As Fate Would Have It (6 page)

Chapter 14

Brie washed her hands thoroughly, getting all the dirt out from under her nails. She and Rye had ended up purchasing half a dozen new perennials. She would have gotten more, but the others didn't look nearly as healthy. So, she volunteered to plant them this time, especially as it was only that handful. To her surprise, he agreed.

He must be up to something, she decided. Otherwise, he would have done the "manly" thing and dug holes for her. Instead, he literally bounced in eagerness to start doing whatever he needed or wanted to do. Shrugging, she dried her hands, turning the faucet off with her towel. He was certainly entitled to his own devices while he stayed with her. Goodness knew she didn't need him to provide entertainment or stick to her like a shadow the entire time. In fact, Rye was probably doing some personal business or maybe calling his family. That made sense. She understood that he always kept in close contact with everyone. At the moment, he was probably sitting on his bed, chatting away with his Aunt Sally or maybe even his parents.

A soft thunk followed by a curse caught her attention.
Too loud for the phone. Hmmm. What's he up to, exactly?
Curiosity got the better of her. Okay. She wouldn't spy on him. Nope. More like… just making sure he was fine. That's it. Being a good roommate, showing concern. If she just happened to find out what the dickens was happening at the same time, so be it.

Slowly and quietly, she moved along the hallway, sliding along the wall to avoid gaining his attention. Taking a deep breath, she stopped at his doorway, then slowly but surely peeked around the corner.

The sight had her staring for a long moment before her brain kicked into place. Rye stood on the far side of his bed, a medium-sized telescope before him, aimed directly out his window. One hand still held the wrench he had used to assemble the device. A pair of binoculars sat perched on the comforter. The shocker hit when she realized that he stared into the long tube, not up toward the stars, but straight into the Gomez's bedroom window. Her mouth dropped open as she waited for him to adjust the angle to point toward the sky. It didn't happen. Instead, he used the focus to get a clearer picture of the target before him.

"Oh my god! You're a peeping Tom!"

Rye jerked upward, the wrench slipping from his fingers to land solidly on his foot. "Shit! Damn it!" He lifted up his leg, rubbing the spot that would probably soon discolor into a bruise. His eyes pinned her with a glare. "I am no such thing!"

She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring back at him, preparing for battle. Let him try to wiggle out of this one.

"What in the hell are you doing sneaking up on me anyway? You were spying, weren't you?"

Brie couldn't stifle the gasp. "What? Oh, no. Listen here, pervo boy. This isn't my fault. You are the one with the spy gear, pointed at Bunny's house, no less."

"What did you call me?" He rubbed his foot one more time before standing up straight.

"Pervo boy. Admit it. You were trying to catch a peek at Bunny in the buff, weren't you? Wanted to see if she ran around the house naked, so you could drool over that set of double Ds."

"Oh, shit. That's not it at all. I am
not
a peeping Tom. Secondly, I wasn't trying to see Bunny."

Brie waited for a further explanation, her toe tapping. Yeah, he would try to squirm out of this, but it was apparent. He drooled over the sex goddess next door and intended to get an eyeful one way or the other. She might be fairly naïve, but not that much. Men are men, after all. They see a woman who fits nicely into their fantasies and they move to take advantage of it, each and every time. "Uh huh. If that's true, why is the telescope lined up directly with the front bedroom?"

He took a moment for the hamster to start running on the wheel he called a brain. She would almost say he was scrambling, but neither his body nor his facial expressions revealed it. Glancing down, he finally tossed out a response. "I was sighting it in."

Now that didn't sound quite right
. Granted, she knew basically nothing about star gazing, but why would you focus on an object a few feet away compared to millions of miles away? "Using Bunny as a mark?" she accused.

His hands ran through his hair, a sure sign of increased frustration. "I'm
not
a sex fiend!"

"So every man has spy equipment aimed at a neighbor's home? A home that just happens to contain a woman straight off the page of a porn magazine?"

He released a long sigh.

"Let me get this straight. You were sighting in the telescope using the neighbor's house? What happened to using the stars? And, aren't you supposed to be using that at night?" Rye, lusting after Bunny
? Horn dog central.

Shrugging, Rye went back to fooling with the equipment. "No North Star during the day, you know. Got to find north some way."

Blinking a couple of times, Brie scrambled to figure out his logic. Yes, the Gomez house was due north from hers. But, how? Why? Shaking her head, she let it drop. No way would her mind wrap around such a physics problem. Not in this century. Best to let it pass in one ear and out the other instead of clogging up her brain, letting it drive her insane until she finally understood. Giving him one last haughty glance, she turned and slowly left the room. Something wasn't quite right. Either he was really a pervert or there was more going on than met the eye. Come to think of it, she was certain both statements were true
.
If she had any luck at all, his kind of odd sex behaviors wasn't contagious. As for the other, she had no doubt she would figure it out. Given a little time and a little prodding, toss in a great deal of determination and
voila
… answers.

Chapter 15

Glancing at the clock, Brie released a sigh. 11:37. After the events of the day, she thought she would be exhausted and crash. Guess not. Probably her mind worked overtime to figure out what her roommate was up to. Tossing the covers aside, she climbed out of bed, pausing to stuff her feet in her favorite pink bunny slippers before heading to the living room to watch some TV. Grabbing the remote from the coffee table, she plopped down on the couch, tucking her feet under her and tugging on the hem of her mauve slip, making sure it covered all the essentials.

"Wonder what's on this time of night?" Infomercial,
Star Trek
, Infomercial,
Green Acres
, Infomercial… whoa.
Vegas Nights?
Wasn't that the name of Rye's favorite porn flick? Maybe Rye is in it? Possibly even the star?
Hmmm. Nah. Don't need to see that.

The little devil on her shoulder said, "Yes, we do."

No. After all, it's porn. Don't care to see that.

That wicked voice whispered once again. "You like his butt. Just think, there may be some great butt shots."

No, I couldn't. Well, he does have this great rear… maybe just for a minute?

Before she could change her mind, she punched in numbers to order the pay per view movie. In no time, a woman's voluptuous bust covered in the skimpiest rhinestone bra imaginable flashed on the screen, followed quickly by a male voice, whispering dirty suggestions. Gaze plastered to the screen, she waited for the man to appear.
Come on… just another step or two
. A dark haired man entered the scene, moving directly for the woman, his back to the camera. He began to turn …

The click of a door opening sent a zing of panic through her, causing her to automatically jab the power button, forcing the TV blank. Brie's eyes flew to the hallway, just in time to see the bathroom door closing behind her impromptu roommate. Breathing a sigh of relief, she turned the TV back on, making sure to hit the mute button first.

Flipping back to the pay per view channel, she found the introduction once more.
Oh, now that simply isn't fair.
Hastily, she jammed in the number with her remote to order the movie once more, grumbling under her breath.

From what she understood, other cable companies offered a twenty-four hour continuous movie play when you purchased it on pay per view. Not her cheap cable package. Oh, no. Her company seized every dollar they could out of their customers, which was why she rarely watched pay per view movies. To see Rye in all his glory, though, she would hand over a bit extra.

The black screen flickered with color. Sure enough, a familiar abundant chest appeared on the screen. "Yeah, yeah. Seen this part already…let's move on." The actor approached once more, mouthing words due to the mute setting, reaching out to touch the woman. Leaning closer, Brie waited impatiently for the model to face the camera.

A squeak from the hallway bathroom had her finger flicking the power button once more. Sitting utterly still, she peered down the dark hall, watching a shadowy Rye amble to his bedroom and open the door, before shutting it behind him. Listening intently, she waited a couple of minutes, just to be sure he settled back in bed.

Snatching the handheld once more, she poked in a now memorized order of numbers immediately after she turned the television back on. "Dang it. I've paid to see his butt, and I'm going to see it." Hitting the enter button, she watched the movie begin once more. "Why doesn't this come with a fast forward option? Jeez!"

Settling back against the couch, Brie half-heartedly watched the movie. Unfortunately, the cameraman seemed to have a fixation on the model's cleavage, as that seemed to pervade all of the scenes that got fairly close to showing the man's face. If that wasn't bad enough, another actor decided to take that moment to step into the room.

Well, he certainly wasn't Rye, that was for sure. Tattoos covered his arms, chest, belly, and …
surely not.
It took a few blinks for her to determine that this guy certainly liked body art… everywhere.

OUCHIE. That had to hurt
. Shaking her head, she tried to push the thought from her mind.
Oh, now here we go. Naked man… oh, little closer… more to the left.
Tilting her head this way and that, she tried to get a good look at the original man's rear.

"What are you watching?"

"ACK!" She hadn't heard him even leave his room, let alone wander into the living room. Gaze flying to meet his, she fought the rise of color to her cheeks, losing by a long shot. "Rye! You scared ten years off my life."

His lopsided grin flashed, making her heart flutter even as his eyes twinkled with mischief. "If you weren't so engrossed in that show, you would have heard me. Not like I was trying to sneak up."

"Uh huh." She didn't quite buy that. Luckily, he ambled to the kitchen, placing him on the back side of the screen. Breathing a sigh of relief, Brie's eyes followed his movements, automatically watching that scrumptious hiney move under the navy blue silk boxers. At least he didn't march out naked, not since the first night.
Unfortunately.

Glancing at the screen, she peeked up, comparing one rear to the other.
If they would only move a little…. Oh, get out of the way, tattoo man. Just a little closer, now turn… back shot, not a full frontal! Good grief.

"What did you say you were watching again?" Rye's soft rumble carried easily to her ears, laced with amusement.

"Ummm… nothing. Why do you ask?" Her face heated in record time. If he caught her watching porn she would truly be horrified. Not to mention, he would never let her live it down.

Pulling a soda from the fridge, he glided her direction. "Just you seemed quite wrapped up in it."

Panicked, Brie grabbed for the remote, fingers jabbing to try to find that off button. Furiously, she worked, mortified when she inadvertently hit the mute button once more, allowing a fairly loud moan to be heard from the set. Desperation set in as he rounded the corner, looking toward the screen… that suddenly went black.

A sigh of relief followed before she glanced up. "Hmmm. Guess the TV is being cranky tonight."

"Uh huh." His lips twitched as he repeated her words back. Pulling the remote from her slack fingers, he sat down on the couch, sipping his soda, while surfing through the channels.

Brie pulled the pillow on her lap, watching him take over the remote.
What is it about men? Is it a control issue? Some sort of magnetic draw toward things electronic?
Glancing over, she noted his legs stretched out, one muscled arm rested on the top of the couch while his left rested against his chest, holding the soda. What was up with this sprawling?
Is that something on the Y chromosome that just comes with being a male? You are male, thus you sprawl?
His voice pulled her from her thoughts.

"Oh, look.
Vegas Nights
!"

She simply sat there, doing her best innocent impression as he punched in the order code for the pay per view movie. She just spent twenty-one dollars on that movie, what's another seven?
Just great. He's going to sit here and watch porn? With me? Don't think so.
Unfolding her legs, she started to get up when the idea hit. Maybe, just maybe, she could find out it was him? Yes, it's true; she didn't have a life. And, pestering Rye about his nude movie roles was a tad bit entertaining. If he acted in the flick, he certainly already knew what little plot existed and the ending.
Hmmm.
Perhaps he starred with a particularly talented woman or it brought back fond memories of his fluffer days? Only one way to find out.

"
Vegas Nights
? Didn't you mention that title before?"
Little innocent blink, tilt of the head in an interested fashion, there we go.

Punching in the final button, Rye turned to her, a wicked grin appearing. "Yeah. It's one of my favorites. Oh, and I'll give you the money in the morning for it."

That worked out well… not!
Brie picked at her nightwear, wondering how in the world she was going to wiggle out of this one. She certainly wasn't going to watch this movie with him sitting two feet away. Yet, if she got up now, it would blow her masquerade. How did she get into these messes again
?
"That's okay. It's not that much."

Sure enough, the busty blonde was back on the screen, threatening to spill over what passed for a top. Barely resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Brie did the next best thing: Play dumb. "Rye! This is… an adult movie!"

His grin turned to full blown smile as he watched her. "Yeah."

Blinking, she ignored the screen. Careful to keep her shock evident, Brie softly asked, "Oh, is this one of the films that you starred in?"

He threw his head back in full blown laughter. One glance at her face and he guffawed all the harder.

Piqued at his obvious amusement, Brie tapped her fingers, waiting for his chuckling to die down. "What is so funny?" Her voice clipped, a tool learned from her high school English teacher. For some reason, she just knew this was going to get worse rather than better. How could it not?

A couple of minutes later Rye was able to catch his breath, stifling his chuckling enough to speak once more. "I'm not in this movie," he said, that devilish dimple popping in obvious amusement.

"But, you said you starred in porn." Her brow furrowed as she tried to decipher his meaning. "You even mentioned this movie as your favorite."

Smiling wide, showing those sparkling white teeth and his left dimple, he leaned back a little, just out of her range before softly answering. "I said it was one of my favorites, not one of my favorites that I was in."

Her mouth dropped open as the flames on her face intensified. "But…"

"Honey, if you wanted to see my naked ass, all you had to do was ask." He jerked back an instant before the pillow could connect with his head. Laughing hard, he blocked the next strike before yanking the pillow out of her grasp.

"Ohhh!" Having failed at beating him half to death with the pillow, Brie stood, slung her hair as she twirled, and promptly stomped to her bedroom, hearing gales of laughter in her wake. One thing was for certain. He was going to get it.