PLAYED: A Small Town Billionaire Romance (Reckless Falls Book 5)

by Vivian Lux

  "You're creepy, dude."

  I spread my hands. "I'm proactive."

  "So..."

  "So... what?" I prodded. I knew where he was going with this. Hell, it had been on my mind ever since the first night I saw his head whip around when he heard her car pull up.

  "Are you...?" I could tell he didn't want to finish that sentence.

  I didn't really want him to finish the sentence either. Once he put it out in the open like this, it'd be a done deal. We had an agreement.

  "Am I going after her?" I chuckled, then looked back out the window. "Haven't made up my mind yet," I lied. "I was going to ask you the same thing."

  He licked his lips.

  "Aha!" I crowed, pointing at him. "You're thinking about it too! Good. That's great."

  "Why is it great?"

  "Because," I said, grinning. "I was worried your dick had fallen off."

  "Fuck you," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're the one with the hang-ups."

  "It hasn't been that long," I protested.

  "Since Mercy," he interrupted. "Mercy the Merciless."

  "Yes," I gritted, trying not to sound annoyed and failing miserably. "Since my fiancée."

  "Ex-fiancée."

  "Yes, Finn. I know. It's really not necessary to remind me every damn day."

  "I want to make sure you never go back to that bloodsucker." He looked back out the window. "And if making sure of that means I'm gonna let you have this one, then I'll do it."

  "Excuse me? Let me? You're the one who gets so wrapped up in work he turns into a monk."

  He cupped his groin. "I'll show you a monk."

  I smiled, happy to see him all riled up like this. If nothing else, at least he was thinking of something else besides work. Even if that something else was punching me in the face.

  "I don't need you to do me any favors, buddy," he seethed. I couldn't keep the smile off my face, which only got him more worked up. Finn Walker was usually unflappable, cool under pressure. The kind of guy who got shit done. He didn't get riled easily.

  It was a matter of knowing what buttons to press. "I know you've been out of the game since coming up here," I went on. "Thought I'd back off and see if you still have any game left."

  Finn looked like he wanted to strangle me. "I do just fine on my own."

  "Oh really?" I raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Then why have you been staring at her for the past few weeks but you didn't even know her name?"

  He opened his mouth, ready to fire back some smartass answer. I waited, honestly eager to hear whatever excuse he was trying to make. Yeah, the restaurant was taking up all our time. Yeah it was a bitch to get everything perfect. But that was no excuse. Finn was good at this shit. Too good. He lost himself in the details, needing to control every second of his life. I'm sure he took a look at Beatrix and penciled down a note to himself in his planner to chat her up between 5:45 and 5:57 PM on a Tuesday three months from now.

  He blinked at me, his nostrils flaring. I crossed my arms over my chest and waited some more. "Okay fine," he finally exploded. "I'll go for it." Then he looked at me askance. "And you're cool with that? We have..."

  "An agreement," I finished. "I know." I was starting to regret pressing him so hard.

  "Last time you and I went for the same chick..."

  "I punched you in the face," I said. "I know."

  "You broke my nose," he pointed out.

  "It's really not necessary to remind me every damn day.

  He grinned. "Touché. We're better as a team than as rivals anyway."

  "For whatever reason, you're right," I agreed.

  "So?"

  I looked up at him and shrugged. There was this weird sinking feeling in my chest. I flexed my fingers, feeling like something was slipping through them and I closed my fist before I lost hold of it completely. When I opened my mouth to tell him that it was fine, I was fine, go for it, I was surprised to hear what came out instead. "Let's see what happens, huh?" I said slowly, as casually as I could.

  Over my shoulder, the light in the back of the bakery flicked on. I could see Beatrix's head bobbing. If her body was as half as incredible as the curves of her silhouette advertised, I was in deep fucking trouble. "We have enough shit to figure out without making this complicated too," I said to Finn, as carefully as I could.

  He dug the heels of his hands into his eyes again, suppressing a yawn. "You're right," he said.

  I nodded, feeling relieved. "I am."

  "But you're also an asshole," he pointed out.

  "I am that too."

  He looked up at the ceiling in defeat. "Why the fuck do I put up with you?"

  I shrugged again with a grin. "Because I'm Jackson Nye. I'm a fucking genius."

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Bee

  By the time I was done cleaning the front of my store, I had a headache from the solvent. I'd probably need to come back in the daylight and make sure I didn't miss any spots, but right now I really needed to finish my baking.

  I opened the back door to my kitchen to let out some of the heat and got to work, mixing and dividing and rolling out the dough for the honey buns. When I had six trays laid out I opened my shiny new industrial oven and closed my eyes against the blast of heat. I was getting much better at setting up my racks, and it was a little sad how proud I was when everything lined up right the first time.

  I slammed the oven door shut, inhaling deeply, expecting to fill my lungs with the smell of my honey buns baking.

  "Oh God, what's that?" I said aloud in my empty kitchen.

  I sniffed again. The odor of reeking, rotting garbage was faint, but still overpowering enough to drown out the smell of the baking buns.

  "Oh God," I sighed. "Not again."

  I turned in a slow circle, taking in several things at once. The first thing was the overflowing garbage can in the corner of the store that I needed to take out before I opened.

  And the second was the smell of the garbage wafting through the open back door.

  The garbage in the dumpster that apparently hadn't been picked up for the second week in a row.

  "Tonight can go fuck itself," I declared vehemently. For a moment, I just stood there paralyzed. Waiting. Waiting for someone to come swooping in to take care of me.

  But there wasn't anyone, and I had no one to blame but myself.

  "I can take care of myself," I said aloud. That's what I'd told Zach as I ripped the ring off my finger and flung it into the woods. I'd rather be alone than be with you.

  I never realized being alone was so... lonely.

  I sniffled, feeling sorry for myself, and when I did, the odor of garbage filled my nostrils again. When I contracted with the waste management company, they promised that they would do their pick up here at my bakery first, since I started work so early in the morning. But here it was, nearly 5 AM, and they still weren't here. And if what had happened last week was any indication, that meant they wouldn't be coming at all.

  I leaned back on my heel, spinning a slow pirouette that would have made my mother proud, twisting in a circle of indecision. There was no way that I could have my garbage piled in the corner if and when people started walking into the shop, and I opened in an hour. I needed to do something with the morning's garbage, but a full dumpster would make that impossible.

  I looked again out through the open backdoor. It opened to a black top alley, shared by all the new stores and restaurants that were popping up along the strip. Each plot was separated by nothing more than a low chain-link fence.

  And on the other side of that fence from my shop was a giant, completely empty dumpster belonging to Finn's restaurant.

  Did I dare?

  Yeah, I dared.

  The timer on my buns would go off in fifteen minutes. That should give me just enough time to pack up the garbage, and see if my fence jumping skills were still as good as they used to be back home. There was no one out and about at 5 AM in Reckless Falls to see me committing... wait, w
as garbage fraud even a thing?

  It didn't matter. One bag? Finn would never even notice the difference. He didn't even know I existed.

  That's what I told myself as I grabbed the full bag and tied it off. I slung it over my shoulder then rushed out the back door.

  The stars still twinkled on the western horizon but in the east, a faint line of blue was gathering, a mirror image of the sunset I'd watched eight hours earlier. My eyes were scratchy with lack of sleep. Anxiety and stress buzzed in my veins like caffeine.

  I stood at the fence, gathering up my courage for a second before tossing the bag over, and scaling the fence between our properties.

  I landed with a thud on the other side of the fence, rolling my ankle. I hissed in pain, then hopped over to the dumpster. Praying that it wouldn't squeak, I lifted the lid carefully.

  "And just what do you think you're doing?" came a low voice from the shadows.

  I jumped like I been scalded, slamming the lid shut and dropping the bag of garbage to the ground where it flopped open, letting out the smell of rancid milk and butter way past its prime. Embarrassment thudded in my ears. Of all the ways I had imagined finally meeting Finn Walker, this was by far the worst of my nightmares.

  I turned slowly to see a piece of shadow separate itself from the black mass. "My next-door neighbor is a thief?" the shadow drawled.

  My nose twitched a little. Sure, Finn was handsome, but that didn't give him permission to be a dick.

  I drew myself up standing taller. "You scared me," I called.

  The shadow stepped into the light a little more, and I sucked in my breath to see dark eyes, full lips, and dark hair.

  "You're not Finn!" I burst out and then snapped my mouth shut.

  He gave a slow, easy grin that did something strange to my stomach. I took an involuntary step backwards, unable to keep myself from staring at him.

  He was tall, probably a foot taller than me, with dark straight hair just a little too long for my tastes. It flopped into his eyes and he ran his fingers through it as he stared me down, like he wanted to make sure he had a clear view of my embarrassment.

  I swallowed. He was dressed in chef's whites. So he must be a one of Finn's workers. But what the hell was he doing here so late? Or rather, so early? "You shouldn't be hanging around in the dark like a creeper," I finally managed to gasp.

  "Well," he said, turning to the back step and grabbing a Styrofoam cup that was sitting there. He looked me up and down in a way that made my skin tingle at the same time it made my blood run cold as he took a slow sip. "At least I'm not trespassing," he finally drawled.

  Red flashed across my vision, and my blood heated up. I felt my fists clench as my heart started to pound. A voice that sounded like my mother's echoed in my head, small and distant, watch that temper of yours, Beatrix Noelle, but it vanished as the full force of this shitty day hit me. "Don't be a fucking asshole!" I screeched. "I've had a bad fucking day and the sun hasn't even come up yet!"

  Then I clapped my hand over my mouth. "Oh my god, oh my god I am so sorry," I said, burying my face in my hands and wishing like hell that the ground would just swallow me up.

  "Don't be," he said. I opened my eyes to see that he was still grinning, but this time it seemed different. Like, less amused and more... impressed? "It's been a shitty day all around."

  "I bet mine was worse," I grumbled petulantly.

  "Yeah? Tell me why."

  I looked back up again. The sky had lightened enough so that I could see the way his eyes were sliding down over my body. I flushed deep red and opened my mouth to shout at him again when the door opened.

  "Jacky-boy? Where the fuck did you go?"

  And if my face was red before, now it had to be deep purple. Because of course Finn Walker was peering out of the restaurant. And of course his eyes landed on me. Of course I now had two devastatingly gorgeous men staring at me while I stood there, breathless and sweaty, half covered in black spray paint, reeking of solvent and standing over stinking garbage.

  Of course I did.

  This day could definitely go fuck itself.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Finn

  In my sleep-deprived delirium, I almost wondered if I had teleported her out of my thoughts and into our back alley. Or maybe I was sleepwalking and this was all a dream?

  How else could I explain why Beatrix was suddenly standing there in front of me after weeks of only seeing her from afar?

  If this was a dream, though, it was quickly turning into a nightmare, because one glance at her and I could see that she was red-faced and pissed off about something. And Jackson, fucking Jackson, was grinning like this was all the funniest shit he'd ever seen.

  Even though we'd talked this out only a few hours ago, I couldn't help but seethe with anger that he'd managed to talk to her first. When he said we'd see what happened, I didn't think it'd be happening so soon.

  He was clearly making the first move.

  But that didn't mean I had to make it easy on him.

  "Hey!" I called out. "Jacky-boy! Quit giving the poor girl shit and get back in here!"

  Jackson started to protest. "We were just talking..."

  "Thanks," Beatrix piped up, interrupting him. Her eyes flashed something that looked like gratitude to me, and I took that moment to treat myself to a nice long look at her up close.

  Her hair was blonde. That was a surprise since from the tinted window I'd always assumed it was a lightish brown. It was cropped to her shoulders, and I could tell she tried to straighten it, because the early morning humidity was already starting to make her curls break free. They surrounded her face like a halo, and I saw bright pink cheeks, and even brighter pink lips. There was a smattering of freckles across her nose and a few more across the tops of her absolutely stunning breasts.

  I shoved my hands in my pockets, and pinched my thighs to keep the blood from flowing to my dick. The desire was sudden and overpowering, but it was welcome too. Here I'd thought I was dead from overwork, but apparently, things down there still worked after all.

  "You're from next door, right?" I heard myself say. I was already walking towards her, taking note of the way her eyes were bouncing back and forth warily between me and Jackson. "It's nice to finally meet you. I'm Finn."

  "I—" she seemed to catch herself. "Beatrix. I'm Beatrix. But…" She licked her lips for a second so they showed wet and inviting. "Could you please call me Bee?"

  "Of course," I said. Then I gestured towards Jackson who was shooting me the dirtiest of dirty looks. "I see you've already met this guy..."

  "Your friend," Jackson piped up, making sure I couldn't disavow him if I tried.

  "Right. Jacky was it?" Bee said, extending her hand.

  I hid my smirk behind my hand as Jackson shot me a look that should have killed me dead on the spot. "Jackson," he corrected, taking her hand and lifting it to his lips. His eyes flicked briefly — smugly — over to me before he brushed a kiss over her knuckles.

  My fists balled at my side. "Bee, was there something you needed help with?" I asked, stepping closer and maybe giving Jackson just the slightest shoulder check. "You can throw that garbage in our dumpster if you need to." I stepped smoothly around Jackson. "I got this, Jacky. You can head back inside."

  Bee looked between me and Jackson. "You've got a nice boss," she observed.

  Jackson gave a short grunting laugh. "I don't have a boss," he said.

  Bee blinked and looked between us. I tried to hold out, but Jackson's eyeballs were burning a hole in the back of my skull. "We're business partners," I finally explained. "I'm the business manager. He's the executive chef."

  "Oh!" Bee's pretty pink lips formed a little 'o' of astonishment. "Wow, a chef huh?"

  "It means chief," Jackson added. "As in, the one in charge."

  "I'm sure she knows what a chef is."

  "I'm not telling her. I'm telling you."

  "That you're in charge?"

  He smirked. "Sometim
es you forget."

  "Ha!" I scoffed. "Sure, you're in charge. In charge of the kitchen, that is."

  "Which is the whole reason people come to restaurants in the first place."

  "But there'd be no restaurant without customers," I reminded him.

  Bee was staring at us both like we'd grown horns on our heads. This first impression was going downhill faster than the last time I tried skiing.

  I glared at Jackson for a beat before turning back to Bee with a smile. "Here," I said, moving to her bag. "Let me throw this in for you. It looks heavy.

  "Oh," she gasped, jumping out of my way. "You don't have to," she protested, but I was already tying it back up again. "It's just, you know, my garbage service, they stood me up again. Second time this month." She gave a short little laugh that was both regretful and amused, and all together charming. "I was hoping you guys might have room. Just this once."

  I found myself nodding. "Of course," I said as I tossed it into our dumpster, then brushed my hands across my pants. "There," I told her. My mind was already spinning out several steps ahead. "I can put you in contact with our garbage service," I told her.

  "You don't need to help me, it's okay," Bee said. Her voice was strangely tight.

  I waved my hand. "It's nothing. No trouble at all."

  "Really. I've got it."

  "Finn," Jackson called out. It sounded like a warning, but I was already too far gone. Here it was. A problem I could actually fix. Something I could control. "I'll call them myself," I promised. "Obviously they do a better job, and they probably wouldn't mind doing a pickup, you know, since we're right next door to each other."

  She looked at me wide-eyed. "Hey," she finally said, sucking in a deep breath and holding it. I waited, eager to hear her say it. "Thanks," she finally said.

  A rush of triumph washed through me. "My pleasure," I told her. And I meant it.

  She pulled her bottom lip up under her teeth, dragging it across. I found myself licking my own lips in response. Her lips were so full. Almost like pillows. So plump and pink.

  "Is your store named for you?" Jackson called out, far too loudly.

  I'd almost forgotten he was there.