Chapter Thirteen
What the fugu looking at?
That night I joined Remington for dinner. I had expected to eat at the house, but now that he was walking around the man didn’t idle long. It was nice to have an evening just the two of us.
He took me to a nice restaurant looking over the ocean. Remington was fancy business and did things with old-school class. I realized this when he took the liberty of ordering for both of us. “We’ll start with two dry martinis and the fugu.”
The waiter nodded and left. I googled fugu. “Um, we’re eating a puffer fish?” All I could think of was the cast from Finding Nemo.
“It’s a delicacy.”
“It says here one drop of poison could kill an adult. Holy shit, a hundred people die a year from eating fugu. Are you trying to kill me?” People kept trying to hurt me today.
“Put your phone away, Meyers.”
I slid my phone into my bag, unsure if I was brave enough to risk my life for food. “So…”
Remington eyed me and frowned. “You’ve lost weight.”
“I’ve been under some stress.”
“Understandable, but your friend’s recovering.”
“Speaking of my friends, could you please not hit on them?”
He smirked. “I don’t think she’s interested in a man my age.”
“You’re right. So stop.”
The waiter delivered our drinks and my eyes watered as I took a sip. “Wow, that’s one dry martini.”
Remington sipped his without issue. “Hale doesn’t want you to work for me.”
“Hale isn’t the boss of me.”
“Are you sure?”
My lips twisted. I wasn’t sure who was running the Calamity Rayne Show these days. Elle used to be my director, but then I started taking orders from Remington until Elle got hurt. Now, we were all jumbled together and Hale wanted to call the shots, but I sort of wanted to call them myself, only not really by myself. Gah! I had no clue what I wanted.
“Do you think I made a mistake moving in with him?”
“Yes.”
Well, that was blunt. “Why?”
“Because Hale has a lot on his plate right now and so do you.”
“Not really. I mean, there’s Elle, but other than that—”
“Exactly what I’m talking about, Meyers. There should be something other than your friend’s prognosis directing your life. You’re supposed to be looking at college courses.”
“Remington, you know that isn’t happening.”
“I know no such thing. You made a deal with me and I expect you to uphold your end of the bargain.”
The whole college thing happened when he refused to meet his granddaughter. Once he met her, I was over our bargain. Apparently, he wasn’t. “I have no interest in a business major.”
“Then major in something else.”
I arched a brow and laughed. “So you’d be okay with me choosing something like art or philosophy.”
“I would.” He took another sip of his martini. “The point is to get you moving in some sort of direction. Your life is stagnant.”
“I haven’t told Hale you offered to pay for me to go back to school.”
“It doesn’t concern him.”
I rolled my eyes. “This is why he gets weird about me working for you. He’s your son, Remington. Stop treating him like the opposition.”
“He claims to want the best for you, but he’s holding you back.”
“No, he’s not.”
He arched a brow.
“If I told Hale I was going back to school he wouldn’t object.”
“So why haven’t you told him yet?”
“Because I haven’t made up my mind about going.”
Remington shook his head. “You’ve been drifting through life for years, Meyers. It’s time to decide something.”
I wished he’d ordered me something else to drink. I wanted the alcohol in my glass, but it was too strong to chug. “So tell me what you think I should do.”
“You should come back to work for me. Take a few night courses. Help your friend find an apartment. And get that girl out of my son’s house.”
Whoa! I frowned at that last bit. “Do you have something against Elle?”
“Not her. The other one. What the hell’s her name? Brianne? Courtney?”
“Brynlee?”
“Yes.”
I grinned, shocked. I finally found someone who didn’t immediately love the nanny. “Why don’t you like her?”
“I don’t have an opinion about her. But I know how these things work. If you think I never fooled around with my children’s au pairs you’re out of your mind.”
All of my illogical opinions settled into something heavy and unwelcome. “Hale wouldn’t do that.”
“I’m not worried about Hale. She’s younger, good with his daughter, nurturing, and very aware of his success. Get her out of there.”
“But what about Elara?” Remington already made it clear he didn’t want me playing nanny.
“There are plenty of unattractive women out there. Hire one of them.”
I stared at my martini and sighed. “I don’t think she’d do anything. Hale and I live together now. That would take balls to try something with me in the house.”
“You’re not home now.”
“Jesus. Are you trying to ruin my dinner?”
The waiter delivered a plate that looked like fried licorice. Remington sliced a shard off and swiped it in a dollop of white sauce. I waited to see if he died.
“Try it. You’ll like it.”
Cutting off a small strip, I dipped and sent out a little prayer that, should I be poisoned to death by a cooked puffer fish, someone had the sense to erase my browsing history on my laptop. I was curious!
Popping the small bite in my mouth I chewed and, well, it was rather tasty.
“Do you like it?”
I sliced off another piece. “It’s good. I like this sauce. What are these little orange balls?”
“Roe.”
They were delicious. I took another bite. “What is that, a plant?”
“They’re fish eggs.”
I stilled. “Aw, man.” More images from Finding Nemo filled my head, only now I was imagining the sad beginning when the mom and all Nemo’s siblings died.
“Stop being such a pacifist and enjoy your meal. You eat chicken eggs.”
True.
Remington ordered bluefin tuna for our main course and that was equally delicious. On the limo ride home, he readdressed our earlier conversation. “You know you have a room at my house, Meyers.”
“I know.” But I couldn’t do that to Hale. “This is the first time in my life I’ve committed to something. I don’t want to walk away like I always do.”
“Maybe you should consider if this is about proving something to yourself, or being where you want to be.”
“I love Hale.” I did. I loved him. We were in love. He was my boyfriend.
“Sometimes we love the wrong people.”
Truer words had never been spoken from a man like Remington Davenport. He’d loved too many people, and his love came with zero reassurance.
When the limo pulled up to Hale’s I thanked Remington for dinner and told him I’d think about everything we talked about. When I let myself in the front door my ears perked up.
Laughter came from the den so I went to see what was so funny. There was nothing funny about what I saw. Elara lay on her back on the carpet while Hale and Brynlee kneeled beside her, their heads so close they were nearly touching. Two glasses of red wine perched on the side table.
“Who’s got a big smile?” Brynlee cooed, a little too breathily for my taste, and Hale chuckled.
“What are you guys doing?” I asked, unimpressed, since no one seemed to care that I was home.
Hale turned and grinned. “Elara’s smiling. Come see.”
I stepped close and my frigid mood warmed, because who could frown when looking at a smile that angelic? Then Brynlee blew raspberries on Elara’s stomach and my grin fell away. That was my game.
“How was dinner?”
“Good.” I paused as the nanny’s blonde flowing hair fell in waves to the carpet. She wasn’t a part of this conversation and someone should tell her I could see down her shirt. “I think you missed a button. I’m tired. I’m heading up to bed.”
His gaze turned guarded. “Okay. I’ll be up once I get Elara down.”
Why the fuck was she here? I turned and went upstairs, but their laughter continued and with every echo, I grew more disgusted.
I was appalled by my insecurities, shocked that Hale acted like nothing was wrong with her being here when he was completely capable of taking care of his child after work. And I was utterly repulsed that Remington’s warning about the other woman had made everything worse.
I climbed into bed and waited. He didn’t come up for over an hour and when he finally entered the room I thought it would be best to pretend I was asleep.
Hale’s body curled into mine and I frowned when I felt his erection. Was that a souvenir from downstairs or something he just acquired here?
“You awake, baby?” His hand slipped under my shirt and cupped my breast. “Rayne?”
“I’m sleeping.” I kept my eyes closed.
A slow chuckle rumbled in his chest as his fingers found my nipple. “I want you.”
I nudged him away. “I’m not in the mood.”
He sighed and turned onto his back. When he didn’t say anything I assumed he’d fallen asleep, but his aggravated breathing proved he wasn’t. He tossed and turned for about twenty minutes, keeping me awake until he got out of bed and quietly left the bedroom.
I sat up, wondering where he was going. The sensor lights on the back of the house kicked on and I climbed out of bed. Looking down at the back patio, I watched him take a seat by the pool, obviously frustrated. Then another light flicked on and I saw Brynlee step out of the guesthouse wearing only a little nightgown.
My breath fogged the glass as it staggered past my lips. “Go back inside,” I whispered.
Hale turned as Brynlee took a step closer to the pool but stopped halfway between him and the guesthouse. He looked at her and my stomach cramped. So help me God, if he touched her I’d go ballistic. When I saw she was talking I searched the window for a lock, desperately needing to hear what she said.
The window didn’t open. What good was that?
I watched in horror as she took another step, but her progress halted when Hale held up a hand. My heart raced. He stood and said something and then he turned and disappeared into the house. Where did he go? Brynlee’s shoulders slouched, but she didn’t move. Go back to your house—
“I thought you were asleep.”
I pivoted, all the heat leaching from my face. “I was looking at stars.”
He glanced at the window and back to me.
“I saw the light come on,” I confessed. And then the nanny come on to you. I glanced back out the window. Brynlee was gone.
He frowned. “I was just getting some air.”
For some reason, I nodded rather than telling him what I saw.
Moving slowly, I climbed back into bed and rested my head on my pillow. Hale returned to his side, but this time he didn’t touch me. The longer the silence lasted the closer I came to the verge of tears.
I assumed Hale had fallen asleep, until he said, “I’ll start looking for a new nanny tomorrow.”
Relief should have been instantaneous, but it wasn’t. My victory was muddled with unanswerable questions. I wanted to know if he was letting her go so the temptation wouldn’t be there or if this was about doing something for me or if I really wasn’t that crazy and something bad just happened by the pool.
But maybe she’d done nothing wrong and was only losing her job because her boss’s girlfriend was a psychopath. It sucked being the crazy person in this scenario and I couldn’t take the guilt.
“You don’t have to fire her.”
The blankets shifted and I turned to my side, facing him. His expression was unreadable and he remained silent. Sliding closer to him, I placed a hand on his chest.
“Hale?”
He caught my fingers and squeezed gently, but didn’t look at me. Then he shifted, and pinned me beneath him, his mouth closing over mine as he kissed me deeply. “I want you.”
I couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that he was getting all turned on by the nanny each time he came on to me. “Slow down there, tiger.”
His body pressed into mine as he nuzzled his way to my neck. “Why are you keeping yourself from me lately?”
“I’m not.” Was I? We’d had sex a few days ago. Or was that last week?
“Rayne, I need to be with you. That connection’s important.”
Hearing the longing in his voice and recognizing the stress in his eyes, I nodded. I didn’t want to examine my reasoning too closely because there were too many unfavorable theories floating through my head. I only knew I wanted to be the one to meet his needs, no one else.
The blankets kicked away as he removed his pants and briefs, his body sliding over mine. He peeled down my panties and wrenched my legs apart, lining his cock up to my sex, but not penetrating.
“Tell me you want me, Rayne. I need to hear you say it.”
“I want you,” I rasped. And I did. I wanted him all to myself and I didn’t want any young women coming onto him, especially in our house.
He thrust into me and whispered, “I don’t like this distance between us and I’m tired of missing you.”
My body bowed against his as I moaned. He cursed and thrust again, his hands crawling over me, needy and rough. I held onto him as he fucked me hard, my cries likely traveling to other parts of the house, but I didn’t care. I did wish I’d gotten that window open though.
There was something about being taken in such an impassioned way that had my insecurities scattering. His desire scared the timid parts of me into hiding and coaxed the braver sides out to play.
He wasn’t gentle and he wasn’t apologetic, but he was certainly demanding. He pulled me into him, treating my body to blatant pleasure as he commanded I come again and again. It was as though he were punishing me in the most erotic way, proving all of my unspoken doubts were unfounded and showing me exactly how deeply he needed me. It was as if he sensed my worry, suffered my withdrawal, and this was his way of telling me he wouldn’t stand for it.
I learned the lesson well.
When he finished, we were both spent. His body collapsed beside me and then came reality. “We forgot a condom again.”
Hale cursed. “I’ll remember next time. I promise.”
I really needed to go on birth control. Tomorrow morning, making that call was the first thing I planned to do because the last thing we needed was another circumstance taking precedence over the natural progression of things.
Hale pulled me into his body and kissed my shoulder. “Get some sleep, baby. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”