8. Michelle
8
MICHELLE
This is it , I think to myself as I sit in the corner of the study of Jerry’s enormous home–so grand it resembles an old English estate.
This is what I have to look forward to for the rest of my life .
I feel as though I’m looking at the world in slow motion as I stare out across the room, watching Jerry and his friends drink whiskey and tell stories.
They’re dressed up as 19 th century gentlemen tonight, complete with top hats and canes, lounging across the furniture as though any of them had a hand in the work it took to purchase it.
There are girls here tonight I don’t recognize. But from their surgically enhanced bodies and over-the-top smiles and flirting, it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes or Watson to deduce that they’re being paid by the hour.
Of course Jerry is doing his best to pretend he’s not eyeing the merchandise, but his sideways glances are more than obvious.
I couldn’t care less, of course. It’s like Casey said; he means nothing to me. He could take one of them upstairs to a bedroom for the rest of the night for all I care. In fact, I wish he would. Maybe then I’d have an actual reason to call off the marriage that someone in the families just might accept.
Who am I kidding? This marriage is happening no matter what I do.
“What’d you say your name was again?” A guy I’m pretty sure is named Vince bellows to one of the girls who is wearing black tights and some kind of leather one-piece that looks like it came from a bondage store. No one has apparently told Vince that the broccoli haircut is for boys eighteen and younger, not guys approaching thirty.
“Call me, Jade, baby,” she replies seductively, bending at the waist to refill his whiskey.
A few of the other boys, and girls, cheer at her apparently spectacular maneuver. Even Jerry claps until he sees me looking, then covers it up by pretending to have to cough.
I sigh and turn to look out the window at the meticulously maintained front lawn and gardens. If it weren’t for the horrific people inside, the whole place would actually be quite spectacular.
I close my eyes, take a breath, and make a wish that when I open them again, these trust-fund-babies and silver-spoon kids behind me will be gone, and I’ll be back at that room at the construction site with Casey.
But when I open them again, no such luck. The sound of clinking glasses and flirtatious giggles assaults my ears as I long to be anywhere else but here.
I’m just about to get up and wander the house when I see something out front by the gate. The driveway is long, and it’s dark out so I have to squint to see it. But when it comes into focus, I feel my heart leap.
Casey’s truck!
“It can’t be…” I whisper to myself. What in the world would he be doing here?
I must be seeing things, confusing another truck–one of the groundskeepers’—with Casey’s because of how desperate I am to get out of here. But then I see the silhouette in the driver’s seat. And then I realize I’m not confusing anything. It’s definitely Casey.
I’m on my feet in an instant, rushing from the room. Somehow, despite all the girls displaying their incredible drink-pouring abilities for the guys, Jerry notices and calls out to me.
“Where are you going, Michelle?”
I stop and glare at him. “Do I have to announce to the entire room when I want to use the bathroom?”
One of the girls breaks character for a moment and smiles before quickly covering her mouth with a hand. Jerry just frowns, and I turn away and stride out of the room, turning in the direction of the bathroom once I reach the hall.
Then I quickly double back and do a loop around the back by the kitchen, taking the long way to the door just to make sure no one sees me. Then I’m out, free of that awkward hell and racing up the drive toward the gate.
Casey already has the passenger side door open for me and reaches out his hand to help me in. A tingling sensation rushes through my body when our skin touches. He pulls me into the cabin of his truck like I weigh nothing. I shut the door behind me, and he hits the gas.
“We’re outta there.” He grins, wrapping his enormous, muscled arm around my shoulders and pulling me close to him on the bench seat.
“You are my savior,” I sigh, leaning against him. “You have no idea how awful it was in there.”
“Oh, I can imagine.” He leans down and kisses me on the top of the head. It’s like something a boyfriend would do, not that I would know of course. What I do know is that it sends an intoxicating shiver down my spine.
It feels so good to be back with him. The difference between his company and Jerry’s is like night and day. It’s not even a comparison.
Being around Casey is like a perfect bowl of your favorite flavor ice cream, right when you’re feeling like you want dessert. Being around Jerry is like being force fed a meal you’ve never liked in your entire life, while someone stands right next to you and screams at you how lucky you are to have any food at all.
“How did you even find me?” I ask, looking up at him. “Did you put a tracking app on my phone too?”
He smirks back, knowing I’m teasing. “A buddy of mine did some contracting work on the pool house a few years back. He knew the address. I figured you’d be here if you weren’t at home.”
“Smart.” I nod. “Maybe you can have a side career as a private investigator.”
“You mean a new career?” Casey glances down at me, almost sympathetically. “Didn’t you hear? Your dad and Jerry’s dad had me fired.”
My stomach drops. I knew Richard was a ruthless asshole, and I always knew my dad had a callous side to him, but this goes beyond anything I’d expected.
“Casey, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be,” he replies, kissing me again. “I’ve got things figured out. Some plans in motion. It’ll be okay.”
I don’t know where Casey is taking me, and I don’t ask. Because I trust him.
It’s only a short drive when we pull up in front of a cozy cottage in the woods. There are no lights on and no other cars in the driveway. Casey hops out, grabs a sleeping bag from behind the seat, and heads for the house. I follow after him.
He walks carefully to a large potted flower in the garden and shifts it slightly to reveal a key, which he then uses to open the front door.
“Casey, what is this place? Are we allowed to be here?”
“Of course,” he chuckles, taking my hand and leading me inside. “This is a project we completed last year for a lady who works up in NYC. She’s hardly ever here, but she really liked me and told me if I ever wanted to stay here while she was gone, to feel free. I never took her up on it until now.”
Casey closes the door behind me and starts into the living room, but I don’t follow.
“Casey, you guys didn’t…”
He gives me a funny look, then gets it. “Hook up?” He laughs. “No, no. She was just a nice lady. Probably somewhere around my mom’s age.”
Casey leads me deeper into the house and a larger room, which has an incredible view of the woods through an entire wall of glass. There’s also a fireplace, which Casey quickly starts. The scent of fresh pine immediately fills the air.
“You know how to do everything, don’t you?” I ask.
“Just don’t ask me to do any medical surgery,” he teases, spreading the sleeping bag out on the floor.
“Oh, we’re sleeping here tonight?” I ask, growing excited. I feel like a little girl again, breaking the rules.
“Damn right we are.” He smiles, pulling me into his arms. “And sleeping in other people’s beds just kind of grosses me out. Besides, with this view, and the fire, it’s like we’re camping, ya know?”
He pecks me gently on the cheek, and that tingling sensation I felt before spreads through me with incredible speed. There’s a tickle between my legs that seems to grow stronger and stronger with every second that he touches me.
My heart rocks lustfully as he caresses me with his strong, thick, callused hands. He slips them both beneath my shirt and takes hold of my waist. I feel like a stick of butter that’s begun to melt in the hot summer sun.
“This is dangerous, Casey.” My voice is barely a whisper through my lips. “For you.”
“You think I’m scared of a little danger?” Casey chuckles, moving his hand up slowly until he finds my breast. He squeezes, and all the breath leaves my lungs. “Besides, I’m working on some things that will make this work between us. That will break you free of the prison your father has locked you in.”
His scent penetrates my nostrils and finds its way into my chest. He’s overwhelming me, and I have no plans to stop him.
“There’s no getting away from my father, Casey,” I say. “I don’t want to admit that, but it’s true.”
“It may not be,” he whispers, leaning in and pressing his lips against my neck. My back arches, and I press my body against his. “I’m working on some things to expose him and the Williams family, but that’s not what will ultimately break you free of him, Michelle.”
My thighs tremble as he slides his hand down my stomach. Like before at the construction site, he slips two fingers between my legs and applies pressure. And like before, the pleasure explodes through me, lighting every one of my blissful nerves light a sparkler.
“Your father may be ruthless. He may be a tyrant,” Casey whispers. “But at his core, he’s a religious man. And what’s the last thing a religious man wants to happen to his virgin, engaged daughter?”
My jaw drops. Realization bursts inside me.
I pull back and look up at Casey, who is smiling down at me. My gorgeous savior with his hands all over me.
“Casey.” I can barely even speak. I’m so filled with realization and arousal. I can’t even believe he’s suggesting this. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Without hesitation, he unzips my pants and tugs them down over my hips, leaving me bare before him.
“I am.” He presses his lips against mine and kisses me deeply and passionately, sweeping me off my feet in an instant. When he pulls back, I feel as though we’ve both been transported to a world of our own.
“Michelle. I’m going to get you pregnant.”
I stare back at him, waiting for him to falter, to smile, to tell me he’s just kidding and this is all just one big joke.
But he doesn’t. He holds my gaze and stares at me like he always has–like he knows me. Like he’s meant for me. And my heart swells with heat.
“Yes,” I tell him. “Do it.”