Chapter 14
I pull my laptop out and plop myself on the couch. Pulling the screen up, I click on the Safari icon before typing in oceanfront land for sale, Maine.
Looking at property after property, I know they aren’t big enough for what Ironbound plans to do, but I’m determined to find something—anything—that’ll make Victor happy enough to leave Ridge’s family alone.
Riley dropped me off not long ago, and though he offered to hang out longer, I made up an excuse that I needed to pack.
It’s not really a lie; eventually, I do need to pack.
But I’ll probably save it for tomorrow. I just didn’t want to lead him on and have him thinking that I was interested in any way.
As cute as he is and funny too … I’m just not into him.
The faint sound of a loud vehicle engine, followed by a door opening and slamming shut, sends me shooting upward and setting my laptop on the coffee table before rushing toward the window to see who’s outside.
I don’t even make it to the glass to look before a pounding sounds from the door.
But I can see through the curtain, and I’d know Ridge’s profile anywhere.
Exhaling, I look upward and sigh before, finally, I step forward and pull the door open.
“Take it easy on the door, dickhead,” I say, waving my hand toward the spot he was just pounding on. “I don’t want to get charged for you denting it.”
“If it’s your dickface of a boss paying for this place, I’ll rip the entire thing off the fucking hinges,” he sneers before pushing his way past me and into the house.
“Um … yeah, sure. Come on in. Make yourself at home. Hey, want some tea?” I sass, shaking my head before slowly closing the door behind him.
When I turn around, he stands just a few feet away, looking at me.
“What are you doing here?” A putrid smell hits my nose, and I fight back a gag. “And what the hell is that smell?”
“I just got off the boat,” he says, keeping his eyes on mine. “It’s bait. Guess you wouldn’t know that, would you, city girl?”
“Nope.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Typically, I avoid rolling in bait and walking around. It’s not good for my dating lifestyle,” I deadpan. “And again, why are you here?”
“Why was Riley here?” His voice is cold—and dare I say, accusing, like he actually has any right to ask me that. “I saw his truck from the boat. What did you do, call him over for a business meeting in hopes he’d agree to sell to you?”
“Um, yes!” I nod frantically. “I figured if I gave him the world’s greatest blow job, he’d see my side of things and then … bam! Done deal. Ladder climbed. Happy day!”
His face instantly reddens, not with embarrassment, but anger. His fists ball up at his sides, and his jaw tightens.
“That’s an awful lot of reactions for someone who doesn’t care,” I say, leaning back against wall. “Or a guy who says he doesn’t care at least.”
“I care about this land,” he snarls. “That’s it.”
“And so do I,” I coo.
I could tell him the truth. That nothing happened between me and Riley and that I’m going to do everything I can to make Ironbound leave his family alone.
I could say a lot of things to make him feel better, but after he walked in here, hotheaded and accusing me of the worst, I don’t really want to make him feel better.
He takes a step closer, and I swear that smoke rolls off his body. Now, he hovers over me, glaring down.
“Did you really suck my brother’s dick, Stella?” He slaps his palm against the cupboard above my head.
I glare back, angry because it’s none of his business. I could say yes and hurt him, but for whatever reason, I can’t bring myself to do it.
“No, asshole,” I say through gritted teeth. “I would never give someone a blow job to close a deal. I was being sarcastic.”
His chest continues to heave, but I watch him sigh in relief. His gaze sweeps over my face, dropping to my lips, and my body grows weaker as I drag in a few shallow breaths of my own.
He could kiss me right now, and I wouldn’t tell him to stop. He could tear my clothes off, and I’d probably help him. But something tells me that’s not going to happen.
“I have to go,” he breathes out. “And you should go back to New York.”
“Don’t worry, Outlaw. Tomorrow night, I’ll be gone,” I whisper, feeling my heart beating out of my chest.
I want him to kiss me. I want him to push me up against the kitchen counter and have his way with me.
After he showers the smell off him, of course.
He doesn’t do either of those things though. Instead, he swallows shallowly. “I have to go,” he mutters before slowly backing away from me.
When he gets back to the door, his hand lingers on the knob. “Have a safe flight back, Stella. And don’t come back. You’ll never get what you’re looking for.”
Within seconds, he’s gone. And I’m hit with the realization that this was likely the last time I will ever see Ridge Adams.
And like so many other times before, he’s leaving me clenching my damn thighs together.
Fuck, I wanted to kiss her mouthy lips.
Right when she confirmed she didn’t suck Riley’s dick, I wanted to shove her down onto her knees and force my cock so far down her throat that her eyes were rolling back while she choked on me. Because that’s the punishment she deserves for even saying that she had his cock in her perfect mouth.
This anger inside of me, it’s rooted so deep. And the roots, they continue to grow, wrapping around every single part of my being, making me an even angrier son of a bitch than before.
I can’t be trusted to be alone with that girl because every time I am, I can hardly keep my hands off her.
I know she’s not right for me, yet when I saw my little brother’s truck there, I raced over to see what the fuck had happened between them.
And I know damn well it doesn’t have a thing to do with land and everything to do with not wanting Stella to be with anyone else.
I pull in front of my house and kill my truck engine. Throwing my head back, I groan loudly.
Once she’s back in New York, life will go back to normal.
That may be true, but until then, I have to try not to kill my own brother.