Shameless (An Enemies To Lovers Novel Book 5)

by Michelle Horst

  Rhett’s fingers dig into my flesh, bordering on being painful.

  “Evie,” he grinds out as his body bows off the bed.

  Every muscle in Rhett’s body tenses as his lips part and a breath hisses from him. I feel him jerk inside of me and I slow down, sensually grinding myself against him as my own orgasm shreds through me.

  As I’m coming down from the pleasure, Rhett rips his hands from where I’ve been keeping them locked to my breasts. He grabs hold of my shoulders and yanking me down against his chest, he rolls me onto my back. Covering every inch of me with his body, he buries his face in my neck as a cry shudders through him.

  I wrap my arms around him and press kisses to his shoulder and neck as my own tears warm my cheeks.

  When he regains control of himself, he doesn’t try to hide his tears from me, but lifts his head and kisses me.

  Tasting our tears, I now understand what Rhett meant when he said I’m both his undoing and saving grace.

  I feel exactly the same.

  When he breaks the kiss and stares down at me, he asks, “Where did that come from?”

  I grin sheepishly as I say, “I told you I’m into extreme sports.”

  Chapter 36

  RHETT

  I’ve wasted so much time trying to fill the hole in my chest with meaningless sex. Turns out it wasn’t a hole. It’s a slot where Evie fits in perfectly.

  Tomorrow she’s moving in with her dad. The three of us are having a goodbye dinner tonight. It was Evie’s idea, and Hayden and I are just going along with it.

  That’s something I’m still getting used to – calling Evie’s dad by his first name.

  I smile when I park my car outside Evie’s building and see Hayden and Evie getting out of his car. They notice me too and wait for me to catch up with them.

  “Good, you’re just in time,” Evie says as she presses a quick kiss to my lips and shoves a bag into my arms.

  She rushes into the building ahead of us, and before I can follow, Hayden says, “Hold up.” He waits for Evie to be out of hearing distance before he continues, “It’s Evie’s birthday in two weeks.”

  “Yeah, I wanted to ask if you’ve made plans.”

  “We come from different worlds, and it’s time they meet. Your group of friends and my team. Evie deserves to have everyone celebrate her birthday with her.”

  “I can arrange that. What do –” A chill races down my spine and my eyes lock with Hayden’s.

  “Evie,” he breathes as he breaks out into a sprint.

  Halfway up the stair, we can hear her screaming.

  “Daddy!”

  “Rhett!”

  My heart is beating out of my chest by the time we reach her apartment. I don’t know what I expected but seeing Evie standing on the couch with a frying pan in her hands is definitely not it.

  She glares at something on the other side of the couch and figuring it’s a mouse, I move closer.

  Hayden walks toward Evie as I head to see what has her cornered.

  “Daddy,” she says as she drops the pan and throws her arms around him. She clings to him like a spider monkey and as I get closer the reason for Evie’s strange behavior groans.

  “I didn’t know he was in here. He scared me, so I whacked him with the pan I was holding. Did I kill him?”

  “Who the fuck are you?” I growl at the guy who’s holding his hand to a bleeding spot on his head.

  Hayden sets Evie down on her feet and growls, “Stay right here.” He stalks around the couch and grabs hold of the guy's neck, hauling him into the air.

  “Who is he?” Hayden asks Evie.

  She shrugs and looking a little guilty she whispers, “A mistake. In my defense, I tried to fix the mistake once I knew better.”

  I watch the interaction with fascination, not worried about the mistake that’s being strangled by Hayden.

  “That’s why I’m here, Evie. Do me a favor?” Hayden waits for her to nod before he continues. “Go to your room and close the door.” His eyes flick to the guy, and his eyes turn to murder. “Daddy will take care of the mistake, and I don’t want you to witness it.”

  We both watch Evie walk to her room. She glances at us from over her shoulder, and mouths the word, “Sorry.”

  Before she closes the door, she says, “Don’t kill him. I don’t want to have to forfeit my deposit on this place because there are bloodstains on the carpet and walls.”

  “Evie. The door,” Hayden says giving her a pointed look.

  “Yes, Daddy.” She shuts it quickly.

  I look back to the guy who’s becoming more lucid.

  “Rhett,” Hayden says as he drops the guy back onto the floor.

  “Yeah.”

  “You want to learn a neat trick?” Hayden asks as he crouches down by the guys head.

  “Sure.”

  The guy finally snaps out of the daze Evie knocked him into and seeing Hayden’s threatening face, his eyes widen.

  “Do me a favor,” Hayden says, never taking his eyes from the guy. “Grab a spoon from the kitchen.”

  I walk to the kitchen and open the drawer.

  “You want the big spoon or little spoon?” I call back to him.

  “Big spoon.”

  “That would’ve been my choice as well,” I say as I bring the spoon back to Hayden and hand it to him.

  The guy tries to sit up, but Hayden’s hand slams into his throat and pins him back against the floor. With his free hand, he brings the spoon to the guys left eye socket.

  “What the fuck are you doing in my daughter’s apartment?”

  A garbled string of words fly out of the guy's mouth.

  “Did you understand any of that?” Hayden asks.

  “Didn’t make a lick of sense to me.”

  I cross my arms over my chest.

  Hayden starts to apply pressure by pressing the spoon under the guy's eyelid.

  “Dude you better talk,” I warn him.

  “I used to date her,” he screams. “Stop! Please stop. I just wanted to scare her. I wouldn’t have hurt her.”

  “Your name,” Hayden hisses.

  “Kyle.”

  “Well, Kyle, today’s your lucky day. Not only will I allow you to keep your eye, but I’ll also call you a cab.”

  I frown at this.

  “Can’t we hurt him a little bit?” I ask, wanting to make him bleed for trying to attack Evie.

  Hayden pulls the guy to his feet.

  “Rhett, because I like you, I’ll let you throw a few punches while I call the cab. How does that sound?”

  “Like a deal, I can’t pass up,” I growl as I grab hold of Kyle and the second Hayden steps back, my fist connects with Kyle’s jaw.

  Kyle’s grunt makes Evie call out from behind the door. “No blood on my carpet!”

  “Don’t worry, babe,” I yell back as I deliver another blow to the fuckers face, “I got this!”

  I’m disappointed when Kyle passes out after the third blow. I let him drop to the floor.

  Hayden shakes his head while staring down at Kyle.

  “You’ve got a good, solid punch,” he says.

  “Thanks,” I say, grinning at the compliment.

  “Next time hit a little softer. Then you can torture them for longer.”

  “I’ll remember that.” I point to his phone. “Who did you call?”

  “Cops. That reminds me.” He rushes to the bedroom and opens the door, “You can come out now.”

  Evie comes out, and the second she sees the blood, her hands fly to her hips, and she scowls at me.

  “You said you got this,” she says.

  “I do. I’ll get a cleaning company out.”

  “Oh. Okay.”

  “Evie, when the cops get here, you’ll need to give a statement. The basic thing we’re all going with is that we walked in, the idiot attacked Evie, and after a fight broke out, we managed to subdue him.”

  When the police show up, Kyle is already conscious again
. We each give our statements while they arrest him.

  By the time things calm down and they haul Kyle out of the apartment, it’s too late to start cooking dinner.

  “I vote that we order in,” I say as I pick up the bag I set down on the table earlier.

  “I second that,” Hayden says.

  “I’m outvoted, not that I mind,” Evie grins.

  We order pizza, and while we’re eating, we go over the details for the next day.

  Chapter 37

  EVIE

  Before I open the front door, I hear hushed voices on the other side.

  “Smile,” a man hisses. Then a second later, “Shit, no, don’t smile. You’ll scare her.”

  Doing my best to hold the laughter in, I open the door. Instantly, all four men straighten their backs and smile so broadly, all I see are teeth.

  When I burst out laughing, the look on their faces become even funnier.

  One of the men glances at the ones next to him, and grumbles, “I told you not to smile.”

  I manage to calm myself down enough so I can reach out a hand to the first man.

  “I’m Evie.”

  A chorus of hi’s sound up. The one shaking my hand says, “Thank God you didn’t get your father’s looks. I was a bit worried when he told us he found you.”

  Dad comes walking out of the kitchen. “I heard that.” Then he adds, “The one with a death wish is Dave.” Dad points at each of them. “Max, Axel, and Mike.”

  Dad throws his arm around my shoulders, and says, “Team, this is my little girl.”

  I start to feel a little awkward when they all just stare at me.

  Axel is the first to move as he pulls me away from Dad and into the living room.

  “Let me tell you about your old man. We were stuck in a shit hole –”

  “Watch your language!” Dad snaps.

  Axel rolls his eyes, but continues, “We were stuck in a poop hole. I mean an actual poop hole. We figured it would be the last place anyone would search for us. Luckily, I wasn’t stuck at the bottom.”

  “Nope, that would’ve been me,” Dave says dryly.

  I listen to them bantering while I take my time to look at each of the men.

  Mike can’t be much older than me. He’s attractive in a boyish kind of way, but the second you look into his eyes, the boy fades to the background, and I see the same inner strength that Dad has.

  Max could be in his thirties, it’s hard to tell. His light brown hair is shaven short, and his brown eyes never stop moving.

  Axel looks like a big teddy bear with his thick beard.

  Dave stands next to Dad, and I get a feeling they’re really close even though Dave is much younger than Dad.

  I’ve heard so much about them and have been looking forward to meeting the men who seem to be like brothers to my father.

  “Let’s get going,” Dad says. Actually, it’s more like an order. “I promised my girl fun.”

  Only then does Dad glance around the apartment. “Where’s Rhett?”

  At that moment Rhett comes out of the bathroom.

  “I was worried there for a second,” Dad teases Rhett as he throws his arm over Rhett’s shoulder. “Team, this is my son.”

  I cover my mouth when the proud look on Dad’s face makes my eyes burn.

  “Yeah-yeah,” Axel growls. “You’re gonna make our girl cry on her birthday.”

  That seems to remind everyone why they’re here and a chorus of happy birthday’s sound up.

  Axel holds me tight as he gets up, pulling me to my feet.

  “Our girl,” Dad says, trying to hide the smile that’s threatening to break over his face.

  “We share rations and ammo, it’s only right that we share the kids as well,” Axel says.

  The other guys nod in agreement, effectively out voting Dad.

  On the way to the secret destination, I can’t contain my happiness and excitement.

  Dad sneaked Rhett into the apartment while I was still asleep. They woke me singing happy birthday and didn’t even give me time to pull a brush through my hair before I had to open a mountain of presents.

  My eyes start to burn with unshed tears when I think of the letters Dad gave me. They were the ones Mom wrote to him while she was pregnant with me.

  I placed them under my pillow. I’ll read them tonight when I’m alone.

  When we get to the destination, I’m surprised to see Carter, Logan, Jaxson, Marcus, and Ryan here as well.

  “Hey guys, where are the women?” I ask once I’m out of the car.

  “Once Leigh explained in detail what the chances are of someone falling to their death, they all chickened out,” Jaxson says.

  “Fall?” I frown and then Rhett points to a huge sign I somehow missed. “We’re going bungee jumping?” I shriek.

  “You know, guys,” Marcus says as he places his hand over his heart, “with my heart and all –”

  “Shut it. Leigh cleared you. If I’m jumping, you’re jumping.” Jaxson stops him from backing out.

  “Logan, are my affairs in order?” Carter whispers.

  “Yep. Don’t even think about backing out now. You dragged me here,” Logan whispers back.

  I chuckle as I ask Ryan, “You’re jumping?”

  “I had a choice between jumping or staying with the women. You bet your sweet behind I’m jumping.”

  Dad laughs, and he quickly introduces the two groups of men.

  When we’re all schooled adequately on the jumping rules, Dad and Carter go first.

  When they fall forward, their whoops and shouts echo around us.

  Axel jumps with Logan, then Mike and Jaxson go, followed by Dave and Marcus. Max and Ryan get ready to go next when Rhett pulls me to the side.

  “Please don’t think less of me when I scream like a girl on the way down,” he whispers.

  “I won’t, and I’ve heard you scream. You don’t sound like a girl. Trust me,” I whisper back.

  “I do,” he says, staring deep into my eyes.

  “You do, what?” I ask a little confused.

  “I trust you, Evie.”

  “Evie, Rhett, you’re up,” Dad calls out before I can respond to the enormous bomb Rhett just dropped on me.

  When I start to walk towards the left jumping podium, Dad calls out, “No, Evie. You’re jumping tandem with Rhett.”

  “But, Dad,” I start to argue.

  “For Rhett’s sake,” he yells.

  “Oh, sure,” I say, changing my mind in a split-second which makes Dad and the others laugh.

  They strap us in, and as we move to the edge of the podium, Rhett’s arms tighten around me.

  “It’s going to be fun,” I say as I start to lean to the side.

  “Evie.” The urgency in Rhett’s voice grabs my full attention, but it’s too late to stop from jumping as we fall over the side. “Maaaaaaaarryyyyyyyy meeeeeeee,” Rhett screams all the way down.

  When I finally catch my breath, and we’re swinging from side to side, I press my mouth to Rhett’s and kiss him with everything I feel at the moment.

  When the cord jerks, Rhett breaks the kiss, and breathless he asks, “Will you marry me?”

  “Rhett Daniels, you sure know how to make a girl weak in the knees.” I wrap my arms around his neck and whisper in his ear, “Yes.”

  He hollers so loudly, I press my ear against his chest, so I don’t lose my hearing.

  When the guys up on the bridge hear Rhett’s crazy hollering, one of them shouts, “She said yes.”

  ∞∞∞

  Dear Hayden,

  I miss you so much. I can’t believe you’ve been gone for eight months already. You’re going to want to reconsider marrying me when you see me again. I’m huge!

  I have a surprise for you. Our little bean finally decided to show us what SHE is. Yes!!! We’re having a daughter.

  I hope she has your eyes. God, I miss your eyes most.

  I can’t wait for you to come home so we can get ma
rried and be a family. Just you, me, and our darling daughter.

  Please keep yourself safe. Our daughter is going to need you.

  We love you, Hayden.

  Your Joey & Little Bean.

  Reading my mom’s words make me feel so much closer to her. She was excited to have me, and that makes all the difference in the world.

  Chapter 38

  RHETT

  It’s the first weekend Evie is spending at my place since we got engaged. I was just about to do something drastic, like kidnap her.

  Yeah, right. Hayden would kill you.

  I have the front door open, and when I hear her approaching, I rush out the door.

  “Hi,” she says with a huge smile which turns into laughter when I throw her over my shoulder and stalk back to the apartment.

  “My bag! I dropped it,” she laughs.

  I turn around, grab the bag and rush through the door, kicking it shut. Dropping the bag right there, I walk to my bedroom and only stop when I toss Evie on the bed.

  A chuckle escapes her every now and then as I strip her naked before getting rid of my clothes.

  As I reach for the nightstand drawer to grab a condom, Evie says, “Oh, we’re safe now. I’ve been on the pill long enough.”

  “Babe, that’s the best news I’ve had all week,” I growl as I crawl over her body. I press a quick kiss to her lips. “Hi. I missed you. I’m going to fuck you this entire weekend.”

  She laughs as I kiss my way down her body, and when I suck her clit into my mouth, it fizzles into a moan.

  I only give her pussy enough attention to get her wet, before crawling back up her body. Taking hold of her hands, I push them over her head.

  “Feel the bars?” I ask, and as she takes hold of them, I say, “Don’t let go of them.”

  “Okay,” she whispers.

  “Now that I have you exactly where I want you,” I whisper as I take hold of her hips and turn her onto her stomach, “I can finally have my wicked way with this ass.”