by S. Nelson
“Hello?” Still I didn’t respond, wondering why Walter would let some guy openly fondle his daughter in public, and in front of him to boot. Okay, maybe he wasn’t fondling her, but I didn’t like the way he looked at her.
“Ford!” my brother whisper-shouted. I averted my eyes to him without moving my head. “What were they doing in the hallway?”
“Talking.”
“About what?”
“I don’t know.” I blew out a breath. “There’s something there,” I repeated. “Just get Hunter to look him up.” Owen didn’t argue, pulling out his cell and sending our buddy a text. He walked away a minute later and joined Emily.
Even though I didn’t want to tear my eyes away from Cara and the famous bastard touching her, my attention was needed somewhere else. I glanced around the space for the man in question, wondering just what the hell his relationship with Cara was, if there was one at all. I spotted him alone near the bar. He finished his drink, then gestured to the bartender for another before cradling his head in his hands. His wife and daughter were busy talking to a group of people, laughing, oblivious there was something going on with the other member of their family.
I could be overreacting, taking my cue strictly from Cara, who’d proven to be dramatic. It could be nothing, and I would’ve loved to blame it on my overprotective nature, but my gut screamed for me to pay attention. However, I didn’t get the chance to approach the guy. Something I warred with doing out of fear I’d end up causing a scene if he revealed something I didn’t want to hear, because after he finished his drink, he approached his family briefly before abruptly leaving.
For the next half hour, I hung back and waited. Waited for Cara to come over and tell me it was time to go. Waited to hear back about Stephanie’s father. Waited to come to grips with my unnatural feelings of jealousy toward the guy going on a date with Cara. Waited for the conversation I’d have to have with her about my role as her chaperone whenever they did go out.
I could stand there all night and ponder what would happen in the upcoming days, weeks even, but thankfully I was saved from my relentless thoughts when Cara strode toward me.
I tried to remain unaffected with the sway of her hips or the side view of her tit when she shifted slightly because someone called her name, the sheer material barely hiding her at all. I’d seen Cara’s body before when I unexpectedly watched her masturbate. Maybe unexpectedly wasn’t the way it happened, but at least I still bore the shame for being too weak to walk away from the cameras that spied on her in her room. She’d called on my baser needs and I’d given in like a moth to a flame.
“I want to leave.” I thought she’d bark her demands and walk away, but she surprised me by standing there calmly. When neither of us spoke, tension built but I couldn’t describe the nature of the unease. Was it sexual? Most likely, but something more existed.
Not being able to tolerate the odd exchange happening between us, I broke the silence. “What happened back there?” I hadn’t planned on asking her that question right then, but I did, and there was no taking it back, my curiosity overruling my good sense.
“When?” she asked, tilting her head.
“In the hallway.” In one breath, her shoulders tensed right before she looked down, closing her eyes for several seconds. “Nothing.”
“It didn’t look like nothing,” I countered.
“Well, it was. Besides, it’s none of your business.” She whipped her head up and narrowed her eyes, challenging me, and while I’d love to push her for answers, this wasn’t the place. “I want to go home,” she repeated.
“After you.” I extended my arm in front of me and waited for her to proceed. After Cara said her goodbyes to her parents and friends, we headed toward the exit, Owen and Emily five paces behind us.
If all of us hadn’t driven together, I would’ve pushed Cara for answers on the way back to the house. There wouldn’t be anywhere for her to escape, and although she could either ignore me or shout at me to shut up, there was a slim chance she might’ve revealed something.
* * *
Cara
An old-timey crooner belted out tunes while we busied ourselves with idle chitchat on the way home. Owen and Ford held their own conversation while Emily and I talked about everything that happened at the event. Well, mostly everything. She asked me why I’d abruptly walked away from her, and I told her some bullshit lie about not feeling well, explaining it might’ve been something I’d eaten earlier. She believed me, or at least I thought she did, but I didn’t dwell on the topic long before I switched to another. One that involved us both. Well, all four of us, to be exact.
“I saw you guys talking to our dad earlier. Did it have anything to do with the notes?” Ford caught my eyes in the rearview, the look he gave me unsettling, but I didn’t believe it had anything to do with the threat toward our family.
“It did,” Ford answered. Thankfully, I didn’t have to probe him for more information. “He told us he hasn’t received any more since the last one.”
“So where does that leave us?” I asked, wondering what life would be like without the two men hovering around my sister and me whenever their services were no longer needed.
Emily shifted in the seat next to me, flashing me an odd look before peering out the window, fidgeting with the hem of her dress. Whatever her relationship was with Owen, I couldn’t say for definite, but something existed between them. Beyond the scope of bodyguard and client, at least. Was she wondering the same thing I was? And did that make her sad to think about Owen no longer being around? I opened my mouth to ask her what was wrong, but Ford spoke before I could get the words out.
“In the same position.”
As much as I tried to focus on Emily and my impending question, when Ford said the word position, I couldn’t help but picture us in all sorts of them. Chalk it up to the alcohol or my wanting to forget about the encounter with my past, but I conjured up all sorts of filthy images of Ford and me.
Me pressed against him.
His hands exploring my body.
Our mouths fused together, our tongues dancing and dueling for dominance, to which I’d submit to his after a lengthy bit of teasing.
Before I could lose myself further into my fantasies, however, Emily leaned over and whispered into my ear.
“Owen told me that Ford asked him how much money they had immediate access to.” She pulled back and smiled, expecting me to understand her out-of-the-blue comment.
“So?” I looked at her like she had three heads.
“So… he wanted to bid on the date with you, silly.”
“What?” I said louder than intended, drawing Ford’s attention, his eyes pinning me through the mirror. Heat bloomed in my belly while the ache between my legs intensified from the force of his stare. I turned fully toward my sister. “What?” I repeated, that time much quieter, the music drowning out our next spoken words.
“He wanted to win the date with you.”
“Why would he want to do that?” Was it possible that Ford liked me? Like… liked me, liked me?
“So that no one else would.” Disappointment swirled through me. The hope that he could truly have an interest in me disappeared as quickly as the thought had formed. Maybe it was delusion steering my dreams of having Ford want me, but my let down was real. “He told Owen it’s going to be a nightmare tagging along on your date.”
For some reason, part of me hadn’t considered that Ford would be going with me on my date with Cody, although on another level, I knew he’d be there because I couldn’t go anywhere without him.
Nerves took hold. How was I supposed to enjoy a night out with Cody with Ford hanging around? Watching every move I made and most likely interfering whenever he deemed Cody acted in a way he didn’t approve of.
Ford was right… it would be a nightmare.
For everyone involved, but mainly me.
* * *
Cara
Spending several days and nigh
ts locked away in my room was the only way I could remotely attempt to deal with what happened. I depleted my body of tears while I curled into myself, shutting out the world.
Coming face to face with the man who’d ruined me did more damage than I foresaw. I’d shoved those memories so deep down, I’d gotten good at the façade I showed the world, including my close friends and family.
I swore no one would break through my heavily guarded, barb-wire reinforced fence I had protecting me at all times. I never wanted to be that vulnerable again. Ever. But the second I’d laid eyes on him, everything shattered, and I was left exposed and raw.
Passing off my isolation due to sickness wasn’t hard to do. I looked like shit, with my unwashed hair, my puffy eyes, and my blotched complexion. I swore I’d lost weight, too, refusing to eat most of the food Emily brought to my room for me.
But by day four, I started to emerge, and no one was any the wiser, believing I had indeed caught some sort of virus.
The night had arrived for my date with Cody. Or should I say his date with me? We’d exchanged numbers at the charity event last weekend and had texted several times over the past few days. He wanted to pick me up, but I told him I’d meet him at the restaurant because I had to have my security detail with me. He agreed, because he had no other choice, and told me we could figure out the rest of the evening when we met up.
Thoughts of what would happen after dinner plagued me, and not in the way I would’ve thought. I looked forward to meeting up with Cody again, and I found him extremely attractive and charming, but I was nervous about the possibility of sex. Not nervous in the realm that I’d be self-conscious because I’d heard of his reputation and didn’t feel like I’d measure up. That wasn’t it at all. I had my own reputation, some of it warranted, but since Ford would be tagging along, I’d feel on display. I wouldn’t be able to let loose and fully enjoy myself as much. Not that he would be present if and when I decided to sleep with Cody. That’s not what I meant.
I… hell, I had no idea what I meant.
Tiring myself out with the internal back and forth, I jumped in the shower, praying the hot water would rid me of my annoying thoughts. As the water cascaded over me, I knew there was no escaping the conversation that needed to happen between me and Ford. One where I asked him what his intentions were. Would he back off and give Cody and me the privacy we wanted, or would he barge into our date and be the proverbial third wheel? Would he have to sit with us, or would he sit nearby like he had when I went to lunch with Naomi? The impending talk with him made me tense, the hot water doing nothing to assuage my nerves.
I hopped out ten minutes later and started getting ready, laying my outfit across my bed. Deciding to keep it casual yet sexy, I chose a black lace see-through shirt with a black bra. The top was revealing but not overtly. Not my normal sexy choice. Then I selected a pair of dark skinny jeans that hugged my ass. Compliments were in abundance whenever I wore them, and I thought they’d give me the extra boost of assurance I needed. Most people had the perception that I was arrogant and confident, the opposite of shy. And while sometimes that was true, that I owned my sexuality, even flaunted it on occasion, I possessed the same insecurities every other woman did. Would he find me attractive? Sexy? Interesting? Worthy of his attention?
As I asked myself those questions, it was Ford’s face that popped into my head and not Cody’s.
“You’re being ridiculous,” I berated to my reflection. “Who cares what he thinks about you?”
“About what who thinks about you?” Emily appeared in the middle of my room.
“You could knock, you know.” She scared me, and for a second, I was angry, until the shock of her surprise wore off.
“Who were you talking about?” she probed, flopping down on my bed, careful not to sit on my clothes.
“Nobody.”
“Come on. Was it Cody or someone else? Maybe a certain six-foot-three, tall, gorgeous creature? Or—”
“Stop.”
She laughed, tucking her legs underneath her and leaning forward, watching me. I didn’t know if she was waiting for me to tell her the truth or if she wanted to talk about something else altogether.
“What are you going to do tonight? Watch another documentary?” I smirked at her faux wide-eyed expression.
“I do have a life that doesn’t revolve around docudramas.”
“Oh, they’re somehow dramas now, are they?”
“You’d be surprised how dramatic some of the women in history were.” She opened her mouth to ramble on but, again, I cut her off.
“I love you, but I couldn’t care less.” Emily was used to my disinterest in the things she liked, and she rarely gave me shit about it.
As the curling iron glided through my blonde hair, twisting the strands into a bouncy wave, I watched my sister through the mirror. Her expression contorted every few seconds, the twitch of her nose indicating something was on her mind. She looked like how I felt most days. Confused. Conflicted.
“You okay?” I asked, turning around. “Anything you want to talk about?” She shrugged, her grin slowly fading until her expression morphed into a straight face. “Out with it, sis.”
She opened her mouth but closed it before speaking. She did that a few time before shaking her head.
Selfishly, I was okay with her not talking right then. Getting ready for a date with a handsome movie star required mental energy. Then add Ford into the mix, and I had to remind myself not to become overwhelmed.
“Do you think Cody will try the move?” she suddenly asked.
“What move?”
“You know.” I gave her a blank look. “The one he tried on Ella in My Stolen Heart?”
“You do realize that wasn’t him. That he was playing a character in a movie?” She shrugged. “I’ll tell ya what. If he tries the move on me, I’ll let you know.”
The famous move, the one that made every woman’s panties wet when watching the film was when Cody’s character, Tristan, leaned in to whisper in Ella’s ear but nuzzled her neck instead. He rotated from kissing to nibbling until he moved to her mouth, taking her bottom lip between his teeth and biting down. Then the kiss that happened afterward was epic. My nether regions tingled at the memory of that scene.
“Where is Ford going to be while you’re with Cody?” Emily’s question was one I’d asked myself multiple times but still had no answer to.
“I don’t know.”
“Well, you should probably figure that out. Seeing as how you have to meet Cody in an hour.” She hopped off my bed and walked toward the door. “Besides, it’ll give you another reason to talk to Ford.”
Ford and I talked. Not often and not about much, but we talked.
After I finished getting ready, I left my room, but not before checking myself out one more time in the mirror. I looked good. Great, in fact. Then why did butterflies take flight in my stomach at the thought of going on a date with Ford? I meant Cody.
Fuck! This night was going to be harder than I anticipated.
* * *
Ford
As I paced the kitchen in the main house, I couldn’t prevent the irritation from overtaking me. How the hell did I wind up being the one to have to escort Cara on a date with a known womanizer? A famed actor who allegedly fucked half of the Hollywood starlets, as well as countless models. There was no way he’d pass up an opportunity to get Cara into bed, although trying to do it that night would be impossible. Not unless he wanted me in the room with them.
The thought alone pushed my annoyance to anger.
“What’s wrong with you?” Owen asked, entering the room and startling me. I’d been so consumed with projected images of what tonight would bring that I hadn’t heard him come in.
“Nothing,” I barked, reining in my temper because this was one time my brother didn’t deserve it. Although, if he made a comment to compound my bad mood, then I’d have no issue letting loose on him.
“Oh, never mind. I know why yo
u’re all pissed off.” Here we go. “Tonight’s the night, isn’t it?
“The night for what?” Playing stupid didn’t sit well with me.
“Codra’s date? Or was it Cocara?” He laughed, and the sound of his amusement plucked at my last nerve.
“What the hell are you babbling on about?” I yanked the refrigerator door open, and while I wanted to down a bottle of beer, maybe two, I couldn’t drink while working.
“Cara’s date with Cody Caverly.” Owen leaned against the island, silently challenging me. But to do what? Admit my jealousy toward the famous fuck who’d be wining and dining Cara? Because the thought alone was laughable. Maybe not right then, but I’d find the humor soon, right?
“The last thing I want to do is go on a date.” Owen’s brows cinched together. “Shut up. You know what I mean.”
His laughter rang out in the air behind me as I walked toward the steps. If I couldn’t wallow in my frustration alone, then I’d try and refocus my attention. Besides, I had to see how much longer it’d take Cara to be ready.
The moment the thought of her entered my head, like she’d hadn’t been there moments earlier, she appeared at the top of the landing. Without wanting to, I stared. Awkwardly long. Several seconds passed before she took the first step and I swore time slowed. As asinine as that sounded, it was true, like some sort of odd dream I was trapped in.
Her long hair hung loosely over her shoulders, the top she wore see-through, her black bra blending into the color of the material. She was covered, yet exposed. And those damn jeans of hers fit her like a second skin, her heels making her legs look like they went on forever.
“Are you going to move back?” she asked, looking up at me when she cleared the stairwell.
