“Let me sign the papers then.”
“Fuck the papers, Candice. This is between us.”
“Why?”
“Because I fucking want it,” I said.
I shook her away and opened the door to the SUV.
She got inside and I knocked on the window, telling the driver to drive.
We were only a short distance from the hotel.
I wasn’t planning on stealing Candice just yet.
We rode back to the hotel in silence.
The SUV stopped in the parking lot.
Candice put her left hand out, showing me the ring was back on her finger.
“So let me get this straight, sweetie… we had our first fight… and we had our second fight where you took the ring off… and now you’re just walking away…”
“That’s right, Dex,” Candice said. “Remember what you said. I can fuck you anytime I want.”
I smiled big. “Yes, you can…”
She sighed. “I didn’t mean… whatever. Goodnight.”
She opened the door and I grabbed her arm.
When she looked back at me, I winked.
I moved toward her and my left hand slid around the other side of her body.
I pulled her close and we kissed the way I would kiss my fiancée goodnight if I had a real one and planned on doing all that marriage bullshit.
I wasn’t Nash though.
He was the one who was going to get married for real.
Not me.
I was just kissing a beautiful woman goodnight.
Even if I felt anger and regret that she was going to sleep alone tonight.
10
Candice
I slept way too good.
And I woke up in way too good of a mood.
I told myself it was only because I had a day off from the cafe.
Even though the place was on my mind.
Which sucked.
I couldn’t stop thinking about it all the time. That deep urge to run a business again. To control everything from beginning to end. To greet customers, make them happy, deal with suppliers and vendors… even through all the bad stuff that happened…
I miss it. I miss it all.
I rolled to my side and grabbed my phone.
My usual first thing in the morning routine.
There was a text message waiting for me.
Sleeping in, sweetie?
I sat up and gasped.
Dex? How…
I swallowed hard.
Who is this?
Dex replied right away.
Your fiancé, Candice. Missing you in my bed right now.
I shook my head.
I was never in your bed, Dex.
I leaned forward and put my phone on the bed and picked at my nails.
That’s something we need to work on. For the relationship. Right?
I used one finger to text him back.
Whatever. What do you want?
I needed to pee.
I threw the covers off my body and took my phone (and Dex) into the bathroom with me. Of course all I could think about was his reaction if he knew what I was doing while we were texting. It would probably turn him on.
“Fucking rock stars,” I whispered.
Dex texted me back.
I want to taste your morning breath on my lips. And I want to taste plenty of the rest of you. I need to see you today. We have an interview.
I was mid pee and froze up.
“What?” I whispered.
And I texted him that.
What????
Dex replied with a wink emoji first.
Then a text.
We have to talk about our relationship, sweetie. It’s with someone we trust. Just need you there with me.
I sat on the toilet, still frozen, shaking my head.
Dex… I can’t do that… I thought it was just some pictures…
That’s what I wanted. Some pictures. So Trent would see them and back the hell off for good. That was the plan. But to talk about this…
Another text popped up.
It was all in the paperwork you didn’t sign. ;)
I put my head back and sighed.
I put my phone down and took a calming breath so I could finish going pee.
After I washed my hands, I took my phone (and Dex) back to my bed.
You there, sweetie?
I didn’t know what to say.
I’ll talk to you in a bit. I have to go. Bye.
Like that was going to do something.
I walked toward the basement steps to go upstairs.
I had to compose myself.
Make everything seem like it was okay.
Even though…
I looked up the stairs.
Dex sent me another text.
See you soon, sweet lips ;)
I groaned.
I had no choice but to accept sweetie as my nickname.
Dex knew how to get what he wanted.
And it went well beyond his good looks.
I groaned a second time, needing coffee to clear my mind.
Kissing Dex was something.
It left its mark on me. That was for sure. It’s probably why I slept so good too. And that alone - even admitting it just to myself - was really sad. Just making out with some hot guy for a few minutes was enough to help me sleep.
Imagine if and when you two…
“Nope,” I said.
I hurried up the stairs and went into the kitchen.
The smell of coffee made me smile.
The look on my sister’s face as she sat at the counter did not.
* * *
“Is this a joke?” Cali asked.
“What?”
She put her gigantic phone down and spun it around on the granite counter.
Right there on the screen, zoomed in, was a picture of Dex and I.
From last night outside the hotel.
Dex looking like a badass prick. The crowd of Filthy Line fans yelling and reaching for him and the rest of the band. The picture cut off at Nash and Reed.
“What?” I asked again.
“What?” Cali asked. “This is what you did last night?”
“What did I do?”
“This,” Cali said. “You’re… and then Clark…”
Cali started to stammer.
I looked down at the phone again.
I realized what had her so flustered.
It was the headline on the trashy site that tracked down celebrities.
BAD BOY DEX SETTLING WITH AN UNKNOWN PRINCESS? ROCK ROYALTY OR A ROAD GOING STRAIGHT TO HELL?
I swallowed hard and read the beginning of the article.
We can get to the part where he wrote ‘spread the filth’ on the window to the hotel where Filthy Line had been previously banned from. But before that… can we talk about how Dex went from arrested and threatened with jail time to being engaged to some unknown woman with big, doe eyes and nothing but innocence gushing from her cheap clothes?
I scoffed. “Bitch.”
“Candice…”
I lifted my eyes to my sister. “What?”
“Stop saying what!” Cali yelled.
She slapped the counter and then turned her head.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “You’re not… I’m an adult here.”
“An adult, huh? Why does this lady think you’re engaged to… what the hell is that?”
Cali pointed to my hand.
I never took the ring off from the night before.
The lizard and skull ring just sat there on my finger.
Like a glaring reminder of the night before. And what I had done with Dex. And what I was planning on doing with Dex.
But it made me smile.
The night had been crazy. But it was a fun kind of crazy.
The mundane of Clark trying to use his cheap moves on me replaced by the wildness of Dex as he showed up, punched Clark, stood on a table, and made me join him.
&nbs
p; “Candice?”
I nodded. “That’s, uh, that’s an engagement ring, Cali. Okay?”
“Excuse me?” Cali asked as she stood up.
Keith walked into the kitchen, a newspaper under his arm, eyes down on his phone screen.
“Good morning, ladies,” he said.
“You heard what I said,” I said to Cali.
“Say it again then,” Cali said.
Keith’s eyes slowly started to go wide.
I lifted my left hand and showed off the rock star’s ring.
“I’m engaged to a rock star.”
* * *
Keith spun around on his heels and Cali jumped toward him.
Sorry, Keith.
“Can you believe this?” Cali asked her husband.
“I don’t want to be involved,” Keith said. “I have to go soon.”
“There’s nothing for anyone to be involved with,” I said. “This is my life. My business.”
“This is my house,” Cali said.
“And you’re not my mother!” I yelled.
Which sent pain through my chest.
I looked down at Cali’s phone again and shook my head.
I pushed her phone across the counter.
“Forget about it,” I said.
I walked to the basement.
“Don’t walk away, Candice,” Cali said. “This isn’t over.”
“Cali, let her go,” Keith said.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Cali yelled. “That’s my little sister. She’s not going to fucking ruin her life a second time because of a guy!”
I nodded as I hurried down the basement steps.
There it is. The real attack.
I looked around the basement.
This wasn’t home.
This wasn’t even an apartment.
It was a room.
And I was… just there.
I grabbed a change of clothes and rushed to the bathroom to make sure my hair wasn’t a complete mess.
And then I snuck out the back door of the basement like a rebellious teenager.
How fitting though, right?
Being a rebel for rock ‘n’ roll and a badass rock star who was no good for me.
Of course, Cali was in the driveway waiting for me.
Like the mother who knew how to be two steps ahead.
Like the mother we never had.
The one who showed up that one time and then left again for good.
Why do you think I haven’t changed my number, Cali? What if she calls? I gave her that number. I would have changed that number in a second after Trent… but what if…
“Leaving?” Cali asked.
“I’m going to get coffee,” I said. “And breakfast. In peace.”
“Can you put yourself in my shoes for a second, Candice?”
“No,” I said. “It’s not your business.”
“You’re in my basement.”
“He’s not there,” I said. “It’s not even…”I shook my head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“I wouldn’t? My sister doesn’t even tell me she’s, what, dating a famous musician? And now she’s engaged?”
“It was fast.”
“Oh, that’s what I want to hear.”
“So what? You’re going to judge me because I didn’t have the storybook marriage like you and Keith? I’m so sorry I didn’t go to college like you, Cali. Okay? I didn’t go to college and have it all figured out. I didn’t have every breath, meal, pee break, and orgasm figured out.”
Cali’s face turned red. “Wow.”
“I don’t have to explain myself to you. Or anyone. And what are you doing reading those gossip sites anyway? Isn’t that below you?”
Cali stepped away from my car. “Right. Go do what you want, Candice.”
I walked to my car and stopped with the door slightly open.
“What do you want me to say?” I asked. “Look at how you judge me. You’d have never believed me if I came and talked to you about Dex.”
I was selling this thing hard, but there was truth to it.
“I love you,” Cali said. “I worry about you. I don’t want you hurt.”
“I’ve been hurt. And I’m sorry I ended up in your basement. I get it. I don’t belong here. So give me a chance to figure it out.”
“And how is getting engaged going to make that happen?” Cali asked. “Can I ask you a question?
“Why not?”
“Are you marrying this guy… or engaged to him… for money?”
I laughed. “There it is. The quick scheme, right? You want me to be Mom. That’s what this is. You see me as her.”
Cali opened her arms. “What am I supposed to think or do here? Yesterday you’re just my sister. You’re Candice. Working at that stupid cafe for that little shithead. And now this morning you’re all over the internet. You’re famous. And nobody even knows your name.”
My face burned hot.
All over the internet…
I didn’t say a word to Cali.
“And, yeah, I read the gossip stuff,” Cali admitted. “I have my own things, you know? I’m allowed to. It’s not always easy to be married to Keith. His schedule is crazy. And Carter is a handful. So don’t go judging me by the size of my house and how green my grass is or what kind of car I drive.”
“That’s the thing, Cali,” I said. “I don’t. You judge yourself. And others. Because you think you’re being judged.” I shut the car door and moved around my car. “You were so right about things in my life, okay? I’ll give you that much. But what if…” I shook my head. “If you want me to move out, just say the word. I’ll move out. I’ll figure it out. I didn’t expect to meet Dex.”
Which was totally true.
Not in a million years would I have expected one of the guitarists from Filthy Line to show up at the cafe and set his eyes on me.
And with everything with Trent…
I can’t even tell you about that, Cali. Because you’ll tell me it’s my fault. Or you’ll tell me to just change my number. Which I can’t do. Okay? I just can’t fucking do it.
“And that’s it?” Cali asked. “You just have this…”
Cali turned her head.
I looked where she was looking.
A black SUV came to a stop, blocking the driveway.
* * *
Dex stepped out of the back of the SUV wearing the same jeans as the night before. But a different t-shirt. His sunglasses covered his eyes but I could still feel the wildness pouring from him. He had a coffee in each hand and strutted up the driveway like he owned the place.
He oozed rock ‘n’ roll.
Even in the swagger of his walk.
Knowing he was filthy and sexy at the same time.
My entire body burned.
Head to toe.
“Dex,” I said.
“Morning, sweetie,” he said.
“What are you doing here?”
“Told you I’d see you soon. We have a press conference today.”
“Press?” Cali asked. “Just who…”
Dex put the coffees on the roof of my car.
He took off his sunglasses and tossed them to the roof of the car too.
He walked up to Cali and grabbed her right hand with both of his hands.
“Fucking hell, you are beautiful,” he said to Cali.
I curled my lip.
Jealousy?
Cali pulled her hand away. “Excuse me?”
“Candice never told me her mother was a knockout.”
I turned to hide my laugh.
“I’m not her mother,” Cali said. “I’m her sister.”
“Older sister though, right?” Dex asked.
Ohmygod, he has no filter… and no care…
“Get the hell off my property,” Cali said. “I don’t care who you think you are. I’ll call the police on you.”
“Let’s not do that,” Dex said with a laugh. “Right, Candice?”
“
Yeah,” I said. “I guess I have to go.”
“This is for real?” Cali asked.
Dex put his sunglasses back on and swiped the coffees off the roof of my car.
He handed me one and I slightly grinned at him.
I could feel him winking at me through the sunglasses.
The heat that went through my body…
I looked back at Cali and shrugged my shoulders. “Have to tell the world about our love story.”
“Fucking right we do, sweetie,” Dex said.
He smacked my ass and squeezed it until I jumped to my toes.
I wanted to punch him in the mouth but it would have blown our cover.
He put his hand around my waist and walked me down the driveway.
It was the first time in years I actually felt alive.
11
Dex
I bought the house sight unseen, because why the fuck not? It was the rock star thing to do. We were somewhere outside of Vegas when Toby called to tell us the checks had hit our banks. What a fucking ride that was… Bill had us flying through the desert and we told him to stop and turn around. We needed to go back to Vegas for one more night. Bill knew his ass was on the line if he listened to us.
He listened to us.
We tore apart Vegas, but surprisingly enough only Jay and Sab got arrested that night.
Whatever… point being, on the actual ride out of Vegas, I started looking for a house. Found this circle house and bought it.
And that’s what it was.
A giant circle.
Well, a cylinder, because of the second and third story.
It had the appeal of a secret lab or something you’d see in a movie. Or maybe police headquarters.
Bright white sandwiched between the all black, super-tinted windows.
Without the tint, the west coast sun would have torn through the place all damn day long.
I lived up on a hill, not because of my financial status, but because when life pissed me off, I could stand on the balcony outside the master bedroom, turn around, and drop my jeans. And tell the rest of the rich assholes up there - and the rest of the city - to kiss my filthy, rock star ass.
And believe me, I did that all the fucking time.
The surrounding parts of the house I kept calm and cool. Meaning a shit ton of landscaping. To make it look nice. And to keep my privacy. Bad enough I had gotten used to at least one or two people standing outside the big gates at the end of the driveway, I didn’t want anyone getting close to the house without an invitation.
A FILTHY Engagement: a filthy line novel Page 9