Authors: Crystal Perkins
“Tegan’s distracting him.”
“Seriously? Your friend is off fucking my
friend so you can sneak in here with me?”
“Yes. She knew I wanted to be with you
tonight.”
“Well, that worked out really great for both
of us, didn’t it? If you can’t leave, just pick another bedroom.
There’s three.”
“Can I borrow your shirt to sleep in?”
“I have closets full of clothes in the other
rooms. Just grab whatever you want. Take something with you, even,
as a souvenir of the night you spent in my suite.”
“I want the one you’re wearing if it’s going
to be my souvenir.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Please, Kace.”
“Fine. Whatever.”
I whip the t-shirt over my head, and toss it
to her. She catches it giving me a small smile before I turn my
back on her, walking into the master bedroom and slamming the door.
I can’t believe I just turned down sex with Stella. No, actually,
it’s more than that. I flat out turned down Stella. In every
respect. And I’m pretty sure that’s going to be chalked up as one
of the worst mistakes of my life.
But what she and her friends did was wrong.
And if I’m being honest, kind of sexy. It was like they were a band
of secret agents or something. But the wrong outweighs the hot. It
has to because I can’t afford for them to find out anything
else.
Stella
It’s been a week since Kace kicked me out of
his life. My mom says he’s been acting worse than ever. I’ve been
trying to cope with everything while helping Ainsley and Tegan dig
deeper into everyone’s backgrounds. There has to be something we
missed. Anything that could give us a clue as to why someone wants
to blackmail him. And what exactly it is that they have on him.
“Are you going out with me, tonight?”
“No, Teeg.”
“How long is this pity party going to last?
He’s just a guy. You didn’t even fuck.”
“Please don’t remind me.”
“Seriously, Stell. He’s an ass. Yeah, we
violated his privacy, but you were offering him what he said he
wanted. And he turned you down. No one turns you—or me—down. It
just doesn’t happen.”
“Maybe it should. Or maybe like you said a
few weeks ago, we should stop whoring around.”
“I never said ‘whoring.’ Who are you and
what have you done with my friend?”
“I’m just getting too old for the fuck and
duck. I want more. And I know you do, too. No matter what you
say.”
“And you thought Kace was the one?”
“Maybe. I mean, I know he’s young, but I
just…I
feel
so much when I’m with him. Anger, frustration,
happiness. A little of everything there is.”
“Including love?”
“It was heading that way, yeah.”
“Bullshit. You’re past the ‘heading there’
if you can’t even go out and you’re crying yourself to sleep at
night.”
“I’m not.” She give me a pointed look.
“Fine. I cry every night. Are you happy?”
“Of course I’m not happy. You’re my best
friend. I don’t want to see you hurting.”
“The only thing that might do that for me
now is us finding this damn blackmailer and making them pay.”
“I think we can do better than that for your
happiness, but for now, I’ll focus on the matter at hand.”
“You said Wayne was badmouthing Kace. Do you
think he could be behind it?”
“He’d be my number one choice, but he keeps
coming up clean. Ainsley and I have dug deeper on him than anyone
else because of the sleaze that rolls off him. But there’s nothing.
He’s obviously not an altar boy, but he isn’t an evil mastermind,
either. A mediocre lay yes, but bad guy—not so much.”
“I need to apologize again for that. I
shouldn’t have let you get it on with him.”
“He’s not my first bad fuck, although, I may
be thinking he’s the last. And honestly, it wasn’t really bad. I
just kept thinking about our talk, and the guy I was wishing I was
with instead of him. He put in the effort to make me come, though,
so I should stop saying it was bad.”
“There’s a guy you want?”
“Yeah.”
“Since when?”
“Oh, maybe the last twelve years.”
“Teeg!”
“What? It’s not gonna happen. Or at least I
never thought it would. You and Kace have me thinking there might
be a chance.”
“There is no me and Kace. You know this. He
not only kicked me out, he fired me and told me to keep his shirt
as a souvenir. I think it’s pretty clear that he never wants to see
me again.”
“Since when have any of us ever let
something stop us?”
“Since never,” Isabelle says, walking into
the room.
“Hey, Isa. Have you come to let us borrow
your super brain?”
“I’m here to see if I can help you, yes,”
she says with a laugh. “Reina said you haven’t been able to find
anything. She’s hoping I can look at the data from a different
angle.”
“If anyone can find something we’ve missed,
it’s you,” Tegan tells her with a smile.
She’s right. Isa’s a certified genius. She
graduated high school at twelve and college at fourteen. She has a
PhD, and more than one Master’s Degree. She’s one of the youngest
of us all, but we’re all totally in awe of her. Especially because
she never acts superior to us. If anything, she’s the most modest.
We all look out for her because she’s also super shy. I’m waiting
for the day she falls for a guy, and finally unleashes the goddess
that’s hiding behind her glasses. Because while the sexy librarian
look totally works for her, I want to dress her in the sexiest
clothes possible, and watch that lucky son a bitch fall at her
feet. Because he will.
“Stella, did you even hear a word I
said?’
“Sorry, no.”
“Were you dressing me in your head
again?”
“Maybe. If you’d just let me dress you for
real, I wouldn’t have to daydream about it.”
“You dress me for missions sometimes.”
“Just in practically the same clothes you
wear every day. Or jeans and button down shirts.”
“I’m comfortable in my clothes. I like
them.”
“I know. That’s why I never push. But I
can’t help waiting in anticipation for the day when you finally let
me sex you up.”
“I’m sexy. The men in this building are
always giving me looks.”
“Yes you are. I didn’t mean to insinuate
that you’re not. I just want to play it up.”
Her lips tilt up in a half smile. “Maybe
I’ll let you dress me for a party or ball.” She sees the excitement
in my eyes. “Maybe.”
“I’ll take that for now.’
“Good. Now that it’s all settled, you two
can work.”
“Where are you going, Teeg?”
“I have something to take care of this
afternoon. But I’ll see you in the morning?”
“Be safe.”
“Always.”
She throws on one of her damn cowboy hats
and saunters out the door. I love that girl to death, but I don’t
understand how a born and raised city girl could grow up to be so
obsessed with the country lifestyle. It suits her now, though. None
of us can think of her without her boots, or hats. I’m not sure if
she’s embraced it, or it’s embraced her. Either way, it works.
Isa and I spend the rest of the afternoon
working. She finds a few things she says look off to her. She won’t
share until she has a chance to look into them further. It’s just
her way. She always has to be sure of herself, never speaking or
doing without thinking things through first. It’s a good balance,
not just to me and Teeg, but for some of the other girls as well. I
would say we’re almost evenly split here at the foundation, with
thrill seekers and thinkers. Some people, like Reina and Audrey,
have the qualities of both and use that to their advantage. They’ve
also been here the longest, so maybe learning how to balance it all
is just something you learn with time.
I head home, still processing some of the
info I’d looked at today. And also thinking of Kace. He’s never far
from my thoughts. I’m actually still styling him, even if he
doesn’t know it. I have pics of him in all his outfits on my
tablet, and I tell my mom what to put on him. She’s letting me do
this, not because she can’t—she totally can—but because she knows I
need it. I have to do something to stay close to him. And help him.
Even though he doesn’t know.
I make myself some dinner and watch a little
TV before heading up to my room. It’s early, but I don’t want to do
anything but be in my bed. I change into that damn t-shirt, because
I can’t stop myself from putting it on every night. It’s all I wear
because I know that once I start thinking about Kace, I’m going to
have to take care of myself. I don’t use any of my toys or
vibrators because I don’t have the memory of him inside of me to
guide me. So I just fuck myself with my fingers. Every damn
night.
* * *
Kace
The shoot today ran long. We were supposed
to be done at five, but it’s now eight. It’s all thanks to me. I
was told to make it go over, and as always, I did as I was told. At
least I’m being left alone at night. I can’t stomach the thought of
going out anymore. I usually just go up to my room and drink some
dinner before passing out. It’s the same every night because being
drunk is the only way I can blank out the images of the one woman I
can never have. I pushed her away, and now I have to take my
punishment.
When I walk into my room, I let out a little
scream. “Fuck, Tegan, You scared the shit out of me. How did you
get in here?”
“The same way Stella and Darcy got in here a
week ago.”
“Is Stella here?”
“Why would she be here? You kicked her
out.”
“Just checking.”
“No you’re not. I saw the look in your eyes.
The hope that she’d be here.”
“Is that why you’re here? She sent you to
ask me to reconsider?”
“Hell, no. She doesn’t need to send me to do
jack shit. You’re the biggest idiot in the world for letting her
go. You and I both know that.” I don’t even try to deny it. Because
she’s right, and we both
do
know it. “I’m here because I
know you want her, and I can’t stand to see her so sad. No man has
ever made her cry herself to sleep every night. I should be kicking
your ass for it, but instead, I’m going to give you a chance to
make it right.”
“What if I don’t want to?”
“You do.”
“She betrayed me.”
“She’s not the one who got a copy of your
text message. Yes, she was shown it and reacted, but what guy
wouldn’t want what she was offering? I’ve seen her naked, Kace. You
made a big mistake that night.”
Shit. Now I’ve got images of naked Stella
going through my mind. I need a drink. Several drinks. “Well, it
was my mistake to make.”
“I’m giving you the opportunity to change
your fate and get the girl.”
“Is she really crying every night?”
“Yes. She sleeps in that stupid shirt of
yours, too. It’s pathetic. And that’s a word I never thought I’d
use in relation to Stella. But you broke her.”
“Tell me the plan.”
“That was easier than I thought.”
“Really?”
“No. I knew you’d cave. You have it as bad
for her as she has it for you.”
I do. As much as I want to pretend that she
means nothing to me, I’m afraid that she could mean
everything
. If there’s a chance for us to work this out, I’m
going to take it. We have some more talking to do, but I’m up for
it if she is.
We end up sneaking out of my room and taking
a service elevator to walk through the hotel’s employee hallways.
I’m technically an employee of the hotel, so Tegan has me put my
arm around her and just act like I’m taking her with me for some
fun. When we get out the back door, there’s a car waiting for us. I
get in back with her, and she pushes my head down.
“Why am I sitting like this?”
“So no cameras pick you up on the way to our
apartments.”
“Good thinking.” I should’ve thought of
that, but my mind is too clouded with thoughts of seeing Stella.
And taking away her tears.
Once we’re in an underground garage, I’m
allowed to sit up and stretch. We take an elevator into a heavily
guarded lobby, and then Tegan uses her eye to activate an inside
elevator. “That was cool.”
“You’ll get used to it if you stay
around.”
“Sure, because secret spy stuff is
normal.”
She doesn’t laugh when I say that, and I
want to ask her why she’s not taking my words as a joke. The
elevator doors open before I can, and she pushes the button to hold
them open as she directs me to Stella’s apartment, telling me the
door will be open. She says I should walk in, and gives me the
layout so I can find the bedroom.
I walk into her place, and stop short. It’s
100% Stella. There are cool metal sculptures and black marble
floors. But the couches and chairs look comfortable and sexy. The
color scheme is black, silver, white, and green. I didn’t know she
liked green but there are splashes of emerald all over. I decide
that I can take a tour of the rest of her place later. I climb the
curved staircase to the second floor and follow Tegan’s directions
to the bedroom. There are a couple of extra doors up here, but I
don’t stop to check them out.
I’m a little confused. Stella begged for her
job, and yet she’s living in this sick apartment that I know had to
cost a couple mil at least. We really, really need to have a talk.
But first, I need to take care of her. When I walk into her
bedroom, I realize that I’ll be taking caring of her in an entirely
different way than I thought I would be.
Stella’s spread out on the sexiest bed I’ve
ever seen. It’s a few feet off the floor and has sheer strips of
fabric and strings of sparkly jewels attached to the chandelier
above it. They attach to the poles on the bed at different places.
And hang straight down in other spots. There’s a tufted headboard
between the two poles at the top. It’s not the bed that’s got my
cock about to burst out of my pants, though.