Playing His Game (The Reynolds Brothers) (16 page)

I needed to warn
Leslie, but unfortunately, she'd already had the music going as she straddled
the man of the night in his chair and started listing off the rules. I knew I
needed to think of some way to get out of this, but I couldn't think of
anything that wouldn't risk Leslie losing her job, so I pulled through and did
what I had to do. And it completely sucked.

The men obviously
knew me and thought the same rules from last time applied. They were sadly
mistaken. We let them get a little PG-13 action in, but when Marcus tried to
slip his hand between my thighs I let him know it wasn't going to happen and I
gave him a naked lap dance instead. The party went until four in the morning
and the tears that I had been masking throughout the whole night threatened to
make an appearance at the end. It was when the groom came up behind me, wrapped
his arms around my chest until he was groping my bare tits, and whispered in my
ear, "Do I get the same treatment you gave Marcus last time?"

I felt lower than
low. I'd never been treated so shitty before in my life. The men who come to
these clubs and book these parties still somehow are able to show us a little
respect, but it was clear that I had ruined that with this group of men the last
time I saw them. I acted like a coked out whore, so that's what they thought
they could treat me like. 

Our bouncer, Hank,
saved me. Apparently, all night ended at four in the morning in their agreement
with Rick so the party was over. They tried to get Leslie and me to hang out
and go back to the hotel with them, but we both refused. That’s when we were
called fucking bitches, and Hank and two other bouncers not so nicely escorted
them off the premises. I was able to dress quickly and I marched right up to
Rick's office, got my cut for the night and quit.

It was a spur of
the moment decision, but one I know I will not regret. The long, hot shower I
took when I got home did nothing to make me feel remotely better but I knew
what would. Scott. Scott made everything better somehow. So that's how I found
myself booking a flight, packing my bags and heading to the airport.

With my phone
still in my hand I unlock the screen and send him a text. With the time
difference and the length of the flight I'll probably arrive at LAX sometime
midmorning.

Me: Get ready. I'm
on my way to see you.

I hit send and
then sit back to watch the passing cars as we finish driving to the airport.
Hopefully, this escape will be just what I need. Autumn's birthday is a few
days away so that'll be a nice distraction, and although I can't stay with
Scott because that would raise too many red flags, I plan on spending as much
time with him as possible. Maybe California will be just as good of a new start
for me as it was for Autumn.

Chapter Thirteen

July

"Why don't
you just go out there and have some fun. I'm not getting the hang of this
anyway," I mumble as I lie my surfboard down on the sand and sit beside
it. The surfboard was a gift from Scott when I first moved out here two months
ago. He's taken me out surfing a few times but the minute I get up on the
board, I'm falling back into the water.

"No, Winn.
This is about teaching you. Besides, the lineup's too long out there for the
waves I want to surf."

I look out into
the ocean and see a group of people just chilling on their boards, waiting for
their turn to surf. Sure, they could move apart and be able to surf themselves,
but there's camaraderie out there on the waves. Whether they know each other or
not, they're out there to be supportive.

"Why don't
you just surf over where you were teaching me?"

He looks over at
me condescendingly and grins. "What? With those ankle busters? I need real
waves, beauty."

I roll my eyes at
him and lie down on the sand. It's these early morning hours with him that I
enjoy the most. Usually I'm just a spectator and I get to watch him in action
on the water while I sip my morning coffee on the sand. He's glorious to watch,
but on a few rare occasions, like this morning, he's gotten me to get out there
with him. And I fail epically.

He unzips and
peels his wetsuit off his shoulders and down to his waist, revealing the
chiseled chest that I love so much. Although it's July, most surfers still wear
their wetsuits in the water. I couldn't figure out why until I stepped into the
ocean in my bikini to go for a swim. The Pacific Ocean is cold!

Scott sits behind
me, opening his legs and pulling me between them so he can hold me from behind.

"I love
mornings like this with you, babe. It's bliss and puts me in a great mood for
the rest of the day."

I lean back into
him so my head is resting on his upper chest, right under his chin. "The
market's still dry, huh? It'll happen, baby. Just be patient."

"I've been
patient, but I can't handle much more of this. I feel like all the good ones
are gone before I even get a chance to talk to the seller. The only buyers who
are reaching out to me want something smaller out in the suburbs. Oh, and
they're usually not in a hurry."

I turn around in
his arms to look up into his beautiful gray eyes. He looks worried but it's
more than worry I see on his face. I've noticed a change in his physical
appearance the last several months. He now has dark bags under his eyes, the
crow’s feet that were non-existent before are now prominent on his face, and
he's lost that fire behind his eyes. It comes back in moments when we're being
intimate, but it's no longer there at any other time.

It used to always
be there.

I push him down
into the sand and climb on top of him, straddling his hips before leaning down
until I'm hovering over him, keeping eye contact the entire time.

"Why don't I
play hooky today from Autumn and we spend the day together?" I ask,
wiggling my eyebrows. "I know just what you need to make you feel
better."

He uses those amazing
abs of us to lift himself up and kisses me briskly on the lips. "Wish I
could, Winn, but I've got plans."

"But you just
said that work is pretty much non-existent at the moment," I say, pouting
and sticking out my lower lip.

His expression
changes and he kisses me more passionately this time, before squeezing me
tightly and lifting us both up and out of the sand. I wrap my legs around him
so I don't fall, and then he gently puts me down so we're standing beside each
other.

"I'm not
going to work. I've got this thing with some buddies of mine. I'll be back
sometime tonight."

"What kind of
thing?" I ask.

He goes out almost
every day of the week but he never tells me where, and when he returns he's
usually in a foul mood. There are instances when I think he had a nice time,
but it's rare. If he's really out with his friends then he needs to get new
ones. No one should be that down after a day with their buddies.

"Just some
things. God, Winnie. Sometimes you're all up in my business and I don’t like
it. You're not my girlfriend, so stop acting like you are," he shouts at
me, losing his temper.

I'm quiet for a
moment, hurt by what he just said. I never meant to act like a clingy
girlfriend. I know we aren’t in a relationship, but the way my feelings have
developed for him over the past year is hard to ignore.

I love him.

I realized it the
moment I stepped off the plane two months ago. The excitement I felt internally
about seeing him was nothing I've ever felt before. I wanted to spend every
moment with him, be the one he chose in the end, but I thought I did a good job
at hiding all of that. His words are making me realize that maybe I haven't.

"I'm sorry.
I'll just leave you alone."

I move to walk up
the beach so I can quickly change inside his house and drive over to Autumn and
Jared's place, but Scott catches me first, slouching down to look me in the
eyes.

"I'm sorry,
Winn. I just have a lot going on and I shouldn’t have snapped at you. Why don't
I take you to dinner tonight to make it up to you."

"Why should
you take me to dinner. It's not like I'm your girlfriend or anything." My
words come out harsh, but I'm still upset at how he snapped at me.

"Don't do
that. I care about you, more than you'll ever know, but we can’t be in a
relationship, Winn. It would be too weird."

I close my eyes
and keep them shut, waiting for the tears that want to fall to subside and then
I reopen them.

He shifts slightly
and then reaches down in the sand, pulling out a seashell the size of a dime.

"Hey,"
he whispers softly, lifting the shell up to my face. "This one may be
small and generic looking, but it shimmers almost like a pearl. You don't have
any small shells like this. You should put it in your collection."

He gently reaches
for my hand and then places the shell in my palm before closing my fingers
around it. "Can we please go to dinner tonight? I'll even let it be that
expensive seafood place you like so much."

"We'll see.
Autumn's showing me how to work the new business software on the computer and
I'm not so great with technology. It might be a long night. I'll text you
later."

He continues to
stare at me before leaning in and kissing the top of my head. Without another
word, he races up the sand and into his beach house, but I stay firmly planted
in the sand.

I look out at the
ocean. The dark blue water seems to go on forever and I like to drift off and
think about the people out on that water. What are they doing? Where are they
going? But you learn at an early age that the water doesn't go on forever. That
if you were to go out into the Pacific, eventually you'll reach Asia or
Australia, or even something closer like Hawaii. It's still crazy to think
about. The child in me wants it to go on forever. Fear of the unknown doesn't
terrify a child like it does an adult. The adult in me likes the security it
brings me, knowing that it'll bring you to some other land. That you won't be
lost forever.

I wish I had that
security with Scott.

★★★

An hour later I'm
at the Calabasas home that my sister and her husband share and we're in Jared's
office. When I came out here two months ago I decided very quickly that it
wouldn't be a short trip. I wanted to try living in California. I had nothing
holding me back at home. College was never my thing and I'd just lost my job.
Sure, I could still be working at my parents’ boat shop, but that wasn't a job
I wanted to work.

The nice thing
about the Los Angeles area is it's easy to find a dancing job and some of the
places are a lot nicer than the club I worked at in Michigan. I'd stumbled across
a burlesque job in the paper at a five star club that a lot of celebrities were
known to frequent. When I told Autumn about it she voiced her concern and made
Jared add me to his payroll to work on the business side of things for him. She
didn't want me dancing anymore.

Working for
Jared's been nice. I've basically taken over a lot of Autumn's old
responsibilities, which has me wondering what the hell she does all day, but
I'd never say that out loud. I'm grateful for the job and I don't want her to
have any reason to fire me.

"You'll input
all of the daily expenses for the talent here. Almost everything is tax
deductible, so when in doubt, input it anyway. Our accountant will weed out
anything that's not tax deductible."

She points to the
next column and continues talking, shifting her fingers from column to column
on the computer screen. Honestly, it's all a blur. Numbers have never been my
thing.

"Then you'll
total everything down here, double check your math, and save the file. Make
sure to send a copy to the accountant too. His email address is saved in the
contact information."

I just nod my
head, trying to make it look like I understand everything she is trying to
explain to me. "So you can write off things like lube, sex toys, beds,
costumes, and even the STD tests?" I ask her.

"Yep. All of
those things are needed in this business, therefore we can write them
off."

"Wow," I
reply. It's amazing the things you learn while working for a producer and
ex-porn star.

After printing out
the report, Autumn closes the files on the computer and hands me an accordion
file with all the daily receipts inside. "I already imported these
receipts so now they just need to be put somewhere safe. Follow me."

We walk down the
long hallway to their master bedroom. Once we get to the walk-in closet I
notice a door on the other end. Autumn turns a key and walks through the small
door.

"Come on,
Winnie. I don’t have all day."

I walk through the
door and it's a large crawl space. It's almost like what you'd see in a home in
the Midwest. There are big containers lined against one side of the space and
each one has a piece of paper with a month written on it. We walk over to the
July bin and Autumn places the accordion folder inside.

"We file them
here and at the end of the year we move it all to storage. We're required to
keep the receipts for a certain number of years, just in case."

We walk back out
of the crawl space and through the closet. When we get back into the master
bedroom Autumn plops down on the bed.

"I'm so tired
today. Maybe I can finish teaching you tomorrow?" Autumn lies flat on the
bed and pats her hand on the open space next to her. "Come lay with
me."

I lie down beside
her and stare up at the white ceiling. We used to do things like this all the
time when we were kids. We're both fans of silence.

"Can I tell
you something?" Okay, maybe we aren’t being silent. I turn my head and
look at her. Her long blond hair is fanned out against the comforter and her
eyes are closed with her hands resting on her stomach.