
Marshall shrugged. “Just sad. Tamrisk thinks she misses you.”
“I call her almost every day.” Trent tapped his fingers on the table.
“I don’t know anything about that. All I know is what Tamrisk tells me. And she tells me Rain sounds sad.” Marshall leaned back in his chair and gave a light shrug of his shoulders.
“Go see her in the name of business. Act like you’re checking on the project she is doing,” Trey chimed in.
Yeah, he could do that. Rain knew that he and his brothers randomly checked in on all their businesses. Trent smiled at his brother. “I do like our New York hotel. I think I should do a routine check on it.”
* * * *
Two days later Trent walked into their New York hotel and immediately called Rain. “What room are you working on today?”
“Hi, Trent. I’m almost finished with the Waterfall Suite. I think you are going to love it.” Excitement flavored her words.
“Sounds great. I can’t wait to see it. Hold on for a moment.” Trent paused for a minute, pretending he was busy. “I have to let you go. Something just turned up,” Trent lied.
Disappointment wrapped around Rain’s answer. “Oh, okay. I guess I’ll talk to you later, then.”
Trent smiled. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you soon.” Very soon, he thought the second he
hung up and stepped into the elevator. Once the door closed, he couldn’t help but remember her jumping him in the Sorrento elevator. He hoped she jumped him again today. Otherwise he was more than ready to jump her lovely body.
A smile crossed his face when the doors opened and he stepped out. Peace surrounded him as he walked to the Waterfall Suite. Rain was near. Pulling his card out, he opened the door and strolled in. Whistling, he looked around. This was awesome.
“Hello, is someone here?” Rain walked in. His heart fluttered.
“Hello, Rain.” He let his hunger for her show in his eyes as he devoured her lovely body.
Smiling brighter than the sun, she rushed to him. “You tricked me.”
The second she was close enough, he wrapped her in a bear hug. Heavenly, that’s how she felt in his arms. “I wanted to see you. If I’d told you I was here, you might have run.”
Rain stepped back and looked into his eyes. “I’d never run from you.” Her lips twisted as she looked him over. “Why are you wet?”
“I got rained on.”
Rain gestured to the window. “It’s bright and sunny.”
“I seem to have my own personal storm cell.” The rain cloud that seemed to be following him around was getting annoying. Now the rain was always full of Rain’s sweet scent. It hardened his dick every time. Am I cursed?
“Maybe the sky gods think you need a bath.”
“Funny.” He shook his head and pelted her with water. She squealed, and he laughed. He loved it when she teased him. Payback was fun, as well. “How’s the renovation going?”
Rain looked around the room. “Fine.” She gestured towards the living area. “What do you think?”
Trent went to the counter in the kitchenette and put his briefcase and keys on it. Turning, he scanned the room. “I’ll tell you after I inspect the suite.”
“If you have any questions, just ask,” she said then winked at him.
He nodded and walked over to a wall of running water. It flowed from the ceiling to a drain in the floor. The water was kept in place by a circular, ten-inch cement and rock barrier. Low-growing plants lined the front of the barrier. There was a good three-foot area between the low wall and the waterfall. Plenty of room for a couple to have a little fun in. A picture of Rain naked with her breasts pressed against the wall jumped into his mind. He reached out and touched the water—cold. Nice! Just the right temperature for making nipples nice and hard.