Chapter 6 #4
She gave him a playful glare. “Shockingly, no. And if someone brought me a mimosa at 8 a.m. back home, I’d probably be accused of going off the rails.”
Rio leaned in on his elbows, eyes focused entirely on her. “Then maybe it’s time you went off the rails a little.”
Kylee’s stomach fluttered. She tried to smile, but there was something about the way he said it like he was daring her to come undone.
“You know, you’re dangerous,” she murmured, popping a raspberry between her lips.
“You keep saying that,” he said smoothly. “But you’re the one who got on that plane. You came here. To me.”
She swallowed hard, setting her fork down with purpose. “You don’t make it easy to behave.”
“I’m not trying to.” His voice dropped, low and warm like melted chocolate. “I like watching you wrestle with it. You’ve got this whole good-girl thing, but I saw what was under the surface last night.”
Her breath caught.He didn’t move closer, just sipped his drink and let the air hum between them.
She shifted in her seat. “You always flirt this hard before noon?”
He grinned. “Only when I’m hungry for more than breakfast.”
Kylee’s cheeks flushed. She picked up her mimosa, taking a slow sip, trying to steady herself. For the first time in years, she felt seen. Not as a mom. Not as Jake’s wife. Not as the one who had to hold everything together.
As they finished breakfast, Kylee stood and began clearing the plates. Rio snatched the last one from her hands with a smirk.
“Leave that. You’re not here to play house,” he said. “You’re here to live a little, I have a maid.”
She raised a brow. “And what exactly does living look like to you?”
His eyes twinkled with mischief. “You’ll see. Go throw on something tight… and maybe a little dangerous. We’re going on an adventure.”
Hours later, somewhere above the California coast Kylee stood in the open cabin of a private skydiving plane, her heart hammering in her ears. Her jumpsuit clung to her like a second skin, and the wind whipped through the open door as the instructor strapped her in for tandem.
“This is insane!” she shouted over the noise.
Rio, fully geared up beside her, flashed that maddeningly confident smile. “Exactly.” As they jumped out of the plane.
The world dropped away, and for forty seconds, there was nothing but sky, air, and the kind of freedom she hadn’t known she was craving. When they landed, her knees were shaking partly from adrenaline, and partly from the giddy shock of it all.
As they walked away from the landing zone, still buzzing, Kylee bumped her shoulder into Rio’s. “So, tell me… is this your typical post-meet-and-greet routine?”
He glanced at her, amused. “What, you think I skydive with every woman who gets backstage?”
She shrugged playfully. “You said it yourself, you’re used to women throwing themselves at you.”
He paused for a beat, then said with a tone that surprised her low, honest, serious, “Yeah. They usually come to the hotel. We fuck. And that’s the end of it.”
Kylee raised an eyebrow, unsure how to respond.
“But this?” He gestured to the sky. “This isn’t part of the usual. I’ve never done all this… extra. I’ve never cared to.”
She slowed her steps.
“I never thought about any of those women after they left,” he added. “But you?” He turned to her. “You resisted me. Made me feel something. You’re not just a night I want. You’re a memory I already can’t stop replaying.”
Kylee looked away, heart pounding again not from the jump, but from his words. It was dangerous. Addicting. And it was only getting harder to pretend she wasn’t falling.
Later that evening, after a long, luxurious afternoon of thrill and sun, Rio brought Kylee to a hidden cliff side restaurant nestled in the Malibu hills.
The sky was painted in layers of lavender and gold as the sun slowly dipped below the horizon, casting a warm, romantic glow over the stone terrace where their table was set.
Candles flickered in glass holders. The ocean far below shimmered like liquid silver.
Soft music played in the background jazzy, slow, and almost seductive.
Kylee sat across from him in a backless dress she’d impulsively bought during the day’s shopping spree. Her cheeks were still flushed from the wind, her hair pulled back in a loose bun. She looked alive and lit up in a way she hadn’t in a long time.
Rio leaned back in his chair, eyes never leaving her. “You glow like that sunset, Idaho.”
She laughed, looking down at her wine glass. “Maybe it’s just adrenaline. Or this ridiculously perfect setting.”
“No,” he said, voice low. “It’s you.”
She swallowed, unsure how to meet his gaze without losing herself in it.
He was dangerous in moments like this not because he was reckless, but because he saw her.
Not the version she put on for her family, or the small-town wife people expected.
He saw the parts she’d tucked away years ago, the wild ones. The selfish ones. The alive ones.
As their entrées were cleared away and dessert arrived, Rio took another sip of wine and looked at her seriously.
“So,” he began, “tomorrow is the show.”
Kylee nodded, stirring her spoon through her crème br?lée. “Nervous?”
He grinned. “Never.”
She rolled her eyes.
“But I’ve been thinking,” he continued, leaning forward slightly. “I want you to go shopping while I’m at rehearsal. Find something new. Something that makes you feel powerful. Sexy. Dangerous.”
She blinked. “Dangerous?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Something that makes me nervous.”
Kylee let out a soft laugh. “Okay, bossy.”
“I’m serious,” he said. “You’re not just a guest tomorrow. You’re coming with me. I want you to ride into the concert with me, sit backstage, and be there before the first note plays.”
She set her spoon down slowly. “Rio, that’s a big statement.”
He tilted his head. “It is. And I mean it.”
There was no hesitation in his voice, only intention. She wasn’t some girl in the crowd anymore. She wasn’t just a weekend distraction. She was becoming something else entirely… and she knew it.
She looked up at him, her voice quieter than before. “Okay. I’ll find something to wear.”
His smile deepened. “Make it something you wouldn’t wear back in Idaho.”
Her stomach twisted excitement and guilt swirling like smoke. She sipped her wine, letting the warmth spread through her chest.
The California sun was already pouring through the tall windows when Kylee woke up, stretching out in the massive bed like a cat finally rested.
The sheets smelled like roses and something darker sandalwood maybe.
A faint reminder that she wasn’t home. That she wasn’t the woman who packed lunchboxes or waited for her husband to come home late from surgery.
She was in his world now. And this morning, she had a mission.
After a long hot shower, she slipped into a soft robe and padded barefoot to the terrace, coffee already waiting on a silver tray along with a small black envelope and flowers.
Kylee opened it with cautious fingers.
“Make today yours. The card’s unlimited. I want to be speechless when I see you tonight.”
? R
A sleek black AMEX card slipped out.
She blinked, then laughed. “Oh my God, this man…”
She flopped into one of the lounge chairs and quickly dialed Kelly.
“Bitch, good morning!” Kelly answered with a giggle. “How’s LA? How’s the rock star fantasy?”
Kylee grinned. “Better question… how’s your sister about to go on a luxury shopping spree with a rock star’s credit card?”
Kelly practically shrieked. “You are not. What?! Are you serious?!”
“He wants me to find something for the concert tonight,” Kylee said, trying to sound casual. “He said something that makes me feel powerful. And… dangerous.”
“Ohhh my God. You’re telling me he’s letting you wild out in LA with his black card to buy an outfit to show up at his concert in? Girl, you’re the main character.”
Kylee laughed, pulling her legs up under her. “It’s unreal. Like I’m in someone else’s life.”
Kelly’s voice dropped to a playful whisper. “So… have you two, you know… fucked yet?”
Kylee nearly choked on her coffee. “No! But…” She hesitated.
“But?” Kelly gasped. “There’s a but!?”
Kylee burst into laughter. “He may or may not have walked in on me… in the shower.”
Kelly was already screaming. “NO. SHUT UP.”
“And… he saw… everything.”
“Everything?!”
Kylee covered her face, grinning like a teenager.
“He watched me masturbate and talked me through finishing. Just stood there. Didn’t even pretend to be sorry.”
Kelly shrieked. “You’re living in a damn romance novel, and I am obsessed!! Are you dying inside?”
“Mortified. Turned on. I don’t even know anymore.”
“Did you throw yourself at him afterward?!”
“No,” Kylee said, voice softer now. “I stayed in my room. I needed space to think.”
Kelly paused, then asked, “So what the hell did you two do yesterday?”
Kylee smiled to herself. “Went skydiving.”
“What?! Girl, you’re skipping levels!”
“I know. It was insane. Free-falling with him, holding my hand the whole time. I’ve never felt so… alive.”
Kelly got quiet for a second, then spoke with full force.
“Listen to me. You’re a bad bitch, Kylee.
Jake cheated on you. He humiliated you and then tried to buy your silence with that concert trip.
You will never get this chance again. You deserve to feel everything right now: pleasure, danger, freedom.
Don’t play it safe. You already did that for years. This is his karma!”
Kylee swallowed the lump in her throat, her voice a whisper. “You think so?”
“I know so. Now go find something that’ll make him forget every woman he’s ever met.”
Kylee stared out at the skyline, heart racing.
“I think I will.”