CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Nadine
I ordered out from Reynolds’ favorite Thai place then sat and stared at the boxes of delicious food until I realized he wasn’t coming. I put his meal in the fridge while I reheated mine, then I sat and ate it by myself while I looked out at the bay and tried to enjoy the view.
I’d seen his interview on West Bay Today. I’d felt so guilty when they talked about him being with me. He had been right when he’d said we shouldn’t go anywhere together. I also hated that Whitney Masters was there standing behind him and that he’d talked about her during his interview.
Even if that hadn’t gone well, either.
I’d finished eating and sacked out in front of the TV.
I wondered where he was. It was well past ten, and I was beginning to think he wasn’t coming over.
It would be the first day or night that we hadn’t slept together since the auction.
Even if he went out with Whitney to a society function, he made time to come see me beforehand or, more usually, afterwards.
Was he getting tired of me already?
Was he with Whitney? Was he holding her in his arms and letting her comfort him?
Or was he at Sugar or Cayenne? I closed my eyes at the thought of him fucking random women rather than coming here to be with me. Or worse. What if he was with one of my friends in the VIP room at Sugar? The thought made me nauseous.
I had about decided I didn’t like this auction thing. I would be glad it was over. I was catching feelings. And it was only August. I still had four months to go.
Jesus. What was I going to do? I had to get this under control. I couldn’t fall in love with this guy. I needed to remember that he bought me for sex. That’s all. It’s not like he fell for my outstanding personality or thought I was smart or something. And I was using him, too. For money.
I winced. It seemed so cold and awful. But then I thought of Mama and what she’d said. Six months of sex with a hot, powerful man and then I was set for life as long as I capitalized on what he gave me.
I couldn’t lose sight of the realities of what we were doing here.
By midnight, I knew I needed to let go of the hope that he was coming over. I went through my nighttime routine of taking my makeup off, applying face cream, brushing my teeth, and putting on my pajamas like a robot.
Reynolds had broken the only rule I’d dared to set at the start of our relationship.
It was so simple. All he’d had to do was text that he wasn’t coming over.
But he couldn’t even do that. I tried not to be upset about it.
After all, he’d broken his own rules more than once. It just hurt my feelings, though.
I decided since he wasn’t coming over, I didn’t need to wear one of the sexy lingerie sets Madeline had bought for me.
I just slept in my underwear and an old T-shirt that read, “Terry Loves Yogurt.” It was from the TV show Brooklyn Nine-Nine, one of my favorites.
Mama had found it on clearance at Wal-Mart since the show had been over for a while.
Then I curled up, played rain sounds on my Alexa, and forced myself not to obsess over what he was doing without me. Or who he was doing.
Finally, I fell asleep.
When I woke up in the morning, I was confused. Strong arms were wrapped around my body, and a head of dark blond hair was lying next to mine on my pillow. It took me a minute to realize that Reynolds must’ve come in during the night.
I pulled away from him, lifting his heavy arm and moving it off me, not wanting to wake him. I hurried to the bathroom to brush my teeth.
I strolled back to the bed after I was done and looked down at him. He’d showered when he got home. That much was obvious. He was wearing his boxers and nothing else, and he smelled fresh and clean. He must’ve felt my eyes on him, because he stirred and his eyes opened.
They were such a pretty blue-gray color and changed with his mood or what he was wearing. Right now, they were brighter than I’d ever seen them. There was hardly any gray to them at all.
“Hey,” he said and smiled at me.
“Hey.” I didn’t smile. I was remembering how I’d felt when he hadn’t bothered to text me all night to tell me he wasn’t coming over.
“Come here.”
I went to him, and he grabbed me. He pulled me tightly against him, his arms and legs wrapping around me like an octopus. “What if I don’t want to let you go?” he asked right by my ear.
“You’ll have to at some point.”
“Not necessarily. It would be awkward trying to walk, but we could make it work…”
“Why didn’t you text me last night Reynolds? To let me know you weren’t coming? That was my only rule. Remember?”
He was quiet as he buried his nose in my hair and inhaled deeply. “I’m sorry. I should’ve texted. I was an asshole. I was just upset by the interview. Did you see it?”
“Yeah. Is it my fault?”
“No. I knew better, and I wanted to go out in public with you, anyway. It’s hard to be with the prettiest girl in West Bay and not be able to show her off.”
I smiled a little. He was being sweet. “Where did you go? Were you with Whitney or at Cayenne?”
The smile dropped, and he rubbed a hand over his face as he sat up in bed, a pillow propped behind his back.
God. It was hard to concentrate on anything he said.
He was in such good shape. I loved that he had all those big, lean muscles for me to hold on to.
My eyes moved until I locked eyes with him and knew he’d seen me checking him out.
He had a tiny smirk on his face, and I could feel my cheeks turn pink.
He got up, dropping a kiss on my forehead as he walked past. “I’ll be right back.” I ogled the muscles in his back and his perfectly shaped ass as he walked to the bathroom and shut the door.
I heard the water running and sat down on the edge of the bed. I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear the rest of what he had to say.
Our eyes met as he opened the door and walked back to his side of the bed and plopped down. We stared at each other for long enough that things were starting to feel awkward between us. At least on my end. He seemed comfortable.
“Come sit by me, please,” he said. He patted the bed beside him. “Byron dropped Whitney and my parents off right after the interview. I went to work and lost track of time. Then I went to Cayenne. I was looking for some nameless, faceless sex to help me blow off steam.”
I felt a little sick to my stomach, but I tried not to show it.
“I found a pretty woman, soon she was naked in my lap, and I was kissing her.”
I pulled away from him and tried to stand up, but he grabbed my arm. I made a sound of protest, but he wouldn’t let me go. “You can do whatever you want to, Reynolds, but I don’t want to hear about it. That’s too much.”
“Just let me finish.”
I didn’t want to, but I crossed my arms over my chest to protect myself and lifted my eyes to his.
“I couldn’t fuck her.”
“What?” I was confused.
“She had her hand wrapped around my cock…”
I held up a hand, “Again, Reynolds, too much.”
“Sorry. I just want you to know what happened. So, she was touching me,” he amended, “and I moved her hand off me. I told her I couldn’t do it. All I could see was your face, your body. I heard your voice, your laughter, and I left the club to come back here.”
I frowned at him.
“I realized you were the only one I wanted to be with, and there was no reason I couldn’t be with you.
I think I was trying to force myself to go to Cayenne to prove that I didn’t need you, I guess.
But here I am.” He reached out and stroked my hair.
His eyes fell to my chest, and I saw the moment he read my T-shirt.
He started laughing. “You like that show, too?”
“Yeah. It’s great.”
“It is.” He pulled me close and planted some kisses along my neck. I didn’t want to respond so quickly to him, but my breaths were coming faster already at the feel of his lips on my skin. “I didn’t want to be with anyone but you, angel.”
I pulled back from him until I could see his face. I tried not to smile, but he could tell. He had his hands around my ribs, and he started tickling me. “Does that make you happy? That I only wanted to be with you, Nadine?”
“Yes,” I gasped out, trying not to laugh.
He just tickled harder. “Stop! Reynolds, don’t tickle me.
” I squirmed and tried in vain to get away from him, but he was way too strong for me.
He flipped me over on my stomach and held me there with one hand.
“How are you so strong?” I complained, my voice muffled by the sheets and pillows.
“I already told you. I work out. I thought it was just to look good, but now I see it serves other purposes, too.”
I looked at him over my shoulder and had to laugh at the evil grin on his face. “What are you going to do with me?”
The smile slowly fell off his face as he watched me struggle against him. “I have a few ideas,” he said, his voice low.
He pulled me to him roughly, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as I basically sat in his lap. Our faces were close together, and I stared into his eyes. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” he said, but he looked wary.
“Why didn’t you wake me up for sex last night?”
“I… I… uh, I don’t know.” He shrugged. “You looked so peaceful. And I just wanted to hold you.” His eyes were wide as if he’d surprised himself with his answer.
“I’ve been told I’m quite cuddly.”
He grinned. “You are.” He brushed his lips against mine, his breath fresh and minty.
“But I’m not interested in cuddling now.
” He kissed me again and again as he laid me back down on the bed.
This time he stayed on top of me, though he was careful not to put his full weight on me.
He kissed me several times, then let his lips trail over my jaw before he dropped to my neck.
He licked and sucked my pulse point until I was sure he was going to leave a mark.