Everything But

by Jade C. Jamison

  Like he wasn’t feeling guilty enough. But he loved his parents, so he said, “Yeah, I can try.” She smiled and started pulling up more small weeds. And…he couldn’t believe he was going to go there, but he was. He couldn’t stand it anymore. “Hey, mom. Let’s say dad really messed up with you. Made you mad, hurt your feelings, broke your trust. How could he make that up to you?”

  His mom paused and looked at Riley. “Why in the world would you ask me something like that?”

  Riley wondered. How much did he really want to tell her? At the same time, he didn’t want her thinking his dad had fucked something up and Riley was fishing around for info. “Well…let’s just say there’s a woman I’m pretty interested in, and…uh…anyway, I did something kind of stupid and she doesn’t want to talk to me. If dad made you really mad and made you feel like you couldn’t trust him anymore, how could he convince you to try?”

  His mom looked thoughtful and she stared at the edge of the porch for a few minutes. “Well, I guess the first thing you need to do is apologize.”

  “Done.”

  “And give her some time. So, for example, don’t bother her while you’re here. Wait until you’re back home and by then she should be ready to talk.”

  He took a deep breath. “Uh…the woman I’m talking about…lives here, mom. In Winchester.”

  His mother looked almost confused. “When did this happen?”

  “What happen?”

  “Your breach of trust.”

  “Oh, uh…long story, but let’s say we just met and it didn’t take me long to fu—screw it up.” His mom gave him a look but said nothing. “The problem is I’ve really grown to like her.”

  “In just a few days? Well, Riley, I’d say that’s a sign that whatever’s going on between you isn’t likely to last. Relationships take time, honey, and just a couple of days, especially when you’ve decided to take another woman out to help the school with its fundraiser, really isn’t enough time to judge the efficacy of any relationship.”

  He closed his eyes momentarily. Only his mother would use the word efficacy when talking about dating. And she had no idea the woman he was talking about was also the woman she’d mentioned. Maybe bringing this up with her was a bad idea. He wrinkled his nose. “Thanks, mom. I’ll figure it out.”

  “Riley.” His mom put down the tiny trowel she’d been using and sat back on her haunches again. “Here’s what I think. If it’s meant to be, it will happen. If she knows how you feel and you’ve said you’re sorry…and she likes you enough, just be patient. Give her the time and space she needs. If you come on too strong and don’t give her some air, she won’t give you the time of day.”

  He took a deep breath and nodded. That seemed like sound advice. The problem was his time here was running short. In exactly a week, his mother would be driving him to the airport in Colorado Springs so he could head home. He hadn’t thought much about if a long-distance relationship was even in him, but that didn’t concern him right now. At this moment, he just wanted to solve the problem. He needed to fix it. Even if nothing worked out between him and Erin, he wanted her to know he’d never meant to hurt her. He’d only wanted to give her the time of her life.

  Worse yet, he’d realized this morning that he left his wallet at her place, so he’d have to see her at some point, whether she liked it or not.

  So he thanked his mom and asked if she wanted his help. She said no but that she’d love his company. So she started catching him up on town gossip, and he heard names he hadn’t heard in years. It was warm outside but not too hot, even as it got closer to noon. At one point, his mom wanted to take a break and they went inside and drank lemonade, but then they returned outside. Riley was glad he’d decided to hang with his mom for a while, because even though they didn’t have much in common anymore, he knew he loved her and she loved him.

  He was carrying another bucket of weeds to the trash barrel for her when he heard his phone ring. He set the bucket down and pulled it out of his pocket. It was Erin. He took a deep breath and answered it on the second ring. He steeled himself for disappointment, though, because she probably just wanted to return his wallet to him. He cooled his voice and answered, “Yeah?”

  “Hi, Riley.” He heard her take a deep breath. “I think I’m ready to talk.”

  “I thought you had to teach today.”

  “Well, yeah, I am. I’m just on lunch break right now. I meant tonight.”

  He couldn’t help the smile that was beginning to creep up on his face. “Okay.” This was sooner than he’d expected, but he wasn’t complaining. “What do you have in mind?”

  “Well…I have a friend who’ll be staying with me. She needs a place to crash for a day or two, so my apartment’s out of the question.”

  “So do you want to go out somewhere?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Ummm…I thought maybe I could use the handcuffs on you this time.”

  Riley put his hand on the trash barrel. Had he heard that right? How the fuck had she done such a quick reversal? Well, maybe it was like what his mom had said—give her a little time and space and she’d decide what she wanted. Maybe she’d had a chance to realize he’d made an honest mistake. But he certainly hadn’t expected this…and not quite so soon. And he felt the blood rushing from his head and extremities to his cock at just the thought of this sexy girl he couldn’t get out of his mind wanting to cuff him and do untold nasty shit to him. That had been a lost dream just a few hours ago. War, sewage plants...chill that shit, Riley. He swallowed hard and glanced behind him. He couldn’t have his mother listening in on this conversation. But she was still way over there at the flowerbed, and she didn’t seem to be growing impatient waiting for her bucket back. He cleared his throat. “I gotta tell you, I like the sound of that. So…are you thinking maybe a hotel or something?”

  “Yeah, that sounds good.”

  “Well, I’d offer to pay, babe, but you’ve got my wallet.”

  Her voice sounded sexy and he fought to keep the image of war in his head. Didn’t need his mother to see him pitching a tent in broad daylight. “I can meet you anywhere you like, and I’ll have your wallet and the handcuffs. You name the place.”

  He was not going to romance this girl in a dive, so he was going to pick the classiest, most expensive hotel in Winchester. “The Sedgwick. But…”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Do you want to grab a bite first?”

  She tittered. “Not hungry for food right now.”

  Sick children, war… He ran the fingers of his free hand through his hair. “Okay, after then?”

  “Sure.”

  “So what time?”

  “Six o’clock?”

  “Want me to pick you up?”

  “No…just meet me there.”

  He hung up. In a daze, he tossed the weeds in the trash. He would’ve offered to take his mom out to lunch to celebrate but that was going to have to wait. In the meantime, he hoped she could keep him distracted for a few more hours.

  Chapter Fifteen

  ERIN COULDN’T BELIEVE she was doing this…but she was going to take Jackie’s advice, every last bit of it, and she hoped she wouldn’t regret it. Jackie had laid out a plan that, she said, would make Riley realize just was an ass he’d been.

  Erin had her doubts, but she also knew she was too close to the situation to analyze it rationally. She didn’t trust her own judgment anymore. And why? Well, it was because she was actually starting to care about Riley now, and if that wasn’t the stupidest thing ever, she didn’t know what was. First off, Riley was just going to love her and leave her. He had another life far from Winchester, and why the hell would he want to be saddled with a high school English teacher who wrote literary papers analyzing empirical data about students’ short answer essay exams? And, even if he did, it wouldn’t work anyway. Besides, she’d sworn off men.

  This wasn’t the first time a guy had breached her trust. Oh, no. It was becoming a pretty common theme.
Colby, a guy she’d dated three years ago, was just a big man slut. She’d suspected for a couple of months that he was cheating on her, and when it was confirmed…it was on a spectacular scale. Not only had she arrived at his apartment—at his behest, although a little early—to discover him in bed with another girl, but she found out soon after that he had a long string of girls he’d been fucking the entire time they’d been together. Erin became convinced he was a sex addict.

  And then there was Frank. She’d dated Frank about a year and a half ago. Unlike Colby, Frank was just an abusive asshole. He’d never raised a hand to her, but he was mentally and emotionally abusive, and after he’d criticized her for what she was wearing or how she was acting for the thousandth time, she’d just told him to fuck off and find someone who was already everything he wanted her to be, because Erin didn’t plan to change to make him happy.

  And those relationships? Jackie had been right about both of them. She’d assured Erin long before the girl had proof that Colby was a cheating bastard. The signs were all there. And Jackie had hated Frank from the start…called him poison. Fortunately, Erin had trusted her friend and broken it off, and the more distance she saw from that relationship, the more she could see that Jackie was right.

  So she was going to take her friend’s advice tonight too. And, if Jackie was right, Riley might be pissed for a while, but then he’d be eating out of her hand.

  Jackie had even helped her get ready, laying on the makeup a little thicker than usual, dark, heavy eyeliner and bright red lipstick, curling the ends of her long, blonde hair, and insisting her friend wear the tight black leather miniskirt that hadn’t seen the light of day for at least four or five years. In fact, Jackie made her dig out the old trunk in Erin’s closet that had all her old concert-going attire. She wore a sleeveless silver-sequined top and black fuck-me pumps to match. But the kicker was the pair of spiked black leather wristbands Jackie found in the bottom of the trunk. Erin had forgotten she even had them, because she’d only ever worn them once, and that had been a long time ago. But the silly things would cover the marks on her wrists.

  She tucked Riley’s wallet and handcuffs in her purse, along with the one key she could find. It had taken her a while, but she’d finally found it under her pillow and, fortunately, it fit both pairs of cuffs. Since they were still locked on her headboard posts, her whole plan would have failed if she hadn’t found the damned key. She hadn’t even slept in her bed last night. It was for three reasons. The first was because she was pissed at Riley for not listening to her. Granted, there was no way he could know her well yet, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out what she was saying, did it? Part of her, though, was horrified that, even though she felt like had every right to be pissed at him, he was a great lover and really had made her feel incredible. Still, though…couldn’t there be another way to go about it? And third…well, she was really starting to like him. So sleeping in her bed that night was too fresh. Instead, she took a blanket to the living room and fell asleep on the couch, watching The Prestige for what seemed like the hundredth time. It was hard getting on the couch at first too, because that’s where he’d been sitting and twice now he’d laid some of the most sumptuous kisses on her she’d ever experienced.

  Unbelievable that she was already missing this guy.

  And she felt quite dubious about Jackie’s plan. Still, she was going to give it a try.

  So she got out of her car at the Sedgwick (“Oh, my God!” Jackie had screamed. “The fucking Sedgwick?”), making the conscious decision to park out front so if anyone saw her car, she could tell them she’d been dining in the restaurant. Hiding in the back would require different answers. Fortunately, since the Sedgwick—although it catered to the rich and lazy—was in a laid-back town like Winchester, valet wasn’t the only way to go. And as she walked up to the entrance, she saw Riley’s Mustang out of the corner of her eye, but it didn’t look like he was in there.

  Good. She wasn’t ready to face him yet. Would he be able to see through her lie?

  She hoped not. It would never work if he could. And, just as she thought she had a few more moments to compose herself, she saw him stand up from a bench where he’d been sitting, just a few yards from the entrance. God, he was fucking gorgeous, and just looking at him, she didn’t know if she’d be able to go through with the plan.

  He was wearing his dark sunglasses, so she couldn’t see his eyes, but she’d dressed perfectly, because he was in his full rock star regalia…tight black leather pants, black t-shirt with a white skull on the front, black boots. His tattoos stood out in the early evening sun against the backdrop of an all-black outfit. Jesus…she really didn’t know that she’d be able to go through with it now. He was too perfect, too fucking sexy and irresistible. She figured she was also quite lucky he wasn’t surrounded by a bevy of girls right now.

  And as she got closer, he pulled the sunglasses off and she couldn’t believe the look on his face. His eyebrows were raised just a little, but she could read the expression. The way she looked was not what he’d expected…and it looked like it was in a good way.

  She managed a smile, even though it was small and shy, and she did a small wave. As she got closer, he hung his sunglasses in the front of his shirt. “Jesus fuckin’ Christ. What inspired this?”

  Her smile got away from her, turning into a huge goofy grin. “What? You think I dress in formal gowns all the time?”

  “No, but…”—he took a deep breath—“since you’re a school teacher, I expected you to be a little more…prim, you know, wearing the kind of shit you wore at school today.”

  She was quick. “What makes you think I don’t dress like this to teach?”

  “Fuck. If you do, I think I understand that Van Halen song.” She raised her eyebrows until he started singing the chorus to “Hot for Teacher.”

  Erin started to blush, but she was still feeling top of her game. “And what’s with your getup? You getting ready to perform a concert?”

  He shrugged. “Just felt like it.”

  Yep, this was gonna be hard.

  She pulled her eyes off him and reached in her purse. She took out his wallet and handed it to him. He took it from her and slid it in his back pocket. “Thanks.” Then he draped his arm around her shoulders and they started walking to the hotel entrance.

  So much for being low key. If anyone would ever ask, surely the desk clerks would remember these two did not go into the restaurant. They went straight to a room.

  Not that he didn’t give her a chance to renege. “Sure you don’t want to get a bite to eat first?”

  She nodded. “You hungry?”

  He smiled. “Not really.”

  There was a large revolving door in the front but to the side was a regular door, and he opened it for her. Once through, he put his arm back over her shoulders. It felt nice, and she wrapped her arm around the back of his waist. And then she smelled him again, that spicy, masculine smell that made her want to tear him apart.

  When they got up to the counter, the young woman started typing in his information off his driver’s license and she asked a couple of questions. She was being as professional as possible, but Erin could tell the woman knew who Riley was. Fortunately, Erin had never met the young woman before, or that could have proven to be embarrassing and hard to explain, considering there probably was no question about what the two of them would be doing. He gave the clerk a credit card, but she couldn’t help but hear the price of the room. Holy shit. She couldn’t believe he’d drop that much on the room. And he was gonna be totally pissed when all was said and done and he’d blown that fucking much. Oh, well…according to Jackie, the goddess of relationships, it had to be done.

  They started walking over to the elevators and Riley asked, “So how was school today?”

  “It was fine, but I had to answer a bazillion questions about you.”

  “About me?”

  “Yeah. ‘Ms. Lancaster, what’s Riley Schultz like?’ �
�Did he like the food?’ ‘Is he a good dancer?’ ‘Did you kiss him?’ You put not just my cheerleading squad in a frenzy but all the kids. I’m surprised the gym wasn’t more crowded during the auction.”

  The elevator door opened and Riley placed his hand against the side of the door to hold it while Erin walked inside. “It’s ‘cause it was a last-minute thing. Guess I got lucky.”

  He walked in and pressed a button. Erin said, “Lucky? I call bullshit. Why else would you dress up like a rock star right now if you didn’t want to be noticed?”

  He looked down his nose at her, his eyes already seeming as seductive as they had yesterday. “Only one person I want to be noticed by, and I think it worked.”

  Oh, hell, yeah. Going through with the plan was going to be really hard, because it had worked.

  Chapter Sixteen

  RILEY COULD BARELY help himself, having had to think about Erin and handcuffs all fucking afternoon long while listening to his mom chatter about her scrapbooking class. So once he’d opened the door with the card they gave him at the front desk, he didn’t even let her set her purse down. He just locked her face in his hands and kissed her.

  Maybe that was a bad move considering her hard feelings yesterday, but shit. She’d teased him with the goddamn handcuffs and then looked fucking hotter than hell, so even though he restrained himself, he needed just a little taste.

  But she responded and not by slapping the shit out of him. Maybe they could talk later when they had this out of their systems. When he pulled her close, she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him back. He wound his fingers through her hair just over her ears, something he’d had yet to do, and held himself back from just throwing her on the couch a little farther inside and having his way with her. He felt like a fucking animal, almost like a teenager, unable to control his thoughts and feelings.

  He moved his lips to her neck, loving the taste of her skin there, and she said, “Now, hold on.” Her voice was barely a whisper. Her lips touched his ear when she said, “Remember, I’m in charge now.”