The Dirty Dozen: Alpha Edition

by Kay Maree

  “No need to bullshit us mate, we know you like her. You’ve been keeping her around for years,” I commented with a smile.

  He could lie his arse off, but Nate had liked Sibi since we all were young, dumb and silly at University, where they’d hooked up at every possible opportunity.

  “I like her, but it’s no secret that I’ve always been a little attached to her,” Nate responded with a smile, taking a long swig of his coffee. Every Sunday Wayne, Nate, and I headed to our local pub for breakfast. A proper English breakfast with the works--bacon, sausages, eggs, and beans, you name it.

  “Liar, you love her?” I joked

  “What?” he shrieked. I couldn’t help it--Nate was so easy to terrorise.

  “You heard him. You love her,” Wayne tormented. “Oh wait…speak of the devil,” Wayne said; he really loved to tick Nate off.

  “You have got to be kidding me,” Nate sighed.

  I had to agree that Rubi was the last person I needed to see on a Sunday morning, and in a pair of tight jeans…fucking hell. I needed to get out of here. Wayne, of course, had busted out laughing at the whole thing. I was just happy that these two didn’t know about my almost one night stand with Rubi, because Wayne would seriously push on the subject.

  To be honest, I didn’t need them knowing anything, or even worse throwing this in my face. The whole Bray situation was bad enough, and if I knew Wayne he would be keeping a closer eye on the women I dated in future, and an even closer eye on me. We didn’t need another situation where I’d have to go into talks with lawyers; however, I found it hard to picture Rubi being anything like Bray.

  “Why don’t you just tell her?” Wayne said. Nate needed to man up; at least that’s what I thought. He was a businessman, and a ruthless one at that, but when it came to women he seemed to lose all his control, allowing his male appendage to run wild with him.

  “Go shove it, you wankers. I’m out of here before I suffer any more humiliation,” Nate barked and pushed up from the table. He couldn’t, and most likely never would, admit to liking Sibi, but it was fun to tease him.

  “You’re a pussy,” Wayne sniggered.

  “Drinks at yours?” Nate asked. It was always drinks at mine, at least most of the time. I guess I had the best apartment, with the nicest views, the problem with our drink nights was that Nate tended to bring the worst females as company.

  “Just us guys though, no girls,” I reiterated.

  “No girls?” Nate remarked, a look of disgust on his face.

  "You bring the psychos, women with serious problems,” Wayne said.

  “Fine, I’m not going to argue with you,” Nate retorted, turning to flee the scene.

  “Hello gorgeous--where are you running to?” Sibi said with her signature smile as she came to a stop near our table. Rubi was on the phone behind her.

  “Off to catch up on some work before drinks tonight,” I heard Nate state as he slipped a hand around Sibi’s waist, pulling her closer to him. He so liked her more than he cared to admit, and Wayne was going to rip into him for it. If people didn’t know them they would honestly think that they were brothers, especially from the way they bickered and argued about insignificant shit.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  RUBI

  “Don’t you get it Oliver? I am not coming back.” So much for this trip being an Ollie free experience, the fucker wouldn’t leave me be. Maybe it was time to change my cell number.

  “Babe, I told you I’m sorry,” he said. Sorry, my arse. I hated liars and Ollie was so good at it. Another reason why he had so many women wrapped around his fingers, and they had no clue he was playing them all.

  “Ollie, I haven’t seen you in two months, two months, and when we dated I didn’t see you much either, since, if you remember clearly, you were also seeing umpteen other women behind my back. What on earth makes you think I will ever forgive you something like that?” I asked, did he seriously think I’d forgive him for his shit.

  “Hey, I’ll be back in about an hour. You going to be okay with the boys?” Sibi smiled, nodding to Aidan and another friend at a booth in the corner. I nodded and waved her off. Ollie was starting to rub me the wrong way, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything but his pathetic pleading.

  I watched as Sibi joined hands with Nate and they disappeared out the door.

  “I love you babe, come home,” Ollie begged.

  “When are you going to get it through your head, Ollie… just go on back to your silly whores… let them fuck you and leave me alone,” I groaned.

  “Hand it over.”

  “What?” I asked, turning around, and finding Aidan behind me with his hand out.

  What the hell did he want and why was their warning in his eyes? A warning that told me he meant business.

  “Hand over the phone, I’ll have this sorted out in two minutes,” he said, taking the phone from my hand before I could object.

  “Ollie, is it? Well, Ollie, how many times does a woman have to tell you to go fuck yourself?” He smiled, hanging up the phone. I wasn’t expecting that. Oh hell, Ollie was going to flip. Handing over the phone to Aidan had probably been a dick move on my part, but if it stopped Ollie from harassing me, even for a little bit while I was on my trip, then I was happy I’d done it.

  “You okay?” Aidan asked, handing my cell back to me.

  “I’ll be fine,” I uttered with a sigh, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders. Ollie was such an arse and I couldn’t and wouldn’t be going back to him. I wasn’t that type of woman.

  “You look like you could use a drink?”

  “Hard liquor please,” I whispered with a smile, throwing my cell back into my clutch. I intended to drink this Sunday away, but now I also needed to drink away the reminders of a terrible relationship which had gone on way too long.

  “I do believe my eyes are deceiving me…Miss Rubi Davis,” a man said.

  I laughed. I’d know that terrible dribble of an accent a mile away. “Wayne!” I squealed, turning to see Wayne Smith’s big goofy grin plastered to his face with the terrible bed hair that he wore so well. “Holy hell,” I whispered.

  Wayne and I had met at one of my father’s conferences back in the summer of last year, then again at the recent Texas business conference. I had totally forgotten that he was living in London and working for some big corporation that dealt with ancient artefacts and museum displays, or something like that. Wait…bachelor weekend…that’s what Wayne had been in Texas for if I believed the whispers and rumours that were floating around about that weekend.

  “What on earth are you doing in London?” he asked, seemingly shocked that I was here.

  “Holidays,” I replied, leaning in to hug him.

  “And how do you two know each other?” Aidan asked as I pulled back.

  “How do you two know each other?” Wayne replied.

  “Well, Wayne and I met last summer in the States when my father was attending a conference for something, and then again a few months back in Texas,” I said.

  “And Rubi and I met the other night when I went to Sib’s for dinner,” Aidan replied.

  “Wait, so how do you two know each other?” I asked, curious to see the connection.

  “Wayne works for my company, the company that sent him to the States to conduct business, and the Texas’s conference we both attended. How did we not meet?” Aidan muttered the last question.

  I smiled.

  “Wait, so your father is Dean Davis, of the D.D. Corp?” he said.

  “Yes, my father is Dean Davis,” I responded. I knew my father conducted business with many people around the world, but I didn’t think anyone as young as Aidan would know him. Besides, Aidan was into artefacts and couldn’t be a more different type of business than what my father did.

  “I could really use a drink,” I voiced. Alcohol would make me brave, maybe brave enough to do something stupid and reckless tonight. I needed to forget abou
t Ollie and this weird tension I was beginning to feel between us.

  ***

  “How is Sweden?” Wayne inquired. I laughed, surprised after several drinks that Wayne remembered anything about me. Sibi hadn’t returned yet and I was positive she wouldn’t be returning anytime soon…so much for being only an hour.

  “Sweden is good, although I haven’t been home in a few months. Dad had us staying in the States while he’s working. You know how it is?” I giggled. I needed to pull up on the booze, otherwise I’d be crashing and burning before too long.

  A ringtone rang out through the room. Wayne looked down at the table.

  “Shit, excuse me, I need to take this call,” Wayne said, smiling and slipping his phone to his ear as he walked out of the pub.

  “You live in Sweden?” Aidan asked, leaning in closer.

  “Yes, Mr Northman, I do.” I grinned.

  “Aidan to you, missy. I hate being called Mr Northman,” he remarked.

  “Don’t you find it sexy…the rolling of your name off the tongue? Mr Northman?” The alcohol had kicked in, and silly Rubi was slowly seeping out.

  “I suspect you find it sexy too, Miss Davis.” I now understood why women swooned over British men, the accent, the whole manner of their speech, and the fact that they were very sweet and kind, or at least that’s what I’d come to discover. The gentlemen were very much alive and well in this place.

  “You wanna get out of here?” he asked.

  “And go where? If you’re asking me back to your apartment, I must decline.”

  “Don’t get me wrong, I would love to have you in my apartment and I will tonight…” The cocky prick. “But I was thinking maybe the London eye; to get a view of the city,” he declared.

  “You’re awfully sure of yourself. Who is to say I will be in your apartment tonight,” I said, poking my finger into his solid chest.

  “It’s so cute that you’re so new to our ways. Drinks are at mine every Sunday, but don’t worry Wayne, Sibi, and Nate will be there too, so we won’t be alone if you’re worried that you won’t be able to control your feelings for me,” he joshed.

  “Cute? Let’s get one thing sorted out. I am not a cute type of girl, and that almost one-night thing can’t happen ever…you had your chance - you could have stayed,” I smirked.

  “So we’re friends, right?” he asked.

  “I guess so, but we hardly know each other.” The truth was that I wanted to get to know him. The problem was that I wanted to know him in other ways, and the thoughts running through my head weren’t the thoughts of a friend…more like a friend with benefits.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  RUBI

  “Beautiful, isn’t it?” he asked.

  London was stunning from this vantage point; Big Ben and the River Thames, London Bridge, it reminded me of the nursery rhymes we used to sing when we were little. This city really was remarkable, the weather, however, would take some getting used to; but for now, the sun was trying to peek through the clouds and the temperature was slightly warmer than I expected. Sibi had mentioned that it would get colder over the coming weeks, and that before I knew it London would be cold, very cold.

  “It’s gorgeous; I bet it would be breathtakingly beautiful at night.” I whispered, more to myself then to anyone else.

  “You know, riding the eye at night is kind of romantic,” he said. I laughed, seriously, was he going to try to pull some swift British line and think I would swoon over it.

  “Don’t get me wrong, I am sure it’s romantic as you say, but it would never be romantic for us,” I declared, looking out at the view with a smile before I turned around to look up at him.

  “We’re friends--I get it. But you got to dictate that we were going to only be friends, you didn’t consult me, you just decided. So, it’s only fair I get to throw a few things into the mix. Like the fact that, as your friend I can say pretty much anything and you have to put up with me, because we’re friends,” he stated.

  I laughed. Oh my goodness, men--infuriating one minute and charming the next. The following six months were going to be harder than I thought, because I hadn’t a guy friend in forever.

  ***

  “Did you have a nice afternoon?” Wayne asked. I was standing at the window of Aidan’s very upscale home, adoring the view. To silently reply to his question, I did indeed have a nice afternoon, which was surprising considering I’d spent said afternoon with Aidan exploring the city from his point of view.

  “I did, London is quite beautiful,” I replied.

  “Maybe we could do something while you’re here, just us?” Wayne inquired.

  “I would love that,” I answered. He was so charming and had been the perfect gentleman when I first met him. It was a serious pity that he had been attached at the time, otherwise I probably would have fallen totally head over heels for him and been swept away by his British ways.

  “Here’s your drink,” Aidan interjected, passing me a flute of champagne topped with a decorative strawberry.

  I guess this was the normal for him; the whole champagne and strawberries thing…or maybe he was buttering me up. Yuck, I’d specifically told him it wasn’t happening and I was sticking to it.

  “Sorry we’re late,” Nate called from the front door.

  Finally, I’d been waiting all day for Sibi to return. What exactly on God’s green earth had those two been up to all day? Sibi had said she would be an hour, and that was more than eight hours ago. The sun had set and the city was now covered in the dark blanket called the night only lit by bright flickers of light. It was spectacular, but that’s beside the point.

  “Better late than never,” Wayne yelled back, walking over to Nate and high-fiving him. Obviously, Wayne knew more about what they had been doing than the rest of us did.

  “Don’t worry, the reason they took all day was that Nate finally had the courage to ask your cousin out properly,” Aidan whispered. I smiled looking up at him. Aww…how sweet, Nate was finally taking a big leap in the relationship direction.

  I wondered if Sibi said yes, even though she was almost pushing me to pursue Nate only days ago.

  “I didn’t know he liked her that way. I got the impression that he just saw her as a good fuck,” I said, the words coming out nothing like I’d intended them too. Language Rubi, language. Damn brain to mouth thing was totally screwed when under the influence of alcohol.

  Aidan chuckled, looking down at me with approval in his eyes. “Wow, I was not expecting that to come out of your pretty mouth.”

  “It’s the alcohol,” I mumbled, taking a large sip of the bubbly in my glass and letting the cold liquid cool me.

  “Makes you brave,” he stated.

  “It makes me stupid. Brain to mouth filter is totally shot to shit.”

  “I like it, suits you, and it’s kinda sexy.” He smirked stepping closer to me. I guess this was another thing I needed to get used to, my friends invading my personal space. My family did this a lot; the touchy-feely hugs and kisses thing. I couldn’t say that I hated it, but it wasn’t something I enjoyed doing often. I looked up to see Aidan looking at me with those big blue eyes of his…the kind of blue that graces the skies of Australia almost daily.

  I could certainly say that Aidan’s eyes were so intriguing that the thought of being just friends with him was somewhat excruciating.

  “Fuck me,” I whispered to myself, knowing that those eyes could have me surrendering to his every command. Did I seriously say that we were just friends? Because if I had this could be difficult.

  He grinned and leaned in, “Oh baby, I would, but you made it pretty clear that fucking you was off the cards,” he declared with a wink, then turned to walk away.

  “Do you like invading people’s personal space?” I called out, unsure as to why I had asked, but I felt a little dazed by his presence.

  “Want a refill?” he asked, changing the subject and pointing to my empty
glass. Two could play at that game. I could easily divert his questions.

  “Where’s the bathroom?” I replied.

  “Double doors down the hall,” he pointed. I smiled and headed down the hallway, away from him and his gorgeous eyes.

  What an arsehole. You can never trust exactly what a man’s intentions were. Aidan was being sneaky on every front. Telling him that I just wanted to be friends was going to be harder to drum into his head than I had thought; then again, it was going to be harder to tell my body that the things it was feeling towards him were nothing more than sexual attraction.

  I opened one of the double doors and slipped inside. The bathroom just off this room and was calling me. I needed to learn not to drink so much, because my bladder wouldn’t be able to handle going to the bathroom three or four times in the next couple of hours; not to mention that my liver was crying out for water. I guess drinking was also a little stupid and crazy as it was certainly the evil the female race blamed for so many of our bad judgement calls.

  I used the bathroom, washed my hands, and then returned to the room that I’d just walked through. What the fuck… this wasn’t the main bathroom, it was….

  “Do you like what you see?” a deep male voice asked from behind me.

  “Shit!” I screamed as I turned and ran headlong into Aidan’s chest. Oh, fuck…fuck no. I took a deep breath, which was a bad idea because he smelled divine and almost good enough to eat.

  “Damn, you’re an arse,” I screeched.

  “Anymore alcohol, Rubi, and you’re going to be drunk,” he smirked. I didn’t intend to drink anymore but wait, he wasn’t my parent and he couldn’t tell me what to do.

  “You can’t tell me that this is the only bathroom in the house?” I questioned, ignoring his attempt at controlling my drinking. I looked around the room and quickly decided it was his bedroom; the sneaky, conniving…British hunk.

  “No, there are others, but then I wouldn’t have gotten you into my bedroom…I wouldn’t have gotten you alone.”

  “Aidan, am I going to have to kick your arse? I wanna be friends, nothing more. Hinting at more is just going to make me...”