Reality of Love Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Marika Ray

As I stared at the ocean waves hitting the sand and receding, I saw John get up and leave out of the corner of my eye. I needed to figure out how to talk to Rhett. How to apologize for being so stupid. How to get things back on track.

  I needed Lily-Marie to Dr. Phil me. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and hit her contact.

  “Well, did you talk to him?”

  “I can babysit two nights a week for a year.” She had to take me up on that bribe, right?

  “Jesus.” She huffed and sighed. “Why didn’t you talk to him?”

  “I was going to, but I couldn’t find him. Then I did find him, but he was in the middle of his hug session and I misinterpreted things.”

  “What the hell’s a hug session? Wait. Never mind. Don’t care. So what’s the problem now?”

  I tilted my head back, watching a seagull swoop over my head and land on the sand to scrounge for food left by careless humans. “I just don’t know what to say to him to apologize. To prove I’m over Hew.”

  “Maybe you’re not over him,” Lily-Marie said almost in a whisper, like saying it out loud was taboo.

  “I’m not still in love with Hew,” I nearly spat the words, despising the way they tasted and hating she thought for even one second I wasn’t over him.

  “It’s not about being in love with him. It’s about still giving him a part of you. You can’t go into this with Rhett for reals if a part of you is still doing it to get back at Hew. Wasn’t that your whole reason for going on the reality show? Rhett deserves one hundred percent of you, not ninety-five, not even ninety-nine.” Lily-Marie, the voice of reason, probably with a newborn baby in her arms and operating on two hours of sleep.

  “But Rhett is my ex’s brother. It just seems so wrong, like I’m breaking some ancient bro code that’ll sic karma on my ass for all eternity.”

  I could practically hear the eye roll through the phone. “You love who you love. As long as you’re not hurting anyone, then it’s all good.”

  I hemmed and hawed, not ready to let it go quite yet. “Um, I’m pretty sure I’m hurting Hew. You should have seen the way he charged in there last night. He was clearly hurt by me dating Rhett.”

  There was a pause.

  “Was he, Gabby? Was he actually hurt? Or was his pride hurt?”

  I shrugged, which I realized she couldn’t see. Didn’t matter anyway because she went on.

  “He didn’t want you, didn’t love you, that much is clear, right? He wouldn’t have cheated on you if he did. So, that means he can’t possibly be hurt over you dating Rhett. His pride simply took a hit when he saw the little brother he hates with the woman he deep-down knows he shouldn’t have let get away. There’s a difference. Don’t purposely confuse the two because you’re scared to give your heart to someone and fully trust again.”

  My jaw dropped. “Damn, girl. You Dr. Phil better than Dr. Phil.”

  Lily-Marie sniffed. “I seem to remember a similar conversation when I was pushing away Jameson. My bestie saw through my shit and set me straight. So. You’re welcome.”

  “You know I love you, right?” My eyes misted over again. I wanted to reach through the phone and hug the crap out of her, Lavender style.

  “I know. And I love you right back,” she said softly.

  I giggled, my voice thick with emotion. “I never thought the guy who broke my heart would also have broken the heart of my fake boyfriend who now holds my heart.”

  “Girl, that’s some next level crazy…” Lily-Marie muttered. “I expected nothing less from you. Now go talk to your man!”

  “Okay, thank you.” We hung up and I slipped the phone in my back pocket. The breeze tossed my hair in my face, momentarily blocking out my view of the beach.

  “Hey.”

  I’d recognize that rumble anywhere. My stomach dropped, but my heart soared.

  “Rhett.” My voice was reverent, his presence what I hoped and prayed for made real.

  Seeing his rumpled T-shirt and board shorts felt like seeing home for the first time in days. He sat down on the bench, his elbows on his knees. He looked down at his hands, the lack of a smile on his face my fault. There were smudges of darkness under his eyes that even the smattering of freckles couldn’t hide. A sense of urgency rushed through me. I needed to make this right.

  “I’m—”

  “Gabby—”

  His head rose and he finally looked at me. His hand gestured for me to go first. I rushed to start, wanting to keep his eyes trained on mine so he could see the sincerity.

  “I’m so sorry, Rhett. For last night, for this morning. Everything’s such a mess, but mostly because of how I reacted. I-I was shocked by Hew barging in and I handled it horribly. The whole reason I was on the show was to show him how happy I am now that he and I were not together. But then I didn’t count on you. I didn’t count on developing feelings for you or how that would change my intentions for this show. I hadn’t even really come to terms with dating my ex’s brother. And it all hit me in the face when I saw Hew and the cameras were catching everything.” Something wet hit my cheek and I swiped at it, realizing belatedly it was a tear. “I should have come to you immediately and talked it out, but I was afraid.” The last part came out in a whisper. Funny how shame can grab you by the throat and stop the words that need to be said the most.

  Rhett sat back, the weight of his body slumping against the backrest, jostling me on the tiny wooden bench. He was back to looking at anything besides me.

  “Gabby…” he muttered. My heart quit soaring and joined my stomach on the ground. He wasn’t going to accept my apology. I’d barely had him and I’d already lost him.

  Then he turned toward me, tucking his leg under his body, his arm on the backrest, his gaze fully on me like I was the only person in the whole wide world. I tamped down my heart’s insistence on flying again. We had miles to go and hours of conversation before I could reach a verdict on how things would pan out for Rhett and me.

  “Why were you afraid?”

  He hadn’t touched me yet and I ached for it. My skin had gotten used to him already, the way he’d brush his thumb against my shoulder back and forth while his arm was over me or how he’d find a way to touch my back if we were standing, or my thigh if we were sitting. His question made me nervous and his touch would have helped.

  But I didn’t deserve his help. I had to flay myself open, reveal the remaining worms left over from Hew, and rid myself of them. Me. I had to do it. Not Lily-Marie. Not Rhett. Me.

  Best to do it like a Band-Aid, right? Let it rip.

  “I was scared to come to you because it would require me being totally honest with myself, first of all. And then you’d see me. Like really see me, worms and all. I didn’t like myself very much so how could I show that to you?”

  “Why didn’t you like yourself?” His face gave away no emotion.

  I paused, wanting to really dig deep to find the answer. Not the flimsy excuses I’d given myself for years, but the true essence of me and why I did what I did.

  “I allowed Hew to make me feel not worthy of love all those years. And then when he cheated on me, it said my love wasn’t enough. I wasn’t enough. And I believed that lie. My stupid idea to go on that show was my crazy attempt to make myself feel better. So stupid…” I shook my head. “When he came in and said those horrible things, I had this huge realization that I was still hung up on him.”

  I felt Rhett stiffen next to me. Rushing to set him straight, I said, “I’m not still in love with him. But I was still stuck on proving him wrong, when he wasn’t the one I needed to prove it to. I needed to prove it to myself that I was worthy of love, that I’m enough. He has nothing to do with that. So why was I still bending over backward trying to shove something in his face? It wasn’t the betrayal that hurt, it was what I decided it meant about myself. And I’ve decided it only means Hew is an asshole. Full stop.”

  I looked back up at Rhett to see the stone face gone, replaced by a softening in his blue ey
es.

  “And the fact he and I are half-brothers. Does that still bother you?”

  I shook my head and smiled, feeling more free than I had in years. “No. Love comes for all types of couples and who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong? We’re not hurting anyone and I know you’re nothing like him.”

  His fingers found the edge of my hair by my shoulder, twisting it around and around absentmindedly. I could have sighed at the bliss of him touching me. The only thing that stopped me was not wanting to break whatever spell this was that had Rhett talking to me again.

  “Why did you run out of the house just now?”

  My cheeks heated. To think Rhett cheated on me was so stupid. “A knee jerk reaction to seeing the man I love lying in the arms of another woman.”

  His fingers froze and I held my breath.

  “You love me?”

  I quirked an eyebrow, feeling my heart soar up as high as the sky. “You ask a lot of questions, you know that?”

  He grabbed my shoulders and spun me fully toward him, an urgency to him that wasn’t normally there. “Say that again.”

  I beamed, knowing I no longer had trepidations to saying the words that reflected exactly what I felt. “I love you, Rhett.”

  His dimples showed up just as the sun came out from behind a cloud and I knew there could be no coincidence. This man could get me to open up my heart again. I’m sure something as easy as manipulating the weather was child’s play for him.

  He pulled me into a hug, nearly crushing the air from my lungs. I was too happy being back in his arms and feeling those muscles to give a shit about a little thing like oxygen.

  “I love you too. And I sure as shit wasn’t messing around with Lavender,” he whispered into my hair.

  “I know. I’m just sorry you had to go to her for a hug instead of me. I should have been there to console you.” I pulled back a bit to see his face. “Are you okay? Your brother was horrible to you.”

  His smile dimmed but didn’t leave. “Yeah, that kind of sucked, but just like you, I needed that wake-up call. I can’t keep waiting on Hewitt to invite me into his life. I decided I’m not waiting around for him to throw me the scraps of his attention. I left this morning to talk to him at his office.”

  He grunted. “He actually texted me while I was driving over to offer me a contact of his who wants to invest in my company.”

  My fingers went cold. I wanted to be happy for him about his company, but I just didn’t see how he could count on Hew to help him. If I knew Hew, and unfortunately I did, it sounded like a set-up.

  Rhett pushed the hair back from my face where the breeze had sent it flying. “Don’t worry, I told him no. I also told him I had no intention of having a relationship with him. I told him to stay away from both of us.” He nuzzled my nose with his. “We’re done with him, Gabby.”

  “Can I never be done with you?” I whispered back.

  He brought his lips to mine with a soft brush. “You better never be done with me because I plan to have several lifetimes of loving you.”

  Our lips smashed together in a frenzied kiss of apologies, acceptance, and promises for the future. It quickly turned heated as he tried to consume me and I would have let him if not for the squeal directly behind our bench.

  “Oh look, John! They’ve worked it out.”

  We broke apart, breathing heavy. As one, we slowly turned our heads and took in John and Lavender smiling at us, along with two cameramen who looked a little pissed we’d escaped them.

  Rhett looked back at me and winked. “At least there’s no goats.”

  28

  Rhett

  Viewers of the show might think Gabby and I got our happy ever after based on the short clip of reconciliation the cameramen actually got on film, but they’d be wrong. I wouldn’t be happy unless Gabby was wearing my ring and we were raising our babies right by the ocean where I could teach them to surf and scare the crap out of their mom on the daily.

  I was so proud of Gabby for facing her demons and letting them go. Hell, I was proud of myself too. More than anything, I wanted to give Gabby absolutely everything she ever wanted. Thing is, she already had plenty of cash to buy whatever she wanted, which meant I got the opportunity to give her the things money couldn’t buy, which was my specialty.

  So I got to planning.

  We had various activities planned throughout the next week for the show, but we didn’t get everyone back together until the dinner Kitty and Jasper were hosting on Saturday night. Barring any more marriage breakup confessions putting a black cloud over the evening, that gave me five days to get my plan in place and come up with the right thing to say to Gabby, our friends, and the viewing audience.

  When Saturday arrived, I was totally calm, which made me feel a bit smug. Austin, whom I’d bounced my ideas off of, told me he’d been crazy nervous with Elle. Of course, I didn’t bother calling Jayden as he’d just warn me off of women forever. He was jaded and I couldn’t deal with his permanent negativity just now.

  “Can you zip me up?” Gabby walked out of her closet with a low cut red dress held to her beautiful body, feet bare. Her toenails were painted the same blazing red as her dress, which caught my eye since she normally just had a French manicure. My gaze flew to her nails, seeing them the same bright red, not the normal deep burgundy she’d worn since the day I met her.

  “What have you done with Gabby?” I glowered at her, trying my best to mask how freaking gorgeous she looked and the internal struggle I was currently having on not ripping that dress off her and throwing her on the bed.

  She smiled, her eyes dancing like she knew my internal struggle. “I figured it was time to switch it up a bit. I seem to have developed a taste for bright reds. You like?” Her hips swung a bit more than usual as she walked toward me. The little vixen was teasing me on purpose.

  I quirked an eyebrow and clenched my jaw. “I fucking love it.” I grabbed her by the hips and tugged her all the way in, crushing her to me, her arms pinned between us, immobile. Dipping my head, I got a taste of her lips before she pulled her head back.

  “The color reminded me of your hair color when you were a little boy.” She smiled sweetly, which made me feel a bit of an ass for wanting to ravage her like a frat boy with only one thing on his mind when she was being romantic. I should never have showed her that family album. Although if she was to meet my mom next week, I wanted her to fully understand my family history before then. What better way to take a trip down memory lane than a slideshow of old family photographs?

  I slid my lips across hers again, needing to connect with her more than I needed air. I loved how she could be so sweet yet could bring a grown man to his knees with her wit and spirit.

  “I love you,” I said between kisses. I’d never get tired of saying those three words.

  “Can I do something?” she answered back.

  Anything. “Yes,” I breathed, hoping she was thinking the same thing I was thinking.

  “Promise me you won’t touch me.”

  “Uh…” That sounded like a terrible idea.

  She poked me in the side. “Promise me.”

  I touched my forehead to hers. “I promise, Snookums. Do your worst.”

  She immediately pushed away from me and I began to regret my agreement. Damn woman could get me to do anything.

  Her hands let go of her dress, letting it pool to the floor, and started working on my belt. She wasn’t wearing a bra, her breasts free for me to ogle as they bounced with each movement. My gaze trailed down to take in her black lacy underwear framing a gorgeous ass I’d had my hands on quite a few times in the last week. When she got my belt undone and started in on my button and zipper, I grabbed her hands.

  “Wha—”

  “Hey, you promised!” She leveled those brown eyes at me, daring me to go back on my word.

  Who was I to stop a hot woman from getting in my pants?

  I released her and put my hands behind my head like
I was either getting frisked by the hottest cop in California or resting beside the pool on a lazy day. I remained relaxed until she pushed everything down, freeing my erection with a delighted squeal. Yeah, of course, I was ready to go. Any hot-blooded male who saw Gabby in just her undies would be. Though no man would ever see that again if everything went according to plan tonight.

  She wrapped her hands around the Incredible Bulk and gave it a stroke. Of course, that meant my hands flew off the back of my head because I was no longer relaxed. More like in danger of sliding to the ground in a heap of yes-please-do-whatever-you-want pleasure.

  She tsked at me, stopping my hands just millimeters away from touching her.

  “Sit.”

  When she used that tone with me, all I could do was comply, having a seat on the edge of the bed. She’d make an excellent sexy librarian. She let go of me, much to my disappointment. Instead, she shimmied out of her panties and climbed on top of me, one luscious leg on each side of my hips. Disappointment fled in a hurry, leaving me on the brink of ecstasy, thinking I was assuredly going to get lucky.

  The tips of her breasts brushed across my chest as she inhaled. She wrapped me in her arms and I was enveloped in all the scents of Gabby; the conditioner she used on her hair that smelled like a spa, the lavender of her lotion rubbed into her skin every morning, the sweet perfume sprayed on the pulse point of her neck I loved to kiss. If heaven were a scent, it was this.

  She slid down my length, teasing us both before reaching down and lining us up. This time, she slid nice and slow, inch by inch, seating me deep inside her by the time she stopped moving. A groan filled the air and I couldn’t have said whose it was.

  “Kiss me,” she demanded on a wisp of breath.

  I claimed her lips without any finesse, my restraint gone the minute she pulled up onto her legs and then sat back down. She continued her frenzied ride, my hands gripping the quilt on the bed tightly in my fists. I told her I wouldn’t touch and I wouldn’t even if it killed me. This felt too good to be real. Each time she sank fully onto me, a tiny gasp left her mouth, the puff of air swallowed in our messy kiss.