22. Brooks
22
brOOKS
Brooks didn’t know how in the hell Madison Yardley had talked him into anything that had just happened. But as she led him up the backstairs of the Depot into her apartment, he also didn’t question it.
His pride had almost screwed him with that dick, who could have easily called the cops on them.
But he also couldn’t let the ass get away with calling Maddie a slur like he’d used.
For whatever reason, Maddie seemed exhilarated, a smile never leaving her lips as she turned the key to her apartment. Those fucking delicious lips had knocked him nearly senseless.
Then they were inside, and Brooks drew her to him.
Whether from the sheer adrenaline of the moment or the fact that they’d started something and now it needed exploring, they found their way into each other’s arms in an instant.
Brooks pulled her long hair down from the messy ponytail, and it tumbled over her shoulders in waves.
So. Fucking. Gorgeous.
Her hands were on him, climbing up his back as he swept her back against the wall again, his mouth devouring hers. She tasted better than any damn dessert she’d made him try today—his trainer in LA might kill him—and he kissed her like a starved man, unable to decide what part of the feast to start on.
Their bodies pressed into each other, his hunger for her damn near consuming him.
He was fucking turned on.
Wanted to flip her over and fuck her right against the damn wall.
Run his mouth over every square inch of her delicious body.
Fuck . . . he felt his control spiraling, raw sexual need taking over as his mouth widened against hers, his tongue dancing against her own.
Too many clothes were between them.
“You’re so fucking sexy, Madison,” he growled, yanking that crop top off her. She’d been tempting him all week with the low-cut tops and flat, perfect belly.
God . . . those tits. Perfect mounds of flesh quivering in a turquoise bra begging to be ripped off. His mouth practically watered at the sight, and her bra was off a second later.
Her pink nipples were tight, peaking for him, and he swept the nubs against his palms, wanting to draw them into his mouth. Suck her hard, feel her twitch against the swirling of his tongue.
Gaze locked with his, her hand slipped below his waistband, her eyes widening as she wrapped her hand around him.
Yesss. Fuck. Yes.
He drew a sharp breath, nearly losing control at the feel of her soft hand on his cock. He wanted her mouth on it. His mouth consumed hers again, hands squeezing her tits as she moaned with pleasure.
Fuck that.
He wanted to bury himself so deep inside her and fuck until they both couldn’t walk.
“We should slow down,” Maddie whispered between kisses.
He swallowed hard. “Your move, beautiful.”
She wet her lips— damn, that’s going to do me in— and he tried to steady his racing heart.
Returning her lips to his, she drew his lower lip into a soft, slow kiss. “I want to,” she murmured, her breath warm against his mouth. “I want to so, so much.”
“But . . .?”
Madison set her forehead against his, her chest rising and falling with heavy breaths, her breasts heaving under his hands.
“But you’re leaving in a few days. And I?—”
He closed his eyes, willing his pulse to slow.
She’s not the one-night-stand type.
I already knew that, though.
“We don’t have to do anything.” He dragged his mouth to her temple and kissed it. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. It was natural. Our bodies just took over after that show back there.”
Yeah, that’s all it was. Except he’d done nearly naked modeling shoots for brands he’d worked with. Intimate photos with international models had never had the same effect that the kiss in that storage room had.
Raging unfulfilled lust.
Maddie nodded, then pulled her hand away and stepped back from him. Confusion showed in her eyes as she combed her fingers through her hair. Her lips were still swollen from their kisses. All he wanted was to reach down and kiss her again, but it was easier to stare at that delicious mouth than her tits, which might just kill him.
“I’m sorry,” she said as she pulled her top back on. “My body hates me right now, believe me. Because you’re obviously incredibly hot. And it was a good kiss, Brooks. But I’m just getting out of something and neither of us is looking for anything. And I’m not good at casual anything, Brooks, let alone sex. I’m like that girl who guys dread because I start picking out curtains after a first date. And you’re Brooks Kent, so we’re not going to date. God, I think I just used your name like three times.”
She was cute when she was flustered.
And she’s also right.
“We don’t have to overthink it.” He smiled, hoping it looked genuine, even if he didn’t feel it. “I’m just passing through town, and the last thing I want to do is hurt you. Especially after all you’ve done for me this week.”
She guffawed. “Like what? Blackmail you? Insult you? Try to rope you into trespassing and theft?”
This time, he did smile for real. He came closer and pulled her into a hug that lacked all the heat of their previous embrace but still had warmth. “This has definitely been an interesting week.”
She said nothing, and they settled into a comfortable silence. He set his chin on her head, breathing in her scent, wanting to memorize, catalog, and store it. Keep her with him forever.
Ever with me.
There was a lyric in the moment.
She was, by far, the first woman who’d made him feel . . . anything in a long, long time.
Maybe ever.
And somehow, admitting that to himself hurt like a firebrand going through his lungs.
Maddie sighed. “What’s your life like after you leave here on Sunday?”
“Not sure.” He couldn’t get over how comfortable he felt just holding her, and he wasn’t ready to release her yet. “I have to talk to my lawyer about my arrest and figure out what’s going on with that. Talk to my label and quit. Hire a new manager. Sort my recording contract and see what impact it has on my international label. You know . . . all the boring legal things. What about you?”
“Same thing I do week after week for the rest of my life.” She drew a sharp breath and pulled away. “I’m going to go change. I’m still wearing the same clothes I slept in. Maybe we can head back to your place after that, and I’ll drop you off.”
He nodded, and she went toward the bedroom.
Brooks glanced around the apartment, taking it in for the first time. The last time he’d been here, he’d been so exhausted and overwhelmed that he’d barely paid attention to the place.
He frowned.
For as warm and vivacious as Maddie was, this apartment was . . . the opposite. Spartan in decor and bland, it reflected nothing of her personality. He’d stayed in hotels that had more personal touches than this.
Maybe that wasn’t the best comparison, considering the caliber of hotels where he’d stayed.
Still, these were the four walls she lived and breathed in. A life so vastly different from his own. He could remember what it was like to just exist in a town known only to a handful of people, every day beholden to the doldrums of the ordinary.
How hard he’d worked to break free of it—thinking that if he just worked harder, sold more, did more, he’d be able to escape. Only to find out that he could never outrun himself. He was too fucked up, too ruined.
Dad had ruined him, and nothing he could do would change that.
Was Maddie right, though? Did he perpetuate what people thought about him by letting them spread rumors?
Maybe it’s about time I do something about that, too.
The door to the apartment opened, and a young woman—who looked eerily like Maddie—came in. She stopped short, hand on the knob, blinking at him. A look of displeasure settled on her mouth.
Thank God Maddie and I weren’t having sex right now.
“You must be Brooks Kent. I should have known she brought you here.” She didn’t smile, didn’t sound particularly welcoming.
“That’s me,” he said politely. “And you are?”
“Naomi. I’m Maddie’s older sister.” She came farther inside. “The other owner of the Depot whom you neglected to negotiate with after you wrecked the place. And the one who had to deal with most of the cleanup since you’ve been dragging my sister to . . . what is it again? Play servant for you?”
His old instinct to meet rudeness head-on flared, but this was Maddie’s sister.
Holding back, he said, “No, not exactly.”
Naomi crossed her arms. “Then what. ..exactly? Because I just got a furious phone call from Fred Strickland across the street, claiming that you two were using his storeroom for . . . fooling around.”
That son of a bitch. He’d seriously ratted Maddie out to her sister?
When he didn’t answer, Naomi’s expression darkened. “Look, Mr. Kent. I don’t know you, and I won’t make any assumptions about you, but whatever you’re doing with my sister, she’s not without people who care about her. We will take you to task for hurting her.”
He glowered at her. “Of course, the manner you’re talking to me contradicts the ‘not making any assumptions’ part, though.”
The door to Maddie’s bedroom opened and she came out, wearing a floral, long-sleeved minidress that hugged her curves. She stopped when she saw her sister. “Naomi!” A hesitant look crossed her face, and she came closer, seeming to sense the tension between them. “Hey.”
“Hey yourself.” Naomi raised a brow. “So Fred Strickland called.”
Maddie’s eyes darted to Brooks. “I can explain that.” She went over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from beside the sink. Her hand trembled as she poured herself a glass of water.
She doesn’t deserve to be grilled by anyone—including her sister. “Whatever is between Maddie and me isn’t really anyone else’s business,” Brooks said, crossing the room toward her.
“It is when you’re making out like teenagers in the back of someone’s store,” Naomi snapped. She stared at Maddie. “What in the hell, Maddie? Why am I getting phone calls about stuff that Mom and Dad had to handle over a decade ago? To tell you the truth, it’s worse that it’s you two—you’re grown-ass adults. And at the Stricklands?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Maddie said quietly, sipping her water.
“You swore up and down yesterday that you did not have a physical relationship with this man, even after he sent a skeevy ‘whenever I want’ text to you. Just another lie?”
Oh shit, Naomi saw that?
No wonder Maddie hadn’t texted him back.
She must have been dealing with this.
“We don’t have a physical relationship,” Maddie blurted. “I was trying to get the security footage from last Sunday. Fred and Gina just happened to come by, and I told Brooks we should kiss as a cover since there was no logical explanation for us being there.”
Naomi’s eyes widened, and she set her hand to her forehead. “Oh my God, I didn’t think the story could get any worse. You were trying to steal from Fred?”
He couldn’t let Maddie take the blame for this. “It’s my fault?—”
“It was my idea. Brooks didn’t even want to do it.” Maddie set down the glass of water and moved around the other side of the island, closer to her sister. “I just got worried after what you said yesterday about the video.”
“That didn’t mean you should break into his storeroom and try to steal the footage.” Naomi squeezed her eyes shut. “I can’t decide if I need a Tylenol or a shot of tequila. What is even happening right now?”
When Naomi opened her eyes, they blazed at Brooks. “Why the hell are you still in this town? Haven’t you done enough damage already? What, does Maddie need to go to jail, too, before you’re satisfied?”
Funny . . . he could almost agree with her.
Guilt burned at his gut with an acerbic speed. “You’re right, it was risky?—”
“You’re being incredibly rude,” Maddie snapped at her sister. “Brooks had nothing to do with this plan. I dragged him over there. And he’s my friend, so I’d appreciate it if you’d treat him with a modicum of respect.”
“ Your friend? ” Naomi’s expression pained, and she moved closer to her and set her hand on her elbow. “Honey, Brooks Kent is a megastar who has known you for a handful of days. Maybe I can buy that he’s friends with Cormac Doyle—who I’m going to murder as soon as I see—but you? He’s just using you. Whenever he leaves, and it can’t come soon enough, Brooks is going to forget you even exist.”
Maddie flinched. “I think you should go, Naomi.”
Naomi’s eyes filled with angry tears. “You’re my sister. I love you. I’m just trying to look out for you?—”
“Right now, you’re being as bad as Logan was when he found out Lindsay and Travis were dating. Except worse, because you have no real reason to treat Brooks this way. What’s his big mistake? Having a car accident?”
“He asked you to lie about it! Set you up against your family from the start, without a single concern about how it might impact the rest of us. And then has some demented request to have you serve him for ten hours doing whatever he wants.”
No wonder Naomi was mad. Given the way she’d said it, she was probably imagining the worst.
She set her hands on her hips, glaring at Brooks. “And yeah, now I’m finding out it might be as bad as it sounds because apparently, you seem to have some sort of twisted Stockholm syndrome. ‘Fake’ or not, you certainly convinced Fred you were his woman . So I guess nothing’s off the table?”
The headache he’d been ignoring from his hangover all day roared to life, and he set his hands on the counter to steady himself. “She doesn’t owe me anything anymore. Anyway, our deal about the concert ended the minute she told you about it.”
Now it was Maddie who turned and stared at him, hurt flashing through her face. God, he didn’t want that. But he needed to walk away at this point anyway.
He wanted to do the concert for her, but his presence was damaging her life so much. He’d help her find another band. That was easy enough.
Breaking the deal was a good excuse to make sure anything tying them together—other than paying for the accident damage—would end when he left. He was in too deep with her and had spent the day letting himself get swept away by the notion that their connection might last beyond this week.
It clearly couldn’t.
“Good.” Naomi turned back to Maddie, setting her hands on her. “I’m not trying to hurt you, Maddie, but this guy is a creep.”
He’d been called far worse. But somehow, he probably deserved this one.
“Leave, Naomi.” Maddie tore herself away, swiping her eyes. “You have no idea what you’re talking about. You clearly came here to say what you wanted to say and you’ve said it. I told you the truth and it still wasn’t good enough for you—just like it wasn’t last night. So please go.”
Naomi appeared conflicted
T he last thing I want to do is to come between Maddie and her family.
“I apologize for the damage,” he offered in a low voice. “I fully intend to pay for it.”
Naomi turned, shook her head, then was out of the apartment, closing the door behind her.
“That went well,” Maddie said, her voice flat and defeated.
He’d wounded her when he’d said the thing about the concert, clearly. “Maddie, for what it’s worth?—”
“I’m sorry. She was insanely rude, and you don’t deserve that. My sister—well, all my family, really—gets a little carried away with the protectiveness. The double-edged sword of being close, I guess.”
“She’s right not to trust me and probably to be worried. But this started as a business arrangement between us, Maddie. It’s cleaner if we just stick to that, don’t you think?”
Maddie blinked at him. “We left business behind at least one hangover and a few kisses ago, Brooks.”
“But maybe we shouldn’t have. Crossing that line only confused things. Hell, I probably shouldn’t have asked you for that time, either. It was stupid of me. It’s better if we just go our separate ways and part as friends.”
A few beats of tension-filled silence settled in the space between them.
Tension that had only been made worse by letting himself get carried away. Those searing kisses had clouded his judgment.
The sadness on her face was killing him.
She’d been let down by people, too. Her family, clearly, who wouldn’t ever approve of him.
And that asshole in the café who had broken her heart. Brooks had really wanted to punch him, especially after seeing Maddie’s crestfallen look at the engagement news. She didn’t deserve that.
She deserves so much more. More than I can give her.
“I’m going to ask around and see who else can play at that concert for you. I don’t want to leave you in a lurch.” As though that could absolve him from walking away.
“Thanks.” Maddie nodded at last. “I’ll drive you back to your place, then.”
When you do that, I’ll be completely alone.
Can’t we stay here? Together?
But he didn’t voice the thought, pushing it away as quickly as it came. The outside world had already pressed in on the bubble of separation they’d existed in this week.
It was time for him to go.