She had been playing with him. And he had fallen for it like a fool.
"She's left me."
Serena laid a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Brad," she said quietly. "I know you cared about her."
"You know nothing." Brad blinked back the tears. "I loved her."
"I know."
She tugged at him and Brad blindly allowed her to draw him into a hug. Serena pressed against him and pressed a kiss to his jaw. Brad then became aware of her kissing a path across his jaw, over her cheek, and towards his mouth. She came inches from actually kissing him when Brad realized something was wrong and pushed her away.
"What are you doing?"
Serena blinked, looking confused. "What do you think? I'm consoling you."
"I'm not that inconsolable that I have to have a pity fuck."
Serena snorted. "Screw pity. Just a fuck. I can go with that."
She started to reach for him but Brad pushed her hands away and backed out of reach. "No."
He had had enough of this child. She was bordering on sexual harassment and that was the last thing he needed right now. He glared at her.
"You are not to come near me again," he snarled. "If you do, I'm calling the police and having a restraining order put on you."
Serena blinked. Clearly, she had been expecting anything but a rejection.
"But Brad," she protested. "She's not coming back."
"And that makes a difference to your consolation? Go home, Serena."
Brad shook his head and walked away, going back to his car. There was no point in staying here if Cherrelle had jetted off to Jamaica or some place in the Caribbean with Jason Colney. He might as well go home.
But even then that might not be enough.
*****
Cherrelle drove home as fast as she could dare, narrowly getting caught by a police car. But she got lucky and managed to get home in thirty-five minutes. Locking up, she hurried across the parking garage. She heard someone calling her name and she turned.
Her smile died away when she saw who it was.
"I have nothing more to say to you," she said stiffly. "Stop following me or I'm going to call the police."
"Not after you've seen these." Jason held up a wadded envelope. "He's been playing you for a fool, Cherrelle."
"What are you talking about?"
"Jarrett. He's been playing you."
Cherrelle rolled her eyes. "We're going down this route now, are we? He is not playing me."
"Then you'd better check these out." Jason held the envelope out. "I've had a private detective follow Jarrett for a while now. They show Jarrett with a woman that isn't you."
Cherrelle stared. But Jason wasn't smirking. He looked perfectly serious. Maybe this wasn't a joke after all.
She took the envelope and opened it, taking out half a dozen photographs. They had been taken with a high-quality camera. Cherrelle could only stare at them in amazement as she looked through them.
"What the...?"
They showed Brad and Serena in some kind of embrace. Brad was holding Serena as she planted kisses on him. The way they were holding each other could only be described as intimate.
"He really has been cheating on you with Serena, no matter what he told you." Jason sighed and shook his head. "I did say he was only after your money."
"Oh, God."
Cherrelle felt like the world was cracking. The life she had been imagining for herself and Brad was being ripped away from her. Brad hadn't asked for her money but he had lied. He had been having an affair with Serena. The show Serena had put on had weakened him and now they were getting caught in romantic clinches.
Then something clicked in her mind. Why would Jason have hired a private detective to follow Brad? What did he hope to achieve following Brad? Then she looked closer at the pictures.
"Hang on, these were taken outside my apartment. And Brad was wearing those clothes when he left this morning."
The pieces began to fall together. Brad wasn't in an embrace with Serena - she was plastering herself all over him again. Just like at the rehearsal dinner. Was she in on this as well? Cherrelle wouldn't put it past her.
She looked up at Jason, realization dawning.
"You set him up, didn't you?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Jason's expression hadn't changed, but Cherrelle had learned to read him very well. His hands tightened together when he was lying. And there was a glint in his eyes that was very smug. Big giveaways.
"You've wanted to split us up from the beginning because you can't get it into your head that I'm with someone else. Someone who is a better man," Cherrelle snarled. "The debacle at the rehearsal dinner with Pa and Serena didn't work, so you're trying a different tactic. I bet you got Serena to tell Brad that I've run off with you as well. There wouldn't be any reason otherwise for him to be holding her."
"Or maybe he's shacked up with Serena at his apartment by now," Jason added.
"I don't think so." Cherrelle was shaking with anger. This had gone too far. She had never known so much high school vengeance to get what he could never have. She jabbed a finger at him. "You set him up, thinking I'd believe he'd cheated. If I hadn't witnessed Serena's attempts to seduce him, I might've gone along with your thinking. Then what would you have done. Say the wedding tomorrow can go ahead but with a different groom?"
Jason shrugged, a slight smile on his mouth. "That was the idea."
Cherrelle felt the urge to do something irrational and she reacted. She punched Jason in the face, catching him right on the nose. Jason screamed as his nose exploded and he collapsed to the ground, clutching at his face. Blood dripped through his fingers onto the tarmac. Cherrelle stood over him, glaring at him.
"I'm going to do what I should've done at the start when you began acting the shit. I'm calling the police. I think I've got enough cause." She turned away, giving him a sharp kick in the stomach as she walked towards her car. "Now get away from my home."
She needed to get out of there before the cops came or she would be getting arrested for murder. That's what would happen if she stayed in Jason's presence much longer. And she had more important things to worry about.
Like convincing Brad that they had been played.
*****
Brad heard the banging on his door, but he ignored it. He simply poured himself another drink. This would be his fifth, and it was only just starting to dull his senses. Maybe if he drank another five more he would be able to pass out.
He couldn't believe he had been taken for a fool. Cherrelle had sounded so genuine, so desperate to get rid of Colney. And in reality, they were plotting to run off together when they tired of toying with him.
Perhaps this was how the rich got their kicks, tormenting the poorer classes. Brad wouldn't have put Cherrelle in that category before, but now he had no choice. She was slotted in with Colney and the rest of the shits who thought money meant more than anything.
His door banged again and a voice he recognized floated through.
"Brad? Brad, it's Cherrelle. I know you're there. Open the door, please."
Cherrelle was here? Brad growled. "Go away."
He wasn't going to open the door and have Cherrelle manipulate him again. Once bitten, twice shy. He had seen money kill his mother; no way would he let it control him.
"Brad, open the door."
"And then what?" Brad snapped, stalking towards the door and glaring at it. "You'll explain why you played me and then ran off with Colney when you got bored?"
"If I've run off with him, then why am I here?"
"I don't know. Torment me again?" Brad turned away in disgust and reached for his glass. "Go away and leave me alone."
He heard Cherrelle sigh. "He was outside my apartment tonight..."
"I don't want to hear about your reunion."
Brad poured another drink. But Cherrelle's next words stopped him from putting the glass to his lips. "He had pictures of you and Se
rena together. He said you two had been having an affair."
Brad wasn't sure he had heard correctly. He put the glass down. "What?"
"I have the pictures right here if you don't believe me."
Brad could feel his emotions warring against each other. He shouldn't go and look. He really shouldn't. It was just a ploy to open the door and let her in. But he found himself putting his glass down and going back to the door. He opened it and found Cherrelle on the other side. Her eyes were red, but there were no tears. She was pale and looked ill. Brad's heart went out to her. She looked heartbroken.
She held out the envelope, and Brad practically snatched it and took out the pictures. He rifled through them.
"These were taken tonight. Serena was telling me that you were running off to the Caribbean with Colney and was attempting to console me," he grunted. "I must say he's a good photographer, that private eye, if he can capture the moment where it looks anything but innocent."
"We were both played," Cherrelle said quietly. Brad looked up and saw that Cherrelle was leaning on the door frame. She looked exhausted. "They wanted us to split. They wanted you to think I'd finally chosen Jason and for me to think you were having sex with Serena."
Brad could see it in her face. While she was upset she had believed him the whole way.
"You knew I wouldn't have sex with Serena," he said quietly. "Because she's practically jail bait."
"And she and Jason are scum of the highest order." Cherrelle pointed to the pictures. "That's why I believed you and not the pictures. I believed you hadn't cheated on me."
Now Brad felt awful. Cherrelle had had full confidence in him, and yet he hadn't given her the same consideration. He really was a terrible partner. He closed his eyes and sighed dejectedly.
"And I believed you had," he said morosely. "I should've trusted you more."
"You should've called me."
"I didn't want the embarrassment." Brad opened his eyes and looked pleadingly at Cherrelle. "I'm sorry, Cherrelle."
He dropped the pictures and opened his arms. Cherrelle ran straight into them and she hugged him tightly, pressing her face into his chest as she took heavy breaths.
"I'm sorry, too," she whispered. "I should've made sure those two were out of our lives earlier."
"We can't change that now." Brad stroked her hair. Then he gulped. "But do you still want to marry me? There's no need to go through with a fake marriage if Jason knows he's not getting you anymore, is there?"
There was silence for a moment. Then Cherrelle eased back a little so she could look up at him. Her eyes were now shining with unshed tears.
"What do you think?" she asked quietly. "I mean really."
Brad knew what he was thinking. He brushed his fingers across her cheek.
"I don't want it to be fake," he whispered. "I want it to be real."
Cherrelle smiled and tears fell. "So do I."
With his heart pounding, Brad crushed her to him and kissed her hard. Cherrelle kissed him back, their tongues tangling together. Then he remembered the front door and pushed it shut, crowding Cherrelle up against it while never breaking from the kiss. He pulled back enough to look at her, her face now flushed and her eyes bright, her hair messed up from his fingers running through the tresses.
He had never seen anything more beautiful.
"I love you, Cherrelle," he said hoarsely. "I think I always have."
The smile Cherrelle gave him made him weak at the knees. "I love you, too."
Brad growled and pulled her flush against him, his erection rubbing against her belly. He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her hard enough for Cherrelle to gasp into his mouth. He took advantage and plunged his tongue into her mouth, tangling with hers. Cherrelle moaned and clung onto him for dear life. She arched against him and Brad growled as she rubbed against his cock.
He wasn't sure how they managed to get to the bedroom, but he swept her up into his arms as they were about to cross the threshold, not stopping their kissing. He laid her gently on his bed, and it was only then that he pulled away.
Cherrelle tried to pull him back, but Brad gently pushed her hands away, casting his eyes over her body and his mouth watered. Dressed in jeans and a simple green t-shirt, she looked stunning. You could dress her in the most expensive dress or the cheapest outfit possible, and she would still look beautiful.
Smiling lovingly down at her, he leaned over Cherrelle without touching her. Dipping his head, he kissed her softly, tenderly. Then he shifted to the side and slid one hand under her t-shirt, under her bra, and stroked her bare flesh. Cherrelle gasped into his mouth and arched up into his hand. He squeezed her breast once more and then moved his hand down, over her stomach, and dipping into her jeans, delving under her knickers. His fingers brushed against her clit and Cherrelle's breath hitched.
He didn't make her wait. He slid two fingers into her pussy and found her wet, her inner walls gripping his digits strongly as he pumped, his thumb rubbing against her clit. Cherrelle groaned and wriggled, trying to get close to his fingers and get away from the ministrations to her clit at the same time.
He withdrew his hand, Cherrelle groaning in objection, but that turned into an appreciative moan as he carefully undressed her, kissing her stomach and breasts as he lifted her t-shirt up over her head, licking her nipples after he took the bra off.
Brad pressed a gentle kiss to her sternum before pulling away and kneeling on the floor. He helped her out of the rest of her clothes until Cherrelle lay naked on the bed, watching him with a heated look that had Brad's cock hardening even more. At this point the apartment could go up in flames and they wouldn't care.
Unable to wait much longer, Brad yanked his clothes off, fumbling for the condom in his wallet and putting it on with shaking hands. He crawled onto the bed and over Cherrelle. She clutched at his shoulders and shifted so he was settled between her legs, his hips hovering over hers.
Cherrelle whimpered and tried to tug him down, lifting her hips up at the same time he thrust down into her pussy, filling her up to the hilt. Cherrelle cried out and rolled her hips, the pleasure from her muscles gripping his cock making Brad's head spin. He withdrew until only the head was still inside and thrust again.
Cherrelle wrapped her legs round his waist and clutched onto him as Brad found a firm, solid rhythm that she matched easily. Already Cherrelle's whole body was shaking as a climax gathered pace. Brad timed his thrusts and guessed when Cherrelle's orgasm hit her, kissing her as she screamed so she screamed into his mouth.
Her pussy clenched onto him and Brad climaxed hard, burying himself deep as fireworks went off in his head. Sagging onto the bed, he rolled to the side and gathered Cherrelle into his arms, urging her head to rest against his shoulder.
"Marry me," he said hoarsely.
Cherrelle giggled and pressed a kiss to his neck.
"Always."
*****
Jim grinned at Cherrelle as they twirled around the dance floor.
"You're looking amazing, Cherrelle. I haven't seen you smile like this in a long time."
Cherrelle laughed. "Yeah, well, a wedding will do that to the bride."
"I bet." Jim chuckled. "I didn't think your idea to have Brad pose as your boyfriend was a good idea, but I'm glad it worked."
Cherrelle was glad as well. After revealing their feelings for each other the night before, Cherrelle was determined to make this a proper wedding instead of a rigmarole to get her parents off her back.
It had been an eventful night. After they had made love, Cherrelle had called the police and told them about Jason. Brad had also put in his own complaint about Serena. Someone had come out to talk to them, a young female officer in her mid-twenties, and had taken the details. She had been friendly and personable, promising to get onto it as soon as possible.
Then they had had to go through with a second wedding. This time, Cherrelle felt the magic any bride would feel marrying the man they loved. She couldn't sto
p smiling and everyone had commented on it.
The only blip was Emily. Her mother had decided at the last minute that she wouldn't attend, even though Cherrelle was getting ready in her house. She had gone in with the hairdresser and makeup artist to find a note saying the three of them had gone on a long holiday and they had full run of the house. While Cherrelle was sad her mother couldn't join in and had caved in to her husband, she couldn't find a reason to stop smiling.
For once, she was getting someone she wanted. Someone who wanted her.
She felt a tap on her shoulder and Cherrelle turned to find Paige standing behind her.
"Can I squeeze in now? I'd like a dance."
Cherrelle slanted an eyebrow at her friend. "Won't it look a bit weird the bride and bridesmaid doing the tango together?"
"Silly." Paige rolled her eyes, but the smile didn't disappear. "Oh, Sarah's just come back from the precinct. She wants to talk to you."
"Thanks."
Sarah had gone to the police station shortly after the ceremony when the police had called. They had news for her, and while Cherrelle wanted to know, she didn't want to leave her wedding so Sarah had offered to go instead.
Brad was talking to Michael and his father, Rowan, as Cherrelle went past him. She touched his arm.
"I'll be back in a minute. Sarah wants a word."
Brad didn't need to ask what she meant. He simply smiled and kissed her.
"Hurry back," he whispered. "I want another dance with you in a bit."
"You want me for a difference dance entirely," Cherrelle scolded teasingly.
"True."
Cherrelle slapped his arm and moved across the room to join Sarah, who stood just inside the door. Sarah smiled and hugged her.
"You're looking amazing, Cherrelle."
"I feel amazing." Cherrelle led them to a nearby empty table and they sat. "So, what happened?"
"Dallas PD has given both you and Brad restraining orders against Jason and Serena, respectively. Neither of them can contact either of you, and they can't come to your places of business or be within several hundred feet."
"Good." That was promising. Cherrelle sighed. "I should've done that at the start."
Being Harrison Bloom's Girl (That Forbidden Love Book 2) Page 22
