Rett Read online

  Jude was at the kitchen counter eating a massive pile of eggs, and Cole was pouring a cup of coffee. Eden had left to school already.

  “How come you’re home?” I asked lightly, trying to mask the utter disappointment at seeing Jude. His reaction assured me I’d done a lousy job of it.

  “Happy to see you too, Doolittle. I’m working on a midterm project, so I’ll be out of your way as soon as I finish these eggs.”

  “I didn’t mean it like that, Jude.”

  “Yeah, right.” He looked up at me. “I know you want to get out there to watch Barrett work.”

  “He’s not here,” Cole said from the kitchen. “I brought two other crew members in to put the barn together.”

  I looked at Jude. He raised up his hands. “It’s got nothing to do with me. Eden has already put my balls in irons over this whole thing, so I’m staying out of it.”

  Cole leaned against the counter with his coffee but avoided looking at me as he spoke. “I don’t need a lopsided barn out there. You’re too much of a distraction for Rett. I gave him a few days off. He’s starting on another job later this week.”

  Before Jude had time to protest, I grabbed up a piece of his buttered toast and threw it at Cole. It left a nice grease stain on his shirt.

  Cole stared down at it. “Damn it, Finley.”

  “Congratulations, Cole. You just passed Jude on my list of top ten buttheads.”

  “Hey,” Jude said, “I’m just sitting here eating my eggs.”

  “Shut up butthead,” I snapped.

  Cole walked over to me. “Look, Rett is a really nice guy, but this whole thing seems sketchy to me. A guy like Barrett doesn’t hook up with one girl unless—” he paused, but only for a second. And my rage doubled in that short span of time because I knew what was coming next.

  “Unless she’s extremely rich. Forget the butthead list. You’ve just made top asshole.”

  “I’m being dethroned all over the fucking place,” Jude quipped. He seemed to be taking far too much delight in letting Cole be the mean, father figure today.

  “Actually, the top of that list was the bastard who abused Some Pig, but if you want to be considered for the position, not a fucking problem.” Then tears formed in my eyes. As much as I’d been missing a good occasional cry, this one was ill-timed. I needed to stand up to both my brothers, and sobbing wasn’t going to help.

  Jude noticed the tears and stiffened immediately. “Finley, don’t get upset.” I hated the overly concerned tone he used. He was worried I was going to fall apart. I’d done that to him. I’d instilled that constant fear in my brother by falling apart far too often.

  “I’m all right, Jude, relax.” I scowled at Cole, who looked about as comfortable in his newly appointed authoritative role as Some Pig had been when I’d tried to convince him to wear a wool sweater for winter. “I know you think of me as your puny little sister who has panic attacks and talks to animals and taps everything three times so dark clouds won’t fill the sky, but Barrett likes me. And not just because of my bank account.” Some Pig rubbed against my leg. He always sensed when I was upset. I’d even managed to make my pig paranoid that I was going to lose it. I bent down and stroked his head to assure him I was fine. “Believe it or not, some guys do find me appealing.”

  “I know that, Finley,” Cole said.

  I shook my head. “No, you don’t. You just said it straight to my face.”

  “That’s not what he meant,” Jude was obviously busting at the seams to put in his two cents. “It’s just that someone like you always has to be on guard.”

  “Eden doesn’t have a damn penny to her name,” I said sharply. “Maybe she only likes you for your bank account because frankly, you’re pretty much a jerk.”

  He shrugged. “My gut told me to keep out of this, but I stupidly stepped into it. And you’re right, Fin. I am a jerk and totally undeserving of Eden. But she’s never been interested in the money, and I’m sure Barrett likes you because you are beautiful and funny and completely unique.”

  I smiled weakly. “Completely unique? Is that a kind way of calling me ‘freak show’?

  For the first time ever, he seemed to feel remorse about the nickname. “You’re not a freak show, Finley. You’re the most decent person I know.”

  “All right, you’ve moved down several more notches on the butthead list because of that comment.” I leaned over and hugged Jude. I waved a finger at Cole. “I’m still pissed at you. But since you gave Barrett some time off, I think I’ll give him a call.” A brilliant idea popped into my head. “Can you guys make sure the pets are fed for the next two days?”

  “Where are you going?” Jude asked.

  “Since Rett has some free days,” I made a point of winking at Cole. He pulled his mouth tight with anger. “I’m going to invite Barrett to the beach house. I’ve never spent the night with anyone, but I think it’s something I would like to try.”

  Jude put up his hand. “Shit, don’t say anything else. I’ll feed the pets, just spare me the details about your sex life.”

  I walked outside and out of earshot of my brothers. Barrett answered with a tentative hello.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

  He was quiet at first. “I wasn’t exactly sure how to take the whole thing. I should have let you know. At least I still have a job. I hope.”

  “You do. I promise. But since you have some time off— I was wondering if you like Malibu?”

  “Who doesn’t like it? I’ve only ever just driven through it, but it seems like a cool place to hang out and surf.”

  “Well, I’m not promising much wave action, but I do have some other activities planned. My dad has a place with a million dollar view and a swimming pool. Oh, and there’s a hot tub in the bedroom.” He didn’t answer at first. “Rett, are you still there?”

  “No, you lost me at hot tub in the bedroom.”

  “I’ll pick you up in an hour. Don’t over pack. You won’t need many clothes.”

  CHAPTER 15

  Finley

  Barrett downshifted and turned the corner. I pointed through the windshield. “It’s the one with the white rod iron gates. I confess I’ve hardly been here since—” I sat back. “I haven’t been here since I decided to make myself a prisoner at home.” I looked over at him. Nothing about my past seemed to shock him and I was grateful and relieved. “But now I’m here and I’m looking forward to being away from home. Thank you for that.”

  Barrett smiled over at me. “No, thank you. When you called this morning, I was staring down at my bowl of stale cereal feeling shitty about being taken off the barn job and wondering what it all meant. Now I’m driving a Porsche, sitting next to a girl whose name is etched so deeply in my mind she invades all my thoughts, and we are driving up to a house that has a hot tub in the fucking bedroom.”

  I leaned over the console and kissed him. “I’m just glad that sadness washed out of your expression. You don’t have the face for it. I’m sorry Cole is being an idiot. I will make it up to you.” I pulled the remote for the gate out of my bag and pressed it. The gates swung open.

  Barrett drove up the driveway and parked in front of the garage. Dark pink bougainvilleas grew tangled and nearly out of control along the white stucco walls surrounding the front courtyard. As I stepped out of the car, a fine sea mist blew up from below, and I closed my eyes to feel the cool spray on my skin. “I just realized how badly I’ve missed this place. My dad used to take me here during summer breaks from school. It didn’t happen often, but occasionally, the three of us would just hang out with my dad and it would all be totally normal. No entourage, no loud parties, no press. Just the four of us sitting on the beach, eating sandwiches and burying each other in the sand.”

  Barrett grabbed our bags from the car. “I guess it would be kind of hard to have a really famous dad.”

  We walked up to the door and I pressed in the code. “It’s much harder for him. Imagine not ever being able to g
o anywhere without people surrounding you or stalking you. It’s no wonder famous people are always in rehab. It’s a stressful life.” The door opened. We stepped inside and I walked straight to the giant front window and opened the automatic shades. Sunlight shot through the glass and gleamed off the hardwood floors.

  Barrett glanced around. “Shit, not too shabby. Where should I put our bags?”

  “Follow me.” We headed down the hallway. It was lined with family beach pictures. Barrett stopped and stared at one. “There you are, cute and suntanned, with Nicky King and a shovel and an extremely elaborate sand castle.”

  I came up next to him. “I remember that day. My dad is really talented with a sand shovel and bucket. We both ended up with bad sunburns on our shoulders, and Cole got stung by a jellyfish. His foot swelled up like a balloon. The doctor came to give him a shot, and he cried like a baby.”

  “And that’s where the normal day at the beach ends. I once threw a baseball at a hornet’s nest and got stung badly by three hornets. My mom pressed meat tenderizer on the stings and told me I was stupid for throwing the ball at the nest.”

  “Technically, she was right there, but not too sure about the meat tenderizer cure. We did always have it way different than most kids, but my dad took a lot of care to keep us out of the spotlight. That’s why we can go places and hardly ever be recognized. Only true fans, like Eden’s dad, know that my dad has three kids and what we look like. And I like it that way.”

  I looked back up at the picture. I was awkwardly skinny in my purple bathing suit, and the smile on my face hid any of the emotional turmoil I’d been going through from losing my sister and my mom. I’d pushed it all down for the longest time and when it had finally surfaced, it was like an explosion of anxiety and sadness. “I had my fifteen minutes of fame last year when I took those pills and ended up in the hospital. Naturally, tabloids were all over it, and of course, they got the story completely wrong. They made it sound like I was one of those typical rich kids with a drug habit who had partied a bit too much. They never stopped to find out the real story, but I didn’t really care what they printed. And somehow, the overdose sounded a little less pathetic being accidental.”

  Barrett looked down at me with his cool, serene gaze. He didn’t say anything but leaned over and kissed my forehead. He had this way of letting me know that he was always listening, but he never offered unwanted advice or sympathy. I just needed to talk, and he absorbed every thought and emotion without judgment.

  We continued to the bedroom. I pushed open the door. The master bedroom was almost comically lavish with a round bed, mirrors and a hot tub below a window that overlooked the entire beach.

  Barrett dropped the bags on the floor. His mouth dropped open slightly. “Holy fucking sex room.” He walked beneath a ceiling mirror and stared up at it. “If ever there was a time when I wish the walls could talk.”

  “Ooh, shut up. This is my dad’s room— you know the man with the sand shovel and castle building talent? I don’t ever want to know about what goes on in here. Besides, if these walls could talk would you really want them telling my dad what we might do in here?”

  “Good point.” He walked over and kissed me. “So, exactly what are we going to do in here and when do we start?”

  “Are you hungry? I could order some food?”

  “You could. And I’m always hungry, but at the moment, I’m standing in a room with a round bed, a mirrored ceiling and a girl who just has to blink her long lashes for me to get an erection, so I think the food can wait.”

  I batted my lashes dramatically a few times. “Really? Just a mere blink? Then I guess I don’t need to show you any of the other fun stuff in the room.”

  “There’s more? Someone pinch me.” He reached up and rubbed his thumb across the fabric of my shirt and over my nipple. It hardened against his touch. “And, how exactly do you know about this fun stuff?”

  I took hold of his wrist to stop the sweet torture of his teasing thumb. I pushed his fingertips against my mouth and kissed them. “I’m embarrassed to admit it, but when I was thirteen and we were staying here for the summer, my friend and I snuck into this room and explored. I released his hand and walked over to a panel on the side of the bed. I flipped a switch and the floor opened up. A small motor churned and a pole slid up through the opening. The fur covered handcuffs were still dangling from a loop on the pole. I blushed thinking about that day. “At thirteen, we had no real idea what the heck the pole or the fuzzy handcuffs were for, but I can assure you that we never came back in here again.” I hit another button and music drifted out of the speakers surrounding the room. It was one of my dad’s songs, and I immediately switched the disc. I shrugged. “My dad’s a bit of a narcissist.” I hit another button and a drawer slid open from beneath the bed.

  Barrett walked over and peered inside. He reached down and came up with a handful of foil condom packages and then his brow creased as he reached in again. He lifted out a massive fake penis and raised it questioningly.

  “No way,” I said, “as intriguing as that thing looks, we have no idea where it’s been.”

  He cringed and lowered it quickly into the drawer. “My head is spinning in here. I don’t even know where to start.” He walked over and fingered the pink fur on the handcuffs. “I guess we should start with you shedding those clothes.”

  I pointed down to my shoes, the same wedged sandals I’d worn on our first real night together. “I’ve grown extremely attached to these shoes.”

  “What a coincidence. Me too.” He went to unbutton my blouse and then stopped. “I need to slow this down.” He sucked in an unsteady breath. “I want to savor this for as long as possible.”

  His seductive, deep tone sent a swirl of heat through me. Then a wicked thought popped into my head. “I read a book where the characters did a little role playing. It was pretty damn sexy.” I licked my bottom lip. “Are you up for it?”

  The blue in his eyes darkened. “What do you think?”

  I leaned against him and his arm went around me. “I think you are Rocko, a guy who just got out of prison, and you haven’t been with a girl in two years.”

  He groaned at the thought of that scenario.

  “And I’m Sadie. I’m finally out of a horrible relationship and just looking for someone to awaken me, sexually.”

  Rett smiled. “You’ve already put a lot of thought into this.”

  “Can’t help it. Since I’ve met you, my hormones have been wreaking havoc.” I stepped out of his embrace. “So, Rocko, what would you like me to do first? I mean two years is a very long time.”

  “Shit, I would have hung myself after two months if I knew I couldn’t touch a woman for that long.” He looked around the room and then his blue eyes flickered with an idea. He walked up onto the raised platform where the hot tub sat and stood in a direct beam of sunlight. “Sadie?”

  “Yep, Sadie.”

  “Sadie, get your sweet little ass over here and stand where the sun is shining like a spotlight.”

  I sashayed over to him in a fashion that seemed fitting to the name Sadie. I stood in the yellow patch of light on the floor. The heat of the sun penetrated the glass of the window and warmed my shoulders.

  Barrett left me standing under my personal beam of light. He sat down on the bed and stared across the room at me. “Now strip,” he said sharply. “But do it nice and slow,” there was a catch in his voice as he said the last words.

  I unbuttoned my blouse as slowly as possible.

  “Uh, that’s too slow.”

  I laughed and slipped it off my shoulders. Then I reached down and unzipped my shorts. They slid down my legs, and I stepped out of them. Sunlight poured in on my skin, but the sun’s energy was no match for the heat coming from Barrett’s gaze. He did not blink as I unhooked my bra and exposed my naked breasts. Even in the sun’s warmth, my nipples hardened just thinking about his eyes on me. I pushed my panties down slowly and stepped out of them. Once agai
n I stood in front of him completely naked except for my strappy shoes. I blinked at him and held my arms out. “Oh, Rocko, I just might die if you don’t touch me soon.”

  He stood from the bed and stormed toward me. The look in his eyes made me wrap my arms around myself. He reached the platform and grabbed my wrists, pulling my arms away from my body. Without a word, he dragged me along to the pole. He pushed me up against it and seized both my hands. In seconds, I was cuffed to the pole. I trembled as he stepped back and stared hungrily and my body. “Two years is a long fucking time to go without touching a woman,” he snarled, and I momentarily wondered if my role play idea had been a good idea. But then his tone softened and he pressed his hand against my face. His mouth covered mine, and he kissed me lightly. “Two days is too long when it’s you that I’m missing, Finley.” He kissed me again and his tongue caressed my lips as his hand floated over my abdomen and down to the wet heat between my thighs. His thick fingers slid inside me and his mouth muffled my moan. “Two hours is too fucking long when it comes to you,” he said hoarsely.

  With my arms strung over my head and my body completely bared, I had to submit to anything he desired and that thought made me delirious with need. His mouth left mine. It was difficult keeping my dizzy head upright as his mouth devoured me completely. I pushed my erect nipples against his tongue. His fingers moved inside of me, and my hips moved against the feel of his intimate touch. He dropped down to his knees. I shivered with the feel of his warm breath on my pussy.

  Rett gazed up at me, drunk with desire. His hands slid from the straps of my sandals up along the length of my thighs and then he pushed my legs apart. He leaned forward and his tongue stroked my clit. I cried out with the intense feel of it. His free hand wrapped around my ass and his finger pushed inside, all the while his hand pressed my pussy closer the pressure of his tongue. His fingers moved with me as I writhed against my restraints and the grasp he had on me. Every stroke of his tongue and mouth, every touch of his fingers and hands, sent me to the next level of desire. I turned my face to the side and pressed my mouth against my arm to suppress the scream that was lodged in my throat. If not for the fur-lined cuffs holding my wrists, I would have collapsed to the ground. I tightened my thighs around his face and hand and a flood of pleasure coursed through me, leaving me nearly half-conscious from the intensity of it all. I could no longer suppress the scream. “Oh Rett! Take me please.”