Chapter 36
36
E than was aware that he was walking strangely as he walked over to the table where his phone was.
For close to two hours, Cate had sucked and played with him. He’d come five times. Now his balls were empty and his dick was kind of in hiding.
But damn . . . he hadn’t been lying when he’d said he could die a happy man. Not just because he’d gotten off five times, but because of the happiness in her face.
She’d enjoyed touching him, playing with him.
After he’d called time-out on their play, unable to handle much more, she’d gone to have a shower.
Now, he had to feed her. He’d just turned up the thermostat in the house—it was too cold for her in here.
He saw Brody’s name flash on his phone. “Hey, Brody, what’s up?”
“There’re new images on the blog,” Brody said without returning his greeting.
“Shit. Really? I thought that blog had gone quiet.” There hadn’t been anything much put on it. Of course, that could be because Rhodes had limited his appearances to those he deemed most important. “Did they put up new photos of Rhodes?”
“Uh, yeah. See, they aren’t photos of Rip this time. They’re photos of you.”
He stiffened. “Me?”
Cate walked into the room and gave him a curious look. He smiled at her as she moved to the kitchen to start the coffee.
“Why would there be photos of me on a blog about Rip?” he asked quietly as he moved into the living room.
“Can you get on your laptop and take a look at them? It would be easier than having to describe them.”
Fuck.
He didn’t like the sound of this.
Moving to his bedroom, he grabbed his laptop and found the blog.
“What the fuck?” He felt ill as he scrolled through the photos of him and Cate having lunch together last week. “How did I not notice some fucker taking photos of us?”
“Well, you look like you were busy at the time,” Brody said.
He spotted a photo of him wiping Cate’s face and hands.
“Plus, you were eating,” Brody said. “Not many men can multi-task like me and eat and do other things.”
“I can multi-task! And you’re always spilling food on yourself.”
“Yes, but at least I can eat and work.”
He sighed. “Fuck. I don’t get it though.”
“If it makes you feel better, I think they were taking these photos using a long-distance lens. There is no way you would have spotted them.”
It made him feel mildly better.
“What would they have to gain by putting photos of me and Cate up?” he asked. “They’ve never put up photos of Cate before, have they?”
“Who? What photos?” Ethan glanced up as Cate walked in carrying two cups of coffee. “Who are you talking to?”
“Brody, I’m going to put you on speaker. Cate just walked in.”
“Uh-oh,” Brody muttered. “Is she going to be upset?”
“Someone has posted photos of a private moment of ours, Brody,” he replied.
“So that’s a yes?”
He put the phone on speaker and then took both coffee mugs from her, setting them on the nightstand.
“Sit here, baby.” He patted the bed next to him.
“Baby?” Brody repeated.
“I was talking to Cate.”
“Um, okay,” Brody said.
“Hi, Brody,” Cate said. “How are you and your boyfriend and girlfriend?”
“We’re all good, thanks, Cate. My girl was so pleased you got that mark out of my top. But I got chocolate sauce on my favorite sweater yesterday.”
“Did you use stain remover and soak it for thirty minutes in cold water?”
“Uh, no.”
“Try it. Then keep doing that until the stain is gone.”
“Okay. Thanks, Cate.”
“Right, now that’s sorted, can we get back to the problem?” Ethan asked dryly.
“What problem?” Cate asked.
He turned the laptop around so she could see the screen.
“Oh no,” she said.
“Yeah,” Ethan said. “This is the blog dedicated to all things Rhodes Ripley.”
“But I don’t understand. Why post photos of me? I’m no one.”
“You’re Rip’s sister,” Brody said unhelpfully.
“She is more than just Rip’s sister,” Ethan grumbled.
“It’s because he’s not here,” Cate said suddenly, scrolling through the images.
“What?” Ethan asked.
“Well, I’m guessing it’s because Rhodes isn’t here and maybe the blogger wants him back? I mean, he’s only posted once since you guys arrived. But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been watching. And maybe he likes having Rhodes here so he can spy on him.”
“He’s only been gone a day,” Brody pointed out.
“Maybe I’m wrong,” she said.
“No, you could be correct,” Ethan said. “Maybe he wants Rhodes back here. He doesn’t like him being away. But hasn’t he gone away since the blog started?” Ethan asked.
“This blog is fairly new,” Brody said. “I think it’s only been up six months.”
“Right. I have my calendar and can check. But I think the only other time he’s been away is the night the stalker tried to break in. But the next movie he has scheduled starts production in a month and he has to go to New Zealand to film parts of it. He won’t go if there is a threat to me.”
“You think he could be using this as a gauge of how much Rhodes really cares about you? Whether he’ll come running home?” Ethan asked.
“But if he was going to come running home then wouldn’t he have done it last night after you were nearly run off the road?” Brody asked.
“Yes,” she said. “He would have come back if I hadn’t talked him out of it. Is there any way of stopping Rhodes from seeing these photos?”
Ethan set the laptop down and started to pace. “Could that be the reason someone tried to run us off the road? To get Rhodes back? And then when that didn’t happen, they posted these photos?”
“Don’t you think they would have done things the other way around?” Cate asked. “Started with the photos and escalated to road rage?”
“Yeah,” Brody said. “That would make more sense.”
“But nothing about this makes sense,” Ethan muttered. “Maybe Rhodes should come back.”
This asshole could come after Cate again. And he wasn’t about to let anything happen to his girl.
He wouldn’t put Rhodes at risk, but if it kept Cate safer for him to be back here . . .
All right, maybe he was mildly compromised in his ability to provide protection to Rip. Fuck. He probably needed to speak to Ink.
“I’m safe here,” Cate countered. “Rhodes needs to go to the gala tonight. That charity means a lot to him. I won’t ruin that.”
His phone started ringing with a new call. Speak of the devil.
“Well, you might not get the choice. Brody, Rhodes is calling me. What does Ink say?”
“Ah, yeah. I haven’t told Ink yet. I should do that. It’s just he’s got a lot going on at the moment. And I thought I better call you first. I mean, there’s nothing that bad going on in the photos. Would Rip really care about you wiping Cate’s face?”
Cate grimaced. “If I was someone else, maybe not. But I’ve never let anyone else take care of me. But it’s foolish. I am a grown woman. If I want to let a man wipe my face and feed me, then I will.”
“You go girl!” Brody cheered.
Ethan sighed and shook his head.
“Look, the good news is that I’m getting close to who actually owns this website. They’re clever at hiding themselves, I’ll give them that.”
“That’s one thing,” Ethan agreed. “Thanks, Brody.”
He ended the call. Crouching in front of Cate, he took her hands in his. Still a bit cold.
His phone started ringing again, but he ignored it.
“I turned the thermostat up, why isn’t it warmer in here?”
Although he was feeling rather toasty. He was close to stripping off his T-shirt.
“You turned the thermostat up?” she asked. “Why?”
“Because you’re cold.” She was wearing a woolen sweater that went down to the middle of her thighs, and she had on black leggings underneath.
“Are those leggings warm enough?” They didn’t look it.
“They’re fleece-lined,” she told him. “But that isn’t important. You need to answer Rhodes’ call or he’s going to think something has happened.”
“I’m just going to give this to you straight.”
“Give what to me?”
“I told you that I don’t want our relationship to be a secret. Which means I’m going to have to call and talk to Ink and see if he wants me off this job.”
Off this job?
Did that mean he would have to leave?
“Are you sure you want to tell him?” she asked. “We could keep it a secret and then you wouldn’t have to talk to Ink.”
“No. No secrets. I don’t like lies and subterfuge. And I don’t want to pretend our relationship doesn’t exist. I can’t keep something like this from Ink. He’s not just my boss, he’s my friend.”
“But how can there be a relationship if you’re not even here!”
His eyes widened. “Baby, what are you talking about? Oh shit. No. I’m not going to go anywhere.”
“But if Ink takes you off this job . . .”
“I’m still going to stay. I just won’t get paid.”
“You’d stay without getting paid?” She knew he’d said that earlier but she hadn’t believed him. “Oh wait! I could pay you!” That was the perfect solution.
“That is not happening.”
She stood and stepped to the side so she could pace up and down the room. “No, it is the best idea. I’ll pay you to stay and be in a relationship with me.”
“Cate Ripley,” Ethan said firmly as he stood, towering over her. “Did you hear what you just said?”
“Well, yes. Of course I did.” There was nothing wrong with her hearing.
“And you don’t see any problems with it? Go over the words in your head again.”
She said them back to herself. Huh . . . oh. Right. “Um, right. I don’t mean I’d pay you to be in a relationship with me. I just meant if I paid you, then you could stay. I don’t want you to suffer just because you’re in a relationship with me. I don’t think I’m saying this very well.”
“No, you’re not,” he agreed. “But it doesn’t matter. Because under no circumstances will you ever be paying me. Not to be in a relationship and not to protect you, understand?”
“But won’t you need the money?”
“I’m not going to go broke, baby.”
“All right. As long as you promise to tell me if you need money. I have plenty.”
“You shouldn’t go around telling people that you have money.”
“I shouldn’t?”
“No. It’s not safe. Although now you have me to protect you, it’s not such an issue. So, I’m going to call Ink and tell him. Then we’ll talk to your brother.”
“Right. And I can tell Rhodes about us.”
“He’ll probably want to come home so he can punch me,” he muttered.
“Rhodes would never hit you!”
“I let his baby sister give me a blow job. He’ll want to punch me.”
“I didn’t think I had to mention the blow job. And I’m sure it was more than one, wasn’t it? Or was it just one long blow job? With multiple orgasms? Yes, I think that’s correct. Now, where was I? Oh, should I mention the blow job with multiple orgasms?”
Why was he going red? Was he embarrassed?
He shouldn’t be. He had a gorgeous body. Even if his dick was quite large, it felt good in her mouth. And he was sexy when he came.
“I don’t think it’s necessary to mention that. Rhodes doesn’t tell you about his sex life, right?”
Cate shuddered. “No. I don’t need to know those things. Right. Got it. You know, I don’t think this is actually a big deal. Maybe Rhodes won’t insist on coming back. I mean, he has Samantha. And now I have you.”
That felt so crazy to say. She’d never had someone all of her own.
“The difference is that you’re his precious baby sister. Big brothers get irrational when you’re talking about their sisters. They don’t think straight. They just see some asshole who might break their sister’s heart.”
“But you won’t do that.”
“No, I’m not going to do that. But Rhodes doesn’t see it that way.” He picked up his phone and showed her the screen. “And I think the fact that he’s called me six times in as many minutes is proof that he’s freaking out and planning on taking the next flight out.”
“Right. I’ll talk to him. I’ll make it clear that you aren’t taking advantage of me. That what we have is real.”
He shook his head. “No, I’m going to talk to him.”
“Why? He’s my brother.”
“Because I won’t risk him upsetting you.”
“He won’t upset me. Rhoddy would never do anything to upset me.”
Ethan shook his head. “I’m not risking it.” He picked up his phone and hit the screen a couple of times. Then he started speaking to Ink.
Guilt filled her. Was he going to lose this job? Could he really afford to do without the money?
“Right. Yep. Sure. Thanks. Yeah, she’s here. She’s good. Seriously? No, you’re not talking to her.”
He ended the call.
“Ink wanted to talk to me?”
“Seems the big brother bug is catching,” he muttered.
“But Ink isn’t my big brother.”
“No, which means he doesn’t get to pull the protective card. He should know I wouldn’t take advantage of you.”
Yes, he should.
And why did everyone seem to think that she didn’t know her own mind? That she couldn’t protect herself?
She was starting to get a bit mad.
“Are you fired?”
“Not yet. He’s going to wait and talk to Rhodes, who must be calling him in between calling me.”
That didn’t seem to be a good sign.
“Hello, Rip.” Ethan paced back and forth as he seemed to listen to her brother on the other end of the phone. And she finally couldn’t stand it. Cate planted herself in front of him.
“Let me talk to him.”
Ethan stared down into her beautiful face.
“Baby,” he said.
“Did you just call my sister, baby?” Rhodes yelled through the phone.
No wonder he was such a sought-after actor, he was definitely a drama queen.
“Let me talk to him.” Cate held out her hand imperiously.
Yeah. That wasn’t happening.
“No, he’s yelling, and I won’t have him yell at you.”
There was sudden silence from the other end of the phone.
“Hand the phone over,” Rhodes said suddenly. “I wish to speak to my sister.”
Ethan scowled. “No, like I just said, you are not speaking to her until I can be sure that you’re not going to upset her.”
“I would never upset Cate. I love Cate. You, on the other hand, I could happily bury in a graveyard. Alive.”
“And it’s threats like that which mean that you don’t get to speak to your sister.”
“She is my sister, you asshole. I hired you to guard her, not take advantage of her.”
“I am not taking advantage of her! For fuck’s sake, I wiped her face and hands. What are you trying to insinuate?”
“So you’re saying it’s nothing more than you cleaning her up?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Ethan looked straight at Cate. “I care about your sister. She’s special. And she deserves the world. I’m not about to take advantage of her or hurt her in any way.”
There was silence on the other end. “She’s not like other women. She won’t understand if you toy with her. Fuck, she’s never even been on a date before.”
“And now she has. There will be many more dates to come. This isn’t just some fling to me. Do you really think I’d risk my job and Ink’s friendship with either me or you over a fling? Over something fleeting. And do you seriously think I’d treat Cate like that?”
“She is my sister.”
“And I get that. You just want to protect her. So do I. And not because that’s what I’m paid to do. In fact, I’ll quit right now.”
“You’re going to quit?” Rhodes asked. “You’re leaving?”
“No. I’m not leaving. This isn’t about the money. It’s about my girl.”
Rhodes breathed out. “You’re really serious about her?”
“Yes. I am.” Ethan reached out and drew Cate close. “Very serious.”
“I still don’t like this, but as long as you’re not taking advantage of her I’ll reserve judgment. Let me speak to her.”
“No yelling or getting upset,” Ethan warned.
“I wouldn’t do that to my sister,” Rhodes told him. “I do think I should come back, though. I’m going to book a ticket on the first flight home.”
“For what reason? Cate is safe with me. Nothing has changed.”
“This asshole took photos of her.”
“Probably to get you home.”
“Fuck,” Rhodes said. “I didn’t think of that. Why the hell does this fucking nut job need me home?”
“I don’t know.” He wasn’t going to mention that could be why someone tried to run them off the road.
“Isn’t that more reason to come back? What if he does something worse?”
“I’ve considered that and spoken to Ink. But if you give in to this person, what’s to stop him or her from escalating anyway? What’s to stop this person from using Cate to get you to do other things? Maybe it’s as simple as they just want you to come back here. Or perhaps it’s a test.”
“Fuck. And what if the person running the blog is the stalker? I don’t like this at all.”
“You know that Ink called in a favor that Reyes is owed by some bikers. They’re hanging around the street and keep an eye on things for tonight and tomorrow night.”
“Bikers? On my street?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, they’ll be inconspicuous.”
“Right,” Rhodes said in a sarcastic voice. “Because that’s what bikers are known for.”
Ethan was tempted to tell him that he’d just joined a MC. But he thought he’d save that surprise for another time.
He was a thoughtful guy like that.
Did he know that Ink belonged to an MC?
“Fine, but if one of my neighbors call the cops on them, I’m going to pretend I know nothing about this. Now, let me talk to my sister.”
Ethan pulled the phone from his ear and handed it to Cate. “He wants to talk to you. If he tries to bully you, yells at you, is mean to you, I want to know.”