Chapter Four

I wake to the sounds of my cell phone singing Hell on Heels on the coffee table beside me. Kayden is still asleep on the couch beside me. I quickly retrieve my phone, and glimpse at the time, it’s already eight fifty-two at night. We’ve been asleep for almost three hours. 

I quietly stand up from the couch, answering before the music wakes Kayden.

“Hello?” I say in a slight whisper, as I quickly walk to the bathroom, closing the door behind me.

“Hey, Biotch!! Or should I say Rocky-freaking-Balboa!” Brooklyn shouts, as she giggles uncontrollably into my ear.

I let out an aggravated sigh, “Let me guess, you talked to Reagan? Let’s not forget you are the cause for my extremely hurt hand!” I say pulling myself up onto the counter of the bathroom sink.

“Wow! Hey now girlfriend…don’t go blaming that shit on me. That was all Logan. I didn’t make his ass jump on a plane. Anyways! He was bound to find out.”

“Yes he would’ve found out soon enough, but seriously Brooklyn! He shows up the day Kayden is flying back into town!” I’m still fuming over the fact that he showed up here today, the anger and frustration is apparent in my tone, “I came all the way to Galveston to escape the drama back in L.A., but just my luck, the freakin’ drama follows me here!”

With amusement in her voice she says, “I still can’t get over the fact that you punched him! It’s about freaking time; if it had been me I would’ve nailed him in the balls.”

I was close to it; frickin’ douche bag.

“Believe me, the thought crossed my mind. I’m not usually a violent person, but Logan brings out the worst in me.”

I can hear Brooklyn’s laughter through the phone, “Damn it, I wish someone would’ve recorded it. That is something I definitely wanted to see!”

Leave it to my best friend to find this whole fiasco amusing!

I look down at my bruised knuckles. Over these last few months; no matter where I go, I can’t seem to be able to escape Logan and the shit storm he brings along with him.

My life feels almost surreal since that night. It’s as if I’m trapped in a bad dream, constantly being pulled into the darkness. I’m only able to surface momentarily to relish in a few moments of happiness, because, in the end, I’m always pulled back down into a cesspool that’s filled with nothing but pain and angst.

I let out a deep sigh, trying to exhale the stress building in my chest. “I wish the whole thing never happened. I know this is going to come back to bite me in the ass. You know how Logan has been lately. This is just one more thing to sell to the press.”

Grunting into the phone Brooklyn says, “Oh, I bet he will, but I think a lot of people will get a kick out of seeing photos of Logan with a busted nose.” Her laughter helps me relax.

Actually, the thought of Logan on the cover of a magazine with two black eyes is kinda funny.

I smirk at the idea of Logan fretting over his bruised face. He’s a self-absorbed asshole. “Yeah, I would enjoy seeing his not so perfect face everywhere for a change, sporting two black eyes. He’s going to have a heart attack; I would bet my car he will try to cover it with makeup.” I say in between laughs.

Brooklyn burst into giggles along with me. “Oh. My. God! I know; he is such a pretty boy! Speaking of gracing covers of magazines Miss. Thing how was the shoot and interview for Envy?”

I hear the television come on in the living room, Kayden must be up. I can’t help the face splitting grin on my lips as memories of earlier flash through my mind. I don’t know how I ever got so lucky to have Kayden Knox as my boyfriend.

Brooklyn yelling my name snaps me back to reality.

“Oh sorry, I heard the TV turn on, Kayden must’ve woken up. Anyways the shoot went great; we lucked out weather wise. So we did a lot of photos down by the water. They wanted to get pictures of Kayden and I for the article, to you know, officially announce us as a couple. He was still in Miami though, so Eloise said she would use pictures from the Envy party.”

My mind instantly flashes back to our night at the Envy party. Kayden dipping me back and planting a sweet kiss on my lips in front of the press that were lined up outside Club Vertigo was surreal to say the least. After that night, everyone was talking about us all over the internet. It was a nice change from seeing crap about Logan and I everywhere.

Brooklyn squeals into the phone excitedly. “Oooh yes, the infamous dip and kiss picture! That was so freakin’ hot Savannah. Kayden Knox kissing you in front of the world and breaking a million hearts while doing it! I swear I could hear the broken hearts echoing from city to city.” This time we both burst out laughing.

Brooklyn has the ability to flip my mood in a heartbeat. One of the many reasons she is my best friend; I can’t wait for her to get back here.

“Oh, don’t I know it. I’m awaiting the endless death threats now that I have stolen the heart of the world’s most Eligible Bachelor. I have to pinch myself; I still cannot believe Kayden Knox is sitting in my living room. Just a few months ago I was meeting him for the first time at Envy, a nervous stuttering mess, and now he’s fucking my brains out every chance he gets!”

“Damn girl, I would do anything to be you right now! Is it as big as everyone says?” I swear she has no filter on that mouth of hers.

I let out a small gasp, “Brooklyn! I cannot believe you just asked me that!”

I think I just blushed ten shades of red.

“What?! You should know me by now; I need the dirty details Savannah! Plus I had the worst lay of my life last night…I swear that man couldn’t find my G-spot if I drew the idiot a freakin’ map!”

“All right, if you must know he is as big as they say and then some.” I whisper into the phone matter-of-factly.

I’m not sure how Kayden would react to me dishing out details of our sex life to Brooklyn.

“I knew it! You lucky bitch. Does he have any brothers?” Brooklyn asks enthusiastically. “I need to go boy hunting when I get there tomorrow, I’m in need of a good fuck.”

Laughing and shaking my head I tell her, “You are awful Brooklyn Bennett! And no, no brothers…but we can definitely go cowboy hunting and find you a cowboy to ride.”

God I cannot believe those words just came out of my mouth!

“Hot damn girly, I am going to hop on a red eye right now! Oh speaking of Knox and his Texas size dick, did you ride him until his junk fell off? I know if I had to go four days without that man candy, I would be jumping his bones the moment he walked through the door.”

Resting my forehead in the palm of my hand, I let out a slow breath. She doesn’t hold back. “Yes…we pretty much christened the entire beach house today.” I answer, blushing again.

Brooklyn yells into the phone, “Oh, my God! You dirty little hoe! You better be sanitizing that fucking house before I get there! One more thing, don’t get sidetracked having wild animal sex with Knox and forget about me tomorrow, I expect you to be at the airport to pick me up when my flight lands.”

I can’t help but roll my eyes, “For your information, Kayden has to work tomorrow, so don’t worry…I won’t be getting sidetracked by wild sex with Kayden. Once you land, we can go grab lunch somewhere and maybe do a little retail therapy, help me forget about this whole Logan drama.”

“Oooh shopping sounds fan-freaking-tastic! I need some country chick clothes; I want to get myself some hot ass cowgirl boots!”

After saying our goodbyes, I hurried back to the living room to rejoin Kayden. We spent the remainder of the evening watching movies and snacking on popcorn. It felt good just relaxing with him, and not having a worry in the world, at least for a few hours.

I know tomorrow I will have to deal with the aftermath of everything that went down with Logan this afternoon, so for right now I’m relishing in the normalcy of our evening.

~~~

Jax showed up bright an early this morning. He stayed at Kayden’s beach house down the road so only had to drive up the street to pick us up. Kayden has to work all day today at Beaumont Energy Inc. to catch up after being in Miami these last couple of days.

He insisted I ride with him into Houston, and then Jax will take me to the airport to pick up Brooklyn. I was going to protest and drive my father’s car, but I wanted to spend more time with him, so I kept my mouth shut.

Kayden spent the entire ride into the city on his phone with a client and then his secretary to go over his schedule for the day. I suppose it comes with the territory of running a multi-billion dollar corporation.

I spent the car ride checking my emails on my iPad; I had a few from Eloise, which I answered quickly. She was beyond thrilled I finished all the assignments she sent me to work on.

I’m now free to relax until Monday; which works out perfectly because Brooklyn doesn’t have to fly back to Vancouver until Sunday evening.

“How are ya enjoyin’ your stay in Galveston?” Jax asks gazing back at me in the review mirror. I just love his thick Aussie accent.

I flash him a warm smile, “I’m lovin’ it so far. I haven’t done much of anything yet. I’ve been busy with work related stuff, but I’m hoping to do some sightseeing with Brooklyn today.”

Brooklyn is most definitely going to be crushin’ hard on Jax. Between his good looks and Aussie accent, she will be falling all over him.

Kayden pulls his phone away from his ear as he turns to face me. He gives our intertwining fingers a gentle squeeze before looking into the review mirror at Jax. In a smooth voice, he chimed in “Savannah is going to have plenty of time to sightsee around Houston and Galveston. She has decided to stay in Galveston permanently.”

I can see the look of surprise flash across Jax’s face, “Oh really. Well that’s great to hear; I bet you’ll love gettin’ away from L.A.”

“Oh, believe me, I will not miss L.A. at all. I’ll miss having my friends in the same city, but I’ll at least see them every weekend when fly into L.A. for work.”

Jax nods his head in agreement, “I don’t know how you all handle those blood suckin’ leeches, better known as the paparazzi. When we’re in L.A. it’s insane, they have no boundaries, and they’ll do anything for a story.” I can see the look in his eyes; Jax is probably just as scared as I am that the madness of L.A. will follow me here. Changing the subject he asks “So you’re still going to work for Envy I take it, even though you’re going to be living here?”

“Yup. I’m lucky enough to have an amazing boss; she is letting me work from home. I’ll have to fly into Los Angeles once a week, but it’s a great compromise. I get to keep my job, be closer to Kayden, and away from all the craziness back home.” I reply, as I gaze out the window at the streets now filled with towering buildings.

Sweetly turning to Kayden, I lose myself for a few moments in his hypnotic gaze. He is looking extra delicious today in his dark grey three piece suit.

He flashes me a cocky grin before leaning down and seductively whispering into my ear, “My first meeting isn’t until ten. So I plan on using every free second we have givin’ you toe curling orgasms my sweet Savannah.”

“Okay...” I murmur against his lips.

Gently running his fingers through my hair, he pulls me in for a delicious kiss. His kiss takes my breath away, sending shivers down my spine and releasing a million butterflies fluttering franticly around in the pit of my stomach.

Slowly pulling his lips away from mine he quickly returns to his phone call. My heart is pounding rapidly against my chest and my breathing is slightly hitched from that delicious kiss.

Cracking the window, I let some cool air into the car. The sexual tension has raised the temperature in the car making it feel fifty degrees hotter.

Kayden gave me a devilishly sensual smile. A smile that blasts me back to those brief moments when I’m his and he is mine.

Oooh. He knows just how badly he affects me!

Yet, I love every minute of it.

“You’re blushing again,” he says coyly, before continuing his conversation about his new wind energy project.

~~~

Picking up Brooklyn from the airport was a total disaster. Paparazzi descended on me like a pack of vultures, shoving their cameras’ in my face. During the entire walk to Brooklyn’s terminal I had them shouting a million questions at me. Thank God for Jax, he kept them at a safe distance as he escorted me through the swarm of photographers to collect Brooklyn at the security exit.

Momentarily blinded by the constant flashing, my mind finally catches up with my current situation. With each continued flash, and question coming at me from left, right, and center, my blissfully happy state fades away, swiftly being replaced with reality.

They were shouting at me, asking why Logan was in Houston, and if it meant reconciliation was in the near future. A few proceeded to ask how Kayden felt knowing Logan was in town, and pursuing me when he made it clear to the press he wants me all to himself.

I snapped out of the haze surrounding my thoughts and did what I always do; put my head down and kept walking without answering their idiotic questions, or reacting to any of their comments.

I was preparing for the repercussions Logan’s visit would have, but I didn’t think they’d go to this extreme. I figured some paparazzi would fly in from L.A., not a whole freakin’ swarm of them!

One thing I’m definitely aware of from my run in with the paparazzi is that Logan didn’t take my advice and return to Los Angeles. Which only mean’s one thing…there’s more drama on the horizon.

Brooklyn’s flight landed on time, thank God!

Jax helped collect Brooklyn’s luggage, and sensing my discomfort, got us out of the airport as fast as humanly possible.

By the time we get into the car, my cell is filled with text alerts from gossip blogs with pictures of me in the airport plastered all over their sites.

All I want to do is spend time with my best friend and forget about the shit storm Logan has once again brought into my life.

~~~

The weather in Houston today is absolutely gorgeous; the warm sunshine and gentle cool breeze are lifting the dark clouds that formed around me earlier.

It would have only deepened my bad mood if Brooklyn and I had to spend her first day back cooped up in the beach house. Luckily for us the forecast calls for sunshine and temperatures in the sixties today.

Brooklyn and I plan on spending the day driving around Houston, shopping, and sightseeing until Kayden is done with his meetings.

Just the thought of Kayden had me excited, and troubles from earlier forgotten.

Jax just dropped us off outside of a café he recommended; he said they have the best lunch menu, so we’re going to grab a quick bite before exploring the city.

Before I even get a chance to sit down at the outdoor table we asked for Brooklyn begins grilling me about Jax.

“Ok, I need to know how the hell Kayden can leave you alone with that Australian hottie and not drive himself completely insane?!” She’s practically drooling all over herself as she swoons over Jax.

The moment she spotted his piece, I think his hot factor skyrocketed for her. She’s already crushing hard after only being in Houston twenty minutes.

“Well for one, Jax is his employee. I highly doubt Jax would jeopardize his job just to try and hook up with me. I will admit he is beyond hot, but I would never cheat on Kayden. I have experienced the pain of being cheated on; I could never do that to him.” I wince at the memory of discovering Logan with one of the model’s he manages in the hotel room at the Roosevelt Hotel, on the night we got engaged no less.

Ugh, what a douchebag.

Brooklyn leaned forward, resting her chin in the palm of her hand, “Savannah, I know you well enough to know you would never hook up with Jax.” Her words come out light and airy, “I just can’t believe that Knox trusts you alone with him, you’ve only been together a week. If I were Kayden, I’d be hiring some fat, ugly, old geezer to be your body guard. He must really be good in bed to have that much self-confidence!” Brooklyn lets out a small giggle as she basks in my stunned look.

People are turning to look at us; I swear I can’t take this girl anywhere!

Brooklyn could care less that the entire lunch crowd is staring at us, she craves attention.

Snapping her head, Brooklyn flashes a wide grin at the waiter approaching our table. I swear she is worse than a man when it comes to flirting. Brooklyn takes serial dating to an entirely different level. She thinks of flirting as a sport, and she’s the MVP.

“Well hello…Colin?” Brooklyn purrs seductively up at our waiter as she reads his name tag.

Poor Colin, looking to be only about nineteen, is taking Brooklyn’s flirtatious behavior…hook, line and sinker.

I almost feel sorry for the kid, but it is so damn entertaining watching her make men turn into putty in her hands. She’s in one of her trademark extremely low cut tops that accentuate her cleavage well.

Since arriving at our table, Colin has had his eyes glued to her girls; Brooklyn is just giggling like a valley air head as Colin reads her the lunch specials.

After finally ordering, and after Brooklyn ogled the poor guys ass a few times, we got our food and drinks.

Throughout lunch, I filled Brooklyn in on everything that went down at the airport, expressing my concerns about Logan still being in Houston, which was definitely a very bad sign.

A worried expression takes over Brooklyn’s face, “Do you think he has the balls to show up at the beach house again?”

There’s the million dollar question.

“I really have no idea; my answer would’ve been a definite no if you had asked me last night. Now that I know he’s still here, I truly have no idea. If he’s smart, he’ll stay far away and get his ass onto a plane bound for LAX. I have no idea what Kayden would do if Logan had shown up while he was there.” I suddenly feel my stomach drop, a sickening feeling settling in.

The last thing I want to do is bring drama into Kayden’s life.

He’s trying to run a business; the last thing he needs is my disastrous love life dragging him down. He has made it very clear he loves living here because he can live a pretty normal life compared to the way my life is back in L.A. with paparazzi constantly tracking your every move.

My moving here is going to flip his entire world upside down.

Shaking her head, Brooklyn rests her hand on top of mine. She does a quick glance around to make sure no one was ease dropping on us, or recording us eating lunch.

Sadly that happens a lot back in Los Angeles.

“If Logan knows what’s good for him, he will drag his sorry ass back to L.A. He thinks you have a mean right hook? He will be in for a rude awakening when he finds himself on the opposite end of my fist. I won’t stop at just one punch Savannah; I will have a knockdown, drag out brawl with that piece of shit.”

I can’t help but laugh. Picturing Brooklyn going ape shit on Logan is pretty funny, but only figuratively, not literally. I don’t want to feed into Logan’s insanity.

Pushing my plate away, I drink the rest of my lemonade, instantly wishing it was something stronger. “Let’s just hope Logan comes to his senses and goes home. If he honestly thinks I’m buying into this whole sex addict story, then he has truly lost it. No amount of therapy can get me to go back to him.”

Pursing her lips, Brooklyn nods in agreement, “You know Logan is only chasing after you because he sees you have someone new in your life. He was all talk and no action for the last couple of months. Now that you’re putting your life back together he wants to come crashing back into it.”

Taking in a shaky breath, I say, “That’s what I’m afraid of. That Logan’s not going to stop until my entire world is completely broken around me to the point that it’s impossible to piece it back together.

Brooklyn gives me a sympathetic smile, “Believe me girly, I will not allow that to happen. I, for one, am happy you didn’t fall for his sob story. That tool deserves to be alone with no one but Rosey Palm, and her five friends.” Brooklyn’s laughter is contagious, and before I know it, I feel a weight being lifted off my shoulders.

“You never have to worry about me going back to Logan, trust me. I’m extremely happy with how things are with Kayden right now, and excited to see where things go with us.”

An impish smile dances across Brooklyn’s lips as she sucks on the straw to her cherry Coke. “With what you’ve told me about Knox and his massive Southern sausage, my face would be aching from sporting a big ass grin all day!”

Oh, my God, did she seriously just refer to Kayden’s penis as a Southern sausage?!

Not skipping a beat, Brooklyn smacks my arm playfully, “So, cheer up buttercup! Don’t let the world’s biggest douche bag bring you down. I want our first official day back together to be nothing but fan-fuckin-tastic, so we are not allowed to speak of Logan again for the rest of the afternoon.”

I hold my pinky up between us, “I pinky promise, to try and not mention the King of Douchebags for the remainder of the afternoon.”

This is easier said than done.

I have tried everything possible to push Logan out of my head, but until I know for sure he’s left Texas, I don’t think I will be able to fully relax.

Trying to anticipate his next move is irritating the hell out of me. I just have a bad feeling; he isn’t through wreaking havoc on my life just yet.

Colin returned to our table to clear our plates as soon as he saw we had finished eating. Brooklyn dived head first into full on flirt mode again.

Being more than eager to continue his conversation with us, after clearing our plates and bringing us our bill, Colin asked if we were in Houston on vacation, using a cheesy pickup line to do so.

He told us he’d never forget a beautiful woman like Brooklyn. The smile on his face when we said we recently moved here was apparent.

The poor kid would soon enough have his heart broken.

He isn’t the first to fall under the Brooklyn Bennett spell, and I know, for a fact, he won’t be the last. 

Brooklyn managed to flirt her way to free desserts on the house…well, on Colin. I doubt his boss would be thrilled about him giving away two seven dollar slices of chocolate mousse cake.

After paying our bill, I found the café’s business card tucked in with our receipt. Snickering I showed Brooklyn the back. In black marker is his phone number and under it, it says: ‘in case you want me to show ya around’.

Smooth, real smooth, I laugh to myself reading it.

Brooklyn burst into a fit of laughter tossing the card into a nearby trash can a little ways down the road. “Boys really need to stop being so easy to seduce. It gets boring after a while. I like a challenge!”

All I can do is roll my eyes and nod in agreement.

I don’t think there’s a man out there who wouldn’t be begging for five minutes of her time. I just pray Kayden is immune to her gorgeous looks and charismatic charm.

Last thing I need is for the man I’m falling for, to suddenly fall for my best friend. “Just remember to keep your flirting to a minimum with Kayden. I really like him…a lot.” I state without an ounce of sarcasm in my voice.

Wrapping her arm around my shoulder and pulling me closer to her, Brooklyn lets out a loud sigh. “No need to worry love, I see how bad you have it for him. I will stay far, far away…but that means we need to get on our manhunt as soon as possible! I cannot spend the entire week listening to you two fuck like rabbits while I lay in my bed staring at the ceiling.”

I playfully push Brooklyn away from me, making her almost bump into a woman speed walking and talking on her cell phone. The woman snaps her head around shooting a death glare at us before continuing on her way.

Brooklyn and I instantly lock eyes and burst into a fit of laughter. All is right in the world again; I have my best friend back by my side.

We spend the entire afternoon shopping and checking out some vintage shops in the area so Brooklyn can find some new jewelry.

Houston was buzzing with people everywhere while Jax drove us around in bumper to bumper traffic.

I remembered a few places Reagan and I visited last week when we were here for the Envy party, so I introduced Brooklyn to some unique shops we found while touring the city.

While looking around one of the gift shops, I came across a keychain that says, “Everything is bigger in Texas.” I had to buy it! I just know Kayden will get a kick out of it. 

After grabbing a box of red velvet cupcakes at my favorite pastry shop in Houston, Crave Cupcake, I climb back into Kayden’s burnt orange Audi Q5.

It’s almost Five o’clock, so we’re heading back over to the Beaumont Office Building to wait for Kayden to finish up his business meetings.

Brooklyn of course hops into the front seat, to get her flirt on with Jax. She has no shame.

Sliding into the backseat, I set my box of cupcakes on my lap. Memories of Kayden and I back here my first night in Houston, after we left Vertigo together, flood my mind.

I can’t help but smile as I think back to the amazing sex we had, with Jax only a few inches away sitting in the driver’s seat. It was dangerous and exciting; making the entire experience that much more exhilarating.

“What are you smiling about back there?” Brooklyn asks from the passenger seat, flashing me a curious smile and twirling one of her ringlets.

She had that ‘I know exactly what you are thinking about’ look written all over her face.

I let out a nervous laugh. I cannot believe Brooklyn caught me daydreaming about hot car sex with Kayden. Shifting in the seat, I shake my head and say nonchalantly, “Nothing.”

The last thing I want to do is tell Brooklyn in front of Jax, especially since he doesn’t know what we were doing…at least I don’t think he does.

Who am I kidding; he probably knew exactly what was going on.

“Mm hmm,” Brooklyn says flashing another smile at me before returning to her conversation with Jax.