Not About Love (This Love Book 2) (14 page)

What?

We exchanged a look, and I nodded. I had no choice but to play along.

I kept the smile on my face and leaned into Boyd’s side, hugging him.

“Well, you sure make a nice couple,” Sabrina said in her syrupy-sweet southern accent.

“Thank you! He makes me very happy,” I said with a smile that was only partly forced. I wasn’t looking, but I was pretty sure Ella and Lou’s eyes were bugging out.

“Oh my God! You’re Lou Rivers!” Shane’s wife said suddenly, covering her cheeks with her hands. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you sooner.”

She showered Lou with compliments, and he thanked her while Shane and I looked at each other awkwardly.

Shane leaned toward me. “What do you do, Ally? Did you stay in DC like you planned to?”
Like I planned to?
Did he mean like
we
planned to? His voice was low, as if he wanted to keep the question between us. I could feel Boyd’s eyes on me.

“No. I don’t live there any more.” I shook my head. Nope, this wasn’t uncomfortable in the slightest. I noticed Shane shifting nervously, waiting for an answer. I let out a breath.

“I live in Amsterdam. I have my own practice. I specialize in drug charges. Basically, I get tourists out of trouble,” I told him with a shrug.

“No way! My little brother—you remember Grant, right? Well, he’s supposed to leave for Amsterdam in a few weeks for a study abroad program.”

“Really? That’s quite the coincidence. Of course I remember Grant. He was a nice kid.” Probably the only person in that family who really liked me. “God, your kid brother is in college. Crazy.”

“I know. He was just a kid when we were dating.”
Dating
—not quite the word I would have used. He gave me a half-smile and I pressed my lips together. His wife was still busy chatting with Lou and Ella while Boyd remained silent at my side. Shane shook his head in disbelief, smiling. “You in Amsterdam…wow, who would have guessed, huh?”

“Yeah, who would have, indeed. What can I say? I got inspired to move to Europe while I was in London, you know…”
Nicely played, Ally
. I batted my eyelashes at him with a sly smile as I implied the blow and watched him grow more uneasy by the second. He lowered his eyes and then caught his wife’s attention; she was talking to Lou about his latest album.
Wow
. She was a true fan; I was impressed. It had taken Ella three days to realize who he was.

“Sabrina,” Shane said. “We have to go pick up the kids at your parents’, remember?”
Of course. Why wouldn’t he have kids?

“You have kids,” I said matter-of-factly.

“We do!” his wife replied. “They are four and two, a boy and a girl.”

“How wonderful,” I added, but I could feel my poker face slipping.

Boyd placed an arm around my shoulder and then shook their hands.

“Shane, Sabrina…it was nice meeting you. Have a Merry Christmas.”

Boyd’s deep voice echoed through me, and I tried my best to keep a straight face. Shane had left me with nothing, not even a shred of explanation, but he had everything. He had taken away all the dreams we had dreamed together, and now, here I was, single with a
pretend
boyfriend. I was a thirty-four-year-old cynical attorney who lived alone in a three-story home. My blood boiled in my veins.

I was angry, at him, and at myself. I had let this joke of a man influence the way I lived my life.

But…was it his fault or mine? Did I want more from life? Did I really want what he had, or was it just a case of the grass is always greener? As Shane and Sabrina said their goodbyes, more fake smiles and more handshakes followed.

When they left, I sat down, dumbfounded.

“Boyfriend, huh?” Ella said to Boyd, eyebrows raised, questioning him.

“Look, I might be wrong, but that guy came off like a jerk. It seemed like the right thing to do,” he growled. He looked at me and I nodded, my eyes communicating the
thank you
that wouldn’t come out of my mouth.

“Or maybe you just wanted to mark your territory,” Ella teased him. My head shot up and I looked at her, eyes wide, surprised by how bold she was being with him. I couldn’t even look in Boyd’s direction, but I saw his shoulders rise and fall from the corner of my eye as he took a slow, steadying breath. Ella and Boyd were engaged in a staring contest. I understood what she was doing, but I didn’t think this was the time or the place.

Lou looked uneasy, to say the least.

“I want to propose a toast,” Lou offered, probably trying to distract us from the awkward encounter and Ella’s bold comment. A smile stretched across his face and he raised his glass, looking at each one of us. “Come on, everyone, raise your glass.”

We did as he asked.

“To us. May we always be surrounded by friends and people who love us. May next year be our best one yet.”

“Hear, hear!” Boyd said, raising his glass.

We all clinked our glasses and cheered.

* * *

“So that was your ex-boyfriend,” Boyd said when we got back to his parents’ house.

“Yes,” I replied, staring at the same picture of him that had caught my attention the night before.

“He broke your heart, didn’t he?”

“I thought you didn’t do personal, Boyd. Isn’t this a little bit too much into personal territory?”

“Answer the goddamn question, Red. What happened between the two of you?”

“Why do you care?”

“Because I do. I thought we were friends. I thought…I thought we could…
talk
about things.”

Oh, now he wanted to talk? Sure.

“You want to talk? Fine, I’ll tell you about him if you tell me about your band, and about the girl in the picture.” I pointed at the photo on the wall and looked up to him. Just as I thought, he didn’t want to talk about it just as much as I didn’t want to talk about Shane. “Was she your girlfriend? Is
she
the one who broke
your
heart?”

“Fair enough. I don’t need to know. I just didn’t like seeing you upset.”

“Thank you.” I looked down, trying to swallow the knot that had formed in my throat.

“Listen.” He let out a breath. “I’d like to see you when I’m back in Amsterdam, but I just…I just want to make sure…” He hesitated.

I exhaled and playfully rolled my eyes at him. “I don’t expect anything from you, Boyd.” My voice sounded upbeat, but inside I was anything but. Meeting Shane had left a sour taste in my mouth. I wanted to forget about it. I wanted to forget about the last few hours. I knew getting in bed with Boyd one last time would help, but he’d promised to drive Lou and Ella to the airport.

“Thank you for pretending to be my boyfriend,” I told him, unable to stop the smile stretching across my face. It had been incredibly sweet of him, and I had been surprised how quickly he’d caught the change in my mood.

“That’s what friends are for.” He glanced at me, and the dark look he gave me made me wish once again that we had time for a goodbye fuck.

“I’m going upstairs to get my overnight bag. I better get on the road.” I turned around and headed for the stairs. He grabbed my hand and stopped me. I turned to face him, and he glanced around to see if we were alone. His parents were still out, and Lou and Ella were holed up somewhere. I saw the most delicious grin appear on his face.

“I bet you need help with your bag, don’t you?”

I breathed out a laugh. “I sure do.”

“HELLO, STRANGER.” BERTIE SMILED AT
me, pulling me into a hug. I smiled back and wrapped my arms around her, lifting her off the floor. “Boyd! Put me down! I’m too heavy!” She slapped me on my shoulder.

“Aww, come on…stop saying stupid shit, Bertie!”

“I
did not
miss that nickname.” I put her down on the floor and brushed her hair away from her face. I took her chin in my hand, forcing her to look at me.

“Hmmm, why do I think you’re lying, Bertie?” She responded with a scoff. “So you didn’t miss the cute nickname I have for you. What did you miss? Did you miss me?” I had a cocky grin plastered on my face. I couldn’t deny it—I was happy to see her. I had missed her feistiness, and I couldn’t wait to be buried inside her.

“You know what I missed.” She smiled as a faint blush colored her cheeks.

“Tell me,” I demanded, leaning toward her, running my nose along her jaw. My beard tickled her, and she squirmed in my arms. She searched for my lips and kissed me on the mouth.
Mmmm.
My lips parted and her tongue wrapped around mine, stroking and sucking. I couldn’t help but think of another place where I loved the feel of her lips.

This woman was going to be the death of me. One kiss and I was already hard, already thinking about grinding against her.

“I missed your cock.” She looked at me while biting her bottom lip. She looked so sexy. Did she know how much she turned me on? Her hands roamed over my chest, and then she brought them down around my waist. She inserted two fingers in the waistband of my jeans and pulled me to her, walking backward toward her bedroom.

“I thought we were going out to eat,” I teased her.

“Later,” she replied in a sultry tone. “You know, Boyd, New York isn’t the only city that never sleeps. We can find anything we want later on, but right now I want you.”

I bit my lip and smiled. “Well played, Red. Can’t say I disagree. In fact, I can’t fucking wait to eat you up.” She let out a shallow breath and let go of me. She started taking off her clothes, slowly, and I prayed I had enough patience to enjoy the show.

* * *

“We need to stop doing this,” she whispered, breathing heavily against my skin.

I scowled at her.
Way to ruin my high.
Why in the world should we stop doing this? Bertie was talking nonsense.

The last few days had been insanely busy. After a couple days of meetings, I was up to my neck overseeing construction on the space the investors and I had chosen for the gym. It was an older building, and it needed a lot of updates.

Still, after a busy day, my favorite thing to do was meet up at her house or at the place I was renting. I didn’t want to stop seeing her, although I was scared of the fact that I couldn’t get enough of her. I would never say it out loud, but the truth was, Bertie had almost turned me into a monogamous wimp.

It wasn’t good. If this ever got out, it was going to be terrible for my social media reputation. I preached so much about wanting to be free and never tying myself to anyone, but I couldn’t deny that in a deep—very, very deep—corner of my mind, I was entertaining the idea of having a real relationship with her.

I liked her.

She was smart, beautiful, and funny, and when we were together in bed…it was like fireworks.

I raised myself up on my arms to get a better look at her face.

“Why?” I asked in a low growl. “Do you have a secret boyfriend I don’t know about?” I asked her in a light and playful tone.

She laughed. “No, I don’t.”

“Then don’t say that stuff like that, Bertie. I like you. Why should we ever stop?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying myself, and I know we have fun together…a lot of fun…”

“Yes, and?”

“Well, I was thinking…maybe we should stop what’s going on between us.”

“Why?”

“Just because…to be honest, you’re not even my type,” she said mockingly.

“Oh, really? And who’s your type? Your ex-boyfriend?” She shook her head and kept a tight-lipped smile on her face.

“Who’s your type, Red?” Silence. I smiled. “Who’s your celebrity crush, Ally?”

She gave me an ornery smile but didn’t answer.

I tickled her side, and she squirmed.

“Who is it?” I tickled her some more and laughed at her reaction.

“Stop…stop, please. Boyd! Okay, okay…I give up.”

“Who’s your type?”

“Sam Rockwell.”

“Sam Rockwell is your type?” I asked incredulously.

She bit her bottom lip and nodded. “So much sex appeal.”

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, the man’s got mad dance moves, but he’s got nothing on me.”

“You think so?”

“Positive.” I caressed her leg, and she stopped my hand.