Indigo Nights: A Sexy, Contemporary Romance (14 page)

But she hadn’t come back—I’d never seen her again, never heard from her until today. “She married the guy.”

The wedding had taken place four months after we’d split. I’d gotten very drunk that day, and Raf had had to physically restrain me to stop me from crashing the ceremony. But not because I loved her by that point, but because I wanted to warn the groom.

I’d realized when she left me that she’d never been the woman I’d thought she was. I’d felt manipulated and lied to and I vowed it would never happen again.

Beth dropped a kiss on my stomach. “She’s an idiot.”

I cupped her face, stroking my thumb over the beauty spot on her cheekbone. When she said it, I could almost believe it.

“When do you go back to London?” Would we have some time together?

“Tomorrow.”

My gut twisted. “Tomorrow?” I’d hoped we’d have longer. She was like a breath of fresh air sweeping through my tired routines. She was low maintenance, funny, beautiful—the sex was, well, the best I’d ever had. But more than that, she was real.

“When are you back?” I knew tonight wouldn’t be enough. I wanted more of her.

“You wanna make this a three-night stand?”

I scanned her face as I tried to read her. Did she want to do this again? “Yeah I wanna make this a three-night stand. Do I have to convince you?” I flipped her to her back and held myself over her. I ran my teeth along her shoulder.

Her cheeks flushed. “I might consider it.”

“Consider?” I reached for her pussy and ran my knuckle over her clit.

She pushed against my hand. “Well if you’re going to play dirty, I guess I concede.”

“My sweet, I’ll play as dirty as you’ll let me.”

It was the easiest and most satisfying negotiation I’d ever had.

Beth

I rang Jake and Haven’s doorbell. The lemon meringue pie wasn’t the best I’d ever made, not even close. But I’d promised I’d take one to our family dinner, so despite my jetlag and the memories of world-shifting sex, I’d put the ingredients together and come up with something that could vaguely pass for the pudding I’d promised.

“It’s like a zoo in here,” Haven said as she answered the door. “Enter at your own risk.” She bent and kissed me on the cheek.

I stepped through the threshold to the sound of children screaming. “Jake’s probably beating Sophia again.”

I wasn’t sure child abuse was something you should joke about, but as I was the only one without a kid, it wasn’t up to me to set the standard.

Their huge Victorian villa was beautiful from the waist up. Below that, it had been hit by a baby hurricane. Underneath the buggies and blankets, the toys and bottles, I was sure the place was lovely. All I could see was chaos.

“Right, guys. You’re in charge. We’re going out to the garden.” Haven pulled me through the kitchen as I managed to wave at my brother and Luke.

“The garden?” I asked. It was February—what the hell?

“We have patio heaters and blankets. It’s the only place in the whole house that I can’t hear the screaming,” Haven said.

Ash followed, bringing a tray of drinks. “We can’t be interrupted. We want to know
everything
.”

My stomach clenched. It’d been years since I’d had anything to talk about.

“There’s nothing to tell; I’m waiting to hear from the studio.” Thoughts of my screen test had faded, replaced by an ache between my legs that Dylan had created and only he could cure. He and I hadn’t had much sleep on Thursday, and he’d left for work early on Friday morning.

“Yes, yes. We’ll get to the baking thing, but I want to hear about the sex first.” Haven poured me a tall glass of something that had cucumber and strawberries in it while Ash opened a bottle of wine and filled two glasses.

I wrapped a blanket around my shoulders. “It was a nice coincidence running into him again.” My cheeks heated. It wasn’t that I was embarrassed about having sex, more that I didn’t want to share it. Even though it was casual, it was beginning to feel like more than that.

“Was it as good as you remembered?”

I nodded and my heart began to thump.
Good
didn’t come close. I’d collapsed on the plane and slept most of the way, waking to memories of Dylan’s breath skirting over my skin, his fingertips over my hips.

“Are you going to see him again?” Ash asked.

I sighed. “He suggested next time I’m in town I should give him a call. Honestly, I’m not so sure it’s such a good idea.” I wasn’t convinced I’d say no either. How could I pass up another night with Dylan? Still, that didn’t mean it was the right thing to do.

“Why on earth not?” Haven raised her drink and we all clinked our glasses together.

I took a sip. “Because he’s gorgeous, rich and powerful,
and
I think his penis might have magic powers.” I felt as if I’d escaped, as if I’d woken up at precisely the right moment in the dream. Any more time with him was inviting danger and complications.

“Again with the
why on earth not
?” Haven said.

“I’m not sure I’m strong enough,” I replied without thinking about my answer.

“Strong enough for what?”

“To hold him at arm’s length. I mean, if I never see him again I’ll have good memories. Why risk more? At the moment I’m not torturing myself wondering who he’s sleeping with or questioning what he’s saying. It’s even between us. We both got what we wanted from each other. We should quit while we’re ahead.”

Haven stared at me. “You know, he’s not Romano,” she said finally.

Just hearing his name turned my insides black. My relationship with Louis Romano had begun just after my mother died—and had been the last relationship I’d had. My drinking had spiraled out of control when I’d gotten pregnant and he’d ended our relationship, stuffing some cash into my hands and telling me to get an abortion.

I’d had a miscarriage two days later.

The loss had threatened to engulf me. I’d held it at bay by alcohol. It’d worked—the booze dulled the pain and allowed me to sleep, to forget about my mother, my baby and the boyfriend who’d never loved me. It was so effective that I’d started to drink earlier and earlier in the day until every hour that I wasn’t hazy with liquor seemed unnecessary.

“I don’t want to talk about Romano.” He was the symbol of a thousand bad decisions. I’d thought he was my salvation, and he’d ended being my destruction. It wasn’t something I wanted to remember. He was the reason it had been easy to stay single for so long, the reason that dating was terrifying and seeing Dylan again felt dangerous.

A look passed between Haven and Ash. Questioning it would have meant talking about Romano, so I stayed quiet.

“I might call Dylan when I’m next in town,” I said to bat the conversation away from bad boyfriends back to world-shaking sex.

“He might heal you.” Ash looked concerned.

I just nodded. “He might.”

“Your brother did that for me,” Haven said, her tone serious. “Sometimes you just have to let them in, just a tiny bit.”

“He’s not suggesting we date. He’s suggesting we fuck when I’m in town.”

“So have fun. If you’re not in the same city, he’s not going to be able to hurt you. Assume he’s dating other people and don’t expect anything but his cock and an orgasm.”

I laughed. It would never just be one orgasm. We were up to eleven. He made me count every one. “When you put it like that . . .” I wasn’t convinced I could be so unemotional about it. I could feel myself being pulled toward him already. I wasn’t the kind of girl who did just physical very easily.

“She shouldn’t put her sobriety on the line, Haven,” Ash said.

“I’m not saying she should, but having some fun doesn’t mean she’s going to start drinking again,” Haven replied.

It wasn’t so much my sobriety that I was worried about. It was more that I didn’t trust myself, or my instincts, my judge of character. Dylan seemed like a good guy, but how would I know?

“I think she should do what she wants. You’ll know if it’s a good time to push yourself.” Ash smiled at me.

“Sometimes you need to feel the fear and do it anyway,” Haven said. “The things that are the most frightening tend to reap the biggest rewards.”

They turned to me and I smiled. It was like seeing both sides of my brain battling it out in front of me. “So, the filming went well,” I said in a not-so-subtle change of subject.

Ash topped up Haven’s wine. “And when do you hear what’s next?”

I dragged my seat slightly to the left; the heater was a little too hot. “This week, I think.”

“Did you talk about whether or not you’d have to fly to Chicago every week?” Ash asked.

“A little. I said that I didn’t want to do that, but I’d be happy to travel every few weeks.”

Haven raised her eyebrows. “Dylan James is going to fall in love with you by the time you’re done with him.”

I rolled my eyes. “I can tell you that that is definitely not going to happen. The guy bangs supermodels and actresses.”

“So did your brother,” Haven said.

My phone vibrated on the table, so I avoided having to give a response as I checked the screen.

Dylan: Did you hear yet?

Beth: You are very kind to take an interest, but funnily enough, they haven’t been in touch on a Sunday.

Dylan: It’s my cock taking an interest. I want to fuck you against the shower wall. Right now.

I shivered.

Beth: I’m at dinner, surrounded by kids. You can’t talk to me about your cock.

Dylan: I want to slide into you, filling you until you can barely breathe.

Jesus. I tried to keep my breath steady. I glanced up at Haven and Ash, but they were taking no notice of me. I peeled the blanket away; I was plenty warm enough.

Beth: Stop.

Dylan: You’re going to be begging me not to when I twist my fingers around your clit.

Beth: I have to go.

I shut down my phone, knowing I couldn’t ignore his messages if they were sitting there waiting to be read. I didn’t need to be thinking about what Dylan’s body could do to me while I was with my family.

“You okay?” Ash asked.

“Yeah. I thought it might be the studio. It wasn’t.”

“On a Sunday?” Haven asked.

“Yeah, I know. I don’t know what I was thinking.” I wrapped my blanket around myself, trying to hide my flushed skin and tight nipples.

Dylan James was relentless. But I liked it, was drawn to him.

He made it all so simple. So basic. He wanted to see me again because he wanted me naked. But when we were together, it seemed like more than that. And it was the
more
I was afraid of.

Haven took my hand. “If I hadn’t taken a chance on Jake, I would never be where I am now. You were a girl when you met Romano. You needed someone. Now you’re a woman. A strong, independent woman. You’re not the same person. History isn’t going to repeat itself. Take a chance.”

Still gripping the phone in my hand, I relaxed back into my chair. She was right. I wasn’t the same person. And Dylan wasn’t Romano.

Just a taste more of him wouldn’t hurt, would it?

Dylan

I looked out on the Chicago cityscape, then back to the president of Raine Media. “Tell me why we shouldn’t sell you or shut you down. I don’t see
any
plan to get your numbers back on track, let alone a viable one.” I’d called Ted to my office to go through his numbers. When I’d taken a closer look at what was going on over there, I’d realized they’d only made small attempts to make any of the changes we’d asked them to. Changes that were essential if Raine Media was going to survive.

“I have to look at what’s best for the company. The changes you asked for aren’t good for my business.”

The ego on this guy was incredible. “You get that this isn’t your company, don’t you? This is
my
business and if I ask you to make a twenty percent reduction in overall costs, then that’s what you do. You don’t nod at me, then ignore me and go back to business as usual.”