Sweet Obsession (Men of Whiskey Row Book 1) (28 page)

Darby gave a shout of laughter as he realized what a blow to his brother’s ego that must have been. “It wasn’t really that hard to deduce if you knew the signs to look for. The way you guys watch each other when you think the other isn’t looking. Or the way you guys take jabs at each other just to make the other pay attention,” Darby said mildly and shook his head, “It was bound to blow up in y’all’s faces. The two of you separated are cool as shit. Together, though? I wouldn’t wish you on my worst enemy. Y’all are like toddlers without naps.”

“Screw you, D,” Casey said with a stormy expression. He could admit to himself that today was certainly one for the books and planned on apologizing to Ms. Avery the first chance he got her away from that loud-mouthed shrew. When Sidra first entered the cabin in her black leather pants and white tee, his body had hummed with pleasure at seeing her again; and he had every intention of being civil-until he realized she was going to just act like he didn’t exist as she turned her nose snootily in the air. His mind flashed to their last showdown in Vivienne’s garden.

After realizing they hadn’t used a condom, Sidra had completely shut down. Casey offered her the handkerchief that he never left home without. Wordlessly, she’d taken it and turned away to clean herself up and scrambled into her clothes as she attempted to smooth down her curls.

“Are you on the pill?” Casey asked calmly, although his heart felt like it would jump out of his chest at any minute. How could he have done something so irresponsible? And with Sidra ‘Psycho’ Barton of all people? One minute he was thinking about how much he disliked her; and the next, he was convinced her pussy deserved its own gold star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He watched as she jerkily nodded her head to confirm that she was. “Listen, Sidra, I’ve never had unprotected sex, and my last physical was eight weeks ago. I came back with a clean bill of health. I’ll get your email from Margo and send it you.”

Still avoiding his eyes, Sidra said nothing and attempted to walk around him. Irritated, he latched onto her wrist when she would have walked away. Her reaction was immediate, and she jerked back as if she had been burned. “Don’t ever touch me again,” she whispered in a raw voice.

Sidra’s voice was hoarse and thick; and Casey could only surmise that she was just as shaken up about them fucking as he was. Her rejection still stung nonetheless, and he retaliated with words. “Relax. You don’t have to worry about me touching you again,” he said coldly and shoved his hand into his trouser pocket. “What I would like is reassurance that you’re clean, and you don’t make a habit of fucking men you barely know in dark corners.”

CRACK! His head snapped back from the impact of her hand, and the side of his face throbbed where she slapped him. Rage flooded through Casey even though he knew he deserved it, and he grabbed her by the arms, pulling her flush against his body. Instinctively, his cock hardened again. He knew Sidra was aware of his reaction when her eyes widened, feeling it pressing into her belly. Inwardly he cursed, wishing that even as he fought off the urge to respond in kind, he didn’t want to be deep in her magical pussy again.

Casey looked down into her eyes and saw anger mixed with fear and awareness. Sidra licked her lips nervously but defiantly held his gaze. “I’m clean, and no, I don’t randomly hook up with strangers.” She jerked back, and he let his arms drop away from her. “This was a mistake, and it never happened. If you say that it did, I‘ll deny it; and then you’ll be hearing from my lawyer, do you understand?”

“Like I said, you don’t have to worry about me touching you…unless you put your hands on ME again. Do YOU understand?” he said menacingly and felt pleasure in watching her step even further away from him. “And the next time, I won’t restrain myself, sweetheart.”

“Hey…Case!” Darby said loudly and snapped his fingers, pulling him out of his reverie. He shook his head and glared at his amused brother.

“Just forget it man. I plan to,” he said short-temperedly. There was a five-minute pause before Darby spoke again.

“It was really good though huh, bro?”

Casey said nothing and cranked the volume on the radio. But even the music blasting through the speakers couldn’t drown out Darby’s diabolical laugh.

Chapter Twenty-Two

From Noelle’s back porch, Sidra sipped her glass of orange blossom iced tea and took in the scenic view of the Smoky Mountains around her. It was so peaceful here with the birds chirping musically and the gentle breeze blowing that she was surprised at how much she liked it. A city girl born and bred, she was used to the hustle and bustle of New York with its busy energy.

In New York, you moved at such an incredibly fast pace that there was no time for regrets. But here in the country, the pace was refreshingly slower so that you had time to reflect on …things. Things like how a certain anal-retentive jerk managed to get under your skin to the point where you made a complete fool out of yourself and wound up on one of your dearest friend’s shit list. And things like how sometimes one’s personality could be too much, causing them to go to the extreme.

Sidra sighed and sat down in an Adirondack chair, slipping her heels off to tuck her legs under her. It was true that she could be bold and outspoken, and not one to hold back, especially when it came to her sister girls, work, and family.

Her mother’s voice rang in her ears
. “Why can’t you be better, Sidra Jane? You know he stays away because of your behavior,” tears running down her beautiful face. “Just try harder and he’ll come back to us okay, baby?”

This was something her maternal grandmother whole-heartedly disagreed with.
“Baby, you’re my little firecracker,” her Granny Evie used to tell her. “Folks best not stand too close to you, or they gone feel your spark! Don’t let it bother you none though, chile. You sparkle and don’t let anyone or anything ever dull that sparkle!” she’d cackle. “You don’t want no one around you who can’t appreciate you for who you is.”

And so that’s how Sidra tried to live her life— unapologetically and to the fullest. She was passionate in her relationships, believing in giving her all and expecting the same of the other person. If she wasn’t getting what she was giving, then it was time to break ties. Loyalty was very important to her and violating her trust was the ultimate no-no. She always went with her gut, and that’s where impulsiveness was a problem.

With work and school, going with her gut was always a success and brought Sidra great commissions and straight A’s. In her personal life, however, going with her gut led to mandatory anger management classes when an ex called her a bitch and, following her gut, stabbed the foul-mouthed motherfucker in the thigh with her letter opener. And now this latest thing with Casey Sullivan…

If Sidra hadn’t thought about it every single moment since it happened, she would never have believed that she let Casey Sullivan fuck her. Or worse, that she would have enjoyed it so much. Who knew that prissy, uptight, snooty Sullivan could fuck like a roughneck? It made her knees weak just thinking about his powerful thrusts that had her damn near climbing the sidewall of Viv’s home.

“You think that you’re gonna get this good shit somewhere else?”

Sidra quickly shook her head to clear the memory of Casey’s hot words in her ear. It was best to keep in mind exactly why she didn’t like him. She could still recall seeing him for the first time and thinking he was the finest man she’d ever seen as he commanded the conference room. Suited up with his hair slicked back, he looked like he just stepped out of a GQ magazine. His hazel eyes were bright with determination and his smile so charismatic, it took her breath away. Then he’d given her a condescending dress down in front of the Boys Club, and her admiration turned to dust, as she vowed to make his life hell every time she saw him. After today’s fiasco, the score in humiliation was 3-0, and not in her favor.

The back door opened and Noelle slipped out to sit in the chair next to Sidra’s. Nothing was said as she looked out at the same beautiful view that Sidra was enjoying. Ten minutes passed before she finally spoke, her eyes still focused straight ahead.

“Please don’t kill my husband’s brother. I happen to really like him, but I LOVE you, Sid. I’ll always have your back. So whatever it is that is making you so upset that both Avery and I are thinking we need to keep Gloria Allred on retainer, please… just don’t give in to the urge,” Noelle begged.

Sidra rolled her eyes. “I’m fine, Noelle. Again, Avery was grossly exaggerating.”

“So you really didn’t say that you wished Casey would step on a hundred Legos? Lego threats are pretty dire. And the pain?” Noelle gave a mock shudder. “I’ve stepped on enough of my nieces’ and nephews’ Legos to know they’re no joke.”

“I was just joking! I can control myself. Honest,” Sidra insisted as the suspect look in Noelle’s eyes called her a liar.

Noelle snorted, “I’m fairly certain Anakin Skywalker said the same thing to Obi-Wan before he got a new name and outlook on life.”

“Hey, Anakin was getting pressured left and right to be better than this or that. Sometimes being the better person is overrated and you just need to go uber-ghetto on a mother-”

“Sid,” Noelle interrupted firmly. “Listen, I appreciate the dedication you have to your particular brand of crazy, but I’m seriously going to have to ask you to dial it back four hundred notches. Right now our calm, sweet Avery is upstairs half-drunk off a bottle of beer!  A beer that she needed to drink after spending time with you and Casey. This is supposed to be a relaxing weekend. I’ve got my girls with me, and I just want to enjoy our time together.”

“Okay fine. I give you my word that I will not start any trouble with him,” Sidra grouched. “Let’s change the subject.”

“Thank you, boo,” Noelle said sweetly and blew her a kiss.

“Uh-huh. Now let’s talk about how the honeymoon is going. Have you guys christened every room in this gorgeous house yet? Ewwwww! On second thought, please say you refrained from doing it in the guest bedroom,” Sidra pleaded.

“Actually … we haven’t consummated the marriage,” Noelle said glumly ignoring Sidra’s startled look.

“Damn girl! What the hell are you waiting on? World Peace? The weapons of mass destruction to be found?? If I had a husband who looked at me the way Jack looks at you and puts it down like you say he does, I would never leave the house, much less my bed!” she exclaimed, shaking her head in disbelief.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, Sidra. Believe me, I’m
dying
too. It’s just I’m already in too deep, and we’re just pretending. I knew the very first time I saw Jack four years ago, that I loved him. The spark was there for me, but he’s always been a perfect gentleman who never showed any interest.

He’s a good guy who’s willing to sacrifice a little of his time and freedom right now so that he doesn’t have to work harder later if the shit hits the fan and my dirty secret became public. Why not get some free ass while doing it? He’d be killing two birds with one stone, that’s for sure. I just don’t want to be the same fool twice; you know? Remy came off as a good guy too and look where that shit got me,” Noelle finished bitterly, and Sidra shook her head in disagreement.

“Noelle, are you crazy? I’ve seen the way Jack is around you! That kind of shit can’t be faked,” Sidra argued heatedly. “Do you know how many women are dying to be in your place? Or how many interns Margo had to replace because their attention was focused on him and not work?” she disputed. “So Remy was a piece of shit. Do you think he’ll be the only one you’ll ever come across? If you’re worried about something like that, then you’re in for a long, lonely life. Stop being such a coward and go for it already!”

“I’m not a coward,” Noelle retorted, eyes snapping with irritation. “You don’t understand what’s at stake, so just drop it.”

“I call bullshit. You are a coward. Up until six months ago, you’ve spent your whole life living up to other people’s standards. When you decided that you finally had enough of their crap, you made shit happen. Now look at you. You’ve got your own place; you’re co-owner of an up-and-coming business; and you’re married to your dream guy! It doesn’t matter how, you just are!” Sidra exclaimed, and Noelle conceded her points grudgingly.

“Now here the two of you are living alone in this big old beautiful house; and instead of taking every opportunity to enjoy your time with Jack the way you really want to, you’re hiding! And for what? Because you’re scared the feelings won’t be reciprocated. When you look back on your life at these moments, do you really want to say that it was a good thing you played it safe and kept yourself from the man you love? Or that you loved every single second of being with him completely?” Sidra stood up and gently pulled Noelle up as well.