by Emily Bishop
What.
Oh no, was I covered in puke? Did my vegan mascara prevail? I swear, marketing these days, they promised me my mascara was perfectly waterproof, but now I wasn’t so sure.
Mortified, I shot up out of bed, fighting past the dizziness that engulfed me.
James looked worried, but he let me be. I wasn’t sure if he was scared I was going to hit him with my vomit this time, or if he was just worried considering, what, I had passed out twice now in front of him?
I made my way to the bathroom, bracing myself for impact. Yet nothing, nothing, could have prepared me for the sight in front of me.
Rat-tail-like clumps hung from usually smooth locks. Black smudges of mascara embedded themselves underneath my eyes, making me look like a witchy raccoon. My skin was sickeningly pale, despite my sturdy natural olive complexion. I let out a loud groan before I could suppress it.
James laughed in the distance. Cursed thin walls. I wanted to join his laughter, though it was more mortifying than funny to me. I definitely needed a shower.
Shutting the door behind me, I turned on the faucet and hovered my finger under the spray of water, waiting for it to heat.
The phone rang shrilly, and then James’s voice pierced through the shower, a wave of fury penetrating the walls. I shrank into myself. I didn’t want to be on the receiving end of his wrath.
His volume grew and grew, and then he was downright shouting. Curiosity tugged at me, and I tiptoed toward the door and pressed an ear against the peeling door frame.
I could barely make out his voice as it wavered then broke in despair.
“I won’t let you do this.”
I leaned back, uncomfortable with my intrusion. Iturned my attention back to the steaming shower and climbed in, washing the remnants of last night away. As I watched the swirl of water coming down the drain, a sharp pain squeezed my heart.
James’s voice played over and over again in my head like a jammed record, the notch of anxiety on repeat.What was he hiding? Why was he so resistant to opening up? It was a recipe for disaster, but I couldn’t turn away.
James had rocketed into my life, and all I could do was brace for impact.
Chapter 6
James
A sharp pain shot up my chest, and I willed myself to ignore it.
I couldn’t afford any weakness. Not right now.
Bruna paused on the other end of the line. So far gone down the rabbit hole, no traces of her past identity existed.
She was beyond saving.
It was hard to believe that we’d once shared the same bed. Now she was threatening to destroy everything I had built from the ground up.
“I won’t let you do this.” I warned, but my threat cracked on the edges.
I was losing control. Inwardly, I shuddered at my momentary weakness. She had pierced through my blind spot.
I didn’t know if I wanted to knock Summer’s lamp down in front of me or roar out in frustration. I glanced at the closed doorway.
Good.
Summer wasn’t here to witness my meltdown.
Bruna laughed now, a harsh sound booming past the phone speakers. “I told you, querido, all I want is a moment of your time. But you make it damn near impossible to get a word in. So I have to force you to comply, you see? You don’t want to lose that little ranch of yours, do you?” she purred, the threat rolling off her tongue.
I wanted to gag. She had the nerve to summon her old nickname for me, as if nothing had changed.
An image of us as kids, playing in the sand, took hold. She had buried me in the sand then, laughing as the tide crept up closer and closer. Shaking sand from my hair, I had begged her to free me from the sand. “It’s ok, James.” She had said. “I got you, I won’t let you drown.”
And yet Bruna was doing just that. Again. How could she have become so cruel, so far past saving?
Anguish tore into my bones, and I found myself pacing back and forth, my mind swirling with possible loopholes to catch her out.
My brain always saved me from the most impossible of situations. It wouldn’t fail me now.
“What you’re saying is horseshit.” I called her out.
Bruna rose up to meet my challenge, determined. “Querido, you read the news. No—correction—you were the news. You do realize that the media wouldn’t let this slip, an ex-socialite slash billionaire, like yourself, getting caught up in a possible allegation of knowingly harboring mad cow disease in his cattle? Trials by media are a bitch…” Bruna’s voice trailed away, then she continued. “Of course, you don’t have to push me that far. Meet me at the Barber Shop. Let’s have a talk and work this out.”
A sudden urge to hurl my phone against the wall seized me. But I took another sharp breath in, in a desperate attempt to quell the anger boiling inside me. I needed to think like a lawyer now. I couldn’t afford any more slip ups.
The threat wasn’t enough to shut down my ranch. Of course I’d be able to fight these allegations and win, considering they weren’t true. But at what cost? Bruna would relish the opportunity for the media to uncover my whereabouts.
Fuck, she might even get another cut, a bonus sum for her ego if she revealed my location. The rumor alone would destroy my privacy, and with it, the peace and quiet I had fought to build back up again after last year.
At the thought of that, my entire gut churned with anxiety. A dash of panic fought to overwhelm my rationality, and I battled internally with the thoughts that rushed in.
“Stay put Bruna. I’ll get the money you so desperately crave and then you can be on your way,” I snapped.
“Are you really so blind, James?” Bruna’s voice loosened. “It’s never been about the money. You’ve got until tomorrow to decide what it will be. And querido, I promise you I’ve changed. I didn’t want to resort to this—"
“Blackmail,” I finished for her, bitterly. Here she was, blackmailing me- forcing me to see her and she was saying she was a changed woman? The cynicism wasn’t lost on me.
“I just know you really well. I knew you would never agree to see me otherwise. Let’s meet at the Barber Shop tomorrow at noon?” The confidence was back in Bruna’s voice. She knew she had the upper hand here.
When it came to Bruna, money was always involved.
I would pay her out to leave me alone.
Without responding to her demands, I hung up on her.
The bathroom door swung open, and out walked Summer, clad in a mini white towel.
She was naked underneath that. Holy fuck.
I inhaled sharply. Our eyes connected across the room. I gulped, and. all words abandoned me.
She was so very bare underneath that thin fabric that the thought alone of her naked skin stirred something deep inside me.
I bit back my tongue to suppress the growl of want building up.
Her hair was slicked back, with rivulets of water dripping down to the carpet, and a sudden urge gripped me to close the distance between us and touch her. Make her scream out my name.
“I forgot my clothes,” she said meekly.
Was that…?
Was she blushing?
Yes, her cheeks definitely lit up a tinted pink. I felt a tug in my chest.
As she hopped over to the wardrobe, my eyes never left her. She fumbled in the drawers for a moment and then came back with a pile of clothes.
Her back was incredibly toned. What I wouldn’t do to trail my hand down there and trace my lips over bare skin, ever so slowly, trailing down, down, down.
What had I been thinking about again?
Ah, yes. Bruna. Threats. Goodbye new life.
Focus James. I couldn’t allow distractions. Not now, when my whole world was being threatened by my crazy ex.
Summer made her way into the bathroom but stopped hesitantly. She looked back over her shoulder and threw me a worried look. “Are you OK?” There was a tenderness to her question that brought my walls up hard.
I wasn’t OK. Not with the way
she looked, so deliciously naked in that towel. And certainly not with Bruna’s forceful re-entry into my life, a blast from my dark past. A past I had desperately fought to keep hidden.
I collected myself and summoned my iciness back. Staring at her coolly, in a measured tone, I gave her a lie. “Why wouldn’t I be OK?”
She sighed in reply, disappointment rolling off her shoulders. Summer could see straight past my lie. “If you say so,” she said. “I’ll get dressed and then we can go out for a walk.”
The idea of a walk actually sounded good. But did she have to put on clothes?
The thought of her naked beneath me, coming undone against my tongue, drifted up, and I studied her from head to toe, holding back. Barely fucking holding back.
Summer squirmed under the intensity of my gaze.
I cleared my throat, collecting my tongue again. “Sure. I’ll give you some privacy. Meet you outside.” I was having a hard time concentrating on anything right now, expect for an image of her, dropping her towel down, her perfectly round breasts brushing up as she fastened her bra. It would undoubtedly be a lacy one…her tight ass, begging to be grabbed …God, the way she looked in that towel….
Ignore. Dammit, ignore. You got things to do. My erection said otherwise.
*
The heat crippled us into silence. Summer fell in line with my pace, striding along by my side, saying nothing. Absolute silence.
Silence is golden. Sometimes no words are needed at all. I relished the quiet. Even the birds had shut up today. The blazing heat wave had forced them to retreat into shaded trees, out of the sun’s obliterating path.
I didn’t look at her. I couldn’t, since the searing image of her in a towel was etched into my mind. One look, and I could lose it.
Losing control was not an option, not now anyways.
As always, Summer broke through my barriers with her defiance. Cutting through the quiet, she threw me off my trail. “In case you’re wondering, I’ve decided to forgive you.”
Not able to resist, I snuck a cool glance.
She really was something. “Forgiveness for…?”
“Why, your dickish behavior at the party yesterday, of course. Have you forgotten already?” Summer teased.
“I’m not the one suffering from last night’s drunken amnesia.” I couldn’t help but grin.
“You know what, on second thought…while I’ve forgiven you, I do want an apology.” She retorted.
“An apology?” I choked at those weak words in mock horror.
She was unbelievable.
“Yes. I’ll give you a clue, it starts with a big S.” Summer wasn’t letting up. She was full on smirking in that sexy way of hers, cocking her head to the side playfully.
“I am not going to succumb to the sorry syndrome. It’s an overrated, overused word.”
“You are a stubborn horse. Well guess what, so am I.” Stopping in her footsteps, Summer was about to turn around, but I was quicker.
Without thinking, I grabbed her by the arm. Her entire body tightened, waiting for my next move.
Sighing, I did the one thing I almost never did. I caved. “Sorry, OK?”
Was she happy now?
Her eyes lit up with amusement. She was savoring this. She relaxed under my grip and met my stare defiantly. I released her arm, and I swear she looked disappointed.
“What was that again?”
This woman. She was testing my patience.
“I said sorry!” I exclaimed, suppressing another smile.
Summer smiled, the most mind-numbingly toxic smile that sent my heart into overdrive.
Damn. It’s just heartburn, that’s all.
“That’s better. My turn. I wanted to thank you for bringing me home safe last night. And—" She almost choked on her words, a battle of emotions storming across her beautiful features, before she settled on her next words in disgust. “From those men at the bar.”
At the mention of the rat pigs from last night, the fire was back at the flick of a switch, ready to consume me.
Why had I not obliterated them, again? Ah yes, I had Summer’s unique personality to thank for that.
“As you’ve rightfully pointed out, if I hadn’t been a dick, you might have never been put in that situation in the first place.” I gritted my teeth, the guilt gnawing at me.
What if they had slipped something in her drink and had taken her with them? An image of them getting their hands on her gripped me, and I growled out aloud.I actually, full-on cave-man growled.
Whoa, what was happening to me? Summer is happening to you, that’s what, an inner voice murmured.
I tossed her a look of desperation. I wouldn’t have been able to forgive myself. I had Bruna to thank for nearly making that happen. I swear I was going to put her in her place and send her back to her phony land of fake tans and overpriced cocktails.
Not able to stand Summer’s burning eyes, I looked away from her. The shame and anger were threatening to overwhelm my capacity to keep a cool head.
Summer tilted upward and rested her small warm hand on my shoulder. Heat surged up, and this time I didn’t resist. I sank into it, every molecule savoring her touch.
“Look at me, James,” she murmured gently. So much warmth radiated from her statement that I forced myself to obey. I lost myself in those forest green eyes of hers.
My damned heart did that thing again, skipping a beat or ten.
“It wasn’t your fault. I should never have accepted a gazillion drinks from Bruna. I don’t know, she just has her way of making you feel like you’re the center of attention. I’m embarrassed to say I fell for it,” she admitted, a blush creeping up her cheeks.
Everything fell back into place. Darkness soaked in with an icy clarity as Summer spoke. Bruna could play games with me all she wanted. But playing them with Summer, that was a different story.
I pulled myself away from Summer’s hold and walked ahead, keeping my gaze straight ahead.
“Stay away from her, Summer. She’s trouble.”
Summer stumbled to play catch-up, but finally she fell in line with my stride again.
“Who is she?” The question hit me in the gut, and I felt myself clamming shut again. “Don’t do that,” she added fiercely.
Taken aback, I threw a glance her away.“Do what?”
“Shut down.” She sighed, disappointment flickering in her eyes.
How did she know me so well, in such a short space of time?
I was in trouble.
Summer had me in a vice grip, and I could do one of two things. Brush her away and risk her giving up on me altogether, or I could let the wall down. At least partially.
I gave in, because Summer was infuriatingly intuitive, and because a small part of me was tired. So fucking tired of keeping my guard up all the damn time.
“She’s my ex fiancée.” I confessed. “We’ve known each other since we were kids. She was my first love. I trusted her with my life. And… well, let’s just say she betrayed that trust and broke off the engagement. Now she’s back…” my voice trailed away. I couldn’t go on. I kept my gaze fixed ahead, toward a spot in the distance.
“Was that who you were talking to on the phone?” Summer asked.
A scowl slipped onto my face. Had she been spying on me all along back at the motel?
“You were eavesdropping?” I turned to finally look at her, peeved.
“The Outpost Motel has thin walls.” She shrugged, unapologetic.
“She’s blackmailing me.” I relieved the burden of my chest and watched it settle on Summer’s shoulders. Her whole face morphed into shock, concern, and then finally anger.
“That’s so messed up. What does she want?”
“She’s threatening to spread a rumor about how mad cow disease has been spotted among my cattle, and that I apparently know about this but am covering it up. If the allegation was serious enough, the Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department would have no choice but t
o investigate. It would bring the media to my doorstep. But it’s all—”
“Bullshit.” Summer finished for me, her voice shaking with anger. “How could she do something like that? Spreading sick rumors like those…”
“Believe it or not, she used to be a great person. And then fame and money got to her head. She wants to speak to me, to explain herself… and she’s using this to do that,” I said.
“Famous for what?” Summer snorted.
“She used to be in that TV show—shit, I forget the name.” I racked my brains frantically. My memory was in pieces lately. I had a certain blonde to thank for that.
Finally remembering, I said, “ah yes, Cast Away, and now she’s got her own reality show.” The bitter words rolled off my tongue. How ironic. She got her own reality show after she destroyed me and threw me to the wolves for dinner.
“Oh like the Kardashians’ show, right? I can picture her having her own show. I wonder sometimes, how can anyone resign themselves to being documented twenty-four seven by cameras. Imagine, they can literally capture anything and broadcast it for the whole world to see.”
I tossed her an incredulous look. That’s what she was choosing to focus on? I couldn’t help but smile. Summer was one of a kind.
I chose not to respond. After a long silence that felt like an eternity, Summer spoke up again. “Is Bruna the jealous kind?”
Puzzled, I threw her another glance. What was on her mind?
“Bruna is dead set on getting what she wants. She’s always been like that. Ambitious to the teeth.” I scowled as the realization hit.
I had been like that once. In fact, that had been a common bond we shared. My ambition destroyed lives. And in the end, Bruna’s had almost ended me. I didn’t believe in karma, but this couldn’t have been a coincidence.
“What if there was another woman in the picture?” Summer’s question completely threw me off the deep end. I had a sudden desire to choke on her words.
What the actual fuck? I frowned at her, readying myself for the big reveal.
Summer’s eyes were bright, lit with some hidden intent.
“Care to enlighten me?” I finally asked, almost cynically.
