Bad Boy Brit (A British Bad Boy Romance) (27 page)

“Jesus, Riley, calm down,” he said. I almost launched myself at him to throttle him. If there was one thing that could provoke a person into committing murder, it was telling them to calm down.

“Don’t talk to me like that,” I replied, narrowing my eyes at him.

He grinned and stepped towards me, moving too far into my personal space yet again. “There’s no need to be like that. I was just kidding in the restaurant. Sorry, I thought you’d get it.”

“Well, I didn’t. You looked and sounded pretty damn serious to me, and it wasn’t funny.”

“Okay, okay, I’m sorry. But do you seriously think I lick my lips like a seventies porn star to get women into bed?”

“Well…I don’t know. This is
you
we’re talking about, after all.”

He chuckled. “You know, you used to have a better sense of humor, Ri.”

Right. This was somehow
my
fault for not having a better sense of humor to suit his immature taste in jokes?
Nope.
That was ridiculous, and it was a bullshit apology.

I turned my head to the side, refusing to look at him anymore as I fumbled with my phone, trying to figure out where the nearest Uber was. As Kaiden neared, I tried to make my feelings towards him clear with my body language, but he continued regardless.

“Not speaking to me now?” he murmured, drawing ever-closer.

Things were dangerously teetering into childish territory, but that still didn’t stop me from refusing to reply. Kaiden was so close now that I could feel his breath on my cheek, and the discomfort within me started to slowly evaporate as heady lust thickened the air between us. It was as if I couldn’t control myself when he was around, which made me even madder, and then his hand lightly touched my hip, testing my boundaries even further. When I didn’t instantly recoil from this, he pressed harder and trailed his fingers up my body and towards my neck.

I was torn. Half of me wanted to tear myself away and slap him, and the other half wanted to remain rooted to the spot and let him touch me.

The lusty side won out, and I didn’t move even an inch, despite the rational side of my mind screaming for me to get away. Kaiden’s hand gently lingered on my side for a second, and I took a deep breath as a hot ball of pleasure started to roll around in my stomach before spreading wanton warmth all throughout my body. When his hand finally reached the top of my neck, I noticed that my head had slowly made its way back around to face him, and as soon as our eyes connected, my heart just melted. Those blue eyes just contrasted so well with his tanned skin, and his mesmerizing gaze made it impossible not to get sucked in.

Sucked in like so many other girls before me...

“I…” I began to speak, but his face moved closer to mine, which instantly silenced me. Was he going to kiss me?
Oh god, I wasn’t sure what I planned to do if he did. I had no idea if I’d be able to resist, despite my earlier vow that I’d never fall for his charms like every other woman seemed to.

He kept his distance instead, just enough so that we were almost brushing lips. It wasn’t a real kiss, so no rules were really being broken.

At least that’s what I was going to tell myself for now.

I noticed his other hand making its way towards my thigh and I almost lost it right there and then. As it slid onto my leg, the moment arrived for me to yell and throw him off if I wanted this to stop, and I knew I should, but it didn’t happen. Then he started to swirl his finger round and round, stroking it up and down my leg but never quite reaching the spot which I was suddenly desperate for him to touch. He murmured something unintelligible into my ear, and my mouth dried up.

My panties did the opposite.

“Oh…” An involuntary moan escaped my lips, but instead of feeling embarrassed, I felt free, and I threw my head back and closed my eyes, losing myself in the moment.

“You really want me, don’t you?” Kaiden said.

I nodded against him, and the second that I did so, I felt the warmth of his muscular body vanish. He’d moved away from me, leaving me alone and filled with frustrated fire, and I gulped down shame, the reality of everything hitting me in the face like a blast of cold water. I’d almost let Kaiden do all sorts of things to me in this dirty alley, right next to a busy restaurant.

Again, what the hell was wrong with me?

I glanced down at my feet, smoothing my dress with my hands as I waited for Kaiden to explain his actions, and he looked down at me with an amused smirk. “You said we have to keep it professional, right? Or would you rather ditch me as a client and have your way with me? Can’t have it both ways, sweetheart.”

Smug prick.
I immediately reversed myself on my earlier decision to stop working for him. If I did, he’d assume I really wanted him and was willing to ditch my job for him, and from that he’d also assume that I was going to be putty in his hands like every other woman was around him.

Screw that. I’d finally returned to my senses.

“You’re right. I’m still working for you, and yes, we should keep things professional. Let’s just forget this. It was a mistake,” I said, not daring to look up at him again. I didn’t want him to know how close to tears I was.

I wasn’t so much upset with him as I was with myself. I had no right to call myself a professional if this was how I was behaving after just twenty-four hours with a new client, regardless of any attraction or personal history I had with him. I was just lucky we hadn’t done this in a more public place where anyone could have seen and taken photos, because if that had happened, I’d be fired the second my boss saw them popping up on the gossip blogs.

“Goodnight, Kaiden,” I added as the smirk faded from his face.

“Night, Ri.”

He looked like he was about to say something else, but I turned and briskly walked away before jumping into a cab which had just dropped someone else off at the restaurant. I brushed my angry tears away before forcing a polite smile and directing the driver to my house.

When I arrived home, I pushed the front door open and let it slam shut with a loud bang as I strode inside. I wanted to scream with frustration, but I couldn’t because I’d irritate all of my neighbors, so instead I punched the nearest pillow that I could find. I was still far more annoyed at myself than Kaiden. Why had I fallen for his bullshit, and so fast too? Why did I allow myself to get so turned on by him, after he’d already been such a pig to me? And after admitting that he knew exactly who I was, no less.

I was an idiot. A prize idiot.

As I stomped into the kitchen to get a glass of water, I noticed a light flashing on my answering machine on the counter.
One new message
. My mind instantly shot to Kaiden, but that was impossible; he didn’t know my home number. All I’d given him was my cell contact details.

I clicked on the little grey button on the machine, and a vaguely familiar voice burst out.
“Hello, Miss Solis, this is Renee from the Grove Health Center. We have your most recent test results, and Dr. Zhang would like you to make an appointment to come in and discuss them as soon as possible. Thank you, and have a good evening.”

A beep rang out for a while after the message ended, leaving me sick to my stomach as my mind whirled with fear and sadness. I knew it was bad news. It had to be. The doctor would only want me to come back in so quickly if there was something wrong. I’d already suspected it after my last appointment, but hearing the medical receptionist’s voice made it all seem much more real.

Last week I’d had to have a test for the BRCA genetic mutation, because my mother and aunt had both suffered from breast cancer. I’d lost my Mom two years ago to that horrendous disease, and my aunt was still fighting it along with uterine cancer. Her doctors had looked back into our genetic history and found that breast and ovarian cancers were quite common in our family, so they’d tested her for the BRCA gene mutation and come up positive. It was also likely that my Mom had had it, but she hadn’t been tested while she was alive.

BRCA mutations were highly hereditary, and women who had them ran a substantial risk of developing breast or ovarian cancers at some point in their lives. If I had inherited the gene, then I had an extremely high risk of developing those cancers too, even at a young age, and it would leave me with a tough decision to make—I’d have to seriously consider getting a double mastectomy or an oophorectomy to prevent future problems. 

Maybe both.

Everything else that had happened tonight faded into the background as my health became my priority, and I slid down onto the floor, just sitting and staring aimlessly at the tiles.

What the hell was happening to my life?

Chapter 5

Kaiden

Fuck!

I’d never been so goddamned pissed at myself before. What the hell was the matter with me? Just as I’d been having a good moment with Riley, I’d had to go and fuck it up by doing the same old shit that I always did with other girls. She wasn’t like most other girls, and yet I’d treated her like she was, because I was just so used to being an asshole these days.

But that was no excuse for my behavior.

In the restaurant, I’d lost my nerve when I’d finally admitted that I remembered her. I’d been on the verge of reopening old wounds to let her back into my life, but I couldn’t handle feeling so vulnerable, so I’d switched it around and become the sleazy douchebag that I was best at being. And then, even after all of my shitty behavior and stupid jokes, she’d given me the chance to kiss her outside, and once again I’d changed my tune at the last minute and acted like it was all a big fucking joke to me.

What the hell was it about Riley Solis that made me second-guess myself and act like a fool? What made her so damn different to other women?

Deep down, I already knew the answer to that question—she was too good for me. Way too fucking good, and she always had been. That was why.

“Fucking hell,” I muttered to myself, deciding to head to the nearest bar to get a drink. I knew I was going to be breaking my rule of only drinking after a fight, but in that moment I didn’t really care. I needed to cool down and clear my head, and I needed to calm my racing heart and slow the adrenaline that was coursing through my veins.

Just as I stepped away from the alleyway, the shrill ringtone of my cell phone sounded in my pocket. I instantly thought that Riley was calling me, but of course it wasn’t her. Why the hell would she phone me after what just happened?

To make my night even worse, the name lighting up my screen was the one I wanted to see least in the whole world.

Serra Silver.

I knew that I should ignore it like I had every other time she called. I could practically hear Riley screaming at me to cut her off, saying that speaking to her would be a PR nightmare, but all of the emotions that were swirling around inside me made me act irrationally. I needed someone to take my annoyance out on, and since she’d picked that moment to call me, it looked like it was going to be Serra.

“What?” I snapped, pressing the phone up against my ear.

“Well, hello there, big boy,” she said, already trying to wind me up. Why the hell was this girl incapable of having a normal conversation? “How are you doing?”

“Not very well, thanks to you,” I replied, growing increasingly angry at the sound of her sugary-sweet voice.

“Oh, don’t be like that,” she said. I rolled my eyes. I could practically see her pouting in the way she did when she wanted to look cute and innocent.

Her sweet little media image was bullshit. She made herself out to be this wholesome, lovely young woman, but I knew her well enough now to know that it was all made up for the cameras.

That was another thing I liked about Riley, come to think of it. She didn’t invent anything for anyone’s benefit like Serra did. She was all real, and she was fantastic.

But I wasn’t speaking with her right now, unfortunately.

“What do you want, Serra?” I asked.

“Let’s hang out,” she replied.

“Are you fucking serious? I’m not even going to touch you with a ten foot pole after the shit you’ve been saying about me; claiming I’m your baby daddy and all.”

“Oh, I think you will,” she said. “Because I can see you right now.”

I spun around, my eyes flickering all over the place, and I finally saw a petite figure at the end of the street, waving and slinking towards me. I let out a defeated sigh, knowing that there was no way I could get out of this now that she was so close. Serra was an extremely manipulative woman anyway, so there was no point in trying to escape her clutches if she’d decided that she wanted something from me.

I hung the phone up and continued to stare in her direction. I hated her with a passion and wished desperately that I’d never met her, but it seemed I was going to have to play nice until I figured out what she wanted. She was practically skipping down the street as she drew closer, so I knew that whatever the hell it was, it had to be good.

Good for her, I mean.

Our paths had crossed a few times over the past couple of years, seeing as we were both in the limelight, but I’d never given her the time of day until that fateful night ten weeks ago when we’d hooked up after a party. She’d obviously decided that I was going to be her newest target before the night had even begun, because she’d started flirting and clinging to me from the very start, not once leaving my side. She’d been playing a different character back then; using her acting skills to her advantage. I’d found her to be cool, funny and likable despite her apparent clinginess, which had actually come across as kinda cute at the time.

Now I was well aware that she’d put on that entire façade. It was all fake, just like her hair and tits, and I could see her for the cold, calculating bitch that she really was now. I just wished I’d known it back then. It would have saved me a hell of a lot of trouble.

As soon as the party had started to draw to a close that night, her flirting had become more intense. I’d necked a few beers, so I was far more open to her suggestions than I might have been if I was sober. Alcohol always made me do stupid shit when I had too much, but I wouldn’t be making that mistake again.

Serra had asked me back to her hotel room, and as soon as we’d arrived, she’d started kissing me with all the passion of a woman who was going to be wild in bed, and I’d happily reciprocated. I’d actually been excited to take it to that level with her, but as soon as we’d gotten naked, the lust had started to dwindle, and it had turned into a boring night of lackluster sex. I wasn’t quite sure where it had gone wrong; it had just fizzled, and as soon as it was over, I made my excuses and left, not keen for a repeat performance.

And that
should have been the end of it.

She’d told me she was on the pill, and I’d used a condom anyway, so if she actually was pregnant—which I somewhat doubted she was—then there was no way it was mine.

She grinned condescendingly as she came within earshot. ““Hi, Kaiden. It’s so good to see you again.”

“Right,” I said, still trying to figure out her motives.

She stepped closer to me and adjusted her top, flashing me some of her fake-tanned cleavage. She had her collagen-enhanced lips puckered as if she thought I might lean in and kiss them, but it only served to make her look like a deluded goldfish.

Speaking of fish, what was it Riley said to me earlier?
I’ve seen whale sharks more attractive than you,
or something like that. Fuck, she was funny. I felt another pang of remorse for driving her away tonight, and I folded my arms and stared down at Serra, my face impassive.

“Was there something specific you wanted, Serra?”

She sniffed and wiped her nose, and it was then that I noticed her pupils were slightly pinpricked. I vaguely wondered if she was high on coke or some other illicit substance, and she gave me what I assumed she thought was her most sensual smile.

“Just wondering how much you’ve missed me. How many times have you jacked off with my tits in mind?” she said. “I bet you wish you could fuck me again right now.”

Her voice was husky and seductive, with just a hint of derision, and she was definitely high on something if she thought I’d ever jacked off to the thought of those bolted-on silicone tits of hers.

I pressed my lips into a thin line, bottling up all the expletives I wanted to let loose. Christ, Serra was deluded. Even if she’d been the best fuck of my life—which she hadn’t by a long shot—I wouldn’t go there again, not after all the trouble she’d caused me in the last week with all her pregnancy allegations. She obviously assumed that she was so hot that I’d be able to look past her craziness, but no one was
that
hot.

“Probably best not to do anything too rough. Not in your condition. Sorry, your
alleged
condition.” I gestured towards her stomach, wanting to turn the conversation towards the topic at hand. There was no point in beating around the bush. “I don’t think fucking in a cold, dirty alleyway would be good for the baby, if there really is a baby.”

“Oh, you heard about that?” She examined her nails closely, keeping her tone light, as if she was innocent in this whole thing.

Had I
heard
about it? Christ, she was bat-shit insane.

“Serra, you left me three voicemails and sent me six texts about it two days ago. Not to mention the fact that you called every fucking gossip column in the city.”

I shook my head at her, showing my disapproval, and she smirked back at me like the bitch she was. “Well, since you never replied to my messages, I assumed you didn’t get them. Then I figured the only way to get your attention again was to go to the gossip blogs,” she said.

“How logical,” I replied, my voice thick with sarcasm. It was lost on her, and she smiled.

“So are you excited to be a daddy?” she asked, stroking my arm.

I pushed her hand off me. “You cannot seriously be sticking with this bullshit, Serra,” I said. “We both know it’s not my kid, and that’s why I ignored you. How do you think the real father is going to feel about all of this? Are you planning to let
him
know through the media too, after you’ve used me to drum up all the attention you want?”

“Don’t be like that.” She trailed her finger up my chest, which I instantly shook off again. “It is your baby, but it doesn’t have to be this way. We can be a family, you know. I’d like that.”

“Don’t mess with me, Serra. Even if you were pregnant with my kid, I wouldn’t want to be with you. I’d be
there
for you, obviously, but I’d never be with you.”

It was harsh, but it was true. It had to be said.

She got right up in my face before speaking again. All the innocence was gone, replaced with cold anger. “Just because you’re a total asshole and nowhere
near
as good a fuck as your reputation might suggest, that doesn’t mean this baby isn’t yours.”

“You told me that you were on the pill, and we used a condom as well. There’s no way I got you pregnant. You’re full of shit.”

“I lied,” she said, looking extremely pleased with herself for some reason. “You seemed so paranoid about protection, so I told you I was on the pill just in case. And as for the condom…well, everyone knows condoms are only eighty-six percent effective. Besides, it isn’t like you can’t afford to pay for this child, so why does it matter?”

I recoiled at her words.
Fuck.
I’d been so damn convinced that there was no chance I could be the father that I hadn’t really considered the possibility that she’d been lying about being on the pill that night. She was right about the condom too; maybe it had broken a tiny bit that night, just enough to not be noticeable.

Shit, if this was true, then my entire future was about to change, and guilt started to crash down over me.

How could Serra even think this was about money at all? If she was really pregnant, then there was a life at stake here; a baby that could be mine. I could be a father, which was actually one of the things I’d always wanted out of life despite my party-hard reputation. Just because Serra was the mother didn’t make it the child’s fault. We could get past our differences if need be, because I’d do anything to be a good dad.

I couldn’t be like my own father.

“Just because I had to picture that I was with someone else to get through that lame-ass screw doesn’t mean that it wasn’t your semen impregnating me,” Serra continued, still desperately trying to get a reaction out of me.

It worked. She’d shaken me right out of my starry-eyed parental fantasy.

“Time to grow up, Kaiden Cross,” she added, narrowing her eyes.

“Stop it,” I said. “I get it. Just stop it.”

I was furious now, and I was struggling to reel it in. I didn’t want to totally lose my shit with Serra; I couldn’t give her what she so clearly wanted from me.

“Stop what?” she asked, voice all innocent again.

“Just fucking cut it out. You need to stop being such a bitch if this is really happening.”

My mind was all over the place, and I didn’t know what the hell to do. I backed away from Serra, but she moved closer again, too close for my liking. I held out my hand to keep her at as much of a distance as I could manage.

“Don’t touch me, Serra,” I said in a warning tone. “If the baby is really mine, then I’ll be there for you every step of the way and support you as much as you need, but I don’t want a relationship with you. At least not a romantic one.”

“Please don’t say that. We should be together. Do you really think I’m a bitch?” she replied. She grabbed my hand like a desperate starlet and stuck out her bottom lip, forcing out some tears just to complete the effect. “I’m sorry, Kaiden, I’m just so hormonal right now. It’s making me say and do all this crazy stuff. I didn’t mean what I said. You weren’t terrible in bed.”