“You don’t know me, Carter, so stop pretending you do.”
“Oh, doll. I know you better than you think I do. You challenged me to find out who you really were, but I didn’t need to. You’ve already given me everything I need to know.”
“You know nothing. You’ve no idea where I live, where I work.”
“None of that matters. A job is a job. A house is a house. It’s what’s inside you that I know, and that is exactly what I want.”
“Jeez, you’re such a guy. One dip in my pussy and you’re fucking addicted.”
“I’m not talking about your pussy. I’m talking about what’s in there.” I point at her chest, my hand trembling slightly with frustration and the restraint it’s taking for me not to have her again. I know the second I touch her she’ll be like putty in my hands, but I won’t do it. Not while she’s lying to herself like she is right now.
“You’re delusional, you know that? A few messages online and what? You think we’re a match made in heaven? Well, let me tell you something.” She takes a step towards me, her eyes narrowed in frustration, her fists curled in anger. “I don’t do bad boys, Carter. Why do you think I went for your twin?”
“Oh, you don’t? What was that then?” I lift my chin to the sofa behind her.
“A one-night stand I’m going to regret.” Her eyes flash with something, but it’s gone too quickly to be able to read it.
“Bullshit,” I spit. “If you’re really the kind of girl who doesn’t ‘go for the bad boys’,” I say, mocking her, “then you never would have allowed me to fuck you on your mate’s sofa.” Her face flushes red. “Too late to regret it now. Your juices are all over that.” She snarls, and I can’t help but keep going, wanting to push her into admitting what she really wants. “You think any suit-wearing motherfucker could do what I just did to you? You think my pansy ass twin could? He might look like he has everything, but there’s no fucking way he can make a woman scream like that.”
“Get out,” she shouts, stepping up to me and raining her tiny fists down on my still-naked chest.
“Careful, doll. You don’t want to hurt yourself.” She growls, and I can’t help but laugh. “Okay, fine. I’m leaving. But this isn’t fucking over.”
“Yes it fucking is.”
I back away from her, running my eyes down her bra-clad body. Fuck, she’s fine. She’s got all the curves in all the right places. I lick my lips, still able to taste her, and my cock swells. How I would like to bend her over that sofa and fuck her defiance right out of her.
Reaching down, I make a show of rearranging myself. She doesn’t miss it, and her dark eyes are engulfed with heat.
“Just so you know, I fucking love fiery women.”
“Fuck you,” she barks.
“Aren’t you glad you did?”
Her teeth grind as I pull my shirt on. “I’ll tell Biff that I kept you company while she sorted her man out.”
Her lips part in shock as if she’s forgotten how I ended up here in the first place. I can practically see the cogs turning in her head as she tries to make sense of all this.
“This might not be your place, but I now know you’re close enough to Biff that I’ll be able to find you again.”
“Don’t,” she says in a panic. “Don’t you dare say anything to Biff about this. Not if you intend on keeping your job.”
“You threatening me, doll?”
“You bet your fucking arse I am. Keep it quiet, you hear me?”
“I don’t know. I’m sure all the guys at the studio would get a kick out of this. I might give them every single detail… down to just how tight your pussy is.” She pales, and all her fight seems to instantly drain away.
“Please. Please don’t do that.”
I have no intention of telling anyone about this, but her reaction to me suggesting it sure is interesting. “Meh, I’ll see how I feel.”
She takes a step forward, her lips parting to say more, but no words from.
“Well, unless you want another round, I guess this is it for now. But rest assured, doll. There will be another time. Maybe not tomorrow, or next week, but I will claim what’s rightfully mine.”
Her fire returns. She’s just about to retaliate when I turn and march from the flat. The only thing I hear is her frustrated growl and then something smashing behind me. A chuckle falls from me as I let myself out of Biff’s flat. I’m certainly much more satisfied than when I arrived, but fuck if I’m not a hell of a lot more confused. Who the hell is that woman? I fully intend on finding out, because this isn’t over between us. Not by a long shot.
4
Danni
After pulling my clothes back on, I fall down on the edge of the sofa and drop my head into my hands.
What the fuck did I just do?
I drag in a deep breath but instantly regret it, because all I smell is him. He’s everywhere: on my skin, under my skin, and in my head.
“Fuck.” I bark, thinking that Biff could return at any moment. I jump up, make quick work of tidying the place up, then grab my bag and the rubbish to dump in the bin on the way out so her place doesn’t stink of the Chinese we’d eaten while she was gone.
I shut my mind off as I make the short journey back to my flat. I refuse to allow myself to think of what I did or what the consequences might be until I’m safely inside, behind my locked door.
The lights from the house above mine shine bright, and, as I pass the window to head down the stairs, movement catches my eye and I find Harrison, my older brother, and his wife dancing in their kitchen.
Curling my lip up in disgust that it can be quite so easy, I make my way down.
Dumping my bag on the unit in the hall, I make my way to my bedroom, run the bath, and strip from my clothes. I shove the lot in the laundry, fully prepared to have to burn it all to successfully remove his scent from them.
I walk naked to the kitchen to locate a fresh glass of wine, knowing that it’s very unlikely anyone will see me down here baring everything before I return to the bathroom and sink down into the too-hot water.
My skin prickles, but I refuse to blast any extra cold in. I need the pain. I need it to wash him away and as some kind of fucked-up punishment for what I did tonight. I guess it’s karma. My best friend allowed my brother to fuck her while I was in the next room, so I allowed her friend—his employee—to bang me on her sofa.
I groan, placing my wine on the side and sinking down so it’s only my face above the water line.
How could I be so fucking stupid?
I run the events of the evening through my mind and mix them with the little hints of things I’ve gathered over the years but never bothered to look into.
Him turning up at Biff’s door demanding that she follows him because there’s something wrong with Zach. That’s not news. He’s been MIA since the wedding. All of us have tried to get in touch with him, but none of us had any success. Then I combine that with his admission at the wedding that he was Biff’s boss, and Carter telling me he worked with Biff. Zach’s secret makes sense. He spent all his childhood with a pen or pencil in hand, and it takes me back to a few years ago when a friend told me that he’d inked her boyfriend. I didn’t think any of it at the time, too focused on my own life and not what my idiot brother was doing, but I guess it goes to prove that the signs were there the whole time.