The Sweet Addiction Series Collection: Sweet Addiction, Sweet Possession & Sweet Obsession (23 page)

“Sweetheart. How are you? I’ve been meaning to talk to you since the wedding, but your father—”

“Her father what, Helen? Her father what?”
Oh, Lord, help me.
My parents are notorious for both staying on the line during our conversations. “You know damn well what, Bill. Anyways, dear, are you home because we’re only five minutes away.”

“Mom, I’m fine. The wedding was fine, but no, I’m not home right now.” It has been a few weeks since I’ve seen my parents, and I do want to catch up with them, but now is not the time. Not while I sit next to Reese.

“Just fine?” he asks beside me, earning himself a right shove. “I’m sure when you were screaming my name it was more than just fine in that moment.”

“I’m going to murder you,” I mumble through clenched teeth as he eyes me up with his wicked grin. I can feel my heart beating rapidly and curse myself for not letting this shit go straight to voicemail.

“Well, where are you? We’re in the neighborhood and want to see our only child. Are you at Juls’ house? We know where that is,” Mom says and I hear the sound of traffic through the phone.

“No, Mom, I’m not at Juls’ house. I’m at…” My eyes flick to Reese who is anxiously waiting for my explanation, devouring his spaghetti with a playful grin.

“Would you like
me
to tell your mother where you are?” he asks, reaching for the phone.

I quickly turn away from him and get out of his reach.
Well, this is just perfect.
“I’m at a guy’s house. Can I call you later?”

“A guy? What guy? Oh, honey, did you meet someone? What’s his name? Can we meet him? Is it serious? What does he do, Dyl? Oh, I’m so glad you found a new boyfriend.”

“He’s not a democrat is he?” my dad adds. I want to crawl into a hole and die. My mother has been trying to marry me off since I was nineteen. She wants grandbabies and she wanted them yesterday.

“Oh, my God, can I please call you back?” Before I can comprehend what’s happening, Reese grabs the phone out of my hand and stands up, placing it to his ear.
Oh, God, no.
My eyes widen and my jaw hits the couch as I slowly watch my world implode.

“Mrs. Sparks? This is Reese Carroll, your daughter’s boyfriend.” I run at him and knock him off his feet, sprawling him out on his back as he holds me at arm’s length.
Does the man have a death wish?
He seems completely unaffected by my move and just gives me a sly grin. “Oh, and, Mr. Sparks. It’s so nice to talk to you both.”

“Give me the phone, Reese.” I grunt and try to move around the arm that is holding me away from him.
Jesus Christ. Why does every male in my life think it’s okay to take the phone away from me?
“Give it.” My efforts are useless, only making me out of breath while he beams up at me like the gorgeous god that he is.

“Yes, she is very special, isn’t she?”

“You are never getting laid again.”

“That sounds wonderful.” He laughs into the phone. I glare at him and he winks at me.
Jerk.
“I’ll tell Dylan to set it up. I look forward to meeting you, too. Okay, here she is.” He smiles in his minor victory over me and holds out the phone. “Here you go, love.”

Snatching it away from him with one hand, I give him the finger with the other, as I stand up and begin to pace. He stays on the floor, tucking his hands behind his head and follows me with his eyes.

“Hello?” I ask and brace myself for my mother’s rant. I sit down on the arm of the couch and rub my temple with my free hand.

“Oh, my. He sounds lovely, sweetheart. And so polite.”

I shake my head. “Well, I wouldn’t get too attached if I were you. I’m plotting his slow death as we speak.” Reese stands up and moves toward me, brushing his hand over my chest before he walks down the hallway
.
I shudder at the contact.

“Oh, hush. Anyways, darling, since you’re busy with your
boyfriend
we’ll have to see you another time. Love you lots.”

“Love you, sweetheart,” Dad says.

“Bye, love you, too.” I press end and slip my feet back into my sandals, walking myself over to the table to retrieve my keys.
Great. My parents think Reese is my boyfriend. They’ll want to meet him now. Just fucking great.
My head is spinning and it’s officially time to go home before he decides to go through
all
my contacts and explain our situation to each and every one of them.

“Please tell me I didn’t piss you off to the point of you leaving?” His voice washes over me as I turn and see him walking slowly toward me. His sweats hang loosely on his hips and the tiniest amount of skin is now on display under his T-shirt.
Damn him and his body.

“Why the hell would you tell my parents you’re my boyfriend? Are you insane? Do you have any idea the amount of phone calls I’m probably going to get now? Since Justin, I’ve been able to limit my mother to once a week check-ins. But
now,
she’ll never leave me alone.”

Stopping in front of me, he pushes my hair back and grips my head between his hands. My face is stuck in scrunched up hate Reese mode, but it is quickly fading due to his softness, and his hotness, and his overall Reeseness.
Stay strong, Dylan.

“What should I have said? That I’m casually fucking their daughter and not in a relationship with her? That sounds terrible.”

“I don’t understand why you had to say anything, but fine. Every time she calls me, I’m just going to give her your number and
you
can deal with her.” Crossing my arms over my chest, I stare him down as he backs up and shrugs.

“That’s fine with me. I can dig for some Dylan dirt.”
How is he completely calm and collected over this? Why the hell would he want my parents to think I’m seeing him in that sort of way?

Flipping my keys in my finger, I turn toward the door. “Everyone has gone crazy. It’s decided. I’m the only sane person left in Chicago.”

His footsteps follow behind me and I feel his hand grab a hold of mine. “Hold on, I’ll walk you out.” He turns toward the pair of tennis shoes that are by the couch and slips them on quickly.

Stopping in front of Sam, I glance over at Reese who is staring peculiarly at my vehicle, no doubt hurting my precious Sam’s feelings in the process.
Good Lord, we can’t all drive Range Rovers.
“Why the hell did you drive your delivery van over here?” His finger traces the cupcake design on the side as he studies it in his usual Reese way.

“Um, because it’s my only car.” I open the driver’s side door and hop in as he moves to stand by me.

“You don’t own a regular vehicle?”

I shake my head. “No, Mr. Money bags. I used to drive an old Corolla, but it broke down and I never really had the money to get a new car, so I just take Sam everywhere. It pisses Joey off, but I don’t mind.” Reese runs his hand through his hair and I sigh. “Don’t you dare hate on Sam. He’s been the only man in my life that has never let me down besides my father.”

He squints at me and leans in, brushing his lips against mine. “And me, I hope.”

“Humph. The jury’s still out on you, handsome.” I feel him pull back to allow me to leave when I grip his T-shirt and pull him close to me again, nuzzling my head into my favorite spot on his neck. “Just give me a minute.” I hear a tiny laugh as his hand comes up to hold me against his body. Even though I’m a little irritated and a lot confused, everything seems to melt away when I’m close to him like this. I inhale deeply, allowing his smell to run through me and, hopefully, rub off enough to take some of him home.

“You can stay with me and do this all night if you want,” he says softly. I close my eyes and shake my head against him. “Fine, but just so you know, I’m not a fan of this bullshit ‘no sleepover’ rule.”

I pull away from him and rest my forehead against his, seeing his serious expression. “I should go,” I whisper and he grabs my face and plants kisses all over it as I try to contain my euphoria. Playful Reese is hard to let go of, but I somehow manage. Closing my door, he walks to the curb and watches me as I pull away, his incredible build slowly getting smaller in my rear view.

My mind is racing as I drive home. So many things happened tonight that I wasn’t anticipating and don’t quite know how the hell to react to. Between him dropping everything to come to me, telling me I’m all he thinks about, and declaring himself my boyfriend, I feel completely unprepared for what to expect out of him next. Fuck my rules. Reese has his own set that he is playing by and I’m completely oblivious to all of them.

It pours down rain all day on Wednesday, preventing our usual steady flow of walk-in customers from making the trek down Fayette Street. I stay busy in the kitchen all day, which I tend to do most rainy days, while Joey rifles through my planner to make sure we’re prepared for all upcoming orders. I have one wedding this weekend and the Frey’s anniversary cake to make, which I’ve decided to get started on after lunch on Thursday. In between mixing the ingredients, I scroll over the last several text messages between Reese and myself that had transpired yesterday. He really is an expert at the flirty text messages thing. I’ve just managed to slip the cake into my double oven when Joey’s voice comes ringing through the shop.

“Cupcake, you have a delivery,” he sings and I move quickly past the worktop and through the doorway. Fred is standing in front of the counter and smiles at me, his gap-toothed grin spreading across his face.

“Hi, Fred. How are you today?” I ask as he steps up to the counter. Fred is the only other man who makes my heart flutter at his appearance, and it’s only because he always comes with something from Reese.

“I’m great, Ms. Dylan. Here you go.” Sliding a brown envelope across to me and holding out his clipboard, I sign for it and hold up my finger to him. I grab a bakery box and fill it with some apple turnovers, slipping one into a separate small bag and handing them out to him.

“Would you please give this box to Mr. Carroll for me? The one in the bag is for you,” I say and his smile manages to grow.

“Sure. Thanks, Ms. Dylan. See ya, Joey,” he responds excitedly, turning on his feet and walking out the door.

“Bye, Freddy,” Joey replies in his flirty voice, earning himself an eye roll from me.

“Seriously? He’s like sixty.”

“Age is just a number, cupcake.”

I open the envelope and pull out the tiny brown card, my heart beating so loud I’m sure Joey will give me shit about it.

Dylan,

Have you heard the song “Do I Wanna Know?” by the Arctic Monkeys? I can’t listen to it anymore without thinking of you, not that I’m complaining or anything. Miss your face.

X Reese

Oh, I miss his face terribly.
Handing over the card to Joey, I watch his expression get all weepy while he digs his phone out of his pocket.

“I don’t think I know that song,” I say as he docks his phone and hits a few buttons. Music begins playing through the speakers, music that instantly reminds me of sex.
Holy shit.
I can actually picture Reese thrusting into me at the tempo.

“Jesus, is this it?” I ask and Joey nods through a grin.

“Yup. I fucking love this song. You should listen carefully to the lyrics, cupcake. I think he’s trying to tell you something,” he replies as he hands me back the card and starts organizing the display case. I lean against the counter, listening to the song as the front door swings open and Juls comes barreling through.

“Hello, my lovies. Ooohhh, I fucking love this song. Reminds me of sex.” She echoes my thoughts as I nod in agreement.

“Reese said it reminds him of Dylan. What you think about that?” Joey asks, and her eyes widen.

“Damn. I think he wants to fuck you sideways, Dyl.”

I giggle and smooth out my apron. “Well, naturally.” I glance over at my best friend who is standing in the middle of the shop, rubbing her eyes and looking positively glowing.
On a Thursday?
“What’s up with you?” I ask.

“Nothing, I just have something in my eye,” she replies, as she keeps wiping below her lashes with both hands. She’s really going at it and I look over at Joey whose mouth has dropped open.