Bait: Alpha Billionaire Romance Boxed Set (33 page)

“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” she said, dipping her toes in and out of the water. She took a careful sip from her mug. “I always sensed there was more to your leaving than you just being a typical male asshole satisfied with getting laid.”

“I made a mistake.”

She huffed. “Which part? Sleeping with me or leaving me without as much as a goodbye?”

“First off, I don’t consider sleeping with you a mistake.” I tried to put my arm around her, but she scooted away from me, almost upending her coffee into the blue waters of the swimming pool. “I’ve told you how much I cared for you. Ever since we were kids. However, I broke the Bro Code when I had sex with my best friend’s sister.”

Ashton gave a sarcastic laugh and rolled her eyes. “Who gives a shit about the bro code? Really? We’re talking about a real connection. People’s feelings and futures. You can’t tell me that this is what it’s been about all this time. My brother didn’t even know what we did.”

I squeezed my eyes shut in humiliation. After baby monitor gate, I’d been afraid to have sex without sweeping the bedroom for bugs. “Yes, he did. That’s what started all this. Your brother heard us on the baby monitor.”

Ashton’s pale skin turned rosy everywhere it was exposed and her hand flew up to cover her shocked expression. “Oh my god! What? Are you serious? I’ve never been more mortified.”

“After it was over, when I left to get us a drink … Griffin came after me, screaming that he’d heard us on the baby monitor. I tried to brush it off and pretend it was sex with someone else but he’d heard your voice, Ashton. We had an argument that almost turned into a fistfight. He threw me out of the house by the collar. I didn’t want things to escalate, so I figured I would just drive around until Griffin cooled off. I ran into Caroline on my way out and she asked me for a ride home. Apparently, they hadn’t been getting along and she wanted to leave. My plan was to come back later and tell you what happened. But …”

“You decided to run away from your feelings?” Ashton asked. “Never come back and face the music?”

My voice caught, tears burned the back of my eyes but no way was I going to cry in front of her. “No, I would never run away. I’m not the type of person to run from my problems.”

“Then what happened?”

I hissed out a breath and steeled myself for what I was about to admit. Shame washed over me in waves. “I was arrested.”

“What?” she asked and stilled. “I don’t understand. Arrested for what?”

“While I was driving toward Caroline’s place, the police pulled me over. I was pretty damn sober by then, so I thought it was just a routine traffic stop.” I blew out a breath. “Then they found a few ounces of marijuana in my car on top of my blowing over the legal limit. A felony number of ounces of weed.”

This was harder than I’d ever thought it would be. The censure and fear in her eyes as they swept over me in judgment. I’d done a good job to not relive that night until now. Putting all that mess behind me and moving on felt like the right thing to do at the time. Now I know that wasn’t the best decision. I probably would have benefited from some therapy to work it through.

My arrest had ruined my relationship with Griffon and any possible relationship with Ashton. If I’d known the hurt it was going to cause her, I would’ve made a different choice and owned up to what happened. Nothing was worth losing her respect. However, I still struggled with telling her the reason why Griffin and I never spoke again. I didn’t want her to fault her brother for the things that had happened.

“I knew that you and Griffin toked up sometimes at parties, but why take the chance of having that much in your car? Transporting it?” Ashton asked. “Sorry, but that seems really stupid. And unlike the smart man I know.”

“It wasn’t mine,” I said, softly, looking out on the sun dropping like a giant orange ball below the horizon.

Chapter 7

Ashton

Quinn Andrews had just hit me with a ton of bricks. As surely as if he’d razed a building, piled the debris in a gunnysack, and smacked me upside the head with it. He’d been arrested for felony possession of marijuana as well as OWI? That was just unbelievable. He’d never gotten anything less than an A minus, was captain of the football team, and had never even gotten a parking ticket.

“If it wasn’t your weed, then who left it in your car? Caroline?” I fired the questions at him in an attempt to pry out the truth. I knew he still withheld an important piece of information. The last piece to the puzzle.

“I don’t know. Someone at the party?” he shrugged. “I really have no idea. I know it sounds lame, but the weed wasn’t mine. The cops found it during a search of my car and I was arrested because I didn’t have any proof to the contrary.”

“Why not just tell them it wasn’t yours?”

“Denying that it wasn’t mine was an exercise in futility. It was found in my vehicle in a plastic bag with my fingerprints on it. There weren’t any other identifying characteristics to implicate anyone else.” He said with a shrug. “They didn’t believe anything that I said. So I went to jail. My parents bailed me out and as punishment, I was sent to Florida to live with my grandparents for the summer.”

“You still could’ve said goodbye,” I said, getting to the heart of the matter.

“I know, and I’m so sorry,” He said again, searching her face for any softening of her hard expression. “I was stupid. I should’ve come over and told you how much our night together meant to me. How much you meant. You don’t know how many times I’ve replayed that scenario in my head with a much different outcome. As a man, I’m not proud of how that teenage boy handled his first adult situation.”

I took his hand, threading my fingers with his. It was a start. He’d explained what happened, and apologized for his action. Quinn deserved a second chance. I pictured him scared and alone in a county jail cell. I wanted to mend our broken relationship and see where it would take us. When I went back home for the wedding I would deal with my brother then. Griffin should’ve never have interfered with me and Quinn. How dare he? It was none of his damn business who I liked or who I slept with.

Quinn gently squeezed my fingers with his. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”

“I guess it does…” I mumbled.

“You guess?” he teased.

The last remnants of worry in his voice made me smile. The guy really was committed to mending the tears in our friendship.

“Yes, I forgive you,” I said and ran my fingers up the side of his face to thread into that thick head of silky, dark hair. For long moments, I simply held space and relished being close to him again. Drinking in his essence.

Forgiving Quinn felt as natural as breathing. Since we were kids on the playground, he had always been my kryptonite. Why had I waited so long to confront him? God. I could have been over this and moving on with my life ten years ago had I just had more courage. It was my fault just as much as it was his for procrastinating this long.

Forgiveness was inevitable and I felt silly for never accepting that. All it took was those ice blue eyes staring at me and I was done. Quinn still held my heart in the palm of his hand. When first love is that strong, it’s never forgotten. Never broken.

I was getting hot and flustered.
Pump the brakes
, I chided myself. I had to ask myself the relevant questions before committing to something, even in my own mind. Something Henri had taught me about business decisions, but it applied to all facets of life. Could we sustain a meaningful relationship? This would be a long distance thing, usually doomed to failure just considering logistics. I lived in Atlanta and he lived here in Destin. It was only a five or six hour drive, but that was a haul with the long hours we both put in. I had planned on leaving here tomorrow after the deal was done. Henri wanted me back by his side.

“There is something I want to know,” Quinn said, ripping me from my frantic thoughts.

I leaned back, pulling my feet out of the pool. “What color underwear am I wearing?”

I couldn’t help but laugh when Quinn froze and his jaw hit the floor. I surprised him by putting my hand on his back and pushing him in the pool. At the last moment, he grabbed me as he plunged in. We both ended up in the water, sputtering and flailing.

My breath hitched at the touch of the cool water. Quinn grabbed my waist, and pulled me to his body. He cleared his throat and said, “That’s not what I was going to ask.”

“Well, they’re black and lacy,” I said on a husky breath. “Just like my dress. Just in case you were wondering.”

“I’ll just have to take your word for that.” Quinn propped one hand on the side of the pool and kept his other hand firmly around my waist. “What I wanted to know was if I could ever make things up to you?”

Right now I would do anything he asked. I loved the way I felt in his arms. Safe. Cherished. Even loved. “Why don’t we get out of this cold pool and you show me your place? I trust it’s okay if I drip water all over your floors?”

“I thought you’d never ask.” Quinn hopped out of the pool and then leaned over, grabbing my hands. He helped me out of the water and then lifted me into his arms. I was happy to put ten years of pain behind us. We were both young and stupid back then.

“Do you still care about your little
bro code?
” I whispered in his ear as he carried me inside.

Quinn gave a sarcastic laugh. “Not so much. Especially not when it’s your bro that we’re referring to. I’m not sure he deserves it.”

“Agreed.”

We were grown up. My brother was starting his own family. Whether he cared about me sleeping with Quinn again or not, I didn’t care. As far as I was concerned, Griffin had some explaining to do. He never should’ve attacked Quinn for what had happened.

Once inside, Quinn sat me down on the couch.  “These days, I prefer a more honest, true friendship.”

“Me too.” I shivered from the blast of cool air the AC put out.

“I’m going to shrug out of these wet shorts and into some lounge pants,” he said as he trotted into the bedroom. He re-emerged with grey pajama pants and a fluffy white towel.

Quinn wrapped the towel around me.

I wanted Quinn to take me right now on the floor of this cottage. I wanted to feel him against my chilled yet fevered skin. Drink him in. Every last inch of him. But then, what would happen after? Would we get our second chance at love or simply crash and burn? I didn’t know if I could withstand the devastation twice. The first time, I’d been ignorant to the pain, but now? Now, I understood every last pang and twinge. Like knives peppering my body with a million tiny cuts that tortured but never ended.

Quinn sat down next me, leaned forward and captured my trembling lips. His own pressed softly against mine, and I relished how sweet he tasted.

I shifted on the couch to get more comfortable. I kissed him back harder, loving the way his stubble, scraped against my cheek. The dueling sensations of rough against soft. Our tongues mated as he deepened the kiss, sweeping every crevice of my mouth, even the ones I didn’t know I had. I melted. Leave it to Quinn Andrews to make me feel like that swooning teenage cheerleader again watching her man score the winning touchdown.

Was I sure this was a good idea? Hell no. I wasn’t sure if I still cared. But my body did. And now, we were both consenting adults and it was no one’s business what we did with or to each other.

Quinn pulled back, but continued warming the gooseflesh on my arms with his warm palms. “Let’s go to my room where it’s more comfortable. You’re freezing.”

I stifled another shiver as we made our way to his bedroom, I noticed that Quinn kept a clean house. There weren’t clothes strewn about, no dirty dishes in the sink, or any clutter on the countertops. Either Quinn was a neat freak or he wasn’t home enough to get it dirty. Probably a little of both.

He took care of his grandmother in his free time. It was heart-warming to think about how much he cared for her and the sacrifices he was willing to make on her behalf. Denying himself much of a personal life. When he’d told me about his devotion to his grandmother that had blown through the last of my defenses. The ones that had never really been that strong in the first place.

“Can I use your bathroom?” I asked. I couldn’t help but notice that his bedroom was just as clean as the rest of the cottage. I needed to get out of these wet clothes before I got sick.

Quinn opened the bathroom door. “Take your time.”

I stripped out of the little black dress and hung my wet things on the side of the tub. There was a basket with a stack of rolled towels, so I grabbed one and wrapped it around my shivering body. For a moment, I sat there naked, covered in bumps and tried to work my way through the flood of thoughts that ran through my mind. Why did I hold a grudge for so long? I wasn’t the same person that I had been back in high school. Why did I think Quinn would be? We’d both grown up. Changed. We couldn’t hold on to blame for the mistakes we’d made when we were young and stupid.

I left the bathroom with the towel tied firmly around my body and found Quinn waiting for me. He had changed into a pair of gym shorts. His chest was bare, and I couldn’t keep my eyes off his firm muscles and bulging biceps. Time had been incredibly good to him. Those same broad shoulders were even wider now, the waste more tapered with an eight pack and then my eyes drifted lower.

Without a word, Quinn took my hand and led me to his king size bed. I sank into the buttery soft sheets, scooching toward the headboard. Stretching out, he laid on his side next to me.

He took a piece of my hair and twirled it around his finger. “I always loved your lustrous, curly hair. It’s your best feature.”

I chuckled. “I would’ve thought you were an ass man.”

“Don’t get me wrong. I love your ass too.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine. “I want you, Ashton.”

“I want you, too,” I whispered. “I don’t think I ever stopped.”