Текст книги "Tempted"

Автор книги: Eliza Jane

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Chapter 14

Colt

It sounds like Taylor and Reis were getting along nicely, which eases my mind a little. Bria and I on the other hand…not so much. This girl has PMS from hell.

“Colt!” she shrieks from the living room of our two-bedroom suite.

What now? I stuff my phone back in my pocket and head into the living room. Bria is standing in the middle of the room, her shirt lifted to expose her stomach and she’s twisting around trying to look at her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh my God. Come here. I think something bit me and I can’t see it.”

I roll my eyes, but head over toward her.

She points to her side. “Over here. On my waist I have bump. It might be a spider bite.”

I lean down and look to where she’s pointing, lifting her shirt out of the way. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Bria and I had a brief fling last year. Brief as in one time, but we never had sex. We just did all the other stuff. She was hesitant to go farther since she knew my reputation.  She thought she’d keep me around longer by not sleeping with me. Which might have been true, except I couldn’t stand her high maintenance attitude. Plus after meeting Taylor she became my new fascination.

Her skin is tan and smooth, and as usual a thong peeks from the back of her jeans. This one’s bright orange. Her underwear come in every color of the rainbow, apparently. I inspect the red bump and chuckle.

“Oh God. What is it?” she asks, in a near panic.

I stand and face her. “I think you’ll live. It’s a pimple.”

Her face contorts in disgust. “A what?!” She twists around again trying to see it, like the thought of a pimple is much worse than a spider bite. She straightens her shoulders, swishing her long dark hair over her shoulder. “I’ll just get some blemish cream, that should take care of it.” She saunters off to her bedroom on a mission.

“Glad to be of assistance,” I call to her retreating back.

This is the most motivated I’ve seen her. We’ve been here a couple of days now, and really need to start working. Bria insisted on playing tourist before we spent the entire trip working the case. We’ve been to see many of the major attractions, West Minster Abbey, the London Tower and went to get fish and chips in a traditional pub. But tomorrow, we need to get down to work. We have our first meeting with Geoffrey.

I settle onto my bed and try Taylor’s cell. She answers on the first ring.

“Hey baby.”

“Hi.” Her voice is guarded.

“What are you doing?”

“Lying on my bed,” she answers.

I picture her in the girl’s dorm. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah,” she breathes.

I imagine her lying on her side, facing me, like we’ve done so many times on my pillow. Her hair falls in soft waves over her shoulder and her blue eyes look up at mine, so trusting and bright. She’s utterly beautiful. But she doesn’t know it.

“So I heard Britt talking to Bria this morning.”

Crap. My stomach clenches at the thought. Those two together are sure to be trouble. And Taylor doesn’t need any more reasons to doubt me. “Might as well get it out. What’s on your mind, baby?”

“Bria told Britt you guys were having a romantic time, visiting the London Tower and everything. I had to hear all about in the café.”

I release a hiss through my teeth. I should have known this would come back to bite me in the ass. “We did go see the London Tower, but I can assure you – it was anything but romantic. Bria bitched about her heels pinching her feet the entire time and it was pouring rain.”

“Oh.” Taylor’s quiet. Too quiet.

“Babe, we’ve gone to see a couple of the tourist things the last few days, but tomorrow we’re getting down to work. We’re coworkers, that’s all, I promise you.”

“I just don’t like the idea of you staying at a hotel, in another country for weeks with a girl you’ve slept with. Call me crazy.”

I hesitate for a second, but know I need to come clean. I drop my voice an octave lower, not wanting Bria to overhear me. “I never slept with Bria.”

Taylor stumbles over her words. “Wh-what? What do you mean?”

“Well, we actually never slept together.” I don’t know how she’s going to take this. But I want to be as honest as I can be with her, after fucking up so bad the last time. “We messed around, but we never had sex,” I admit, quietly.

Taylor doesn’t say anything, but I can hear her breathing. After a moment, she sucks in a deep breath. “That’s almost worse.”

“How so?” I thought she’d be relived.

“Because, Colt. I know how you are, I mean how you were. Once you sleep with them, you move on. But if you haven’t yet done that with Bria, you’re probably still curious what it’d be like.”

I shift on my bed. I hadn’t really thought about it, but I suppose she’s right. But that’s the old me. “Taylor, stop. You are what I want now. Just you. End of story.” I hope I put an end to this conversation, but somehow I doubt that will be the case. Taylor doesn’t let things go easily.

“Did she go down on you?” she asks, her voice serious.

“Taylor. Do you really want to talk about this?”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Did you go down on her?”

Shit. I hate disappointing her. I swallow roughly. Maybe if I keep quiet I won’t incriminate myself further. The truth is, Bria and I did pretty much everything but have sex.

              “Colt!” Bria shouts from the other side of the door.

“Just a second, baby.” I shield the phone with my hand. “Now’s not a good time,” I call to the door.

Bria stays quiet. I put the phone back to my ear, almost reluctantly.

“What was that?” Taylor asks.

“Ah, just Bria. I told her I was busy.”

“Are you guys in the same hotel room?”

“We have a two bedroom suite. It’s more cost effective than two single rooms.”

“Oh,” she whispers.

“What’s wrong, babe?”

“I don’t like that, Colt. Not at all.”

“I’m sorry, baby. Please trust me.”

Taylor stays quiet, and we say goodnight a short time later. Thought I hadn’t thought twice about it, I now have an uneasy feeling about sharing this suite with Bria. By the way Taylor took the news, I could tell she thought that us sharing a two-bedroom suite on our assignment was a unique thing. I hate now that it wasn’t. I want her to feel special and important to me, not like a number.

Chapter 15

Taylor

The second my eyes open in the morning, I recall my conversation with Colt before bed. I hate the idea that he’s sharing a hotel room with Bria. I know during the field assignment I had with him, we did too. But I assumed that was because he liked being near me. I realize this means they’re together 24/7, sharing every meal, working together, laughing together. The thought does nothing to calm my nerves.

My stomach rumbles loudly. But I don’t care. I’m way too worked up to eat. I need to go get Reis up and go for a run. Maybe then I can pound out some of this angst I feel.

I dress and head downstairs, knocking loudly on Colt’s door to wake Reis.

He pulls open the door wearing nothing but boxer briefs.

I stumble back, shielding my eyes with my hand. “Oh, hi. Sorry.”

He chuckles. “It’s okay. Come in.”

“Can you um, put something on?” I peek through my fingers as I follow him into the room so I don’t stumble into the door frame.

“No, I’m just going to wear my boxers all day.” I hear the sarcasm in his voice, and a second later, I hear clothes rustling.

“Put on something you can run in.” I open my eyes in time to see him pull a pair of mesh running shorts over his hips.

“Ready.” He holds his arms out to the sides. “Just let me brush my teeth.”

His bare feet pad across the floor to the bathroom and rather than standing here feeling useless, I busy myself by making the bed. The bed Colt and I have spent countless hours cuddling on is now where Reis is sleeping. It’s a little strange, but I push the thought from my mind.

Reis returns and pulls his on running shoes, knotting the key to Colt’s room into his shoelace.

During our run, I complain to Reis about Colt and Bria sharing the same hotel room. He looks bothered, his brow knitting together in thought, but he doesn’t say anything. I find myself more talkative and open than normal. Reis’ quiet, accepting demeanor does that to me. If I had told all this to MJ, she’d be telling me to break things off with Colt for sure.

After our run, we shower then round up MJ and Logan and the four of us head off in Reis’ Jeep to get some breakfast off campus.

Colt steers into the parking lot of a dingy looking little diner. “I know it looks shady, but I’ve been here before with Colt. They have really good pancakes.”

We head inside and when we stop at the hostess station, we’re greeted by the red head we had a run in with at the movies. Amber. My body stiffens.

“What’s wrong?” Reis questions at my sudden visible response to seeing her here.

I shake my head curtly. I won’t draw more attention to myself than I already have. I just want to get on with this and get to our table. Maybe she won’t remember me.

“How many?” Amber looks up at us and her eyes instantly lock on mine. “Oh.” She frowns.

Reis, MJ and Logan all turn and look between her and me, wondering what’s going on.

“Four of us,” Reis says, stepping in to shield me from Amber’s gaze. Amber’s eyes flick to Reis, noticing how much he looks like Colt, I’m sure.

A second later, she grab she menus and spins away across the room. We follow her, with Reis guiding me along by the shoulders, somehow aware that my legs aren’t working so well right now.

We settle into a booth in the corner of the dingy diner and scan the menus. Reis sets his down after merely glancing at it, and leans back, stretching his arm across the back of the booth behind me and leans closer. “I don’t know what that was back there, but are you okay?” he whispers so just I can hear him.

I answer in a tight nod, not wanting to discuss this with MJ and Logan. MJ is barely okay with me dating Colt as it is. I don’t want to give her any more ammunition against him. But I’ll talk to Reis about this later, I’m sure. He was such a good listener on our run this morning. I release a deep sigh and settle into the booth against this arm.

MJ’s mouth twitches, watching us. “So Boyfriend Junior, um, I mean Reis.” She smirks. “What are you doing tonight?”

He chuckles and slides his arm from behind me, moving his hands to his lap. “Whatever Taylor wants. Colt says I’m in charge of watching her.”

“No one’s in charge of me,” I stipulate.

“Wow, you two are unconvincing,” MJ mutters, setting down her menu. “Well Logan and I decided that tonight will be a perfect fall night for a bonfire out by the old barn. You guys in?”

“We’re in,” Reis confirms before I have the chance to answer.

I shoot him a look.

“What? You need to relieve some stress, Shrimp. Trust me, okay?”

I nod my agreement.

Later that night, MJ and I get ready for the party along with most of the other second year girls in the bathrooms. The atmosphere is alive with energy. Colt, the head of the school is away, McAllister’s long gone and so it’s just Vera, and she stays pretty busy getting the first years settled, which means more freedom and less oversight of us.

A pair my low slung jeans with sandals and one of my comfy fitted long sleeve tees, adding just minimal makeup to finish my look, and then wait while MJ applies coat after coat of black mascara.

We gather up Logan and Reis from the common room where they’re playing video games. Reis is dressed in the same dark jeans he had on earlier, but I recognize the sweatshirt he’s wearing as one of Colt’s. It’s heather gray and stretches across his chest, just like it does on Colt. And I know from experience it’s soft and worn.

We follow the low hum of conversation and laughter across the field and when we round the barn, the bonfire comes into view. The second year guys have lit a roaring blaze that reaches up for the cloudless sky.

I waste no time grabbing a drink with MJ, just wanting to numb myself from all the annoyances. Colt hasn’t called today. I know if I complain to MJ she’ll tell me the same thing she did earlier this week. That if I’m worried, I should hack into his emails and see for myself if anything shady is going on. I told her that I’d never do that, but now that I’m a few drinks in, it doesn’t sound like the world’s worst idea. It may even calm my nerves to see with my own eyes what his email exchanges with Bria are like. On my third cup of jungle juice, Reis removes the cup from my hand.

“Come on, I think you’ve had enough to drink. I’m taking you back.”

“No, stay with me!” I grab his sweatshirt, forcing him closer.

He chuckles in response. “Colt’ll have my balls if I let you get too drunk and sick. Come on, Shrimp.”

“You’re no fun, Reis Palmer.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” He steers me by the shoulders toward the open field. “Think you can make it back?”

“Mm hmm,” I hiccup.

He laughs and signals to MJ that we’re leaving. She gives us a strange smile and a wave.

Reis holds my hand all the way back to the school, intertwining our fingers. We fit together perfectly. Just like Colt and me. The thought of Colt sends a shockwave through my system, my stomach quivers in response.

I tug his hand. “I don’t feel so good.”

He faces me, lifting my chin to meet his eyes. I try to watch on his face, but it comes in and out of focus. “Shit,” he swears under his breath. “I shouldn’t have let you drink so much.” His eyes scan mine. “Do you drink like this with him?”

Him. Colt. I shake my head no.

He curses again. “Come on. I can’t have Vera finding you drunk. If you’re going to be sick tonight, you’ll have to stay with me in Colt’s room. I’ll take care of everything.”

He leads me up the stairs to Colt’s room and unlocks the door. When he flips on the lights, I let out a grunt and try to shield my eyes. He chuckles. “Okay, no lights.”

I sit on the bed and the room spins and tilts. I know I’m going to be sick, it’s just a matter of when. “Help me to the bathroom,” I mumble. It comes out sounding like melpmetobrom.

Reis lifts me from the bed and carries me into the bathroom, depositing me on the floor near the toilet. There’s something about sitting on the cool tile of a bathroom floor with the toilet at eye level that humbles you. I feel completely helpless. I close my eyes and breathe through my nose. I sense Reis is still standing next to me.

“Leave.” I wave him away. I don’t want him to see me get sick.

He takes a step back, and closes us both in the bathroom. Before I have time to deal with his presence, my stomach lurches violently and I heave over the toilet. I cough and sputter, and when I’m finally done, I realize that Reis is standing behind me, holding my hair away from my face.

“Are you done?” he whispers.

I lean my forehead against the toilet seat and whimper. My throat is raw, burnt to hell. I am never drinking again.

Reis lifts me up, and after making sure I’ll be steady, he reaches over and flushes the toilet. Ew. I don’t even want to know what it looked like in there. I had tacos for dinner and three big cups of jungle juice. My stomach lurches again, but I keep it under control.

“You got some, ah…” Reis motions to the front of my shirt, which has a wet spot of vomit staining the fabric.

I lift my arms over my head, and without another word, Reis peels the shirt from my body. After helping me brush my teeth, he steers me to Colt’s bed.

He pulls down the covers while I peel off my jeans. I should feel embarrassed standing in front of Reis in just a pair of panties and my bra, but those feelings are strangely absent. He has a calming effect on me. He helps me into one of Colt’s oversized T-shirts and then into bed.

I expect him lay down next to me, but he gathers up an extra pillow and heads to the other side of the room.

“Wait. Reis…” I reach my arm out for him. “Don’t go.”

His eyes devour my bare legs. “What do you want?” His low voice washes over me. It’s so similar to Colt’s it makes my insides clench.

“I want…I want…” I reach for him again. “I don’t want to be alone.”

His eyes rake over me, stopping on my outstretched hand. “So I’m second best when you can’t have the guy you want?” His voice is soft, just a whisper.

I stay quiet. I can’t deny the truth in his words. But somehow I know he won’t leave.

Reis lets out a long sigh. “You don’t have to make up an excuse to ask me to hold you. You’re my brother’s girl. Which practically makes you mine to look after while he’s gone. Come here. Let me hold you.”

He strips off his shirt and jeans, and wearing just his boxer briefs, climbs in beside me.

I smile and snuggle into his chest, breathing in his scent. It’s different than Colt’s, but masculine and comforting just the same.

“Colt?” I yawn.

“It’s Reis, sweetheart. I’ve got you.”

I mentally thump myself on the forehead. “Oh yeah, I mean Reis. Thanks for taking care of me.”

“Shh. Just sleep. If this is all I can get from you, I’ll take it. Colt is a damn lucky bastard.”

I know it’s bad to use him this way, but he doesn’t seem to mind either.

I let his calming breaths whisper over the back of my neck. However we rationalize this to ourselves, I know it’s borderline inappropriate. Reis would like there to be something more between us, and I’m simply filling a void in Colt’s absence. But that last thought before I drift to sleep doesn’t stop me from cuddling in closer to Reis’s arms, letting him pull me firmly to his chest.

Chapter 16

Colt

“Come on, we can’t be late.” I pound on Bria’s door once more.

“Keep your pants on, we won’t be late,” she calls from the other side of the door.

The pace the room, checking the time on my phone once again. We can’t screw this up. The door flies open several minutes later and though I expected her to come out wearing a cocktail dress or something equally revealing, she’s in a crisp tailored suit covering pretty much every inch of her. I frown. “You’re wearing that?” I should remind her that Geoffrey is a red-blooded male and her usual attire should be more than fine, but deciding there’s no time for her to change, I keep quiet and guide her out the door.

When we arrive, we’re ushered into Geoffrey’s office where he profusely compliments Bria’s designer suit. I quickly learn two things: One, Geoffrey is definitely gay, and two, she’s wearing some big deal British designer’s vintage collection. Hm. I guess she’s done her research on Geoffrey.

Bria is utterly calm and collected, carefully advancing the discussions in just the direction we want. I look between her and Geoffrey. He appears spell bound by Bria. I’ve seen that look before. We have him. I can practically see us inking the deal. This is why I brought Bria. She’s captivating and hard to say no to. The perfect combination of beauty and intelligence that had men, and women for that matter falling at her feet, vying to please her. And Geoffrey is no exception. Things are falling right into place.

I lean back in my spot and relax a little, letting Bria take over.

After talking over all the basics, Geoffrey introduces us to his nephew, Liam who appears closer to our age. He’ll be giving us the details of the case we’ll work for them for the next few weeks. He’s dressed in a suit, well-mannered and when he speaks , Bria’s mouth quirks up at his polished British accent and I know she’s interested in more than just business dealings with him. And when he suggests we all have dinner tonight, his eyes are on Bria and I know he’s interested too.

Great. I don’t want anything getting in the way of this deal. And I know first-hand just the trouble Bria can bring, and the drama that’s sure to follow.

* * *

I wake up hung over and struggling to remember how I got into my bed last night. I’m lying across it diagonally, still fully clothed. I look down and wiggle my toes that hang off the end of the bed, at least I managed to remove my shoes. I grab the bottle of water on the side table and take a deep swig, then let my head fall back against the pillow.

After working all through the day, Bria and I went to dinner with Liam and Geoffrey. We ended up at a pub later with Liam and his rugby buddies. Bria loved the attention from being one of the sole females in the pub. And we stayed until closing time. I remember walking back arm in arm drunkenly through the streets signing the victory song of the rugby team. I check my phone. It’s already noon. I’ve missed two calls from Taylor. I try to remember the last time I talked to her. Yesterday? Shit.

Her last text says Where are u?

Crap. I might as well call her back before she starts to worry. I wait while it rings. “Hello?’ her voice comes through scratchy.

“Taylor?” It barely sounds like her.

“Yeah,” she growls.

“What happened, baby? Are you alright?”

She lets out a deep breath. “I’m fine now. I had a little bit too much to drink last night. But Reis took care of me.”

“Oh. Good. I mean, I’m glad he was there to take care of you. Did you get sick?”

“Mm hmm. I passed out in your bed after.”

I want to ask her where Reis slept, but I know I can trust them both.

“Colt, you alive in here?” Bria calls, flinging my bedroom door open as she enters.

I muffle the phone with my hand. “You need to knock, Bria. I’m on the phone.”

“Well last night got kind of crazy, so I just wanted to check on you. Did you sleep in that?” she chuckles.

My jaw clenches. She knows she’s getting me in trouble with Taylor, and she doesn’t care. She shrugs and leaves the room, closing the door behind her.

“Sorry about that,” I mumble, pressing the phone to my ear.

“Was that her?” she asks, her voice tight.

“Yeah, she just…came in. Sorry.”

“Colt, if she just comes in your bedroom without knocking, I’d say you created a pretty damn comfortable environment there with her. You could’ve been naked.”

“I’m not.” I try to lighten the mood. “But I could get naked if you want.”

“Not funny. What was she talking about? You guys had a crazy night?”

I sit up in bed, my head spinning until my feet touch the floor. “Taylor. You have to trust me. Bria probably heard me on the phone and just wants to get a rise out of you. She’d love for you to be mad at me, and then for me to come complain to her. Let’s not let that happen. Don’t let her drive anything between us. We worked all day on the case and then our clients took us out to dinner. She’s into this guy Liam, and I talked to some of his friends about rugby. That’s all.”

“Okay,” she says in a soft voice. “I’m sorry, I trust you, it’s just hard to know you’re there with her.”

“I know, love. But I told you, I am yours. Just have fun with Reis while I’m gone and I’ll be home before you know it.”

We say goodbye, and though I’m relieved I calmed her down, I’m furious at Bria. I head out in the living room to talk to her.

As soon as I open door, Bria grins at me, holding up her hands in surrender. “I hope I didn’t get you into trouble.”

“Not at all.” I won’t let her have the satisfaction of knowing she bugs Taylor. “All is fine. Just please knock next time. I could have been changing.”

“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before,” she murmurs under her breath, still treating me to a wicked grin. “Well anyways, I was hoping that you weren’t mad at me, but just in case, I went ahead and ordered room service for us breakfast. I even got coffee for you.”

She knows me well. I haven’t been tolerating the weak English tea we’re usually served. And this morning, with my pounding head, I definitely need the coffee. “Thanks,” I sigh, falling back into the plush armchair.