Dad chuckled. “It’s always good to see you boys haven’t forgotten who’s boss just because you’re all out of the house now.”
“Never.” Justin pointed toward the kitchen, taking and swallowing a sip of his beer. “Mom raised us better than that.”
“Just Mom, huh?” Dad punched him playfully on the shoulder. “Thanks a lot. You’re lucky I know how much you love me.”
I laughed and took a seat in the open chair next to them. We chatted for a while about Justin’s job as an architect and some of the projects he was working on before we moved onto how stupid my job could be at times. Miranda Mackey a week ago being the case in point.
A few hours later after lunch and a lively boardgame, Mom realized we were out of bread. I grabbed my jacket and got up. “I’ll get it. It’s easier for me to sneak out than it is for anyone else.”
When I got to the local Kroger’s a couple of blocks away, I spotted a familiar head of black hair in the frozen-food section. Billy used to be my best friend at school, and I grinned as I turned to go say hi.
Before I reached him, another familiar face popped out from behind a freezer. My heart skipped about twenty beats when I saw her. Rylee Naples, Billy’s sister and my childhood crush.
She was three years younger than us, and though I’d caught her staring at me time and time again back in the day, nothing had ever happened between us. Nothing real anyway. I’d had plenty of dreams about her—plenty of very inappropriate dreams that Billy would’ve kicked my ass for—but neither of us had ever made a move.
Rylee laughed and shoved Billy’s shoulder before shaking her head and walking away. The sound of her laughter drifted over to me, and my heart skipped some more beats. She’d always had a great smile, but whenever I heard her laughing, I swore I would go to fucking war for her.
Her long auburn hair was loose, framing her gorgeous face and making those ice-blue eyes of hers seem even bigger and brighter than ever. Rylee always had seemed larger than life to me, and not just because she was tall for a girl at five-seven.
She had a presence about her I couldn’t explain. She didn’t see me before she disappeared back around the freezer, but I still felt affected by her. Some things never change.
Giving my head a firm shake, I pushed the shock of having seen her out of my head and went to greet Billy. He turned around, spotting me before I reached him, and a wide grin broke out across his face.
“Carter Demming, as I live and breathe. How are you doing, man?” He extended his hand to shake mine, then pulled me into a hug. “It’s been forever.”
“Yeah, I know. Way too long. I’m good. Happy to be home. You?” I thumped his back with my fist before we released each other and stepped back.
“Same. How long are you in town for? We should grab a beer if you’ve got time.” He pushed his brown hair off his forehead. “Rylee and I both flew in for the weekend only, but I’m sure she could hold down the fort at home for a few hours.”
“Wow. Was that your sister I just saw you speaking to?” I already knew it was, but I asked anyway.
Billy wasn’t one of those asshole big brothers who thought he owned his sister and threatened to kill any guy who even looked at her—he’d have been a mass murderer by now if he’d tried to—but I’d never rubbed my attraction to her in his face. I wouldn’t start now.
He laughed and rolled his eyes. “You could’ve left out the ‘wow,’ but yes, that was Ry. Our mom’s waiting for the groceries, but let me know if you’re up for that beer?”
“I will. If we don’t get around to it this weekend, we should meet up next time.” Billy’s mom was like mine. She expected her kids home for the major holidays. If we didn’t make it back for Christmas, we’d both be back soon enough.
He nodded. “Yeah. We’ll do that. See you around, Carter.”
“Tell Rylee I say hi,” I said before shaking his hand again and waving as I watched him jog to catch up to his sister.
Rylee fucking Naples. What a blast from the past.
Billy joined her in the line to check out, and seeing her even from this distance made my heart race and my dick stir. It was uncanny that after all this time, my body shot right back to teenage mode when I saw her.
Quit acting like an infatuated child and march your ass over to the bakery instead of staring. My body might have reverted to teenage mode, but at least my brain still worked. Even if it was just to conjure up all those old images of the two of us together and all the fun we never got to have.
Oh, God. Now I’m sporting a boner in the fucking grocery store. Hello, fifteen. I really haven’t missed you.
Rylee was just that girl to me, though. Always had been and probably always would be. It’d been good to see her, but I was kind of glad it was a once in a decade thing. Things would get real uncomfortable for me real fast if that ever had to change.
Chapter 4
RYLEE
“Have we got everything?” I asked my brother when he finally rejoined me from whatever the hell had kept him in the frozen-foods section for so long.
He studied the contents of the cart and nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Next time, I’m calling Mom from the airport and asking her what last-minute things she needs before I even head home.”
I laughed. “It’s a good strategy, but you know we’re always going to end up doing last-minute shopping anyway. None of us are that good at preparation. Face it, we’re just not a list family. Where were you?”
“Oh, I ran into Carter. He says hi.” Billy leaned with his forearms on the cart like he didn’t have a care in the world. Or rather, like he didn’t know he’d just sent my heart spinning like a top at the mere mention of his former best friend’s name.
“Carter? Hot Carter from high school?” Oh, be still my heart.
I hadn’t seen Carter in person since he and Billy had graduated, but the boy still dominated my fantasies when I let myself think about him. Well, he probably wasn’t a boy anymore. He and my brother were having their thirtieth birthdays next year. Carter would be a man now, and that was something I desperately wanted to see.
I craned my neck to try catching a glimpse of him, but Billy rolled his eyes and gave my shoulder a light push. “Hot Carter? Since when did you think he was hot?”
“Since always.” I rolled my eyes right back at him. As the youngest child in a sarcastic family, eye-rolling was an art I’d perfected as a toddler. My brother was pretty good at it too, though. “Don’t pretend like you didn’t know I thought he was hot. I mean, I’m not blind, am I?”
“I didn’t know you thought he was hot.” Billy’s face contorted into a horrified expression. “I used to invite him over to come swimming all the time. Were you perving on my friend when he was there?”
“Yes.” I didn’t even hesitate before replying. Carter and Billy used to be on the swim team together. “Your afternoon practice sessions at our place are legitimately among my favorite childhood memories.”
He groaned out loud and slapped a hand over his face. “I really didn’t need to know that. Fuck. I’m going to have to send him an apology gift basket.”
I shimmied a little, smirking when it made him wince. “That’s a great idea. I’d fit in a basket if we got one big enough. What else would you like to send him?”
“Not you, for starters. It’d be a basket to apologize for your eyes violating my poor, innocent friend who only wanted to cool down and practice with me.”
“Your poor, innocent friend?” Yeah, my brother definitely hadn’t been paying attention in high school.
It wasn’t like I’d hide out in my bedroom and spy on them from there—well, not always anyway. Very often, I’d put on my bikini and join them by the pool. Billy’s poor, innocent friend had had roving eyes of his very own.
Sadly, those lingering gazes and afternoons filled with sizzling tension between us were as far as things had ever gone. It’d also pretty much been the height of my sexual experiences as a teenager. Being turned on by
my brother’s best friend looking at me was as good as it had gotten back then. Yep. I was that kind of cool in high school.
Thoughts about Carter and the feelings he’d stirred up in my body had led to some pretty intimate sessions of self-discovery. Handheld showerhead, how I miss you.
I briefly considered torturing Billy by telling him about how I’d named said showerhead Carty after Carter, but decided against it when he gave me a puzzled look. “He was my poor, innocent friend. Wasn’t he? Please don’t tell me you two used to sneak around and make out when I wasn’t looking.”
“I wish.” Billy flinched, but I just shrugged. “No, really. You have no idea how much I used to wish I could be making out with him when you weren’t looking. Where is he? I want to see him.”
“I don’t know where he is, but I hope it’s far, far away from here,” my brother complained. “Why are you giving me grief about this now? I don’t need to know the details of your sicko teenage fantasies.”
“Why do those details qualify as being sick? He was really hot, not related to me, nice, funny, and have I mentioned really hot?”
Carter hadn’t been the number-one jock or heartthrob in high school, but he was the only boy who had ever made my heart—and other bits—throb back then. I’d pictured myself running my hands through his thick brown hair so many times I could practically feel the softness of the strands between my fingers even now.
In my fantasies, I’d conveniently left out the hair gel they all used to lather themselves up with. I didn’t want to have to contend with having to get that goop off my hands even in my wildest dreams.
No, I’d always imagined that Carter would’ve just washed it all out of his long hair especially for me, or I’d pretend he didn’t use it at all. Those luscious chestnut locks of his were always silky soft when I pulled my imaginary fingers through them.
He’d look at me with those gorgeous brown eyes, and his beautiful, sexy smile would spread across his lips just before he leaned down to kiss me. I must’ve gotten a dopey, dreamy look on my face thinking about it because Billy suddenly punched my shoulder.
“Eww. I do not need to see that look on your face ever again. Go fantasize about someone else when we get home. Better yet, maybe jump into the pool and cool yourself down a little.”
“That’s a great idea.” I flashed him my most dazzling smile. “Do you think you could invite Carter over to come swimming with me?”
“You’re awful and I hate you.” He pouted and started to unload our groceries from the cart.
I helped, but that didn’t mean I had to stop antagonizing my brother. He lived in Nashville now, working in the country-music business. I only saw him a few times a year. It was my duty as his little sister to drive him as crazy as I could during the short stints of time we spent together.
Besides, everything I was saying about Carter was true.
By the time we pulled into our parents’ driveway, Billy had his ears covered and was humming a catchy tune.
My work here is done. Hopping out of the car, I grabbed a few grocery bags and whistled under my breath while walking up to our small quaint place.
It wasn’t the same rundown house we’d grown up in, but it also wasn’t the house I’d wanted to buy them a few years ago. Billy and I had tried to help our parents out financially, but they refused to accept more than the bare minimum.
It had taken us two years to convince them to let us buy them this place instead of just doing basic renovations at our old house. A part of the ceiling had literally collapsed before they’d even considered our offer.
I liked this house, though. It might be small and quaint, but it was home now. Mom had made it as cozy and homey as the other place had been, but even if it hadn’t been for the bright paint on the walls, the assortment of rugs, and the thousands of photographs, it still would’ve been home because it was where our parents were.
As scattered across the country as our family was those days, we were still close. A tent would’ve been home to me as long as my parents were there.
Mom and Dad were in the kitchen when I walked in, and both of them laughed when I told them Billy was trying to scrub his brain before coming in. They didn’t ask why. They were used to our antics.
We got started on dinner, and Billy pitched in by setting the table when he finally got over learning about my crush on his former best friend. Once we were seated and our roast chicken with vegetables was on the table, Carter was long forgotten and we were getting caught up.
Mom’s eyes locked on mine and she leaned forward. “Tell us about your comeback. It’s happening on New Year’s Eve, right?”
I nodded, nervously swiping my tongue across my lips when I thought about going back onstage. “I’m really excited, but I’m also still not sure it’s the right decision.”
“Why not? You love performing and you’re great at it.” Mom smiled but I saw the worry lurking in her eyes. “Just promise us you’re going to take care of yourself and not overdo it.”
I reached across the table to give her hand a reassuring squeeze. “Jules and I have been very clear about my schedule. The doctors have cleared me for work, and they’re on call if I need them. And I’ve promised to take lots of breaks.”
“What’s the problem then?” Billy asked, his blue eyes as clouded with worry as our parents’ were. Joking around with him this afternoon had been fun, but our brief foray back into the children we used to be was over now. “Has something happened we should know about?”
“Not really. People are just crazy, you know?” I cut a bite of my chicken. “I’ve gotten some death threats over the years to return to the stage. There are some crazed-ass fans out there. Between them and the press, I’m just not sure if I should be going back.”
Dad’s spine straightened and his shoulders turned rigid. “Jules told me about that. He also told me he’d take care of it. Has he gotten in touch with a good agency to get you a bodyguard yet?”
“A bodyguard?” I frowned, arching a brow at him. “Really? Jules mentioned it to me in passing, but I thought he was joking.”
“He wasn’t,” Dad said firmly, and Billy nodded. “We’re worried about you, darling. You’re downplaying it now, but Jules told me you had to move because of the threats.”
I couldn’t even deny it. At first, I’d waved off everyone’s concerns, but when I got home one afternoon and found a pigeon with its neck broken on my pillow, I’d had no choice. I couldn’t ignore it anymore.
“My new building has a fantastic security system,” I said, trying to assuage some of their fears. “No one is getting in there without access.”
“Maybe, but I don’t want you taking any chances. Promise me, Ry. When you get back to the city, promise me you’ll speak to an agency yourself or get Jules to do it, but you’re getting a bodyguard.”
I sighed, but I knew from the way his jaw was set that Dad wouldn’t back down on this. Neither would Mom or Billy. They were all staring at me, waiting for my agreement.
I hated seeing them looking so worried and stressed. Plus, while I still thought a personal bodyguard was overkill, it couldn’t hurt to have a professional watching my back. Some of the fans really had spun out of control, and I knew Jules and Tani were worried about it as well.
If there was one thing my diagnosis had taught me, it was to take my health and safety seriously. It would help ease everyone’s tension, including my own, if I made the promise my dad wanted me to make.
“Okay, I promise,” I said finally. “As soon as I get back to the city, I’ll hire a bodyguard. Happy?”
Well, as soon as I got back to the city, I’d have to figure out how to even hire a bodyguard. But right after that, I was getting a new shadow.
Chapter 5
CARTER
A week after I’d gotten back from Conroe, the visit felt so far away that it was almost like it’d never even happened. The last few days had been a total shit-show.
“I need the footage from
every angle you’ve got,” I snapped into the phone while filling out yet another pile of paperwork. “The senator’s daughter filed a complaint against me. She alleges that I touched her. I need every second of video that you’ve got.”
Before Miranda’s party, we’d worked with the hotel’s security to ensure everything ran smoothly. Technically, they could deny access to the tapes for that evening and make our firm jump through hoops to get it, but I was hoping it wouldn’t come to that.
I fucking knew that girl was going to pull something like this. My gut had been screaming about it that whole night, and when I’d gotten back after Thanksgiving, I’d walked right into Bart dealing with the allegations against me.
The entire week had been spent going over the night with him multiple times and then repeating the process with our lawyers and a bunch of other people. Complaints were taken very seriously, even if the person against whom they were lodged was best friends with the boss.
Bart had to be able to show that he’d followed the process to the letter, or risk the firm’s reputation if the senator spoke out against us. He trusted me and knew me well enough to know it was total bullshit, but we still had to go through the proper procedure.
I’d filled out more paperwork this week than it would’ve taken to get a travelers’ visa to visit North Korea, but at least I was almost done. All I had left to do was to have the videos pulled. Then those would be combed over by our legal team before copies were made available to the senator.
Even though the process was nearly done and I had Bart in my corner, I was still fucking hating life right then. Idiot rich people.
I had no idea what Miranda thought she had to gain from filing a complaint against me, but all she’d done was waste my time. Cradling the phone between my shoulder and my ear, I massaged my hand before I signed the form I’d just completed.
Dropping The Ball: A New Year’s Billionaire Romance Page 3
