Fulfillment (Book 3 in The Temptation Series) (18 page)

Now, if you’re
not familiar with the song, the chorus is what you would describe
as a ‘belter’, meaning one: you have to be relatively good at
singing—which we weren’t. And two: you needed to belt it out really
loud—which we did. Needless to say, it got everyone’s
attention—mainly due to the fact we sounded awful.

Before I knew
it, Will had grabbed a couple of forks from a serving platter and
started drumming the beat on the top of the bar, assisting our
charade. I smiled at him as I laughed and continued to sing the
song—I think the drum beat actually helped our tone. Carls had
caught on to our game at that point and was pinching the bridge of
her nose and screwing up her face. Derek just seemed highly amused
at our apparent flash mob performance. This behaviour was not out
of the ordinary for us girls, so after we had finished, we received
a small round of applause then the room went back to its normal
small talk chit chat.

I hadn’t
noticed Bryce return until we had finished our sing-along. He was
standing next to Jake looking pretty comfortable and relaxed. I
walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist.

Jake shook his
head at me. “Are you sure you want her to have your baby?” he asked
Bryce, pointing toward me with his beer. “She’s slightly
crazy.”

Bryce kissed
my head. “I like crazy.”

I pulled away
and gently elbowed him in the ribs. “Did you find Gareth?”

“No. He’s
obviously taken off. I’ll speak with him tomorrow.” I shot him an
apologetic look. “Alexis, it’s not your fault, so don’t.”

“What’s not
her fault?” Jake asked.

“It’s nothing,
Jake. Gareth is just not a fan of me and Bryce as a couple.”

“Why? Does he
have a thing for you, Lexi?”

I scoffed.
Um, no not me...the sexy father of my child, more like it.
“It’s a long story Jake. I’ll fill you in another time.” Now was
not the time to enlighten Jake that Gareth was Bryce’s mentally ill
cousin who had an altering personality, one that was in love with
Bryce and wanted me out of the picture.
No, now is definitely
not the time.

“Fair enough.”
Jake seemed to let it go, but knowing my brother, he would re-visit
it at some point in time. “I’m gonna hit the sack. I have a late
run up the Hume Highway to Sydney tomorrow. If I get my shut-eye
now, I will be able to do the round trip without stopping.”

“Drive safely,
okay? I hate when you do long trips.” I gave my brother a big
hug.

“Of course,
this little tacker in here...” he gently placed his hand on my
tummy, “must be dying to meet its uncle. I have no choice but to
stay safe, wouldn’t want to disappoint the little rugrat when it’s
born.” He removed his hand and shook Bryce’s. “Congratulations,
Mate.”

“You are so
full of yourself, you know that right?” I teased.

“Yep, full of
shit hotness! Don’t forget it.”

“Ewww. Go. Go
to bed.” I nudged him toward the door.

“Night,” he
called behind him.

“Night,” we
replied.

The kids had
already taken themselves to bed. Mum, Dad, Jen and Steve all
followed shortly after, leaving only Live Trepidation, the girls
and their husbands and kids—who were beginning to turn feral—and of
course, Carls. Carls, who was on a war path, heading directly for
me.

“Shit! I think
I’ll take you up on the security guard offer,” I said quickly as I
wrapped myself in Bryce’s arms for protection.

He seemed a
little concerned. “What? Why?”

“It looks like
Carls wants my head on a platter.”

She stormed
right up to me, her face desperately trying to hold tight. “You are
hilarious,” she said sarcastically.

“I know,” I
answered honestly.

“No. That
wasn’t funny. I was so fucking embarrassed.”

“Relax. He had
no idea.”

“Who had no
idea?” Bryce asked.

“Derek,” we
both answered.

Bryce looked
over at his lead singer, slightly confused. “What does he have no
idea about?”

I jumped in
before Carls had a chance. “He has no idea Carly has a burnt
burger.” I cracked up laughing.

“You’re a
bitch, Alexis Summers.”

“No, I’m not,
Carly Henkley. Your burger is burnt and you need it thawed out, I
was simply trying to begin that process.”

“I can thaw
out my own burger, thanks,” she hissed under her breath.

Bryce took a
step back. “I’m not fucking sure if you are talking about a BBQ or
something entirely different. Either way, I don’t want to know
about Carly’s burger, so please excuse me.” He headed toward the
other men in the room.

“There is
nothing wrong with my burger, Bryce,” she called out after him.
“Just so you know, it’s a good burger.”

“Carly!” I
playfully hit her on the arm. “Don’t offer your burger to my
man.”

“Why? Is he a
vegetarian?”

“No! God, no!”
I laughed. “The man is a carnivore through and through.” I bit my
lip as I remembered our encounter in the Crow.

“I hate you,
you know,” she admitted, while taking in my hungry expression.

“You should.
Every woman should. I’ve scored big time.”

“Good. I’m
glad you know it, Hun.”

“Oh trust me,
Carls. I know it alright.”

CHAPTER
THIRTEEN

The next day our family
and friends checked out of the hotel at staggered times of the day,
most of them popping up to the penthouse to wish me a happy
birthday and to thank us and say goodbye. Mum and Dad took Nate and
Charli back to the farm with them as it was school holidays for
another two weeks. The kids were so excited. They adored the farm
and spending time with their grandparents.

Rick had
arranged to be off work for the second week of the holidays, so
that the kids could stay with him. I assumed that was still the
case, but after last night’s heated exchange, I couldn’t exactly be
sure. I would have to contact him sooner rather than later to find
out. I was still kind of reeling from his outburst and accusation,
feeling like I now had to prove my innocence—so to speak. That
feeling really pissed me off; I did not have to prove anything to
him. I did not have to prove my child was Bryce’s, and I did not
have to prove that I had done nothing wrong.

Anger over the
whole situation was simmering away deep within me, and I could feel
myself begin to get worked up, so I thought I would take out my
frustration and stress on the cross trainer. I quickly changed into
a pair of knee-length gym pants, a singlet top and a pair of
runners and made my way downstairs.

Bryce was
sitting on the lounge with his guitar, strumming some chords and
writing down what I assumed were notes.
Fuck, he looks sexy
holding a guitar. Too sexy for his own good.
I almost changed
my mind about taking my frustration out on the cross trainer,
instead thinking I could take it out on him—sexually. He just
looked so God damned tasty.

“Havin’ a
workout. Just thought I’d let you know in case you wanted to hold
my hand.” I gave him a sarcastic cheeky grin as I waltzed past
him.

He raised his
eyebrow at me and put his guitar down. I continued out through the
bi-fold doors and onto the balcony where the home gym equipment was
situated. As I stepped up onto the cross trainer, I watched him
casually stroll up to me with his hands in his pockets, stopping at
the weight machine and leaning up against it.

“Can I help
you?” I asked him, playfully.

“No.”

I began to
stride. “You’re not seriously going to stand there and watch me,
are you?”

“Yes, I
seriously am.”

“Bryce, I was
only kidding about the whole hold-my-hand thing. Go away.”

“Can’t do it,
Hunny.” He lifted one foot and propped it back against the machine,
hands still in his pockets and looking as comfortable and as sexy
as ever.

“This is not
funny. I’m not kidding, you know.”

“Neither am
I.” He pushed off the machine with the foot he had moved and walked
over to a chair. He slid it out from the table, spun it around and
sat on it backwards, facing me with his arms crossed on the back
rest.

He’s
fucking serious.
I stopped my strides and glared at him.
“Bryce!”

“Don’t bother.
I’m not moving. You won’t listen to me and stop exercising on your
own, so I will make sure you are not on your own. I’m not going
anywhere.”

“You are
fucking unreal.” I started striding again, trying my damned hardest
to ignore him. It wasn’t working.

Even though I
was no longer making eye contact with him, I could feel his stare
bore into the depths of my body. It was arousing my sexual reaction
to his scrutinization and my heart pounded in response.
Well,
you are exercising, Alexis. That could explain the increase in
heart rate.
My nipples twinged, tickling and firming as I
moved.
No, it’s Bryce’s stare, definitely Bryce’s stare.

A bead of
sweat trickled down my forehead, so I grabbed my towel which I’d
draped over the handle of the machine and wiped my brow while
catching a glimpse of Bryce who was smirking at me. “Are you
enjoying yourself, you overprotective arse?”

He laughed.
“Yes. I’m especially enjoying the view. You are fucking hot when
you sweat. Although, I like to be the one who makes you sweat.”

I squinted my
eyes at him. “Yeah, well best you enjoy watching me sweat. Because
it’s the only way I’m going to sweat for you if you insist on being
a domineering dick.”

He laughed
again. “Sorry, did you say I have a domineering dick?”

“No.”

“Yes, you
did.”

“No, I didn’t
I—”

“My dick likes
domineering your mouth and your—”

“Your dick
will be domineering nothing if you keep this shit up.”

He chuckled.
“You’re sweating again, Hunny.”

You
infuriating sexy son of a bitch.
I slowed to a stop, wiped my
brow and stepped down from the machine. Bryce watched me intently
as I walked over to the exercise bike. He swivelled his chair
around so that he could continue to face and taunt me.

I dropped my
head back in surrender and groaned.

“I love it
when you groan. Do that again.”

I lifted my
head. “No. Piss off.”

He laughed and
rested his chin on his folded arms. “You’re sexy when you’re
angry.”

“Bryce Edward
Clark!”

“Fuck, I love
it when you say my name in full.”

He had an
amused cocky grin on his face. I rolled my eyes and groaned
again.

“Ah, that
groan, Alexis. It’s like you are fucking me from a distance.”

I dropped my
head to my arms which were crossed over the bike’s display monitor,
smiling behind the screen as I pedalled harder and faster out of
frustration. Frustration over him taunting me, but more so because
I was enjoying it and really wanted to go over and bite that
naughty mouth of his.

“Alexis, slow
down.” His voice was no longer playful. I ignored him and pedalled
harder.
Who’s got the domineering dick now, ha? Um...clearly not
me! Um...never mind.
“Alexis, I’m serious. Slow down.”

I raised my
head and looked at him. “No.”

He stood up
quickly, pushing the chair away and walked over to the bike.
“Alexis!”

“Bryce!” I
mimicked.

He switched
the power off, forcing the bike to lose momentum.

I gripped the
padded handles, squeezing them tight and screamed my irritation at
him. “Who do you think you are? You can’t boss me round like that.”
I stepped off the bike and poked him in the chest. “Back off, I
mean it.”

“Fuck, you
drive me wild.” He bent down and wrapped his arms around the base
of my arse, gently hauling me up and over his shoulder. Then he
turned to walk back inside.

I slapped at
his arse. “Put me down.”

“I will when
we get to the bedroom.”

“No. Forget
it, you bloody control freak! I’m not fucking you.”

“Yes, you
are.” He practically bound up the stairs, not showing any signs of
strain; my weight appearing to be not much heavier to him than a
feather.

“No. I’m not.”
Yes I am. Who am I kidding?

“Well, I’m
fucking you. You can just lie there and enjoy it.” He walked into
our room and gently placed me onto the bed. I went to get up, but
he grabbed me and held me down, pressing both arms firmly into the
mattress. He climbed over me so that he was straddling my hips, but
I noticed he was bearing his own weight so that he did not crush me
or the baby.

“Get off,” I
half-arsedly hissed.

“Do you really
want me to get off?” he asked seductively, then leaned forward and
dragged his tongue from my collar bone to just below my ear.

The warm wet
lubricated slide of his tongue made me shudder. “Yes,” I whispered,
blatantly lying.

He trailed
kisses from one side of my neck to my jaw, then across to the other
side of my neck, barely skimming my mouth. “Are you sure?” he
breathed again. “You can have a workout with me, now. I’ll make you
sweat like never before.” He trailed some more kisses across my
neck and back down to my collar bone, dipping further so that his
lips were pressing into the top of my cleavage. “Are you really
sure you want me to get off?” He dipped his tongue in between my
breasts. I moaned in response, letting him know that he’d won, and
that I wanted nothing more than for him to continue.

“I didn’t
think so, Hunny.”

***

After giving
in to Bryce and taking my frustration out on him in the bedroom, I
pouted for the rest of the afternoon, glaring at him every so
often. I found myself to be slightly bored and not having much to
do. It was a Sunday, my children were away, and I no longer had to
worry about housework. I never really minded doing my housework. I
used to get some sort of self-pride cleaning my house and my
things, it made me feel appreciative of what I had. Don’t get me
wrong, I didn’t
love
housework, and I was more
than happy with the fact that I didn’t have to do it any longer. I
just sort of felt a little useless now.