It's probably rare that she's able to get a chance to sleep in. And I know she's so tired from our fucking hot sex session last night.
I'm letting myself into the hotel room, carrying a tray of food, when she wakes up and smiles at me.
"Room service," I announce professionally.
"Aren't you a sight for tired eyes," she says. "And so is that chocolate chip muffin you're carrying."
"I can't exactly make you breakfast, so I figured that bringing it up from the hotel restaurant would be the next best thing."
I sit next to her in bed and feed her the muffin. Then we eat the rest of the food before she says, "I'd love to stay. But I need to…"
"Get back to Caleb," I finish her sentence for her.
"Yeah," she says. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay," I tell her. "I completely understand."
"You do?" she says. "Because I always thought that only another parent could know what it's like to…"
She stops, apparently suddenly realizing that she might have said the wrong thing.
"To worry about a child? To take care of a loved one?" I ask her.
She nods.
I turn away, the heat burning in my face.
Maybe this was a mistake. I'm not ready to talk about it. To let anyone else in. Not after what happened. I never want to get that close to someone again.
"Do I have time to shower?" I ask her.
"Sure," she says.
I walk to the nice marble tiled bathroom— Clay sure knows how to put his lawyers up in style when they’re in town for his parties— and step into the shower, glad for the chance to break away from her. But even in here, I can't stop the aching my body feels to be close to her.
Great.
I have a fucking boner.
She comes into the bathroom as if she somehow knows.
"Mind if I join you?" she asks. "We don't have to talk."
"Sure," I tell her.
She takes off her clothes so that I can see her beautiful body again. I can't believe it. I'm never able to be with a woman who just lets me be me. Lets me feel things without talking about them.
She joins me in the shower, and scrubs my back with the bar of soap.
"I always wonder how single people are supposed to really clean their backs," she tells me. "It's not like we can reach back there ourselves."
I begin laughing, the water streaming down my face, and so does she.
I pull her in and hug her close and tight.
Just when I thought it couldn't get any better— that she couldn't be any more perfect or have any better sense of what I need and when I need it— she kneels down on the tile surface and takes my cock into her eager mouth.
I groan softly as she licks around the head and plays with its shaft. Then she puts it all the way down her throat and sucks.
"Oh my God. Brynn. That's perfect. Just perfect."
I empty myself into her mouth, moaning deep within me as she draws me out. I steady myself on the glass shower door, wondering how I'm going to live without her when she leaves Albuquerque and heads back to her life in New York that is completely different from mine.
Chapter 14 – Brynn
I don't want Halloween to be over. But it is. I've changed back into my normal clothes, and I have to go back to my normal life, whether or not I like it.
I can't be a cheerleader forever. I can't be a biker outlaw's little slut forever either.
Why not? I ask myself, as I hold onto his waist on the back of his bike while he drives me home.
Because you don't even know who he is, I answer myself.
I ring the doorbell and Caleb comes rushing out, reminding me for the thousandth time how great it is to always come home to him— even today when it means leaving Larson.
"Mommy! Mommy!" He screams, catapulting himself into my arms.
I pick him up and twirl him around. He's still wearing that damn monkey costume. He's going to need a bath before we leave.
"Sorry, Brynn," Whitney says, as she peeks her head out from the kitchen. "I couldn't get him to take it off."
"Don't worry about it," I tell her. "I'm just glad he had a fun time."
"And it looks like you did, too," Riley says, poking her head out beside Whitney's and winking at Larson and me. "Jensen and I thank you for the privacy, by the way. We had a great night."
"Good to hear it," I say, and as I stop spinning Caleb around, he notices Larson.
"Moto-cycle-Man!" he yells, jumping up and down. "Vroom vroom! Vroom vroom!"
"How was your night, kiddo?" Larson asks him, bending down to give him five. Caleb happily reciprocates.
"It was capola!" Caleb announces. "No mommy!"
"Oh come on," Whitney says from the kitchen. "We had fun. We made cookies!"
"Cookie! Cookie!" Caleb says, jumping up and down.
"Tell Miss Whitney thank you," I tell him.
"Tank you! Tank you!"
"What happened with those clowns was really creepy," Jensen says. "I mean, not just regular Halloween creepy, but really fucking scary."
"Yeah it was," I agree. "I'm so glad Larson chased them off."
"I know they've been wreaking havoc everywhere," Jensen says. "But I hope they weren't purposefully targeting us for some reason."
"I think they're just, like… trolls?" I shrug. "No rhyme or reason for what they do."
"Sounds more like terrorists," Whitney says.
"I agree," Jensen nods. "They should be treated like that because they scare people for no reason. And their bad behavior is escalating."
"Can I talk to you outside?" Larson suddenly asks me.
"Sure. Whitney, can you…"
"Of course," Whitney says, before I can even finish the sentence. "I can definitely keep an eye on my little buddy who thinks hanging out with me is capola."
"Cookie!" Caleb says, running over to hug Whitney's legs.
"Okay, we'll kiss and make up," says Whitney.
And Riley looks at me and says, "Looks like Mommy might be doing something similar."
Chapter 15 – Larson
I pull Brynn onto the porch and kiss her as soon as the door closes behind us.
I can't help it. I know it's fucking foolish. But lust— and infatuation— makes people do foolish things.
I’m starting to think I could actually be in fucking love. For the first time in a long time. Which is sooner than I ever thought it would happen, because I never thought it would happen again.
And I never thought it would happen like this. Instant attraction. Instant love. Or at least instant deep like. On Hallo-fuckin-ween.
It doesn't make a lot of sense. But neither do a lot of things in life. So I don't fight it. I just go with it. And it feels so fucking good.
I’m in like with Brynn Elliot. It’s probably too soon to say love, but I’m in deep fucking like with her.
"Listen," I tell Brynn. "I know you have to go. You don't have a lot of time. But I want you to come back."
"But I…"
"I know," I tell her, putting a finger over her full, sweet lips. "You don't even know me. So that's why I need to tell you. I had to leave because the cops would probably arrest me if they came to Riley's house."
"Why?"
She's looking at me with those fucking gorgeous eyes of hers, wanting an explanation. I know I have to tell her, even though I never thought I'd want to talk about it with anyone.
But I’m not ready to tell her everything. Just enough so that she understands that I had to go but that I want to see her again.
"There was something that happened," I tell her.
She's still staring at me with those fucking eyes.
"In my past. It’s over now, but it still haunts me. And I’ve been determined to make it right ever since it happened. I might not be most beloved in man in the world by law enforcement.”
She can't comprehend it, and I don't blame her. I just pull her close to me.
"Just listen,” I tell her. “
I’m telling you more than I’ve been able to tell anyone. Because I want you to come back. But I’m not at the point where I can talk about everything that happened."
"Okay," she says. "Sure."
"I have to be on my best behavior or I could be taken in for a very long time,” I tell her. “For something I did that I think was very just, but the law doesn’t always care about one’s motivations for doing things.”
"I see." She nods again. "So you couldn't have…"
"…been seen beating up some asshole clowns," I confirm. "Officially, I have to stay away from anything like that. But behind the scenes, I make things happen. The Desert Dogs and I, we protect this town. I promised I would protect you. And Caleb. And I will."
She looks up at me and I kiss her again, soft and gentle this time.
"I also felt I needed to tell you because I have a lot of enemies and I don't know if they're connected to any of this," I admit.
I hope she's not mad at me, but it feels good to get it off my chest.
"Don't be silly, Larson," Brynn says. "They're just chaos-creating clowns. There is no connection to what they do. If there was, then it could be related to me just as much as to you."
"How could it be related to you?" I ask.
"I don't know," she shrugs. "But Caleb's father is pretty crazy. And I got a weird vibe from Clay Tucker."
"Yeah, that guy was a real creep," I agree. "And he seemed to have a thing for you."
"You picked up on that, huh?" she asks, with a wink.
"I have to admit I was a little jealous. But I knew that the head cheerleader had to end up going home with the star quarterback. That’s just the way things have to work out."
She laughs, and I'm so glad things are normal between us.
"Don't blame yourself," she says. "Don't feel guilty. Because I could too. Or anyone could, really. I mean, it was at Riley and Jensen's house. Maybe it had something to do with them."
We look at each other.
"Jensen's mom does have some sketchy men in her past, that he's not made close friends with, to say the least."
"But it's over," she says. "It's nothing. I was just using Jensen and Riley as an example of how anyone and everyone might wonder if they did something to cause this. Any normal person would. But that's why the clowns do it. We'll just be giving in to them if we start thinking that way."
"The last thing I want to do is give into those punks," I agree.
"So let's not. Let's just focus on good things," she says.
Now that I put some of my issues out there and she’s been so receptive of them, I feel as if a burden has started to be lifted from me. A dark spell in my heart is beginning to be broken.
"All right. Done. Starting now I'm focusing on seeing you again. So when are you coming back to see me?" I ask.
"That depends," Brynn says, as Caleb opens the door and comes running out.
"Mommy!" he shouts, pointing at my bike. "Mo-to-cycle!"
"When can you come to New York?" Brynn asks me. "Because I think it's your turn next."
Chapter 16 – Larson
New York City is really fucking big.
I know I should have already known that. I did know that. But knowing it is different than seeing it.
New York City also has a lot of streets and avenues that are named after numbers. I'm standing on the corner of Third Avenue and Fifty-Fourth Street, looking up at the humongous building that houses the law firm where Brynn works. And realizing we couldn't be from two more totally fucking different worlds if we tried.
It's November and Brynn says I just missed the famed autumn in New York. What comes after that must be the infamous Dead of Winter in New York, because compared to New Mexico, the weather here is fucking cold. I take one last breath of the chilly air and then enter the building.
I look at around at the designer suits and fur coats and feel very out of place wearing my leather motorcycle jacket. But I'm sure glad I wore it because it's warm. I just hope none of these fancy pant- wearing professionals mistake me for a homeless guy and kick me out.
I take the elevator all the way up to the 23rd floor. We don't even have buildings in Albuquerque that go this high up. When I get to the lobby of Brynn's law firm, the receptionist tells me to have a seat and that she'll be right with me.
But I want to surprise her. I haven't seen her in a couple of weeks, which is far too long, and she had mentioned wanting me to see her office.
"Can I just go back and wait for her?" I ask the receptionist. "She's expecting me."
She looks at me and raises her eyebrows skeptically, like maybe I'm in the wrong place, or asking for the wrong Brynn Elliot.
But then the phone rings and she shrugs and says, "Be my guest. Her office is right back there but I think she's in the conference room on a personal matter. Gentleman callers must be her thing today."
What the actual fuck?
I don't say anything, because this chick doesn't look like a friend of Brynn's. Probably more like a jealous underling.
I head back the hallway in the direction she'd just pointed towards. And sure enough, through the open glass windows of the conference room I see Brynn hovered over a laptop, with some dude right beside her.
I back up a bit, observing them from where they can't see me. I feel a little bad, but my guilt is outweighed by my curiosity. And my jealousy.
The guy looks like a typical New Yorker. Skinny and in shape, with fancy clothes and a pretty face. Just looking at him, I can tell I could beat him up even easier than I beat up those fucking clowns. If I have to. And as he reaches his arm over Brynn's to take the mouse and show her something on the computer, I realize I just might have to.
She shrugs and then shuts the laptop. She gathers her stuff up, obviously hurrying to meet me at the designated time. Well, that's good news at least. She hasn't forgotten all about my trip into the big city to visit her, which she insisted on.
She'd even offered to take some time off work during the week day— which I know is a big deal for a busy associate lawyer like her— and meet me at the airport. But I'd told her I would just take the New York metro subway I'd heard so much about and come to her office.
I start walking away and then I see her office not far up ahead.
BRYNN ELLIOT, says a plaque on the door.
Very impressive. I've never had my own name on anything. I've never had my own office. Unless you count the inside of a fucking chopper.
As I'm staring at the plaque and marveling at that accomplishment, Brynn and the guy walk out of the conference room together.
"Just let me know when you want to talk more," he says, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I'll be in touch," she says, turning towards me and then stopping in her tracks. "Larson, this is..."
"Oh, perfect, so now he's here?" He asks, in a mocking tone with a sneer I wish I could wipe off his pretty- boy face. "What is this? Bring an outlaw to work day? Show some rogue Western biker the Big Apple?"
"Steven, please just leave," she says.
"I'm Larson," I say, holding my hand out. "Brynn had started to introduce me before you so rudely interrupted her."
The fucking wimp looks shocked that I'm calling him out on his bad behavior. He opens his mouth but then closes it without saying anything.
"Larson, this is Steven," Brynn says. "Caleb's dad."
"Interesting," I say, but leave it at that.
What I'm thinking is that I can't believe he was capable of producing a son as cute and smart as Caleb. And that he doesn’t deserve to be called his dad. But I don't say it.
"Steven, Suzanne will see you out," Brynn says, obviously referring to the firm's snooty receptionist.
"Don't forget to think about what we discussed," Steven says, his tone sounding nearly threatening.
"I will," Brynn says.
She looks forlorn, defeated. Not the spunky, fun Brynn I had last seen.
Steven turns around and starts walking away, and I take
Brynn's hand.
"It's so nice to see you again," I tell her, my cock already getting hard just from touching her. I wish I could pick her up and push her against this office wall and fuck her long and hard for everyone and anyone to see.
"I'm sorry," she says, squeezing my hand, but looking around me to make sure that Steven is gone. "But he just..."
She looks so upset, as if she's about to cry. And even though I'm wondering what exactly was up with Steven and the meeting I just accidentally half walked in on, I don't need to know as much as I need her to cheer up a little bit.
"It's fine," I tell her. "No need for an apology."
I want to take her into my arms but I don't want her to get in trouble with the Powers That Be. And judging from the swanky office decor and her previous discussions about the partners, they seem pretty powerful indeed.
Brynn smiles slightly, which makes me feel much better.
"This isn't exactly the start that I envisioned our reunion would get off to," she says.
"Well, let's remedy that," I tell her.
A smile slowly spreads across her sad face.
"What exactly did you have in mind?" she asks.
The scene where I take her up against the wall flashes through my mind again but I think better of it. I only want to fuck her, not get her fired.
"We're going to need some privacy," I say.
She takes my hand and pulls me into her fancy office, shutting the door behind us so fast and so hard that the BRYNN ELLIOT plaque rattles against the wall.
It's nice to know that despite whatever is going on with what's- his- fucking-name, she still seems happy to see me.
Chapter 17 - Brynn
Larson picks me up and has me up against my office wall before I can even lock the door.
"I've been waiting so long to do this to you," he says, squeezing my ass as he kisses me.
He still smells like New Mexico: woodsy and outdoorsy, with a hint of cold New York air mixed in.
"I didn't lock the door..." I say, motioning towards it, but he pins my arms to the wall.
"Now that I've got you, I'm not letting you go."
Sold as a Fake Fiancee: A Virgin and a Billionaire Romance Page 87
