Bailey
I WOKE THE next morning, the human blanket that was Brock, covering me. I loved waking up with him, especially since I woke with him wrapped around me. Even in sleep, he protected me.
I disentangled myself from him, sliding off the bed and heading to the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror. I had bed head and what I assumed was a thoroughly sated look on my face. I wouldn’t know, but I liked what I saw, and I loved sex. More specifically, I loved sex with Brock. I’d never felt more beautiful or cherished.
Starting the shower, I stepped inside, allowing the hot water to flow over me. I gasped when Brock slid the shower door open and grinned. I hadn’t even heard him come in.
“Please, join me,” I retorted.
“If you insist.” His lips covered mine as he wrapped one arm around my waist and slid his other hand between my legs.
I moaned, tipping my head back to give him access to my neck.
“Fuck, baby,” he breathed as he slid two fingers inside of me and pressed his thumb against my clit. “You’re so wet.”
“I’m in the shower,” I retorted, breathlessly.
He chuckled as he turned me and pulled me back against his chest, one hand cupping my breast while the other slid back to where it was. I dropped my head on his shoulder and tried not to scream as an orgasm built around me.
“Not yet,” he demanded.
I whimpered as he removed his hand, my need for his touch overwhelming. “Brock.”
“Hands on the tile, baby. Bend at the waist.”
I turned and did as he directed, and he slid two fingers inside of me from behind, holding me around me waist as he shifted his body for better access. “Does your arm hurt?” he asked.
I shook my head as I heard him rip open a condom packet.
“Are you sure, baby?”
“Yes, Brock.” I’d had the occasional pang of pain from my broken arm, but it was getting stronger every day. I just had to make sure I didn’t overuse it.
“You tell me if it hurts, okay?”
I groaned, moving my hands from the shower wall to reach behind me and grasp his hips. “God, baby, you talk too much.”
Brock anchored me against his body and slid his cock inside of me, driving into me with a slowness that was obviously meant to make me mad. “I love your tight pussy. I love that I’m the only one who’s fucked it.”
I shifted so I was bent at the waist again, hands against the wall, giving me more freedom to move the way I wanted to.
Brock surged into me and I moaned. He felt so good. He leaned forward and rolled my nipple between his fingers, pinching a little tighter, then releasing me.
“I’m…Brock…” I couldn’t form anything coherent as the orgasm built and the climax hit me faster than I had expected. I screamed out his name before I felt Brock thrust three more times, and then he moaned against my shoulder before kissing the back of my neck.
“I love how I can make you come just by working your tits.”
I licked my lips. “You weren’t just ‘working my tits,’ Brock.”
He slipped out of me and turned me to face him. His beautiful face grinned. “Still bet I could do it.”
I licked a drop of water making its way down his chest. “We have all day to find out.”
He frowned.
“What?” I asked.
“We don’t actually have all day. I have to leave in an hour.”
“What? Why?”
“I don’t know all the particulars, but Jaxon found something.”
“The kids?”
Brock shrugged. “No idea. I’ll know more when I head to the office.”
“Can I come with you?”
“No, but Macey wanted to know if you want to go to lunch with her. I’ll drop you off afterwards.”
I sighed.
“Hey, you don’t have to if you don’t want to. Just a suggestion.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it?” he asked, as he wrapped an arm around my waist.
“How am I going to last all that time without you,” I said in mock despair. “You have totally made me a sex addict and now you’re telling me I have to abstain?”
Brock dropped his head back and laughed. “God, I love you.”
He leaned forward, but I covered his lips with my fingers. “But seriously. We need to figure something out, because I like what we’re doing and if we can’t do it on a regular basis, I’m not going to be happy.”
He kissed my fingers. “Happy wife, happy life starts early.”
I slid my hands down to cup him. “Happy cock, happy Brock.”
“You have a point,” he said, his voice low.
“So, do you.”
He pressed me against the side of the shower, cupping a breast as he kissed me. Hard. I loved it.
“Hold that thought,” he said, and leaned out for a condom, ripping the packaging and sliding it on quickly.
Then he was inside me and I was lifting my legs to wrap around his waist, gripping his shoulders in an effort to hold on. He reached down between our bodies, his finger on my clit. “Fuck, baby.”
My climax came hard and fast, as did his, and he didn’t release me for several minutes as we stood in the shower and caught our breath.
“See?” I complained.
He chuckled, sliding out of me and taking care of the condom.
I finished in the shower and he jumped in to clean up. I noted how easy it was to just be with him. We brushed our teeth, ordered room service, got dressed…in that order…and sat cross-legged on the bed with a deck of cards playing Go Fish.
Yes, really. Go Fish.
Once room service arrived, we sat at the little table in the room and devoured pancakes, bacon, eggs, and juice. I was in heaven.
“I think we need to talk about you going on the pill,” Brock said.
“Already on it, babe…I mean, I’m not on it, but I’ve made an appointment with my doctor to get on it.”
He frowned.
“What?”
“Did you really make an appointment?”
“Yes, why?” I asked.
“I need all the details, okay? I’ll come with you.”
“Are you worried?”
He shook his head. “Not worried, but I still want to be careful.”
“You said the heat had died down.”
“It has.”
I studied him. “But?”
“From what we can gather, you were an unknown.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Dean is Dean Howen.”
I picked up a piece of bacon. “As in Greg Howen, real estate mogul and shady at best?”
“Yes. It’s his son.”
I sat back. “What did Ali get into?”
“Not sure. But whoever took those kids didn’t know about you. We have Dean in custody and from all accounts, it would appear he wasn’t aware of any kids or you.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Did you see Dean at any point in the night? After you found him with Ali?”
I bit my lip as I thought about it. “I don’t think so. We weren’t there for long before they were making out in front of everyone. That’s when I must have been hit or whatever because I blacked out.”
“Well, there’s a third party involved. Whoever these folks are, they have something over him. They’d told him to deal with Ali, but didn’t know about you.”
I frowned. “But both of us were in the room with those kids. How could they possibly not know about me?”
“This is what we’re trying to find out. He swears they lost their shit when the two kids went missing, but Ali apparently said she helped them escape. Said nothing about you, so neither did Dean.”
“Meaning he suddenly got a conscience?”
“This is what we’re going to find out.” He sat back. “Your lease is up in a week, right?”
I nodded. “Yes. I forgot about that.”
“Ali’s mom said she wants to come down as soon as we release the apartment to pack up her stuff. I don’t think you should go back.”
I bit my lip. “At all?”
He shook his head. “Do you feel comfortable giving me a list of things for us to pack up? Obviously, everything in your room and bathroom, but anything that might be in the common areas? No one will think it’s strange that you don’t return. We’ll say it was just too hard for you to go back to the place you shared with your friend.”
“Good idea,” I said, and tried not to let the sadness overwhelm me. “I’ll make you a list.”
He squeezed me hand. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Is today a test to see if I’m being watched?”
“You are being watched.”
“I mean, by someone other than you guys and my parents.”
“Yes, I suppose it is. Although, Macey knows you’re not allowed to use your credit cards, so no shopping.”
I laughed. “I hate shopping.”
“How is that possible? You’re a woman. It’s ingrained in you.”
“Not me. I’m convinced I give up parts of my soul when I shop.”
Brock laughed. “I love you.”
“Of course you do, I’m amazing,” I retorted.
He stood enough so he could lean over me. “You have no idea how aware of that fact I am.” He smiled and kissed me quickly before returning to his breakfast.
“So.”
“So,” he mimicked.
“What am I going to do for money if I can’t use my credit cards?”
“I have that covered.”
“Brock,” I admonished.
“Covered, baby. Macey’s keeping track.”
“As long as I can pay her back.”
“Not really what I had in mind, but we’ll talk about it later.”
I shook my head with a smile. “On a different note, when will we be ready to head back to Vermont? I will need to tell my parents as soon as possible.”
“I figured that.”
I sighed. “No, I mean, they will want to send the plane.”
His fork didn’t make it to his mouth. “Fuck me, you have a plane?”
“Daddy has a plane. He just insists on me flying in it. He feels it’s safer than commercial travel.” I gave him a careful smile. “We can all go. Jax and Dallas as well.”
“How will we explain Jax? Also, why would we bring my ‘brother’?”
“Hmm, good point,” I said, and took a sip of my coffee. “What if Macey comes too? We’d have to find someone for Jax, but I bet Mase has a girlfriend who wouldn’t mind a weekend trip to Vermont.”
“Bailey, you don’t set Jax up.”
“Well, it wouldn’t be real,” I countered.
“No, it won’t be anything. Trust me on that.”
I sighed. “Well, maybe we can just say he’s gay.”
Brock choked on his coffee, slapping his chest in an attempt to breathe.
“No?” I asked, grinning.
“No way in hell, babe.”
“Not sure how to introduce him, then.”
“I’ll talk to him.”
“Okay.” I cocked my head. “Why don’t you look nervous?”
“About what?”
“About meeting my parents?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because I don’t really care if they approve of me or not.”
“Wow. What’s that like?”
“What?”
“I worry about people liking me all the time,” I admitted.
He smiled. “I don’t know why. You’re perfect the way you are. I just think that if you’re treating people with respect and are nice to them, if they don’t like you, fuck ’em. You can’t control other people’s feelings. As long as you and I are good, I’m not worried about what your parents think.”
“The fact you’re seven years older than me could work to my advantage. Wisdom coming with age and all,” I quipped.
Brock laughed. His phone must have buzzed because he pulled it from his pocket and answered it. “Hey, Dal.” He smiled at me. “Yeah? Okay. Sure. ’Bye.”
“Everything okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “Macey will be here in thirty minutes to pick you up.”
I sat back and studied him.
“What?”
“You said the heat had died down, and I’m obviously allowed off house arrest to spend the day with Macey, but you just admitted I can’t use my credit cards, and what you probably thought I didn’t notice was that we did not check in last night, which wouldn’t be weird if you’d done it earlier, however, what is weird is that the name on the room service bill was Payton’s. So, just how worried should I be?”
I figured Brock wouldn’t particularly like my observation, but instead, a slow smile formed on his lips. “God, you’re beautiful.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re smart. Smart’s sexy, baby.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Good to know. Now are you going to answer my question?”
“You don’t need to worry. A couple of my guys are on you both. Dallas wouldn’t let me go without that deal.”
“Right. What’s up with them?”
“Long and complicated story, babe. Started in high school and the drama continues today.”
“So, not a subject to broach, huh?”
“You go with your gut,” he said. “But if you and Mase get on the subject of her and Dallas, don’t be surprised if the conversation doesn’t go well.”
“Good to know,” I said.
He pulled his phone out. “Macey’s almost here. I’ll walk you down and then grab our stuff and check out.”
I took a few minutes to brush my teeth again, grabbed my jacket and purse, and followed Brock downstairs.
* * *
I about fell over when Macey drove up. For a woman who dressed like a girly-girl, she certainly didn’t drive a girly-girl car. She drove a newer model, black Dodge 4x4 Hemi pick-up truck. I couldn’t stop a giggle as she approached.
“You didn’t peg her as a truck person, huh?” Brock said.
“Not even close.” I grinned up at him. “Lexus, Mercedes, something like that, but badass cowboy truck, not so much.”
He smiled, kissed my temple, and waited for Macey to drive forward. She slid down the passenger side window and grinned. “How’s my date?”
I laughed. “This baby bird is happy to have flown the coop.”
“I bet,” Macey agreed.
Brock opened the truck door, and I climbed inside and secured my seatbelt. He kissed me quickly then closed the door, leaning in the window. “You know the drill, Mase.”
“Yes, I do, Brock-a-by.” Macey grinned. “I also know you’ve got two guys on us, so it’s all good.”
He smiled, reaching in and cupping my neck. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”
I nodded. “Love you.”
“Me too, baby.” Brock stepped back, and I raised my window as Macey pulled away from the curb.
“He’s got it bad,” Macey observed.
“He does?”
Macey chuckled. “Hell yeah. Trust me on that.”
I felt warm and gushy with that tidbit of information. “I kind of have it bad, too.”
Macey laughed. “Picked up on that.”
I was thrilled to discover lunch was at Serratto’s in the Pearl. It was on my top ten places to eat, considering they never disappointed. The food and service were incomparable.
The waiter took our orders and I smiled at Macey. She was a stunning redhead, her hair long, which I wouldn’t have guessed as she kept it in a bun while nursing. “So, are you and Dallas dating?” I grimaced. “Ignore me. Ignore that,” I rushed to say. “I’m no filter Bailey for a reason, so just let that go.”
Macey smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Bailey. People ask us that all the time. I’ll just say it’s complicated.”
“Fair enough.”
“What about you? What’s your story?”
I snorted. “I think you know the most interesting part of my story.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, pretty much. I was kept on a tight leash my entire life until I moved here. I went to private school, only dated the boys my parents approved of, and got good grades.” I shrugged. “Pretty boring stuff.”
“I don’t think that’s boring,” Macey said. “I think it’s nice.”
“Thanks.” I smiled, and my eyes drifted to the windows that faced out to Kearney. My heart started racing and fear gripped me, and I couldn’t stop myself from shoving away from the table and rushing to the bathroom where I locked myself into a stall and slid to the floor.