Chapter 6 #8
Kylee felt a rush of emotions, relief, surprise, and something else she hadn’t expected.
Rio took her hand with a playful grin and led her out to the poolside patio.
The morning sun was climbing over the hills, casting a golden hue over the Hollywood sign in the distance.
A small round table was elegantly set with breakfast. Fresh fruit, croissants, eggs, and two steaming cups of coffee.
The view was breathtaking, but the setup felt intimate… intentional. Kylee sat down, still wrapped in his T-shirt, feeling the cool breeze dance across her legs.
“This is beautiful,” she said, glancing at him as he poured her coffee.
“You’re beautiful,” he said without hesitation, locking eyes with her. “Last night was…”
“Yeah,” she whispered, heat creeping into her cheeks.
Rio leaned back in his chair, studying her with that smoldering look that always made her pulse quicken. “So how are you feeling? About all of it.”
Kylee hesitated for a moment, then gave him a small, vulnerable smile. “I’ve never had anyone go down on me before,” she admitted. “Jake always said it was... gross.”
Rio’s eyebrows shot up. “Wait, what? Is he crazy?”
She laughed, half-embarrassed. “Apparently.”
He shook his head with a scoff and leaned in, lowering his voice. “Let me tell you something, Idaho. Going down on you was the farthest thing from gross. That was worship. That was me losing my mind over how damn perfect you taste.”
Kylee blinked at him, caught off guard by his raw honesty.
“And for the record,” he added, gaze darkening with heat, “I don’t do that with random girls I take to hotel rooms. That’s nasty.
But when you’ve got someone as rare, as precious, as you?
” He reached for her hand again. “Nothing about you is ever nasty. You hear me?”
She swallowed hard, heart pounding. “I hear you.” And in that moment, she believed him.
Rio grinned and brought her knuckles to his lips. “So what’s next for you, Idaho?” he asked softly.
Kylee sighed, eyes trailing over the glimmering skyline. “I go home in the morning. Back to real life.”
He leaned forward, his voice lower now, more serious. “Stay one more night.”
She looked at him, brows lifting. “Rio…”
“Please.” He wasn’t smiling anymore. “I know you have a life, kids, a million things waiting on you but just one more night. No pressure. No expectations. I just want more time with you.”
She blinked, surprised by how fast her heart answered before her brain even had the chance to weigh in. There was no hesitation. No guilt. No tug-of-war.
“Okay,” she said, a soft smile curling on her lips. “One more night. But just one. I have to get back.”
He exhaled, relief softening his face. “To the man who thinks pleasing his woman is gross?”
Kylee let out a laugh and tossed a strawberry at him, which he caught effortlessly. “No, smartass. To my kids.”
Rio grinned. “That’s fair. I like your kids more than your husband anyway.”
She shook her head, laughing, but there was a truth behind it neither of them needed to say out loud.
He stood and walked around to her side of the table, pulling her gently to her feet and wrapping his arms around her waist.
“Thank you,” he whispered into her hair.
“For what?” she asked, resting her chin against his chest.
“For saying yes. For giving me more time. For showing up and wrecking my entire understanding of what I thought love and lust were supposed to look like.”
Kylee leaned into him and closed her eyes, letting herself feel the warmth of his hold in this dangerous comforting exhilarating place she had no business staying in but didn’t want to leave. Not yet.
Kylee pulled back just enough to look up at him. “You’re really something, you know that?”
Rio brushed a thumb over her cheek. “You’re the only one who sees me this way.”
“That’s hard to believe.”
“It’s true,” he said. “Everyone sees what they want: rock star, bad boy, party guy. But you… you look at me like I’m worth something more than the thrill. Like I’m a man. Just a man.”
She swallowed hard. “That’s how you’ve made me feel, too. Like I’m more than just… a wife. A mom. A woman holding things together.”
He kissed her forehead softly, his lips lingering. “Today’s yours. Whatever you want to do, wherever you want to go, we’ll do it.”
Kylee laughed gently. “You sure you want to spend your last free day with a small-town mom who needs to get back to folding laundry and cooking casseroles?”
“Don’t downplay how sexy casseroles can be,” he teased, making her laugh harder.
She took his hand. “Alright, Mr. Riot. Surprise me
Later that day they rode his motorcycle up into the hills, her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, wind in her hair, sun on her skin. They stopped at a hidden lookout spot above the city where he laid out a blanket and a cooler filled with wine, cheese, and chocolate-covered strawberries.
They laughed, fed each other, and made out like teenagers. He snapped pictures of her with an old Polaroid camera calling her his Idaho sunshine every time she smiled.
As the sky turned pink and orange, he leaned back on his elbows, watching her with a softness that didn’t match his reputation.
“You keep looking at me like you’re saying goodbye,” she whispered.
“I’m trying to memorize you,” he said. “In case this really is the end.”
She didn’t respond. Her throat tightened with the weight of it all. The kids. The lie she’d told Jake. The secret romance with a man who was turning out to be much more than she bargained for.
Back at the mansion Kylee sat on the edge of the bed, staring at her phone. Her thumb hovered for a second before she finally hit call.
Jake picked up after a few rings, voice tight.
“Hey. Are you on your way to the airport?”
Kylee hesitated, biting her lip.
“Actually… I need to stay another night. My flight got canceled.”
“You’re fucking kidding me.” Jake’s frustration was instant. “Kylee, I have to be back at the clinic tomorrow. Rachel’s already blowing up my phone about the schedule. She needs hours. She needs money. I can’t keep pushing things around. She is all over my ass!”
Kylee rolled her eyes, sarcasm bubbling up without permission.
“Not the first time she’s been all over your ass.”
“Jesus, Kylee,” he snapped. “I thought we moved past that.”
“Yeah, well, turns out betrayal sticks a little longer than a first-class ticket,” she muttered.
Jake exhaled sharply.
“This is so selfish of you. I let you go on this little trip to clear your head and now you're extending it?”
“You ‘let’ me?” Her tone sharpened.
“You don’t get to play the victim here, Jake. You cheated! You're letting me do this to cover your tracks. Don’t act like you did me a favor.”
Silence hung on the line.
Finally, he spoke again, calmer but cold.
“Whatever. Just get home. The kids miss you.”
“Yeah… I miss them too. “She hung up before he could say anything else, feeling the familiar ache settle in her chest.
Rio had been leaning in the doorway, silent until now. “He thinks going down on you is nasty,” he said with a small scoff, shaking his head.
“And now he talks to you like you're his employee. Sounds like a great man.”
Kylee met his eyes, a slow burn behind hers.
“I don’t know what I’m doing.”
He walked in, gently taking the phone from her hand and setting it aside. “Yeah you do,” he said softly.
“You’re finally doing what you want. And that scares the hell out of you.”
She didn’t argue. She just let herself fall into his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
Rio pulled back slightly, looking down at her. His jaw clenched just enough to show he was holding something in. “I heard you say on the phone… That’s not the first time she’s been on your ass.” He tilted his head, studying her expression.
“What did you mean by that?”
Kylee let out a slow breath. Her eyes fell to her lap as she sat on the edge of the bed, fingers twisting the hem of her dress. “You really want to know?” she asked quietly.
“I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t. I know we spoke briefly about it in New Orleans from what Kelly told Mason. I want to hear all of it from you” His voice was calm, but something darker lingered underneath it.
She nodded slowly.
“It was a few months ago. Jake told me he’d be working late. He had a ton of patients to see and I didn’t think anything of it.”
She swallowed, blinking fast. “So I thought I’d surprise him at the clinic. I brought him coffee… and walked in on him fucking his receptionist, Rachel, on his desk.”
Rio didn’t say a word. His whole body stiffened.
Kylee gave a bitter laugh.
“He freaked out. Didn’t know what to say.
Barely even chased after me. A couple days later he gave me tickets to your concert.
Said it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and that he wanted to make it up to me.
” She looked up at him, eyes filled with a tired kind of hurt.
“Turns out, all of it was arranged by the same woman he cheated with. She was the one who got the backstage passes, Rio. What are the odds?”
Rio took a few steps back, processing it, his expression unreadable. Then, after a beat, he looked right at her. “Looks like he's finally getting his karma.” His voice was slow but steady.
“He messed up a good thing.” He sat beside her, brushing her hair behind her ear. “And I’m not just saying that to say it, Idaho. I mean it. You’re the kind of woman someone doesn’t cheat on. You’re the kind of woman someone protects.”
She let her head fall to his shoulder, exhaling deeply. “I don’t know if I’m strong… or just numb.”
“You’re both,” he said softly. “But either way, you’re not alone in this anymore.”
Kylee and Rio stepped back into the sprawling expanse of his mansion, their laughter echoing through the marble-floored hallway. Rio led her towards a set of double doors, pushing them open with a flourish.