Chapter 21
AUSTIN
Ihadn’t meant to break Melody’s rule but how the hell could I not?
She was breathless, her cheeks flushed that perfect shade of pink, with her eyes wide and vulnerable. Those sexy moans she let out when my hands moved over her body nearly had me jerking that dress up and plunging deep inside her.
When she’d said those words about understanding me and how difficult it must have been growing up with my father, it was like someone finally saw me. She had spoken to a part of me that nobody had ever even tried to reach.
She saw me. Really saw me. Not the Bancroft name or the trust fund or the reputation. Just me.
And it was effortless for her. Like understanding me was the most natural thing in the world. I didn’t even have to drop hints or pout. She just got me.
So when she turned over on that massage table and looked at me in that way, there was no going back. I did not have that much self-control. Those perfect rosy lips that were all plump and pouty were just too enticing to ignore.
I kissed her and the world ignited.
Melody kissed me back with a fierceness that surprised me.
Thrilled me. Made me want more, more, more.
I wanted to consume the woman. Devour her.
More of those cute little whimpers escaped her mouth when my teeth grazed the sensitive skin on her neck.
I suddenly understood the appeal of being a vampire. I wanted to bite her. Suck on her.
I moved to stand between her thighs. She opened them wider instinctively. Perfect. She fit against me perfectly.
She jerked my shirt from my pants and then slid her hands up. I felt her fingers trace my abs, exploring my body. I grinned against our kiss because I knew—I could feel it in the way her breath caught—that she liked what she found.
“You’re smiling,” she breathed.
“You’re feeling me up. I’m allowed to smile.”
“I’m not—” But her hands were still there contradicting her words.
I kissed her again, sliding my hands up her sides and heading straight for her breasts that had been teasing me since I first laid eyes on her. My thumb brushed across on nipple that was hard and straining against her bra. She arched into my touch, making a sound that went straight to my groin.
This was escalating fast. Too fast, probably. But I couldn’t bring myself to care.
My hand cupped one breast. It was me that moaned the loudest. The weight of her breast in my hand nearly had me coming in my pants like a fucking teenage boy getting to cop his first feel.
Her nails scraped over my chest. Her tongue dueled with mine. She was into it. I had to get my hands on her skin. I just knew she would feel like satin. The smell of her, a light citrus with a hint of something woodsy, was intoxicating.
My other hand dropped to her knee and started to slide up.
I groaned when my fingertips touched the skin I knew would be soft.
It begged to be squeezed and caressed. My hand moved like a heat-seeking missile.
My target was inches ahead. I could feel the heat radiating from her core.
I could not wait to push my fingers inside that wet heat.
“Fuck, baby girl,” I murmured against her mouth.
Then, abruptly, she gasped and broke the kiss.
“Wait.” She pushed against my chest. “We can’t do this.”
“Why not?” My voice came out raspy. “We’re both adults. We both want this.”
“We’re supposed to save this for the cameras.” She was trying to catch her breath, her hands still on my chest but pushing now instead of pulling. “Remember? Rule number two. No flirting or kissing in private.”
“Fuck rule number two.”
“Austin, we can’t.”
“If it feels good, why deny ourselves?” I leaned in to kiss her again, but she turned her head.
“Because we’re not together.” Her voice was firmer now. “This is a business agreement. A contract. That’s all.”
The words hit like cold water.
“Is that really all this is?” I asked.
“Yes.” But she wouldn’t meet my eyes. “We made a deal. You get your family off your back. I get my reputation restored. That’s it. That’s the arrangement.”
“And this?” I gestured between us. “What do we call this?”
“A mistake.” She slid off the table, putting distance between us. “I have no intention of getting burned when this job is done, Austin. And if this goes any further, I know that will happen. I’m not a plaything.” She shook her head. “We can’t. That’s that. I’m going home.”
“Melody, wait, please.”
“No hard feelings.” She was already moving toward the door, not looking back. “It was a good kiss.”
She paused at the doorway, finally turning to look at me. Her expression was conflicted full of vulnerability.
“A really good kiss,” she admitted quietly. “But that’s not why we’re doing this. If you need a hookup, I’m sure there’s someone you can call.”
The words stung. Made me feel cheap. Reduced to the man my father believed me to be.
“That’s not fair.” I didn’t know if she heard me because she was already gone.
I heard her footsteps rushing down the hall. I followed at a much slower pace. I was trying to decide if I was going to physically stop her from leaving or watch her go. I heard the elevator ding and knew she had left.
And just like that, the connection I thought we had was gone. I stood there, my lips still tingling from her kiss, and felt like I’d been sucker-punched. She was right. Of course she was right. We had an agreement. Rules. Boundaries. This was supposed to be professional.
But it hadn’t felt professional when she kissed me back. I could still feel the tiny scratches across my chest from her nails. She had acted like a woman starving for me.
“Fuck,” I said to the empty room.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled to Rodney’s number. Hit call and waited.
He answered on the third ring. I could hear the sound of his favorite video game in the background. He was in for the night playing a little Call of Duty.
“Get dressed. We’re going out.”
“Out? Now?”
“Yeah. Now. I need a drink. And a distraction.”
“Where’s your girlfriend?” He taunted and I could hear the hurt in his voice. I had abandoned him over the weekend. He was pissed and disappointed.
“Do you want to go out or not?” I shot back.
“Give me twenty minutes. I know just the place.”
Forty-five minutes later, we were at one of those clubs where the music was too loud and the drinks were too expensive and everyone was too beautiful. The kind of place I used to frequent before Melody had walked into my life and complicated everything.
Rodney bought the first round. Then the second. By the third, I was feeling the pleasant buzz that came with not thinking too hard about anything. It was how I typically spent most weekends. Drunk enough not to care but not so drunk I couldn’t dance or perform. It was a careful balance.
“So,” Rodney shouted over the music. “Want to talk about it?”
“Nope.”
“Want to dance with that blonde who’s been staring at you for the past ten minutes?”
I glanced over. Sure enough, a gorgeous blonde in a dress that left little to the imagination was giving me the look. The one I recognized. The one that said she knew who I was and what she wanted.
A week ago, I would’ve been all over that. Would’ve bought her a drink, charmed her, taken her home.
Now?
Now all I could think about was the way Melody had looked at me when she said I wasn’t what my father thought I was.
“Sure,” I said anyway. “Why not?”
I made my way across the dance floor. The blonde smiled as I approached. There was a predatory gleam in her eyes. She was looking at me like a hungry lion eyed a big, juicy steak.
“Austin Bancroft,” she said, her voice a purr. “I was hoping you’d come over.”
“Here I am.”
We danced. She pressed close, her hands on my chest, my shoulders, my neck. All the signals were there. All I had to do was lean in. Kiss her. Take her home.
But I couldn’t stop comparing.
Her perfume was too sweet. Not that light citrus like Melody’s. Her laugh was too high-pitched. Not genuine like Melody’s. Her touch felt wrong. Every look felt calculated. Like she wanted something from me beyond just this moment.
After two songs, I excused myself to get another drink.
Rodney raised an eyebrow as I rejoined him at the bar. “That was fast.”
“Not feeling it.”
“You? Not feeling it? With that?” He gestured toward where the blonde was already talking to another guy. “Try feeling her again.”
I shook my head and took a drink. “She wasn’t for me.”
“Since when is that not your type?”
“Since—” I stopped. Since what? Since Melody? Since I’d started this stupid fake relationship that was supposed to be simple and uncomplicated?
“Oh man.” Rodney’s expression shifted to something like pity. “You’ve got it bad.”
“I don’t have anything.”
“You’re turning down beautiful women to mope at a bar. That’s not the Austin Bancroft I know.”
“Maybe he’s tired of being predictable.”
“Or maybe he’s falling for his girlfriend. I thought maybe you were going to be one of those guys that had his cake and all the icing and sprinkles on the side.”
“Nope. It’s not like that.”
Rodney ordered us another round. “Look, I know I gave you shit about the marriage thing. But if you actually like this girl—if she makes you happy—maybe stop fucking around on her.”
He didn’t know that I wasn’t technically fucking around on her. But I realized that nobody in this bar knew our relationship was fake. I had to be careful or I was only going to end up worsening my reputation instead of fixing it.
“Fuck,” I said.
“Yeah.” Rodney patted my shoulder. “Welcome to having feelings. It sucks.”
I tried to dance with another woman, a brunette this time, just as beautiful, just as interested. But it felt hollow. Wrong.
But I wasn’t a quitter. I would find a way to drown the unwelcome feelings that were making my head spin. More liquor would stop all of it.