by L. T. Varner
Chapter 28
Partners?
My alarm went off at nine a.m., and I reached over Collin to turn it off. He grabbed me and mumbled, “You aren’t leaving this bed.” He rolled over onto me as I felt him moving my legs apart with his knee. I knew at this point I couldn’t stop him, nor did I want to.
Later, after prying myself out of bed, I was getting my running clothes on as I admired him lying there with nothing but a sheet on, watching me. I sat down to put my shoes on as I heard Mike knock on my door asking if I was ready. I yelled back that I would be right out. Collin sat up and started kissing my shoulder while running his fingertips over my ass.
“Behave. I have no willpower when it comes to you, Collin,” I said, looking at him as he grinned.
“I know how you feel, baby. My self-control is nonexistent around you,” he said before he playfully pulled me back down on the bed.
I let out a laugh, and he laughed too and kissed me again. I was falling in love with this new, playful side of Collin quickly.
I pushed him away and said, “I have to go, or Mike will know something is up.”
“Okay, how about I wait here for you?” he whispered seductively in my ear as his hand slid in my shorts and I groaned.
After Mike knocked again and tried to open the door, I whispered, “I will lock the door, so if you’re still here, you could shower with me when I get back. I mean, if you want to.”
“Oh, baby, I want to. You’re sexy as hell all sweaty and I like making you sweaty,” he said, giving me his sly smile.
God, what this man does to me. My body begged for him as I leaned up and kissed him again.
I closed the door behind me and walked right into Mike as he asked, “Who is in there?” He had a huge smile on his face. I could feel myself turning bright red. I grabbed him by the arm and said, “Let’s go.”
“Oh, come on, just tell me,” Mike begged as I dragged him outside and headed to the trail.
I heard Daniel still snoring when we left and was thankful Collin, and I hadn’t woken him. Collin was not quiet during sex, bossy as hell, but definitely not silent. I loved it. He made me do things and say things I would never have done. I had always been quiet and shy in the bedroom. But with him, I felt sexy and powerful. He was an animal in bed and held nothing back. Was this the type of sex people were always calling “mind-blowing” or “the best sex of their life?” This was new to me, and it scared the hell out of me.
Sure enough, Mike got all the details out of me as we ran the six-mile trail around my property.
Mike asked, “Danni, do you know what you’re doing with him?”
“I have no idea what I’m doing. But, it just feels right, I guess. Does that make any sense at all?” I answered, trying to keep pace with him.
“Does love ever make sense? All I’m going to say is I love you, but I think you’re going to get hurt in the long run. Remember he is getting married in a month.”
I hated hearing those words. It was gut-wrenching, but I knew I didn’t want to stop sleeping with him, even if he was getting married. It wasn’t like I was the type of girl someone would want to settle down with. I didn’t have the mommy vibe and sure as hell didn’t have the bride vibe. I was enjoying living alone, and truth be told, I was a bit selfish with my alone time.
Pulling me out of my thoughts Mike said, “I hate to tear you away from Collin, but we have a couple of interviews for waitresses, and our realtor Robert is coming by to talk to us.”
I laughed, and Mike said, “Are you trying to decide if you can get out of it and stay in bed all day?” I grinned at him, and he said, “No, you’re coming to work. I need your help if I’m going to leave you for two weeks so I can go on my honeymoon.”
Mike left after telling me he would meet me at the bar at noon, and I nodded before waving goodbye.
I walked up the stairs as my heart pounded. I was wondering if Collin was still in my room, scared that he had disappeared like he had done in the past. I walked down the hall and heard Daniel snoring and wondered how late he usually slept. I tried the door knob to my room, praying it was still locked, and it was. I instantly felt a huge sense of relief. I opened the door with my key and stepped inside. Collin was still in my bed with nothing on but a sheet. I was thrilled.
I tried to be quiet and let him sleep as I went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. I kicked my shoes off and got undressed before stepping into the shower. I realized I felt better today than I had the last couple days. I told myself: no more magazine interviews; they make me way too nervous. I started shampooing my hair and tilted my head back to rinse when I felt a pair of hands touch my hips.
Collin whispered, “You came back.”
I whispered back, “You stayed,” with a huge smile on my face. His hands started exploring my body, and it felt wonderful.
I finally opened my eyes and looked at him, he was happy. I tried to remember when the last time was that I saw him this happy. I really couldn’t remember as I gave up and he kissed my neck. All thoughts left my mind as we decided to do other things in the shower that involved both of us on our knees.
We made our way to the bed and passionately made love again, dripping wet. This time, perhaps I was a little too loud when I was in the middle of a mind-blowing orgasm as I rode Collin. He groaned and held my hips down against him when I heard a knock at the door.
“You okay in there, Danni?” Daniel asked with sarcasm in his voice. I couldn’t stop it at that point as Collin was enjoying his release, too, and bucking against me.
I came back to Earth while I was still on top of Collin and I noticed he was laughing hysterically. Daniel knocked again and in a broken voice, I answered, “I’m good, Daniel. I’ll be out in a minute.”
“Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like you have any reason to be frustrated after that orgasm. You must be that good with your hands,” Daniel said through his laughter.
“I’m fine. Go away!” I said as Collin continued laughing.
I wanted to die, or better yet, get some revenge for Collin laughing at me. I leaned over Collin, so my boobs were in his face as he suddenly got more serious and reached up to touch me.
“Collin, do you want to play a game with me today?” I asked as I leaned down and kissed his neck.
He groaned, rocking his hips against me, “I would love to play a game with you, baby.”
“Okay, the first one to cave into the other’s desires gets a lap dance from the other one,” I said, sitting up straight as I felt him growing inside me again.
“You are going to lose, baby, but I so look forward to the lap dance,” Collin groaned as I started riding him again before he flipped me over and kissed me.
Half an hour later we finally emerged from my bedroom. Daniel was still in the kitchen sitting at the island reading something on his laptop. He looked up and didn’t seem surprised to see his brother with me. Collin went downstairs to the apartment to change his clothes. I went to my office with my breakfast and a cup of coffee, hoping to avoid Daniel’s comments.
I flipped open my laptop and read the news when Daniel finally came walking in, he grabbed my coffee and started drinking it.
“That was mine,” I said, frustrated that he always took my coffee.
“I know, but you should be nice and get me a cup because I am a guest, and you didn’t offer me a morning treat like you did my brother.”
“Fine,” I said and walked back to the kitchen to pour him a cup.
“Look at you, see, you can look sexy if you try hard enough,” Daniel said, taking the new cup of coffee I held out for him. I hit him in the shoulder before I took my cup back from him.
Collin was walking up the stairs as we made our way into the kitchen as Daniel rubbed his arm, complaining that I hit like a girl.
Collin said, “Good, she finally hit you.”
We all read the news and kind of did our own thing for a while. My thing was watching Collin, he had put on a black button-
up shirt, keeping it untucked with a dark pair of nice-fitting jeans. I noticed he was glancing my way and smiling when my dad walked in.
He shook Daniel and Collin’s hands, and they talked about the success of the song and video. Dad asked if they wanted to do another and of course, they said yes as I stood up and gathered my stuff together, wanting no part of the conversation. Dad asked if he could get ready at the house the next day because Mark’s family was taking over his house and I nodded that that was okay. He then mentioned he would just stay in the apartment tonight, and I wondered where Collin was supposed to sleep.
Daniel grabbed Collin and put his head on his shoulder, “If you spoon with me tonight, you can sleep with me.”
I burst out laughing as Dad looked at me and pointed to Daniel, “He really is a child.”
Collin managed to get away from Daniel and said to my dad, “You have no idea how immature he can be. He’s a pain in my ass all the damn time.”
Dad offered to babysit them so I could go to the bar and they were fine with it. Collin seemed to enjoy being around my dad, which concerned me. I hoped Dad wouldn’t tell him details about the assault or the problems surrounding the investigation. Lately, it had been one problem after another and I was always fielding calls from the investigators and Nick, my attorney, who was already dating someone else. He mentioned a few times that I needed to cooperate more and reminded me that I had again skipped another appointment with a therapist. Mike was trying to help me, Dad was, too, but they didn’t understand. I was not about to talk about it to anyone. Not even the state prosecutors.
Mike pounced on me as soon as I walked into the office and said, “Our interview has been waiting for ten minutes, Danni.”
“Sorry, I got distracted,” I mumbled, trying to hide my smile.
He laughed and said, “You need a little distracting right now. Is he good in bed? Please tell me he is as good as I imagine he is?” He hadn’t asked for details after the Seattle disaster.
Mike had had a crush on Collin since we first saw his band in concert. I hit him in the ribs and laughed as he said, “I knew it! He is AWESOME in bed, isn’t he?”
The good thing about the bar interviews is that they were something Mike had always taken control of, he just insisted I be there. The guy left, and Mike looked at me and said, “Absolutely not. He stared at your boobs the whole time.” I laughed because I had noticed it, too.
The next interview started, and I was surprised as a scorching hot woman walked in. I paid more attention to this conversation than I probably ever had before. It was fun to watch Mike sound professional.
Her name was Beth, and she went on to say that she had been bartending for the last four years and was currently in law school. She was a beautiful girl with long dark hair, smaller boobs like mine, and she seemed intelligent. I liked her determination right away, and I looked over at Mike and nodded. He hired her on the spot. She wanted to start that night, which was perfect with the wedding tomorrow. She said she would be back at seven and Mike asked if I could show her the ropes so he could go to dinner with Mark’s family. I agreed. I was thankful he let me out of the rehearsal dinner and wedding crap scheduled for the night.
As I lay back on the couch, I put my feet up and yawned, realizing how tired I was after not getting much sleep the night before. Just as I dozed off, someone kicked my feet off the table. I opened my eyes and saw it was Daniel, and Collin was right behind him.
“Why are you so tired?” Daniel asked in a sarcastic voice.
I flipped him off as he sat down beside me. Collin sat in my chair and started messing with my computer when Mike walked back in and mentioned that Robert, our realtor, was here. Collin asked Mike if they should leave and he said they were fine.
After shaking hands, I asked, “What’s up, Robert? I haven’t seen you for a while.”
He talked about the real estate market, and I found myself staring at Collin as he smiled at me, knowing I wasn’t paying any attention to Robert. Mike kicked me under the table and gave me a look before we both directed our attention back to the conversation. Robert talked about when we first bought the bar and how I had mentioned back then that we would probably outgrow the space eventually. Pulling two folders from his briefcase, he handed one to Mike and one to me as I sat up. He went on to ask if we had noticed the hardware store next door had closed and we both nodded.
I started reading this proposal, standing up and making Collin get out of my chair so I could get on my computer. He went and sat where I had been and started looking at the folder in front of Mike. Robert told us that the man who owned it had passed away a couple of months back and his wife wanted to sell it, but before she put it on the market, she was offering it to us first. I thought it was a hefty sum as I read the price on the bottom of the information sheet
Mike piped up and said, “We are interested.”
I couldn’t stop myself, so I said, “Slow down, Mike. She’s asking twice the market value and right now businesses are closing all over town. Maybe we could find a different location altogether.”
Everyone looked at me, surprised. I saw in the fine print that Robert was representing the seller, as well, so this was a win-win for him and his commission. Mike knew I was analyzing the numbers and trying to play poker with Robert and his asking price.
A couple of minutes later Robert left and shut the door, giving us a moment to talk privately. I threw a red stress ball at Mike, one that he had gotten me as a gift.
“What the hell?” he asked, laughing.
“You didn’t even bother to look at how much the old lady wants. That is a lot of money, and it also means we would be doubling the size of the bar, which means more employees, more products, more liquor, more advertising, and more work for us. I love you, Mike, and I like what we have here, but I’m struggling to keep up with my writing, not to mention the soundtrack the studio is trying to get me to finish up, and last, the country artist that will be in here in two weeks to finish up the songs I’ve done for him. I am stretched thin enough,” I said, very frustrated.
Daniel looked at Mike and said, “When did she get so smart?”
Mike laughed and told him to shut up and then looked at me. “Okay, Danni here is my piece. You stretch yourself too thin because you are not organized. You take on too many projects and don’t give yourself adequate time to finish them. I know you love writing and scoring movies, but we started this bar together, and we are equally invested in this. The biggest problem is you work to avoid unpleasant things going on. You avoid them, but that doesn’t make them go away, and you are this fucking close to getting thrown in jail for not cooperating with the state prosecutors. So maybe we should think about taking on a partner or two, not to mention that personal assistant your agent has tried so desperately to hire for you. Mark would love to be part of this.”
Mike crossed the fucking line. I stood up and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind me. That was too much personal information Daniel and Collin didn’t need to know. The look on both of their faces was nothing but pity for me, and I was so tired of seeing that look on people’s faces.
An hour later I was finishing off my bacon cheeseburger and fries at the diner six blocks from the bar when Daniel sat down beside me. He didn’t say anything as he helped himself to my fries. I was thankful he didn’t push issues. Mike sat across from us as Collin sat down by him.
Mike reached over and grabbed my hand, “I’m sorry, Danni. I was rude, and you didn’t deserve to be called out on your issues in front of people. I should have handled it better. But, you have to help all of us so you can better help you.”
I swiped my hand across my cheek, hoping they didn’t see my tears. I just couldn’t talk about all the pressure right now. I was terrified of all of it, and I couldn’t stomach the idea of having to go to court and be face-to-face with Thom, my attacker. So, yes, I was making it difficult for everyone involved, but mostly myself.
About that time the w
aitress put my strawberry shake and a plate of crackers in front of me. The guys were all looking at me weird as I dipped a cracker in the shake and ate it.
“What? Haven’t any of you liked a little salt in your ice cream?” I asked, looking at them.
Daniel glanced at me and said, “You are so odd lately.”
We went back to my office, and I dialed Nick’s phone number. I wasn’t looking forward to talking to him. I just hoped he didn’t bring anything up as Mike started explaining the question of buying the building next door. We decided to go through with it and make Daniel and Collin partners, as well. They were going to purchase the building, and the renovations would fall on Mike and me.
Two hours later the deal was done, and Daniel was so excited, he called his mom to tell her the news. He handed me his phone and made me talk to her, as well. I had to promise her I would come back and visit soon. She also wanted to see the bar when it was all done and, surprisingly, I hoped she would. I handed Collin the phone after she asked to talk to him and he walked out of the office with it. Mike hugged me and said he was glad we were doing this.
The three of us sat in my office checking emails and playing on our phones for a while when I noticed Collin had closed his eyes and was sleeping. I was jealous.
There was a knock at my door, and I looked over and saw Beth, the new girl. Before she could even sit down, Daniel was in front of her introducing himself and Collin had opened his eyes and was checking her out, too. I shot him a look before he started smiling at me. Daniel was laying it on pretty thick when Collin stood up and said they should get a drink or something and pulled Daniel out of the room. Thank heavens for that.
Beth sat down and asked, “Are they the two guys from that band that has been rumored to be hanging around here?”
“Yes, they are, but here we do value people’s privacy, so I hope I don’t see you advertising it on the internet.”
“Of course not, I would never invade their privacy. I would hate to be followed around constantly by photographers and fans. It won’t be a problem,” she said as I finished entering her information into our system.
