Notorious (NeXt Book 1)

by K. M. Scott

  Why the fuck did he do that? Did he go there to try to dissuade Hailey from going out with me because of our argument?

  Struggling to control my anger, I say, “Alex came to see you? What about?”

  “He wanted to offer me a chance to make desserts for your family’s restaurant. I had to turn him down because I don’t have the time or facilities, but it was really kind of him to offer.”

  I push down my emotions and force a smile. “Nothing kind about it. My uncles Cassian and Kane are smart businessmen. They know a good idea when they see one.”

  For a moment, the two of us stand there silent in my living room as an uncomfortable tension grows between us. It’s not Hailey’s fault. I know that, but just hearing that Alex went there bothers me after what he said this morning.

  “Will you try it? I’d love to know what you think,” she says with such hope in her eyes that I can’t say no.

  I sit down on the chaise part of the sectional I never use and pat the cushion in front of me. “I’m sure it’s going to be fantastic. Sit with me.”

  Opening my legs, I make a space for her. “So this is the last peach rose cupcake? Does that mean they were a hit with your customers?”

  I reach in and carefully lift her creation out before setting the box on the couch to my right. The cupcake almost looks too beautiful to eat, but I can’t disappoint her.

  “They were,” she says, beaming her happiness while I bring the cupcake to my lips. “I hope you like it too.”

  The first taste of the frosting on my tongue is like pure heaven. Not sickeningly sweet and not stiff like so many cake frostings generally are, it’s light and delicious. “This is incredible, Hailey.”

  “Wait until you taste the cupcake. I put little pieces of real peach in the batter,” she says, urging me to continue trying her gift.

  I bite into the cupcake, and it’s fluffy and just sweet enough. I taste the peach immediately, and smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever had cake that tastes this good. I can see why these sold out today.”

  Hailey gives me a shy smile and reaches out to drag the pad of her thumb below my bottom lip. “You got icing on your face.”

  I run my tongue over the spot she touched and want more. More of this cupcake. More of her fingertips drifting over my skin. More of Hailey.

  Setting the half of the cupcake left back into the box, I lean forward and press a kiss onto her lips. “Thank you for saving that last one for me.”

  “You don’t want any more of it?” she asks with a hint of hurt tinging her words.

  “I’ll have more later. Right now, I want more of you,” I whisper against her lips.

  My cock hardens at the feel of her lips when she kisses me with all the need and want I give her in my kiss. I want to pull her down on top of me to know what it’s like to have the sensation of all of her against me, but I know I have to take it slow or she may run away again. It’s like teasing myself, and it’s excruciating as each moment passes and all I have is her kiss.

  She tentatively touches my chest, her palms pressing gently against my body. It’s not enough, but I need to let her set the pace this time. Not my usual style, but I’m willing to do what I have to so Hailey doesn’t bolt on me.

  Each touch of her fingertips against my shirt drives me crazy. I want her to burrow her hands beneath the fabric so I can feel her skin against mine. When I can’t take it anymore, I guide her hands up to my neck and love that first touch of her hands on me.

  I lean back, hoping she’ll inch her way closer to me, but just then my phone vibrates in my pocket. Fuck. I know who it is without even checking.

  “Your phone is making a noise,” she says with a smile. “Do you want to take that?”

  Shaking my head, I slide my hand around the back of her head and pull her mouth to me. “No. They can wait.”

  But a few seconds later, my phone vibrates again. Three more times it interrupts us, and I know it won’t stop unless I call him back.

  “Maybe you should take that. It sounds like someone really needs to talk to you.”

  I take a deep breath in and let it out slowly as a combination of anger and frustration fills me. “They don’t, but they’ll keep calling. Just give me a minute and I’ll be right back.”

  By the time I get into the kitchen, I’m barely able to contain my anger. I know what I’m supposed to be doing tonight. He doesn’t have to call fifty fucking times to remind me. It’s not that late yet, and that place can do without me for a few more goddamned hours.

  Before I can call him back, my father calls yet again and this time I answer it. “You know, calling a dozen times isn’t going to make things happen any faster,” I say in a low voice. “I’ll be there soon.”

  “You were supposed to be here for eight, Cade. You’re an hour and a half late right now, and something tells me you aren’t anywhere close to this building.”

  “I’m coming.”

  I want to say so much more, but I keep it all in. He wants this from me, but I want something, and right now, that’s far more important to me.

  “Are you going to be here by ten?” he asks sharply.

  “Probably not, but I’ll get there. I told you I would.”

  Lost in my anger at this whole situation, I don’t see Hailey standing in the doorway. When I look up at her, she’s shaking her head and looks upset.

  “I have to go. Bye.”

  I stuff my phone into my pocket. I hurry to try to explain away the call, but she’s already walking away toward the front door.

  “I knew you were too perfect to be real,” she says with so much sadness in her voice that my chest hurts just hearing it. “I’m going, Cade. Goodbye.”

  She doesn’t get to the door before I catch up with her. “No, don’t go. That wasn’t anything. I’m sorry they interrupted us. Let’s go back and pick up where we were.”

  Hailey spins around to face me and shakes her head at me again. “Who was that? It sounded like a wife or a girlfriend. I’m so stupid. Why would anyone like you want someone like me? All my joking about red Jag girls. You already have one of those. Just wanted to go slumming for a little while? Was that what I was? And I was so naïve to fall for it all. You must think I’m just some moron, don’t you?”

  I open my mouth to tell her that call was definitely not from the wife or girlfriend I don’t have, but she doesn’t give me a chance to get a word in. When she finishes, she turns to leave again, but this time, I grab hold of her arm.

  “Let me go! I’m leaving!”

  “Don’t. I swear. That wasn’t a wife or girlfriend. Honest. I don’t have either. And none of what you said is right. I like you. Why can’t you believe that?”

  She rips her arm from my hold and shakes her head, but this time her eyes are full of tears. “Why? Because I know what I look like, Cade. I know what I do for a living. You’re not the first guy I’ve ever wanted to be with who was just playing. I just didn’t think I was stupid enough to fall for this trick again.”

  I stare at her in confusion, knowing I should tell her just how beautiful she is and how much I like being around her. That isn’t what I want to do, though, and why should I? It hasn’t worked yet.

  Actions speak louder than words, and I’m done talking.

  Pulling her to me, I kiss her hard on the mouth and stuff my hand into her hair to keep her where she needs to be. I’m done with this pretending we just like one another and it’s enough to just hang out on the couch watching TV.

  That’s not what I want, and by the way she’s reacting to a simple call, that’s not what she wants either.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Hailey

  Cade’s kiss takes me by surprise, and for a few seconds, I don’t know how to react. I don’t believe that call was to a friend or one of his cousins. I have no idea if I’m right about him having a girlfriend or a wife, but the last thing I want to do is kiss him right now.

  Except the way his tongue glides over mine, teasing
me with a promise of how incredible it would feel on every other part of my body, makes pulling away so hard.

  He holds me against him tightly, like if I wanted to leave I couldn’t. A mixture of fear and desire overwhelms me, and I don’t what to do.

  When he lifts his head and smiles down at me, it’s almost like he’s taunting me. Like he was talking to his girlfriend or wife and now he thinks he can have me too.

  Not so quick there, loverboy.

  “Thanks for the kiss. I have to go. Bye, Cade,” I say and hope my legs weak from that kiss let me walk out the door with some grace.

  “No. I’m not letting you run away again, Hailey. You want me, and I want you. Stop trying to fight that.”

  “I’m not fighting anything that shouldn’t be fought. I can’t be with you. Goodbye.”

  Still, he won’t let me go.

  “You can and you want to be. Why are you acting like this isn’t what you want? We had fun talking last night. You brought me that cupcake because you like me. Why fight this?”

  “Because you have a girlfriend! Or even worse, a wife!” I scream, hating that everything he says is how I feel and still I know I have to leave.

  He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. “Here. Look at who the calls were from. Look at who I called.”

  Pushing his hand away, I shake my head. “No! I don’t want to be that person who doesn’t trust someone like that. Just let me go.”

  But he won’t give up.

  “Take it. Look. You accuse me of doing something I’m not, so let me show you you’re wrong.”

  God, I don’t want to do this. Not here. Not now. Not ever. I swore I’d never let myself be in another situation where I suspected someone was cheating and didn’t listen to my gut. Well, at this moment standing in this hallway, my gut says this man is too perfect and now I know why.

  When I refuse to take the phone out of his hand, he taps on the screen to bring up the calls. Holding the phone in front of me, he says quietly, “Not a girlfriend or wife. Just my father.”

  I look at the screen and see one word listed down the screen. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad. Dad.

  “All those calls were from your father? Is anything wrong?”

  Not that I have any right to be asking that, but I suddenly feel so bad for the way I’ve acted in the past ten minutes that I have to say something.

  Cade’s shoulders sag, like the weight of my question is a heavy burden on him. “No. That’s just the way he is,” he says with a sigh.

  Knowing the truth makes knowing what to say impossible now, so I mumble the only words I can think of to escape this humiliation I’ve brought on myself. “I’m sorry. I better go.”

  “Still? I didn’t lie, Hailey. There’s no one else, and still you want to run away?” he asks in a voice that fills me with regret.

  I hang my head, unable to face him now. “I’m the problem, Cade. That’s always how it is. This is all me, and I’m sorry.”

  As much as I hate to admit the truth, there it is. He isn’t the one who caused all of this tonight. It’s me. It’s always me, and no matter what Dr. Thorpe or Meadow thinks, I’m obviously still not able to trust like someone like Cade deserves.

  This time, he doesn’t stop me when I turn toward the door, but behind me, he says, “Don’t go. I don’t know what happened before you met me, but you can trust me. I won’t do whatever they did.”

  I stare at his front door and want to believe him. I’m so tired of being this way. I want to be happy. I want to have fun. I want to believe all men aren’t liars and cheats. Being afraid is so exhausting.

  With a heavy sigh, I turn around and see Cade’s smile. Not the sexy one that makes me think of all the delicious things I would love to do with him, but the sweet one that lights up his dark brown eyes.

  “Why would you want to be bothered with someone who’s so fucked up?”

  And there is the question I’ve asked myself every moment since he and I started talking.

  Cade steps toward me and stops before taking my face in his hands. Tilting my head back, he looks down into my eyes as I try to push away the urge to run. “Everyone’s got something they’re fucked up about, Hailey. I’m not afraid of yours, if you aren’t afraid of mine.”

  I close my eyes and let the warmth of his skin against mine course through me. It’s gentle but protective, and I want to believe in it.

  “Yours? What are you fucked up about?” I whisper.

  His lips brush mine, and he kisses me instead of answering. I don’t believe he’s like me. He doesn’t fear everything and everyone, no matter how hard he tries not to like I do.

  But at this moment, I don’t want to think about that. All I want to think about is how incredible it feels to be kissed like this by someone like Cade.

  My hand in his, we walk back through the apartment, neither of us saying a word. My insecurities run through me like rampaging villains, tearing up all the sweet thoughts I have about what’s about to happen and replacing them with doubts that begin to eat at me even before we reach the bedroom.

  I try to stay quiet, to not give voice to the ugly things they whisper in my head, but I can’t stop myself, even as I know I may ruin this night for the second time. “I don’t know about this, Cade.”

  He closes the door behind us, and in the dim light coming through the window, I see him smile at me. “I do. It’s okay to let someone in. It doesn’t always end bad.”

  As much as I want to believe that, my past says he’s wrong. But now as I watch him slowly unbutton his dress shirt and shrug his shoulders to free himself from it, I want to let him in.

  How could any sane woman not want that? The body only hinted at through his clothes now stands before me, muscular and tattooed and utterly beautiful.

  My gaze drifts over his shoulders and chest while I try to make out the designs of each tattoo on his skin. A bright blue star on his chest. A grey and black design that looks foreign or tribal and covers from his shoulder down to his left ribs. A phoenix or some kind of bird with beautiful feathers of black and red across his stomach.

  The urge to reach out and touch those images he’s created on his body overcomes me, and I extend my hand to brush my fingertips over the area just between the muscles that create a pronounced V near his hips. Toned, it’s divided in half with a thin line of dark hair that continues beneath his pants. His soft skin quivers beneath my touch, a movement that surprises and charms me.

  A low moan escapes from his throat, like the sound an animal makes when he’s sizing up his prey, and I see in his expression a darkness full of need. “See the effect you have on me?”

  I shake my head, utterly unsure of anything but effect he’s having on me. Still fully dressed, I stare in awe at how beautiful he is before me.

  Cade unzips his pants and they hang open just enough to hint at what lies behind them. I wait for him to take them off, but instead, he crouches down in front of me and runs his hands over my dress.

  “You have no idea how beautiful you look sitting there on my bed. I’ve wanted this since that first day I saw you.”

  Those doubts in my head grow louder now as my insecurities scream that’s all he ever wanted from me. But is that so bad? Is it so bad for a gorgeous man to want me for sex? He could have wanted me for money, not that I have any. Or any other reason that would give me no pleasure.

  There are far worse things than a man like Cade wanting to sleep with me. I tell myself that as he slides his hands under my dress and up my thighs. His strong hands press against my skin, exciting me with his mere touch.

  “You’re not talking. Is that good or bad?” he asks and stops right before he gets to where I so desperately want him to be.

  “Neither,” I answer with a smile as the last of my doubts return to their usual hiding places inside me.

  Cade lifts himself to kiss me softly and whispers against my lips, “You don’t have to be afraid, Hailey. I promise I’m not hiding any axes.”

/>   “I thought men didn’t like when women laugh at times like this, but you’re telling jokes.”

  Leveling his gaze on me, he gives me a wicked grin. “I’m not worried about you laughing. I just wanted to see you smile.”

  He doesn’t give me a chance to say a word before he moves his hands to the inside of my thighs. Every cell in my body comes alive when his thumbs graze the front of my panties, sending a shot of electricity straight to my clit. Cade watches my reaction, smiling at his effect on me, and touches me again, making need surge inside me.

  I’m wet, and he knows it. That very fact frightens me because it makes me vulnerable. What if he’s just toying with me to see if he can get me excited to want him but he doesn’t want me? Is that why he’s still wearing his pants?

  God, don’t let me ruin this, please! No man, no matter how stunning he is, does anything like that. Only in my insecure head does that kind of thing even exist.

  Sex is always something men want. A woman wanting it too isn’t a problem for them.

  All of this races through my mind as he stands up and plants his hands on the bed near my head. Leaning down, he begins to kiss me and lowers his body on top of mine, making sure not to crush me. I feel his hard cock nudge against my hip and react, letting a moan out at what’s coming.

  “You’re so sweet. I bet you taste like heaven on my tongue,” Cade whispers in my ear before sliding down my body.

  He slips my panties down my legs and licks his lips. I want to say something sexy, something confident that will make him want me more, but my brain is empty. Blank. A void. It’s like the mere thought of him going down on me has rendered me mindless.

  His hands push my dress up over my waist, and with one last sinful grin, he looks up at me. “Let me hear the wild woman I know lives inside you come out.”

  A second later, the first flick of his tongue against my pussy makes my eyes roll back in my head. The beautiful mouth that made my legs go weak from his kisses playfully teases me, sucking my clit and running his tongue the length of me so all I want to do is beg him for more.