Rebel (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (6 page)

As she broke away from me and was
walking toward the door, I laughed at her. “You really think it’s that easy to
get your way with me, Everleigh?”

She turned and flashed a bright smile at
me. “I know it is.”

I shook my head and followed her to the
door. While her back was turned, I pulled the money back out of my pocket and
folded it into my hand so she couldn’t see. “Whatever you say. Call me
tomorrow?”

Everleigh nodded. “As soon as I am off
work.”

“Can I get a hug before you go?”

Grinning, she said, “Sure.” I held my
arms out to her and she came willingly into them. I took advantage of having
her close and I leaned in and smelled her hair. It smelled like vanilla and
some kind of flower. It was intoxicatingly sexy. My hands roamed down her back
and rested on her bottom. I quickly slid the money into her back pocket as my
other hand caressed her bottom. “Hey!” she said, pulling back.

I flashed her a sexy smile. “Hey, I know
you want to slow things down, but I have to get my fun somehow, right? Do I get
a kiss too?”

She shook her head. “Not now, you’ve
been a bad boy.”

I groaned. “Aw, come on. Just one
because you think I’m hot.”

She bit her lip to keep from smiling and
said, “Fine.” She stood on her tip toes and lightly pecked my cheek. “There.”

I grinned. “I guess that will have to
do. I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I said, and I lightly touched the tip of her
nose with my finger.

“Tomorrow. Good night, Ryder,” she said,
and she and Danni walked out of the room with John and the security team. As
soon as they disappeared in the elevators, I walked back into my room and
closed the door. I turned around and Jude had a knowing smile on his face.

“What is it? Just spit it out dickhead,”
I said, picking up an empty pizza box.

“You are in town one damn day and that
chick went from hating you to staring at you with goo goo eyes all night. You
lay it on her already, man?” he asked.

I shook my head. “No, and I’m not going
to push it.”

Jude barked out a laugh. “What the hell,
man? You haven’t gone completely fucking soft, have you?”

“Screw you, man. I just like her and I
don’t want to fuck it up already. She’s pretty insecure but she’s giving me a
chance and I’m going to take it. If that means I have to start acting like a
giant pussy then that’s what I’ll do.”

“Well, I’m happy for you, bro. We
haven’t seen you smile like this since before Alan died,” Kris said.
Thankfully, he didn’t linger on my father’s death any longer and said, “Who
knows? Maybe you and Everleigh will be as happy as Jessie and I are.”

“One can hope, brother,” I said, giving
him a nudge as I walked past him to the trash can. After the guys (with the
exception of Jude, the lazy bastard) helped me clean up the hotel room, they
all left to go to their rooms and get some rest. After I’d been alone in my
room for about ten minutes, John called me to let me know that Everleigh and Danni
had made it home okay. I sent Everleigh a text message wishing her goodnight before
I shut out the lights. I fell into a deep sleep, dreaming again of Everleigh
writhing in pleasure beneath me in my bed.

Everleigh

“Good night John, and thanks for the
lift,” I said, unlocking the front door.

“It was my pleasure, Everleigh. My guys
Kip and Nate will be here all night watching the house. If you need anything
you let one of them know.”

I nodded. “I will. Thanks again,” I
said, and with a wave Danni and I entered the house.

As soon as I shut the door and locked
it, I heard a weak voice call out, “Evie girl, is that you?”

Danni gave my hand a gentle squeeze and
said, “I’ll be in your room when you’re done.” She walked down the hall and
went into my bedroom as I followed my dad’s voice into his room. When I got
there, I choked back a sob and swallowed a lump in my throat at the sight of
him. He just looked so weary lying in his bed.

“Hey, Daddy. I’m home,” I said, and I
walked over and crawled up beside him on his bed. I planted a kiss on his cheek
and he smiled.

“You were out for a while tonight,
weren’t you? Did you go on a date finally?” he asked, smiling.

I shook my head. “No, I didn’t. Well,
not really.”

“Not really? What does that mean? Either
you did or you didn’t,” he said.

“It wasn’t a date, but I did hang out
with a guy tonight,” I admitted.

He chuckled. “You mean that rocker boy
all of the news outlets are talking about?”

My heart dropped. “You know about that
already? Oh damn it, I wanted to tell you first!” I said.

“Why do you seem worried? Evie, this is
good. I have been worried about you finding a man to make you happy and you not
only find one, but he’s a musician at that,” Dad said, his eyes twinkling.

“That’s just it, Daddy, he’s not my man.
Danni and I met him when we went back stage at that concert in Cincinnati a few
months ago, and I never heard from him again until he showed up in town today.
He’s just my friend right now.”

“Well, he looked like more than a friend
in that picture I saw of you two kissing at Deuce’s,” he said, and
embarrassment flowed through me.

I sighed. “That was a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding? How does a
misunderstanding lead to a public kiss with a rock star?” he asked, smiling.

“There were some fans of his that were
being rude to me when I asked them to take their seats and leave him alone. He
jumped up and defended me. He told them I was his girlfriend and when they
didn’t believe him he kissed me to try and prove it. We are not a couple at
all. He just wanted them to leave me alone.”

Dad smiled weakly. “Well, he sounds like
good people to me, Evie. How did you end up seeing him again tonight anyway?” I
sighed and told him about the large tip he left me and that I was just taking
it back to him. “Well, Evie, I know why you didn’t want to keep it, but it’s
nice that he wanted to help you out. You work too hard taking care of everyone
else that you should do something nice for yourself.” Before I could say
anything more, he changed the subject and said, “You should bring Mr. Rocker
over here before he leaves town.”

I smiled at him. “Funny you should
mention that because he is actually coming over tomorrow.”

My dad’s face lit up. “He is?”

“Yeah. He asked me to show him around
town but that would be kind of hard to do with the cameras waiting to catch us
out so he asked if he could come over here. He’s a huge fan of eighties movies,
so you and he should get along well.”

Dad grinned. “Sounds like my kind of
man. So, what’s his name again? I forget.”

“It’s Ryder Matthews,” I said, and I
couldn’t hide the smile that escaped my lips. I looked at Dad and he was
smiling at me. “What is it?”

“Nothing. I already knew his name but I
just wanted to see the look on your face when you said it. You really like him,
don’t you?”

I playfully nudged him. “He seems nice
but I don’t know him well enough yet. Don’t forget he’s a celebrity and he has
probably been around the block more than a few times.”

“Well, you never know unless you take a
chance, Evie girl.”

I cocked an eyebrow at him. “So, you
have no problem if your daughter dates a man that has probably slept with
hundreds of women around the world? How do you know he won’t dump me once he
gets what he wants?” I asked, voicing my fears.

Dad placed a weak hand on mind and said
softly, “He’s not Scott, Evie. Give him a chance to prove the man he is and
then make your choice.”

I frowned and leaned in and kissed him
on his thin cheek. “I’ll try, Dad. I’m going to let you get some sleep, okay?”

“All right, sweetheart. I love you,” he
said. “Think about what I said.”

“I will, I promise. I love you too,
Daddy.” I kissed his cheek once more before I lifted off the bed and left his
room. I went down the hall to my bedroom and Danni was already on my bed in her
pink pajamas and was holding a bowl full of popcorn. “Get in your pj’s girl
because we have some talking to do,” she said, smiling.

I kicked off my shoes and opened my
pajama drawer. As I looked for a pair of bottoms, I said, “Yes we do, like how
you have been Facebook friends with Beau Cavanaugh for nearly three months and
didn’t tell me.”

She sighed and pulled her long blonde
hair up and tied it with a hair tie. “I’m sorry, Ev, but I just didn’t want to
get too excited about it yet. Please don’t hate me.”

I pulled out a pair of pink shorts with
black skull and crossbones on them and a black camisole. “I don’t hate you but
I wish you could have told me about it. Why didn’t you?” I asked, walking into
my adjoining bathroom and slipping out of my hoodie.

“Well, I didn’t think anything was going
to come of it. We’ve just been chatting back and forth for a few months and it
was all just innocent flirting until a few days ago. He said he wanted to see
me again,” she said.

“Well then I guess its lucky Ryder came
to town, huh? Beau was sure to follow at some point,” I said. “So, what’s up
now? Are you two, like, dating or something?” I slipped quickly into my pajamas
and threw my dirty clothes into the hamper.

I walked back out of the bathroom and
she was shaking her head. “No. I am trying to be realistic about this and just
have fun. If something becomes of it, then that’s great but if it doesn’t, I’m
not going to stress out. Okay,” she said, shaking her head, “enough about me. I
want to talk all about you and Ryder and the fact that he came to town for you!
This is so exciting, tell me everything!” she said, excitedly. I climbed onto
my bed next to her and we spent the rest of the evening going over my whole
crazy day with Ryder Matthews.

My bedroom door burst open and I sat up
completely startled. I looked over and searched for Danni but she was gone.
Where could she have gone to? I squinted my eyes to see who was standing at my
door but I already knew who it was…I could smell his musk from across the room.
“Ryder?” I asked.

He closed the distance between us in two
long steps and he knelt down at my side. “I couldn’t sleep. I can’t spend one
more night without feeling your bare skin on mine Everleigh. I have to have you,”
he said. Before I could even draw a breath his lips were crushing onto mine. I
whimpered at the taste of him. My body couldn’t stop the intense want I felt
and I didn’t protest when Ryder threw my blankets back and found the waist of
my shorts, stripping them off and taking my panties with them. He gently
grabbed my wrist, pulling me up off the pillows so he could pull my camisole over
my head. As quickly as he’d undressed me, his shirt was pulled over his head
and tossed to the floor. His pants and boxers soon joined the growing pile of
clothes on the floor and before I could register what was happening he climbed
on top of me. I shivered from the feel of our skin pressed together and
instinctively parted my legs and he growled as he ground his bulging erection
into me. My body was on fire from his touch and his kiss that I was already on
the verge of losing control.

“God I can’t wait to be inside you,” he
said, and our eyes locked for a split second before his hand moved down to his
length and I felt him sliding into me. I gasped loudly and bit down on his
shoulder to stifle my cries…I didn’t want to wake anyone. He moved so fast and
his sexual torture was so relentless that he had my body in tatters in a matter
of minutes. Before I could catch my breath, I heard him groan loudly and he
stilled inside me. After pausing to catch his breath, he abruptly pulled out
and climbed off of me without so much as a word.

I sat up, confused. “Ryder?” I asked.

He quickly got dressed and after he
finished buckling his belt, he turned and winked at me. “If I can’t have you,
I’ll make sure no one will ever want you, baby,” he said, and turned and left.
I sat there in my bed, shocked. If he couldn’t have me? He called me ‘baby’?
Sitting alone in my bed having just been taken by Ryder and left out in the
cold again, a wave of anxiety crushed me and I felt like I would break…

“Hey, Ev, wake up! Your phone is buzzing
like crazy,” Danni said, giving me a nudge. I opened my eyes and took a few
deep breaths…my heart was pounding out of my chest. I realized my body was
covered in a cold sweat. I looked around my room for Ryder and after a few
moments I realized that it had been a dream. I let out a long breath and
shivered. My dream had pierced deep down into my soul. Ryder came into my
bedroom and took what he wanted from me and then threatened me like Scott had
done…the thought made my stomach turn. I know it wasn’t real but I felt like my
subconscious was trying to warn me that Ryder was just like I thought he’d be. I
was even more shaken by the fact that I had been seriously turned on…I could
feel the effects of what my mind dreamed he could do to me and my heart. I was
on the verge of a full blown panic attack when Danni nudged me again.
“Seriously, are you going to answer your phone?”

“Y-yeah, sorry,” I mumbled and I picked
up my phone from the bedside table. No one had called but I did have several
text messages. The last one was from Ryder sent five seconds ago. I
groaned…what time was it? My eyes flicked to the clock on the wall and it said
six thirty seven. Why the hell wasn’t he sleeping like a normal person at this
hour? Still shaken from my dream, I read his message:

Ryder: Good morning, gorgeous.

I sat up and ran a shaking hand through
my hair. I was debating on whether or not to text him back when Danni said,
“Who was that?”

“Who do you think?” I said.

“Really? He’s texting you already? You
must have been on his mind all night,” she said, smiling.

I rolled my eyes and shivered. Oh, he
was on my mind too…I didn’t tell her that. I needed to work this dream out for
myself before I talked to anyone about it. I leaned against my headboard and
typed back:

E: Morning. Shouldn’t you be sleeping? I
was, haha

I was about to put my phone back down
when I heard my phone ping. Danni squealed and I couldn’t hide my excitement as
I opened another message from Ryder.

R: didn’t mean to wake u, : ) I was
already up…you’ve been on my mind all night

I involuntarily shivered. I childishly
wanted to be mad at him for the dream (even though it wasn’t his fault), but I
couldn’t help but smile like a teenager.

E: well, I hope I kept your mind
entertained

R: my mind, my hands, my “gun”, ;)

E: ur “gun”? wow…

R: well, I am a man, Everleigh

E: believe me, I noticed that yesterday
when ur “gun” was pressed up against me

R: didn’t hear u complain

E: no u didn’t, ;)

R: so we still on for today or did u
already talk yourself out of it

E: we’re still on. my dad actually wants
to meet u

R: really? Introducing me to ur dad
already…love it

E: don’t get ur hopes up. Remember I’m
still his little girl

R: I’m not worried. Can’t wait to meet
him

E: u sound pretty sure of urself, rock
star

R: u don’t know the half of it. Hope u
will soon, ;)

E: ;) okay well I have to get ready for
work

R: have a good day gorgeous. Call me
when u r off

E: I will, promise. I’m off at two

R: c u then, ;)

E: yes u will

After waiting for a few minutes for him
to message me back, there was no reply so I took that as my sign to get up and
get ready for my day. I still had another hour before I had to get up, but
after the dream and Ryder’s playful and flirty messages there was no way I was
going to be able to sleep now.