Blissful Surrender (21 page)

“Roberts …” Sam growls beside me.

He puts his hands up in mock surrender. “Easy boss. I’m hoping Sean here is the one who’s been melting the ice lately.”

I look at him confused before it clicks. “That would be me. Happy to have been of service.”

Sam gasps at the two of us before turning to Kate. “He’s incorrigible. Would you like a drink?”

“Definitely. I have a feeling we’re going to need one,” she comments puzzlingly. That’s strange. I’m starting to wonder what I’m missing, but it clicks a little while later, during dinner when Sam asks Kate about her day.

“I had a fitting for my bridesmaid dress today. I can’t believe they’re getting married in the summer.”

“I bet you’re looking forward to it though. It’ll be like a trial run for your own,” Helen pipes up.

“Oh, yeah, but Zander and I haven’t even started planning our wedding. We need to get Mac and Daniel’s one out of the way first.”

Oh shit! The strange look becomes all too clear

Kate knows Mac, she’s gonna be her bridesmaid … that would make Kate the best friend …Mac’s best friend. Therefore, Kate would know about me and Mac. Ah fuck … now I know what Kate’s look was about. She’s made the connection already. I tense up when I think about Sam and what her reaction will be. We’ve had such a good day and now my past is making an unfortunate appearance at what should be an awesome night with new friends.

I grab my phone out of my pocket and send Mac a quick text.

Sean:
Kate and Zander are at my house for dinner.

Mac:
I know. Kate told me earlier.

Sean:
Babydoll, you didn’t think to give me a heads up?

Mac:
And spoil the fun …?

Sean:
That man of yours should spank your ass.

Mac:
Maybe I’ll ask him to, he’s good like that ;) Have fun!

“Sean, is everything all right?” Sam asks from beside me.

“Uh … yeah.”

I look down the table to see Kate grabbing her phone off the table and I know I need to tell Sam. I tense up and reach over, grabbing Sam’s hand and putting it in my now clammy one just as Kate puts her phone down and turns to Zander.

“Sam, I think there is something you should know.”

She looks worried as she looks at me.

“What?”

“Zander and I have a mutual friend …” I wait for a reaction, but she seems nonplussed, shrugging her shoulders.

“Who?”

I reach up and rub the back of my neck, feeling mildly uncomfortable to be doing this in front of company. “Uh, if I’m right, we were both involved with Kate’s friend Mac.”

She looks over at Zander, then back at me. “I’m confused. That’s not unheard of, although it is quite a coincidence.” 

“Yeah, I only just made the connection. The thing is, Mac had three friends with benefits at the same time …” Then the penny drops. She splutters into her drink, taking a big gulp before putting the glass down on the table. She just stares at me, then turns her eyes to Zander. Kate looks over and bites her lip, like she knows what has just happened.

“Roberts,” Sam calls out. “It seems you and Sean have something, sorry
someone
in common.”

Zander stops talking to Helen and looks over, his eyes full of surprise as he looks at Sam, then me … then something clicks into place and he spits out his drink before flicking me a sympathetic look.

“Shit!” he says under his breath, shaking his head.

“I’m guessing you didn’t make the connection either?” Sam asks, her voice light and more casual than I expected.

“Ah, fuck,” he mutters, then looks at Kate who is beaming at him as she sniggers, which makes his lips slowly turn up.

My cheeks heat up, and for the first time in twenty years I almost feel embarrassed. 

“What am I missing here?” Helen interjects, looking at all of us while Rico just leans back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head like he’s just sitting back and watching the show. Lucky bastard.

“Well,” Sam announces, “Sean has just realized that him and Zander were banging the same chick at the same time.”

“Hang on. At the same time? As in a drunken threesome story?”

I choke on my whisky as both Zander and I shake our heads. “Fuck no!” we both say loudly in unison. 

Sam and Kate start giggling and Helen just looks confused. “Hang on, at the same time? As in she was seeing you both at the same time?”

Kate pipes up, her face beaming, “Yep. My best friend Mac was never one to limit herself to just one man. She actually had three friends with benefits at the same time.”

Helen slaps her hand down on the table. “Holy crap. I need to meet this girl. That is fucking awesome.”

“Women …” Rico growls under his breath which just makes Sam and Kate laugh even more. Fucking fantastic.

“Hang on, that would be like saying Zander and Sean have had sex through association. That’s hilarious,” she continues.

It’s the only time I can say that I wish the world would swallow me up whole.

“Oh my god!” Sam starts saying. She tries to pull her hand out of mine, but I tighten my grip.

“No, no running,” I say, my voice automatically slipping into Dom mode.

“I’m not going anywhere, Sean. I just want to get drunk now. The mere thought that you and Zander have fucked the same girl is waaaaay too close for comfort.”

“It was almost two years ago, sweetheart. I would’ve told you had I known. You must know that.” I release her hand and run my palm up her arm, rubbing her skin reassuringly. My heart is racing; it’s the first time I’ve actually been afraid that she’d leave again.

“It’s okay, Sean. I know you weren’t a saint for the past ten years, but now I have an excuse to drink copious amounts of alcohol and have a laugh.” She leans toward me, giving me a gentle kiss on my lips before looking me dead straight in my eyes, her lips still touching mine. “And then you can screw my brains out to erase the thought of you and Zander.” She moves away and laughs out loud, her carefree attitude contagious as I just look at her and smile.

Fuck, I love this woman.

I look over at Zander and he gives me a grimace before I lift my chin, making sure he knows that everything is okay. Kate sees us and loses it again, leaning into Zander’s side and laughing.

Rico speaks up, thankfully changing the topic. “Dinner was awesome, guys, but you know me and my sweet tooth, Sammy. I just know that your dessert is going to be epic.”

An epic dessert to conclude an epic dinner party.

Definitely one for the books.

Sam

I’m in a deep sleep when I’m woken up by a phone ringing. My body feels like a dead weight in the bed as I struggle in that wonderful no man’s land between being awake and being asleep. I roll over and look at Sean’s alarm clock beside the bed, grumbling at the fact it’s only 3 a.m. and someone is calling us.

Sean’s arm wraps around my waist and I snuggle deeper into his side. There is something about burrowing into a nice warm
hard
body that is comforting, and arousing. Fuck! How can I want to go again when he only just finished with me a few hours ago? I must be an addict. Addicted to Sean Miller. Fuck, if this keeps up we’ll end up screwing each other to death. On the bright side, what a way to go!

The phone starts ringing again and I hear a growl rumble in Sean’s chest. “This better be fucking good,” he mutters as he moves away, sitting up against the headboard and shifting to reach the phone.

He sighs before answering the call. “Ryan, this better not be what I think it is.”

My body goes tense as I think of all the possible reasons for Ryan calling his brother in the middle of the night.

It’s been four months since I came back into Sean’s life. Four fantastic months without drama, without Ryan fucking up, and
without
middle of the night phone calls. This can’t be good.

“Mmm,” Sean hums, listening to his brother. I sit up beside Sean, resting my head on his shoulder. I can only hear a jumble of sounds coming down the phone, but when Sean’s body goes deathly still, I know it can’t be good.

“You’re fucking shitting me, Ryan. Ten thousand?” the room is suddenly quiet. Sean is breathing hard and I know he’s trying to control himself, but after the last time Ryan was beaten up in the club, Sean’s patience for his brother is all but run out.

“What the fuck do you expect me to do, Ry? It’s not like I have ten grand in cash just lying around my house …”

More silence, more noise down the phone.

“He said what? Oh, fuck this shit. Ryan, you made your bed and I told you that I was done with this crap, but that bastard has gone one step too far now.”

I sit up straight and watch Sean’s features, his jaw twitching as he grinds his teeth loudly. “Where am I going?”

I jump out of bed and chuck some yoga pants and a hoodie on, foregoing a bra and panties because there is never much of a need for them with Sean around. I turn the bathroom light on and go to the sink to wash my the sleep out of my eyes.

I look at Sean in the mirror, feeling his penetrating glare. Shaking his head, he breaks his gaze. “Okay. I got to get dressed and sort Sammy out. Then I’ll be there. Tell the bastard I’m on my way. And Ry … do what you have to do to stay safe, all right?” He nods his head and my breathing hitches.

Ryan is in trouble. Serious trouble.

“Yep, okay. See you soon.”

He slams his phone down onto the bed and stands up, stalking naked toward me. “Sweetheart, I know you got the gist of that conversation, but you need to get back to bed.”

“No, Sean. I’m a cop. This is what I do. I can help.”

He continues advancing on me until his naked chest is touching mine. “Sammy. It’s because you’re a cop that I’m telling you that you need to step down and get back into bed. This is my business. Ryan has been fucking up for as long as I can remember. It’s not the first time I’ve tried to get him help, and it’s definitely not the first time he’s relapsed. He’s got himself into a bad situation and I’m going in to get him out of it. They’ve threatened him, and they’ve threatened the club, then they got stupid and let him get ten thousand dollars in the hole. Without the money, he has nothing to play with. He’s run out of cards and run out of luck, ten fucking years too late. Now, they threatened me and my ‘cop’ girlfriend, and that’s one step too far.”

“Sean!” I implore, resting my hands on his chest. “I have to call this in. It’s my duty. They’ve threatened us, and your brother is at risk. One call and I could have a team raiding the place in an hour.”

His eyes bore into me. “No, Sammy. No cops, no calling it in. You are NOT getting involved in this. I can’t allow that.”

I step back, banging my hip into the bathroom vanity. “You can’t allow that? Like I’m some errant teenager who needs to be put back in her place? Fuck you, Sean. You cannot control my job. Control me in the bedroom, yes, but NOT my FUCKING JOB!” I yell at him. My job has always been a no go zone for anybody involved in my life. Not even my mother has been allowed to meddle in my professional life. Hell, I haven’t let my mother meddle in my life full stop since I realized she had cost me Sean.

He puts his hands on my shoulders and steps in close to me again, crowding me. “I’m not ordering you. I’m telling you that you can’t get involved. I don’t want to put your job at risk, and this situation, this backroom poker table that Ryan is sitting at, is
not
the place for an off duty police officer.”

He steps away and turns back toward the bedroom, dressing quickly before grabbing his wallet, keys and phone from beside the bed. “You’re taking your car?”

“Don’t have a choice. It’s the middle of the night and I’m not going to use a town car to pick up my brother from god knows where in the car service. I’m just going to grab him and get him out of there, then send him to fucking Timbuktu or Siberia until it blows over.”

I storm back into the bedroom, stopping on the opposite side of the bed. “Sean, it doesn’t work like that. I’ve dealt with shit like this before. They won’t stop coming after Ryan until the debt is paid, usually with interest. And when they can’t find him, they’ll target the club, they’ll come after you at the firm, and then they’ll come after me. It’s not a case of getting him out of there and this
blowing
over.” I wave my arms around dramatically, trying to explain the ignorance of Sean’s plan. He walks around the bed and puts his hands on my hips, pulling me in tight against him. 

“I’m not going to argue with you about this. You’re staying here, I’m going to get Ryan and drop him off at a hotel for the night. You’ll wait for me here, naked in my bed …” He kisses my jaw, then my nose, then stops at my lips, slowly teasing me with his tongue until I relent and give up my resistance, moaning as he languidly explores my mouth.

“You don’t play fair,” I grumble when he pulls away. Another quick brush of his lips against mine and he is all business.

“Get back into bed. I won’t be long.”

“Where are you going? Someone should at least know where you’re going in case it goes to shit.”