I almost shut my eyes and bowed my head in shame, because I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed that Riley had seen me in this way. As much as I was sure that she hadn’t expected to find me as the same person I’d been years and years ago, I highly doubted she’d ever imagined that I’d be so damned different nowadays.
I kept my expression stoic, knowing that I needed to keep myself under control. I had to keep up the act, play the character that I’d already decided upon.
“Okay, girls,” I said, sighing in a faux-disappointed manner. “You have to go.”
“Just get rid of her,” the brunette whispered in my ear, throwing her arm possessively around my waist before shooting a bitchy stare in Riley’s direction.
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible,” I replied. I peeled her arms from my side, shooting her my most winning smile—the one that usually got me anything I wanted. “This is my new PR girl.”
“So she’s staff? Tell her to fuck off.” The brunette refused to back down, and I could see her blonde friend nodding emphatically behind her.
I chuckled at this, watching Riley purse her lips in an annoyed expression. Fury was slowly bubbling up inside of her; I’d recognize it anywhere. I was actually happy to be seeing some of her old feistiness shining through her current exterior of professionalism. Maybe she hadn’t changed quite as much as me. I found myself oddly excited to find out just how much of her was the same, and I was keen to see all the new bits too.
Of course, I was well aware that she might not be as glad to find out the truth about the new me, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a lot of fun along the way.
“Nope,” I said to the girls, emphasizing the ‘p’. “You gotta go.”
I watched them both stalk out of the room, complaining and muttering bitchy comments about Riley as they went. It was funny how neither of them blamed me for making them leave, even though it was mostly my fault. I guess that was just one of the complexities about shallow, immature women—they were always so quick to get the claws out on each other. I’d never understood the way they worked, and I didn’t really want to. Give me a mature woman any day—much less crap to deal with, and much more fun to be with.
I leaned to the side, looking past Riley and watching the girls walk away. I wasn’t even concentrating on their asses; I was more focused on what was going on in my peripheral vision. I wanted to see if I could make Riley jealous, and honestly, I wasn’t sure why.
“Okay, Kaiden,” she finally said in a bossy tone, unable to take it anymore. I smirked, glad to have gotten what I wanted.
“Hmm…what?” I replied. I acted like I really had to try hard to draw my attention back to her, just to wind her up even further. I wanted to rile her up as much as humanly possible just for fun, purely for my own amusement…just like I’d done back in the day when we’d jokingly teased each other as we played and climbed trees together. God, we’d given each other so much crap, and we’d had so much fun.
“Like you just told your little friends, I’m your new PR rep from Wenden and Brown,” she said.
“Right, right. How are you, sweetheart? What’s your name again?” I asked.
“Riley. Riley Solis,” she replied.
“Riley, huh? Nice name.”
I was still acting like I had no idea who she was, and she wasn’t saying anything about remembering me either, although I knew she did. I guess I hadn’t quite worked up the courage to admit that I used to be her friend; used to be the innocent, geeky kid from next door who’d kissed her grazed knees whenever she’d fallen off her bike. The longer I could continue this ruse, the longer I could keep the past far behind me where it belonged.
To be honest, Riley’s friendship had been the only bright spot in my entire childhood, but I didn’t want to remember the rest, so it was better that I changed and became the guy I was today, leaving everything in my past behind…even if that meant I’d never have her friendship or respect again. I couldn’t go back to being that scared little kid again, always on edge, waiting for the next time I’d be beaten.
I just couldn’t.
I allowed my gaze to linger up and down her body, drinking all of her in. She may have been the girl that I once knew as a kid, but she’d sure as hell grown up. She’d gone from being the lanky, dorky girl who hadn’t quite grown into her body yet to a gorgeous, voluptuous woman. Her breasts had grown into a little more than a perky handful, which was the right amount as far as I was concerned, and even though she wasn’t flashing her cleavage or wearing a particularly tight outfit, I could tell that she was sexy and curvy as hell underneath her boring clothes. She wasn’t wearing heels, but her perfect legs didn’t need them anyway.
She was the total opposite of the skinny, twig-like blondes who usually threw themselves at me, and that made her a hundred times more beautiful.
My eyes made their way to her face, and I had to control myself as I did so; had to regain my poker face once more so that not even a flicker of recognition flared up. I discreetly held my breath so I didn’t give myself away as I finally saw her in her full glory. Her caramel-colored skin was just as flawless as I remembered it being, and her deep brown eyes still contained the warmth that I’d spent my younger years being sucked into. She had this look that made anyone who saw her truly believe that everything was going to be okay, no matter what. I’d have given anything to fall into those eyes at that moment, but I couldn’t, so I glimpsed down to her nose instead. I always remembered her being self-conscious about her nose, but I’d never been able to see anything wrong with it, and I still couldn’t. It was cute and slightly upturned at the end. Perfect, just like the rest of her. I intended to fix my gaze there, but instead I found myself drawn in by her full lips, just imagining what it would be like to kiss them…
God, I want to kiss her.
I lowered my eyes to the ground. Shit, I couldn’t think like that. This was Riley, Riley Solis. Not only was she my old friend and neighbor, but she was also my new PR representative. Fucking get it together, I scolded myself. I needed to keep my cool.
“So anyway, what’s up, sweetheart?” I asked, feigning boredom again.
“Kaiden, I’m not here to be called sweetheart, and I don’t appreciate it. I’m a professional,” she replied. Her voice sounded stiff and stilted, and she definitely recognized me—there was no escaping that, given my fairly original-sounding name.
“I’m sure you are,” I said.
As I glanced back up, I thought I spotted desire in her expression, but she straightened her face so quickly that I couldn’t be sure.
I made the unwise decision to test her.
I stood up and moved my body right into her personal space, tracing my finger down her cheek, and she winced, almost as if it was from an electric shock rather than disgust.
“We can be as professional as you like,” I said in a low murmur. “After we’ve gotten better…acquainted.”
She flushed bright red, her face heating up as she scooted backwards. “Keep this sort of behavior up, and the only thing you’ll be getting more acquainted with is the back of my hand,” she muttered under her breath, finally letting her anger consume her.
“I heard that. I thought you said you were a professional,” I said, arching an eyebrow.
She blushed even more. “Sorry. I…um…I don’t know why I said that.”
I do. It’s because you remember me. You remember the way we used to jokingly insult each other for fun, and you’re regressing into that, I thought.
“It’s fine. You’re sexy when you’re mad,” I said. “Anyone ever told you that?”
She sighed. “Kaiden, let’s get something straight. I don’t care who you are or how important you are. You can’t speak to me like that, and if you keep it up, I can always pass you off onto one of the less-capable PR interns at the firm. I’m sure that’d work out really well for you.”
I grinned. As a kid, she’d almost always been polite and mild-mannered, but that did
n’t mean she wasn’t capable of standing up for herself on occasion and delivering heavy verbal blows like she’d just done. I was glad she hadn’t lost that feisty spark.
“We need to talk about Serra and your alleged baby,” she continued, folding her arms.
My heart sank at these words. Fucking Serra Silver. I deeply regretted the one-night stand I’d had with her, and I wished with all my heart that I could take it back now that she was claiming to be knocked up with my kid. She’d been on the pill, and I’d used a condom with her anyway, because I never knew what diseases some chicks could be carrying. After all, as an athlete whose body was his livelihood, the last thing I needed was a stinging, burning case of the clap.
So after all that protection, Serra was seriously claiming to be pregnant?
Bullshit.
I leaned against the nearest wall, allowing the coolness of the hard surface to ground me and calm my hot temper. “The kid isn’t mine,” I said. “She’s full of shit.”
“You need—”
“I need to do nothing,” I said, cutting Riley off mid-sentence. “I have nothing to admit, and I have nothing to say. It’s done.”
She stepped towards me, her tone turning kinder and more understanding. “Look, Kaiden, I know this sucks, but right now it’s her word against yours, and unfortunately her word is more interesting than yours, so that’s what the media is going to focus on.”
She rested her hand on my shoulder in a gesture so kind-hearted that it almost cracked my stoic veneer. “We really need to help your image, there’s no question about that,” she added. “So let me help.”
I finally felt myself nodding, agreeing to what she was telling me. It was time to accept that I probably did need help if I wanted this media shit-storm to disappear, because leaving it alone had only brought about more unwanted speculation. My old PR firm had been terrible at their job, and that was why I was in this mess. Maybe this was exactly what I needed.
It certainly helped that Riley was the girl who wanted to work with me. Anyone else and I might not have been so quick to admit defeat.
“Yeah, I guess,” I said, staring down at my feet. “All right.”
“Good. Here’s my card,” she said, reaching into her purse again.
She handed me a small embossed business card a second later. Our fingers brushed as I grabbed it from her, and a tingling sensation traveled all the way up my arm. There was something there—I couldn’t deny that—but I wasn’t sure what it was. It was lust for sure, but something else too; something I’d never experienced before.
“I’ll um…I’ll set up a plan,” she said, not meeting my eyes. I didn’t miss the little tremor in her voice. She must have felt the electricity too, and that sent my hormones wild. “And I’ll organize a meeting with you soon. They only sent me here tonight for a meet-and-greet, basically. But if you have any questions, feel free to call me at any time. My cell number is on there.”
Good. A way to contact her.
I ran my fingers over the phone number, desperately trying to think of something cool to say, but I drew a frustrating blank. By the time I’d worked up the courage to make eye contact with her once more, I looked up to find myself all alone. She had already gone, and for some reason, that fact made hurt spike in my heart.
I remained sitting in that cold, soulless room for a little while longer, just staring at Riley’s name on the card. I still couldn’t believe that it was really her—the girl I grew up next door to; the one that I’d once shared so much with. It was just so much to take in, and I had no idea what to do about it all.
Our past was so complex, so twisted and ripped apart that I’d never expected to see her again. I’d thought about her a lot over the years, but only in a reminiscent way, because I knew she’d probably despise me if she ever saw what I’d become. Then suddenly she’d just showed up here out of the blue…and looking as hot as hell, I might add. Much sexier than I ever would have thought. I mean, she’d always been beautiful, but I’d never seen her in that way. She’d just been my friend Riley, who I’d loved in a pure, innocent way as a child.
It wouldn’t be easy for me to work alongside her now, keeping my hands to myself, but it was certainly going to be interesting reconnecting with my old friend.
I wondered where her life had taken her.
Is she single?
Is working in public relations what she always wanted?
Did she ever write that book she was always talking about when we were kids?
Is she happy?
I had so many questions and absolutely no answers. Luckily, the awful situation with Serra didn’t seem to be going anywhere fast, and that was going to give me the opportunity to find out at least some of those answers. Maybe Riley would even want to be friends with me again, just like the good old days.
And maybe—just maybe—she’d want something more than friendship.
Chapter 3
Riley
After tonight, there was absolutely no way I’d ever want to be friends with Kaiden again, let alone anything more, but that hadn’t stopped him from touching me up and saying sleazy crap to me while I’d been in his dressing room earlier, as if he’d had a chance.
He wishes.
“What a prick!” I muttered to myself as soon as I walked through the front door of my apartment. I’d been keeping my emotions in check while I was out, but now that I was safely at home, I could let it all out.
I honestly couldn’t believe how much Kaiden had changed. Long-gone was the sweet, kind boy that I once knew, and now he was nothing more than a sleazy asshole. Part of me had wondered if his awful media image was all for show, and that maybe the real Kaiden was still in there somewhere, but to walk in there tonight and find what I had…well, it was just disgusting. He’d had two scantily-clad women draped all over him when I entered the room, and if I hadn’t interrupted at the precise moment I had, I probably would have found them in the middle of a threesome.
I shuddered at the thought of that.
It was as if he’d done it on purpose. He knew that he was supposed to be meeting me tonight. But why would he do it on purpose? What was the point? Was he trying to rile me up? When we were younger he’d loved to do that as a joke, and he’d say that I was easy to rile up because my name was Riley. Perhaps that was what he’d been doing.
No, scratch that—that couldn’t be it. He hadn’t recognized me at all, so there was no way he’d remember all the silly things we’d done to tease each other as kids. He’d even asked me what my name was, and when I’d told him and handed him my business card with my full name on it, he still hadn’t put two and two together.
And then to speak to me in the way that he had at a business meeting was just appalling. Did he have no professionalism? Did he get away with speaking to all his connections in that way, or did he just sense a weakness in me? Maybe everyone was just so desperate to work with the infamous Kaiden Cross that they were willing to take anything from him.
Well, not me. No freakin’ way.
As much as I felt angry at the perverted way that he’d acted around me, I was actually more gutted that he had absolutely no idea who I was. There was no way I’d changed as much as he had, and I wouldn’t admit it out loud, but it stung my pride to find out that I was so forgettable. It was as if all that we’d gone through in the past stood for nothing.
Maybe it was my fault. Maybe I’d built our friendship up in my head as something more than it actually was.
I slumped down onto my sofa, feeling physically and mentally drained after my long, trying day. It wasn’t like this was the first time I’d had to work antisocial hours—that was quite common in this industry—and it wasn’t as if Kaiden was the first unpleasant client I’d ever had to deal with. It was just that this had affected me somewhere deep inside, and I really didn’t know how I felt about that…let alone what I could do about it. I stared down at my feet, feeling the burn all the way up my legs from the day’s activity. I knew th
is was a warning sign from my body, telling me that I should go to bed, but I just needed a moment to chill out first. I needed to wind down, and I needed to shake this day off me.
I flicked on the TV, just for something to do, but I couldn’t listen to anything that was being said onscreen. I stared into space instead, thinking about Kaiden’s earlier words. ‘We can be as professional as you like, after we’ve gotten better acquainted.’
Was that the technique that he used to get girls to sleep with him? Had he really thought that I was going to have sex with him, right there and then in his seedy little dressing room, where he’d almost hooked up with two random girls only moments before? Urgh, what a pig.
Now that I was alone, I could admit to myself that having his body that close to mine had made me tremble, even though I didn’t want it to. A strange, lusty feeling had built up inside me, and I’d found myself totally and utterly frustrated by his hotness. Why did he have to be so damned gorgeous and make it so hard to be around him? The mere brush of his hand on mine when he’d taken the business card from me had almost sent me over the edge.
I suddenly realized that I was biting my bottom lip hard, as if I was trying to hold in some sort of crazy outburst. What the hell was wrong with me?
I hadn’t felt sparks like this with anyone before, and I didn’t even like Kaiden as a person, which made it absolutely insane for me to feel like this at all. I’d had boyfriends, and I’d liked them just fine, but I’d never had this ‘I need to have you right now or I’ll die’ feeling before. Sex had always been a standard part of the relationships. Fine, but not overly passion-filled.
That being said, I needed to push these feelings aside, and I couldn’t allow them to distract me. I needed to keep focused on Kaiden as a client. Nothing more. It was my job and I didn’t want to screw that up by messing around with him, which was practically rule number one in the PR handbook. Don’t sleep with the clients—no, not even if they’re super-hot.
Bad Boy Brit (A British Bad Boy Romance) Page 24
