How to Fall in Love (56 page)

“It’s your turn,” Reign says, approaching me.

I stare at him. “Are you going to show me how to hold it?” I say innocently, batting my eyelashes.

He steps forward, leaning down close. He growls into my ear, “You’re being bratty. Quit it.”

“Or what?” I snap, taking the long stick
thing
out of his hand.

I walk out, whack the ball and spin around, handing it back to him.

“What the fuck was that?”

“I was hitting the ball.”

“No, you were acting like a brat.”

“Quit calling me a brat,” I mutter.

I am handed another beer, and I take it gratefully.

Reign takes my arm. “I brought you here because you’re supposed to act professionally and give me a good name. Not act like a spoiled child because you don’t like what I’m doing.”

“What you’re doing,” I snap. “Is falling at that woman’s feet. You’re not even trying to see the real side to her.”

“Since fucking when did my business become yours? I never asked you to delve your nose into my shit when I hired you. Why the fuck do you keep bringin’ it up?”

“No, and you certainly didn’t say you were going to fuck me either.”

He growls, low and deep. “Last chance, pull your shit together, or leave. I don’t need you here acting like a damned child.”

I swallow, hurt. It’s asshole Reign again. The one that always comes out when that bitch is around.

“You know what,” I say, stepping forward with a scornful expression, “I think I’ll go.”

Then I do something I know I’ll regret later. I tilt my beer and pour it down his shirt. That’ll teach him for being a prick.

I turn and walk off, but not before I hear him hiss my name in warning. Yep, I’ll probably lose my job, but I don’t care. In fact, I’m done caring. If he wants Slutena, and insists on turning into this jerk when she’s around, then he can have her and everything she entails. I’m done.

~*~*~*~

I
don’t go back to my room. Instead I spend the afternoon walking around the grounds, exploring. I end up sitting at the beach, toes curling in the soft sand. It’s calmed me, and I realize that maybe I was being a bitch to Slutena. It can’t be helped, though, the woman is pathetic. I wish I understood what he saw in her, I truly do.

My phone rings in my pocket. It’s been ringing for hours. Sighing and knowing I can’t escape Reign forever, I pick it up and answer. I don’t get a word in before he barks at me. “What the fuck kind of game do you think you’re playing at? If you can’t handle being here, then go the fuck home. You’re making a fool of me when all I needed you to do was act your age and do the right thing. You wonder why the fuck I keep goin’ back to her? You wonder why I don’t come to you? This is why. You’re childish. At least she knows how to act correctly and with manners. Grow up, before you have no job to come back to.”

I end the call before he can finish, because I have stopped breathing. A sob rises up in my throat over his words. My fingers tremble as I shove my phone back into my pocket. My heart throbs; it literally pounds in my chest as I push to my feet. I’ve no doubt I deserved that, but I never expected it to hurt the way it did. With shaky legs, I make my way back to my room, not sure what to do next.

Just as I reach my door, the elevator pings open and Reign and Slutena appear. He’s got his hand around her waist and she’s holding onto his arm, laughing. When both of them see me, they stop. Her nose rises slightly, and I’m sure he’s told her just what a pathetic waste of time I am. I meet his eyes for a second, and his angry glare seems to soften just slightly at my tear-streaked face.

I unlock my door and step in, closing it loudly behind me before locking it.

My heart . . . it hurts.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

I go over all the reasons I should pack my bags and leave, but it all keeps coming back to the fact that I need this job. I didn’t tell Reign, but the other accounting firm I was working for decided they no longer needed me (I only got the call yesterday), which is fine because I took on all Reign’s work. However, now I’m likely to lose my job because of my big mouth and my stupid, needy heart.

I know to keep my job, but most of all, to keep my friendship with Reign, that I have to put my dress on and attend that dinner tonight. I have to smile, and be polite, and mingle, and make up for earlier. I don’t know how I’m going to do it, because I know he really doesn’t want me there; he made that very clear.

But I have to.

I spend the next two hours getting myself ready. I curl my hair softly, letting it fall in loose waves around my shoulders and down my back. I’ve put on a light layer of make-up, giving me a natural yet elegant look. The dress Reign got for me is all his taste—like he stared at it and just knew it would work. It’s long, sleek and black. It’s got tiny sequins all over it. The front dips low, exposing a good amount of cleavage, and the back drops right down to my hips.

I fight back my emotion as I pull out the gorgeous diamond necklace tucked in my shoebox. I pull it out and clip it on, swallowing as I get a final look at myself in the mirror. The dress hugs me in all the right places, making me long, lean and yet curvy. The black strappy heels give me that extra height I need. My hair looks stunning, falling around my shoulders. I just need to take a few calming breaths to get myself together.

When I’m ready, I take one last deep breath. I can do this—it’s only me holding myself back. I need to go and show Reign that I’m not a bitchy little child, but instead a woman who can behave exactly how she is supposed to, exactly how he
wants
me to. I clutch my purse to my side and step out of the room. As luck would have it, Reign and Selena are stepping out, too.

The moment he sees me, his face scrunches in shock, and then I see that breathtaking look a man gives a woman that just enters a ballroom wearing something stunning. The look you only see in movies. His eyes widen and his gaze travels down the length of my body, his lips parting slightly. He stares at me for what seems like hours before turning to look at Selena again.

Then his mask of anger is back, and my moment is gone.

He takes her arm and walks her to the elevator. I hurry along behind him and slip into the elevator before it closes. He doesn’t even try to stop it. The tension in that small space is so intense that my chest feels as though I’ve got a large brick sitting on it. I keep my eyes to the floor, not knowing if I should speak or just stay silent.

“Why are you coming?” Reign finally says.

I don’t move my gaze from the floor.

“Are you hearin’ me, Tia?”

I lift my eyes, meeting his. “I’m coming because it’s my job.”

The elevator
ding
s and I step out, not giving him the chance to answer. The grand ballroom in the resort is filled with mingling people. I don’t know where to go; I don’t know who to speak to. Reign and Selena brush past me as if I don’t exist. I know he’s angry, but I’m trying, I’m trying to make it better. A man like Reign won’t accept just an apology. This is the best I can offer him.

The young man that was on the golf course earlier with us comes over, smiling at me as he places a kiss on my cheek. “Tiani, you look lovely.”

I immediately warm to him, simply because he’s easing the awkward tension I’m feeling in the room tonight. “It’s nice to see you again, ah, I didn’t catch your name earlier?”

“Josh,” he offers.

“It’s nice to meet you officially, Josh.”

Josh is nice looking. He’s not gorgeous, but he’s certainly not lacking. He’s tall, with a lean frame and messy brown hair that falls over his forehead. His eyes are a light blue and they match his pale skin perfectly.

“Would you like to dance?”

I let my eyes scan the room, and I see Reign glaring at me. Straightening my back, I turn back to Josh. “I’d love too.”

He takes my hand and leads me out onto the dance floor. We fall into a basic waltz, moving around the space with other dancers. I find myself smiling, grateful to Josh in this moment. We continue around the dance floor and I find myself loosening up, right up until the moment Reign pulls Selena out. Then his arms are around her and her head is buried into his shoulder and I just can’t take it.

I’m trying, trying to be everything he needs me to be, but I can’t.

I love him. I hate that I fucking love him, because it’s only going to end in disaster.

“I’m just going to the bathroom,” I whisper, smiling up at Josh. “Excuse me?”

He returns my smile. “Thank you for the dance.”

I quickly nod, pulling away from him and rushing off the dance floor before anyone sees how devastated I am. I rush out of the ballroom and down a few halls until I find a private room. I test the door handle and gasp with relief when it opens. I step inside, hesitant, hoping it’s empty.

It is.

I close the door behind me and walk over to the window, pressing my palms against it and leaning my forehead on the glass.
Calm down, take a breath. You can do this. Just go back out with a smile, keep your cool, and then go back to the room. There’s no need for it to get to you like this.

“I’m so fucking angry at you.”

I spin around at the sound of Reign’s voice, and I see him standing at the door, his back pressed against it, arms crossed over his chest.

“What do you want, Reign?” I whisper. “You’ve said what you needed to say.”

He pushes off the door, his eyes wild and lusty. He stops in front of me, reaching his finger out to run down my cleavage. I shiver.

“I’m so fucking angry, but seeing you in this dress,
my
fucking body pressed against another man . . . I don’t like it. No, that’s not enough. I fucking
hate
it.”

For some reason, this comment makes my blood boil. I came down here; trying to be everything he needed only for him to shove it back in my face. I’m trying to be the better person, trying to show him that I was wrong and now he’s making out like all he wants to do is fuck me. Like I’m nothing more than a whore.

“You know what,” I breathe. “Fuck you.”

He takes a step back, his eyes wide. “I beg your pardon?”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me, Reign. I said fuck you. I came down here, trying to make up for what I did, but you know what...I take it back. You deserved everything you got. You’re a selfish, self centered, pig.”

He glares at me. “You can talk.”

“I try,” I scream. “But you can’t see it. Your head is so far up your ass you can’t see what I’m trying to do for you. I care about you; it’s why I’m like this. Do you think I want to care about you? God knows you don’t deserve me to.”

“You made a fool of me!” he barks.

“Yeah,” I growl, stepping closer. “Well you make a fool of me every damned day you keep chasing that woman.”

“You accepted this job, I didn’t make you. What I did ask of you, though, was for you to behave professionally.”

“Why should I?” I growl. “When you can’t?”

“Fuck, Tia. Is it really your place to be angry at me right now?”

I step closer, shoving his chest. “Abso-fucking-lutley.”

His eyes flash and he steps forward, tangling his fingers into my hair. “You’re in this as much as I am.”

“Fuck you.”

He tangles his hand in my hair. “Keep speakin’ to me like that and I’ll fucking put you over my knee and spank you until my hand burns. You make me so wild, so fucking angry but . . .” His eyes drop to my breasts. “I can’t stop wanting you.”

“That’s all I am to you, right,” I growl. “A whore. A good time?”

“No, you’re far,
far
more than that.”

Then he crushes his lips down over mine, causing my breath to get stuck in my throat. I whimper and my entire body goes weak as his hand slides around my back, bringing me closer to him. His kiss is desperate, rough and a little angry. It’s full of passion and confusion, and it’s all consuming.

He doesn’t waste time; there is no going slowly tonight. His hand goes down and he takes hold of my dress, sliding it up. He bunches it around my waist with one hand while the other fumbles with his pants. He frees his cock and then reaches down, his lips on my neck, and jerks my panties aside. Well, if you could call them panties. They’re more a scrap of material.

He presses me against the window, using it to hold most of my weight while he lifts my leg and wraps it around his hip, my heel digging into his ass. He groans at the feeling. “Fuck, those heels, baby,” he murmurs. “Make it hurt.”

With pleasure.

He takes his cock, pressing it against my entrance and then he’s inside me, deep and hard. He doesn’t give me fast thrusts; instead he grinds against me, only pulling his cock out just slightly. His hips rotate as he fucks me slowly against the window, rubbing over the sensitive bundle of nerves inside me, the material on his pants rubbing against my exposed clit.

I press my heels into his thigh, using him to tilt my body up so he can fuck me deeper, slower. He tangles his fingers into my hair, tilting my head back and staring down at me, keeping his eyes pinned to mine as he takes all of me. God, the deep yet slow thrusting is bringing me to heights I’ve never known.

“Yes,” I mewl as I reach the edge and hang just slightly over, not quite getting to where I need to go because I’m too greedy to let myself find that release.

“Your cunt is so tight on my dick,” he growls into my ear. “Like a snug little glove. Let go for me, baby. I need to feel you pulse around me.”

He cups my ass with his hand, squeezing it as he picks up his pace, fucking me harder and harder until I’m screaming his name. Then I come, and when I do, it’s explosive. For a moment I see nothing but stars. I hear nothing but the sounds of my own screams. I feel nothing but him. When he loses control I feel his cock explode, reminding me just how much it loves my body.

“Baby,” he grunts into my ear. “Fuck.”

It takes us a long time to come down after that, but eventually Reign pulls out, shoving his cock into his pants and straightening himself up. I pull my panties back over and let my dress drop, knowing full well I’ll need to go and clean myself up before I can join everyone again.