Entangled (12 page)

“Good,” he said with a slick smile. “Perhaps now you might offer me a drink,” he suggested with a slightly arched eyebrow.

“Is there anything else we need to discuss?” I asked.

“I haven’t really been kept up to speed on Jonathan’s progress. If you’re not busy, of course,” he added with an odd gleam in his eye.

“No,” I said as I rose to get him a drink. There was a globe bar stand with heavy crystal and expensive bourbon I knew Alex never really touched. I poured the drink and walked over to where Drew sat. My hand shook slightly as I handed him the glass, which he took, brushing my fingers in the process.

I tried to hide my sharp intake of breath, and damn near choked on my tongue as he rose languidly to his feet. “Do you have a work space?” he asked as his eyes glittered at me.

“The library,” I managed.

He nodded. “After you, Miss Dennehy,” he said in a voice so soft it felt like a caress.

I cursed every visceral reaction I was having to this man as I led the way to the library. My legs didn’t even feel like they belonged to me.
I sat at the desk and pulled up my spreadsheet of Jonathan’s recent scores. He walked around behind the desk to peer over my shoulder.

“He’s doing very well,” I managed as I tried to ignore the onslaught of his aftershave marching up my nose. I remembered that scent well. It had haunted my dreams for months. I made the mistake of going to the mall once, and I had to leave the department store the minute I smelled someone spraying a sample of it for a customer. “As you can see, he’s made tremendous progress over the last couple of weeks,” I said as I glanced at his face, only to find him staring down at me, and right down my shirt.

I froze in my chair until he straightened up and walked around the desk, pausing at the bay window where his son often worked. He took a long sip from his glass as he stared outside. “He’s working a lot with Alex, I hear,” he said without turning to face me. “Particularly with the horses.”

I nodded, which was stupid considering he couldn’t see it. “He has a real passion for them,” I said. “It’s really the only thing he responded to when he first started coming here.”

“That sounds familiar,” he said softly with an absent smile. “You also took him camping,” he said, more of a statement than a question.

“Yes,” I confirmed anyway. I could see nostalgia wash over him. Silently he drained his glass
as he surveyed the property. His eyes were bright as he turned to face me.

“Excellent,” he said. “I’ll send a car for you tomorrow morning.”

“That’s not necessary,” I replied but he held up a hand.

“You have to retrieve your car as well. It is merely practical.”

“Of course,” I said. I rose from my chair and followed him from the library and down the hall to the foyer. Before he left, he turned to give me the glass. Once again our hands touched, and he didn’t move away. In fact, his eyes held me fast as he assessed all the data he found marching across my face. “Thank you for the drink,” he said softly. “You’ve been very… hospitable.”

I said nothing as he stepped outside, but I breathed a sigh of relief as I closed the door between us.

So that was that, I figured. I’d get my things and have no ties whatsoever to the house in Beverly Hills. He would marry Olivia, as he probably should have done from the start, and the chapter of my life that included any kind of romance with Drew Fullerton was officially over.

There were no tears as I processed this information. I was quiet for the rest of the evening, but I didn’t mourn.

In fact it was exactly the green light I needed to move forward with Alex. Suddenly that was all I wanted to do. I sent Alex one simple text.

“I know what I want. I want you.”

He didn’t answer right away, but I assumed that they were all busy with the chaos that was Comic Con.

I didn’t start to worry until night fell. Max was home and resting in his room, so Millicent and I shared a quiet dinner alone. We turned in early, and I was trying to concentrate on a book by the time he called me around ten-thirty that night.

“I was starting to worry,” I told him when I answered.

“Busy day,” he said quietly. “I think Jonathan stopped at every table in artist alley. But he’s having the time of his life.”

I chuckled. “And you?”

“It’s fun,” he said. “But I’m counting the days until I can come home.”

“Me, too,” I whispered.

“I wish you were here,” he said. “This big king bed is a lot emptier than I had intended.”

I loved how deep his voice sounded in my ear. “My bed is really lonely, too,” I murmured.

I could hear the hitch in his voice, and my eyes fluttered closed as I slid further down into my covers. “I’ve missed you, Rachel,”
he said, almost breathlessly.

“I’ve been right here.”

“Then I’m an idiot.”

I chuckled. “You’ll get no argument from me.”

“How boring,” he teased and I could almost see his smile. “I want it all, Rachel. Everything. Good or bad. Right or wrong. I just want to be with you.” My whole body warmed to his words as he went on. “Every time I close my eyes, I feel you. I feel you now,” he added as his voice shook.

I closed my eyes and envisioned him on that bed, sprawled naked, his hand circling a raging erection inspired by nothing more than the thought of me. My hand slipped between my legs. “I feel you, too,” I said, with a telltale tremble in my own voice.

“I’ve hungered for you for so long,” he said, and I shuddered as my fingers followed his subtle direction. “I want to watch you writhe at the tip of my tongue. I want to taste you.”

“Me, too,” I said as I thought about the promise of his hard body I had felt pressed so often against my own.
I gasped, which made his voice shake even more. I could feel his urgency through the phone.

“Tell me,” he
begged.

“I want to taste every inch of you,” I said with the sultry voice of a woman who knew what she wanted. “I want to feel your silken skin against my tongue. I want to take you into my mouth until that’s all you feel.”

“Oh, God, yes,” he gasped.

“Your hand will tangle in a fistful of my hair as I suck you deeper into my throat,” I went on brazenly, encouraged by his response. My own body responded as I circled my hard
clit with one gentle fingertip in quickening circles.

“I want to be inside you, Rachel,” he whispered.

“I want to feel you inside me. Bury yourself in me, Alex,” I pleaded softly.

He groaned. “God, you’re my heaven,” he managed between gasps. “
Feel me.”

I slipped two fingers deep inside with a long moan. “I feel you,” I said. “So deep inside, but I clutch you tighter.”

“Rachel,” he whispered in a shaky, breathless voice. “Love me.”

A tear squeezed out as I squirmed, my fingers moving faster. “I do,” I whispered back.

He cried out, which sent me right over the edge. I jerked against my hand in one convulsion after another as I stifled my scream in my hand. I could feel my heart thunder against my chest as I gulped for air. I could hear him do likewise.

“I love you, Rachel,” he said at last.

“I love you, Alex,” I said in return.

And I meant it. Every word.

The next morning I was a bundle of nerves as I waited for Drew’s car to come around. Thankfully Harrison was driving it, so I could see my old friend once more. I gave him an impulsive hug when I saw him standing on the threshold, which he uncharacteristically indulged. “It is so good to see you, Miss Rachel,” he said warmly.

“Just Rachel,” I said. “And it’s so good to see you, too. How is Cleo?”

“She is well,” he said as he guided me to the car. “She’s so excited to see you that she prepared a care package of her lemon cookies you loved so much.”

He opened the back door of the limo. “I feel bad. I should have made you both something.”

He shook his head with a smile. “You are gift enough, Miss… Rachel.”

I patted his arm before I climbed in the car. I hated to ride in the back like I was anyone of any importance. But obviously Drew was making some kind of statement of the kind of life I was leaving behind. I’d arrive in a limo, again, and depart in my middle-class hybrid. If he thought that would make me second-guess my decision, he was sorely mistake. I was more than willing to go back to square one.

That was where Alex waited for me.

I even treated myself to a glass of champagne. Several single-sized bottles were chilled in the micro-fridge, so I popped the cork to the auspicious occasion of leaving my life with Drew behind, officially.

I switched his radio station from the classical channel he always used to impress his guests to a local country channel that I often listened to with Alex. I sent an impish wink to Harrison through the rear view mirror and he barely concealed his chuckle.

I didn’t really even start to get nervous until we exited the 405 freeway and headed onto Santa Monica Boulevard. I scooted up to the seat near the partition that separated the driver from his passengers. “Is Drew going to be there?” I asked.

“Not sure,” Harrison shrugged. “He mentioned something about going for a run. He’s training for a triathlon, so his weekends are usually spent away from the house whenever he doesn’t see Jonathan.”

I nodded and rested
back against the seat.

As we rounded the marble fountain, I scanned the driveway for one of Drew’s sports cars. All that was there was my hybrid, which had been washed and waxed and was waiting for me
, and even had my bike attached to the trunk. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief as I emerged from the car and headed into the house.

Cleo met me at the door, and I threw my a
rms around her neck with a big, juicy kiss on her cheek. “I have missed you!” I said.

She giggled as she hugged me tight. “And we have missed you,” she said. “
This house hasn’t been the same without you.” She guided me inside. “I never thought you’d walk through these doors again.”

“
Me either,” I admitted with a cheeky grin. I glanced around the flawless, luxurious surroundings with only a faint tug of my heart. It had been home a million years ago, when I was totally another person. That girl had no idea how far Drew Fullerton would go to keep control of his son, of his life, of everyone around him.

Thankfully she died a painful death in a Los Angeles courtroom. All that remained was the slightly battered twin sister, who knew that this mansion was never
her home. It was yet another gilded cage.

Thankfully I had found the key in the shape of Alex Fullerton, the aggravating brother I initially couldn’t stand. He was the bad guy once upon a time, clearly demonstrating what an idiot that Old Rachel had been.

It was a good thing she was gone.

All that was left was to gather my belongings and go back to a much more welcoming place, with people who truly cared about me as plain ol’ Rachel.

Cleo insisted that I share a cup of tea with her before I got started, so we headed into the kitchen. It smelled wonderful, full of the fresh citrusy goodness of her famous powdered lemon cookies. We had shared afternoon tea time together on many occasions, usually eating bite-sized treats while chatting as we sat on the veranda, watching Jonathan play with his dog.

Yoda, likewise, was ecstatic to see me the minute we open the French doors and stepped out in the back yard. He yipped and jumped on me, so I easily gathered him into my lap as I sat at the table. “You’ve grown!” I said as he covered my face with enthusiastic doggy kisses.

“He doesn’t get much human interaction, I’m afraid,” Cleo said as she poured my cup of tea. “Usually only once a week, when Jonathan comes to visit.”

I frowned. “That’s not enough,” I said. “Elise still won’t let him live with them?”

Cleo shook her head. “And Olivia will be bringing her own dogs when she moves in. She doesn’t like them to interact, though. Her dogs are pedigreed.”

“Of course they are,” I said. “Let me talk to Alex. Maybe we can take Yoda.” I turned to the friendly, smiling mug of my four-legged admirer. “We have horses you can chase!” I told him.

“We?” Drew asked from behind, and I immediately stiffened in the chair.

Cleo likewise looked like she had been caught fraternizing with the enemy. “Sir,” she said with a bowed head as she left us alone. I desperately wanted to call her back, but Drew quickly blocked my view as he stepped around in front of me. He wore athletic clothes that clung to his body
like a second skin, and his sweaty hair curled around the strong nape of his neck. He wiped more sweat from his brow as he sat in the chair opposite of me.

I gulped as I sat a little straighter. “I won’t be very long,” I said. “Cleo prepared tea…”

“I can see that,” he murmured. “I won’t bother you. I need to finish my laps in the pool,” he explained as he peeled off his damp shirt.

His muscles rippled as he discarded the sleeveless shirt onto one of the chairs. He glanced back at me before I had a chance to look away – or rather tear my eyes away – from his glistening chest. His face broke apart in a self-satisfied smile. “Don’t let me keep you,” he said as he rose, and slipped easily from his sweatpants, revealing his swim trunks underneath.

My treacherous brain instantly recalled how thoroughly I had explored his naked body on more than one occasion. I had to look away, which only made him chuckle as he reached over to scratch Yoda behind the ears, his arm close enough I could feel the heat rise from his body.

He walked toward the pool, and I was rooted to the spot until he dove gracefully into the water. I took a deep breath to steady myself. The cookies and tea were immediately forgotten. I set Yoda on the ground and went to gather my things.

That was the only reason I had come. Once it was done and over, then I could be mostly rid of Drew.

I made up my mind the day before that Alex was the man that I wanted. I truly did love him and wanted to be with him.
Any confusion my traitorous body was experiencing had more to do with months of sexual frustration that one feisty session of phone sex couldn’t quite fulfill.

That was all it was.

That was all it had to be.

I walked up the grand staircase to my room down the hall. Moving boxes were already prepared and on the bed, so I began filling them with what few belongings I had. I didn’t bring that much from Texas, and I had purchased even less while I lived here.

Within an hour I was done. I left all the gifts that Drew had bought for me, particularly after our misguided affair began, on the desk. I had just hoisted one box into my arms when I turned to see Drew leaning against the door frame. He wore a towel around his hips and was using a smaller towel to dry his hair. “Need a hand?” he asked.

“I’ve got it,” I said as I approached the door. He didn’t bother to move. Instead he stared down at me with that fiery blue intensity that had seduced me from the moment I ha
d tripped into his powerful stare. It helped things not at all that they were the exact shade and shape of Alex’s eyes. I shivered in spite of myself.

“Really?” he asked softly. “You look a little shaky to me.”

I glared at him. Anger was the best weapon in my arsenal in the moment, and I was ready to use anything I could to get the hell out of the house and as far away from Drew as possible. With a tip of my chin, I shot back, “I’m stronger than I look, Mr. Fullerton.”

I nearly backed right into the door when he bent forward. “I figured that out seven months ago, Miss Dennehy,” he said in a low, commanding voice.

“Excuse me,” I muttered as I slunk past him and raced down the hall.

Thankfully he didn’t follow me, so I was able to regroup in the fresh air as I started to load my car.
That was the good news. The bad news is that he hadn’t left my old bedroom by the time I had returned. In fact, he had made himself quite at home on the canopy bed, with one leg sprawled across the eyelet bedspread and the other foot on the floor. He still wore the towel around his hips. His naked torso glistened as he laid there in wait for me just like a coiled rattlesnake.

He toyed with one of the necklaces he had purchased for me. “You didn’t want your gifts?” he asked innocently.

“No,” I stated simply.

“Why not? You liked them well enough when I bought them for you.”

“Because it would not be appropriate,” I answered between clenched teeth.

He shrugged. “Not any more inappropriate than your wanting to jump on this bed and fuck me,” he said matter-of-factly.

I nearly dropped the box I was lifting. “Drew!” I admonished at once.

He didn’t move one muscle as he glanced up at me. “Truth hurt?”

“What would you know of the truth?” I spat before I took the next box from the room. “
Only five more
,” I kept telling myself as I walked shakily down the stairs.

I was afraid what I would find as I walked back into the bedroom. He hadn’t moved an inch, and he didn’t say a word. He simply watched as I grabbed another couple of boxes. I ended up moving them all to the landing so I wouldn’t have to go back into the bedroom at all.

As I put the last box into the car, I saw him approach. He now wore only unbuttoned jeans, unzipped low. I slammed into the car before he could reach me, but he used his knuckles to tap slightly on the window until I rolled it down.

He leaned down and offered a tin canister. “You forgot your cookies,” he said as his face hovered mere inches from mine. “You don’t want to offend Cleo by not taking them. They were made with such love.”

I snatched them from his hand and put them on the passenger side. “Thank you,” I managed. “Are we done?”

His voice was soft. “You tell me.”

I met his eyes. “I think we were more than done seven months ago.”

His eyes traveled to my mouth. “We’ll never be done, Rachel,” he promised. “After all, we’re family now.”

I thought about Alex, so I smiled sweetly. “How right you are. I’ll discuss Yoda with Alex, and we’ll let you know what we decide.”

I was filled with immediate satisfaction as I watched his smile evaporate. He stood back and I peeled out of the circular driveway.

I worked through my emotions as I headed back to the house. It was a long drive, and it gave me plenty of time to think. The closer I got to Alex’s house, the closer I felt to home. Drew had always been a sickness in my blood, an insidious disease that rendered me powerless the closer I got to him. I wasn’t me anymore with Drew, and I knew that. I was a part of his supporting cast of underlings, a plaything he could bat around at will, fortifying his ego every time he manipulated a response out of me.

“
I don’t play fair
,” he had told me. “
I go after what I want and I play to win
.”

The only reason he was playing hardball now was because of that drive to win, that need to be better than anyone, especially his brother. If I hadn’t come back to stay with Alex, Drew would have moved along to Olivia without sparing me a second thought.

Even if I had stayed and married him, he would have moved on to Olivia without a second thought.

“
He’s a selfish prick, Rachel. A two-timing asshole who doesn’t give a shit about anyone else but himself
.”

Like Alex said, he had already established such habits before. I was interchangeable. There was no concept of love where Drew was concerned, only ownership.

And Alex had spared me from that fate. Alex, who treated me like an equal. Who prized our time together as though he was honored to be with me, however I decided we should fit.

The decision was an easy one. I was no longer some horny teenager who couldn’t be bothered with consequences in the heat of the moment. I knew that Alex was my perfect match.

He was my other half.

And I couldn’t really hate Drew for everything he had done, because it had brought Alex and me together, which I knew
now was exactly where we belonged.

I’d always cursed Fate for kicking me when I was down, but that crafty bitch aligned the stars to give me so much more than I would have had otherwise.
I’d have been stuck with Drew, or worse… stuck with Zach… two life-long prison sentences with no hope for parole.

Instead I walked through the fires of hell to find Alex Fullerton waiting for me on the other side. Despite all Drew’s flowery words meant to seduce and control, I knew in that moment I was born to love Alex. We were destined to save each other.