Chapter 17

Barrett

Goddamnit. This Scott kid had just unknowingly moved himself up to the number one spot on my shit list. I hated being cock-blocked, just like any guy, but I detested it when the prick who was cock-blocking me was the one trying to get into my niece’s pants. Or bank account. Probably both.

Nancie waited impatiently for Demi and me to extricate ourselves from one another. Then, to my eternal gratitude, Demi led Nancie from the room, giving me the opportunity to adjust my aching dick and take a few deep breaths to collect my thoughts.

“Here goes nothing,” I muttered under my breath as I met them by the front doors, gritting my teeth as they swung open to reveal the cock-blocking bastard himself. Scott stood there with a smarmy smile pasted on his face and day-old flowers in his hands.

“Scott!” Nancie exclaimed, so excitedly that I would’ve thought he’d come to surprise her if I didn’t know any better. She launched herself into his arms, and I had to actively stop myself from pulling her off of him, slamming the door in his face, and locking Nancie in her room until her fiftieth birthday.

“I’m so glad you made it,” Nancie told him, releasing a startled-looking Scott and tugging him into the house, her hand in one of his grubby paws as he held out the flowers to her.

“I’m Demi,” she said, holding out her hand to his free one once he’d passed the flowers to Nancie. “It’s nice to meet you.”

I started rolling my eyes, but Demi gave me a look. Her promise of making it worth my while if I actually tried to play nice was the only thing that made me stick out my hand in turn, though I might have squeezed his hand just a touch too hard. “Barrett Hart, it’s nice to officially meet you.”

“It’s nice to officially meet you, too, sir,” Scott mumbled, his face having gone slightly red from the strength of my grip. He cradled his hand against his chest when I released it.

I would never admit it out loud, but I was seriously proud of myself for exerting that small show of dominance over the kid, and that I’d managed it without either of the women picking up on it. It would be interesting to see if he ratted me out to Nancie later.

She looked between the two of us, sharp eyes surveying both of our expressions carefully before she broke out in a smile. “Okay, let’s go to the dining room, shall we?”

“Let’s,” Demi agreed, giving me a wry smile and tugging at my hand to let them go ahead. “Don’t think I don’t know what you did there, Hart. I saw that poor kid’s hand almost pop.”

Damn. “I let him into my house, didn’t I?”

“Only just, though, right?” Her eyes, bright as sapphires in the light of the chandelier in the entrance hall, seemed to pierce all the way to my soul. My heart did that unfamiliar thing again.

“I plead the fifth,” I told her, giving her hand a soft squeeze. “He’s alive and well, and in my house, I’m chalking it up as a win for my self-control.”

Demi’s lips twitched up in amusement as she locked those eyes to mine. “Just remember the stakes. I’ll be watching you closely. If you keep yourself under control with him, you can lose it all you want with me later.”

Fuck. I was practically panting as I followed her down the hallway to the dining room, instantly hard as the tiles under our feet again. “Did you really have to add that just before we sit down for dinner with two teenagers?”

She flashed me a sexy smile, pulling us up short right outside of the dining room and pressing a soft kiss to the corner of my lips. “Just reminding you to play nice.”

As much I didn’t like the little prick, he was about to get the royal treatment if that was what it took to get Demi naked underneath me, completely under my control.

Well, he would have gotten the royal treatment if he had actually known which place setting to use. He didn’t. A fact which became clear as soon as we sat down and tucked right into the first course.

Try as I might to hold it back, a soft snicker escaped as I watched Scott get flustered when he noticed that he had chosen the wrong fork. Demi gave me a swift kick under the table, a scathing look on her beautiful features.

She cleared her throat and smiled at Scott, making me want to rip his head off even more than before. “So, Scott, you’re a senior, right? Got any plans for after graduation yet?”

Scott looked surprised that anyone was actually talking to him. “I… uh… Yeah. I have early admission to Princeton.”

Whoa. Okay, so the kid was obviously smart. But it didn’t mean he was any less of a potential asshole.

“That’s impressive,” Demi said, an encouraging grin on her face. “What are you planning on studying?”

“I’m in the pre-law program. The plan is to become an intellectual property lawyer when I finish my degree.” Scott kept his eyes rooted to his plate as he talked.

“Your grades must be really good to have gotten early admission there,” Demi said, keeping the conversation going.

“They are,” Scott told Demi, risking a quick glance at me. “School has been my first priority since forever. I’m also the captain of the debate club. It’s a good way to get their attention, and I’ve learned a lot that will help me with my future.”

“The debate club are in the finals for the national competition this year,” Nancie added proudly.

By the time we got through the main course, I was starting to realize that Scott might not be the asshole I was sure he was. He seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. All things considered, Nancie could’ve done a lot worse.

Though that realization may have had a lot to do with the fact that Demi kept holding my hand under the table, which did wonders to keep me calm and actually listening to the kid.

“I heard you two met at an arcade,” I said, finally joining in the conversation. Demi smiled at me sweetly. “Is that a hobby of yours?”

Scott swallowed, flushing under my gaze, but he answered evenly. “Once a month, I go down there to blow off some steam. It’s how I reward myself for missing out on all the parties and stuff other kids in my class go to.”

He rewarded himself with an arcade? He was definitely a better kid than I was at his age.

Scott smiled at us politely. “How did you two meet?”

Demi and I exchanged a glance, and she squeezed my hand under the table. A grin spread slowly on my lips as I relayed our story. “I was on the run from the paparazzi after a shoot one day, and I ducked into the first diner I spotted. I just so happened to pull the most beautiful waitress in the place onto my lap to help me escape from the cameras.”

Nancie and Demi both giggled, before Demi added her own two cents. “He told me it was the new thing of the summer. I thought it was cute and charming, little did I know...”

She squeezed my hand again as Nancie’s jaw dropped. “Charming, yeah. Barrett’s never been cute a day in his life.”

My free hand flew to my chest, clutching at my heart jokingly. “I can be cute, clearly. Demi just said so.”

“I also followed it by saying little did I know,” she teased.

I raised both brows at her, waiting for her to explain. “Little did you know what?”

Under the table, Demi’s hand released mine to rest on my thigh. “That you were using me as a human shield. That’s hardly cute.”

“How’d you wind up working for him then?” Nancie asked.

I forgot that she didn’t actually know the story. There was a curious look on her face as she waited for us to explain.

“I’m determined when I want something,” I told her, then watched as both women rolled their eyes and Scott laughed softly.

“In this instance, I have to agree with him,” Demi said, a small smile on her lips as she replayed the memory. “He didn’t take no for an answer.”

An hour later, I told Scott he could come back for dinner sometime, watching both him and Nancie perk up. Thinking we were walking only Scott to the door, I said my goodbyes, surprised when Nancie reached for her bag.

“We’re off to a late movie now,” Nancie informed me matter-of-factly. If I wasn’t so desperate to be alone with Demi, and if I didn’t have at least a little faith in Scott after dinner, I would’ve refused.

Instead, I reached for my wallet and handed over my credit card. “Get an Uber, and be back before curfew.”

Nancie agreed, hugged Demi and me goodbye, and headed out of the door with Scott in tow. We watched them walk hand in hand down the street, Nancie’s phone in her palm as she hailed their Uber to meet them at the front gates of the estate.

It was strangely domestic, standing in the doorway with Demi, watching Nancie go on her first Barrett-approved date. I was surprised to find that I liked it. The domesticity, not the thought that Nancie was dating.

“Thanks for being here for me tonight,” I told her, hugging her to me as I let the doors swing shut.

Demi shrugged, giving me a smile that turned sultry when I reached up to brush her hair back from her forehead. Our earlier deal jumped to the forefront of my mind. My eyes fell to the electric blue dress that I could easily imagine tugging off to reveal her delectable tits. She’d worn her hair up, revealing her long, slender neck.

When I first laid eyes on her earlier, for the first time in my life, I became the cliché that I didn’t think existed. My palms got sweaty, my mouth went dry, and I was actually rendered speechless for a second. She drove me crazy.

And I finally had her alone.

My arms went around her waist, and she gasped as I pressed myself against her, slanting my mouth over hers in a kiss that had my blood running hot. Breaking the kiss, I grabbed her hand and dragged her up the steps to my bedroom.

“You don’t want to have a drink or something first, then?” Demi’s eyes danced as she lengthened her strides to keep up with me.

“Nope, we’ve had enough to drink,” I told her, reaching for the knob of my bedroom door. “I’m not waiting any longer.”

“You hot for me, Hart?” she teased, but I didn’t miss the breathy note in her voice.

“Volcanic, mercurial. Take your pick. Now get in there.”